Tag: the book of m

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The Cartographers

Title: The Cartographers

Author: Peng Shepherd

Genre: fantasy

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I LOVED The Book of M. I read it in 2019, and it ended up being my favorite book that year. I still think about it from time to time, especially that plot twist. So, when I saw Peng Shepherd had another book out, there was no doubt I was going to read it. I’m so glad I was able to get this from NetGalley. And, as is my preference, I went into this entirely blind. I had no idea what it was about.

From Goodreads: Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and also exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way. But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discover the true power that lies in maps…

Perfect for fans of Joe Hill and V.E. Schwab, The Cartographers is an ode to art and science, history, and magic—a spectacularly imaginative, modern story about an ancient craft and places still undiscovered.

This story starts out as just a regular mystery adventure book. Whereas Book of M starts in the fantasy world from the first page. So, I was a little surprised this one was so, well, normal. But as I kept reading, small mysterious things just kept happening. As the story unfolded (much like a map, haha), the magical part of the story became much more evident. As we follow Nell, we also hear other perspectives telling her stories from the past, which fill in many of the backstory gaps. But these stories occur naturally within the plot rather than feeling shoehorned in. I really loved this book, although I did see this plot twist coming about halfway through the book. This one is easily another five-star book. I will definitely be eagerly anticipating her next book.

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books and reading

2019 Wrap-Up

My goal is always to read more pages than the year before, rather than more books. I  almost made it this year, by Goodreads standards. In 2018, I read 110 books for 36914 pages, and in 2019 I read 132 books for 36038 pages. A good chunk of the books I read were ones I edited, which are kids’ books and pretty short. If I count all the books I edited that aren’t on Goodreads, I definitely surpassed the page number goal.

Here are some reviews for the highlights of my reading year.

Best book I read this year: The Book of M by Peng Shepherd. It’s dystopian, but in a way I had never read before. And it gutted me. I read it in January, and it’s stayed with me all year. I think about it a lot.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. Wow. As a parent, this one is horrifying. About a little girl who is a sociopath and has a desire to harm her mother. But it’s so good.

I really enjoyed The Fourth Monkey series. It’s a “police catching a serial killer” series, and the dialogue is cheesy, but it kept me guessing.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. An excellent ghost story.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Same author as The Goldfinch. I just love everything she writes.

The Jack Caffery series by Mo Hayder is another great police detective series, but it’s very graphic. Birdman is the first.

Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay. Another one that left me guessing. I’ve read a few of Tremblay’s books, and he’s really good.

The Girls by Emma Cline. This one was wacky. It’s a fictional story of the Charles Manson group and subsequent murders.

The Run of His Life: The People vs OJ Simpson. I couldn’t believe how much I learned from this book. I know a lot about the case already, but this had info I had never heard.

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. I really don’t care for fantasy, but these are excellent young adult books.

The Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French. I read two of them this year. Each one is better than the last. In the Woods is the first, the Likeness is the second, Faithful Place is the third.

Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich. I read a lot of true crime, but this one stands out. The author is simultaneously doing research into a crime, yet learning things about herself. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Again, another I was expecting not to think was so great, but I was blown away. Crichton really was ahead of his time in describing DNA, technology, etc.

Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen. Unlike Columbine by the same author (EXCELLENT BOOK) this one doesn’t focus on the shooter or the day, but rather the students who started a movement for gun control. Gives me hope for the future.

I read some great own voices books this year: A Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob, and Shanghai Girls by Lisa See were both great.

Best thriller I read was The Silent Patient. It wasn’t the greatest thriller ever, but it didn’t fall into the stupid thriller tropes like A Woman in the Window. Ugh that one was awful.

I started a lot of great series this year: the Harry Hole detective series, the Penny Green series about a Victorian reporter who also solves crimes, the Armand Gamache Canadian detective series, which is a good cozy mystery series.

 

 

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books and reading

The Book of M

Holy smokes, this book. I am a dystopian snob. I have read dozens of them and most are fair or good. But this one was absolutely amazing. Downright excellent. I felt like I was reading Stephen King, Robert McCammon, and Jeff VanderMeer in one book, but it was still its own unique concept.

The Book of M tells the story of what happens when you lose your shadow. One day, a man in India turns around and his shadow is gone. Then a few more people. Then an entire marketplace. Then entire cities. No one knows why this is happening or why some people lose theirs and why others don’t. But once you lose your shadow, your memories begin to fade. You forget parts of your past, people you know, who you are, how to read, how to talk, how to breathe. And while you are forgetting, you know it’s happening. It’s like a modern-day version of Flowers for Algernon, in some sense.

However, there’s a man who can possibly help you. His shadow is quite unique due to an unusual meeting, and if you can find your way to New Orleans, there will be refuge and hope. However, you have to battle various groups of people who are misguided, shadowless, and hopeless. This book absolutely floored me in the end. I was holding my breath and just had to put the book down when certain things were revealed.  This one is a must read.