#The bell in the fog | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ofliterarynature · 4 months

Text

NOVEMBER 2023 WRAP UP

[ loved liked ok no thanks (reread) DNF ]

The Moonstone • Chaos Terminal • (The Raven Boys) • The Ghosts of Trappist • (Fugitive Telemetry) • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler • The Art of Destiny • The Bell in the Fog • (Exit Strategy) • Who Goes There? • Salt Magic Skin Magic • The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up • (Dracula) • (Rogue Protocol) • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store • The Boneshaker • The Archive Undying • (The Scorpio Races) • Camilla

Total: 18 (audiobook: 15 / ebook: 3)

I started my month off by finishing my reread of The Scorpio Races on November 1, as is right and proper :) This has consistently been my favorite of Maggie's books, and it never feels right the years that I haven't reread it. I think I hit the right method this year and rather than binging it or following a structured reread (which would be cool, if you could match the timeline of the book) I listened to the audiobook on and off throughout Oct and finished it off in one last burst one the 1st. I think this is some of Maggie's best writing, but I also admit I am no longer able to judge this one objectively and will save you all the sales pitch for now :)

The Archive Undying was...confusing. It wasn't that I couldn't follow what was happening on the sentence level or in the immediate present, but try zooming out to the larger picture and I was lost. It was hazy, very much like a fever dream. I would not be opposed to trying some of the author's other work in the future, but I have no interest in revisiting this book/series, and wouldn't really recommend.

The Boneshaker has been sitting on my bookshelf for years ever since I picked it up at a library book sale, and it's managed to survive every shelf purge since. And I'm glad it did! It's a strange MG/YA book about a girl, her bicycle, a small western town just off a crossroads, a snakeoil salesman, his medicine show, and deals with the devil. It was fascinating! I've been almost tempted to send a copy to Sydnee McElroy just for fun. I will definitely be investigating the author's other series.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - I got tempted into this one because the Book Riot Podcast couldn't stop singing it's praises, and then it started making some of the year end/best of lists and... it's ok I guess? I don't really get the hype, tbh, and I got close to DNFing because it just wasn't interesting. I was at least forewarned that the "murder mystery" in the marketing was overblown, but I am here to tell you to ignore its existence completely. There is no mystery, there isn't really even a murder, and it doesn't happen until the end of the book anyway. I fully admit this was just not a book for me, and anyone who wants to read it I wish you well.

Not much to say about my Murderbot reread, other than choosing to give the audiobooks a break and rereading in a text format was an excellent choice, I really feel like I've picked up on a lot of things I didn't before, and it gives me time to think about things (I have some questions about the actual irl existence of rogue secunits, tbh). This is my second full time trough the series, and I think Exit Strategy is maybe the weakest solo link in the original quartet, but that makes me very happy to have the newer books as well. And I have to say it, FUGITIVE TELEMETRY IS BETTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

Dracula Daily wrapped up this month, so I'm probably not the only one to have Dracula show up on their reading list. I listened to most of it via RE: Dracula, which I appreciated so much for helping keep me on track this year. I probably won't follow along next year, but big thanks to everyone for helping me learn to enjoy a book I hated both times I had to read it for school! I'll still be percolating that Greenwing & Dart AU somewhere in the back of my mind in the meantime.

I picked up the idea of "sparking joy" from the general internet and have found it hugely helpful in letting go of things in life, so I've been meaning to pick up The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up for a while, and was finally spurred into it when I picked up a copy at goodwill. I found some actionable advice in Kondo's method, but sooo much of the book felt like a sales pitch on how following this method could fix everything wrong in your life (and I mean *everything*). It left a very bad taste in my mouth - I think a workbook or checklist could be useful, but wouldn't recommend the book itself.

Salt Magic Skin Magic is a historical fantasy with magic, adventure, and a gay romance, which is so entirely in my wheelhouse. It hit all the same points I tend to find/enjoy in KJ Charles' work, and I had such a good time reading this - no surprise, apparently she helped edit this! Thanks to the HOTE discord group for reccing this one, I'll definitely be checking out some of the author's other work!

If you didn't know, Who Goes There? is the short story that the movie The Thing was based on - which I have not seen, but I went on a brief dive into antarctic exploration/horror in anticipation of this month's book club (All the White Spaces, which I actually read for last month but that meeting got delayed) and this popped up pretty quickly. It was available from the library and short, so why not?! The beginning felt a little rough, but I would have loved to see the tension of the main plot drawn out even longer. Liked this a lot better than the actual book club book, but I don't know that I'll watch any of the adaptations.

