Reflections at the end of summer

Okay the end of the 8th month in 2019 is nearly upon us, and I've got some interesting revelations to share!

First, taking a new job and coaching teeball and adding a 2+hr a day commute really threw off my reading schedule. However, I'm back to consuming books at a rapid pace and enjoying myself. Lesson learned.

Second, I at least attempted books suggested. In some cases I just simply couldn't - i'd get around my 25% rule and just find myself dreading picking up the book or continuing. That really cut several books out of my list. I'm still debating if I'll do that with Outlander or not, but I'm going to give Game of Thrones a solid 50% before throwing in the towel.

Third, I found some amazing authors! So even though I'm giving up on some books, I've replaced them with books by the same author in the series. S.L. Huang is a new fav, and I'm really enjoying the 2nd book in her Cas Russel series, Null Set. Additionally, Robert Jackson Bennett's City of series is phenomenal. Excited to start #2 in the set this week.

This has helped me grow and stretch in a lot of ways. However, it's also helped reinforce a lot of my preferences about books. I still need the occasional (25-30%) non-fiction business/self-help book, but I can definitely enjoy way more variety now. And I'm excited to see what I discover about my reading in the last 4 months of the year.

Of the original list I posted on January 2, here is what remains:
5. Troubled Waters – Sharon Shinn
6. In the Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
10. The Kill Artist – Dan Silva
23. Seveneves – Neal Stephenson
24. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
25. Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky
28. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
30. Homeland – R.A. Salvatore
32. Game of Thrones – A Song of Ice and Fire – George R.R. Martin
33. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
34. Wizard’s First Rule – Terry Goodkind

I've added several books to the list, and am sitting at 43 in total for the year. Granted, one of those was a cookbook, and another was on Guinea Pigs, so we can net me out at 41 books. 

Ok - back to it - happy reading everyone!

--Jennifer

Review: European Travels of the Monstrous Gentlewoman (Theodora Goss)

Goss is bloody brilliant, and I'm excited for the 3rd book in the series to arrive Sept 30.

I found European Travels to be even better than her first book (which now costs more than 2 schillings due to inflation). The depth of the character development was fantastic. I am thoroughly enjoying all of the characters, and can't wait to see what happens next.

Okay so the basic plot line - the daughter of Professor Van Helsing, Lucinda, reaches out to the Athena Club for help. Additionally, Mary's former governess happens to be Lucinda's governess, making Mary more intrigued. Plans are set in motion for a European continental trip when Lucinda is kidnapped. Conspiracy, paranoia, new monsters, a missing Sherlock, and some unlikely allies are at the helm of this adventure.

That's all I'm going to say - don't want to spoil too much!


I just could not put this down. I kept wanting more and more of the book.

And, as a spoiler, I'm happy to report Lucinda does indeed join the Athena club in the end, while Mary and Diana's relationship improves significantly.

Go read this. Read it now. And read the first one too.

Happy Reading!
Jennifer

Review: Storm Front (Jim Butcher)

If I need something mindless - and I do mean truly mindless - with a touch of mansplaining throughout the entire book, then this first book in the Dresden files is perfect for that.

It was cute in the way Peewee Herman was cute. Harry Dresden is a practicing wizard-PI type. He's battling the dark forces of magic, a strange drug, and the council of wizards who are convinced he needs to be axed because he's inherently a bad guy.

Enter the bad guy wizard, who is using raw and unharnessed power of storms, but since he hasn't been through any training disaster strikes.

It's campy, and i'm really unsure if I can make it to book 4 as was suggested to me by a friend who's read all 15 books. (Then again, i suppose there must be a market for these if there are 14 additional books with similar flavor).

2 stars for me - not my favorite, but at least I got through it.

Happy Reading!
--Jennifer

Review: City of Stairs (Robert Jackson Bennett)

I loved this book so very much - so much, in fact, that I've decided other books on my reading list I just can't seem to be energized about are going to be replaced by the rest of this trilogy. And if you enjoy stories about a czarist Russia or espionage and government corruption, you will undoubtedly enjoy this book.

That is, of course, assuming you get through the rather drab legal proceedings in the beginning of the book (a hat maker found himself in a lot of hot water by violating - knowingly or unknowingly is up to you to decide - the World Regulations that make this people's past religion and spiritual practices forbidden).

Spoiler alert - by the time you finish the book, you've forgotten all about the hat maker. Think of him like a Star Trek red-shirter.

While this opening scene is not important in the vastness of this amazing story, it is paramount to setting the stage for the real story. Bennett commands a fully-built world, and describes details so well as Ashara Komayd explores it that you are discovering it with her, gripped by her knowledge of old married with her knowledge of new.

You'll see the rest of the trilogy in this blog at some point. I'm already in line for the next book. However, I recommend City of Stairs with a solid 5 stars. It will grip you, and then whip you around like a whirlwind as you turn page after page to find out what happens next in the quest for a better future for all.

Happy Reading!
--Jennifer

Review: Ancillary Mercy (Ann Leckie)

I'm going to preface this by saying that this is more a review of the entire trilogy, although I'll focus some specific comments on character development to this third and final book, Ancillary Mercy.

Leckie did a fantastic job of building an opera-style space story, complete with twists and turns that made me end up really appreciating the main character, Breq. In the first book, I struggled to get acquainted with the characters, their perspectives, and in general see much beyond the war-faring and conflict throughout the book. But there was something about how Leckie developed the AI characters and technology throughout the series that kept me reading. I wanted to see how it might turn out.

I'm happy to say that the final book did not disappoint.

What I love about how Breq developed as a character is that she truly became concerned with real well-fare of those around her. Not being concerned with well-fare in word only, but demonstrating care and concern with each of her actions in an almost utilitarian way. I was often amused with the engagement she had with her soldiers and the ambassador, Translator Zeiat, who had an amusing love of fish sauce as her beverage of choice.

In a stroke of genius and demonstrating her concern for all significant beings - including artificially made ones - Breq forms the beginnings of a provisional republic in which AIs would be given consideration to make their own choices, instead of being forced to obey when they disagreed or chose not to.

And, as a bonus, Seivarden also seems to have evolved as a character (along with several others).

4 stars for the book, 3 stars for the series.

Happy Reading!
--Jennifer