Tell Me A Story....August Books

 2020 Reading Goal: 68/100. 

This is the month where something in my heart kept whispering, "Tell me a story."  I don't want books that make me think too much or that are too real.  I want to be wrapped up and carried away in words...like I always used to be.  Perhaps it's a judgment on the state of the world, perhaps it's a nod to some changes in my health, perhaps it's because I began to seriously work on lace again (a task that has always paired beautifully with audio), perhaps it's just because I love a good story.  

1.  Flyaway, Kathleen Jennings - This recommendation was part of the August Indie Next List...which I don't think I've ever noticed before, but which showed up in my inbox and intrigued me.  It was an enjoyable read.  I loved the Australian setting, in part because it was just very different.  The characters were engaging, and the story was interesting.  It's been a while since I read anything that was truly Gothic, and this fit the bill quite nicely.  But....I had to look up the book to remind myself of details when I sat down to write this post because honestly, I couldn't remember anything at first.  Yes, I read a lot of books this month, but that detail is telling to me.  Had it really taken ahold of me I would have remembered.  

2. A Queen in Hiding, 5. The Queen of the Raiders, 7. A Broken Queen, 8. The Cerulean Queen (audio and print), Sarah Kazloff 

Before I get into my comments about the book, a note about the series.  The first book was a pick from my Skylark Bookspa, recommended by one of their wonderful booksellers who happens to have similar taste to mine.  Beth had enjoyed this first book - although she did say that it was rather standard fantasy fare.  The interesting thing is that Kazloff had finished all four books in the series before they were published, and Tor decided to release the books in four consecutive months.  For someone like me, who rather frequently finds herself in the position of having to wait a year or more for a sequel (only to discover I have to work to remember enough to connect the dots) this was very appealing.  

During a fairly routine browse of my library's audiobooks (DBRL), I discovered they had recently added this entire series.  Even better, the reader is Imogen Church, who is quite frankly one of my favorite readers ever.  (The great Jim Dale is my other favorite.). All in all, it's approximately 67 hours of audio that I was able to condense into 45.  The audio was so, so much fun - really bringing books that were already good to life.  I'll be picking up copies of books 2, 3, and 4 soon!

Books are numbered according to where they fell during my month of reading.  I did have to wait a bit between books 2 and 3 for the audio to become available....such is the agony and ecstasy of library audiobooks.

SO.  Yes, this is a standard fantasy in many ways.  It's also one of the better-written series I've found in a long while, and it surprised me with a number of things.  Rather than give a blurb for each book, I'll just share some of what I loved.

• Fantasy trope:  our hero is an orphan.  I was shocked that we spent so much time with Cerulea's parents and that she was given other families throughout the series to build on.  It was refreshing to get to know them as people - and not as memories. 
• Good grief, Kazloff does secondary and even tertiary characters VERY well.  They all felt like fully rounded people.
• I don't know that I've ever seen a book deal directly with the trauma of standard fantasy events quite like the third book does.  That title is accurate, and I was quite frankly thrilled that Kazloff took time to explore how people are hurt by conflicts.  
• Not going to lie.  When I was a kid, I pretended I was a superhero called Animal Girl who could talk to animals.  Ahem.  I related. 
• The bad guys are bad, but they are given reasons and the reader is given some sympathy for them.
• The naming of our Queen...just track it, especially in the second book.  I didn't quite catch on at first, but when I did I loved it.  
• I didn't ever get lost in the bazillion characters because they all felt so fully-fleshed out that I was invested in all of them.  
• Yeah, it was 'standard' fantasy, but it never felt derivative.  
• Part of that is because the plot stayed fresh, with enough unexpected twists and turns to keep me engaged.  Yep, some of it was predictable - but the journey was a pleasure.  

3. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, K. Eason (audio and print) - OMG.  I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!  Everything I could ask for and more.  You know I love a good fractured fairy tale, and this was perfect in so, so many ways.  Even better, I only have to wait until the end of October for the sequel.  The official description calls it a mash-up of Princess Leia and the Princess Bride, and while I think that's apt I also don't think it fully does it justice.  I wasn't, for example, expecting the ingenious way that Sleeping Beauty was included!  Rory is one of my new favorite literary characters, and I can't wait to see what she does next.  

