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ninja-muse · 1 month

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March was a productive month, and not just because I read a good number of books. I also started writing again after a bit of a slump, and I managed to unhaul 37 books from my home library, though some of them have not actually left the house yet. The used bookstore I went to didn't take everything so I have to decide which one I'm hitting next. Or if I'm dumping the bulk on a thrift store because let's be honest, most used bookstores aren't going to want what's left either.

Can you tell I got rid of that many? Only if you saw the state of things before. My shelves are neat and tidy with no books wedged on top of other books to make things fit.

And I was so, so close to ending the month without buying more books! I really thought I was going to manage it! And then, well, I mentioned the used bookstore, right? I've been meaning to read Delaney but few bookstores stock him, and Lincoln's Dreams is one of the only Connie Willis novels I don't own. (That shop also had stickers, and a cute bookmark I can't show you because whiting out the identifying features would ruin the effect.) Under the Smokestrewn Sky was a rescue, of sorts. Why return it to the publisher when you could just buy it, right?

Anyway, in terms of books read, there were some really good ones! And only one that was not so great. I think I'm done reading and collecting Rat Queens and might need to include those in the next unhaul. And don't get me wrong about the Evie Dunmore. It is a Good Historical Romance Novel. There's just something about it that didn't work for me.

Click through to see everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

I Love Russia - Elena Kostyuchenko, translated by Bela Shayevich and Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse

Portraits and memories of the unsung Russia—the poor, the broken, the marginalized.

10/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

warnings: so many, including but not limited to misogyny, homophobia, genocide, violence, sexual violence, drugs and alcohol, abuse, child death, suicide

reading copy

True North - Andrew J. Graff

The Brechts move to Michigan to restart a rafting business. They hope it’ll save their family, but it might do the opposite.

7.5/10

Menominee secondary character

library book

Sociopath - Patric Gagne

As a child, Patric knew something about her was off and kept countering a lack of feeling with dark acts. As a young woman, she learns the definition of “sociopath” and it changes everything. Out in April.

8/10

neurodivergent author

To a Darker Shore - Leanne Schwartz

When the invention that should have guaranteed Alesta's future fails, her best friend takes the fall and is sacrificed to the demon besieging their kingdom. To rescue him, Alesta must descend into hell, where she learns truths about her society—and her gods. Out in April.

8/10

fat protagonist, autistic main character, major autistic secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, autistic author

warning: classism, strict religion, autism-related ableism

reading copy

The Temple of Fortuna - Elodie Harper

Amara’s living as a courtesan in Rome but misses her lover and daughter in Pompeii. When she returns to the city, her needs and desires are sent into turmoil—and Vesuvius has started to rumble.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic), Ethiopian secondary characters

warning: misogynist society, sexual violence, slave society

Funny Story - Emily Henry

What do you do when your partners dump you for each other? Move in together, of course! Out in April.

7.5/10

Iranian-American secondary character, Black secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic)

warning: toxic relationships, mainly in backstory

reading copy

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop - Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan

Tired of fulling expectations, Yeongju opens a bookshop. She’s not the only one to find happiness there.

7.5/10

Korean cast, Korean author

library ebook

Aftermarket Afterlife - Seanan McGuire

The Covenant has started actively pursuing the Prices and their allies, and all Mary wants to do is protect her family.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, gay, bi man), Korean-American secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: canon-typical violence, bigots

library ebook

Knife Skills for Beginners - Orlando Murrin

Paul Delamare is filling in for a friend at a cooking school when a body is found on the premises.

6.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), Black British secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic)

reading copy

Let Them Tremble - Wolf Epley

The revolution is brewing and both the workers and the government refuse bend. Throw in a destroyed print shop, ghosts, and malfunctioning Shroud devices, and you know things won’t end well.

7/10

major disabled character (partial blindness, limp, hand disfigurement), cast largely of non-racialized colour

won/digital reading copy

The Gentleman’s Gambit - Evie Dunmore

Catriona needs to avoid distractions to write her book but is pressed to help her father’s new colleague around Oxford. Elias needs her help if he ever hopes to smuggle antiquities out of the Ashmolean.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bi woman), Lebanese love interest, Lebanese secondary character

warning: colonial/orientalist characters

library book

Rat Queens, Vol. 5 - Kurtis J. Wiebe with Owen Gieni (illustrator)

Palisade’s problems continue, including hallucinations, a hipster bar, and a sinister wizard.

6/10

major Black character, major 🏳️‍🌈 character (lesbian), 🇨🇦

off my TBR shelves

Children’s Books

Penelope Rex and the Problem with Pets - Ryan Higgins

Mittens hogs the bed, eats from the trash, and causes all kinds of trouble—and Penelope didn’t even want them!

Currently reading

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons - Peter S. Beagle

Robert doesn’t want to be the country’s dragon exterminator on the best of days, but then Princess Cerise meets Prince Reginald. Out in May.

reading copy

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 12 Yearly total: 32 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 8 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 3 ARCs acquired: 5 ARCs unhauled: 7 DNFs: 0

January February

#booklr #bookblr #book recommendations #book recs #reading wrap-ups #read in 2024 #my photos

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ereborne · 15 days

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1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 17, 20, 26, 32, 44, 46 (weird or genre-defying books), 47, 50

Thank you for so many prompts!! This was so fun to do and now it is so long. I hope it's as good to read as it was to write out!

