I Kissed Shara Wheeler: A Novel by Casey McQuiston

Kindle edition

I picked this up after reading two other books by Casey McQuiston - Red, White, and Royal Blue, and One Last Stop.

I'm writing this well after I read this book and can't really remember much about it. I did like it though. I started this book on October 27 and finished it on October 29.

I read a plot summary and the summary on Amazon to try and jog my memory. They helped, a little. This is the story of Chloe and Shara and their experiences together in their senior year of high school. The plot reminds me a little of other books I read about someone who disappears, leaves clues as to where/why, and then people in their lives have to figure it out. Looking for Alaska, for example, by John Green. I feel like there are others out there with a similar plot. Regardless. This was a cute, YA, LGBT genre book. It is an easy and quick read.

 Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Never Go Back: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Kindle edition

Here we go with another Jack Reacher. I started this book on October 24 and finished it on October 26.

Lee Child uses a formula for this Jack Reacher books, much like Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills do for Mitch Rapp books, and Michael Connelly does for Harry Bosch books, and like many other authors with long-running series do. It makes books predictable, in that you know what you're in for. Predictable in this sense isn't a bad thing. 

These are easy books to pick up when you need some mind candy. A book that is good, interesting, easy to read, maybe even addictive. I like these books. Jack Reacher is an interesting guy with an interesting, if violent (mostly not due to his instigation) life.

This book follows Reacher as he heads to the D.C. area to meet, in person, the woman behind the voice on a phone. She's in his old role in the service and she helped him out in a prior book.

Of course, he gets there and some shit hits the fan - this time something to do with him. A BS charge of a homicide from long ago. Rather than walk away, which Reacher never does, he stays and sorts through the shit.

This is a good, quick read. Love this character. Love these books. Love this author.

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Sea of Tranquility: A novel by Emily St. John Mandel

Kindle edition

Ok, so I'm writing this well after I read the book (call it laziness on my part) but I took a long hiatus from writing my reviews much to my chagrin now because it is hard to remember books from many months ago. So, after jogging my memory about this book from reading a few reviews, here is a very brief and high-level summary.

I started this book on October 13 and finished it on October 19.

So, this is a doozy of a time-travel, time-loop, multiple people from multiple timelines in the same place at the same time.

This starts in the early 1900s with Edwin arriving in Canada from England and in his time there has a "vision" in the Canadian wilderness of a man playing a violin in a futuristic-looking place.

Two hundred years-ish later, an author, Olive, who lives on a colony on the moon is on Earth doing a book tour. Her book contains a bit about a man playing a violin in the hallway in an airship terminal surrounded by a forest.

The the time-travel component comes up. Gaspery is a detective investigating an anomaly in the Canadian forest. Throughout his investigation he discovers a series of events that are intertwined in a variety of ways.

Buckle your seatbelt and get ready for a topsy turvy wild ride through this book. It is good. It is confusing. You should read it.

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

The Cartographers: A Novel by Peng Shepherd

Kindle edition

Here is another gem from the Real Simple magazine suggested reading list. They describe it as "thrilling suspense":

"Nell Young's father, an acclaimed cartographer, sidelined her promising career in the field when they had a falling out over a worthless old highway map. When he turns up dead in his office and Nell discovers the very same map hidden among his things, she discovers that it may actually be quite coveted and valuable - dangerously so. [This book] is a wildly entertaining, imaginative ride, with a cinematic plot that keeps the page turning."

I started this book September 24 and finished it on October 12.

Ok - so, the Real Simple summary is spot on. This book is amazing. I have a soft place in my heart for maps. My dad is a geographer and taught us to read/follow maps from an early age. Maps are pretty amazing things. I love looking at old ones, especially really old ones. I love paging through this book I got some time back and looking at the illustrated maps of cities in North America - Bird's Eye Views: Historic Lithographs of North American Cities by John W. Reps. Maps can tell stories. Maps can show you how crazy a city is to navigate (ever looked at a map of Boston, MA - oh boy is that city a challenge to navigate - everything is circular.)

Ok, enough of my tangent. Back to this book. As the Real Simple review mentioned, Nell is trying to follow in the footsteps of her father but is sidelined by a random highway map she finds in the basement of the library where she is working with her father. This sets in motion a vast series of events directly tied to that map. That seemingly random, useless street map.

I don't want to give too much away. So, let me say this - in trying to figure out how, why, and who killed her father, Nell uncovers her history. There's time-loop stuff, hidden places outside of time, murder, intrigue, and plenty of maps.

I highly recommend this book. It was amazing! 

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.