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valkryorOnce more, with feeling: I'm keeping track of what I'm reading this year, because my memory is terrible and lists are fun!
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
January 15 - The month is almost half over and I've just picked up something to read. After all the kerfuffle with my tablet and the Kobo app, I finally finished Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown yesterday. SHEESH. Because it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey and because I went to the doctor's office for a walk-in appointment, I left the tablet at home and brought an ACTUAL book with me. I'm enjoying it thus far, but I'm only a handful of chapters in.
January 16 - LMB is very good at creating rabbit holes that I want to fall into. I also discovered that this series is four books, not three. I have the first three in hardback (thrifted!) and will likely pick up the last as an e-book. I'm not a fan of splitting up series into the physical copies and electronic, but holy hell shipping is prohibitive. I do have gifted monies at Kobo, so it, technically, won't cost me a damn thing.
I've since added a bunch of e-books for series onto my wishlist because, well, it's just a hell of a lot easier (and faster) than trying to thrift them all.
January 19 - As much as I love the world-building, I'm finding that the first two books of the series are a lot stronger than these last two. Maybe it's just me? And while I love the grumpy/sunny pairing, that age gap between Dag and Fawn is starting to wear thin. I dunno. Going to start Horizon today, and then onto something else. Hrm...maybe I should get to those books that were loaned to me months ago? That sounds like a plan, actually.
January 21: Started a different e-book. It's...okay. It's not a difficult or even all that long of a read, I just wish is was more engaging, really.
January 22 - I have finally gotten around to reading one of the books loaned to me last year. I am already enjoying it more than Hook: Dead to Rights. It was a book. That I read. I won't be recommending it to anyone else, though, because it was...dull.
January 29 - I started Shadows Fall yesterday and am already enjoying it. What I did not know was how extensive a catalogue there was! Simon R Green is a prolific writer, with easily 30+ pieces to his name. That's a lot. A LOT a lot. He completely slipped under my radar, that's for damn sure. If I love this, it will give me another author to keep an eye out for (as if I need another one).
February 05 - I did not love it. It was okay, as a book, but the more I read, the more it felt...contrived. And the ending just pissed me the hell off. It was like the DM shouting, "rocks fall, everyone dies!" then flipping the table on the way out the door, but in reverse: All the horrible stuff that just happened didn't happen. Everyone lives. Hurray. *barf*
Competently written, sure, but UGH that ENDING. I think this will be one author that I leave behind and good riddance. At least it was borrowed; if I had spent a wooden nickle on that dross I would be more mad about it.
So now I'm reading a cozy romance and it's lovely. And yes, I know that by their very nature, romances are contrived, hell, everyone knows the ending already. BUT, even knowing that, I have no idea how the characters are going to GET there. I think I find it easier to ignore the strings when I know they're there from the start. Discovering the strings part-way through ruins the magic for me. I expect wire work in most wuxia, which doesn't diminish the fight scenes for me. Knowing that the wires are there tricks my brain into not paying attention to the work they're doing. It's the same with knowing there's a HEA in it for me: I can invest in the emotional highs and lows because it will all work out in the end.
(Point to note here: if the ending of some piece of media I'm consuming really is rocks fall, everyone dies and it makes sense, then I tend to love those pieces of media a little bit more because it's subverting the expectations of the audience.)
February 10 - Tiffany Blues by M J Rose is a historical mystery with some romantic elements set in 1924. I don't know why I picked it up (maybe as a break from the usual historical romances I read?), but I took a chance and then proceeded to not look at it for quite some time. I read it in one day. So yes, I did enjoy it, very much so.
I'm currently suffering from the Bad Decisions Book Club having starting a regency romance last night and had to force myself to stop reading at 1am. The characters are engaging, their growth as people believable, and I am curious when they're both going to wake up and realize that "they are the one" as I'm about halfway through.
February 16 - I spent yesterday reading Neon Gods, a Hades/Persephone retelling. I am a sucker for a good Hades/Persephone retelling, and this was decent. Not good enough to add the author to my autobuy list (what a review blurb called scorchingly hot, I found to be passable), but if I come across the next one in the series on sale, I might pick it up.
February 17 - I started reading The Anatomist's Wife, and holy hell, it is GOOD. I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but this one is engaging and almost as cozy as a mystery can be when it starts with a murder (it's on the very first page!) in the Scottish Highlands in 1830. It also has a thread of romance in it, which makes me happy, because the leads are very happy to trade barbs with each other. It is the first in a series, but I don't know if I will read any of the others.
