Yannick Murphy’s Things That are Funny on a Submarine But Not Really
Great book to end the year on! It haven’t read Murphy since The Call and clearly I should be checking in on what I’ve missed! This novel involves a young man nearing the end of his enlistment on a Navy submarine, totally compelling voice and story, and a really solid ending. Very satisfying read to wrap up my year. A/A-.
Rebecca Stead’s The Experiment
Catching up on the latest from Stead, author of one of my all time favorite books (When You Reach Me) and it was a delight! The main character is a boy who is secretly an alien! His family’s job is to blend in with humans, which gets much more complicated when he starts growing a tail. Stead’s writing and characters are engaging as always, just a really NICE read (and also some great cats appear). A.
Emma Lathen’s Come to Dust
So this mystery involves a missing man and a LOT of business about Dartmouth’s fundraising and admissions. It has a lot of funny parts but was definitely dragging toward the end (I did correctly guess part of the mystery though, which was satisfying). Unrelated to the story: the cover claims this is revised and re-edited, but it’s got a ton of typos and missing commas, which grated. B/B+.
Emma Lathen’s A Stitch in Time
The seventh book in this series centers on the murder of a doctor involved in a lawsuit—but of course there’s more to the story and John Putnam Thatcher is on the case! I do love this series— it’s very dryly funny even when the mystery’s solution isn’t particularly interesting (still satisfying though!). A-.
LM Montgomery’s The Blue Castle
Sometimes you’re just in the mood to reread one of your all-time favorite books!
Ursula K. LeGuin’s Very Far Away From Anywhere Else
Did you know Ursula K. LeGuin wrote a non-fantasy YA book?? About an angsty and nerdy teen boy and the musician girl who is the first person he ever really connects with? Really a lovely little novella. Obviously I wanted more but this was just a great slice of life. A/A-.
ECR Lorac’s Death of an Author
Checking out more classic British mysteries! This was originally published in 1935 and deals with the disappearance and possible murder of a reclusive author. It is very of its time but the mystery was pretty interesting (the solving of the mystery tended to drag). I would try another by Lorac. B+.
Laura Sebastian’s Poison in their Hearts
This was a perfectly adequate conclusion to this trilogy. I wasn’t really into the ending but enjoyed it up till then (why was a new character introduced in like the last quarter?). Eh. B/B+.
Laura Sebastian’s Stardust in Their Veins
Ok, I am really enjoying this series! Lots of politics and magic and rebellions and double-crossing. There is a little bit of romance but it’s not a focus. And I love all the friendships and the relationship between the sisters. Really fun stuff. A/A-.
Laura Sebastian’s Castles in Their Bones
I came across this series while searching for more fantasy with political intrigues—this one involves three sisters raised by their Empress mother to foment dissent in the countries they marry into, so their mother can take over all of them. It’s YA so I was a little bit leery, but I really enjoyed the characters and was caught up in the writing. Some cool twists and I even liked the various romances. Looking forward to book two! A-.
Angela Tomaski’s The Infamous Gilberts
The description of this book makes it seem like it’s going to be wildly dramatic and fun, but actually it’s a huge bummer. It’s about five siblings in England and four of them end up having really sad lives (and the fifth isn’t in it much), but not even in a particularly interesting way? It’s narrated at a remove—told by a neighbor going through their house—so we don’t really go deep on anything and I was kind of frustrated. I did love the very end, but wished this book was less vague. B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in January.
Naomi Kuttner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Orchid Hunting
Yay, it’s the second book in the series where a retired assassin, his gardener friend who sees ghosts, and a sixty something con woman/art thief solve mysteries in New Zealand! This one involves a bunch of orchid enthusiasts, as per the title. The mystery is whatever, but this was another super fun time with great characters. But authors!! Stop having your characters use gloves to examine old books!! That is not a thing!!! A-.
Seanan McGuire’s Through Gates of Garnet and Gold
I enjoy the Wayward Children series but didn’t really vibe with this one—it’s like fifty percent exposition. The other parts are good though! The plot involves angry ghosts attacking Nancy’s world, so she goes to find some old friends to help save the day. There are a couple of cool moments and the end is intriguing. B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in January.
Daniel Abraham’s The Spider’s War
Solid ending to this series! It didn’t hit the highs of the previous book for me, but was satisfying nonetheless. A/A-.
Daniel Abraham's The Widow's House
It's hard to know what to say about the fourth book in an epic fantasy series--for one thing, I don't remember exactly which particular things happened in this volume or the earlier ones, because I'm SO caught up in the story and the characters, and for another, I don't want to even hint at any spoilers. Suffice it to say that I am ALL IN and can't wait to see how things conclude in volume five. A.
Daniel Abraham’s The Tyrant’s Law
Wow, I am majorly invested in these books. High stakes, intrigue, spider goddesses, fascinating characters… just really engrossing. I’m really not sure how the next two books will go down but I can’t wait to find out. A/A-.
Daniel Abraham’s The King’s Blood
Really enjoying this series, it’s just the sort of political intrigue I like and the stakes feel appropriately high. I’m most interested in the two women POV characters (the young banking girl and the savvy wife of a nobleman) but am also pretty invested in Kit and Marcus. Ok, I’m invested in all of it. A/A-.
It's December, I'm partway through the second of five books of a long-ass epic fantasy series, and I'm already looking ahead to the MANY cool books due in 2026. So it's time to admit that I'm not going to read any more of the books on the best-of lists and just present my own personal favorites! It was a good year in books!
Here they are, alphabetically by author--links go to my lil reviews.
K.J. Charles’ All of Us Murderers
Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent
Kate Fagan's The Three Lives of Cate Kay
Alix E. Harrow’s The Everlasting
Daniel Abraham’s The Dragon’s Path
I do like to read a big ol’ epic fantasy series when the chilly times come, and I’ve heard lots of good things about this one. Abraham, of course, is one of the writers of the Expanse series, and this is even more up my alley—tons of POVs, political machinations up the wazoo, a teen girl raised by a banker, a nerd who commits war crimes, a theater troupe…plus really engaging writing. Just the sort of story I like to sink into. A/A-.
