Category: K-O Page 2 of 22

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The Silver Chair

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #4
Publication Date: July 01, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 243 pg.
Read Date: December 10-11, 2025

If you need to know what this book is about, or anything about this series…seriously, just stop what you’re doing and pick up this book. I don’t mean to be a snob, or maybe I do, but something was missing from your childhood, and now is your time to fix it. I realize that there are many legitimate reasons for people not to have read this (more for some of the later books), and I’m not questioning the choices you or your parents made (actually, I guess I am). But I’m not going to try to talk about this book like I do most others.

If only because everything worth saying has been said by other, better, writers. Probably several times.

I’ve also read this too many times to count as a child—even through my college years, and at least once a decade since. I’ll probably pick up the pace of re-reading them so I can talk to the grandcritters about them, too.

But I feel the need to say something now, so here are a few things that jumped out at me during this read:

bullet Awww, even Eustace gets rejuvinated by the Narnian air. He really changed from the whiney twerp.
bullet Outside of Reepicheep, is there a more fully-drawn charcter in the Chronicles than Puddleglum? It’s also just a great name, summing him up in a nutshell. The other Marsh-wiggles finding him adventurous and devil-may-care is hilarious. As are his encouragements to the children to be more like him–upbeat and happy.
bullet Describing Rilian as “altogether looked a little bit like Hamlet,” is one of the oddest lines in the series.
bullet Everything that the Queen is up to is wrong, that’s a given. But the whole Prince/Queen mother-pseudo son thing is strange–when you add in the wedding plans? Ew, ew, ew, ew, and ew.
bullet That’s an unexpected–and odd–lesson in Centaur anatomy and diets. (one stomach human, one stomach equine and needs to feed both appropriate food). Is this common to other Fantasy uses of Centaurs?
bullet I just didn’t like Aslan this time out–disciplining Jill and wreaking havoc on the entire mission for something simple and understandable?
bullet Even stranger–sending Caspian and an unusually-still-Narnian-garbed Eustace to rough up some human bullies at the end back on Earth. That just doesn’t match with the Aslan we’ve been getting to know.
bullet Take our Lion out of things, and this was a pretty enjoyable adventure.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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A Few Scattered Thoughts on My Latest Reading of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

By HCNewton

On December 5, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, Fiction, Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 1, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 248 pg.
Read Date: December 2, 2025

I have a very distinct memory of the day I bought this book (well, my first copy, anyway). I was finished with a 1-2 week thing at a local liberal arts college one summer (I think it was after 4th grade–it might have been after 3rd), and my mother said we could look at the book store there. I got a textbook about the Supreme Court (yes, my 8 or 9 year-old-self had ambition–wasted, I should note) and this book. I could’ve picked any of the 7, but I’d watched parts of the cartoon version of Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a few months earlier, and wasn’t that interested in it. But his had a cool looking ship on the cover. So I went with it.

In the years since, it remained my most-read of the series (followed closely by Prince Caspian, with Wardrobe coming in third). And it’s the one I have the hardest time being objective about. I also didn’t take as many notes for this post as I read it. I just go swept up in the reading. Still, I do have a few things to say.

bullet

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

Is possibly the best sentence Lewis ever wrote. It’s one of my all time favorites.
bullet The rest of the paragraph isn’t too shabby, either:

His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb. I can’t tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none. He didn’t call his Father and Mother “Father” and “Mother,” but Harold and Alberta. They were very up-to-date and advanced people. They were vegetarians, nonsmokers and teetotalers and wore a special kind of underclothes, In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.

bullet This book features my all-time favorite portal fantasy depiction of someone from “our world” going to another. This may come from it being the first that I remember. But I don’t think so.
bullet

[Lucy] spent a good deal of time sitting on the little bench in the stern playing chess with Reepicheep. It was amusing to see him lifting the pieces, which were far too big for him, with both paws and standing on tiptoes if he made a move near the center of the board. He was a good player and when he remembered what he was domg he usually won. But every now and then Lucy won because the Mouse did something quite ridiculous like sending a knight into the danger of a queen and castle combined. This happened because he had momentarily forgotten it was a game of chess and was thinking of a real battle and making the knight do what he would certainly have done in its place. For his mind was full of forlorn hopes, death-or-glory charges, and last stands.

