2021 book 177

 Zoraida Cordova's The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina

This was a magical realism sort of story, about the mysterious matriarch of a family who invites her many children and grandchildren to her home to receive their inheritance, because she’s about to die. But really she turns into a tree, and various magical things happen to her family (the POV characters are two of her grandchildren, who both end up with roses growing out of their bodies). I loved the first half of this! But then the action shifts to seven years later, when things are going wrong, and they have to investigate their grandmother's past to find out the source of … all this. And the story of the past is not very interesting? I was here for the characters checking out low budget museums in comic book stores and resurrecting dead relatives to get answers, but it just wasn’t super satisfying in the end. B+, I guess?

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 7th.

2021 book 176

 Dhonielle Clayton et al's Blackout

We're reading this for book club this month, because a couple of us saw this interview and were like WE MUST SUPPORT THESE AUTHORS! I hesitate to say it has a Love Actually vibe because I don’t actually like that movie, but it does have a similar structure—a bunch of interrelated characters/love stories set during one night during a blackout in NYC, culminating in a big ol block party. I am generally pretty lukewarm on YA romance, but all these stories were super cute (especially the queer ones), and since they were short they didn’t bug me too much. :) For a minute I almost started a murder board to keep track of all the connections (siblings, BFFs, cousins, etc) but then I just let the whole community wash over me. It really does gel as one story. Really well done and a very fun read. A/A-.

2021 book 175

 Cynthia Zhang's After the Dragons

This was a nice little novel about two young men in a slightly fantastic version of Beijing: one, a local, suffering from a terminal lung disease caused by pollution, who spends his time rescuing stray and injured dragons: and the other, a biracial (Chinese/Black) American in Beijing to do medical research, inspired by his grandmother, who recently died there of the same lung disease. Which maybe sounds depressing, but actually it’s weirdly hopeful? Like, the world sucks in many ways but if you can do even one thing to try and make it better… why not cuddle and rehabilitate lil dragons? Plus I thought their romance was super cute. My only complaint is that this novel is too short and I want more of it! A/A-.

2021 book 174

 Patricia Wrede’s The Raven Ring

Well, this didn’t turn out to be much of a /series/ per se, just five novels set in the same universe. This last one was pretty cute though. Our protagonist is a young woman from the warrior people, who heads to the big city to pick up her deceased mother's belongings from the army. But pretty soon a lot of mysterious people are after her, and she has to figure out why, with the help of a young noble and of a thief (there is a little bit of a love triangle, but the protagonist isn’t actually aware of it, lol). I liked the characters and story here much more than the last couple. Great ending, too. A-.

2021 book 173

 Patricia Wrede’s Caught in Crystal

This one is a little more interesting than its predecessors with both plot and characters: our protagonist is a thirty six year old widowed mother of two, running an inn, when a sorceress and a wizard with ties to her past come searching for her (separately). I actually couldn’t figure out when in the world's chronology this was meant to take place, though I had the impression it was a prequel? Anyway it’s pretty good, but ends the same way as all the other ones (final battle is somewhat anti-climactic and then there’s a heteronormative kiss, the end). I don’t really have high hopes for the last one but it’s an entertaining enough way to spend an evening, I suppose. B+.

2021 book 172

 Patricia Wrede’s The Harp of Imach Thyssel

In the third Lyra novel, a young minstrel and his friend (the song of a Duke) find a powerful magical harp of legend, and soon several people with a variety of motives are on their trail, hoping to steal it. I liked the characters here (the love interest is a lot of fun) but the plot feels more like an outline than a novel. Everything wraps up too quickly, and it follows the same story beats as the previous ones. I really need this series to be like building to something. I mean, this was /fine/, just not particularly compelling. B.

2021 book 171

 Patricia Wrede’s Daughter of Witches

Not a ton actually /happens/ in this second volume, but I enjoyed it just the same. It’s set in a different part of the world, with all new characters (though the protagonist of the previous book is mentioned). The main character here is a teenager in a fairly sexist/patriarchal society, whose parents were burned as witches several years earlier, and now she is a bondwoman to an abusive innkeeper. Until some foreigners come to stay, setting some magical adventures into motion. Most of the book involves all the characters hiding in the woods from the baddies while our heroine tries to decide how she feels about magic, but I kind of liked that? B+.

