A Book a Day...

From Sci Fi to Romance. From Non-Fiction to maybe-it's-not-quite a Book. If today's recommendation isn't your style, hopefully tomorrow's will be!

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NML Haiku

Yes, as important

Not as cool as Butterflies

National Moth Day

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Comic Book Saturday

Woo, the Fantastic Four title is back. I think (okay, looked it up, yep, totally back, I’m just behind on reading my comic books, go figure…).

It's five months later from something. We start out with Alicia and Ben, awww... they have to figure out why they're in 1947, and. if they can get back to their time. Then we get Sue and Reed and an a city that hides a very interesting secret, a very Doctor Doom sort of secret. One they have to solve of course (because he's Reed Richards).Then we get what Johnny has been doing for 5 months. He's been working at a store that is taking advantage of its employees, and, he just can't take it after awhile and he finds himself a new team. And then we get what happened 5 months earlier, and, we get something that looks like Ben's skin, but in a dome shape.

Then there was my favorite part of the story, where they sorta kinda have to ‘turn off the lights’ for a couple of states, and, I will say that Maria Hill doesn’t seem to even want to give them a ‘Thank you’ when Sue and Johnny get back on Earth after, ya know, saving the world or something…

Heh. It was a really fun restart to the series. As indicated above, I’m a big fan of Alicia and Ben, so, they got me right at the beginning. But, the stuff with Sue and Johnny, and even with Reed (not my favorite of the four) was great too. It was an awesome read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Reign of X by Leah Williams, Green Lantern: Invictus by Geoffrey Thorne, or House of M: Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont

Fantastic Four, Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Fantastic Four by Ryan North

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Make It So Friday

This is a collection of stories all centering around various parts of LGBTQ+. From a story about Beckett and Jennifer from Lower Decks, to one about Sulu and Ben from the Kelvin Universe reboot, and everything in between. (Discovery, Picard, etc. etc.) It was a really fun read. And, ooh, it even has a story that’s written by Karim Diané called “Klingon’s Don’t Flirt” about his character Jay-Den Kraag (from Starfleet Academy)

Star Trek Celebrations 2026 by Various

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Mystery/Thriller Monday

Sorta surprised because I don’t think that I’ve recommended one of these (one of 56 and counting) mysteries yet. I like media tie ins of all sort (who can name the title of the Warehouse 13 TV series novel tie in, yep, there is one, oh, or the three Eureka TV series tie ins? And, my favorite media tie in novel story. It’s based on the TV show Bones…. which was based on the Temperance Brennan books to begin with. A möbius strip of media tie ins for sure). I digressed, oops, a lot. Back to this book.

It’s time for Cabot Cove, Maine’s annual 4th of July celebration. There’s a newbie in town, Joseph Lennon and he wants to put on a big, humongous, amazing fireworks display. Instead he is found dead. And… as usual, Jessica is on the case! And, it might even be one of their own, a Cabot Cove resident.

This was a fun return to Cabot Cove and Jessica Fletcher. And, these books, like the TV series seem to successfully thread the needle between the murder being a murder, but, not, a horrible or dark murder? Hallmark murder? Whatever it should be called it was a really fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Crewel World by Monica Ferris, A Midsummer Night’s Fudge by Nancy Coco, or On Skein of Death by Allie Pleiter

Murder, She Wrote: Murder on Parade by Jessica Fletcher

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Weird & Wonderful Wednesday

What does the tag line on the cover say, low fantasy and high mischief? Sign me up!

People don’t like Goblins, and, actually, Goblins themselves would agree with a lot of things that people say about them. But, one thing that they don’t do is kill people just for the hell of it. But, that doesn’t help them much when they’re dumped by an evil wizard behind enemy lines (wayy behind enemy lines). They then come upon an elf called Sings-to-Trees. And elf who usually helps those animals that are in need of that help. And, even though the two species aren’t traditionally friends, Sings-to-Trees does help the Goblins. And then, they find empty human villages, and that presents both elf and Goblin with an entirely new issue.

It was such a crazy and zany book, the narrative was never what I thought it would be, and the world building was the most amazing thing. It was such a fun, fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik, Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson, or Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson

Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher

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Totally Youthful Tuesday

This was such a cool picture book. It’s basically a young girl saying hello to everything that you’d find at the ocean. From a pelican to a piece of sea glass. And that page was actually one of my favorite pages, because, after she says hello to the sea glass she just says ‘Agate?’, and, that made me chuckle. (Just in case others don’t know what Agate is, here’s a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agate, it’s basically a really cool stone that is even more awesome when split). And finally the girl finds something that is a lot less cool, trash on the beach. And she and her parents clean it up.

