1antqueen
I live near Louisville, Kentucky, far enough out that I don't need to deal with the city if I don't want to, but near enough that I can if I do. I like to wander around outside and take pictures of things, so my pictures this year are all ones I've taken around Kentucky. Most with my phone, so they're not all great, but I like them anyway! The heron above posed for me at a local lake.
It's been a few years since I've posted a category thread. Here's hoping I keep up with it this time! This year I'm going to do something a little different. I'm just going to list books by month, but I'll include the CATs and KITs and DOGs and whatever else catches my fancy, and "collect" things like places and times books are set in. That's the current plan, anyway...
Key to symbols:
Audio: π§
Read with my daughter, who is obsessed with cats: π
2antqueen
January-March
My daughter had just asked if we would see any turtles at the lake, and since it was mostly covered in ice we figured not... and then we looked over and saw one walking across the surface.
January
1. Chill of the Ice Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
2. Waking the Rainbow Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
3. Shine of the Silver Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
4. The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan (post)
5. Treasure of the Gold Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
6. We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson (post)
7. Eye of the Earthquake Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
8. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn π§ (post)
9. What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin (post)
10. The Elders by Inbali Iserles π (post)
11. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (post)
12. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson π§ (post)
13. To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster (post)
14. More Bedtime Stories for Cynics, edited by Nick Offerman π§ (post)
15. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October 2019 (post)
16. The Mage by Inbali Iserles π (post)
17. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne π§ (post)
18. Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah H. Parcak (post)
January totals:
18 books
14 print (3257p, average 233p)
4 audio (26h 46m, average 6h 42m)
February
19. House of Chains by Steven Erikson (post)
20. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann π§ (post)
21. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (post)
22. Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant π§ (post)
23. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman π (post)
24. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (post)
25. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ (post)
26. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction November/December 2019 (post)
27. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon π (post)
28. Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton π (post)
29. Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton π (post)
30. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman π (post)
Picture Books π
Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin
Santa Duck by David Milgrim
February totals:
19 books
16 print (3182 p, average 199p)
3 audio (15h 43m, average 5h 14m)
March
31. Guardians of the Taiga by StacyPlays (Stacy Hinojosa) π (post)
32. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate π (post)
33. Nevertheless, She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project (post)
34. Gandhi the Man: How One Man Changed Himself to Change the World by Eknath Easwaran (post)
35. How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe (post)
36. The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland π§ (post)
37. Legacy of the Claw by C. R. Grey π (post)
38. The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia π§ (post)
39. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (post)
March totals:
9 books
7 print (1604p, average 229p)
2 audio (26h 32m, average 13h 16m)
1st quarter totals:
46 books
37 print (8043p, average 217p)
9 audio (69h 1m, average 7h 40m)
My daughter had just asked if we would see any turtles at the lake, and since it was mostly covered in ice we figured not... and then we looked over and saw one walking across the surface.
January
1. Chill of the Ice Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
2. Waking the Rainbow Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
3. Shine of the Silver Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
4. The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan (post)
5. Treasure of the Gold Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
6. We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson (post)
7. Eye of the Earthquake Dragon by Tracey West π (post)
8. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn π§ (post)
9. What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin (post)
10. The Elders by Inbali Iserles π (post)
11. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (post)
12. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson π§ (post)
13. To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster (post)
14. More Bedtime Stories for Cynics, edited by Nick Offerman π§ (post)
15. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October 2019 (post)
16. The Mage by Inbali Iserles π (post)
17. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne π§ (post)
18. Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah H. Parcak (post)
January totals:
18 books
14 print (3257p, average 233p)
4 audio (26h 46m, average 6h 42m)
February
19. House of Chains by Steven Erikson (post)
20. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann π§ (post)
21. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (post)
22. Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant π§ (post)
23. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman π (post)
24. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (post)
25. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ (post)
26. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction November/December 2019 (post)
27. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon π (post)
28. Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton π (post)
29. Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton π (post)
30. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman π (post)
Picture Books π
Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin
Santa Duck by David Milgrim
February totals:
19 books
16 print (3182 p, average 199p)
3 audio (15h 43m, average 5h 14m)
March
31. Guardians of the Taiga by StacyPlays (Stacy Hinojosa) π (post)
32. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate π (post)
33. Nevertheless, She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project (post)
34. Gandhi the Man: How One Man Changed Himself to Change the World by Eknath Easwaran (post)
35. How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe (post)
36. The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland π§ (post)
37. Legacy of the Claw by C. R. Grey π (post)
38. The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia π§ (post)
39. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (post)
March totals:
9 books
7 print (1604p, average 229p)
2 audio (26h 32m, average 13h 16m)
1st quarter totals:
46 books
37 print (8043p, average 217p)
9 audio (69h 1m, average 7h 40m)
3antqueen
April-June
A trillium from a hike near Red River Gorge early one spring.
April
40. R.U.R. by Karel CΜapek (post)
41. The Insect Play by Karel CΜapek (post)
42. The Makropulos Case by Karel CΜapek (post)
43. The White Plague by Karel CΜapek (post)
44. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett π§ (post)
45. The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson π§ (post)
46. Flight of the King by C. R. Grey π (post)
47. The Golden Orchard by Flora Ahn π§ (post)
48. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (post)
49. The BFG by Roald Dahl π (post)
50. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl π (post)
51. Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
52. Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra by Peter Kurth (post)
April totals:
13 books
10 print (1788p, average 179p)
3 audio (18h 53m, average 6h 18m
May
53. If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
54. Still Life by Louise Penny π§ (post)
55. The Future of Work: Compulsory by Martha Wells (post)
56. Camelot by Bill Willingham (post)
57. Sink or Swim by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
58. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (post)
59. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (post)
60. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (post)
61. Dream On by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
62. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (post)
63. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin (post)
64. Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos by Steven Pollock π§ (post)
65. Dubliners by James Joyce (post)
66. How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe π π§ (post)
67. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky (post)
68. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin π (post)
69. Saga, Volume Six by Brian K. Vaughan (post)
70. Dodge & Twist by Tony Lee π§ (post)
May totals:
18 books
10 print (2779p, average 278p)
4 audio (32h 21m, average 8h 5m)
4 ebooks
June
71. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (post)
72. The Sea Fairies by L. Frank Baum π (post)
73. Evans Above by Rhys Bowen π§ (post)
74. Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine by Ben Winters π§ (post)
75. Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi π§ (post)
76. Athyra by Steven Brust π§ (post)
77. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (post)
78. Inspector Hobbes and the Blood by Wilkie Martin π§ (post)
79. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (post)
80. Confluence by S. K. Dunstall (post)
81. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan π (post)
82. Pearls Goes Hollywood by Stephan Pastis
83. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (post)
84. Sovereign by Jeff Hirsch π π§ (post)
85. Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington π§ (post)
June totals:
15 books
8 print (2606p, average 326p)
7 audio (44h 1m, average 6h 17m)
2nd quarter totals:
46 books
28 print (7173p, average 256p)
14 audio (95h 15m, average 6h 48m)
A trillium from a hike near Red River Gorge early one spring.
April
40. R.U.R. by Karel CΜapek (post)
41. The Insect Play by Karel CΜapek (post)
42. The Makropulos Case by Karel CΜapek (post)
43. The White Plague by Karel CΜapek (post)
44. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett π§ (post)
45. The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson π§ (post)
46. Flight of the King by C. R. Grey π (post)
47. The Golden Orchard by Flora Ahn π§ (post)
48. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (post)
49. The BFG by Roald Dahl π (post)
50. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl π (post)
51. Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
52. Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra by Peter Kurth (post)
April totals:
13 books
10 print (1788p, average 179p)
3 audio (18h 53m, average 6h 18m
May
53. If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
54. Still Life by Louise Penny π§ (post)
55. The Future of Work: Compulsory by Martha Wells (post)
56. Camelot by Bill Willingham (post)
57. Sink or Swim by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
58. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (post)
59. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (post)
60. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (post)
61. Dream On by Sarah Mlynowski π (post)
62. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (post)
63. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin (post)
64. Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos by Steven Pollock π§ (post)
65. Dubliners by James Joyce (post)
66. How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe π π§ (post)
67. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky (post)
68. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin π (post)
69. Saga, Volume Six by Brian K. Vaughan (post)
70. Dodge & Twist by Tony Lee π§ (post)
May totals:
18 books
10 print (2779p, average 278p)
4 audio (32h 21m, average 8h 5m)
4 ebooks
June
71. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (post)
72. The Sea Fairies by L. Frank Baum π (post)
73. Evans Above by Rhys Bowen π§ (post)
74. Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine by Ben Winters π§ (post)
75. Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi π§ (post)
76. Athyra by Steven Brust π§ (post)
77. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (post)
78. Inspector Hobbes and the Blood by Wilkie Martin π§ (post)
79. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (post)
80. Confluence by S. K. Dunstall (post)
81. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan π (post)
82. Pearls Goes Hollywood by Stephan Pastis
83. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (post)
84. Sovereign by Jeff Hirsch π π§ (post)
85. Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington π§ (post)
June totals:
15 books
8 print (2606p, average 326p)
7 audio (44h 1m, average 6h 17m)
2nd quarter totals:
46 books
28 print (7173p, average 256p)
14 audio (95h 15m, average 6h 48m)
4antqueen
July-September
The last few years we've released Painted Lady butterflies in the summer. It was chilly the morning we released them last year, and they were lethargic enough to hang around for a while, which my daughter loved.
July
86. Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett π§ (post)
87. Murder on Thames by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
88. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (post)
89. The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis π§ (post)
90. Mystery at the Manor by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
91. Murder by Moonlight by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
92. The Novice by Trudi Canavan (post)
93. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan π (post)
94. 13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (post)
95. Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe (post)
96. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ (post)
97. Happily Ever After by Bill Willingham (post)
98. Redshirts by John Scalzi π§ (post)
99. The Spies that Bind by Ally Carter π§ (post)
100. Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone) by Sam Wineburg (post)
101. Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans by James Stavridis (post)
102. Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry π§ (post)
103. Farewell by Bill Willingham (post)
July totals:
18 books
9 print (2797p, average 311p)
9 audio (47h 31m, average 5h 17m)
August
104. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan π (post)
105. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths π§ (post)
106. Childhood, Interrupted: Raising Kids During a Pandemic by Dr. Sanjay Gupta π§ (post)
107. To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts (post)
108. Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor π§ (post)
109. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March/April 2020 (post)
110. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (post)
111. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi π§ (post)
112. Life Ever After by Carla Grauls π§ (post)
113. Noble House by James Clavell (post)
114. The Battle of the Labryinth by Rick Riordan π (post)
115. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland (post)
August totals:
12 books
7 print (3632p, average 519p)
5 audio (16h 37m, average 3h 19m)
September
116. A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux π§
117. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
118. White Fang by Jack London π§
119. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
120. The Murmur of Bees by SofiΜa Segovia
121. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan π
122. Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon π
123. A Crazy Inheritance by Tommy Krappweis π§
124. The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
125. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke
September totals:
10 books
6 print (2178p, average 363p)
4 audio (32h 26m, average 8h 7m)
3rd quarter totals:
40 books
22 print (8607p, average 391p)
18 audio (96h 34m, average 5h 22m)
The last few years we've released Painted Lady butterflies in the summer. It was chilly the morning we released them last year, and they were lethargic enough to hang around for a while, which my daughter loved.
