Review

Text says "#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LEIGH BARDUGO THE FAMILIAR a novel". Image of a hand with a beaded red sleeve with lace at the wrist, wearing a red stone ring and holding a rosary. A black scorpion is crawling out of the sleeve.

The Familiar

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THE FAMILIAR rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Leigh Bardugo‘s historical fantasy novel THE FAMILIAR (Flatiron/Macmillan, April 9, 2024) is set around 1590 in Madrid, just after the defeat of the Spanish Armada by England under Elizabeth I, and a century after the first expulsion of the Jews from Spain in accordance with Ferdinand and Isabella’s Alhambra […]

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Image of a boy with fangs who appears to be howling inside a wolf who also appears to be howling. Both boy and wolf have red eyes. Text says "THE WEREWOLF AT DUSK AND OTHER STORIES DAVID SMALL AUTHOR OF STITCHES"

David Small, the Master

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THE WEREWOLF AT DUSK: AND OTHER STORIES rating: 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. (Every line of every illustration: five stars). David Small is a favorite illustrator of both me and my children, and STITCHES is my favorite graphic novel of all time and one of my favorite memoirs. This graphic novel story collection, THE WEREWOLF AT DUSK

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Text says "Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm Introduction by Lynne Truss." Images of the characters drawn by Truss. Text in the center says "A few of the people you'll meet." Characters are labeled with text: Aunt Ada Doom saw something nasty in the woodshed, Flora Poste (holding a book with text The Higher Common Sense), Elfine a free spirit, Seth a prime specimen of manhood, Reuben a sad sack, Judith Starkadder just leave her in her misery, Adam washes dishes with a twig, Amos Starkadder (labeled with quote text "There'll be no butter in hell!")

Cold Comfort Farm

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COLD COMFORT FARM rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Last night I dreamt I went to Cold Comfort again. I didn’t see anything nasty in the woodshed, but then I steered well clear of all outbuildings. COLD COMFORT FARM by Stella Gibbons (1932) is 91 years old and one of my favorites. I’ve read it many times.

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Image of four windows in a classical building with columns and a nature background. A woman in the upper left window reaches down toward a man in the lower right window, who is reaching up toward her. Text says "The Temple of Fortuna International Bestselling Author of The Wolf Den Elodie Harper"

Wolf Den Trilogy

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THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA rating: 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Titles in the Wolf Den trilogy by Elodie Harper: THE WOLF DEN (Union Square & Co., March 29, 2022).THE HOUSE WITH THE GOLDEN DOOR (Union Square & Co., September 26, 2022).THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA (Union Square & Co., November 14, 2023): four stars Throughout this immersive trilogy,

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Text says: "The Madstone a Novel Elizabeth Cook Author of The Which Way Tree." Cover image shows a woman on horseback with two children on horseback, a boy and a girl. They are on a dirt road that stretches into the foreground with trees on other side. In the background is a huge sky with a sunset. The cover blurb says, "'The Madstone is a treasure: a brilliant, beautiful page-turner . . . Both a poignant love story and a riveting road novel–I devoured it.'–Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Double Bind."

The Madstone

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THE MADSTONE rating: 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. I’ve fallen for another western: THE MADSTONE by Elizabeth Crook (Little, Brown and Company/Hachette, November 7, 2023). The madstone of the novel’s title is not just a talisman with reputed healing power: it is a symbol of found family, a mother’s determination to protect her children at all costs,

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Text says "Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands Book 2 of the Emily Wilde Series a Novel by Heather Fawcett." Image of flowers, a compass, and two foxes forming a border around the ornate text.

Wild Over Emily Wilde

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EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The first book in the series was EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett (Del Rey/Penguin Random House, January 10, 2023), and EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS (Del Rey/Penguin Random House, January 16, 2024) is the second book in the series. They are

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Image of a red-haired woman in a black robe wearing a locket with a Nautilus shell who has skeleton hands around her throat. Text says "Projections a Novel S. E. Porter." Cover blurb says "'Sarah Porter is a genius. . . her books burn with the beautiful, ferocious intensity of a bonfire in the darkest night.'–Brittany Cavallaro"

Projections

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PROJECTIONS by S. E. Porter rating: 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐. Once upon a time there was a rich boy who thought he owned a poor girl: this is the story of Gus and Catherine in the novel PROJECTIONS by S. E. Porter (Tor/Macmillan, February 13, 2024), Porter’s first adult novel. Gus obtains magical powers, which make

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Image of swirling green, blue, and gold with a masted sailing ship. Text says "New York Times Bestselling Author of Neon Gods KATEE ROBERT Hunt on Dark Waters."

Hawt Pirates

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HUNT ON DARK WATERS rating: 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐. I love pirates, especially sexy ones. I’m not big on sex scenes. If a novel is well written, I am eager to get on with the plot and a blow-by-blow account (begging your pardon) in excruciating detail tends to make me skip ahead. In HUNT ON DARK

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Cover image of a house with flowers and crows on the roof. Smoke is coming out of the chimney in the shape of a skull, There is a tortoise making a trail across the yard and a man in a hat in a wheelchair and a woman bent over a cane. Text says "The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp A Murder Mystery Leonie Swann Translated from the German by Amy Bojang." The cover blurb text reads "'A deliciously clever plot with warmly drawn characters, dollops of tension and dark secrets. Brilliant!'–Helen Tursten, bestselling author of An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good"

Aging Disgracefully

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THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP rating: four stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP by Leonie Swann (Soho Crime/Penguin Random House, August 29, 2023) is a new favorite of mine in the fictional trend I like to call “Aging Disgracefully” or “Surprising Seniors,” and not just because it’s set in England. The seniors

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Image of two sets of binoculars looking through window blinds. Text says "MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT a novel NINA SIMON." Cover blurb text: 'No novel has ever made family drama (or murder) this much fun.' KATY HAYS, New York Times Bestselling author of The Cloisters."

Mother-Daughter Murder Night

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MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. At the heart of MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon (William Morrow/HarperCollins, September 5, 2023), are three generations of strong women in one family: Lana, Beth, and Jack. I just fell in love with these characters. I was also enthralled by the setting: Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay,

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