The Raconteur's Commonplace Book: A Greenglass House Story

Greenglass House #5

by Kate Milford

In this standalone mystery set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Greenglass House by an Edgar Award-winning author, a group of strangers trapped in an otherworldly inn slowly reveal their secrets, proving that nothing is what it seems and there's always more than one side to the story.

The rain hasn't stopped for a week, and the twelve guests of the Blue Vein Tavern are trapped by flooded roads and the rising Skidwrack River. Among them are a ship's captain, tattooed twins, a musician, and a young girl traveling on her own. To pass the time, they begin to tell stories--each a different type of folklore--that eventually reveal more about their own secrets than they intended.

As the rain continues to pour down--an uncanny, unnatural amount of rain--the guests begin to realize that the entire city is in danger, and not just from the flood. But they have only their stories, and one another, to save them. Will it be enough?

Will dazzle seasoned Milford fans and kindle new ones. (Publishers Weekly starred review)

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Young Adult, Adventure

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2021

About the author

Kate is the author of THE THIEF KNOT, GREENGLASS HOUSE, GHOSTS OF GREENGLASS HOUSE, BLUECROWNE, THE LEFT-HANDED FATE, THE BONESHAKER, THE BROKEN LANDS, THE KAIROS MECHANISM, and the forthcoming THE RACONTEUR'S COMMONPLACE BOOK (February 2021).

Originally from Annapolis, MD, Kate now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Nathan and son Griffin and their dogs, Ed and Sprocket. She has written for stage and screen and is a frequent travel columnist for the Nagspeake Board of Tourism and Culture (www.nagspeake.com).

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third law of library science, as stated by S.R. Ranganathan, says unequivocally, “Every book its reader”. Not “all books for all readers” but rather the idea that for each reader out there, there is a book. There are books on my library’s shelves that are built to suit the widest swath of readers imaginable. There are also books that would appeal only to the tiniest slice of the greater population. Yet in both cases, we purchase and provide the materials. In my own experience, I find that my favorite writers acquire a passionate and distinct cult following over time. As each of their strange, wonderful books get released, so grows their readership. Kate Milford slots neatly into this particular category, thanks in large part to a singular commitment to her fantastical world. With every additional novel she sprinkles her pages with callbacks, references, hints, clues, and more. The overall feeling is that you’ve been given a glimpse at a great and glorious puzzle box, and it’s yours to try to solve. Yet her latest book The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book is notable in large part because while it is “A Greenglass House Story” you can come to it cold with no repercussions. It’s a novel, and a short story collection. It’s a story, and a mystery, and a puzzle. There are clues scattered throughout the text, but will you be fast enough to identify the villain of the piece? Will you even want to, preferring instead to just go along for the ride? It’s as if all of Ms. Milford’s skills have at last come together to produce her magnum opus. I’ll tell you true – there’s not a soul alive I’ve handed this book to that didn’t get sucked into it. Every book has its reader. It just happens that this book’s reader is you.

The rain isn’t stopping. Not anytime soon anyway, and the denizens of the Blue Vein Tavern are getting restless. For days they’ve been trapped together, but very little has been said. All that changes on the night that someone makes a proposal: Why doesn’t each guest tell a story to amuse the others? Each night one or two stories are told, but it’s not all fun and games. Some of these guests have things to hide. Some have secrets. And most don’t realize that in a lot of these stories there are clues to be found. Will these tales be enough to save everyone if the waters don't stop rising? And who’s behind it all? If the Canterbury Tales were filled to the brim with magic and mystery, you couldn’t find a better collection than what Milford has produced here.

When I was a kid, I found a copy of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express at my school’s sixth grade Scholastic Book Fair. Immediately I was enthralled by the premise. A group of seeming strangers boards a train. They’re unable to leave, and, somehow, a murder is committed. But how? It was delightful to watch detective Hercule Poirot untangle the lies and secrets that the guests of the train would use to cover for one another. I got a bit of a sense of that in this story as well. But instead of trying to find a murderer, you’re instead trying to figure out what each person’s story truly is. You don’t even know that that’s what you’re looking to do when you begin, though. Like me, you probably just think you’ll be enjoying some short stories. You do, but then things start to add up in strange, unnerving ways. And that’s when the fun kicks in.