The Bell in the Fog - Lavender House sequel! I was so glad when this was announced; I love queer books, historical books, a mystery with a lead who actually does some detecting, and a character trying to find themselves and their community? Absolute catnip for me. It also doesn't pull its punches about the violence and injustices faced by the queer community, so it's definitely a bit darker than my usual tastes and will have to try hard to make it onto my favorites list. But if the author continues to write these I will absolutely pick them up.

The Art of Destiny - bless the library for not dragging their heels on the audiobook for this sequel, but lucky me, they did finally add the first book in time for me to get them both in the same year. Unlucky me, this does not appear to be the end of this series D: third book when??? Anyway, I won't deny that these books move a little slowly, but when they move, they move. If you want a big fantasy that's diverse, funny, cartoonish but epically violent, has a cast of all ages, and centers it's story on non-romantic relationships - this is so good, come join me in wailing for a book 3 announcement.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has lived in the back of my mind for a while as a favorite childhood book of a booklr friend who is sadly no longer on tumblr, but who I say hi to occasionally on other sites - anyways, I found a copy at goodwill and took it as a sign. This one's for you, Lourdes! If I'd found this as a kid, I probably would have reread it a lot, that's how I was too lol. For now, it was a fine read, but I don't think it'll have a lasting hold. Any fans interested in more middle grade about fine art might check out the Chasing Vermeer series by Blue Balliett.

The Ghosts of Trappist - I think it's impossible for me to not enjoy myself reading this series (NeoG), but this one was a bit of a backslide from the improvements in book 2. On one hand - a very ambitious plot, probably the least soap-operaish of the bunch, and I loved the emotional arcs (and the possible ART/murderbot reference?). On the other - over a dozen pov characters is too too many. my god. I think a tighter focus could have done a world of good, but if this is also where the series wraps up I'd be totally satisfied. I'll definitely check out the author's other series.

I admit, rereading The Scorpio Races sparked something in me and now I'm determined to set off on a full Maggie Stiefvater read/reread, starting with The Raven Boys. I really loved this when it first came out, but my interested petered out as the series progressed and I started college, and I haven't touched the spinoff yet. My impression from the first book is still that Maggie's writing is so goddam beautiful. Her sentences make me want to weep, but for me there's so much focus on the line that I'm constantly losing track of the big picture. I'm still enjoying myself, but I feel like I'm coasting a lot on nostalgia and aesthetic between moments of a story - though is it me, or does she write a lot in scenes/vignettes, rather than a constant flowing story? I've found some success in centering myself by imagining the scenes as depicted by a CW supernatural teen show of my high school years and it's quite lovely, actually - I can't believe the TV show plans got dropped and never picked up again. We'll have to see how the rest of the series goes.

Genuinely, I can't believe that I read Station Eternity earlier this year and that the sequel, Chaos Terminal, is out already. Despite liking the author's first book (Six Wakes) and normally liking the tropes they're playing with here, I did not like the first book. No idea why I read the second one then (hope?), but it was better, definitely! I still didn't like it. No idea if I'll finally call it quits on this series or get lured into another one if it gets written.

The Moonstone was an unexpected surprise! I made it to November still 2 books short on my 6 classics challenge and panicked when the first one ended up dnf'd - what if this one was bad too??? But I really should know better, give me a half decent mystery and entertaining characters, and I'll be fine. And it was epistolary! I had a good time groaning over all of the characters foibles and quirks, even if I spent the whole time just going, Hey Guys? you could avoid all of this if you just let the nice Indian men have their diamond back. Good fun if you like a mystery and have some patience.

My only DNF this month was the previously mentioned classic - from the moment I decided on a classics challenge, I knew I wanted to try something by Frances Burney given how much I liked her novel Evelina. Unfortunately for me, the only one the library had on audiobook was Camilla... and it was 37 hours long. I gave it a shot, but only made it about 3 hours in. I really do applaud Burney for her ability to create characters who are intentionally/unintentionally causing harm even if they sometimes have the best of intentions. It's absurd, truly, but I'm not in a place I can take that right now - especially since the victims were children, and it happened *repeatedly*. I think if I was to try this one again I'd need to take it slowly in small parts.

Am I horribly wrong about anything? Do you have any classics you'd recommend for next year?

11 notes · View notes

evenaturtleduck · 6 months

Text

I read The Bell in the Fog today (yes all in one afternoon--it's an extremely readable book <3) and there are a lot of longer and more detailed reviews out there that can speak to how it handles queer history in the 1950s, so all I'll say is that in addition to the painful exploration of how do you get justice when your whole existence is considered criminal, it's also about finding community and loving yourself and being loved by others.

