I won’t be reviewing these two David Mitchell books in this blog post because they are part of my Big Summer David Mitchell Reread, which will have its own blog post.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell **Book Hangover Alert 4/5 moon-gray cats
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell **Book Hangover Alert 4/5 moon-gray cats
New Books Read
Hodder & Stoughton
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen Little Thieves book 1 of 2 I’ve been wanting to read this mostly because it has a nice cover. It was fun; I enjoyed it. Little Thieves is a retelling of the Goose Girl fairytale and it’s very fresh. There’s a heist, a curse to be broken, dark magic to beat, low gods to satisfy. I liked the world and the folklore a lot. I wasn’t as into it in the first half, because I found Vanja a bit unlikable, and it was frustrating that it took her so long to realize that the only way she would be able to break her curse would be to work together and make friends. Once she started being friends with Gisele, Ragne, and Emeric, I was much more into it. 3.5/5 castle kobolds
Macmillan Publishers
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini Fractalverse book 1 of 2 CW: war, attempted genocide Like many people who were young in the 2000s, I loved the Eragon books. Then it seemed like Paolini kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a while. Now he returns with an epic sci-fi saga. Surveying an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. When it binds itself to her, she, and all of humanity, is pulled into an intergalactic war with more than one alien species. On top of that, Kira has to learn to live in symbiosis with the alien presence that has bonded itself with her. I did read the whole thing and at 32 hours on audio, that is recommendation in and of itself. However, I wasn’t that into it. I was interested enough to finish but I don’t know that I’ll read the second book. I did like the characters of the crew of the Wallfish and I thought the concept of the ship minds was interesting. 3/5 jellies
Little, Brown and Company
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier **Book Hangover Alert I’d heard good things about this book, but I was a little underwhelmed byJamaica Inn by du Maurier. But I love a gothic horror so I had to check Rebecca off the list. Working as a companion for an older woman in Monte Carlo, the young, unnamed narrator meets the widower Maxim de Winter and they impulsively get married. When she returns to his estate with him, she finds the whole household and community and Maxim himself still haunted by his dead wife Rebecca. It was really good. I’m still thinking about it. The beginning was just a little slow but du Maurier has fabulous tension building and created such interesting contrasts between our unnamed narrator and Rebecca. It was so interesting how even though Mrs. de Winter is our narrator and point of view character, she fades in comparison to Rebecca who looms so large over the story, despite being dead for the whole thing. 4/5 fancy dress balls
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 3 of 5 Last month I read Riordan’s new book about Nico so it was nice to reread this one to remember how it all began. Baby Nico is so cute! In this installment of the Percy Jackson series, Percy and Grover must team up with the Hunters of Artemis to save both Annabeth and Artemis herself in a cross-country adventure full of monsters, gods, good friends, and bad jokes. 4/5 dam store t-shirts
New Books Read
Indian No More by Traci Sorell and Charlene Willing McManis*** CW: racism Regina and her family are moving off the Umpqua rez and 10-year-old Regina isn’t sure why. Her mom says the government doesn’t recognize them as Indians anymore. Her dad says it will be a great opportunity for them to move to the city and become real Americans with better opportunities. Regina has to balance fitting in in her new home with holding onto her history and identity that her grandmother passes down to her in the form of stories. This is a great middle grade read for anyone looking to learn more about Native Americans, particularly the Indian termination policy of the 1950s. 3.5/5 neighborhood kids
Dry by Jarrod Shusterman and Neal Shusterman CW: climate change, natural disaster, attempted rape This book was frighteningly plausible. In a near future climate crisis, the water in Los Angeles is shut off as the Colorado River is diverted from flowing into California. All the nearby lakes, rivers, and reservoirs have already dried up. The book follows four teens and one child as they try to navigate an increasingly desperate situation. I really liked this book; I think everyone should probably read it. I liked the way the authors gave the reader several archetypes of the kind of people who emerge in natural disasters like these: the kind of end-of-the-world preparer type, who of course will never really be prepared enough, the opportunistic capitalist who knows they can make a few dollars off everyone else’s desperation, the one who is just trying to survive, the one who keeps their humanity and wants to help others, and the sort of everyman, who is trying to balance being a leader who can keep their group alive with difficult decisions they might not be able to live with. I thought it created a really interesting dynamic in the group. 3.5/5 water bottles
Milkweed Editions
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling*** CW: rape, rape of children, slavery This book is stunningly unique and thought provoking. In an imagined history of one of the most celebrated Native American women in history, Earling fills in the gaps of what history knows about Sacajewea. Everything we know about her comes from accounts of white men: Lewis, Clark, Sacajewea’s “husband” Charbonneau (who let’s not forget purchased her as a 13-year-old, forced her into a nonconsensual marriage and raped her). So Earling’s book takes the reader on a journey of what it may have been like to be Sacajewea. The most arresting part of Earling’s narrative is the style in which she writes. She uses rhythm and sound and repetition in a way that makes the whole narrative almost an epic prose poem. It’s challenging but also visceral and immediate. Earling doesn’t shy away from the horrifying parts of Sacajewea’s story–in fact the history we learn of Sacajewea is almost devoid of horror, despite the known facts of her kidnap, slavery, and rape as a child, so Earling’s narrative reminds readers that Sacajewea was a human and however great her contributions to history, geography, science, and this nation, she was a child who was wronged. 4/5 horses
Crown
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama*** Every year former president Barak Obama shares a list of the best books he read. This book topped his list in 2022—though he may be a little biased. Following her gorgeous memoir Becoming, The Light We Carry walks the line between a memoir and a self-help book. Obama shares fresh stories from her life and uses them to impart wisdom and insight on living through increasingly uncertain times. Since her first book, the world has faced a global pandemic, political turmoil, economic and climate insecurity. Obama offers practical advice on understanding and using fear, caring for relationships with friends, partners, and children, and what it truly means to “go high.” Compassionate, compelling, and inspiring, Obama’s book oozes with sincerity and conviction. Obama also reads her own audiobook which I highly recommend. 3.5/5
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia*** CW: forced marriage, murder, infanticide I rescued this book, along with Dry and Indian No More from the trash room at my apartment complex. They deserved a better home. I really liked this book. Noémi, a young socialite in Mexico City, receives a concerning letter from her cousin, married to an Englishman in a remote part of Mexico. Noémi travels to the dilapidated manor where her cousin and the Englishman’s family live in the ruins of their wealth from a now closed mine. It doesn’t take long for Noémi to realize something odd is going on. Is the house haunted? Is it driving her cousin mad? Is it driving her mad? Is her cousin being poisoned? And worst of all, will the house let her leave? I very much enjoyed this. It was dark, it was mysterious. Noémi was plucky and smart. It was a treat for anyone who loves a good old Victorian gothic novel. 4/5 mushrooms
Scholastic Inc
Solitaire by Alice Oseman CW: depression, eating disorders, homophobia This book follows one of my favorite characters from the Heartstopper series: Tori Spring, Charlie’s older sister. Tori Spring is just trying to figure out how to survive high school; she doesn’t have the time to figure out how to be happy. Two new boys join her year: Lucas, who was a childhood friend, and Micheal, whose reputation as a prankster precedes him. At the same time, a mysterious individual or organization named Solitaire begins to prank the school. Tori isn’t really interested in finding out who’s behind the pranks…though they all seem to be connected to her. I really enjoyed this book. I read a review that compared it to Catcher in the Rye and I do see the similarities, but Tori Spring is just so much more likable than Holden Caulfield. It’s a timeless exploration of coming of age, friendship, and finding happiness and purpose as a teenager. 3.5/5
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee*** CW: AIDS epidemic, rape, sexual harassment, trauma, death of a parent Undoubtedly one of America’s best writers, Chee constructs intimate windows into his life in the form of personal essays. Each essay stands alone, but taken together in this book, the essays become a mosaic of a queer writer’s life. Chee writes about his mixed-race identity, the particular challenges of being a writer in the industry, the experience of being a gay man during the AIDS epidemic, the long shadow of trauma, and much more. My favorite essays included “The Querent,” about how to believe in or trust what isn’t visible or easily explained, and “Rosary,” an essay about growing a rose garden, but also an essay about creating something out of barren ground, about being shaped in turn by this thing you’ve created. Chee writes with searing honesty about extremely personal subjects, and yet the universality of his essays is apparent. They are relatable and resonant, contemplative and insightful, and I can’t recommend them enough. 4/5 roses
I reviewed this book for Under the Sun. You can read the full review here.