Long ago, folktales were particularly prized by children’s librarians. We had an almost undue sway over the publishing industry in this regard, so year after year more and more folktales were added to our 398.2 sections. It couldn’t last, of course. These days you’re lucky if you can find five genuine folktales produced in a single year. Now imagine if you were able to find fifteen completely original stories. Imagine still that those fifteen were all housed in a single book. It all makes me wonder what skills a person needs to accomplish such an act. Does Ms. Milford think about structure when she writes her stories? The tales mimic different forms, after all. One is a riddle-based tale. One, a story about outwitting the devil. There’s a story about ghosts and a story about a sentient house and at least two fairytales besides. Some are incredibly long and some no more than a couple pages, but almost every one serves a purpose when it comes to the overarching storyline (the sole exception to this being the Captain’s tale “The Storm Bottle” which appears more of hat tip to Milford’s most faithful fans than anything else). You begin to wonder how Milford could have begun to put this whole thing together. Did the stories come first or the characters in the inn? Did she write down the stories and then weave a single character between a whole bunch of them? And how is she capable of inserting such gorgeous language on a continual basis in each tale?

My daughter is nine and has just started to read middle grade novels on her own. Having loved The Westing Game, I thought this book might be a natural fit as well. Clearly I’ve an affection for books with large casts and secrets, and happily my kid feels the same way. She’s a sensitive reader, though, and one night I heard a wail erupt from her room. I went tearing upstairs, convinced she’d seen an apparition or had a bad dream, only to find her with book and flashlight in hand, having reached the end of Chapter Sixteen. With tears in her eyes she begged to know if a certain character would turn out okay. Would be saved. The book makes no guarantees, but I could at least say that someone was trying to save her. Maybe they’d succeed. Maybe they’d fail. We never know, but I like the idea that they succeed. She required a lot of comforting, asking repeatedly if she’d be okay. I’ve never seen her have an emotional reaction to a book she was reading on her own quite like this before. Did I tell her the truth? Sorta. But it is significant what a potent reaction this book can have on a young reader. Reactions you might not expect or look for.

It’s a good book that you finish, think about, and then flip back to the beginning to read again. And Milford rewards these rereads. The entire book is sprinkled with clues and little hints of what is to come. Now I was a big fan of the original Greenglass House. In that book, one of the characters (Milo) is reading this book to himself continually. In the back of this book, Milford writes a truly impressive faux “Note About the Clarion Books Edition” of The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book. She produces an impressive pedigree for the book, explaining that the story collector Phineas Amalgam probably got one story or another from a variety of different sources. My favorite part of her note is when she mentions that in her research, Milford found “a manuscript version of Raconteur’s dated 1932,” where the stories were in a slightly different order. “I’ve restored the 1932 order for this version.” Nice touch.

My favorite story in the book is “The Devil and the Scavenger.” It’s a story where a girl, who may not be all that she seems, gets something from that devil that makes you more afraid of her than him by the story’s end. My daughter’s favorite story is “The Coldway” because there is romance in it. But the best story in the book might be the last one, “The Crossroads”. Because it is in that story that Ms. Milford puts every character and every lesson and every beat. It’s the story to round up all the other ones, and it is imperative that the author stick the landing. Milford, I think you know by now, does stick it. Sticks it hard and when my daughter finished the book, she was no longer worried for one character or another. The ending is deeply satisfying, even if it’s not entirely happy for all the characters. Still, you’d be hard pressed to think of another way it could finish. All I know is that when you read that last sentence, your fingers are already turning the book back to the front so that you can read it all over again and figure out its secrets once and for all. This is the book for the clever children out there. The mystery lovers. The fantasy freaks. The ones that like puzzles and the ones that don't know what they like, they just need it to be smart. It’s smart. Smart enough for them and smart enough for you. Best that you discover it for yourself and see just what I mean.

For ages 9 and up.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Kate Milford's marvelous Greenglass House , a fantastical mystery set in an atmospheric inn overlooking the fictional city of Nagspeake, the young hero, Milo Pine, is given a collection of stories known as The Raconteur's Commonplace Book. These tales are said in the story to draw upon the folklore of Nagspeake, a shipping and smuggling city-state somewhere along the Middle Atlantic coast, independent from the United States, and with a magical history of its own. Now author Kate Milford has created that book within a book, presenting us with a collection of enchanting stories, many featuring characters we have encountered in her other work, and all woven together to creative a narrative about the fifteen storytellers themselves...

