The Husbands

Finished June 6

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

This book completely captivated me. 

Lauren returns to her flat one evening, after a hen's night for her best friend's upcoming wedding, and finds a strange man in her home. She lives alone, and doesn't have a boyfriend. The man claims to be her husband Michael, and when she looks more closely, she finds changes to he home: different paint on some walls, some different pictures, new furniture and other changes. When she looks at her phone, she finds him in her address book, and sees pictures showing that they've been together for years. She tries to figure out what has happened that she doesn't remember any of this, and when Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb, a different man emerges, with her flat changed again in a different way. She soon finds that a trip to the attic brings a different man and as she examines her feelings and relationships, she gradually makes the connection with these changes as trying to find someone or something better instead of just living the life she has. 

It's a really interesting idea, and I liked where she went with it. Sometimes her job changed as well, and that created interesting situations. 

The husbands are a real mix, but she gradually realizes that they are all possible matches for her, each showing some aspect that she likes in a partner. It also illuminated how a woman can be drawn into a relationship for one of those aspects and find that another aspect makes the match unacceptable. A couple of the men that appear as husbands are downright scary in their own way, which makes this even more believable. 

I couldn't put this book down, reading it in a single day. Such a good, interesting, and thought-provoking novel. 

The Invisible Library

Finished May 21

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This book starts a series, and is a fantasy book with an interesting, for me at least, focus. The library of the title is a place that exists between worlds, as a kind of gateway. It takes up a lot of space, and has multiple rooms, all filled with shelves of books, with nooks where computers exist, for looking things up, writing reports, communicating with others, etc. That's pretty interesting as a construct for me. The idea of nearly endless books is fascinating. The library collects books from different worlds to strengthen the connection with those worlds. The senior librarians determine what books to collect and send junior librarians, like the central character here, Irene, out to get them. 

The worlds are different versions of our world. Sometimes only slightly different, sometimes vastly different. The library tries to keep things in balance. Too much technology can result in a tightly ordered world with no creativity. Too much magic can result in a world of chaos. The world that Irene and the trainee that is assigned to her, a man named Kai, is leaning towards chaos. 

We get a sense of what can happen as Irene finished up a case as the book opens, using her skills and her knowledge of the special Library language to control things. This glimpse is intriguing. 

They arrive in an alternate London through a gate inside an office in the British Library. The book they are seeking is rare and, when they arrive, has already been stolen by someone. The person, a vampire in this case, that bought it recently was killed. They soon discover that they are not the only ones seeking the book, a book of tales by Grimm, and that one of those is a fae. 

The mix of magic and reality is done well, and some of the elements of attack are unexpected, consisting of creatures that we normally don't think of as in the context they appear in, or that fit the context by attack in unexpected ways. 

There is also the idea of dragons as creatures on the side of good. The dragons are on the side of order not magic, and have their own abilities in doing this. There is also an element of peer rivalry between Irene and another librarian, which influences the plotline. 

A book that had me engrossed and amused at the same time. I liked the touches of humour that existed within the book, and the underlying tensions between some characters that were attracted to each other. All together a fun read. 

This Spells Love

Finished July 10

This Spells Love by Kate Robb

This romance starts off with Gemma Wilde having a night of solace after the breakup of a years-long relationship with Stuart. Gemma has a lovely condo overlooking the lake, a great job as beauty-products buyer for a popular chain store, and the people she is spending the evening with, her intriguing aunt Lily, her older sister Kiersten, and her best friend Dax. Her aunt suggests using a love cleanse spell in a book she's just acquired, and Gemma is definitely onboard. But the spells requires a kiss, and so Dax gives her a chaste kiss at the end of the evening before tucking Gemma into her bed in her margarita haze. 

When Gemma awakes the next morning, she is surprised to find that the spell may have worked, and she never went out with Stuart, but she finds herself in a dismal basement apartment with different possessions. When she goes out in search of answers, there is no one at her aunt's shop, and she finds herself at Dax's sneaker store, sneaking in the unlocked backdoor to look for reassurance. Dax is there, but he has no idea who she is and Gemma is aghast to find that her ex-boyfriend may not be the only thing thar she no longer has. As she discovers the alternate version of her life that she finds herself in, she discovers both good and bad things are true.

It seems that this Gemma made one of her long-time secret dreams come true, but that things didn't go as well for others. As she remakes old friendships and discovers new ones, she also must decide whether to stay in this reality, or attempt to undo the spell and return to her previous reality, if she can. 

Set in Hamilton, Ontario, this novel gives the feel for an authentic place, and some Canadian quirks. It also a lot of imagination in the details of Gemma's predicament.

Her friendship with Dax is a strong one, and I can see how losing that would be hard. He's also a hot guy and maybe there are feeling between them beyond friendship. As their relationship develops in one world, it's possible that it might be a stronger one in the other world as well.  

I like the unflappable quality of Lily, and the strong relationship between her and Kiersten, who always makes time for her despite being married with three kids. And I liked Dax, who has dreams of his own, and who has been an amazing friend to Gemma. 

A great read. 

The Midnight Library

Finished December 3
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I received this book through a subscription service I joined recently otherwise I might not have got around to it for a while. I'm really glad I read it as I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It has so many themes that spoke to me: loneliness, depression, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, family divisions, and regrets. 

The main character here is Nora Seed a woman who has struggled with loss and guilt for a lot of her life. She was a very good swimmer and her father had high hopes for her to go on to the Olympics, but that isn't what she wanted. In high school, she tried different things, and got into music for a while, joining her brother's band as a singer and songwriter, but she got severe stage fright and had panic attacks and didn't want to fame that went along with such a public career. She got engaged, but never felt heard or appreciated in the relationship and decided not to go through with the marriage. Now, she's been living along with her cat in a small house in the town she grew up in and working in a music shop. When her cat dies, she feels that she has no one that would miss her. Estranged from her family, and unmoored, she decides to end her life.

When she awakens, she is in front of a building and she walks in to discover a library filled with books, and is met by her old high school librarian, a woman she liked a lot. Each of the infinite number of books on the shelf is a different version of her life, a possible world she could have lived in if she'd made a different choice at some point. It may have been a small thing, like letting her cat outside, or a large thing like travelling to Australia with her best friend, but every life would be different in some way. Nora has the opportunity to look at the regrets she has about her life, and decide to see what life she would have if she had chosen differently. 

I think this idea appeals to most of us in some way. What if we'd gone to a different school, majored in a different subject, dated a different person, traveled somewhere differently or at a different time. But is there really a perfect life? After all, none of us is perfect, so why should we expect our lives to be. 

This made me reflect on my own life and consider any regrets I might have, and think about how I feel about my life right now, right here. 

A fantastic read.