Pan Macmillan
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes*** CW: rape, victim blaming I will never not be obsessed with feminist retellings of Greek myths. A retelling of the myths of Medusa and Andromeda, Haynes conducts the reader through the myth from only female perspectives, changing a story we thought we all knew–how Perseus slew the evil gorgon Medusa and then used her severed head to kill the monster that was menacing the Princess Andromeda–and showing us that we never really knew it at all. Haynes gives us an arsenal of complex and interesting female characters and writes with an intimate and casual tone, evoking a bedtime story told by a grandmother. I was a big fan. 4.5/5 stones
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Indian No More to learn about Native American history and how Native identities were erased by this policy. Read The Lost Journals of Sacajewea to finally hear about the great journey of Lewis and Clark from Sacajewea’s perspective–even if it must necessarily be speculative. Read The Light We Carry to become a better person. Read Mexican Gothic for a diverse and anti-colonial take on the Victorian gothic horror genre. Read How to Write and Autobiographical Novel to learn more about a gay man’s experience living through the AIDS epidemic, and about navigating the world as a mixed race child of immigrants. Read Stone Blind for Greek myths but make it feminist.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
The Last Hero by Linden A. Lewis*** Book Hangover Alert** The First Sister Trilogy book 3 of 3 CW: fantasy racism, oppression, scientific research and testing without consent, prostitution The stunning conclusion to the First Sister Trilogy, this book is a whirlwind of war, politics, and resistance. I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t read the first two books. I enjoyed the final book, though I do feel like the pacing was relentless in that every chapter we switched character POVs and every chapter the POV character was in mortal danger. It was exhausting as a reader. The book is already pretty long, but I felt I need some places to rest when the characters could breathe. But I found the series conclusion satisfying. 4/5 synthetics
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer*** CW: slavery, n-word, racism I wanted to like this book more than I did. In Barbados just after the end of slavery, a mother searches for her children who were sold away from her plantation. She discovers freedom in the long shadow of slavery. While I was interested in learning more about the history of slavery in the Caribbean and about the legacy of slavery, particularly how it continued with the ‘apprenticeships’ after the legal end of slavery, I didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters. I also felt that the protagonist’s journey was almost too easy. She actually does find out what happened to all of her children which seems sort of unlikely. I also found the way the dialogue was written to be rather jarring. I’m sure it was probably historically more accurate than writing the dialogue like we speak today, but it pulled me out of the story. 3/5 rivers
Hellbent by Leigh Bardugo Book Hangover Alert** Alex Stern book 2 of at least 2 I was utterly useless for three days while I sat and read this book, doing everything one handed and complaining about going to work. Alex Stern, agent of Lethe, the oversight agency of the secret societies at Yale, continues her quest to rescue her mentor Darlington, ready to go through hell and back to bring him home. It was excellent. Perhaps even better than the first one. There are a few pretty traumatic events in the first book, and this one was in my opinion less traumatic. We also got to spend more time with characters we already love, so that’s why I think I enjoyed it even more than Ninth House. 5/5 rituals to open a portal to hell
Temeraire LLC
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik Scholomance book 1 of 3 This book was very enjoyable. In an odd way, it reminded me of Gideon the Ninth in that it was a fantasy with a complicated magic system and world building with a protagonist with a very distinctive voice. Unlike Gideon the Ninth though, I liked it. I liked El’s distinct voice and how she grew over the novel. It was a little hard to understand the magic system and world at first but it was very unique and worth the effort to understand it. 3.5/5 mals
Disney Hyperion
The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro*** Companion to the Percy Jackson series CW: trauma We’ve all been waiting for Uncle Rick to give us a book about Nico and Will and it’s finally here! Nico, son of Hades, and Will, son of Apollo, must undertake a quest to Tartarus to rescue a friend. Along the way, they’ll learn just how much they mean to one another. This book was good. It was enjoyable and I’m grateful to Riordan and Oshiro for writing it because it think there are some teenaged queers that need to see themselves represented in fantasy. I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped; I didn’t love it as much as the first two series of Percy Jackson books. There was a lot of working through trauma and developing healthy relationships, which are of course good things, but sometimes you just want demigods making jokes and killing monsters. 3.5/5 nightmares
Macmillan
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill CW: domestic violence I love Barnhill’s work. In the near future, a teenaged girl’s mother falls in love with a man who is sometimes a crane, and sometimes a man. The crane soon becomes an abusive and menacing presence, demanding the mother, a talented weaver, create a masterpiece for him. The protagonist is then left to care for the house and her younger brother alone without the income from her mother’s work, and unable to convince her mother of the evil of the crane. The novella is a dark fantasy reimagining of the crane wife folktale from Japanese mythology, and it does a wonderful job of examining domestic violence, generational trauma, and the patriarchy. 4.5/5 cranes
Hachette Book Group
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart*** **Book Hangover Alert The Drowning Empire book 3 of 3 Another conclusion to a trilogy this month. Two years after the conclusion of book two, Emperor Lin is struggling to hold her empire together as the governors grumble, resistance factions spring up, and the secrets of the Alanga threaten to tumble her rule. Sometimes I feel like writers give their characters too much adversity. I realize the story would be boring without it, but at this point I just want Lin and Jovis to be happy. The conclusion to the series was bittersweet and satisfying, which is really the most I can ask of any book. 4/5 ossalen
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz*** CW: homophobia, hate crimes This book gets a lot of hype on BookTok, and I’ll be honest, I thought it was going to be more gay. In this coming of age novel, Mexican-American Ari and his best friend Dante learn how to be themselves in a world that’s not always kind. The book is compulsively readable but I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. Ari has a lot of self loathing to work out, which is a relatable experience for many queer teens, but is not always enjoyable to read. I have one other qualm but it’s a spoiler so read on at your own risk. Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD
Throughout the book, Ari is obsessed with knowing more about his brother who has been in jail since he was young and no one in his family will talk about him. Ari eventually finds out that his brother committed a homophobic hate crime, murdering a trans person. And that doesn’t really seem to bother Ari that much? Which I thought was odd? Ari is irate when he learns Dante is beaten to within an inch of his life for being gay, but he seems to feel no anger that his brother committed that crime. And I understand that Ari is worried about becoming like his brother because he also has anger issues and likes to fight. But he chooses to put up photos of his brother and wants to write to him in prison and while I’m all for forgiveness and healing, I didn’t understand why he wasn’t more upset that his brother MURDERED someone, specifically a trans woman.
