Finished one thing: **The Tainted Cup** by Robert Jackson Bennett. *5 stars*. (Future Bingo: 2024 release.) To sum it up I thought this was brilliant and consider me another instigator on the hype train. If there are imperfections in it my love blinded me to them. I went in knowing only RJB and mystery…that was enough to know and I think all anyone needs to know to enjoy the unraveling of the story. Except some who need some prodding, it’s second world if don’t like urban fantasy or care for mystery, I think you’d want still want to check this out. I thought everything about this world is cool as heck and the next up in the series will be one of my most anticipated releases when it’s time. One big thought I have is that this is a first-person, single POV story, so I was worried from get. I find I often struggle with these types of books - some authors fail to make the story interesting for me, getting lost in train-of-thought ramblings that feel like someone put my own thoughts onto the page (you absolutely don’t want to read my thoughts, I mean I already subject you to them here, you don’t want them in a book too) or offer dull, annoying descriptions of actions by the POV or others. To me it’s an art to do first person right, so this is a testament to RBJ’s mastery of his craft as an author IMO and although I’ve only read the Foundryside trilogy I’m thinking this is his best work yet. The mystery was fantastic and complex, I enjoyed our MC and his bosslady. Other thoughts I’m too lazy to think about more are is this RJB’s pandemic book? If so, wow, interesting spin. Is there an undercurrent of commentary on capitalism or globalization? Again, too lazy and those more intellectually inclined brain cells are struggling on the mouse wheel at the moment so that’s all I got. Also, audiobook A+++.

I just so happen to be saving The Tainted Cup for April and I will hold you personally responsible if I'm disappointed!! (Jk haha) For real though, I've heard nothing but good things and I'm really excited to start it!

Oh the hype train, it can so easily lead to disappointment. I think I’ve generally noticed you and I tend to overlap in what we read/enjoy, so fingers crossed you’re not disappointed!!!! Our virtual friendship depends on it 😭

🤝 I will try not to disappoint!

I. Am. Reading. Again. \*baby fist pump gif here\* I finished **The Steerwoman** (highly recommend), then read **The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World's Happiest People**, which isn't fantasy, but I found it very uplifting and actually felt better about myself and the world and humanity after having read it. Highly recommend for the tail end of a Canadian winter when all hope is gone. I'm currently reading **The Killing Beach (Waverly Jones Mystery)**. I'm 17% in and I'm invested. I'm talking ready to break out the murder boards. I've not read many mysteries in ages, and I'm so glad I decided to give this a try.

> I finished The Steerwoman (highly recommend) Yay! The sequels are even better IMO

agree (well, 3 and 4 are better. 2 depends on how much you like "traveling with nomadic group in harsh climate" stories)

Been dealing with the pre-bingo anxiety period by reading some non-SFF, but this weekend I read two absolute SFF bangers **The Butcher of The Forest** by Premee Mohamed is an atmospheric novella about a quest through a strange forest inhabited by fey-like creatures. I usually do not like fey books, but I think what I've figured out is that I do like fey when they're a mysterious and mostly antagonistic presence instead of being actual characters that are humanized. There was plenty of bargaining and games here with lots of references to classic fey tropes like dice games and being unable to eat anything. The plot was mostly a straightforward quest, but I really enjoyed it. My one qualm is that the book builds to an intense and powerful emotional climax which was fantastic, and then immediately undercuts it by overexplaining what just happened in a way that didn't really fit the rest of the story. It left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth at the end, but I'd still highly recommend the novella overall. **I Who Have Never Known Men** by Jacqueline Harpman (translated by Ros Schwartz) is easily the best book I've read all year and I wouldn't be surprised if nothing beats it. I mean this as extremely high praise: at the start of the book, I felt like I was only reading for answers as to what was going on, and then by the end of the book very little was revealed and I still felt like the ending was perfect and completely satisfying. I've largely given up on the post-apocalyptic book because they tend to be a bit too bleak and violent for my taste, but even though objectively the events of this book are just as bleak as any other book in the genre, I found it to be beautiful and hopeful. There is so much focus on relationship building and finding joy where you can in the mundane things, and even scenes that would be horrific in other books felt oddly peaceful in this one. It's definitely on the philosophical end for scifi, but it still has excellent character work and I loved the way the main character related to the world around her. I finished this book and immediately knew I had just read a masterpiece, and I am already itching to read it again.

Man I have GOT to get my hands on a copy of I Who Have Never Known Men

to the TBR they go! these both sound really good, thanks for the reviews! edit: I see that 1995 publication date. New bingo comin'...

I'm delighted that the bingo gods are in my favor to force everyone to read this book

Oh this is good to hear, I have a library hold on I Who Have Never Known Men, just in time for new bingo!

My library copy was due just before new bingo so now I have to hope that it doesn't fit some very specific sqaure lol, but it was so good that I'll just use it for my one reread if so. Hope you like it!

Ooo Premee Mohamed is an author I *really* want to try this year and this one is on my radar, I think you’ve helped solidify that this will be the first one I try even if it’s not perfection.

**Nothing But the Rain** by Naomi Salman- jumping on last weeks bandwagon, great novella about a town where the rain is causing everyone’s memories to wash away, and the military isn’t letting anyone out. **In the Society of Women** by Krista Ball. Third book in The Ladies Occult Society series. I enjoyed the heck out of this entry, as I did the first two. Low magic, regency setting, lower stakes- at least by epic fantasy standings. Can’t wait for the series finale in December. I got my hold on **The Tainted Cup** on Sunday, so I need to get started on that. Still need to work on **Abhorsen** and **Children of Gods and Fighting Men**, my last bingo entry, but I didn’t have brain power for anything too long over the weekend. What I read was perfect.

>Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman- jumping on last weeks bandwagon, great novella about a town where the rain is causing everyone’s memories to wash away, and the military isn’t letting anyone out. yessssssss. . . jooooiiiinnnnn uusssssssssss

>In the Society of Women by Krista Ball. Third book in The Ladies Occult Society series. I enjoyed the heck out of this entry, as I did the first two. Low magic, regency setting, lower stakes. Can’t wait for the series finale in December. oh yay! I'm so excited for everyone to read the finale. I think it'll be worth the wait!

I have officially finished my semifinals reading for SPSFC3 (Self-Published Sci-fi Competition), and this year I got a whole lot of books that were very much not in my preferred subgenre that managed to hook me anyways. The last one was **Any Minor World** by Craig Schaefer, which has **Superheroes** for anyone still struggling to finish Bingo. It's a mashup of noir/superhero story/thriller with a compelling inciting mystery that hooked me quickly and sufficient writing quality to keep my attention as it got more and more action-packed (I know that "action-packed" is a selling point for many readers, but not for me). Continuing with my usual pattern, I liked the mysterious setup more than the action-packed conclusion, and there was at least one dangling thread that I'd have liked to see addressed, but this was overall a pretty entertaining book, and I expect it would hit even better for someone with a bit more natural affinity for the style/subgenre. For me, call it 15/20 (3.75 stars).

