I was lucky enough to spend several weeks in Winnipeg, and at Whodunit? in January and February and was delighted to be able to chat with many of you. I’m grounded now until the baby comes, but don’t worry, Mum is sending me care packages of books and we’ll be around a bunch in the summer and fall.
Genevieve Cogman’s ‘Invisible Library’ series had been on my radar since it was first released, but I never dipped into it, despite it residing on the shelves of Whodunit. I finally picked up a copy of The Invisible Library when I was home in February and I was hooked! I instantly bought The Masked City and The Burning Page and well…burned through them. Librarian/spy Irene’s job is to collect important books from alternate dimensions to house them in the Library. The first book has her sent to a new dimension, an alternate London, with a new assistant in tow but before she even makes it out the door another Librarian is trying to steal her mission. I would classify this series as less literary and whimsical than Jasper Fforde’s ‘Thursday Next’ series, so a little more serious but easier to read. Book #4, The Lost Plot, will be available in November. All available in trade paperback.
Speaking of libraries, I also tried Rachel Caine’s new ‘The Great Library’ series, which begins with Ink and Bone. This one is classified as YA, which is good news as it means the books are cheaper, although the content (and violence) are fairly adult. In this series, the Great Library of Alexandria still exists, personal ownership of books is forbidden, and only the most special young people have the opportunity to test to enter the Library’s services. The main character is a young man and this is a dystopian universe, both of which would often be huge turnoffs for me, but I found myself really enjoying the book. Book #2, Paper and Fire, will be available in trade paperback in May with book #3, Ash and Quill, coming in hardcover in July.
Darcie Wilde’s A Useful Woman was one of my books of the year for 2016 and I’m heartened that many of you took my recommendation (and hopefully enjoyed it). The second book in the series, A Purely Private Matter, is due May 2nd (just a few days before my daughter), so I’m looking forward to receiving it in a post-baby care package (hint hint, Mum).
I’ve eagerly read the first seven books in Benedict Jacka’s ‘Alex Verus’ series, but each book ends of such an increasingly massive cliffhanger than I’m not sure I have the nerve anymore. It feels like poor Alex just can’t catch a break and much like Jim Butcher’s ‘Dresden Files’ it can feel like one catastrophe after another without a pause to develop the characters or story. Still, if book #8 Bound arrived in a care package, I’m pretty sure I’ll read it. Can’t blame a girl for wanting a happy ending once in a while, can you? You can pick up your copy in mass market on April 4th.
I am really looking forward to another 8th book in a series though, May’s release of Caro Peacock’s 8th ‘Liberty Lane’ book Fool’s Gold. This can be a frustrating series to track because the book releases are erratic (often two years apart) and usually in a very expensive hardcover that sometimes take forever to get into trade paperback and sometimes are released in both formats nearly simultaneously. So I can’t suggest you buy the hardcover, although I will, and I’ll be sure to let you know when the trade paperback is available. This is such a smart series with a woman getting by on her own brains and ingenuity, rather than her looks and husband, the same reason I like the Darcie Wilde series.
I am, as ever, open for recommendations on what I should read when I’m on maternity leave. I’m going to have lots of time to read, right?