2021 book 170

 Patricia Wrede's Shadow Magic

Here I am diving into another fantasy series that I’ve somehow never read, even though I adore the author's Enchanted Forest Chronicles and the Sorcery and Cecelia books. This is a more traditional sort of fantasy, good vs evil, magical peoples (an elf analogue and some awesome and badass fox people, among others), battles, etc. Our protagonist is the daughter of a lord, but a fairly skilled one, who gets kidnapped by the baddies, setting some huge world events into action. The other POV character is her brother's merchant friend (and her love interest, though the romance is a minor part of the story, which I was fine with). Anyway, this was a very fun read, lots of cool women and interesting magic, looking forward to seeing where it goes next. A-.

2021 book 169

 Natania Barron's Queen of None

Honestly, I’m here for all these recent Arthurian stories! This one came out last year, but the library just added it, presumably because of the Green Knight movie: the central figure here is Arthur's youngest sister, Anna, mother of Gawain (plus I think the author is local!). Our story starts with a recently widowed Anna coming to Arthur to give him her husband's crown, but soon she’s become a political pawn yet again. I liked her character a lot, and loved the network of women, but wished some of the other characters (Lancelot, Gawain) were more developed, and definitely thought the back half revenge plot would have benefited from some more build up (though I did like the end). I also wished for one more pass with the proofreader; lots of homonym errors. Content warning for abusive husbands and one rape threat. B+.

2021 book 168

 Sam Hawke's Hollow Empire

Parts of this feel slow and repetitive, because they’re having the same arguments as the last book and wondering once again who is a traitor, and parts of this are kind of grim. It’s also very frustrating at times, because the protagonists are justifiably paranoid and everyone treats them like they’re nuts. The solution to the mystery is interesting enough; once again there was a teeny bit of a romance but between two women this time; I like the characters still. I guess I just wish this was all a little bit tighter. I’m honestly not sure if another book is planned in this series or not, the end feels a little ambiguous. B+.

2021 book 167

 Sam Hawke's City of Lies

I actually finished this yesterday, but my internet was down for 12 hours and I couldn’t blog! Scream emoji. So this book is narrated by a pair of siblings from a family whose secret job is to protect their chancellor, primarily from being poisoned. The brother is the current anti-poison guy (struggling with severe anxiety/OCD) while his sister is more on the spy side of things (and chronically ill thanks to a poisoning gone wrong). But soon things are even more dangerous as their uncle and the currently chancellor are murdered by an unknown poison, their young friend has to take up rulership, and the city is suddenly under siege. Who is behind all this and what the heck is going on?? Most of this is really engrossing, though some parts do drag, and the romance feels really shoehorned in (I did like the love interest and wish her character had been built up more). Interesting worldbuilding where the families run down matriarchal lines. Lots of secondary characters are gay. I’m already halfway through the sequel. A-/B+.

2021 book 166

 Felicia Davin's Out of Nowhere

So this one was a little less awesome, because I wasn’t as into the characters, minor characters from the first book—the teleporter who's trying to start a union (cool) and his best friend since childhood (Jewish), who is maybe not as straight as they both thought. The plot here is also egregiously silly—they want to kidnap a guy from an alternate reality who is the double of the bad guy in /their/ reality, and make him confess to the bad guy's bad doings. And everyone just goes along with it!! Plotting is definitely the weak element here, but the end was pretty cute. I don’t think I’ll read the third one in this series; I was hoping it’d be about some of the local lesbians, but it’s about two of the stoic dude scientists I don’t care about. The author has a fantasy series I might check out instead. B.

2021 book 165

 Felicia Davin's Edge of Nowhere

I was in the mood for something outer spacey, and this super cute queer romance fit the bill for sure. Our one hero is Kit, who has a rare teleportation ability and a mysterious background and an adorable found family! Our other hero is Emil, a large botany nerd who runs a crew on a space station doing weird experiments with the stuff Kit teleports through! Also, there are some cats! Pretty much everyone in this book is queer (Emil is definitely bi and I had the vague impression Kit was as well), the romance is cute, the adventures are fun, there is maybe a little too much made-up science about teleportation but it becomes relevant to the plot so whatever. This is the first of a trilogy and I am immediately starting book two. A-.