February 19 - I am enjoying this read. There aren't a lot of m/m romances set in the Regency era and I am here for it. Aside from the one thing that makes me cranky (entrance, fucking really?), the rest has been perfectly acceptable.
February 28 - I am closing out the month by reading the final book in the Galactic Love trilogy. It's a wild read, and I'm enjoying the hell out of the bananas bonkers plot, because the state of the world is terrifying and I need to escape.
March 1 - Lovely lovely Regency romance is just the thing after a night of garbage sleep because of menopausal bullshit. And it is lovely. So lovely, in fact, that I sacrificed sleep to read even more of it. I really should get a pin or mug or something for my continual forays into the Bad Decisions Book Club.
March 3 - MURDERBOT! I loves Loves LOVES me some Murderbot! A depressed and anxious SecUnit is kind of what I need right now.
March 6 - Rolling hot flashes and anxiety spikes suck. What doesn't? Reading Chuck Tingle. I followed that up with TJ Klune, but didn't get too far; I was falling asleep and went to bed.
March 16 - It took me too damn long to get back to Under the Whispering Door. Starting a book about someone who dies of a heart attack (in the first chapter) when you yourself is having some monstrous menopausal bullshit is NOT IDEAL. I had to wait for the storm to pass before I could finish it without also fighting anxiety as well. I did enjoy it, but that did mar the experience somewhat.
I spent yesterday reading through some of the oldest things on my e-reader and one of the email threads for my current D&D game that I collated. The books were...okay? Nothing to write home about, nothing that I will want to read again. I've only included the email thread here because it was 52k words and change. That's a lot, and was three separate email threads that I put together because it takes place over a few days and it seemed silly to have three documents when one (albeit rather large) one would suffice.
March 17 - This feels like a bog standard historical romance, in that it is a book that I am reading and it's not really great. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the writing. I dunno. So far, my favourite characters are the butlers and the cats.
March 23 - I should know by now that when a blurb calls a book sexy or smoking hot or some other nonsense, the sexytimes will be competently written, but nothing special. Firelight did that. The sex scenes were okay. Not as hot and sexy as the blurbs make them out to be. Or maybe it was the setting? Victorian paranormal London really isn't my jam (Parasol Protectorate aside), or maybe it's just paranormal romance that isn't my jam, regardless of time period? No matter. It was a book. That I read. That was...okay.
March 31 - I have found that reading Chuck Tingle is a great way to both Keep Reading AND get through my digital TBR. The previous book was great, but I didn't know what I wanted to read, so I didn't read anything. Bridgerton season two was released, so that took care of that itch for a bit, and now a bit of Chuck. I think I will go into my PHYSICAL TBR and see what is there that sparks my interest. Maybe I should make April my paper book month? That might be worthwhile, actually.
April 3 - I had a different memory of this book? I thought it was a post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult fiction, but it was not that. It's about a fifteen year old girl who has been in (and let down by) the system since the moment she drew her first breath. It's brutal and heartbreaking and I very much doubt I will need to reread it anytime soon.
April 6 - The physical TBR trend continues! I watched the movie based on this book a few years ago and enjoyed it. So far, I'm really digging the book. Joe Hill writes like his dad, which is hardly surprising, but his stories feel different. This is only the second one of his that I've read (the first being The Fireman), and I am thinking I should pick up more. At some point. Once I've made a dent or something.
April 15 - Mooncop is such a lovely little graphic novel about the last days/weeks of the moon colony. I had been thinking about rereading it for a while, but finally dug it out before going to bed last night. Short, sweet, and exactly what I wanted.
April 21 - Dragons of Ordinary Farm was an easy read, definitely meant for the younger set, but enjoyable all the same. I've started on the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and it's going to be an interesting ride.
April 27 - My physical TBR pile is getting a teeny bit smaller. I'm leaving the sorry stricken behind in Regency England and turning my attention to Diana Wynne Jones. Apparently, The Merlin Conspiracy is a sequel, but it's also not? Meh. It will certainly be less dense than anything Jane Austen has written, so there is that.
May 4 - Apparently, I had read The Trouble with Dukes last year and did not overly enjoy it. I found the extended cast of characters had too much focus whilst not enough was given to the main couple. Interesting that a reread rendered the book highly enjoyable. *shrugs* Maybe I am simply more in the mood for those types of shenanigans? Dunno, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same.
