The Princess in Black and the Giant Problem

The Princess in Black and the Giant Problem by Shannon Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a quiet, snowy winter day and time for a superhero playdate, when suddenly the fun is interrupted by a giant who starts squashing everything and doesn't respond to the usual superhero tactics. What to do? Call in reinforcements, of course! Soon the Princess in Black, Princess in Blankets, and the Goat Avenger are joined by not just their superhero friends, but also 8 NEW superhero friends and animal sidekicks. Together they trap the giant in a giant-sized twine playpen, and the giant starts to...cry??

My kids and I love the theme of friendship and collaboration, and it's fun to see the silly combination of disguises the new friends come up with. You don't learn anything much about the new characters, but that may come in future installments in the series.

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Kill the Farm Boy

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

This is a fantasy novel that takes many of the usual tropes and turns them upside down: the Chosen One is not a innocent farm boy (saying who it *is* would be a spoiler); Fia, the warrior, hates the bikini chain mail she begins the story wearing; the Dark Lord isn't very dark; the rogue is both female and not very good at sneaking or questing; the witch isn't really wicked; the quest goes sideways constantly and for unusual reasons (both helpful and not); there are allusions to pop culture (Nardstromp's department store at the Goblin Market, artisan cheese and crackers), and so on. The authors were clearly having a great deal of fun writing the story, and it's very entertaining but not as riotously funny as I was expecting (which is not the authors' fault, just a fact of how other readers/reviewers had hyped the book). I am looking forward to the next books in the series, though!

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. Characters have various skin tones/colors, although the fictional world of Pell and its surrounds doesn't map culturally to our own. There is some creative language throughout, especially from Argabella the bard, who likes to say words like "Shoutful," "Songful," and "Deadful." Argabella and Fia have a very sweet romance. There is quite a lot of violence, but it's not graphic--often more absurd than anything. A few main characters don't survive the quest.

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Chill of the Ice Dragon

Chill of the Ice Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle an ice giant that bested a powerful adult wizard and save a whole kingdom that has been frozen in magical ice with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and not only kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted, but also conned me into reading the entire book in one sitting, resulting in an absurdly late bedtime. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white secondary characters.

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Waking the Rainbow Dragon

Waking the Rainbow Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle a trickster giant spider's spell and save a whole country from drought with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted and really mad when I only read 4 chapters at bedtime, then begging me to read the rest the next afternoon. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white main characters, although the series clearly isn't OwnVoices.

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Secret of the Water Dragon

Secret of the Water Dragon by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four stars for kids, more like 3 stars for adults. My daughter loves these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting. I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away kingdom to battle an evil wizard's spell and rescue one boy's family with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and kept my almost-7-year-old riveted and really mad when I only read 3 or 4 chapters at bedtime. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my daughter and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white main characters, although the series clearly isn't OwnVoices.

In this volume of the series, dragon master Bo gets a threatening note telling him his family has been imprisoned by the Emperor of his kingdom and to save them Bo has to steal the Dragon Stone. The evil wizard Maldred has put a spell on the Emperor, which Bo's water dragon, Shu, must undo. Bo and the Emperor are depicted as Asian, although it's not precisely our world, so the empire in question is vaguely Chinese or Japanese or some amalgamation thereof.

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The Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The 6th installment of the Fox and O'Hare series is just as much of a fun romp as the first 5. Very fast-paced and story-driven, with very little character development (OK, none), but it made me laugh out loud several times, so I'm rounding up to 4 stars. Some swearing, sexual innuendo, and violence (especially blowing things up), but none of it is graphic.

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Wicked Charms

Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

Lizzy and Diesel are back, this time on the hunt for the Avaritia stone--the third of the powerful SALGLIA stones. Their search is complicated by an insane billionaire and his rabid acolytes, pirates, fires, kidnappings, obsessed treasure hunters, Diesel's cousin Wulf, and Wulf's loony minion Hatchet.

Fun romp of an adventure. Someone called it a "palate-cleansing" book, and I totally agree. It's just silly fun with ridiculous characters, rapid-fire patter, and fast-paced action.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, language (humor) secondary. Plenty of sexual banter and innuendo, but no explicit sex scenes. Also plenty of mild swearing. The violence comes off as more slapstick than anything, even when people die.