bullet In case it wasn’t clear from the get-go (and it absolutely was), Eustace swinging Reep around by his tail tells you everything you need to know about the lad–to paraphrase Linda Ronstadt, “He’s no good, he’s no good, he’s no good, Eustace, you’re no good.”
bullet In Chapter 6, “The Adventures of Eustace,” we’re told twice that reading the wrong books (or not reading the right books) keeps you from knowing anything about dragons. Fantasy readers, take heart!
bullet After Eustace is transformed into a dragon, say what you will about the kid, he figures out his situation far quicker than his cousins did theirs in Prince Caspian–and they’d read the right books!
bullet I will just never not love Chapter 6. Whether it’s just on the story front, or if you want to go deeper with an exploration of Sanctification…it doesn’t matter. This one chapter in the Chronicles stands out above all others.
bullet If you’d asked me who my favorite characters in the Chronicles were, Reepicheep would’ve been at the top of my list. But getting to read about him over these last two books reminded me just how much I enjoyed him.
bullet Aslan isn’t overthrowing malevolent kings or queens this time, he largely shows up for little things–a quick morality lesson here and there to keep his people in-line. It’s a different way to see him.
bullet That spellbook that Lucy browses is just cool. Hogwarts wishes it has something cool, Madam Pince would have so many people breaking into the restricted section to get a look at it.
bullet I will defend a lot of what Lewis does in this series–but only referring to Caspian’s eventual bride as “Ramadu’s daughter” is not one of those things. (or pretty much anything about their relationship–the last paragraph of the novel helps a little bit)
bullet Speaking of the last paragraph–nice parting shot at Eustace’s mother.
bullet This is probably the most blatant (pre: The Last Battle or maybe The Magician’s Nephew) time we are told that Aslan is known by a different name in our world. Lewis has apparently decided he should stop being subtle and make it clear who Aslan is to us. I don’t mind this a bit (even if I do have some third commandment-related questions)
bullet Really, we learn more about Aslan in this book than we do any other (with the possible exception of The Magician’s Nephew, I need to revisit that one before I know for sure).

Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman: A Cozy Treat

By HCNewton

On December 3, 2025

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Matthew Norman

Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon

by Matthew Norman

DETAILS:
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: October 14, 2025
Format: Paperback
Length: 306 pg.
Read Date: November 28-29, 2025

All things considered, I’m doing okay. I get that that sounds like something someone says when they’re not doing okay. I also get that “all things considered” is putting in some real work there because I’m still wearing the black dress I wore to my husband’s funeral this morning. But seriously. For real. I’m doing okay.

It started to snow right at the end of the ceremony. It’s been weirdly warm in Baltimore since Christmas, so the flakes melted the second they hit the ground, putting a reflective sheen on everything, including the coffin.

I couldn’t help thinking that my husband would’ve been psyched about the way the wood grain glistened in the late-morning light. Tim chose a coffin with a chocolatey-brown finish because it perfectly matched the desk in his office at school, and because—his words here—“It just looks classy, Gracey.”

He said this a month ago. We were having one of his “When I’m Gone” strategy sessions in the TV room. “It’s morbid, I know,” he said, showing me the image on his iPad. “But a coffin’s gotta look like something, right? Mine might as well look classy.”

My husband. My former husband? My dead husband? Here’s something I’ve noticed: There’s no good way to describe him now. The first one leaves out some pretty vital information, the second is misleading, and the third is just too jarring.

What’s Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon About?

Two well-intentioned and completely unsubtle mothers take on an age-old task: they interfere in the love lives of their children. In this particular case, the children are thirtysomethings whose spouses died recently. The mothers have decided it’s time for them to start to move on and set-up an awkward and thinly-disguised meeting between the two. They quickly see through what’s going on, express mutual frustration at their own parent, but recognize the intention—and their common bond.

Grace decides they need to become friends, however. Henry agrees to this. It’s their first Holiday Seasons as a widow/widower, and they need all the help they can get. Soon, Henry is over at Grace’s to watch The Family Stone (a holiday tradition for Henry and Brynn) with her and one of her kids (the other has gone to sleep at a reasonable time). And from there bonds are formed, movies are watched and discussed, mice are trapped (humanely), and wounds begin to heal. Also, there’s a dog named Harry Styles, and your curiosity has to be piqued by that, right?

Grief

Tim handled most of the Christmas shopping, and he was great at knocking things out early. I, of course, have mostly put it off until now, so here we are. Along with lump sums of money, life insurance policies should include a personal assistant for errand running so the surviving spouse can spend their time grieving and dabbling in alcoholism.

I’m sure I’m missing some, but the only other Rom Com I can think of that focuses this much on spousal grief is Sleepless in Seattle.* And Norman gets this element so, so well (I think Nora Ephron did, too, so you know where I’m coming from). Grace and Henry share some commonalities in their grief—as everyone does—but they aren’t identical in it. So we see a spectrum (not exhaustive) of manifestations and expressions of grief. Neither of them handles it perfectly (assuming that’s possible), but they deal with it in believable ways—especially when they start helping each other. A friend who is going through a similar horrific circumstance is a friend indeed.

There’s some comedy to be mined from this—never comedy at the expense of the characters, or making light of grief—just a laugh at human foibles. But more than that, we see them at their worst—depressed, filled with guilt and anger, and so on. And you cannot help but fall in love with them as characters because of that.

* I am, of course, ignoring How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. Unforgivable, as it’s my favorite of his work.

The Movies

“We liked to start with The Family Stone,” I say. “Then we always finished with Love Actually.”

“That’s sweet,” says Grace. “Can I ask, though, why you and Brynn bookended your holidays with two complete pieces of shit?”

It’s like I’ve been slapped. “Excuse me? Are you kidding?”

“I’m not,” she says. “They’re objectively bad movies, Henry. I sit, then immediately stand. “It would’ve been helpful the other day if you’d mentioned that you’re insane.”

So the back of the book makes it sound like that this book is filled with Grace and Henry watching movie after movie after movie with each other. But that’s not quite accurate. They only get a couple of movies in together—and watch bits of other ones on their own. Which is actually better than what I expected. The scenes where they are watching a movie together are great, but we need more than them.

