It is a mystery

I cranked through a lot of books in May. There was a lot of rain. And also related book occurrence, I'm cleaning out the contents of a church and selling books on ebay. Feels vaguely sacrilegious but it's not like we're selling the nice bibles. 

Read

• Corambis by Katherine Addison - fourth and final book in the series. what a bizarre series. Like a trainwreck, couldn't look away. I talked about this in one of the crafting hangouts that I think I understand why her Tomb of Dragons has gone the way it has now that I've read this series, because I think she doesn't really write easy or simple stories. This series was about losing your place, over and over and over again and how to find the people that you should really stick with when all else has gone away. And some weird magic/sex stuff but hey, whatever. Library e-book
• A Drizzle of Magic by S. Usher Evans - I think I missed something by not reading the first one, but also this book is primarily about the main character walking across town and having discussions with other people. Somewhat dull, I guess there was a conclusion but I don't really remember it. Library e-book
• Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - this book was so delightful and funny to me. There are three main characters and they are all living in different genres of book and the interactions are hilarious and so good. Library audiobook
• The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by CM Waggoner - this book is so funny. It's a book for you if you like funny old ladies and meta about murder mysteries and that one town who has so many murdered people in it. I spent much of my time trying to pin-point exactly where the fake town was located because it was placed in upstate NY in my old stomping grounds. I think the closest would be Ballston Spa although it could be in the Guilderland area as well. Library audiobook
• Countess by Suzan Palumbo - nice little novella, enjoyed it, nice writing style. library e-book
• Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire - the author read this one in a more conversational style than most e-book readers and it was a delightful listen. semi-fictional day in the life of a book antiquarian. library audiobook
• The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall - really good book, has some great gender, some great fantasy and magic. library e-book
• Unnatural Magic by CM Waggoner - magical mysteries and really neat magic systems. set in the same world as The Ruthless Lady's Guide but in a different time and place. This was the author's first book, so I can see how the world was refined to what it was in the The Ruthless Lady's Guide. Also some cross species relations that were interesting. library e-book

Reread

• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - I love Murderbot. library e-book
• The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison - listen. they're good. library e-book
• The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells - I will never get over that the wizards have guns, I love this series so much. library e-book
• The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by CM Waggoner - deeply delightful book that I enjoyed a second time. library e-book
• Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells - library audiobook - definitely an interesting experience to listen to the book instead of read it. Felt like it slowed the action down a bit. 
• The Ships of Air by Martha Wells - they are having a very busy week in this series. library e-book
• The Gate of Gods by Martha Wells - the book was available when I finished the last one, so I just read it immediately. SO GOOD. library e-book

DNF

• Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas - I DNF this one because I am no longer on my small YA kick like when I read the first one, I'm finding YA irritating these days, so this was simply not for me. Library e-book

theme this month was weird shit

Read

• Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner - second in the series of Godkiller, had a twist I absolutely didn't see coming, so fucking good - library e-book
• We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed - Sequel to The Annual Migration of Clouds and also incredibly good and fucked up - library e-book
• The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy - minor horror, lots of queer people, lots of dead people - library e book
• The Bird King by G Willow Wilson - Two people have to flee the inquisition where magic can fuck you up, pretty good - library e-book
• The Chosen and Beautiful by Nghi Vo - neat queer book, probably would have made more sense to me if I had read the Great Gatsby - physical library book
• In the Vanisher's Palace by Aliette de Bodard - absolutely weird book, still unsure of what happened - library e-book
• The Virtu by Katherine Addison - these people do love talking but my god some shit is going down finally, third in the series maybe? another still to go - library e-book
• A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles - somehow I missed that this is book two in the series, but I didn't really need to read the first one. Delightful romance with a little danger. library e-book
• The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan - first in the trilogy, shit is so fucked up and the protag is a delight and so pissed at all the bad stuff, drama will continue until morale improves - physical library book
• The Goblin Emperor fanfics on AO3, literally just sorting highest kudos first and then reading down them until I hit page 15 or so. Good stuff.

DNF

• Alif the Unseen by G Willow Wilson - irritating protag

Re-read

• Witch King by Martha Wells
• The Goblin Emperor

this is shorter because it took a while to get a phone running where I had libby on it and I haven't been reading physical books as much

Read

• The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss - a delightful story of found family of monsters who fuck shit up - physical library book
• Honor's Knight by Rachel Bach - second in the series, space stuff, good fun, lots of aliens - I read the first book but can't figure out when, I might not have taken a photo of it - physical library book
• Swordcross by Freya Marske - this book was romance first, plot second (in comparison to her other series that I've read which was plot first, romance second) although the plot really picked up in the second half of the book and it turned out really well. plus, decent dive into fiber production which was pretty fun. library e-book
• The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst - light on plot, heavy on feel good community building, nice little chill book. library e-book

