Entries tagged with july 2025

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Shaman - Noah Gordon

Title: Shaman (Cole Family #2)
Author: Noah Gordon
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 652 pages
Date read: July 2025

Robert Jeremy Cole, the legendary doctor and hero of The Physician, left an enduring legacy. From the 11th century on, the eldest son in each generation of the Cole family has borne the same first name and middle initial and many of these men have followed the medical profession. A few have been blessed with their ancestor's diagnostic skill and the "sixth sense" they call The Gift, the ability to know instinctively when death is impending.

The tragedy of Rob J.'s life is the deafness of his son, Robert Jefferson Cole, who is called Shaman by everyone who knows him. Shaman's life is difficult. First, he must learn to speak so that he can take his place in the hearing world, and then he must fight against the prejudices of a society where physical differences matter. As Shaman struggles to achieve his identity, the Coles, along with the rest of America, are drawn into the conflict between the North and the South.

I've read this book several times by now and still enjoy it. I've always liked historical novels, and this is one of the better ones I've come across. It incredibly detailed, but the slow pace makes sense, and allows the reader to fully immerse themselves in the setting and atmosphere.

As always, when I read this kind of book, I'm appalled at how Native Americans (or native anyone really) were treated by the colonizers. It's a hard few chapters to get through.

My favourite parts were still the descriptions of the actual doctoring - both by Rob J. and by Shaman.

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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna

Title: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~10hrs
Date read: January 2023, July 2025

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....

I would definitely characterize this as "cozy fantasy". Take your stereotypical British fiction and add a magical element, and you've nailed the atmosphere of this book to a tee. And it seems to be a stand-alone novel, which is a pleasant surprise.

It's a comfort read with (mostly) likeable and quirky characters. I loved the kids and felt they actually acted like kids rather than "small grown-ups". There are few surprises to be found here (although not none! There were some twists I hadn't seen coming), but in this type of book, I didn't really expect there to be either. I had guessed the final resolution ahead of time, but not - as it turned out - the twist it took to get there.

I "read" this as an audiobook and managed 10 hours in 5 days.

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Shelter in Place - Nora Roberts

Title: Shelter in Place
Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 439
Date read: August 2018, July 2025

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at video game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies' room, helplessly clutching her cell phone--until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.

But one person wasn't satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait--and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide.

I by far prefer Nora Roberts' suspense novels to her romance novels. Sure, there's an element of romance in all of them, but she understands how to balance it properly, and writes suspense really, really well. I thought this a fascinating account of the aftermath of a mass-shooting - how different people handle the experience differently, and how people employ more or less healthy coping-mechanisms in order to move on.

There was less of a twist in this book than in some of the others I've read, but I didn't mind that part. And I loved reading about Simone's art as well as life on the island. Cici was just amazing, and Barney not half-bad either. Simone's fall-out with her family seemed slightly unrealistic, but their way of making up didn't, which really appealed to me. It's seldom reconciliation is written well.

Parts of this novel reminded me of Louise Bagshawe's novels... just with a lot less fluff!

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Mr. Mercedes - Stephen King

Title: Mr Mercedes (Bill Hodges #1)
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 449
Date read: August 2017, July 2025

A cat-and-mouse suspense thriller featuring Bill Hodges, a retired cop who is tormented by 'the Mercedes massacre', a case he never solved. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of that notorious crime, has sent Hodges a taunting letter. Now he's preparing to kill again. Each starts to close in on the other in a mega-stakes race against time.

I love how Stephen King doesn't stick to just one or two genres, but seems to write a little bit of just about everything. This is his first foray into crime fiction (that I've read), and I thought he did it really, really well! Especially the last few chapters had me sitting on the edge of my seat and biting my nails (figuratively, anyway). A definite page-turner! And fortunately one with a proper ending, despite it being the first in a trilogy... although I'm still going to go straight ahead with the next book anyway.

I really liked Bill, Janey, Holly and Jerome and am pleased that we'll get to see at least most of them in the next books as well.

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The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Genre: YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 315
Date read: March 2013, July 2025

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I'd been warned by just about everybody that this book would made me cry. People kept saying that it was the saddest book they'd ever read, and to be prepared for a sob-fest. I don't know if I was perhaps too prepared, because while certainly sad, I didn't think it was nearly as bad as they had made it out to be. Certain parts did bring tears to my eyes, but cry? No, not this time. Of course, it might have helped that I'd guessed the ending already in Amsterdam, so it didn't come as the shock to me as it might have to others.

But it's an amazingly beautiful book. John Green really knows how to write characters to the point where the plot is of lesser importance. I couldn't put it down, but kept wanting to know more about Hazel, Gus, Isaac and the rest of them.