1) Name the best book you've read so far this year: I answered Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire to digs just a moment ago, but I'm glad you asked too, because honorable mention goes to Inheritance by Nora Roberts. It came out in November, not technically 2024, but time is fake and 2024 is just beginning anyway, so I'm counting it. Inheritance starts pretty slow and for a bit I was wondering how it was going to manage a satisfying resolution, and then I realized she was doing something new! (unfair. she's been building to this since 2015, it's just that now is when it's starting to really click with me) Instead of a trilogy with three couples whose romance arcs each get centered in their own book, this is going to be a trilogy focusing on unraveling the family curse/haunting, with the four main characters growing tighter as a unit (and forming their two romantic pairs, of course) throughout. I really like the characters and I am delighted by the curse/haunt storytelling. Cannot wait to see more.

2) Favorite fantasy book(s): this is so hard. okay, okay, brief rundown. brief. I can do this. bookshelf by bookshelf, I think. we'll take as granted everything by Seanan McGuire, sure. Bayou Moon and Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews. By the Sword and From a High Tower by Mercedes Lackey. Bryony and Roses and Summer in Orcus by T Kingfisher. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane. The Long Patrol-Marlfox-Taggerung by Brian Jacques, which I always read in a shot as if they were one book. Similarly, the Protector of the Small and Magic Circle quartets by Tamora Pierce, and the Icewind Dale trilogy by RA Salvatore. Tangled Webs by Elaine Cunningham. The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien (really all the LotR trilogy, but even I cannot say I sit and read them all three straight through as if they were one). The Wee Free Men and Thud! by Terry Pratchett.

4) Favorite science fiction book(s): The Ship Who Sang and Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey. Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Exit Strategy and Network Effect by Martha Wells. The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. Rescues and the Rhyssa by TS Porter (also a favored queer fiction book, but I love the alien worldbuilding so much it has to be here)

8) Favorite queer fiction book(s): Humanity for Beginners by Faith Mudge. Nightvine by Felicia Davin. the Harwood Spellbook series by Stephanie Burgis (also a down-in-one-shot series). Holly and Oak by R Cooper.

12) Favorite horror book(s): I haven't read too many horror books, so my pool is limited here, but The Twisted Ones and The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher both gave me the shudders so bad.

15) Which genre(s) are your favorite? Fantasy! I love all the fantasy subgenres, and especially the magical realism overlaps.

17) Favorite finished book series: How finished is finished? A lot of my serieses are made up of several trilogy/quartet subsets together in a world. hmmmm. The Protector of the Small quartet again by Tamora Pierce, I think.

20) Where and how do you find new books to read? I mentioned in my reply to digs that I'm subscribed to a ton of newsletters, but I feel like I undersold their effect on me. I don't know how many I'm subscribed to--just sat here and off the top of my head counted to eighteen that post at least weekly and I'm so sure I'm missing some--and I love having that regular infusion of book progress and reviews and writing thoughts and commentary. I really do recommend that folks subscribe to their favorite authors.

26) Favorite novella(s): Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews. The Seven Brides-to-Be of Generalissimo Vlad by Victoria Goddard. Jackalope Wives by T Kingfisher.

32) Name your favorite author(s): massive overlap with everybody else I've listed here. who haven't I mentioned? Jennie Crusie, Jayne Ann Krentz, JD Robb (which is a Nora Roberts penname but they've got distinct enough works I want to list them out separate). Patricia Briggs, Patricia C Wrede, Max Gladstone, Gail Carriger, Nalini Singh. And Ed Greenwood, about half the time.

44) The book(s) whose stories have become part of your very makeup: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien. Watership Down by Richard Adams. Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Phoenix & Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard.

46) I like (weird or genre-defying books), recommend me a book to read, please: First thought was the Humans Are Weird series by Betty Adams, though that might not be what you mean. They're intensely fun collections of 'humans are space-orcs' style vignettes. Maybe more directly books that are weird would be the Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone and Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw. Very toothy complicated magical realism. And my favorite genre-blending books are always the Elemental Masters books by Mercedes Lackey. A Study in Sable for instance is equal parts a Sherlock Holmes story and a retelling of The Twa Sisters fairytale, and also a coherent installment in an ongoing historical fantasy series about elemental mages in early 1900s England.

47) What are the last three books you read? Indexing by Seanan McGuire, Die in Plain Sight by Elizabeth Lowell, Pirate's Honor by Chris A Jackson

50) What kind of book have you never read but always hope to find at some point in the future? This is such a fascinating question. I don't know that there's anything in particular that I've always wanted and never found, but there are things I'm always looking for more and better examples of. I'm extremely picky about soulmate AUs, so a good one especially captivates me. Oh, or a really well-handled impromptu adoption! Child characters and bureaucracy are both tricky to write and things I know a lot about, and when they're done well they hook me so hard.

#asks #carrionfourth #I have been working on these answers for hours. it's so hard to choose favorites!!#very fun though and very interesting to think some of this through #my bookshelves are grouped a lot more by how they make me feel than by genre so mentally categorizing them was a neat process #I hope you were ready for the enormous wall of text you've inspired!#I feel like it's also a big list of proper nouns with little elaboration but there's no sane way to elaborate on them all #so if anybody would like me to talk more about a given book or author hit me up. I can and will talk about books forever

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shivunin · 8 months

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Helloo ^^ I come bearing some distraction/company while you write! Mostly, I was curious: who would you say has influenced your writing style the most? And/or what writers do you admire for the way they write?

