Author Archives: Barbara Howe

Cloud Atlas

Posted on 8 December 2019 by Barbara Howe

The most notable feature of David Mitchell’s award-winning—and challenging—novel Cloud Atlas is the book’s structure. Made up of six loosely-connected novellas, each in a radically different style and time period, this novel nests the six stories like Russian dolls. The … Continue reading →

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The Lord of Stariel

Posted on 22 November 2019 by Barbara Howe

Twenty-something Hetta (Henrietta) Valstar, master illusionist, returns to the Stariel estate after six years of self-imposed exile. But it’s too late for this prodigal daughter to reconcile with her tradition-bound, disapproving father, the Lord of Stariel. She’s come home for … Continue reading →

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Imperial Radch: Ancillary Justice

Posted on 2 November 2019 by Barbara Howe

The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie, consisting of the books Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy, is one of the most astounding and engrossing works I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Given the number … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction, Space Opera | 1 Comment

The Case of the Missing Kitchen

Posted on 19 October 2019 by Barbara Howe

Suzie Emmett is having a bad week. It starts when she puts her hand through a window and needs stitches. It gets worse when her detective boyfriend takes her to a place she refuses to name, but that starts with … Continue reading →

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Volcano City: Earthcore Book Two

Posted on 5 October 2019 by Barbara Howe

In Volcano City, book two in Grace Bridges’s YA Earthcore series, the crazed and villainous Mr B is back, and out for revenge on Anira and the superpower-endowed Earthcore team. Only now, instead of paving over and hiding natural wonders, … Continue reading →

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Maus

Posted on 27 September 2019 by Barbara Howe

For this year’s Banned Book Week, I re-read Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust memoir Maus. I discovered this Pulitzer-prize-winning graphic novel some thirty years ago when it was first published in book form*. It was deeply moving and disturbing then, and it … Continue reading →

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Banned Books Week

Posted on 21 September 2019 by Barbara Howe

This coming week, 22 – 28 September 2019, is this year’s American Library Association’s Banned Book Week. I’m familiar with several entries in their list of 2018’s most challenged books, and have already blogged about both Alex Gino’s George—number one … Continue reading →

Posted in On Reading | 3 Comments

Before the Fall

Posted on 15 September 2019 by Barbara Howe

One summer evening a private jet takes off from Martha’s Vineyard, en route to New York City. There are ten people aboard: seven passengers and three crew. Among the passengers are the Bateman family: father David, mother Maggie, daughter Sarah, … Continue reading →

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Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

Posted on 30 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

What do you get when two writers play the Letter Game, in which they take turns telling the story by writing letters to each other in character, with the only rule being that they must never reveal their ideas about … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Fantasy | Comments Off on Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

Shards of Honor

Posted on 18 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

In Shards of Honor, the superb introduction to Lois McMaster Bujold’s many-volume Vorkosigan saga, Commander Cordelia Naismith, citizen of Beta Colony and head of a planetary survey mission, is down planet with a small team of scientists when they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Space Opera | 2 Comments