The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Joliffe the Player Mysteries Margaret Frazer, 2004-2011 I wrote last year that one of the series that was getting me through the pandemic was Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse mysteries. Spinning out of that comes this shorter, slightly more active series, following a group of traveling players in the 1430s. It's a delight.  The Frevisse mysteries have to occasionally find excuses for the main character to leave her home abbey to end up wherever the plot takes place, but Joliffe and his companions are naturally on the move. They come into contact with people from every walk of life. As travelers, though, they are often mistrusted, giving the naturally sharp-witted Joliffe an additional motivation beyond his own curiosity for solving whatever murder is at hand.  The depth of the author's research is constantly clear, and anyone writing anything set in a medieval society could do a lot worse for their own research than reading these books. Of course, I especially love all the d...

Crossposted from MainliningChristmas.com Ming's Christmas Wishes Susan L. Gong, 2020 New Release! A copy of this book was provided by Netgalley for the purpose of review.  I had to read through this children's book twice to understand it, but it definitely grew on me.  This short, beautifully illustrated children's book follows a few days in the life of a young Chinese-American girl in the 1930s. Ming wants a Christmas tree (this is related to a larger desire to fit in at school), but her mother won't hear of it.  The next day, Ming's father takes her to visit some family friends and some places his father took him when he was young. The trip connects her with her heritage, and they even come back with a tree to decorate - not a fir tree to cut down and discard, but a Chinese pine to keep in a pot.  That all sounds simple enough, but there's something distinctive about the way this book is written, and it's somewhat unsettling if you're expecting a stand...

I registered a few mild complaints last week  (don't misunderstand, I still like all those books), but I also wanted to give a shout out to some other board books that I think are especially impressive in unexpected ways. I Love My Bunny The story of this book is very simple - Anna and her toy bunny have a tea party. However, the interactive bits on each page are very effective. The fluffy bunny tail was an obvious source of fascination, and a flap that's easy for my little one to work meant that this book became an early favorite. There's a scratch-and-sniff panel that hasn't come up yet, but the sparkles on another page and the soft blanket on the last page are also lots of fun. (Side note: This is part of a series, but I was less impressed with I Love My Puppy, the other one I tried.) Usborne Very First 1 2 3 I know, it's a counting book (up to five), like a hundred other counting books. That's what I thought at first, too. On second look, t...

Some quick thoughts, because I haven't been reading too many full-length adult novels recently. I have been reading many, many board books. Most of these are fine. Some of them are great. However, I do have a handful of small criticisms I would like to lodge.   Never Touch a Dragon This book is a hit with my nine-month-old. The bright colors and especially the textures on the cover and on every page make it excellent baby bait. I have two small criticisms though. The fonts are so whimsical that I think it'll be hard for her to read as she gets older. And the first page. The first page is different from every other page in that the part of the dragon described in the poem on this page is not the part with the texture, plus the poem on this page does not rhyme properly. Disappointing. Dear Zoo Lift-the-flap books are very popular with my little one so you'd think this would be a hit. However, these particular flaps are a little hard for her at this age....

Two Girls Down Louisa Luna, 2018 Premise: When two young sisters vanish from a parking lot, a private investigator and a retired cop might be the best hope of finding them. (Content warning: graphic violence, discussion of sexual assault and murder, including of children) I borrowed this book from the library on a whim, based on an article that recommended it for fans of the show Broadchurch. Although l can see some superficial similarities and I think the book is well written, reading it mostly affirmed my previous belief that I don't really like thrillers. I was pretty bored by the first main character. A single dad and former cop forced to retire under complex circumstances, he's warm and practical, pretty uncomplicated and predictable. Alice Vega the PI is much more interesting. She's distant and analytical except when she's itching for a fight. She's good at manipulation and focused on results. It was only when l was writing this review that I realiz...

The Traitor Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson, 2015 Premise: After her island home is taken over by an empire, Baru is determined to gain enough power within the system to make a change. I bought this book when it was cheap at some point because it got lots of acclaim when it came out. I can see why: it's very well written, the characters and the world are complex and intriguing, there are non-heteronormative cultures (and more powerful cultures that oppress LGBT and polyamorous people). The detail in the governments and economies at play is impressive. I read it now because the sequel came out recently and reminded me that the book existed. And... I think I liked it? It's just that I am not, of late, in the mood for hard stories, stories of impossible choices and great betrayals, stories of brutality and horror. And the ending of this book is a horror, with only the smallest embers of potential vengeance to carry light to the sequel. I felt myself consciously distanci...

Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong and What You Really Need to Know Emily Oster, 2013, 2016 Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy Angela Garbes, 2018 So, as you can probably guess, I have a good reason for letting this blog go semi-dark. We’ll see how much content I post going forward, especially once the new little one is due in June. In the meantime, I didn’t mean to completely stop posting, I just fell out of the habit. I’ve (naturally) been reading up on my current state, and here are the two books I liked the most so far. Expecting Better is a great book that risks being dated rather quickly. It’s by a journalist who took it upon herself to understand as much of the current research around getting and being pregnant as she could. Interspersed with anecdotes from her own pregnancy, she provides grounded recommendations. More than that, the book shares rational advice based on the actual science...