2020 in Review: Highlights

🎉 Happy New Year’s Eve, all! 🎉 Once again, the year is at an end and so everyone has to pick a favourite book (or several)! And, once again, I can’t do it. 😓 So these are some of the highlights of my reading year, rather than a top 10, and it’ll definitely include some 4-star reads as well as the usual 5-stars:

Starting with my most recent read, which was Nevernight by Jay Kristoff! I feel as though I haven’t read as much really great fantasy this year as I usually do, so I was delighted to end 2020 on such a high point! Super-edgy, with a witty narrative, a really memorable cast of characters, and a plot that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through; this book was everything I wanted it to be, and more. 🤩

However! To me, the most notable thing about my reading this year is just how much re-reading I’ve done; with my book-buying ban finally starting to cut my physical TBR down to a less anxiety-inducing size, I’ve felt a lot more comfortable with re-reading old favourites rather than always reaching for something new, and it’s been wonderful to revisit worlds that I haven’t been to in ages! I’ve discovered a new appreciation for Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic series (which I already thought very highly of), and I loved Tim Curry’s reading of the original Old Kingdom trilogy, which I listened to in order to prepare to finally read the more recent entries in the series. And although Twilight has never been and will never be my favourite series, my chapter-by-chapter re-read of the first two books along with the Twilight in Quarantine podcast kept me sane through the first bout of lockdown-and-return-to-work; I’m very much hoping that book three will do the same for this most recent one… 🤞

Besides re-reads, another thing I’ve read a surprising amount of this year is science fiction! I don’t know how the numbers would hold up compared to genres like fantasy, or even romance, but so many of the sci-fi stories I’ve read this year have been truly fantastic. Notable among them were Becky Chambers’ A Closed & Common Orbit, a book which not only lived up to my sky-high expectations, but actually managed to surpass them; and Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, who may well be one of my favourite new(-to-me) authors… I’ve yet to finish up his Machineries of Empire trilogy, but I got a collection of his short stories for Christmas, and I’m dying to make a start on it, even though traditionally I don’t like short fiction that much.

And! On the subject of sci-fi short stories, I also really, really loved This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. Was it my favourite book of the year? … Maybe? I’m not entirely sure, to be honest, but if not, it definitely comes close. The writing and imagery were absolutely beautiful, the story itself was unlike anything I’ve read before, and the audiobook – which was how I consumed this story –  was expertly narrated by Emily Woo Zeller & Cynthia Farrell.

And finally, the last book I want to mention is I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman, which was a surprise favourite early on in the year. I won’t say much about it here, since I talked about it already in my Mid-Year Book Freakout post, but it’s definitely stuck with me, despite all the other really great books I’ve read since. 😁

September & October Wrap-Up

What a great two reading months! I hit a bit of a slump towards the end of October (due to a certain book that shall not be named – though you can probably figure out which one from the ratings), but am still ridiculously satisfied with how many books I managed to read, and how great they all were (on average)! 😁 I decided to combine the two months for my wrap-up simply because I had already reviewed everything I read in September, and so didn’t have anything more to say about them; in contrast, I have new things to say about pretty much everything I read in October… so here it is:

BOOKS I ALREADY REVIEWED
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
OTHER BOOKS I READ
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. The first book in the Song of the Lioness series, in which Alanna, unwilling to accept a future where all she can expect is to find a rich husband and raise his children, disguises herself as her twin brother Thom in order to begin training to become a knight. This book was a re-read (and not even for the first time), and so was pretty much exactly what I expected, and exactly as good as I remember it being – though I’ll admit that one of those stars is probably primarily a nostalgia star. A great story, which introduces (what will eventually become) some great characters, but incredibly rushed-feeling.
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce. The second book in the Song of the Lioness series, which follows Alanna as she becomes a squire and begins to prepare for her Ordeal of Knighthood. This entry in the series also felt quite rushed (though not to the same extent as Alanna: The First Adventure), but improved on its predecessor with a more elaborate plot, and some great character development.
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce. The third Song of the Lioness book, in which Alanna, now Tortall’s first lady knight in centuries, spends some time among the Bazhir tribes and accidentally becomes shaman to one of them. This is probably my favourite entry in this series, and has the least pacing problems; it also tells a much more character-driven story than any of the other books, focusing on developing the Bazhir as a people, and on Alanna’s personal growth, which I loved (predictably).
Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce. The fourth and final Song of the Lioness book, in which an old enemy rears his ugly head again, and Alanna goes on a quest for the legendary Dominion Jewel. This made for a pretty great finale, though once again, its pacing was not the greatest. Highlights of the book included: The journey through war-torn Sarain and the addition of Thayet and Buri to the cast; the alternate-perspective chapters that let us know what was going on back in Tortall; Thom finally becoming a major player; and the whole of the climax at the end of the book. Lowlights were: Liam being judgemental; Alanna being self-conscious about her love life (moreso than before); and I wish that the motivations of some of the minor villains in the series had been expanded upon.
Gentleman Jole & the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. The final (hopefully not forever, though! 🤞) installment in the Vorkosigan Saga, where we get ourselves a new protagonist in the form of Oliver Jole (who may have been in previous books in the series, but if so I didn’t remember him), whose life has been intertwined with Cordelia and Aral’s for some time. I had a harder time getting into this book than some of the previous ones, probably because of the new protagonist, but I grew to like Jole a lot as the story went on, and I also loved seeing how Cordelia was dealing with her upcoming retirement, as well as with the ongoing (and often alarming) Sergyar colonisation efforts.
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley. Recalled to duty despite his leg injury, Merrick Tremayne, former East India Company smuggler, is sent off to the heavily-guarded mountains of Peru to retrieve cuttings of cinchona trees to make quinine. But once there, he finds himself holed up in a tiny colony surrounded by salt lines its people are forbidden to cross, with a priest who’s determined to keep him out of the forest – and who seems to have some connection to Merrick’s long-dead grandfather. If this was a three-star book, then it was definitely a high three-stars. Pulley’s writing was beautiful, Merrick was a really compelling main character, and I found his struggles over how to smuggle the quinine trees out of Peru and his history with the East India Company very interesting. I could have done without the magical realism aspects of the story, which I was less interested in, and which I didn’t feel added much to the story, but they didn’t take away from it either… The real highlight of the book, however, was the relationship between Merrick and Raphael, Bedlam’s young priest, which was quiet and intense and really beautiful, and may be one of my favourite fictional relationships of the year; I’ve seen a few people tag this book as LGTB, and I can see why, though there’s nothing explicitly romantic about their feelings. But romantic or platonic, I still loved it. Very slow-paced, and almost entirely character-driven, I wasn’t blown away by this book while I was reading it, but it’s definitely stuck with me, and every time I think about it I find myself appreciating it more. So don’t be surprised if this rating goes up at some point. 😊
The Doll that Took a Detour by Honobu Yonezawa. [SHORT STORY COLLECTION; Translated by Ex.wife] A collection of stories from the Kotenbu universe, in which Houtarou is coerced into solving a number of small mysteries, and learns a little more about himself along the way. These were all very memorable stories, and I enjoyed them a lot despite already knowing most of the story beats (from the anime adaptation, Hyouka, which I watched a long time ago). My favourites were probably The Case of the Handmade Chocolate, Sappy New Year, and of course the titular story, The Doll That Took a Detour, but To Commit a Deadly Sin also contains one of my favourite moments from the whole series, ever… so all in all, I’d say this is a pretty strong collection.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. A classic novel of pettiness and unnecessary suffering, which I hated. I’ll be posting a review of this at the weekend, though, so that’s all I’m going to say here.
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black. The third and final book in the Folk of the Air trilogy, which began with The Cruel Prince, wherein Jude returns to Faerie as a favour to her sister, and is forced to confront her foster father’s rebellion against the crown, as well as her own feelings for the High King. I went into this book with pretty low expectations, as I’d heard less-than-stellar things about how the series wrapped up, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised! Granted, a lot of the plot developments seemed a little too convenient, and the resolution to the dramatic cliff-hanger ending of The Wicked King was rather underwhelming (and felt a little retcon-y, to be honest), but it was still such a fun book to read! Jude and Cardan’s relationship was also a lot less fraught, which made the story less tense, but pleased my shipper’s heart. 😅 So while I definitely think that this was the least good of the three books, I still enjoyed it almost as much as the other two…

 

August Wrap-Up

Another great reading month! I hit a bit of a slump towards the end, as I’d just finished catching up on the Attack on Titan anime, and consequently only wanted to read fanfiction… but I pulled through – and a lot of the things I ended up reading this month I loved! 💕 Here’s what thought of them all:

BOOKS I ALREADY REVIEWED
	[REVIEW]
OTHER BOOKS I READ
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. The second book in the Twilight series, which I’ve been re-reading along with Hot & Bothered’s hilarious Twilight in Quarantine podcast (which I highly recommend). This is still by far my least favourite in the series, but my experience with it this time around was much more fun than I remember my first read-through being… perhaps because I knew what I was getting this time, or perhaps because of the podcast, but probably a combination of both.
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. An essay on the freedoms of the individual, and when and how far governments should be permitted to limit those freedoms – coming down hard in favour of individuals. Mill made a lot of points that I agreed with, and a good number that I didn’t, but all were great food for thought. The parts of this essay that I personally found most interesting were those that involved religious tolerance and religious indifference; the benefits and disadvantages of a standardised curriculum in schools; and the discussion of the sale of poisons (as an example of limitations on trade), which reminded me of more modern attitudes towards the sale of firearms… And although Mill’s paragraphs do tend to go on for pages, I found this surprisingly readable – and his points are clearly put if not succinctly.
The Magic in the Weaving by Tamora Pierce. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrators: Tamora Pierce & Full Cast Audio] The first book in the Circle of Magic series, which is part of Pierce’s Emelan universe, in which Sandry, Tris, Daja and Briar are brought to Winding Circle, meet each other for the first time, and discover their unusual magics. This is one of my favourite series of all time, and it still holds up on re-reading (or listening, in this case); in fact, I found myself liking this first book even more than I did before! The narration was a little less expert than I was anticipating after listening to The Healing in the Vine in July, but I don’t think it would’ve been so noticeable if I’d been listening to the series in order… 😅
Heartstopper, Volume 1 by Alice Oseman. [COMIC; Illustrated by the author] The first in a cute comic series that serves as a prequel-of-sorts to Solitaire, and follows Charlie (Tori’s brother) and Nick (his new classmate) as they become friends, and begin to develop romantic feelings for one another. I generally prefer my romances to be a bit more angsty than this, but there’s also something to be said for a story so unrelentingly fluffy. 💕
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell. A middle-grade story about a girl who’s found floating in a cello case after a shipwreck, and her search for the mother whom everybody keeps telling her must have died. I found both the writing and the characters a little too self-consciously quirky for my taste, but I enjoyed the story, and the bonds that Sophie formed with her guardian Charles and her rooftopper friends.
Heartstopper, Volume 2 by Alice Oseman. [COMIC; Illustrated by the author] The second volume in the Heartstopper series, in which Nick questions his sexuality, and Charlie struggles with his assumption that he’s falling in love with a straight guy… My feelings on this were much the same as for volume one: still very cute; still very fluffy; & overall a quick, enjoyable read. Aled (from Radio Silence) also made a brief appearance in this volume, which simultaneously gave me hope for more cameos, and made me want to cry a little (because Aled… 😭).
Heartstopper, Volume 3 by Alice Oseman. [COMIC; Illustrated by the author] … and the last of the currently-released volumes of Heartstopper, wherein Charlie and Nick finally get together, but are faced with the new challenge of having to tell their friends. This is definitely my favourite of the series so far! There’s a lot more conflict – not so much between Nick and Charlie, but between them and their friends – and the way that the shifting dynamics of the whole cast was written is both compelling and believable. The side-characters are also much more prominent in this book than the last two, and I enjoyed spending time with them a lot – in particular, Charlie’s friend Tao is rapidly becoming one of my favourites, and I also found myself bizarrely invested in the two teachers who are supervising their school trip, even though they’ve barely had any page time… 😅
The Power in the Storm by Tamora Pierce. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrators: Tamora Pierce & Full Cast Audio] The second book in the Circle of Magic series, in which pirates prepare to attack Winding Circle, Tris is reunited with her long-lost cousin, and the four mages begin testing the limits of their combined powers. This was one of my favourite books in this series on my first read-through, and my feelings on it haven’t changed much; the continuing development of the characters, relationships and world are all excellent, and I particularly enjoyed the interactions between Tris and Briar. 😊
Attack on Titan: No Regrets by Gun Snark (complete edition). [MANGA; Illustrated by Hikaru Suruga; Series created by Hajime Isayama] A prequel manga to the Attack on Titan series, following my (and basically everyone else’s) favourite character Levi when he first joins the Survey Corps – for less than savoury reasons. I loved the anime version of the No Regrets storyline, but the anime goes into even more detail, and in consequence is even better! Also, the art is amazing… & I may be a little bit in love with the way that Hikaru Suruga draws Levi. 💕
The Miller’s Dance by Winston Graham. The ninth book in the Poldark series, and my least favourite so far, not because the writing was worse, or the story any less gripping, but because most of my favourite characters didn’t make much of an appearance, and almost everyone who did, I either hate with a passion (i.e. Stephen), or am extremely annoyed at/disappointed with. 😑 As is always the case with this series, I found it emotional and exhausting, and I definitely need a bit of a break before I start the next one – in which hopefully there will be less Stephen. (All I want is for Stephen to go away forever; is that too much to ask?! 😭)
The Fire in the Forging by Tamora Pierce. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrators: Tamora Pierce & Full Cast Audio] The third book in the Circle of Magic series, and the last in my out-of-order re-read (though there are four books in total), in which the four young mages travel with their teachers to the drought-stricken Gold Ridge, get involved with a visiting Trader caravan, and try to untangle their out-of-control magics… I’ve found myself appreciating Daja a lot more in this read-though of the series than in previous ones, and this was very much her story, with the encounter with her former people being its emotional heart. And a very emotional one it was indeed! I don’t actually cry at much, but there were a few moments in this that made me a little weepy (for both happy and sad reasons).

