The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Pandemic life has brought me back to reading series in a big way, and I've been continuing to work through Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. I am enjoying these books, but I don't have enough to say for individual reviews. But on the other hand, I do want to remember what I thought of each later, so... time for a lightning round! Book 4: Late Eclipses - Toby races against time to find a poisoner. A lot happens, but I don't have much to say about it. Running! Reveals! A villain who last appeared in book 1 that I didn't remember! There's a lot of death in this one, and the scenes where Toby is tortured by iron poisoning are very effective.  Book 5: One Salt Sea - Toby races against time to find some kidnapped kids before a war starts.  I liked this one quite a bit. It introduced a whole civilization of sea fae, new characters, new powers, etc. Toby only doubled back on herself like a video game character replaying a level once and only passed out once. Spoile

The Duke Who Didn't Courtney Milan, 2020 Premise: Chloe Fong is focused on one goal: making her father's sauce a successful business. She certainly doesn't have time for her old crush on Jeremy Yu. Jeremy wants to convince Chloe that he's serious about her, but what will happen when the townsfolk find out that he's technically the Duke? So, Chloe is a constant list-maker. She's stubborn and type-A and prone to over-planning and keeps grudges like they're going out of style. The first pages describe her beloved clipboard. What I'm trying to say is I feel a bit called out here. Maybe more than a bit.  Even if you don't strongly identify with the heroine, though, there's a lot to love here. I think what I most enjoy about Milan's work, and most of the romance I like, is the particular mix of reality and aspiration.  For example, many of the characters face racism and other discrimination because the book is set in England in 1891. However, it

Over the Woodward Wall A. Deborah Baker (Seanan McGuire), 2020 Premise: Kids Zib and Avery live on the same street but lead very different lives, until one day they climb a wall that shouldn't be there and end up in a very different world.  I have mixed feelings about reviewing this book because I went into it with completely the wrong idea. I heard a few people singing its praises and placed a hold at the library without thinking much about it. But this is a new pen name for McGuire, and that's because it's pretty different than her other work. But maybe not quite different enough for me to realize it from the start? In either case, I spent the whole first section confused because I kept waiting for something in the tone or plot to change that wasn't going to change.   I've read this author's urban fantasy, and her meta-fairytale work, and her horror, but I would call this book... somewhat eerie middle-grade fantasy? It's kind of like if Stephen King with