Opening at the Blue Vein Tavern, on the banks of the changeable Skidwrack River, the story follows the inn-keeping couple, Mr. and Mrs. Haypotten, their maid Sorcha, and the twelve guests who have come to stay as they all find themselves trapped by the rising river waters. The suggestion is made that each of the fifteen should share a story, in order to pass the time, and each tale told reveals something about the larger world of Nagspeake, and about the teller. As Maisie Cerrajeru notes, toward the beginning of the book, "it was just as impossible to keep secrets when you told a tale as when you danced." Sometimes spooky, sometimes sad, and always magical, the tales frequently concern mythological creatures said to inhabit the area. From the river serpent caldnicker, in Sullivan's The Cold Way, to the ravenous golevants in Mrs. Haypotten's The Queen of Fog, not to mention the seductive but coldhearted seiche - water people who trick humans into taking their place in the river, thereby condemning them to death - one gets a sense of Nagspeake, and the larger Skidwrack area as a place of enchantment, where anything is possible. Many of the stories concern characters or phenomena we have met before, in previous books set in this world. From the sentient old (or wild) iron, which featured prominently in The Thief Knot , to the dastardly catalogue company Deacon and Morvengarde, mentioned in all of the Greenglass House books, there are many references here for fans of the series. Readers will recognize Lucy and Liao of Bluecrowne in Captain Frost's The Storm Bottle, while the name of Negret Colphon, one of the hotel guests, will be recognizable as the alter-ego that Milo adopted, during the events of Greenglass House .

The most frequent reference throughout however, is to Roamer and Deacon and Morvengarde employee, Foulk Trigemine, one of the villains of Bluecrowne . Ruthless in his pursuit of what he wants, and clever in his manipulation of others, this character appears in Phineas Amalgam's The Game of Maps, in Reever Colophon's The Whalebone Spring, Madame Grisaille's The Rover in the Nettles, Gregory Sangwin's The Hollow-Ware Man, Sorcha's The Reckoning, Anthony Masseter's The Gardener of Meteorites, and Petra's The Summons of the Bone. As quickly becomes apparent, the further one reads, this figures looms large over the story, and when it revealed that he is none other than Anthony Masseter, and that Petra has brought everyone together in these storytelling sessions to confront him, the book moves on to its conclusion, in which a trio of guests leave to challenge the floodwaters threatening all of Nagspeake...

The Raconteur's Commonplace Book is a book that I have been eagerly anticipating for many years, from the moment I first learned, from Kate Milford herself, that it was in the offing. I found it immensely engrossing - fascinating, moving, completely enchanting! In form it is in the style of such towering classics as Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales , or Boccaccio's The Decameron - works that also feature a group of characters thrown together by circumstance, who share stories with one another. I found many of the stories told by the guests at the Blue Vein Tavern to be appealing in their own right. I was thrilled by the spooky, sentient house, in Phineas Amalgam's The Game of Maps, amused by the back-and-forth storytelling of Mrs. Haypotten's The Queen of Fog, and happy for the triumph of love, in Sullivan's The Cold Way. I enjoyed all of the glimpses of the world of Nagspeake, at various times in its history, and was fascinated by the idea of the Roaming World - the entire magical system against which Nagspeake, and the events of Kate Milford's books, play out. I appreciated the sense of atmosphere throughout, and the strong sense of place, which is treated as something important in its own right. This latter is best encapsulated by Amalgam's observation, during the course of his story, that "surely places, if they survive for long, develop their own logic. Their own personalities. Their own sense of strategy." I have often felt this to be true myself, and it is certainly the case in Nagspeake, where the city has its own sentient representative, in the form of the wild iron, which manifests itself in many ways, including as Madame Grissaile.