 

Recommendations: Fantasy by Women

Fantasy seems to have developed this reputation of being a very male-dominated genre, and true, a lot of the very famous early fantasies were written by men, but nowadays there are so many great ones written by women, too! I’ve been asked by a couple of people now to make a list of my favourites, and having done so, it seemed only logical to blog some of the highlights. 😊

1) Tamora Pierce’s Emelan universe, which consists of The Circle of Magic Quartet, The Circle Opens Quartet, and The Circle Reforged – and should be read in that order (I have strong feelings on this 😅). The books follow a group of four children with unusual magical powers that are tied to crafts and nature, as they grow up and learn to harness their magic, and become a family to one another. I’m re-reading the Circle of Magic books right now, and I keep finding more and more to appreciate with every re-visit – and that’s really saying something for a series that already contains two of my all-time favourite books (Street Magic and The Will of the Empress), and many other close contenders.

2) The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb, which consists of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders, The Tawny Man, The Rain Wild Chronicles, and The Fitz and the Fool. This is admittedly quite an intimidating list of books (chunky ones, too), and I myself have only managed to get through the first trilogy so far – but I’m so excited to read more from this world. Hobb’s writing is very slow-paced, which some people may find off-putting, but her plots and characters are all excellent, and I found myself completely hooked on Fitz’s journey (which is the subject of the Farseer trilogy), even when I wished it was going in a different direction and thought he was being an idiot… and I was absolutely blown away by the ending.

3) For those who like their fantasy with a heavy dose of history, I highly recommend trying the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, which is set during the Napoleonic Wars, with a focus on the fictional Aerial Corps – which is made up of dragon riders. In the first book, naval Captain William Laurence gets drawn into this new branch of the military when his ship captures a dragon egg, only to have the infant dragon form a strong bond with him before he’s able to hand it over to the Aerial Corps. Novik has become better-known recently for her fairytale retellings, Uprooted and Spinning Silver, but although the Temeraire books are just as excellently written, their tone is quite different, and they will probably appeal more to fans of adventure stories (and especially adventure on the high seas!).

4) The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie is a more recent favourite of mine, and tells a very weird and hard to explain story about the birth of civilisation, and the struggles between gods as their power grows and wanes, and of a usurper in the kingdom of Iraden, whose theft may have caused his people’s downfall. Beautiful, clever and surprising, the sticking point with this book will, for a lot of people, be that it’s written in second person – but I entreat you to try it anyway! The narrative style really works for this kind of story. 💕 (And I absolutely think that The Raven Tower was robbed in last year’s Goodreads Choice awards.)

5) Next up is The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta, an epic that follows a race of people whose homeland has been cursed so that nobody can enter or leave. In the first book, Finnikin, one of the Lumatere people who is trapped in exile, meets a young woman who claims that she can lead him to the presumed-dead Prince Balthazar, but seems instead to be leading him home. Such incredible worldbuilding! Such a heartwrenching plot! So many compelling characters! And despite its excellence, I’d say that the first book, Finnikin of the Rock is actually the weakest in the series, which as it goes on, constantly expands, and grows deeper and deeper… 🌏

6) And finally, I give you The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley, a novel about a young princess who, when her father returns from war with a neighbouring kingdom, is gifted a crystal ball – and the conquered prince as her slave. She promptly frees him, and as they grow older, Torina and Landen’s relationship deepens as they separate and then come together again, and work in their different ways towards freedom for both their kingdoms. This is probably the most romance-driven of the books on this list (and it’s a very sweet romance), but the story – though simple – is very well executed, too, and I remember it vividly despite having not re-read this book since I was a teenager. I wish so much that more people would read it! There are also two companion novels, which I should probably get around to reading at some point, but The Seer and the Sword stands perfectly well on its own.

Anyone interested in my full list of recommendations can find it on Goodreads, but there’s a couple of things I should mention about it: 1) where applicable, I’ve only added the first book in each series, and 2) it’s only made up of things that I’ve read myself, so there are some conspicuous absences – the most notable of which is N.K. Jemisin, whose books are on my want-to-read-desperately list, but I don’t feel comfortable recommending to people until I’ve actually done so. Also missing is Lois McMaster Bujold, as although I loved her sci-fi series, and fully expect to feel the same about her fantasy writing, I just haven’t got round to it yet… 😓 (On that note, if anyone would like to see a sci-fi by women post, just let me know!)