Norman knows this and gives us that more.

But this is a celebration of holiday movies—each section of the book is framed by one (thankfully, identified by title). Those sections will include references to, echoes of, quotations of, or something else that will make the reader think of the movie. This was a great way to frame this novel—both fun and builds in a story engine at once.

Oh, and fair warning, Die Hard is considered by most of the characters in the novel to count as one.

Baltimore

“How do you like Baltimore so far, by the way?” I ask. “T just realized I haven’t asked you that yet. Seems unwelcoming of me.”

“I like it,” she says. “Everyone here always seems like they’ve been drinking.”

I smile because that’s maybe the most astute observation I’ve heard about this place.

Okay, I said something similar when talking about Norman’s Charm City Rocks, but he really makes Baltimore seem like a great city to live in and one that I’d really like to visit. Given that the majority of what I know about Baltimore comes from David Simon (Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire) and my preternatural dislike of flying—that’s saying something.

This book doesn’t have quite the same level of Baltimore-love, but it’s there. And we even get to revisit some locales described in Charm City Rocks.

So, what did I think about Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon?

Why is it that the holidays always seem to arrive out of nowhere? One day you notice a leaf turning orange—then, ten minutes later, guys in commercials are buying their wives Lexuses with big red bows on them, and you think, Wait, what?

It’s like that every year, I guess. This year, though, the passage of time has been particularly confusing, because there were a few months early on that I barely remember. I have no recollection of the Super Bowl, for example, or who hosted the Oscars, or what springing forward was like.

Today, somehow, is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Within 6 paragraphs, I was thinking about swooning for the book. By the end of the first chapter, I’m pretty sure I had.

Is this predictable? Yup, just like the movies it celebrates. Is it warm? Yup, just like the movies it celebrates. Will it just make you happy (possibly more than it deserves?) Yup, just like the movies it celebrates.

This is as comfy and cozy as wearing a pair of Costco sweatpants, sipping cocoa (or a rosé), while sprawled on your couch watching TV with someone you’re close to (preferably multiple someones). I couldn’t stop grinning throughout (at least it felt like I was, whether or not that was literal).

I’m unable to put stars to this—it’s probably a pretty good novel if you look at it objectively, maybe a bit clichéd, honestly. But it hit me just right and I don’t care about objectivity or clichés—I just loved the experience. It’s probably the most feel-good of the feel-good novels I’ve read this year. I heartily recommend it. Or maybe I should say that I 💕 💕 ❄️ recommend it🎄💕 💕.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

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Holiday Reading TBR

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2025

In Chris McDonald/Frost, Currently Reading, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., YA/MG/Children's Books

I hesitate to call my shot here, especially the way that has gone for me this year. But I think this is safe enough.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s time to start focusing on the next big holiday. About the time this post goes up, I’m sure Mrs. Irresponsible Reader will have the tree up and will be decking our halls. I’m not the biggest holiday kind of guy–as my family and coworkers will tell you. But I seem to find myself reading more books about it (I don’t count the Andy Carpenter Christmas books, because there is so little of the holiday in them). Unless Fahrenheit Press puts out something Christmas-y–as they’re wont to do–this will be my list for the year.

That Christmas and Other Stories

by Richard Curtis, Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

I thought the movie based on these stories was pretty cute, and have waited since last year to see what the various storylines looked like in their original format. Besides, if you ignore all the many questionable choices he made in Love, Actually, Richard Curtis is just a fun storyteller.

The Christmas Tree Killer

by Chris Frost
I’m game for any mystery Chris Frost (or his alter ego, Chris MacDonald) writes–and I’m curious to see how things go for DI Tom Stonem this Christmas. He’s sorta like the holiday’s Jessica Fletcher.

Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon

by Matthew Norman

Norman’s rom com sounds perfectly charming–just the kind of cozy read that’s perfect for this time year. Literary Hot Cocoa.

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

by Benjamin Stevenson

Stevenson’s series has been fun so far–and this shorter “Festive mystery” promises to be fun.

Do you have any Holiday Season-related reads coming up?

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from one, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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A Few Scattered Thoughts on My Latest Reading of Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

By HCNewton

On November 26, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, Fiction, Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

Prince Caspian

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 01, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 223 pg.
Read Date: November 8-10, 2025

If only because everything worth saying has been said by other, better, writers. Probably several times.

But I feel the need to say something now, so here are a few things that jumped out at me during this read:

bullet The cover on the edition we bought for our kids is just bad. The art’s fine, but this is a silly scene to capture. It really makes me miss the version I had growing up.
bullet It’s so hard to be patient with the Pevensies as they suss out where and when they are.
bullet I enjoyed the way that Trumpkin stumbled while trying to recap Caspian’s story and then just had to start at the beginning. I think this was a pretty smart move for impatient readers–give them a little bit of our friends and then go back to tell Caspian’s story–if he’d started with Caspian and his Nurse, how many of us would’ve put the book down? This way we get the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, some excitement, then the long backstory, and we’re back into the action.
bullet I loved the way Reepicheep was introduced. NB: I love everything about Reepicheep, so I won’t note every example.
bullet It was good to see (and helped the single combat later on be believeable) the way that Narnia is slowly making the Pevensies back into who they were.
bullet

“Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su.”
“What’s that?”
“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our won world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?”
“We’ve got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia,” said the practical Susan, “without imagining things like that.”

