The sequel to A Madness of Angels, The Midnight Mayor sees the wards of London failing: the ravens at the Tower dead, the Wall defaced, the Stone broken, the Midnight Mayor killed by a thousand paper cuts. A terrifying, powerful being appears in the city and threatens to destroy it. Matthew Swift, sorcerer and embodiment of the blue electric angels that lived in the telephone wire, has to work with the Aldermen (think supernatural bureaucrats) to fight this menace and work out how to destroy it.

 

While not quite as good as the first book, The Midnight Mayor is still a lot of fun. OK, the plot is less than watertight and possibly over-reliant on infodump, but for me this doesn't really matter. For me, the draw of Griffin's book is the city itself: the myriad little magics drawn from city ritual, city tradition, the Underground sign as magical ward, the monster made of fat from the sewers, the ghosts lurking in an empty nightclub. Griffin's prose, ragged, uneven, singsong, slipping between Swift's I and the angels' we within a sentence, captures urban life and the joy of urban magic wonderfully:

We dragged in the fire from the live rail, the rushing of the train, the pumping of the cold air in the tunnels, the light, the darkness, the blood, the heat in my stomach that I couldn't give, the strength in my blood that I didn't have left, the warmth in Oda's body clutched to our chest; we dragged in a million million million ghosts who had died to dig the tunnels, who had lived their lives on the train going from here to there and back again, touch in, touch out, ticket, escalator, platform. chair, a million, million, million dead and living things who every day prayed for their train to come for the seat to be free for the paper to be left for the strangers to be kind for the journey to be swift for the ticket to be cheap for the stairs to be empty for the tunnels to be cool for the announcers to be gentle.

That atmosphere, that palpable love for London that runs in every sentence, is really just fantastic, and makes up for all of the book's imperfections for me. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Neon Court.

 

I've enjoyed reading everyone's TBR Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday posts, and am thinking about trying it myself. Ever since I moved my cataloguing back to GR, I've only posted reviews here, so these posts might let me log the "might read" and "should have reviewed" portion of my reading.

 

To Be Read:

        

I don't know. I'm actually a little panicked about it. I've finished up my netgalley backlog and nothing is looking appealing. I want something simultaneously riveting and safe, something that won't rip me up inside but will keep me utterly captivated nonetheless. I'm not sure that type of book actually exists.

 

• In the meantime, I just started a reread of The Minority Council - Kate Griffin. Even though it fails the heartwrenching portion of my conditions, at least I know what to expect.
• I'm reading Dodger - Terry Pratchett, which is very cute. It's taking me a while because it's a little out of my age bracket and genre.
• Oh, yeah. I also just got Legend - Marie Lu  on audio. It's not really my preferred genre, but I've heard good things, so I figured I'd give it a try.

 

       

To Be Reviewed

(organized in decreasing likelihood of actually being reviewed.)

 

• I started and finished The Far Time Incident - Neve Maslakovic, which was a lot of fun. It's a Netgalley book, so review definitely to follow.
• I finished The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date - Samuel Arbesman, which is a real milestone for me, as it's one of the first Netgalley books I ever received and somehow utterly failed to read or review. We're talking 2013 here. Getting this reviewed puts me on track to hit the elusive 100%.
• I finished Raising Stony Mayhall - Daryl Gregory, and I plan on reviewing it, but I have very complex feelings about it and keep putting it off.
• I started and finished Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble - Marilyn Johnson. It's a portrait of archaeologists rather than archaeology, and all the more interesting for it. A lot of them are real characters, including the guy who does an annual goat roast using Neanderthal tools.
• I listened to The Lady from Zagreb - Philip Kerr  on audio, and it's a lot of fun. I can't accept that anyone could speak a tenth of the treason that Gunther does and still survive, but his sarcasm is part of what makes these books surprisingly entertaining. I'll definitely be on the lookout for other books in the series.

 

Yep, that's about it.

{February 2nd, 2015} MINI-REVIEW

I received this ARC from a Goodreads Giveaway.

3.5 stars.

Truly a delightful read and introduction to the mystery genre for age 7-10+. Really kept me guessing until a certain point, before the end. Smashie and Dontel were truly superstars in this. Their friendship and interactions really help balance each other out. Smashie is rash, impulsive and bold while Dontel remains level-headed, collected and thoughtful. Both of them have been best friends since ever, even their grandmothers are best friends before them--must be fate lol. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a kids mystery novel or read one it seems. And the illustrations are superb!

While there are some editing mistakes and some spaces that I didn't understand why was there (I assumed illustrations were supposed to be there?) this really went over well for me.

I'm looking forward to more Smashie and Dontel if there are anymore of these books, especially since I'm highly curious about this 'suits' they speak of--I mean, come on, designing your own investigation suit? How cool is that?!

Right after Halloween, it is election time.  How we start with the local races? 

 

Mayors are very popular as Romance Heroes and Heroines. Here are some great ones!

 

My list are never in any particular order. 

 

1. Wild Child: A Novel by Molly O'Keefe

2. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

3. The Neon Court  by Kate Griffin

4. The Emperor's New Clothes by Victoria Alexander

5. A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher

6. Falling for Gracie by Susan Mallery 

7. Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis 

8. Gathering Shadows (by Nancy Mehl

9. Mr. Unforgettable  by Karina Bliss

10. A Different Light by Mariah Stewart 

 

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know!

 

To vote for the best Mayor in Romanceland go to my Goodreads list: City Hall: Mayor Heroes and Heroines in Romance Novels

I found this novel by accident, bought it cheap and was hooked in seconds. I was amazed by the style of magic and wished I had thought of it first.
Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series