July Wrap-Up

July was such a great reading month! Helped along in no small part by the Reading Rush… but even if six of the eight books I finished were in a single week, I’m still very satisfied with how much I got read over the month as a whole, in terms of both quality and quantity 😊 – and I’m especially happy to have finally got around to a few books that’ve been sitting on my TBR forever. Since I was readathoning last month, most of the books I read I’ve already written reviews for, but here’s a refresher, along with everything else!

BOOKS I ALREADY REVIEWED
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
OTHER BOOKS I READ
Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrator: Greg Tremblay] The second book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy, which takes place in a society where humans have learnt how to cure death, and the population is controlled by a group of state-sanctioned killers called Scythes, who are the only people that are allowed to kill people for good. The story follows two young apprentice Scythes, and the very different paths that they take as they enter and learn to navigate the Scythedom, with all its politics and in-fighting. This second instalment in the series fleshed out Shusterman’s world quite a bit, which I appreciated, and I also enjoyed seeing the world from the Thunderhead’s (the world’s benevolent AI ruler) perspective, but on the whole I didn’t find that I enjoyed it quite as much as I did Scythe… the action certainly ramps up a lot, and I’m excited to see where the story will go next, but there were also a few plot developments that I didn’t care for. For instance, I found the reveal of this book’s main antagonist kind of… cheap? And although I liked our new POV character Grayson, I found it hard to maintain my interest in the parts of his arc that involved the Unsavouries. I will say, however, that the ending of this book was absolutely phenomenal.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. The story of a group of teenagers just trying to make it to graduation without the school blowing up, despite the inevitable supernatural weirdness that constantly follows around their Indie kid classmates… I really loved the concept of this; your usual superhero or paranormal story, but told from the perspective of a group of characters who are completely uninvolved, and would really like to stay that way. And in execution, it was a pretty solid read. Nothing about it really blew me away, but I liked all the characters, and was invested in their struggles, and enjoyed Patrick Ness’ witty writing. Ironically, I kind of wish I’d learnt more about the weird stuff that was going on with the Indie kids, but I suppose that that would kind of defeat the point of the book. 😅 Also, Jared was my favourite. He’s such a sweetheart. 💕

 

#ReadingRush 2020: Update 4 & Review

JUST FINISHED: The Healing in the Vine by Tamora Pierce.

The fourth and final book in the Circle of Magic series, which is set in Pierce’s Emelan universe – in which a deadly new illness is plaguing Summersea, and while Briar and Rosethorn are stuck in quarantine in the city, the rest of the people of Winding Circle are all caught up in the race to find a cure.

I picked this book out primarily because it’s one of my old favourites, not thinking at all about how appropriate it would be in our now COVID-ruled lives, and I’ll admit that all the talk of masks and gloves and quarantine procedures felt eerily relevant… 😅 Story-wise, this book was just as excellent as I remember it being; the characters are all ones I love, and being both right at the centre of the search for the cure and in quarantine with the first few infected made for a tense and fascinating read (/listen).

I listened to this as an audiobook this time around, so I’ll also mention that I really enjoy the full-cast experience of most of Pierce’s audio adaptations, even though the pacing can be a little jarring (Pierce narrates quite slowly, while most of the actors speak at a faster pace). I would 100% recommend the audiobooks for this series. As well as this series in general. And this particular book most of all. 😁MY READING RUSH PAGE

CURRENT READATHON STATUS: I’ve made good progress on All The Birds in the Sky so far today, and am also about halfway through my next (very short) audiobook – The Magic in the Weaving – so it looks like I might manage to finish seven books after all! 🤞 I will just have to read tomorrow as if my life depends on it.

Books Completed: 4
Pages Read: 796
Hours Listened: 8:32
Challenges Completed: 6/7

#ReadingRush 2019: Update 1 & Review

JUST FINISHED: Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrators: Tamora Pierce & the Full Cast Family]

[Warning: This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in this series, Wild Magic and Wolf-Speaker.]

Daine joins the Tortallan delegation as they head to Carthak for peace talks with Emperor Ozorne, but she’s not just there to take in the sights; Ozorne’s beloved birds have come down with a mysterious illness, and her new countrymen hope that, if she can heal them, it will help the talks to go a little smoother. Sick birds are far from the only problem in Carthak, however, and between politics, conspiracies, and angry gods, Daine will be lucky just to make it home alive.

This was a re-read, so I’m sure no-one will be shocked to hear that I love this book. When I first read it (maybe about 15 years ago) The Immortals was my least-favourite of Pierce’s series, but each re-read since has given me more to appreciate about it, and while it’s still not my absolute favourite of her works, I now consider it to be one of the very best parts of the Tortall universe. And as things currently stand with me memory-wise – I’m not super-clear on the plot of the final Immortals book – I think Emperor Mage may be the best book in this quartet. The plot is gripping, the new characters are multi-faceted and compelling, the returning characters have some great development (and face some shocking revelations), and this first foray into the Carthaki Empire paints a vivid picture of Pierce’s world beyond the borders of Tortall itself.

