steph

Great collection essays on science, but not science writing. It's accessible to the average reader, beautiful, and, at times, heartbreaking.

ARC provided through NetGalley.

Being a West Virginian, I love when Mothman gets to take center stage, and a new generation can learn to love my favorite little cryptid. This was a cute little story about organic farmer Mothman. It was everything I love in a picture book – precious, easy to read, and fun.

What. A. Book!

I didn't know what to expect from this based on the description, but wow was I floored. Dracula from the perspective of the ship is what I was expecting, and I got that and so very much more!

I want to recommend Of Monsters and Mainframes to everyone I've ever met. From it's lovable cast of AI ships, classic monsters, and ethically questionable ship doctor-robots, to it's tightly plotted storyline, it consumed me for days! I don't read that quickly anymore, but every free moment I had was dedicated to reading this book.

It's also so fucking funny. Like, seriously. I kept laughing and then having to read passages to my husband, who also got more than a few chuckles out of it. The phrase “Fuck yeah, robot arm” has become a mainstay in our apartment.

I really just can't say enough great things about Of Monsters and Mainframes. The more I think about it, the more I realize how expertly plotted it is, and how wonderfully the plot is driven by the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery Books/Ezeekat Press for the digital ARC. I can't wait to order a physical copy and read it all over again!

Reviewed at (now defunct) Bookshelf Bombshells.
Good thing I'm a digital hoarder.
——

Painted Cities is a collection of short stories about growing up in Pilsen, a south side barrio in Chicago. Getting into it, I was a little worried that Painted Cities would be a variety of different stories about the same thing and that it wouldn't hold my interest. In a way, I was right, since Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski writes almost solely about growing up in a dangerous barrio populated by gang members, but I was completely captivated by this collection.

Galaviz-Budziszewski's short stories are written in a way that transported me to that time and place. I've never been to the south side of Chicago, and I have no idea what it looks like, but the descriptions of Pilsen gave me a solid mental picture of the neighborhood. In the second story, “1817 S. May,” the narrator explains what his childhood summer days were like—panning for gold at the May Street curb with his sister, which caught on with other kids, and the battles in the neighborhood over which street could get the highest water dome from a fire hydrant. “1817 S. May” begins as a relatively happy exercise in nostalgia but culminates in tragedy. The stories in Painted Cities explain how nonsensical childhood adventures, such as panning for gold in Chicago gutters, can be interrupted with the hardships of these characters' daily lives.

Each story seems so grounded in reality—tales of house fires, drive-by shootings, cousins lost, pubescent misadventures—that I almost skipped over the beautiful magic that is the story “God's Country.” As I finished “God's Country,” I realized that I'd read an entire story about a teenager Spoilerwith the ability to bring the dead back to life without even thinking about it. The writing blended together so well that I hadn't even considered that there wasn't a person in Pilsen with the Spoilerability to bring back dead pigeons. “God's Country” was a nice reminder, to me at least, that good fiction can make you believe anything.

Borrow It: This was a well-written, well-organized, and good collection of short stories, but it lacked something that made me want to finish it quickly. Each story feels complete on its own, so it would be easy to put Painted Cities down and come back to it later.

Gosh. I sure love a cozy fantasy. Did I know that about myself? I sure didn't!

I'm not sure I can say much that hasn't been said. This is a sweet little story, featuring a Dark Wizard (or four), a princess, several charming Goblins, and a chicken... Ahm. Rooster.

 Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the digital ARC! 

I absolutely love Matt Kracht's Dumb Field Guides. I love them so much I bought The Big Dumb Bird Journal. 

It was nice to see some of my favorite Worst Birds in this book! And the Bummr Rating's were great, and definitely inconsistent enough to make me read each and every one. 

DNF @ like 5%.

“There is a Quichua riddle: El que me nombra, me rompe. Whatever names me, breaks me. The solution, your course, is “silence.” But the truth is, anyone who knows your name can break you in two.”

I listened to this while painting a room, and I'm glad I was slightly occupied while hearing someone mirror my own experiences in absolutely beautiful prose. It is heartbreaking, it is honest, it is clever, and it is perfect.

And it is more relatable than I wish it had cause to be.

As a longtime fan of Sy Montgomery and someone with a growing interest in birds, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of What the Chicken Knows courtesy of NetGalley and Atria.

Childhood memories of playing with my grandmother's fluffy chicks in the shed after school came flooding back as I began reading. However, those feathered friends had faded into a distant memory, replaced by a more traditional, American view of adult chickens. Roosters, in particular, instilled a healthy dose of fear in me.

Montgomery, with her signature blend of heartwarming anecdotes and scientific insights, transforms our understanding of these common farmyard birds. She dismantles stereotypes, revealing the intelligence, complexity, and even bravery hidden beneath feathers.

This charming and informative book is packed with fascinating facts about chickens, leaving me with a newfound respect for these often-overlooked creatures.

One sentence review:
The real friends are the birds we met along the way.

I am in this book and did not like it .. until I did, which is maybe the whole dang point. 

I had to read this in small parts, maybe a chapter or shorter at a time. There was a lot in here that I had to really think about and wonder about my own behaviors.

