Reading the Smell of Other People's Houses in a Stranger's House

I happened upon an advanced reader copy of "The Smell of Other People's Houses" a few months ago at a library conference. It stared at me from my TBR pile, a little purple confection waiting to be devoured. I loved the title. I know you're not supposed to pick books based on their cover or title or whatever. But we all do it. We like a good title and we like good cover art work. This book has both. This book is dark, adorable, and wraps up very satisfyingly. And beyond appropriate that I finished it while staying at an Airbnb in NOLA. 

Set in rural Alaska, the story follows a number of different protagonists as they struggle to understand their identities as teens, Alaskan natives, runaways, orphans, siblings, sons, and daughters. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, and their stories intermix and affect each other in surprising, upsetting, and heartwarming ways. Growing up in the Midwest, I have very little background knowledge of what it must be like to grow up in Alaska. This book, for all I know, could be totally inaccurate. However, the narrative crafted by *author* feels real, and evokes sympathy for these struggling youths. This story touches on so many difficult experiences that teens face everywhere, not just rural Alaskan fishing communities. Poverty, teen pregnancy, and abusive parents are just a few of the hardships mentioned in this short novel. The flawed characters bumble around trying to make sense of the madness around them, leaning on one another for support and finding help in the most unassuming places. 

Would I have bought this book at my local book store? Probably not. Am I happy I read it? Hells yeah! My copy found a home in a Little Free Library in New Orleans, and I hope it finds its way into the hands of a teen or the parent of one who might find some insight or comfort in the stories and characters inside. 

What's a Vampire Series, Without Some Werewolves?

When I saw that the sequel to Rebecca Alexander's first book was on Blogging for Books I immediately requested a copy. And was super excited because I didn't even know it was a series! I then waited for several months before actually reading said book.

I wish I hadn't been so busy and waited so long! The Secrets of Blood and Bone was excellent. I've read Twilight, watched the Vampire Diaries, and have even gotten into Teen Wolf. There isn't too much difference in Vampire and Werewolf lore among most of the current books and TV shows floating around. Rebecca Alexander has managed to take a very different path. Her incorporation of real historical events to create a realistic world where magic and magical creatures could exist. Her writing is gritty and exciting. The story is a great extension of the first book, and built even more on the historical writings of Dee. There is more character development and the story delves deeper into the magic. There's a bit of weird references to sexual vampirism, which was not really needed for the plot. But I can see how she tied it in.

I'm not going to ruin the ending. But DAMN. I immediately googled to make sure Alexander was writing a third. She is. Don't worry. Everything's fine. And I am eagerly waiting for book three.


Courtesy of Blogging for Books <3

Books, Cults, and Glowing Book Covers

So, because I'm a lazy person, I typically only review the books that I've been given for the sole purpose of reviewing. And then sometimes, I have to read for homework (Library Sciences what upp). And then sometimes, the books I have to read for homework are amazing. And then sometimes, I feel obligated to tell as many people as humanly possibly about how amazing said book is. This is that book. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is amazing. AMAZING. Everyone stop what you're doing, go to your library, your local bookstore, Amazon, wherever. People - the cover GLOWS IN THE DARK.

Exhibit B. GLOWING

Exhibit A. Not Glowing

Get it? Because its a bookstore that never closes. just so genius.





Also, terrified me for a minute in the dark in my room before I put two and two together. For a brief moment I really thought I had stumbled into a magical world and was going to get to go to Narnia or something. No such luck I'm afraid.

Anyways, enough about the cover. This book has it all. You have your adorable dorky twenty something leading man who falls into a world of mystery and books. Cue the love interest, even dorkier twenty something lady who is infinitely smarter than our leading man, and rocks it. Cue the elderly man to lead them into the world of mystery. Also, they just constantly make Dungeons and Dragons jokes which actually had me laughing out loud to myself as I binge read this entire book on a Saturday morning alone in my jammies. NO SHAME. This book is hilarious and is full of mysteries. I'm not quite sure what I thought it was about before reading it, but I love books about books so I figured I would enjoy it. The story ended up being like a Da Vinci code mystery without all of the religious undertones. Basically it's great and everyone should read it. And try to get the cover that looks like this, so you can revel in the glow-in-the-dark-magic.