And if you like that kids, let me tell you about some books I’ve written for grown-ups…
bullet I truly appreciate the way that Edmund sticks up for Lucy here contra-Peter and Susan when it comes to beliving her experiences. As annoyed as I am with Susuan, Peter actually thinking Lucy’s right, but weaseled away from it is far worse.
bullet The betrayal of Nikabrik and the way he talks about Dwarfs sounds like Mr. Beaver’s prejudice. I’m glad we have Trumpkin, our DLF, and others to show him wrong.
bullet While dictating his letter, I rather enjoyed Peter (who surely looked like a punk kid) getting picky about the spelling used by a noted scholar.
bullet Trufflehunter’s insistence that animals don’t change, their beliefs are rock-solid, unlike flighty humans/human-esque people is striking. That has to be an impact of Eve–but where do Dwarfs come from then?
bullet

The first house they came to was a school: a girls’ school, where a lot of Narnian girls, with their hair done very tight and ugly tight collars round their necks and thick tickly stockings on their legs, were having a history lesson. The sort of “History” that was taught in Narnia under Miraz’s rule was duller than the truest history you ever read and less true than the most exciting adventure story.

That last sentence is such a good one.
bullet

…all the-Talking Beasts surged round-the Lion, with purrs and grunts and squeaks and whinnies of delight, fawning on him with their: tails, rubbing against him, touching him reverently with their noses and going to. and fro under his body and between his legs. If you have ever seen a little cat loving a big dog whom it knows and trusts, you will have a pretty good picture of their behavior.

That last sentence is such a good one, too.
bullet We just don’t get enough time from Caspian’s victory to the end of the book. There wasn’t a lot of denouement in the first volume, either. But this felt too rushed.
bullet That last line–which is simply not good–makes me think of the last line of an 80s TV show. Someone makes a dumb joke while the entire cast is sitting together, they all laugh too hard at it and the picture freezes before the credits roll.

This is the first of 3 Caspian novels–putting him on a level with Lucy and Edmund for appearances. There’s not a lot of deep theology here, just Aslan’s protection of the land with direct intervention when called for–with Old Narnia’s royals along for the ride (somewhat literally). I liked the different way the children were pulled into Narnia–I really like young Caspian here–and everything else. It’s just a fun read.

A Few Scattered Thoughts on My Latest Reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

By HCNewton

On November 12, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, Fiction, Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 01, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 189 pg.
Read Date: November 8-10, 2025

If only because everything worth saying has been said by other, better, writers. Probably several times.

But I feel the need to say something now, so here are a few things that jumped out at me during this read:

bullet On the second page of the story, Susan is already trying to act older than she is (which is really the problem that will recur in The Last Battle, people getting worked up about the makeup really miss the boat). Yes, it’s understandable—and maybe even necessary—at this point for her to do so. But it’s a trait that will define her.
bullet I could use another 3 or so chapters about the Professor’s house. Maybe even a book or two. As Lewis writes:

The house of the Professor’s—which even he knew so little about—was so old and famous that people form all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it. It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories; and well it might be, for all manner of stories were told about it, some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now.

bullet There is something just so…right…about Baynes’ illustrations. I can’t imagine this series without them (one of the many reasons I’ve avoided picture book retellings).
bullet Lewis stays on-brand by having the Professor bring out a version of the trilemma suited for the question of Lucy’s honesty.
bullet The way the children react just to the sound of Aslan’s name the first time. That’s a great touch.
bullet

This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia—in our world they susually don’t talk at all.

bullet Mr. Beaver’s comment about not trusting things that look human but aren’t is an odd bit of prejudice. It’s nice to see it quickly shown to be false by the giant Rumblebuffin, unless by size alone, giants don’t look human. Still, I want to make a point to watch out for that idea later on in the series.
bullet I don’t care how many times I’ve read it, Aslan’s walk to the Stone Table is hard to read.
bullet The de-statued lion’s reaction to Aslan including him in the “us lions” group has brought a smile to my face every time I encounter it. Probably for different reasons, but it always works.
bullet I find it interesting that no one other than the adult Pevensies talk in that stuffy, faux-Medieval way throughout the series (maybe A Horse and His Boy will prove me wrong).
bullet The closing paragraphs suggest that the Pevensies are possibly going to encounter many other children who’ve been in Narnia. I wish we’d gotten more evidence of that throughout the books—especially in The Last Battle.

This isn’t a perfect novel—nor a perfect Christian allegory. But I can’t be critical about it, not even a little. I just love this book. (and it’s not even my favorite in the series!)

PUB DAY POST: Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski: A Chaotic Family Reunion

By HCNewton

On October 23, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Righteous Trash

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Jake Halligan, #3
Publisher: Rock & a Hard Place Press
Publication Date: October 23, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 232 pg.
Read Date: September 24, 2025

What’s Righteous Trash About?

Jake Halligan’s sister, Frankie, has come back to Idaho after a time in Mexico. She wants to start her business again—there’s always a market for guns, right? Especially of the extra-legal variety. But first, she wants to take care of some business for an old friend. With Jake’s help, of course. It’s messy and…well, never mind that.