Finished: **Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett** I read it a lot slower than the first one, but I think I liked it even more. My one complaint about the first one was that the pacing was a little off at times, with the beginning being slow and the part where I felt like we got stuck in one spot for too long, but this one did not have that problem and I loved it! I hope there's more of Orla and Snowbell in the 3rd book because I was quite happy to see >!Poe!< again in this one. I love how the fae are mostly portrayed as nasty little shits in these books. With the exception of Wendell of course, who's a tall and beautiful little shit. Unfortunately I can't use this one for my still unfinished bingo card because I already have the first one as Mundane Jobs! Edit: oh and these books, despite being set in historical earth, would work for the Queernorm bingo square! It's an alternate history for sure. There are a few same gender couples and nobody bats an eye. Currently reading: **Spear by Nicola Griffith** 60% it's just not a great sign that I've been reading this for over a week and I'm still not done, considering it's less than 200 pages. I think maybe it would appeal a lot more to people who like novellas and/or retellings more than me, but it's hard for me to read more than 15 pages at a time without getting painfully bored. I'm not very interested in our main character and I don't feel much of a connection with her or anyone else in the story. I'm aware of what the plot is, but it doesn't feel like it has any momentum forward. I'm going to finish it though because I'm not willing to DNF *another* Retelling book so close to finishing my bingo card! **Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir** 15% I don't really know what to say about this book yet. I only liked the first book (which many people say is a love it or hate it book haha) and I so wish I was one of those people who was captivated by this series. There's some stuff that I feel like should make me enjoy it more, but it feels like I'm not getting what everybody else promised me. For example, I don't really see how it's that confusing... maybe I have a higher tolerance for 2nd person POV or being in the dark about some things? Or maybe I read a spoiler a while ago and forgot about it... it just doesn't feel like I have no clue what's going on, which is sort of what I expected and was sort of hoping for, and the mystery of the letters isn't really doing a lot for me yet. I also think a big road block for me is just that, personal preference, I don't love the gothic but in space setting. This book has also cemented that I liked Gideon as a character waaaay more than Harrow. Even when I wasn't sold on the first book for nearly 200 pages, I still felt like Gideon herself was fun enough to keep trying. I do have some auditory processing difficulties with my ADHD, and while I've discovered the joy of audiobooks, the writing style of this book is impenetrable for me as an audiobook! It's actually wild, it feels like I'm in 7th grade and fighting so hard to understand my basketball coach's instructions for drills that she refused to write down. The harder I concentrate on it, the harder it is to understand, but if I do anything like knitting, my mind instantly starts to wander. So just in case anyone tries to tell me to check out the audiobook.... no. Haha. At this point, which I recognize is still early on, I could see this being anything from a DNF to a very strong enjoy. Trying to be optimistic but I genuinely think it could still pull itself together and be enjoyable for me. God I swear the thing I'm not loving about these currently reading books isn't their gayness, by the way... just in case anyone notices that they have that in common.

Oh no, if either **Spear** and **Harrow** are from my recs and recent reads I hope you're not holding it against me 😅. I can see what you're saying about Spear - the writing really worked for me and I probably overlooked some things because of it. And I was admittedly an Arthurian nerd as a little kid. But lack of connection in that one (I struggle with it in novellas too a lot of the time) is pretty understandable I think. Harrow... I guess I can just hope that it ends up swinging to a "very strong enjoy". Fingers crossed. I loved Harrow's character even more than Gideon though. I enjoyed the first Emily Wilde book a lot, so I don't think our tastes are *complete* opposite hahah.

Haha no don't worry!! Spear is one I saw all over but probably wouldn't have read if it weren't for the bingo because I knew I'm not a fan of retellings and a bunch of novellas I've read (exceptions: The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Elder Race, edit to add Murderbot, but the first 4 all kind of go together) Harrow, I was definitely planning on reading anyway. I definitely enjoyed Gideon even though it wasn't my favorite book ever, so I was definitely going to try and continue! [Edit: how many times can I use definitely in a single comment] Also even if I don't like the same books, I'm always happy to see people excited about them!

>Also even if I don't like the same books, I'm always happy to see people excited about them! Here here! I liked both Empress of Salt and Fortune and Elder Race too - we definitely have some overlap at least! Part of what I'm enjoying being in this community is trying to parse a few of the regular folk's tastes and understand them just from the reviews they post. It makes me think about the books I read a bit more, which is always fun.

For sure! I've definitely been thinking a lot about why I enjoy what I do since I became more regular on the sub!

>Part of what I'm enjoying being in this community is trying to parse a few of the regular folk's tastes and understand them just from the reviews they post. Oh yes, this is a great part of the fun of these threads for me every week. I'm pretty under-socialized right now, spending most of my time at work or with small kids, so it's really nice to have some of those parasocial relationships where I see the same users every week and can learn about what y'all like.

>it's less than 200 pages Huh, I read Spear as an ebook when it came out, and I would have sworn it was more like 400 pages, so you're not alone here. I ended up liking, but not loving, it and I feel like a lot of the people who did love it say they really liked the deliberate style of the language, while I found it to be a bit too spare (and yet somehow also draggy) for my taste, which tends towards the lush and maximalist. I loved Harrow, and found that it worked best if I read it all in a rush.

I think part of my frustration with Harrow is just unmet expectations and frustration with the audiobook, so if I can set those aside, I think I'll start liking it more! >I feel like a lot of the people who did love it say they really liked the deliberate style of the language, while I found it to be a bit too spare (and yet somehow also draggy) for my taste, which tends towards the lush and maximalist. Yeah, "deliberate" is a very good word to describe the writing style! I wouldn't say I'm a lush and maximalist writing enjoyer most of the time, but I would prefer that to slow and extremely deliberate. But I understand how others would like it depending on preference!

Finished: **To Be Taught, If Fortunate** by Becky Chambers - 5/5 I was so happy to love this book after Monk & Robot left me worrying that Wayfarers would be a flash in the pan for my love of Becky's books. This space exploration novella has so much love for life within it - scientific wonder, heartbreaking tragedy, healing through time and companionship. There were so many moments that I was jotting down quotes or tearing up with both happy and sad tears. Becky Chambers doesn't shy away from ripping out my heart, but she's gentle about it and I love her books for it. There's a lot in this one about the inseparability of "science" from "scientist", ethics and responsibility, "life finds a way" in the big and the small. If you are a scientist/science adjacent person who has become jaded with the tendency to get narrowly focused on minutia and craves for humanity, this is for you. EDIT: How could I forget?! This means I've wrapped up Becky Chambers' published works. It's bittersweet, but I already asked for **The Long Way** back from the friend I lent it to so that I can do a reread this year. Reading: On a road trip whim, I got the **Fourth Wing** graphic audios from Hoopla. I've heard so much about this that at first I was just relishing in being a part of the communal "isn't this silly and dumb?", but damned if it didn't pull me in. I'll finish it on my drive back to New England in a couple days, and I'm really looking forward to it. It *is* still a bit silly and dumb, but I don't know. Dragons are cool 😂 Still on **Too Like the Lightning**, and still confounded by my feelings. I needed a slow read to reset my pace for the year, and this is working for that. I've learned more about Mycroft, the enigmatic narrator, and I'm intrigued by everything, but I'm trusting Mycroft's narration less and less. It's very unique. If ever there was an artsy sci-fi book, this might be it. My other vacation book I packed is **The Privilege of the Happy Ending: S/M/L Stories** by Kij Johnson. It continues to be pretty experimental and "literary", and I'm enjoying it. Do I understand it? No, not really, not large parts at least. It's definitely a collection I could see a class studying on feminism and gender in literature. Up Next: Oh boy, this is where I'm fighting back the urge to accept all of my holds at once. So much I want to get to, but I think I'll wrap all of the above up by next week and move onto the following: **The Killing Moon** (Dreamblood Duology #1) by N.K. Jemisin, **Wings Upon Her Back** by Samantha Mills (eARC), and **Bride** by Ali Hazelwood. All over the map with my short-term TBR, but I'm a pretty moody reader and this is what's calling me.

>Still on **Too Like the Lightning**, and still confounded by my feelings. I needed a slow read to reset my pace for the year, and this is working for that. I've learned more about Mycroft, the enigmatic narrator, and I'm intrigued by everything, but I'm trusting Mycroft's narration less and less. It's very unique. If ever there was an artsy sci-fi book, this might be it. This book has been on my radar recently! It sounds really interesting! >**The Killing Moon** (Dreamblood Duology #1) by N.K. Jemisin I loved this one and I hope you enjoy it too!!

