Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance

 

Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance

Edited by Jonathan Strahan

Reviewed by Kristin

With stories by Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, Ellen Klages

Reviewed by Kristin

For the past couple of years I have been drawn to time travel tales. Even when I don’t realize a book may contain some really funky timeline shenanigans, I still find them, check them out, read them, and usually enjoy them.

When I saw Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance, I had previously read several books by Sarah Gailey and just one by Zen Cho (Black Water Sister). Since I had recently finished the Cho book and loved it, I checked this out through Tennessee READS where both the ebook and audiobook are available. (Thanks, Tennessee READS!)

The stories are varied, with time travel being accomplished by different characters in many different ways. I enjoyed some of the stories much more than others, but didn’t dislike any of them.

One of my favorites was set in a used bookstore, where a gap in the shelves serves as a connection between a young woman in modern times and a young man in 1914, on the verge of World War I.

Another included another young woman sent back in time to recover a missing scientific paper from a female scientist in the mid-1950s, with surprising and deliciously pleasing consequences.

The collection title is a play on words on the 1975 novel Somewhere in Time (aka Bid Time Return) by Richard Matheson, which was also made into a movie in 1980 starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

The characters are diverse and I found the time travel aspects more weighted than the romance, although both are there. This has definitely opened me up to a few new authors.

Nevermore: Starling House, Snow Leopard, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 Reported by Rita

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper, Opal, when she gets the chance to step inside the Starling House, the estate of the 19th-century author of her favorite book, and make some extra cash, finds things taking a sinister turn.

  I didn’t love it, but I liked it – good if you like horror.    – MH      4.5 stars

 

T

he Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

An account of the author's two-hundred-fifty-mile journey, on foot, from Kathmandu, Nepal, to the Crystal Mountain in Tibet, in search of the Himalayan blue sheep, the rare snow leopard, and distances of the spirit.

Third time reading. It’s a beautifully written adventure.    – DC       5 stars

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

When she discovers a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, Vera Wong, a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands, calls the police. Later decides she is better equipped to solve the crime herself.  This becomes more complicated when she develops unexpected friendships with her suspects.

It‘s a good mystery, funny, and has well-developed characters.   – KP      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

The House of Closed Doors by Jane Steen

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes by Daniel L. Everett

The Hunt by Ryan Green

Outback Outlaws by Ryan Green

The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: a Novel by Helen Simonson

Caravans: a Novel of Afghanistan by James A. Michener

Ship of Theseus by V.M. Straka

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

 

New Books

 

100 Places to See After You Die: a Travel Guide to the Afterlife  by Ken Jennings

The Little Encyclopedia of Fairies: an A to Z Guide to Fae Magic by Ojo Opanike

The United States of Cryptids: a Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J. W. Ocker

Nevermore 4-2-24: Becoming Madam Secretary, Ten Thousand Doors of January, Girl Behind the Gates

 

 Reported by Rita

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

Describes how Frances Perkins met a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt in turn-of-the-century New York and, despite initially not getting along, the pair formed a historic partnership that led them both to the White House.

 

Perkins is a fascinating character.     – WJ     5 stars

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller, a ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, finds an ancient book containing tales of secret doors and truths about the world as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

 

A very good fantasy novel.     – MH     4 stars

 

The Girl Behind the  Gates by Brenda Davies

1939. Seventeen-year-old Nora Jennings has spent her life secure in the certainty of a bright, happy future--until one night of passion has more catastrophic consequences than she ever could have anticipated. Labeled a moral defective and sectioned under the Mental Deficiency Act, she is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her. 1981. When psychiatrist Janet Humphreys comes across Nora, heavily institutionalized and still living in the hospital more than forty years after her incarceration, she knows that she must be the one to help Nora rediscover what it is to live. But as she works to help Nora overcome her past, Janet realizes she must finally face her own.

 

It's a good book but a heartbreaking story.     – CW     5stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot

The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell

All Bleeding Stops: Life and Death in the Trauma Unit by Stephen M. Cohn

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

The Frozen River: a Novel by Ariel Lawhon

Largo Desolato: a Play in Seven Scenes by Václav Havel

Dear Mom and Dad: a Letter about Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew by Patti Davis

New Books

The Tigerbelles: Olympic Legends from Tennessee State by Aime Alley Card

Unbecoming a Lady: the Forgotten Sluts and Shrews that Shaped America by Therese Oneill

Until August by Gabriel Garcâia Mâarquez

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

Nevermore: Douglass, Crichton, Theroux, Hooper, Harrow, Gibbons

Reported by Kristin

One Nevermore member was slowly enjoying a lovely edition of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Other Works. Douglass was found to be a very brilliant and clear thinker about the social aspects of slavery. Our reader described his admiration for a man born into slavery who taught himself so much and who influenced so many people.

Another reader had picked up the posthumously published Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. With a cover looking much like the Jurassic Park saga that Crichton is so well known for, this story is set in 1876 in the Wild West, when it was still easy (and relatively unregulated) to excavate fossil sites. Our reader said that the novel was full of Native Americans, soldiers, forts, and even Wyatt Earp made an appearance, making it quite a fun read.

On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey by Paul Theroux has been making the Nevermore rounds, and the current reader absolutely loved it. Theroux travels the globe to find the cultural richness rarely seen with the struggles of people searching for a better life. Our reader said that the author takes you down the desert roads and presents an excellent portrayal of the rough challenges faced by many south of our national border.

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper was very highly recommended as it tells the story of eighty-three year old Etta who decides to walk across Canada to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. In doing so, she reminisces about the life she has led with her husband Otto, their childhood friends, and lost loves. Our reader emphasized that she absolutely loved, loved, loved it, and encouraged others to give it a try.

Entering a world of mystical possibilities, our next reader picked up The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. In the early 1900s, January Scaller is the adopted daughter of a rich man who collects curiosities from around the world. When she finds a book filled with secret doors, January is intrigued. This book was praised as excellent, but weird. It is highly recommended for those who like, well, weird books.

Finally, Divining Women by Kaye Gibbons, a novel set within the Spanish influenza epidemic, was enjoyed by our last reader. Mary Oliver is a young woman who comes to help her aunt Maureen during a difficult pregnancy. Maureen’s husband Troop is cold and strict, and Mary finds herself desperate to protect her aunt. Our Nevermore reader said that the underlying theme of the novel was how women can change their lives when they decide to take control.