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What have you just read? Opinions, Recommendations, and Reviews, part 3
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PattyMacDotComma
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Jul 24, 2023 03:01AM
This is another good sci-fi story from Amazon's The Far Reaches collection. Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse has a more advanced "offshore detention" than what is currently used.
My review of Falling Bodies
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Fotinoula and the Christmas Goblin by R.G. Fraser-Green
Loved this indie MG dark fantasy. Perfect for homes and schools.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My reviews of Home Truths by Susan Lewis
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and
Lost Luggage by Samantha Tonge
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Woman from Tantoura: A Palestinian Novel by Radwa Ashour; translated by Kay Heikkinen. A powerful novel in the voice of a Palestinian woman describing the experience of Palestinians in the 1948 formation of the state of Israel and its aftermath.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Sydney brothel in 1930 may not sound like a YA setting, but I think teens would enjoy young Violet. Even the title, Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl, sounds good. It's a mystery with some local history by Aussie author Fiona Britton
My review of Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl
Read two of C. S. Harris' St Cyr series - Why Mermaids Sing - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4556525745and
Where Serpents Sleep - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5325507736
plus Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert by Tammi Labrecque - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5712283072
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I read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson; translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal. A heart-warming, quiet, and beautiful book that depicts the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Midsummer's Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca
A middle-grade retelling of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' An ambitious debut that gets it mostly right.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My reviews of A True Story of the East End in the 1950s, Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and
Where the Road Bends by David Rawlings
2 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A great debut.
The Opposite of Success by Eleanor Elliott ThomasMy review 4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I seem to be late 'discovering' popular UK crime writer Mark Billingham. His new Detective Miller series, The Last Dance, has plenty of scope to move into the next book, which I look forward to. Declan Miller seems very human rather than hard-boiled. Funny. Sad.
My review of The Last Dance
Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed
An Arabian Nights spinoff centred on Scheherazade (or Shaherazade, as she is called in this version.) A great attempt, but too ambitious for a debut novelist. You might fare better with it if you don't know much about the original. I did.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber
A sweet magical realism story. And when I saw 'sweet', I mean 'overly saccharine sweet'. Works well for the plot, so no major complaints.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of Paperbark Hill by Maya Linnell
4 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recently read Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winner, Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories that mix and stir Indian cultures with others. No matter who people are or where they live, couples are couples, parents are parents, and everyone has customs they can't always explain.
My review of Interpreter of Maladies
Just Out of Jupiter's Reach by Nnedi Okorafor is another intriguing sci-fi story from Amazon's The Far Reaches collection. The astronaut and space ship share DNA, which must be a first!
My review of Just Out of Jupiter's Reach
Read The Engine House: A Black Beacons Murder Mystery by Rhys Dylan - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5738892420
My review of Wings Like a Dove by Camille Eide
4 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Remember, Mr Sharma by A.P. Firdaus
Indian historical fiction with a talking vulture. Interested? ;)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The thriller, The Chalk Man, was a much-hyped debut by C.J. Tudor when it came out a few years ago, and today I needed a horror for a challenge. Yes, there's some creepy stuff.
My review of The Chalk Man
John Scalzi's short sci-fi story, Slow Time Between the Stars, is more than a little worrying, as he imagines what Artificial Intelligence could do by itself when we turn it loose. 
My review of Slow Time Between the Stars
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson
A lovely book that I would have liked even better had I not read another novel with a similar storyline.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Perfect Wife by J P Delaney
1 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women
An anthology of stories written by Afghan women. Poignant!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Life: What Nat to Do by Nat's What I ReckonMy review 4 stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill, published in 1951 with a different take on a historical event than the usual attitude today but enjoyed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5746078552
Love Deleted: Are you sure you want to erase your love? by Paul Indigo
The writing style took me a while to get tuned to, but the plot is just amazing! Reminiscent of the movie 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', though not exactly the same.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I loved the deceptively titled (and covered) Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran. It recently won the prestigious Miles Franklin Award, and no wonder. This is Australia. 
My review of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
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