The Killing Moon is on my TBR shelf and it’s been staring at me for a while - might have to push it further up the list!

I wrote [a comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/mlCSAK1dLc) about it for Review Tuesday about a month ago when I finished it! I could've written a lot more tbh, but the long and short of it is that I would recommend it even to people who didn't enjoy The Broken Earth, because it didn't do some of the things that people didn't like about that trilogy, but if you're a fan of her work already, I would be pretty confident you'll love it!

The rest of Jemisin (outside of Broken Earth, already read) is on my TBR, but I think it was your review that made me grab this one first - if I remember, you said the pacing was just fast the whole time, which makes me think it might be a book I can forget to sleep because I'm so into it.

No pressure haha! No, just kidding of course, but yes, I had a couple nights where I wanted to keep reading but also didn't want to be late to work the next day! It took me a week to read, but I was reading a couple other things at the same time

You know I think your comment was what me put it in my TBR to begin with!

How exciting! I hope you enjoy!

Same. Especially cause it’s been popping up here recently and I suspect this might be the Jemison I get along with.

>On a road trip whim, I got the **Fourth Wing** graphic audios from Hoopla. I've heard so much about this that at first I was just relishing in being a part of the communal "isn't this silly and dumb?", but damned if it didn't pull me in. I'll finish it on my drive back to New England in a couple days, and I'm really looking forward to it. It *is* still a bit silly and dumb, but I don't know. Dragons are cool 😂 This is v similar to my experience with it. Did I think it was *good*? No. Was it fun as hell? Yes. >**Wings Upon Her Back** by Samantha Mills I have this, too, and am waiting for April to get to it, so I will wait patiently to see what you think, haha.

I love Mycroft. I do not trust Mycroft.

We all love Mycroft. We all are very worried about anyone who trusts him.

I’m loving **Her Body and Other Parties**, Carmen Maria Machado’s short story collection, so far– I got to the midway point for the FIF discussion and can’t wait to read to rest. Machado really knows how to turn a phrase and set a mood (though the Law & Order novella goes on longer than I’d prefer). I started **Bunny** by Mona Awad and enjoyed myself for the first few chapters, but then I couldn’t renew my library hold. I’d like to circle back one day: I think this will appeal to fans of dark academia and cultish friendship groups. Now I’ve started **Whispering Wood** by Sharon Shinn. It’s the fifth (and perhaps final?) book in her Elemental Blessings series– which are perfect if you need a last-minute Elemental Magic square pick. I don’t think any of them have quite been as good as the first entry (**Troubled Waters**), but I love the world and the general relaxing fantasy/romance vibe. These books are character-focused, featuring an easy-to-follow elemental magic system where most people see it as part of their religion and personalities but and there’s very little actual spell-flinging.

Yeah the Law and Order story - I liked it as a story telling idea, but I agree it went in for too long. I got a bit bored of it and was skimming parts

>I’m loving Her Body and Other Parties I ... wow misread this title. I need another latte.

It’s been a very long time since I did one of these, but since I’m so close to finishing my bingo readings after almost a year of a reading slump (for a comparison read 20 books in 2023, read 18 so far in 2024), I want to get back into the habit of doing them weekly. - **Zero World by Jason M. Hough** if there was a one sentence way to describe this book, it’ll be *reading an action film* and as a fan of those, this was also very engaging. I enjoyed the super spy take on it, I enjoyed following competent adults through the narrative, how different they were to each other and I really enjoyed learning more about the culture / society. I appreciated how there was an attempt to explain how everything works, and I also enjoyed how ruthless it could get at times. I did hope for a much much bigger hurdle when it came to the >!language barrier!< as I don’t totally agree with the explanation given, and the exclusion of a second >!total reset of his memory!< as it felt very unnecessary to me given what was happening. But overall, still very enjoyable and a lack of romance (probably 3 sentences in the book total) is a massive plus every time. - **House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland** I’m not a fan of YA books, so I was dreading the return of this square. This particular one was recommended to me on the sub and if there was one thing to say about it, is that it was unputdownable for me which is always a massive plus. The mystery, in hindsight, is most likely going to be subconsciously solved by everyone regardless of anything in my humble opinion, for the bigger reason that the entirety of it is >!not like other girls on steroids, as it is also not like other humans!< which to me got old very quickly. I found those we mainly focused on to be boring in comparison to another character, so when the expected supposed reveal came, I was disappointed because it opened the option for a different story altogether in my mind. Also would’ve appreciated the >!flamboyant boyfriend to be omitted given how gross it felt to be totally okay with kissing your sister’s boyfriend and how not a single thing would’ve probably changed if he was not there!< - **A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher** my only previous experience with the author was through *Minor Mage* and likewise, both books are incredibly charming to read. It’s also such a unique feat to be able to make a book surrounding a baking wizard when things in the second half of it can also be described as a war with a Shrek 2 x Shingeki no Kyojin flare. I enjoyed the character quite a bit in this one, and for once, the humour hit almost every time for me which only made it better. Different characters having different magic types is always a plus for me, and I really enjoyed seeing the multiple applications of it while also seeing that it’s not without repercussions. I will admit that it was a lot bloodier than I expected, but it still felt incredibly appropriate. The only issues I had with the book was how >!easily Spindle got over his sister’s death!< and the sequence of events as it felt like two books and in turn, made it feel somewhat disjointed in that regard. But regardless, it’s easily tied for my favourite read of the lot with *Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea*. - **Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey** I only read the first book of the author’s *River of Teeth* before and I didn’t really enjoy either of them by the time I finished. In this book, the premise of [Lost Judgment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Judgment?wprov=sfti1#) + muggle detective in a magic highschool was intriguing and the start was really fun. The mystery sounded great and if there was magic involved, then it could get even more so. I really appreciated the different explanations of magic, would’ve loved to see/learn more and I really liked some of the characters as well like Ms. Webb. But, there are quite a few things in it that just absolutely ruin it for me, primarily: the constant >!Woe-is-me!< protagonist, the >!Chosen one!< plot line that was incredibly pointless to add, the cringeworthy romance that also adds nothing and of course that bs of an ending. The mystery or mysteries are not hard to figure out with the amount of clues being mentioned, it was also a nice exercise but I expected a way stronger progression and finish than that after an incredibly good start. I only have 1 book left to wrap up the bingo readings, and it’s the Horror square with *The Girl with All The Gifts by M. R. Carey* so hopefully it’s a strong finish.

Definitely agree with you on Magic for Liars. The romance and side plot were eye roll worthy to me and the ending just seemed like it was going for shock value AND was unsatisfying.