Happy writing!! I hooe you get lots done today XD XD XD

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the company 💗

Hmm that's hard to answer! I have always been a voracious reader, so it's hard to pinpoint major stylistic influences. I absolutely devoured everything by Robin McKinley (and she remains one of my favorite authors ever) from a young age, so I think a lot of my ideas about what narrative should be come from her. I also read a variety of poetry, so rhythm is something I edit for when I'm working on a project. And translating lots of Latin---I think I have funny ideas about sentence structure because of Ovid especially c:

One thing I will say (and I am not specifically recommending the series, because these books are really not for everyone) is that the way I write close third person was heavily influenced by the Downside Ghosts series.

It's set in a ghost post-apocalypse. The protagonist is a witch, one of the few capable of investigating and dispelling ghosts. She is also a drug addict and her love interest is the enforcer for her dealer, for whom she (illegally and secretly) investigates ghost things on the side. Chess, the MC, struggles so much with who she is and it is so vivid and compelling that I was shocked to realize the whole series wasn't in first person. There is also a whole dialect of English spoken by the people in her neighborhood that was so interesting to me (anthropology degree rears its head lol). I don't think it's a style I necessarily echo, but the series really altered my perspective of writing in third person---and I think I can do a lot more with it than I used to be able to specifically because of these books. I went in skeptical that I'd like them, but I think I read all five in two days.

As for recommendations...

Lately, I've been reading a lot of urban fantasy, so Seanan McGuire (I recommend really anything by her, but my favorites are the October Daye series). She has this really, really beautiful way of winding plot elements throughout the story so that when they come to a head/find resolution, the reader gets this gorgeous moment of aha! of course! that still feels very earned. Everything cycles in her writing in a way that I cannot praise enough; the beginning is the end is the beginning again, and I love anything where the story is also a little bit about story itself. If that makes sense!

I also enjoy Ilona Andrews (especially the Kate Daniels series, but the Hidden Legacy series is also great--ignore the covers). They do a great job with action sequences, which wind up feeling neither too long (I am...not partial to fight scenes in books) nor gratuitous. The worldbuilding is also really consistent and thoroughly researched, which I value highly.

Again, Robin McKinley, who has a way of layering story in such a beautiful way. I just love how her writing is structured. It might be a little slow for some people, but her books are very much about the journey over the destination and that's what I love about them. Juliet Marillier is another author I love for the same reason.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. (I know, I know, my thing with memory loss...) It's about a chief administrator for a secret society of magical/superpowered people. She wakes up in the rain having no memory of who or where she is and discovers letters from herself in her pockets. Past Her knew that she was going to lose her memory and prepared all these materials to help her adjust or disappear. The book switches between letters from Past Her and the life of Current Her as she tries to solve the mystery of who took her memory. I really enjoy the style of it because it switches between formats, and I think the tension between these two versions of her who will never meet is unique and compelling.

#thank you for asking!!#i am writing some very sweet maria and fenris smut #so i need to hop back and forth to process or i get bogged down in action #but for voice...idk i have always been fascinated by the way people talk #i used to echo people when i was a kid just to feel the way the words sounded in a different voice #for writing--stepping outside of my genre and reading something totally different still makes me feel inspired #ask response #on writing

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tryan-a-bex · 11 months

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saw your rebog for fantasy/sci-fi books, would you mind giving me a recommendation list? from the authors you listed I love Naomi Novik and I'm always looking for more books to read

this is my first time sending an ask is this how you do this?

Anyway, have a good day :)

You did it right! Thanks for the ask!!!

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik was so good I flipped it and reread as soon as I finished it! I also bought Uprooted.

For Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, go to the Baen website, where Agent of Change and Fledgling are both free downloads—choose Agent of Change if you prefer action/adventure and Fledgling if you prefer school stories/coming of age.

For Sharon Shinn, I’d start with Troubled Waters from the Elemental Blessings series.

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice

Nnedi Okorafor: Binti (get the four-in-one if you can)

Becky Chambers: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Wen Spencer: Tinker

Robin McKinley: The Blue Sword

Martha Wells: Murderbot series

Ilona Andrews: Magic Bites

Nalini Singh: Wolf Rain was where I started

Annette Marie: Three Mages and a Margarita

Seanan McGuire: InCryptids series (My favourite is That Ain’t Witchcraft, but probably better to start at the beginning.)

I also love AM Offenwanger’s Septimus series, starting with Seventh Son. She’s an indie author so will be very excited if you purchase her books!

And of course Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, who you know about if you’ve been on tumblr for any length of time. Good Omens is fantastic. I loved Stardust by Gaiman. My favourite of the Pratchett ones are the Tiffany Aching (which are YA) and the Rincewind ones, but there are lots of options.

I love recommending books! Thank you for asking!!!

#the liaden universe #book recs #tryana find it back

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book-ramblings · 1 year

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URBAN FANTASY

I quite like Urban Fantasy, it’s not my favourite genre, but it is one I sometimes get a hankering for and nothing else will do.

Nowadays Urban Fantasy tends to be very private detective focused, which I don’t mind, but I have read some of the older stuff which could be a lot of different things, but in a city. The writer I have read the most by here is Charles de Lint, I’ve read a handful of books and a couple of short story collections by him. The first thing I read by him was The Blue Girl, which I loved. I want to read more early Urban Fantasy, let me know if you have any recommendations.

When it comes to the more detective style Urban Fantasy, I’ll have to start with the Dresden Files, it’s the most famous. I really like it. I know it’s popular to dump on it for being sexist, and if it bothers you, then you shouldn’t read it. Personally, I’ve never felt that a character or series has to be perfectly in line with my opinions and morals - I have a brain, and I don’t mind using it tackling these kinds of stories. I actually love Harry quite a lot, in fiction I tend to be drawn to broken and traumatised men.

