B Reviews / Book Reviews15th century / Art / art history / History / Holocaust / Italy / Leonardo da Vinci / Milan / non-fiction / painter / Poland / war / World War II4 Comments
Five hundred and thirty years ago, a young woman sat before a Grecian-nosed artist known as Leonardo da Vinci. Her name was Cecilia Gallerani, and she was the young mistress of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. Sforza was a brutal and clever man who was mindful that Leonardo’s genius would ... more >
Book Reviews / Recommended Reads / Top Ten ListsAgent/Spies/Undercover / Best of 2020 / best of list / boarding school / Cold War / disabled hero / found family / genius loci / historical romance / king / Literary fiction / loner / m/m / magic users / one day courtship / passing / SF / thief / twins / UF / voting / war / YA / YA fantasy14 Comments
I spent much of 2020 grateful to books and authors for giving me a way to visit other times and places while stuck at home because of Covid. Below, listed in alphabetical order by author, are my top eight favorite books of 2020. Some grades have been adjusted since my ... more >
A Reviews / A- Reviews / Recommended Readsbetrayal / disability / guardian / ward / joint review / Mediterranean setting / Recommended Reads / thief / war / YA fantasy / Young-Adult9 Comments
Trigger warning: READERS PLEASE NOTE: The following review contains MASSIVE spoilers for the earlier five books in Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief series and this is one series where spoilers should be avoided at all costs. Seriously, don’t even read the blurbs for the later books. If you’d like to try ... more >
B Reviews / B- Reviews / Book Reviews / DNF Reviewscrossword puzzle / England / Japanese culture / Manga / murder-investigation / non-fiction / POC author / police / Scotland / war9 Comments
The Fox & the Little Tanuki, Vol. 1 by Mi Tagawa Long ago, the gods granted a few special animals great powers… but not all those animals used their magical abilities for good! Senzou the Fox Spirit in particular grew too brash and arrogant, abusing his strength until the gods ... more >
A Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#metoo / #ownvoices / 1870s / 1920s / 1970s / accountant / Agent/Spies/Undercover / arranged-marriage / Asian heroine / Asperger's / audiobook / Best of 2019 / best of list / book editor / California / class differences / Contemporary / custody battle / dragons / enemies to lovers / epistolary / f/f / Fairyland / fake relationship / family / Fantasy / farming / friends-to-lovers / gods / heroine in disguise / high-school / historical romance / Hong Kong based world / illegitimate-child / LGBTQIA+ / Literary fiction / London / look alikes / mafia / magical powers / Malaysia / martial arts / Mexico / nobleman / Northern Ireland / nurse / POC / POC author / political intrigue / quest / reformed hero / Regency-based world / romantic-elements / roommates / saga / single dad / streetwise heroine / Time-Travel / Vietnam / waitress / war19 Comments
I was tempted to make a list of my favorites among the 2019-published books I read this year. In the end I decided to focus on my favorite 2019 reads (first time reads; I didn’t include books I had read / reviewed in prior years) without regard to their year ... more >
A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsAgent/Spies/Undercover / enemies to lovers / epistolary novel / f/f romantic elements / LGBTQIA+ / POC / POC author / queer heroine / Science Fiction / star-crossed lovers / Time-Travel / war10 Comments
Dear Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, One look at this 209-page time-travel novel’s blurb and I had to preorder it, so I’m reproducing that blurb here: Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. And thus begins an ... more >