Mt TBR Report: November 2021

[calissa]

November proved yet another very slow reading month. However, this was offset by some serious unhauling of my Mt TBR. I’m hoping to squeeze in some more sorting so that I can go into the new year with more of a mound than a mountain. Or at least a mountain instead of a mountain range.

Mt TBR Status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2021: 426
Mt TBR @ 31 October 2021: 393
Mt TBR @ 30 October 2021: 361

Items Read

138. Sleepless, Vol. 1 by Sarah Vaughan. Fantasy, graphic novel. The bond between an illegitimate princess and her sleepless knight is tested when the king dies and several attempts are made on the princess’s life. I found the idea of the sleepless knights particularly interesting and for the most part enjoyed the relationship between the women in this story. It ended on a terrible cliffhanger.

139. She’s Fantastical edited by Lucy Sussex and Judith Raphael Buckrich. An anthology of feminist Australian SFF work. Published in 1995 (and featuring a few historical works), some of the stories were quite dated in their ideas and overall I found the style a bit too experimental for my taste.

140. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. Historical fantasy m/m romance. First in the Last Binding series. Reviewed here.

141. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Nonfiction. Reread

142. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Science fantasy. Second book in the Locked Tomb series. Harrow joins the Emperor’s war. This book is as bonkers as the protagonist. Written mostly in second person and featuring an unreliable narrator, it’s not clear what’s going on for two thirds of the book. There’s a brief window of clarity and then the ending muddies the waters once more. For the most part, I enjoyed it, though I would have liked a little more clarity at the ending.

143. Rosewater by Tade Thompson. Science fiction, Afrofuturism. First book in the Wormwood Trilogy. Book club pick. A psychic discovers that someone or something is killing off other sensitives. Some interesting ideas, but I didn’t particularly connect to any of the characters and I found all the violence and sex somewhat tiresome.

144. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare. Historical f/m romance. First book in the Spindle Cove series. A reclusive community of spinsters find the peace of their town under threat when the new earl attempts to establish a militia. I didn’t feel this was the best of the author’s work, but it was still a lot of fun. The battle of the sexes felt playful while still showing that it has edges and serious consequences. And I adored the Spindle Cove community.

Acquisitions

Underland by Robert McFarland
A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare
Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Comments

[winterbird]

The amount of Homestuck references and homages in Muir's work is amazing - the 6 character names (a Homestuck thing), the second person perspective (a Homestuck thing), even like, a lot of the descriptions and the necromancy etc. I kind of love that she's gotten so well-known off the back of the HS fic that she used to write, informing what she does now (but it also is probably a huge reason of why it was so bonkers, and didn't make any sense).

(It's wild to me how much original fiction is now 'fanfiction with the serial numbers scrubbed off.')

I see you have acquired Dark Rise! (And also Hyperbole and a Half, which I love)

[pantha]

Well done on tackling Mt TBR. <3