reading update 04/28/2022
Apr. 28th, 2022 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaTrying to get through 50 books before I move!
Not much to say here. I've been plodding through Monster for literally months; I think it's another Dragon Republic situation where you know it's going to end badly and you're not ready for the pain. This is the second time I've checked it out from the library. My hope is to finish it and the next book in the series before I love, but I have my doubts.
The Way Spring Arrives is a short story collection, which I try not to binge read, so I've been reading one story a night.
Library Haul:
This is the second time I have checked these out. We'll see if I actually read them!
Ten Book Shortlst:
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K. J. Charles
5/5. A sweet and spicy romance between a con artist with a heart of gold and his mark's overprotective uncle. I love the dynamic between the leads--Charles does a great job of showing us how these two make each other better and improve each other's lives--and the conflicts feel real and grounded, not contrived. I also think this book handles the reality and necessity of women marrying for money during this period in history with remarkable sympathy, which a lot of Regency romances fail to do!
The Lady or the Lion by Aamna Qureshi
2/5. Another day, another underwhelming YA fantasy. This one purports to be a forbidden love story set against the political intrigue of a fantasy Pakistan, but it fails on pretty much every level. The worldbuilding is boring. The politics are boring. The love story is hamfisted and yes, boring. Durre is a deeply annoying protagonist and if I had to read the phrase "pretty little princess" one more time I was going to bite the book in retaliation. Also, this book contains a lot of Urdu, which I love, but it always has the characters repeat themselves in English immediately after, which drove me insane. I realize that's not an issue if you don't speak Urdu, but I do, so I was constantly wondering why the fuck characters were repeating themselves every minute.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
4/5. A sweet workplace romance between a famous child star turned writer producer and her personal assistant. Overall I thought it was successful; I'm knocking off a star because it really spoonfeeds you the characters' emotional states and because the middle act conflict felt really contrived. Short and fun, I'd say it's worth checking out if you like workplace romances.
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
5/5. A pair of superpowered siblings navigate racism in a post-apocalyptic world. This is a very smart, intense, thought-provoking novella. I don't have much to say about it. It handles a lot of heavy subject matter with respect and paints a terrifyingly plausible vision of the future.
Currently Reading:
- The Way Spring Arrives And Other Stories edited by Yu Chen
- The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Not much to say here. I've been plodding through Monster for literally months; I think it's another Dragon Republic situation where you know it's going to end badly and you're not ready for the pain. This is the second time I've checked it out from the library. My hope is to finish it and the next book in the series before I love, but I have my doubts.
The Way Spring Arrives is a short story collection, which I try not to binge read, so I've been reading one story a night.
Library Haul:
- The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
- A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
This is the second time I have checked these out. We'll see if I actually read them!
Ten Book Shortlst:
- The Councillor by E. J. Beaton
- The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis
- The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
- Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
- These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
- Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K. J. Charles
5/5. A sweet and spicy romance between a con artist with a heart of gold and his mark's overprotective uncle. I love the dynamic between the leads--Charles does a great job of showing us how these two make each other better and improve each other's lives--and the conflicts feel real and grounded, not contrived. I also think this book handles the reality and necessity of women marrying for money during this period in history with remarkable sympathy, which a lot of Regency romances fail to do!
The Lady or the Lion by Aamna Qureshi
2/5. Another day, another underwhelming YA fantasy. This one purports to be a forbidden love story set against the political intrigue of a fantasy Pakistan, but it fails on pretty much every level. The worldbuilding is boring. The politics are boring. The love story is hamfisted and yes, boring. Durre is a deeply annoying protagonist and if I had to read the phrase "pretty little princess" one more time I was going to bite the book in retaliation. Also, this book contains a lot of Urdu, which I love, but it always has the characters repeat themselves in English immediately after, which drove me insane. I realize that's not an issue if you don't speak Urdu, but I do, so I was constantly wondering why the fuck characters were repeating themselves every minute.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
4/5. A sweet workplace romance between a famous child star turned writer producer and her personal assistant. Overall I thought it was successful; I'm knocking off a star because it really spoonfeeds you the characters' emotional states and because the middle act conflict felt really contrived. Short and fun, I'd say it's worth checking out if you like workplace romances.
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
5/5. A pair of superpowered siblings navigate racism in a post-apocalyptic world. This is a very smart, intense, thought-provoking novella. I don't have much to say about it. It handles a lot of heavy subject matter with respect and paints a terrifyingly plausible vision of the future.