July
86. Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett π§ (post)
87. Murder on Thames by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
88. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (post)
89. The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis π§ (post)
90. Mystery at the Manor by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
91. Murder by Moonlight by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ (post)
92. The Novice by Trudi Canavan (post)
93. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan π (post)
94. 13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (post)
95. Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe (post)
96. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ (post)
97. Happily Ever After by Bill Willingham (post)
98. Redshirts by John Scalzi π§ (post)
99. The Spies that Bind by Ally Carter π§ (post)
100. Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone) by Sam Wineburg (post)
101. Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans by James Stavridis (post)
102. Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry π§ (post)
103. Farewell by Bill Willingham (post)
July totals:
18 books
9 print (2797p, average 311p)
9 audio (47h 31m, average 5h 17m)
August
104. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan π (post)
105. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths π§ (post)
106. Childhood, Interrupted: Raising Kids During a Pandemic by Dr. Sanjay Gupta π§ (post)
107. To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts (post)
108. Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor π§ (post)
109. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March/April 2020 (post)
110. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (post)
111. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi π§ (post)
112. Life Ever After by Carla Grauls π§ (post)
113. Noble House by James Clavell (post)
114. The Battle of the Labryinth by Rick Riordan π (post)
115. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland (post)
August totals:
12 books
7 print (3632p, average 519p)
5 audio (16h 37m, average 3h 19m)
September
116. A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux π§
117. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
118. White Fang by Jack London π§
119. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
120. The Murmur of Bees by SofiΜa Segovia
121. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan π
122. Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon π
123. A Crazy Inheritance by Tommy Krappweis π§
124. The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
125. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke
September totals:
10 books
6 print (2178p, average 363p)
4 audio (32h 26m, average 8h 7m)
3rd quarter totals:
40 books
22 print (8607p, average 391p)
18 audio (96h 34m, average 5h 22m)
5antqueen
October-December
Our local zoo releases Monarchs every fall. This fellow landed just in front of us and we stood guard over him for a few minutes.
October
126. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill π§
127. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum
128. Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum
129. The First by Katherine Applegate π
130. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
131. Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon π
132. The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester
133. The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff π
134. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
135. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold π§
136. History of Bourbon by Ken Albala π§
October totals:
11 books
8 print (1904p, average 238p)
3 audio (29h 27m, average 9h 49m)
November
137. Dragonslayer by Tui Sutherland π
138. Saga, Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
139. The Mad Wolf's Daughter by Diane Magras π
140. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor π§
141. Saga, Volume Eight by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
142. Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George π
143. Junkyard Cats by Faith Hunter π§
144. The Bad Guys in the Baddest Day Ever by Aaron Blabey π
145. Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Menuhin π§
146. Captain Alatriste by Arturo PΓ©rez-Reverte
147. The Bad Guys in the Dawn of the Underlord by Aaron Blabey π
148. The Bad Guys in the One?! by Aaron Blabey π
149. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction July/August 2020
November totals:
13 books
10 print (2365p, average 237p)
3 audio (20h 16m, average 6h 45m)
December
150. The Winglets Quartet by Tui Sutherland π
151. The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells π§
152. Od Magic by Patricia McKillip
153. All-Butter ShortDead by H. Y. Hanna π§
154. 9 Tales of Raffalon by Matthew Hughes
155. The Cuckoo's Cry by Caroline Overington π§
156. The Noise Revealed by Ian Whates
157. The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter
158. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly π§
159. The Flame of Olympus by Kate O'Hearn π
160. Mother is Coming by Bill Amend
161. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
162. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October 2020
163. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens π
164. Year Zero by Robert Reid π§
December totals:
15 books
10 print (3337p, average 334 p)
5 audio (35h 9m, average 7h 2m)
4th quarter totals:
39 books
28 print (7606p, average 272p)
11 audio (84h 52m, average 7h 43m)
Our local zoo releases Monarchs every fall. This fellow landed just in front of us and we stood guard over him for a few minutes.
October
126. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill π§
127. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum
128. Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum
129. The First by Katherine Applegate π
130. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
131. Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon π
132. The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester
133. The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff π
134. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
135. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold π§
136. History of Bourbon by Ken Albala π§
October totals:
11 books
8 print (1904p, average 238p)
3 audio (29h 27m, average 9h 49m)
November
137. Dragonslayer by Tui Sutherland π
138. Saga, Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
139. The Mad Wolf's Daughter by Diane Magras π
140. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor π§
141. Saga, Volume Eight by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
142. Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George π
143. Junkyard Cats by Faith Hunter π§
144. The Bad Guys in the Baddest Day Ever by Aaron Blabey π
145. Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Menuhin π§
146. Captain Alatriste by Arturo PΓ©rez-Reverte
147. The Bad Guys in the Dawn of the Underlord by Aaron Blabey π
148. The Bad Guys in the One?! by Aaron Blabey π
149. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction July/August 2020
November totals:
13 books
10 print (2365p, average 237p)
3 audio (20h 16m, average 6h 45m)
December
150. The Winglets Quartet by Tui Sutherland π
151. The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells π§
152. Od Magic by Patricia McKillip
153. All-Butter ShortDead by H. Y. Hanna π§
154. 9 Tales of Raffalon by Matthew Hughes
155. The Cuckoo's Cry by Caroline Overington π§
156. The Noise Revealed by Ian Whates
157. The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter
158. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly π§
159. The Flame of Olympus by Kate O'Hearn π
160. Mother is Coming by Bill Amend
161. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
162. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October 2020
163. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens π
164. Year Zero by Robert Reid π§
December totals:
15 books
10 print (3337p, average 334 p)
5 audio (35h 9m, average 7h 2m)
4th quarter totals:
39 books
28 print (7606p, average 272p)
11 audio (84h 52m, average 7h 43m)
6antqueen
Acquired in 2020
A cluster of sulphurs in a dry area of a local creek last summer. They collected one by one until there were dozens, much like my books do...
Print - read 18
Audio π§ - Listened to 19
A cluster of sulphurs in a dry area of a local creek last summer. They collected one by one until there were dozens, much like my books do...
Print - read 18
-
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
-
To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowen and John Kuenster
-
Becoming by Michelle Obama
-
Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone) by Sam Wineburg
-
Od Magic by Patricia McKillip
-
Four Plays: R.U.R., The Insect Play, The Makropulos Case, The White Plague by Karel Δapek
-
Legend by David Gemmel
-
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente
-
Mirror Sight by Kristin Britain
-
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
-
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
-
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
-
The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester
-
The Power of Babel by John McWhorter
-
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
-
Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe
-
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
-
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
-
The Sea Fairies by L. Frank Baum
-
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
-
Pearls Goes Hollywood by Stephan Pastis
-
Mechanism, Volume One by Raffaele Ienco
-
Saga, Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan
-
Saga, Volume Eight by Brian K. Vaughan
-
Saga, Volume Nine by Brian K. Vaughan
-
The Creeps by John Connolly
-
The Boys, Volume One by Garth Ennis
-
Fools Errant by Matthew Hughes
-
9 Tales of Raffalon by Matthew Hughes
-
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel GarcΓa MΓ‘rquez
-
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
-
Purity of Blood by Arturo PΓ©rez-Reverte
-
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Audio π§ - Listened to 19
-
Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon
-
Junkyard Cats by Faith Hunter
-
Sethra Lavode by Steven Brust
-
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
-
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
-
Athyra by Steven Brust
-
Still Life by Louise Penny
-
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
-
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
-
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
-
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
-
Our Harlem by Marcus Samuelsson
-
Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Michael Pollen
-
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
-
The Story of Human Language by John McWhorter
-
Certain Woman of an Age by Margaret Trudeau
-
The Messengers by Lindsay Joelle
-
Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor
-
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
-
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffith
-
A Murder of Manatees by Larry Correia
-
Finding Tess by Beth Macy
-
How to Build Meaningful Relationships Through Conversation by Carol Ann Lloyd
-
The Golden Orchard by Flora Ahn
-
The Man on the Mountaintop by Susan Trott
-
A Woman of the World by Rebecca Gilman
-
The Life and Times of Prince Albert by Patrick Allitt
-
Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection
-
Exit Interview with My Grandmother by Lily Meyersohn
-
The Flying Flamingo Sisters by Carrie Seim
-
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe
-
Cold Turkey: How to Quit Drinking by Not Drinking by Mishka Shubaly
-
Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine by Ben H. Winters
-
Sea Wall / A Life by Simon Stephens
-
The Getaway by Greer Hendricks
-
Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Menuhin
-
The Case of the Damaged Detective by Drew Hayes
-
Coming Out Party by Nikki Levy
-
Forget Nothing by Jason Anspach
-
Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi
-
Herbie by Rich Cohen
-
A Crazy Inheritance by Tommy Krappweis
-
Henrietta & Eleanor by Libby Spurrier
-
Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist by Marc Fennell
-
Beyond Strange Lands by David Peterson
-
History of Bourbon by Ken Albala
-
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne
-
The Cuckoo's Cry by Caroline Overington
-
King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster by Justin Armsden
-
Silverswift by Natalie Lloyd
-
Agent 355 by Marie Benedict
-
The Roommate by Dervla McTiernan
-
African-American Athletes Who Made History by Louis Moore
-
Life Ever After by Carla Grauls
-
The Space Race by Colin Brake
-
The Real Sherlock by Lucinda Hawksley
-
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
-
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
-
Phreaks by Matthew Derby
-
Thicker than Water by Tyler Shultz
-
Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime by Dan Rather
-
Stuck by Chris Grabenstein
-
Childhood, Interrupted: Raising Kids During a Pandemic by Dr. Sanjay Gupta
-
Bluebird Memories: A Journey Through Lyrics & Life by Common
-
Bella Bella by Harvey Fierstein
-
Letters From Camp by Jamie Lee Curtis and Boco Haft
-
When You Finish Saving the World by Jesse Eisenberg
-
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
-
Catharsis by Travis Bagwell
-
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
-
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
-
Orca by Steven Brust
-
Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold
7antqueen
BingoDOG (thread | suggestion thread | wiki)
-
Published under a pen name or anonymously- Three Bags Full
-
Title contains at least 3 consecutive letters from bingo- The Princess and the Goblin
-
Proper name in title- Seraphina
-
Title is/contains a pun- Evans Above
-
Not set on earth- Ancillary Justice
-
Epistolary- 13, rue Thérèse
-
Red cover- The Daughter of Time
-
From a small press or self-published- Murder at Archly Manor
- Published the year you were born
-
Published in 1820 or 1920- Glinda of Oz
-
Written by an LT author- A Curious Beginning
-
About books, bookstores, or libraries- The Starless Sea
-
Read a CAT- The Sea Fairies
-
A book of mythology or folklore- The Bear and the Nightingale
- "library" or "thing" in title
-
Non US/UK female author- Confluence
-
Set in Asia- Gandhi the Man
-
Mystery or true crime- Still Life
-
About birth or death- The Dispatcher
-
By a journalist or about journalism- To Sleep with the Angels
-
Weird title- How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
-
Periodic table element in title- Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons
-
In an LT Legacy Library- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
-
Published in 2020- Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine
-
Involving a real historical event- What the Body Remembers
8antqueen
CATs
My sleepy old cat, who likes to sit on books.
