October Reading...Spooky no more.

I used to spend October reading spooky books...but honestly, the world is horrible enough right now that I just can't quite bring myself to go there.  I need fun, and happy endings, and things that work out in the end even when the journey is hard. Maybe someday I'll go back to my October habit - just not this year.  

2020 Reading Goal: 83/100

1.  The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, 2. Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers (audio) - I adore these books, and so I started picking up the audio with my Libro.fm subscription.  I remain very grateful to the friend who introduced me to Chambers.  Her books are character-centered and have a sweetness to them that makes my heart sing.  The great Madeline L'Engle once spoke of how it is possible to share human truths in science fiction that people can't hear in more realistic prose - and Chambers is an excellent example of that.  Her books feel hopeful, and they focus on diversity and the complexity of what it means to be human.  

3. A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik (Audio) - I preordered this a long time ago, and then managed to snag the audio shortly after it was released by the library.  (I'm just super into audiobooks right now!). I love Novik, and I admire her ability to jump from one type of story to the next.  This is not her last two fairy tales - nor is it the series that brought her to the public's attention.  It's a twisted magical child in a magical school story, a delightful new take on a very old trope.  And I loved it...with one caveat.  Novik had to do a LOT of worldbuilding, and she chose to do that by having El, our narrator and main character, explain things constantly.  It wasn't the smoothest method of worldbuilding I've seen, and it did make it a bit difficult to stay connected to the story.  Still, a worthwhile read.  This very dark take on a magical school, along with Mean Girl level of machinations on the part of the teens who inhabit it felt like a breath of fresh air.  Yes, it was over the top in many ways - but the characters also felt more realistic because of it.  I can't wait for the next book!

4. Murder on Cold Street, Sherry Thomas (The Lady Sherlock Series, book 5) - Man, oh man, do I ever love these books!  Charlotte Holmes has quickly become one of my favorite interpretations of the Sherlock Holmes canon.  She's nothing at all like the standard 'plucky' heroine of historic fiction and is completely and utterly herself.  One thing that was made clear in this particular mystery is that she does not work alone.  Her friends and companions have built quite the team over the series, and that was nice to see.  Bonus, I had to run to google twice to look up the historic dress described so that I could more clearly imagine what Charlotte was wearing.  Her crazy fashion sense is a delight among the millions of period books that I've read because it's so unexpected and quite frankly nuts.  Also, she loves cake more than anything.  What's not to love about that?

5.  The Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (audio) - This was a NPR Book Concierge pick in 2016, and it's been on my wish list every since.  When I discovered the audio version on Libro.fm on sale I decided to take a risk.  I went back and read the comments on the book concierge, and I have to agree with their reviewer.  What makes this book so special is that it's a historical fantasy which actually pays attention to historical detail.  (If you read it, make sure to also read the author's notes in the back on research and go to her websites to look at the pictures she's collected.  It's a lot of fun! Read on for more notes about the whole series...

6.  The Invisible Life of Adie LaRue, V.E. Schwab (audio) - I've been very eagerly awaiting this book, and I was not at all disappointed. Every year there seems to be one book that really satisfies everything I want from a book, and this is it for 2020.  In fact, it took several days after I finished it before I could read again.  I've got an audio and a digital copy, and I will be purchasing a hardback asap.  That good.  I don't ordinarily do this, but this book is so special that I'm sharing the NPR Book Review.  I love Adie, and I love Henry.  The book is grounded in the very familiar mythology of a Faustian bargain, but it never feels derivative or dull...or even that familiar.  I think Schwab is a brilliant writer who just keeps getting better and better.  The end caught me slightly off guard - magic that for me is very, very rare.  I'm already looking forward to a reread as I'm left reflecting on the impressions and connections we make in the world.  

7. The Dark Days Pact and 8. The Dark Days Deceit, Alison Goodman - Of course, thanks to the library I was able to immediately move on to the rest of the Lady Helen trilogy!  (I'll be buying the whole series at some point.). So yes, the brilliant thing about this series is that there is actual historic detail regarding dress, customs, manners, class differences, etc.  It doesn't overwhelm the books, but is a nice anchor for them.  Helen in many ways is the product of her time, and does not start out as some idealized feminist beacon.  The men around her act and behave like men of their time would have, not like woke modern feminist dudes.  It's refreshing, and it grounds the fantastical elements - of which there are many - in a delightful way.  Goodman did a fairly good job of not telegraphing key plot points too soon, and I do appreciate the way she tied up certain plot elements in a way that satisfied the conventions of the time while also freeing Helen from them.  I enjoyed this series very much!

Unfinished (In which I cleaned out my queue and currently reading lists because life is just too short to read stuff that isn't speaking to you):

1.  Battle Ground, Jim Butcher - I was cautious when this arrived.  As I said in July, Peace Talks - which is really part one of this massive storyline - left me with a hefty dose of gloom and doom fatigue.  Soooo...Yeah, I skimmed through the book just to get a sense of what was going to happen.  In the process, I discovered a key plot point.  Said key plot point pissed me off so much that I decided not to read the book.  On the one hand, I get it.  When you are deep into a long-running series you need to shake things up, and no matter what you do you're going to tick off some portion of your fandom.  On the other hand, this is the second time Butcher has utilized this sort of plot point, which is honestly too close to the 'fridging' trope for my comfort.  Not only is that a crap way to advance the story for a male character, but it also makes me really wonder if the problem isn't just that Butcher doesn't know how to write about relationships.  Also, as I think back, I think he wrote himself into a corner with this particular character and just didn't know how to get himself out of it.  I've read several reviews of Battle Ground, and at the end of the day even if it weren't for this plot point it's not at all a normal Dresedon Files book and I'm not sure I'm interested.  As a friend said, "Somebody said it has the best fight scene ever - the entire book," and that makes me tired just thinking about it.  (I'm super cranky about this book, can you tell?)

2.  Deathless, Cathrynne M. Valente - Years ago I fell in love with Cathrynne M. Valente through her first The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland book.  By book 3 I was exhausted by the preciousness of it all, and I haven't read her since.  I'd heard good things about Deathless, though, and decided to give it a chance.  I loved the early portions, but by the time I was about 30% in that same exhaustion was settling in.  I love fairy tales...but there's just something about Valente's writing that rubs me the wrong way.  It's too precious, too twee.  

3.  Lent, Jo Walton - I have to stop preordering Walton's books.  I fell in love with her through my first Walton read, Among Others.  I still maintain that it's a brilliant book.  I also loved Tooth and Claw and My Real Children.  BUT, her recent books have just left me cold.  The Thessaly series was too cerebral, and I only made it halfway through the second book before giving up.  Lent has been similar.  I'll be interested in spurts, but have hit a point (at only 15ish% in) where I just sigh when I go to pick it up.  It remains to be seen as to whether or not I'll finish her most recent book.  As of the writing of this, I'm about 20% in, but haven't touched it in over a month.  Her concepts are magnificent, but I just don't enjoy reading the books.

4.  Happy Hour in Hell and 5. Sleeping Late on Judgement Day, Tad Williams - I used to read Williams a lot, and I loved him!  Actually really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy (Bobby Dollar), but that was years ago.  I've started Happy Hour in Hell probably a dozen times, but never make it past the first couple of chapters before I lose interest.  Just not my cup of tea right now.  

6.  Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir - Having gotten through Gideon, I checked the second book out from the library...and just couldn't get into it.  It's written in a very different style, which I usually appreciate but which made it hard to follow along in audio format.  And I missed Gideon's voice.  And I just didn't care.