Reading in 2024 - The Merry Month of May!

 1.  House of Sky and Breath, 2. House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City 2 & 3) Sarah J. Maas - Why yes, I did end up reading this whole trilogy in two weeks - all 2,432 pages of it! Then I bought hardback copies, because YES!  I'm going to give Maas her due.  I think she's a really good writer who has opened the world of fantasy up to women especially, and I love the level of detail she uses as well as the way she's connected her different series.  Are they perfect books?  No...not by a long shot.  BUT, I love them more than I can possibly say.  The Urban Fantasy/Film Noir also gets mixed up with a dose of Science Fiction in a way that I am 100% here for.  This series was exactly the sort of read where I have trouble tearing myself away from the books - annoyed about things like work and family which take away my attention for even the littlest amount of time.  It was a joy to be able to take a deep dive into this series. 

3.  A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan (audio) - This is a reread for me.  I found the books on Libro.fm, and decided to give them a try.  To my delight, they are just as much fun in audio, and so I went ahead and collected the whole series with my banked up credits.  Love these books oh, so much!  

4.  The Brides of High Hill, Nghi Vo - The most recent of the Singing Hills novellas, as always it was a delight.  Much as I enjoyed it, though, it did use a trope that I'm not super crazy about.  (I can think of one other novella that used it where I was truly annoyed.)  Won't spoil it for anyone, because to describe the trope would give away the plot.  Suffice it to say that it was effectively used, but it's just not my favorite plot device.    

5.  The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan (audio) - Second in the series, also a lot of fun!  Seriously, if you want some lighthearted and fiesty fantasy, these are the books for you.  

6.  Biography of X, Catherine Lacey - This was an NPR Books We Love 2023 recommendation that I picked up when it went on sale.  Wasn't sure what to expect, exactly, because the blurb about it was intentionally vague.  It's definitely not my usual type of book.  But wow, ultimately it really blew me away.  It's an alternate history/biography "written" by the widow of a famous artist, complete with photos and pictures of documents....and wow, just wow.  It's the story of a very complex person who managed to live a whole bunch of different lives in a world that's super crazy.  I'm really glad I took a risk on this book.  (Plus, it was a nice palatte cleanser after so much fantasy.)  

7.  The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri (audio and print) - Not sure how I found this, but I did pick it up on the sale table largely on the basis of who did the blurbs.  Love the magic system, love the worldbuilding, love how complex the morality is, and am intrigued by the fact that at least one of our main two characters isn't all that likeable - but is still sympathetic.  

8.  House of Flame and Shadow, bonus Chapters, Sarah J. Maas - Bonus chapters, published exclusively to books sold in different places?  Not a fan.  Seriously.  That sort of marketing feels exploitative.  Who needs multiple copies of the same book/album in a bid to collect all of the writing/songs?  Someone on the internet collecting them all and making them available for free?  Thank you, internet!  I did really enjoy reading these.  It was a nice way to spend a bit more time with characters from books I obviously love, even if only one of the bonus chapters did anything to truly advance the story.  

9.  The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo (audio and print) - I was initially swept up by this book, eagerly devouring early chapters, only to get stalled out in the middle.  Audio to the rescue!  And I'm happy to report that it significantly picked up in the end.  Set in the Spanish Inquisition, this is a book about an ordinary woman who can perform small miracles, attracting the notice of powerful people and trying to stay out of trouble.  The ending was very satisfying.  Bonus:  Check out Bardugo's interview on Fresh Air for an interesting conversation about this book.  

10.  GodKiller, Hannah Kaner (audio and print) - Hands down, the prologue in this book is the very best prologue I've ever read.  Big bonus points for having two characters - including one of our main characters - who have disabilities.  (I literally have never seen anything quite like it in fantasy.)  The worldbuilding felt fresh and unique, and the characters are all interesting.  Having said that, it fell a little bit flat in a way I can't quite pinpoint.  I still enjoyed it - and I immediately picked up the sequel - but it won't be in the running for best book of the year.  Funny note.  Our main female character's name is Kissen, which is one of the nicknames my Gram used for me.  It's a little weird to have that name attached to that type of character.  

11.  In Five Years, Rebecca Serle - My husband gave me a Book Spa at Skylark Bookshop for Mother's Day, and oh goodness did I ever enjoy it!  Of course, it helps that one of my dearest friends - who is truly the only person I completely trust for book recommendations - did my Book Spa.  I came home with 8 new books (yes, I went over budget...), including this one.  Serle's book is not my normal fair, but I chose to bring it home because I was intrigued by the premise - which turned on one fantasy-adjacent incident.  Type A woman goes to sleep one night, and wakes up five years in the future, where she spends an hour surprised that nothing turned out as she expected it to before returning to her very planned out life.  She then spends the next five years trying to figure out/change her fate.  It was a very fast read, in part because I could not put it down, and I was surprised by just how emotional I was at the end.  It's a love story - but not the sort of love story you think it's going to be - and after reading it I just want to pull everyone I hold near and dear close and hold on to them forever.  

DNF: 

The Hemlock Queen, Hannah Whitten - Look, I absolutely loved Whitten's Wilderwood duology.  I was super excited about what I felt was an exciting new talent, and I couldn't wait to read anything and everything she wrote.  BUT.  I was really disappointed with The Foxglove King, the first in her Nightshade Crown series, in large part because I felt the main female character was entirely without agency.  Well silly me, I still preordered the second book.  Not my brightest moment.  I made it about 1/3 of the way through.  Same complaint holds - Lore has no agency and is constantly manipulated by everyone around her.  She's also something of a sad sack, and I just wanted to reach through the page and tell her to snap out of it.  Plus, I find love triangles to be tedious at best, and generaly they just leave me feeling annoyed.  I'm super annoyed with myself for trying to read this book.  Did a little bit of googling for reviews, and it seems like most people like it - so clearly, this is just not the book for me, personally.