2021 book 164

 Robin Stevens' Once Upon a Crime

And this is truly the end of the Wells and Wong series, sniff sniff! This is a collection of shorter stories set in the world, a couple published before but the rest new. Always nice to see these girls in action, and I was glad to see a couple stories set after the events of Death Sets Sail (one of those being a prequel of sorts to Stevens' upcoming series about Hazel's littlest sister—though I don’t buy for a second that Hazel wouldn’t listen to her sister about a murder!). A-.

2021 book 163

 Terry Pratchett’s Snuff

This is the final Watch book, and I definitely have that book hangover feeling, where you finish a book/series and are bereft that it’s over and nothing else you start will be as good. I mean, just a bunch of crying emojis all around. Anyway, in this one, Sam and his family are off on a vacation in the country, but of course Sam immediately sniffs out some ill doings. Sybil is great here, and Young Sam reminds me of many small boys I have known. Sigh. Book hangover. A.

2021 book 162

 Terry Pratchett’s Thud

Here we find Sam dealing with rising tensions between dwarves and trolls, exacerbated by the murder of a dwarf rabble rouser, not to mention hiring his first vampire to the watch, and trying to get home in time to read his little dude a bedtime story. Very entertaining all around, if not at the emotional depths of its predecessor. Loved to see the ladies of the watch going out for a girls' night, extra points for that! A/A-.

2021 book 161

 Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch

This was…weirdly devastating? Things start off with Sam's wife in labor, but he’s on the hunt for a serial killer—but then a magical storm sucks them back in time, to thirty years earlier, as the city is on the brink of a revolution—and young Sam is just starting his job on the Watch. Now our Sam has to mentor his younger self, keep history on track, and keep everyone safe. We also get some glimpses into the past of various other characters, which is interesting. But this was kind of a gut punch by Discworld standards! ILU Sam. A.

2021 book 160

 Terry Pratchett’s Fifth Elephant

Well, I /loved/ this one! Sam is off to a neighboring land for diplomatic reasons, with Lady Sybil, Cheery, and Detritus in tow, but soon he is caught up in politics, trying to investigate a stolen scene of importance, and dealing with dwarves, vampires, and werewolves. Sybil gets to do some stuff in this one, which I always appreciate, and it was in general just really funny and sweet and silly and action-packed. Great stuff. A.

2021 book 159

 Terry Pratchett’s Jingo

This Discworld City Watch book finds their city on the verge of war with the local Middle Eastern analogue (lots of characters spouting racist stuff, but clearly not approved of by the author). This drags a little compared to some of the other ones, but still has some great moments, and we actually get to see Sam's wife for a change! B+.

2021 book 158

 Terry Pratchett’s Feet of Clay

So I have actually read this one before, because it’s about golems, but I enjoyed it much more this time, since I had all the relevant character backstories and was much more invested in them. I might also just have more of a sense of humor now than I did in 2008. Anyway, the watch is dealing with a case of mysterious poisoning, AND some mysterious murders, not to mention dwarf Cheery Littlebottom is actually a girl dwarf and is trying to let ppl know about it (the internet is right: Pratchett would not have been a terf). Props for most of the golems having Yiddish names. A/A-.

2021 book 157

 Terry Pratchett’s Men at Arms

The second Guards books finds the team dealing with some new diversity hires—namely a dwarf, a troll, and a woman. But soon the town is in an uproar thanks to a killing spree with a mysterious weapon and the Watch is on the case! I am super here for Sam Vimes, Corporal Carrot, and the rest of these silly and lovable people. A/A-.

2021 book 156

 Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards!

 Recent events have made me want to read some Pratchett, and honestly there’s still a lot of the Discworld I’ve never gotten to (I’ve mainly just reread all the ones with the Witches and Tiffany Aching). So now I’m getting to the city watch books, only here they’re the Night Watch, led by a drunk Sam Vimes, with an eager new volunteer joining the force. But they’ll have to get their acts together when a magically summoned dragon starts coming to town. Luckily they have the help of the local (orangutan) librarian and a wealthy woman who breeds little (adorable) dragons. Anyway this was all very funny, super entertaining, with Pratchett's trademark great characters. Just what I needed and I can’t wait to read more. A/A-.

