Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane
Devoney Looser
“We must shed for good the old, tired stereotypes of safety and simplicity that still cling to Austen. We can, and should, continue to investigate new and better avenues through which to grasp her powers as a writer—and her power over us.”
History’s portrait of Jane Austen has long been one of a genteel woman who lived a quiet life before fading politely away at middle age. Wild for Austen is researcher and professor Devoney Looser’s attempt to peel away that facade and show Miss Austen for who she truly was: a subversive author and woman with attitude. The words she wrote, and the people she associated with, prove that everyone has a wild side.
I wish this had been a bigger hit for me. I wasn’t expecting to read stories of Jane doing anything that would be considered wild by today’s standards, but I was hoping for more than things like, “some of her relatives were against women’s suffrage” and “she was related by marriage to someone who may have but probably didn’t actually steal some lace from a shop.” I think the main issue is that so much of her actual personality was erased — either by her brother in his attempts to make her writings popular or her sister burning most of their correspondence. All that’s left is reading between the lines of what’s left, which to me already clearly shows that she was sharp and interested in thumbing her nose at the polite world. It’s clear that Looser is passionate about defending Austen’s subversiveness, but at this point I don’t think it needs defending.
A good read for those who know little about Austen and would like to get good info.
Station Eternity (Midsolar Murders #1)
Mur Lafferty
“Nobody ever believed murders ‘just happened’ around Mallory Viridian. Not at first, anyway.”
Fed up with always being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Mallory has taken advantage of Earth’s first contact with alien species to sequester herself far from (almost all) humans. The time since her arrival has been blissfully murder-free, but she knows that’s about to change. The station is accepting its first official human guests — which means it will soon be dealing with its first murder. Then it will be up to Mallory to solve the crime…before it’s too late for everyone aboard Station Eternity.
The first 10 chapters of this book absolutely sucked me in. Mallory’s “coincidence curse” is unique, the additional plot points that get introduced are intriguing, and of course there’s aliens with interesting characteristics and personalities. The trouble is that the remaining 65% of the book feels completely scattered. More than a half-dozen new characters and POVs are introduced, the side plots multiply like mushrooms, and the ending didn’t tidy up any of the loose ends. It’s clear that Lafferty wants to hook the reader for book two, but based on the summaries I’ve read I don’t think I’ll be picking it up. Totally disappointing, and I’m bummed.
Give this a shot if you like aliens and don’t mind a messy reading experience.
The Women of Artemis
Hannah Lynn
This review contains spoilers.
“So I began to fight, not like I was one woman but the hundreds I had sworn myself to.”
Otrera never believed her marriage would be a loving one, but after years of vicious abuse the most she can hope for is to be ignored. The only thing that lets her dream of a better life is the friendships she’s developed with the village women. And when those friendships are threatened, Otrera discovers within herself a righteous fury; her actions echo down through the millennia in a single word: Amazon.
My feelings about this book are complicated. It started off in an interesting direction, with a focus on the women of the village arguing the ethical and moral implications of the mass action they’re being pushed to take. Seeing them take control of their collective destiny was great; I was looking forward to reading about them founding temples, establishing cities, maybe even meeting Artemis herself. And then Ares shows up — and because the author decided to let Otrera follow the “refusing a god is suicide” belief, the rest of the book, and the Amazons’ story itself, is co-opted by yet another guy. I skimmed whole sections because they were just about the women acting as mercenaries-for-hire and good characters dying for no real reason. It diluted the power of the Amazon mythology. Overall a letdown.
The Man Made of Smoke
Alex North
“In the end, despite extensive inquiries, it seemed very much as Andrew Sanderson had thought when he was standing beside the fan that night. That the killer and his vehicle had appeared from nowhere, slipping sideways into this world from some terrible place. And eventually the world moved on. But not mine.”
Despite his traumatic childhood encounter with a serial killer, Daniel Garvie doesn’t believe in monsters — his work with criminals has shown him that even the worst among us are still just human. But when he’s forced to return home after his father’s death, he finds himself pulled into memories he’s spent decades avoiding. Monsters may not exist, but that doesn’t mean Dan isn’t in danger.
Reading this was like trying to put together a puzzle without a reference photo — the pieces were interesting, but I was never certain if I (or the characters, for that matter) were putting them together right. The psychological way Dan approaches his investigation was unique, but I think the author relied too much on deus ex machina-type solutions and revelations. The novel ended up being more of a character study than a thriller, with a lot of the “action” happening inside characters’ heads.
Pick this up if you’re looking to dip your toe into thrillers, but want to keep things more cerebral than gory.
Bog Queen
Anna North
“A colony of moss does not experience emotions like fondness or intimacy, but if it did, we might say this: We held her. We kept her safe under the surface, in our bath of earth, for many times her lifespan. That we give her up now may seem to be purely random, an accident of excavation. In fact, the hour of her service is at hand.”
When a body discovered by peat cutters is identified as a woman from the Iron Age, the rural English that’s been its burial site for over 2,000 years becomes the epicenter of a fight between anthropologists, climate activists, and land developers.
Bog Queen begins on a beautiful high note: ancient moss as narrator. These short chapters are my favorite parts, and showcase North’s excellent writing abilities. Unfortunately the rest of the novel is a bit of a mess. The arguments around environmentalism and preserving the past versus thinking of the future are endless and circular — and because the story is built around those arguments, it never really goes anywhere either. 288 pages is not nearly enough to develop and explore the characters North introduces, so things feel rushed and incomplete. This seems to be the consensus for other books by North: readers love her vivid writing, but find her world building and character development lacking.