But before they can really get into that, they find themselves at the scene of the nuttiest (gutsiest?) robbery—that promises to wreck Jake’s life. There’s some involvement with the FBI, some political corruption and cover-ups, and so many people pointing guns at the siblings that it’d be too hard to count.

All in all, a good time.

Action

One thing you expect from a Jake Halligan novel is some good action scenes—and boy howdy, does Kolakowski deliver here. There are some intense—almost cinematic—action scenes here.

But the first big gun fight in particular is the one I want to focus on for just a moment—there are multiple groups, with varying alliances (the exact number is hard to determine in the moment). You need someone like John Woo or Chad Stahelski to bring this to life—you’ve got the bullets, the quips, some stupid and useless deaths, and a couple of good twists. If you haven’t been fully engaged in the novel to that point, you will be after it.

The other action scenes are more grounded. I’m not saying they’re all that realistic, I don’t think (who reads these novels for hyper-realism?). But they seem a little more like what would happen to actual people, not stuntmen, in the situations. Just as compelling, just a little less eye-candy.

Stand By Your Man

One of the more interesting things through this series has been tracking the relationship between Jake and his wife. Or maybe it should be phrased as the relationship between Janine and her husband and sister-in-law’s lifestyle. She’s not comfortable with it (to undersell it), she doesn’t want it anywhere near their daughter, she’s barely tolerant of Frankie at all. And who could blame her for any of that? The number of bullets I want flying anywhere near my spouse is far lower than what Jake sees in the first book—never mind the others. And as for their kid? Forget it.

That’s not to mention how often Janine’s life has been in danger. That alone should drive her away.

Nevertheless, she stands by her man. I’m not sure if she should be admired or pitied, really. Either way, it makes her the kind of character you want to watch, and gives you something to think about in the midst of everything else.

The Missing Sequel?

Back in 2018, the first time I got to ask Kolakowski some questions, he mentioned a sequel to the first Jake Halligan book set in New Orleans. We ended up getting a very different sequel. Now in book three, we get a flashback to an adventure that Jake and Frankie had in The Big Easy.

I don’t know if any of the material he’d prepared for that would-be sequel ended up as that flashback, but it’s fun to think about (and fun to imagine what would happen after it). Obviously, it could just be a coincidence, and he needed a non-Idaho place for the siblings to get into trouble—and New Orleans works well for both of those criteria.

So, what did I think about Righteous Trash?

Again, Kolakowski nails the local geography. I really think I could drive to each location he describes—and for those who aren’t from around these here parts, he describes them in a way that conveys a good feel for the place. The fact that I could give a tour of the series locations to a reader who dropped by is just a bonus. (and I can absolutely see the Idaho political scene function the way he depicts it, although I think that could be easily ported into the other 49, too).

I enjoyed both the change—and utter lack of it—that we see in Frankie. She’s aged a bit, got some perspective (maybe wisdom), and knows what she wants. She’s also enough of a realist to understand what’s possible for her (you might read a little pessimism into that, too—but she’d deny that).

I’m a little worried about our friend Jake, at least where he was at the beginning of the novel. He’s a survivor, and he has Janine and his daughter to worry about, so I assume he’ll find a way to get it done. These novels have taken their toll on him (and everyone else), which I appreciate because these kind of books can gloss over that kind of impact. But, he’s such a nice guy (most of the time), that you hate to see it.

Great action, a clever story, characters that you just can’t get enough of. This is a fast-moving novel that will keep you turning pages longer than you should (plan your sleep accordingly; the adrenaline can only do so much). This is a fun thrill ride that will satisfy fans of the series and probably create some new ones, too. (It is absolutely not necessary to read the earlier novels before this, but you will appreciate some things more if you have.)

4 Stars

Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire: Toby’s Up to Her Old Tricks, with Some New Complications

By HCNewton

On October 8, 2025

In Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

Silver and Lead

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #19
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 400 pg.
Read Date: September 5-8, 2025

What’s Silver and Lead About?

Queen Arden has a task for her hero–and she’s more than happy to take it on. During the recent…whatever you want to call what Titania did, several items were removed from the royal vaults. Dangerous items, naturally. Now, Arden had wanted to wait until Toby had given birth and recovered before sending her to find them. But at least one of the items has been used, and someone is dead. She can’t put it off any longer.

Toby’s tired, fed up, and annoyed by basically being under house arrest because of her worried husband during the last few months of her pregnancy. Yes, Tybalt’s worries are understandable, but he’s maybe gone a little too far. Toby’s glad for the excuse to get to work, and promises she’ll be extra careful. (Any guesses how that goes and how cooperative the people she’s looking for are going to be?)

Quentin–whose identity seems to be the worst-kept secret in all of Faerie–sticks with her every step of the way. This adventure brings us across many old friends and allies and reminds us of one old enemy.

Oh, I forgot to mention, before any of this happens, everyone’s favorite Sea Witch has a request–both sweet and terrifying–for Toby before any of this business with Arden starts.

All in all, this is not the way most people spend the last couple of weeks of their pregnancy. But of course, Toby wouldn’t do it any other way, and her readers expect no less.