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Rebel Mechanics

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's 1888. The American Revolution never got off the ground, so the British still rule the colonies. Specifically magisters do--British nobility with magical abilities. A new revolution is brewing, however, this time fueled by young inventors called Rebel Mechanics who believe that non-magical machines are the key to overthrowing British oppression and achieving freedom.

Verity Newton's mother has died after a long illness, so Verity travels from New Haven to New York City in search of a governess position in a wealthy household. The teenager manages to land one on her first day, due in part to transportation assistance from the Rebel Mechanics, who waste no time in recruiting her as a spy for The Cause. Her position as a governess to the governor's grandchildren allows her access to intelligence from the highest ranks of society. Eye-opening experiences convince her of the importance of passing on information to the rebels even as she keeps her own secrets and discovers that not all magisters are alike.

Love love love this book!! I'm so glad the second one has just come out so I don't have to wait to dive back into this reality. I just wish the next book were available on audio already because this one was great fun to listen to. Well-written characters, a story that made me thankful for a long commute, and fantastic world-building.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting doorways are all strong. It's marketed as teen fiction, but it works for adults, too, especially fans of steampunk, alternative history, and urban fantasy. Since it's aimed at a YA audience, there is some kissing but no sex, bad language, or graphic violence. It would likely also appeal to fans of Patricia C Wrede's Frontier Magic series.

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Pros and Cons

Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare has been hunting down the elusive con artist Nick Fox for three years. She's almost 87% sure she's located his latest scheme, and she is determined to catch him this time. Kate believes Nick is pretending to be Merrill Stubing, wedding planner for the King of Hostile Takeovers and his sexy fiancee. Question is, will she get permission to raid the wedding before Nick's crew makes off with the valuables? Or will Nick glide past her team yet again?

Turns out I'd already read this novella, but listening to it was just as fun and took less than an hour--perfect for commuting. Mostly it's a quick chase story that plays in the mind like an action movie (only with fewer bullets and no car crashes).

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. No sex or violence. Don't remember any swearing, although there might have been a stray "damn" somewhere or something similar. As suspense/action stories go, this one is light and humorous.

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The Caper

The Caper by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Super-duper short story. The entertaining tale of one of FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare's many attempts to capture con artist extraordinaire Nick Fox--one that failed by just a whisker. This one is set in old town Seattle, and is particularly fun for anyone who's taken their Underground tour. Easily readable in just a few minutes. Available online only: http://www.evanovich.com/books/the-caper/.

For readers' advisors: story doorway. Very fast-paced, quick read for fans of the Kate O'Hare/Nick Fox series. No sex or violence, and the only swearing is "Holy crap!"

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Paladin

Paladin by Sally Slater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lady Samantha of Haywood has always been a tomboy, but after a demon kills her mother, she decides to become a Paladin--a demon-slaying warrior. There are no female paladins, however, so Sam practices in secret for two years, then runs away from home, chops off her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and invents a new heritage in order to begin her training. She is assigned both a mentor and a roommate. The first is her hero and the man who saved her life. The second is a half demon/half human whom the other students taunt and fear. After the trio save the training fortress from a demon attack--the first in its history--they are sent on a quest to learn more about a new fighting force rising in the East, the Uriel. Their orders are to capture the leader of the Uriel and bring him to meet their High Commander, but all is not as it seems, and new information shifts allegiances.

I'm so glad this is the first in a new YA fantasy series! I absolutely loved it and stayed up way past my bedtime because I couldn't put it down. Sally Slater did an outstanding job building the relationships between Sam, Tristan, and Braeden, and I can't wait to read the next book.

There were a few puzzling things here and there, such as how Sam managed to keep her sword practice truly a secret in a castle full of servants, why she thought her father didn't care about her in the slightest, and how she could hope to maintain her masquerade while traveling when her companions would know she never had to shave and did have to (presumably, unless on this world reproduction is different) deal with menstrual cycles which are never mentioned, but these were minor in comparison with the overall arc of the story.

For readers' advisors: Most YA fiction has story as the primary doorway, but this book was more about character development and world-building, although plot was also strong. There was a small amount of swearing (mostly "shite"), and a some sexual innuendo (primarily during the scene when Tristan decides Sam needs to "become a man" and drags both trainees to a brothel...which doesn't go so well). Otherwise it's a pretty "clean read." This would be an excellent read-alike for fans of Tamora Pierce, particularly her Alanna the Lioness series.

