Mt TBR Report: July 2019
Aug. 1st, 2019 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calissaJuly has been my slowest month of the year so far. In fact, my reading rate has slowly been declining since finishing the Aurealis judging back in February. I'm not too worried, though, since the NEWTs readathon takes place in August and is sure to provide good motivation.
Mt TBR @ 1 January 2019: 442
Mt TBR @ 30 June 2019: 374
Mt TBR @ July 2019: 275
117. Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. YA sci-fi. A ragtag group of trainee peacekeepers find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they pull a survivor off a spaceship that has been missing for more than two centuries. Fluffy action. I really enjoyed the relationships between the seven POV characters (our team), plus all the references to contemporary figures of science and pop culture. While I was fine with the ending, I did feel it was a little too similar to that of Kristoff's Lifel1k3.
118. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Very much an ideas book rather than one about characters or plot. Still disappointingly relevant and I found myself thinking about how it dovetails with Joanna Russ' How to Suppress Women's Writing.
119. Spectred Isle by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, m/m romance. First in the Green Men series. An archeologist living in disgrace since his part in WW1 keeps running into a mysterious man, who turns out to be the last in an ancient line of arcanists. It's up to them to get to the bottom of the supernatural threat looming over London. I really enjoyed the time period and world-building, and am very much looking forward to more books in this series.
120. Rocket Fuel: some of the best from Tor.com non-fiction edited by Bridget McGovern and Chris Lough. A bit hit-and-miss, as most anthologies are. There were a bunch of things I'd already read on the Tor.com website, some of which were fantastic. Some essays really drilled into the specifics of a particular work or piece of media, and these largely depended on my familiarity with the work in question. For example, I enjoyed the overview of Galadriel's history in Tolkein's work, but the one on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was too deep in the weeds for my knowledge of that show.
121 Work Clean by David Charnas. Non-fiction. Looks at mise-en-place and how it might translate to an office space. Picked up on recommendation from Peter Ball. While not all of it is useful, there's definitely some food for thought.
122. The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan. Literary fantasy, post-apocalypse. Follows the tale of two young women as their lives meet and separate repeatedly. North lives on a circus boat with her bear and seeks to escape the land-bound life the ringmaster has his heart set on making for her. Callanish was sentenced to be a Gracekeeper after a terrible incident in her past. She longs to escape her isolation and reconcile with her mother. The book has a lovely, fairytale atmosphere, but I found it a bit thematically muddled. The epilogue in particular felt clunky.
123. Proper English by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, f/f romance. Prequel to Think of England. A women's champion shooter finds herself attracted to her friend's fiancee at a house party. The two team up to investigate when someone finally murders another very nasty guest. The plot involves blackmail and I was really glad that the narrative never made the central relationship feel shameful by having it be discovered and used as blackmail material. I also loved the way Pat sees through Fenella's apparent air-headedness and believes in her capabilities even when Fenella doesn't. I'm all here for ladies supporting each other... and, indeed, that was the case with most of the other female characters, too.
124. The Year of the Fruitcake by Gillian Polack. Review forthcoming
125. The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, m/m romance. Kind of a prequel to Spectred Isle but written first. A young journalist with a troublesome ancestor turns to a ghost hunter for help. This collects together a couple of short stories then adds several more to it. The sex scenes were sizzling, but the BDSM elements made it feel a little too much like Charles' series The Magpie Lord. And by and large, I felt like the book was mostly connective tissue between the original stories, some stories from the time period in which it was set and Spectred Isle--not quite solid in its own right.
126. The Invasion by Peadar O'Guilin. YA fantasy horror. Second in the Grey Land series. Nominated for the Lodestar Award. Having escaped the fae, Nessa finds herself persecuted by her own people, who apparently can't believe a disabled girl could defeat such formidable foes. An excellent story that leans into body horror. However, I didn't find it quite as engaging as the first. The romantic relationships in particular didn't hit the mark and failed to resonate.
