Reading in 2024 - November!

1.  Empire of Shadows, 2.  Tomb of the Sun King, and 3. The Stollen Apocalypse (novella),  Jacquelyn Benson - After starting and stopping several books, I went back to my TBR pile and picked out Empire of the Shadows.  It's a booktok recommendation that I've only seen in a couple of places.  These books are very The Mummy (Brenden Frazier versions) or Disney's The Jungle Cruise with a dash of Indiana Jones in them.  They aren't going to win any awards for originality.  BUT, the characters are charming, the action is excellent, the romance was just right, and sometimes this is exactly what is needed.  I blasted through all three books in just a few days.  (Another record 10 hour reading day for the second.)  And I enjoyed them enough that I signed up for Benson's newsletter so I can get notice of when the next book goes up for preorder.  

4.  This Savage Song and 5.  Our Dark Duet, V.E. Schwab - It is V. E. Schwab.  I knew these books were going to be good, and I'm kind of surprised I hadn't read them already.  Still having trouble settling on books, I decided to dive in, knowing the quality would be there.  Truth be told, these are darker than I really want/need right now....but there was some catharsis in that.  Kate and August, well, I just love them.  They are morally grey in a very bleak world, but are both ultimately trying to do the right thing.  There was hope in the end, even amidst tragedy, and isn't that all we can ever really ask for? 

6.  The Prison Healer, Lynette Noni - A booktok recommendation, I've seen it all over the place.  And it was just ok.  I didn't dislike it, and I did read through quickly...but it just wasn't the be all, end all that I had expected.  Perhaps it read a bit too young.  Perhaps there were too many instances where our heroine survived through no action of her own (always being saved by someone else).  Perhaps that last twist made me roll my eyes instead of gasp with delight.  It just wasn't for me.  I did buy the second book because it was on sale, but I'm not 100% sure that I'll read it.  

7.  Daughter of No Worlds, Carissa Broadbent - Yep, another booktok recommendation, and this time it was a good one.  (I'm just kind of annoyed because this series is only available in paperback...not in digital.)  This is exactly the sort of fantasy series that I want right now - strong and smart female protagonist, big, epic story arcs, just the right amount of romance, interesting magic systems, long enough to be able to lose myself in that world for a while.  Do I think it's the best series I've ever read?  Maybe not.  Am I thoroughly enjoying myself?  Yes.  Is it scratching the itch left behind by my Maasverse reads this year?  Definitly.  Ordered the second two books so that they would arrive before I finished the first!  

8.  Starling House, Alix E. Harrow (audio) - This is another fall reread, of a book that was just published last year.  It's amazing, and I cannot say enough good things about it.  Opal and Arthur are deeply flawed characters, and yet they find home and hope with each other.  Love it so, so much.  

9.  A Spindle Splintered, Alix E. Harrow (audio, novella) - Wasn’t ready to leave Harrow’s work yet, so I did a reread of this gem of a novella.  It’s the perfect “Fractured Fairy Tale” and I love every minute. 

10.  Children of Fallen Gods and 11. Mother of Death and Dawn, Carissa Broadbent - Books 2 and 3 of the War of Lost Hearts series, following Daughter of No Worlds, and they were amazing!  I agree with several booktoks that I’ve seen that say that this series is criminally underrated.  By the end, I was very much in love with this series.  Max and Tisaanah may just be my favorite fantasy couple of all time, which is saying something!  I will say that in book two I was annoyed with the way Broadbent brought in a second group of characters to follow….at least, I was annoyed until she pulled it all together and I understood what she was doing.  Broadbent did not shy away from putting her main characters through some truly horrible things, and there were some some truly hard consequences they did have to face - which I actually appreciated, because all too often it seems like writers go easy on the characters they love.  What I very much appreciated, though, was that the Happily Ever After Broadbent gave them included extended scenes so that we could follow them for a while afterwords.  That doesn’t happen often, and I loved it.  Very much enjoyed the series….giving serious thought to reading more Broadbent.  

12.  To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers (Audio, novella) - Snuck this one in.  It’s the only Chambers book I hadn’t reread, and truth be told I don’t love it as much as I love the rest of her work.  It’s the story of a small group of scientists, exploring other worlds to learn about the life forms on them.  Back home, things go dark and they are left with a choice of how to go on.  It’s just more sad than the rest of Chambers’ work…with a less hopeful ending than I’m used to.  

13.  The City in Glass, Nghi Vo (novella) - I had prepurchased this book, and it took forever to actually read it, for all that it’s only 150 pages long.  It’s the story of a demon who loves a city and of one of the angels who destroyed it - very mythic in scope.  Not at all surprised that this ended up on NPR’s Books We Love 2024.  It is a beautiful book…I just don’t think it was what I wanted in the moment.  However, when NPR released the 2024 list, I decided I needed to finish up some of the books I’d started and not finished before I dove into any new recommendations from the list.  So, I pushed through.  End of day, I did enjoy it, if not so much as I’d hoped.  The last half was better than the first, but I’m a tad confused by the ending.  

Unfinished: 

1.  Jade City, Fonda Lee - This recommendation came from Zoranne on Instagram, and while I absolutely loved the first recommendation I picked up from her this one was just m'eh.  I do think it's well written, and can see the appeal for others - but mafiaesque crime families are not my thing, and I got bored by the amount of time that was spent explaining things.  I made it about 40% of the way in before I decided it wasn't going to get better and so I gave up.  Totally feel it was worth the attempt, so I regret nothing.