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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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Started: 10/28/21
Finished: 11/7/21

First in a series, YA, some of it was predictable, and some of it was very not predictable, and I liked it a lot.

The only thing I wasn’t crazy about it a thing that a lot of YA books do: the characters, teenagers all, never act like teenagers. Or, not never, but even kids faced with a ton of responsibility are still going to act like kids sometimes. I don’t think these kids did. So I was occasionally taken out of the story when I remembered that, hey, this character who said he made a super-serious decision “years ago” is only 18 right now, and then it turns out he made this super-serious decision when he was 12. Uh huh.

That aside, I really liked it, and I LOVED where it took the plot.

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

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Started: 10/26/21
Gave up: 10/27/21

I really liked the short story I read of his last year set in Cairo with a possessed tram car, and there’s a whole series there I’m excited to read, so I was bummed when I couldn’t get into this one. Mashing up Jim Crow and Klansmen with Lovecraftian monsters is a brilliant idea, but I’m a little leery of Lovecraft-related stories, and this one didn’t land for me.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

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Started: 10/20/21
Finished: 10/24/21

Slow start, but that’s based more on the formatting than the story/writing. It’s not .mobi, so the formatting isn’t perfect. Annoying!

SO EASY to get past the formatting after just a bit. Really good story, totally sucked me in, and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

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Started: 10/16/21
Finished: 10/20/21

Sarah Gailey LOVED this book, and Tor.com praised it, so I figured I’d try it. It’s a romance that falls into science fiction because there’s a time loop/stuck in time trope involved. The characters are good, the story is good, there’s nothing not to like, and yet I’m a little meh about it. There was a little too much ending.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

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Started: 9/30/21
Finished: 10/16/21

New fantasy series! It took me a little bit to get into it, then I was hooked, then I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it, and then I got hooked again. I can’t say whether this was just about my frame of mind or about slow parts in the book. Could be either, but the vast majority of it had my full attention, and I’m still thinking about it, and I’m excited about the next book, which – ugh – isn’t out yet.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

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Started: 9/22/21
Finished: 9/30/21

By the time I started this one, I didn’t remember anything about it except that it was highly recommended by Jo Walton, and I’m hit or miss on her recommendations. I was expecting something literary or dense, but I was pleasantly surprised to find somewhat hard SF with beautiful imagery. Totally literary, totally genre, and really good. The core story, which takes a bit to get to, is emotional and riveting. Good stuff.

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

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Started: 8/29/21
Finished: 9/5/21

Recommended by an author I like, this was a surprisingly well-written very silly start of a series about a retired demon-hunter-turned-suburban-mom who has to, surprise!, fight demons again. It was both predictable and not – some of my guesses were right and some were wrong. It’s a nice palate cleanser.

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

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Started: 8/21/21
Finished: 8/29/21

There are a lot of people out there who raved about this one, about how it’s a superhero novel turned on its head, it’s about the people supporting the villain, and that’s so new and so different! It’s not THAT new, and it’s not THAT different, and I spent a lot of this book feeling like I had read it before, which isn’t really fair. We were deep within this character’s head, and I enjoyed it, and it was good. I suppose I was just (and still am, apparently) annoyed that it felt over-hyped.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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Started: 8/9/21
Finished: 8/14/2021

I saw this while browsing in Powell’s over four years ago, so I think I can be forgiven for not remembering anything about it by the time I actually read it. I went in thinking it would be like Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, a book I loved when I read it, although I’m afraid I won’t like that one if I read it again.

It was not like Where’d You Go, Bernadette. I did like it immediately, particularly after giving up on two books in a row the day before. The first few pages were funny, and then it took a dark turn but was still funny, and then it was less funny and I started wondering if I had been supposed to think it was funny – was I laughing at a mentally ill person?

I was unsure the whole middle of the book, and I was afraid it was going to be predictable and have an unearned ending, and then it kicked me and I cried and I liked the ending very much.

I don’t know if you should read it.

Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella

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Started: 8/8/21
Gave up: 8/8/2021

Light read, supposed to be a fun romance, and OH MY GOD I DON’T CARE. The main character is not relatable, the situations are not funny, and I gave it up the same day I started it. Jo Walton, an author whose books I like and whose recommendations I often enjoy, is WRONG about this one (she thought it was terrific and funny).

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

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Started: 6/21/21
Finished: 7/3/21

This series comes up whenever anyone is talking about supernatural detectives, and people seem to like it, so I figured I’d give it a try. I liked it, and I’ll probably give it another book or two, but the main character doesn’t have much of an internal life. He gets thrown into this supernatural world, out of nowhere, and he doesn’t seem to have much reaction to it. So maybe that will improve…? Also, he (or the series) has some sexist tendencies, so if that doesn’t get better, I’m out. The mystery and story were interesting, though.

Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness by Nathanael Johnson

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Started: 6/8/21
Gave up: 6/11/21

Another non-fiction recommendation by Sarah Gailey. Another pass by me. I don’t think it’s the quality of recommendation so much as my own general lack of interest in non-fiction.