Reading in February and March and April (whoops!)

February:

1.  Armistice and 2. Amnesty, Lara Elena Donnelly - As promised, I'm reading through some series this year!  A few thoughts:

• I love the characters, warts and all.  
• A lot of key plot points felt too easy.  We're supposed to feel the danger, but it's just not there.  
• I do very much appreciate that this trilogy does explore the idea of good people being forced into situations where they have to do very bad things - and the fallout from those decisions.
• I also like that it explores relationships over time - relationships that grow, crumble, and change, very much as they do in real life. 
• I adored the world-building.  
• I was occasionally confused by the politics - which were a bit all over the place, but then war is messy like that. 
• At the end of the day, I loved these books - but I also feel a small tinge for what might have been if only they'd been slightly more tilted towards actual danger and intrigue.  Much as I loved the characters, it is a touch difficult to get invested in their story if you just know that everything is going to turn out ok eventually.    

3. The Silvered Serpents, Roshani Chokshi - I hesitated a bit over this book, the sequel to The Gilded Wolves.  I'd just felt a bit m'eh about the first book because of the way it ended.  (I also had a "Leigh Bardugo did it better" sort of feeling about the whole thing.). For some reason, though, I decided to revisit.  To my surprise, I enjoyed it!  Yay for that!  It's a good thing when an author picks up steam as they go through a series - sometimes it's as much fun to watch the author improve as it is to follow along with the story. 

4. Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (audio) - I adore Nnedi Okorafor, I really do.  It's a treat when she puts out a new book, and this was no exception.  I don't want to spoil it - as you should ALL read it - so all I will say is that I fell in love with Fatima, and the fable in the story spoke to me deeply.  I'll be reading this again. 

5. The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (audio) - A 2020 NPR Concierge book, I was tickled when this showed up in audio at the library.  What a delightful book!  You know my heart is with folklore and fairy tales, and I've spoken often of my appreciation for those that are non-European.  This ticked all of my boxes - including the desire for new ideas/concepts and excellent characters.  It well deserves the accolades it has received!

6. You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (audio) - I'm going to confess that I didn't get all of the way through.  Ruffin and Lamar are excellent storytellers and writers, and I think this is an important book that people should read.  But it was brutal to listen to - for all that the book is infused with humor and sisterly charm.  In merely telling stories and listing all of the ways Lamar has dealt with everyday racism, the sisters paint a picture that I'm not ever going to forget.  

7. SoulStar, C.L. Polk - In which we finish up Polk's delightful Kingston Saga.  It won't make sense if you read it as a standalone, so please start with Witchmark.  I was pretty emotional over this book.  Polk's inclusive love stories and LGBTQIA+ characters are a delight, and you always root for them.  I appreciate very much that each book focuses on different characters - in part because it allows you to really explore different facets of the world Polk has built.  They aren't perhaps the deepest books in the world, but they will get you in the feels.  

8. A Song Below Water, Bethany C. Morrow (audio) - It took me a while to get through this book.  On the one hand, I did adore the characters and I've always loved using science fiction or fantasy to explore real-life issues.  On the other hand, when it's this blatant, it can feel more like a lecture than like an immersive experience that makes you think and feel.  At the end of the day, I personally think it's less effective in getting the message across when it's hammered over your head.  BUT, sometimes the sledgehammer approach is needed.  Still working through my thoughts about this book.  What I do know for certain, though, is that the characters are absolutely amazing.  Morrow has real talent for bringing her characters to life, and that is enough to make me recommend this book.  

March: 

1. Girl, Serpent, Thorn, Melissa Basherdougt (audio) - I checked this book out from the library multiple times before I actually read it.  Don't know why I had so much trouble getting into it.  (There is a glut on the market of YA fantasy - and a lot of it isn't great.  For some reason, I was concerned this would be one of that crowd.). To my surprise, once I started listening I was swept in.  To my further surprise, there turned out to be considerably more complexity to the story and the characters than I've come to expect from most YA fiction.  Kudos!

2.  Rules for Visiting, Jessica Francis Kane (audio) - I picked up a sale copy of this book because it was a 2020 NPR book - even though it's not my normal read.  Then I found the audio at the library...and I'm very happy that I tried it.  This is the sort of book for which the word 'charming' was created.  Light and breezy, and yet also full of heart - it was an excellent read.  

3. Calculated Risks, Seanan McGuire - Hmm....McGuire's InCryptid series is still her popcorn book series, and fortunately the quality is still high.  (This is book 10).  I still don't think, though, that Sarah is the most engaging member of the Price family to lead a book.  This is partly because of who and what she is, so it feels odd to critique the book based on that.  Fortunately, the larger family - both by blood and found family - is enough to fill in the gaps and make the book more interesting.  I did think this was better than the last...although I do have some icky feelings about one plot point.  Will probably continue.   

4. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, Nghi Vo (audio, novella) - See my above comments on The Empress of Salt and Fortune.  This was more of the same!  So, so glad my library has the audio versions! 