Too Scot to Handle is the next book in the series, and as it follows the brother of the Duke and the sister of his bride, it seemed best to read it next.
May 17 - I finished up the historicals and then just...stopped. I didn't read anything until I decided that maybe I should read one of the Christopher Moore e-books I had picked up on sale a few months ago. I've not read anything by him since Sacre Bleu, which I found a trifle disappointing. BUT, I should not have worried! Pocket and his foolishness (he is a fool, after all) is delightful! Also, as this takes place in Venice, unless otherwise stated, assume it is humid.
May 27 - One historical down (a very enjoyable read loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew) and now I'm in the midst of an anthology of very steamy novellas. I've read three and so far it's one M/M and two M/F/M (yes, that's threesomes), with some scorching sex scenes. It's pretty much historical porn and I am here for it.
May 28 - Only one straight pairing in the entire anthology and I am here for it. Every read was enjoyable and delightfully smutty, although I really wish that the use of 'entrance' would be consigned to the fucking bin already.
And now I've picked up a horror where everything just feels...off. So far, it's creepy as fuck and I am here for it.
May 30 - The Return was touted as a feminist horror and I don't see how? I mean, maybe because there were four friends who are women who are still friends and go on a girl's trip together? Is a depiction of female friendship enough to call a book feminist? Honestly, I don't think so, unless there was something there so subtle that I missed it. In any case, it was a good read, suitably creepy and upsetting in all the right ways, but that ending.
Not gonna lie, y'all, it wasn't great.
It was an ending, sure, but it felt incomplete, rushed. I kept waiting for more resolution and then it was over. There were other characters mentioned, and then nothing? Like, what happened to them after everything went down?
Horror novels work because there's an emotional connection between the character and the reader. Adding characters in and then dropping them without a word feels cheap to me. Even a sentence: Character X wanted to focus on their career and Character Y sold the house and moved to the other side of the country. That would have been enough. But nope. No resolution for you, throwaway characters.
June 3 - A Desolation Called Peace really showcased the different kinds of communication between sentient creatures in a way that had no easy or good solutions. It felt, honestly, like what would happen in a tense political negotiation where everyone walks away with something, even if that something is unexpected or unwanted.
June 16 - I haven't been reading much this month. For the Wolf had an interesting concept by mashing up two well-known fairytales (Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood). It was engaging and well-written and all the character motivations made sense.
After Dark with the Duke, historical, Regency romance. It was a little frustrating, in that the POV kept shifting between the two leads without warning. I get that in romance you want to get inside the heads of the two leads as they fall in love with each other, but you don't switch character perspective in the middle of a paragraph. It was jarring. (Now, to be fair, I've probably done this myself in my game-based writing; that's not for publication, but between myself, the DM, and any other players.)
Highland Conquest is set in Medieval Scotland with a heaping does of instalust. I'm okay with instalust, as long as the characters recognize it as pants feelings and not heart feelings and they seem to. It's a passable historical: not the worst thing I've ever read, not stellar. At least the heroine, while still a maiden, is aware of self-pleasure. That's not often the case.
June 25 - A transwoman and Duke fall in love in a Regency romance. I didn't know this was exactly what I needed in my life until I did. It's lovely and engaging.
June 30 - Hench has been on my digital TBR longer than most and, well, the story of a henchperson who temps for villains is a perfect antidote to the saturation of do-gooders and other heroes in the mainstream right now. (And yes, I do loves me a good super-story, but change is good, too.)
July 10 - I do loves me a cozy romance. And two in a row is *chef's kiss*.
July 20 - Intensely readable historical romance that kept me up way too late last night. I didn't finish (although I could have), so that's the plan for today.
July 30 - Vacation reading! Enjoyable thus far, but I've only started it. I do love that there are other races, however, and that one isn't "superior" to another. They're just different.
August 13 - I am in a creating phase, and thus don't do a lot of reading as a result. And that's fine. The Footman and I was also fine. Not great or outstanding, but fine. The premise: a trio of unmarried noblemen decide, on a drunken lark, to post as servants at a summer house party held by the fourth (married, natch) of their quartet. As a premise, it's interesting. When the footman is revealed to be an Earl, there wasn't nearly enough grovel; we get an explanation from one of his buddies who had been posing as a valet instead. It would have been better with more grovel. *nods*
August 31 - The reading drought continues. I was casting around for something to read and didn't intend to select Someday My Duke Will Come, but here we are. It was enjoyable, if very emotionally focused. Also, what is it with people NOT USING THEIR WORDS? It gets tiresome after a while when "I have a secret, but I cannot tell you" goes on for as long as this one did. In a way, I get the why of it, but UGH. I just wanted to shake people.
