The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of JanuaryThe Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow
ISBN: 9780356512440
Published by Orbit on September 10, 2019
Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Historical
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
four-half-stars

In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut. In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

 

Things that attracted me to this book:  the title (I first saw it in January, around my birthday); the cover; and the blurb mentioning a book.  I picked it up because the only books appealing to me right now are fluffy, preferably magical realism plots.

This book was both and neither.  I have no idea how to describe it.  A grown-up fairy tale sounds too trite and too superficial, though its roots are firmly in myth and legend.  The writing is lyrical, the tense is fourth-wall-breaking second person.  It’s a happy story, a heart-wrenching one, and a magical one all at once. It’s both predictable and surprising; cynical and fantastically idealistic.  It genuinely shocked the hell out of me because it wasn’t at all what I expected.

As the ward of the wealthy Mr Locke, January Scaller feels little different from the artefacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored and utterly out of place.

But her quiet existence is shattered when she stumbles across a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page reveals more impossible truths about the world…

It’s both a perfect and perfectly inadequate description.  The closest I can come is a story with very faint shades of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, only for grown-ups.

four-half-stars

The Bookshop on the Shore

The Bookshop on the ShoreThe Bookshop on the Shore
by Jenny Colgan
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0062850180
Publication Date: June 11, 2019
Pages: 416
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

This one was an average chick-lit/romance that was only marginally about books, though they sounded like heavenly books in a library out of my dreams.  The setting was the same as The Bookshop on the Corner, and a couple of characters from the first book play minor roles in this one, but otherwise the story is completely stand alone.

And it’s ok.  It’s saved from complete mediocrity by a plot twist that was unexpected – at least by me; with my limited backlist of books in this genre, it’s probably not hard to surprise me.

It was a diverting read, though not as good as The Book Charmer, whose strong sense of place kept interfering in my mind with the weaker one here;  Perhaps I might have enjoyed this one more if it hadn’t come on the tails of that more vividly written and charming book.

The Book Charmer

The Book CharmerThe Book Charmer
by Karen Hawkins
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 1982105542
Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Pages: 344
Publisher: Gallery Books

I’m still fighting a book slump, and I need fluff.  Industrial grade fluff.  This fit the bill pretty perfectly.

Small town America, seventh daughter of the town’s founding family, all of whom have ‘gifts’, is the town librarian and the books talk to her.  And nobody tries to medicate her, because it’s magical realism.  A newcomer with a boulder on her shoulder comes to town and the books tell Sarah that miss-cranky pants is going to save the town.

I’m being a little snarky, which isn’t fair to the book.  Even though the story is entirely predictable, it’s well written.  Once I started it I was sucked into the magical little town of Dove Pond, and the characters all felt more real and well-adjusted than most of reality at the moment, so while it wasn’t high literature, it was an absolutely perfect antidote to current events.

Small Magics

Small MagicsSmall Magics
by Illona Andrews
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781596069619
Publication Date: December 1, 2019
Pages: 455
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Subterranean Press

An anthology of short stories in the Kate Daniels universe.


When I saw here on BookLikes that Sweep with Me was out, I went to Ilona Andrew’s website to find out more, and noticed the release of a new anthology, published by Subterranean Press.  Yes please!

This is a compilation of the short stories Ilona Andrews has written, all previously published elsewhere, and for the first time in print, all the Curren POV’s Gordon Andrews has written and posted on their website.  Interspersed are 3? full color illustrations.

It’s a nice book – not the most impressive I’ve seen put out by Subterranean, but a good solid book.  I’d read some of the stories before, but enough of them were new to me to make me appreciate having bought it.

My only gripe with the book is with the Curran POVs.  As a character, these stories don’t always flatter Curran, but that’s trivial.  What is really disappointing, though, is the poor copy-editing of the Curran stories.  On the website, they’re clear to state that the stories were written for fun, not edited, yada yada.  And that’s totally understandable.  But I’d have though when it comes to publishing a limited release, numbered, signed, illustrated edition, the publisher, if not the authors themselves, would have wanted to take the time and make the effort to correct, at the very least, the most glaring omissions and errors (lots of the, a, an articles missing, or misplaced).

Ah well, a good collection that might have been great, but still welcome on my shelves.

Sweep with Me (Innkeeper Chronicles Novella)

Sweep with MeSweep with Me
by Illona Andrews
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781660140022
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #3.5
Publication Date: January 14, 2020
Pages: 136
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: NYLA Publishing

"Thank you for joining us at Gertrude Hunt, the nicest bed-and-breakfast in Red Deer, Texas, during the Treaty Stay. As you know, we are honor-bound to accept all guests during this oldest of innkeeper holidays, and we are expecting a dangerous guest. Or several. But have no fear. Your safety and comfort is our first priority. The inn and your hosts - Dina Demille and Sean Evans - will defend you at all costs. But we hope we don't have to."