3/5 birds with broken wings
Me trying to be as cool as Claude Cahun with her self portrait photography
Exist Otherwise: The Life and Works of Claude Cahun by Jennifer L. Shaw*** CW: antisemitism, homophobia This lovely coffee table book details the life of Claude Cahun, an artist and writer active in the Surrealist movement of the 1920s. Cahun and her partner Marcel Moore also resisted fascism, running a sophisticated anti-Nazi propaganda movement on the occupied island of Jersey during WWII. The book is fascinating and full of photographs of Cahun and Moore’s work. Moore was an artist in her own right and she and Cahun collaborated on much of their artistic work. 3.5/5 surreal collages
Flatiron Books
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint CW: victim blaming, rape Jennifer Saint is one of my favorite writers of mythological reimaginings. Atalanta follows the titular character from her abandonment on a mountain as a baby, her childhood being raised by bears and nymphs of Artemis, and her involvement in the Argonaut’s quest for the golden fleece. The champion of Artemis and the only woman on the quest, through Atalanta’s eyes we get to experience the myth of the golden fleece anew through a feminist lens. I adored it. 5/5 bears
Lake Union Publishing
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan*** CW: genocide, slavery, antisemitism, war Based on a true story, this novel follows the experiences of Pino Lella during WWII as he helped refugees flee across the Alps from Italy to Switzerland and then became a spy for the resistance in the Nazi high command by driving for General Hans Leyers. The book was definitely very engaging and interesting. I didn’t know much about the war in Italy. That being said, there have been some rumblings on the internet about how much truth there is in this ‘true story.’ The author’s note states the following:
“Due to the document burning, the collective amnesia, and the death of so many characters by the time I learned of the story, I have been forced in places to construct scenes and dialogue based solely on Pino’s memory decades later, the scant physical evidence that remains, and my imagination fueled by my research and informed suspicions. I have also comingled or compressed events and characters for the sake of narrative coherence and have fully dramatized incidents that were described to me in much more truncated forms.
As a result, then, the story you are about to read is not a work of narrative nonfiction, but a novel of biographical and historical fiction that hews closely to what happened to Pino Lella between June 1943 and May 1945.”
-Mark T. Sullivan
So perhaps it’s more constructive to think about this book like a movie based on a true story–as we know movies always “Hollywoodize” the true story. Several different people on the internet have made different claims about the veracity of several pieces of the narrative. So I guess I would say to read the book, enjoy it, learn more about the broad strokes of WWII in Italy, but treat the book more as a historical fiction. 3.5/5 cathedrals of God
Weyward by Emilia Hart CW: domestic violence, abuse, trauma, rape I enjoyed this book. It was my March BOTM pick. The novel follows three women from different generations of the Weyward family as they discover their affinity with nature, survive abusive men, and come into their own power. I found all three narratives compelling and I liked the way they were all woven together. I did find the writing style a little choppy and featuring too many em dashes (which contributed to the choppiness) at least in the first half of the book. It didn’t bother me as much in the second half, either because I got used to it or the writing flowed better later on. 3.5/5 crows
HarperCollins
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang*** The Poppy War book 1 of 3 CW: genocide, extreme body horror and mutilation, rape, war, addiction, colorism, racism, human experimentation, self harm, slavery I loved Babel by Kuang so I was really excited to read this book. The start to an epic fantasy trilogy, the story follows Rin, an orphan from a remote part of the Nikara Empire who tests into the elite military academy Sinegard where she attempts to prove she belongs there. Along the way she discovers her own shamanic powers and begins to unravel the mysteries of her past. The book is inspired by Chinese military history from the mid-20th century but set in a world closer to the Song Dynasty of the 13th century, with fantastical elements. It’s an incredible work of fantasy to be sure. I didn’t love it, and it isn’t because it wasn’t good. It was good. All the characters, but especially Rin, were so complex and interesting and flawed. It was so fresh and new and I’ve never read anything like it. But it was a little too dark for my taste. It was a little too gory. The atrocities were more gruesome and horrifying than I wanted to read about. I’m not very knowledgable about Chinese and Japanese history, so it’s possible that some of the atrocities described by Kuang are inspired by actual events, in which case I think it’s important to learn about those things, however, I didn’t necessarily pick up this book because I wanted to read 101 ways humans can desecrate other humans. That being said, I’ll probably still read the rest of them. 4/5 poppy seeds
HarperCollins
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang*** Book Hangover Alert** CW: racism, microaggressions, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts I can’t stop thinking about this book. And I’m not sure I’ve thought about it long enough to form a coherent review of it. Yellowface follows June Hayward, a white author who steals an unfinished novel draft from her Asian-American author friend after her untimely death. June finishes the novel and passes it off as her own and we watch as everything spirals out of control. This book reminded me of Self Care in it’s page-turning, watching-a-train-wreck quality. And June reminded me of the protagonists in Self Care, who were the same kind of white woman (we all know the one). Kuang’s biting satire of the publishing industry brings up a lot of important issues like who should be able to tell what kind of story, what is cultural appropriation, how the publishing industry treats writers of color, how privilege operates in the industry, how white women weaponize their own victimhood. It was so good. I might have more to say later, but I’m still in the lie-on-the-floor stage of the Book Hangover. 5/5 stolen manuscripts