September 20 - Nona! Nona! Nona! I preordered Nona the Ninth for reasons and started it damn near immediately. I spent a fair amount of time trying to unravel the mystery of who Nona was and I was pleased to have gotten it right. Also, Noodle is the goodest boi and he doesn't die.
After the Locked Tomb, it was back to the Regency as a jewel thief tries to stay ahead of a Bow Street Runner. I almost finished it last night, but the Bad Decisions Book Club (Just One More Page!) wasn't holding a meeting, so put it down in favour of sweet, sweet sleep.
October 13 - I finally FINALLY got my hands on the last/latest Vorkosigan novella, this time centred around Ekaterin. It was a lovely read, even giving a glimpse into Miles as a father, which is about as chaotic as you can imagine. I also highly recommend My Heart is a Chainsaw, the best kind of slasher homage you could ever want.
November 2 - I started this book before the turn of the month. I am annoyed at it. Up until Ransom (him) used Merlin's (her) illness against her to con her into marriage, Midsummer Moon was mostly okay. THIS IS NOT OKAY. I only have a few chapters left. I hope I can hold on that long because there have been a LOT of problems with this* that I've found a little more squicky than I like.
*(a first time meeting, first time fucking thanks to a potent aphrodisiac by chapter 2, but only the hero was affected so informed consent isn't an issue and that's okay, as well as a forced kidnapping of the heroine by the hero for her own good. I just...NO.)
November 28 - Holy hells, my reading has tanked. I keep buying books, but don't, you know, READ them. Ugh. Anyway, this is an enjoyable contemporary throuple romance that I've had for a while.
December 11 - Okay.shanmonster gifted this to me in exchange for a brick of fruitcake. I think she got the better deal. I'm three chapters in and HATE IT. The author (wee lamb) has used Ionic/Homeric Greek spellings for the characters, EXCEPT ACHILLES. Helen has half-divine breasts called "Apples of the Sun". That was on page 18. Christ on a crutch hopping down the street, what is this fuckery?! I'm going to finish it, because hate reading is a thing, and then I'm going to post a ranty review when I'm done because, fuck me with a chainsaw, this book is SPECIAL.
December 23 - My brain was craving Regency romance hijinks so that's what I'm giving it. It's soothing in all the best ways and I'm enjoying it immensely.
January:
- Sharing Knife: Beguilement - Lois McMaster Bujold
- Sharing Knife: Legacy - Lois McMaster Bujold
- Sharing Knife: Passage - Lois McMaster Bujold
- Sharing Knife: Horizon - Lois McMaster Bujold
- Hook: Dead to Rights - Melissa Snark
- Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys - Mick Farren (borrowed)
- Shadows Fall - Simon R Green (borrowed)
February:
- Second First Impressions - Sally Thorne
- Tiffany Blues - M J Rose
- Any Rogue Will Do - Bethany Bennett
- Neon Gods - Katee Robert
- The Anatomist's Wife - Anna Lee Huber
- The Ruin of a Rake - Cat Sebastian
- The Princess Knight - G A Aiken
- Renegade Love - Ann Aguirre
March:
- My American Duchess - Eloisa James
- Fugitive Telemetry - Martha Wells
- Game of Butts: The Pounds of Winter - Chuck Tingle
- Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune
- Candy Houses - Shiloh Walker
- All the Time in the World - Shiloh Walker
- Viking's Surrender: Gathering Storms - Clara Frost
- Home Sweet Home (Over Too Soon) - myself, clawfoot
- First Comes Scandal - Julia Quinn
- Firelight - Kristen Callihan
- All the Feels - Olivia Dade
- Bigfoot Sommelier Butt Tasting - Chuck Tingle
April:
- The Panopticon - Jenni Fagan
- Horns - Joe Hill
- Mooncop - Tom Gauld (reread)
- Dragons of Ordinary Farm - Deborah Beale and Tad Williams
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls - Steve Hockensmith
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
- The Merlin Conspiracy - Diana Wynne Jones
May:
- The Trouble with Dukes - Grace Burrowes (reread)
- Too Scot to Handle - Grace Burrowes
- No Other Duke Will Do - Grace Burrowes
- Serpent of Venice - Christopher Moore
- Ten Things I Hate About the Duke - Loretta Chase
- Rake I'd Like to F... - Novella Anthology
- The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind - Sierra Simone