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. 

2021 book 138

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Hallowed Hunt

Now I know why I never bothered reading this before: it’s not as good as the first two in this series. It’s set elsewhere, and the only familiar characters are the gods. Now I did like a lot about this—I’m always here for the Temple divines and all the holy/magic stuff, and I liked the protagonist and his love interest as well. But on the whole this is just a darker, grimmer, sadder book. It wraps up in a satisfying way but it’s not one I think I’ll reread. B/B+.

2021 book 137

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls

The second book in the Chalion series focuses on one of the secondary characters from the previous book—the mother of the princess, who everyone thought was mad because of the curse they were all under. Now a few years have passed, and she just needs a break from everyone and decides to go on a pilgrimage. But if you’re on a pilgrimage, the gods might decide you can help them out…. GREAT characters, lots of good magic and mysticism, a teeny bit of romance, a little more humor, a demonic horse…. I want more books exactly like this! A/A-.

2021 book 136

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion

I’m still on my Bujold kick, and since I've never read the third book in this series, decided to start at the beginning. My recollections of this were vague, except that it had a lot of business with the gods (the same ones in the Penric and Desdemona books) and was satisfying. And both those things were true! Bujold is great at stories with political machinations, kicky heroines, weary dudes, wry saints, and a little bit of romance. Parts of this are a little unpleasant along the way (there are some rape threats, plus the titular curse), but the end just makes everything awesome. A-.

2021 book 135

 Doris Egan's Guilt-Edged Ivory

In the final volume of the Ivory series, our protagonists are married, dealing with the pressure to have kids, and also solving a murder mystery! The mystery itself is pretty satisfying; I guessed some but not all of it. But of course once again the plot isn’t even really the point! This whole series is somehow a sci fi magical stream of consciousness slice of life story! I wish there was more because I just enjoyed these characters and their relationships and the narrative voice so much. A/A-.

2021 book 134

 Doris Egan's Two-Bit Heroes

In the second volume of the Ivory trilogy, our protagonist and her boyfriend are contemplating marriage and heading out on a routine fact-finding mission, except then they're immediately kidnapped by a band of outlaws. I love the narrative voice--she's a scholar of folk tales and has a sense of humor as she ruminates on their current problems. Again, great characters here, just really interesting and fun. A-.

2021 book 133

 Doris Egan's The Gate of Ivory

So Egan wrote this SFF trilogy in the 90s before pivoting to life as a tv writer/producer, which honestly I find kind of a bummer because I liked this first volume a lot! It’s a fun mix of sci fi and fantasy, set on a planet where there’s magic (but no one knows why). Our heroine is a student who’s been stranded there after being robbed, whose recruited for a job by a prominent and mysterious sorcerer. Soon attempts have been made on her life, she’s hanging with his family and learning life lessons, and interesting adventure ensue. But this wasn’t really action packed, it’s more about her adapting to a new way of life, and figuring out a way forward when things get tough. Really great characters (and the romance is kind of on the backburner but I was here for it) and I’m psyched to see what they do next. A-.

2021 book 132

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Spirit Ring

This is a standalone fantasy novel from Bujold, not one of her better known works, but still entertaining and moving. Set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Italy, it centers on the biracial teenage daughter of a master artisan-slash-mage, who longs to follow in his footsteps, but is beset by racism and sexism! And also the story of her love interest (the romance is not the main thing here, but I was here for it), who is supposed to be apprenticed to her father…. Except then his patron Duke is assassinated, an enemy is taking over the town, and her father is murdered. Oh yeah, and the bad guys are also evil sorcerers! (Really interesting magic/political stuff here, as the local Catholic Church is in charge of non-evil sorcerers.) So this wasn’t the best Bujold book, but definitely still worth a read. A-/B+.

