remotevoicesJan 4, 2023
Last year I tried to keep track of reading on social media, but got so bogged down on need to review in minimum posts/totally fell behind. Which is frustrating. Guess we see how 2023 goes. Here are my last of 2022 and first of 2023, two novels in series of urban fantasy (/romance) set in Vancouver's secret magic/cryptid community. I started a related series by Annette Marie 1st, but these overlap, same locations/characters popping up. These are easy reading for me. #reading #bookstodon #books
Show threadremotevoicesJan 4, 2023
My second read of the year was prompted by vol. 2 in series being cheap. Figured I had better read vol. 1, The Night Raven, by Sarah Painter, start of Crow Investigations series. Lydia returns to London from Aberdeen, where she's been working as a private investigator. Despite being wary of her criminal family, she gets sucked in to find a missing cousin. Oh, and she can see dead people. Decent crime novel, elements of magic, some niggles, but enjoyable on whole. #reading #bookstodon #books
Show threadremotevoicesJan 16, 2023
Third book of 2023. This was recommended & very good. With title like Giant Dark there's a suggestion of something going wrong, & in chapter 1 we are told about a disappearance. We have 3 voices: "we" the fans, obsessed with the singer; Aida famous singer, American of Indian parentage; Ehsan ex-BF, failed poet, Brit of Pakistani parentage. When the two meet again in London after 10 years, everything changes. The writing is intoxicating & compelling. A great read. #books #bookstodon #reading
Show threadremotevoicesJan 16, 2023
One other adder to brief thoughts on The Giant Dark, I was in a way reminded of Gibson's Idoru, the fans obsession with a singer, the organisation and determination to find out about the singer's new relationship. The book was recommended by Daisy Johnson and Julia Armfield, both of whom I have read and enjoyed and recommended in the last year or two. #WilliamGibson #JuliaArmfield #DaisyJohnson #idoru #reading #bookstodon #books
Show threadremotevoicesJan 16, 2023
4th book of 2023, a novella by Andi C. Buchanan. New Zealand writer, I'd enjoyed other work by. This is cosy/charming/understated witchery. Laurel Wildflower, drop out witch working as barista, meets Marigold Nightfield who is a research student interested in monster in Laurel's basement. There may be something magical, both in the witch sense and the romance sense. 1st of 5, to date, short works following these characters. #books #bookstodon #reading #novellas #witches #NewZealand
Show threadremotevoicesFeb 9, 2023
Hit a bit of a bump with reading vs work. So number of limbo books. Ended up going with 2nd of Andi C. Buchanan's Wildflower novellas Microscopes & Magic. Flipping POV here to follow Marigold, sudden magic, ongoing uni work overload and the eagerness to please, particularly her new girlfriend and the sudden nano-blight affecting local plant life. Another warm readable novella from New Zealand.
#reading #bookstodon #books #novellas
Show threadremotevoices
This is the 4th novel by Kelly Barnhill that i have read: The Ogress and The Orphans. Each time Kelly engages, surprises, and delights. While much of her work is for younger readers her work is powerful & for everyone. Here a kindly ogress, hungry orphans, wonderful crows, a town turned on itself & a bad dragon. With that it is a story of Trumpian politics, disinformation, fear & loathing. Where only kindness & working with neighbours can save the day. Brilliant.
#reading #bookstodon #books
Feb 9, 2023 at 9:41pmWeb
Show threadremotevoicesMar 11, 2023
1/2 Some gaps to fill, but just finished: The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran, the 4th of her novels that I have read, after the 3 Claire DeWitt books. Where those were filed under crime, I've seen this filed under SFF, but I'm not sure any of these books easily fits a genre. But I suppose at the heart of this book is sex magic. Lucy is a successful debut author, living the dream, married to her intellectual equal. #bookstodon #novels #books #SaraGran #reading #WeirdFiction
Show threadremotevoicesMar 11, 2023
2/2 Until he is struck down by illness & she becomes a book dealer after she is forced to sell their collection to take care of him. A lead falls into her hand for a rare book, one of a kind, not her usual fare, but for this kind of money & a chance to follow through on a long time flirtation, this could be the thing that gives her a new lease of life. But the book has a dark history. The rare item and specialist seeker isn't a new genre, but done well I find it to be a joy, and this was a joy.
Show threadremotevoicesApr 12, 2023
Again doing badly at keeping this thread up to date. I need to try and fill the gaps proper like. But I'm going to post about another particular highlight that i just loved!
Show threadremotevoicesApr 12, 2023
Hopeland - Ian McDonald - Ian is one of those writers who stuns me every time, I forget just how much I love his writing until I'm reading his work. This is his latest novel, apparently 13 years in the making and a slab of a book at more than 650 paged. But from page one I was hooked by the language and the character and the burgeoning sprawl of ideas. 1/2
#books #reading #bookstodon #currentlyreading #ScienceFiction #Hopeland #IanMcDonald #plums #coffee
Show threadremotevoicesApr 12, 2023
Following 2 lives, from 2011 to 2030s and beyond. From the first encounter between Amon Brightbourne & Raisa Hopeland & the entanglements of two dynasties, each with their own magic & wonder & curses. From massive lightning harnessing tesla devices, to slow long now musical generators; from London to Iceland to Greenland to climate devastated islands where the Hopeland story starts. Devastation & joy, a look to the future, achievable by working together & with hope. I didn’t want it to end 2/2