Author Archives: thebookgator

About thebookgator

avid reader and Goodreads reviewer looking for a home.

Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection by Nick Seluk

Posted on May 31, 2020

Read March 2020 Recommended for people who believe in the heart and brain  ★     ★    1/2 Not sure where I came across this little collection, but I thought I’d check it out from the library before I invested … Continue reading →

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Peter Watts is an Angry Sentient Tumor, by Peter Watts

Posted on May 30, 2020

Read March 2020 Recommended for people who want a little prod  ★     ★    ★ I was interested in this because I found Watts to be one of the most fascinating sci-fi writers I’ve read, with wide-ranging concepts and … Continue reading →

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Short Story Round-up: Nebulas 2019

Posted on May 29, 2020

  Best Short Story • Give the Family My Love by A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 149, February 2019) I enjoyed it, despite a recently noted dislike of epistolary storytelling. A pessimistic anthropologist astronaut is the last chance for humanity … Continue reading →

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Robert B. Parker’s Old Black Magic by Ace Atkins

Posted on May 29, 2020

Recommended for: Parker fans Read May 2020 ★   ★   ★    Akins has taken over Parker’s Spenser series and honestly, has probably surpassed the final decade of books that Parker himself was able to push out. Still, reading the merging … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, Mystery | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark

Posted on May 28, 2020

Read February 2019 Recommended for fans of djinn, interesting reads  ★     ★    ★     ★  Cairo, 1912 or so. There’s a ghost in Tram Car 015, although Senior Agent Hamed is fairly certain it isn’t a ghost. You … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, fantasy, Urban fantasy | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Adventures of a Dwergish Girl by Daniel Pinkwater

Posted on May 26, 2020

Read April 2020 Recommended for fans of New England, YA  ★     ★     Somehow, I missed Pinkwater’s works when I was growing up. I rectified that not long ago when Sarah B. pointed me towards Lizard Music, a delightfully … Continue reading →

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Feed by Mira Grant

Posted on May 26, 2020

Recommended for: fans of zombies, pandemics Read May 2011 ★  ★  ★  1/2 A perfect summer read. It starts out with our heroes poking sharp sticks at zombies and a narrow escape. It’s a good way to develop interest, but … Continue reading →

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Not-A-Review: This is How You Lose the Time War

Posted on May 24, 2020

Another one for the Not-A-Review files: Seems doubtful I would ever read this book. One, I’ve always been iffy about the epistolary format, which is pretty odd, considering the volumes of letters I’ve written over my life. (Literally. One friend … Continue reading →

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Round-up: P. Djeli Clark

Posted on May 22, 2020

One of my favorite new writers is P. Djèlí Clark. I first discovered him from longer length short-stories, and then his novellas. As I enthusiastically reviewed his work, it led to interesting discussions on the ability of male authors to … Continue reading →

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Hugo 2019 Novelette Nominations

Posted on May 20, 2020

“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again” by Zen Cho Best Novelette nomination and Winner https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-try-try-again-by-zen-cho/ Sweet. A touch uneven but a solid heart. Chinese dragons, karma, transformation, all rolled in to a modernized version of a traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, fantasy, Science fiction | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments