A Good Day for Chardonnay

A Good Day for Chardonnay: A Novel by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram is back in the second installment of the hilarious series that bears her name. A few months have passed since we last saw Sun, and since then her parents managed to con her into going on some really terrible blind dates. The current one is definitely the worst, so it's a huge relief when her deputy calls with an emergency, cutting the date short. A raccoon emergency. At his own house. But hey, it got her out of a creepy coffee date, so there's that!

All too soon her attention is diverted from Randy the Attack Raccoon to a stabbing and hit-and-run at the bar owned by Levi Ravinder, the man she's been in love with since childhood. One man is taken to the ICU, one refuses medical treatment, and a third has his body dumped down a nearby ravine. But before she heads out to track down witnesses to an altercation between the stabbing victim and unknown assailants earlier in the day, Sun receives a message from one of Levi's uncles, claiming to have information about her abduction 15 years ago, and her destination changes. Upon returning to Del Sol, Sunshine is stunned to recognize the face of a young kidnapping victim on security camera footage from the previous day--a child who went missing years ago. Meanwhile, Sun's daughter Auri decides to enlist the help of her boyfriend and best friend in investigating a serial killer from decades ago.

I absolutely LOVED this book. The witty, snappy dialogue and multiple plot threads interwove with tender personal moments. One minute I was laughing out loud, and the next (OK, mostly later in the book) I was sobbing and trying to explain to my kids why Mommy was so sad. I am grateful some questions from the first book were answered or at least partially resolved, even if the answers to the biggest were completely obvious the entire time to everyone but Sun. As per usual, the breakneck pace made putting my iPad down nearly impossible. Plus, I just wanted to spend more time with the characters. And hug them. And join the secret club.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and language are all very strong doorways. There is quite a lot of swearing, some sexual content, some on- and off-screen violence, some alcohol, and a couple of scenes where children or teens are in danger (they survive).

Many many thanks to NetGalley, Darynda Jones, and St. Martin's Publishing Group for letting me read an eGalley copy in exchange for my honest review. Um, when does the next book come out? Is it soon? Please may I read it right away? Please??

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Highfire

Highfire by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finished reading the ARC from NetGalley a couple of weeks ago, and even with that amount of time to ponder, I still am not quite sure what I thought/think of the book. It is definitely unlike anything I have ever read before! From the description, I was expecting something much less dark and violent. Yes, there is a great deal of humor, but it's not a lighthearted read. Characters die, nearly die, and lose body parts. The vast quantity of profanity starts on page one, the crude sexual references and jokes not long after.

You can't help but root for teenage (Everett) Squib Moreau, and I grew fond of Vern, the depressed curmudgeon of an ancient dragon, as time went on, too. Constable Hooke freaked me out--he's a ruthless psychopath who has been getting away with murdering people for years, beginning with his cruel zealot of a father.

On balance, I think I'm glad I read the book because it was so unusual and kept me reading to find out what would happen. But it's not one I'll re-read. I prefer my escapist fiction to be more laugh-out-loud and less dark. I'm sure other people with different reading tastes will love this, though.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is perhaps primary? Readers will need an incredibly high tolerance for bad language, sexual references, and on-screen violence. Vern is, he believes, the last of his kind--a fire-breathing dragon ("Vern" is short for "Wyvern"). The closest genre it fits into is contemporary fantasy because the story revolves around a dragon living/hiding in a swamp in a modern-day Louisiana bayou.

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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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Summoned to Thirteenth Grave

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After a hundred years, give or take, in featureless dimension with only wraiths for company, Charley is back on planet Earth! In the Sahara Desert, to be exact. But not for long, because the hell dimension she and Reyes accidentally opened in their apartment is spreading. Rapidly. And demons are infecting dozens of innocent humans, sometimes with fatal consequences. Time to gather her pals, both human and supernatural, and figure out a way to close the Shade dimension back up again before it swallows the planet and all of the coffee in the universe. Which would be a catastrophe of decaffeinated proportions.

The last book in the series! Thankfully, Ms. Jones leaves the door wide open for a spin-off series...most likely featuring Beep. Whew!

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are strong. It's also got a language doorway (humor) for those who enjoy Charley's wise-cracking dialogue and have a high tolerance for profanity, including the "c" word that I personally loathe and wish had been omitted. There are descriptions of violence as demons (and a lion) rip people and ghosts to bits, and there are some steamy sex scenes.