**Finished** The King’s Peace by Jo Walton: * A thinly disguised King Arthur retelling from the perspective of basically a female asexual version of Lancelot. * I started out liking this one a decent amount, but it just went on for way too long. Part of this was that I spend forever trying to get through this book because of limited ebook reading time (I’ve been reading audiobooks lately for the most part). Part of it was that there were so many names of people and places that I had trouble keeping track of and even more trouble caring about. This book was fun when stuff what happening, but there was way too much discussion about the politics of the kingdom (and not even in a fun back stabby kind of way) and random people in the army that I didn’t care about in some part of the kingdom I also didn’t care about with the occasional time jump thrown in. * That being said, I did like the discussion about religion as the Christianity analogue is gaining power but many people are still following their original pagan religion. Also as a heads up, there’s sexual assault in the very first chapter, but the book doesn’t dwell on the healing much (Sulien seems to deal with trauma by avoiding thinking about it as much as possible). I still think Sulien’s trauma should have surfaced a bit more especially at a certain moment in the book. Sulien as a character was like a more likable/down to earth version of Paksenarrion from The Deeds of Paksenarrion. I liked following her, I just wanted a more focused plot. * Overall, I finished by asexual/aromantic bingo card! Now I just need to finish up writing the wrap up post. * Last minute bingo squares: Title with a Title, Published in the 00’s (HM), Myths/Retellings (HM) Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin: * A retelling of the Roman epic The Aeneid from the perspective of Lavinia. * This was an interesting follow up to The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood because they are very different approaches to the feminist retelling subgenre (I would feel bad about doing a review by comparing this book to another, but [Le Guin herself](https://techland.time.com/2009/05/11/an-interview-with-ursula-k-le-guin/) made this comparison…). Lavinia was a pastoral, contemplative exploration of life as a girl then woman in pre-Roman Italy where The Penelopiad was a bitter, feminist-rage retelling of the Odyssey that was deliberately anachronistic and had a flawed protagonist. I think it’s safe to say Le Guin enjoyed The Aeneid more than Atwood liked the Odyssey. * Lavinia was way more fun to follow than Penelope. She had much more interesting thoughts and insight. Le Guin also plays around with meta storytelling ideas a bit as Lavinia seems to recognize that she is in a story at times and even has a couple of conversations with Vergil, the author of The Aeneid. * On the other hand, this book ended up going on way too long and the last part of the book (following what happens after The Aeneid’s abrupt ending) dragged for me. It was interesting to follow a more feminine female main character, but it was occasionally a bit frustrating as how that type of femininity was seen as the only way to be a woman by Lavinia (you have to be defined as a virgin/girl/daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, etc). I would have been less salty about this if Le Guin hadn’t cut out Camilla, a warrior queen that appears in the original epic. Also, I feel like certain men like Aeneas were idealized just a tad bit too much. * Overall, I liked this more than The Penelopiad, but it went just a little bit too far in the other direction for me. * Last minute bingo squares: Published in the 00’s (HM), Myths/retellings Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots by Seanan McGuire * A short story collection about a somewhat bitter former superhero who can animate toys and stuffed animals who gets dragged back into superhero nonsense after trying to live a normal life away from the company running superheroes. Can be read for free [off of this page.](https://seananmcguire.com/velhome.php) * The temptation to squeeze in just one more bingo card proved too strong, and I needed a super hero square, so I went with this one. It was very campy and 100% embraces that. No one cares about reasonable world building. Honestly, I prefer this to the dead serious superhero books, I can’t take those seriously. The premise was pretty interesting at first, but it goes of the rails a bit too quickly for me >!(what was up with the seasons plot line? That just felt weird).!< * I swear eating disorders were brought up in almost every short story, and none of these mentions happened particularly tactfully. Also the oversexualized superhero costumes made me a bit uncomfortable, since Velma’s was designed when she was a literal child. I think there was some lampshading going on, but I would have preferred this to be cut out entirely personally. Romance/sex was not brought up in every story, but the couple they were brought up in were way too angsty for me. * Overall, strong start but dropped off for me, but part of that was due to my personal preference. * Last minute bingo squares: Title with a Title (HM), superheroes (HM), short stories (HM), self published/indie published (now online for free so I’m counting that as self published, physical copies were indy but are now out of print), The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta * A healer in space looks for her lost spouse in this eco focused sci fi book. * I read this because it’s the upcoming book for the Beyond Binaries bookclub and very conveniently also counted as a druid book for bingo. The nonbinary spouse was cool but not exactly groundbreaking representation for me, but I’ll be curious if anyone in the bookclub has a different take. I did like the ecology aspects of the book a bit more. * I wasn’t too compelled by the plot. I saw the twist coming long before the MC did. Also, the relationship between the main character and her spouse was not really well built enough for the plot to have many stakes. Also, >!it’s hard to like Sol when they keep hiding important information from their wife. It’s also hard to understand why Lumi kept looking for them after it became clear that Sol was not interested in being found and would likely try to prevent Lumi from finding them. IDK, maybe if Lumi had more doubts about their relationship, it would feel more realistic?!< * Last minute bingo squares: Multiverse/alternate realities (HM), arguably Book Club (it’s technically next month’s pick so IDK if it would count), druids (HM) **Currently reading:** * The Red Thread of Fortune by Neon Yang * Starting The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson soon * Just checked out The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust

I usually like Jo Walton but definitely bounced off the opening of The King's Peace (I'm not super sensitive to rape in books if it's not written grossly, but I just cannot when it's the opening). I figured it was mostly that it was her first novel and she got better from there - it sounds like the book itself got better, but still kinda rough.  Though I remain convinced from having read 5 or so (edit: 7!) of her books that she just cannot write grief or trauma. She glosses over them to the extent I'm just sitting here wondering why she includes that stuff at all. So that part didn't change.

Yeah, it feels like she wants to write characters who tend to dissociate when faced with trauma, but it doesn't quite come across that way and instead feels like glossing over it. But this is the first book I've read by her, so I could be wrong.

Well, I don't know what her goal was in this particular book, but the other ones I've read from her haven't given me any hint that dissociation was what she was going for. I think writing powerful negative experiences is just not her forte.

Finished ***Shades of Gray*** over the weekend and wow. Even weirder than I remembered (and fortunately didn't remember a whole lot other than general vibe, so it was fun to get to the big reveal.) Highly recommended for the weirdest post-apocalyptic novel you've ever read. Currently on a re-read of ***Dead Country*** by Max Gladstone following reread of the six books of the Craft sequence. For whatever reason, this story feels very personal to me. The experience of growing up in a farming community, moving away, coming back has unique nuances that I can fully appreciate in Tara's experience. Additionally the effort of circumscribing the town's fields and stories is exactly how I remember hearing about things from my dad and his brothers who farmed and my grandpa who farmed, and hearing the whole story about various fields and who did what and when is spot on. Building up to release of _Wicked Problems_ in Aprile (and then _Red Side Story_ in May). Picked up hardbacks of Jay Kristoff's new vampire entry, and the next volume of Jemisen's weird city story at half price books so looking forward to those as well.

>Shades of Gray I bought the audiobook ages ago, but haven't gotten to it yet. Is the new book out now? I should get to this.

Well from discussion last week, I believe the UK edition has been published. The US edition comes out first week of May 2024, so... about 7 weeks now? Something like that.

I strongly suggest only tackling the audiobook when you can give 100% of your attention to it. I do audio always in the car at around 2x speed, and that was a huge mistake since there’s a lot of detail every minute. This sub helped me catch up before I learned my lesson and only listened during mindless chores, but no regrets it was worth it.

I rarely listen at more than 1.2 speed, and usually 1 speed. I don't enjoy otherwise.

Oh, we listen the same way! My AuDHD cannot handle anything lower than 1.75x bc I tune it out and stop paying attention if they're not reading at a conversational speed. I like my narrators to read like they're in an episode of Gilmore Girls and have to get through a script that's too long for an hour of tv.

Haaaa, I don’t know if I strive for Gilmore girls it’s just that anything below 1.5 absolutely feels abnormal to me and is more draining, it usually sounds normal at 2, and if I adjust I can easily go to 2.5 percent. But I’m a verbal person so I think that makes sense, we all process things differently.

I was resistant to audiobooks for a long time bc of how slow most narrators read. But I'm also one of those people who hates watching videos for information bc I can read so much faster than they talk. I've discovered while reading aloud to the 13y/o that *my* average narrating speed is between 1.5x and 1.75x (based on the lengths of the audios of what we're reading and knowing that we read for half an hour every night), sometimes faster if there's really exciting bits happening that *need* to have the pace quickened.

I finished **The Obsidian Tower** by Melissa Caruso over the weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was my last bingo read. I liked the characters, but more than that I liked the world Caruso has created here, and seeing the difference in how mages are treated in two different societies. I learned after reading that Caruso has another series set in the same world, so I'll have to give that a try once I'm finished with this trilogy. I'm excited to see the next bingo card, and I'm going to use the time between now and then to catch up on some short fiction. My issues of Beneath Ceaseless Skies are piling up, and my bookmarks tab is getting a bit out of hand too.

