Book Review: The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Mullholland Books


Summary:  When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

Book Review: The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses

The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons


Summary:  Self-doubting Ruth is coddled by her immigrant mother, who uses food to soothe and control. Defiant Francesca believes her heavy frame shames her Park Avenue society mother and, to provoke her, consumes everything in sight. Lonely Opal longs to be included in her glamorous mother’s dinner dates—until a disturbing encounter forever changes her desires. Finally, Setsu, a promising violinist, staves off conflict with her jealous brother by allowing him to take the choicest morsels from her plate—and from her future. College brings the four young women together as suitemates, where their stories and appetites collide. Here they make a pact to maintain their friendships into adulthood, but each must first find strength and her own way in the world. 

retro slut shaming

i saw this on Pinerest (it's from http://simplebooklet.com) & was amazed such a thing had ever been in circulation. i'm obviously a reader and encounter plenty of slut-shaming in fandoms but it never occurred to me that the less bookishly inclined would be marked simply for not inserting nose into book. thank goodness for archival ephemeral to remind us all to ratchet down the crazy, non-reader shade. read happy!

What say you?

Book Review: A Calculated Life by ANne Charnock

A Calculated Life by Anne Charnock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher: 47North


Summary: Late in the twenty-first century, big business is booming and state institutions are thriving thanks to advances in genetic engineering, which have produced a compliant population free of addictions. Violent crime is a rarity.

Hyper-intelligent Jayna is a star performer at top predictive agency Mayhew McCline, where she forecasts economic and social trends. A brilliant mathematical modeler, she far outshines her co-workers, often correcting their work on the quiet. Her latest coup: finding a link between northeasterly winds and violent crime.

Book Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher: Del Rey

Summary:  Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Book Review: The Culling by J.C. Andrijeski

The Culling by J.C. Andrijeski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  White Sun Press

Summary:  Jet is a 19-year-old skag, one of the humans still living free on Earth following an invasion of creatures called the Nirreth. Squatting in the ruins of Vancouver, Canada, Jet and her family eke out an existence underground, hiding from the culler ships. No one knows where the ships take the people they take, but they never return. When a culler finds Jet, she may discover the truth the hard way.

Book Review: Engaged at the Chatsfield by Melanie Milburne

Engaged at the Chatsfield by Melanie Milburne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publisher: Harlequin Books

Summary: A whisper, a rumor, a scandal!

Glitz, luxury and decadence—Juliet Montague should be having the time of her life. Her friend's hen party is being held at the extravagant Chatsfield Hotel, London, but when she is surrounded by perfect, ultra-stylish women, each with rings on their fingers, a fake fiancé seems her only defense.