The Puzzle Master

 

Title: The Puzzle Master

Author: Danielle Trussoni

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: 6.13.23

Publisher’s Summary 

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can't. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn't spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women's prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

My Review

I loved Danielle Trussoni's "The Ancestor" and will forever associate it with the first days of the pandemic. I was desperate for an escape and that story was a lifesaver. I feel like this book was another rescue. I am burnt out on reviewing and just want to enjoy reading for the sake of reading again. I requested this title from the library and was able to simply fall into this story, without taking constant mental notes for a future review. I would describe this as a combination of The DaVinci Code and The World That We Knew, and despite there being horror elements, I would tell readers who don't like horror to still give it a try.

3 Mini Reviews: The Perennials, It's Not About the Wine, and Stuff

 

The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society 

by Mauro F. Guillén 

(8.22.23, 263 pages)

This title caught my attention and I really liked Guillén's 2030 so I knew this release would be interesting. If you are interested in the unique abilities and attributes of each generation and how they can better work together this book is for you. Anyone working in HR or in charge of creating a workforce would surely benefit from the ideas and suggestions Guillén provides. 

It's Not About the Wine: The Loaded Truth Behind Mommy Wine Culture 

by Celeste Yvonne (9.12.23, 217 pages)

I'm very divided with my review for this. On one hand, the topic of mommy wine culture needs all the attention and discussions it can get, but I had 2 problems with this book: the length and the sources. At 217 pages, this felt padded in spots but lacking in others. I also felt that the sources were subpar. For example, quoting WebMd or Healthline rather than verified and credentialed physicians or medical studies. If this was a thesis paper, I'd say it was an excellent first draft. 





Stuff: Instead of a Memoir
by Lucy R. Lippard (9.12.23)

Imagine walking through your home and telling the stories behind all of your belongings. I love hearing about people's special connections with different items and I found this "anti-memoir" so interesting. I read this on my color tablet so was able to see the photos and illustrations, but this book really should be experienced in its physical form. 

Crossed by Death

 

Title: Crossed by Death (Stitches In Crime #1)

Author: A.C.F. Bookens

Publisher: ?

Release Date: 2.23.21

Publisher’s Summary 

Salvaging from historic buildings isn’t supposed to require reporting a murder.

When salvage expert and historian Paisley Sutton crawls into an abandoned store with a house attached, she certainly isn’t expecting to find a body on site. But soon, her discovery sends Paisley on an expedition through history that links this murder to the one that led the previous owners to abandon the building in the first place. And someone doesn’t want her to salvage this story from the wreckage.

Can Paisley preserve herself and her young son while also uncovering the stories that matter most?

My Review

As a cross-stitcher, I was excited to start a new cozy mystery series with a cross-stitching theme, but this was quite the letdown. First, cross-stitching is barely even mentioned in the story. Second, the main character is a single mother and the author points that out every other page. Third, the ending went straight into the Christian fiction genre. Needless to say, I won't be continuing with this series. 

Herbs and Homicide

Title: Herbs and Homicide: Heywood Herbalist Cozy Mysteries #1

Author: Carly Winter

Publisher: Westward Publishing

Release Date: 6.9.22

Publisher’s Summary 

From Hollywood, California, to Heywood, Arizona, trouble follows her…


After her husband’s brutal killing and her fall from the Hollywood elite, the disgraced Samantha Rathbone moves to Heywood hoping to forget her past and live a quiet life of anonymity as Sam Jones.

When she takes a job at the local herbal shop, Sage Advice, and the owner is found murdered, Sam is pushed back into the unwanted spotlight when she becomes the number one suspect. As she wades through ugly family drama, the questionable business practices of others, and the lies embroiled in a small town, she searches for the true killer, hoping to save herself.

Will Samantha be able to find the murderer before she’s put away for a crime she didn’t commit?

My Review

I grabbed this as a freebie on the last "Stuff Your Kindle Day" and it was just what I needed. I traveled a lot in July and have been spending a lot of time focusing on new hobbies this month, so I just wanted something light and fun to read before bed. I loved this one. It reminded me so much of the "A Bewitching Mystery" series (2006-2011) from Madelyn Alt, which I loved, but it ended abruptly...a mystery unto itself! Did anyone else read that series? There are 6 books (so far) in this series so I've got several more cozies to add to my Kindle. I'm excited to see what other mysteries "Sam Jones" will solve.  

PUB DAY SPOTLIGHT: Gifts & Books

                                 *free review copy* 

Title: Gifts & Books: From Early Myth to the Present

Author: edited by Nicholas Perkins

Publisher: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

Release Date: 8.11.23

Publisher’s Summary 

A series of thought-provoking essays about the nature of the book as a gift.
 
Giving and receiving gifts can be tricky. Gifts may be touching or puzzling, either strengthening bonds of friendship or becoming a burden. This volume explores how books and writing have described gift-giving over the centuries, but also how books became precious gifts themselves. In a series of thought-provoking essays, richly illustrated from the Bodleian Library’s collections and beyond, the contributors illuminate some of the striking ways in which writing interacts with those fundamental impulses to give, receive, and reciprocate.
 
Each chapter draws on a particular perspective, including archaeology, religion, history, literature, and anthropology. From an ancient Sumerian tablet recording the founding of a temple to contemporary children’s literature that highlights the pleasures and troubling histories of exchange and inheritance, the dynamics of the gift are at work across space and time. This book features gorgeous medieval manuscripts, gifts made by and for Queen Elizabeth I, Victorian Christmas tales, and a mysterious Scottish book sculpture. Stories of sacrifice, love, loyalty, and friendship are woven into these books and objects, showing the ongoing power of the gift to shape the stories we tell about ourselves.

