Started: 1/31/19
Gave up: 1/31/19
I picked this one because the author will be at the convention I’m going to in a couple of weeks, but I gave up on it almost immediately. The writing was stilted, formal, and boring, and the characters are all high-elf types with ridiculous names, and I am SO not in the mood. Hard pass.
Started: 1/30/19
Finished: 1/31/19
Supernatural mysteries! I’m a sucker for those, and this detective has a skeleton friend helping. Light, fun, and better written that I expected. It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised by the writing sometimes.
Started: 1/30/19
Gave up: 1/30/19
I gave up on this one almost immediately. The writing was bad. Very bad. I couldn’t make myself continue, even for a clone story.
Started: 1/28/19
Finished: 1/30/19
I like fairy tale retellings, and I very much enjoyed this Cinderella retelling with actual fairies (like the fae, the cannot-be-trusted types) in the background.
Started: 1/25/19
Finished: 1/28/19
A series of vignettes following a few families over several generations. It’s SF because of the reproduction processes involved, but it’s mostly about parents and children. Pretty good.
Started: 1/23/19
Gave up: 1/25/19
This is the first book in the Craft Sequence. I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get into the story. I didn’t find the characters particularly interesting, and the pacing was odd, so I wasn’t feeling involved. I gave up after a couple of days of avoidance.
Started: 1/23/19
Finished: 1/23/19
Short story about a mystifying alien encounter on an alien planet.
Started: 1/23/19
Finished: 1/23/19
Short story about a man dealing with his family and debating coming out, set in a world where if you lie, you get drenched in rain.
Started: 1/23/19
Finished: 1/23/19
Short story about a man dealing with his mother’s death and cooking. Good story.
Started: 1/21/19
Finished: 1/23/19
Finishing the Queens of Renthia series, still good, but with more main characters I was left feeling like I needed more time with them. I suppose that’s a good thing – give me more!
Started: 1/19/19
Finished: 1/21/19
Continuing the Queens of Renthia series, highly enjoyable with a surprising ending (in a good way).
Started: 1/19/19
Finished: 1/19/19
A short story about identity and acceptance and time travel. I’d like to see it expanded into a novel so I can get more.
Started: 1/17/19
Finished: 1/18/19
For some reason, I thought there were dragons in this series, but there are not. Figured you should know that up front. However, I REALLY liked this book, and I’m eager to read the next one.
Started: 1/14/19
Finished: 1/17/19
Cool fantasy, steampunk-ish, and it’s the start of a series, thank goodness, because I need to know more about the world. The main character is a teenage girl who matures as the book continues (also thank goodness), but I’m less invested in her than I am in finding out what on earth the city actually IS.
Started: 1/13/19
Finished: 1/14/19
The Goblin King in this book is SO very David Bowie, which is great. I think the characterization of the main character shifts halfway through, and not for the better. Her motivations aren’t consistent, and she gets all worked up about things that could be resolved if she would just TALK to the guy. Same goes for him, of course. On the other hand, she’s a teenager, and she’s acting like a teenager, so maybe I should be praising the author for her realism instead.
Started: 1/11/19
Finished: 1/12/19
Music and humans and dragons and secrets and love and a plucky heroine. There’s a sequel!
Started: 1/8/19
Finished: 1/11/19
Book 6 in the Frontlines series. It’s book 6 of 6, but it clearly isn’t the end. I’m happy to believe there will be more. I’ve been enjoying this series.
Started: 1/7/19
Finished: 1/8/19
Book 5 in the Frontlines series. Have I mentioned that these are all written in the present tense? I always notice when the book starts and then stop noticing because I’m in the story.
Started: 1/5/19
Finished: 1/7/19
Delightful! A story told in letters between two cousins/best friends, set in Regency England with a bit of magic.
Started: 1/4/19
Finished: 1/5/19
Fun story, couldn’t put it down. I feel like I haven’t read one of those in a while.