As should be obvious, there are many things I loved about The Raconteur's Commonplace Book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Unfortunately, it wasn't a five-star books for me, because while I found the storytelling and world-building excellent, and loved the characters and the settings, the ending felt a little weak. Everything had been building to the confrontation between Petra and Foulk Trigemine, but once it occured, and Petra told her story, the narrative rushed on toward the conclusion rather quickly, leaving some questions unanswered. Although Jessamy Butcher does tell a story, it is more a description of what is happening at that moment, with the three who have gone off to confront the river. Unlike the other storytellers, one never really gets a sense of who she is, or how she fits into the larger picture. Similarly, although it was fascinating (and unexpectedly moving) to get some of Foulk Trigemine's history, I felt his story was simply left hanging. More generally, I found it unsatisfying, that the conclusion of the sub-plot (or plot?) involving the flooding river takes place entirely off screen. I think the main problem here is that Milford, who clearly wanted to do more than just pen a collection of Nagspeake folktales, didn't give enough attention to the second part of her book. The tale telling took up so much time, that the larger framing story, when it finally took center stage, felt undeveloped.

Despite this critique, I enjoyed this enough that I will be tracking down my own copy (I read it from the library), and I highly recommend it, to all fans of the Greenglass House books, or the larger Roaming World that Milford has created.

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just when I think Kate Milford can’t get any better, she blows me away w/every new book of hers I read. This was utterly FANTASTIC. She has such a talent for telling a story, weaving together the amazing world & all her characters. I love how all of her books are connected in some way, & you find little hints, clues, & familiarity in all of them that link them. It was so nice to see all of that again in this-familiar tidbits & characters from other books that I miss & think of often..Her writing is like a gigantic puzzle & each book is many of the pieces to that puzzle. TALENT. This book is another puzzle within that puzzle. This book is based off the book Milo reads in Greenglass House. There are hints & clues throughout this book where you try to piece together each persons story or secret to get to the bigger picture. As usual, each character is so different & identifiable to the next. You feel as if you know each & every 1 of the characters she writes. Nagspeake has become a character in itself. With all its living parts, including the moving iron. She has made me feel so connected to this world she has created, that I so wish I could go there & see all the wonders of it, & meet these amazing characters. Everything is so vivid & atmospheric, w/some of the most beautiful writing. The fact that she has taken so many original stories & put them in a book, & written story around it-amazing..even more so when you consider the different types of stories-what they’re about, the form, the length. Then also, how she somehow makes all of those individual stories have a structural purpose to the overall main story. Not only does she somehow link each one to the current story, like they are each individual puzzle pieces to build the main story, but she also at the same time manages to link some of them to OTHER things from her other books. She’s a genius. All there is to it. Lol I can’t wait to reread all of her books in the order she recommends, & find all the other pieces to the puzzle I may have missed along the way. Love this stunning cover done by Jaime Zollars, & the inside beautiful illustrations done by Nicole Wong. Highly recommend all her books. Along w/the author of my favorite series of all time, she is my other favorite author of all time now.💜

[Faith Elizabeth Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine me, about five or six years ago, up waaayyy past my bedtime to finish Greenglass House by Kate Milford. I shut the book and turn off my light, basking in that -just-finished-an-amazing-book feeling–you know the one. But I can’t fall asleep. So as soon as my baby wakes up to nurse, I take the excuse to grab my laptop and do a little research.

I’m a full grown, college-educated adult, and I had to google “Is Nagspeake a real place?” because I have rarely encountered a fictional world so believable and compelling. I mean, I wanted Narnia to be real. I daydreamed about slipping into Middle Earth. But I knew they were made up. With Kate Milford’s Nagspeake…I just had to check to be sure. And, reader, in case your own googling brought you here for some reason–no, Nagspeake is all made up. But seeing as you might not be able to travel in the real world for a while yet, you should definitely travel to Nagspeake via your local library or bookstore as soon as possible.

The thing that brings Nagspeake to life is the layers of world-building that Kate Milford brings to the story. She reminds me a bit of Tolkien in this way, actually–because not only does her town have a physical presence and history and evolving character, it has story and legend and music and song. In Greenglass House, the main character Milo reads a series of stories gathered in “The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book,” stories which are integral to the plot of Milford’s book. Like Tolkien with The Silmarillion, Milford decided to bring those stories to life by actually writing the thing. And it’s SO GOOD.

Instead of “merely” being a collection of stories, The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book is a series of puzzles within puzzles, all framed by stories and characterizations (oh, and gorgeous illustrations) that bring it all as vividly to life as her other works. I was surprised when I realized, “Wait, this is a novel as well as a bunch of stories!” and at that point I couldn’t stop turning pages.