2021 book 131

 Zen Cho's Black Water Sister

I’ve really enjoyed all the other stuff I’ve read by Cho, but this one didn’t one hundred percent work for me. It’s about a recent Harvard grad who moves to Malaysia with her parents (who are from there) and realizes she’s being haunted by her recently deceased grandmother, who is determined to protect a temple from corrupt developers. Only maybe there’s more going on? I did like all the supernatural stuff with the gods and their mediums, and I loved the family dynamics, but the plot was kind of … not there? So parts of this were just reallllllyyyy sloooooow. It felt really repetitive. And the whole secret girlfriend thing was way underdeveloped. I will still read whatever Cho writes next, this just wasn’t my favorite. B/B+.

2021 book 130

 India Holton's The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

Do you want to read a fluffy, funny, and mildly silly historical romance? Shall I sweeten the pot and tell you it’s set in a fantasy version of Victorian England populated by pirates who fly around in houses? And that the titular society is made up of genteel middle-aged ladies who rule the skies and frequently set assassins on one another? And the protagonist, the niece and companion of one of said society members,  just wants to read a book, dammit! And her love interest is working for about twelve different bosses and has as many aliases (he’s very likable, and I was rooting for them, but she is much more interesting, and her mysterious backstory is relevant to the plot). Plus the villain of the piece is determined to restore women to their rightful places, make himself king, and force everyone to read his poetry! Anyway this was pure giddy entertainment, with a slyly hilarious (and feminist) narrative voice. I just hope they corrected all the “discrete”s to “discreet” in time for publication. A-.

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

2021 book 129

 Connie Willis' Doomsday Book

I’ve tried reading this a couple of times, but never got far because I assumed the story of a young woman historian getting stranded in the 1300s would be stressful. But I love To Say Nothing of the Dog so much that this time I plowed ahead anyway. And it was stressful, but not in the ways I expected. Meanwhile, her colleagues back in the future think something has gone wrong with her trip, but soon there’s a flu pandemic getting in the way of figuring it out (a timely read). Anyway the characters here are great but this book is GRIM. I kind of admire Willis for writing one book that is so fun and one that is the opposite of fun in the same series (and with a couple of the same characters). B+?

2021 book 128

 Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog

Normally I wait until the last possible minute to read my books for book club, so the details are fresh, but I was just too excited to reread this one! I LOVE a sci fi time travel romantic comedy full of bumbling and literary references and hilarity and dogs and cats. (I couldn’t sleep last night so was up reading, and maybe it was my tiredness, but one scene with a cat and a dog had me giggling out loud for like five pages straight.) So good.

2021 book 127

 Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts' Daughter of the Empire

I’m back to reading classic fantasy books I missed the first time around, and I’ve heard good things about Janny Wurts. I had some mixed feelings about this one, a start to a trilogy: it’s set in a pretty patriarchal world, where all the Lords are caught up in high-powered political games and there are a lot of rules involving honor. Our protagonist is a young girl whose father and brother are murdered, so now she's in charge of their estate (or whatever), and has to learn to play the game, avenge their deaths, avoid being murdered herself, and make her family name strong again. So I love all of that, I’m a sucker for books about politicking, and she’s clever and interesting (though sometimes too clever and making herself deadly enemies). But like there’s also a whole thing where she marries for an alliance and her husband is abusive and rapey to the slaves, and also she has a bunch of slaves murdered to keep a secret so she’s not so great either. I wish the slaves weren’t literally disposable, I guess. Though I imagine that is typical for slave owners. I guess I wish they didn’t own slaves?? Am I overthinking this? I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest of this series. B/B+.

2021 book 126

 Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild-Built

So this is the start of a new series from Chambers, the Monk and Robot series, and yet somehow I was surprised it involves a monk and a robot! (They’re both great.) In this world, it’s the far future, and robots gained consciousness and were like, we're not into these robot lives, and took themselves off into the wilderness, never to be seen again. The monk (non-binary) is on a quest to find themself and inevitably encounters a robot, who is going out on behalf of its people to see what humans are up to these days. This book has a chill vibe and it highly recommended if you are looking for books with a chill vibe, books where characters have discussions about nature and philosophy, and books where a monk teaches a robot how to cook onions. I look forward to more of their adventures (and hope we get more info on their religion, which is super interesting). Honestly, my only complaint is that I did want more! A/A-.

