Friday, July 31, 2020

2020 book 143

Kage Baker's In the Garden of Iden
I’m still seeking out new series to get lost in, and I think this is going to be a winner, because I really liked this first one. The series is about the Company, who invented time travel (ish) and recruit children to turn into immortal cyborgs and save arts and things from getting lost in history. Our protagonist is a young botanist, formerly a little girl caught up in the Spanish Inquisition (so note that a lot of pretty anti-Jewish sentiment is expressed, though this book is not anti-Semitic by any means), and now on her first mission in 1500s England, where she decides mortals might not be so bad when she meets a handsome dude. I loved the narrative voice here, Baker does a great job at bringing in relevant historical events, and in general this is just a really fun read (aside from...a couple of things that are foreshadowed). Can’t wait to read the next one. A/A-.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

2020 book 142

Barbara Hambly's Stranger at the Wedding
This book centers on a young woman who was cast out by her father when she decided to study wizardry. But now she’s getting all sorts of weird and creepy signs, so she heads home to disrupt her little sister's wedding, even though wizards are not supposed to interfere with human affairs. I liked the sister relationship here, and liked that there was a mystery element, and really liked the main character and thought her romance was cute. Buutttttt big content warning that there is a character here who is a pedophile and is super gross. Just really unpleasant stuff that makes me knock it down a couple grades. B.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

2020 book 141

Romina Garber's Lobizona
This is the start of a series that looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun AND have relevant social themes. It starts a little slow, building up the protagonist's world; as an undocumented immigrant /and/ as someone with magical-looking eyes, she has to hide twice as hard. Eventually she ends up at magic school (don't worry, they reference Harry Potter), with The Mean Girl and The Nice Activist Girl and The Love Interest, who all eventually get some interesting character development. I will say the title makes certain things obvious and so it’s frustrating that the protagonist's true identity isn’t revealed until halfway through. But then things really pick up and I was totally on board. I mean, family secrets and Argentinian folklore and magic school and magic lands and friendships and hints of rebellion— it’s a great combo! I’m psyched to see where things go next! A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 4th.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

2020 book 140

Tamora Pierce’s Trickster's Queen
Ok, I need more books like this series, STAT. In this one, our little spy helps plan a rebellion with the local (brown) indigenous population against their (white) colonizers. Again, there are a ton of awesome ladies in this, great action, great plotting, and I was honestly here for the little bit of romance. Plus, flying horses. This book really has it all. A.

Friday, July 24, 2020

2020 book 139

Tamora Pierce’s Trickster's Choice
This is the start of a series about Alanna's daughter, who wants to be a SPY but her parents are like NO WAY. And then she gets kidnapped and sold into slavery and gets tasked with a mission from a god, and . . . ends up as a spy. Lots of good action here and GREAT women, not as much violence as the Alanna books and really the only objectionable thing is a brief and unnecessary bit of brown-face. There is also an adorable shape-shifting crow guy. I am psyched for the sequel. Lady power! A/A-.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

2020 book 138

Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant
In the final Alanna book, our heroine makes cool new friends, continues to improve as a warrior, and deals with all the threats from the last couple books finally coming to a head. Solid. A-/B+.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

2020 book 137

Tamora Pierce's The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
The third Alanna book finds our heroine hanging out with a bunch of Middle Eastern stereotypes (yikes), breaking down their societal gender roles and training up some teens. She’s also got a lot of romantic trouble. I wish Pierce used fewer exclamation points, and I say that as someone who loves the hell out of an exclamation point. Anyway, this is fine, I like this series despite its issues. B+.


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

2020 book 136

Tamora Pierce's In the Hand of the Goddess
The second Alanna book is still nice light reading (despite wars and evil sorcerers), though I like the narrative voice less here, because she still sounds like a twelve year old even though she's eighteen by the end of the book. Whatever, she gets a MAGICAL KITTEN so nothing else matters!