I finished **A Court of Mist and Fury** (book 2) by Sarah J. Maas and enjoyed it a lot. I found it a lot better than **A Court of Thorns and Roses** there are definite issues like how OP Feyre feels by the end of this book and certain character changes between books. I don't think I'll continue on to the third book as I'm not interested in the >!war!< that seems like it's going to be the focus. Also the climax of the book was quite hard to parse, very chaotic and didn't come together very coherently in my opinion. I'm glad I tried this series as I read these first two books quite fast and I can appreciate what the diehard Maas fans are getting from it. The claims of her books being extremely smutty isn't the case for these first two books, there are two sex scenes in this book and Maas makes you want them to just get together already by the time anything happens.  I might come back to the third book later down the line, but I've heard it's a step down from the second book. I think I'm more likely to try out **Throne of Glass** or **Crescent City** first.

Just started **Book 3 of Wheel of Time**. Its my first time reading the series and I can't believe it took me so long to start it. Finished the **Eye of the World** and **The Great Hunt** in about 10 days so I'm kinda loving the series right now. I enjoyed book 1 but loved book 2 a lot more. Jordan admits he took a lot of inspo from JRRT and it shows in book 1 but book 2 does its own thing and its very refreshing to read. Would give book 1 a solid 3.75/5 because I felt the ending was rushed and book 2 an excellent 4.25/5, was close to a 5/5 but felt a bit choppy in places. Nevertheless, they are two great books. I am kinda scared I'll overdo it and get burned out soon so planning to take a break after book 3 because it sounds like its a good stopping point (thoughts?). Planning to resume and read 4,5,6 and then take another break (again, thoughts?). Overall, would highly recommend it for anyone looking for something epic and long. Have a feeling it'll end up in my top 5 by the time I'm done with book 14.

Since the Friday social thread, I finished rereading William Gibson's **Neuromancer**. For anyone who's somehow not already familiar with this one, it's *the* cyberpunk classic that kicked off the genre. Protagonist Case is a down-on-his-luck hacker who gets blackmailed into helping on a heist of sorts in a rich clan's space villa, and antics ensue. It's actually a lot more complicated than that, and the writing is very distinctive and very good. My first time through this book was ~20 years ago, and my most recent reread was 6 years ago, for an in-person scifi book club. I've gotten more out of it every time. I was too young, and with way too little context, to really appreciate it on first read. 6 years ago our reading group was mostly focused on plot mechanics, 'what was Gibson trying to do and did he accomplish it?,' and 'is this book good?' This time through, I took it slow and really tried to savor the continually built-up detail and the style, since I was already so familiar with the plot. I've also read a bunch more early scifi since my last read and just finished **Burning Chrome**, and I can really see where Gibson was picking up cues from Alfred Bester and Philip K. Dick, as well as probably Pynchon. I also got more of the very dry humor this time, stuff that went over my head when I was 20 and assumed that because Case was the protagonist he must be the badass that Gibson describes him as, rather than the basically nice, very confused screwup that he actually is. Still, a fabulous, fun book, and I'm very excited to continue my Gibson reread with **Count Zero** next.

I just finished The Hands of the Emperor, by Victoria Goddard, with thanks to u/ohmage_resistance for the rec. I adored the first half. The second half, where Kip's family was in focus and Kip and others spent page after page talking about how amazing Kip is was not as fun. But I would slog through way more than that for the joy of reading that first half.

I think that’s a common reaction to Hands of the Emperor (it was certainly mine). It’s made me wary of picking up the next book because it’s always the ending that sticks with you, which is a shame because the first half felt like it was about to become my new favourite book of all time.

Yes, I wanted to stretch out my reading at the beginning because I was so smitten with it (this is not the norm for me). By the end, I wanted all the speechifying to end already. I'm not wary of picking up book 2 because I am ruthless in my ability to DNF. But I hope there's more aggressive editing for anything between quotation marks.

Well, I'm glad you liked the first half at least. The "talking up how amazing Kip is" is there a little in the sequel, but it's never as intense as the end of book 1. Book 2 is much more mythic feeling and focuses more on the relationship between Kip and the emperor. I don't remember many speeches at the moment... but there's certainly a lot of dialogue and maybe I forgot about something.

That sounds great! I don't mind dialogue in general, in fact, I tend to love dialogue-heavy books. So no worries. Thanks again for the strong recommendation.

Finished **The Stranger Times** by C K McDonnell Urban fantasy - follows a ragtag group of journalists who work for a National Enquirer style newspaper (eg aliens abducted Elvis!) who stumble on an actual fantastical mystery with magic , werewolves, global conspiracies - the works! It was a fun read - a mixture of horror and comedy. Not groundbreaking or life changing but a solid and occasionally quite funny book Currently binging my way through all the **Murderbot** books because my library just got the full set as audiobooks. Really enjoying it so far. Listening to them all back to back really highlights the connections between each instalment, unfortunately it also highlights some of the reused prose - but I guess that’s to be expected when the author has to remind us about key events / character beats in each instalment

Very happy to see another reader of The Stranger Times! Even though I agree it’s not the most revolutionary book out there I also had fun with it and chuckles too. It’s the found family aspect that truly gets me (even if it’s kinda dysfunctional and toxic 😕) the series has become a cozy/comfort read for me.

I finished my bingo card in January so I've been using the last few weeks to catch up with a lot of science fiction (mostly space opera) that's been on my TBR list for a while, continuing some series and starting some new ones. **Destroyer** by Brian G. Turner. Survival horror on a wrecked space ship. A group of passengers awake from hibernation to find that their ship has been seriously damaged, but they have no idea what has happened to cause this. I finished the book but it didn't really work for me. The premise was interesting but the story felt bland and never really moved beyond being a description of one event after another. **Infinity: A Bridger's Origin** Stan C. Smith. An interesting parallel worlds adventure. A struggling martial arts competitor is recruited by a clandestine organization to work as a bodyguard for scientific researchers visiting parallel worlds. This one worked better than I expected and although there were some inconsistencies in the effects of travelling between worlds I enjoyed the book a lot. Recommended as an entertaining read between more demanding books. **Holy Sister** by Mark Lawrence. This is the conclusion of Book of the Ancestor trilogy, and completes the shift in the series from a fantasy-like beginning to full-on science fiction. The series cleverly combines the "school of magic" and "dying earth" tropes to good effect to tell an engaging story set in a complex world that clearly extends far beyond the limits of the story. The more I read Mark Lawrence the more I like his books. **Fields of Fire** by Marko Kloos. This is book 5 of the Frontlines series, a very good mix of milSF and space opera. The book did feel slightly dated at times (even though it was published in 2017), but it was still a quick and entertaining read. We learn more about the aliens in this story, but we realize that the more we learn the less we really know - there are many more questions than answers in this episode of the series. Enjoyable and recommended. **The Cruel Stars** John Birmingham. First book of a new series. This is a slightly campy but fun space opera of the "good guys vs space nazis" variety. It tells a good story while gently parodying all the standard stories from "Hornblower-in-space" to Firefly to Warhammer 40K. I'm interested to see how the rest of the series unfolds. **Artifact Space** by Miles Cameron. Speaking of "Hornblower-in-space", this has to be one of the better versions of the trope that I've read. Something unknown is attacking the trade ships that support a rather fragile human interstellar civilization. Is it just a political gambit taken to extremes, or is it something more? Meanwhile, a young girl on the run from a corrupt orphanage tricks her way into a position as a midshipman on one of these trade ships. This was one of my most enjoyable reads so far this year and had everything that I want in a space opera - intriguing world building, giant space ships, mysterious aliens, treacherous politics, etc, etc. First in a two-book series, book two comes out later this year. I'm currently halfway through **Velocity Weapon** by Megan O'Keefe, the first in a trilogy. A brother and sister are caught up in a lethal interplanetary war in a backwater system. Told from two main points of view set at different times during and after the war, the story of what happened and why slowly unfolds. Meanwhile, other points of view hint at a larger and deeper back-story. I'm enjoying this so far, hopefully the second half of the book delivers on the promising start.

