Stephen Sondheim

 

Title: Stephen Sondheim: A Life

Author: Meryle Secrest

Publisher: Delta

 
ISBN: 9780385334129

 

Thoughts: Very thorough and informative biography, but I would love to see an update to cover the last decade or so of his life.

Rating: 4/5

Wizards, Inc

 

Title: Wizards, Inc.

Author: Martin H. Greenberg & Loren L. Coleman, eds.

Publisher: Daw

 
ISBN: 9780756404390

 

Thoughts: Like most collections, some stories were great while others fell flat; ones that stood out to me were "Back Door Magic" by Phaedra M. Weldon, "The Keeper of Morals" by Dean Wesley Smith, and "Theobroma" by Diane Duane.

Rating: 3/5

Annihilation

 

Title: Annihilation

Author: Jeff Vandermeer

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

 
ISBN: 9780374104092

 

Thoughts: Very tightly constructed post-apocalyptic sci-fi that sucks the reader in and leaves them wanting to know what happens next.

Rating: 4/5

You Were Always Mine

 

Title: You Were Always Mine

Author: Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

 
ISBN: 9781797160498

 

Thoughts: This novel is filled with flawed characters who you will be yelling at and rooting for at the same time.

Rating: 3/5

Gone Tonight

 

Title: Gone Tonight

Author: Sarah Pekkanan

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts: Engaging suspense, but there are some points that just do not work if you think about them too hard.

Rating: 3/5

The Anarchy

 

Title: The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

Author: William Dalrymple

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

 
ISBN: 9781635573954

 

Thoughts: Very dense text about the East India Company and Indian history filled with quotes that did not make anything clearer.

Rating: 2/5

Our Missing Hearts

 

Title: Our Missing Hearts

Author: Celeste Ng

Publisher: Penguin Press

 
ISBN: 9780593492543

 

Thoughts: A dystopian novel that seems scarily possible.

Rating: 4/5

The Last Animal

 

Title: The Last Animal

Author: Ramona Ausubel

Publisher: Riverhead Books

 
ISBN: 9780593420522

 

Thoughts: A great book to spark discussion, but it just fell a little flat.

Rating: 3/5

Much Ado About Baseball

 

Title: Much Ado About Baseball

Author: Rajani LaRocca

Publisher: Yellow Jacket

 
ISBN: 9781499814330

 

Thoughts: Fun spin on Shakespeare and I loved how it had a strong female lead but will still appeal to MG boys, but while it felt like it was supposed to focus more around the plot of Much Ado About Nothing, it leaned too far towards A Midsummer Night's Dream, much like it's companion novel, Midsummer's Mayhem.

Rating: 4/5

Denver Dossier

 

Title: Denver Dossier: Themed Adventures of Every Traveler: A Local's Guide to Art, History, Outdoor Escapes, Family Fun, Culinary Gems, and Hidden Treasures in the Mile-High City

Author: Kimberly Burk Cordova

Publisher: Cordova Consulting

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts: Pleasant and easily-accessible travel guide to various things to do and places to visit in Denver.

Rating: 4/5

The Whalebone Theatre

 

Title: The Whalebone Theatre

Author: Joanna Quinn

Publisher: Knopf

 
ISBN: 9780593321076

 

Thoughts: Quinn presents a sweeping family saga and uses a variety of literary forms, but some of that gets lost as the last 40% or so turns into an almost typical WWII novel.

Rating: 4/5

How to Be a Victorian

 

Title: How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life

Author: Ruth Goodman

Publisher: Liveright

 
ISBN: 9780871404855

 

Thoughts: Very thorough and enjoyable glance into Victorian life and the reason why things were as they were.

Rating: 4/5

Little Monsters

 

Title: Little Monsters

Author: Andriene Brodeur

Publisher: Audible Audio

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts: Good family drama, but there were some family issues that seemed not fully fleshed.

Rating: 3/5