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

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Vox

Vox by Christina Dalcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this near-future dystopia, a right-wing, ultra-conservative preacher leads the "Pure" movement which controls the country to the point where women, girls, and even female babies are forced to wear counters on their wrists which limit them to 100 words per day and administer increasingly painful shocks for each word over that 100. Reading and writing are forbidden. Jobs, passports, and bank accounts, etc., are for men and boys only. Anyone who doesn't adhere to the "Pure" standards--such as adulterers, all LGBTQIA people, and those who protest the restrictions--are sent to "work camps" to do hard manual labor in utter silence. And worse.

Dr. Jean McClellan has been chafing for a year at the restrictions, ripped away from her work as a top neuroscientist days before from curing Wernicke's aphasia--an illness which strips language from its victims, making words jumbled and meaningless. Then the president's brother is stricken with the illness, and suddenly the Reverend Carl and an assortment of suited men in black SUVs show up at her door with an offer she ultimately cannot refuse: return to work long enough to finish the anti-aphasia serum. Touring her new tightly monitored lab with teammates Lorenzo and Lin confirms that all is not above-board, wreaking havoc with her plan to buy time (and unlimited words) for herself and her daughter by not revealing how close they already are to a cure. Question is, is it really a cure that those in power want?

Jean used to be apolitical, never imagining a fringe movement could gain such power. Now she's fighting for the lives of everyone she loves as part of an underground resistance network. Her tension, frustration, despair, rage, and fear are palpable. I could almost hear relentless, urgent music playing in the background as I read. It was particularly haunting to alternate reading this novel with listening to the third Maggie Hope mystery, set primarily in WWII Berlin. In the era of a Trump White House, this cautionary tale should inspire you to exercise your right to vote, speak up, and join protest movements...while you still can.

Do not read this at bedtime because you'll either try to sleep and fail, or keep reading through the night until you finish the book.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. There is quite a bit of profanity, some sex, and some violence.  There is a lot to discuss, so it's a good choice for book clubs.  Also suggest to fans of The Handmaid's Tale or Future Home of the Living God.

Many thanks to Bookbrowse.com and the publisher for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review! I don't usually read dystopia, but this was excellent.

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Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book #2 in this series was enjoyable to read in many respects, but it had so many issues, I wish there had been another round of revisions before it went to print.  For example:
* There was a continuity issue wherein Maggie read a newspaper account of a supposed suicide in a London hotel, then a few scenes later magically knew the young woman had been murdered, but shortly thereafter still thought it was a suicide.  Huh?
* Also, as other reviewers have pointed out, the plot parallels the TV show "Alias" WAY too closely.  I am a huge "Alias" fan, but the TV show did it first and better!
* I liked Hugh, and if Ms. MacNeal hadn't so abruptly had John join the RAF between books & get immediately shot down, the romance would have worked a lot better.
* For a brilliant, logical woman, Maggie sure overlooked the obvious and jumped to too many (wrong) conclusions.  She is new to spying, so a touch of that would be fine, but not constantly.
* The subplot about who killed Lily was rather a dud after the careful opening setup.  Like the author meant to go one way, changed her mind mid-book, and never went back to adjust the scenes/story/plot to fit.
* Maggie often seemed less mature in this book.  I kept trying to figure out how old she was because it felt like she'd regressed.

There are other things, but you get the point.  Still, I like the series overall and am already listening to Book #3.

For readers' advisors:  character, story, and setting doorways.  Some profanity throughout.  Some violence (a pretty high body count--mostly gunshots and one beheading).  Allusions to sex but no actual sex scenes.  Still WWII England in all but a few scenes.  Leisurely pace until the very end.

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A Day No Pigs Would Die

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Robert Peck's semi-autobiographical novel of growing up in the Shaker Way in rural Vermont in 1940 is full of life lessons--some funny, some painful and violent, and some heart-wrenching.

Twelve-year-old Robert idolizes his father. Haven Peck may not know how to read or write, but he is wise in the ways of the natural world, a good neighbor, and a good man. He is steadfast in his determination to raise his son up to be a good man, too, and to that end teaches him how to take care of the animals, the farm, his mama, and his Aunt Carrie. On a farm, birth and death are everyday occurrences for which there is no escape. But in between the birthing and the dying is a whole lot of laughter, adventure, and love.

In my library, this book is shelved in the adult fiction section, but it really is a young adult novel for older teens. I picked it up because it was on a list of banned & challenged books, and now I'm wondering if it had been challenged in my district at some point in the past and moved from YA to adult fiction as a result?

For readers' advisors: language and setting doorways are primary, character secondary (there is not much in the way of plot--it's more vignettes). The descriptions of farm life are vivid and often brutal, particularly the rape of Robert's pig, the "weaseling" of the puppy, and the animal slaughtering. There are some swear words and some allusions to hanky panky happening down the road. The language is so evocative of a particular time & place it almost begs to be read aloud...which might be a good idea if you wish to read together and discuss as a family.

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