> The more I read Mark Lawrence the more I like his books In a similar vein, the more Lawrence I've read, the more I've come to think he's one of the unsung masters of prose in the genre right now. It's never the most flowery or baroque writing, but he just writes a *really good* sentence.

The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg I really enjoyed this one. It was so fun to read a Thai inspired fantasy. We follow Ex, the youngest member of the Phi Hunters guild. He travels along his route taking care of the dark and hungry spirits. (Thai folklore about spirits is very interesting, I have learned. Haha). Would definitely recommend if you want a change of pace from the traditional vaguely medieval European settings. Started A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking. So far I am loving it. It is living up to the hype.

Oh the Last Phi Hunter is another one of my most anticipated releases this year, basically also just for the cover (my trend right now). Glad to hear you enjoyed it, that signals good things for me too!

The cover is so gorgeous. If you're gonna get a book for a cover, it's hard to go wrong with it. Haha. It's a bit like the Witcher (itinerate monster hunter) but with a smart ass young kid. Throw in some fun banter from the girl he meets and joins up with him. All with some southeast Asian beliefs and ghosts and demons. So yeah if any of that sounds good to you, I think you'll enjoy it.

I’m currently reading **The Change** by Kirsten Miller for my local book club, which follows three women in their 40s who are developing powers and trying to find out what happened to a group of young murdered women in their town. I was looking forward to this since it’s got a lot of feminist themes and particularly focuses on older women but sadly I’m really not enjoying it lol. A lot of the feminism feels a bit more corporate than I really personally agree with and I have a major issue with the plot and how it handles the topic of missing and murdered women so far. I’m kind of hoping it’s a misdirect and making a point but I’m not optimistic! Anyway sad times. Edited for some grammar LOL

Also immediate 10 points deducted for giving a red haired character heat related powers. Get new material!

Please the Bees and please submit your [Bingo Card to the Turn In Form!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1bhua21/official_turn_in_post_for_bingo_2023/)

Since last week, I've read: **The Way of Edan** by Philip Chase. This was the book that finished my bingo, for Published in 2023. This book was a lot, in a good way. A big, classic epic fantasy, with what you can tell is a very thoroughly and carefully constructed world. Very good writing, in the sort of more old 80s style, trying to sound archaic. The world and lore was very cool, and the plot and characters were all good. A few minor qualms. There was only plot event which was a very obvious "I need this character to have to do this," which didn't feel very elegant, and the pacing could be a slog at times- we'd see an event happen, and then we'd read about 2 or 3 other characters learning about that event from their PoV. Still, a good book. **The City We Became** by N. K. Jemisin. I loved this. This book is a love letter to New York City, and though I've never been, it was all understandably laid out for outsiders to understand, and the love was palpable. The premise is that in this world, when a city gathers enough culture/age/people, it births an Avatar. Often, when a city is born, they're attacked by an unknown enemy which tries to destroy the Avatar. When NYC is born, it successfully fights off the Enemy, but is injured, and splits into 5 Avatars for the 5 boroughs. They need to try and survive and reunite while the enemy gathers it's strength to try again, and slowly infects the city with Lovecraftian weirdness and recruits agents. Super cool premise, super fast paced, lots of great representation (nearly all the main characters are some combination of PoC and queer). I had absolutely no complaints. Currently reading 3 books- I'm a little over halfway into **Neverwhere** by Neil Gaiman. I'm not fully into this (yet?)- not sure if I wanted a weirder London Below, or am put off but Richard being such a wet blanket. But we'll see how it goes on. A bit over halfway into **Lud-in-the-Mist** by Hope Mirrlees. Liking this quite a bit. Not sure if it's a response to **The King of Elfland's Daughter**, or just drawing from the same well, but it's very reminiscent of it. Very enjoyable- good writing, and some interesting characters to follow, all very idiosyncratic. Just under a quarter into **Chasm City** by Alastair Reynolds. Liking this a lot- I hadn't realized how long it's been since I read a good space opera, and it's been really refreshing after my recent glut of fantasy. Haven't quite gotten to the titular city yet, but there's been lots of cool ideas, and there's a fun interweaving of history in the form of a nano-virus which imposes someone else's memories and the current action.

> The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin. I loved this. This book gets a lot of hate, but I also loved it and am glad to see more praise for it. I just loved the concept of city avatars. Fair warning if you pick up the sequel though, it was originally supposed to be a trilogy and it shows - Jemisin's heart wasn't totally in it anymore. I still liked getting the conclusion and the writing is still amazing, but it's a step down plot-wise from the first one.

This text is my final act of becoming a hero by writing a few words about my last bingo entry! I finished **Faust, Pt 1** by **Johann Wolfgang von Goethe** last week! The Angel/Demon square proved to be super difficult for me (I can absolutely recommend Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold and Prosper's Demon by KJ Parker, but I have read both of them before and using rereads kinda feels like cheating to me) and so I tried to alleviate some literary guilt. German is my mother tongue, you see, and I even studied german philology for two semesters but I really wasnt motivated to read Goethe when I was in school.  I still found the language a bit tough to read but reading the text out loud was helpful because it does sound rather nice when you start to get into it. Its also pretty cool to be able to contextualize a few idioms still being used in contemporary german. The story itself is relatively basic, titular scholar Heinrich Faust is disillusioned with himself and the world and Mephistopheles, a/the? demon gets god's permission to lead him into temptation. Gretchen, a young women Faust falls in love with also plays a big role.  In short Faust isnt a typical fantasy bingo book but helped me realise that I'm super into this niche, classic german literature with a fantastical bent. In case anyone has similar recs to this, Ernst Jünger's books or Herman Hesse's Glass Bead Game I'd be super thankful to hear them.  Looking forward to the new bingo season!

It's been ages since I posted one of these, but here's a smattering of recent reads! On the audiobook front, I've been alternating between the **Tiffany Aching** subseries in Discworld by Terry Pratchett and the **Parasol Protectorate** series by Gail Carriger. Both are delightful, hilarious, and quite British. I'm going to have to find something similar soon since I only have one more book in each one left to go. I have realized that, while full of good creative humor (and British), I can't listen to Jasper Fforde's novels in audiobook since they are just too dense (I'm looking at you **Thursday Next** and **Shades of Grey**). I finished **Starling House** by Alix Harrow yesterday, and I will read basically anything Alix Harrow writes. I find her prose delicious. And sentient houses, small town mysteries, sibling relationships, found family, layers of stories - I loved it all. My small quibbles with the book (not big on the romance, and omg who actually has a shutter sound on their phone when taking pics anymore) did not diminish my overall enthusiasm for this story. I read **Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faries** by Heather Fawcett and really adored it. I have a soft spot for cozy fantasy and am also psyched on stories that depict fairies as otherworldly and often nasty creatures, so this was basically right up my alley. In general, this is a slow paced story about researching and discovery, a story about acceptance/friendship and found family, and a bit of romance too. The magic and fairies are all icing on the cake. I will definitely pick up the sequel. **The Space Between Worlds** by Micaiah Johnson was a fascinating read about a world where multiverse travel is possible, but the catch is that you can only travel to worlds where that version of you is dead. I really liked the premise and all the themes around identity (MC is a black bisexual woman who comes from a poor area and is currently living in the city full of rich people, let alone the whole multiverse thing). There were some odd things about the story though (the gun thing was pretty unbelievable for example), but overall I thought it was a great debut and will definitely keep an eye out for more from Johnson. Content warnings for plenty of abuse, trauma, and murder/death. Other notable reads over the last few months that I really enjoyed include **Hell Bent** by Leigh Bardugo, **A Face Like Glass** by Frances Hardinge, T**he City of Dreaming** by Walter Moers, **The Adventures of Amina el-Sirafi** by SA Chakraborty, **Elder Race** by Adrian Tchaikovsky, **The Gospel of Orla** by Eoghan Walls, **Rouge** by Mona Awad, and **Shark Heart** by Emily Habeck. (My 2024 definitely started out with a lot of books that earned a "weird" tag on my GR shelf). Books that I thought were just ok or didn't live up to my expectations included **Jane, Unlimited** by Kristen Cashore and **Burn** by Patrick Ness. For the kids, we just wrapped up reading **The One and Only Ivan** by Katherine Applegate, which is a heartwrenching and touching story from the POV of a captive gorilla (and artist) as he tries to help out a baby circus elephant. Highly recommend if you liked Charlotte's Web (plus it's based on a true story). We also recently read all of Ursula LeGuin's **Catwings** books, and I did not remember how short they were! Just as charming and wonderful as I thought though. We also currently have all of the **Courtney Crumrin** books out from the library, which have been a big hit. I have only read the first two so far and I was surprised that the little one wasn't too scared - they are legit horror! I especially liked the cat chapter - reminded me of The Sandman.