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

2021 book 125

 Timandra Whitecastle's Queens of the Wyrd

I liked the concept of this a lot, but the execution left a little to be desired. The main character is a half-giant in old Norse times, who was part of a famous band of warrior women until she got pregnant and retired. Now it’s ten years later and her old best friend needs her help on a rescue mission—and maybe preventing Ragnarok while they’re at it? But maybe they need more than just the two of them? Yup, it’s time to get the gang back together! (The other two are magical immortal types, one is the consort of Hel!) Anyway, that is all fine and dandy, but the book needed one more pass with a proofreader (lots of typos, and some weird repetitions), and maybe for the messages to be a little more subtle. Lots of gory battle scenes which are not really my thing, but I did like all the lady camaraderie and motherly feelings (still, despite the many hints toward her daughter's parentage, it’s frustrating not to have it confirmed). So this was fine, but it could have been awesomer? Oh well. B.

2021 book 124

 Alexis Hall's Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake

I have to be in the right mood for a contemporary romance, but this one is set in what is basically the Great British Bake-Off, so it shot to the top of my list. The problem here is that I was super psyched to read a novel about a struggling bisexual single mother competing in a baking show, and was initially not interested in the romance at all. I kept waiting for the romance scenes to end so the baking show stuff could commence! Or more scenes with her sassy lesbian best friend, adorable daughter, and/or her overachieving, overbearing parents. But then I realized I was reading a different story than I thought and got way more invested. I did wish it got there a liiiiittle faster; there is A LOT of frustrating stuff in there (I prefer less time spent on JERKS/it's annoying to wait so long for the inevitable). But good discussions of classism/what makes for a meaningful life. I think this would have been better if the balance had shifted a little earlier, but still very fun. B+.

2021 book 123

 Olivia Atwater's Ten Thousand Stitches

The second book in this series focuses on the cheerful bumbling faerie who briefly appeared in the first book, here determined to help a housemaid by basically acting as a fairy godfather (and getting her married to the aristo she has a crush on). The romance stuff is pretty predictable and therefore frustrating, but I really liked the friendship and camaraderie between the household servants. And the cheerful faerie is an absolute delight. I wanted more from the magic reveal at the end, but this was still a pleasant read. B+.

2021 book 122

 Olivia Atwater's Half a Soul

I surely do love a Regency fantasy romance, and this was a GREAT example of why! Our heroine had half her soul stolen by a faerie when she was a child, and now lives a somewhat unusual and emotionless life. But she’s off to London with her cousin, because her aunt is ready for some matchmaking! Lots of great meddling mamas and clever governesses here, but the book also addresses the social ills of the time (and it’s not entirely as fluffy as I make it sound; the aunt is a right old harridan to our poor heroine). Great slow building romance and side characters, and Atwater ties it up with a neat bow. A-.

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-.

2021 book 99

 Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit War

All right, now we're talking! The penultimate Eli Monpress book has lots of action, lots of secrets revealed, and lots of awesome moments. I am psyched to see how this series wraps up. A/A-.

2021 book 98

 Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit Eater

This third one feels at points like it’s spinning its wheels a little: Miranda is trying to catch Eli AGAIN, a dude wants to defeat Josef AGAIN, Nico is struggling with demon stuff AGAIN. But it ends up in a pretty interesting place, and I do still like these characters and find their various relationships compelling. B+.

2021 book 97

 Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit Rebellion

Solid second volume in this series; there are more hints at a larger plot playing out, but the book itself is fairly self-contained (a new cruel villain to be defeated etc). And when the titular spirit rebellion happens, I was legit PSYCHED! I like both the main characters and their various sidekicks a lot, and am very invested in everyone befriending all the spirits. Good stuff. A-.

2021 book 96

 Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit Thief

I enjoyed Aaron’s dragon books, so decided to check out her earlier Eli Monpress series, about a thief with magical powers. It’s also about the (woman) wizard trying to catch him and his companions, and the kingdom they mess around in. Lots of cool spirits and interesting world-building; I do think some things could have been fleshed out more (the villains are very over the top/one note) but it was fun enough that I’ll keep reading. A-/B+.

