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System Collapse, Murderbot Diaries 7 by Martha Wells
Science Fiction
Expected Release: November 14, 2023
4/5*
Available Formats: Coming Soon
Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.
But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!
Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.
7 books into The Murderbot Diaries, we finally get some fairly major character development from its protagonist. Murderbot has a pretty good grasp on the human concepts of anger and sarcasm and employs them regularly. In this installment they learn something new: fear. They don’t want to go down the long, dark corridor where who knows what is lurking. They’re terrified of what could happen to them, not just their team.
This new version of Murderbot is a very welcome one. A sci-fi version of the old Western and Samurai tradition, Murderbot usually finds a mission rescuing helpless humans and rides off into the sunset. Over the past few installments, they have begun amassing a group of people they care about. Familiar faces appear throughout the novella: Dr. Mensah, Pin-Lee, Amena, along with new ones from ART’s crew. It provides a nice addition to the old formula, allowing us to care just a bit more than we did early on.
Several books in this series could just be picked up without having read the previous titles, but this is not one of them. One really does need a good grasp on the world Wells has built along with the characters we’ve come to know to be able to enjoy this one. If you’re already a Murderbot fan, be sure to pick this one up. If you’re new to the series, you’re gonna have to go back to the beginning.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
Historical Nonfiction
4/5*
Formats Available: Book
The physicality of this book is an object of horrific curiosity. At over 1200 pages the volume comes adorned with the colors of the subject: Red, Black, and White, with a large swastika blatant and bold in its evil. The book, like the context of its pages, is a front to humanity and a heavy burden to its reader. The burden is one that I brought on myself, excitedly in fact.
As a self-appointed ‘student of the world,’ I devour non-fiction books. All in the quest to know perfunctory levels of knowledge about as many things as possible (you should see me at trivia). My understanding about the Second World War is far from nothing, but lacks basic information on certain topics, including about the details about the Nazi party itself. I understood the havoc they caused on humanity and the lasting effects of that nation’s treachery, however the first part of the story always seemed to elude me. And in the time we live in, with its post-truth and rise of a type of nationalistic pride that is frankly unsettling, I found it necessary to understand the history of our not-so-distant past. I wanted to know how the Nazis came to power, and how they so quickly and so easily disrupted the world and the cultures therein with such breathtaking speed and cruelty.
The first thing that there is to note about this work is that it, in many circumstances, is a primary source of information. The author, William L. Shirer, was working as a foreign correspondent in Europe both before and during the war. So in many cases you hear about events and actions from someone who was there to witness them (and from the one-of-a-kind perspective of a working journalist). Not only did this seal any questions one might have about the trustworthiness of the author, but also gives another perspective to this story that can be rather hard to follow sometimes.
And it is hard to read? I started out reading this book as an eBook. I made it about 20% through the book like this, and I knew I couldn’t make it much longer. Even a physical copy of the book was looming and difficult. I found my answer in an Audiobook, which I’m pretty sure is the only reason that I was able to finish this book. I’m a quick reader, but usually struggle when approaching a solid wall of text on page. I think that this book being so long (over 1100 pages) is the one and only downfall of the book itself. But even that one stumbling block is totally understandable when one looks at the depth of information that this book covers.
It’s not necessary of me to parse out this subject point by point, as I could never do it as well, nor can I remember even most of the points and topics touched on in this book. Instead I will simply say that yes: my curiosity was sated. The understanding about the early days and youth of Adolf Hitler, the National Socialist Party’s beginning, as well as how they came to power (or more accurately stole power), all knowledge that has been acquired. This book never tip-toes around the evil acts of the party, making it known from the first words that the acts done by this group monstrous.
The other thing that is said, again and again in this volume, is to how these people were held accountable for all this evil. The results of the Nuremburg Trials are stated and are listed alongside other basic characteristics, making their crimes and punishments (usually execution) said in the same breath as their names, a just descriptor for the men and women who caused all this cruelty.
In circling back around to the sources that Shirer utilizes, it is clear that this book is well documented, even from outside Shirer’s own documentation. Not only are the transcripts from the Nuremburg trails quoted frequently, but it’s clear that Shirer has an in-depth understanding of the tons of German documents that were discovered at the end of the war. These documents, while part of the public record, might be difficult to gain useful information from. This is an issue that never seems to slow Shirer. The information from said documents is put into context which makes it easy to understand and appreciate. I’ve yet to see another document that provides so much of this valuable information on this seemingly out of reach collection of Third Reich documents.
Which truly, leads us all to the same destination, or at least the one that I had hoped to arrive at: Understanding. The book is what I had hoped for, as well as what I felt I needed to feel fulfilled in my knowledge. The book was a slog to get through, and it is for that reason I only give it 4 starts. However the read, the knowledge and the feeling of having conquered such a thick book and complicated subject, more than makes up for the struggle I had with any reading.
The last line of the book is one that is common to hear when we learn about the atrocities of the Second World War, but one that will always be true and always be important to remember:
“Remembrance of the past helps us understand the future”.
The Kokomo Howard County Public Library is one of 50 U.S. libraries selected to host Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.
Jordan- KHCPL Information Services Assistant
Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier
336 pages
YA Horror/Fantasy
3.5/5*
Formats available: Book, Libby eAudiobook
“Kit's father had always told her he had no family, but four months ago his sudden death revealed the truth. Now she has a grandmother she never knew she had--Agatha Starling--and an invitation to visit her father's hometown, Rosemont.
