Book 1: ‘Welcome to Forever” by #NathanTavares.
Great portrayal of a gay relationship in a future where memories can be edited. Ironically, Tavares needs an editor himself. Way too many ideas, overly complex with pacing issues.
There’s some larger plot to save the whole world that isn’t needed; just focusing on these men and how they keep coming back to each other no matter the amount of editing is enough. Much better than Tavares’ first novel.
Book 2: “Last First Snow” by #MaxGladstone.
Incredible. Gladstone has this ability to write palpably and ephemerally so you catch the meaning even as it slips away. But leaving you with enough so you’re not frustrated or confused. He takes something as grounded as community organizing for housing, the pressures of development and business interests, and wraps it in Craft (magic), wars with gods, and so much more. I’m re-reading this whole series.
Book 3: “The Beautiful Mystery” by #LouisePenny.
Yay, we’re not in Three Pines for this one. Kind of a relief actually. But my fatigue with Penny’s formula in this series continues: Gamache’s brown eyes, his quiet, still manner, the corny quips with Beauvoir. 🙄 And the constant questions posed by the narrator that indicate: You are reading a mystery. Just ICYMI. We get it, girl. The larger story creeps along, though, and I’m here for it. The monks too.
Book 4: “Orbital” by #SamanthaHarvey.
A single day aboard the space station is 16 orbits of the Earth. A lovely book that takes a different approach to being in space: humanist, tenderness for all we are. Rare in the softness it treats the cold darkness of space, mainly stemming from its point of view above the Earth. Inhabiting a place of extreme contradictions, Harvey draws a circle around our hearts.
Book 5: “Drowned Country” by #EmilyTesh.
I enjoyed Book 1 of this duology more. The gay relationship isn’t where we left it, and the typical chopping up of a linear recounting of how it got there was jarring. I just wanted to enjoy them being together. The world continues to be interesting though, and the characters are still likable.
Book 6: “The Naturalist Society” by #CarrieVaughn.
Really great premise that’s marred by a largely uninterrogated colonialist worldview: Arcane Taxonomy grants a portion of the magic from the thing that’s named. Primarily birds. Vaughn isn’t ignorant of the dynamics this creates for queers, women, and POC (our MCs), or that Western ways of knowing and naming aren’t the end-all, be-all. But the engine driving everything remains the will to conquer.
Book 7: “Dead in Long Beach, California” by #VenitaBlackburn.
A wholly original way of exploring grief that wasn’t depressing. Coral is a lesbian author who finds her brother dead by suicide, and begins responding to texts on his phone as him. Intercut with excerpts from her own dystopian novel and flashbacks from their family’s lives, it was hard to follow at times but always beautifully written. An I-love-how-your-mind-works author, I-could-never.
Book 8: “Beautyland” by #MarieHeleneBertino.
Love the premise: a young girl realizes she’s an alien and reports on humanity via fax to her people on Planet Cricket Rice. But for this twist, it’s a Bildungsroman that’s much more enjoyable during her childhood vs. adult years. Two passages from the former, one involving her misophonia, truly made me cackle. There’s never a direct confirmation of her origins but her adulthood disappointed for me. Oh well.
Book 9: “The Atlas Paradox” by #OlivieBlake.
This was a hate read. Not sure why I feel a need to subject myself to writing that hasn’t improved from the first book, characters that are still loathsome, and a story that doesn’t make up for any of these shortcomings. I do have a completionist tendency which might be getting more severe over the years. Lord help me, I’ve already decided to read the next (please-let-it-be-the-last) book in the series.
Book 10: “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” by #ClaudiaGray.
The title alone! Lead characters from Northanger Abbey, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Pride & Prejudice are suspects in the titular crime. I’ve read all of Austen’s novels, and have the usual faves, but I enjoyed the extensions of these characters’ stories (purists beware); even the unhappy ones. A new crime-solving duo must navigate decorum to find the killer. De-fucking-lightful.
Book 11: “Elena Knows” by #ClaudiaPiñiero.
Another book with no punctuation or new paragraphs for dialogue. I can’t wait for this trend to be over. Our protagonist spends a single day fighting her Parkinson’s while making a difficult journey across Buenos Aires. She learns painful things about key women in her life and her part in their suffering. Beautifully human.
