Books read, Jan-Jun

[bironic]

Gotta post these before another month goes by. Continued from here.

~30 books

1. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie ♥
2. *Sovereign Bones: New Native American Writing volume II - ed. Eric Gansworth
3. *Fodor's Essential Switzerland, *Lonely Planet Switzerland
4. *The National Uncanny: Indian Ghosts and American Subjects - Renee Bergland -- incomplete
5. The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
6. Alif the Unseen - G. Willow Wilson
7. Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
8. Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee (fan friend)
9. Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night - Katherine Fabian and Iona Datt Sharma (fan friends) ♥
10. *Death: The Art of Living - Todd May
11. *Native Americans in the Movies: Portrayals from Silent Films to the Present - Michael Hilger
12. ✓ A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. *Staring at the Sun: Confronting the terror of death - Irvin Yalom
14. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color - ed. Nisi Shawl
15. Nimona - Noelle Stevenson ♥
16. Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 - ed. N.K. Jemison and John Joseph Adams
17. The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
18. The True Queen - Zen Cho
19. Storm of Locusts - Rebecca Roanhorse
20. IRL - Tommy Pico
21. Nature Poem - Tommy Pico
22. Trade Me - Courtney Milan
23. Catalysts (Scientific Method #1) - Kris Ripper ♥
24. The Duchess War - Courtney Milan
25. Wanted, a gentleman - KJ Charles
26. The Magpie Lord - KJ Charles
27. A Case of Possession - KJ Charles
28. The Ruin of a Rake - Cat Sebastian
29. The Lawrence Browne Affair - Cat Sebastian -- incomplete
30. *Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now - Jane Burka & Lenora Yuen
31. Training Mac/Teasing Mac/Taking Mac (Erotic Gym #1-3) - Kris Ripper
32. *The Scalpel and the Silver Bear - Lori Arviso Alvord
33. Red, White, and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston -- incomplete

*nonfiction
✓ Operation Read More Books You've Owned For Ages

By the numbers:
16 novels + 2 incomplete, 10 of which were part of a project to check out popular authors of non-paranormal romance, since several friends are into them
1 novella
3 short story collections
7 nonfictions + 1 incomplete
1 graphic novel
2 poetry collections


Want to post in more detail about several of these. One day, one day. Until then, feel free to ask.

Comments

[seascribble]

Were those your first KJ Charles and Cat Sebastian? Thoughts?

[bironic]

My firsts of all of those authors, yep. They were fine. I guess I confirmed that romance isn't really my genre. The attraction between the characters feels too obvious and/or sudden and/or genital-focused for my tastes. The last of which is kind of hilarious because I did like the erotica I tried (Kris Ripper's).

Of the KJ Charles, I think I liked The Magpie Lord best. If I'd tried A Case of Possession first, as I planned to do but serenade_strong talked me out of, I don't think I'd have liked the main character at all. I think having the mystery plot helped.

Of the Milans, contrary to expectation I liked the historical one more than the contemporary. That said, Trade Me made me cry at least once.

I liked Sebastian's The Ruin of a Rake, but I was running out of steam at the time. Not sure if that explains why I petered out on The Lawrence Browne Affair or if it was more that I should have read them in the opposite order, because Ruin mentioned the outcome of the relationship in Browne -- not that that should matter at all, they're so formulaic, and yet!

[oracne]

Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night? I am curious about this one.

[bironic]

Loved it. Definite rec. A comfort read despite the primary plot of a mutual lover being in danger. Magic and polyamory and queer chosen families. I think the missing character reminded me of Sirius Black enough to draw in some of those related emotions, too. Snappy writing that also makes you want to sink into the story and read a lot of fic about the characters. (Why no AO3 fandom??? A crime, really.)

[hermionesviolin]

> 15. Nimona - Noelle Stevenson ♥

Did you read Nimona for book club? I added it to my to-read list when bookclub selected it, but I haven't actually read it yet. (I did finally read a bunch of Captain Marvel trades, though.)

> 14. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color - ed. Nisi Shawl

Ooh, that anthology apparently isn't on my to-read list. (I'm currently reading We See a Different Frontier: A Postcolonial Speculative Fiction Anthology eds. Fabio Fernandes & Djibril al-Ayad.)

> 8. Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee

*thumbs up* I enjoyed the whole trilogy and am on the library waitlist for Hexarchate Stories.

> 7. Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi

Would you recommend?

[bironic]

>>Did you read Nimona for book club?

I did, and then didn't go to book club, but regret nothing. It was cute and had a nice twist compared to the usual re: the nature of the main relationship.

>>New Suns

Interested to know what you think if & when you try it. I found many of the stories middling, but a few stuck with me. Couldn't articulate what kept most of them from feeling great instead of just good or fine, but when I read Best American right after, it did feel higher quality. And a lot of the stories in the latter collection were similarly by and about nonwhite people and sometimes written by the same authors, so I dunno, maybe because New Suns commissioned all new stories whereas Jemisin picked favorites from the past year's glut of material.

>> I enjoyed the whole trilogy and am on the library waitlist for Hexarchate Stories.

Awesome. I haven't read the sequels yet but we had a good discussion about it at book club, answering one another's questions and deepening each person's reading experience.

>> Boy, Snow, Bird - Would you recommend?

Yes, with caveats. Oyeyemi's writing is so vibrant and unusual, I would rec it just for that. As a loose modern interpretation of Snow White, it's also fascinating. I couldn't figure out what the themes were until the book was over, which isn't itself a good or a bad thing. The story itself involves an uncomfortable reveal toward the end, though.

[hermionesviolin]

>>Did you read Nimona for book club?

> I did, and then didn't go to book club, but regret nothing. It was cute and had a nice twist compared to the usual re: the nature of the main relationship.

[thumbs up emoji]

>>New Suns

> Interested to know what you think if & when you try it. I found many of the stories middling, but a few stuck with me. Couldn't articulate what kept most of them from feeling great instead of just good or fine, but when I read Best American right after, it did feel higher quality. And a lot of the stories in the latter collection were similarly by and about nonwhite people and sometimes written by the same authors, so I dunno, maybe because New Suns commissioned all new stories whereas Jemisin picked favorites from the past year's glut of material.

Hmm.

I'm currently reading We See a Different Frontier: A Postcolonial Speculative Fiction Anthology ed. Fabio Fernandes & Djibril al-Ayad, and it does feel stronger than If This Goes On ed. Cat Rambo (a speculative fiction anthology I also read this month), and those are both commissioned anthologies.

>> I enjoyed the whole trilogy and am on the library waitlist for Hexarchate Stories.

> Awesome. I haven't read the sequels yet but we had a good discussion about it at book club, answering one another's questions and deepening each person's reading experience.

Yay for good book club experience :)

>> Boy, Snow, Bird - Would you recommend?

> Yes, with caveats. Oyeyemi's writing is so vibrant and unusual, I would rec it just for that. As a loose modern interpretation of Snow White, it's also fascinating. I couldn't figure out what the themes were until the book was over, which isn't itself a good or a bad thing. The story itself involves an uncomfortable reveal toward the end, though.

Noted, thanks.