With today’s post, I am joining Donna, of Retirement Reflections, for October’s What’s on Your Bookshelf challenge. Thistles and Kiwis is also taking part in the challenge, and one book on her list was written by a Maine author. How about that? A Maine book in New Zealand.

Below is a photo of the books I read in October, and it illustrates my eclectic tastes. I am a reader who likes stories about everyday life, but I also like stories that feature myths, magic, and archetypes. However, whether a book is a slice of life or high fantasy, everything I read shares the same requirement: It must be character driven. I really dislike books with one-dimensional characters who are marched through the plot.

Marcia Willett, an English author I discovered via A Corner of Cornwall, writes about everyday life in Cornwall and Devon. Romance figures heavily in her stories, and I must admit that romance is not my favorite genre. However, when it comes to her characters, Willet is both sympathetic and shrewd, a winning combination for this reader.

Although at times overwritten, Willet’s books are usually a bon-bon of a read. The Courtyard, with its swirl of characters, young and old, certainly falls into this category. Old age and poverty are addressed with compassion. Infidelity rears its ugly head, but there is also forgiveness. The extreme difficulties of some of the characters are perhaps too neatly resolved, but the book’s message of friendship and generosity never gets old.

Alas, the same cannot be said of First Friends, a tedious chronicle of the many infidelities of navy wives and their husbands. This is Willett’s first book, but fortunately I had read several other of her books before First Friends. Pardon the tangle of puns, but if I had read First first, it would have been last.

Speaking of last…I have saved the best for last—Katherine Addison’s goblin/elf books.

Uncharacteristically for fantasy, both books, set in the same magical steampunk realm, are primarily character driven. In The Goblin Emperor, Maia, the main character, half-elf, half-goblin, is the unloved child of his father, the emperor. When Maia’s father and brothers are killed in an airship crash, Maia, young and inexperienced, becomes emperor. Struggling to remain decent, Maia must navigate the intricacies of court life while dealing with various treacheries and plots.

Densely and beautifully written, The Goblin Emperor is referred to as a fantasy of manners, where, according to Wikipedia, “The protagonists are not pitted against fierce monsters or marauding armies, but against their neighbors and peers; the action takes place within a society, rather than being directed against an external foe; duels may be fought, but the chief weapons are wit and intrigue.”

For those who don’t read fantasy, The Goblin Emperor would be a good way to ease into the genre.

The Witness for the Dead is set in the same world as The Goblin Emperor, but with a different protagonist— Celehar, a minor yet important character in the first book. Celehar is able to get thoughts, impressions, and memories from those who are newly dead and is therefore able to help solve crimes, settle disputed wills, and in general tidy up the loose ends that those who have died sometimes leave behind.

There is still political intrigue in The Witness for Dead, but the story is also a murder mystery, another genre I don’t usually read.

But with these two books, Addison proves that genre is not important when the writing is good and the story revolves around a vivid character.

#Whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge 

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A little belatedly, I am joining the What’s on  your Bookshelf challenge hosted by Donna, of Retirement Reflections as well as her friends Sue Loncaric, Debbie Harris, and Jo Tracey.  The challenge, open to anyone, is for folks to share their love of books by posting  what they’ve read each month. Catnip to this book nerd, that’s for sure. On Donna’s post, there are basic guidelines for readers who are interested in joining the challenge.

Recently, when I expressed interest in the Bookshelf challenge, Donna generously suggested I could start by featuring my own books. I must admit that this had not occurred to me. But after considering the idea for about two seconds, I thought, “Well, why not?” As an indie writer, I am always grateful to have venues for sharing my books, especially during this fourth wave of Covid, when we are staying pretty close to home.

Thanks, Donna, for letting me toot my own horn. Next month, I’ll feature what I’ve been reading rather than what I have written.

So here are the three YA fantasy novels in my Great Library Series, in order from left to right:

For readers who are unfamiliar with my books, here is a brief synopsis:

In my Great Library Series, two forces—Time and Chaos—battle each other for control of the Great Library, that mysterious place at the center of the universe where all information flows. When the series begins, Time is in charge of the Great Library, where the sentient Books of Everything are made. Then, the Books are sent to various planets to help guide the inhabitants.

Earth has a Book of Everything, and it is in big trouble. The Book is being pursued by Chet, aka the man who doesn’t smile. Chet  belongs to a shadowy organization called APO, which wants to kidnap the Book and stop it from helping Earth.

When Maya and the Book of Everything opens, Maya Hammond, a teenager, is on a train heading to Maine to visit her grandparents. On the train, she inadvertently gains possession of Earth’s Book of Everything. Once at her grandparents, Maya discovers the Book can take her back in time, and she goes to Waterville, Maine, in the 1970s, where she meets a boy named Andy.

From Waterville, Maine, it’s off across the universe—actually two universes—where Maya is caught in the battle between Time and Chaos. There are some victories, but there is also heartbreak and destruction. With strong forces working against her, it seems unlikely that Maya will prevail.

But onward Maya goes, despite her doubts and fears.

I am currently working on the fourth book in the series, and the planned release is fall of 2022.