NonfictionCAT (thread | wiki)
January - Journalism and News - To Sleep with the Angels
February - Travel
March - Biography - Gandhi the Man
April - Law and Order
May - Science - Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos
June - Society
July - Human Science - Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone)
August - History - Persian Fire
September - Religion and Philosophy
October - The Arts
November - Food, Home and Recreation
December - Adventures by Land, Sea or Air
GEOCat (thread | wiki)
January - Asia I: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan - What the Body Remembers
February - Europe (excluding Great Britain) - The Bear and the Nightingale
March - Northern Africa & The Mideast - The Other Side of History
April - Australia, New Zealand, Oceania
May - Any place you would like to visit! - Dubliners, Still Life (Quebec), Dodge & Twist (London)
June - Space: The Final Frontier - Confluence, Sovereign
July - Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean
August - Asia II: Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia - Noble House
September - Polar & Tundra Regions - White Fang
October - Great Britain, Canada, US - The Nickel Boys, The Matchstick Castle
November - Africa II - Other African countries - Akata Witch
December - Catch up month or read another one from your favorite CATegory!
RandomCAT (thread | wiki)
January - A book that is challenging or intimidating in some way to you - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
February - Originally published in a leap year - Seraphina, The Princess and the Goblin
March - Seasons of love (season in title)
April - Showers and flowers
May - Believe in your shelf - one of your oldest TBRs - Dubliners
June - Take to the sea - set on/near a body of water or has a body of water in the title - The Sea Fairies, The Starless Sea
July - Picture this! - 13, rue Thérèse, Happily Ever After
August - Get your groove on - music - Break Shot
September - Recommendations - The Murmur of Bees
October - Healthcare Heroes - The Coroner's Lunch
November - Lest we forget
December - Goodbye 2020 - The Cuckoo's Cry (character named Don), The Winglets Quartet (Obama years)
My sleepy old cat, who likes to sit on books.
NonfictionCAT (thread | wiki)
January - Journalism and News - To Sleep with the Angels
February - Travel
March - Biography - Gandhi the Man
April - Law and Order
May - Science - Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos
June - Society
July - Human Science - Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone)
August - History - Persian Fire
September - Religion and Philosophy
October - The Arts
November - Food, Home and Recreation
December - Adventures by Land, Sea or Air
GEOCat (thread | wiki)
January - Asia I: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan - What the Body Remembers
February - Europe (excluding Great Britain) - The Bear and the Nightingale
March - Northern Africa & The Mideast - The Other Side of History
April - Australia, New Zealand, Oceania
May - Any place you would like to visit! - Dubliners, Still Life (Quebec), Dodge & Twist (London)
June - Space: The Final Frontier - Confluence, Sovereign
July - Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean
August - Asia II: Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia - Noble House
September - Polar & Tundra Regions - White Fang
October - Great Britain, Canada, US - The Nickel Boys, The Matchstick Castle
November - Africa II - Other African countries - Akata Witch
December - Catch up month or read another one from your favorite CATegory!
RandomCAT (thread | wiki)
January - A book that is challenging or intimidating in some way to you - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
February - Originally published in a leap year - Seraphina, The Princess and the Goblin
March - Seasons of love (season in title)
April - Showers and flowers
May - Believe in your shelf - one of your oldest TBRs - Dubliners
June - Take to the sea - set on/near a body of water or has a body of water in the title - The Sea Fairies, The Starless Sea
July - Picture this! - 13, rue Thérèse, Happily Ever After
August - Get your groove on - music - Break Shot
September - Recommendations - The Murmur of Bees
October - Healthcare Heroes - The Coroner's Lunch
November - Lest we forget
December - Goodbye 2020 - The Cuckoo's Cry (character named Don), The Winglets Quartet (Obama years)
9antqueen
KITs
My sleepy young cat, who thinks he's still tiny.
SFFKit (thread | wiki)
January - Read an SFF you meant to read last year, but never started/completed - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter
February - Transformation - House of Chains, The Bear and the Nightingale, Seraphina
March - Series - Guardians of the Taiga, Legacy of the Claw
April - Time Travel - The Golden Orchard
May - Sentient Things - Ancillary Justice, Murderbot
June - Aliens and fantastical creatures - Agent to the Stars, The Sea Fairies, Athyra, Sovereign, The Girl in the Tower
July - Space Opera - The Fall of Hyperion, Brothers in Arms
August - Female Authors - Phoenix Rising, To Ride Hell's Chasm, Life Ever After
September - International SFF (non US/non UK) - A Crazy Inheritance
October - Classics - The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz
November - Dystopia - Junkyard Cats
December - Short Fiction - The Winglets Quartet, 9 Tales of Raffalon
MysteryKIT (thread | wiki)
January - Historical mysteries - A Curious Beginning
February - Furry Sleuths - Three Bags Full
March - Golden Age
April - Espionage
May - Novel to screen - Still Life
June - Police Procedurals/Private Investigator - Evans Above
July - Cross genre/mashup - Murder at Archly Manor
August - International mystery - The Stranger Diaries
September - Series - A Willing Murder
October - New to you author - The Coroner's Lunch
November - Noir/Gumshoe
December - Cozies - All-Butter ShortDead
TravelKIT (thread | wiki)
January - City vs. countryside - A Walk in the Woods
February - In translation
March - Tourist meccas
April - Related to a place where you do not live - The Golden Orchard (Korea, California), Tsar (Russia), The Half-Life of Marie Curie (England/France), The Makropulos Case (Eastern Europe)
May - Modes of transportation (sea, air, rail, driving, etc) - Artificial Condition
June - Legendary places, such as Camelot, Atlantis, Avalon - The Lightning Thief
July - Myths or legends from across the world - The Sea of Monsters, Happily Ever After
August - Travel Narratives
September - Festivals and events - The Devil in the White City
October - Related to food or drink from a specific location/country/region - History of Bourbon
November - Living in a New Country - Akata Witch
December - Related to a Place You Would Like to Visit - The Cuckoo's Cry, The Invisible Man
KITastrophe (thread | wiki)
January - Fires - To Sleep with the Angels
February - Invasions - House of Chains
March - Epidemics and Famine
April - Riots/Uprisings/Sieges - R.U.R., Raising Steam, Flight of the King
May - Geologic Events (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, avalanches, meteor strikes)
June - Man-made disasters
July - Weather Events (hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, droughts, heatwaves) - The Coming Storm
August - Transportation and Maritime
September - Catch-up - The Murmur of Bees
October - Pre-1900
November - Outside Your Home Country
December - Technology/Industrial
My sleepy young cat, who thinks he's still tiny.
SFFKit (thread | wiki)
January - Read an SFF you meant to read last year, but never started/completed - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter
February - Transformation - House of Chains, The Bear and the Nightingale, Seraphina
March - Series - Guardians of the Taiga, Legacy of the Claw
April - Time Travel - The Golden Orchard
May - Sentient Things - Ancillary Justice, Murderbot
June - Aliens and fantastical creatures - Agent to the Stars, The Sea Fairies, Athyra, Sovereign, The Girl in the Tower
July - Space Opera - The Fall of Hyperion, Brothers in Arms
August - Female Authors - Phoenix Rising, To Ride Hell's Chasm, Life Ever After
September - International SFF (non US/non UK) - A Crazy Inheritance
October - Classics - The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz
November - Dystopia - Junkyard Cats
December - Short Fiction - The Winglets Quartet, 9 Tales of Raffalon
MysteryKIT (thread | wiki)
January - Historical mysteries - A Curious Beginning
February - Furry Sleuths - Three Bags Full
March - Golden Age
April - Espionage
May - Novel to screen - Still Life
June - Police Procedurals/Private Investigator - Evans Above
July - Cross genre/mashup - Murder at Archly Manor
August - International mystery - The Stranger Diaries
September - Series - A Willing Murder
October - New to you author - The Coroner's Lunch
November - Noir/Gumshoe
December - Cozies - All-Butter ShortDead
TravelKIT (thread | wiki)
January - City vs. countryside - A Walk in the Woods
February - In translation
March - Tourist meccas
April - Related to a place where you do not live - The Golden Orchard (Korea, California), Tsar (Russia), The Half-Life of Marie Curie (England/France), The Makropulos Case (Eastern Europe)
May - Modes of transportation (sea, air, rail, driving, etc) - Artificial Condition
June - Legendary places, such as Camelot, Atlantis, Avalon - The Lightning Thief
July - Myths or legends from across the world - The Sea of Monsters, Happily Ever After
August - Travel Narratives
September - Festivals and events - The Devil in the White City
October - Related to food or drink from a specific location/country/region - History of Bourbon
November - Living in a New Country - Akata Witch
December - Related to a Place You Would Like to Visit - The Cuckoo's Cry, The Invisible Man
KITastrophe (thread | wiki)
January - Fires - To Sleep with the Angels
February - Invasions - House of Chains
March - Epidemics and Famine
April - Riots/Uprisings/Sieges - R.U.R., Raising Steam, Flight of the King
May - Geologic Events (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, avalanches, meteor strikes)
June - Man-made disasters
July - Weather Events (hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, droughts, heatwaves) - The Coming Storm
August - Transportation and Maritime
September - Catch-up - The Murmur of Bees
October - Pre-1900
November - Outside Your Home Country
December - Technology/Industrial
10antqueen
Catches and statistics
I got a shot of this heron catching a fish as we were walking along the Ohio River at the tail end of a flood.
Places (setting or topic)
Europe
England: 17 - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter (Leicester), A Curious Beginning (London), Winnie-the-Pooh, The Half-Life of Marie Curie, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Dodge & Twist (London), Inspector Hobbes and the Blood (Cotswold), The Daughter of Time, Murder at Archly Manor, Cherringham, Brothers in Arms (London), Wishes and Wellingtons (London), The Stranger Diaries (Sussex), Phoenix Rising (London)
Wales: 1 - Evans Above
Ireland: 3 - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Dublin), Dubliners (Dublin), Three Bags Full (Glennkill)
France: 2 - The Half-Life of Marie Curie (Paris), 13, rue Thérèse (Paris)
Greece: 1 - Persian Fire
Netherlands: 1 - The Fault in Our Stars (Amsterdam)
Norway: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
Russia: 3 - Tsar, The Bear and the Nightingale (Moscow, rural), The Girl in the Tower (Moscow)
Eastern Europe, unspecified: 2 (The Makropulos Cose, The White Plague)
An island probably near Europe: 1 (R.U.R.)
Asia
India/Pakistan (pre-Partition): 2 - What the Body Remembers (Rawalpindi, Lahore), Gandhi the Man (various)
China: 1 - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Hong Kong: 1 - Noble House
Persia: 1 - Persian Fire
Various northern Africa / Middle East / Europe: The Other Side of History
North America
Canada: 1 (Guardians of the Taiga)
US: 14
Appalachian Trail (Georgia to Maine): 1 - A Walk in the Woods
Alaska: 1 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Sitka)
California: 3 - The Golden Orchard, Agent to the Stars, The Lightning Thief, The Titan's Curse
Florida: 1 - The Sea of Monsters
Illinois: 2 - To Sleep with the Angels (Chicago), The Dispatcher (Chicago)
Indiana: 1 - The Fault in Our Stars (Indianapolis)
Louisiana: 1 - Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (New Orleans)
Massachusetts: 1 - Practical Magic
New York: 9 - Fables, Practical Magic, Percy Jackson, Feeding the Dragon
North Carolina: 1 - Break Shot
Virginia: 1 - The Spies that Bind
Unspecified: 1 - Crenshaw
Various: 1 - The Coming Storm
Fantasy settings
Generic medieval European: 6 - Dragon Masters, The Princess and the Goblin
Modern Earth or Earthlike: 4 - Foxcraft, Castle Hangnail, The Starless Sea
Asgard: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
Underwater: 3 - Narwhal books, The Sea Fairies
Underworld: 1 - The Lightning Thief
Fairy tale settings: 4 - Whatever After books
Video game settings: 1 - How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
Other: 9 - House of Chains, Seraphina, Legacy of the Claw, Flight of the King, The Insect Play, Raising Steam, The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms, Athyra, The Novice, To Ride Hell's Chasm
Science fiction settings
Other planet: 2 - Winterfair Gifts, Sovereign
Various planets, space travel, etc: 9 - Ancillary Justice, Murderbot books, Saga, Confluence, The Fall of Hyperion, Redshirts
Multi-dimensional earths: 1 - The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent
Earth, unspecified location: 1 - Life Ever After
Far-future earth: 1 - Cage of Souls
Times (setting or topic)
prehistory-medieval: 1 - The Other Side of History
5th century bce: 1 - Persian Fire
800s-1000s: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
1350s-1360s: 2 - The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
1800s: 1 - Dodge & Twist
1880s: 1 - A Curious Beginning
1890s: 1 - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Victorian: 2 - Wishes and Wellingtons, Phoenix Rising
1860s-1910s: 1 - Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra
1912: 1 - The Half-Life of Marie Curie
1923: 1 - Murder at Archly Manor
1928: 1 - 13, rue Thérèse
1928-1947: 1 - What the Body Remembers
1930s: The White Plague
early 20th century: 3 - The Makropulos Case, Dubliners, The Sea Fairies
1860s-1940s: 1 - Gandhi the Man
1950s: 1 - To Sleep with the Angels
1950s and 60s: 1 - Break Shot
1963: Noble House
1969-1973: 1 -Feeding the Dragon
1990s: 1 - A Walk in the Woods, Practical Magic, Evans Above
mid/late 20th century: 4 - The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Agent to the Stars, The Daughter of Time
Contemporary: 31 - Foxcraft, Three Bags Full, Viva Durant, Castle Hangnail, Guardians of the Taiga, Crenshaw, The Fault in Our Stars, The Golden Orchard, Whatever After, Fables, Inside Jobs, The Starless Sea, Inspector Hobbes and the Blood, Percy Jackson, Cherringham, The Spies that Bind, The Stranger Diaries, Childhood Interrupted, The Dispatcher
Future: 15 - Winterfair Gifts, The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent, Ancillary Justice, Murderbot books, Cage of Souls, Saga, Sovereign, The Fall of Hyperion, Brothers in Arms, Redshirts, Life Ever After
Alternate: 2 - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Genre
Fantasy: 44
Science fiction: 16
F/SF: 6
Mystery: 14
Historical: 14
Other fiction: 5
Nonfiction: 18
Publication dates (1872-2020)
2020s: 4
2010s: 76
2000s: 19
1990s: 8
1980s: 3
1970s: 1
1960s: 1
1950s: 1
1930s: 1
1920s: 4
1910s: 3
1870s: 1
Author nationality
Asia
India: 1 - Easwaran Eknath
Oceania
Australia: 2 - Trudi Canavan, S. K. Dunstall
New Zealand: 1 - Philippa Ballantine
Europe
England: 13 - Inbali Iserles, A. A. Milne, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Roald Dahl, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Rhys Bowen, Elly Griffiths, Wilkie Collins, Tom Holland
Ireland: 2 - James Joyce
Scotland: 2 - George MacDonald, Josephine Tey
Wales: 1 - Rod Duncan
France: 1 - Elena Mauli Shapiro
Germany: 1 - Leonie Swann
Czechoslovakia: 4 - Karel Δapek
North America
Canada: 8 - Shauna Singh Baldwin, Steven Erikson, Rachel Hartman, Sarah Mlynowski, Louise Penny
US: 64
Central America
Panama: 1 - Jorge Cham
Author gender
Female: 55
Male: 67
Awards, etc
Commonwealth Writers' Prize - 2000 - What the Body Remembers
1001 Books - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award - Castle Hangnail, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Eisner Award - Narwal: Unicorn of the Sea
Locus - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Artificial Conditions, Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Hugo - Artificial Condition, Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Nebula - Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Arthur C. Clarke Award - Ancillary Justice
Date acquired
2020: 34
2019: 38
2018: 23
2017: 14
2016: 6
2015: 3
2014: 1
2009: 1
Pre-LT: 2
I got a shot of this heron catching a fish as we were walking along the Ohio River at the tail end of a flood.
Places (setting or topic)
Europe
England: 17 - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter (Leicester), A Curious Beginning (London), Winnie-the-Pooh, The Half-Life of Marie Curie, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Dodge & Twist (London), Inspector Hobbes and the Blood (Cotswold), The Daughter of Time, Murder at Archly Manor, Cherringham, Brothers in Arms (London), Wishes and Wellingtons (London), The Stranger Diaries (Sussex), Phoenix Rising (London)
Wales: 1 - Evans Above
Ireland: 3 - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Dublin), Dubliners (Dublin), Three Bags Full (Glennkill)
France: 2 - The Half-Life of Marie Curie (Paris), 13, rue Thérèse (Paris)
Greece: 1 - Persian Fire
Netherlands: 1 - The Fault in Our Stars (Amsterdam)
Norway: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
Russia: 3 - Tsar, The Bear and the Nightingale (Moscow, rural), The Girl in the Tower (Moscow)
Eastern Europe, unspecified: 2 (The Makropulos Cose, The White Plague)
An island probably near Europe: 1 (R.U.R.)
