Jane Litte's Blog, page 3

Reading List by Jayne

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global by Laura Spinney

Daughter. Duhitár-. Dustr. Dukte. Listen to these English, Sanskrit, Armenian and Lithuanian words, all meaning the same thing, and you hear echoes of one of history’s most unlikely journeys. All four languages-along with hundreds of others, from French and Gaelic, to Persian and Polish-trace their origins to an ancient tongue spoken as the last ice age receded. This language, which we call Proto-Indo-European, was born between Europe...

Review: Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Book 1) by Maiga Doocy

Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.

He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more ela...

REVIEW: Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd

I believe every one of us at Gulls Nest is concealing some kind of secret.

1954: When her former novice’s dependable letters stop, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows. Haunted by a line in Frieda’s letter, Nora arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent.

A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattl...

REVIEW: Outcasts of Essex by Jane Hulse

Essex, New Hampshire, April 1775.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Barrett hates the mess of childbirth, yet she’s the unwilling apprentice to the town’s only midwife—her mother. She longs to be a writer like her father, who publishes the weekly Essex Journal.

As the American Revolution heats up, his pro-British views turn the town against the family. Troubles deepen when a smallpox epidemic hits the town, and her mother pushes a crude, controversial inoculation.

Sarah finds herself questioning everyth...

REVIEW: Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis

Dear Beth Revis,

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the conclusion of the Chaotic Orbits trilogy which started in Full Speed To A Crash Landing and continued in How To Steal A Galaxy. I admit I was a little concerned when I opened the novella and saw it was only 77 pages long (on my reader at least). How would the “saving the world” plot and the romantic arc be resolved?

The answer was it wasn’t. The world was saved – hooray! The romance did not get anywhere close to a HFN, let alone a HEA – sadness!  I...

Review: The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan) by Robert Jackson Bennett

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve imp...

Review: The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviafan) by Robert Jackson Bennett

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve imp...

Open Thread for Readers for April 2025

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post about it here!

REVIEW: No Precious Truth by Chris Nickson

The first in a brand-new WW II historical thriller series introduces Sergeant Cathy Marsden – a female police officer working for the Special Investigation Branch – who risks her life to protect the city of Leeds from an escaped German spy!

Leeds, 1941. As the war rages across Europe, Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden’s life since she was seconded to the Special Investigation Branch has remained focused on deserters and home-front crimes. Until now.

Things take a chilling turn when Cathy’s civil...

REVIEW: To Catch a Thief by David Dodge

It takes a thief…

“Le Chat” (“The Cat”), an infamous thief, has come out of retirement and is again liberating expensive jewelry from wealthy tourists on the French Riviera. Or is it a “copycat” who is stealing fortunes?

John Robie thought he had left his larcenous past behind. Once responsible for a string of daring thefts and escapes, he was caught and sent to prison just before the outbreak of World War II. Freed during the German occupation of France, Robie joined the French Resistance an...