7/8/2023 0 Comments Gideon the ninth audio bookGideon Nav is the eponymous protagonist of Gideon the Ninth. And because much of the novel is a breezy, punchy, irreverent, gothic necromantic adventure (in space!), the impact of the weird squickiness is dispersed until the very closing pages. The ending makes me question whether the book understands how much and in which specific ways that relationship is fucked up, the adversarial abusiveness and weird co-dependence of it all. Gideon the Ninth knows its central interpersonal relationship is seriously fucked up. It’s also a novel that’s about a deeply unhealthy central relationship, one that left me exquisitely uncomfortable with its ultimate trajectory, and a story that doesn’t do quite enough work to earn the ending of its emotional arc. It’s an interesting novel with some seriously batshit worldbuilding and a strong, compelling voice. (I can think of a bare handful that came close.) Gideon the Ninth doesn’t, either: it’s not a piercing revelation or the perfection of the form. Lesbian necromancers in space! Gothic cutthroat politics! Epic shit! You’ll love this, a number of people told me, and I grew more and more averse to opening its cover.įirst novels almost never live up to their publicity. Gideon the Ninth, debut novel by much-hyped new voice Tamsyn Muir, is a book that spent several months on my shelf while I wrestled with my mixed feelings about how very hyped it has been since I first heard of it. Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir ( Tor.com Publishing 978-9-5, $25.99, 448pp, hc) September 2019.
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7/8/2023 0 Comments Naomi novik uprooted seriesThe year Agnieszka turns seventeen is a Dragon-year and she waits anxiously with the other girls her age while he makes his choice. Nobody knows what happens to the girls during their time with the Dragon, but when they return ten years later they have changed and are unwilling to go back to their old lives in the village. The villagers rely on the Dragon to defend them from the horrors that lurk in the Wood, but his protection comes at a price: every ten years the Dragon selects a seventeen-year-old girl from the village and takes her away to live with him in his tower. Our narrator, Agnieszka, lives in Dvernik, a village on the edge of a dark and sinister forest known only as the Wood. Which kingdom? Well, we aren’t really told, but it does resemble Poland in the 16th century. The Dragon in Uprooted is a wizard – the most powerful wizard in the kingdom. While Uprooted is not a Temeraire story, it does have a Dragon…but not of the winged, fire-breathing variety. After reading the first Temeraire book in March I was delighted when I unexpectedly received a review copy of Novik’s new novel. Naomi Novik is best known for her Temeraire series set during an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars in which dragons are used in aerial combat. Good Things Happened Today was about how we all have choices to make and those choices affect humanity and not just ourselves, the choices between good and evil. Noah was complicated yet simple (if that makes any sense) and at times the things he said had me struggling to understand what his point was. The characters were all really deep and at some parts I had to go back through and re-read the section because I wasn't quite sure what the point was. He challenges everyone to stop walking around unconscious and start living life to the fullest by finding your meaning in life and searching in to your soul. Noah is full of enthusiasm about his faith and everyone is just drawn to him. This is a story about multiple lives that come together as the story progresses because of a homeless man named Noah. I wasn't sure that I'd have any interest in reading this book but I decided to give it a try not just for myself but because I thought my husband might be interested in it as well, he loved the Shack. 7/8/2023 0 Comments Lauren blakely one time onlyTeddy Hamilton and Jacob Morgan have only recorded a handful of books together, but thanks to their performances in the much-loved Him/Us/Epic from Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, they’ve become something of m/m narrating royalty. And other times, the desire takes hold of you. And if I give in again, I’ll lose everything.īut sometimes you grab hold of the desire. One scorching, forbidden night.īecause the mistakes from the past are chasing me. Until one night in a limo when we combust. And nowhere in the job description does it say I should lust after the charismatic, charming man.īut every night I spend with him the dangerous, off-limits attraction grows more intense. This title may be downloaded from Audible via AmazonĮver hear the story about the bodyguard who falls for the rock star?Įach day I remind myself that it’s my job to protect Stone. 7/7/2023 0 Comments Amari and the great game bookThis challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind. She’s got enough to worry about!īut her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. Īfter finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.īut between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. ISBN-13: 978-0062975195 | $18.99 USD | 423 pages | MG FantasyĪrtemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this magical second book in the New York Times and Indie bestselling Supernatural Investigations trilogy-perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor. 7/7/2023 0 Comments A time for mercyThere is a time to kill and a time for justice. The result is a richly rewarding novel that is both timely and timeless, full of wit, drama, and-most of all-heart.īursting with all the courthouse scheming, small-town intrigue, and stunning plot twists that have become the hallmarks of the master of the legal thriller, A Time for Mercy is John Grisham’s most powerful courtroom drama yet. In what may be the most personal and accomplished legal thriller of John Grisham’s storied career, we deepen our acquaintance with the iconic Southern town of Clanton and the vivid cast of characters that so many readers know and cherish. Jake’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted." The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body-how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. One of The Washington Post's 50 Most Notable Works of Nonfiction 2019 Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. 7/7/2023 0 Comments My garden by kevin henkesA sweet and yes also deceptively simple little story with enchantingly evocative accompanying artwork about an elderly bear who during his annual wintertime sleep is both dreaming about being a young cub again and equally delightfully enjoying the four seasons (spring flowers, summer berries, autumnal salmon runs, sparkling winter snowscapes), I was at first definitely thinking that with Old Bear author/illustrator Kevin Henkes would not really be presenting any actual hard fact information on bona fide ursine behaviour. 7/7/2023 0 Comments The golden fleece gravesSince the 1930s, archaeologists have uncovered 28 burials dating to about 450–250 B.C. Excavations at the inland site of Vani have confirmed this reputation. Known in myth as the destination of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece, the kingdom of Colchis was renowned as a region rich in gold. Vani's Golden Graves | Ritual Figurines | Bronze Lamps | Exhibition Creditsĭetail of a grave excavated in Vani in 2004, showing a variety of metal vessels buried with the deceased Two have been conserved by the Getty in collaboration with the Georgian National Museum. In addition, four bronze lamps that were discovered in 2007 are being displayed together in the exhibition for the first time. Highlights of the exhibition include spectacular assemblages of jewelry that display the talent and skill of local goldworkers, groups of imports from the Greek world and the Persian Empire, a series of enigmatic ritual figurines, and a life-size bronze torso. The excavation of a series of rich burials and other discoveries at the city of Vani have revealed a highly developed culture that had its own religious and artistic practices, yet also embraced and adapted influences from neighboring peoples. The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani presents an array of precious objects from the ancient kingdom of Colchis, in what is today the Republic of Georgia. 7/7/2023 0 Comments Douglass blightIn his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. By the Civil War, Douglass had become the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, using his own story to condemn slavery. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. **Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History** *Winner of the Bancroft, Parkman, Los Angeles Times (biography), Lincoln, Plutarch, and Christopher Awards* Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Time "Extraordinary.a great American biography" ( The New Yorker ) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era. |