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
Work Clean by David Charnas
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Ashes of Honour by Seanan McGuire
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire
A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire
The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire
Circe by Madeline Miller
Conversations on Writing by Ursula Le Guin
An Informal History of the Hugos by Jo Walton
Mt TBR Status
Mt TBR @ 1 January 2019: 442
Mt TBR @ 30 June 2019: 374
Mt TBR @ July 2019: 275
Books Read
117. Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. YA sci-fi. A ragtag group of trainee peacekeepers find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they pull a survivor off a spaceship that has been missing for more than two centuries. Fluffy action. I really enjoyed the relationships between the seven POV characters (our team), plus all the references to contemporary figures of science and pop culture. While I was fine with the ending, I did feel it was a little too similar to that of Kristoff's Lifel1k3.
118. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Very much an ideas book rather than one about characters or plot. Still disappointingly relevant and I found myself thinking about how it dovetails with Joanna Russ' How to Suppress Women's Writing.
119. Spectred Isle by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, m/m romance. First in the Green Men series. An archeologist living in disgrace since his part in WW1 keeps running into a mysterious man, who turns out to be the last in an ancient line of arcanists. It's up to them to get to the bottom of the supernatural threat looming over London. I really enjoyed the time period and world-building, and am very much looking forward to more books in this series.
120. Rocket Fuel: some of the best from Tor.com non-fiction edited by Bridget McGovern and Chris Lough. A bit hit-and-miss, as most anthologies are. There were a bunch of things I'd already read on the Tor.com website, some of which were fantastic. Some essays really drilled into the specifics of a particular work or piece of media, and these largely depended on my familiarity with the work in question. For example, I enjoyed the overview of Galadriel's history in Tolkein's work, but the one on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was too deep in the weeds for my knowledge of that show.
121 Work Clean by David Charnas. Non-fiction. Looks at mise-en-place and how it might translate to an office space. Picked up on recommendation from Peter Ball. While not all of it is useful, there's definitely some food for thought.
122. The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan. Literary fantasy, post-apocalypse. Follows the tale of two young women as their lives meet and separate repeatedly. North lives on a circus boat with her bear and seeks to escape the land-bound life the ringmaster has his heart set on making for her. Callanish was sentenced to be a Gracekeeper after a terrible incident in her past. She longs to escape her isolation and reconcile with her mother. The book has a lovely, fairytale atmosphere, but I found it a bit thematically muddled. The epilogue in particular felt clunky.
123. Proper English by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, f/f romance. Prequel to Think of England. A women's champion shooter finds herself attracted to her friend's fiancee at a house party. The two team up to investigate when someone finally murders another very nasty guest. The plot involves blackmail and I was really glad that the narrative never made the central relationship feel shameful by having it be discovered and used as blackmail material. I also loved the way Pat sees through Fenella's apparent air-headedness and believes in her capabilities even when Fenella doesn't. I'm all here for ladies supporting each other... and, indeed, that was the case with most of the other female characters, too.
124. The Year of the Fruitcake by Gillian Polack. Review forthcoming
125. The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles. Historical fantasy, m/m romance. Kind of a prequel to Spectred Isle but written first. A young journalist with a troublesome ancestor turns to a ghost hunter for help. This collects together a couple of short stories then adds several more to it. The sex scenes were sizzling, but the BDSM elements made it feel a little too much like Charles' series The Magpie Lord. And by and large, I felt like the book was mostly connective tissue between the original stories, some stories from the time period in which it was set and Spectred Isle--not quite solid in its own right.
126. The Invasion by Peadar O'Guilin. YA fantasy horror. Second in the Grey Land series. Nominated for the Lodestar Award. Having escaped the fae, Nessa finds herself persecuted by her own people, who apparently can't believe a disabled girl could defeat such formidable foes. An excellent story that leans into body horror. However, I didn't find it quite as engaging as the first. The romantic relationships in particular didn't hit the mark and failed to resonate.
Books Acquired
We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Ashes of Honour by Seanan McGuire
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire
A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire
The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire
Circe by Madeline Miller
Conversations on Writing by Ursula Le Guin
An Informal History of the Hugos by Jo Walton
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