I’ll do one more male main character and then get to my favourite women. Alex Verus (first book: Fated, author: Benedict Jacka) is a mage, who lives and runs a magic shop in London. The series is finished, and there are twelve books. All the books have a one word title, somthing like: Taken, Cursed or Hidden, which makes it impossible for me to remember the order of the books :) There are some similarities to Harry Dresden, Alex is also a broken, traumatised man, but his magic is very different to Harry’s, and he needs to be sneakier and use his brain more to survive, because his power is seeing a little bit into the future - and while it is useful in combat it’s not a violent power. I really like these books, I’ve read them all, and I love Alex and his friends.

On to the female main characters. I’ll start with October Daye by Seanan McGuire. There are sixteen books out and two more coming in the autumn of 2023, according to goodreads. I’ve read six of them, all of them by audiobook so I’m not sure how anything is spelled. The first book is Rosemary and Rue. October is half Fae, half human and she has a troubled past, and works for a local Fae Lord, Sylvester Torquil. October, or Toby, is a great character, her friends and enemies are quite interesting and her adventures, as far as I’ve read at least, are a great mix of exciting, creepy, scary and fun to read about. It’s probably about time that I read more, actually. Also, the narrator for the audio books is Mary Robinette Kowal, who is not only a fantastic narrator, but also one of my favourite authors.

Next is Mercy Thompson, written by Patricia Briggs. The first book is Moon Called, there are 13 books out. I’ve read five, and the sixth is my current audiobook. The thing I like best about this series is Mercy herself. She’s a college graduate, majored in history, works as a mechanic and she’s a shape shifter - she can turn into a coyote. Her father, who died in a car accident before she was born, was Native American. Mercy’s really cool, and she’s also a good character. She’s strong, and I don’t primarily mean physically, and she’s affected by the things that happen to her. Early in the series there is a bit of a love triangle with two guys being interested in her, which isn’t my favourite, but it doesn’t go on forever.

The last series I’m going to talk about may be my favourite: Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews. There are ten novels, the first one is called Magic Bites. I have read six of them and currently have number seven out from the library. They all have titles like: Magic Burns, Magic Slays etc, so it’s impossible for me to remember the order of the books. I love Kate, she’s strong (not only physically), she’s tough, determined and really, really cool. I have seen some people call her a Mary Sue, because she’s too good a fighter, but she’s been trained her whole life to fight, because a dangerous and powerful man wants to kill her. And I love a sword fighter. I do not agree that she’s a Mary Sue. There are also some fantastic side characters. And some annoying ones.

I’m not a person who worries much about trigger warnings, I don’t have many triggers, and I don’t mind “dealing with them” through reading, so if this is important for you - find out about them before reading. I also don’t always remember books that well, especially when I only read them for entertainment, which is really how I think about Urban Fantasy. I can tell you that there is sexual assault in Mercy Thompson, though I don’t remember which book. And a giant spider side character in Alex Verus.

What are your favourite Urban fantasy series?

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reviewsthatburn · 1 year

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Recent reviews:

BLACK WATER SISTER by Zen Cho is Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Jess starts hearing her deceased grandmother's voice in her head. Told in Third Person with Single POV.

THE LAKE OF SOULS by Darren Shan, book 10 of Cirque Du Freak is Fantasy/Horror, with queer character(s), marketed as Middle Grade. Darren and Harkat go through a portal to a strange and horrifying place to find out who Harkat used to be. Told in First Person with Single POV.

THE SAVAGE DAWN by Melissa Grey, book 3 of The Girl at Midnight is Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Young Adult. Echo has to try and stop the Dragon Prince without losing herself entirely. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by Sangu Mandanna is Contemporary/Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Mika Moon is a witch, hired to teach three young witches to control their magic. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

LORD OF THE SHADOWS by Darren Shan, book 11 of Cirque Du Freak is Fantasy/Horror marketed as Middle Grade. Darren returns to his hometown with the Cirque, anticipating one more chance to stop Steve Leonard. Told in First Person with Single POV.

ON THE EDGE by Ilona Andrews, book 1 of The Edge is Fantasy/Romance marketed as Adult. Rose lives in the Edge and works as a cleaner in the Broken so she can can take care of her brothers. A blueblood from the Weird comes to have her, but first they must fight off a horde of creatures hungry for magic. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

Full newsletter at link.

#Books That Burn - Fortnightly Roundup #newsletter #book review #book reviews

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qqueenofhades · 4 years

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i know you've recommended books in the past, but i was wondering if you have recommended fantasy books written by women? i noticed that ive been reading stories written by men and i'd like to change that - i love robin hobb and leigh bardugo, but i would love any more recs! thank you and sorry if you've answered this already :3

Female fantasy authors that I have either read myself or heard good things about:

Seanan McGuire (also on tumblr, @seananmcguire): Imaginative urban fantasy with good representation, social justice elements, humor, lots of series with multiple books, so if you like her stuff, you can keep going for a while.

Susanna Clarke: Author of one of my favourite fantasy novels ever, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, a doorstopper of a book, alternate-history magical 19th century England with social commentary/period style/gorgeous imagery

Gail Carriger: The Parasol Protectorate, the Custard Protocol, other spin-off series. Vampires, werewolves, steampunk, adventure, more Victorian comedy-of-manners. Very funny. Badass ladies. Everyone is LGBT. Highly recommend.

Elizabeth Kostova: The Historian, a literary-historical mystery, reworking of Dracula, epistolary novel and travelogue through 1970s Europe and coming-of-age story all at once. Another of my favourites.