Aftershocks

While we are not looking directly at what Titania did in these pages, we’re looking at the aftermath. We’re also learning a little bit about how her plan didn’t completely work. But I’m going to gloss over that (but you’re going to want to stop and muse about it while reading).

Quentin is trying to wrap his mind around the version of himself he saw and remembers, and cannot stand it. He’s overcompensating—and you can’t blame him for that—when he’s not letting it interfere with his thinking in the present.

Some of the ramifications of Titania’s work are seen in the motivations behind this novel’s primary villain. This doesn’t justify their actions (they’d have likely found another way to justify things), but it gives us an idea of all the unintended consequences of her re-write of Faerie. (unintended, but she probably wouldn’t care).

I really appreciate this–we’re not primarily concerned with her, nor have we just gotten a “it’s been a few months, stuff happened, life goes on” kind of thing. Faerie learned a lot about itself, they found some messes that need to be cleaned up. Yes, life goes on, but it’s different and will continue to be for a while.

So, what did I think about Silver and Lead?

So after a few novels with big, world-changing events at their core, it’s nice to get back to the bread-and-butter kind of novel. Yes, the stakes are important. Yes, there are life-and-death situations all around—and if Toby fails, it will mean bad things. But it won’t be the end of the world.

One of the advantages of a long-running series like this is that you can pluck a (seemingly?) random someone from an early novel, dust them off, and have them play a major role in the current book. Which is great—it also means that every random someone has the potential of being important. McGuire used that well in Silver and Lead.

While I enjoyed Raysel’s use here, I’m a little afraid that she’s being given some short-shrift overall, and the interesting storyline that seemed to have kicked off for her in Be the Serpent will end more with more of a whimper than it should. (Hopefully, this means that McGuire has something really big cooking).

Early on in the reading, I texted a friend, “a very pregnant Toby is fun.” She really is—and just as it was good to get back to a smaller stakes plot, it’s nice to be with the characters again, adapting to/preparing for this new stage of life.

McGuire’s humor and willingness to put her characters through the wringer for the entertainment of her audience shine forth. Toby’s determination (read: near-uncompromising stubbornness), grit, and humanity are on display for all. Tybalt and May are Tybalt and May (always good), and Quentin continues to develop into quite the man. The Luidaeg was fantastically used—particularly at the beginning. It was also good to see the rest of the cast, and I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like for Sir Mommy Daye.

Fans will be pleased with this one, and it might draw in a few new ones. Silver and Lead is just what we needed after the last arc.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Tor Publishing Group via NetGalley—thanks to both for this. Sorry it’s up late, it’s been one of those months.

4 Stars

Catching Up with Toby Daye

By HCNewton

On September 18, 2025

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

I’ve been thinking about this post since September of 2022, I just knew I couldn’t write about Be the Serpent without seeing what McGuire did next—my mind wouldn’t let me decide what I thought about it until then. And then after Sleep No More, I had to tackle The Innocent Sleep, and then…well, I kept getting distracted or busy. But I have to put something down about these three so I can intelligently talk about Silver and Lead, and I really want to do that. So, I’m trying a different kind of post than I’m used to.

Oh, I’m also suspending my typical no spoilers rule here. Read at your own risk, this is the only warning I’m giving.

Be the Serpent

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #16
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 305 pg.
Read Date: August 31, 2022-September 5, 2022; August 25-29, 2023

It felt like I was standing outside this scene and watching it unfold, like none of this had anything to do with me. Like I should have been able to smile politely, say, “No, thank you,” and walk away, leaving everything exactly as it was before I got out of bed this morning.

I don’t know how many friends of mine have stumbled on books 2 or 3 of this series and never kept going. Or stumbled and were pushed on (and were so glad they did). I sort of get that, but I didn’t have that reaction. I did stumble here on book 16, Be the Serpent. Obviously, by this point—it doesn’t matter, I’m going to shake it off and keep going. Toby, Tybalt, May, Quentin, and the rest (the list is getting ridiculously long) mean too much to me to be put off by one novel.

But I do have to wonder what was going on in McGuire’s mind for her to give us this book—I have no proof of this, but in my head-canon, she was so focused on the last pages of this novel and what she was setting up that she didn’t pay enough attention to the execution of this novel. That doesn’t sound like McGuire to me, but it’s the best I’ve got.

The opening is fantastic—and the way that Toby and Rayseline executed their plan was so well done, and the prospect of watching Raysel heal in the midst of Toby’s chaos seemed like a fun lark. And then the horrific happened—the scene where Toby finds Stacy’s kids dead or dying is possibly the most gut-churning thing she’s written (and that’s saying something)*

* If you want to argue that she’s topped that in some recent InCryptid novels, I won’t fight you.

The problems start a chapter or two after that. Once Toby realizes why Stacy killed her kids (because she’s not really Stacy, but Titania, realizing she’s Stacy all along. I don’t know a shorter way to describe it all), she sets out to destroy Titania—but she can’t. No matter how often she tells herself it’s not her, no matter that the “Stacy consciousness” tells Toby to do it, no matter how many frelling times she has that conversation with anyone (including herself several times)—Toby can’t just do it. That’s almost understandable.

But also, McGuire has to tell us several times how this whole thing is tearing Toby apart. But I honestly don’t “see” it happening. I hear about it—I see it when she’s interacting with Stacy’s surviving kids or husband. But otherwise? I really don’t.