2021 book 95

 Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s A Fistful of Sky

Like the other books I’ve read by this author, this was kind of weird but engrossing and satisfying. This one is about a family with magical powers, but the middle girl never developed any during her teen years, and they suddenly break out when she's twenty—except it’s not a cute power, but a darker one. But Hoffman never goes in the expected direction, so things are way different than that implies. I loved all the family relationships here (though warning that the protagonist is a bit chubby and has a disapproving mother); the sibling interactions are all just really sweet and funny. There's another book about this family, and I’m excited to read more of them. A/A-.

2021 book 94

 Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of AJ Fikry

Rereading this for book club; it was one of my favorites of 2014 but I haven't revisited it since. General consensus is that this book is "a warm hug," particularly for book nerds such as ourselves. It’s easily the sort of thing you could sink into and read in one sitting, and even if it is more of the usual book club fodder than I usually go for, sometimes it’s nice to read something charming.

2021 book 93

 Becky Chambers' The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Another satisfying and enjoyable reading experience in the Wayfarers series! I have no idea why this is the last book when they’re all tenuously connected and there’s plenty of space for more stories (heh, space), but Chambers has a new series starting in July and I guess has other stuff going on. Anyway! This story centers on a little travel stop between interspace tunnels, and the three travelers who get stranded when there's an accident nearby (along with the mother and child who run the local rest stop). One of the characters is the love interest of the captain from book one, and it was nice to see her again. All the characters are great, and their conversations and interactions are engaging (if occasionally heavy-handed). Just a pleasant read all around. A-.

2021 book 92

 Becky Chambers' Record of a Spaceborn Few

I was hoping I'd like this a little more the second time around, but at first I had the same issue with it as last time: lots of story threads that never come together and never really go anywhere. The novel looks at several Human characters living on one of their big spaceship communities, and some of these are more compelling than others (I'm partial to the archivist hosting an alien anthropologist, and the woman who serves as a caretaker to the dead is also interesting, but some of the others are more frustrating). Then I realized these threads /do/ come together, just in a more philosophical way, looking at how we form families and communities, and how we can learn from our mistakes. Heady stuff. A-.

2021 book 91

 Becky Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit

Ahhhh I love this book so much, I can never get enough of stories about AIs who care about people and the people who care about them right back. I’m more interested in the flashback scenes—baby Pepper being raised by and rebuilding a space shuttle—but Sidra trying to adjust to human society is compelling too. 

2021 book 90

 Becky Chamber' A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

There’s a new Wayfarers book out on Tuesday, which is a perfect excuse to reread some Becky Chambers! I find this book satisfying every time, though I think for different reasons. It’s a solid space adventure story, it’s a great found family story, there are some cute romances and interesting societies of various kinds. So many reasons to just keep on turning pages!

2021 book 89

 Elizabeth Moon’s Crown of Renewal

A mostly satisfying wrap up to this series; not exactly what I expected, but that is generally more interesting. As always, I find the religious stuff fascinating, and there was a lot of cool stuff here in that regard. The ending does seem to leave a lot of room for more sequels, though I don’t think any are planned. And despite the author's note at the beginning, I felt this worked just fine without reading the two prequels about the historical figures (and frankly I like the characters trying to interpret old texts and stories and feel that knowing what actually happened is irrelevant). Anyway! A-.

2021 book 88

 Elizabeth Moon’s Limits of Power

Wow, this was satisfying and exciting in a large number of ways, and it’s not even the last volume in the series. I particularly loved the wry humor of the gods talking to people, and everything with Arcolin and the gnomes. And I legit cried in one scene toward the end which I cannot discuss bc spoilers. I can’t wait to get to the final book and see how rising good magic and FRIENDSHIP will defeat EVIL. A.

2021 book 87

 Elizabeth Moon's Echoes of Betrayal

Another fun and epic outing in this series! Plots keep moving forward, but in an interesting way, dragons and gnomes are in the mix, there are some mysteries at hand, etc. I do think the big bad needs to show up as more than mentions soon, and I am pretty curious about what Paks is up to. Lots of good politicking in this one too. Trigger warning for mention of child sexual abuse and miscarriage. A-/B+.

2021 book 86

 Elizabeth Moon’s Kings of the North

Solid second volume, building on the storylines of the first one and bringing the good vs evil battles/learning to be leaders up a notch. I really like these characters and was glad there was a little bit of romance in this one (though in general am definitely here for all the camaraderie and role modeling going on too). A/A-.