If you want to really evaluate yourself and your own biases, start with The Age of Magical Overthinking. 

For people who love the deeply personal, but scientific works of Sy Montgomery or Margaret Renkl. Truly a beautiful read – though hard to hear how our many choices have impacted not only our lives, but the lives of so many other living things on this planet.

More like roMANtasy.
Sorry, I'll see my way out...

I was given an eARC by Tor and NetGalley for the upcoming re-issue (I think).

A cute little story, to be sure, with some steamy parts. Halla was an interesting enough perspective character, and I loved that she weaponized certain parts of her personality to come out in the middle most of her life.

I know it's an ARC, but there were some style choices that I kept thinking were typos. The characters interrupt themselves with “err” a fair bit, and sentences just stop without any punctuation. It happened enough that I have to believe it's on purpose, but it was distracting enough that I found my way to re-reading whole paragraphs to see if I missed something further up. I'd rate it higher if it weren't for those things.

And also plot points that just ... die, I guess? I'd explain more, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

The real deal of the whole thing is Brindle. Five stars for Brindle.

I really like this book, the prose style is interesting, and the stories are lovely and relatable, but I need a break from reminders that human actions are killing everything, sometimes on purpose. I plan on coming back to this, just can't take it right now. 

This is a twisty, turny, crazy ride. Like Anna, I really wanted some answers like “why?????” But I like the afterword and the sociological breakdown it provided, even if the answer never came from the perpetrator.

I'm glad I listened to this because it reads as a play by play of years of intense psychological manipulation and emotional abuse (which is particularly triggering if you have a history of dating emotionally and verbally abusive monsters, no matter what form they manifest in).

No notes! 
Just kidding. This is a really fun collection of Barkman's False Knees comics. I love his little bird world and can't get enough of it. 

What a beautiful book! The illustrations are really lovely. But the highlight for me? The index! In a way. I know, I'm a super nerd, but proper indexing is an artform. I wish it had two indexes, one by meaning (the current index) and an alphabetical index. Regardless, the index by meaning is just so good, and would be perfect if it had page numbers.

I think this would make an excellent gift for so many people I know.

Thanks for the eARC, Tor and Netgalley!

A creepy little thrill ride on a big ol cryo zoo. Sort of.
I've liked both SA Barnes' books, but they all suffer from Too Much Story. There's a lot of lines that, in Cold Eternity, crossed over for a big finale. But it was still too much story, too many lines. And the sort of paranormal aspect, the creep factor, always has some sort of speculative “real world” explanation, which may work for a lot of people, just not me.

Still creepy though. Like, really creepy. And Katerina's ability to write off the abnormal in favor of believing the most “logical” explanation makes it even creepier at times.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for an advanced copy of The Night Guest.

I almost didn't read this based on another review that said it contained “a lot of cat murder,” but I'm glad I put that concern aside. Horror can either contain entirely too much graphic depictions of abusing or hurting animals, or it can be a point for the character that doesn't linger but makes an impact. This doesn't linger, and I'm grateful for authors who manage to walk that fine line.

I love a cryptic thriller horror book with some fantastical elements and this did not disappoint! I don't want to include many details because I don't want to spoil it.

And also I want to wear my smart watch to sleep every night forever.

A fine end to the prophecy... I'd share more, but it would all be spoilers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the digital ARC!

Beautiful, bittersweet, heart breaking, and perfect.

Readers who expect too much explanation of How Stuff Works will be disappointed. But that lack of explanation is what makes this so beautiful. The unknown and unknowable is what makes the magic.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the digital ARC, and to Tor for providing a physical ARC to my library. I'm going to end up preordering it just to see what these illustrations are!

A few years ago, I read one book by Sarah Gailey and then made it my mission to read every one of their books I could get my hands on. I think Sarah Pinsker might be the next author I do that with...

I really liked Haunt Sweet Home. I agree with some of the reviews that wouldn't put it necessarily in the horror genre, but I also think it's a nice development of what horror could be for those folks who don't love gore or murder. This is a nice little ghost story, featuring ghosts real and pretend, personal and professional. Mara is a character haunted by so much, especially her own choices and her role in her family.

I wanted so much more of this story and these characters! It wraps up nicely, but I wanted to hear the rest of it. Who was in the library??? Tell me more, Sarah Pinsker!

Thanks to the publishes and Netgalley for allowing me to read Haunt Sweet Home early!;

This was my last ARC from Netgalley before they slammed the door shut on eink possibilities. So thanks to the publisher for the ARC, but I will not be thanking Netgalley. 

Anyway. 

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was great! Sad and horny and really well done. 

I'll admit that I had a hard time getting into this at first because I just wasn't sure how it all tied together, the 3 characters stories seemed so separated. But it paid off to stick with it. 

I think fans of Addie will be really pleased with this one. 

I can't wait to see what happens in the third book! Moving on to that ARC now. Thanks, Tor!

Also what the hell is that horse made of?

Thank you to Edelweiss and DAW for the DRC! 

Wiswell does it again! This was an absolutely beautiful version of the Heracles labors. It started out so funny, got me hooked, and then kept me on the line with it's clever and emotional storytelling. I loved all of the characters, and the entire thing. No notes.