Every winter, the innkeepers look forward to celebrating their own special holiday, commemorating the ancient treaty that united the very first inns and established the rules that protect them, their intergalactic guests, and the very unaware/oblivious people of planet Earth. By tradition, the innkeepers welcomed three guests: a warrior, a sage, and a pilgrim, but during the holiday, the innkeepers must open their doors to anyone who seeks lodging. Anyone.

All Dina hopes is that the guests and conduct themselves in a polite manner. But what's a holiday without at least one disaster?


Fun; brief, but it packs a punch at the end.  This one is for those who’ve already read the other Innkeeper Chronicle books, though there’s enough ‘tell’ sprinkled throughout that a first-timer wouldn’t be totally confused.  They would be totally spoiled for the others though, as there are spoilers to previous plots in the text.

A lot of the secondary cast are ‘away’ for this story, so Orro gets a bit more attention, and it appears Dina is making new friends.  Not sure if we’ll see them again, as this novella has a pretty tidy HEA ending, but they’ll be welcome additions to any future Innkeeper books.

Owl be Home for Christmas (Meg Langslow, #26)

Owl be Home for ChristmasOwl be Home for Christmas
by Donna Andrews
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781250305312
Series: Meg Langslow #26
Publication Date: October 19, 2019
Pages: 304
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

This was the only Christmas story I read this year, and I started it just as everything started going pear shaped in RL, so it took me forever to read it.  I know this is a ‘me’ problem, but the longer it takes me to finish a book, the more scattered the story feels to me, so this entry by one of my favorite current authors got short shrift from me this year.  Still, it was good; the mystery was well constructed and the holiday spirit was high.  The Christmas dinner almost made me misty eyed and made me love Donna Andrews as an author just a little bit more than I already did.

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (Charley Davidson, #13)

Summoned to Thirteenth GraveSummoned to Thirteenth Grave
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781250149411
Series: Charlie Davidson #13
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
Pages: 292
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Charley is dead angry. She’s been kicked off the earthly plane for eternity—which is exactly the amount of time it takes to make a person stark, raving mad. But someone’s looking out for her, and Charley’s allowed to return after a mere hundred years in exile. Surely not that much has changed since then…right?

She’s missed her daughter. Reyes. Cookie and Garrett and Uncle Bob. Now that Charley’s finally back on earth, it’s time to solve the burning questions that still need answering. What happened to her mother? How did she really die? Who killed her? Is a batch of cupcakes the best medicine to mend a broken heart? The epic showdown between good and evil is about to begin. . .


The last book in the series; the one meant to wrap up all the loose ends, and it does so admirably.

When I read the first book, I liked it for the mysteries and the humor, though the humor was a little over-played (her penchant for naming everything grated on my nerves, and though she never stops doing it, it plays a much smaller part in the narratives of future books).  As the series progressed, I still read them for the mysteries and I enjoyed the humor more because it became more balanced, but I also got stuck into the mythology Jones was using for the overall series arc.  And I genuinely became attached to the wacky cast of characters that surrounded Charley.

This final book winds up the arc concerning the prophecies involving Charley and Reyes – and keeps the possibilities open for a future series featuring their daughter and her prophesied battle against Lucifer.  Since the 13th book was meant to be the finale, there are no loose ends or questions – though there were a couple of didn’t-see-that-coming twists, one full-blown M. Night Shyamalan shocker, and a single misty-eyed moment I’m wiling to admit to.

The only bit that left me disappointed was the end-end; the part where we find out what Charley and Reyes do.  It’s not anything short of a happy ending, but I didn’t like it.  I get it, and I get why it was the perfect ending, but I still didn’t like it, and mostly for juvenile reasons.

View Spoiler »

While I’m sad to see the story end, and sad I won’t see the gang anymore, I’m happy with the series ending now rather than past its prime, and Darynda Jones has a new series coming out next year that sounds like it might be fun, so perhaps I’ll have a new series to love and look forward to.

 

I read this book for Halloween Bingo’s 13 square.  13 in the title, and 13th in the series.

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe

Midnight at the Blackbird CaféMidnight at the Blackbird Café
by Heather Webber
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781250198594
Publication Date: July 16, 2019
Pages: 336
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Forge

Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.

As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.


I’ve always enjoyed Heather Webber’s cozy mysteries; they’re fun, well-written and usually have better-than-average plots.  So when this was announced I was eager to see what she’d come up with when there was no murder.