And Rosemont . . . it's picture perfect: the famed eternal roses bloom year-round, downtown is straight out of the 1950s . . . there's even a cute guy to show Kit around.
The longer Kit's there, though, the stranger it all feels. The Starling family is revered, but there's something off about how the Starling women seem to be at the center of the all the town's important history. And as welcoming as the locals are, Kit can't shake the feeling that everyone seems to be hiding something from her.
Agatha is so happy to finally meet her only granddaughter, and the town is truly charming, but Kit can't help wondering, if everything is so great in Rosemont, why did her father ever leave? And why does it seem like he never wanted her to find it?”
Starlings is your next read if you love House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland or twisty fairy-esque tales along the line of Erin Craig. Starlings is a captivating read about a young girl who just lost her father; her life is more upturned after moving and unearthing family secrets. The town of Rosemont is also full of its own dark lies. As this book develops through a deep theme of Mother-Daughter bonding, the audience finds strength in this as Kit uses this to persevere. Ultimately, this book covers all the bases for readers: mystery, romance, and thriller. The cover alone should make you want to pick it up and read; I definitely recommend this story.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
528 pages
Epic Fantasy/Romance
5/5*
Formats available: Physical book, Libby eBook, Libby eAudiobook
"Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die."
“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead”.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, the first book in the new Empyrean series, quickly blew up among the Booktok/Bookstagram community, and the book was certainly well worth the hype. It is not every day that a book will grab my attention by the first few chapters, but Fourth Wing had my attention from page one. Reading this book was so nostalgic because it reminded me a lot of the Divergent series, which I was very much a fan of. The vibe was very much so Dauntless.
Rebecca Yarros gave this book a unique spin by not only incorporating dragons, but also incorporating a main character that struggles with a unique disease. Violet Sorrengail suffers from a connective tissue disorder known as Ehler’s Danlos syndrome. This was not confirmed in the book, but later confirmed by the author due to many fans reaching out that live with the same disorder. I thought this was awesome of the author to add this into the book considering a lot of the time your main character somehow ends up being unrealistically perfect.
I read this book in about two days, and I would give anything to pick it up and reread it for the first time. Every single character had insane development throughout the book. No character’s story ended the same as it started. The relationship between main characters, Violet and Xaden, starts blooming from the very beginning of the book, and Yarros did an amazing job making their emotional journey together believable.
I could give this book a 10000/10 and that would not be enough stars! I will be impatiently waiting for book two, Iron Flame to come out in November! Until then: Welcome, to the Fourth Wing.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha
A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather
160 Pages
Fiction/Fantasy/Historical
Release Date: October 31, 2023
3/5*
Formats available: Book
“In 17th-century London, unnatural babies are being born: some with eyes made for the dark, others with webbed fingers and toes better suited to the sea.
Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness—she herself was born marked by uncanniness. Having hidden her nature all her life and fled to London under suspicious circumstances, Sarah starts over as a midwife’s apprentice, hoping to carve out for herself an independent life. As a member of the illegal Worshipful Company of Midwives, Sarah learns to reach across the thinning boundary between her world and another, drawing on its power to heal and protect the women she serves.
When the wealthy Lady Wren hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Lord Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who would use the magic of the Other World to gain power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.”
This is a story of gothic horror and dark historical fiction. I would compare the atmosphere of this novella to T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead (insert hyper link here). These two books also share similar themes and main character experiences. I started this novella with the assumption that I would be reading something that expanded specifically on the births of what the author refers to as “uncanny” babies. These babies are born with weird adaptions on their bodies such as gills, feathers, wings, and talons due to a crossover between our realm and another magical or celestial realm. Reading deeper into the novella I realized that I was experiencing the uncanny life of the main character Sarah. More and more I understood that the author was giving me a character study; Sarah’s life at this point in the story was more important than the external conflict of monstrous children being born around her. Lina Rather does a great job drawing you into this intriguing tale then refocusing your attention. As you read you learn that the center of this tale asks the question, “How does one fit in when they exist between two worlds and thus belong to neither?” My only suggestion would be to shorten the synopsis and not give so much away because the draw and shock value is more important here than a summary. Definitely give this book a shot if you’re looking for a quick, disturbing, and interesting read.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
128 pages
Fic/Fantasy/Action/Adventure
Release Date: August 15, 2023
5/5*
Formats available: Book, Libby eBook, Libby eAudiobook
“There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.
Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?
But nothing with fairies is ever simple.
Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…”
“I can’t fight stories.” This is the sentence I knew this tale spun before me would be fantastic because stories are the way we pass down history, our lives. T. Kingfisher has a way with fairy tales the likes I never witnessed anywhere else. She has a way of making me yearn to hear them repeatedly like a child by a fire listening to elders speak of past dragon tales. I love a fairy tale, but I love the way she speaks them even more, with something past the edge of passion as if these stories are part of herself. Within Thornhedge, Kingfisher’s beautiful fairy is more than glittering fae and sensual luring beauty; this small and mighty character is curious and I feel if I sit still in the forest long enough that I may see her flitting about speaking to the wagtails. As a reader, you may think you have read this story multiple times and have grown tired of its retellings but I assure you that you never have heard this. This tale grips you with the horror of the unknown and makes me crave the rough and bloody world of fairies. Read her story so that your heartbreaks and you long to hear it again. This is a masterful tale that is written boldly and with a beauty that few people recognize because it goes beyond skin deep. This is something that will be added to my list to be reread over and over. Entirely impressive, T. Kingfisher has shattered my expectations and I am in heartbroken love! Highly recommended.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann