susanna.fraser reads in 2017

Welcome to my 2017 reading thread! I'm coming off a personal best reading year of 150 books, which I don't expect or even hope to beat this year, since I mean to write a lot more! (I write romance and fantasy, though to date I'm only published in the former.)

As with last year, my basic goals are to read at least 10 books/month, with at least one of those books by an author of color or non-cishet author. I read a mix of nonfiction and almost every variety of genre fiction, but rarely read literary fiction.

Favorites from 2016 in the order I read them:

A Thousand Nights by EK Johnston
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
Revisionary by Jim C Hines
The Witches: Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff
Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire
Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole
The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by JC Lillis
Lead Me Not by Ann Gallagher
Coyote America by Dan Flores
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
His Road Home by Anna Richland
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

January-March reading:

JANUARY
1. White Rage
2. The Invisible Library
3. Among the Janeites
4. The Princess Diarist
5. Daughters of a Nation
6. An Accident of Stars
7. The Masked City

FEBRUARY
1. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True
2. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now
3. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It
4. Away with the Fairies
5. On Trails
6. The Nurse's Wedding Rescue
7. The Emperor's Soul
8. March: Book One
9. Chasing Venus
10. March: Book Two
11. Elwha: A River Reborn
12. A Closed and Common Orbit
13. March: Book Three
14. Murder in Montparnasse

MARCH
1. Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Vol. 1: Hooked On A Feline
2. Walking With the Wind
3. King of Fish
4. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit.
5. Les Parisiennes
6. The Castlemaine Murders
7. Call the Nurse
8. The Great Derangement
9. America the Anxious

April-June reading:

APRIL
1. The Half Has Never Been Told
2. Penric's Demon
3. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 5: Like I'm The Only Squirrel In the World
4. Penric and the Shaman
5. White Trash
6. Penric's Mission
7. Mira's Last Dance
8. Queen of the Flowers
9. The Lawrence Browne Affair
10. The Private Lives of the Tudors
11. Skin in the Game
12. They Can't Kill Us All
13. Unf*ck Your Habitat

MAY
1. American Hookup
2. Heartstone
3. Miranda and Caliban
4. Nurse, Come You Here!
5. Does Jesus Really Love Me?
6. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World
7. Death by Water
8. How to Survive a Plague
9. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day
10. The Hate U Give
11. The Bear and the Nightingale
12. Amberlough

JUNE
1. The Stars Change
2. Ms. Marvel Volume 6: Civil War II
3. There Is No Good Card for This
4. The Death of Expertise
5. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
6. Bears in the Streets
7. Murder in the Dark
8. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
9. Get Your Sh*t Together
10. The Blood of Emmett Till
11. An Extraordinary Union

July-September reading:

JULY
1. Other Minds
2. Born a Crime
3. The Genius of Birds
4. The Not-Quite States of America
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck
6. Never Caught
7. A Bride's Story Volume 1
8. Julius Caesar
9. Battle Cry of Freedom
10. Cold Comfort Farm
11. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

AUGUST
1. Ms. Marvel Vol. 7
2. The Gender Creative Child
3. This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids
4. Murder on a Midsummer Night
5. Penric's Fox
6. Murder in the Bayou
7. Merely a Marriage
8. The Martian
9. The Warburgs
10. Hate to Want You
11. Night
12. Art History: A Very Short Introduction
13. In Mad Love and War
14. Annie on My Mind
15. A Bride's Story Volume 2

SEPTEMBER
1. Duck Season
2. Magic for Nothing
3. On Tyranny
4. Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy
5. The Third Nero
6. Lord of Pleasure
7. Dead Man's Chest
8. Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions
9. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical
10. When Dimple Met Rishi
11. The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part One
12. What Happened
13. A Bride's Story, Volume 3

October-December reading:

OCTOBER
1. Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West
2. What Stands in a Storm
3. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 6: Who Run the World? Squirrels
4. Six-Gun Snow White
5. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate
6. Death on Delos
7. American Maelstrom
8. One True Pairing
9. Unnatural Habits
10. We Were Eight Years in Power
11. Highland Dragon Warrior
12. Hamilton's Battalion
13. The Storm Before the Storm
14. The Prisoner of Limnos

NOVEMBER
1. A Bride's Story, Volume 4
2. Grant
3. A Paradise Built in Hell
4. The Social Lives of Dogs
5. The Butterfly Mosque
6. The Rescuers
7. Murder and Mendelssohn
8. Alien Taste
9. The Unwelcome Suitor
10. The Lass Wore Black
11. Carthage Must Be Destroyed

DECEMBER
1. Hard Knocks
2. The Highland Dragon's Lady
3. The Perfect Horse
4. Poisoned Blade
5. The Day of the Duchess
6. The Best Worst Holiday Party Ever
7. Understanding Comics
8. A Dreadful Deceit
9. The Last Chance Christmas Ball
10. Summer in Orcus
11. Murder on Astor Place
12. A Contract With God
13. Prairie Fires
14. Ms. Marvel Vol. 8: Mecca
15. A Bride's Story Vol. 5

Fiction by genre:

CLASSICS
1. Julius Caesar
2. Cold Comfort Farm

FANTASY
1. The Invisible Library
2. An Accident of Stars
3. The Masked City
4. The Emperor's Soul
5. Penric's Demon
6. Penric and the Shaman
7. Penric's Mission
8. Mira's Last Dance
9. Heartstone
10. Miranda and Caliban
11. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day
12. The Bear and the Nightingale
13. Amberlough
14. Penric's Fox
15. Magic for Nothing
16. Six-Gun Snow White
17. The Prisoner of Limnos
18. Poisoned Blade
19. Summer in Orcus

GENERAL/LITERARY

GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS/MANGA
1. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True
2. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now
3. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It
4. Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Vol. 1: Hooked On A Feline
5. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 5: Like I'm The Only Squirrel In the World
6. Ms. Marvel Volume 6: Civil War II
7. A Bride's Story Volume 1
8. Ms. Marvel Vol. 7
9. A Bride's Story Volume 2
10. The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part One
11. A Bride's Story, Volume 3
12. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 6: Who Run the World? Squirrels
13. A Bride's Story, Volume 4
14. A Contract With God
15. Ms. Marvel Vol. 8: Mecca
16. A Bride's Story Vol. 5

MYSTERY
1. Away with the Fairies
2. Murder in Montparnasse
3. The Castlemaine Murders
4. Queen of the Flowers
5. Death by Water
6. Murder in the Dark
7. Murder on a Midsummer Night
8. The Third Nero
9. Dead Man's Chest
10. Death on Delos
11. Unnatural Habits
12. Murder and Mendelssohn
13. Murder on Astor Place

ROMANCE
1. Daughters of a Nation
2. The Nurse's Wedding Rescue
3. An Amish Christmas
4. The Lawrence Browne Affair
5. Skin in the Game
6. An Extraordinary Union
7. Merely a Marriage
8. Hate to Want You
9. Lord of Pleasure
10. One True Pairing
11. Highland Dragon Warrior
12. Hamilton's Battalion
13. The Unwelcome Suitor
14. The Lass Wore Black
15. Hard Knocks
16. The Highland Dragon's Lady
17. The Day of the Duchess
18. The Best Worst Holiday Party Ever
19. The Last Chance Christmas Ball

SCIENCE FICTION
1. A Closed and Common Orbit
2. The Stars Change
3. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
4. The Martian
5. Alien Taste

YA/CHILDRENS
1. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit.
2. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World
3. The Hate U Give
4. Annie on My Mind
5. When Dimple Met Rishi
6. The Rescuers

Nonfiction by topic:

BIOGRAPHY
1. Grant
2. Prairie Fires

CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
1. White Rage
2. The Great Derangement
3. America the Anxious
4. They Can't Kill Us All
5. American Hookup
6. The Death of Expertise
7. Bears in the Streets
8. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
9. The Gender Creative Child
10. This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids
11. Murder in the Bayou
12. On Tyranny
13. What Stands in a Storm
14. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate
15. We Were Eight Years in Power
16. A Paradise Built in Hell

GRAPHIC NONFICTION
1. March: Book One
2. March: Book Two
3. March: Book Three

HISTORY
1. Chasing Venus
2. Les Parisiennes
3. The Half Has Never Been Told
4. White Trash
5. The Private Lives of the Tudors
6. How to Survive a Plague
7. The Blood of Emmett Till
8. Never Caught
9. Battle Cry of Freedom
10. The Warburgs
11. Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West
12. American Maelstrom
13. The Storm Before the Storm
14. Carthage Must Be Destroyed
15. The Perfect Horse
16. A Dreadful Deceit

HUMOR
1. Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions

LITERATURE/ARTS
1. Among the Janeites
2. Art History: A Very Short Introduction
3. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical
4. Understanding Comics

MEMOIR
1. The Princess Diarist
2. On Trails
3. Walking With the Wind
4. Call the Nurse
5. Nurse, Come You Here!
6. Born a Crime
7. Night
8. Duck Season
9. What Happened
10. The Social Lives of Dogs
11. The Butterfly Mosque

POETRY
1. In Mad Love and War

RELIGION
1. Does Jesus Really Love Me?
2. Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy

SCIENCE
1. Elwha: A River Reborn
2. King of Fish
3. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
4. Other Minds
5. The Genius of Birds

SELF-HELP/HOW-TO
1. Unf*ck Your Habitat
2. There Is No Good Card for This
3. Get Your Sh*t Together
4. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck

TRAVEL
1. The Not-Quite States of America

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Welcome back!

I'm looking forward to following your thread in 2017.

Hi Susanna! Happy new thread.

Happy reading in 2017, Susanna!

1. White Rage by Carol Anderson

This was a depressing but important first read of the new year, examining the backlash to every single civil rights advancement of the past 150 years. Most of it is history I was at least somewhat aware of, but I'd never before grasped how overwhelming the pattern was. And now here we are, again, Voting Rights Act gutted, hate crimes on the rise...and there's nothing for it but to stand up and fight again.

White Rage sounds like an important book, and very timely. I've added it to my wishlist.

>14 arubabookwoman: It's extremely timely. At the time it was written Trump was just the GOP frontrunner, but all along as I read I kept thinking, "Yep, this explains a lot."



2. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

My second read of the year was much lighter and more relaxing (almost had to be!). This is a fun, clever, and well-written book about a Library (capital-L) that exists in a kind of world-between-worlds and the Librarians who travel between the Library and various alternate realities to acquire books for it. It's rather reminiscent of Noah Wyle's Librarians TV series, but in a parallel evolution rather than a derivative sense. I'm planning to put the second book in the series on hold right away even though I'm a little disappointed it will involve the same alternate world as this one focused on rather than sending Irene and Kai to explore a new world. Maybe in future volumes...

Mrsdrneutron got me that one and the sequel for Christmas, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I'm glad to hear it's good!

>15 susanna.fraser: Adding that one to my wishlist - it sounds great!

I loved Aeronaut's Windlass as well.

>18 The_Hibernator: Looks like there's a sequel in the works per Butcher's website, but no release date.



3. Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe

A lifelong Jane Austen reader explores Jane Austen fandom in its many variations.

Happy New Reading Year, Susanna! Will you be judging the RITAs for the first round again this year? I'm sitting tight with fingers crossed, waiting for the books to arrive...

>20 dk_phoenix: Not this time--I didn't have a 2016 release, so I'm not entered and am therefore giving myself a break from judging, too.



4. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

It was strange reading this so soon after Fisher's untimely death, to know that this was the last we'd read of this vivid, snarky, self-aware voice. Her death has hit me harder than any other celebrity death to date because, like so many girls of my generation, I looked to Princess Leia as a heroine and a role model.

5. Daughters of a Nation by Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, and Piper Huguley

I've been having trouble finding a book I want to finish these past few weeks, so it was probably a good thing I had to read this anthology for my romance readers book club! Don't get me wrong--it's a very enjoyable book, and I particularly recommend the Alyssa Cole novella. I just needed something to break the cycle. Anyway, in addition to the romance and history, this was a good read for the present moment for showing characters fighting the long game for justice against what looked like impossible odds, while still finding happiness in their here and now.

6. An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

...and I guess I'm through my reading drought, since I managed to get through this almost-500-page book in one day! (One day in which I was home sick and resting/reading, but still.) This is an unusual portal fantasy, where the teenager who travels between worlds does so by accident isn't any sort of Chosen One, and while she does involve herself in political and magical intrigues, the results aren't tidy and tied up in a bow, either in our world or the one she visits.

7. The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

So. Still a really slow reading month. World upheaval, life upheaval--I'm having surgery later this week. It's relatively routine, and while medically necessary it isn't urgent. (I'll keep the medical details vague, but suffice it to say this isn't for something that's killing me, just something where my quality of life should improve greatly once I'm through the surgery and recovery time.)

Anyway, this is the second book in the Invisible Library series and is nicely escapist for the stressed-out reader.

8. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True
9. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now
10. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It

Home from the hospital, recuperating, and now all caught up on Squirrel Girl.

>25 susanna.fraser: Best wishes for your recovery. Reading is usually a good way to recuperate. I hope you weren't in the hospital for anything too serious and that everything went well.

>26 Familyhistorian: Yes, this was a planned rather than emergency surgery, and for an issue that wasn't life-threatening.



11. Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood

More relaxing reading for the recuperating.

>27 susanna.fraser: Good, it looks like you have the right prescription for recovery. Reading is good for what ails you!

12. On Trails by Robert Moor

This book was tough to classify--part science, part history, part travelogue--but it had a sufficiently personal feel and voice I ultimately decided it was a memoir. It's a fascinating look at how trails came to be and what they mean to us as humans, largely filtered through the author's experience as an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker.

13. The Nurse's Wedding Rescue by Sarah Morgan

By no means my favorite Sarah Morgan, but a good quick, old-school medical romance for an afternoon's recuperation.

14. The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

A fantasy novella that packs tons of imaginative world-building, plot, and character into less than 200 pages. This is the first book I've read by Sanderson, but I will definitely be seeking out more.

15. March: Book One by John Lewis

First in a graphic novel format memoir trilogy on Congressman John Lewis's involvement in the civil rights movement, focusing on his childhood and youth, culminating in the lunch counter protests in 1960. Excellent and highly recommended. We've come so far in one man's lifetime, despite all the new struggles we're facing now to defend liberty, equality, and justice for all.

16. Chasing Venus by Andrea Wulf

An account of the Enlightenment scientific community's scramble across the world to observe Venus's transit of the face of the sun in 1761 and then 1769 (an event that would then not be repeated for over a century) on the theory that enough good observations at various locations around the planet would enable them to calculate the distance between Earth and the sun. Spoiler alert--they succeeded in getting a number very close to modern calculations--and the stories of the various scientists and governments involved are fascinating.

17. March: Book Two by John Lewis

Important and harrowing. While I knew all this history about the Freedom Riders and the bus bombings, Bull Connor's brutality in Birmingham, and so on, the combination of the format and the fact it's the first-person account of someone I follow on Twitter really brought home both the horror and the recency of those events.

18. Elwha: A River Reborn by Lynda V Mapes

For nearly a century, the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington State was hampered by two dams, one of them just five miles from the river's ocean outlet, that generated power for sawmills and paper mills. They weren't even up to code at the time of construction, insofar as even back then you were supposed to put in a salmon ladder, which neither dam hand, and the effects on the ecosystem were predictably devastating.

Just in this decade, the dams were removed after many years of persistent lobbying by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and various environmental groups. It was an ongoing battle when I moved here in 1999, and I remember thinking it'd been a crime and a sin to build those dams, but what was the point of removing them? The damage was done.

I was wrong. The damage is already being UNDONE by the natural course of the river and the instincts of its native species, including salmon who were swimming past the dam sites to their original spawning grounds within months of the river being set free. It is NICE to read about a win for the planet when the world seems so bleak.

>35 susanna.fraser: It's interesting that the Earth is more resilient than we sometimes think. This sounds like a pretty good book.

>36 drneutron: It is. It's a fairly quick read, heavily illustrated, and I think mostly based on the author's reporting for the Seattle Times but it gave me a fuller picture of something that happened nearby but on the outer edge of my awareness, since I have a habit of focusing more on national/international news and politics.



19. A Closed and Common Orbit

A sequel to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, featuring secondary and tertiary characters from that book. And while I missed the crew of the Wayfarer at first, I was quickly drawn into this thoughtful, character-driven, and deeply world-built story.

20. March: Book Three by John Lewis

This trilogy should be required reading for middle and/or high school American history. Everywhere, but ESPECIALLY in Alabama (my native state, though I now live in Seattle). I was born in 1971, less than a decade after the Selma march, and we never talked about it in school. Like, I think we learned a little about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott, but no real attempts to come to term with our past. It's stomach-turning to realize that I grew up around people who lived in the midst of all this and at best ignored it and at worst supported or even participated in it, and then just all kinda agreed never to mention it to their children.

21. Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood

A bit longer and darker than previous Phryne Fisher mysteries I've read (though still quick and enjoyable to read), with a mystery featuring a 10-year-old murder from Paris come back to haunt Phryne and her WWI vet friends and giving more detail on her backstory as an 18-year-old ex-ambulance driver on her own in postwar France.

22. An Amish Christmas by Patricia Davids

One last really soothing quick read before heading back to work tomorrow. Amish romance isn't one of my usual genres, but I happened across this author a few years back and find her stories to be reliable comfort reads with likable characters.

23. Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Vol. 1: Hooked On A Feline by Kate Leth

A fun, playful little graphic novel, though I didn't fall in love the way I did with Ms. Marvel or Squirrel Girl.

24. Walking With the Wind by John Lewis

Harrowing and inspiring. It covers the same information as the March graphic novels, albeit with the greater introspection allowed by longer length and the prose format, and more about the fractures that appeared in the Civil Rights Movement after the Selma to Montgomery march and Lewis's eventual political career.

Strongly recommended for anyone interested in recent history or looking for inspiration for resisting today's injustices.

25. King of Fish by David R. Montgomery

An account of how remarkable salmon are...and how humans have gravely diminished their numbers through overfishing and habitat destruction.

26. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

This was a book I enjoyed on my initial read last year and suggested to my romance book club that we read...which, unfortunately, did not hold up so well to a second reading. Even on my quick second read to remind myself of the details for the discussion yesterday evening, I noticed plot holes and areas of problematic representation--e.g. a black woman secondary character whose only role seemed to be acting as a sweet, wise, foster-grandmother "Mammy" trope to the heroine, and an overly saintly and sweet character with a mental disability who was also a mere plot device. I went to the meeting hoping everyone had managed to enjoy the story despite those problems, only to have the group universally pan the story and point out yet more plot holes, inconsistent characterization, and severe representation issues with how the lesbian characters were portrayed.

So yeah. Consider this an un-recommendation. I ended up having a half-hour debriefing session with my husband afterward on how I could've POSSIBLY missed the issues the first time around. We decided that yes, I always WILL have more to learn due to being a straight cishet white woman (lifetime silver medalist in the privilege Olympics!) and will occasionally miss problematic issues in entertainment or otherwise put my foot in my mouth. But he managed to stop me beating myself up about it by saying that it's understandable that the book's themes of faith, sexuality, and acceptance of the two together resonated for me even with the problems. He also asked WHEN last year I read the book. When I said, "October or November," he reminded me that in the frame of mind I was in then, ANY book that managed to distract me from the election for a few hours would seem pretty awesome.



27. Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba

Nonfiction on women's experiences surviving (or not surviving) Paris in WWII. It's interesting, and succeeded in putting me "in the moment" of what it would be like to experience an invasion and occupation. Sebba focuses on a wide range of women, ranging from Resistance heroines to collaborators, though IMHO it suffered from too much focus on high society and/or celebrity women (actresses, heiresses, fashion designers, etc.).

28. The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood

Next up in the Phryne Fisher series, where the writing and characters get stronger with each book IMO.

29. Call the Nurse by Mary MacLeod

A loosely linear memoir/set of stories about the author's experiences as a district nurse on a remote Hebridean island in the 1970's. It's a gentle read even when it deals with gritty and even horrifying situations, and I'm going to get the author's next book just so I can find out what happened to Katy and baby Janet and whether the airstrip ever worked, etc...

>46 susanna.fraser: I do like those slightly nostalgic reminiscences of British life a generation or two ago. The Jack Sheffield books would be your cuppa Susanna if you liked that one. Tales of a Primary school Head teacher in Yorkshire in the 1970s and 1980s.

Have a lovely weekend.

>47 PaulCranswick: I'll have to look for those--thanks!



30. The Great Derangement

A climate change book, but one that looks at it more as a function of capitalism, imperialism, and even a failure of imagination on the part of a hyper-individualistic society when faced with a collective challenge.

31. America the Anxious by Ruth Whippman

A simultaneously humorous and thought-provoking look, from the perspective of a British ex-pat living in California, at how Americans work so very hard at being happy, but in counterproductive ways. (Basically, we'd be happier if we spent more time building community ties and as a culture/government built a stronger safety net.)

32. The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward E. Baptist

I strongly recommend this myth-busting history of the antebellum South between the American Revolution and the Civil War, which convincingly shows that slavery was every bit as pitilessly brutal as you'd think, but that it WASN'T an economically inefficient, archaic system destined to die out anyway, but rather a dynamic driver of the growing economies of the Industrial Revolution.

33. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold

A novella set in Bujold's World of the Five Gods (first in a trilogy, I believe), and as delightful as I always expect from the author's work.

34. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 5: Like I'm The Only Squirrel In the World by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

SQUIRREL GIRL. Who I think is now tied with Ms Marvel as my favorite superhero.

35. Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold

Second in this series, which currently consists of four novellas. I should slow down and not let myself inhale them all at once...

36. White Trash by Nancy Isenberg

A history of class in America, focused on the white underclass, that stresses the continuity of class structures and how the stereotypes of the white underclass go all the way back to early colonial days.

37. Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold



38. Mira's Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

...so I decided to go ahead and inhale the remaining two Penric novellas all at once. And was actually happy to have the last one end on a semi-cliffhanger, because that means there'll be more.

39. Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood

More Phryne Fisher fun. I'm getting toward the end of the series, sadly.



40. The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian

A male/male historical romance, and something of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It took me a few chapters to warm to the characters (and I might have abandoned the book if it hadn't been the selection for my romance book club), but as the characters developed a connection with each other, I also connected to the story.

41. The Private Lives of the Tudors by Tracy Borman

Half standard, gossipy royal history, half chronicle of how 15th and 16th century British royals ate, dressed, and played and all the work that went into making the fancy clothes and furnishings you wee in their portraits.

>56 susanna.fraser: I just finished The Soldier's Scoundrel, what is in the same series as The Lawrence Browne Affair. It took me three tries to get past the first twenty or so pages, but once I did and the story got going, I enjoyed it quite a bit!

>58 lycomayflower: I'm glad someone else had that slow-to-get-hooked reaction, since everyone in my book club liked it from the get-go and I wondered if I was being too critical.



42. Skin in the Game by Jackie Barbosa

A really lovely sports romance with an injured NFL quarterback hero gone back to his hometown as a favor to his old coach and a heroine who was a high school ugly duckling who doesn't quite realize she's become a swan and is now the assistant coach (and Gus Malzahn-style offensive play-calling genius) at said high school. I liked that both characters were smart, decent people from the get-go, with the story about figuring out a way to make their disparate dreams sync up.

43. They Can't Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery

A journalist's-eye view of the protest movement sparked by the spate of well-publicized police shootings of 2014-15. I'm depressed by the resonances with my recent reading on the Civil Rights Movement from before I was born. We haven't changed anywhere near fast enough or thoroughly enough as a nation.

44. Unf*ck Your Habitat by Rachel Hoffman

A practical guide on maintaining a clean-enough house for everyday, busy people. Timely for me in that my re-energized post-surgical self is ready to try to tame the monster clutter of our house.

45. American Hookup by Lisa Wade

A measured, balanced look at how today's college students navigate a culture that validates hookups and casual sex much more than that of my peers 20-30 years ago. She acknowledges that some students, men and women alike, find this culture pleasurable and liberating, while also acknowledging its dangers (i.e. creating an environment ripe for sexual assault) and the fact many and probably most students would prefer a culture that made it easier to form long-term relationships and/or to put both sexuality and romance on the back burner and focus on their educations.

46. Heartstone by Elle Katherine White

A Pride & Prejudice retelling set in a fantasy world with dragons and other mythical creatures. Not a perfect book, but IMHO a promising debut.

47. Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey

A lushly written, evocative prequel to Shakespeare's The Tempest, with Miranda and Caliban growing up side by side, the only friend either has, and equally manipulated by Prospero for his own ends.

48. Nurse, Come You Here! by Mary J. MacLeod

A follow-up to Call the Nurse, with more stories of Hebridean life in the 1970's, plus a few chapters on the MacLeod family's sojourn in Nevada in California when Mr. MacLeod's work took them there.

>65 susanna.fraser: That looks interesting, Susanna. I wouldn't have thought too much happened in the Hebrides!

Have a wonderful weekend.

>66 PaulCranswick: It sounds like mostly it was a peaceful, slow-paced life...but with a few gothic-level tragedies and scandals that MacLeod stumbled across in her work as a nurse.



49. Does Jesus Really Love Me? by Jeff Chu

I realized a few chapters in to this one that I'd read it before, but it was a worthwhile re-read, especially in my new role as the mother of a gender non-binary teen who hasn't yet defined their orientation.

50. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale

A fun prequel to the current run of the Squirrel Girl comics series, written for middle grade readers and featuring a 14-year-old Doreen Green trying out her squirrel powers for saving the day for the first time.

51. Death By Water by Kerry Greenwood

Wherein Phryne Fisher goes on a cruise, solves a murder, and unmasks a jewel thief.

52. How to Survive a Plague by David France

Covering much the same time frame as And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, but focused more on NYC than California and on following the lives of a group of men who were heavily involved in ACT-UP than on the scientific background. A fascinating look at a time I observed from a distance as a rural Alabama teenager, and an interesting look on how people who'd never expected it became outspoken activists.

53. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

A spooky, atmospheric tale of ghosts and witches, and learning how to live and die, set mostly in present-day Manhattan.

Wow, that one sounds good!

>72 drneutron: Seanan McGuire is so talented.



54. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This book about a 16-year-old girl who's the sole witness to a police shooting deserves every bit of the hype and praise it's been receiving. Gripping story, relatable characters, harrowing yet hopeful.

55. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

A beautiful debut fantasy novel set in 14th century Russia. It has a strong fairytale feel. I look forward to more from the author.

56. Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

More excellent debut fantasy, this one a spy story set in an alternate world reminiscent of Weimar Germany.

Hmmm. Another that I need to check out.

57. The Stars Change

An odd, thoughtful science fiction novella about love and family and death and sex and coming together to protect a community in a time of war.



58. Ms. Marvel Volume 6: Civil War II

I hadn't realized this Ms Marvel came out months ago. Not my favorite of the series--and it leaves one of my favorite secondary characters in a dark place--but a solid outing.

59. There Is No Good Card for This by Kelsey Crowe and Emily McDowell

Practical advice for being a supportive friend, relative, or coworker to people going through any sort of bad time--listen more than you talk, don't make it about you, and whatever you CAN offer will usually be welcome.

60. The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols

A depressing (if gallows-humor-filled) look at the various manifestations of anti-intellectualism in modern society, especially in America. Nichols is more conservative than I am, but he's of the Evan McMullin and David Frum school of conservative I'm currently finding common cause with in hopes that in a saner (and less anti-intellectual!) world we can go back to a nuanced and civilized disagreement about how to best live up to our mutually agreed upon desire for a just, equitable, and free society.

61. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

A breezy, fun popular science book on a grim topic. About half the book is devoted to animal cannibalism (rare among mammals and birds but quite common in other genera), the other half to human. To my relief, the human sections focus on survival and ritual cannibalism, along with, um, quirkier examples like cooking and eating placenta, rather than on cannibalistic crime, which creeps me out on a level that say, the Donner Party or a tribe whose funeral rituals include eating the dead because that's viewed as an honor does not.

62. Bears in the Streets by Lisa Dickey

Author Lisa Dickey has traveled across Russia three times--in 1995, 2005, and 2015--and done her best to meet the same people on each visit. It's a fascinating glimpse at some on a group of smart, kind, and resilient people in a nation I'm accustomed to seeing as my own country's enemy just now. (And almost all of these delightful people a) love Vladimir Putin, and b) believe some crazy-ass conspiracy theories about America.)

63. Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood

More Phryne. The plot didn't make a lot of sense, but still a fun read.

64. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Short stories, which I rarely read except when I have to, usually for Summer Book Bingo (as is indeed the case this year). They were good and often thought-provoking reads, though, which I liked better than Liu's debut novel The Grace of Kings, in fact.

65. Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

A breezy, profane self-help that didn't cover new ground for me, but was a nice reminder about the importance of a well-thought-out to-do list and guarding against perfectionism.

66. The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

A quick, compelling account of the murder of Emmett Till and its impact on the Civil Rights movement.

67. An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Interracial historical romance featuring Civil War spies. One of my favorite reads of the year so far.

68. Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith

A half-biological, half-philosophical exploration of the origins of intelligence and what it means to have a mind, largely focused on cephalopods.

>87 susanna.fraser: That sounds like a really interesting book. I think I've read about it/seen it before but I'm definitely putting it on my list now.

>87 susanna.fraser: I've almost bought this several times. Did you enjoy it?

>89 lycomayflower: I did, but I think I would've enjoyed it more if it had been more biological and less philosophical. I don't have much grounding in philosophy (ironically enough, since two of my college friends became philosophy professors), so I got a bit lost in those sections.



69. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah's childhood, which was grittier than I would've expected based on my limited knowledge of him as that guy who took over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart. (Which probably reflects my even more limited knowledge of South Africa.) Anyway, I recommend this one. It's engaging and well-written...and now my knowledge of South Africa is a bit more solid, and I like to know things.

70. The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Building on one of my surprise favorite reads from a year or two back, Gifts of the Crow, this book is a interesting, readable popular science account on bird intelligence in general, though the super-brainy corvid family does make multiple appearances.

(As a side note, isn't that a gorgeous color? I'm using it for "Choose a Book By its Cover" for this year's library summer book bingo.)

71. The Not-Quite States of America by Doug Mack

The author, reminded that the US has a far-flung assortment of island territories after coming across their quarters, decides to travel to the more populous of them--the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. Interesting and informative on a topic I knew very little about going in.

72. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight

The first book by the author of Get Your Sh*t Together, which I read last month. Obviously a parody of Marie Kondo's popular The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, but a useful reminder of prioritizing your life by considering what does and doesn't REALLY matter to you.

73. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

An account of the life of a woman who escaped from life as Martha Washington's slave and managed to stay free for the rest of her life despite the Washingtons' attempts to recover her. Readable and interesting despite the fact the details of Ona Judge's life are mostly speculation and inference, since she wasn't literate until late in life and lived in poverty and obscurity.

74. A Bride's Story Volume 1 by Kaoru Mori

If I hadn't already chosen a book by its cover for my summer reading Bingo, I would've gone with this one. And the artwork throughout the book is just as gorgeous, making a lovely exploration of the 19th century Central Asian setting. The story is nice, too, even if the 20-year-old bride with a 12-year-old groom was a bit discomfort-making

One more!

>96 drneutron: I'll get it while I'm on vacation next week for sure.

75. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Read for the "re-read a book you read in school" category in my summer reading bingo. Certainly thought-provoking in the light of current-day politics.



76. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson

If you read one book on the American Civil War, this is the best choice of any I've read so far. It interweaves the military and political/social context very well...and also proved thought-provoking in the light of current events.

77. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

A fun light read (chosen because it met the "published the year one of your parents was born" bingo category), though now I will never, ever be able to hear "There must always be a Stark at Winterfell" without thinking, "There have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort."

Congratulations on reaching 75, Susanna!

>101 FAMeulstee: Thanks! I'm hoping I can pick up reading speed a bit over the rest of the year, since at this point I'm not close to matching my pace to make 150 by the end of the year.

78. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

IMO this book and not Hillbilly Elegy is what my fellow coastal city-dwelling leftists need to read to understand the American Right. And I grew up a conservative Christian in the Deep South, so I'm not coming from a place of coastal elite ignorance here--I think Hochschild really nails the motivations and hearts' desires of the culture I grew up in.

Congrats on blowing past 75!

79. Ms. Marvel Vol. 7 by G. Willow Wilson

This Ms. Marvel collection seemed to be getting "meh" reviews in various places I checked online...but I liked it a lot. The themes of activism, compassion, and collective action were...timely, to say the least.

>103 susanna.fraser: Book bullet for me.

>106 Oberon: I hope you enjoy it--I found it very thought-provoking.



80. The Gender Creative Child b7 Diane Ehrensaft

A very personal read for me, as our child announced not quite a year ago that they consider themselves nonbinary in gender. For the most part, this book was just reassuring that we've been doing OK so far in our support and encouragement.

81. This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids by Dannielle Owens-Reid & Kristin Russo

In the same vein as my previous read, but more general advice for any parent who's recently learned their child is other than cisgender heterosexual in any way.



82. Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood

The next Phryne Fisher mystery, and a particularly fitting read for a hot, dry weekend with wildfire smoke turning the sky unfriendly and eerie.

83. Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold

I saw on Facebook that this novella was out today, so naturally I bought it and read it as soon as I was home from work. I had to make my husband stop feeding me tidbits of news from Twitter, because Honey, I'm ESCAPING all that just now. Anyway, it's a lovely addition to the series. It's a midquel, if you will, coming after Penric and the Shaman and before Penric's Mission in the story world's chronology.

84. Murder in the Bayou by Ethan Brown

I read this account of the unsolved murders of 8 women--all drug addicts, all sex workers--in a small Louisiana town between 2005 and 2009 for the "Genre That's New to You" summer reading bingo category. (The genre in question being true crime.) And it was one depressing book, even more so than most of my reading about the uglier side of American history, because of the sheer everyday misery of the women's lives even before their deaths and the deep-seated police corruption quite possibly at the heart of the whole thing.

86. The Martian by Andy Weir

My choice for the "adapted into a movie" summer reading bingo category, and a fun page turner, even if my eyes did glaze over a bit on the science and engineering hacks. The escapism was a bit marred by my difficulty in imagining a near-future of scientific derring-do and world unity--fantasy and historical fiction are easier suspensions of disbelief just now--but here's hoping.

87. The Warburgs by Ron Chernow

Another bingo book, for the Seattle Arts & Lectures speaker (past or forthcoming) category. Chernow manages the neat trick of making me care about a family I'd never heard of before, and one who worked in an industry that bores me to tears (investment banking). Though my eyes tended to glaze over during the financial intrigue bits, and I perked up for the family dynamics and how the Warburgs negotiated Germany and America as a wealthy Jewish family in the first half of the 20th century.

88. Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai

I would've never touched this book if it weren't the selection for my romance book club this month because it has at least three tropes I normally avoid like the plague--feuding business dynasties, first love as one true love, and finding happiness by coming back to your hometown. And yet I read it in a single binge this evening, and it's one of my favorite reads of the year so far.

>114 lycomayflower: Iiiinteresting. I passed on this one after having it in my hand in the bookstore the other week for largely the same reasons about those particular tropes. Now I'm waffling about whether I ought to give it a try after all.

>115 susanna.fraser: I recommend it. The first love as one true love and returning to the hometown aspects worked better for me than normal, because the heroine had been rootless and adrift--she'd left home because she was running from something rather than to something. It's not like she'd been having a wonderful life in London or New Orleans or whatever and then discovered her hometown was where True Happiness and the Good Salt-of-the-Earth People were to be found.

89. Night by Elie Wiesel

I'd somehow never read this book before, but my kid read it as a school assignment in 7th grade this spring, the age I read The Diary of Anne Frank, which led to this being the book I chose for "recommended by a young person" in summer reading bingo. And I'm glad both that I finally read it, and that my kid read it as a 13-year-old. So raw, moving, and timely.

90. Art History: A Very Short Introduction by Dana Arnold

Picked this up for my Kindle just because all the books "about art or an artist" I'd tried to read for summer library bingo didn't work out for me. And it was a quick, if rather dry, read that I expect to shape my thinking to some degree as I visit art museums in the future.

91. In Mad Love and War by Joy Harjo

If if weren't for library bingo, I have to confess I'd almost never pick up a whole book of poetry, though there are individual poems (all over 100 years old) I turn to from time to time. So, this was a read out of my comfort zone, but a quite evocative one. The author is Muscogee Creek (which I am a tiny tiny bit if family legend to be believe, though for all intents and purposes I'm 100% white with all the privilege that entails) and from Oklahoma (like my husband, who is Cherokee by tribal law but also mostly white).

92. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

I have now completed my summer reading bingo blackout, with this YA lesbian romance from 1982 occupying the "banned" category. And this book would've indeed been far more shocking in the early 80's than it is now. It's a reminder of how much the world has changed in just a few decades--in everything from the major shift toward acceptance of same-sex relationships to the trivial matters of meeting up with a friend in another part of town without a cell phone and just taking for granted all the standing around and waiting and missed connections.

93. A Bride's Story Volume 2 by Kaoru Mori

This historical manga series set on the Silk Road in the late 19th century features rather calm, slow-paced storytelling...and art so gorgeous I wish the publisher would put it out in adult coloring book format so I could linger for hours on those gorgeous cloth patterns.

94. Duck Season by David McAninch

A food memoir of eight months in Gascony that left me wanting to go to there and eat ALL the things.

95. Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

The latest in the InCryptid series, this one about Antimony Price, youngest of the three Price children. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down, though I was hoping the Covenant section would be a little longer and was a bit disappointed by one thing that I can't say because it would literally give away a major piece of the ending.

96. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

Should be required reading for all those who, to riff on Benjamin Franklin, intend to keep their republics. Certainly an encouragement to me to keep stepping up in the ways I already am and to add a few more.

97. Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott

Not Lamott's best work, but a good reminder of the importance of forgiving yourself and others nonetheless.

98. The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis

Book 5 in the Flavia Albia series, which I continue to enjoy, albeit not as much as the Marcus Didius Falco series that preceded it.

99. Lord of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle

An enjoyable, frothy quick read, although requiring me to turn off my historical accuracy geek sensors.

100. Dead Man's Chest by Kerry Greenwood

This may be my favorite Phryne book to date. A perfect escapist read.

101. Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions by Stephen Colbert

Very quick, very funny.

102. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly

I picked this up on a whim from the new book shelf at my local library, and found it an intriguing though not altogether convincing read. I agree that Austen was far more engaged with the political, social, and economic changes going on during her lifetime (and 1775-1817 was certainly a period of massive change and unrest for her part of the world) than she normally gets credit for, that her opinions tend toward the forward-thinking and progressive by the standards of the time, and above all that her books aren't the gauzy rural idylls they become in the hands of romantic, nostalgic film adaptations. However, I also think Kelly goes too far in her search for hidden symbolism and themes, and that it's perfectly fine and not at all a betrayal of Austen's intent to enjoy her novels for their wit and vivid characters.

103. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

This Indian-American YA rom-com has been getting a huge level of hype on book Twitter, and while I do think it was a bit over-hyped--the plot and characterization has notable debut author rough edges, IMHO--it's definitely a charming read.

104. The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part One by Michael Dante DiMartino

Picks up exactly where the series left off, with Korra and Asami arriving in the Spirit World. Their romantic vacation is cut short by troubles between the spirits and humans, plus discovering assorted new troubles in Republic City. A good start to a new story in this 'verse.

105. What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

I hesitated to buy and read this book because I wasn't sure I was ready to relive the election yet--and I did find the chapters on Russian interference and the Comey letter extremely hard to read. But all the mostly male people hand-wringing over how Hillary needs to go away and no one wants to hear from her and so on made me so mad I bought and read it anyway. And I would recommend it to just about anyone unless they're still a die-hard Trump supporter. To me it feels honest and fair (and really, she has just as much praise for Bernie as criticism, no matter what you may have read).

106. A Bride's Story, Volume 3 by Kaoru Mori

More lavishly illustrated tales of life on the Silk Road in the late 19th century.

107. Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West by Christopher Knowlton

Despite living just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean (or at least an arm thereof, in the form of Puget Sound), I don't think of myself as a Westerner. I grew up in the Deep South (Alabama) and came of age on the East Cost (Philadelphia). And besides, the West Coast is its own thing, especially in cities like Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, without much in common with the cowboy and rancher culture of the prairies and deserts to our east. So this was a history of an America I don't know as much about, nor feel a natural connection to. But it's a book I can recommend for showing the impact of the 20-30 year cattle boom--starting after the Civil War, ending before the turn of the 20th century--as at once a typical economic bubble followed by an abrupt crash, a sort of proto-dotcom boom with cows, and a unique moment with a lasting impact on America's self-image.

108. What Stands in a Storm by Kim Cross

I grew up in Dixie Alley (the Midwestern Tornado Alley's just-as-lethal but less-photogenic cyclonic cousin), though I'm fortunate in that my closest brush with a tornado was my grandparents losing their home in the 1974 outbreak that was arguably the worst one to strike Alabama before the 2011 storm described in this book. All this happened in a world I know so well, and this book made me cry several times, which is SO, so rare for me. I'm glad I read it, but I need to find something much less harrowing for my next choice.

109. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 6: Who Run the World? Squirrels by Ryan North

The latest Squirrel Girl trade arrived in my mailbox this afternoon, giving me just the happy read I needed.

110. Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente

Based on the title and cover I was expecting something of a playful take on a fairy tale, but what I got was dark and literary, and not quite what I was hoping for. And the ending of it felt weird and disconnected to the story. But the writing is lovely, and if you like dark, literary fairy tale retellings, you'd probably enjoy this one.

111. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken

If you want to read a book about the current state of American politics and still be able to laugh, this is the one to pick. Which is not to say it's light or frivolous--it's informative and encouraging, too.

112. Death on Delos by Gary Corby

Another fun entry in one of my favorite historical mystery series.

113. American Maelstrom by Michael A. Cohen

Though I've known for a while now that 1968 was a consequential year in American history, I wasn't super-familiar with the details going in. I was born in 1971, which means for the adults in my world, everything that recent was so familiar that no one taught it to me as history, and for the most part the second half of the 20th century has never called out to my inner history geek. But this year I've been learning a bit more, as my reading list shows, because hoo boy is it ever still relevant. It's depressing just how many echoes of 1968 there still are in our politics, 50 years later. We even had a very Trumpian candidate then, in the form of George Wallace. Sigh.

>141 PaulCranswick: That looks an interesting book, Susanna. Trumpian is a descriptor that fills me with dread.

>142 susanna.fraser: Wallace was governor of Alabama for a chunk of my childhood. My parents hated him, and were embarrassed if his name came up when we traveled out of state. I already knew about how he fought against the civil rights movement, but before this I was only vaguely aware that he'd run for president or of how much of an impact his rabble-rousing campaign rallies had had.



114. One True Pairing by Cathy Yardley

A fun romance novel set against the backdrop of a fantasy TV show fan convention, and a needed break from politics.

In all fairness Wallace did apparently repent of his segregationist views in his later years and earned the respect of people such as Jesse Jackson. I don't see trump repenting.

>144 susanna.fraser: True--or at least was sufficiently a political opportunist to act convincingly repentant, who knows? Also, Wallace really WAS a Man of the (White) People, not a rich man with a gilded Manhattan penthouse posturing as Friend of the Working Man. And, he understood that nuclear war was a really terrible idea, which I wish was the case with Trump.



115. Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood

Next to last in the Phryne Fisher series, at least that have been published to date. I'll have to come up with a new source of historical mystery catnip soon.

116. We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

aka Susanna reads yet another depressing book about politics and the state of my nation. I wish I thought Coates was wrong about any of it, but I don't.

>146 Oberon: I am in the middle of that book. I am enjoying it but yes - depressing for how far we have fallen.

>147 susanna.fraser: Very much so. I've decided I need to try to cut down on how many political books I've been reading. Not stop, but maybe try to cut it to one every month or two. Between Twitter and all the political podcasts I follow, I stay informed, and I think I need to make my reading more of a self-care space. (Which doesn't mean I'm going to take One Nation After Trump back to the library unread, so, work in progress...)



117. Highland Dragon Warrior by Isabel Cooper

Fortunately all the politics in this book are of the early 14th century variety. Don't let the cover fool you--this is a thoughtful, well-written romantic fantasy novel that IMHO did a good job integrating shapeshifters and magic into the actual history of medieval Scotland.

>148 lycomayflower: Highland Dragon Warrior just fell into my amazon cart. I don't know *how* these things happen.

>149 susanna.fraser: I hope you like it!



118. Hamilton's Battalion by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole

A lovely set of stories for Hamilton fans and historical romance lovers who wish the American Revolution got more attention, and one that left me feeling a bit more hopeful about America despite the darkness of our current timeline.

119. The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan

An account of 75 years or so of instability, war, and civil war that wracked the Roman Republic before Caesar, Pompey, Crassus and the like took the stage, by popular history podcaster Mike Duncan. Readable and accessible, though the book is something of a barrage of names and places--I may just go back to Duncan's History of Rome podcast to listen to the coverage of this era, just to firm it up better in my mind.

120. The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold

Did I see an announcement that this novella had been released in my Facebook feed this morning, immediately download it, and finish reading it before noon even though I also walked a 5K during that time? You bet I did. It's not the most tightly plotted of this series--the conflict is, frankly, pretty slight--but it's a delightful chance to check in with old favorite characters and meet some new ones.

121. A Bride's Story, Volume 4 by Kaoru Mori

I'm in the middle of reading Ron Chernow's Grant, but I took a break after the Appomattox chapter for the next in this series of unique, light-hearted, and beautifully illustrated manga about life in Central Asia in the late 19th century.

122. Grant by Ron Chernow

A brick of a book at 959 pages, but well worth the effort to read it. I definitely learned FAR more about Reconstruction than I ever did in school and came away with a strong affection for Grant the human being and a much greater respect for his abilities as a general than what I'd picked up even after stepping away from the Lost Cause-centric, R.E. Lee-idolizing version of history I got growing up in Alabama.

I am very impressed that you got through Grant! I heard part of an interview with Chernow on public radio the other day and he spoke of Grant a someone who truly championed the recently freed African Americans of the South.

Like you, I'm a southerner. Even coming from an extremely liberal family, I can still remember believing that the Civil War was fought over states rights as late as middle school.

I'm not a huge fan of biographies, but I think I need to commit to reading one for each president, in order. I think Ron Chernow's biographies should be my first pick, when available.

>152 susanna.fraser: I was lurking on your thread (it must have been last week) when I saw your The Prisoner of Limnos review - I had no idea it was out! I hope you saw that I added it as a shared read with you for the TIOLI Challenges.

I was going to try Six-Gun Snow White, but decided against it - a little too dark for my mood at the time.

>155 susanna.fraser: AFAIK the only presidents he's written biographies of are Washington and Grant. And I admire your ambition to read one for EACH president--we've had some forgettable ones along the way. (Though right now "forgettable" sounds pretty awesome.)



123. A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit

A book that combines history, sociology, and political philosophy about how communities react to disaster. The one-sentence version is that ordinary citizens tend to react very well--helpful, calm, and resourceful--while elites tend to expect us to panic and often cause harm by trying to restore "normal" order too soon or too forcefully. The book came out in 2010, and focuses on literal disasters--the 1906 San Francisco Quake, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc.--but I couldn't help finding ways it applied to the groundswell of liberal activism over the last year in America.

>156 Dejah_Thoris: Yeah, the whole Presidential biography thing sounds great, but you'll note I haven't actually started....

I've looked at reading A Paradise Built in Hell because I often read disaster books, but the truth is that I prefer my disasters with a little more temporal distance - I've yet to read anything about Katrina, etc. You didn't sound particularly wowed by this one, or am I misreading your review?

>157 susanna.fraser: The sociology and political philosophy bits lost me to some degree because I wasn't sufficiently familiar with the people and concepts--it felt a bit like skipping the intro and going straight to a 200-level class, you know? It wasn't completely over my head, but I felt like I was missing something. The more practical parts that looked directly at the history and human behavior were fascinating.

124. The Social Lives of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

I picked up this book expecting popular science and ended up classifying it as a memoir, since it's less an analysis of dog behavior illustrated by anecdotes of dogs the author has known and more the story of how her family ended up with four dogs (plus assorted cats and a few parrots) and how the dogs sorted out the multi-species hierarchy. It's a quick, engaging read despite not being what I expected, and it did leave me itching to get a dog.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

>160 susanna.fraser: And thank YOU for reading, and for participating in my thread!

Catching up on posting a week's worth of reading--my husband was installing a new computer for me, a process that was delayed when we had a sewer failure last weekend. (Everything is fixed now, though we're poorer than we were this time last week, for sure.)



125. The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson

The Ms Marvel author's memoir of her conversion and early years in Islam.



126. The Rescuers by Margery Sharp

A book I enjoyed as a child and was recently reminded of. I'm happy to say it's still abundantly charming even when read as an adult, and I wish it's sequels were more readily available.



127. Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

The last of the Phryne Fisher books, unless Greenwood someday adds to the series. I'll miss my monthly Phryne reads.

Happy Thanksgiving!

>161 Dejah_Thoris: How horrible re: sewer failure. It's good to hear that everything is fixed, but I imagine it was less than fun.

I thought The Butterfly Mosque was quite interesting - she certainly jumped in with both feet!

I hate that Kerry Greenwood hasn't written more Phryne mysteries. I may join you in Murder and Mendelssohn as a reread.

>162 susanna.fraser: I need to find a new mystery series or two. I prefer historical to contemporary, but I'm not particular about time period or location. My favorite series other than Phryne is probably Lindsey Davis's Falco mysteries, though I also enjoy Gary Corby's Athenian mysteries. And for Golden Age fiction, I love Lord Peter Wimsey. I like a nice long-running series where the sleuth builds up a found family, and a slow burn romance thread is a bonus but not an absolute requirement.



128. Alien Taste by Wen Spencer

First in a science fiction series with more of a urban fantasy/suspense feel (and a very convoluted plot). I liked it, but didn't connect with the characters quite enough to rush out to read the rest of the series.

129. The Unwelcome Suitor by Marjorie DeBoer

A traditional Regency romance published in 1984. It's more melodramatic than is currently my taste, but it was enjoyable reading the kind of book I just LOVED as a teenager.

130. The Lass Wore Black by Karen Ranney

When it comes to acquiring books, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach/available reading time. So to whittle down my ever-growing TBR pile a bit, I've decided to make a tradition of acquiring no new books between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even going so far as to put my library holds on pause (because part of my problem is I take out so many library books I never get around to reading books I actually own).

So this is a book that's been sitting on my Kindle for several years, possibly going back to its 2013 release date, and I could no longer remember for the life of me why I'd bought it. The cover and title certainly didn't suggest the kind of historical romance I usually prefer. But by a few chapters in, I remembered--the cover and title don't fit the content and tone of the book all that well, and I'd read a review somewhere that talked about it as having an unusual and initially not particularly likable heroine struggling to find reason to live after an accident that left her disfigured with severe facial scarring and with pain and limited mobility from her other injuries. And as such it was an interesting and moving read. Also, I liked that the ending, while happy, didn't miraculously solve everything. The heroine hasn't been exaggerating the import of some minor scar than can be readily concealed by cosmetics. She'll never have the same easy, comfortable use of her injured leg and arm. Flawed characters stay flawed, and difficult family relationships aren't magically ironed out. But none of that is a reason to stop hoping or living.

131. Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles

A history of Carthage, somewhat hampered by the fact we have almost no history of Carthage through the eyes of the Carthaginians. The author focuses a lot of the similarities and synergies among the various cultures and religions of the central Mediterranean ~2500 to 2000 years ago, showing that the East vs West dichotomy being posited even at the time was more than a little false. If I had it to do over again, I'd read this first and The Storm Before the Storm immediately afterward, since Duncan's work picks up right where Miles's ends.

Hi Susannah -

I did managed to get Murder and Mendelssohn into November, so we've got a shared read - it was a tough month for shared reads.

I though about joining you for Carthage Must be Destroyed, but I wimped out. Do you recommend it?

>167 susanna.fraser: I'd recommend it only for serious ancient history geeks. It's rendered a bit dry and distant by the lack of detail available for anything before the Punic Wars.



132. Hard Knocks by Ruby Lang

Sports romance between a hockey player and a neurologist on a personal mission against sports-related concussions. Both characters were immensely likable and vividly drawn, and I expect I'll be reading more of Lang's books.

133. The Highland Dragon's Lady by Isabel Cooper

More fantasy romance perfectly balancing those two genres. The hero is from the same dragon shifter family featured in Highland Dragon Warrior, but a generation or two and several centuries later, and the setting this time is a truly haunted country house party in 1895.

134. The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts

Worth reading if you're a horse lover, this book explored a footnote of history I'd somehow never encountered--how the US Army rescued some of the finest Arabians and Lipizzaner horses of Central Europe at the end of WWII.

>170 Dejah_Thoris: Good book, but I agree - best for horse lovers or those with a specific interest in WWII.

>171 susanna.fraser: Yes, it's very much a niche story, IMO.



135. Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott

Second in a YA fantasy trilogy that feels a bit like The Hunger Games in a high fantasy setting, insofar as it has a high-stakes, potentially lethal sporting event at its center and a heroine who's something of a pawn/figurehead in the conflicts surrounding her.

136. The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean

Historical romance, by turns angsty and hilarious.

137. The Best Worst Holiday Party Ever by Olivia Waite

(Full disclosure--Olivia is a friend of mine.) A lovely romantic short story all about passion, competence, and holding fast to your dreams.

138. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

A deep dive into the structure and parameters of comics as an art and storytelling form. A dry read, but I've reached the point where I've read just enough graphic novels and comics to geek out a bit about how they convey meaning compared to other media.

139. A Dreadful Deceit by Jacqueline Jones

By examining the lives of six black men and women from colonial Maryland in the 17th century to Detroit factories in the 20th century, an exploration of the mingled evolution and continuity of views of race in America.

140. The Last Chance Christmas Ball by Mary Jo Putney et al.

A holiday romance anthology of loosely connected love stories, many of them reunion/second chances, all set at a Christmas ball in 1815.

It is that time of year again, between Solstice and Christmas, just after Hanukkah, when our thoughts turn to wishing each other well in whatever language or image is meaningful to the recipient. So, whether I wish you Happy Solstice or Merry Christmas, know that what I really wish you, and for you, is this:

>178 susanna.fraser: Thank you, and warmest holiday wishes to you as well!



141. Summer in Orcus by T Kingfisher

I no longer remember what led me to purchase this book, but it's a delightful portal fantasy about using the strengths life has given you to fight for what you love.

Wishing you all good things this holiday season and beyond.

>180 susanna.fraser: What a lovely card! All best wishes for the holidays and for 2018.

142. Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson

One of this year's SantaThing gifts, first in a historical mystery series set in 1890's New York. Sufficiently intriguing that I'll seek out book two.

I dropped be to hope that hat you Christmas has been wonderful, but I think I'll also comment on some books!

>176 susanna.fraser: This looks fascinating - I'll try to get me hands on it.

>177 ronincats: I'm reading a Regency Christmas romance today, and when I dug it out I also pulled out half a dozen Rengency Christmas short story collections. I used to reread them every year, but haven't for some time. I think I'll aim to get to them next year, and add this one to the list!

>182 Dejah_Thoris:. I've read all of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries. It's a solid series, although it may have run its course by now. I wouldn't recommend reading the too closely together, though.

>183 susanna.fraser: I'll probably space them out with one every month or so like i did with the Phryne Fisher mysteries. (I do hope Greenwood goes back to the series eventually.)



143. A Contract With God by Will Eisner

Apparently this is widely regarded as the first graphic novel, insofar as it takes the form in a more literary direction in its tales of Bronx tenement life in the 1930's. I'm glad I read it for its place in the history of the genre, though I wasn't crazy about the stories themselves. It was maybe a bit TOO literary for me in that I found it hard to root for any of the characters.

144. Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

So, I'm not going to get through 150 books this year, but I'm glad I took the time to read this biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose books I adored as a child and still occasionally revisit as an adult. I was already aware that the Little House books leave out the darker incidents of Laura's childhood, so that aspect wasn't a surprise to me, but the chapters about her adult life and difficult relationship with her daughter were fascinating.

145. Ms. Marvel Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson

Not the strongest entry in this series--it feels like a bridge between big stories--but Ms. Marvel is still more or less tied with Squirrel Girl as my favorite superhero.

146. A Bride's Story Vol. 5 by Kaoru Mori

This series continues to shine for its amazing artwork.