Asia
India/Pakistan (pre-Partition): 2 - What the Body Remembers (Rawalpindi, Lahore), Gandhi the Man (various)
China: 1 - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Hong Kong: 1 - Noble House
Persia: 1 - Persian Fire
Various northern Africa / Middle East / Europe: The Other Side of History
North America
Canada: 1 (Guardians of the Taiga)
US: 14
Appalachian Trail (Georgia to Maine): 1 - A Walk in the Woods
Alaska: 1 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Sitka)
California: 3 - The Golden Orchard, Agent to the Stars, The Lightning Thief, The Titan's Curse
Florida: 1 - The Sea of Monsters
Illinois: 2 - To Sleep with the Angels (Chicago), The Dispatcher (Chicago)
Indiana: 1 - The Fault in Our Stars (Indianapolis)
Louisiana: 1 - Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (New Orleans)
Massachusetts: 1 - Practical Magic
New York: 9 - Fables, Practical Magic, Percy Jackson, Feeding the Dragon
North Carolina: 1 - Break Shot
Virginia: 1 - The Spies that Bind
Unspecified: 1 - Crenshaw
Various: 1 - The Coming Storm
Fantasy settings
Generic medieval European: 6 - Dragon Masters, The Princess and the Goblin
Modern Earth or Earthlike: 4 - Foxcraft, Castle Hangnail, The Starless Sea
Asgard: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
Underwater: 3 - Narwhal books, The Sea Fairies
Underworld: 1 - The Lightning Thief
Fairy tale settings: 4 - Whatever After books
Video game settings: 1 - How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
Other: 9 - House of Chains, Seraphina, Legacy of the Claw, Flight of the King, The Insect Play, Raising Steam, The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms, Athyra, The Novice, To Ride Hell's Chasm
Science fiction settings
Other planet: 2 - Winterfair Gifts, Sovereign
Various planets, space travel, etc: 9 - Ancillary Justice, Murderbot books, Saga, Confluence, The Fall of Hyperion, Redshirts
Multi-dimensional earths: 1 - The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent
Earth, unspecified location: 1 - Life Ever After
Far-future earth: 1 - Cage of Souls
Times (setting or topic)
prehistory-medieval: 1 - The Other Side of History
5th century bce: 1 - Persian Fire
800s-1000s: 1 - Odd and the Frost Giants
1350s-1360s: 2 - The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
1800s: 1 - Dodge & Twist
1880s: 1 - A Curious Beginning
1890s: 1 - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Victorian: 2 - Wishes and Wellingtons, Phoenix Rising
1860s-1910s: 1 - Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra
1912: 1 - The Half-Life of Marie Curie
1923: 1 - Murder at Archly Manor
1928: 1 - 13, rue Thérèse
1928-1947: 1 - What the Body Remembers
1930s: The White Plague
early 20th century: 3 - The Makropulos Case, Dubliners, The Sea Fairies
1860s-1940s: 1 - Gandhi the Man
1950s: 1 - To Sleep with the Angels
1950s and 60s: 1 - Break Shot
1963: Noble House
1969-1973: 1 -Feeding the Dragon
1990s: 1 - A Walk in the Woods, Practical Magic, Evans Above
mid/late 20th century: 4 - The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Agent to the Stars, The Daughter of Time
Contemporary: 31 - Foxcraft, Three Bags Full, Viva Durant, Castle Hangnail, Guardians of the Taiga, Crenshaw, The Fault in Our Stars, The Golden Orchard, Whatever After, Fables, Inside Jobs, The Starless Sea, Inspector Hobbes and the Blood, Percy Jackson, Cherringham, The Spies that Bind, The Stranger Diaries, Childhood Interrupted, The Dispatcher
Future: 15 - Winterfair Gifts, The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent, Ancillary Justice, Murderbot books, Cage of Souls, Saga, Sovereign, The Fall of Hyperion, Brothers in Arms, Redshirts, Life Ever After
Alternate: 2 - The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Genre
Fantasy: 44
Science fiction: 16
F/SF: 6
Mystery: 14
Historical: 14
Other fiction: 5
Nonfiction: 18
Publication dates (1872-2020)
2020s: 4
2010s: 76
2000s: 19
1990s: 8
1980s: 3
1970s: 1
1960s: 1
1950s: 1
1930s: 1
1920s: 4
1910s: 3
1870s: 1
Author nationality
Asia
India: 1 - Easwaran Eknath
Oceania
Australia: 2 - Trudi Canavan, S. K. Dunstall
New Zealand: 1 - Philippa Ballantine
Europe
England: 13 - Inbali Iserles, A. A. Milne, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Roald Dahl, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Rhys Bowen, Elly Griffiths, Wilkie Collins, Tom Holland
Ireland: 2 - James Joyce
Scotland: 2 - George MacDonald, Josephine Tey
Wales: 1 - Rod Duncan
France: 1 - Elena Mauli Shapiro
Germany: 1 - Leonie Swann
Czechoslovakia: 4 - Karel Δapek
North America
Canada: 8 - Shauna Singh Baldwin, Steven Erikson, Rachel Hartman, Sarah Mlynowski, Louise Penny
US: 64
Central America
Panama: 1 - Jorge Cham
Author gender
Female: 55
Male: 67
Awards, etc
Commonwealth Writers' Prize - 2000 - What the Body Remembers
1001 Books - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award - Castle Hangnail, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Eisner Award - Narwal: Unicorn of the Sea
Locus - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Artificial Conditions, Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Hugo - Artificial Condition, Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Nebula - Ancillary Justice, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Arthur C. Clarke Award - Ancillary Justice
Date acquired
2020: 34
2019: 38
2018: 23
2017: 14
2016: 6
2015: 3
2014: 1
2009: 1
Pre-LT: 2
12christina_reads
Love your pictures -- the cats are adorable! Have fun with your 2020 reading!
13LittleTaiko
The pictures are wonderful! I especially like the butterfly ones. Happy reading!
18sallylou61
I love the pictures and descriptions of your cats. Enjoy your reading in 2020 -- and your hosting in TravelKIT and KITastrophe.
19rabbitprincess
Great photos! Have a great reading year :)
20MissWatson
Wonderful pictures to go with your categories. Enjoy your reading year!
22JayneCM
Pretty kitties! I love to see everyone's cats - reading and cats just go together! Happy 2020 reading.
23DeltaQueen50
Looking forward to following along with you. :)
24thornton37814
Enjoy your 2020 reading!
25antqueen
Thanks for stopping by, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone reads in 2020! Though I'll admit up front that I tend to lurk ;)
27antqueen
The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan - 1st in the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire
January TIOLI 4 - Clue rolling challenge - weapon on first page (the steel tip of my cane)
SFFKit - Meant to read last year
Elizabeth Barnabus lives in a steampunk-ish Britain in an alternate world where technology is tightly controlled by the Patent Office. Though by year this would be roughly contemporary, the society isn't, and Elizabeth disguises herself as a (non-existent) twin brother to make a living as a detective. A case to find a missing aristocrat offers sorely-needed funds, but leads her into more twists and turns and danger than she could have expected.
An enjoyable fantasy. The worldbuilding is very good and not overbearing, and I liked the characters. A few quibbles about the plot, particularly
28PaulCranswick
Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!
29antqueen
>28 PaulCranswick: I'm not sure how 'more sleep' and 'more books' work together, but I love it! I need to do better keeping up with everyone too...
30antqueen
Chill of the Ice Dragon
Waking the Rainbow Dragon
Shine of the Silver Dragon
Treasure of the Gold Dragon
Eye of the Earthquake Dragon
by Tracey West π - 9-13 in the Dragon Masters series
As I mentioned on my thread last year, these are early reader books and are a little young for my daughter now, but she still enjoys them and wants to know what happens next. I mean, what kid wouldn't want a dragon companion of their own?
31antqueen
We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson
January TIOLI 8 - Acquired in Nov/Dec 2019
A humorous survey of things for which our science can suggest questions but has yet to come up with answers. I knew (or, rather, knew that I didn't know) a lot of this, but there were still parts that left me thinking. If you're looking for something technical and in-depth this isn't it, and the humor was maybe a little over the top in a few places (which wasn't surprising given that the author with the main billing writes a comic strip -- the other is a physicist), but overall it's a fun foray into the unknown.
32antqueen
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourne π§ - 1st in the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries
Narrated by Angele Masters
BingoDOG 11 - Written by an LT author
MysteryKIT January - Historical fiction
January TIOLI 9 - CFF Mystery Challenge (generosity)
After the death of her last relative, Veronica meets a mysterious stranger who not only insists she's in danger but also claims to have known her mother, who Veronica never met. She's skeptical, but as he's offering to take her to London where she's meaning to go anyway, she goes with him. There she meets the classically brooding Stoker, who of course is both handsome and has a dark, mysterious past. When said mysterious stranger is killed, Veronica and Stoker set off to find the culprit, and how it all ties in with Veronica's past.
Overall, a snarky, fun historical mystery, set in 1880s England. A bit over-the-top in terms of both character and plot, but that's part of the fun. Veronica got to be a little much a few times but Stoker hit my soft spots and while there was some romantic tension it wasn't overbearing. The narrator was very good too. I'll probably pick up the next one sometime.
33lkernagh
>32 antqueen: - Well, you got my attention with "snarky"! BB taken, even if it does mean adding another series to my burgeoning to read list.
34antqueen
>33 lkernagh: I hope you enjoy it!
35antqueen
What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
BingoDOG 25 - Involving a real historical event (India/Pakistan Partition)
GEOCat January - Asia I (India/Pakistan)
January TIOLI 16 - Set in, about, or written by an author residing in a country ending in "stan"
Roop, a Sikh girl in British India, becomes the second wife of a wealthy man. The focus is on Roop, but there are also sections from the point of view of the first wife, Satya, who is understandably bitter about the fact that, despite her intelligence and usefulness in business matters, her only real value is in providing sons for her husband. The husband is focussed on his job and his British superiors, and later on his fears about how the Sikh people will survive after Muslims and Hindus split the country between them.
The novel starts slow, but there's a lot going on in it. Roop's inner conflict as she strives to be a good girl and then a good wife, conflict between Roop and Satya, conflict between the British and the Indian people, and as the novel progresses a growing conflict between the religious groups in India as the British leave and the country is partitioned into India and Pakistan. It dragged a little for me, at times, especially near the beginning, but it was a good, and often intricate and intense, story.
36antqueen
The Elders by Inbali Iserles π - 2nd in the Foxcraft series
TravelKIT January - City vs Countryside
January TIOLI 1 - Number of title words equals the number of names you find in the title (Elder, De)
Isla, a fox cub, is trying to rescue her brother, who was presumably kidnapped by the fox known as the Mage and his mind-controlled minions, the Taken. She, with companions she meets along the way, goes to ask the Elders for help.
This series is ok, though not something I'd pick up on my own. It seems a little scattered at times compared to other, similar, books my daughter likes. The ending of this second book explains a few things I'd wondered about, but introduces other questions, and I'm interested enough to want to know how it ends. I suspect we'll be reading the last book in the trilogy next.
37antqueen
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
RandomCAT January - A book that is challenging or intimidating in some way to you
Januany TIOLI 13 - With something in the first sentence created according to Genesis on the different days (moocow)
BingoDOG 23 - In an LT Legacy Library
I'm not entirely sure what I think of this one. I'm not particularly fond of coming of age stories or stories about boys in boarding schools or stories about university boys pontificating, so I was at something of a disadvantage from the start. I did find Stephen's struggles with morality and religion interesting. What I really enjoyed was the imagery as Joyce evokes settings, which I think will stick in my memory much more than the story itself. This is another classic where I can intellectually acknowledge and appreciate that it is well done without really enjoying it much.
38antqueen
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson π§ Narrated by Rob McQuay
TravelKIT January - City vs Countryside
January TIOLI 3 - Travel is a significant aspect of the narrative
A humorous take on hiking trip the Appalachian Trail, interspersed with tidbits about the history of the trail and region and environmental impacts on them. Fun. Katz, Bryson's companion for most of the trek, was hilarious.
While I am by no means tempted to hike roughly 2000 miles (my kind of hiking ends each day with a hot shower and a bed, I'm afraid), this book did make me want to go back to the Red River Gorge area. But *checks the temperature* maybe not just now.
39rabbitprincess
>38 antqueen: my kind of hiking ends each day with a hot shower and a bed
Agreed 100%!
I found a meme online recently that said "My idea of roughing it is reading my book in an uncomfortable chair", and this was also a true statement for me ;)
Agreed 100%!
I found a meme online recently that said "My idea of roughing it is reading my book in an uncomfortable chair", and this was also a true statement for me ;)
40JayneCM
>39 rabbitprincess: Agree with that! I'm not really a camping gal!
42antqueen
Yes! That's me, all right! I'm glad I'm not the only one!
Β
To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster
KITastrophe January - Fires
NonfictionCAT January - Journalism & News
BingoDOG 20 - By a journalist or about journalism
January TIOLI 14 - A book with a LT rating of 3.8* or more (4.46)
A fire at a Chicago elementary school in 1958 killed nearly a hundred children and teachers. A lot of things contributed, not least the fact that old buildings such as the one the school was in weren't required to follow modern fire safety regulations, including not only the building itself but also occupancy levels. The book talks of the fire and its aftermath, from the investigations that followed to the long-reaching effects on the families of the children who were killed, and also on those who survived. The authors interviewed a number of survivors over the course of many years while researching the book, and it shows just how devastating an impact it had.