I could’ve been satisfied with the ending had it ended 2 pages or so into the last chapter (because that was just a great moment).

But no…we’ve got to do the whole Titania comes back, puts the hurt on Toby, and then rewrites history—wiping Toby’s mind and rewriting her history—having (pretty quickly) found a loophole in Oberon’s decree (he must be pretty rusty from all the nothing he’s been up to for the last few centuries). Sure, the first two parts of that list were certain to happen eventually.

But I just hate, hate, hate the whole “we’ll rewrite history/perception/whatever” storyline. Buffy in the asylum, Picard’s whole other life in “The Inner Light” (although he at least starts off remembering reality), um…other examples I should have at hand, but don’t. At the time, I told friends (and maybe my readers in a WWW Wednesday post or a Saturday Miscellany) that I hate the ending, but trusted McGuire would make me come around to it in the next book (and prematurely resented her for making her eat my words).

In the end, that didn’t happen—I still am going to consider Be the Serpent as the low point of this series. However…I really liked the lemonade she turned this giant pile of lemons into. Which brings us to….

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #17
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 310 pg.
Read Date: October 26, 2023-October 27, 2023; January 13-16, 2025

“Romantic love is not required to live a full and happy life, my seedlings,” Father had told us, watching carefully to be sure we took his message to heart, “but if you cannot love one who loves you truly in return, find friends, find companions, find people who will tell you the truths you cannot carry and unveil the lies you cannot see. Most of all, cleave to each other, for you will be the only sure support you have in all this world.”

We spend most of our time watching this Alternate Version of Toby make her way through this version of Faerie that we all can kind of recognize, but not really. A good deal of the “fun” of all this is seeing the ways that Titania’s rewriting of things is similar—but not quite—to our version of things.

Toby, for example, has all the niceness, the kindness, the happiness that we all know she’s capable of—but she rarely gets to express (or she can only express in certain ways). August is…wow. The best older sister, really (sure, it’d be better if she didn’t believe that changelings were lesser beings, but…at least she doesn’t treat them as trash). Quentin, on the other hand, is an entitled jerk.

Thankfully, we get to come into this world just before it starts unraveling, partially because of Toby. Even as she really doesn’t know what she’s doing (or who she is, most importantly), she keeps being Toby—which means taking apart the plans and machinations of her opponents. Everything I think McGuire got wrong in the previous book, she did right here. We even get to revisit some of the bigger moments of the past.

I really liked the story; I thought McGuire executed it as close to flawlessly as is possible. I liked the conclusion—it was exciting, tense, and you honestly (especially now) had no idea how things were going to turn out. Sure, we know that bigger and worse things are on the horizon than we just dealt with—but okay. That’s pretty much par for the course.

Best yet? October and August have a relationship now. Simon and Toby are closer than they were. Yes, things are messed up ,and everyone will need to recover and reset. But…we’ve gained a lot.

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #18
Publisher: DAW 
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 314 pg.
Read Date: October 31-November 1, 2023; January 24-31, 2025

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

This felt like an incredibly unnecessary book. Sure, it seemed like a good idea—perhaps even entertaining just to see things from Tybalt’s perspective. But we already know this story. Why bother?

Oh, for so many reasons, it turns out. I ended up loving this book.Rather than picking up months later, like we did in Toby’s POV, we see this from the instant Titania did her thing—or pretty much. We get more than simply Tybalt’s POV—we get to see how all this nonsense is impacting the rest of Faerie—or isn’t, as the case sometimes is. We see just how far the range of the changes are. Most importantly, we see what happens to people who aren’t that close to Toby—the collateral damage.

And that damage is devastating—and is getting worse.

Then we get to see some of the specific incidents described in Sleep No More from Tybalt’s POV, or at least what others tell him. Still, it’s not Toby’s viewpoint. We come away from all of it with a greatly expanded understanding of everything that happened to the characters we know and love (or just know). Also, between the two books, we really learn so much more about Titania than we did before (naturally). And now we really want to see Maeve in action—as apocalyptic as that likely will be.

Could McGuire have done this as a larger-than-usual book from shifting POVs? Probably. But the pacing would’ve been weird, getting the different POVs on the same events would get tiresome (and hard to decide which POV would come first)…and, I think it’d have just been a mess. So much better this way.

My beef with this one—and I think it’s the only one I have in both Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep is Tybalt’s lack of emotional control. Yes, it has to be hard to see Toby like this, to see her not know you at all—but for crying out loud, man! You’ve been around for centuries, you know the whammy that magic can do to someone’s mind and body (you’ve experienced it first hand!!)—magic from one of the Three? Hold yourself together, know that you’ve got a chance to help everyone—especially Toby, and stop acting like a child when she’s around.

Do the greatness of Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep make up for Be the Serpent? No. Do they make it more forgivable? Ehhh, kind of. Mostly, I know for future re-reads to expect some rough riding, but that it’s worth it. As I said above, the lemonade she made from Be the Serpent is mighty tasty. And I’m okay with that.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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The World’s Last Night by C.S. Lewis: An Interesting (if Somewhat Scattered) Collection that Starts Off With a Banger

By HCNewton

On August 24, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Further Up and Further In, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The World’s Last Night
And Other Essays

by C. S. Lewis

DETAILS:
Publisher: HarperOne
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Format: Paperback
Length: 122 pg.
Read Date: August 3-10, 2025

What’s The World’s Last Night About?

