Category Archives: Speculative Fiction

Lament

Posted on October 20, 2018 by

Deirdre Monaghan is sick with nerves before a harp competition when she meets Luke Dillon. He calms her down, accompanies her on the flute in an impromptu warm-up, and then pushes her toward the best performance of her life. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's / YA Lit, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | Leave a comment

Strange Weather

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

This is the fourth book that I’ve read by Joe Hill, and with this NOS4A2 and The Fireman, I feel comfortable saying that he is well on his way to becoming a favorite author. (The Heart-Shaped Box was also excellent but a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 3 Comments

Light Boxes

Posted on September 1, 2018 by

This odd little book by Shane Jones is set in a small town where it is always February and flight is forbidden. It wasn’t always this way. The town once had a lively tradition of ballooning, and many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 7 Comments

Crosstalk

Posted on August 7, 2018 by

Connie Willis’s Crosstalk falls into the category of her comic novels, like To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether and Inside Job. These are basically screwball romantic comedies, with a lot of slapstick and rushing around and last-minute rescues … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 1 Comment

We Others

Posted on August 2, 2018 by

Steven Millhauser has been working for a long time in the strange, the disturbing, and the fantastic. I’ve read several books of his short stories and novellas, my favorite of which is The King in the Tree, with its wonderful … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Short Stories/Essays, Speculative Fiction | Leave a comment

The Fifth Season

Posted on August 1, 2018 by

Almost exactly two years ago, I finished N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy, which is all about gods and race and class and religion. Her plotting is Byzantine, but her characterization is terrific, and I heard nothing but praise for her Broken … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 3 Comments

Pastoralia

Posted on July 30, 2018 by

This is the third book of George Saunders’s short stories I’ve read, and the fourth of his books I’ve read overall, and to be honest I think he might be one of my top five favorite authors. I don’t tend … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Short Stories/Essays, Speculative Fiction | 8 Comments

The Little Stranger

Posted on July 29, 2018 by

The Little Stranger was the very first book that Jenny and I reviewed together here on Shelf Love (and the first book by Sarah Waters that I’d ever read). We both loved it, and with the movie coming out this year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 12 Comments

The Outsider

Posted on July 11, 2018 by

Does anyone remember that in 2002, Stephen King announced his retirement? Let’s just pause to think about that for a second. Even if you assume that From a Buick 8 and the Dark Tower books were already in the pipeline … Continue reading →

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Daughters of the North/The Carhullan Army

Posted on July 10, 2018 by

A woman, who now goes by the name Sister, once lived in the town of Rith in northern England, but she escaped with a rucksack full of supplies and a working gun. Her goal was to find the Carhullan, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 6 Comments