Many many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free Advance Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

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The Scam

The Scam by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

AUGH!! Cliffhanger ending, and I was reading an advance copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (many thanks), so who knows how long I'll have to wait to find out what happened! I sure hope Ms. Evanovich & Mr. Goldberg are nearly ready to release book #5 in this series ASAP.

This time around, Kate and Nick are leading their team in a con to bring down Evan Trace, a corrupt casino owner who gladly allows his businesses to launder money for some pretty nasty folks. Our intrepid duo first meet up with Trace at his hotel/casino in Las Vegas and then join him later in Macau, where much of the story takes place, aside from some side trips to (and smaller cons in) Hawaii. Not everything goes quite as planned, forcing Nick and Kate to think on their feet...or while dangling above a tank of piranhas.

Book #4 in the Fox and O'Hare series is a fast-paced, funny adrenaline ride. Everyone's favorite characters return to help pull off the latest complicated scam to bring down criminals regular law enforcement can't touch.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character secondary. Writing style is witty. Some mild swearing and reference to (but no on-screen) sexual content.

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The Job

The Job by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare once again teams up with Nick Fox, world-class thief and con man, this time to figure out who is framing Nick for crimes he's not actually committing. What they discover leads them to set up a complicated con to catch a sadistic drug lord who has bought himself a new face, making it impossible for authorities to identify and capture him. To pull it off they'll need the help of Kate's dad and his former covert ops pals, actor Boyd Capwell, their favorite driver Willie Owens, custom builder Tom Underhill, and CGI specialist Rodney Smoot.

Book #3 in the Fox and O'Hare series is just as fun as the first two. It's fast-paced and humorous, picking up where the previous novels left off. There isn't much in the way of character development, but the characters are fun to spend time with. It's escapist literature, perfect for reading on the beach or tucked up on the couch with a quilt and some hot chocolate, depending on your vacation venue.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There is no sex or graphic violence, but there is some mild swearing.

I received a free ebook copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Waistcoats & Weaponry

Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book #3 is a fast-paced romp of a steampunk story with misbehaving mechanical servants, party crashers, werewolf pack politics, a stolen train, a love triangle, tangled loyalties, a power-grab conspiracy, disguises, revelations, desperate decisions, and so much more. This time, most of the story takes place away from Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies. A year has passed since the end of Curtsies and Conspiracies. Not long after Sidheag receives bad news regarding her family, Sophronia, Dimity, and Pillover head to Sophronia's home to attend her eldest brother's engagement ball. All seems to be going swimmingly until Sidheag and two werewolves show up, and not long after the werewolves leave, all the mechanical servants suddenly freeze in their tracks and begin singing. The confusion provides the perfect cover for Sophronia and her friends to escape and help Sidheag head north, but none of them has the slightest inkling what chain of events this will set in motion.

This series just keeps getting better and better! Now that I've gotten more of a feel for who/what "Picklemen" are, I have no complaints whatsoever. Well, aside from the fact that I now have to wait for the next installment to be written and published.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting doorways are all strong. There is no sex or swearing (what Dimity considers "bad language" hardly counts).

Many many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher who let me read a free eGalley copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Curtsies & Conspiracies

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #2 in the series kicks off with the girls in Sophronia's class at the floating Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality undergoing their six-month evaluations, the results of which put everyone out of sorts. Sophronia is grateful for the friendship of Vieve and the sooties in the boiler room, and visits them even more frequently. It's with their assistance that she begins to work out the threads of the complicated machinations afoot regarding a new guidance valve and a test of aether travel. Many factions seem to have a stake in the outcome, from Picklemen to flyway men, vampires to government agents, and it's up to Sophronia to figure out who is trying to kidnap her friends Dimity and Pillover, and for heaven's sake, why?

Although I still haven't managed to work out exactly who the Picklemen are and what their agenda is, I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced romp through an alternate 19th century England where werewolves and vampires live side by side with ordinary humans, and most of the servants are mechanical. It was interesting to watch Sophronia grow and learn the hard way that sometimes her actions have unexpected consequences--a lesson all teenagers need, even the exceptionally mature ones.

