Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
Dust of 100 Dogs by A. S. King is bizarrely beguiling and captivating! One of the rare “can’t put down” YA novels. Never having read anything like it with a unique format that is unparalleled and unprecedented, I was drawn in from the first pages which hold nothing back.
The plot is richly immersed in meticulously researched lore, moving along at a quick, intriguing pace. Emer/Saffron the heroine, is cursed 300 years ago at her death to live the lives of 100 dogs before she can, once again, be born human, remembering all of the dog’s lives as well as her former human life. The characters in this book are completely “fleshed” out in a well written style that is, at the very least, extremely different.
Equal parts swashbuckling adventure, soul-searching journey, and aching love story, this book is an amazing debut novel for this author.
Maureen Chiloquin, Spanish Springs Library
Anything You Say Can and Will Be held Against You: Stories by Laurie Lynn Drummond
Although this book is a work of fiction, it reads like true crime. Written by a former cop, Drummond writes in the style of short memoirs of several female police women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Katherine is a tall and stoic woman from Boston who married a much older cop in her first years of being an officer. Katherine earns the respect of her fellow officers, even cadets, as her career is recounted. And although her husband never had to use his weapon, Katherine has had to make those split second, life changing decisions. Even if she didn’t walk on water, there are those who fiercely protect her legend.
Liz had to leave the force after an injury, and is still haunted by a particular roadside tragedy.
Mona recalls her time on the force at the same time that she is cleaning her gun. Her own abusive father was a cop, and is on the force when she joins. A fleeting thought, a chance for revenge, flits through her mind during a standoff with a perp.
Cathy is a cop who works now on the administrative end, examining cases that victims request to be re-opened. She gets such a request from a woman that she assisted years before when she volunteered as an advocate for rape victims. Ironically, the victim is questioning the investigating detective’s methods, the same man who is now married to Cathy.
Sarah gets in over her head when she answers the call for a female homicide victim. She and other female officers have a ritual for particularly trying cases where violence has befallen female victims, to try and at least acknowledge and honor these murdered women. But one such case leads them all down a slippery slope.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was full of action, pathos and humor. It held my attention all the way through. I recommend this book to people who enjoy police dramas, true crime and fiction noir.
Recommended by Leslie Burke, Northwest Reno Library
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
This 600 pager probably could have been condensed to 400 pages and have been a more satisfying read. The last 100 or so pages are riveting, so I’m glad that I stayed with the story through some boring sections. Regardless, the characters of Andras Levi and his two brothers, coming of age during the Nazi occupation in Budapest, Hungary are memorable and believable. A glimpse into the history of Jews in Hungary, a country that evaded Hitler’s domination until many were sent to the Russian Front is enlightening and informative. Families struggled, lives were lost, atrocities occurred. But some survived and emigrated to the U.S. and were able to tell their stories to the next generation. The epilogue is thought-provoking and perhaps one of the best endings of a fictional book on World War II that I’ve recently read.
Recommended by Kathy Berndt South Valleys Library
This Body of Death by Elizabeth George
After my first encounter with Inspector Lynley, Barbara Havers and Winnie Nyaka years ago, I became “hooked” on Elizabeth George’s murder mysteries. Having been a faithful follower of her newest titles, I was disappointed in Careless in Red and What Came Before He Shot Her. However, after finishing This Body of Death I can tell you that the old George is back! My three favorite characters are joined by the stunning and competitive Isabelle Ardery and are back to their old antics in the rural English countryside known as New Forest. The ensuing convoluted murder mystery reminds me why I have always loved most Elizabeth George books – all 700 pages this time! I’m a fan again!
Recommended by Kathy Berndt South Valleys Library
Everlasting by Angie Frazier
It’s 1855 and Camille Rowen, the daughter of a sea captain, has just gotten engaged to a man she admires but doesn’t love in order to save her family’s shipping company. Even worse Camille has to give up her unladylike adventures at sea alongside her father and Oscar, a young man she is drawn to against her father’s wishes.
As Camille comes to grips with fulfilling her expected role in society, tragedy strikes. Camille’s last family voyage to Australia ends in shipwreck and her father’s death. While Oscar and Camille survive, they are left to pursue a final mystery that involves a magic stone that gives immortality and the mother that Camille has long believed to be dead.
The plot thickens when Camille discovers that her father’s business rival is also in hot pursuit of the magical stone and will stop at nothing to get to it first.
Supernatural forces and true love are at work in this gripping historical novel by new author Angie Frazier. Enough ends are left loose—or at least elastic—that a second novel could easily be added to this first work.
Well written and entertaining.
Recommended by Jana MacMillan, Spanish Springs Library
Num8ers by Rachel Ward
Jem won’t look people in the eye—it’s not because she’s shy, it’s because when she does she sees their numbers. The date they will die. Ever since she was born she’s been able to see the numbers—her mother’s was 10102001…and when she overdosed on that date Jem suddenly knew what the numbers were all about. Now she’s in foster care and trying as hard as she can not to connect with people—after all, what’s the point?
