I have read several books by Griep and I enjoy her Dickensian twist on the period romance. These are not the ladies in mansions, but the lower classes trudging through sewers. Of course, Griep manages to fit in a ballroom scene with a beautiful dress, but can we blame her? If you have a beautiful heroine, you have to figure out how to get her into a lovey dress as some point. The characters are fun and the descriptions of the shadier side of Victorian England are interesting. I am sure I will be revisiting Griep again in the future. (2021, 320 p.)
Deelibrarian Reading Log Blog
This is a record of all the books I read or listen to.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
The Thief of Blackfriars Lane My Michelle Griep
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Children of the Fox by Kevin Sands
I put this book on hold after reading the last Blackthorn Key book. I was not disappointed. This is an exciting and intriguing story with interesting characters. The setting and the magic system are a little fuzzy but I don't think most readers will be too disturbed by that. You can tell that the author is well established, because the book ends on a cliffhanger. They never let new authors do that, but here it works. I put the second book on hold right away, and it is already waiting in my cue. (416 p. 2021)
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
I can't remember who recommended this book to me but I really enjoyed it. The MurderBot has an interesting personality, both interaction-averse and highly protective of the scientists. It is querky in a kind of Asperger's way that is endearing. There is some language, but the book is otherwise clean for a YA SciFi. It is also really short and I think it would be a good choice for a teen reluctant reader. I enjoyed it enough I put the second on hold right away. (2017, 160 p)
P.S. As I was looking up the page count and publication date, I discovered it won a boatload of awards the year it came out.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
The Call of the Wraith by Kevin Sands
When I was looking for what to read next, I found this book. I felt like I had read it before, but I didn't have it on my blog. I started to listen to it, and realized I had listened to it before. It had been long enough that I didn't really remember the plot and I enjoyed listening to it again. I have really enjoyed all of the Blackthorn Key series. The characters are well drawn and the plots are clever. I don't know how authentic the setting is, but the author does address a real middle-ages issue with each book. This book deals with the problem of the Barbary Pirates. I read book 3 in 2018, and I don't know why I waited so long to continue the series, but it won't be as long before I read the next book. (2018, 512 p)
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Great Courses: Identity in the Age of Ancestral DNA by Anita Foeman
Many people base a lot of their personal identity on their race and family narrative. What happens, then, if you take a DNA Ancestry test and discover that your race or family narrative is not what you thought it was? This is the guiding question of this 12-part Great Courses Lecture Series. The presenter has spent 18 years doing research on this topic. She finds volunteers that are interested in doing a DNA test, interviews them, and then gives them the test. When the results come back she interviews them again. She spends the beginning of the lectures talking about different ways people can deal with the results emotionally. Then she does a couple of lectures talking about ethical issues surrounds DNA results, especially related to medical issues that might arise. Finally she talks philosophically about the different elements of personal identity and their importance in our lives.
Sometimes when I finish a book and don't know what to listen to next, but I don't want to spend a lot of time selecting a new book, I just look at what Great Courses are available. I don't know why I chose this one this week. It didn't turn out to be what I expected. I thought they would go into more of the science of how ancestral DNA tests determine where someone's ancestors are from, but this course dealt with that only tangentially. Instead it mostly dealt with how people feel when they get unexpected results. It was a little amazing to me that the lecturer could find enough to fill six hours of lectures on this topic. After listening to it, though, I realized that because I am from a religion that encourages members to know their genealogy, I know much more about my ancestry than the common American. When I did an Ancestry DNA test it was no surprise at all that 97% of my ancestors came from the British Isles. Listening to these lectures opened my eyes to the plight of mixed racial people who might not know if their great grandparents were white, African, middle eastern, or American indigenous. I guess it could be a little disorienting if you have always identified as African American and then your Ancestry DNA test shows that you are only 1/4 African, 1/2 Asian and 1/4 white. Do you then stop seeing yourself as African American and instead start identifying as Asian? Or what if you do the test and find out that your parents used a sperm donor, and you have a dozen people who are your biological half siblings? It ended up being an interesting topic, though one I probably won't have occasion to apply to my personal life. (6 hrs, 2022)Monday, March 17, 2025
The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren
This book was recommended to me by one of my young adult patrons at the library. It is relatively short and a very fun to read. Even though Lucy is 27, this book is appropriate for the 14-18 crowd and will appeal to teens who liked Twilight. This is more of a mystery than a romance, but there is a rather cute, single, police officer that keeps showing up at just the right time. The mystery elements are pretty good, though it wasn't super hard to guess the culprit. Though the magic system is a bit fuzzy, there is a host of charming characters and a fair dose of humor. I just looked it up and it is the first in a series. I just put the second on hold. (260 p. 2018)
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Penny For Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber
This is a pretty fun series. There is a lot of chemistry between Verity and Sydney and their on again/off again passion leads to good sexual tension. That being said, all their marital exploits are completely off screen. The mystery elements are well crafted, and the portrayal of the roaring twenties in post war Europe is interesting. I only wish they had a different reader narrating the book. I don't know why they chose her. Her accent and character voices are ok, but she totally doesn't understand phrasing. Oh well. I am more tolerant of bad readers than some people so I will probably end up listening to more in the series. (2019, 336p)