4.  The Gentlemen's Guide to Getting Lucky, Mackenzi Lee (novella) - As you may remember, I picked up Lee's first book in my bookspa, and then rushed to buy the second.  I'm not so patiently waiting right now for the third to come out...and this little novella was just what the doctor ordered while listening to a long, intense audio series!  Not hard to imagine what it's about with that title, but to my delight, it was far sweeter and more emotional than I had expected.  After all, our lovers are living with a fair amount of trauma and the challenge of facing love that is real.  Very sweet.  

6. Drowned Country, Emily Tesh (novella) - And again, another novella while listening to that long, intense audio series - this time one that had been preordered and was much anticipated based on my love for Tesh's first work, Silver in the Wood.  Big sigh.  It was also quite beautiful, and also shared an arc of emotional growth that was based around a love story.  Of course, I'm particular to Green Man stories, so I may have a special place in my heart for these books.  I do adore Tesh.  Hoping she does some full-length works in the future!

9. The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders (audio and print - a reclaimed unfinished) - I only made it about 1/3 of the way through my first attempted read shortly after this book was published.  I just couldn't find my way into caring about any of the characters, and that was super disappointing because I really like Charlie Jane Anders.  I decided to give it another go when I discovered the library was carrying the audio, and I'm glad I did.  The two readers gave me the emotional in that I needed, and having the story read to me helped me around some of the worldbuilding that I'd found off-putting in print.  Listening felt a bit like watching Shakespear - you just have to relax into it and then you understand.  While ultimately I am glad I finished, I was unsatisfied with the actual ending (set up to more books?  or just a way to leave it open-ended?) and was a bit annoyed about the fact that my strongest emotion toward any of it was dislike for one character.  Not my cup of tea.

10. Iron Cast, Destiny Soria - Eh.  I love that the central relationship in the book is a pair of best friends.  The concept of magical people being outcasts is a bit overdone at this point, but the way in which the magic was manifested was pretty cool.  The pre-prohibition nightclub setting was cool.  Lots to recommend it, but I feel only lukewarm.  I think this one suffered a bit because I read so many other books this month that were so very, very good.  (Flyaway also suffered from that.)

11. Be the Bridge, LaTasha Morrison & Jennie Allen - I discovered the nonprofit movement Be the Bridge in the wake of George Floyd's death, and have been deeply inspired by the work that it is doing.  LaTasha Morrison is the founder, and this is the book where she lays out the principles of the group, which seeks to find racial reconciliation.  If you are like me, a person of faith, this is a deeply meaningful introduction to that work which provides a lot of guidance for soul searching as well as concrete actions you can take.  

12.  The Near Witch, V. E Schwab (audio and print - a reclaimed unfinished) - On my first attempted read, I found it to be derivative of a thousand other books.  Nevertheless, I purchased the audio when I found it on sale for just a couple of dollars on Libro.fm. (I have a monthly membership that supports Skylark.  This is an amazing, amazing service if you love audiobooks as I do.). Inspired by my completion of the Anders book, I decided to go through my unfinished shelf looking for books to revisit...and here I am.  It is a charming if ultimately forgettable book, valuable in that it helps to show how one of my favorite writers got her start.  

13. The Thread That Binds the Bones, Nina Kiriki Hoffman - It's been a very long while since I read any of Hoffman's books, but I distinctly remember how beautiful my first experience with her writing was.  (Perhaps A Fistful of Sky...). I discovered this book on the iTunes sale page and decided to give it a try.  Reading through it I was reminded of why I had enjoyed Hoffman before.  There is a sweetness and an optimism in her work, along with themes of healing and redemption, that are powerful.  Reminds me of Charles De Lint in many ways, which shouldn't surprise anyone as they are friends.  Once I was in the book, I was all-in...and in fact had trouble putting it down to go to bed.  The timeline felt rushed, and yes...the characters weren't as well rounded as I'd like...but this was a fun read and I'm glad I found it.  With everything going on in the world, it also felt good to read something about people who can change.  I just wish the ending had been a teensy bit longer....I always like it when an author gives more follow-up.