DNF 

• The Hurricane Wars - incredible worldbuilding and premise, absolutely ruined by the romance which was: on one side, a resistance fighter defending her land and on the other, the son of a man committing genocide who was actively assisting in the genocide. very high school feel to the romance, mostly ignoring the genocide - library e-book - I gave up 2/3 of the way through because the romance was so annoying

I did very little reading in Sept and Oct, so I'm lumping everything together

Read

• The West Passage by Jared Pechacek - this book is weird and delightful. absolutely bonkers stuff, library e-book
• What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama - sweet little slice of life book, really nice little read, library e-book
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - don't remember which series this one was now, but really love all these books, library e-book
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - I finished it so I must have thought it was good but I don't remember anything about it. I think it was about prioritizing creative stuff. I have a vague positive feeling towards it., library e-book
• Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo - sequel to Shadow and Bone, still good, library e-book
• Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White - this book still haunts me in a good/scary way. it's an incredibly visceral book and really really good if horrifying at parts. really really recommend it, library e-book
• Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall - if you can get over the crippling anxiety that the POV character has, it's a decent little baking romance book. It took me a bit to get over my irritation with the narrator, library e-book
• The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard - love the world building and the post apocalyptic feel. Pretty meh on the narrators, library e-book
• Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear - really enjoyed the narration and setting of this book, looking forward to the sequals. also appreciated the lack of explicit stuff. physical library book
• Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle - horror but not too horror for me. I took it slow and read a little at a time and by the end I was really into it. really good, if a bit meta about storytelling and the entertainment industry, library e-book
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros - incredible story and worldbuilding, amazing and cool, very irritating romance. at least the sex scenes are easily skippable, library e-book
• The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear - set in the same world as some of her other books that I loved, this is a delight and really interesting. She's so good at writing different voices and cultures and the stories are fun. Physical library book
• Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector - bouncing, funny and amusing narrator. definitely written as a recollection of adventure style, so there is some commentary of places, people and things that are the musings and opinions of the narrator in her later years. really enjoyed this, definitely a different narration style, library e-book
• Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - much like the first in the series, amazing plot, story and worldbuilding, annoying romance. physical library book

DNF

• The Power of Fun by Catherine Price - this book wasn't that interesting to read. I liked some of the ideas but bleh, it was boring, library e-book
• How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price - hard to do this when you read it as an e-book, library e-book
• The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang - if you like complex palace intrigue, this is for you. I disliked the explicit sex scenes and I'm not fond of complex palace intrigue, library e-book
• The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard - sequel, the narrators got too annoying to me and I disliked how grim everything was, library e-book

I'm getting tired of reading triolgies to be honest, need to find some standalone books. Not that I hate the trilogies, but it's hard to remember the rest in the series is out there if I don't read it immediately

Read in July

• The Broken Heavens by Kameron Hurley - final in the series, extremely dramatic ending, lots of people die and then they fix the problem! This series was really really good even if I had trouble keeping track of people sometimes.
• Ordination by Daniel M. Ford - this was okay. But extremely religious in that a paladin is visited by a goddess and immediately founds a religion and is like, preaching and performing miracles and things. I'm not sure I'll read the rest in the series because it was so religious and that was really offputting.
• Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko and translated by Julia Meitow Hersey - really good and unsettling book where magic and reality altering powers are taught to a young woman and weird shit happens, would love to see more of her and it looks like there's a second in the series that my library has!
• Ships of Air by Martha Wells - the wizards have guns and teleporting technology and the plot thickens. Thoroughly enjoying this series.
• Earth Logic by Laurie J. Marks - Interesting second in the series, ruminating on duty and timing and all sorts of things.
• How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler - wowzers this was good. Definitely more of a comedy/funny book until the very end where shit gets real.
• Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear - really liked this, a little heavy on debating the philosophy of governance in space for my tastes but hey, whatever works. It got really action packed about halfway through and much better
• Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope - real Jim Crow south shit but then magic. More YA style but sufficiently emotionally resonant to be excellent.
• Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - really enjoyed this, didn't understand the science parts but really good.
• Water Logic by Laurie J. Marks - third in the series, liked this one a lot, time travel!
• Amateur by Thomas Page McBee - non fiction for once, a little memoir? story? about how a transman navigated boxing gyms and masculinity
• Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - Enemies to married on both sides of a galactic war, delightful. Plus a little bit of cultural differences and some espionage
• Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee - what an incredible world they've built! Undead generals, space battles, siege on a space fortress/planet, still can't tell
• Air Logic by Laurie J. Marks - excellent final book to the series and a good wrap up to everything that happened.
• No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull - I don't quite understand what the point of the book was, but I did enjoy it. A series of unconnected people and someone else in the room.
• The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan - holy shit this was excellent. A really interestingly built world and really enjoyable writing. I loved the characters and can't wait for the sequel

DNF

• The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi - I finally got too annoyed at this series to keep reading. I found the setup for the love triangle annoying because I can see it coming a mile away, and like, having a bi protag and one of the love interests a woman is different but it was too annoying. Plus I found the protag irritating as hell.