I don't usually love noir detective type novels because the protagonist is usually so isolated from the community, but Andy Mill's arc reverses this--he starts the first book so desperately alone, then starts working as a PI and by the end of the second book he's found his people and his place in the community, and it's not perfect but on the whole he's glad he's there. It just feels very warm at the end, you know?

#the bell in the fog #lev ac rosen #favorite books #lavender house

9 notes · View notes

torpublishinggroup · 7 months

Text

Release Roundup - 10.10.23

another tuesday means more new books!

👇title info below👇

Nightfire

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

Forge

The Bell in the Fog by Lev A. C. Rosen

#new book tuesday #brainwyrms #alison rumfitt #the bell in the fog #lev ac rosen #tw body horror #cw worms

7 notes · View notes

pridepages · 5 months

Text

Gene: You could have gone to prison. Even a night in lockup, and you'd be dead. We both know it. You should have let them hit me. Andy: I...didn't know how.

#the bell in the fog #evander mills #lev ac rosen #lgbt reads #queer lit #mlm #gay

6 notes · View notes

drackiszunk · 7 months

Text

I’m behind on updating but this is #70 of 2023. A great sequel to one of my favorite books of the year.

Not only just a murder mystery, but also a glimpse of what it’s like being queer in the 50s.

Highly recommend this and Lavender House.

#Zack reads #the bell in the fog #lev ac rosen

4 notes · View notes

geeklyinc · 7 months

Text

Off the Books: Lev AC Rosen

Lev AC Rosen joins us to talk about his new book (which you should absolutely preorder right now, go do it!) coming out on October 10th: The Bell in the Fog. This is a sequel to last year’s Lavender House which you’ll recall was one of our top books of the year and happy to …

#books #Interview #Lavender House #Lev AC Rosen #Noir #queer history #the bell in the fog

4 notes · View notes

ash-and-books · 7 months

Text

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb: The Bell in the Fog, a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks—once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them?

San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective—but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.

When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.

The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.

Review:

A new case for the queer private investigator, except his client is his ex and he'll be facing a whole slew of messy history, dangers, and feelings, especially since he's falling for the cute bartender too. Its 1952 in San Francisco and ex-cop turned private investigator Evander "Andy" Mills is on the case. Ever since opening up his own investigation office, he's still trying to fit in, no one trust him because he's an ex cop despite him being gay, but he's trying. When an old flame shows up, his ex from the navy, wanting to hire Andy to help him get back some illicit photos that could destroy his career, Andy is on the case. Yet this case has a lot of it's own troubles and dangers as Andy gets pulled in further and further into his old history with his ex and the fact that someone is killing for the blackmail photos that happen to be more than just his ex's. Can Andy crack the case before it's too late and finally protect the home and people he's begun to think of as his own family, and maybe also finally ask out the cute bartender Gene that he's been crushing on, that is, if he can work out his complicated feelings for his ex. This was such a fun historical murder mystery, it's a great continuation of the first book, and I absolutely can't wait to see if there is going to be a third book (I would love for this to be a continuing series), it would be so cool to see all the characters again and see them grow, especially getting to see Andy grow more into himself and his journey as a P.I!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Forge Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #lgbtq books #the bell in the fog

2 notes · View notes

annafromuni · 2 months

Text

The Bell in the Fog is Like a Fine Wine

I loved Lavender House and I love Bell in the Fog even more. Lev AC Rosen is a brilliant writer and has captured the world of 1950s America from a queer lens with such vivid detail and truth. While this one is shorter, it is no less gripping and I need to gush about it before my head explodes. Andy as a character is so complex and his internal conflicts with himself and his past, a past…

View On WordPress

#book review #Historical Fiction #historical fiction book recommendation #historical fiction mystery #historical fiction reads #lavender house #lev ac rosen #lgbt books #lgbt characters #queer fiction #queer historical fiction #queer representation #the bell in the fog

1 note · View note

whimsicaldragonette · 7 months

Text

ARC Review: The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

Order Add to Goodreads Publication Date: October 10, 2023

Synopsis:

The Bell in the Fog , a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks―once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them? San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective―but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help. When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up. The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.

My Rating: ★★★★★

*My Review below the cut

My Review:

I was so impressed with Lavender House that I wasn't sure this second book could really stand up to it, especially given the way the story played out. To my surprise, it did.

Andy Mills is a compelling protagonist who has had a hard life and you just want him to succeed and have some good things and learn to enjoy himself and believe he's worth those good things. The other characters are vibrant and complicated and the way they push and pull Andy makes the overarching mystery more intriguing.