This is a collection of essays by Lewis, quite simply. I don’t know that they belong together more than that. GIven the original date of publication (1952), he was alive when this was collected, but I have no idea if he was involved in the selection—I am curious about that. So much so that I’ve written 3 more sentences (including this one) about it than I intended to.

Here’s what the jacket flap on my copy says:

In these seven satirical yet poignant essays, C.S. Lewis tackles the temptations of evil. He challenges readers to decide how they would live on thew world’s last night and writes, “We are not the playwright, we are not the producer, we are not even the audience. We are on the stage. To play well the scenes in which we are ‘on’ concerns us much more than to guess about the scenes that follow it.” The infamous Screwtape makes a special appearance with a toast that explores the prospects for exploiting evil. Blending irony, humor, and paradox, Lewis tackles religion’s most difficult and intriguing questions regarding immorality, belief, and the meaning of prayer.

I’m also not sure “satirical” applies to all seven essays. But I didn’t come here to pick a fight with anyone involved with putting this together. So let’s move on with a quick look at each essay (the premise should be clear for most from the title).

The Efficacy of Prayer

I loved this essay. I’m glad I read the collection, if only for this—sadly, the rest of the collection really didn’t live up to it. But I’m okay with paying most of the $17 I spent on the book for this essay. It’s one I will be returning to.

On Obstinancy in Belief

This is sort of a Science v. Faith (a ridiculous debate). Lewis made some pretty good points, and it was generally good. But I’m not sure it’s a home-run.

That demand for our confidence which a true friend makes of us is exactly the same that a confidence trickster would make. That refusal to trust, which is sensible in reply to a confidence trickster, is ungenerous and ignoble to a friend, and deeply damaging to our relation with him. To be forewarned and therefore forearmed against apparently contrary appearance is eminently rational if our belief is true; but if our belief is a delusion, this same forewarning and forearming would obviously be the method whereby the delusion rendered itself incurable. And yet again, to be aware of these possibilities and still to reject them is clearly the precise mode, and the only mode, in which our personal response to God can establish itself. In that sense the ambiguity is not something that conflicts with faith so much as a condition which makes faith possible. When you are asked for trust you may give it or withhold it; it is senseless to say that you will trust if you are given demonstrative certainty. There would be no room for trust if demonstration were given. When demonstration is given what will be left will be simply the sort of relation which results from having trusted, or not having trusted, before it was given.

Lilies that Fester

This is an interesting take on anti-intellectualism and related ideas. It really feels like it could be a recent composition.

There’s a paragraph about a child reading Science Fiction that sold me.

Screwtape Proposes a Toast

I was just going to refer you to what I wrote about this as an add-on to The Screwtape Letters, but apparently, I never finished that post. So, um, that won’t work.

This fell short of the original Screwtape material. It doesn’t have the wit, the insight. It feels like a sequel to The Abolition of Man crammed into Screwtape’s mouth, and it didn’t work nearly as well.

Good Work and Good Works

Second-best essay in the batch.

‘Good works’ in the plural is an expression much more familiar to modern Christendom than ‘good work’. Good works are chiefly alms-giving or ‘helping’ in the parish. They are quite separate from one’s ‘work’. And good works need not be good work, as anyone can see by inspecting some of the objects made to be sold at bazaars for charitable purposes. This is not according to our example. When our Lord provided a poor wedding party with an extra glass of wine all round, He was doing good works, But also good work; it was a wine really worth drinking, Nor is the neglect of goodness in our ‘work’, our job, according to precept. The apostle says everyone must aot only work but work to produce what is ‘good’.

Religion and Rocketry

Huh. Interesting take on extraterrestrial life, etc. I’m not sure what else to say.

The World’s Last Night

There are many reasons why the modern Christian and een the modern theologian may hesitate to give to the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming that emphasis which was usually laid on it by our ancestors.

It’s hard to believe that someone in the 20th Century could start an essay about escathology that way. But there it is, in black and white.

We must admit at once that this doctrine [of the Second Coming] has, in the past, led Christians into very great follies. Apparently many people find it difficult to believe in this great event without trying to guess its date, or even without accepting as a certainty the date that any quack or hysteric offers them. To write a history of all these exploded predictions would need a book, and a sad, sordid, tragi-comical book it would be.

I’ve read some of those books, and he describes them well.

Overall, this is a really good look at the doctrine of the Second Coming and Judgement and how we should act before then—and why we should do so.

So, what did I think about The World’s Last Night?

I liked this more than some of what I’ve read by Lewis this year, but it doesn’t hold a candle to him at his best. There are moments of brilliance. Moments of spiritual insight and wisdom. Some moments of wit and common sense (which should never be sneezed at). Some moments where you wonder why he has impacted so many (including myself) in such a strong and lasting way.

Still, it’s worth the time—not just for completistis, either. Just know going in that not every essay is going to wow you.

I’m tempted to give it 4 Stars just for the first essay, but let’s not get carried away by such a strong start.

3.5 Stars