Naomi Novik: Have not read her stuff myself, but Uprooted and Spinning Silver come highly recommended (the latter is a Jewish-coded protagonist in a medieval fantasy environment), she also has an alternate-history series with dragons and the British Empire/Napoleonic Wars, starting with His Majesty’s Dragon

N.K. Jemisin: Someone I also very badly need to read if my to-read stack wasn’t 800 miles long. She’s African-American, her characters and worlds are incredibly diverse and original, she has won the Hugo Award three times running, Inheritance trilogy and Broken Earth trilogy (and Dreamblood Duology) should keep you busy for a while

S.A. Chakraborty: City of Brass is an all-POC fantasy set in 18th-century Egypt and the land of the djinni, lots of morally grey characters and complex political and magical intrigue

Jacqueline Carey: Her Kushiel’s Dart series is what comes to mind for most people, but I am working my way through Starless, which features a trans/genderqueer main character, is another all-POC fantasy setting with a brave and physically disabled princess as the love interest, lots of rich world-building and detail

Kat Howard: I have not read her books, but she writes dark, twisty modern fantasy with complex female protagonists, such as An Unkindness of Magicians and Roses and Rot

Ilona Andrews: Also have not read her, but my coworker loves her, especially the Kate Daniels series (which has like... 10 books), if you want more romance-heavy magical fantasy with a side of badass ladies and brooding heroes

Aliette de Bodard: Dark fallen-angels fantasy set in a Paris destroyed by a magicians’ war; diverse characters and worldbuilding; series starts with The House of Shattered Wings

#book recs #i've definitely suggested some of these before #but that should get you started #anonymous #ask

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the-pen-pot · 4 years

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2, 7, 31! :)

2. Where is your favorite place to write?

I do most of my writing at my desk, which gives me good space and lets me sit properly. It’s also tucked in a corner so I feel fairly secure no one’s reading smut over my shoulder, unless they’re peering through a 3rd storey window.

7. Favorite/most inspirational book?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret, I read a lot less than I used to these days. Mostly because I don’t have time. I read a lot of fanfic, though, and I can honestly say that Turn by Sara’s_Girl (Drarry) is an all time favourite. There’s something about the writing that soothes and inspires me all at once.

31. Top five favorite books in your genre?

My genre is a bit tricky to pin down, so I’m going to go with Urban Fantasy, and I’m going to go with authors I admire rather than books, because it’s so hard to choose: Seanan McGuire, Lisa Shearin, Ilona Andrews then onto more classic fantasy Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Want to ask a question? Check out the ask meme here.

#neverwhere #On Writing

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indelibleevidence · 4 years

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Favorite book?

You can’t just ask someone what their favourite book is without any reference to genre! :p

The thing that makes me laugh is that everyone assumes that since I can (kinda) write, I must have read all the classics, and all the stuff that’s touted as the next big thing. Which is completely wrong. I actually HATE the classics, and things that spend three million years setting up a scene before something actually happens send me to sleep.

As a kid, I read pretty much everything in the children’s section of the library that I was interested in, and then started nosing around the adults’ shelves for things to read. Since the kids’ section didn’t really have many classics, I just graduated on to adults’ genre fiction, and that’s where I’ve stuck, really.

Something that’s interesting to me is that as I’ve grown up, going back to those adults’ books I loved as a kid has resulted in me throwing the book across the room, because I now see the horrendous descriptions of female characters’ appearances, and the way they don’t really have any purpose in the narrative other than ‘love interest’ or ‘secretary who might make the occasional relevant observation’ or ‘villain’s love interest who puts up with domestic violence to show that the villain is bad’. The feminist in me can’t deal with most pre-millennium male authors these days (and to be honest, a lot of post-millennium male authors, either).

I get the feeling that none of my favourites are in genres you would actually like, @lurkingwhump (with the possible exception of crime), but you opened the box, now I have to go inside...

Some of my favourite books that spring to mind (but this is by no means an exhaustive list):

Horror: The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant (including the short fiction, because it’s fantastic), the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong (which was turned into TV show, Bitten, which totally wasn’t as good, but the first season was pretty cool), The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey.

Urban Fantasy: The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire (who also writes as Mira Grant for her horror stuff), Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series (Kate’s love interest, Curran, is like my ultimate book boyfriend, OMG).

Sci-Fi: The Sentients of Orion series by Marianne de Pierres (her Parris Plessis trilogy is also great, but is more of a dystopian post-apocalyptic thing than a space opera), the Innkeeper books by Ilona Andrews (kind of straddles sci-fi and urban fantasy).

Apocalypse-is-Nearing Science-Focused Kinda Atlantis Apocalypse Thing: I can’t think of a word for this genre, but Deception by Stel Pavlou is a great book.

Fantasy: Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician trilogy, the Kushiel books by Jacqueline Carey.

Crime/Thriller: Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series, Karen Rose’s books (but it does annoy me how all of her heroines - even the one who supposedly can’t conceive a child - end up Married and Pregnant by the time they’re mentioned in subsequent books).

Erotic Romance: Kit Rocha’s ‘Beyond’ series (which is a better post-apocalyptic dystopia than most I’ve read, plus has some great kinky smut, threesomes, polyamory - but it’s all character relevant and most importantly, respectfully romantic with consent... *happy sigh*), Aurelia T. Evans’ Sanctuary series (which I actually selected for publication and edited as part of my old day job - werewolves, dog-shifters and vampires, oh my!), Cherise Sinclair’s Shadowlands books (curvy heroines discovering kink with very hot, consent-focused Doms).

