The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay
Started: 11/3/23
Finished: 11/10/23
Another space military story, totally new characters (not part of the Planetside series), with a mystery and a rescue and a soldier who has lots of side hustles going on. Fun.
SF
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Started: 9/22/23
Finished: 9/29/23
A re-read! I’ve been doing a lot of my re-reading via audiobook lately, and since Stephen Fry narrated this one, it was an easy decision.
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
Started: 9/23/23
Gave up: 9/24/23
Sometimes quirky takes on classic literature work for me, and sometimes they really don’t. This could have been cute – Victor Frankenstein has a scientist sister who can do everything he can do, but they’re a WEIRD family, so when she realizes she can’t find love the usual way, she decides to make her perfect man. Except she reanimates a real person, and then she gaslights him every time he starts to remember his actual family. So not cool. Maybe she realizes what she’s doing is wrong, tells him the truth, and he falls in love with her anyway? Or she lets him go (because what she’s doing is wrong) and her real love turns out to be someone she already knew? I’ll never know.
Planetside, Spaceside, and Colonyside by Michael Mammay
Started: 9/1/23
Finished: 9/15/23
A trilogy of well done space military mysteries, likable main characters, really good narrator for the audiobooks. I flew through these and then emailed the author because I thought he did these so well. Dad would have liked them, I think.
The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
Started: 8/18/23
Finished: 8/31/23
Post-apocalyptic story with Little Red Riding Hood vibes. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. I think the apocalypse was a plague? There were a couple of monsters, but it wasn’t a zombie-type plague. Our Red has to trek across the countryside to Grandma’s house, avoiding the government and bad guys, keeping her companions safe (when she can).
Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders
Started: 8/25/23
Gave up: 8/27/23
I wanted to like this, but it didn’t grab me enough to push through. A teenager who never really fit in finds out she’s part (or all? I don’t remember) alien, gets picked up by hopefully the good guys (aliens), rescues some other misfits, and I assume they save the universe, but I didn’t get that far.
Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren
Started: 8/25/23
Finished: 8/25/23
I read this in one sitting, stuck on an airplane in DC waiting out weather delays and then crew change delays. It’s YA, but YA like A Wrinkle in Time, YA like Diana Wynne Jones – you know, timeless and very very good. We have semi-normal kids going through a tough time, noticing odd things around them, and then super-crazy stuff happens and they save the world, all mixed up with folklore and history and mythology.
Users by Colin Winnette
Started: 8/23/23
Finished: 8/24/23
I did not like this book. I finished it because – I don’t know. It was short? Dangers of tech, evil corporations, blah blah blah.
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
Started: 8/16/23
Gave up: 8/18/23
I don’t remember how I heard of this book, but it’s a time-loop story, and I like those. Except I really didn’t. Didn’t like the character, didn’t enjoy how the plot was unfolding. Gave up!
On the Steel Breeze by Alistair Reynolds
Started: 6/28/23
Gave up: 6/29/23
I started the sequel to Blue Remembered Earth immediately after it ended, but I gave up on it the next day. The narrator was different (not the one I LOVED from the first one), there was a big time jump, and all of the characters were different. I just couldn’t get into it.
I realized just now, when I looked up the narrator, that it was Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury in Bridgerton, and I LOVE her. But apparently not enough to enjoy this audiobook.
Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
Started: 6/8/23
Finished: 6/28/23
One of John’s friends recommended this to me, and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think I would have liked as much if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. The narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, is the same actor who reads the Rivers of London books, and he’s SO GOOD. Just so good.
A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
Started: 4/21/23
Finished: 5/2/23
Time travel and a mystery and a romance and a period drama in Victorian Scotland. But it is NOT Outlander. Yay!
The Outside by Ada Hoffman
Started: 4/1/23
Finished: 4/12/23
According to my notes, I read this book, but I have no memory of it. Really. I’m borrowing it again to refresh my memory.
Oh, there it is. Yeah, the mechanics of this far-future, alien planet, super-all-powerful (except not) gods book didn’t speak to me. But I finished it! I’m just not interested in continuing the series.
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
Started: 3/14/23
Finished: 3/19/23
After giving up on three books in a row, I reached for a sure thing, and it was so nice. Another love story, the characters are a bit more complicated, political intrigue. Good stuff.
The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Started: 3/9/23
Gave up: 3/10/23
I just couldn’t get into this one. I read the summary, I started the book, and I was pretty far into it (maybe 20%?) and I still had no idea what was going on. Not for me.
Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha
Started: 3/9/23
Gave up: 3/9/23
I didn’t last long with this one. It sounded so promising! Mercenary librarians! But no – annoying characters, and despite starting in an action scene, NOTHING HAPPENED for entirely too long.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Started: 2/26/23
Finished: 3/5/23
Man, I love a good love story in space. Good people who are good and want to do good. Yay!
Lethe by Tricia Sullivan
Started: 12/30/22
Finished: 1/5/23
Recommendation by some author I like (probably Rainbow Rowell?), but I don’t know about this one. It took a LONG time to get into it. Also, the paperback I have has a TERRIBLE cover.
It’s set in the future, people can turn into dolphins swim with dolphins something about dolphins, there’s another planet and maybe a wormhole and maybe a giant conspiracy to keep the little guys down and also a forest with memories? It was odd in a not-fun way, and I don’t think I liked it.
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!
The Seep by Chana Porter
Started: 12/13/22
Gave Up: 12/14/22
The alien invasion is microorganisms that came in through the water! And everyone loves everyone. If you don’t conform, after many gentle warnings, you get ostracized. Anyway, it didn’t grab me, and I gave up.