Books Completed Since July 1

 The Fake Mate, Lana Ferguson
I bought this because I had read some Omegaverse fanfiction on AO3 (some of it quite rough) and I wondered how it would be handled in a rom-com setting.

Alas, the fanfic was better. Noah Taylor is a gruff alpha wolf shapeshifter cardiologist who's being reported because unmated alphas are usually too aggressive. Mackenzie Carter is an emergency room nurse who's an omega and tired of her custodial grandmother nagging her about relationships. So Mackenzie, on a whim, asks Taylor to pretend to be her boyfriend while she will pretend to be Taylor's mate so the board of directors will leave him alone. Of course it turns out they're both secretly attracted to each other and having sex was a mistake, because they're really, really into each other.

Two-dimensional characters having lots of sex don't make that interesting a story, really. Once again the female lead has a gay best friend. Really, can't she have a het best friend who's male? I've had one. At least her best friend isn't flamboyant and flashy like the others I've encountered. And the last minute villain in this one has all the depth of Frank Burns from M*A*S*H.

Go read an Eames/Goren story called "Zodiac" on AO3, okay? It's in German but Google will translate it for you. Much better use of shifter themes and better characterizations, too.

  Answers in the Form of Questions, Claire McNear
Naturally, it's a book about Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! first saw life as an NBC daytime game show hosted by Art Fleming in the 1960s to early 1970s (you can see a clip of this version in Airplane II). But, brought back in syndication in the 1980s and hosted by Alex Trebek, it reached its zenith. This is the story of Jeopardy, from origins to celebrity tournaments, from favorite quirky players like Austin Rogers and James Holzhauer, from how to find a Daily Double to how that buzzer works.

I found the bits about stats and percentages a bit dull, but there's fun stuff here, I promise.

  Front Desk, Kelly Yang
The cover on this was so appealing I didn't care if it was a kid's book. It's the story of ten-year-old Mia Tang and her parents, Chinese immigrants to California in the 1990s. Even though Mia's parents were professionals in China, here her dad can only find work as a dishwasher, and no one wants to hire her mother, a former scientist. Instead, they are offered an opportunity: running a rather run-down motel in Anaheim. The Tangs are hoping they can save money to buy a home and get better jobs, but the landlord, Mr. Yao, is dishonest and running the motel will take all three of them, except when Mia's in school.

I loved this book: Mia's narrative is both thoughtful and optimistic, and the book is straightforward about the obstacles encountered by immigrants, especially POC, and how they are shortchanged and lied to by employers like Mr. Yao. Also some inside looks about bigotry in the motel industry: most "good" motels were encouraged to tell Blacks that there was no vacancy, as they were considered dangerous.

This is the first in a series of books about Mia and her friends Lupe and Jason.

  Home Sweet Anywhere, Lynne Martin
Tim and Lynne Martin were lovers in the 1970s who separated on riendly terms. Lynne married Guy and was happy until he died; later Tim walked back into her life and they discovered they still were attracted to each other. This time it was for good, but both were restless and wanted to see the world; both had good jobs, but weren't rich enough to take fabulous vacations. They did some planning, sold up nearly everything they owned, and then were off, with a couple of suitcases, two laptops, and a few other items, finding inexpensive cruises and affordable places to live abroad where they could work and be like the locals.

It's a good life if you can do without a homebase. The Martins made it work, and you'll enjoy the travelogue: the go from Turkey to Mexico to Italy to Spain to England and Ireland. I think you'll end up envious in the end but also wondering how they could endure it. Come for the local culture rather than the tourguide's carefully planned route.

  Now You See It, Carol Perry
Thank goodness! I thought Perry had ended this series in favor of one taking place in (yuch!) Florida and am so glad to see a new story. Newly married Lee Barrett, now promoted to historical documentary executive at WICH-TV, and her husband Pete Mondello, police detective, are both involved in a murder investigation as Lee prepares to profile the new Salem International Museum's "Seafaring New England" exhibit. Many valuable historical items will be displayed, and the driver transporting some of the exhibits to the museum has turned up dead.

Lee's "scrying" ability turns up minimally in this story, which is more a straight mystery, with a priceless vase going missing, a ship's model appearing to be haunted, and other skulduggery going on at the museum. The usual supporting cast is afoot: Lee's co-workers, her Aunt Ibby and her girlfriends, Lee and Pete's new neighbor, an ex-con writer, Ibby's "gentleman friend," and of course the magically-inclined O'Ryan, the orange tabby cat. Pleasant and fairly twisty.

 The World is My Home, James A. Michener
This is an atypical memoir by the prolific Michener; don't come to it expecting a biography. He doesn't even address his childhood until the final chapters, where he reveals he was basically brought up in a foundling home by a widow, and was once tormented by another person with the surname "Michener" for claiming to be somebody he wasn't. Instead, he sections the book off into different aspects of his life that built him into a writer, starting with his tour of duty in the South Pacific during World War II (which, of course, inspired his first popular book). This section is an eye-opener about how American officers interacted with the other countries involved in the war and with the Polynesian natives. He talks about the great books he read during his schooling and memorable people he met during his world travels, and then the second half of the book delves more into how he got ideas for his novels and the writing process. Some of it was fascinating, some a little pedestrian, and the chapter on his being involved in politics was pretty dull to me; your mileage may vary, but I found it an enjoyable whole.

  A Novel Love Story, Ashley Poston
Once a year Elsy Merriwether and her friends get together for a book retreat, except maybe this year it isn't going to happen: her friends, including her best friend Pru, all have conflicts. This year Elsy really needs them: her fiance deserted her just days before their wedding and she's feeling depressed and bruised. But the cabin has been reserved, so she decides to go there even if she has to be alone—but her old car breaks down in a little New York village before she can arrive.

As she discovers with surprise, it's Eloraton, the village in her favorite romance novel series. And all the occupants of this village are the people she's been reading about in the series. Except for the grumpy blond man she almost runs down on the bridge, Anders. He doesn't seem to belong there at all.

As always, Poston mixes a little bit of magical whimsy in with her romantic plot, this time it's the little town of Eloraton, which is a big like Brigadoon. What happens when Elsy begins mixing with these fictional characters? She's afraid she might make them stray from their original happy endings. And where does Anders fit in? Who is he, besides the town bookshop owner? Again, not quite up to The Dead Romantics, but a sweet read.

 The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond, Stephen O'Shea
This is a fun and also historically fascinating travel book about O'Shea's drive along the length of the Alps, discovering that there isn't one "Alpine" culture, but many, due to the countries spanned by the mountain range. He starts in France at Chamonix, the through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, encountering the dreaded "Dutch campers," who apparently drive like snails and hog rest areas. In a fascinating chapter, he visits Hitler's World War II aerie near Berchtesgaden (and I wish he wouldn't be so apologetic about it; we need to learn about despots like Hitler and the cruelties they performed on their fellow human beings). There's also his enjoyable chatter about the differences between the Italian (Dolomites) and German Alps, including the attitudes of the people and especially the food (lots of discussion about the lard/olive oil "line"), and exploration of how the mountains were feared until they suddenly became a tourist destination. As enjoyable as his WWI odyssey, Back to the Front.