But then she meets Spider, twitchy, tall and relentless, Spider just won’t leave Jem alone. She sees his number and she knows he only has mere months to live—but somehow she can’t stop herself from letting him in. A horrible explosion at a famed tourist attraction sends Jem and Spider on the run from authorities who think they are terrorists because they were spotted running from the scene after Jem saw numbers and realized death was on its way, again—and this time in mass.
As Jem and Spider try to outrun the law they become the focus of national media attention—suddenly everyone wants to know their numbers.
The shocking ending of this book does not disappoint and simply cries out for a sequel.
Recommended by Jana MacMillan, Spanish Springs Library
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
This beautifully written first novel by poet Jandy Nelson explores a shattered family’s reactions to death.
17-year-old Lennie is left behind when her older sister Bailey unexpectedly dies from a heart condition. Bailey has always been the dynamic and shining light of her family and now in her absence, Lennie is suddenly thrust into a new role by the boyfriend Bailey left behind and a new boy who moves to town.
Is Lennie becoming her sister or is she finally finding out who she really is inside? Conflicting sexual tension between Lennie and her dead sister’s boyfriend and Lennie and the new boy in town make this a riveting story fraught with strong emotions and heartbreak.
As Lennie and her remaining family (her grandmother and uncle) fight through their grief Lennie discovers that Bailey had been desperately seeking the mother who left them behind seemingly without looking back.
Each chapter is headed by poems scribbled by Lennie on scraps of paper, cups and other detritus and left to be carried off on the wind or found by strangers.
Filled with quirky and original characters, Nelson weaves a spellbinding tale filled with poetry and insight.
Recommended by Jana MacMillan, Spanish Springs Library
Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga
Part two to Lyga’s The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, this book can easily be read out of sequence without losing the gist of the story.
Goth girl, a.k.a. Kyra Sellers, has just gotten out of the psych ward at a Maryland mental health hospital and she’s ready to re-enter her high school life and the goth scene. As she makes plans to reconnect with Fanboy (who’s part of the reason she’s been locked away) she discovers that he’s apparently moved on without her and become someone she barely recognizes. This reignites the fires of rage and revenge lurking just below her surface calm and she begins her quest to “pay him back.”
Goth Girl isn’t just angry at her former friend—she’s angry at her father, the school authorities and society’s sexploitation of women. Meanwhile, Kyra struggles to understand both her attraction to one of her female friends and to Fanboy.
Via lessons learned from a hospital psychiatrist, letters written (but not sent) to author Neil Gaiman and her own self-realizations, Goth Girl slowly enters the path towards healing—but will it be too late to salvage the only relationship she really cares about?
Strong, believable female voice narrates Goth Girl’s fascinating physical changes and character manifestations throughout.
Recommended by Jana MacMillan, Spanish Springs Library
Cut, Paste, Kill; a Lomax and Biggs Mystery by Marshall Karp
Lomax and Biggs are back—a much anticipated return for this reader! Detectives Terry Biggs and Mike Lomax begin their weekend like any other, at Mike’s dad’s house for a barbecue. Before they get to eat, they are called in to investigate the murder of a foreign diplomat’s wife. She was responsible for the death of a 10 year old boy by driving drunk, but was protected by diplomatic immunity. Her murder is brutal, and the calling card is a scrapbook detailing the short life of an innocent child, and the press coverage of her lack of punishment.
In spite of the murder, the banter between detectives Lomax and Biggs makes readers chuckle out loud. As the story progresses, a pattern emerges for the killings, and then Karp throws in a twist I never saw coming. That’s what makes this smart, funny novel so delicious. I’m always disappointed to finish one Karp’s novels, because they go by too quickly.
Recommended by Corinne Dickman, Spanish Springs Library
Boys and Girls Like You and Me: Stories by Aryn Kyle
These are well crafted short stories about ordinary everyday people and their extraordinary feelings. In the story “Nine”, a little girl named Tess who is being raised by her father has unresolved issues and a big problem with telling the truth. When her father brings a new girlfriend into the home, Tess is naturally reactive and rude. However, the woman, Meredith, has a chance at patching up their relationship when she goes to see Tess at school on her birthday. She takes her to the ballet school where she studies, and a whole new world of possibilities opens up to Tess. In “Brides”, a young underclass high school girl gets not only a part in the coveted school production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but earns a very close relationship with high school royalty, Dilly, the untouchable and demanding senior class actress.
I enjoyed the ease of this author’s storytelling so much that I went on to read her other piece of work, the novel The God of Animals, and was not disappointed.
Recommended by Leslie Burke, Northwest Reno Library
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