I really don’t feel that I can say much more without major spoilers. I will give the warning that this is probably excellent on its own but would be highly enhanced by having a knowledge of Nagspeake from Milford’s other books, at least Greenglass House and Ghosts of Greenglass House.

Luckily, those books are good enough to keep you up way past your bedtime, so if you haven’t read them…. You know, do yourself a favor.

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic floodcammeron (in the spirit of The Canterbury Tales and the Decameron) for Milford’s Nagspeake, and an elegant piece of the puzzle that connects so many of her books, The Racconteur’s Commonplace Book is also a delight on its own, filled with heart... and secrets. I loved it.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book since I quite enjoyed Greenglass House. Sadly, I thought this book to be mostly boring with a good dash of WTF. Many of the tales seemed unfinished, and I figured all would be revealed at the end. While many things were, I was just left with too many questions. Furthermore, there were too many characters and none of them were really "likeable." I wanted to stop reading so many times, but I hate not finishing a book, always thinking something spectacular will happen at the end, but it didn't. I gave this book 2 stars, but I think I might be leaning on the generous side.

[Buchdoktor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Greenglass-Universum
"Fireside Mysteries" / OT: "The Raconteur's Commonplace Book: A Greenglass House Story" entstand laut Aussage von Kate Milford im Nachwort angeregt durch Dickens “The Holly-Tree Inn” und ist das Buch, das Milo Pine in "Greenglass House" liest. Kate Milford empfiehlt, "Boneshaker" und "Broken Land" (deutsche Titel entsprechen den englischen) zu lesen, falls sie mit diesem Buch Lust auf die Welt von Greenglass House machen konnte. Obwohl ich "Greenglass House" kenne, hatte ich Probleme, mich in die Ereignisse in der Taverne „Zum Blauen Adler“ hineinzudenken, weil ich das Buch zunächst für den 5. Band der Serie gehalten habe. Inzwischen finde ich, dass das in einem anderen Buch als Artefakt auftretende Buch kein Serienband ist, sondern Bonusmaterial zur Serie.
Der englische Klappentext bezeichnet das Buch als Stand Alone.

Inhalt
Die Gäste der Taverne „Zum Blauen Adler“ sind durch das Hochwasser des Flusses Skidwrack seit Tagen miteinander eingeschlossen. Mit einem Kapitän als Gast, der sich für einen Experten in Wetter- und Hochwasserfragen hält, kommt es zu interessanten Gesprächen. Dass sich auf der anderen Seite des Flusses eine fantastische Welt befinden könnte, wird nicht ausgeschlossen. Im folgenden Geschichtenerzähler-Wettbewerb, in dem es u. a. darum geht, festzulegen, ob Hausierer als gute oder schlechte Menschen anzusehen sind, knüpfen die Anwesenden eine Kette aus 15 Geschichten. Als erwachsener Leser kann man – von hauptsächllich erwachsenen Figuren – viel über das Geschichtenerzählen lernen und wie Erzähler eine Bindung zu ihrem Publikum schaffen. Die Gäste des „Adler“ erzählen von Portalen in fantastische Welten, Häusern, die wie Lebewesen agieren, Piraten, steampunkartigen Artefakten – und offenbar hat jede Geschichte ihre Moral.

Milfords Welt der Schiffskapitäne, Tavernen, Fabelwesen, Wetterkapriolen und fantastischen Artefakte ergibt als „Buch im Buch“ m. A. nur Sinn, wenn man "Greenglasshouse" und weitere Bände schon bereitliegen hat.
Wegen der hauptsächlich erwachsenen Figuren weiche ich mit der Einstufung "ab 14" bewusst von der Verlagsempfehlung ab. Greenglass House ist allerdings ein lupenreines Kinderbuch.

[Gerbera_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

A seemingly innocuous tale about 12 people stuck at an inn while the storm rages outside. A group of people who are strangers or are they? This was a well written mystery with a touch of suspense and a host of diverse characters. Through their stories told as evening entertainment to pass the time while the river rages outside we get to know each character and get the feeling that we are being led somewhere. Subtle clues and small pieces make a convincing picture that all the inhabitants of the inn are not what they seem.

