2021 book 155

 G.A. Aiken's The Blacksmith Queen

This was a pretty fun book about a big badass blacksmith woman whose sister is prophecied to be queen after the old king dies and his sons all start killing each other for the crown—and now they’re after her family. Some of this is kind of formulaic, but there are a couple of interesting twists, lots of humor, amazing animal friends, a whole slew of warrior women with various skills, and centaurs! There is unfortunately also a lot of implied rape/mentions of rape, which, bleh. The romance is cute but perfunctory. I loved all the bickering siblings though. This was entertaining enough that I’ll probably read the sequel. B/B+.

2021 book 154

 Rainbow Rowell’s Attachments

The only downside to rereading a beloved book by a beloved author that you don’t want to end and then feel all bereft when it does—well, what do you read next? All other books feel MEH. So in this case I chose to reread a different book by that same beloved author (I had been thinking of this one anyway bc for some reason was reminded of the scene where Lincoln changes a tire). (I only hope this doesn’t turn into a vicious cycle where I can only read Rainbow Rowell books.) Anyway, AS USUAL, great characters, great relationships, great personal growth, lots of love, and a happy ending that only Rowell could pull off. I’ve read this book many times and never get sick of it.

2021 book 153

 Rainbow Rowell's Any Way the Wind Blows

I can hear y'all saying to yourselves "surely, Alicia, you are not reading this book for a THIRD time in less than a month," but I am, because a) I needed a palate cleanser after that last book, and b) we're discussing this at book club this week and I needed to be fresh on the details to best answer questions about Simon and his magic! And also because I love this world so much and just want to BATHE in it (Ted Lasso reference). 

2021 book 152

 Barbara Hambly's Dragonshadow

Ooof. This starts out like it’s going to be another fun adventure, there’s bandits and dragons etc, but then demons come into the mix and things take a turn for the dark and grim and gross. Like there are not enough content warnings in the world for this book. I’m torn because based on the descriptions, the third book looks like it might also be grim and gross, but the fourth seems like it might be awesome? But I can’t read another like this. This gets a B bc the dragons-witch friendship remains a standout.

2021 book 151

 Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane

I was in the mood for a classic fantasy story, and remembered I’d only read this one, but none of its sequels (I’m not sure I realized it was a series at the time). Anyway, it’s an awesome story about an interesting thirty-something witch, who goes off with her partner on a quest when he's asked to go slay a dragon. Magical adventures ensue, and the central couple rules. Great stuff.

2021 book 150

 Sarah Pinsker's We Are Satellites 

Pinsker is GREAT at these near-future technology sorts of stories, so I’m not sure why I didn’t read this as soon as it was published. This one involves a brain implant—that creates a little light on your temple—to allow multitasking and optimized brain whatever, focusing at first on a family whose teen son and one mother want one, while the epileptic daughter can’t get one and the other mother is generally opposed. But soon it’s telling a bigger story about privilege, corporate corruption, the military-industrial complex, etc. not to make it sound boring; it’s super readable and the characters are great. I did want a little bit more from the ending, though. A-.

2021 book 149

 Ryka Aoki's Light From Uncommon Stars

Look, if the marketing is going to say a book is “Good Omens meets Becky Chambers,” it has gotta be GREAT. Otherwise it cannot possibly live up to that! And this book was good, but not great. It just has a lot going on, and while I loved the characters and the general plot, the execution was kind of clumsy. First we have a trans teen runaway violin prodigy, and then there’s the woman who decides to take her on as a student, except really she has a deal with Hell and has to deliver a seventh student's soul or Hell gets her soul. And then there’s the teacher's love interest, the owner of a local donut shop, except really she is the captain (and mother) of a ship of interstellar refugees (honestly I was here for the donuts, and the AI daughter). So all of that plus the description made me think this would be light and sweet, and parts of it are, but a lot more parts deal with transphobia, homophobia, racism, sexual assault. There are SO MANY slurs in this book, just as a general content warning. I found a lot of it to be really upsetting. (I’d wager a lot of those experiences are realistic, but I read genre fiction to avoid realism.) The tone of this book was just all over the place and I still can’t decide how I feel about it. B/B+?

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

2021 book 148

 Victoria Goddard’s The Return of Fitzroy Angursell

I have all sorts of unread books on my kindle but once I start rereading Victoria Goddard, I just want to /keep/ rereading Victoria Goddard! This is not a direct sequel to Hands of the Emperor, but does take place immediately afterward, as the Emperor sets off on a quest to find his heir, and maybe reunite a certain legendary band of heroes while he’s at it? This also has some fun tie-ins to the Greenwing and Dart books, so probably I will reread those next, sorry to all the other books out there!

