1 - A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold: A
review coming soon
Culmination of the romance between Miles and his lady-love. Perfection!
2 - Shining Through, by Susan Isaacs: A
review coming soon
Reread of an old favourite, which has stood up wonderfully. It tells the story of Linda Voss, who at the start of the book is a legal secretary in 1940 New York. She doesn't stay a secretary for very long, let me tell you! Fun plot, great characters and I love Isaacs' voice.
3 - Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell: B+
review coming soon
YA. Coming of age story. It features a socially awkward heroine who writes fanfic, and it was lovely to see her come out of her shell and start making a life *for herself*.
4 - The Shape of My Heart, by Ann Aguirre: B+
review coming soon
New Adult, third in a series which I love because it has characters who feel real. This one might be my favourite.
5 - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers: B+
review coming soon
Sci-fi. It's basically about the multi-species crew of a spaceship having adventures, but it's very character-focused. I really liked it.
6 - The Three, by Sarah Lotz: B
review here
Horror. Four simultaneous plane crashes, 3 child survivors, people convinced something's not quite right with them. Creepy as hell. Not a great ending, but that was ok.
7 - Obsession in Death, by JD Robb: B
review here
Someone is obsessed with Eve and starts killing her "enemies" as a favour to her. Good, although there's a lot of reference to earlier books and I struggled to remember them.
8 - The Shamless Hour, by Sarina Bowen: B-
review coming soon
New Adult. I liked that it's about a heroine who loves sex and is unashamed of having lots of it, but I wasn't really crazy about the romance. And the crap Spanish annoyed me.
9 - Otherwise Engaged, by Amanda Quick: C+
review here
Historical romance. Good start, but lost steam. JAK always overcomplicates her mystery subplots.
10 - The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7, by Maxim Jakubowski (editor) and many authors: DNF
review here
Anthology containing a huge number of stories. I read about a quarter of them and they didn't appeal. Since they are all chosen by the same person and our tastes clearly don't match, I didn't see any point in reading the rest.
11 - To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee: still reading
review coming soon
Reread (I think. I'm pretty sure I did read it once, but many, many years ago). I'm really enjoying it, but I must admit that a big part of me bristles at the message that we must respect the views of even vile racists.
12 - Temeraire, by Naomi Novik: still listening
review coming soon
Fantasy, set in a version of the 19th century where dragons exist and the different countries' armed forces use them as weapons. The protagonist is a sea captain who accidentally bonds with a hatchling, which turns his life upside down. I'm liking it very much.
13 - Shadow Scale, by Rachel Hartman: still reading
review coming soon
Second in a series. I loved the first book, Seraphina, but I'm finding myself a bit bored with this one.
So glad to see that you read and enjoyed The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I've been considering reading that one, now I'll def. have to check it out. :D
ReplyDeleteYou had a pretty good reading month!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen that A CIVIL CAMPAIGN COVER before... she is not blessed by the cover gods.
I loved FANGIRL - I think it was the fanfic elements that really made it for me.
I've now bought 'The Long Way...' because you liked it, and it has just the best title.
ReplyDeleteA Civil Campaign is the first Vorkosigan book I read. I have to say that I enjoyed it as a space Regency on its own, but it reads much better when read in proper order. Miles's letter to Ekaterin is second to Captain Wentworth's to Anne Elliott as my favorite fictional love letters.
ReplyDeleteThe Temeraire audiobooks are very good, I think. They and the Rivers of London audiobooks are two where I think sometimes the narrators make the stories better. (Although I do think Novik needs better editing.)
Samantha and Marianne: I just mentioned to someone the other day, The Long Way... reminded me a little bit of The Goblin Emperor. It wasn't so much the writing, or what it's about, but the way it felt. Very nebulous, I'm afraid, but there it is!
ReplyDeleteLi: I chose that cover to upload because it's (a resized version of) the one that came with the audiobook from audible. I agree, not very good. It makes Miles look sort of hulking, when he's really skinny and hyperactive!
As for Fangirl, I loved the fanfic elements as well, even though I don't read it myself!
jmc: Agreed. It reminded me of Sayers' Gaudy Night, in that sense. And yes, that letter! I can't blame Ekaterin for not being able to help herself from keeping it in her breast pocket permanently.
I'm actually listening to the Temeraire audiobook, and it really is very good. I still haven't got very far, since I was listening to something for book club next Wednesday, but that's done now, so I should be able to push forward!
ReplyDeleteJust to add, I finished 'The Long Way...' this afternoon, and I also really enjoyed it. Thanks for the heads up.
Marianne: I'm really glad to hear that! I'm curious: you've read The Goblin Emperor, right? Did you see the similarities or is it just me?
ReplyDelete