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The Last Hero for disability, LGBTQIA+ rep in sci-fi. Read River Sing Me Home to learn about the legacy of slavery in Barbados. Read The Sun and the Star for LGBTQIA+ rep in fantasy. Read The Bone Shard War for an Asian inspired fantasy with LGBTQIA+ rep. Read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe for a Mexican-America, gay coming of age story. Read Exist Otherwise: The Life and Words of Claude Cahun to learn about a forgotten female, lesbian artist and her heroic resistance against the Nazis. Read Beneath a Scarlet Sky to learn more about WWII and the atrocities committed in Italy. Read The Poppy War for a fantasy inspired by Chinese and Japanese history. Read Yellowface to learn more about racism and microaggressions in the publishing industry.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo **Book Hangover Alert Alex Stern book 1 of 2 CW: rape, drug abuse, PTSD, body horror, murder, racism, self-harm I reread Ninth House in preparation for Hellbent, the sequel, which I am very excited about. Ninth House is a dark academia fantasy featuring Alex Stern, a girl who can see ghosts and is part of Lethe, an oversight body for the secret societies of Yale, tasked with making sure the societies don’t harm students of the town with their magic. After a suspicious murder, Alex must find out if the societies had anything to do with it. I listened to the audiobook this time and Lauren Fortgang does a superb job. 5/5 secret societies
New Books Read
Random House
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt CW: racism, n-word, murder, homophobia Talk about truth stranger than fiction. This is a true crime book set in Savannah, GA in the 1980s and it’s a wild ride from start to finish. The story covers Berendt’s move to Savannah and how he came to be a part of the Savannah community which is then rocked by the murder of a young man by one of the richest and most influential men in Savannah’s upper crust. It’s full of colorful and interesting characters and Berendt manages to capture the quirkiness of the situation and the people that live there without seeming condescending. 3.5/5 jars of grave dirt
Flatiron Books
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert CW: animal death This is the first book in a long time that I’ve stayed up all night to finish in one sitting. It almost seems like a fever dream, I read it so fast. Our Crooked Hearts is a YA fantasy that follows a mother and daughter, both with an affinity for magic, on parallel lines as the dark secrets of the mother catch up to the daughter. I loved the dark fantasy aspect and twists and turns as Albert kept me guessing and unable to put it down. 4/5 rabbit hearts
Naxos Audiobooks
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas CW: racism, slavery, antisemitism, suicide, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, ableism, abandonment Is this book like way too long? Yes, yes it is. Did I still enjoy it? Yes, yes I did. I’ve mentioned this before, but with many Victorian novels, you only have to read about every 30th page to still know what’s going on, and that’s definitely true here. The Count of Monte Cristo follows a man wrongly accused of Bonapartism in post Bonaparte France and his subsequent imprisonment, escape, and quest for vengeance. But Monte Cristo isn’t satisfied with just finding and murdering the men who put him away, he has extremely elaborate plans for the total destruction of the men who have wronged him. And I respect that about him. I have a few more thoughts, but they are spoilers. Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD
As much as I enjoyed the book overall, I did not need this many pages of prose to learn that vengeance doesn’t equal justice and destroying the men who have wronged him isn’t really going to make Monte Cristo feel any better. I also didn’t love that Monte Cristo and Haydee and up together at the end. It’s weird and gross and paternalistic. She is much younger and spent a long time as his slave. And even though Monte Cristo is portrayed as a benevolent, ‘good’ slave owner, we know that good slave owners don’t exist.
3.5/5 secret treasures
HarperCollins Publishers
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S. A. Chakraborty *** **Book Hangover Alert CW: murder, misogyny, racism This was a choice for the March Book of the Month and I didn’t choose it and I have regrets. It was so good. Retired scourge of the seas, Amina Al-Sirafi comes out of retirement for one final job, searching for the kidnapped daughter of her former crew member. There are pirates, found family, magic, monsters, sorcerers, demons, adventure, and it was fabulous. Definitely hoping Chakraborty continues the series. 5/5 charismatic demon husbands
HQ Fiction
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner*** CW: ableism, murder I really liked Penner’s first book, The Lost Apothecary, so I was excited to read this one. I didn’t like it as much as The Lost Apothecary, but it was still enjoyable. The story follows Lenna Wickes, the pupil of famous medium Vaudeline D’Allaire, as she tries to solve her sister’s murder. When Vaudeline is called on to investigate the murder of one of the leaders of the London Séance Society, Lenna and Vaudeline discover there may be more to the society and these murders than they first thought. I loved the lesbian representation in Victorian London. My main complaint is a spoiler so read on at your own risk. Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD
I really disliked the chapters from the perspective of the man, whose name I can’t remember and doesn’t appear in any of the blurbs about the book. He was just so unlikeable, which I realize was the point, because he turned out to be the bad guy, but still. I think it would have been more enjoyable if he had been charismatic and alluring and THEN turned out to be the bad guy. He is also described as having a facial birthmark which I think is problematic. It is a trope in Victorian literature that those with disabilities or physical or mental differences are evil and the disability is God’s way of punishing them for it. I don’t know if Penner was trying to lean into this trope because it was a mainstay of Victorian literature, but it’s a really harmful stereotype and I hate that I still see it in modern books.