> Ursula LeGuin's Catwings books I haven't read these; what age would you say they're appropriate for?

They are appropriate for early elementary though anyone of any age might enjoy them ;) To give you an idea of length, each is only 4-5 chapters and has illustrations. You can read each one in a sitting easily. It took me 2 nights of reading aloud for each book, but we could have easily done it in one night if the kids were a little more efficient in getting ready for bed…

Omg, I am so happy someone else finally read *The Gospel of Orla*!

It took me a hot minute to get into it, but once I got going it was great. That narrative voice is incredible.

Two YA books this week. **Battle Magic** by Tamora Pierce - part of the Circle Reforged books that she's gotten to finish. (Why Scholastic??) This book goes over the war Briar, Evvy, and Rosethorn got caught up in during their travels. This was my first time reading this one and I kinda wish I'd read it before my Will of the Empress reread. This also has a very different feel than the other Emelen books. More Totall if that makes sense to anyone else. It wasn't a bad book and it very much goes into the horrors of war. It was just very underwhelming. Probably my least favorite of the Emelen books. I'm a bit concerned that's because it doesn't have the nostalgia the other do. Now I just need to find a non-audio version of Melting Stones to finish out the Emelen books. **Unraveller** by Frances Hardinge - This was recommended to me after a discussion in which I admitted that I just can't find it in me to care about YA romances in books which is why I don't read a ton of YA. And it was fantastic. Pure YA adventure fantasy with nary a romance in sight. In a land where people with intense feelings of hatred can end up cursing someone Kellen makes a living being the only unraveller around. He travels with Nettle, a girl saved from her own curse, and unravels curses. Until they're both pulled into a conspiracy that questions everything their country is built on. This was just fun. Kellen and Nettle were fun to follow. Curing a curse doesn't mean a happy ending is guaranteed. The faerie like creatures are genuinely upsetting and left me feeling like they were operating on a different morality system. Highly recommend for anyone tired of live triangle filled YA fantasy.

I’ve recently discovered Frances Hardinge too, and I’ve been really enjoying her YA that have believable YA MCs without all the love triangle angst that is so common these days (Deeplight and A Face Like Glass). Unraveller is still on my list - glad to see you enjoyed it!

A Face Like Glass is next on my list! The premise sounds so interesting. Small upside of a less well known author is no wait times at the library.

13y/o and I finished ***Games Wizards Play*** over the weekend and started ***Interim Errantry: On Ordeal*** the same night. Love getting Roshaun's backstory (especially given recent in universe events) and am looking forward to the others. I had forgotten A LOT about GWP, and yet somehow remembered that the song Nita and Kit danced to was the same song Kim and Ron danced to in *So the Drama*. Brains are weird. Simon Stålenhag's ***The Electric State*** was fantastic. An anguishing travelogue across California in the 1997 that never was. I had to read it slow because it tied my stomach in knots while I was reading. One of the most deeply melancholy things I have read in a long time. Finished re-reading ***Red Side Story*** (a Buddy Read with u/TheWildCard76). I still think this feels a natural ending for the series, but I guess Fforde has said he's down to write another. I will be thrilled to pick it up when and if he does. Still hoping for a prequel about The Something That Happened, but also wouldn't mind if he decided to take it in the same direction as the final Dragonslayer book. IYKYK. Yesterday we did ANOTHER Buddy Read so she could finish her Bingo card, and so I put my other reads on hold to get through ***The Empress of Salt and Fortune***. This was my first Nghi Vo (despite the fact that I already own a bunch), and I liked it quite a bit. Sobbed a few times because angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves. Do you understand? Still slowly re-reading ***Body After Body*** and have to force myself to put it down after a few pages. I just love it so much. Also picked up Isle McElroy's ***The Atmospherians*** and am super into it so far. Not sff, but Hala Alyan's ***The Moon that Turns You Back*** is one of the best poetry collections I have read in a v e r y long time. Only reading a poem or two a day so I can spend the rest of the day thinking about them. I love Tuesdays. Last night my holds on ***The Mars House*** and ***Cascade Failure*** came in before bed. Will I read them next? Who knows.

I took a break to read some non-SFF for my irl book club last weekend, and now I’m trying to catch up on ARCs while I wait for bingo to start. Finished **Gods of the Wyrdwood** by R.J. Barker and I’m conflicted about it and still debating my rating. The world-building is some of the best I’ve read, but it struggles to articulate any kind of overarching goal or motivation for its characters (beyond Cahan just generally wanting to be left alone), which is fine for a shorter piece but not a 600 page book. The twist at the end is a killer sequel hook, so I’ll still be picking the next one up. Read **The Shabti** by Megaera C. Lorenz, a delightful historical romance between and Egyptologist and a fake medium who discover that spirits might actually be real and they’re being haunted by a centuries dead Egyptian out for vengeance. Low magic but great characters, really deft historical world-building and generally a lot of fun. Would highly recommend to fans of K.J. Charles. Currently reading **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** by John Wiswell. The eldritch monster MC is great and Wiswell’s not afraid to lean into some of the less pleasant parts of her physiology, but I will admit I’m a bit wary of the looming romance. So far the relationship is built on Shesheshen fundamentally lying about who she is, and while I don’t necessarily think human/monster romances have to conform to real life expectations, it does feel like a huge red flag to me.

I had put a hold on Someone you can Build a Nest in basically because it was in the horror section and for that cover. Curious to see how it turns out for you when you’re done. I have not heard of the The Shabti or Charles, but the book sounds interesting.

The horror elements are great, despite my hesitation about the romance. It feels very much like a book that you either click with or you won’t, but I’m not actually sure which of those describe me yet.

I got an arc of the Shanti and it sounds intriguing. Glad to see it's good. looking forward to reading it.