- Two Rakes for Mrs. Sparkwell - Eva Leigh
- A Rake, His Patron, & Their Muse - Nicola Davidson
- Monsieur X - Adriana Herrera
- Sold to the Duke - Joanna Shupe
- The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind - Sierra Simone
- The Return - Rachel Harrison
- A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine
June:
- For the Wolf - Hannah Whitten
- After Dark with the Duke - Julie Anne Long
- Highland Conquest - Alyson McLayne
- A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall
- Hench - Natalie Zina Walschots
July:
- Someone to Hold - Mary Balogh
- One Thing Leads to a Lover - Susanna Craig
- Better Off Wed - Susanna Craig
- The Devil to Pay - Kate Bateman
- The Unspoken Name - AK Larkwood
August:
- The Footman and I - Valerie Bowman
- The Lady Gets Lucky - Joanna Shupe
- Someday My Duke Will Come - Christina Britton
September:
- Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
- To Catch an Earl - Kate Bateman
- Every Rogue Has His Charm - Susanna Craig
- My Heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones
October:
- The Flowers of Vashnoi - Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Duke Heist - Erica Ridley
- Midsummer Moon - Laura Kinsale
November:
- There Will Be Time - Poul Anderson
- Pink Slip - Katrina Jackson
- Someone to Cherish - Mary Balogh
December:
- Wrath Goddess Sing - Maya Deane
- Lady Derring Takes a Lover - Julie Anne Long
January 15 - The month is almost half over and I've just picked up something to read. After all the kerfuffle with my tablet and the Kobo app, I finally finished Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown yesterday. SHEESH. Because it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey and because I went to the doctor's office for a walk-in appointment, I left the tablet at home and brought an ACTUAL book with me. I'm enjoying it thus far, but I'm only a handful of chapters in.
January 16 - LMB is very good at creating rabbit holes that I want to fall into. I also discovered that this series is four books, not three. I have the first three in hardback (thrifted!) and will likely pick up the last as an e-book. I'm not a fan of splitting up series into the physical copies and electronic, but holy hell shipping is prohibitive. I do have gifted monies at Kobo, so it, technically, won't cost me a damn thing.
I've since added a bunch of e-books for series onto my wishlist because, well, it's just a hell of a lot easier (and faster) than trying to thrift them all.
January 19 - As much as I love the world-building, I'm finding that the first two books of the series are a lot stronger than these last two. Maybe it's just me? And while I love the grumpy/sunny pairing, that age gap between Dag and Fawn is starting to wear thin. I dunno. Going to start Horizon today, and then onto something else. Hrm...maybe I should get to those books that were loaned to me months ago? That sounds like a plan, actually.
January 21: Started a different e-book. It's...okay. It's not a difficult or even all that long of a read, I just wish is was more engaging, really.
January 22 - I have finally gotten around to reading one of the books loaned to me last year. I am already enjoying it more than Hook: Dead to Rights. It was a book. That I read. I won't be recommending it to anyone else, though, because it was...dull.
January 29 - I started Shadows Fall yesterday and am already enjoying it. What I did not know was how extensive a catalogue there was! Simon R Green is a prolific writer, with easily 30+ pieces to his name. That's a lot. A LOT a lot. He completely slipped under my radar, that's for damn sure. If I love this, it will give me another author to keep an eye out for (as if I need another one).
February 05 - I did not love it. It was okay, as a book, but the more I read, the more it felt...contrived. And the ending just pissed me the hell off. It was like the DM shouting, "rocks fall, everyone dies!" then flipping the table on the way out the door, but in reverse: All the horrible stuff that just happened didn't happen. Everyone lives. Hurray. *barf*
Competently written, sure, but UGH that ENDING. I think this will be one author that I leave behind and good riddance. At least it was borrowed; if I had spent a wooden nickle on that dross I would be more mad about it.