2021 book 85

 Elizabeth Moon’s Oath of Fealty

This is the start of another series set in Paks' world, but focused on some of the secondary characters from the previous trilogy (and written like twenty years later), all dealing with taking on the burden of leadership. Of course the new king is one, dealing with human-elven relations, but there's also the cool lady captain, who’s now a Duke, dealing with her evil family, and another captain who is now in charge of the whole military company (there are a few other POV characters as well, but it’s mainly these three). I really find the religion and world-building here interesting, and was invested in all three stories. Content warning for mentions of animal torture and rape (sigh). A-.

2021 book 84

 Elizabeth Moon’s Oath of Gold

The third book in this trilogy immediately made me feel better about how the previous one ended. It starts off strong and continues that way till close to the end, lots of magic and adventures and lost princes and cool ladies. Of course then there is a very lengthy torture scene (with implied rape) which soured me on things. I did like how it wrapped up, but ugh. An interesting side note, pretty sure the protagonist of this series is asexual. A-.

2021 book 83

 Elizabeth Moon's Divided Allegiance

The second volume of the Deeds of Paksenarrion starts off slow, but gradually gets really fun and interesting (and one lingering thing that annoyed me was even addressed!), only to end on a real freaking bummer note. I guess that averages out to a B+? 

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Content warning for an attempted rape.

2021 book 82

 Elizabeth Moon's Sheepfarmer's Daughter

I really liked that book by Moon, so decided to check out some of her other works, and was delighted to find several SFF series! This one is the start of an interesting epic fantasy sort of series, about a girl who runs away to join the local army (which is co-ed), really a band of mercenaries. GREAT characters and adventures here. I don’t know how a book that is primarily soldiers marching around manages to be so riveting, but it was! Of course, hints that the girl has a larger fate help. A-.

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Content warning for an attempted rape, handled about as well as can be expected, and one scene where a dude is tortured by the villain. 

2021 book 81

 Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population 

Holy shit, this book was so good, I am literally crying about it. It’s about an old woman who’s lived for forty years as a colonist on a planet, but it’s not working out and the company decides to relocate everyone. And she’s like no, this is my home, I’m staying with my garden and doing what I want! And she DOES! But ... she's not as alone as she thought. This did not really go anywhere I expected, but in such awesome ways. A.

2021 book 80

 Sanjena Sathian's Gold Diggers

So trying to explain this is going to be a lot: this book is about a young Indian-American boy, crushing on/friends with the Indian-American girl who lives catty-corner, when he discovers her mother makes her a magical lemonade infused with stolen golden jewelry, which gives her the ambitions/skills of its owner. So of course he drinks it. Things don’t go as planned, and ten years later he’s a cokehead avoiding working on his dissertation (this section didn’t work as well for me, because I’ve read enough books about messed up/depressed grad students) when the girl comes back into his life. I liked the touches of magical realism, and that the book touches on identity and family in interesting ways. It’s also really funny in parts. I have some thoughts about the whole outsider narrator looking at the central mother-daughter relationship, but haven’t totally decided where I’m landing on that. I might make my book club read this so I can discuss it with someone! (Now that I think of it, this would be a great selection for more literary minded book clubs. Lots of different things to talk about.) A-/B+.

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

2021 book 79

 Helen Oyeyemi's Peaces 

I am generally a big fan of Oyeyemi; her previous novel was one of my favorites of 2019. This one didn’t really work for me, though. It centers on a thirty-something gay couple who, along with their pet mongoose, are taking a mysterious trip on a mysterious train. But the whole thing is too surreal for my tastes. I love the fantastic, but surrealism is just not my thing. I did love the narrative voice (and the couple and their relationship), and the end was interesting, I just spent too much of this book feeling frustrated. B/B+.

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

2021 book 78

 Martha Wells' Fugitive Telemetry

I admit to being a little disappointed when I started this, because it doesn't take place after the events of the novel, and I really want to see what happens next! This is set earlier in the timeline, and finds Murderbot teaming up with Preservation security to solve a murder. I am here for sci-fi mysteries (and of course for Murderbot) so soon enough any lingering disappointment vanished. Another fun Murderbot story, even if it’s not covering any new ground. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 27th.