I liked the art, and, I was happy that even though it did have a message about ‘don’t litter’, it didn’t do it in a way that was preachy or finger wagging at all, it worked really well with the rest of the book.

Hello, Ocean! by Corinna Luyken

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Mystery/Thriller Monday

Whew, I’m pooped from reading this book. It’s about an ex-cop, Kurt, he’s arrested mistakenly and winds up in a maximum security prison, oh, and then there’s a kinda sorta catastrophic failure of that prison’s automated security system. He has to help a few staff and civilians navigate their way out of the prison (via the roof). He and they just have to get through six floors of released prisoners, easy peasy… or maybe not.

It was definitely a speed run from start to finish. And yes, thankfully there were a few places where it wasn’t full on, but, even so. This was one of the most thrillery thrillers that I’ve ever read. And so good, a great read.

The Ascent by Adam Plantinga

You may like this book If you Liked: Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay, Exit Black by Joe Pitkin, or Targeted: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel by Stephen Hunter

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NML Haiku

It's Lee's only book

Can't convince me otherwise

Kill a Mockingbird

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Comic Book Saturday

This was such an awesome book. Serafina is a Knight who has not had a Squire for awhile because she, and her horse, can be a little hard on them. So, when Serafina's primary sponsor (and Wife) gets her a Squire named Georgina (aka George), a short red head who no one thinks can be a proper Squire, well, it's an interesting experience. But, as the Knight season goes on with the jousting and sword fights, melee, and other events go on the Knight and Squire might be starting to figure out that maybe the other makes them a better competitor (and person).

This reminded me (the theme of mentorship) so much of older comics where there would be the Superhero like The Flash or Green Arrow or Aquaman and they'd have a comic book story with their sidekick where not only did the hero teach the sidekick something, but, the sidekick taught the hero something right back. Of course, in most other ways it was entirely different from those comics, it was diverse, starred women primarily, and I could tell all the characters apart while reading (there have on occasion been Batman comics where I couldn't tell the difference between the characters of Bruce, Dick, Tim, or Jason). Such a fun, fun read!!

You may like this book If you Liked: The Witch's Throne, Vol. 1 by Cedric Caballes, The Beginning After the End by TurtleMe, or A Tale of the Secret Saint by Touya

Ladies of the Knight by Fiona Marchbank

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Not A Book Friday

Okay, so, at the end of this blurb I’m going to type something that will most likely get me sorta kinda kicked off of Tumblr. Just to prepare everyone.

Like the one that was filmed 10 years later with Mary Astor and Humphrey Bogart, it’s based on the book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett about the PI Sam Spade and the twisty turny case that he gets pulled into when a mysterious woman comes in with a case that turns into a search for the Falcon.

Instead of Astor and Bogart, the two main characters are played by Ricardo Cortez, and Bebe Daniels. And, here goes the dodgy part…. From the acting to the pacing to the movie in general. I thought that this version was definitely better than the 1941 version. I think that a lot of that was because it was pre-code (1934 was when the Hays code really really started being enforced for real). And so, while there was a lot of talking in the 1941 version, in the 1931 it seemed to have more action, it had a flow to it that the later version didn’t seem to have as much.

It can be found as long as you specify that you’re looking for the 1931 version and not the 1941 one, and, I highly recommend at least giving it the beginning of a watch.

The Maltese Falcon (1931)

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I will admit that I probably know more about Marta than Pelé when it comes to Brazilian soccer (yes, even after reading Pelé: The King of Soccer in 2019). But, since I wondered at the title, and, was definitely sure that he’d have a good opinion on why soccer does matter, I gave this a try.

And, I’m so glad I did. Because, while the stories in the book will keep the attention of soccer enthusiasts like me, this book wasn’t just written for us, even if you’ve never played or watched the sport this is an amazing book. His story has taken him through so many places and to all corners of the globe, affluent or not. Gonna be honest, if he wrote a hundred more memoirs I’d probably read them all (or, well, maybe Marta can write one first, I’d read that, and then the rest of Pelé’s.