So now I'm reading a cozy romance and it's lovely. And yes, I know that by their very nature, romances are contrived, hell, everyone knows the ending already. BUT, even knowing that, I have no idea how the characters are going to GET there. I think I find it easier to ignore the strings when I know they're there from the start. Discovering the strings part-way through ruins the magic for me. I expect wire work in most wuxia, which doesn't diminish the fight scenes for me. Knowing that the wires are there tricks my brain into not paying attention to the work they're doing. It's the same with knowing there's a HEA in it for me: I can invest in the emotional highs and lows because it will all work out in the end.
(Point to note here: if the ending of some piece of media I'm consuming really is rocks fall, everyone dies and it makes sense, then I tend to love those pieces of media a little bit more because it's subverting the expectations of the audience.)
February 10 - Tiffany Blues by M J Rose is a historical mystery with some romantic elements set in 1924. I don't know why I picked it up (maybe as a break from the usual historical romances I read?), but I took a chance and then proceeded to not look at it for quite some time. I read it in one day. So yes, I did enjoy it, very much so.
I'm currently suffering from the Bad Decisions Book Club having starting a regency romance last night and had to force myself to stop reading at 1am. The characters are engaging, their growth as people believable, and I am curious when they're both going to wake up and realize that "they are the one" as I'm about halfway through.
February 16 - I spent yesterday reading Neon Gods, a Hades/Persephone retelling. I am a sucker for a good Hades/Persephone retelling, and this was decent. Not good enough to add the author to my autobuy list (what a review blurb called scorchingly hot, I found to be passable), but if I come across the next one in the series on sale, I might pick it up.
February 17 - I started reading The Anatomist's Wife, and holy hell, it is GOOD. I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but this one is engaging and almost as cozy as a mystery can be when it starts with a murder (it's on the very first page!) in the Scottish Highlands in 1830. It also has a thread of romance in it, which makes me happy, because the leads are very happy to trade barbs with each other. It is the first in a series, but I don't know if I will read any of the others.
February 19 - I am enjoying this read. There aren't a lot of m/m romances set in the Regency era and I am here for it. Aside from the one thing that makes me cranky (entrance, fucking really?), the rest has been perfectly acceptable.
February 28 - I am closing out the month by reading the final book in the Galactic Love trilogy. It's a wild read, and I'm enjoying the hell out of the bananas bonkers plot, because the state of the world is terrifying and I need to escape.
March 1 - Lovely lovely Regency romance is just the thing after a night of garbage sleep because of menopausal bullshit. And it is lovely. So lovely, in fact, that I sacrificed sleep to read even more of it. I really should get a pin or mug or something for my continual forays into the Bad Decisions Book Club.
March 3 - MURDERBOT! I loves Loves LOVES me some Murderbot! A depressed and anxious SecUnit is kind of what I need right now.
March 6 - Rolling hot flashes and anxiety spikes suck. What doesn't? Reading Chuck Tingle. I followed that up with TJ Klune, but didn't get too far; I was falling asleep and went to bed.
March 16 - It took me too damn long to get back to Under the Whispering Door. Starting a book about someone who dies of a heart attack (in the first chapter) when you yourself is having some monstrous menopausal bullshit is NOT IDEAL. I had to wait for the storm to pass before I could finish it without also fighting anxiety as well. I did enjoy it, but that did mar the experience somewhat.
I spent yesterday reading through some of the oldest things on my e-reader and one of the email threads for my current D&D game that I collated. The books were...okay? Nothing to write home about, nothing that I will want to read again. I've only included the email thread here because it was 52k words and change. That's a lot, and was three separate email threads that I put together because it takes place over a few days and it seemed silly to have three documents when one (albeit rather large) one would suffice.
March 17 - This feels like a bog standard historical romance, in that it is a book that I am reading and it's not really great. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the writing. I dunno. So far, my favourite characters are the butlers and the cats.
March 23 - I should know by now that when a blurb calls a book sexy or smoking hot or some other nonsense, the sexytimes will be competently written, but nothing special. Firelight did that. The sex scenes were okay. Not as hot and sexy as the blurbs make them out to be. Or maybe it was the setting? Victorian paranormal London really isn't my jam (Parasol Protectorate aside), or maybe it's just paranormal romance that isn't my jam, regardless of time period? No matter. It was a book. That I read. That was...okay.
March 31 - I have found that reading Chuck Tingle is a great way to both Keep Reading AND get through my digital TBR. The previous book was great, but I didn't know what I wanted to read, so I didn't read anything. Bridgerton season two was released, so that took care of that itch for a bit, and now a bit of Chuck. I think I will go into my PHYSICAL TBR and see what is there that sparks my interest. Maybe I should make April my paper book month? That might be worthwhile, actually.