The end twist blew my mind and I looked at the book that I have read with new understanding. I enjoyed excellent story telling, steady pace, a touch of paranormal and mystical. Every story carried a message and had something to teach but also artfully connected all the dots for me to fully appreciate all the connections I create in my life whether in passing or long term to things and people, that life is unexpected and full of possibilities as well as the fact that some things are never a coincidence. Thoroughly fascinating book.

Note: this book is labeled as spine-chilling horror on Amazon, and this was the initial reason I got it. My 10 year old daughter likes to be horrified with spooky stories. That didn't happen here and she lost interest since it's more of a puzzle mystery and it's not her thing. But it was totally mine.

[mars_like_the_planet]

update: FEBRUARY 23, 2021?!? Kate, you’re killing me.

oh my god look at that cover. just look at it. it’s beauteous.

[Annika Ringnalda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 This story was GENIUS! Enough so to make me think I might just like it more than Greenglass House… It is definitely, at least in my mind, more mature. Seriously. Is this, for real, a middle grade? It certainly doesn’t feel like a children’s book to me. All of the short stories were captivating and the writing was beautiful. I don’t want to share spoilers so I won’t say too much… but the ending did blow my mind. Like I said, the only word for it is genius. I HIGHLY recommend!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book is a fantastic collection of stories that all work together to solve a larger, overarching mystery. It was immersive and complex and highly satisfying by the end.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a rainy, rainy, rainy time at the Blue Vein Tavern and the twelve people living (or stranded, because of all the rain) start telling stories that make up some of the mythology and tales mentioned in the rest of the Greenglass series. You can read this without having read the other books, but reading this after can help make some of what you've read earlier easier to understand (I'm not phrasing this well... it's like reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first and then discovering how the lampost came into being). And, like many anthologies, some of the stories are better than others, but overall this may be one anthology readers will read all the way through because of their affection for the series and because they want to hear what happens to the twelve strandees.

eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.

[Ivonne Rovira]

I absolutely adored Greenglass House and its sequel, Ghosts of Greenglass House. The stories of The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book play a big part in both of these middle-great wonders. So Edgar Award winner Kate Milford’s stand-alone recreation of the much-vaunted book could not help but be a huge hit, right? Right?

Alas, no. I simply could not get into these fractured fairytales set in the world of the early days of the 200-year-old Greenglass House; I could not finish it. I want to think it’s me, not Milford of this book. I hope your mileage varies, as Greenglass House is such a treasure. That’s why there is not rating.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group and Clarion Books in exchange for a much-too-honest review.

[Eileen Winfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A group of strangers, old and young, tell each other stories while trapped in an inn by rising floodwaters. Each character is mysterious and they tell mysterious tales, but unless you’re a superfan of Dickensian type characters I’d skip it. Dense. Complicated. Dreary.

[mars_like_the_planet · Rating 5 out of 5]

KATE I NEED THIS BOOK

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sometimes the better the story, the greater the restlessness that comes when it ends and the listener has to go on, imagining the story continuing somewhere, but untold and out of sight."

Milford is a fabulous teller of stories. You could quibble about some of the technical details of her writing, and there's something wonky about her characters that makes it really hard for me to keep straight which names belong to which people, but her worldbuilding is amazing and the tales she spins are delightful.

I love how intertwined all of her books are. There are a few straightforward sequels, but most of the books are connected by gossamer threads of myth, legend, and storytelling. The 'aha!' moments of connection are incredibly satisfying and just flat-out fun.

The Raconteur's Commonplace Book is a fabulous addition to the world that Milford has created.

[Makayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. I listened to this so I wasn't able to see the accompanying illustrations but if I could draw every scene in this book before I die... I would consider my artistic career complete. Positively whimsical in every way (kinda ghibli). Also got me thinking a lot about rivers and "place" and the mythological value and crossing over a river and all the different ways that happens in history and stories and what affect a crossing has on a person. A very Chaucerian book-- extolling the value of a group of odd folks on the same journey telling stories to each other that happen to have overlapping themes. I will read this again.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 unless I reread it again and it makes more sense. I felt like there was a lot there and maybe I missed some of the connections but also, I built up in my head that there was going to be some shocking ending that drew everything together perfectly and I didn’t feel like that was quite accomplished. Maybe I will revisit in the future - I also read this really fast haha.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, a lot of pieces here! I loved the individual stories (the evil house was the perfect amount of spooky for me) and how everything tied together in the end. Now I have to figure out which book to read next.