2020 book 135

T. Kingfisher’s A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
I’m feeling cruddy today, which meant I needed to read something good and fun, and luckily a new Ursula Vernon book is out today! This is one of her hilarious and dark YA books, about a fourteen year old girl who has baking magic (the best magic, in my opinion), and what happens when it seems like something is putting all the city's wizards in danger. Y’all, her sidekick is a GINGERBREAD COOKIE. There is also a timely anti-cop sentiment. This is everything I could have wanted in a book. A.

Monday, July 20, 2020

2020 book 134

Tamora Pierce's Alanna: The First Adventure
I was having one of those days where I started a bunch of books and wasn’t in the mood for any of them, which means I have to reread something to reset my brain! I haven’t read this in /years/ (at least not as long as I’ve been keeping this blog) and was glad that it was still satisfying. It’s of course the archetypal story of a girl and her twin brother swapping places so she can learn to be a knight, disguised as a boy, learning knight skills and befriending squires and dukes and local thieves. I do give a little side eye to Pierce's fantasy version of the Middle East, but as she recently tweeted, all we can do it keep learning and keep trying to do better. Anyway, yay kickass girls. A/A-.

Sunday, July 19, 2020

2020 book133

Alexandra Sheppard’s Oh My Gods
So this is a pretty cute YA book about a biracial teenage girl in London who is the daughter of Zeus, and has to deal with half siblings like Aphrodite and Apollo. Not to mention a new school, a crush, etc. I will say this isn’t breaking any new ground, and the protagonist is hopelessly and frustratingly naïve. But I bet some kids I know would like it a lot! B.

2020 book 132

Aimee Bender's The Butterfly Lampshade
I haven’t had the patience for literary fiction for a while now (pandemic and all), but I remember really liking Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, so figured I'd give her new one a try. It’s centered on a young woman recalling three bizarre/supernatural events of her childhood, and also remembering her journey from the time her mentally ill mother is hospitalized to when she arrives at her aunt and uncle's house to live with them and their new baby. I am not really sure how I felt about this? It’s beautifully written, but I wanted a little bit more from the conclusion, or maybe the conclusion was just right? It's a lovely and meditative (and kind of confusing) novel, which is just not where my mood is right now. B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on July 28th.

Saturday, July 18, 2020

2020 book 131

Lois McMaster Bujold’s Knife Children
You’d think I’d have loved this one, as pretty much nothing happens except characters hanging out and learning to get along. But it centers on a secondary character from the last two books who isn’t particularly interesting, and what happens when he finds out his illegitimate daughter has run away AND developed powers. But it is just him getting into dad mode, and I found the bits of her story much more compelling (let me see her hanging out with horse girls!). Like you don’t get to be proud papa to a kid you didn’t acknowledge or raise for 14 years? It just ends up very treacly. Bummer. B.

Friday, July 17, 2020

2020 book 130

Lois McMaster Bujold’s Horizon
Yes, this is exactly the sort of series I like to get lost in, and this is a satisfying (if heteronormative) conclusion. (There is one more book, but it seems to be about one of the secondary characters.) Not too much else to say about this particular one without spoiling the earlier books, but I'm definitely going to check out the author's sci-fi stuff. A-.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

2020 book 129

Lois McMaster Bujold’s Passage
Yeah, I am digging this series; it is perfectly engrossing escapism. This third book finds our intrepid duo taking a riverboat journey for fun, and maybe to change some hearts and minds along the way. New pals and lots of adventures (some unpleasant) ensue. That makes it sound sillier than it it, when really it’s got a lot of depth. Looking forward to the next one. A-.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

2020 book 128

Lois McMaster Bujold’s Legacy
Well, the second book in the Sharing Knife series WAS more of what I liked in the first one! I mean, there is still a bit of monster-battling, but not as much, and the story is way more focused on the magic and cultures of this world, and of course the characters. I look forward to reading more of their adventures. A-.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

2020 book 127

Lois McMaster Bujold’s Beguilement
I’m still trying to read gentle fantasy books, and this soooooort of fit the bill, aside from an attempted rape, violent battles with mind controlled bandits, and creepy monsters. But that’s just the first few chapters; the rest is basically a romance novel and a pretty cute one. I mean, I was not personally into the serious age difference between the characters, but I really LIKED the characters. And I liked seeing them dealing with recalcitrant relative (and sassy old lady relatives). I am hoping the second book in this series is more of THAT. B+.

Monday, July 13, 2020

2020 book 126

Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game
This book came up on LL last week, which OF COURSE made me want to reread it! It holds up so well for a middle grade book written in 1979*--solid mystery plot, GREAT characters, etc etc. It's one of those mysteries that is actually BETTER on a reread because you can see how all the pieces come together. It makes me so sad that Ellen Raskin died before she could write any more (I love her earlier books too, but obviously this is the stand-out). Anyway, I love everything about this book (except the mildly awkward epilogue). TURTLE FOREVER.


*Because it was written in 1979, there are some word choices we wouldn’t use today, but I think otherwise this has a pretty modern sensibility.

Sunday, July 12, 2020

2020 book 125

T. Kingfisher's The Wonder Engine
The sequel to Clockwork Boys finds our Intrepid band of travelers unraveling a mystery, and having lots of adventures along the way. I love all these characters and their growing relationships. Of course the romance is super cute and awkward, but I especially like the character growth of Learned Edmund. And I’m super here for all the gnoles. Good stuff.

Friday, July 10, 2020

2020 book 124 (oops)

T. Kingfisher's The Clockwork Boys
I’m rereading some Ursula Vernon because a) she has a new one coming out in a couple weeks, b) comfort reading, c) they’re awesome and why not! This one involves a group of people on a suicide mission! Normally I grow weary of books about people on journeys, but Vernon makes it entertaining, full of adventure and great character interactions and a budding romance. I also love the priests and paladins in her world.

(Re blog numbering: I misnumbered/had a typo several months back and don’t want to go back and edit all those entries, so will just use correct numbering from here on out.)

Wednesday, July 08, 2020

2020 book 133

Nina Kiriki Hoffman's Past the Size of Dreaming
So I have actually read this book before, but that time I did not know it was a sequel, so I liked it a lot more this time around. I really liked spending more time with the characters from the first book and getting to know the rest of their friends as they reassembled their found family. I think this falls under the gentle fantasy category, and I too would like to be hugged by the house. I don’t think there are any more books in the series, which is a shame, because I really would like to see what these characters do next. A/A-.

Tuesday, July 07, 2020

2020 book 132

Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Red Heart of Memories
This was a weird but great little book, about a woman who can talk to human-made objects, and what happens when a guy steps out of a wall and tells her she's his next mission. Except then they go on a road trip and she ends up helping him sort out his past instead. There's some really cool magic in here, and a very lovable car and house, but really the story is about processing trauma (content warnings for mentions of various abuses against children). I liked this a lot. A-.

Monday, July 06, 2020

2020 book 131

Jo Walton's Or What You Will
So I did like this a lot better than Walton’s last book, though she is still fascinated by Italy. This one is just more interesting all around – it’s playing with meta-textual narratives in a really fun way. The narrator is the mental muse of a successful fantasy author (a Walton-esque author), but is worried that when she dies he too will die, and so he has a plan to make them both immortal. Said plan involves a lot of Shakespeare references and magic. There are also a lot of interesting hints at a larger world (give me the story of Jessica!) Like I said, it’s fun! Walton does meta really well. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released tomorrow.

Sunday, July 05, 2020

2020 book 130

Liz Williams' Comet Weather
This is an interesting story, though I think I’d need to know more about British folklore to totally get it. It has a lot of things that are cool—sisters, talking trees, mystical star people wandering around, ghost boyfriends, etc. Parts are exciting and parts are compelling, but other parts are slow and the end was a little anti-climactic (except for one weird hinted at twist). I mean, I liked this while I was reading it, but at one point I put it down for three days and never was dying to pick it back up. Still, really cool atmosphere and characters. B+.