April 3 - I had a different memory of this book? I thought it was a post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult fiction, but it was not that. It's about a fifteen year old girl who has been in (and let down by) the system since the moment she drew her first breath. It's brutal and heartbreaking and I very much doubt I will need to reread it anytime soon.
April 6 - The physical TBR trend continues! I watched the movie based on this book a few years ago and enjoyed it. So far, I'm really digging the book. Joe Hill writes like his dad, which is hardly surprising, but his stories feel different. This is only the second one of his that I've read (the first being The Fireman), and I am thinking I should pick up more. At some point. Once I've made a dent or something.
April 15 - Mooncop is such a lovely little graphic novel about the last days/weeks of the moon colony. I had been thinking about rereading it for a while, but finally dug it out before going to bed last night. Short, sweet, and exactly what I wanted.
April 21 - Dragons of Ordinary Farm was an easy read, definitely meant for the younger set, but enjoyable all the same. I've started on the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and it's going to be an interesting ride.
April 27 - My physical TBR pile is getting a teeny bit smaller. I'm leaving the sorry stricken behind in Regency England and turning my attention to Diana Wynne Jones. Apparently, The Merlin Conspiracy is a sequel, but it's also not? Meh. It will certainly be less dense than anything Jane Austen has written, so there is that.
May 4 - Apparently, I had read The Trouble with Dukes last year and did not overly enjoy it. I found the extended cast of characters had too much focus whilst not enough was given to the main couple. Interesting that a reread rendered the book highly enjoyable. *shrugs* Maybe I am simply more in the mood for those types of shenanigans? Dunno, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same.
Too Scot to Handle is the next book in the series, and as it follows the brother of the Duke and the sister of his bride, it seemed best to read it next.
May 17 - I finished up the historicals and then just...stopped. I didn't read anything until I decided that maybe I should read one of the Christopher Moore e-books I had picked up on sale a few months ago. I've not read anything by him since Sacre Bleu, which I found a trifle disappointing. BUT, I should not have worried! Pocket and his foolishness (he is a fool, after all) is delightful! Also, as this takes place in Venice, unless otherwise stated, assume it is humid.
May 27 - One historical down (a very enjoyable read loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew) and now I'm in the midst of an anthology of very steamy novellas. I've read three and so far it's one M/M and two M/F/M (yes, that's threesomes), with some scorching sex scenes. It's pretty much historical porn and I am here for it.
May 28 - Only one straight pairing in the entire anthology and I am here for it. Every read was enjoyable and delightfully smutty, although I really wish that the use of 'entrance' would be consigned to the fucking bin already.
And now I've picked up a horror where everything just feels...off. So far, it's creepy as fuck and I am here for it.
May 30 - The Return was touted as a feminist horror and I don't see how? I mean, maybe because there were four friends who are women who are still friends and go on a girl's trip together? Is a depiction of female friendship enough to call a book feminist? Honestly, I don't think so, unless there was something there so subtle that I missed it. In any case, it was a good read, suitably creepy and upsetting in all the right ways, but that ending.
Not gonna lie, y'all, it wasn't great.
It was an ending, sure, but it felt incomplete, rushed. I kept waiting for more resolution and then it was over. There were other characters mentioned, and then nothing? Like, what happened to them after everything went down?
Horror novels work because there's an emotional connection between the character and the reader. Adding characters in and then dropping them without a word feels cheap to me. Even a sentence: Character X wanted to focus on their career and Character Y sold the house and moved to the other side of the country. That would have been enough. But nope. No resolution for you, throwaway characters.
June 3 - A Desolation Called Peace really showcased the different kinds of communication between sentient creatures in a way that had no easy or good solutions. It felt, honestly, like what would happen in a tense political negotiation where everyone walks away with something, even if that something is unexpected or unwanted.
June 16 - I haven't been reading much this month. For the Wolf had an interesting concept by mashing up two well-known fairytales (Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood). It was engaging and well-written and all the character motivations made sense.
After Dark with the Duke, historical, Regency romance. It was a little frustrating, in that the POV kept shifting between the two leads without warning. I get that in romance you want to get inside the heads of the two leads as they fall in love with each other, but you don't switch character perspective in the middle of a paragraph. It was jarring. (Now, to be fair, I've probably done this myself in my game-based writing; that's not for publication, but between myself, the DM, and any other players.)
