The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

 Shai is in the royal prison after being captured trying to forge the emperor's scepter. As a forger she has the ability to recreate things by using magic to rewrite their histories.  After being condemned to death, she is offered a deal that will give her her freedom if she agrees to replicate the hardest thing in the world, a human soul. As she works on the impossible task, she gains the begrudging respect of one of the imperial elders who may just hold the key to her success and survival.

This book was recommended to me by a young woman I met at a volunteer event.  I haven't read much of Sanderson's YA literature, but what I have read I have liked.  This exemplifies Sanderson's strengths, clever world building and novel magic systems. The main characters are interesting and unusual as well.  Not often does YA literature highlight a relationship between a young woman and and older man. There is no romance, but a very sweet mentor/grandfather thing going on. It says it is a sequel novella to Elantris, (which I have never read) but it works fine as a stand alone. (176 p. 2012)

The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

 Riley wants to be a CIA agent more than anything, but she botches her first assignment and is sent to London to babysit a strange piece of old tech. Riley lives in Victorian England and is the apprentice of a man, Garrick, who used to be an illusionist and now is an assassin for hire. Riley doesn't like his mentor, especially when Gerrick pressures him to make his first kill. The man they intend to kill turns out to be a scientist from the future, who, at the point of death is whisked back to the modern age, taking Riley and Garrick with him.  Riley knows how evil Garrick is and convinces Riley that it is worth following Garrick back into the past to stop him from completing his evil plot. 

I was excited to find another sci-fi series by Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series. As I started to read it I was surprised to find the writing clunky and awkward.  I wondered if Colfer had started to go senile or something.  Later in the story (much later) it is revealed why the writing style is so bad, but I think it was a gimmick that went wrong. I don't actually want to read poor writing just to get a clever plot twist at the end. That being said, the story line is good.  It is interesting and the final resolution satisfying. I think, though, before I read the next in the series I am going to listen to the sample to make sure the writing style is back up to the Artemis Fowl level. (321 p. 2013)

Lace and Lies by Nancy Warren

 Cardinal Woolsey's Yarn shop has been chosen to be the site of a TV show featuring a celebrity knitter.  In the show Teddy Lamont will teach six knitters how to do his knitted lace patterns.  As the participants arrive, it is obvious to Lucy that there will be some issues.  One, in particular, is making the whole experience miserable for the rest of them.  Then she is found dead in Lucy's shop. Did any of the other participants have a reason to kill her, besides the fact that she was really annoying? Or maybe it was Teddy Lamont, or his stressed out producer.  Lucy and her vampire support crew are on the case.

I was tempted to not even blog about this book.  It really is just like all the other Vampire Knitting Club books (except the relation with Raef heats up a little). I once went to a class about how to construct an escape room game by starting with the solution and working backwards, adding clues and red herrings. I think that is what Ms Warren does.  She has a formula that she follows, that works well enough that I keep putting the next book on hold.  I promise, the next book I read will be more interesting. (214 p. 2019)

(note: I read and wrote this before the Madison biography but forgot to push the publish button.  That is why  in the Madison review I said I had promised to read something more interesting. )

James Madison by Richard Brookhiser

 James Madison was a founding father, a brilliant politician and the fourth president of the United States.  This is primarily a political biography of Madison following his career from the early days of the American Revolution to his death in 1836.  He was deeply involved with the crafting of the Constitution, and the fight for its ratification.  He helped form the (then called) Republican Party and was a supporter and protege of Thomas Jefferson. While president, he had to deal with the War of 1812. He was also a mentor to James Monroe, who succeeded him in the presidency.