As regards the audiobook, which this was my first time experiencing, Pierce narrates her stories very slowly, which can be slightly jarring when compared to the speed of the actors who read for each of the characters, but after three books I’m used to it, and I do enjoy knowing that the pronunciation and emphasis is all exactly as the author intended it to be. The rest of the cast all gave fantastic performances (though I’m noticing that the badger god seems to get more and more gravelly in every book 😉).

MY READING RUSH PAGE

CURRENT READATHON STATUS: I’ve been mostly audiobook-ing things so far, as my hands have been busy with knitting, so I’m a little surprised to have already finished a book and a half – I usually take audiobooks much slower than this… Since I didn’t get around to posting my TBR for this readathon, I’ll let you know here that this book ticked off two challenges, read a book with purple on the cover, and read a book in the same spot the entire time (a nice comfy spot at the end of the sofa). The aforementioned extra half-book was Keeper of the Lost Cities, but I don’t think I’ll be officially counting it as one of my readathon books, as I was most of the way through it before the Reading Rush started. (I do have things to say about it, however, so you may be hearing more about it in the not-so-distant future.)

Books Completed: 1.5
Pages Read: 13
Hours Listened: 13:23
Challenges Completed: 2/7

[EDIT (31/7/19): Changed rating from 5 stars to 4, as I am in the process of re-assessing my ratings.]

December Wrap-Up

Happy New Year! In the final month of 2018, I am pleased that my intense desire to read all the time remained strong (despite the shocking realisation that the single-player mode in the new Smash Bros. game is actually fun 😱), and so I managed to get through 7 manga volumes, 6 novels, 2 audiobooks, 1 novella, 1 picture book, and 1 data book! 😁 Here’s what I thought of them all:

FAVOURITE OF THE MONTH	LIBRARY SCAVENGER HUNT PICK
	[REVIEW]

 

OTHER BOOKS I REVIEWED
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
BOOKS I DIDN’T REVIEW
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, volume 1 by Hideyuki Furuhashi. [MANGA; Illustrator: Betten Court] A spin-off series from the My Hero Academia manga, which focuses on a young man who wasn’t able to become a licensed hero due to the unsuitability of his quirk, so joins up with a group of vigilantes instead. I obviously haven’t managed to read much of this series yet, but I really like all the characters so far, and appreciate the alternative take on hero society that it offers.
Crimson Dagger by Morgan Rhodes. [NOVELLA; Available here: Part 1 / Part 2] A prequel novella to the Falling Kingdoms series, featuring a pre-series Magnus regretting a cruelty he committed as a small child. This comes across more as fanservice than as something that’s meant to add to the series as a whole, but Kara seems like a cool character, and it would be interesting if she were to show up in one of the last two books. The other benefit of this snippet? 7-year-old Magnus, who is adorable. 💕
Santa’s Husband by Daniel Kibblesmith. [PICTURE BOOK; Illustrator: A.P. Quach] A cute picture book that portrays Father Christmas as a gay black man, and talks about his life with his husband. I am of course not the target audience for this book, but I appreciated it as a challenge to the typical image of Father Christmas, and liked its underlying message that there is no wrong way to think of him – or other folk figures like him.
Crystal Storm by Morgan Rhodes. The fifth book in the Falling Kingdoms series, about a group of characters who are in contention over the magical Kindred, which will decide the fate of the world. Super melodramatic, and oftentimes frustrating, but great fun overall. This book and the next (which I’ll talk about in a moment) are definitely the series’ high point.
My Hero Academia, volumes 1-6 by Kohei Horikoshi. [MANGA] A series about a boy with no superpowers, in a world where almost everyone has superpowers, and his journey to become a hero. I’ve been loving the anime version of this series, and decided to pick up the manga while I’m waiting for the next season to be released. Needless to say, the story and characters are all just as charming as their anime counterparts, and I’m looking forward to reading more as soon as my book-buying ban will allow. 😅
Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes. The sixth and final book in the Falling Kingdoms series. As I’ve said before, these books aren’t without their (significant) faults, but I’ve really enjoyed my time with them (and am actually kind of tempted to re-read some of the earlier books soon…). The characters have all grown so much, and I’m a little sad to be saying goodbye to them all; even Jonas, who I hated for the majority of the series, has been quite likeable in the last couple of books! 😱 And the plot, too, wrapped up in a satisfying way, though I was definitely less invested in it than in the characters.
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrator: Kathleen Gati] The sequel to The Bear & the Nightingale, wherein Vasya, disguised as a boy, leaves home for Moscow, and becomes caught up in a hunt for a group of bandits that are raiding villages and stealing girls, but seem to leave no tracks behind. This book was just as hauntingly atmospheric as the last one, and it’s plot was engaging and suspenseful in a way that made it very difficult to stop listening. Some of the first book’s minor characters were more prominent here, and it was wonderful to be able to get to know them a bit better, along with some really interesting new characters… I’m looking forward to seeing where Vasya’s story will take her next.
The Angry Tide by Winston Graham. The seventh book in the Poldark series, which follows the inhabitants of a Cornish mining community, mainly focusing on the titular Poldark family. Naturally, as a sequel, I don’t want to say much about the plot, but there were some developments in this one that made me very happy, as well as a few that made me very sad. The writing was as engaging as ever, and I remain incredibly emotionally invested in all the characters – even the ones I despise. As always, the emotional rollercoaster made the book somewhat draining to read, however, so I will probably be taking a(nother) break before reading the eighth one… but hopefully it won’t be too long!
Tortall: A Spy’s Guide by Tamora Pierce. [DATA BOOK; Co-authors: Julie Holderman, Timothy Liebe & Megan Messinger; Illustrator: Eva Widermann] A companion to Pierce’s Tortall-universe novels, primarily made up of letters, journals, pamphlets, and intelligence reports (hence the title, though one of the larger sections of the book is also a more blatant guide for spies). My favourite parts were probably an interesting set of letters that led up to Lord Wyldon’s appointment as training master, Daine’s gorgeously-illustrated notes on Immortals, and an amusing homework assignment near the end, in which Thom (of Pirate’s Swoop, not Trebond) is tasked with compiling a timeline of the kings and queens of Tortall, which he does with much sass. As regards spoilers: I’d say that the book contains fairly minor spoilers for basically all the Tortall series except for the Beka Cooper trilogy, and more significant spoilers for the Trickster’s books, The Immortals, and Protector of the Small. The very last section of the book (entitled “An Official Chronology of Tortallan Events”), is spoiler-heavy for basically the whole series.
The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. [AUDIOBOOK; Narrator: Jennifer Saunders] A short story about an elderly man who’s persuaded to hire some children in order to liven up his home for Christmas. The early part of the story that talked about Sir John’s time with his two daughters I found quite interesting, but on the whole this book was rather tedious; it’s primarily character-driven, but all the characters were either bland or annoying, and Moppet – the most prominent of the hirelings – in particular was incredibly grating, not only for her own actions, but also for how all the other characters acted around her. I wasn’t particularly taken by Jennifer Saunders’ performance, either, but it was very expressive, and I probably would have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t been attached to such a dull book.

