Blood Runs in the Family (Rich Burlew)

This fifth book in Burlew's series about the adventures of the Order of the Stick maintains and builds on the strong characters and stories he has managed to create out of a set of cartoon stick figures. Although the series began long ago as throw-away comics based on the rules and foibles of Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games, it has become so much more. There are several sets of contradictions here. First, the art seems simple but manages to convey depth and personality with skill. Second, the characters are simultaneously living authentic lives within the semi-medieval setting of a typical role-playing setting and also aware of the game itself. How Burlew pulls this off, I don't know, but he does. In this book, our heroes travel to the desert on the Western Continent, searching for the third of five mystical Gates after the first two were destroyed. This gate is hidden by the illusions of a master wizard, but they find something there that shatters one of the characters almost beyond redemption. Some plot lines in the long story arc come to an end, a few threads are tied off, and there's a sense of the story arc starting to narrow in toward the final confrontations, still off in the future. I wait impatiently for the next book!

Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer)

A dense, even claustrophobic, evocation of the strangeness that has taken over a section of the southeastern US called Area X. Some unexplained event (ecological? alien?) killed or pushed out all the people, and within the barrier there is untamed wildness and disturbing things that claw at the soul and twist the senses. The first-person narrator (nobody in the whole book has a name) is a member of an expedition sent within the barrier to explore and try to document what is going on in there, but the team quickly falls into paranoia and is overwhelmed by things that can't even be described, much less explained. The writing is gorgeous, drawing you into the deepening horror the main character experiences. This is the first of a series of novels set in this universe, and it never really reaches a resolution, which actually fits with the off-kilter, unnatural feeling of the whole book. I can't say I really liked it, because horror isn't my cup of tea and it reminds me of the kind of Lovecraftian story where loathsome creatures lurk around every corner, but I have to admire how well the author achieved his goal.

Daring Greatly (Brené Brown)

I'm not a big fan of self-help books. This one is a good example of the category, being backed by at least qualitative research (also something I'm not a big fan of). Brown says some important things that many people need to hear, and I believe there's nothing here's that's wrong or hurtful, so I would recommend it to anyone who finds it inspiring or helpful. Her basic message is that we need to open ourselves to vulnerability in order to have healthy relationships with ourselves and with others. When we armor ourselves against vulnerability, we cut ourselves off from growth, courage, and acceptance. Each chapter of this book focuses on one area where these forces play out (e.g. parenting) or against one aspect of how we deal with these issues (e.g. the distinction between shame and guilt). I have no quarrel with Brown's message, but it didn't resonate with me.

The Bone Clocks (David Mitchell)

This is a deep novel, tracing the interconnected stories of several people who become more and more entwined in supernatural goings-on as they try to figure out what's happening and how to survive. I really enjoyed most of it as I dug into the mystery. Who are these mysterious voices Holly is hearing? What happened to her strange but beloved brother? How do some people seem ageless, and others seem to be able to manipulate people's memories? It all pulled together near the end in a cosmic battle between good and evil. The last section, though, let me down. After pulling for the good guys to win the epic battle (and then manage to survive their victory), the book suddenly became a dystopia about how the world is going to crash when resources run out. I didn't like that sudden left turn, partly because it was unremittingly grim and partly because it didn't seem to fit with the premise or the direction of the rest of the book. Up until that point I loved it.

Bone Crossed (Patricia Briggs)

I just can't get enough of this series. Mercy Thompson is tough, funny, vulnerable, resourceful, sexy, honest -- everything one could want in a hero. In this story she's coping with the aftermath of trauma she experienced in earlier books and trying to find her footing in the new relationship she has with the werewolf pack (and its sexy Alpha), so she doesn't need a threat posted on the wall of her mechanic shop indicating that the vampires have declared open season on her and hers. She has to try to find out what the vampires are after and how to protect herself from them, and also solve a seemingly unrelated problem brought to her by an old college friend who suspects her house is haunted. Of course, the two problems turn out to be related, and much worse than anyone thought, but through bloody-minded toughness and quick thinking, and with help from various expected and unexpected sources, she manages to make everything work out as it should. Mostly. Recommended.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman (Jill Lepore)

I've never been a big comic-book fan, and only remember Wonder Woman from her TV days with Lynda Carter playing the Amazon princess. This book details the history of how Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston, a harvard-trained psychologist and inventor, by some accounts, of the lie detector test - and advocate of feminism and free love. This is a fascinating story because Marston is such an outre character. He was never really successful at any other career except Wonder Woman, and he very deliberately used her to project propaganda that women can and should have power over men to make the world a better place. His is a story of contradictions, though. While pressing the agenda of women's rights and independence, in his own life he ruled a small harem with a wife, a live-in mistress, and an occasional other mistress who often visited and lived with them for a time. The mistress wore a wide bracelet on each arm as "love bonds" to symbolize her subjugation to Marston; they are eerily similar to Wonder Woman's bracelets that allow her to deflect bullets. This history delves deeply into the lives of Marston and those around him, including his women, his business dealings, and his family. The author argues that Wonder Woman, by herself, bridged the gap in women's rights from the suffrage movement in the 1910-1920 time frame and the resurgence of "women's lib" in the 1960s, keeping the flame of feminism alive. I'm not so convinced. She was clearly a force for strong, independent woman in the 1940s, but after Marston died in 1947 her message was much diluted and she became a pretty face in tight clothes, focused on finding a husband rather than saving the world. One clear sign of this change: The Wonder Woman comic book for years in the 1940s had a four-page section on Wonder Woman in History, profiling strong, independent, world-changing women. In the 1950s, this section changed to one giving wedding tips. How far she had fallen.

The Suicide Murders (Howard Engel)

This is a pretty typical example of the hardboiled detective story. Benny Cooperman is in his office when a beautiful woman brings him a job - she thinks her husband is having an affair. Cooperman agrees to look into it and starts following the husband, but then the next thing he knows the husband is dead of an apparent suicide. He's not convinced, though, and continues to dig into what he is more and more convinced is murder, and along the way uncovers more suspicious "suicides" that prove to be murders in disguise. Most of the typical tropes are here: an ambivalent relationship with police, corrupt politicians, getting waylaid by thugs, and being suspected of a crime himself. I definitely enjoyed the story enough to stick with it and learn how it ended, but have to say that I found it vaguely disappointing, especially when Cooperman made some pretty stupid decisions. No great enthusiasm here, but also no real aversion.