The Stacks
All book reviews
402 honest reviews across fiction, non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi, romance, and more.
Showing 385-402 of 402
Before They Are Hanged
by Joe Abercrombie
The second First Law novel. Three plot threads in three different countries, all going progressively worse. Abercrombie at his peak.
Person or Persons Unknown
by Bruce Alexander
The fourth Sir John Fielding mystery. Bruce Alexander writing 18th century London with a magistrate going blind.
The Absent one
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
The second Department Q book. An old boarding-school case the Danish elite would prefer stayed cold.
A Conspiracy of Faith
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
The third Department Q novel. Carl Morck investigates a message in a bottle written in blood. The best book in a great series.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
YA semi-memoir about a kid who transfers off the rez to a white school. Funny, brutal, repeatedly banned, deserves to be read.
Reservation Blues
by Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie's first novel. Robert Johnson hands his guitar to a kid on the Spokane Reservation. Magic realism with grief in the bones.
Die a Little
by Megan Abbott
Abbott's debut, which announced what her career was going to be about. 1950s LA, two women, and a slow domestic poisoning.
Queenpin
by Megan Abbott
Abbott's noir homage about a young woman apprenticed to an aging mob accountant. Reads like Cain in heels.
Bury Me Deep
by Megan Abbott
Megan Abbott rewriting a real 1930s Phoenix murder case as a fever dream. Period noir with a feminist undertow.
Special Assignments
by Boris Akunin
Two Fandorin novellas in one volume. Akunin writing pastiche so well it stops being pastiche.
Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog
by Boris Akunin
A nun-detective in 19th century Russia investigating a poisoned dog. Funnier and warmer than that summary suggests.
The Blade Itself
by Joe Abercrombie
Grimdark fantasy with a beating heart underneath the cynicism. Abercrombie writes the kind of characters you would cross a kingdom for.
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide
by Douglas Adams
The collected Hitchhiker's books in one volume. If you have not read these, you have a treat ahead. If you have, you already know.
Digital Minimalism
by Cal Newport
Newport is at his most quietly persuasive here. Not a screed against phones, but a framework for getting your attention back.
It Ends with Us
by Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover at her most daring. A romance that refuses to be comfortable, and is more powerful for it.
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
A gorgeous concept executed with warmth and wit. The Midnight Library will make you think differently about the choices you have made - and the ones still ahead.
Deep Work
by Cal Newport
A wake-up call for knowledge workers everywhere. Newport makes a compelling case that the ability to focus deeply is the superpower of the 21st century.
Atomic Habits
by James Clear
The single best book on building good habits. Clear breaks down the science into a practical system anyone can follow - and actually stick with.