How To Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry, Turtles All The Way Down by John Green, Steelflower at Sea by Lilith Saintcrow and The Order of the Eternal Sun by Jessica Leake

I can't believe it is already December, my favorite month of the year! By the end of the year, I will have read about 210 books, created 52+ posts in 2017 and had a cumulative 612 posts reviewing books on Butterfly Books. While that might not seem like a lot for those with big, popular blogs, for me it's a record that I can be proud of. 

Also, this year my birthday, December 12, is also the date of the monthly book group meeting, where we celebrate the holidays and talk books. I'm hoping that everyone attends and that we have a fine time discussing the book, The Santa Claus Man, and eating some cake and other goodies. 

  There are 4 books I'm reviewing today, so without further ado, lets get down to it.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry was a book that appealed to me on many levels. The subject matter, an independent bookstore, is something near and dear to my heart as a bibliophile, and the place, England, is one of those countries I've longed to visit my whole life. The fact that there is romance involved was just icing on the cake. I hoped it would be well written, and that it would take place in a small town full of interesting characters, and I was not disappointed. Here's the blurb:

The enchanting story of a bookshop, its grieving owner, a supportive literary community, and the extraordinary power of books to heal the heart 
Nightingale Books, nestled on the main street in an idyllic little village, is a dream come true for book lovers—a cozy haven and welcoming getaway for the literary-minded locals. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the shop open after her beloved father’s death, and the temptation to sell is getting stronger. The property developers are circling, yet Emilia's loyal customers have become like family, and she can't imagine breaking the promise she made to her father to keep the store alive. 
There's Sarah, owner of the stately Peasebrook Manor, who has used the bookshop as an escape in the past few years, but it now seems there’s a very specific reason for all those frequent visits. Next is roguish Jackson, who, after making a complete mess of his marriage, now looks to Emilia for advice on books for the son he misses so much. And the forever shy Thomasina, who runs a pop-up restaurant for two in her tiny cottage—she has a crush on a man she met in the cookbook section, but can hardly dream of working up the courage to admit her true feelings. 
Enter the world of Nightingale Books for a serving of romance, long-held secrets, and unexpected hopes for the future—and not just within the pages on the shelves. How to Find Love in a Bookshop is the delightful story of Emilia, the unforgettable cast of customers whose lives she has touched, and the books they all cherish.

This book was everything the blurb promised and more. Full of eccentric and fascinating characters, I was actually finding it difficult to focus on the main protagonist, Emilia, because everyone else had such strong storylines/subplots going. The prose was lovely and dreamy, and the plot flew by on roller skates. There was an HEA ending that was inevitable, but didn't feel forced, and I honestly couldn't put this novel down. I read it in one day, and was sorry to see it end. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to those who like uplifting books with romance and casts of interesting characters. If you liked Gilmore Girls, you will probably like this book.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green is the latest YA novel by the author of the blockbuster bestseller "The Fault in Our Stars." I read and loved TFIOS, (and Papertown), and sobbed my way through both the book and the movie. So I was expecting another tender tear-jerker with "Turtles..." and was sorely disappointed when this turned out to be a stressful and awful tale of an extremely mentally ill teenage girl and her relationship with a wealthy teenage boy whose father has gone on the lamb after some of his business dealings turn out to be scams. Aza, the protagonist, also has a BFF who should have ditched her long ago, in my opinion, because Aza is the worst friend ever, so self involved and crazy that she doesn't notice or care that her best friend is suffering her own difficulties with her impoverished family. Here's the blurb: 

It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward.

Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity.

Yes, the prose is unflinching, but it's hardly clear, as we see the world through the eyes of an insane person who can barely keep herself from imploding with anxiety and fear of the germs all around her. Aza continually refers to herself as a "sack of filth" because of the bacteria in her body (it's in all of our bodies, and much of it is good bacteria that is necessary for survival) and she believes that the crazy thoughts she has are not her own, but are, instead, "invasive" thoughts from somewhere outside of herself that are controlling her, so she doesn't think she actually exists as a person, she's just a collection of bacteria and someone else's random and destructive thoughts. Of course, this also leads her to anorexia, as she is disgusted by the process of eating and digesting food, which seems  very dirty and germ-ridden in her mind.  One wonders how she has survived until age 16, with having to masticate and drink enough to grow up. Of course, her therapist has prescribed anti-anxiety meds, which she only takes a couple of times a week, because she feels that they don't work (though how she would know that to be true unless she actually took the meds religiously, I don't know), and it is only later in the book that her mother (her father died, and her mother seems to be fairly mean, when she does finally interact with her daughter) and her therapist finally force Aza to try some new meds and they talk her down from her mental rooftop. Add to this mix a lonely and sad rich boy (with a younger brother spiraling out of control for want of a parent) who falls in love with Aza, and who gives her and her friend money to stop trying to find his father (he was a crappy father anyway, and has his pet lizard in his will as the sole beneficiary), and you've got a bizarre and unsatisfying tale that seems rather pointless. The ending is ridiculous (how did Aza become a normal person who marries and has children when throughout the book she has a major meltdown over a kiss?) and felt rushed at best. I'd give this book a C, and I can't really recommend it to anyone who liked his other books because this one isn't like any of them. I suppose there are some self-loathing teenage girls who might enjoy going down this particular rabbit hole, but I don't think it would be good for them to do so.