As promised, a more substantial read this week.  This is a very interesting biography of one of early America's brightest political theorists. Brookhiser has clearly spent a lot of time researching the ins and outs of politics during the country's first 30 years.  It is interesting to see how much of the political machinations that we observe today existed in our government from the very beginning of the republic. Brookhiser even suggests that Madison and his compatriots were not above calling in shady characters to accomplish the "greater good." I was a little disappointed that the author focuses exclusively on Madison's public life, and only mentions his childhood and his marriage as it relates to his political activity.  It makes me want to find a biography Dolley Madison to get a more personal view of the man as a husband, step father, and extended family member. (304 p. 2011)

Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

 On his death bead, Travis Archer's father made him promise he would protect his brothers and his land. Travis decides that the best way to do that is not to let anyone either come or go from the property. The one time he broke his promise was to help a young girl who accidently got her leg caught in one of his coyote traps. Meredith never forgot the young man who saved her the day she hurt her leg in the trap, so when she hears that men are planning on attacking his farm, she sneaks off against her parent's wishes to warn him. She is discovered in his home after dark, and her reputation is compromised.  Travis does the honorable thing, but can the two lost souls who barely know each other build a relationship of love?

Is it crazy that I really enjoy Witemeyer's Texas romances with all the western cliches like cowboy hats, horses, and riding the range?  I like them, what can I say.  I like the sweet romances and I like the Christian elements. Witemeyer does a good job of writing both funny and suspenseful scenes. Her characters are all pretty much the same, and her plots are formulaic, but the fact that they are predictable makes them a safe read when I am having a stressful week. (370 p. 2012)

Six Wishes by Sarah M. Eden

Felicity wants to give her older sister, who is dying of consumption, the chance to experience a London season.  Her sister has six things she wants to experience, and Felicity is determined to make them all happen.  William Carlisle is bored of London, but for personal reasons doesn't want to go home either, so he jumps at the chance to help an old friend make her sister's dreams come true. When Felicity's sister's health takes a downturn, William's growing regard for Felicity gives him the courage to face the grief he has been avoiding.  Felicity will be experiencing her own grief soon, but together maybe they can face their sorrows to make a bright future.

This is a short novella that I checked out to read on an airplane ride last week.  It is sweet and uncomplicated.  Sometimes I like the shorter novels better because the main characters don't have time to make stupid decisions that temporarily drive them apart, or if they do, they correct their mistakes quickly.  I have enjoyed almost all of Sarah Eden's books that I have read, and this is no exception. (2026, 102p.)

The Vampire Book Club 1 & 2 by Nancy Warren

 In the first book we meet Quinn Callahan who is a middle-aged divorced witch from Seattle. When she misuses her magic, the Witch Council forces her to move from Seattle to a small town in Ireland.  There she takes over the home and bookshop of another witch, Lucinda, who has also left due to the wishes of the Council. Quinn is looking forward to a fresh start and has decided to keep her witch skills on the down low when she walks into her book shop for the first time and finds a dead body. The dead man's aura hangs around the shop and she feels compelled to try to solve his murder. As she begins to investigate she is surprised to find out that a group of Vampires meet in her shop once a week in the middle of the night to have a bookclub.  Frightened at first, she quickly warms to them and enlists them to help her investigation. (2020, 246 p)

In the second book Quinn is attending her first Irish wake for a man she barely knew.  The deceased's daughter begs her to help her dispose of her father's jumble of possessions by taking all the books he left behind. As Quinn goes through the books, she finds and old grimoire written in Gaelic. While reading through it whe accidentally releases a long-dead dark witch who used to live on the dead man's property. When there is another death, Quinn is once again thrown into a murder investigation, while simultaneously trying to decide what to do with the dark witch who seems determined to haunt her. Once again she rallies the help of the book-loving vampires to solve the mystery. (2020, 230 p.)

I have been enjoying the Vampire Knitting Club series, but end up waiting for weeks for the next of the series to become available on Libby. I decided to try this series by the same author.  It exists in the same world as the Vampire Knitting Club, and Raef even makes a cameo appearance in the first book. It is very much like the other series.  The main difference is that Quinn is a more experienced witch, so she is not struggling to learn her witchcraft like Lucy is. Still, like in the first series, there is a wealthy vampire that becomes someone of romantic interest to Quinn, just as Raef is to Lucy. Also, there is some tension between Quinn and the local coven due to Quinn's earlier indiscretion. The plot of the first book was a little weak with an all-too-convenient confession in the end. I thought the second plot was a little better, but really, these books are not enjoyable because of the clever mystery plots, but because of the cozy world building.