Wild Rain is great historically representative, slow burn romance between a lady rancher and a city slicker reporter. I loved seeing the diversity of the West as it really was, and the chemistry between the two leads sizzled. When can I get more of this series?
Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins (List Price: $7.99, Avon, 9780062861719, 2/9/2021)
Reviewed by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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If you’ve ever wondered if an adult book could be written to be accessible to not just YA but middle grade readers too, wonder no longer: the book of your dreams is here. Across the Green Grass Fields is a wonderful coming-of-age story with all the mandatory trappings: bullying, parental oversight, unicorns, evil queens, and an intersex main character. It’s Tanith Lee rewriting Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. This standalone novella is a wonderful entrance to the Hooflands, and I can’t wait to double back and read more.
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (List Price: $19.99, Tordotcom, 9781250213594, 1/12/2021)
Reviewed by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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512 heart-pounding pages of action will keep you on the edge of your seat in Persephone Station. Angel, an exiled combat veteran turned small-scale criminal, must gather a rag-tag army together to protect sentient indigenous life-forms from corporate-level encroachment. This book is busy in the best of ways and is easily one of the best space operas of 2021. I cannot recommend it enough.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht (List Price: $27, Gallery/Saga Press, 9781534414587, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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Adrian Tchaikovsky returns to the poisoned world of Cain markings and ancestor wisdom in The Expert System’s Champion. It’s been ten years since Handry became priest of the Order of Cain, and now he faces his biggest challenge yet: a war between oddly-behaving animals and the humans living near them. While investigating, Handry will uncover a much darker secret about how far his human Ancestors went to survive. This is a slow-build novella with a jaw-dropping plot twist.
The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky (List Price: $15.99, Tordotcom, 9781250766397, 1/26/2021)
Reviewed by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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In Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lily Hu and Kath Miller are gorgeously rendered against the glittering backdrop of San Francisco, escaping into the night for The Telegraph Club where they find themselves staring down a sort of freedom that they know they cannot leave behind. From the very first page, this is a novel that feels so incredibly full and rich with historical details and simmers with yearning and tension I simply could not put it down. Delving into the realities of 1950’s Chinese America identity, queer culture, McCarthyism & women in STEM, Lo has crafted a historical fiction novel of the absolute highest caliber.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (List Price: $18.99, Dutton Books for Young Readers, 9780525555254, 1/19/2021)
Reviewed by Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida
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Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite have done it again, and more, with their sophomore novel, One of the Good Ones. This book kept me up into the early morning hours, furiously flipping pages, needing to know where things would end up for the Smith sisters. The story takes you on a real journey, jumping through history and back again, dissecting race relations in America with an unflinching eye; it is beautifully written, heartbreaking, disturbing and yet, ultimately, hopeful. I can’t recommend it enough.
One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite, Maritza Moulite (List Price: $18.99, Inkyard Press, 9781335145802, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida
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Ash is a typical white All-American football-playing teen. Then he gets tackled into another dimension, and has to confront issues he’s never directly faced before. From homophobia to racism, sexism to privilege, Ash gets a crash course on every hard-hitting issue we face today. This is an important and timeless tale about perceiving a world beyond your own.
Game Changer by Neal Shusterman (List Price: $17.95, Quill Tree Books, 9780061998676, 2/9/2021)
Reviewed by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
The Project by Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books, February
Courtney Summers is back with another electric gut punch of a novel and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have once again found myself a quivering mass of emotion after turning the last page of The Project. Only Courtney can perfectly encapsulate the dueling states of fragility & ferocity that exist within young women when they find themselves alone in a world that isn’t designed to protect them from harm. I dare you to pick up this brilliant novel about two sisters and a mysterious cult–you won’t be able to set it down again.
— Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Tordotcom, January
Remote Control is a slow-paced meditation–think The Hobbit meets The Prey of Gods–about a young girl who calls down the supernatural and must come to terms with those consequences. Eye-catching prose weaves with vivid scenes make this a novella a must-read for Afrofuturism shelves. All hail Nnedi Okorafor, queen of the short form.
Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, FL
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I absolutely adore this clever, cozy, flower-dotted novel that manages to be gentle and whimsical and yet serve up scenes of truly spine-tingling eldritch horror. Written in the vein of Diana Wynne Jones and featuring the absolute Very Best Fox of young adult literature, this is a story that spans the gap between middle grade and adult fantasy readers. I would recommend this to fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon and An Enchantment of Ravens equally, and I cannot wait to read more Ashley Poston.
Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (List Price: $17.99, Balzer + Bray, 9780062847362, 10/20/2020)
Reviewed by Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida
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This is an impressive sophomore novella that breathes new life into campfire stories and oral history. In a mystical world of tiger shifters and deadly mammoths, one cleric must bargain for their life with a folk tale. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is a story of cultural exchange and a question of who pens history. It’s powerful, compelling, and downright enchanting.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (List price: $15.99, Tordotcom, 9781250786135, December 2020), recommended by Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books, Punta Gorda, FL.
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This engaging and poignant story is full of delicious romance and emotional growth, and I adored following Shanti and Sanyu as they learned how to love each other, and how to be the best leaders they could be for their kingdom. Cole does a fantastic job of centering mental health and open communication in this story in an approachable way, and I cannot wait to see what other stories she brings to life in this series!
How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole (List Price: $7.99, Avon, 9780062933966 December, 2020).
Reviewed by Lucy Perkins-Wagel, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, FL.
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I can’t stop thinking about this fearless, genre-bending, and romantic debut novel. It’s a story that begins with grief while Sia attempts to heal her heart post-trauma, but then she’s assigned a school project with tall, shy Noah and some of her carefully constructed barriers start to fall away. Then the UFO sightings begin. Featuring a diverse cast, meddling ghost Abuela, aliens and so many gorgeous sentences, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything is beautiful, important, and addictive. I can’t wait to read what Raquel Vasquez Gilliland writes next.
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (List price: $18.99, Simon Pulse), recommended by Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL.
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