This is very much a novel about the way the past can drag at you, holding you back and trying to pull you under. And the way it would be so, so easy to let it. To let yourself be submerged into the memories and the glow of nostalgia and let your future fade away.

Andy is haunted by his memories and his past in this novel. It clouds his judgement and complicates his case, and he really struggles to break free of them.

The mystery twists and loops and as Andy investigates one suspect and then another you really wonder who could be behind it all. It's very well-crafted and satisfying.

I really love that this is very much a story about queer characters in a time where being queer is basically illegal and can easily get you beaten up or killed and no one would bat an eye. There is a danger that darkens all the shadows, but at the same time that just makes the light of their joy shine brighter in defiance.

The setting and the characters and the queerness of it all is captivating and as a queer reader is both painful and beautiful. I've never read anything quite like it before.

I was sucked in by the story as it unfolded and couldn't tear myself away. I will definitely be reading future novels about Andy and his friends.

*Thanks to Bookishfirst and Macmillan Tor/Forge for providing an early copy for review.

#the bell in the fog #lavender house #andy mills #lev a c rosen #queer books #queer historical #lgbt+#mystery #historical mystery #noir #shilo reads #netgalley #arc review

1 note · View note

aychama · 4 months

Text

Meditating.

#cotl #cult of the lamb #cotl lamb #cult of the lamb lamb #🐑#baah #we say meeeh here #aychama #I heckin love drawing the bell #🔔#idk how to draw fog #👍#maybe I shouldn’t have done the lineart #I think the lineart is making it look flat #time for another style change for my next one then!#*cries*

257 notes · View notes

silentwhispersintheforest · 9 days

Text

Tree And Bluebells by Anthony White

#nature #forest #trees #flowers #blue bells #fog #landscape

90 notes · View notes

thenerdyalchemist · 2 years

Text

Dorians last song 🎶 also my first time drawing all of bells hells so that was fun

#critical role #critical role art #bells hells #dorian storm #orym of the air ashari #laudna #cr imogen #fresh cut grass #fog #cr ashton #mine #my art #cr cyrus #cr campaign 3

1K notes · View notes

somewhatsentientspellbook · 7 months

Text

very... steamy... if i do say so myself

#for the record i chose this meme format for the height difference and fog effect #my new no. 1 ship #critical role #critical role spoilers #critical role memes #cr memes #cr shitpost #cr3 #bells hells

37 notes · View notes

pridepages · 5 months

Text

Doing Time: The Bell in the Fog

I just finished The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen. I have thoughts...

Here there be spoilers!

Evander Mills is doing time.

Not in jail, but in a more insidious prison yet...

In memory.

When we left him at the end of Lavender House, gay ex-cop and newly-minted private eye Evander "Andy" Mills was ready to meet his new life. He'd been betraying his community for years, finding ways to justify the double standard in his head. "On the police force, it seemed easier--catch bad guys, put them away. But of course, it wasn't actually easier, it just felt that way because of the rules they lived by. Rules I violated every time I went to the club or bar and met a man in a bathroom stall. Rules that turned on me when they found me. And rules I followed, and never protected other gay people from." Now, he has newly awakened senses of shame and purpose. He wants to atone.

They say if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. But it begs the question...

How long?

In Bell, Andy's second case is one that's deeply tied to his past. It forces him to tread and retread all the wrongs he's done to himself and his community. Trapped in the pain of reliving the past, Andy keeps stalling, unable to move forward.

This is the problem with the idea of atonement. It keeps us stuck in the past, endlessly picking at the scabs of our shame until they bleed. At a certain point, we have to decide we've finally done enough...

And let it go.

Andy's new love, Gene, has his own painful past. "But now I can look at it like it's...through glass, y'know. I can remember the good stuff, and smile, and the bad stuff comes with it, but it's all under glass, a diorama. It can't do anything to me now. I pick what happens next."

All of us have done wrong in our lives. Many (most?) of us have yearned to make it right.

We can't.

It's like...well, a bell. You can't unring it.

We can't take back that moment of pain to someone else.

Stepping up to protect his people now doesn't fix the times that Andy looked the other way when raids happened. Doesn't make up for the people he watched get beaten while he stood silently by.

The value of mending our ways isn't in the past...

It's in the future.

"I built myself," says Gene. "I decided who I wanted to be in my new life. I still have to do that, but...I think I'm doing alright."

We can't make up for the evil we've done.

But once we know it, we can make a different choice.

Set ourselves free of the prison of the past. Decide what we will do in the future--

And who we will be.

#the bell in the fog #evander mills #lev ac rosen #mlm #gay #lgbtqia #lgbt reads #queer lit

2 notes · View notes