Young Adult: ANYTHING BY TAMORA PIERCE, but especially her Tortall series (start with the Song of the Lioness quartet). The His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. The Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld is very cool. LJ Smith’s Forbidden Game series is a lot of fun too, but I first read it when I was a kid, so nostalgia might be giving me rose-tinted glasses.

Mental Health Memoir: Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.

This is why you can’t ask me what my favourite book is. :p

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signourneybooks · 5 years

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Intro

You know sometimes I like to challenge myself.

How to Play

This reading challenge consists of 3 sections. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and General for a total of 52 prompts which comes down to about 1 book a week.

You can do 1, 2 or all 3 sections.

With each section you are allowed 1 Double-Up. Double-Up means you can use 1 book for 2 prompts. Preferred is not to at all but if for some reason you are struggling with time or a prompt you can.

In the general sections you can use both fantasy and sci-fi books but not other genres.

Graphic novels, comics, audiobooks and novella’s are allowed. It is all reading in my book.

Rereads count.

You can move the books around throughout the year if things fit better elsewhere and all.

You can step into this reading challenge at any point. I’m starting it in January 2019 but in reality this is a reading challenge you can fit for yourself in anyway you like. If you want to start in May and end April the year after, that is totally fine.

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Sign-Up

I don’t know if people want to join me but I would love to interact with each other if you do. You can participate anyway you like, with goodreads, twitter, instagram or your blog. I don’t require a sign-up post but I would appreciate if you boosted this.

If there are a nice group of people we can see if we can do a twitter dm group or an fb group or something to chat with each other on how to fill the prompts. 🙂

The widget won’t go into the post because wp sucks so here is the direct link.

If You Need Inspiration: Find Some Fitting Books Per Prompt Here

I figured some of you might like to have a list of options for each prompt so here we are. I’ve read a portion of these, others are on my own TBR and others I just know fit with the prompt. These are in no way meant as real recommendations, just those that fit the prompt. No links because do you see how many books I mention haha.

Fantasy

Classic Fantasy The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin / The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Narnia by C.S Lewis /

Magic School Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce / A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin / The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss / Carry On by Rainbow Rowell / Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones / The Magicians by Lev Grossman / The Novice by Taran Matharu

Necromancers Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong / Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride / Sabriel by Garth Nix / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews / Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landry / Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

PTSD Witchmark C.L. Polk / The First Law by Joe Abercrombie /

Dragons The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli / Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb / The Copper Promise by Jen Williams / Talon by Julie Kagawa / Seraphina by Rachel Hartman / A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin / Eragon by Christopher Paolini / Eon by Alison Goodman / Temeraire by Naomi Novik / A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan / How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell / Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland / Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aron

Fairytale Retelling Uprooted by Naomi Novik / A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas / Ash by Melinda Lo / Forests of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao / The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh / The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden / Thorn by Intisar Khanani / To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Grimdark Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence / Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson / Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall / Skullsworn by Brian Stavely / Red Sister by Mark Lawrence / The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Ghosts Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud / The Graveyard Queen by Amanda Stevens / City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab / The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman / The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater / Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Uncommon Fantasy Creatures So not the usual werewolf, dragons, vampires and the like Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves (Huldra) / The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker (Golem) / Steel & Stone by Annette Marie (Incubus) / Troll Fell by Katherine Langrish (Trolls) / The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Goblins)

Shapeshifters Moon Called by Patricia Briggs / Written in Red by Anne Bishop / Stray by Rachel Vincent / Soulless by Gail Carragher / The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong /

Gods Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan / Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan / Aru Shah at the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin / The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter / The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White / Furyborn by Claire LeGrand / Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman / Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova / The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

Animal (or in Animal Form) Companion(s) Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb / The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell / The Summoner by Taran Matharu

Matriarchy Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima / Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake / Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop / Dragonflight by Anne McAffrey / The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells / The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

Set in Our World The Others by Anne Bishop / Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning / Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh / Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Witches Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness / Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett / The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy / Uprooted by Naomi Novik / Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Magical Law Enforcement Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch / The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher / The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud / Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

Thief The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron / The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo / The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima / The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

Pirates Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo / Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke / Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch / The Nature of a Pirate by A.M. Dellamonica

Portal Fantasy Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Warrior Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Night Angel by Brent Weeks / Half a King by Joe Abercrombie /

Sci-Fi

On a Different Planet A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray / The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin / The Martian by Andy Weir / Dune by Frank Herbert / Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Space Ship The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers / The Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers / An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams

Artificial Intelligence Point of View A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / I, Robot by Isaac Asimov / 2001: A Space Odessey by Arthur C. Clarke / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Kick

Proto Sci-Fi As Frankenstein is seen as the first sci-fi novel all books prior to that that seem to be sci-fi are called proto sci-fi but anything before H.G. Wells will count here as it seems to cause some discussions. New Atlantis by Francis Bacon / Frankenstein by Mary Shelley / The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson / From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne /

Alien The Fifth Wave by Rick Riordan / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams / The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells / Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Time Travel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells / Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier / Passenger by Alexandra Bracken / The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig / The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma / Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Utopia The Dispossed by Ursula K. le Guin / Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel / Andromeda by Ivan Efremov / The Giver by Lois Lowry

Games/Gaming/Virtual Reality Warcross by Marie Lu / Armada by Ernest Cline / Otherland by Tad Williams / In Real Life by Cory Doctorow / Unplugged by Donna Freitas