You may like this book If you Liked: Eight World Cups by George Vecsey, My Turn by Johan Cruyff, or The Keeper by Tim Howard

Why Soccer Matters by Pelé

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Weird & Wonderful Wednesday

Or, HTLSIASFU, if you’d like to use the “abbreviation” that is longer than almost all the words in this sentence… heh.

Charles is a time machine technician/repairman in Minor Universe 31. He helps people even as he is trying to figure out who he is, and to find his father, to visit his Mom (whew, time loop), to manage up (a bit) his boss Phil, yep, he has quite a lot on his plate. Can he find the place and time and memory where he and his father can meet again.

I mean, a book within a book, an author within an author, and then random fandom characters that are in it too. This was like Redshirts crossed with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but, somehow with more worldbuilding than both of them combined. It was such an amazing read, and so so much fun.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, or My Murder by Katie Williams

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Gonna admit, I’m always trying to figure out why people like to fish as a hobby (i.e. they don’t have to, they want to). So much waiting, and sunburn, although the water part could be cool, but, I think I’d rather be in the water than in a boat. And then… you have to eat the fish.

So, that’s most of the reason why I decided to try and read this book of essays by Mark Kurlansky. From fishing in other literature, to stuff like fly tying and cooking the fish, this book seems to look at fishing (something that, to be fair, we humans have been doing for a long, long, long time) from all angles. It was an interesting read for sure, but, still… don’t entirely understand the allure.

You may like this book If you Liked: Every Last Fish: A Deep Dive Into Everything They Do For Us and We Do To Them by Rose George, The Catch of a Lifetime: Moments of Flyfishing Glory by Peter Kaminsky, or Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life From Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton by Richard J. King

To Catch a Fish: Essays on the Joy, Frustration, Curiosity, and Allure of Fishing by Mark Kurlansky

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Mystery/Thriller Monday

Lucy disappears from a supermarket in Rhode Island, leaving her infant daughter behind. So, that brings the question of, did she just leave, or was she kidnapped. We have Michelle, who is caught in a conundrum, Lucy told her at one point that she regretted becoming a mother, but, she still can’t quite believe that Lucy would just leave her child. So, which is right. Kidnapping or doing a runner?

This was a thriller, for sure, with all the twists and turns that are in the genre, but, it was also just… I think the best way to put it is… emotionally draining too. Still, as I read through, I never thought of putting it down, it definitely hooked me in the beginning and had me for the whole book.

You may like this book If you Liked: The White Hot by Quiara Alegria Hudes, Madwoman by Chelsea Jean Bieker, or The Push by Ashley Audrain

Her One Regret by Donna Freitas

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NML Haiku

A Declaration

Now fireworks and music

See our LEGO flag?

We were one of the lucky four libraries in Massachusetts to have our young (and young at heart) patrons help build the giant American flag that will be at the Hatch Shell concert with the Boston Pops tonight!! Woo!!!

Happy 4th of July to all!

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Comic Book Saturday

I’ve read a bunch of other DC Super Hero Girls comic books. They’re all fun, some have them in middle school, some have them in high school. In this case, they’re all out of high school, and they’re coming back for a sort of reunion. So, this group is still younger than the adult comics about these women, but, older than the other DC Super Hero Girls. Of course, this high school reunion quickly goes sideways. They have to save the day and figure out who tricked them too.

This was cool, seeing them grown up a little bit and coming at the school from a different point of view was cool, and, also, the fact that not everyone was entirely superhero-ish about where their life was going was interesting too. Don’t know if they can keep doing this sorta grown up sorta not grown up comic book, but, it’d be cool if they had more early adult sort of comics like this.

DC Super Hero Girls: High School Reunion by Shea Fontana

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Fandom Friday

Not sure that this blurb will be very long. It has villains like Captain Cold and King Shark in it, and Barry Allen aka The Flash (in this case the one played by Grant Gustin on the WB Flash series) has to go up against them and figure out how to defeat them, at the same time during the time that this was written during the TV series, he also still had quite a crush on his friend since he was a little kid, Iris West too.

It was a fun extra bit and more stories that were set in the TV series universe, and, I really liked the art in it too.

You may like this book If you Liked: Eddie Brock: Carnage, Vol. 1: Killing Me by Charles Soule, Batman: The Penguin by John Ostrander, or Nightwing, Vol. 1: Leaping Into the Light by Tom Taylor

The Flash Season Zero by Andrew Kreisberg