5. The House in the Cerulean Sea, T. J. Klune (audio) - I tried to listen to this book a while back, and didn't get very far.  After that, I even took it off my queue.  That makes me sad, now, for what I would have lost had I not kept hearing snippets about it everywhere - recommendations with enough detail to make me go back and try again.  At its heart, it's a story about found family and about finding and embracing yourself.  What's not to love about that?!

6. The Echo Wife, Sarah Gailey (audio) - Gailey continues to impress, even as this book is very different from her others that I've read.  I actually think I need to reread it, because I was so caught up in the plot.  It's a very noir sort of science fiction...and it says a whole lot about the 'just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something' aspect of scientific advancement.  It also says a lot about toxic relationships between men and women and what it is to be a human.  I'm so excited to see where Gailey goes with her writing career!

7. Plain Bad Heroines, Emily M. Danforth (audio) - Another NPR recommendation, this story about a movie within a movie based on a book within a book isn't exactly my normal cup of tea, but I was intrigued by the premise.  My comments:  I did have trouble following the audio.  The frequent switch in perspective, unreliable narrators and the use of footnotes along with the use of only a single narrator who didn't do voices made that tricky.  I did actually get a copy of the book, and used that to help straighten myself out a bit - and that's a strike against it.  The book felt like a fever dream - mystical and strange, and ultimately never resolving or saying much. I enjoyed it because I enjoy Southern Gothic type books, and because of the strangeness of the mood - but it's not going to make my top 10 for the year by a long shot. 

April: 

1.  How to Make a Plant Love You, Summer Rayne Oakes - Oakes is one of the plant gurus I follow on youtube and social.  I hadn't really been thinking about reading her book until she started putting little quotes into her instagram posts.  Her writing is delightful.  Nothing here is earthshattering, but she does do a very beautiful job of explaining why it's important to connect with the natural world and just how much it does for us.  I didn't learn anything, but I very much enjoyed the read.  

2. A Court of Thorns & Roses (audio), 3.  A Court of Mist and Fury, 4. A Court of Wings and Ruin, 5. A court of Frost and Starlight, 6. A Court of Silver Flames, Sarah J. Maas - Friends, Maas is never going to win any awards for originality.  I snagged the first four books as an ebook bundle from the sale table - and I'm very glad I only spent $4 on them.  Now, normally I am annoyed by writing that so blatantly rips off its inspiration material, but in this case (and maybe in the frame of mind I was in) I actually enjoyed the ride and had a lot of fun identifying and laughing about all of the references.  Among them: Beauty and the Beast (both the original French story and Disney), the Mummy, a quote from Nietzsche, the Hunger Games, Twilight, Greek Mythology, and on and on and on.  It's derivative and highly unoriginal, but it's well-written enough that it sweeps you along so that you enjoy the ride.  Perfect for those times when you want something familiar and easy that you can just enjoy. (And I'll call myself out - I've been super critical of other writers like this, and have ranted about it many times.  I don't know why I was able to just relax and enjoy it this time - nor do I know why it amused instead of enraged me.)

7. The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow - My oh my oh my.  This was a lovely, lovely book.  (NPR Concierge again!). As much as I love Jane Austin, I'm not one to read inspired by books - with very few exceptions, all of which came to me through trusted recommendations such as NPR.  Hadlow has chosen to tell the story of Mary the often forgotten middle Bennet sister, and it was a delight of a story.  The first portion of the book retells Pride and Prejudice through Mary's POV, but then we move into what happens to her afterward.  It's really the story of what happens when a young woman finds herself and comes into her own.  I found myself wanting to reach through the pages to hug the young Mary, and then I cheered her on as she escaped the confines of her family to find herself.  

8. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers (audio and print) - There's no secret to the fact that I adore Becky Chambers.  In fact, I very recently reread the first three books in this series via audio.  There is a gentleness to these books which attracts me.  The plot of this installment is really a gentle low-stakes way to explore how strangers from very different species get to know each other.  One character ties into the other books to add a sense of continuity.  In real life, I spend a lot of time thinking about how hard it is for people who don't understand each other to get along.  Chambers would have us believe that a little bit of kindness and consideration and a willingness to learn is the key to doing just that.  

9. Breath, James Nestor - This was an NPR Best Book of 2020, but it was also recommended by a friend of a friend.  Fascinating stuff, especially for someone who's developed adult-onset asthma in the last couple of years.  Nester is a fantastic writer - able to explain the science behind his research in a way that's engaging and easy to comprehend.  I'll admit to feeling a bit of despair from time to time, but I also left with a great deal of curiosity and an interest in exploring some simple breathing techniques that just might help.  

Unfinished: 

1.  How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, K. Eason - Argh.  This pains me no end.  I ADORED Eason's first book about Rory Thorne.  It was such a delightfully fun mash-up of fairy tale and space opera - so unique and original.  And then the sequel committed the cardinal sin of being boring.  Big sigh.