2021 book 147

 Victoria Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor

I can’t entirely explain why my ultimate comfort read is a 900 page book about a highly ranked government official slowly enacting sweeping societal reforms (like universal basic income), except that maybe I want to live in this world? I mean, it is also a book about a bunch of middle aged men and their friendships and their FEELINGS, which is also somehow a rarity in fiction. I mean, this book is not perfect: the stuff about the protagonist’s family and friends not understanding his job gets a little repetitive. And I don’t know if there are any issues with the depictions of the protagonist's minority culture, which I think is based on the Pacific Islands (and since this is clearly another world, if that matters), though I am a minority in some respects and think she nails the insider/outsider stuff. But it makes me cackle and it makes me cry and I love all these dudes and their need to be hugged. 

2021 book 146

 Martha Wells' City of Bones

This is an earlier Wells novel, which means it is interesting and cool, but not quite as awesome as her later series (Raksura and Murderbot). It’s sort of a post-apocalyptic fantasy novel, and it’s too complicated to explain, but the protagonist is a guy who's sort of a marsupial and therefore not totally accepted in the city, but he and his pal make a living as experts on ancient relics. And then the local head magic dude (and one of his students--she’s also a POV character) hire him to track down some super rare stuff. Like I said, super interesting world-building; I’d read a whole series with the academics and the magic ppl and the politics. The ending felt a little flat, which does make me wonder if more was planned? Still, an enjoyable read. It just made me want to reread Wells' other stuff. :) B+.

2021 book 145

 Elizabeth Moon's Winning Colors

This wraps up the first chunk of this series, though I didn’t like it as much as the first two. It was somehow a lot slower and also all over the place? I mean it had some great moments—an awesome battle scene, a cluster of competent aunts—but it just didn’t entirely come together for me. B+.

2021 book 144

 Elizabeth Moon’s Sporting Chance

The second book in the Serrano Legacy series picks up right where the last one left off, as the crew of our space yacht and their intrepid captain and badass owner get sucked into a bunch of plots (some related to the smuggling from book one, some political). Really interesting women in this one (I think all the villains are women) and there we even some lesbians (and one maybe bisexual) among the secondary characters. A lot to like. Definitely more on the serious side than the first one, but some great scenes of awesomeness. I stan Brun. A-.

2021 book 143

 Elizabeth Moon's Hunting Party

OK, this was super up my alley. It's about a woman from a military family who has left the outer space military for ~reasons~ and has now taken the job as the captain of a luxury spaceship yacht, owned by an eccentric older woman. And they're off to a sort of England-themed planet (owned by a man called Bunny) for a season of fox hunting (well, hunting a creature that was bioengineered to look like a fox), with the yacht owner's spoiled nephew and his hangers-on in tow. I loved both women's narrative voices and found this really engaging and funny. And then things took a hard turn toward ACTION! Lots of great and interesting women doing stuff! I had high hopes for outer space lesbianism but things wrapped up in an aggressively heteronormative manner. Sidebar, the captain seems coded as a minority based on the text (several mentions of her dark skin) but the book cover shows a white lady! Uncool, book cover artist. Anyway, very fun read, I'm psyched to see where this series goes next. A/A-.

2021 book 142

 Rainbow Rowell’s Any Way The Wind Blows

Ok, YES, I /did/ read this twice in one day, because I wanted to experience it all again and because I wasn’t ready to be done with these characters just yet. Just as good the second time. I don’t know what vibes I was giving off but one of my kittens was extra snuggly/concerned for the last hour! Enjoy this pic!

2021 book 141

 Rainbow Rowell’s Any Way the Wind Blows

As expected, Rowell stuck the landing. This definitely was full of surprises and went places I didn’t expect, while still being completely satisfying and making me cry several times. Honestly I might just restart reading this immediately because I loved it so much? A.

2021 book 140

 Rainbow Rowell’s Wayward Son

The first time I read this book, I raced through it like “WHAT IS HAPPENING!/WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!” and the second time, when I saw where Rowell was going with things, I was into it a little more, because it’s deeper and more interesting than what I had initially anticipated. I mean there are still plenty of road trip adventures, but also a bunch of kids with unprocessed trauma trying to figure out their shit (or being in denial about their shit). This time around, it was weirdly bittersweet? So I have no idea where the third book will go, but I have great faith it will be full of surprises and be satisfying.

2021 book 139

 Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On

The third Simon Snow book comes out on Tuesday (and why yes, I /did/ schedule a vacation day to read it), so this long weekend is for catching up on the first two (to my great joy, of course)! I still cry about Lucy, cheer for Penelope and Agatha, and adore Simon and Baz. Just great characters, great plot, lots of real emotion.