elderberrywine – Page 17 – Cannonball Read 17

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Except Not So Happy

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima

February 5, 2024 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

The narrator, a young woman whose name we never know, is in a dissolving marriage. Her husband needs to leave, for unknown reasons. Perhaps he just needs his own space. She is not terribly fussed about the situation. But he feels it incumbent upon himself to find her a new apartment. Nothing in her price range fits though, and so she finally goes her own way, three year old daughter in tow, and finds her own place without mentioning it to him. This is her […]

Fond of Zombies, Are You? What about Zombies AND Pirates?

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

January 25, 2024 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

Well now! Steampunk with zombies and pirates, and a certain amount of historical fact to boot? Welcome to turn of the century Seattle. IRL, Seattle suffered a devastating fire in the late 1890s which tore through the lumber constructed Pioneer Square, its original downtown. There was also the issue of frequent rain-induced flooding, due to the steep coastal shoreline. So the civic leaders swapped out timber construction for masonry, and rebuilt, streets and all, on the top of the original buildings. The lower levels acted […]

A Perfect Small Winter’s Tale

The Liar by Martin A. Hansen

January 4, 2024 by elderberrywine 2 Comments

An odd duck of a book, by a mid-century Danish author, but you see, there is a map, and thus I am powerless to resist. The map in question is that of Sand Island, a small island off of the Danish coast, and for most of the book, entirely ice bound. There are only a couple score of islanders, and those off on the mainland are as important as the inhabitants, since the confining ice comes abruptly and unpredictably. The narrator, Johannes Lye, is the […]

Wait! Is that Heather on the Hills?

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

December 30, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

The plotline was a little convoluted at times, but I will forgive a lot for a brilliant premise, and boy, did this book have one. So there was a mapmaker, General Drafting Corporation, which started some of the first road maps of New York State back at the beginning of travel by auto (i.e., prior to Triple A). They were generally cheap, purchased at the gas stations that were just coming into being, and were very carefully and meticulously researched. Before long, other larger firms […]

Science Plus Murder – Always a Cool Combo

Thunderstruck by Eric Larson

December 28, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

You have to give yourself some time to get into this one, but what a bang-up ending, merging two most unlikely story lines, and the way it all changed the world as we now know it. The first storyline is that of Guglielmo Marconi, whose version of the “wireless” eventually surpassed all other versions being developed at the same time. He’s a young Italian socialite, barely out of school, with no scientific education whatsoever, but he has experimented with electronic devices, and hits upon a […]

Hot Priest Plus Actual Witch? OK, I’m Here For It.

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

December 19, 2023 by elderberrywine 2 Comments

I have a new favorite niche – Mexican Gothic. Actually this genre and I go way back to my high school days. I was in Spanish III, junior year, and we read Doña Barbara by Romulo Gallego, written in 1929. OK, it was actually a Venezuelan novel rather than Mexican, but I suspect the landed gentry in those two countries were not all that different back in those days. Of course, my Spanish was still fledgling, so what was going on was frequently a mystery, […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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