 Read in May

• The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher - Really fun world building and what happens to an organization in decline, very cool, first in a trilogy. lots of bouncing between character views, physical library book
• Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan - wraps up the memoir series in a way I wasn't expecting and wrapped up some mysteries I thought they wouldn't wrap up and it was SO GOOD, physical library book
• The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells - the wizards have GUNS, extremely fun and good look at culture clashing, physical book borrowed from a friend
• Stormsong by C.L Polk - second in the series, main character had a very busy two weeks, destroying the horrible *redacted* and overthrowing a monarch, excellent, can't wait to read the third in the series, physical library book
• Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai - I wanted to like this a lot but the main character was so uwu that I barely got through it. Neat magic ideas though. Wish the author had focused on the greater world plot because that was super interesting instead of the not super interesting romance. Perhaps this book wasn't for me. library e-book
• Timekeeper by Tara Sim - solidly interesting book with a lot of cool worldbuilding and fun personal conflict. I found the main character to be annoying but probably realistic to most 17 year old people. library e-book
• The Paradox by Charlie Fletcher - second in the Oversight series, really good middle book, fun and engaging the whole way, even more characters but its to tell the whole story, even when some characters can't see certain parts, library e-book
• The Remnant by Charlie Fletcher - final in the series, had a big epic final thing that was really good and tied everything together but I'm irritated that *redacted* died and the power of twu wuv saved certain characters who I felt shouldn't have been saved because I found the twu wuv thing annoying. I think there's a theme here for me. I don't hate romance in a story but it can be annoying when it feels shoehorned in. library e-book

Re-read

• Witchmark by CL Polk - personal e-book - my library didn't have a copy in, so I bought the ebook so I could re-read it before reading the 2nd and 3rd in the series because I remember it being really really good and I was right. Magic, inequality in society and small and large revolutions, highly recommend. and they're gay. 

DNF

• Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James - tends toward sexually explicit, not my thing. library e-book

It has been A Week
 
Read in February

• The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart - excellent sequel in the series - library e-book
• Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander - a sweet little queer romance book library e-book
• The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart - epic conclusion of the trilogy, it's more fucked up than I thought before!!! library e-book
• This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron - great sequel to the first book, good YA read library e-book
• the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle  by Stuart Turton - twisty turny, enjoyable once the mystery started to be revealed, just gotta get past the first chapter library e-book
• The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo - great read, interesting to read a book from a non-human persepctive library e-book
• The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - hell of an adventure book, really really good - physical library book
• The Warden by Daniel M. Ford - really interesting world building, danger and adventure, looking forward to the sequel - physical library book

Yay books. I need to go to my library and drop the batch of physical books I got and get more :)

Read

• Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot - Years and years ago I tried reading this book and as far as I can tell is was written as a series, so we were in the time of "oh god everything is terrible and horrible and getting worse" which I think is why I didn't finish it the first time. It took me a bit to get through it but the little bit of hope at the end of the first book was very uplifting because everything else was so terrible. Physical library book
• The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman - Another delightful book in the series, intrigue, danger, books! Physical library book
• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan - incredibly good memoir style fantasy book with a lot more dead people than I expected. Physical library book
• Latest edition of Spin Off Magazine - library e-magazine
• Paladin's Faith by T Kingfisher - boy paladins are annoying but this really had some intriguing plots, enjoyable as always - E-book
• Latest edition of Handwoven Magazine - library e-magazine
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice - my god this was amazing. It gave me such anxiety and horror but it was good. The changes between the vivid dream sequences and the day to day trudging was just amazing. I could see the ending coming and it was terrible but I think that anticipation made it better. Library e-book
• Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree - fun, cozy, sweet with a little adventure, very good. Library e-book
• The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord - I would call this less of a sci-fi as a philosophical romance book in a sci-fi world. It was okay. Library e-book
• A Power Unbound by Freya Marske - appropriately dramatic ending to the series, delightful. Library e-book
• Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein - really decent if you don't know much about the fiber supply chain but I was a little disappointed that the author didn't really like, contemplate what could change or how to do it. Which maybe wasn't the point. I think maybe I knew too much about the fiber industry although I like her analysis of a lot of things. Library e-book
•  

Re-read 

• Witch King by Martha Wells - third time, still just as good. Physical library book
• The Wonder Engine by T Kingfisher - super glad I read this before the latest Paladin book came out, fun/horrible as always. E-book