A terrifying story, especially for someone with a child in school around the age of many of the dead and injured children. Not, fortunately, in a building at all like the one that burned down. A very well-written book, and one I couldn't put down for too long despite the subject matter.
Β
To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster
KITastrophe January - Fires
NonfictionCAT January - Journalism & News
BingoDOG 20 - By a journalist or about journalism
January TIOLI 14 - A book with a LT rating of 3.8* or more (4.46)
A fire at a Chicago elementary school in 1958 killed nearly a hundred children and teachers. A lot of things contributed, not least the fact that old buildings such as the one the school was in weren't required to follow modern fire safety regulations, including not only the building itself but also occupancy levels. The book talks of the fire and its aftermath, from the investigations that followed to the long-reaching effects on the families of the children who were killed, and also on those who survived. The authors interviewed a number of survivors over the course of many years while researching the book, and it shows just how devastating an impact it had.
A terrifying story, especially for someone with a child in school around the age of many of the dead and injured children. Not, fortunately, in a building at all like the one that burned down. A very well-written book, and one I couldn't put down for too long despite the subject matter.
43antqueen
More Bedtime Stories for Cynics by Nick Offerman π§ Narrated by lots of people
January TIOLI 5 - 1st letter of author's first and surname are in consecutive alphabetical order
Twisted fairy tales and other stories, mostly. Some better than others, but overall funny.
Β
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2019
A lot of good stories in this one. I particularly liked The White Cat's Divorce by Kelly Link.
44antqueen
The Mage by Inbali Iserles π - 3rd in the Foxcraft series
January TIOLI 3 - Read a book in which travel is a significant aspect of the narrative
The last book in the Foxcraft series, much to my daughter's disappointment. In this, Isla the fox continues her quest to save both her kidnapped brother and the rest of the foxes from the evil that threatens them. In the process, she runs into a wolf she'd freed from a zoo in the first book and his pack, which was my favorite part. I like the wolves :)
Overall, this series never engaged me as much as some of the ones my daughter likes do. The magic system, for example, never quite jelled for me, enough so that once or twice I stopped to try to figure out what just happened. I'm not sure whether it wasn't thought through enough to begin with or whether too much was cut in editing. Not entirely satisfying, but not bad.
45antqueen
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne π§ narrated by Peter Dennis
January TIOLI 15 - Published or set in a **20s decade
Winnie-the-Pooh! Explanation is unnecessary :) I'm not sure I ever actually read the stories, just other interpretations of them, but I enjoyed revisiting. I think my favorite was the one about the expedition to find the North Pole.
46JayneCM
>45 antqueen: I have read Winnie-the- Pooh so many times and love it every time. Even the older kids love to listen to a reread and have fond memories of it.
47antqueen
Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah H. Parcak
January TIOLI 7 - A woman author you've not read before
Parcak, an archaeologist, discusses how she's used satellite images for investigating potential archaeological sites, mostly Viking and Egyptian, and also for finding evidence of looting at known sites. In the process she ventures into details about some of the sites and cultures, and into possibilities the future might hold for archaeology. A bit scattered at times, but interesting.
48antqueen
House of Chains by Steven Erikson - 4th in the Malazan Book of the Fallen
February TIOLI 15 - Purple cover
KITastrophe February - Invasions
SFFKit February - Transformation
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, for those who aren't familiar with it, is a sprawling, sometimes brutal, fantasy epic with exceedingly blurry lines between person and god and whatever might be in between, and in which many people die and some even stay that way. It often feels like it should be falling apart right about now but never actually does. I shall not attempt a more detailed summary of book 4 :) I did have to go look up summaries (such as they are) for the first three books after starting this one, since I quickly realized that it had been too long and I'd forgotten too many details. Very good though. I will try not to put off the fifth one for so long, even though it's probably over 1000 pages too...
49antqueen
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann π§ narrated by Josephine Bailey
February TIOLI 16 - Author name contains 4 or more different vowels
MysteryKIT February - Furry Sleuths
BingoDOG 1 - Published under a pen name or anonymously
This was cute. A flock of sheep investigate the murder of their shepherd, led by the clever Miss Maple and the worldly Othello. I'm not quite sure I fully bought the ending, and parts of the middle dragged a little, but I enjoyed my time with the sheep, and their puzzlement and misinterpretations of the odd humans around them. I thought the narrator did a good job too.
50Tess_W
>49 antqueen: I've got this book on my shelves, yet to read. TY for reminding me of it!
51antqueen
I don't think I'd have picked it up if it hadn't been for MysteryKIT this month, but I'm glad I did. Hope you enjoy it!
52antqueen
The Bear and the Nightingale
February TIOLI 13 - At least 3 names of people on page 1
GeoCAT February - Europe outside the UK (Russia)
SFFKit February - Transformation
BingoDOG 14 - A book of mythology or folklore
Vasya has grown up being able to see the old beings -- the domovoi and rusalka and other folklore creatures -- but when her new stepmother and the new Christian priest come and drive them out, seeing them as demons, her family's protection against an ancient evil is weakened, and Vasya is, perhaps, the only one who can save them.
I really enjoyed this. It's a little slow to get started, but it's a building-inertia sort of slow. I loved Vasya, torn between how she knows she should be and how she truly is and how she has to be to save the ones she loves, and I liked the family dynamics even when they made me want to shake the people involved (raise your hand if you always know the best thing to do in every situation, especially when your instincts clash with societal norms. Anyone?). I felt sorry for the poor stepmother, too-sheltered and too-disbelieved until she thought herself mad for seeing what was truly there. Anyway, very good. I look forward to the sequel.
53antqueen
Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant π§ narrated by Bahni Turpin
February TIOLI 8 - Metal in title
BingoDOG 22 - Periodic table element in title
Fourteen year old Viva is visiting her grandmother in New Orleans when she learns that an old kid's song is really a series of clues to a hidden treasure. She, of course, sets out to find it. There were enough coincidences that I had to remind myself that it was meant as a cute children's mystery, and I kind of wished Viva's go-to strategy for finding information wasn't blatent lies, but it was an enjoyable story anyway.
I'm usually not fond of sound effects and music in audiobooks, but it wasn't intrusive here and generally added rather than distracted. I am glad I didn't listen to it in the car (especially not on the stretch of noisy road between home and work) because there were quieter spots where I doubt I'd have been able to get the volume high enough to hear.
54antqueen
And... it's been a month since I posted. I haven't been reading as much lately, so let's see if I can catch up :)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman π - 1st in the Seraphina series
February TIOLI 1 - Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel (I remember being born.)
SFFKit February - Transformation
RandomCAT February - First published in a leap year (2012)
BingoDog 3 - Proper name in title
Humans and their shape-shifting dragon neighbors have been in an uneasy truce for 40 years, but tensions are rising. Seraphina is caught in the middle for several reason, not least that she (this is probably not really a spoiler since descriptions tend to include it, but it's presented in the book as though you don't know at the start, so...)is secretly half-dragon herself . Lots of politics, a fair amount of adventure, a bit of music, a bit of (rather predictable so far) romance. There are some good characters, better in fact than I expected them to be at the start. I found myself in particular liking Orma, a dragon living among humans, more and more as the book went on. A couple of other characters developed more than I expected too. Overall, an enjoyable book.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman π - 1st in the Seraphina series
February TIOLI 1 - Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel (I remember being born.)
SFFKit February - Transformation
RandomCAT February - First published in a leap year (2012)
BingoDog 3 - Proper name in title
Humans and their shape-shifting dragon neighbors have been in an uneasy truce for 40 years, but tensions are rising. Seraphina is caught in the middle for several reason, not least that she (this is probably not really a spoiler since descriptions tend to include it, but it's presented in the book as though you don't know at the start, so...)
55antqueen
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
RandomCAT February - First published in a leap year (1872)
February TIOLI 12 - Divided internally by more than chapter headings (illustrations)
Princess Irene and miner Curdie save their people from a goblin plot. This shows its age in a few ways, but at least Irene is an active heroine, unlike the princesses in many older stories.
56antqueen
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ narrated by Grover Gardner, 14ish in the Vorkosigan series
February TIOLI 3 - CFF Mystery Challenge (science fiction, romance)
In which Miles not only gets married, but brings together various people from both sides of his life. And in which, as this is dealing with Miles, after all, not everything goes according to plan. I especially enjoyed everything with Taura, and also Armsman Roic as narrator.
Β
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction November/December 2019
A nice variety of stories. Also, who knew knitting could save your life in space?
57antqueen
And speaking of knitting, one reason I haven't been reading as much is because I've been knitting more. I finally got around to finishing my daughter's mittens, which are double-layer and quite warm, and then I made a light spring hat for me.
58rabbitprincess
>57 antqueen: Excellent work! The cabling on that hat is gorgeous.
>55 antqueen: Yay, Puffin Classics cover! I have a bunch of those books. One of them I bought as an adult solely because it was in the Puffin Classics edition.
>55 antqueen: Yay, Puffin Classics cover! I have a bunch of those books. One of them I bought as an adult solely because it was in the Puffin Classics edition.
60mstrust
>57 antqueen: Excellent! I tried to learn knitting once, and could do it for a single day before all the information dropped out of my head overnight.
61LittleTaiko
What lovely mittens and hat! I admire people who can this sort of thing.
62antqueen
Thanks! I never thought I'd like knitting until someone convinced me to try it a couple of years ago, but I find it relaxing. I'm attempting my first sock right now... we'll see how that goes!
The hat looks harder than it was (isn't that often the case?) The pattern is at http://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/2014/06/wickerwork-hat.html if anyone is interested. She hasn't posted anything new for a while but she has a lot of nice (and free) patterns that I find easy to interpret.
The hat looks harder than it was (isn't that often the case?) The pattern is at http://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/2014/06/wickerwork-hat.html if anyone is interested. She hasn't posted anything new for a while but she has a lot of nice (and free) patterns that I find easy to interpret.
63antqueen
Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon π
February TIOLI 5 - 'night' or 'sleep' in the title, or a night-time image on the cover, or is set largely at night
Molly is determined to be a wicked witch, and Castle Hangnail really needs a new Master or else the Board of Magic will shut it down. So the minions there, for lack of better options, give her the job.
This was really fun. I got it for my daughter because I've enjoyed the books Ursula Vernon wrote under her non-kids-books pen name T. Kingfisher and I figured her kids books would be good too. Fun and silly and sweet. I mean, minotaur cooks and hypochondriac goldfish and clockwork bees. What's not to like?
64rabbitprincess
>62 antqueen: So true! Cabling and twisting always makes knitting look like a million bucks for maybe $5 worth of effort ;)
Pattern is bookmarked! I have a ball of green yarn that would be perfect for a hat, and that might be the pattern for it.
