narfna – Page 86 – Cannonball Read 17

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness

January 11, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I can point out so many flaws but at the end of the day I read this 561 page book very fast and I did, I enjoyed myself. My rational brain is going, “Stop! She’s too powerful! This villain is made of cardboard! This is wish-fulfillment! He’s so possessive, and how convenient it’s coded into his genes!!! This is CHEESY AS HELL. They are CODEPENDENT.” Meanwhile, the part of my brain that just makes noises and wants to grab things that are soft is making […]

“It’s so much easier to obey orders. It’s not much fun to think.”

Spectred Isle (Green Men, #1) by K.J. Charles

January 8, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

On the one hand, I wish I would have read this sooner, because it’s great. On the other, I wish I would have saved it, because the sequel seems to be postponed indefinitely for some ground-up retooling, and I would prefer to have it as soon as possible. I found the worldbuilding here to be one of the more intriguing urban fantasy set-ups I’ve read, especially when you factor in that a large part of it uses the consequences of WWI in such a thoughtful […]

“Miss Holmes smiled. She had dimples. Of course she did—the Good Lord went to ridiculous lengths to make sure that one of the finest minds in existence was housed in a body least likely to be suspected of it.”

A Study in Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock, #1) by Sherry Thomas

January 7, 2022 by narfna 11 Comments

Oh, this was so close to being my first five star read of the year. If I hadn’t been a little confused by the ending (lots of similar sounding names, and an intricate mystery denouement) it definitely would have been. This is the first book in Sherry Thomas’s Victorian historical mystery series, Lady Sherlock, where Sherlock is a lady. Her name is actually Charlotte, a disgraced young noble lady who is genius level intelligent, and is trying to find a way to make a living […]

“The caterpillars were ordered to appear in court on the twenty-eighth of June, at a specified hour, where they would be assigned legal representation.”

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

January 5, 2022 by narfna 16 Comments

I was so happy when Mary Roach announced this book, because I have been missing her writing. I never read her last book, even though I tried and couldn’t get more than ten minutes in before waving the white flag, because reading about warfare and war and its consequences is something that I found actively unpleasant. And this book sounded so silly! And it’s about animals. I fucking love animals! Even the ones most people dislike, like rats and spiders and snakes. I anticipated laughter […]

The human side of Sherlock Holmes.

Observations by Gaslight: Stories From the World of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye

January 3, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

Lyndsay Faye is a consummate player of The Great Game, and this book was a lovely little treat. If you’re somehow unaware, The Great Game is the practice of Sherlockians to act as if Holmes and Watson were real, and to make existing canon and facts fit together. This book plays into that in that Faye acts like she is just the editor of these stories, which are all told from the first person perspectives of people in Sherlock Holmes’s life who aren’t Dr. John […]

Like a Hallmark movie in book form, and all that implies.

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

December 31, 2021 by narfna 2 Comments

I feel badly about the review I’m about to write, because it betrays a cynicism I like to squash when possible, but I feel like this book was published (and picked by Book of the Month) because publishers knew it would sell, and not because it was anything special. This is similar to the way that Hallmark Christmas movies are cheaply made, poorly written, and at best acted with mediocrity, but scratch a specific itch in a specific type of person that watches them anyway. […]

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.

About narfna