A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Started: 12/15/22
Finished: 12/26/22
Sequel to A Truly Remarkable Thing, where the other characters get to narrate, which is pretty interesting. Gotta save the world now!
Started: 12/15/22
Finished: 12/26/22
Sequel to A Truly Remarkable Thing, where the other characters get to narrate, which is pretty interesting. Gotta save the world now!
Started: 11/16/22
Finished: 11/25/22
Sequel to The Atlas Six, which I enjoyed so much I got on the waiting list for this one immediately. Turns out there will be at least one more (there’d better be), and this one suffers a little bit from 2nd volume syndrome. It has a thing to do, but it takes overlong to get there, and there are a lot of scenes of characters figuring something out without actually telling the reader what they’re figuring out. I can’t tell if whatever the thing is (or things are – this happens more than once) is supposed to be obscure and I’ll find out later, or if I’m just being dense and I should have understood what the character was saying.
But I enjoyed it! And I’m looking forward to the next book.
Started: 11/25/22
Finished: 11/25/22
Sequel to Garlic and the Vampire, which was super cute. This one was also super cute, and I read it in about 20 minutes. Nice story, with nice characters.
Started: 10/24/22
Finished: 11/2/22
I have a read a couple of Zen Cho’s short stories and loved them. Happily, I also really enjoyed this first book in a series about Regency magicians. Yay magic, yay alternate Regency England! Yay small-minded bigots get their comeuppance!
Started: 10/21/22
Finished: 10/24/22
Becky Chambers writes NICE books. People are generally good, they talk about what they need and what others need, and sometimes not much happens. Somehow, it’s relaxing, not boring.
Started: 9/24/22
Gave up: 9/27/22
I don’t remember what I thought this book was going to be about, but I certainly didn’t expect a bored and thoroughly unpleasant 30-something woman, a somewhat interesting young government thug, and a missing person who sounded like someone I would find pretentious and obnoxious. Not for me. Gave it up.
Oh, wait, I know. I was confusing it with Certain Dark Things, which I am still interested in reading.
Started: 8/28/22
Finished: 9/5/22
Sequel to The Unspoken Name, which I really enjoyed. I liked this second book so much I emailed the author to thank her. And I learned there will be a third! (That wasn’t guaranteed, or even necessary, based on how it ended, but I’m happy to hear it.) There’s a time jump I found jarring at first, but pretty quickly I loved that the characters got to grow up. I think that just means I’m old, but still!
Started: 8/26/22
Finished: 8/28/22
Sequel to Sisters of the Vast Black, we continue the adventures of our nuns who live in a living space ship, but now they’re on the run.
Started: 8/17/22
Finished: 8/25/22
Sequel to Unnatural Magic, but nearly unconnected except it exists in the same world, and it was great. Made me laugh unexpectedly, and the romance was fun.
Started: 8/12/22
Finished: 8/17/22
I really enjoyed a trilogy by Holly Black (about fairies, the not friendly kind) and just could not finish a book of hers about vampires, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this one. I think she enjoys writing main characters that are hard to like, which is fine, but also the magic in this was weird. It’s to do with shadows, but how and what exactly is mostly unclear (on purpose), and I just can’t tell you if I liked it. I had no trouble finishing it, though, so that may be a clue.
Started: 8/12/22
Finished: 8/12/22
Short story by an author who never misses. I want more (which is the best and worst feeling I can have about a short story). Dryads (kind of?) and magic and getting lost in a forest.
Started: 8/11/22
Finished: 8/11/22
Short story by an author I LOVE, and I LOVED this story. The premise is that the lyrics to a traditional ballad are posted online, and the action happens in the comments. It’s great, and everyone should read it. (Also, it won the Hugo Award for short stories this year.)
Started: 8/10/22
Finished: 8/10/22
I think I just don’t like Cat Valente, which is a shame. I feel like I should, but I keep striking out. Hello, another depressing story.
Started: 7/31/22
Finished: 8/2/22
Another installment in the Wayward Children series, another heartbreaker. I love these books.
Started: 7/31/22
Finished: 7/31/22
A devastating short story that came through for me at the end. If it hadn’t, I will fully prepared to abandon Alix Harrow, despite how much I have liked her books and stories.
Started: 7/20/22
Finished: 7/31/22
I’ve read a short story in this universe, so a novel was welcome. It’s a mystery, set in an alternate Egypt with magic. The writing was a little stilted, maybe self-conscious, but it was easy to ignore for the story. I’ll just hope it gets better with the next one.
Started: 7/3/22
Finished: 7/10/22
I used this book as a test to see if I’m over John Scalzi, and it turns out I’m not. Or maybe I am, depending on the book. This one was fun, funny, a bit ridiculous, and perfect for his voice. (Kinda like Redshirts – everyone should read Redshirts.)
Started: 11/18/21
Finished: 11/18/21
If only this were a true story! Link: https://www.tor.com/2020/04/08/little-free-library-naomi-kritzer/
Started: 11/17/21
Finished: 11/17/21
A retelling of Hansel and Gretel where the kids are sentient machines in space, and the witch is a larger sentient machine. Fascinatingly weird, like the author (whose Hugo winner speech was about slime molds).
Started: 11/8/21
Finished: 11/12/21
Next in the Wayward Children series, nominated for a Hugo like all the others because, well, it’s good. This wasn’t my favorite, but I’m happy to see the series move forward. I like the installments that serve as backstories to characters we’ve met, too, but knowing there’s a big picture arc is satisfying to me.