The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the thread where you can submit reviews for the Best Review contest. The thread is open for submissions and will close at Midnight EST on August 14, 2021. Voting will start the next day and run until the end of the GR day on August 31. The person whose review gets the most votes will have the opportunity to design a 20 point task for the Fall Challenge.

To be eligible for this task opportunity you must have achieved at least 100 points on the Summer 2021 Challenge Readerboard by midnight Eastern Time on August 13, 2021. Only one task per person per challenge.

Just a reminder that each person can only submit one review - but you can make edits to your review up until the end. The review does not have to be any particular length and doesn't have to be a positive one (i.e. you can choose to review a book you didn't like).
Please include your Readerboard Name.

PLEASE DO NOT comment on people's reviews in this thread - this is for submissions only - you will be able to comment when voting begins.

SPOILER ALERT!- These reviews may include spoilers

Jessica D

Review of Murder in the Storybook Cottage

Oh, the drama in this book! I don’t watch soap operas, but I imagine they could include some of the same quotes said by characters in this book:

“I don’t know your name, but I’ll find out who you are. As long as your name is spoken, you’ll live on.”

“The old man will agree to our demands before we leave, or he’ll be sorry.”

“If the book dealer doesn’t behave, he’ll regret it.”

“If anyone can chase away the darkness, it’s you.”

“I need to watch over her for a little longer. I need to be cold—to suffer the smallest fraction of what she must have suffered.”

I usually enjoy cozy mysteries, but this one just had me rolling my eyes. This particular series features Jane, the proprietor of Storyton Hall, a resort themed around all things bookish. As you’d expect in cozy mysteries, there is a murder, and some non-police individuals working their way around solving the case. In other cozy mysteries I’ve read, the protagonist usually has some sort of personal connection to and reason for wanting to solve the murder. They feel that there is something the local law enforcement is overlooking, or they happen to come across important information. In this book, though, the deceased have little to no connection to Jane. Jane manages to get herself overly involved in these cases, and says in the narrative that she knows she is expected to leave the work up to the police, and cooperate when they need her to…but she’s choosing to ignore that.

The whole book had me asking WHY? WHY are you doing this?!? Just worry about your guests and let the police do their job! They were certainly competent. In some books I’ve read, the police have written off a murder as either an accident or attributed it to a stranger just passing through town. In those cases, it seemed to make sense that the main characters would have reason to question their investigation. Not so with this book.

The final (and minor) thing that made this book over-the-top were the names of some of the primary characters (the ones I assume are in most of the books). Besides Jane Steward (the steward of the estate and its secret treasures), there are her sons, Hemingway and Fitzgerald (I get that Jane likes books, but really?), her Uncle Aloysius and Aunt Octavia, some of the staff (including Butterworth the butler and Mrs. Hubbard the head cook), and others…making it hard to believe so many folks with crazy names would congregate in this small town.

What kept me reading this book, besides finding out ‘whodunit’ of course, was all the non-mystery content. If this were just a fiction book about a woman running a book-themed resort, with all the drama that goes into that and the personal stories of the characters, I think I would have really enjoyed this book. Except for the overdramatic behavior at times, the characters have interesting personalities and back stories, and I would like to just read more about them.

I don’t see myself reading any other books in this series, but I do want to try some of Ellery Adams’ other books. Perhaps there are some that will be a little more believable. As for this one, you might enjoy it more than I did if you are a fan of over-the-top, soap opera type stories.

LAUREN JODI

Year One by Nora Roberts
4.5 Stars

Forewarned is forearmed - this is NOT a romance!

In these days of a raging worldwide pandemic, Nora Roberts Chronicles of the One is exceedingly prophetic. From the rapid spread of the "Doom" via air travel to the hoarding of supplies to the conspiracy theories and the hope for a vaccine, Nora's descriptions evoke a profound sense of deja vu. Considering that this book was published in 2017, it is clear that Nora must be psychic!

Year One follows the lives of a diverse group of people from different walks of life as they strive to survive the first awful days and weeks of the pandemic. At the heart of the story are Lana, a skilled chef and novice witch; Arlys, a journalist dedicated to revealing the truth about the government response to the Doom, and Jonah, a young EMT with the ability to "know" a person's fate.