Steelflower at Sea by Lilith Saintcrow is the sequel to her previous fantasy novel Steelflower. I've read a number of Saintcrow's series, and I am always amazed at how different each of them manages to be from the others. Though all her heroines are kick-ass women, each is distinctive and the prose used to create them is also different in each series, which is no mean feat. For example, Saintcrow's Steampunk series, Bannon and Clare, has meticulous Victorian-era prose, while her Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet series have tough, gritty prose that fit their urban fantasy genre down to the ground. The Steelflower Chronicles has epic fantasy, flowery, Tolkien-esque prose that somehow manages to keep up with the wildly adventurous plot, which moves swiftly in these short novels. Here's the blurb:

After pitched battle, betrayal, and escape, Kaia Steelflower has enough gold to feed her troupe of outcasts through the winter. She can settle them in a small villa in Antai, that queen of maritime cities, and look forward to welcome boredom.

Unfortunately, there's a pirate-infested sea to cross, her difficult new talents to corral, her traveling companions' problems to solve, a princeling's attentions to manage, and once in Antai, people keep trying to kill her. Or, more precisely, assassinate the barbarian Redfist, and Kaia keeps getting in the way.
Even the Steelflower can't kill every assassin in the city. It's going to take all her sharp wits-and sharper blades-to even try...

While I really enjoyed the first book, Steelflower, I found the sequel to be full of action, but a bit trying in terms of keeping up with what was going on with all the characters. Everything moves so fast, you have to concentrate to make sure you don't miss a single sentence, or you might miss some nuance that will be key to a plot point later on. That said, the motley crew that Kaia has accumulated are able to use whatever talents they have to help her in this book, plus, they all come under fire as it becomes clear that assassins were sent not just to kill Kaia, but also to kill her huge red-headed Viking friend, the barbarian Redfist, who is, of course, heir to the throne back in his native land (but inevitably he's not told her a word of it until they're all nearly killed...what a dope.) Now that Kaia and her soul mate and fellow warrior are on their way to Redfist's hometown for some answers, I can hardly wait for the next installment of the Steelflower Chronicles. I'd give this slender volume an A, and recommend it to anyone who read, and was intrigued by, the first book.

The Order of the Eternal Sun by Jessica Leake was recommended to me by someone who knows I am a fan of Steampunk genre and mysteries with strong female protagonists. Though this is the second book in the Sylvani Series, (and I'd not read the first), I found it to be engrossing and easily understood. Here's the blurb:

Lucy Sinclair’s debut will be a parade of everything opulent Edwardian London society has to offer. Most importantly, it will be nothing like her older sister’s dangerous experience—especially if her overprotective brother-in-law, Lord Thornewood, has his way. As if screening her dance partners isn’t enough, Thornewood insists that his brother, James, train Lucy in self-defense as the event nears. She wouldn’t mind so much if her treacherous mind didn’t continue to replay the kiss they once shared.
But awkward defense lessons are the least of her problems. Her arcana, a magical talent that allows her to mentally enter any scene that she draws, grows stronger by the day. Again and again Lucy is compelled to draw a portal to her mother’s realm of Sylvania—and with each stroke of her pen, she risks attracting the attention of the Order of the Eternal Sun, the sinister brotherhood that steals the power of Sylvani blood for their own dark ends.
When a bold new suitor arrives from India, Lucy can’t help but be intrigued—though her family questions his mysterious past. As Lucy’s own suspicions grow, and the threat of the Order looms larger, Lucy will have to learn to harness her unpredictable power or risk falling under the Order’s shadow forever.

Because I was a huge fan of Downton Abbey, I was delighted that this book took place in the Edwardian era. The delicious wit and the beauty of the gowns and dances that were a part of that era are still very attractive to those of us who, thankfully, have never had to don a corset or spend hours each day changing into an appropriate outfit for every activity. Also, as a fan of fantasy and magical realism, I loved the addition of the Sylvani, who are, in essence, a kind of fae/fairy people who have powers (called arcana) given to them via their DNA, so even if they are half human and half Sylvani, as is our protagonist Lucy, they have the ability to do a variety of things, from healing wounds and having visions of the future to throwing lightening bolts. Still, Lucy is in deep this time, because she has to deal with a handsome young half Indian/half Sylvani man who is part of the Order of the Eternal Sun, a league of men bent on the destruction of all half Sylvani people. The Order's leader, it turns out, is an exiled Sylvani who manages to remain immortal by draining the arcana from all those with the 'talent' that he can kidnap. He found a young, orphaned Alexander on the streets of India and groomed him to be an assassin for the Order. Yet when Alexander meets Lucy, and realizes that he's been lied to his whole life, he becomes a warrior for the lives of all the Sylvani, and vows to help Lucy bring the leader down once and for all. Though there was strong romantic elements to this book, I felt that it was a well written historical fantasy that had a lovely plot and engaging characters. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to those who enjoy historical romances and fantasy romances.