3.5/5 amber stones
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi for fantasy and piracy set around the Islamic Golden Age with diverse characters from many areas surrounding the Indian ocean. It also has LGBTQIA+ representation. Read The London Séance Society for LGBTQIA+ representation in historical fiction. Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin*** The Book of Tea book 2 of 2 I really enjoyed this one too. I read the first book last month and all the things I liked about it continued in this one. This one is a little more focused on the political issues of the empire than the first one was, but I thought it was really well done. I liked learning about the gods and the mythology of the world Lin created. 3.5/5 relics from gods
Pan Macmillan
A Victorian Flower Diction: The Language of the Flowers Companion by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and Mandy Kirby I read this book as research for the novel I’m writing but I did find it both interesting and very helpful. The book talks in depth about 50 flowers, sharing their meaning for the Victorians and sharing art and poetry that uses these flowers as symbols. The book also contains a longer list of dictionary entries for more flowers and their basic meanings. I haven’t read The Language of the Flowers, the novel that this dictionary is a companion to, but the book was very helpful for my purposes. 3/5 chrysanthemums
Babel by R. F. Kuang*** **Book Hangover Alert CW: racism, racial slurs, death, Imperialism I adored this book. If you’re not interested in linguistics and language and the academic theory surrounding language, this book is probably not for you. I thought it was fascinating, and I loved the setting of magical Victorian Oxford and the dark academia vibe. It reminded me a little of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, but with more likable and diverse characters. I also loved the exploration of Imperialism and racism and the difficult pull and push between one’s homeland and one’s adopted homeland, especially when one’s adopted homeland is exploiting one’s homeland. I love that this book is an anti-Imperialism, labor union book. It’s a very niche genre but one I love. My only criticisms are that I wished it had a happier end (though I’m not sure a happier end would have been believable), and I wished Ramy and Robin had a little happiness together. 5/5 silver bars
Penguin Publishing Group
Homicide and Halo-Halo*** Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries book 2 of 4 CW: PTSD, trauma This book has an author content warning at the beginning, so make sure to read it for a full list of triggers that may be in the book. I enjoyed this book too. The first book in this series was my book of the month a couple years ago and it’s a super enjoyable cozy mystery full of delicious food. This one continues in the same vein. I loved learning more about Filipino cuisine and I loved the beauty pageant aspect of the plot. We love mysteries (or really any books) with excellent female and BIPOC representation. 3.5/5 Filipino baked goods
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Kencho Suematsu CW: pedophilia, grooming of a child This book is considered one of if not the first fiction novel ever written. This translation is supposedly one of the first translations of the book into English, however it only translates the first 17 chapters and not all 54. I don’t know why they didn’t translate the whole thing, but I must say, I’m grateful because 17 chapters was more than enough. Of course this book is important historically in that it is one of the first fictional novels ever written and it was written by a woman, so that’s cool. But that doesn’t make it good. It was not good. It was actually quite awful. It had no plot and no interesting characters. Prince Genji, the main character, was just the worst, a womanizer and a pedophile. It was also confusing for someone who has no knowledge of Japanese court structure, life, or customs in the year 1000. I hated it. 1.5/5 ladies named after flowers (I have to give it more than a 1 because I did finish reading it)
Alfred A. Knopf
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel I loved it. This book reminded me a bit of David Mitchell, one of my favorite authors. I loved how the story weaved through time and created such a neat, satisfying well resolved ending. I don’t want to say too much because spoilers, but I adored it. I read it in basically one sitting. 5/5 moon colonies
Penguin Random House
Spare by Prince Harry CW: PTSD, trauma, death of a parent, suicide, suicidal thoughts Prince Harry’s memoir was fascinating. We all know a little about the royal family and we all know a little about Princess Diana and her death, but getting to see the royal family and Princess Diana through Harry’s eyes was very interesting and also heartbreaking. Harry reads the audiobook which was cool to get to hear it in his voice. I was left with the conviction that the monarchy is no longer relevant and continues to be a harmful institution, and with the conviction that the way the press dehumanizes and commodifies famous people is disgusting. I wish only the best for Harry, Megan and their children and only the worst for everyone else in the royal family. 4/5 tabloids
Cursed by Marissa Meyer Gilded book 2 of 2 CW: death of children, loss of bodily autonomy This was a month of reading second books in series apparently. Cursed is the sequel to Gilded, and the duology is a retelling of Rumpelstitskin. I don’t think I liked this series as much as Meyer’s first fairytale retelling, The Lunar Chronicles, but it was still very enjoyable. I really liked the world she created and the magical creatures and gods in it. 3.5/5 golden chains
Lion Forge Comics / Oni Press
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe*** Book Hangover Alert** CW: body dysmorphia I tried to buy this book for Banned Books Week last year and it was sold out so I still don’t have a copy, but this month for Trans Rights Read-A-Thon, I thought I would go ahead and get it from the library. It was great. You know I’m always trying to find more ace representation and Kobabe’s graphic memoir explores eir experience as a nonbinary asexual person. My complaint on the last book I read with ace rep (Loveless) was that it didn’t reflect my experience as an ace of not really wanting romantic or sexual relationships. I felt Kobabe’s experience of discovering asexuality more closely mirrored mine, although I identify as a cis woman. I hope everyone can read this book and more books like it. Stop banning books, you cowards. 5/5 pronouns
W. W. Norton & Company
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson CW: slavery Two translated books and one book about translation this month. I’ve read parts of The Odyssey before from other translations but this is the first time I’ve read it straight though. Emily Watson’s translation is quite new and comes with a more feminist lens which was super interesting. I enjoyed it. I liked that she kept it as a metered poem, which it is in the original Greek. Other translations translate it to basically a prose poem, keeping the line breaks, but losing the meter and form. I do think it’s a little too long and there’s too much time spent between Odysseus returning to Ithaca and finally confronting the suitors. Also I didn’t realize how much help he had from Athena. Like Odysseus had a great reputation for being so smart and a great warrior, but really he just had a lot of help. 3/5 wine-dark seas
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read A Venom Dark and Sweet for a lush Asian inspired fantasy with LGBTQIA+ rep. Read Babel for anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, immigrant experiences and LGBTQIA+ rep. Read Homicide and Halo-Halo for BIPOC rep, strong ladies, and LGBTQIA+ rep. Read Gender Queer for experiences in self discovery and LGBTQIA+ rep.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin*** The Book of Tea book 1 of 2 I won’t lie, I definitely bought this book for the gorgeous cover. And then I discovered the gorgeous end papers and the adorable teapot under the dust jacket. But I really enjoyed it! What’s not to love about magical tea brewers in a competition to be the court tea magician? I loved the female friendships that developed throughout this book. I thought Lin’s world building was excellent; I got the sense of a great and varied empire with different traditions and regions and customs, without being bogged down by too much information. Looking forward to reading the next one. 3.5/5 magical teas
Audible
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë CW: imprisonment of disabled person I really enjoyed this. Even though I pretty much knew what was going to happen, because this book has been out since 1847, so spoilers, I still felt compelled to keep reading. I liked the character of Jane a lot and I liked that even though she ends up married in the end, a position that ostensibly transferred a woman’s ownership from her father to her husband, Jane manages to do it in a way that subverts male power structures of the time. When she is first affianced to Mr. Rochester, she chafes against him buying her things and exercising the power he has over her because of his social and financial standing. Later, when Mr. Rivers proposes to her, part of the reason she does not want to marry him is the way he tries to force her to play the part of a dutiful missionary’s wife. She retains her own agency and when she eventually does mare Mr. Rochester, it is only after she receives a large inheritance and he loses half his property, putting them on equal footing financially, and he also loses his sight and the use of one of his hands, putting him physically in need of her help and support. In this way Jane keeps her agency and power even in her marriage. Now we have to talk about how Mr. Rochester is literally the worst and in no way should be excused from the fact that he locked up his mentally ill wife in the attic and pretended she didn’t exist, even if he never loved her and she wasn’t a nice person. Brontë signals to the reader that Mr. Rochester is suffering the divine punishment of being disabled (losing his sight and the use of one hand) for these sins. But of course, this is ableist also. Having a disability is not a divine punishment for a moral failing. 3/5 moody walks on the moor
Roc Hardcover