For readers' advisors: setting and story doorways are primary. No sex or bad language. Sophronia is in a bit of a love triangle, but so far everyone is very formal and respectful.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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The Chase

The Chase by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Master thief Nick Fox and FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare have returned, teaming up to steal back an ancient Chinese statue from former White House Chief of Staff, Carter Grove, who stole it years ago from the Smithsonian Museum--a fact only a select handful of people know. China wants their statue back now, though, so Nick and Kate have only a couple of weeks to break in to Grove's heavily guarded and wired mansion, grab the statue, sneak in to the heavily guarded private airplane of the Chinese playboy sent to retrieve it, and swap the real one for the fake one in the safe. What could go wrong?

Carter Grove is a Bad Guy (patterned a bit after Karl Rove, perhaps?)--he's manipulative, greedy, unscrupulous, controlling, and runs a private security forces company staffed by mercenaries chosen because they enjoy killing. He feels entitled to have whatever he wants, including a wide variety of expensive artwork belonging to other people. When he realizes he's been robbed, his fury knows no bounds, and he sets out to destroy everyone who tricked him.

Luckily, Kate and Nick have backup: Kate enlists her dad--a retired black ops agent--and a couple of his old cronies. Nick finds a disgruntled Geek Squad techie willing to put his hacking skills to use for the greater good. Plus Boyd and Willie make encore appearances as well.

Whereas the first book in the series reminded me of a combination of the TV shows White Collar and Burn Notice, the second book also reminds me of the movie Ocean's Eleven. Nick manages to merge Matt Bomer's (White Collar) intelligent con artist with that of Simon Baker's (in The Mentalist) and add it to Jeffrey Donovan's (Burn Notice) and George Clooney's (Ocean's Eleven) strategic thinking. Special Agent Kate strikes me as a blend of Mary McCormack's character in In Plain Sight and Sandra Bullock's character at the beginning of Miss Congeniality, albeit less frumpy.

I think I liked this one a little better than the first one, mostly because all the setup was out of the way. Once you accept the basic premise of a straight-laced FBI agent sacrificing some of her principles to work with the very criminal she's dedicated her career to putting behind bars, then you can just sit back and enjoy the wild ride. What I don't understand is why this book is called The Chase and the first is The Heist, when really it would make more sense the other way around.

For readers' advisors: it's a fast-paced adventure with no sex and very little swearing. Story doorway is primary.

I received a free ebook Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Etiquette and Espionage

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sophronia Temminick is shipped off to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality as a covert recruit--meaning neither she nor her family know it's actually a training academy for lady spies. Sophronia becomes suspicious during the journey to the floating school when their carriage is ambushed by flywaymen intent on stealing a mysterious "prototype" from Mademoiselle Geraldine...who turns out not to be the headmistress after all.

Sophronia's natural inquisitiveness and propensity for sneaking, er, exploring, lead her to make friends in unusual places--always useful when one wants to gather information and thwart nefarious plots. With help from her roommate, Dimity, a few of her fellow first-year students, and her friends Soap and Vieve, Sophronia discovers a demoted classmate knows more than she should about the missing device, and they collaborate to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Carriger does a fantastic job of world-building, bringing to life a Victorian England where servants are mechanical, vampires and werewolves can be teachers, and a school can float courtesy of massive coal-fired boilers. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Sophronia's universe, and I look forward to the rest of the series. I will have to check out Carriger's adult series, now that I know this is a YA spinoff of that one.

For readers' advisors: setting doorway is primary, story is secondary, as the plot doesn't really ramp up until later in the book. No sex or bad language.

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Nowhere Near Respectable

Nowhere Near Respectable by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars, really.

When Lady Kiri Lawford accidentally overhears her potential mother-in-law insulting her and her mother, she is so furious, she "borrows" the best horse in the stables and sets off alone for her brother's house in London. Not the smartest plan in the world, as it turns out, because while still far from home, she stumbles across a group of smugglers who capture her, chain her up in a cave, and then begin debating the merits of raping & killing her versus holding her for ransom. She is ultimately freed by a combination of an honorable customer of theirs and her own skills, including using her diamond ring to saw through the manacles and her knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting.

