Category Archives: Book reviews

Overboard by Sara Paretsky

Posted on March 16, 2023 by thebookgator

  Read February 2023 Recommended for fans of  PI mysteries ★    ★   ★   ★  f V.I. Warshawski and I have been together for a long time. How long? I’d say that I finally discovered her in the 1990s, when … Continue reading →

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Dead Country by Max Gladstone

Posted on February 28, 2023 by thebookgator

Read February 2023 Recommended for fans of The Craft sequence, fantasy ★    ★   ★   ★   1/2 Leave it to Gladstone to make a liar out of me. I’ve been saying for a few years now that “I don’t really … Continue reading →

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The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness. If by ‘appalling,’ you mean ‘hysterical.’

Posted on February 25, 2023 by thebookgator

Read February 2023 Recommended for fans footnotes, The Gates, dry humor ★    ★   ★   ★   1/2 Appalling amounts of fun. I giggled most of the way through it, and despite the brevity, it would have been five stars if … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, fantasy, Urban fantasy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear

Posted on February 13, 2023 by thebookgator

Abandoned February 2023 Recommended for fans of purple prose I like Elizabeth Bear, but I’m discovering that I like her in the same way I like lilies: in small doses and from a distance. She does elaborate things with language … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, Epic fantasy, fantasy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Posted on February 10, 2023 by thebookgator

Read January 2023 Recommended for fans of stories ★    ★   ★   ★    Once upon a time Nghi Vo wrote a series of novellas about Cleric Chih, who collects stories as part of their life’s work. In this particular … Continue reading →

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Sargasso of Space by Andrew North–excuse me–Andre Norton

Posted on February 9, 2023 by thebookgator

Read February 2023 Recommended for fans of Star Trek OG ★    ★   ★    Cheesy fun, utterly forgettable, and if it wasn’t Andre Norton, I likely would have passed, based on time period and cover alone. Or mocked it. … Continue reading →

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Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews. No mourning here.

Posted on February 9, 2023 by thebookgator

Read February 2023 Recommended for fans of Kate Daniels ★    ★   ★   ★    The recent release of the novella Magic Tides has me revisiting some of the books in the Kate Daniels world. Not all of them, mind you; though … Continue reading →

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A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders. Wading In.

Posted on February 2, 2023 by thebookgator

Read January 2023 Recommended for fans of literary analysis, thinking ★    ★   ★   ★   ★   Suffice it to say that I have 177 highlights on this book. “This is a resistance literature, written by progressive reformers in a repressive … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, genre-bender, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Posted on January 25, 2023 by thebookgator

Read January 2023 Recommended for fans of Pratchett, MMOG ★    ★   ★   1/2 It all depends on your definition of ‘cosy,’ I suppose. I’ve been wrapping up George Saunders’ A Swim In a Pond In the Rain, in which … Continue reading →

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Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews

Posted on January 17, 2023 by thebookgator

Read January 2023 Recommended for Andrews fans ★    ★   ★   ★      Checked email at 10 pm, discovered preorder receipt, downloaded book and finished by 1 a.m. Fun; a return to good, old-fashioned Andrews fun. Kate and Curran … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, fantasy, Urban fantasy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments