2021 book 121

 Helene Wecker's The Hidden Palace

I don’t know what exactly I was expecting of this book, but this definitely veered off in several directions I /did not/ expect. I will say there are some new characters this time around, which is nice; I was particularly interested in the rabbi's daughter, but Anna's son is a welcome POV character as well. And the Golem and Sophia both have some especially interesting storylines this time around too. I liked the emphasis on community in this one, and did like how it wrapped up. It just gave me a lot of mixed feelings. I mean, I stayed up late to finish it so clearly I did enjoy it! A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 8th.

2021 book 120

 Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni

I loved this when I first read it, but weirdly have never reread it—maybe I was afraid I wouldn’t like it as much? But there’s a sequel out next week, so it was time to revisit. And maybe it wasn’t /as/ enthralling this time around, but I did enjoy the mix of folklore and New York history, as a (woman) golem and a jinni befriend each other, explore the city, and learn to live their lives, as their pasts are catching up to them. It’s more slow-paced than a lot of books I’ve read recently, but that is a nice change of pace too. A/A-. 

2021 book 119

 Katherine Addison's The Witness for the Dead

So this sequel to The Goblin Emperor focuses on one of the secondary characters from that book, the titular Witness, who’s now assigned to do his duties in another city. His duties mainly involve solving MURDERS! The primary one involves the death of a young opera singer, but there are other crimes along the way. Still, this is not really a /mystery/ per se, more the story of a guy living his life with a hard calling and maybe meeting a new crush. Lots of great characters in this one, and fascinating plots, although perhaps not AS satisfying as its predecessor. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 22nd.

2021 book 118

 Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor

I haven't read this since it first came out, but there is a sequel/companion coming out in June, so it seemed time! I pretty much only remembered that I liked it, and that it was about a half elvish/half goblin young man living in exile, who becomes emperor of the elvish kingdom after his father and older brothers are killed. And he’s unprepared and uneducated in the ways of the court, and a bunch of ppl are racist, and there's tons of politicking (which I love), and there are just so many great little moments. Just great found family, making friends, doing one's best. Super satisfying. A.

2021 book 117

 E.K. Johnston's Aetherbound

I’m generally a big fan of Johnston's stuff, but this felt a little thinner than some of her previous work. It’s a fairly straightforward sci-fi novel about a girl on a long-haul ship whose family treats her as worthless when she turns out to have a specific power (which seems like an awesome power to have so this makes little sense), and she runs away, and makes a new life for herself with new friends. And that is all great! But the second half just felt underbaked to me. I wanted more character development and more relationship development. And the ending could have been more climactic! I mean I loved the protagonist and the world here is interesting (and maybe there is a sequel coming?) but it just didn’t engross me as much as it could have. B/B+.

2021 book 116

 Claire Kann's The Marvelous 

I seriously just read this all in one sitting because it was SO FUN. I rarely read YA anymore and haven’t read much contemporary stuff recently either, but I enjoyed a previous book by Kann and it sounded cool. It’s about a group of six teens/college students (varying ages but pretty much all PoC and several are queer) who are invited to a mysterious weekend at the mysterious house of a woman who is a famous heiress/actress/social media maven, and there’s a game to be played with a million dollars at stake. I loved all these kids and just really enjoyed the heck out of this book. I am definitely going to make my book club read it. A.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 8th.

2021 book 115

 Lois McMaster Bujold's The Assassins of Thasalon

I love that McMaster Bujold is just periodically dropping new books in her Penric and Desdemona series, because I super enjoy them! In this one, assassins are after Penric's brother-in-law, so he has to go on a mission to deal with that (and some related magical stuff), accompanied by a Saint and an unexpected new student. Lots of political shenanigans and a MURDER ensue! Can Pen and Des save the day? Good humor here AND a puppy, what’s not to love? A.

2021 book 114

 Jane Smiley's Some Luck

I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy and sci fi books over this pandemic, because I prefer to be able to sink entirely into a whole engrossing world. But I forgot that some non-genre authors can suck you in that way, too. So I’m glad I reread this for book club—the first book in the Langdon Family Trilogy, covering a young family on a farm in Iowa from 1920 to the 1950s. Just great characters and great details, messy and tragic and bittersweet and full of care. 

2021 book 113

 Trudi Canavan’s Voice of the Gods

The finale of this series has some satisfying moments, but in general was not a satisfying read. What’s been obvious since book one is not figured out until the final chapter, which is completely ridiculous, and saps away a ton of narrative tension. It also makes me think all of the characters in these books are super stupid. There’s also a very rapey villain in this one who is super gross. I am here for psychic animal pals, lady friendships, and immortals banding together and being friends, but this ends on a weird note for sure. I’m kind of mad about it! B.

2021 book 112

 Trudi Canavan's Last of the Wilds

The second book in the Age of Five trilogy introduces a couple of new POV characters--a woman from the opposing side in the war, and a young princess from the water people--which expands the world nicely. Some questions are answered while others are still just hinted at (UGH! I want confirmation that I'm right!). But it ends in a really interesting place and I'm diving right into volume three. A-.

2021 book 111

 Trudi Canavan's Priestess of the White

Well, this is a very interesting start to a series! It's set in a country ruled by five immortals chosen by the five gods; the newest (and youngest) is one of the POV characters, along with her childhood teacher (from a group of non-believers), her political advisor, a young man from a group of people that have wings, an immortal sorceress, and several others. I got a little nervous when the priestess started worrying about "saving the soul" of her friend/former teacher (I'm Jewish and Christians have tried this on me and it is very uncomfortable) but it seems pretty clear that's not how things are going to play out. Really interesting politics here, lots of opposing systems of gods and magic. Looking forward to seeing what happens next. A-.

2021 book 110

 P. Djeli Clark's A Master of Djinn

This very fun and exciting novel centers on the supernatural-related Ministry's star investigator, a young woman who delights in dressing like a dandy, as she and her new partner investigate a mass murder—and the purported return of one of Cairo's heroes, the man who returned magic to the world (and gave countries like Egypt a way to fight colonialism). I am very here for a queer Muslim heroine solving supernatural mysteries, hanging out at speakeasies with jazz musicians, and making out with a cute ladyfriend (a woman with powers from a goddess??). Parts of this were a little slow, the villain is VERY OBVIOUS and it’s frustrating how long it takes for the agents to figure it out, but this is balanced by a lot of ladies kicking butt and a really interesting world. I will say that there are a lot of references to a short story involving some of these characters, and at a certain point I felt it should have been a prologue included in this book, since a lot of it was relevant. Still, a fun read for sure. A-/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

2021 book 109

 P. Djeli Clark's The Haunting of Tram Car 015

Now, THIS is a novella that manages to be satisfying (though I am excited to read the full-length novel follow up). It’s set in a fantasy version of Cairo in the early 1900s, and centers on an Agent from the Ministry of supernatural whatever who, with his rookie partner, has to deal with the titular haunting. Clark brings all the plotlines together in a fun way, the characters are GREAT (lots of cool women), and the world building is really interesting. This was super entertaining and I’m starting the novel right now. A.

2021 book 108

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

The final (so far?) Vorkosigan book brings its focus back onto Cordelia, now a widow, but still running the planet where she met her husband. The other main POV character is the local Admiral, who was also her husband's boyfriend (which she, being from an open minded planet, was fine with). This isn’t really a romance novel, because they start dating right away, and there isn’t really any tension there. There’s also a whole thing where she's growing some daughters from her old eggs/her husband's old sperm, and has offered her husband's boyfriend some genetic stuff so he can grow some sons that are half him, half the dead husband (future science!), and he’s deciding whether he wants to be a father. Honestly, this is kind of slow and boring (in a nice way?) until she starts telling people about her future plans, and Miles comes for a surprise visit, large family in tow. Weird to read a chill Vorkosigan book, but a nice way to wrap up the series. A-/B+.

2021 book 107

 Lois McMaster Bujold's Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

After the last couple books showed Cousin Ivan being bummed that all his friends are getting married, I was psyched to start this one and realize it was a romance for him. I mean, still an action-packed scifi romance, as he gets tangled up with a girl on the run from a dangerous planet (and her blue-skinned sister). (Side note: I dislike that the official description of this book is like "will he give up his bachelor lifestyle????" when several books have made it clear that he WANTS to give it up!) This is a little bit of a spoiler (because I almost squealed when it happened) but also it’s a selling point : fake marriage trope, yall! So many great funny moments and surprises in this one. A.

2021 book 106

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Diplomatic Immunity

So this novel finds Miles and Ekaterin on their way home from a belated honeymoon, only to get  derailed by a new assignment for Miles—dealing with a political scuffle on another planet that has a lot of weird stuff going on and could become a major incident. It’s basically a sci fi mystery/thriller. This was entertaining to read for sure but obviously I liked the more funny/romantic stuff of the previous books a little bit more. A-.

2021 book 105

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s A Civil Campaign

Ahhhh I loved this book, it was so FUNNY and SWEET and also full of political and legal shenanigans! So the main plot is Miles trying to woo the woman from the previous book, but hilariously badly. And several other romances are blossoming as well (this whole thing is like a comedy of manners at times). Meanwhile, Miles is /also/ trying to help two counts maintain/claim seats on their council, and there’s lots of entertaining maneuvering of the sort I enjoy (there is some business here with a sex change operation that is mostly handled well). Plus lots of secretly (and not so secretly) badass women in this one. Just entertaining all around. A.

2021 book 104

 Lois McMaster Bujold's Komarr

Ok, NOW we're talking! This book was firing on all cylinders, as Miles is sent to the titular planet to figure out what happened in a mysterious space accident. There's also another POV character, a woman in an unpleasant marriage, who is hosting Miles and her uncle, another investigator. Nice slow growing romance, interesting mystery, and interesting politics (this is the best book in the series so far, but reading the previous ones is necessary for the political stuff to make sense). And Miles is FUN in this one, not whiny at all! I am legit psyched to see where things in this series go next. A/A- . 

2021 book 103

 Lois McMaster Bujold's Memory

I think I skipped a book accidentally, but it doesn't matter because they discuss the events of that book MANY times in this one, so I saved myself some repetition! I remain not super into Miles as a protagonist; he is SO WHINY (even though the things he is whiny about are bad!) and also is kind of gross about the (several) women he's boning and perpetually is ogling all other women. It's like a twelve year old horndog wrote this book. (I'm not even gonna start on the many comments about Miles' clone's weight, it's very unnecessary.) Eventually the actual plot--Miles is assigned to figure out what happened to his mentor's memory chip, was it SABOTAGE--kicks in and I was much more engaged. I find the politics/society of this world really interesting, and I always love a mystery, especially if no one actually dies. I liked the back half of this a lot. B+.

2021 book 102

 M.L. Wang's The Sword of Kaigen

I love a good epic fantasy novel, and this was a GOOD one. It has two POV characters—a fourteen year old boy from a family of legendary warriors, trying to live up to their greatness.... and his MOM, who has a whole secret badass past, but is now a traditional wife and mother in a culture where women can’t even enter the dojo (this story is Asian-influenced). When a new kid comes to town and the son starts questioning everything he knows, she's torn on how much to tell him...and then things get even darker. Parts of this are straight up brutal and heartbreaking, and other parts are fist-pumpingly awesome (sometimes those parts are the same). Apparently this author has two YA books also set in this world, but I’m really interesting in seeing where she takes things next. A-.

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Content warning for rape and child death.

2021 book 101

 Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss

This was on my library hold list for a while, so I no longer remember what made me want to read it. It kind of has Marian Keyes vibes—it’s a British woman narrating her life, her failing marriage, and her struggle with mental illness—but like one of the more depressing Marian Keyes novels. Parts of this are funny and relatable and parts are just really sad and upsetting. I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one. B.

2021 book 100

 Rachel Aaron’s Spirit's End

Solid end to a fun and interesting series. I really enjoyed spending five books with these characters in this world, for sure. A-.