She didn’t disappoint, though the overall tone of the book was a tiny bit too heavy handed for my tastes.  The power of love is a wonderful thing indeed, but my nature is not one that is comfortable with being immersed in heart tugging storylines.

The book centers on two main characters: one coming to the small town of Wicklow for the first time, to see to the affairs of her grandmother’s estate, and at the same time is confronted with her heritage and connection to a town she’s never been to.  The second MC is the emotionally neglected daughter of the town’s social maven, who has come back to town a widow with toddler in tow.  But the true main character of the book is the town itself and its curious connection to loved ones who have crossed over.

It was a good read, though I sensed the author was struggling to bring balance to the heavier emotions; hints of humour came from most of the characters, but never quite took hold.  If it had, I’d have probably enjoyed the book even more.  Still, I’ll happily keep an eye out for more of Webber’s work.

I read this book for Halloween Bingo’s Magical Realism square.

An Artless Demise (Lady Darby, #7)

An Artless DemiseAn Artless Demise
by Anna Lee Huber
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780451491367
Series: A Lady Darby Mystery #7
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Pages: 372
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Mystery

I thoroughly enjoy this series, and I enjoyed this one too, but I think it might be the one I liked least.

Anyone who has read the earlier books in the series will readily agree that Lady Darby has had an unarguably difficult and painful past.  Her first husband, a famous anatomist, forced her to attend his human dissections to draw the illustrations required for his planned masterwork on the human anatomy.  When her part was revealed upon his death, she was vilified and run out of London. Now she’s back, in love, married, and pregnant, and her timing is awful; burkers have been caught attempting to sell the body of a dead boy to anatomists, and it’s obvious he did not meet his end naturally.  Then the nobs start getting killed in the streets of Mayfair and everyone is looking at Lady Darby again.

It’s a great story, but unfortunately, Kiera’s wallowing just a bit.  Not as much as your average historical heroine cliche, but more than what I’d expect from this strong and talented character.  Call it a justifiable response to the equivalent of PTSD, but she became a victim, and it was a bit disappointing, given all the adventures she’s had.  Usually, this wouldn’t be as big of a stand out as it is this time, but the murderer was obvious to me from the start, so I had nothing to distract me from Kiera’s sudden-onset mousiness.  She gets her mojo back in the end, so that’s something.

In spite of my nit-picking, it was still an enjoyable read overall, and I look forward to the next one.

Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11)

Storm CursedStorm Cursed
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780425281291
Series: Mercy Thompson #11
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Pages: 358
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.
And a coyote shapeshifter.
And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.


My rating would indicate I wasn’t all that thrilled with this book, but I was.  I thought it was a very solid entry in the series – it holds its own – though it isn’t the best.

I had, overall, three disconnects with the book that stick in my mind after 24 hours.  From least important to most they are:

1.  The blurb set up an unreasonable expectation for me.  The blurb, coupled with the cover, made me think of the scene in X-Men 3, where Jane Grey unleashes the mother of all temper tantrums.  The reality in this book, while horrifying in itself, is rather underwhelming in comparison; it’s not really a storm so much as it’s a killing spree.

2.  I get it: Mercy really doesn’t like being bound to Stefan, even though she freely admits she consented and that he’s never, ever done anything to abuse her trust or exploit said bond.  To Mercy I say: get over it already.

3.  And this is really the stickler, the reason I rated a story I mostly enjoyed so low:  animal cruelty and death.  I get it – the story is about black magic that feeds on suffering – and I don’t care.  I did not like the long swaths of descriptions; the story didn’t need it either – it was horrifying enough without Briggs putting images in my head I’m really not happy about.  I frankly skipped large sections of the book when I discovered she was running with this “theme”.   I can’t believe I didn’t DNF the damn thing, though the rest of the story was good enough that I’m glad I didn’t.  But I’ll vet her next books far more closely in future and I’m skipping any that appear to revisit this crap.

Beyond those things, the story really was good. I loved Sherwood’s part in the story even though it was shades of Bran; Briggs still made it work well.  I found Larry the Goblin King sort of funny, and definitely intriguing – I enjoy stories about, if not underdogs, people who are underestimated.  It sounds like the goblins are woefully underestimated.  I have mixed feelings about Elizaveta, though I’ll probably not miss her, and I enjoyed Mercy finally figuring out that her own strengths were unexplored.  It took her long enough, but at least she got there in the end.

Overall a strong story if you can overlook the animal cruelty, which I can’t.  My enthusiasm for this series has suffered a significant hit; I won’t go so far as to say I’m done, but I’m certainly looking at the next release with a lot more circumspection.