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Homecoming by Kate Morton

Homecoming by Kate Morton

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The first Kate Morton novel I ever read was The Forgotten Garden, about fifteen years ago now, and I absolutely loved it, which is why I have read every Kate Morton novel since. All of Kate Morton’s novels feature a central mystery told through a dual timeline where a protagonist from the present works to unravel the secrets of the past. The kind of novels that are like catnip to me. My love for Kate Morton’s novels has waned over the years, though, because I find them too predictable and the coincidences a little too neat. But it has taken me reading Homecoming to realize that I cannot blame Kate Morton for me becoming too clever for my own good. For the casual reader, Homecoming holds plenty of surprises. And even if it is on the predictable side, Homecoming spins a good yarn.

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Bookworm by Robin Yeatman

Bookworm by Robin Yeatman

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I regret spending my money on this book. I thought, I hoped, I would find Bookworm to be funny as this book is described as “comic noir”. But there is nothing comic about this book, and the bookworm protagonist is insufferable. As a bookworm, I find this book to be insulting. I finished this book because I do not like to leave a book unfinished, but I feel sorry for the trees that died to make the paper this book was printed on.

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Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

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Jeannette Walls wrote one of my favourite memoirs, The Glass Castle. If you have not read, I suggest you remedy that situation. It is a fascinating story about how she grew up poor with highly dysfunctional parents, and how she and her siblings took care of each other and helped each other to become successful adults. Since The Glass Castle, Walls has turned to writing fiction. Hang the Moon is her latest novel, set in Prohibition era Virginia and featuring a resilient protagonist that reminds me of Walls herself. I enjoyed reading this novel and I recommend it to fans of historical fiction.

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The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

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You may have noticed that I have read quite a few books based on Greek and Roman mythology. The Witch’s Heart is based on a mythology that I am not as familiar with: Norse mythology ie. Odin, Thor, and Loki. But this is not a Disney/Marvel watering down of Norse mythology where the gods are more likeable and played to comic effect. Like the Greek and Roman gods, the Norse gods were actually dicks. The Witch’s Heart is about a woman who has been relegated to a footnote in Norse mythology (as women typically are), a witch called Angrboda who was also a wife of Loki. Gornichec gives Angrboda her own story, and it is a good, interesting story, but I am not blown away by it as other readers seem to be.

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She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

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I decided to give She is a Haunting a try because it sounded like it might be spooky, and because it has been compared to Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, which is a novel that I liked (except for the bizarre turn it takes towards the end). But I saw some reviews that also linked it to Wilder Girls by Rory Power, and I did not like Wilder Girls. So, I went against my instinct and read She is a Haunting, and of course I ended up let down.

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Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

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I have come to look forward to the release of a new novel by Kate Atkinson. The first novel of hers that I have read is Life After Life, in which the protagonist, Ursula Todd, is reborn every time she dies, and keeps reliving her life over and over again with differences from her previous lives. It is an intriguing premise and a great novel. I have also read A God in Ruins, which features Ursula’s younger brother, Teddy, and Transcription. Life After Life, A God in Ruins and Transcription, along with Shrines of Gaiety, are all set in the years around and during the two World Wars. Atkinson also writes the contemporary mystery series featuring private investigator Jackson Brodie. I have read the first Jackson Brodie novel, Case Histories, and thought it was a good read about three separate cold cases that are unexpectedly linked, but I prefer Atkinson’s historical fiction, with Shrines of Gaiety being no exception.

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Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

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Chain of Thorns is the fifteenth Shadowhunters novel by Cassandra Clare and the final novel of The Last Hours series, and I think it is time for me to say farewell to the Shadowhunters while I still have fond memories of them. I have reviewed all the previous Shadowhunters novels here, and my comments on the series from that review still stand. But my biggest complaint about Chain of Thorns is how bloody thick the book is (it is the second longest Shadowhunters novel at 778 pages). It is cumbersome to hold, and cumbersome to read. I cannot believe I am writing this, but there are too many main characters and too many subplots. And the problem with the subplots is that they are all very similar. There is just too much relationship drama in The Last Hours series, and I am too old for this shit now.

WARNING: There be spoilers ahead if you have not read the first two The Last Hours novels.

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Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

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Age of Vice opens in New Delhi, India, with a car accident involving a speeding Mercedes that jumps the curb, killing five itinerant workers who sleep in the streets, including a pregnant woman. When the police arrive, it is not a rich person that they find behind the wheel of the Mercedes, but rather a rich person’s servant. But is the servant really the one responsible for the horrific accident? If not, then who is he protecting? Age of Vice is an Indian mob story about the great divide between the ultra-rich and the working poor. It is not really my type of story with its crime and violence, but I found its Indian setting to be fascinating.

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Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

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I recently read Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait, which I think is a great novel. Hamnet is O’Farrell’s last novel before The Marriage Portrait and was published in 2020 to much acclaim, so I decided I had to read it as well. If you were required to read William Shakespeare’s plays when you were in high school, you may recognize the name Hamnet. Hamnet was Shakespeare’s only son and he died at the young age of eleven. Hamnet is a sad and moving story about how the death of Hamnet affects his family.

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Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum

Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum

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If you are fascinated by stories about time travel, then I think you may enjoy Atomic Anna. I find time travel to be fascinating, and I love debating the ethics of time travel (since it is still a theoretical concept). But Atomic Anna is not merely a story about time travel, it is also a multigenerational story about a family populated by strong, brilliant women. If you are expecting some pulpy sci-fi story, you are not going to find it in Atomic Anna. Atomic Anna is better than that.

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