Highland Conquest is set in Medieval Scotland with a heaping does of instalust. I'm okay with instalust, as long as the characters recognize it as pants feelings and not heart feelings and they seem to. It's a passable historical: not the worst thing I've ever read, not stellar. At least the heroine, while still a maiden, is aware of self-pleasure. That's not often the case.
June 25 - A transwoman and Duke fall in love in a Regency romance. I didn't know this was exactly what I needed in my life until I did. It's lovely and engaging.
June 30 - Hench has been on my digital TBR longer than most and, well, the story of a henchperson who temps for villains is a perfect antidote to the saturation of do-gooders and other heroes in the mainstream right now. (And yes, I do loves me a good super-story, but change is good, too.)
July 10 - I do loves me a cozy romance. And two in a row is *chef's kiss*.
July 20 - Intensely readable historical romance that kept me up way too late last night. I didn't finish (although I could have), so that's the plan for today.
July 30 - Vacation reading! Enjoyable thus far, but I've only started it. I do love that there are other races, however, and that one isn't "superior" to another. They're just different.
August 13 - I am in a creating phase, and thus don't do a lot of reading as a result. And that's fine. The Footman and I was also fine. Not great or outstanding, but fine. The premise: a trio of unmarried noblemen decide, on a drunken lark, to post as servants at a summer house party held by the fourth (married, natch) of their quartet. As a premise, it's interesting. When the footman is revealed to be an Earl, there wasn't nearly enough grovel; we get an explanation from one of his buddies who had been posing as a valet instead. It would have been better with more grovel. *nods*
August 31 - The reading drought continues. I was casting around for something to read and didn't intend to select Someday My Duke Will Come, but here we are. It was enjoyable, if very emotionally focused. Also, what is it with people NOT USING THEIR WORDS? It gets tiresome after a while when "I have a secret, but I cannot tell you" goes on for as long as this one did. In a way, I get the why of it, but UGH. I just wanted to shake people.
September 20 - Nona! Nona! Nona! I preordered Nona the Ninth for reasons and started it damn near immediately. I spent a fair amount of time trying to unravel the mystery of who Nona was and I was pleased to have gotten it right. Also, Noodle is the goodest boi and he doesn't die.
After the Locked Tomb, it was back to the Regency as a jewel thief tries to stay ahead of a Bow Street Runner. I almost finished it last night, but the Bad Decisions Book Club (Just One More Page!) wasn't holding a meeting, so put it down in favour of sweet, sweet sleep.
October 13 - I finally FINALLY got my hands on the last/latest Vorkosigan novella, this time centred around Ekaterin. It was a lovely read, even giving a glimpse into Miles as a father, which is about as chaotic as you can imagine. I also highly recommend My Heart is a Chainsaw, the best kind of slasher homage you could ever want.
November 2 - I started this book before the turn of the month. I am annoyed at it. Up until Ransom (him) used Merlin's (her) illness against her to con her into marriage, Midsummer Moon was mostly okay. THIS IS NOT OKAY. I only have a few chapters left. I hope I can hold on that long because there have been a LOT of problems with this* that I've found a little more squicky than I like.
*(a first time meeting, first time fucking thanks to a potent aphrodisiac by chapter 2, but only the hero was affected so informed consent isn't an issue and that's okay, as well as a forced kidnapping of the heroine by the hero for her own good. I just...NO.)
November 28 - Holy hells, my reading has tanked. I keep buying books, but don't, you know, READ them. Ugh. Anyway, this is an enjoyable contemporary throuple romance that I've had for a while.
December 11 - Okay.
shanmonster gifted this to me in exchange for a brick of fruitcake. I think she got the better deal. I'm three chapters in and HATE IT. The author (wee lamb) has used Ionic/Homeric Greek spellings for the characters, EXCEPT ACHILLES. Helen has half-divine breasts called "Apples of the Sun". That was on page 18. Christ on a crutch hopping down the street, what is this fuckery?! I'm going to finish it, because hate reading is a thing, and then I'm going to post a ranty review when I'm done because, fuck me with a chainsaw, this book is SPECIAL.December 23 - My brain was craving Regency romance hijinks so that's what I'm giving it. It's soothing in all the best ways and I'm enjoying it immensely.
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