The Sweetness At The Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. 

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.” 

This book is a gift to everyone for a perfect November read. The weather is actually turning colder, we’ve just gotten into peak foliage around here, and everywhere has pumpkin spice drinks. So I offer you a mystery novel. But more than that, it’s a cozy mystery. But most importantly of all, the writing is a delight. 

It may be strange to call a murder mystery “comforting”, but that’s how I’d describe this novel. The sense of danger isn’t overwhelming, so it’s not a thriller. The focus is mostly on an investigation, so it does feel fun for lack of a better word. And the author’s style just sweeps you along. He does an amazing job giving the main character, 11-year-old Flavia Sabina de Luce (what a name!), a very specific voice through narration. You get a sense of her precociousness just in the way she describes things and how she approaches the world. 

I won’t go into detail about the plot; it’s a mystery and that seems counter-productive to recommending it. But I will tell you that this is a perfect cozy mystery to settle into a comfy chair by the window and enjoy with a hot drink. 

Review by Adam

Nothing by Janne Teller

When Pierre-Anthon realizes there is no meaning to life, the seventh-grader leaves his classroom, climbs a tree, and stays there. His classmates cannot make him come down, not even by pelting him with rocks. So to prove to Pierre-Anthon that life has meaning, the children decide to give up things of importance. The pile starts with the superficial—a fishing rod, a new pair of shoes. But as the sacrifices become more extreme, the students grow increasingly desperate to get Pierre-Anthon down, to justify their belief in meaning. 

Nothing by Janne Teller is a book about existential nihilism. What gives life meaning? What gives objects meaning? Does nothing really matter, or do we create meaning for ourselves? What happens when we cast away that meaning? The children in the novel must learn harsh lessons, and in the process become the adults they never wanted to be. Rather than focus on total realism, Nothing focuses on the philosophical debate at the core of the novel.  

For a YA novel Nothing doesn’t hold back; it’s a very mature book that contains some possibly disturbing scenes for some. Fearlessly written, every time I turned the page I thought “is the author really going to go there?” And every time she did. Nothing is a great book about meaningless, and what people do when they are confronted with the idea that there may be no meaning. You will either love or hate this book but I believe it’s worth a read regardless.  

Trigger/Content Warnings: references to rape and sexual assault, animal cruelty, violence, and death.