River Readers

Maika Halfwolf is from the "race" called arcanics. Arcanics are used by humans for the magic that can be extracted from them. Maika has a stump for an arm, a multi-eyed monster resides in her body and sometimes surfaces to devour others. I have a bit of a problem following the storyline, it would probably help if I reread the book. Or perhaps its intentional. Analagously, another author C.J. Cherryh has battle scenes where you're never quite sure what happened - I suspect people in battles are often unclear about everything that happened.

Volume 3 of this dark fantasy manga series find our characters in more dire circumstances than they've ever seen. As escape plans coalesce and former enemies become allies, hopes are also higher than ever until Mother decides to play her hand, throwing all plans into disarray.

Cager had no intention of finding himself aboard his father's lunar cruise ship, the Tennessee. But he was also not particularly conscious when his best friend, Billy Hinman, and long-time caretaker, Rowan, strapped him into his transport to the ship. It's a rehab mission, you see. Cager's been addicted to Woz for years and Billy has decided that the ideal place to detox is the luxury space ship. Now, the three of them are the only living passengers aboard the massive ship (that they know of, anyway).

This is just a fun romantic series that lets you leave your cares behind. I enjoy learning more about this cast of characters. Sometimes it's nice to think a wishing fountain could make a difference in someone's life.

There’s no such thing as a little in love…

This was another good addition to the Under Suspicion series. There were actually two mysteries going on at the same time and this lead to a bit of confusion. I enjoyed how they once again solved a murder by making certain people uncomfortable. I look forward to Laurie and Alex's relationship growing and watching how family and business continue to mix.

Brienna is finishing her training as a "Passion" someone who has intently studied one of the 5 arts in the kingdom of Valenia. She desperately hopes to gain a patron on graduation, but no one makes her an offer. Then, a disgraced nobleman from the kingdom of Maevana makes her an offer to become her patron.

An imaginative retelling of Moby Dick, but instead of sailors hunting the white whale, it's the whales hunting a legendarily dangerous sailor (or demon, perhaps). Our narrator is Bathsheba, a part of an all-female pod with a Captain who has declared that her destiny is to destroy the infamous Toby Wick. It's a destiny that may destroy them all instead and Bathsheba knows it.

This unique graphic novel takes us on an epic journey to reclaim lost love. When Mia joins the reconstruction crew, she doesn't expect the crew to become her family. She's still trying to get her life together after a challenging childhood and adolescence. As such, she's prone to making mistakes and taking risks that could jeopardize the entire crew. The rest of the crew, however, has more or less "adopted" her into their ragtag space family and are willing to do what it takes to keep everyone safe and together.

On the morning of April 28, 1986, patrons and staff alike filed outside during what they originally believed was a fire drill at the Los Angeles Public Library. Roughly half an hour later, smoke in the air confirmed that this was not a drill. For seven hours, firefighters fought the blaze the wound up destroying hundreds of thousands of books as well as countless other items from a wide variety of collections. It was the largest library fire in the US. Investigators determined that the fire was likely arson, so the hunt for the culprit began.

This slim graphic novel is, quite literally, exactly what the title implies it would be. Author Archie (a non-binary/genderqueer comic artist) and their friend, Tristan (a cisgender male) cheerfully explain the ins and outs of using non-binary pronouns while explaining the damage done when requests to use correct pronouns go unheeded. After explaining how they/them pronouns work, the pair provide ways to make workplaces more inclusive and Archie has a few words of advice for fellow non-binary people. It's quick, it's easy, and absolutely non-threatening or condescending.

When Elli was a young child, she was identified as the next Valtia, or queen of Kupari. The Valtia is the only person in the kingdom to have perfect mastery over both fire and ice magic. To this end, the Valtia is the primary protector of the entire country. The Kupari don't even have a military, such is their trust in the powers of the Valtia. When the current Valtia dies, Elli will be her successor and has trained for it her entire life. Unfortunately, when the current Valtia does actually die, the magic fails to move into Elli as its supposed to.

One of the last things that the farm boy Worstley expects is to have a surly pixie bestow Chosen One status upon him. Although the pixie giving his goat the ability to speak was also unexpected. Worstley and the goat, Gustave, head off to meet their destiny at a nearby bramble-encased castle containing a sleeping princess and her equally unconcious court. It seems like as good a place as any to meet one's destiny.

This was an intriguing story about a boy, his father and his baseball hero. Since I have always been a Cardinals baseball fan, I had to allow myself to internally root for a Cubs player, however, I did like the way this story played out. Not your typical John Grisham legal story, but well worth the listen.

Whatever happened to Calico Joe?

A pair of teenage boys decide to create a mecha suit to take on the bullies at school. It...doesn't go as planned. In fact, their peers are pretty OK with the whole robot-suit thing, leaving our protags with little left to fight.

I mostly hated the main characters, which makes any reading experience a bit less fun even though Kochalka is generally a fun writer/artist. Mechaboys was just OK. Not great, not terrible. A very quick read though, so even if you don't like it, at least it's over quickly

*This review was originally published in the Jefferson City News Tribune on 11/11/18*