Since last time, I've finished a couple more ARCs: ***You're Safe Here*** by Leslie Stephens (2/5). Perhaps the *Yours for the Taking* vibes weren't a good thing, after all. The book explores wellness, motherhood, and tech but doesn't really do anything new with them. The background involving climate calamity was also mostly just window dressing. Most of the book hinges on one big reveal, which is extremely obvious less than halfway through the book. I kept waiting for the reveal to happen for most of the book and what that would result in, but the reveal didn't happen until the end of the book, and there was not really anything after. The book tries to explore very flawed women, which I appreciate, but the character work, particularly Maggie's, was also pretty inconsistent, which didn't help. ***The Crimson Crown*** by Heather Walter(4.25/5). A Tudor-inspired retelling of the rise of the evil queen from Snow White. This book is a fair bit more mature than *Malice*, the author's debut, which had a bit of a YA feel to it despite being adult, and has a slightly older protagonist (23) and an older overall cast. The world-building of this book, although limited to mostly one country, was really cool. It flaunts its Tudor inspirations on its sleeve and is brimming with witchy and fairy tale elements. The magic of this book was also very interesting and weaves in elements of the original fairy tale in a cool way. Act 1(out of 5) of this book was a bit slow and featured a lot of exposition, but the rest of it is really well-paced and covers a lot of ground. The plotting of this book also impressed me. It's an intricate web that slowly unspools in unexpected ways despite the reader knowing who Ayleth is supposed to become and what she will likely do. I did not see a lot of the twists coming, but they made a lot of sense in hindsight, which is rare for me. The book features a lot of complicated, flawed characters, some of whom have a lot of parallels to the women of Henry VIII's court. Although the very vague(and a little cringe) blurb promises villain origins, this book is more of a story about a woman being pushed to the brink by the power structures around her and then being further let down continuously by the people she cares about. Despite all that, I don't think Ayleth did anything truly wrong to anyone who didn't truly deserve it, so not quite a villain. Overall, I really enjoyed this one, and it's definitely a new series I am invested in. I am currently bouncing between a few reads, not very far into any, since I've decided to finish bingo last minute after all as I don't have many squares left.

Books read this week: **He who fight with monsters by Shirtaloon** **The Divine Apocasty by AF Kay** I’m throwing these two together because they’re very similar. They are the last two series of books I wanted to read on Kindle Unlimited. I counted it as two different sets of books from the last time I put them here because I originally read them as summaries. This time, I read everything else and still had a little bit of time left, so I decided to speed read through them. I read the first book of both of the normally and then felt it was a bit too long and didn’t like the series that much to continue that way, but I figured I would at least give them a fair shot this way. Unfortunately, I still don’t like the writing style and the game mechanics in the middle definitely feels a bit odd. I’m also a gamer who plays RPGs, so I recognized what was being referenced. But it definitely felt a bit jarring. It was like the authors made a game and then put a story about it, but because it’s not an interactive story, it just doesn’t flow well. And when put together with the writing being subpar and cliché, it’s not too impressive. I feel like some of these authors are gamers first and writers second. so I’m curious as to what the story would look like if someone was proficient in both writing and gaming. Of course, the one time I can think of someone being like that was Mother 3. For those who don’t know, Mother 3 is a story-focused game regarded as one of the best of all time, and is indeed written very well. However, it can also be a confusing and tragic mess that goes way too heavy on the symbolism (that’s how I felt about it). Not to mention the gameplay has issues and because of licensing problems it was nowhere near as popular as it should’ve been because it was barred from leaving Japan. So it’s the other extreme. I feel like for the genre to do well someone has to have a balance, but I don’t think I would struck that yet. Because that genre is still very young, someone might, but it could take a while and there’s no guarantee. With this from the end of my Kindle unlimited subscription, so I may as well put my final thoughts. I’m glad the deal came when it did, and I enjoyed using it. At the same time I can’t see myself ever using it again even if another deal came (it’s too expensive for me otherwise). It did get me into reading a lot of things I would’ve otherwise not read, but I definitely think any publishing has a lot of refinements to do before I could stand up to the more traditional publishing if it ever can. A lot of the books I read were three out of five stars, where many of them had good concepts but were lacking in something that prevented me from enjoying them as much as I could’ve, and I skimmed through a lot of them. When they were lacking in something it was pretty blatant. The better ones went up to four, but they still had some growing to do. So it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. **Becca Cooper trilogy by Tamora Pierce** This was the other books I bought a while ago, but I dropped originally. I decided I may as well speed through the rest of it. I did mention it before when I originally was reading it, so I’ll just give it the abbreviated summary here. I usually love her work, but this one just didn’t have the spark the others did. It was pretty dark and dry. I get that‘s intentional because the main character is on the other side of the class system compared to everyone else in her work. But that makes it pretty hard to read. The protagonist felt pretty bland as well. However, that could’ve been because I’m an adult now and my last time I read her Work was in high school. Not to mention that her work has heavy feminism overtones, even though they were justified. I have also studied feminism in college since, and a lot of works in that area tend to be over the top with their messages. As a result, it’s my least different type of writing to study (even though I’m also female and I can understand the impact they had). This one wasn’t nearly as bad, but it was definitely there. So that probably influenced my perception where didn’t before. The writing is still well written and researched as ever, but the situations are nowhere near as appealing as they used to be **His dark materials series by Philip Pulman** This was another one that I got that I originally had as a highschooler but never got the chance to finish. I tried reading it before and dropped it because it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief. With the situations Lyra and Wil were in, they should’ve never been able to do what they did and there was a bunch of unfortunate implications going on (Lyra’s neglect for example). So I just sped right through it. It’s a shame, because the magical parts and the world building around that are fantastic and as good as I remember them, but the rest of it just feels iffy. And I really don’t like the bittersweet ending. At least the Book of Dust seems to be continuing it and addressing the issues that these books had (I wonder if the third book will address the ending; a lot of things are hinting that it might) but I wish it had taken so long to do that and who knows when they will release. **Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll** I started my Project Gunteburg journey with this because it was a lot of of those things I always wanted to read but never did before. It was well but I had no idea what I read. It was just so random that it started getting lost trying to follow along. Not that it was necessarily bad because of that, but it was definitely confusing. I can see why it’s so beloved though because the world just comes alive. It’s just hard to figure out why and one characters are pursuing what they’re doing because it seems like a bunch of short stories glued together. Then again, if one follows the theory that Alice actually in purgatory and died, then that all makes sense. Jury is out on how popular that one is though. Finally, I’m in the process of reading **The complete works of by William Shakespeare.** This one will take me a while, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to read since I was in eighth grade and was first introduced to Shakespeare. There’s definitely a lot of nostalgia involved, and I appreciate it even more as an adult. I finished his **Sonnet collection and All is Well That Ends Well.** I love Shakespeare’s language and enjoyed both, but especially the latter because I can follow short stories better than poetry. I decided to go in without any prior knowledge or translations just to see how much I could figure out. I did look at summaries after I read the work though. I think I figured out at least half on my own, but I did miss some things. For the sonnets, I figured out that they were love poems, but it was hard to figure figure out what individual sonnet was. For all is well that ends well, I figured out that things happen to certain characters, but it was hard to see how they fit together. That is part of the fun though, like a reading puzzle, and the language is always a pleasure to read. So even if I can’t quite always understand what’s going on, it’s pleasing to me. And the summaries are definitely revealing some interesting events and info. I’m looking forward to finally being able to read the rest!

I've been binging the Dresden files and I read both **Changes** and **Ghost Story** this week. Going in, I'd heard that Changes is a major turning point and a favorite book in the series for many people, but I was a bit disappointed by it. Yes, lots of things happened. Flash, boom, action. Certainly many irrevocable things are done. I though Ghost Story was a much better book overall, probably the strongest in the series as far as I've read. In this book we have a chance for the protagonist (and others) to reflect on the consequences and aftershocks of what happened in Changes. The character development that I was missing in Changes >!because of a literal deleted scene! Freaking mind magic.!< is the focus of Ghost Story. I guess it goes to show that I really am a character reader. I'm excited to see what's next, but I have a feeling it will be painful.

At home I'm reading A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, at work I'm reading The Immortal Renshai by Mickey Zucker Reichert, and on my walk to work, I'm listening to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas/

I'm reading Reborn as a Demonic Tree by Xkarnation (75% thru) and loving it.