Book 12: “Where the Axe is Buried” by #RayNayler.
I love this cover so much; it’s like a riso print for a comic. Had to diagram characters, locations, and timelines to follow all of the jumping around. It’s Nayler’s usual fare of capitalism, consciousness, environmental collapse, and AI, but he always manages to write interesting stories about them in different combinations. It’s not all bleak, but what a mess we continue to make for ourselves.
Book 13: “On the Calculation of Volume (Book 1)” by #SolvejBalle.
A woman keeps waking up to Nov. 18th. Non-sci-fi with a sci-fi premise! Tara tests the boundaries of her circumscribed life, driven by curiosity, philosophy, and despair. Short, but it drags sometimes as you’re trapped in the monotony with her. Even though I’d like to learn what becomes of her, I don’t think I can read the full septology. Hubby said the 2nd didn’t add anything.
Book 14: “The Ministry of Time” by #KalianeBradley.
Unexpectedly funny! Good story too: a handful of people across history are brought to the near future before their recorded deaths. The main “expat” is Commander Graham Gore, an arctic explorer from 1847 whose priggishness is endlessly entertaining (I’m an unrepentant Darcy lover). A romance, like in many stories where the tension is better than consummation, ruins it though.
Book 15: “Titanium Noir” by #NickHarkaway.
This was mildly interesting: a murder mystery among genetically altered “titans” and exploration of their strange underworld. Guess I’m just not into this genre. The only noir book I truly enjoyed was “Something More Than Night” by Ian Tregillis—I recommend that instead.
Book 16: “Four Roads Cross” by #MaxGladstone.
After five books in this series, what else is there to say besides I plan on buying all of them? And happily re-reading, maybe in sequential order this time, maybe in publication order after that. Only then picking up the new books. There are few series I can think of that bring such perpetual pleasure: Earthsea, His Dark Materials…
Book 17: “The Galaxy, and the Ground Within” by #BeckyChambers.
I’m not sure this series needed to go on this long. This and the prior book take place in the same world, but not in a material way that matters. It’s just another cozy sci-fi story about people working it out. Which Chambers is excellent at writing! Just make it a standalone.
Book 18: “The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch” by #MelindaTaub.
I enjoyed this! The title demands to be uttered aghast at a ball. The usual liberties taken with these beloved characters and their stories—I’ll read them all. Taub doesn’t quite have Austen’s voice down, and it’s a bit overlong, but recommended for fans of witchy books and “Pride and Prejudice.”
Book 19: “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” by #ClaudiaGray.
The second Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery. Our crimesolving duo, Jonathan Darcy, son of the “Pride and Prejudice” Darcys, and Juliet Tilney, daughter of the “Northanger Abbey” Tilneys return. But his school chums are introduced, still clinging to childish dynamics and cruelties that complicate the MCs’ increasing regard for each other.
Book 20: “A Discovery of Witches” by #DeborahHarkness.
Twilight for grown-ups. The lead is a Mary Sue/Chosen One who learns again and again that the power was within her all along. It’s unbearably straight and gendered with her vampire man. Goes on too long. Not finishing this series. I am curious, though, if the TV series is any good.
Book 21: “Service Model” by #AdrianTchaikovsky.
Chose this first book carefully as it’s the first one I’ve read by Tchaikovsky. Some real standout moments as the titular robot makes its way from the manor of its former employer—things sci-fi does really well. But once more, goes on longer than it needs to. Didn’t regret reading; Tchaikovsky clearly knows his stuff. But as an intro to reading his longer, serialized works, I’m still not sure.
Book 22: “Dead Man’s Hand” by #JamesJButcher.
Not bad: a failed witch wastes away entertaining brats at a dead-end children’s restaurant and is pulled into a murder mystery. The magical system is a bit odd, but along with the Elsewhere (the parallel world), not particularly compelling. Entertaining enough to pick up the second in the series for a quick read.
Book 23: “Less is Lost” by #AndrewSeanGreer.
