Books of 2017- Installment #20

96. The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros
I had set out a reading challenge for myself this year to read a book by someone with my name. Turns out that's kind of hard. The T(h)eresas I found typically write romance, so romance it is. My friend had told me that Teresa Medeiros was a good writer. And she is... but in the swirl of sexual harassment/sexual assault/sexual misconduct that is prominent in so many conversations I found the depiction of sexual attraction in this novel problematic at best. It also made me unable to "rewrite" the parts of Joplin's Ghost that I disliked un-ignorable. Reading books by women with such romanticized notions of sexual contact without consent disturbs me and reinforces the notion the we are products of our environments and that we have work hard to not be blind to the damage it does and to not perpetuate it. Challenging times...

97. The Dorenstein Icon by Janet Louise Roberts
I saw this book in Palm Springs and had to get it for my friend. Then my husband had the crazy idea I should read it out loud for her. Well, I tried, I really did... The best laid plans of mice and men... So... this is a crazy book. The woman is abducted by a man, falls in love with said man who drugs her and marries her while drugged. He then "consummates" their marriage while she is drugged. She vacillates between loving him and fearing him. He constantly tosses out gems like, "You belong to me." She also can't decide if she loves him or if he's hypnotized her into thinking she loves him. And yet... and yet... though no time passes between her being drugged and terrorized and questioning her sanity, she decides it's a wonderful marriage despite having been kept a prisoner, drugged, forced into marriage and loses her virginity under the influence. Such a treat! A great primer on how not to get consent!

98. Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood
This is book 17 of the Phryne Fisher murder mysteries. After all the strange romances I've read recently and Thanksgiving madness I just went through, I felt a need for some of Phryne's cool. Turns out it was a perfect antidote but she was oddly out of sorts for great swaths of the book as well. Amazing how her mood matched mine...

99. Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan 
This is an amazing short book. It's clearly inspired by HP Lovecraft. but for me it was a great X-Files-esque book. It also reminded me of the podcast Steal the Stars.

100. Martians, Go Home by Fredric Brown
I found this book for a buck in town at a record store (yeah, a record store). It was supposed to be hilarious and I could use a good laugh. It was an interesting read. Not my fav and didn't make me laugh. But what would aliens be like? Could we understand them even if there wasn't a language barrier? These are questions asked by this book.

Books of 2017- Installment #19

91. The Trouble with the Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones
Oh, how I love Charley!!! I love her like I love Harry! I love her so much that I put the book I was reading (Joplin's Ghost) down to read this one!! This book could conceivably complete my Halloween reading as it came out on Halloween... But since I leap-frogged over Joplin's Ghost, that one will probably complete my Halloween reading... or not! AT any rate, Charley makes me laugh when so few other things do. So thank you, Charley! Thank you, Darynda!

92. Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due
Okay so Halloween was still around the corner when I decided I had to read this book! It's a ghost story by an author I first encountered in an amazing short story (that was also in Dark Matter). I really couldn't wait to read this!! So not only is it a super engaging story, but it also is a ghost story about a historical figure and therefore super informative. I really loved the bulk of the story. The writing is wonderful. The characters are super engaging. I just had a problem with the ending. Actually it's a rather significant problem, but I've basically rewritten that part in my mind (sorry, Tananarive Due!) because I love the rest of the book so much!!

93. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
This book is a loving look at some rather traumatized people and how they come together and impact each other. Their secrets unfold in a slow dance, with much tenderness. I adore this story. I really couldn't tear myself away from it!

94. Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody
I was standing across from the register at my local bookstore- Avid Reader- and felt that was a rather ominous title but in a titillating way! I joke with the cashiers about it. Then about a week later I decided I really wanted to read it! Based solely on the juxtaposition of the title and the bookstore. Then I learned that there was apparently a haunting at the library! Sign me up! It does not matter to me that this is box 6 in the Kate Shackleton series!

95. Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart
This was a really engaging mystery novel set in China in the 1700s. The story unfolds with a sweet gentleness. Elsa Hart manages to tell an interesting mystery with full characters all while painting a vivid picture of China. She clearly loves China and that translated into a beautiful novel.