The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Spin Robert Charles Wilson, 2005 Hugo Winner - 2006 Premise: Tyler, Jason, and Diane are watching when the stars go out. They grow up in a frightening time when the Earth is subject to mysterious outside forces. I read this book years ago, and l remember liking it then. I can't remember whether it took me a while to get into it the first time, but this time I was bored and impatient with the first half. (All 2020 book reviews should come with a big notice that the reader's reactions may or may not be typical.) The story bounces back and forth between Tyler undergoing a mysterious illness and his recounting of his childhood and life up to that point. I was somewhat bored with the beginning: his crush on Diane and the early story while the world was being established. This was partially because I remembered just enough about the final reveals, and without the mystery, the book held little tension. Additionally, I was turned off by Diane herself and thus the narrator's obsessi...

Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan, 2013 Premise: Romance meets riches in Singapore as a wedding brings relationships under tension in a sprawling wealthy clan. I saw the movie adaptation (sort of) last year, and I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. (I saw a version cut for TV while I was in the hospital for the birth of my daughter, so it was, shall we say, a nontraditional movie-watching experience.) There are some differences between the movie and the book (notably the resolution of the main plot), but having seen the movie really helped me follow the book in this case. I didn’t get sidetracked trying to remember all the side characters because I knew the main players and the major plot beats.  The result of all that? I really liked the book a lot.  I liked Rachel and Nick, the main couple, and while I liked their romance, I really liked how the book called Nick out more for being oblivious to his own wealth and how it would affect their relationship.  I liked Astrid a lot; I f...

The Pursuit Of... Courtney Milan, 2018 Premise: At the Battle of Yorktown, a black American soldier comes upon a British officer who doesn’t seem interested in fighting, or at least in winning. It’s the unlikely beginning of a grand romance.  This... I just... I... How do you type a happy squeeing sound? I absolutely adored this. I loved both characters, how their differences fit together. I sometimes have trouble believing the attraction between romance protagonists, but this is compelling from the first page.  It is also hilarious. Laugh-out-loud funny, tense without being stressful, wonderfully sexy, and beautifully written.  John’s situation as a former slave isn’t softened or glossed over, but neither is it exploited for cheap drama. Henry has his own issues and a very un-British obsession with the Declaration of Independence. This combination means that the book grapples, if gently, with the space between myth and reality when it comes to the founding fathers. This ...

Men at Arms (Discworld) Terry Pratchett, 1993 Premise: Book 2 starring the Night Watch. Vimes is getting married and retiring, the other members of the Night Watch are dealing with nonhuman recruits, and somewhere in the city, a dangerous weapon has been found... This is more like what I remember. This book is the source of the famous Samuel Vimes “Boots” Theory of Economic Unfairness. A lot of it is about the danger of the one gun that has been invented, and how it is as seductive and deadly as Sauron’s Ring. (Quite literally, as this is a fantasy world, but metaphorically as well - when you can kill so easily, it’s tempting to find a reason...) The murders that bring the weapon to the attention of the watch really affect the characters (even though there is a literal Assassin's Guild in the city) because of their power and randomness. It’s appropriate that for this book, while there is a villain, several in fact, they aren’t major characters. The villain who sets the plot in moti...

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (Feminine Pursuits, Book 2) Olivia Waite, 2020 Premise: Agatha Griffin has been running her printing company alone since the death of her husband, so she knows when to delegate. A swarm of bees in the storage room demands delegation. Penelope Flood is a beekeeping expert and local eccentric, thought to be too kind for her own good and oddly okay with her husband always being gone at sea. Together they’ll dare local politics, potential scandal, and the possibility of love. I didn’t love this book quite as much as The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics , but I did enjoy it a lot. It’s a fantastic balance, combining a gorgeous romance, interesting history, and just enough tension and danger.  Our heroines first have to admit their attraction for each other through a long and lovely progression of acquaintances to friends to more. Dramatic turns in English politics cause widespread upheaval, including in Penelope’s tiny town, first taking a few t...

Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett, 1989 Premise: The introduction of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The men of the Night Watch (all three of them, plus a new recruit) mostly muddle along unnoticed and unheeded until a dragon unexpectedly appears in the city. In a search for some reading that would feel worth my time but not take too much brain power, I recently decided to re-read the Discworld books about the Watch.  This first volume is good, but not as polished as later ones. Some jokes or side comments feel a bit dated. The characters are sort of sketches of who they become later. Carrot in particular is more of a by-the-book simpleton than the straightforward, good-hearted person he is later. Vimes and The Patrician are closer to later portrayals but both lack nuance.  There’s a strong subplot starring the Librarian. I thought the rest was fine, but I didn’t love it... although then I happened to read a tumblr post which made some excellent observations about the parallels bet...

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Susanna Clarke, 2004 Hugo Winner - 2005 Premise: In the early 1800s, Englishmen study magic, but don’t have any practical abilities, until Mr. Norrell. He and Mr. Strange seek to bring magic back to England, but they will contend with mundane politicians, fairy lords, and their own rivalry.  I read this book back when it was new, and I remember liking it, but I remembered nothing about the characters or plot when I picked it up to reread it. It’s been a couple weeks since that reread as I sit down to write this, and I’m already forgetting it again.  The style is striking and strong - I like the dry humor of the footnotes and the surreal way that the magic is described. The multiple plots weave delicately in and out of each other. But the many characters are mostly ciphers, and the major plot element of the two women trapped or tormented by the fairy always feels strangely distant. The situation with Stephen Black is more central, but I wish it ...