Bridge

                                        

 *free review copy* 

Title: Bridge

Author: Lauren Beukes

Publisher: Mulholland Books

Release Date: 8.8.23

Publisher’s Summary 

A grieving daughter’s search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities in Bridge, a wildly entertaining, reality-bending new thriller from Lauren Beukes, author of the AppleTV+ smash hit The Shining Girls.

It was a game they played; the other worlds, the other lives. It was part of her mom’s grand delusions. It wasn’t real. Unless it was…

Bridget Kittinger has always been paralyzed by choices. It has a lot to do with growing up in the long shadow of her mother, Jo, a troubled neuroscientist. Jo’s obsession with one mythical object, the “dreamworm”—which she believed enabled travel to other worlds—led to their estrangement.

Now, suddenly, Jo is dead. And in packing up her home, Bridge finds a strange device buried deep in Jo’s freezer: the dreamworm. Against all odds, it actually can open the door—to all other realities, and to all other versions of herself, too. Could Bridge find who she should be in this world, by visiting the others? And could her Jo still be alive somewhere? But there’s a sinister cost to trading places, and others hunting the dreamworm who would kill to get their hands on it . . .

Across a thousand possible lives, from Portland to Haiti, from Argentina to the alligator-infested riverways of North Carolina, Bridge takes readers on a highly original thrill ride, pushing the boundaries of what we know about mothers and daughters, hunters and seekers, and who we each choose to be.

My Review

After reading Time's Mouth a few weeks ago I was a bit hesitant to embark on another mind-bending 400+ page novel, but I loved Lauren Beukes' The Shining Girls and Afterland so much that I was willing to take the leap. Like Time's Mouth, this story focuses on mother/daughter relationships, but rather than time traveling, Bridge travels through the multiverse. This will be enjoyed by readers who have ever pondered who they would be if they took another route in life or who they might be in an alternate universe. 

The Book of Witches: An Anthology

 

                                        *free review copy* 

Title: The Book of Witches: An Anthology

Author: compiled by Jonathan Strahan

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Release Date: 8.1.23

Publisher’s Summary 

With a breathtaking array of original stories from around the world, P. Djèlí Clark, Amal El Mohtar, Garth Nix, Darcie Little Badger, Sheree Renée Thomas, and two dozen other fantasy and science fiction geniuses bring a new and exciting twist to one of the most beloved figures in fiction, witches, in never-before-seen works written exclusively for The Book of Witches , compiled by award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan and illustrated by award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans. Witches! Whether you know them from Shakespeare or from Wicked , there is no staple more beloved in folklore, fairy tale, or fantasy than these magical beings. Witches are everywhere, and at the heart of stories that resonate with many people around the world. This dazzling, otherworldly collection gathers new stories of witches from all walks of life, ensuring a Halloween readers will never forget. Whether they be maiden, mother, crone, or other; funny, fierce, light and airy, or dark and disturbing; witches are a vital part of some of the greatest stories we have, and new ones start here! Bringing together twenty-nine stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today, including three tales from a BIPOC-only open submission period, The Book of Witches features Linda Addison, C.L. Clark, P Djeli Clark, Indrapramit Das, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Millie Ho, Saad Hossain, Kathleen Jennings, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, Ken Liu, Usman T. Malik, Maureen F. McHugh, Premee Mohamed, Garth Nix, Tobi Ogundiran, Tochi Onyebuchi, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Kelly Robson, Angela Slatter, Andrea Stewart, Emily Teng, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tade Thompson, and E. Lily Yu—and contains illustrations from three-time Hugo award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans throughout. This extraordinary anthology vividly breathes life into one of the most captivating and feared magical sorceresses and will become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales everywhere.

My Review

Don't be misled by this cover! This anthology does not feature traditional fairy tale witches. The best single word that can describe this collection is "diverse." The authors, stories, genres, and writing styles are all so different that I would recommend reading a single story at a time. A perfect "spooky season" book for your nightstand.

Disruptions

 

                                        *free review copy* 

Title: Disruptions 

Author: Steven Millhauser

Publisher: Knopf

Release Date: 8.1.23

Publisher’s Summary 

An exquisite new collection from a Pulitzer Prize-winning master of the short story, the culmination of a five-decade career: work that takes us beneath the placid surface of suburban life into the elusive strangeness of the everyday

Here are eighteen stories of astonishing range and precision. A housewife drinks alone in her Connecticut living room. A guillotine glimmers above a sleepy town green. A pre-recorded customer service message sends a caller into a reverie of unspeakable yearning. With the deft touch and funhouse-mirror perspectives for which he has won countless admirers, Steven Millhauser gives us the towns, marriages, and families of a quintessential American lifestyle that is at once instantly recognizable and profoundly unsettling. Disruptions is a collection of provocative, bracingly original new work from a writer at the peak of his form.

My Review

Don't you just love it when you read something out of your comfort zone and it pays off? I'm not usually a fan of short story collections, and I had never heard of Steven Millhauser, but this collection being described as a glimpse "beneath the placid surface of suburban life into the elusive strangeness of the everyday" really caught my attention. I read the first story to get a feel for the author's style (after which point I often give up) and felt like I discovered a hidden gem. Then I found "it." You know "it"...that short story that just really sticks in your brain. In this collection, it is "Guided Tour." I haven't been this mesmerized by a short story since reading Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Such a treat!