Also, I’ve just realized that she also wrote Outlawed, which I read in 2020 and recall not enjoying for similar reasons. It might be time for me to give up on Anna North.
The Murderbot Diaries, Vol. 1
Martha Wells
“You may have noticed that when I do manage to care, I’m a pessimist.”
After overriding its governor module, watching approximately 35,000 hours of television, and learning all he can about the world around him, the SecUnit known—to itself, anyway—as Murderbot has decided that humans aren’t really worth the effort it takes to keep them alive. To its dismay, however, it realizes it maybe kinda cares — and can’t stop itself from getting involved.
All Systems Red and Artificial Condition introduce the reader to Murderbot and a corporate-dominated semi-dystopian setting. Murderbot is the quintessential grump with a heart of gold, and I enjoyed its cynical commentary and begrudging willingness to help others. The aspect I found least enjoyable was the fragmented world building. Because these are novellas, there’s not a lot of room to put everything into a larger context. The second story built more on the first, which was nice, but I’m still not able to fully understand the world. Each story also felt too similar: bot is surrounded by humans, humans do a dangerous thing, bot saves humans, bot is heavily wounded, bot moves on. It’s all part of an overarching plot, but having each story be novel-length would help with the repetition and disjointedness.
A nice start to what I know is an incredibly popular series — I’ll probably get back to it someday.
Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage
Rachel E. Gross
“Your vagina is another planet. If you could shrink down to the size of a grain of sand and go between your own legs, you’d find a wondrous realm of humid jungles, cool caves, and viscous pits of mucus created by your teeming ecosystem of microscopic life. Like your gut or your mouth, your reproductive tract is home to billions of microbes, which work together to repel disease and create the ideal conditions for you. Its landscapes are populated by clusters of long, thin rods and hordes of tiny round balls that cling to its contours.”
The female body—like many other things—was well known to its inhabitants long before being “discovered” by white dudes. Thanks to scientists sick of the idea of the female reproductive system being a passive and lesser version of the male, we’re learning incredible things about desire, resilience, power, and the beauty of the unseen.
I love a science book, especially when the science impacts me. As the caretaker of the set of anatomy in question (and is also sick of patriarchy), I was excited to dive into what female-focused research is showing us. And turns out, it’s all bonkers and amazing. The clitoris is 10x the size we assumed it to be! What if the human penis evolved to get bigger because the vagina can expand enough to let a baby through — instead of the vagina evolving to get bigger because dicks were “just so big”? It’s thrilling to know that in a world where scientists were not legally required to include women in clinical research until 1993, and menstrual products weren’t tested using real period blood until 2023, there are finally people willing to accurately investigate, map, and understand the female body.
This book is perfect for any reader who likes hanging out at the intersection of science, history, and women’s studies.
Dom-Com
Adriana Anders
“I can’t possibly do another walk-by. At some point, I’ve got to just bite the bullet, march up to the door, and go inside.”
Rae is the quintessential eldest daughter. She keeps an eye on her widowed fathers’ heart rate, makes sure her best friend eats, and acts as “office mom” to smart but scattered start-up employees. It’s exhausting, and she needs to find a way to relax. Why she thought going to a kink club was the answer, she’ll never know — especially when she meets a Dom so hot it spikes her blood pressure for days. Grant believes the best relationships are simple (and temporary), but can’t stop thinking about the newbie sub he met on Friday. And then literally runs into her at his new job on Monday. Things are about to get…complicated.
Let’s get this out of the way: this book is spicy. But I’m relieved that it’s not gross-spicy; consent is a key feature, and there’s zero “I’m the man here to degrade this woman and she’ll learn to like it even though she already said she doesn’t” manosphere content. Detailed sex aside, the book is about two people (a grumpy and a sunshine, my favorite!) figuring out who they really are, not who their life experiences have tricked them into thinking they should be. They’re relatable, which I enjoy regardless of the sexy stuff. The secondary plots are predictable and clearly in place to serve the main storyline, but that didn’t stop me from loving (and giggling and blushing) every second.
Add this to your TBR if you like spicy, will-they-won’t-they romance.
She Kills: The Murderous Socialite, the Cross-Dressing Bank Robber, and Other True Crime Tales
Skip Hollandsworth
“Women who commit murder are exceedingly rare. Only one in six homicides is carried out by a woman. And those women who become serial killers are rarer still. Criminologists estimate that they make up a mere 8.6 percent of all known serial killers in the United States.”
Most people find murder to be deeply unsettling — even more so when it’s committed by women. We’re “the fairer sex,” supposedly biologically inclined to be caring and tender and unable to raise our fists in anger. But men don’t have a monopoly on any aspect of human nature. Women are just as capable of committing acts of brutality, as shown in this collection from journalist Skip Hollandsworth. None of the cases are straightforward; rather, they reflect the complexities of being a woman—and a human—in a world that sometimes feels like it’s gone mad.
If you’re a readerly person living in (or from) Texas, you’ve probably heard of Hollandsworth. He’s been writing for Texas Monthly for decades, and is known for his deeply researched, nuanced storytelling. I read and loved The Midnight Assassin in 2016, so despite my dislike of “short stories” I knew I had to pick up She Kills. I appreciate that he chose to focus on cases that aren’t clear-cut; the “black widow” may be more sexy on crime TV, but they’re nothing compared to the multifaceted stories Hollandsworth explores.
Perfect if you like well-written and researched true crime.
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
