The Witch’s Kind, by Louisa Morgan. Redhook Books, 2019A magical realism/historical fantasy story, The Witch’s Kind completely captivated me. It’s the story of Barrie Anne Blyth, a young woman in the time of WW 2, and her aunt Charlotte, who raised her. Barrie has a past with a man who turned out to be not what he seemed: a college man who joined ( Read more... )

Once Upon a River, by Diane Setterfield. Simon & Schuster, 2018
At some point in the 1800s, on the long night of the winter solstice, people gathered at the Swann and hoisted pints and told stories. Then the door bursts open, and in comes a large man with his face horribly mangled, carrying a small child. He falls on the floor in a dead faint, and ( Read more... )

Glass Soup, by Jonathon Carroll. Tor, 2005 This book is a sequel to “White Apples”, which I did not know before I started reading. Apparently it doesn’t much matter; the gist of it is that Vincent and Isabelle fell in love, Vincent died, and Isabell did the whole Orpheus thing and went to the land of the dead and brought him back to life. “Glass ( Read more... )

The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman. Simon & Schuster, 2017 This is the long awaited prequel to ‘Practical Magic’. In it we learn who the aunts were before they were the old ladies we see in PM- and they had quite interesting young lives! The story of how they grew up, along with their unnaturally beautiful and attractive brother- the only male ( Read more... )

My Cat Yugoslavia, by Pajtim Statovci. Pantheon Books, 2017 I honestly don’t know how to review this book. There are two story lines. One is told by Emine, a young Muslim girl in Yugoslavia. The other line is told by her son, Bekim. Emine’s story is horrifying, but it’s realistic. When a young man notices her on the road, he requests her hand in ( Read more... )

Dragon Springs Road, by Janie Chang. William Morrow, 2017 Seven year old Jialing is not worried at first when her mother leaves her alone in their home, telling her she’ll be back in three days. It’s far from the first time her mother has left her alone for a few days, when she goes to spend time with Noble Uncle. Jialing is pretty safe; a resident ( Read more... )

The Fifth Petal, by Brunonia Barry. Crown Publishers, 2017
When a teenaged boy dies while harassing a mentally ill, homeless woman, she is suspected of killing the boy, even though he doesn’t have a mark on him. She was, after all, implicated in the deaths of three young women 25 years before and the disappearance of one other on that same night; ( Read more... )

The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin, by Stephanie Knipper. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2016 I love magical realism, and this book had the bonus of being set on a flower farm, so I jumped at it. Sisters Rose and Lily were very close as girls and teens, but when Rose’s unexpected pregnancy while in college led to the birth of a daughter on ( Read more... )

Summerlong, by Peter S. Beagle. Tachyon Publications, 2016 This novel has some of the most beautiful prose. Everything is described with loving detail; I could smell the spring in the PNW and feel the damp air. (of course, I have been in the Pacific Northwest enough to have a head start on that, but still) Early in the book I started caring about ( Read more... )

The Seed Collectors, by Scarlett Thomas. Soft Skull Press, 2016 “The Seed Collectors” anchors on a mysterious plant on a mysterious island that can only be accessed by helicopter (how then are there aboriginal people there?). The plant makes seed pods that carry the gift of enlightenment- and death. That’s the other problem- since the person dies ( Read more... )