Night of Camp David
7.0
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"What would happen if the president of the U.S.A. went stark-raving mad?" Back by popular demand,...
Fiction Politics Thriller
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
9.0
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Alexander McCall Smith meets Jane Austen in this delightfully charming Indian novel about finding...
Shattered Pack
8.0
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Meredith Molloney never thought she’d find a mate, let alone someone like Donovan Murry—one of...
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America
Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
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When Tony Kushner's Angels in America hit Broadway in 1993, it won the Pulitzer Prize, swept the...
The Splendor Before the Dark: A Novel of the Emperor Nero
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Ascending to the throne was only the beginning… Now Margaret George, the author of The Confessions...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated Halloween Party Murder in Books
Sep 1, 2021 (Updated Sep 1, 2021)
Out of these three authors, I only regularly read Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries, so that story, featuring Julia Snowden, was my favorite. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy all three of the novellas. All three feature a strong assortment of characters and a solid mystery. Even if I figured out a part of the story early, I didn’t have it all pieced together until the end. My only complaint was the politics brought into the first novella in the collection. Even then, I’m a bit torn since it did play a part in the story while also feeling like I was reading a lecture. Still, if you are in the mood for a murderous Halloween party, you’ll be glad you picked up this novella collection.
The Fugitive's Sword (Lord's Learning #1)
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Autumn 1624 Europe is deeply embroiled in what will become the Thirty Years' War. A young Philip...
Historical Adventure Series
ClareR (6238 KP) rated The Mars House in Books
Oct 1, 2024
Ok, a short summary:
January Sterling is a climate refugee, escaping the floods and intense heat for the Mars colony of Tharsis. Life as an Earthstronger on Mars isn’t ideal. He and the other Earthstrongers are seen as a danger to the native Martians: they are much stronger because of the weaker gravity, even though they’re much smaller. January and his fellow Earthstrongers are discriminated against and given the worst manual labour jobs.
January meets a Martian politician who is staunchly anti-Earth stronger, an somehow ends up in a sham-marriage. Of course, it’s a slow-burn romance with lots of peril, lies and climate change politics.
My only complaint, is that in trying to make the characters asexual, they all read as being very male. Perhaps it was just the way I read it.
The Mars House has a lot to say about climate change and its refugees - and the predictable refugee-haters. Instead of boats, they arrive in space ships, and the inhabitants of Mars are as scared of, and enraged by, these people, as some elements in our own society today.
I really enjoyed this book, and I loved how different it was to Natasha Pulley’s previous books. Whatever will she write next? I’ll be waiting!
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated Fallen Star in Books
Nov 26, 2025 (Updated Nov 26, 2025)
This book does contain some heavy spoilers for earlier stories in the series by necessity, but there is enough background you could jump in here. And what a wild ride it is. The plot spins in some unexpected directions, but I believed it all on the way to the logical climax. The characters are a little thin, but I do care about them. And I appreciate the depth we did get for Eve. The banter between the characters was fun, and the locker room humor was kept to a minimum. The violence was a little more than in the books I typically read. I’m ready for the next already, and fans of the series will be glad they picked this one up.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated Paradise Plagued in Books
Nov 26, 2025
It was longer than I intended before I returned to this series, but it was good to visit Jax again. All my favorite characters made the trip with her, and some of the others did get mentioned. Updates on the politics of the realm in the months since we last visited Jax slowed down the beginning, but I got caught up in the mystery once it really got going. I did figure one thing out early, but I was hooked all the way until the logical solution. A few of the characters didn’t come fully alive for me, but that was due to their limited page time. This story does move the series into a new direction, and I’m anxious to see what comes next. Fans will be glad they read this book and be ready for the next when they set this one down.