(Photo cred - Google Images, thanks strangers somewhere who took pictures of this book cover)

The Literary Apothecary

Jean Perdu's floating bookshop sits on the Seine as he prescribes books to readers as if they are medicine for the soul. Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop was medicine for my soul. This book could not have fallen into my lap at a better time. A gorgeous story about an old man who let life pass him by because of a lost love. It was as if Jean Perdu himself had looked me and said "This one. Read this one next." This book was beautifully written, with colorful characters and a story that makes you laugh and cry in the same chapter, and was the perfect book to remind me that you can't give up just because you've gotten a raw deal. When life gives you lemons, go find a book that tells you every possible thing you can do with lemons. As if it wasn't already wonderful, George lists a variety of books and what they should be used for as "medicine" for readers AND she provides the recipes for meals cooked in the book. Well done Nina, well done.

If the only premise of this book had been an adorable older man selling books as medicine for all of life's ailments, I would have been one happy book reviewer. But then send him on a quest to understand events that happened 20 years ago and to give him closure on those events? Excuse me while I aggressively stalk Nina George on GoodReads to see what else she's written and if she's in the works to write anything else.

Courtesy of Blogging for Books

Doctors Actually Listening to their Patients

What a novel idea, am I right? As a patient with a rare collagen disorder, I appreciated that Dr. Clifton K. Meador wrote a book about actually listening to his patients and understanding the mental problems aren't totally separated from the physical. I've spent a shocking amount of time in hospital waiting rooms and doctor's offices, and on more than one occasion been misdiagnosed. There's nothing more frustrating in the world than being told there's nothing wrong with you, or being prescribed the wrong medication for the wrong ailment. The only doctors I've never had problems with have been my physical therapists, they're all about preventative medicine and they're basically baller. So hats off to you guys. Dr. Meador's Symptoms of Unknown Origin is refreshing; it's not full of too much medical mumbo jumbo - so even if you're not a doctor it's relatively easy to follow along. This book is a very different take on the medical world, focusing on the patient's symptoms instead of starting with preconceived biases. I can't really say that I enjoyed reading this book, but again, I'm not a doctor. But the fact that it exists gives me hope that the medical field is moving in a direction that is more respectful and understanding of how patients and doctors can work together to be able to find cures to diseases and disorders that they previously couldn't.

What Exactly is a Concerto?

I stopped playing piano when I was eleven because I didn't want to practice. To this day, I totally regret it. The music is beautiful and I love hearing it played. However, I couldn't tell you the difference between a concerto or a sonata. The Lost Concerto by Helaine Mario is all about the music. The story she has crafted is a fascinating thriller with short chapters full of action that keep the pages turning. Mario's metaphors are a liiiiiiiiiiittle heavy handed. I get that the book is about music. I get it. I promise. It's very obvious. But there's a musical metaphor on almost every page. It's a little excessive. It adds to the kitschy nature of the story, but it's also beating the dead horse. Perhaps if I was more musical, I would have appreciated the use of metaphor in a way that propelled the story forward. But sadly, I do not know what a concerto really is, and so a great number of the comparisons were lost on me.

The Lost Concerto has a lot of freaking characters. (Spoilers!!) And I'm still not quite sure how old Michael is. I'm pretty sure if he fought in 'Nam, he might be too old for our main character Maggie. But, he's adorable and showed great character development. All of the characters were well done, your bad guys were super evil, some of them were sneakily evil, and your good guys were good, and sometimes a little bad. Everything you want in a suspenseful thriller. Sometimes it was a little tricky to follow the point of view, but it made it a more interesting read than had it only been from one perspective.

I may not know what a concerto is, or how to properly use it in a metaphor, but I know a good book when I read it. Mario drew me into this crazy mixed up world of music, and kept me reading until the last note was played. (See what I did there?)

The Librarians?

After getting completely sucked into the TV show "The Librarians" this past year, super human librarians aren't that out of the norm. However, super hero, god-like, serial killer librarians - well that still came as a shock. The Library at Mount Char is a suspenseful read, with more twists and turns than a water slide. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I started reading, and when I finished about 48 hours later - I'm still turning over the story in my mind. A quick and exciting novel, this book completely sidetracked me from everything I was supposed to be doing: homework, helping my boyfriend pack, eat, sleep... the usual. Hawkins clearly put a lot of effort into making this story flow together; each cog in the plot fell together perfectly in the end. Almost a little too perfectly if you ask me. Everything was very perfectly explained, and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. If you like a story with a very neat ending, you're gonna love this book. Which is not to say I didn't love it. I mean, I couldn't put it down. The language is funny, readable but not too simplistic. Hawkins makes quite a few plays on words, which I also enjoyed greatly. A fun, distracting book with some crazy plot twists - definitely a great book to read curled up on the couch on a rainy day. I'll be definitely keeping my eyes out to see what Steve Hawkins cooks up next.

Courtesy of Blogging for Books