Category Archives: fiction
Through Darkest Europe – Harry Turtledove
The world is turned around, with Africa and the Middle East being well educated, liberal, rich. Europe is the backwater, full of extremists waging “holy wars”. Khalid al-Zarzisi, is a senior investigator, sent with his assistant, Dawud ibn Musa, a … Continue reading
Us Against You – Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith
It is summer in Beartown. The citizens are trying to come to grips with the impossible events of the previous winter, and they are doing pretty good. Until they learn that the hockey club is bankrupt and will be disbanded. … Continue reading
Bob – Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
Livy and her mom return to Australia to visit her grandmother. The last time she was there was five years ago, when she was just five. She had met an odd creature near her grandmother’s well, took him back to … Continue reading
The Eight Mountains – Paolo Cognetti
Pietro’s father loves the mountains as an escape from Milan. So one summer the family rents a little house in the village of Grana in the Dolomites. There his father would go into the mountains like a man on a … Continue reading
The History of Bees – Maja Lunde
From the publisher, “England, 1852. William is a biologist and seed merchant, who sets out to build a new type of beehive—one that will give both him and his children honor and fame. United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper … Continue reading
The Doomed City – Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky (Translated by Andrew Bromfield)
In the 1970s the Strugatsky brothers’ science-fiction novels were wildly popular in the USSR. This novel was their favorite, but was so politically risky that it was kept secret and only published in the late 1980s, sixteen years after … Continue reading
Paint Your Wife – Lloyd Jones
It all began when the men went off to war. Alma was one of the few males left in town. He was the teacher in the tiny school, wore an old straw hat and carried his tin case of pencils … Continue reading
The Novel Habits of Happiness: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (10) – Alexander McCall Smith
Isabel’s life is slightly off center. First, Cat, her niece has a new man in her life who seems too good to be true. Second, old enemies have appeared in Edinburgh, and may be moving there. And third, a young boy seems … Continue reading
Hold Me Like A Breath – Tiffany Schmidt
Legal organ transplants are reserved for only the healthiest people. Those that do not make the long government wait lists turn to the underground organ transplant “families”. Penelope is the daughter of one of the mafia type families who obtain … Continue reading
The Gracekeepers – Kirsty Logan
Callanish was busy, performing at least two Restings a week. She looked young, far from death. People liked that. She prepared the dead, said the words, and slipped them into the sea. Legally, all damplings had to be interred in … Continue reading
YA Lit Ramblings 
You must be logged in to post a comment.