Pattern is bookmarked! I have a ball of green yarn that would be perfect for a hat, and that might be the pattern for it.
65NinieB
>57 antqueen: Lovely work! Colorwork is my bΓͺte noire, but I love doing stitch patterns.
66antqueen
Thanks! I've never really done much colorwork. Nothing complicated, at least. One of these days I'll have to try something more.
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea
Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton π
Cute little graphic novels about a narwhal and jellyfish who become friends. Whimsical and silly. My daughter loves these.
Β
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman π
February TIOLI 4 - NFL mascot in title
Odd, a Norse boy, helps the Norse gods retake Asgard and avert an eternal winter. An entertaining story in which might does not solve all problems, but a good dose of thoughtfulness and intelligence does the trick. I love the illustrations too.
My daughter loves Gaiman's Fortunately, the Milk and asked about other books. As she is really not into creepy at all, this was the only one that seemed likely to appeal. Most of her exposure to Norse myths has been through Avengers, so this was a different take for her.
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea
Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton π
Cute little graphic novels about a narwhal and jellyfish who become friends. Whimsical and silly. My daughter loves these.
Β
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman π
February TIOLI 4 - NFL mascot in title
Odd, a Norse boy, helps the Norse gods retake Asgard and avert an eternal winter. An entertaining story in which might does not solve all problems, but a good dose of thoughtfulness and intelligence does the trick. I love the illustrations too.
My daughter loves Gaiman's Fortunately, the Milk and asked about other books. As she is really not into creepy at all, this was the only one that seemed likely to appeal. Most of her exposure to Norse myths has been through Avengers, so this was a different take for her.
67antqueen
Guardians of the Taiga by Stacy Hinojosa π - 1st in the Wild Rescuers
March TIOLI 6 - Page count of story is an odd number
SFFKit March - Series
A girl and the pack of highly intelligent wolves (as in, can read and understand English, though they can't talk) who rescued her from some unknown disaster years before spend their days rescuing forest critters from various dangers. But now thoy have to deal with a number of new problems, from an invading pack of wolves to increasing human encroachment into their lands. An ok story, and the illustrations were cute. I did learn something from it. Everyone knows bats use echo-location, but I had no idea that some birds did too. Oilbirds and swiftlets, it seems, do. I had to look it up after I finished that part :)
68antqueen
A few days ago we went to a nearby forest and walked around for a while. I'm not sure if they'll wind up shutting down areas like this, but I think the whole time we were hiking we passed maybe a dozen people, and only one of those was even close to 6 feet from us. I know some of the parks around my area are getting pretty crowded as the rain stops and the temperatures rise (though, for reference, this is suburban/rural Kentucky crowded I'm talking about, not NYC crowded), but the one we went to is a little more out of the way and much more hiking-trail oriented. If they do have to close, then I guess I'm glad we got in while we could...
In the meantime, I have a picture of a bee fly that ventured out from a fallen tree while we were watching:
And a pretty flower with shiny dew droplets. It's still early for most of the wildflowers, but we saw a few. I'm not sure what this one is.
In the meantime, I have a picture of a bee fly that ventured out from a fallen tree while we were watching:
And a pretty flower with shiny dew droplets. It's still early for most of the wildflowers, but we saw a few. I'm not sure what this one is.
69NinieB
>68 antqueen: Lovely pics! Thanks for sharing. A bee fly is new to me.
70mstrust
Pretty flowers! A hike in the forest would be a nice day.
Our regular hike in the nearby nature preserve has become crowded as people are looking for anything to do outdoors.
Our regular hike in the nearby nature preserve has become crowded as people are looking for anything to do outdoors.
71Tess_W
Nice pics! We call those bee flys humbleflies, just a local thing. We only see them when it's really hot here. Our local extension office has requested that we don't use chemicals on our grass because these and honeybees are dying fast and they are both great pollinators. Our family has compromised, we treat around the house and flowerbeds and don't treat the rest of the yard.
72lkernagh
>57 antqueen: - Love the mitts and hat!
73antqueen
And now they've closed most of the forests, so I'm glad we made it there while we still could. At least some of the bigger general-purpose parks are still open. We've been going sometimes on less-beautifully-sunny days when they're not too crowded. Though after all the fuss about people going to Easter services around here, I think I'll hole up even more than usual for a while... there weren't any very close to us, but the parks that are still open are all closer in toward the city.
>71 Tess_W: I've never heard them called humbleflies. I do find the different names for things in different areas interesting though. I remember thoroughly confusing someone once when I called a roly-poly (the common name around here) a pillbug, which was what my grandmother always called them :)
>72 lkernagh: Thanks!
>71 Tess_W: I've never heard them called humbleflies. I do find the different names for things in different areas interesting though. I remember thoroughly confusing someone once when I called a roly-poly (the common name around here) a pillbug, which was what my grandmother always called them :)
>72 lkernagh: Thanks!
74antqueen
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate π
March TIOLI 5 - a book you've had in the house since before 2020
Jackson's mother's part-time jobs can't pay the rent or buy enough food, and Jackson's memories of their first homeless stint in the family's minivan, interspersed with the later narrative, only make his worries worse. An imaginary friend, a cat named Crenshaw, helped him through the last time and now returns, even though Jackson, now 11, considers himself far too old for such a childish thing. Crenshaw doesn't have as big a part as I'd expected given the title, actually. Anyway, a good book if a sobering one. Jackson worries about his little sister and his dog and having to leave school again to live in the minivan, and is upset that his parents, trying to protect him, aren't telling him anything, and he even feels guilty about being so worried, knowing that others are even worse off. I was glad it had a hopeful ending.
Nevertheless, She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project
March TIOLI 12 - an anthology of genre fiction
Short quick stories about women who persisted despite all, sometimes to good ends, sometimes to bad. Uneven, as most short story anthologies are, but overall good.
75antqueen
Gandhi the Man: How One Man Changed Himself to Change the World by Ekneth Easwaran
TIOLI March 17 - Related to a founding father or another individual honored in DC
NonfictionCAT March - Biographies
BingoDOG 17 - Set in Asia
I hadn't really read anything about this place and era since school, and my memory of details was, shall we say, sketchy. But after reading What the Body Remembers earlier this year this seemed an excellent time to read more about it. This was part biography of Gandhi and part treatise on nonviolence, with a lot of pictures. Not especially in-depth, but well-written and good at least for my level of knowledge.
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe
March TIOLI 4 - a book with a word in the title that is often misused or misspelled
This one took a long time to read because my daughter kept stealing it from me. Munroe, for those not in the know, writes the xkcd online comic, which is widely referenced by geeks all over the internet :) As it says on the tin, this is him taking rather simple questions (i.e. how to cross a river) and coming up with answers that are perfectly valid scientifically but completely impractical (i.e. evaporate said river and just walk across), along with the math and science explaining why it's impractical and the likely consequences if you tried. Hilarious, and sneakily educational.
76rabbitprincess
>75 antqueen: I love that your daughter kept stealing that book! Sounds like a solid endorsement to me ;) I enjoyed this one as well, especially the chapter with contributions by Chris Hadfield.
77antqueen
>76 rabbitprincess: We have his other two books too, and she nagged me until I hunted both of them down!
78antqueen
The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia π§
March TIOLI 5 - a book you've had in the house since before 2020
Deliberately wacky and over-the-top... I mean, sure Stranger can travel between dimensions and fight off evil aliens, but he's also an insurance agent to whom customer service is truly top-priority. If Correia would have dialed back on the political commentary, I'd have liked it better; that part was just cheap shots that weren't even very funny. Anyway, it wasn't my favorite story, but it had its moments, and it was only a couple of hours.
The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World, lectures by Robert Garland π§
March TIOLI 5 - a book you've had in the house since before 2020
A series of lectures about life in a number of ancient cultures in Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the British Isles, among others. This focussed on those not generally well-represented in ancient history: the poor, slaves, women, children, the disabled, the elderly. Well-done and engaging. Garland clearly enjoys his subject matter and passes it along to his audience.
79antqueen
Β 
Legacy of the Claw by C. R. Grey π - 1st in the Animus series
March TIOLI 6 - odd number of pages
Flight of the King by C. R. Grey π - 2nd in the Animus series
April TIOLI 4 - An author you've read before
April KITastrophe - Riots/uprisings/sieges
The setting here is a steampunk-ish world in which humans are "kin" with a particular type of animal, their animus. One of the major characters is animus bat, one snake, one falcon etc. Bailey, however, hasn't found his animus yet, and though he's been accepted by a prestigious boarding school, he's afraid he never will. Of course, there's a prophecy he doesn't know about, and a lot of politics happening as a thought-to-be-dead heir of the last king appears and, using a disturbing adaption of the animus bond, attempts a take-over. Not to mention automaton birds and tigers and all sorts of things. An entertaining story, as of book 2, though not one I'd really read on my own. Harry-Potter-esque in feel, if not in actual plot elements.
Β
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
March TIOLI 6 - odd number of pages
The story of Hazel, a teenager with terminal cancer, who meets Augustus, whose cancer seems to be in remission. Not my usual sort of book, but very good. My husband checked it out from the library, which then closed before he finished reading it, so I read it too. When my husband was reading it, he put it down partway through and looked at me and said, "Don't ever get cancer," which I think tells you something about the book. Both heartwarming and sad.
80antqueen
R.U.R. by Karel CΜapek
April TIOLI 5 - a main character is blond
April KITastrophe - Riots/uprisings/sieges
I've wanted to read this for a while simply because it's an early sf play, and the one that introduced the word 'robot'. Though I hadn't realized that the robots of the play aren't actually mechanical. Anyway, the robots start to consider themselves superior to their human creators and rise to overthrow their subjugators. Rather more religious overtones than I was expecting (beyond the humans playing god), and at this point in my life I roll my eyes at the attitude toward the (single) female character, but it isn't surprising given when it was written.
The Insect Play by Karel CΜapek
April TIOLI 4 - An author you've read before
This was weird. A human vagabond visits and/or hallucinates insects modelling various human characteristics. Narcissistic butterflies, warlike ants, etc. Not a positive view of humanity, all told :) Plays are generally better seen than read, but I think this one in particular would be.