Read

• Bluebeard's Wife by T Kingfisher https://firesidefiction.com/bluebeards-wife
• Uncanny Magazine Issue 41 - library e-book
• The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith - delightful concept with only some theology (and not in an annoying way) thrown in despite the premise. library e-book
• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth - holy shit was this good and horrifying. I felt this in my soul. People doing what they can in horrible circumstances. library e-book
• Handwoven Magazine Issue something - library e-magazine
• In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens - Delightful adventure fantasy setting, fun characters and good ending. library e-book
• The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith - not as good as first in the series, more bemoaning their feelings and not communicating with each other which I find irritating. picks up well at the end though. Library e-book
• The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas - first in a series and ends on a cliffhanger unfortunately. Great setting, definitely YA writing vibes. Library e-book
• The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - I exclaimed over this elsewhere but my goodness, what a great book! Intrigue, adventure, suffering, gods, magic! So good, I held onto it for another day so I could re-read the last couple of chapters again. Library e-book.
• Vanishing Fleece by Clara Parkes - a decent non-fiction look at the medium scale fiber industry still going in the United States. Felt more doomy than I think the author intended, I'm not sure if we were supposed to have read the blog she wrote or what but the ending was kinda anticlimactic. Would have been better with pictures to be honest. Library e-book
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - great YA book with a great concept and story. There was a lot of teenagers wandering in circles and having angst but sometimes that's how that goes. library e-book
• Rule of the Aurora King by Nisha J. Tuli - second in the series, not as good as the first book, irritating amounts of wanting to have hate sex with another character. Ignoring that, the story was great and I can't wait for the third (and maybe final) book. library e-book
• The Sharing Knife Series (four books, Beguilement, Legacy, Passage, Horizon) - I read all four books so I'll put them in as a set since they technically were one thing then split. A delight! Nothing better than a adventure romance about breaking down cultural barriers while there's mortal danger all around. Fun, silly and serious. Delightfully good and thoroughly enjoyable. Physical library books
• Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear - only sequel I read this month that felt like it raised the stakes and the characters grew with the stakes. More danger, more disasters and clearly the second act where much feels hopeless but the heroes press on because they must. Very good, did enjoy a lot. I have the third one already so that's next to read. Physical library book
• Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold - these are such delightful little books. Very fun. Physical library book
• Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold - same as above, fun and some mysteries to solve. Physical library book
• Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold - hilarious misadventures of losing everyone in your party and then finding them all again in danger. Physical library book

Re-read

• The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto by copperbadge - I re-read this fanfiction a lot because I understand Caleb Canto on a very deep level and relate so hard to him in so many ways. It's also a delightful story. https://archiveofourown.org/works/44042602?view_full_work=true

DNF

• Four Thousand Weeks buy Oliver Burkeman - my god this guy loves an extended sentence. I don't know if I've ever read another book with so many commas, semicolons, colons and em-dashes because he could never fit a single thought into a normal length sentence. I mostly agree with his ideas on choosing things and some other stuff but honestly, this could have been a five thousand word essay or something. I just got tired of his stupid sentences and quit the book so I don't actually know what his bringing together thesis was. library e-book

Giving this a try

• Babel by R.F. Kuang - really wonderful fantasy building of an alternate British Empire era. Really neat and kinda sad. Library e-book
• Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - delightful, sweet, lots of interesting ideas in a little novel. Library e-book
• The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older - Sherlock Holmes on Mars, really interesting although it took me a bit to remember it was a Sherlock Holmes-esque book. Pretty short. Library audiobook
• Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher re-read - a wonderful story and I appreciate the details on spinning. Library e-book
• Handwoven Magazine Issue   - Library e-book
• A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske re-read - super interesting in that it has really neat magical worldbuilding, then shows the other ways magic can be done than the "right" way. Has some explicit stuff but easy enough to skip. Library e-book
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - Nice little gay book, more young adult or young teen book but a sweet little read anyway. Library e-book
• The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin - Magical princess meets disaster lesbian princess. Delightful if a little different style of writing than a lot of fantasy books. Library e-book
• Daughter of the Sun by Effie Calvin - Number two in this series, more lesbians but one is a paladin and one is a chaos goddess. Drama! Library e-book
• The Queen of Rhodia by Effie Calvin - Number three in the series, all the lesbians plus dragons! Library e-book
• The Restless Truth by Freya Marske re-read - delightful and lighter than A Marvellous Light, magic and intrigue and hijinks. Has some explicit stuff but easy enough to skip. Library e-book
• The Martian by Andy Weir - I get why a lot of people liked it, it was a fun if slightly stressful read. Library e-book
• Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - sweet little story. Library e-book
• The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman - second in the series, pretty romping adventure. Really liking the series overall. Physical personal book

I read a lot this month huh