Not just another white gay man, thankfully, possibly just a “bad gay.” 🤣 Arthur Less returns for another journey, but this time, around the U.S. instead of the world. The narrator has palpable affection for him that made me titter constantly; really, one of those voices that draws you in with its teasing warmth. Picked up the first immediately to compare since I didn’t enjoy it as much. Really good.
Book 24: “The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh” by #ClaudiaGray.
Unhinging my jaw to devour these. The third book in this series, despite its title character, flags a bit. A continuing trend from book two! Drawing out the romance between our young detectives with the usual misunderstandings felt cheap. And the villain’s fate is unsatisfying. You know I’ll keep reading this series, but I’m hoping it holds up the promise of the first book.
Book 25: “Dread Nation” by #JustinaIreland.
Part 1 of a Reconstruction duology, where Black and Native folks are conscripted to fight zombies. Even in an alternate history, Caucacity is on full display: when these are the people who are saving your miserable lives, you still create systems to oppress them. But Ireland isn’t preachy or heavy-handed about it at all. Her world-building just happens to include colorism, miscegenation, and zombies.
Book 26: “The Cartoonists Club” by #RainaTelgemeier and #ScottMcCloud.
Four kids, each representing types of people and artists—the one with ideas, the one who can draw, the one who only sees their mistakes, and the one who likes to try new things—form the titular club. And we get an easy to understand how-to for making comics (and friends). Fun and accessible lessons with McCloud’s usual meta references to the genre.
Book 27: “A Cat at the End of the World” by #RobertPerišić.
Beautifully odd and gentle: alternating perspectives between a runaway slave in ancient times and … the wind. Observations on animal and human behavior (like, how we learned freedom from cats, how to enslave workers from donkeys). Had to skip the first (few) chapter(s) though—maybe a printing error that made it hard to follow. Peters out towards the end, but glad I read it.
Book 28: “A Skinful of Shadows” by #FrancesHardinge.
Spirits of the dead can linger and take up residence inside certain people. Young Makepeace, a Puritan in 1640s England, is possessed by a bear early in the novel—a fascinating set-up. Life was hard then, especially with shady family she begins to learn disturbing things about. Second Hardinge title I’ve read. This goes in many unexpected places, but drags a bit under too much plot by the end.
Book 29: “Blackward” by #LawrenceLindell.
Four friends try to create a space for themselves and those like them: Black, weird, and queer. But they have to deal with Hoteps, preachy aunties, and their own insecurities. Funny and real.
I took a virtual workshop on memory comics with Lindell during lockdown. We focused on emotional memory and drew a 1-page comic about a specific feeling. Mine was: murderous! And humiliated.
Book 30: “When the Harvest Comes” by #DenneMicheleNorris.
Challenging. Race, gender, sexuality and all the ways family, chosen/blood, as well ourselves can get tangled up in unexpected ways of causing pain. It’s not torture, just real, which can feel like something close. The queer marriage at the center can feel a bit saccharine, even with all the sex. But the MC’s experience as a Black, trans, woman is so distinct, it’s a privilege to read.
Book 31: “Lessons in Magic and Disaster” by #CharlieJaneAnders.
This book just kept going in the most unexpected and delightful directions: witches, trans, and lesbian characters, yes! 18th Century literature, research, and right-wing trolls appearing but not being given air or space, YES. Polyamorous queers, messy relationships, and a human perspective that I wish more people strived for, 🥹 I love how Anders’s mind and heart works.
Book 32: “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by #VESchwab.
I’m a fan of Schwab—she always delivers. Not sure why, but I was surprised this turned out to be a vampire novel. Lesbian vampires! Schwab makes some interesting tweaks to the lore, like how walking on graveyard soil is deadly to them. And explores how immortality affects them differently; the way some are less/more successful at hanging on to their humanity. A sad, hollow ending tho.
Book 33: “Katabasis” by #RFKuang.
Kuang is clearly smart and has good ideas. Not a very good writer though. Nothing a good editor can’t help, but hers continues to let her down. Seriously, a book where the chapters just follow the story (almost entirely) in a straight line? Great premise—PhD student descends into Hell to retrieve her advisor—but the linearity gets old REALLY fast. 541 pages. Like “Babel,” the writing doesn’t merit this count.
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