The Baby Dragon Cafe

The Baby Dragon Cafe (#1,739) by A.T. Qureshi delivers what the title promises: adorable baby dragons hanging out with their owners in a cozy cafe with almost every possible potable plus snacks you can imagine.  It was exactly as described by fellow members of one of my book groups.  Lots of romance between incredibly good-looking people from different social classes to add a bit of tension.  And dragons.

Saphira is on her own, able to start her dream cafe after her beloved grandmother leaves her enough money to start up.  She can't possibly afford a dragon of her own, so what better way to get close to them than to open a shop that welcomes baby dragons and their owners?  It's the best of all possible worlds until she runs into Aiden.  He has a dragon, but he's not training his baby properly.  Saphira offers to take on the job for him and bonds with Sparky, all the while encouraging Aiden to participate.  Sparks fly between the pair, but Sparky won't unless Aiden bonds with him as well.  Does the course of true love ever run smoothly?  

Looking for something light and entertaining?  The Baby Dragon Cafe might just be your ticket.

Python's Kiss

I don't normally read short story collections, but when I saw the name Louise Erdrich on the cover, I grabbed Python's Kiss (#1,738).  Several of the stories did, in fact, feature snakes, not my favorite animals!  None of the stories were light reading, but I found a few of them haunting indeed.  Louise Erdrich sure can write to snag the reader's attention.

I suppose the biggest surprise was that two of the stories were science fiction.  That, I did not see coming! Of all of them, I think my favorite was the one about the children on a school bus caught in a sudden April blizzard.  Did they or didn't they survive?  I think you'll have to read it for yourself and decide...

History Lessons

 I started reading Zoe B. Wallbrook's debut mystery novel History Lessons (#1,737) because of its positive reviews.  To me, the mystery is how.  Did not finish.

The Correspondent

Honestly, I can't decide whether or not I liked Virginia Evans epistolary novel The Correspondent (#1,736).  I couldn't stop reading it because most of it was written in short bursts, but I never did warm up to Sybil Van Antwerp, the main character.  I think her writing keeps everyone in her orbit at bay, including the readers.

Without giving too much away, Sybil is writing letters non-stop, as she has throughout her life, as she is aging and her health is declining.  She is at odds with most of the people who matter in life and still trying to get her own way.  Her past is colored by a major tragedy, but when it comes down to it, whose life isn't?  But it does reflect in her attitudes on what she feels she is owed by those around her.  In those few confidants she is lucky, but doesn't realize it until almost too late.

I will say that Virginia Evans does have the knack of keeping the readers' interest.  I wish her a long and fruitful career as an author.

Replaceable You

I always know I will learn a variety of wacky facts when I pick up one of Mary Roach's fascinating non-fiction books.  That proved to be the case with her latest, Replaceable You - Adventures in Human Anatomy (#1,735).  This time, she tackles the subject of replacing body parts with a variety of things - metal objects, cultured cells, animal parts - the list is seemingly endless.

I did learn a lot about the cataract surgery I had which I definitely did not learn from my doctor!  But humans' efforts to experiment with replacement parts is in equal parts amazing, heroic and horrifying.  Ms. Roach also introduces us to a host of courageous people who have been willing to play their parts in perfecting replaceable parts for future generations.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book for mealtime reading, but do give it a read!

The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne

I thought a romantasy with garden magic and a quest sounded interesting, so I picked up The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne (#1,734) by Summer N. England.  I stuck with until it turned into a lesbian romantasy.  Not my thing, and the story wasn't compelling enough for me to stick around.  Did not finish.

The Night Watchman

I went back to re-read the post I wrote after I read Louise Erdrich's novel The Night Watchman (#1,373) the first time in December of 2023.  It's been so long that I had to re-read it for my book club.  As far as I'm concerned, it was even better the second time around.

Ms. Erdrich writes about her Chippewa background - ordinary people just trying to survive on the meager scraps the American government is constantly trying to take away from indigenous tribes (and who's the "Indian Giver" here?).  This time the threat is real, and Thomas Wazhashk is doing his best to combat the House Bill proposed by the Utah Senator to "terminate" the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe.  In other words, using seemingly benign phrases to wrest away the tiny scraps of land left in their reservation and stop providing any kind of services - health, education, agricultural - in a way that sounds as though it's beneficial to the tribal members, and not an effort to leave them destitute.

As Thomas mounts his campaign, we are introduced to a variety of characters whose lives intersect with Thomas's.  It makes for an enthralling read.