Reading in 2024 - July!

57 total books so far in 2024!

1.  The Undermining of Twyla and Frank, Megan Bannen - I adore this book, absolutely and completely.  The second book in Bannen's cozy fantasy Tanria series, this book is a very sweet friends-to-lovers slow-burn story about a middle-age couple who've been friends for a long, long time.  And goodness, everything about this book did my heart good.  To read about a couple that's my age - to get a very realistic view of a woman who's my age, for all that it's set in a fantasy background - is just a breath of fresh air.  I also give kudos to Bannen for unique world-building.  There's just nothing else like it!  (And I just discovered there's a third book in the series on the way!)  Did I mention there are dragons?  And a fresh take on them at that?  Excellent read.  

2.  The Assassin's Blade, Sarah J. Maas - The Throne of Glass prequel, read third in what is Maas's recommended reading order, this is a collection of five short stories that cover the year prior to Celeana's imprisonment.  The first four stories were fun to read, but the fifth was pretty painful to read because you knew where it was going.  We did get confirmation of a theory of mine about who betrayed Celeana. (I love being right...)  I suspect that many of the details in these stories will show up in future books in one way or another, and that will be interesting to see.  Was this book entirely necessary?  Maybe, maybe not.  Depends on how much of the info shows up in future books.  (Update:  the answer is all.  All of it shows up in the later books, and all of it is necessary.)  Also, I 100% approve of reading this as the third book.  Because it's a series of novellas, I don't think it would have drawn me in if I'd read it first, and by putting it third it comes in between a natural transition in the main story.  

3.  Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas - As my daughter says, this is the training montage book.  It's also the book that starts the bridge between the Rifthold story and the story of the wider world around it.  I did kind of giggle because there are a couple of super well-known, very obvious romance tropes in this one.  For character introduction and growth, it's an important book.  

4.  Queen of Shadows, Sarah J. Maas - Yeah, no way to stop.  Must read the whole series as quickly as possible.  This is the book where Maas fully steps into her talent as a writer, and is quite possibly my favorite book of the series.  Maybe.  All four final books are pretty darn amazing, especially with the tandem read.  So much about this book left me feeling satisfied and happy.  

5. & 6.  Tandem read - Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn, Sarah J. Maas - Technically, EOS comes before TOD in publication order, but the internet is a wonderful thing and has a tandem reading plan that is highly recommended by loads of fans of this series.  The two books take place in the same timeline, but follow separate groups of people on separate continents.  The tandem reading plan essentially combines them into one big, glorious book.  Truth.  EOS ends on a massive cliffhanger.  It would have been extraordinarily annoying to read it on it's own and then be transported to a completely different story for the following book.  Also, while TOD tells a good story, I don't know that it would be super compelling on its own.  Had to really remind myself that these books are essentially The Empire Strikes Back, and so bad things must happen to get us to the finale.  

7.  Kingdom of Ash, Sarah J. Maas - And we finish the series.  And once finished, I had a massive book hangover and essentially couldn't read for a couple of days because nothing else could ever compare.  And I reread parts just because.  Also, thank goodness I'm reading this as a finished series because it might have killed me if I'd had to wait between books.  100% obsessed with this series which deserves every bit of hype it gets, and will 100% read it again at some point.  (I go back and forth between this and Crescent City as my favorite Maas series.  Throne of Glass is winning by a hair right now - largely because we know it's complete and who knows what could happen with Crescent City.)  There are things about Maas books you know to be true - there are going to be character losses, and some of them are going to hurt.  You also know the core group is going to come through just fine.  The males are going to be of a type, and the females are going to kick ass and take names.  Found family comes first, and pretty much everyone ends up with someone.  And I'm here for every minute of it.  And Aelin is now officially one of my top five favorite characters.  

8.  Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese - A recent book spa pick, I knew that historical fiction was perhaps the best way to follow up a massive fantasy series because it's so very different.  And my oh my, is this ever a lovely book.  First off, the prose is gorgeous.  Albanese is a very talented writer.  Second, the fictional story of a young needlewoman who has a brief affair with Nathanial Hawthorne, becoming the inspiration for the Scarlet Letter....what a genius idea.  I loved Isobel, and I love the journey she went on.  As someone for whom handwork is everything, I also loved all of the descriptions of her embroidery.  As always, an excellent recommendation from Skylark.  

DNF:

1.  The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri - Big, fat sigh.  I really wanted to love this sequel to the Jasmine Throne, which I reviewed favorably in May.  There was so much I enjoyed about that first book, but if I'm honest it just didn't excite me like so many of my favorites do.  I immediately picked up a copy of the Oleander Sword, and even checked out the audio twice, and just found myself feeling ambivalent about it.  I made it about 25% of the way in, tried multiple times over about a month to pick it back up, realized I didn't care, and gave up.    

2.  A Short Walk Through A Wide World, Douglas Westerbeke (Audio) - This pains me, because it really feels like it could have been something I loved.  I found this book because it was on NPR's list of top books from the first half of 2024, and NPR recommendations almost always are a success for me.  But...it was just kind of boring.  Felt like Addie LaRue, only not as good and in some ways the opposite.  (Where no one remembered Addie, Aubrey was in the papers and famous.)  Made it about half way through, and just didn't care enough to continue.