Hive (Mind) The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

Steampunk Soulless by Gail Carrigher / Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve / Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld / Boneshaker by Cherie Priest / Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

Super Powers The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson / Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee / Nimona by Noelle Stevenson / The Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan

Science Better known as heavy sci-fi if you go searching for books Foundation by Isaac Asimov / World War Z by Max Brooks / The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson / Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

Replicate/Replica Accelerando by Charles Stross / Replica by Lauren Oliver / Evolution by Stephen Baxter / The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Space Colonization The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradburry

Mecha Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel / Gundam Wing by Haijme Hatate / Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Space Creatures/Beasts Mistworld by Simon Green / Dune by Frank Herbert / Alien by Alan Dean Foster /

Teleportation Jumper by Stephen Gould / Timeline by Michael Crighton / The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Space Western The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury / Six-Gun Planet by John Yakes / Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow / Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon / Cowboy Bebop by Yutaka Nanten

The Moon The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer / Moonseed by Stephen Baxter / Artemis by Andy Weir / Red Rising by Pierce Brown / The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Invasion Alien or Human The Andromedia Strain by Michael Crighton / Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout / The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / The Alien Years by Robert Silverberg / Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card / First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells / Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

General

For this you can use sci-fi and fantasy where you can make them fit.

Satire Discworld by Terry Pratchett / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams / The Portable Door by Tom Holt / Red Shirts by John Scalzi /

Novella Binty by Nnedi Okorafor / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Ghost Line by Andrew Neil Gray / The Girl Who Rules Fairyland – For a Little While by Catheryne M. Valente

Finish a Series For this you can read the other books for other prompts throughout this challenge and read the last one here or finish a series you previously started. Or you could just read a whole series for this prompt alone. Whatever you want haha.

Mental Health Stormlight Archives by Branden Sanderson (depression) / The Magicians by Lev Grossman (depression) / Witchmark by C.L Polk (PTSD) / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (PTSD)

Disability * On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (autism) / October Daye by Seanan McGuire (weelchair) *Kristen from Metaphors and Moonlight created a masterlist.

Set in Africa Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor / Zoo City by Lauren Beukes / The Famished Road by Ben Okri / Changa’s Safari by Milton J. Davis

Library Library is semi-important in the book Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine / The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman / The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins /

By a Woman of Color Nnedi Okorafor / N.K. Jemisin / Tomi Adeyemi / Julie Kagawa / Malinda Lo / Heidi Helig / to name only a few…

One Word Title / Under 500 Pages / Over 800 Pages / Published Before 1990 I don’t think I need to make a list for these, right?

If you have any recs for any of these categories (especially Disability, Mental Health, Set in Africa and PTSD) than please leave them down below.

Printables

Let me know if these don’t work to save.

Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi – A (2019) Reading Challenge + Bingo Cards Intro You know sometimes I like to challenge myself. How to Play This reading challenge consists of 3 sections.

#2019 reading challenge #Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi #fantasy reading challenge #reading challenge #Sci-Fi reading challenge

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ereborne · 3 years

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get to know me

oh shit, meme time!! I was tagged by @lynne-monstr hi Lynne thank you!!!

last song: 'Wild Blue Yonder’ by the Amazing Devil is still playing in my head, but ‘Walk All Over Me’ by Aaron Pritchett was actually last to play

last movie: hmmmm was a while ago, I haven’t been watching much recently. one of my habitual rewatches, for sure--I think it was Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, but it might have been Lucky Number Slevin

currently watching: Criminal Minds. I started a rewatch and am in Season 2 now, but I’m really not sure if I’m going to watch the whole show or just stop at Season 7 again

currently reading: yesterday was a big day! Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews and Across the Green Grass Hills by Seanan McGuire both came out, so that’s what I read yesterday--’read’ is too light a word, really, I absolutely devoured them, they were amazing, and I recommend them greatly. today I haven’t decided yet--either I’m continuing my reread of the Toasterverse Avengers fics by Scifigrl47 (I just got to ‘Ordinary Workplace Hazards, or SHIELD and OSHA Aren’t on Speaking Terms’ which is one of my favorites) or I’m starting a reread of the Star Trek Reboot fic series by seperis that I’ve been recommending to @kaylithographica

currently craving: I want a banana and some eggos so bad :((

i am going to tag: @agirlnamedhagrid, @dignityisforotherpeople, @sourmidori, @sunkentowers, @zahnie what’ve you loves been up to?

#tagged by #meme time!!!#I really can't decide between the Toasterverse and the Star Trek fic #they're both long and incredibly well constructed and have amazing original characters #they've both got a perfect balance of plot and dialogue and humor and emotion #but even as fast as I read there's no way I can do both and my work in a day #it shouldn't matter so much which I read first because as soon as I do finish it I'll go to the other #but I'm still having such trouble deciding #fic rec

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jessfm-art · 6 years

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I’ve been tagged by @spikytyphoon (that’s so cool! thank you!)

Name: Jéssica

Middle name: Don’t have one

Height: 1,62m

Language: Portuguese, English, can understand spanish well enough

Favorite fruit: Banana

Favorite scent: Limes and Oranges

Favorite color: Black

Favorite fictional characters: Kate Daniels, Curran, Derek and Julie from Kate Daniels. Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire, Tybalt and Ludaieg from October Daye, Mercy, Adam, Charles and Anna, from Mercy Thompson world, The whole ensemble of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Toph, Zuko and Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Yeong-Gi and Shin-Ae from I Love Yoo

Favorite candy: chocolate bruh

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Songs on repeat: Right now “The Sound of Silence” cover by Disturbed

Average hours of sleep: 4-6 in general. 6-8 when I’m not working. <<<< THIS

How many blankets you sleep with: One or two depending on how cold, 0 on the Summer

Dream Trip: Too many places, I’d like to go all over the world!