These three are joined by numerous others, some honest and caring, others selfish and twisted. Nevertheless, each is well developed and contributes to the overall sense of a society attempting to cope not only with the ravages of the disease at it takes person after person, but also the threat of rampaging vigilantes called Raiders, cult-like extremists known as Purity Warriors, and survivors with supernatural abilities, the Uncanny, whose powers can be used for either the Dark or the Light.

Julia Whelan's narration of the audiobook is superb as she immerses the reader into the chaotic, post-apocalyptic world that Roberts has created with all of its dangers and threats, yet still manages to convey the utter humanity of each of the characters.

The twists and turns of the plot and the trials and tribulations of the characters kept me listening hour after hour, and I look forward to finding out how the story will evolve.

trishhartuk

The Chocolate Apothecary, Josephine Moon - 4*

This was most definitely a “random act of reading”, and as such things go, it was a success. I spotted it in a kindle deal, and was intrigued by the premise: based around a chocolate shop, where the proprietor, Christmas Livingstone, believes in the healing power of chocolate and even gives her clients “consultations”. After a bad break-up, she’s also set herself “Top 10 Rules for Happiness”, one of which is “Absolutely no romantic relationships”: you can probably guess how that’s going to go, given its top MPG is “Romance”.

I liked the oddball assortment of characters, including the handsome cacao expert, his grandmother, who I would have loved to have (I only knew one of mine and she was a bit strict!), a mad French chef and a great selection of assistants, customers and other cooking school pupils.

Much of it is set in Evandale, on Tasmania, although there is an amazing section in Provence, France, which had me looking for the nearest lavender field I could visit around London, just to breathe in the scent (yes, I found one!). Plus, the chocolate creations made me feel hungry from start to finish.

I’m not really a Chick Lit person, so The Chocolate Apothecary would really not be my kind of book in the usual course of things: but this is Choc Lit, so that’s completely different…right? And in the difficult times we’ve been having in the last eighteen months, it makes a great book to escape into.

A Gathering Of Old Men – Ernest J Gaines
4****

A dead man. A running tractor. A white woman who claims she shot him. A gathering of old men with shotguns. A sheriff who knows everyone is lying. A father who needs revenge.

What is so marvelous about this work is that Gaines tells it from a variety of viewpoints, as different characters narrate chapters. Candy Marshall is the woman who owns the plantation that has been in her family for generations. It is she who spreads the word among those in “the Quarters” that the men need to show up at Mattu’s place. By the time Sheriff Mapes is called and arrives there are dozens of elderly black men, each with a fired shotgun, though many can barely hold the gun let alone aim and fire it with any accuracy. One by one they tell their stories of how and why they shot Beau Bouton.

Meanwhile Beau’s brother, Gil, comes home to meet with his father, Fix, who wants nothing more than to call up his group of Klansmen to “take care of this problem.” It is Fix’s arrival that the group of old men is awaiting.

Their stories are simply but eloquently told. Oppression lasting for generations. Men who will not take it any longer. Their decision to stand up for what is right and against those who would continue the sins of the past has been coming for a long time and they are united and steadfast in their determination to see this through. And that includes NOT allowing some white woman, however well-intentioned, to “save” them. No, they will save themselves, or die trying.

Gaines’s writing is evocative of time and place. I can feel the humid heat, taste the dust that fills the air, hear the buzz of mosquitos as evening comes, smell the swamp and sweat. This is the second book by Gaines that I have read (and I’ve read A Lesson Before Dying three times), but I have all his works on my tbr. The world of literature lost a great writer when he passed on in 2019.

The Cretaceous Past by Cixin Liu 4*

I picked up this book because I was mesmerized (and often confused) by Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. Two of the books in that trilogy won Hugo Awards for best science-fiction novel (in 2015 and 2017). All of the books in the trilogy were complex and (for me) quite difficult to get through. I will add that I highly recommend them.

However, let's talk about his latest book. It's about dinosaurs and ants. It's pretty clear from the first few chapters that this book is quite different from the above-mentioned trilogy, which surprised me. In this book the language is straight-forward, without any complex physics or mathematics.

In fact, this would struggle to be classified as science fiction; I see it as a fable. As with other fables, there is a serious point being made while Liu has his fun. The novel tells the story of how the dinosaurs and ants worked together to create a "Golden Age" during the Cretaceous Period. Liu's fanciful concepts of the two species working together to create civilization are delightful.

I do recommend this book. Cixin Liu is on my list of must-read authors for his creativity and boundless ideas, and The Cretaceous Past does not disappoint.