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files book 8 of 17 I don’t have much to say about this one. All of the books in this series are pretty good. This one had kind of a lot of soul searching and Harry having serious conversations with other people that are necessary, but aren’t as fun as fighting monsters. I’d also like to point out that Harry does not get any nice guy points for not being a pedophile. Like that’s the bare minimum. You don’t get an award for not being a pedophile. It just seems weird that every time Harry saw a young hot girl, he’d be like “and she had a very womanly figure but she was obviously still a child and I’m not a pedophile even though I am horny” (paraphrased, obviously). Like stop making it weird, dude. 3/5 horror movie monsters
Audible
Wally Roux: Quantum Mechanic by Nick Carr This was another of those free audible original audio plays. It was fine. Definitely better than Life Ever After. I liked the concept of the multiverse and fixing rips in spacetime, but otherwise it was a pretty standard coming of age story. 2.5/5 anti-gravity basketball courts
HarperCollins Publishers
The Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross **Book Hangover Alert The Elements of Cadence book 2 of 2 Stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing. I adored it. I really liked the first book in this series, but I think I liked this one even more. I loved all the characters and the magical world of the faeries. I think the only thing I would have added is one or two more characters from the West who weren’t related to Jack and Adaira and weren’t assholes. I needed some more people from the West to sympathize with and show me that the West was worth saving. 5/5 wind spirits
The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang This was my Book of the Month for November. It was pretty good. It held my interest, and it was easy to read. It reminded me a lot of Other Birds. I liked meeting all the different characters who had special abilities like Finn and Zadie. But I didn’t feel like I was really satisfied by the answer of why the girls’ mother disappeared. And I guess after they found her Finn was fine??? 3/5 birds
Bloomsbury
This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron*** **Book Hangover Alert This Poison Heart book 2 of 2 I love a good duology. I loved the first book in this series and the second book did not disappoint. I loved that there was not a single white character in the book. It was very refreshing. And I loved that there were so many lesbians. I also always love a mythological retelling, and this one had a really fresh feminist, Black-centric spin on it. 4.5/5 sirens
Books I did not finish
Tor.com
Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir*** The Locked Tomb series book 1 of at least 4 Judging by the reviews for this book (the majority are 4+ stars out of 5), I am in the minority because I thought it was awful. I mean lesbian space necromancers really does sound like a win. I made it about 80 pages in. I felt like I didn’t understand what was going on and I didn’t understand the world Muir was trying to create. Every time I thought I was starting to get into the world, the language Muir used pulled me right out again. Her word choice and humor didn’t work at all for me and jarred against the world. There was a lot of gratuitous swearing and sexual jokes that weren’t funny and also weird slang that felt really out of place in the world. This phrase is really in this book: “…which she could not have noped at harder.” I mean seriously. Maybe if this book was set in a high school in 2018. And there were also references to things like pizza and comics and I didn’t understand how those things fit into the world of necromancers in space on a planet that isn’t earth. Also I didn’t find Gideon or Harrow likable or sympathetic at all. 1/5 skeletons
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read A Magic Steeped in Poison for an Asian inspired fantasy. Read This Wicked Fate for LGBTQ+ and Black representation in mythological fantasy. A lot of people really liked Gideon the Ninth, so read that if you want more LGBTQ+ representation in space fantasy.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQ+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 1 of 5 First, a moment of silence for the lost art of chapter titles. I reread this as a Buddy Read on StoryGraph, which I highly recommend. It’s super fun if you want to read with a group of people, but don’t want to do the traditional bookclub thing. You’re able to make comments about certain points in the book and then when your buddies have reached that point, they can unlock your comments, which is super fun and motivating. Now back to the book. I love this book. It’s so good. I forgot how good this series is. I loved revisiting where it all started and being reminded how far Percy, Grover, and Annabeth have come since this first book. 5/5 magic flying shoes
Disney Hyperion
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan*** Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 2 of 5 Another great installment in the series. This book introduces Tyson, Percy’s cyclopes half brother. This isn’t something I picked up on the first time I read this book, but I think it actually does a really good job handling disability. Tyson has a cognitive disability, or at least in the novel he stands in for a disabled character (he is othered by his peers in the same way a child with Down’s syndrome might be). And Uncle Rick doesn’t put him in for tokenism and he doesn’t rely on any disabled tropes or stereotypes (i.e. Tiny Tim is in the story to make Scrooge a better person, and disabled/deformed villains are disabled/deformed to signal to the audience that their disability represents a moral failing as well). Tyson is a rounded character with thoughts and motivations and interests and talents that are separate from his disability. The whole disabled-person-as-monster metaphor is a little on the nose, but at least he’s using it to prove that disabled people AREN’T monsters (a la Frankenstein). I also love how Percy is written in relation to Tyson. Percy’s and Tyson’s relationship is complicated with all of Percy’s worries about what his peers will think, and I think that’s a really real reaction that kids with disabled siblings have. At first Percy feels pity for Tyson when they’re at school together, then shame when he finds out they’re brothers, then love, appreciation, and acceptance. He underestimated Tyson and then revises his opinion and I love it so much. 3.5/5 hippocampi
New Books Read
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson*** Vespertine book 1 We love that ace representation. This book was cool. I liked the magic system. I liked Artemisia a lot, who read to me as both ace and autistic. I also liked the revenant who also read as ace to me, though he’s a non-corporeal spirit so I’m not sure it counts. I loved seeing Artemisia’s friendships develop. I’m excited to see what the rest of the series looks like. 4/5 spirits
Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater*** **Book Hangover Alert Dreamer Trilogy book 3 of 3 Stunning. Gorgeous. I adored it. Hennessey was a bit annoying in this one, but it’s part of her journey and she works through it. I love that for her. The ending was such a lovely note to leave this world and these characters on. 10/5 homemade sweetmetals
Penguin Random House
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner*** CW: death of a parent, illness I don’t always read memoirs, but when I do, for some reason they’re about women whose mothers have died. Okay that’s an exaggeration, but one of the most memorable memoirs I’ve ever read was also about this subject. I enjoyed Zauner’s memoir. Maybe enjoyed isn’t the right word. It was of course very sad. I loved how she used food to explore her relationship with her mother and also her relationship with Korean-ness. Hers is a journey that many mixed-race and immigrant children will relate to. I liked that Zauner didn’t shy from examining her complicated relationships with both her parents and her culture. 3/5 delicious Korean foods
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen CW: child abuse, mental illness This was my September Book of the Month. I enjoyed it. It was very readable, and I liked how all the threads tied up at the end. I did think it was a bit unrealistic that literally every character had terrible parents. And I didn’t love that Charlotte, a white girl, made a living doing henna for other white people. There’s a brief mention about how all the symbols in henna mean something, but it isn’t explored or really acknowledged that this is a very important cultural and traditional practice in India with a long history. It was used more as a way to make Charlotte seem arty and like a hippie. But I liked that everyone was happy and became friends at the end. 3.5/5 invisible birds
Loveless by Alice Oseman This month was all about ace rep! I enjoyed this book a lot. I did wish that Georgia wasn’t so obsessed with wanting a relationship, but I guess it’s just because I don’t really want a romantic relationship, and I want this book to reflect my exact experience. I loved the Shakespeare references and all the characters. I loved that we get to celebrate friendship as much as romantic relationships. 4/5 thirsty plants
Victor Gollancz
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett Discworld book 13 of 41 We love a good Terry Pratchett Discworld novel. This one satirized religion and it’s very funny and insightful. I loved how Brutha was characterized as kind of slow at the beginning of the book, but developed into a thoughtful and powerful character. I would have liked to see a single female character somewhere in the book, but some of the older fantasy novels are pretty lacking in female representation. Pratchett does have good rep in some of the other Discworld novels, just not this one. 3/5 turtles
Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater This book is a novel companion to the movie Brave. It takes place a few years after the movie, and explores Merida’s quest to save her family and her kingdom. It was very enjoyable. I didn’t like it as much Maggie’s other books (some of my favorite books of all time), but I still liked it. I liked that we got to see Merida’s brothers get a little older and develop unique personalities. Read on for a spoiler.
Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD
One thing I didn’t love was that Merida has to fall in love and break her heart to change. The movie establishes that Merida has no interest in love, and in my opinion she is an ace queen and I don’t want her fall in love or have a relationship. Other than that I really liked it.
3.5/5 bears (although there could have been more bears in this book)
Audible Original
The Mystery of Alice by Lee Bacon This was another of those free Audible books. It was enjoyable. I liked the sort of dark academia vibe. It was kind of a child safe version of The Secret History. I don’t know that it was super believable, but I still enjoyed it. I wish Emily would have made a real, actually good friend. I would like to argue that Nathan was still not a good friend, even though it’s proven (spoiler alert) that he isn’t the bad guy. He’s still a stalker with anger issues who was never a good friend to Emily. 3/5 spy necklaces
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles CW: anti-black racism Not to be a snob, but both this book and Crying in H Mart were on Obama’s favorite books of the year in 2021, and though both were good, I don’t think either will make it on my favorite books of this year. In fact none of the books I’ve read on his 2021 list made my list the year I read it. I guess we just have different tastes. I liked this book. It was interesting and very readable. The characters were interesting and distinct. I did think Billy didn’t read much like an 8 year old; he acted and spoke like a much older child, apart from his naïveté. I thought Duchess was a really interesting, well-done morally gray character. I didn’t love the ending. It felt kind of callous. I also felt like Towles wrote this book and then his editor was like “there is not a single female character in this book.” And so Towles went back and added Sally’s chapters (Sarah doesn’t count because she’s basically a non-character). But Sally seemed really unnecessary to the plot. 3.5/5 studebakers
Hachette Book Group
The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin*** **Book Hangover Alert Great cities book 2 of 2 CW: racism, ICE I love these books so much. I adored The City We Became and I loved this one too. I do wish there could be more books, but I also respect Jemisin’s reasons for not writing more. As a writer, I don’t even know how she managed these two books. I still love all the characters, especially Padmini. I liked seeing Aislyn’s development. I would have loved to see a little more Neek and Manny, but I am still satisfied with the ending. 5/5 boroughs of New York
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The Sea of Monsters for disability in fantasy rep. Read Vespertine for LGBTQIA+ rep in fantasy. Read Greywaren for LGBTQIA+ rep in fantasy. Read Loveless for LGBTQIA+ rep in romance. Read The World We Make for diversity and LGBTQIA+ rep in sci-fi.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
(I stopped being able to change text color. I don’t know why.)
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater*** **Book Hangover Alert The Raven Cycle book 4 of 4 The stunning conclusion! I didn’t remember this one super well either. I only remembered the relationship that finally happens in this book (trying not to spoil it). Anyway I still love it. I love all the characters. I love getting to see Henry Cheng join the gang. 5/5 robo bees
Scholastic Inc.
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater*** **Book Hangover Alert The Dreamer Trilogy book 1 of 3 I still love the Dreamer Trilogy too. I don’t think I love it quite as much as the Raven Cycle but I still love it. I love getting to spend more time with Ronan, and getting to know Jordan and Hennessy, and who could have guessed I would learn to love Declan?? My only qualm rereading this book is that there is a lot of (necessary!) build up to Ronan and Hennessy meeting and beginning to work together. 4/5 forged paintings
Scholastic Inc.
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater*** **Book Hangover Alert The Dreamer Trilogy book 2 of 3 I actually think I might like this one better than the first one. Not that I don’t love the first one, but this book is where things really start to get exciting. And we get to see the development of Ronan and Hennessy’s relationship and Declan and Jordan’s, and also Matthew’s development, which I adore. I also love Farooq-Lane and Liliana. This is also the first time I’ve reread a book that is already on the blog, so if you’re interested in my original review of Mister Impossible, you can read it here. 4.5/5 sweetmetals
Chapman & Hall
The Chimes by Charles Dickens I really respect that after Dickens wrote an instant classic about ghosts on Christmas, he was like, “I’m going to write more holiday books, and you know what else, besides ghosts, says Christmas? Goblins. That’s what.” Anyway, this book is about goblins. It’s definitely not as good as A Christmas Carol, but still enjoyable. We love a Dickens book in the winter. 3/5 bells
New Books Read
Chronicle Books
A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger*** This was the Big Library Read, so it was available to check out as an ebook to everyone. I read Elatsoe by Little Badger last year so I was excited to read this one. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Elatsoe. I liked the ace representation, we could always use more of that, and I loved learning about the animal people. But I didn’t love the style of prose and I thought the dialogue felt stilted and awkward. 3.5/5 tornados in nesting dolls
HarperCollins
The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling Sequel to the Ex Hex The Ex Hex was my Book of the Month last year in October and it was delightful, so I wanted to read the sequel. This one focuses on Gwyn, Vivi’s cousin. In the first book, Gwyn is dating Jane, the mayor of Graves Glen. In this book, Vivi and Rhys are happily married and Gwyn falls in love with Rhys’s brother Wells. Not to invalidate bisexual people who are in heterosexual relationships, but I would have liked it more if it was a wlw book. As it was, it was sort of the same story as the first book, enemies to lovers, Jones woman falls in love with Penhallow brother. That being said, it was still a super fun light read. The banter was fabulous and I loved Gwyn and her Baby Witches and Wells was delightful. 3.5/5 bags of edible glitter
Part of My World by Jodi Benson If you didn’t know, Jodi Benson is the voice of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I had a chance to hear her give a talk about the book when she visited the Disney College Program here at Disney World. Her memoir is full of fascinating stories from the making of The Little Mermaid including stories about Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, and many others involved in the movie and the Disney company. I also loved reading about Benson’s experiences on Broadway. My only complaint about the book is that it’s pretty preachy. Benson is deeply religious, and though I can agree with many of her philosophies, I’m not that interested in reading about how God is the author of her life and He had a grand plan for her and her life, and He gave her great performing talent so that she could spread the word of God. It felt like the last three paragraphs of every chapter, were all the same: her explaining how the story she just told is part of God’s plan. I also would have liked to see her grapple more with the knowledge that the Church as an institution has caused great harm. One story that stuck out to me was when Benson visited Howard Ashman at the end of his life when he was dying of AIDS. She told him she would pray for him. To her, that was the greatest comfort someone could offer. And maybe she believes God truly does love everyone, but she fails to acknowledge that the Church and religious people have probably told Ashman all his life that he was an abomination going to Hell, because he was gay. 3.5/5 mermaids
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens CW: domestic violence, assault, attempted rape, anti-Black racism, n-word I thought this book was okay. It does seem overhyped to me. I really liked the way Owens described the marsh and all of the nature writing and descriptions. She did a really good job creating and bringing to life the place of the swamp. I thought the plot was a little weak and Kya was kind of a passive character. I wasn’t interested in the romance aspects of the book, and the murder mystery aspect of the book wasn’t that satisfying. It’s also important to note that Owens is wanted for questioning about an unsolved murder in Zambia. I believe people are innocent until proven guilty, but she certainly isn’t helping the investigation, so take that into consideration before you decide to support the book or movie. 3/5 crawdads
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read both Stiefvater books for more LGBTQIA+ representation in fantasy. Read A Snake Falls to Earth for Native representation and LGBTQIA+ representation.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
(I stopped being able to change text color. I don’t know why.)