[Gus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the idea of his book. All of the stories are nice, because then I don’t get bored with the same old plot. I also love how the stories tie into themselves. All in all, a pretty good book.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A large group of people, none of whom (as anyone who knows this author’s works will expect) are quite what they seem gather to tell stories in an inn as floodwaters rise. The cast was a bit too large to keep track of for me, and I would have preferred that they, not the stories, were the subjects of the illustrations...but as usual I found the tales, the frame story, and every little twist and detail just hopelessly brilliant.

[Rachel Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stayed up until 12:30 finishing this last night and got up this morning to reread the first chapter. I really just want to sit down and reread it all today but alas. Life. As usual in Kate’s books, this book introduces you to a giant mess of characters at the very beginning that are tricky to keep up with (I really should take notes in her first chapters. Maybe next time.) But she weaves them all together so artfully, and reminds you who they are regularly. I was afraid I wouldn’t like this book since I don’t like books of short stories - it feels like starting all over each story. But all of these have a thread that makes it not feel like a reboot each time, and the further into the stories you get, the more you get the feeling that they actually are all one big story, perhaps....
Anyway. It’s a masterpiece. Now how do I make myself do other things?

Update: I reread some segments of the book the next day after finishing. She is actually brilliant. You know how Disney puts little humorous asides in their movies that kids would never get, but adults do? Kate puts asides in her book that first time readers could never possibly get, but second timers would find it hilarious or insightful or fascinating. She builds her books SO THAT they get better with every read. Double the experience for your money!

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the main items setting things in motion in the original Greenglass House is the book Milo is reading, The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book. This is that book. The subtitle of it says that it is "A Greenglass House story." While it does take place in Nagspeake, it is actually a part of the Arcana stories, like Bluecrowne is. (There are several other books in that series as well, but I haven't read them.) I would recommend reading that series in order, as this one seems to unite all of the characters and wrap up the story lines. It does not contain any of the characters from The Greenglass House since it is a book read by those characters. Recommended for people looking to learn more about Nagspeake history and folklore, grades 4 & up.

ARC provided by publisher

[Leonard Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars, but I can't decide whether the end is great or unsatisfying or both. Listened to audiobook, but I will probably have to read this too. I haven't read all of Milford's books, and the endnote implies this book touches books I haven't read more than the ones I have. In light of that, I do think this book stands well on its own.

6/16/21 - on re-read of the physical book. I now think the ending does work, but I also think the last three tales are knottier than those before them. I am also struggling over whether to read the darker Milford books I haven’t read simply to understand this one better.

[Rena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down to 3. I have enjoyed this author’s other Greenglass House related books quite a bit, but this one was just too odd. From the characters all having weird names, to having too many of them to keep track of, to the stories that took a while to figure out were interconnected to the overall plot. Just a plodding story that really made no sense. I had no idea in what era this book was supposed to be taking place until I read the author’s notes at the end. Between the vocabulary and the complicated concepts addressed in the stories this did not seem like a children’s book.

[Angie]

Couldn’t get into this one; I think the writing style is just not my fave. Maybe worth trying again if I need something to read tho.

[Jordan Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Raconteur's Commonplace Book is the newest addition to the world of Greenglass House. Although this book is an anthology frequently referenced by Milo and others in the other books of the series, TRCB is also a story of its own, with fascinating characters who are all more than they appear.

The guests trapped at the Blue Vein Tavern have resorted to telling stories to pass the time until the rain stops. While each story appears on the surface to be nothing more than that, narratives and characters begin to connect in strange and extraordinary ways to reveal secrets and truths about the Tavern's occupants--and not everyone wants those secrets revealed. Milford has a knack for creating a larger-than-life yet realistic setting, and although readers have never been to the Blue Vein Tavern before, the larger world of Nagspeake is a familiar place, and fans of the series will recognize many of the locations and even other characters that come to life in the guests' stories.

That being said, it's not necessary to have read the other books in the Greenglass House series to enjoy TRCB. This tale works just fine as a standalone, but it does provide a lot of information and clarification for other books in the series as well as Milford's other books, which are all part her larger Roaming world. In fact, TRCB seems to connect to all of Milford's other books in one way or another, which has me wanting to go back and re-read everything to better understand the connections made by TRCB.