 

Spring Catch-Up

Once again, I’m trying a new layout for my wrap-ups, and I’m thinking of also switching them to being seasonal rather than monthly, at least at times (like now) when I’m not reading all that much… Let me know what you think! 😊 I did post a wrap-up of my March reads, so this post has everything that I read/listened to in April and May – a total of six novels, two audiobooks, and one (very short) comic:

FAVOURITE OF THE SEASON*	LIBRARY SCAVENGER HUNT PICKS
[REVIEW]	[REVIEW]
OTHER BOOKS I REVIEWED
[REVIEW]
OTHER BOOKS I READ
When Anxiety Attacks by Terian Koscik. A short, autobiographical comic about Koscik’s experience with anxiety, and her decision to see a therapist, along with a call for others not to feel ashamed or embarrassed to do the same, if they feel that it would help them. This was super-short, but it conveyed its message very well, and the cute artwork made it really fun to read, too. 😊
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce. One of the later books in Pierce’s Emelan series, as well as my audiobook purchase for March. This is one of my favourite books of all time; I love the story and the characters, and how the four main characters have all changed after their years of separation make for a lot of tense, emotional re-thinking of their relationship. One thing that struck me this time through was how childish Sandry was at times in comparison to the others… Of course, she is a child, so it’s not entirely surprising, but I don’t remember ever really noticing it before… The performance was also excellent: Pierce took the narrator’s role, while the characters were each played by different voice actors. I did find that the actors who played Tris and Daja had quite similar voices (for a while I even thought that they were the same person), but they differ so much in personality that it was only occasionally difficult to tell which of them was speaking.
The Four Swans by Winston Graham. The sixth book in the Poldark series, which takes place in a small Cornish mining community, and follows the titular Poldark family – though the number of protagonists has been steadily increasing as the series goes on, and characters whose names are not Poldark have been becoming much more significant to the story. Obviously since this is a sequel, I can’t say too much about the plot, but it remains very exciting. I’m very glad that Morwenna’s plight has not been forgotten, and her younger sister Rowella is also an interesting addition to the cast; while I’m definitely rooting for her, and am frequently concerned for her, I’m still not entirely sure how much I like her… 😓 Ossie continues to be super-disgusting (as I talked about in another recent post), and the feud between Ross and George takes some unexpected turns in this book, too. I can’t say I found it quite as good as The Black Moon, but it was a little less anxiety-inducing to read… the Poldark series as a whole has a tendency towards drama that is probably not good for my heart, but definitely keeps me invested! 😋
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell. A fantasy novel set in a society where magic-users, known as Jan’Tep, rule absolutely, while the magic-less Sha’Tep live lives of subservience, regardless of their own preference. Our protagonist Kellen is the son of a prominent Jan’Tep family, but with his sixteenth birthday rapidly approaching, and his magical abilities having been growing steadily weaker all his life, he has to come up with an incredible con in order to avoid the fate of becoming a Sha’Tep. I found the premise of this book really, really interesting; the tension between the different social classes, and the very real possibility of Kellen failing his trials both lent themselves to a potentially epic storyline – but while I did think that Kellen’s personal journey was very compelling, I found that the world-building wasn’t strong enough for me to feel any investment in the story beyond its immediate effects on Kellen… Ferius (probably the most important of the supporting cast) also felt quite convieniently-forced-in-for-the-convenience-of-the-plot at times, which was disappointing, although I did like her as a character. I did enjoy the book enough to continue with the series, though it’s a shame that (in my opinion) it didn’t quite live up to its potential.
Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell. The sequel to Spellslinger, in which Kellen leaves home with Ferius, and the squirrel-cat Reichis in hopes of learning the Argosi way, but is soon caught up by a mysterious girl called Seneira, who seems to have contracted Shadowblack as a disease, despite having no magic to speak of. The beginning of this book was quite slow, but I found myself really enjoying it once the plot got going (around the time they reach the University). The new characters that were introduced were all a lot of fun, and although I’m disappointed that the new setting meant that my world-building issues from Spellslinger haven’t been fixed yet, I remain hopeful that they may be eventually, as apparently this is going to be a six-book series. Book 3, Charmcaster, is out already, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to read it sometime soon. 😊
Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce. The first book in the Circle Opens quartet, which is set in Pierce’s Emelan universe, and follows Sandry a few years after the Circle of Magic books, now with her magical qualifications, and a student of her own to teach – whether she feels ready for it or not. I’ve read this book several times before, and still love the story and characters just as much as ever. I decided to listen to it as an audiobook this time (I’m slowly making my way through the whole of Audible’s collection of Tamora Pierce books), and it definitely wasn’t a mistake; the whole cast did an excellent job. 🎶

*Not including re-reads.

March Wrap-Up

Once again, March was not a heavy-hitter in terms of the number of books I read, though it was strong on quality, with two of the three books getting five-star ratings – and one of which was a behemoth of an (audio)book that I’ve been slowly making my way through for a couple of years now. 😁 I almost finished a fourth book, too, which is quite astonishing considering how preoccupied I’ve been with Zelda for the last couple of weeks… 😅 But anyway, here’s what I thought of my March reads:

Dune by Frank Herbert. The epic tale of a boy whose family is embroiled in a bitter power struggle involving the planet Arrakis and the strange – and expensive – drug that’s produced there, known as spice. That’s a massive oversimplification, by the way, but the plot and the characters and the world that Herbert creates in Dune is far too complex to explain properly in just a sentence or two… It’s taken me about two years to finish this book, not because I wasn’t enjoying it (I was), but because until the last couple of months I just didn’t listen to audiobooks that often – but I’m so glad that I finally decided to buckle down and finish it; it’s such a great book! I loved all the characters, the story was wonderfully intriguing, and the book as a whole made such a strong impression on me that it was really easy to pick back up where I’d left off, again and again! 😊

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce. The first book in a prequel series to The Immortals quartet, which tells the story of Numair’s years at the Imperial University in Carthak. Returning to this world was such a joy, and Numair’s backstory is something I’ve always been curious about, so it was really nice to learn some more about that, too. 💕 I wouldn’t say that this is one of Pierce’s strongest books, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. You can find my full review here.
The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout. A contemporary novel about two teenagers, Mallory and Rider, who lived in the same abusive foster home as small children, but were separated later on… and then reunited by chance in high school, when Mallory decided to attend a public high school in an attempt to overcome her severe social anxiety. I picked this up mainly because of Armentrout’s name on the cover (her Lux series was great fun), but although I enjoyed The Problem with Forever, and it definitely had its poignant moments, I didn’t find it all that memorable. It’s solidly-written, the romance was sweet, and I feel like Armentrout did a good job of portraying the crippling severity of Mallory’s anxiety… but it’s not up to the standard of the other books of hers that I’ve read.

[EDIT (31/7/19): Changed rating of Tempests & Slaughter from 5 stars to 4, as I am in the process of re-assessing my ratings.]