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ** Book Hangover Alert** The Raven Cycle book 1 of 4 I’ve decided to reread this entire series and the companion Dreamer series since the last Dreamer book just came out. I’m so glad I decided to reread these. This is one of my favorite books ever. I just adore the way Stiefvater writes and how she creates characters. I am loving falling in love with these characters all over again. 10/5 ravens
Scholastic Inc.
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater ** **Book Hangover Alert (maybe it’s a dream hangover?) The Raven Cycle book 2 of 4 Yep, still good. Still love it. I’m listening to the audiobooks this time and I have to give props to Will Patton, the narrator. He does a really great job, and I loved his voice for Kavinsky, which was not at all what I imagined when I read the book, but it was perfect. 5/5 dreams
Scholastic Inc.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater** **Book Hangover Alert The Raven Cycle book 3 of 4 I didn’t remember this book as well as the first two books so it was nice to read it again. I, of course, love spending more time with our protagonists, but I also loved a lot of the side characters Stiefvater brought in in this book. I loved Jessy Dintly and Piper Greenmantle, and I loved Will Patton’s performance of both of those characters. 5/5 Irish elk
New Books Read
Camberion Press
The Lord of Stariel by A. J. Lancaster Stariel book 1 of 5 This was a free Audible original and those are very hit or miss; I’ve read several terrible ones. But! This one was a hit! I really enjoyed this one. It was a little predictable but I enjoyed the cozy mystery-meets-fantasy of it. I really liked Hetta and Winn as characters as well, and I enjoyed the way Hetta developed through the novel. 3.5/5 illusions
Alfred A. Knopf
The Secret History by Donna Tartt CW: alcoholism, drug use, suicide, suicidal ideation, murder, incest Tartt really knows how to write a book where you just have to know what happens so you keep reading. The book is really long and you know from the get-go that the narrator and his friends murdered someone, but somehow Tartt keeps you hooked as she spins out this whole story. Her work is enthralling. Like watching a train crash. Hard to look away. I didn’t like it as much as The Goldfinch but it was definitely a good read. It returned itself to the library when I was 30 pages from the end, and I had to wait several weeks to finish it. I was very upset. 3.5/5 baccanals
Somewhat uninspired book photography this month. Forgive me.
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott*** CW: antisemitism, genocide This was my October Book of the Month. I enjoyed this one. I really liked the way the house got to tell the story, and I loved how folklore was woven into the narrative. I loved the stone girl and the puppet stories. I didn’t really like Isaac as a character, and I felt that all the characters could have been developed more. 3.5/5 puppets
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Thistlefoot to learn more about antisemitism, Eastern European folklore, and for LGBTQIA+ representation in fantasy.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
(I stopped being able to change text color. I don’t know why.)
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo*** **Book Hangover Alert Exquisite. I read Vo’s The Chosen and the Beautiful earlier this year and loved that as well. I love the way she crafts a dreamlike fantasy world that isn’t so far removed from our world. I feel like I could easily get lost in the worlds she creates, though they definitely have teeth. I loved that this story was set in the 1930s and 40s Hollywood scene, though a fantastical one. I liked that it still addressed race, gender, and sexuality issues of that time, while still being a fantasy. 4.5/5 movie monsters
Knopf
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell **Book Hangover Alert CW: marital rape I adored this. The story takes a true event–the suspicious death of 16 year old Lucrezia de’Medici shortly after her marriage–and gives us a fictional account of Lucrezia’s life and death. It so lushly recreates Renaissance Italy, and I adored the character of Lucrezia. O’Farrell’s tension building is perfection. Lucrezia also read to me as neurodivergent, though that isn’t explicit as that isn’t something we know about her historically. 5/5 tigers
HarperCollins
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta*** CW: homophobia, bullying This is a lovely little novel-in-verse. I loved Atta’s style and how spare yet rich his language is. I know sometimes we can get a little tired of a coming out story, since sometimes it feels like that’s the only time LGBTQ+ people are represented in media, but I loved the way this story explored the intersections of race and sexuality and internalized homophobia. 4/5 feather boas
George Allen & Unwin
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien I tried to read this book back in high school or maybe middle school (?) but I only got about 130 pages in. This time I listened to it which is how I’ve gotten through all of Tolkien’s works that I’ve read. I liked learning more about Middle Earth and its origins and connecting that to what I knew from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the new Rings of Power TV show. But I will admit that my mind wandered from time to time and I might have to re-listen to a couple of chapters. 3.5/5 ents
Audible
Life Ever After by Carla Grauls This was an Audible original radio play, and I didn’t love it. I was really interested in the sci-fi world Grauls created, but instead of really getting to explore that world, we were stuck with a love story between two characters who were not that interesting. I also thought the dialogue was not very good; it tended toward circular arguments that got boring after a while. 2/5 upgrades
Penguin Random House
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill*** **Book Hangover Alert CW: misogyny This book was just sublime. I don’t have enough words to sing its praises. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. Somehow it reminded me of Glennon Doyle’s Untamed, even though it was a fantasy novel. Highly, highly recommend. 1000/5 dragons
Wordsworth Classics
Persuasion by Jane Austen Some books don’t deserve to be classics, but Austen’s books certainly earn their place in literary canon. I really enjoyed Persuasion. It’s not quite as good as Pride and Prejudice, but it’s still very good. I always love Austen’s heroines, and I love the way she creates tension and builds intrigue. 3.5/5 dashing sea captains
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Siren Queen for LGBTQ+ and Asian representation in old school Hollywood. Read The Black Flamingo for LGBTQ+ identity and representation. Read When Women Were Dragons for a look at women’s experience under the patriarchy, and LGBTQ+ representation.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQ+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