The Raconteur's Commonplace Book is an enjoyable and intricate read, and the characters' predicament of being trapped inside and having to find ways to pass the time is very relatable in the current day and age. Although TRCB is technically classified as a middle grave novel, older readers will enjoy putting together the twisted puzzle that is so characteristic of Milford's books. I highly recommend this to those who have previously enjoyed Milford's work or to anyone who is looking for a new, quick-to-read series that deftly defies easy classification.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Naraya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bereits seit einer Woche regnet es ununterbrochen und die zwölf Gäste der Taverne „Zur Blauen Ader“ sitzen - gemeinsam mit dem Besitzerehepaar Haypotten und deren Dienstmädchen Sorcha - in ihrer Unterkunft fest. Was wäre also besser geeignet, um sich die Zeit zu vertreiben, als reihum Geschichten miteinander zu teilen? Doch was die seltsamen Gäste erzählen, scheint nicht nur reine Fiktion zu sein, sondern auch viel über sie selbst und ihre eigene versteckte Agenda auszusagen.

„Fireside Mysteries“ ist ein Begleitbuch der Autorin Kate Milford zu der geteilten Welt ihrer Reihen „Greenglass House“ und „The Boneshaker“. Es besitzt eine klassische Rahmenhandlung (die im Hotel eingeschlossenen Gäste) und darin eingebettet zahlreiche fantasievolle, mal traurige, mal fröhliche, mal schaurige, mal romantische Geschichten: sei es ein Haus, das Eindringlinge nicht mehr hinauslässt, ein Rätsel stellender Fährmann, ein Diebstahl, der durch einen Jungen und seinen Gargoyle verhindert wird oder eine Liebe, die Grenzen überwindet. Sie alle entstammen der Folklore der fiktiven Stadt Nagspeake, bekannt für Schifffahrt und Schmugglerei.

Wer ein Fan der „Greenglass House“-Reihe ist, kennt das vorliegende Buch als dasjenige, welches Protagonist Milo im ersten Band liest. Den Namen des Diebes Negret leiht er sich für sein Pen & Paper-Spiel aus und auch die Firma Deacon und Morvengarde und ihren berühmten Katalog erkennen wir wieder. Immer wieder taucht in den Erzählungen auch ein- und derselbe Bösewicht auf und bald wird klar, dass dieser sich unerkannt unter die Gäste gemischt haben muss.

Die Geschichten an sich sind sehr anders und besonders, wirken aber zusammenhangslos, wenn man die Anspielungen an andere Werke, Figuren und Handlungselemente nicht versteht. Meiner Meinung nach ist das Buch daher nur für diejenigen ein Gewinn, die bereits einen Großteil der Romane von Kate Milford gelesen haben. Ansonsten bleibt es leider nur ein netter Zeitvertreib für zwischendurch – zumal sich der eigentliche Showdown jenseits der Taverne abspielt und nur vermittelt dargestellt wird, schade!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A temporary 3 stars for this one. A high 3 stars. I’m afraid I was pretty distracted while reading this one and I should have set it down till I was more in the mood for it. There is so much going on in this book, and such a huge cast of characters that I’ll need to read it again at some point to fully grasp all that was happening. There were several short stories that I really enjoyed, but I kept getting distracted by them and forgetting who the people in the inn were every time we came back to them, so it was hard for me to figure out what exactly was occurring to anyone at any given time. 😓

It had a cozy atmosphere, with the rain, and the gathering around to listen to stories, but more on the spooky side than Green Glass House did. Definitely would recommend this one to anyone who likes mysteries, folktales, or is interested in the world-building/lore for this series (the amount of backstory development is kind of astounding tbh)

[Jordan Henrichs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book begs to be re-read. And if you're a fan of Milford and her work, you're definitely reading this book multiple times.

My one complaint... When I picture Milo reading this book in The Greenglass House, I picture him reading a collection of short stories. Folk tales. Not a novel. When I first learned that she was publishing The Raconteur's Commonplace Book I expected it to feel more folklore-y. I expected the very same book Milo was reading. I feel like the author's note explains this a bit, but it seems to me like Milford was pressured to turn this into a "novel", whereas I think a collection of short stories would've worked just as well. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good novel! And it is now the glue that holds her entire Nagspeake universe together, it just doesn't feel like the book Milo was reading. It's brilliant, I just expected something a little different.