Dream job: Architect at a company that actually cares about making the world a better place, including its clients and employees lives

Grab the nearest book, page 23, line 17: “One doesn’t let her fiancé fight a horde of ghouls by himself.” Magic Shifts, Ilona Andrews (ebook)

Have you ever had a song or poem written about you?

Hmmm nope.

What’s a sound you hate and a sound you love?:

Hate: chewing and eating noises

Love: Nature sounds in general, it’s hard to choose, gentle rain falling, thunderstorms, the wind in the trees

Do you believe in aliens?: I believe in alien life

Do you drive?: Yes, both cars and motorbikes

What’s the last book you read?: Night and Silence, Seanan McGuire

Any current obsessions?: Hard to choose

Do you hold grudges against those who wronged you?: My natural propensity is to do so, but I try my best to forgive (not forget though, that would be just dumb)

Reason for url: Old internet nickname

Tagging: @unicornships @awholelotfrosty @geodude96, I’d love to know more about you guys!

#personal #fun stuff

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willreadforbooze · 5 years

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Hi everyone,

This is Ginny filling in for Sam. She does the work every week to make sure this site looks beautiful, and she’s gonna be away from her computer (which is a well-deserved break)!

Sam��s Update:

I got a lot of reading done this week, it was Booziebookathon, Dewey’s Reverse Readathon, AND NEWTs.

What Sam finished this week:

– NEWTs A-level DADA: Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel: This is the second book in the Themis Files. I listened on audio and it’s fully casted which is fab. I forgot how much I loooove this series. Can’t wait for the last book.

NEWTs A-level Transfiguration: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: this is a story about a newly out Latina on an internship in Portland, OR with her white-lady feminist. She’s gotta figure out who she is. I’m def writing a full review for this. I loved it.

Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad: book club book, can’t say too much until after book club.

What Sam’s reading now:

NEWTs E-level Transfiguration: Age of Legend by Michael J Sullivan: This is the 4th installment of this series and I fucking love them. I am about 150 pages in and remembering how much I love my sweet Rhunic children.

NEWTs O-level Transfiguration: Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian: this is the sequel to Ash Princess. I was surprised by the first one and am equally surprised by the second one. Let’s see how it goes.

Ginny’s Update (Aka Reads-with-the-wind):

Hi Everyone, hope you’re feeling well. I had an interesting week and this weekend has about knocked me flat. I get the feeling there’s going to be a very early bedtime in my future.

Currently Reading

Visions of Heat by Nalini Signh: Man, I really love Nalini Singh. This is the second book in the Psy-Changeling series and I am ready. I’m waiting to get more into the meat of this book, I’m still really early in it.

The Ten thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow: I grabbed this book from bookcon and I am so looking forwarding to reading this. I love a good portal fantasy and boy is this book delivering.

Finished

White Hot by Ilona Andrews: Well, I had been a little worried about the consent issues and boy did I not need to. The protagonist spends the entire book basically letting the heroine know that she had to set the pace. Also the book was, yet again action-packed. Neva is figuring out how to use her ridiculously powerful powers. I will admit, the relationship itself could feel surprisingly bland for the build-up, but the plot kept everything moving!

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond: Wow was this book both painful to read and completely wonderful. I live in a bubble, DC in so many ways is sheltered from a lot of what happens elsewhere, and I’m only in the parts of the city that aren’t really affected by extreme poverty. Matthew went and talked to both landowners and tenants to try to get a very realistic picture of how poverty and eviction affect Americans. Honestly, not sure how much I can say other than the fact that this book was really powerful, bleak for quite a while, but ultimately hopeful that there are ways to fix the vicious cycle of poverty leading to eviction leading to poverty, etc. 5/5

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire: Surprise suprise, Seanan McGuire is back on my read list. This is the first book in the InCryptid series, and I”ll probably write a post. Basically Verity is a monster-hunter who has eschewed the actual hunting, but is now dealing with disappearing women and a representative of the mysterious monster-hunting cabal who fall on the more intense side of “assume guilty unless somehow proven innocent.”

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad: Yet again, this is a book for book club. Sure I’ll talk more later.

Minda’s Update:

No update this week.

Linz’s Update:

pfffft minimal reading got done. I’m trying to finish my cosplay and Magicians rewatch before DragonCon. Also I joined an online-based Filipino book club so I’ve been doing a lot of Interneting and tbr adding.

What Linz read:

The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton: This forthcoming novel (and the last of my Booziebookathon reads) jumps between two women, Ava in the present day and her great-great-etc-grandmother Josephine, a former slave. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

What Linz is currently reading:

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: Bless ALA for the chance to get an ARC, but it’s really killing my productivity to read this.

Secondborn by Amy Bartol: Bless Amazon’s three-month Kindle Unlimited trial. This scifi-fantasy YA is about Roselle, a Secondborn in a society where Firstborns rule and her class is assigned to serve the government (really, the Firstborns). I’m having a really hard time getting into it; it might hit my DNF shelf

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Asad: whoops book club is creeping on up!

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny

Weekly Wrap-Up: August 4 – August 10, 2019 Hi everyone, This is Ginny filling in for Sam. She does the work every week to make sure this site looks beautiful, and she's gonna be away from her computer (which is a well-deserved break)!

#Wrap Up

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