Her rescuer turns out to be Damian Mackenzie, friend and former classmate of her brother's, owner of a fashionable gambling establishment and the illegitimate brother of Lord Will Masterson. Even though Mac is not really suitable marriage material, he appeals to Kiri's rebellious side, and she can't quite make herself stay away from him once they are back in London. One night, she and a friend sneak out and go masqueraded to Mac's club under the pretense of repaying him the money he spent rescuing her. They see it as a great adventure, but the adventure turns serious when Kiri notices a young woman being abducted and charges into the fray. The kidnapping turns out to be part of a much larger conspiracy, and soon Kiri is going undercover, using her unique perfumer's talent of identifying scents to locate the culprits.

The reason this novel didn't rate a full four stars (or more) from me is that it requires more than the usual amount of willing suspension of disbelief. I could believe that Kiri's childhood was unusual enough to have afforded her training in a particular type of Indian hand-to-hand combat, and I could even believe that she'd been trained as a perfumer. My own husband has an incredibly strong magnetic pull on me, so I could just barely stretch far enough to believe in the power of her attraction to Mac. But I had a hard time swallowing the concept that her brother the Duke, her stepfather the General, or her mother the Hindu princess would have ever allowed her to move into a boardinghouse for spies and go out unchaperoned, dressed as a doxy, looking for traitors and criminals!

Still, the story was highly engaging, and I enjoyed the historical thread regarding the state of the British royal family during the Regency period. It was a fun read.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting doorways. Some sex and swearing.

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Sometimes a Rogue

Sometimes a Rogue by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More like 3.5 stars. I'd say four, if it weren't for the slightly-too-easy escapes from disaster. And the fact that Mariah going into labor in the opening scene was a bit too sudden and dramatic. Not that water breaking and things going awry isn't likely, especially in that day & age, but as someone who is currently waiting for labor to start, I can tell you that water breaking--as the first sign of labor--is almost certainly not followed seconds later by second stage labor (i.e. the pushing phase), no matter what is portrayed on tv or in movies.

Still, I really enjoyed the story of Sarah Clarke-Townsend and Rob Carmichael. She's the identical twin of the pregnant Duchess of Ashton; he's the Bow Street Runner and friend of the Duke of Ashton who races to rescue her from the kidnappers who've abducted her by mistake. Sarah is no fragile flower, though, and Rob's admiration for her intrepid spirit grows by the hour as they struggle to evade capture throughout the Irish countryside. A near-death calamity leads to Sarah claiming, for expediency's sake, to be his fiancee, which turns out to be the best thing for both of them as they turn pretense into reality.

This is a great series for keeping oneself entertained and distracted. I seem to have accidentally skipped book #4, however, so I do need to go back and locate that one now.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways, primarily, but also historical setting (Regency England). Several sex scenes later in the book, but thankfully not especially explicit. Some mild swearing, particularly on the part of a young girl who's spent an unfortunate two years with her crude and abusive grandfather.

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The Woman Who Died a Lot

The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just sit back and enjoy the wacky ride. Thursday Next is back, a bit more battered than before but still just as determined to save the world from the Goliath Corporation. This time around she's also battling to save the library budget from elimination, find a missing criminal who can manipulate memories, prevent an imminent scheduled smiting of the Swindon business district by the Global Standard Deity, discover the purpose of the illegal body doubles, find out what Jack Schitt is plotting and stop him, keep a genius daughter with bad taste in boyfriends on track to get her Anti-Smite Shield invention working, and figure out why her son is going to murder someone on Friday at 14:02. Among other things. It's a whirlwind of complicated and crazy subplots.

Favorite moments: the reference to Nancy Pearl on page 100!  Thursday's desk has a dedicated red phone with a single button labeled "NP."  It's the emergency hotline to Nancy at the World League of Librarians, and if you summon her, she'll be on the first gravitube from Seattle.  HA!  Also, page 108 and the "Shush Law" that OK'ed violence by librarians against thieves and vandals.

What I love most about Fforde's novels is that they are so very chaotic and zany. They are nonstop action and nonsense that somehow come together in the end to make perfect sense in their own unique way. This series is pure fun , and I love escaping into Fforde's crazy reality.

For reader's advisors: setting and story doorways. Some mild swearing.

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