The Makropulos Case by Karel CΜapek
April TIOLI 4 - An author you've read before
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live
A generations-long inheritance case takes an interesting turn when a mysterious woman turns up, claiming to know a great deal about the generations-dead key player. She winds up being-- and though this isn't explicitly stated early on, it's pretty obvious-- old enough that she knew said key player personally. From there it goes into the immortality questions. What would your life be like if you were effectively immortal? If you had the secret, who, if anyone, should you give it to? The end was unrealistic, I thought, given the characters involved (
The White Plague by Karel CΜapek
April TIOLI 9 - A character is sick or confined, or illness in title
I suspect I'd have focussed more on the anti-war sentiments if reading this at another time, but as it is... the first part, where the plague is in its early stages and people are talking about it, was disturbingly familiar after recent events. People saying it will clear the way for the younger generation to advance, people selling fake cures, the leader not taking it seriously until he gets it. People never change, I guess. The idea of the only doctor with a true cure withholding it from the rich and powerful was interesting
81antqueen
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett π§ - 40th in the Discworld series
April TIOLI 12 - comfort reads
April KITastrophe - Riots/uprisings/sieges
Moist von Lipwig takes on steam engines, pressed by Vetinari to get a railway laid to Uberwald to get the Dwarf king home in time to put a stop to an attempted coup. Moist is as manic as ever, and I like the Dwarf king and the goblin Of the Twilight the Darkness. Overall not my favorite of the Discworld books, but still enjoyable.
82antqueen
The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson π§
April TIOLI 2 - 1 syllable title or 8+ syllable title
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live (France and England)
A play about a moment in the life of Marie Curie. I hadn't known (or possibly I'd heard and didn't care enough to remember) that she'd had an affair with another scientist after her husband's death. At the time, quite a scandal. The play is set when her friend and fellow scientist Hertha Ayrton invites her to a seaside house in England as a refuge and it deals with her struggles to cope with the media's attacks on her and how differently people treat women both in this situation, where her lover had no real ill effects from it, and as scientists. I'll admit that I'm more interested in her science, but this was pretty good.
83antqueen
The Golden Orchard by Flora Ahn π§
TIOLI 15 - COVID-19-book (Crooks-Or-Venerables-I-Discover-in-19-countries-book) (South Korea)
April SFFKit - Time travel
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live (California and South Korea)
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Maya's grandmother, beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's, has moved in with her and her mother. On her good days, though, she loves to cook the traditional Korean food she grew up with, and as Maya discovers, when she eats the food she can travel to the time and place of a memory related to it. A sweet story, with enough twists and turns to keep it entertaining.
84antqueen
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
April TIOLI 6 - Something you would put in a cocktail in title or author's name (ice)
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live (Alaska)
Meyer Landsman is a homicide detective in an alternate world where Jews were moved to Alaska after WWII. It starts with a murder, but it's not exactly a mystery novel. The murder investigation is more the signpost for the story than the purpose of it, if that makes any sense. I liked the writing and the way the story played out, though the ending seemed a bit... forced, maybe? Rushed? Overly tidy? I can't quite put a finger on it. Anyway, it was more noir-ish than I generally like, but it was pretty good.
85mstrust
Dropping in to say hi!
Wow, you've been knocking 'em out at a good pace and meeting your KITs requirements too. Good job!
Wow, you've been knocking 'em out at a good pace and meeting your KITs requirements too. Good job!
86ReneeMarie
>63 antqueen: >74 antqueen: Just read the whole thread and got hit a few times (including both in >78 antqueen:).
The only Applegate I have read is Wishtree. I would never have picked Crenshaw up based on the cover, so thanks for the plot thumbnail.
I've never heard of Ursula Vernon, but when I was a kid I LOVED the witch books written by Ruth Chew.
The only Applegate I have read is Wishtree. I would never have picked Crenshaw up based on the cover, so thanks for the plot thumbnail.
I've never heard of Ursula Vernon, but when I was a kid I LOVED the witch books written by Ruth Chew.
87antqueen
>85 mstrust: I'm getting more of the KITs than I expected to. Trying to stick to books I already have for the most part, which may make some of this month's a little tricky, though.
>86 ReneeMarie: Hope you enjoy! I think the cover (or rather the cat on the cover) is why my daughter picked it up :) I enjoyed Wishtree too. Applegate has a fantasy series starting with The Last that my daughter loves too.
>86 ReneeMarie: Hope you enjoy! I think the cover (or rather the cat on the cover) is why my daughter picked it up :) I enjoyed Wishtree too. Applegate has a fantasy series starting with The Last that my daughter loves too.
88antqueen
The BFG by Roald Dahl π
April TIOLI 4 - By an author you've read before
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live (England, and giant-land)
Somehow, I managed to get through childhood without reading many Dahl books, but my daughter likes them so I'm reading them now :) The Big Friendly Giant kidnaps Sophie from the orphanage and takes her back to giant-land with him, where they come up with a plan to rid the world of the not-so-friendly giants. My daughter loves the silly way the BFG talks (though I have to say it made reading aloud a bit hard at times).
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl π
April TIOLI 6 - Something you would put in a cocktail in title or author's name (peach)
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live (England)
James, another orphan, lives with his horrible aunts and when a mysterious stranger offers him a (rather creepy) gift that promises to change his life he accepts. However, he accidentally drops the odd little things at the roots of a peach tree. Which does, in fact, change his life, as well as that of various creepy-crawlies in the area. Also, there are some astonishingly strong and tireless seagulls.
89antqueen
Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra by Peter Kurth
April TIOLI 13 - Biography
April TravelKIT - a place where you do not live
April KITastrophe - Riots/uprisings/sieges
A biography of the family, more than a history of the times, with excerpts from diaries and letters and quotes from people who had known the family personally. A bit like reading a train wreck, though. But still, wonderful photos, and also many then-and-now comparison shots of the places involved.
90antqueen
Whatever After series by Sarah Mlynowski, 1-4 π
Fairest of All
April TIOLI 3 - Read a book you might not have read this month without COVID-19 (because kid at home with oh-so-much free time... I doubt we'd have read so much normally)
If the Shoe Fits
May TIOLI 2 - Foreign author (Canada)
Sink or Swim
May TIOLI 19 - Horology term in title
Dream On
May TIOLI 4 - A book which finishes the sentence "Mother, MAY I......"
In these stories, Abby and her brother Jonah find a magic mirror in the basement of their new house that takes them to various fairy tale worlds. The first four books involve, as might be guessed by the names, Snow White, Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty. These are cute. Naturally, the kids mess up the stories in one way or another and then have to help the fairy tale MC find a happy ending anyway, sometimes the expected one but usually not.
91antqueen
Still Life by Louise Penny π§ - 1st in the Inspector Gamache series
May TIOLI 5 - MAY rolling challenge
May MysteryKIT - Made into movie
May GeoCAT - Set in a place you'd like to visit (Quebec)
BingoDOG 18 - Mystery or true crime
Inspector Gamache is sent to a small town in Quebec to investigate the death of an elderly artist. I'm not sure why I haven't read any of these yet, but... now I have :) I really enjoyed the interplay between all of the characters. Not a particularly fast-moving book for a mystery, but I still listened to it in just a few days without even having a commute to encourage me. I'll have to read the next one sometime.
92rabbitprincess
I know you've just read James and the Giant Peach, but if you're interested in reading it again, Taika Waititi is leading a star-studded reading of the book as a fundraiser for COVID relief: https://bookriot.com/2020/05/18/taika-waititi-reading-james-and-the-giant-peach/
94antqueen
Camelot by Bill Willingham - 20th in the Fables series
May TIOLI 1 - Authorβs name contains a food or drink
Coming up to the end of the Fables series. Rose Red is gathering knights in a no-doubt ill-fated repeat of Camelot, Snow is once again unhappy with her, Geppetto is still plotting, and we get a few short views into other characters (
95antqueen
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - 1st in the Imperial Radsh series
May SFFKit - Sentient things
May TravelKit - Mode of transports plays a role in the story
May TIOLI 13 - Title contains J, K, Q, X, or Z
BingoDOG 5 - Not set on earth
Breq, an AI that once controlled a large troop ship and many of its troops, is now in only a single human body, and is seeking vengeance (sort of). The story is split into two timelines, one with Breq as the ship Justice of Toren and one of Breq as the single human body. I don't always like dual timelines where you don't know how things in the later (but primary in the story) one, but it worked well here. I also enjoyed Breq's thought processes, analyses of human behavior, and attempts to convince both humans and other AI that she (to use the pronoun the book uses) is really just a human traveller from a remote area. Book 2 is on my wishlist now.
96antqueen
Β 
Β 
Β 
The Future of Work: Compulsory by Martha Wells - Murderbot prequel
May SFFKit - Sentient things
May TIOLI 9 - with a sentient thing or about AI
In which Murderbot risks exposing itself for the sake of a human for the first time (at least, that it can remember). A Murderbot prequel short story. Probably not too interesting unless you know the character but nice if you do.
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - 2nd in the Murderbot Diaries
May SFFKit - Sentient things
May TravelKit - Mode of transports plays a role in the story
May TIOLI 9 - with a sentient thing or about AI
In which Murderbot attempts to uncover its past and discovers new and unlikely friends in the process. I like ART.
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells - 3rd in the Murderbot Diaries
May SFFKit - Sentient things
May TIOLI 9 - with a sentient thing or about AI
In which Murderbot discovers that human/AI relationships are more varied, and complicated, than expected and confirms that not all humans are nice people. Also hacking. Lots of hacking.
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - 4th in the Murderbot Diaries
May SFFKit - Sentient things
May TIOLI 9 - with a sentient thing or about AI
In which Murderbot attempts a daring rescue of an old-- dare it say it?-- friend and encounters some formiddable foes.
I like the Murderbot books, as you may have guessed from the way I read several right in a row :) I don't have the new novel yet, but I'll have to get it sometime soon...
97antqueen
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin - 1st in the Inheritance Trilogy
May TIOLI 7 - Number in the title
Yeine, the daughter of the emperor's self-exiled former heir, is called to the capital where, to her surprise, she is informed she's in the running for heir herself. Except the capital is a dangerous place, both politically and because of the enslaved gods that live there, bound to the ruling family. I enjoyed it a lot, if not as much as her Dreamblood books.
98antqueen
Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos, lectures by Steven Pollock π§
May NonfictionCat - Science
May TIOLI 1 - Food or beverage in author's name
This was really good. I knew scattered basics of particle physics but nothing in depth. I was afraid at first that it would be too high-level to be of interest to me, but it got interesting quickly. Pollock does a good job of explaining things simply, and acknowledging where it's just weird and hard to imagine, and coming up with analogies that give you a sort of idea of what's going on while never pretending that those analogies are actually real. Also, he doesn't try to teach the mathematics, which I would be sorely unprepared for :)
99antqueen
Dubliners by James Joyce
May RandomCAT - One of your oldest TBRs
May TIOLI 16 - Emerald green cover
Short stories set in Dublin. As with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I like Joyce's imagery, but the stories themselves didn't do much for me.
Β
How to Defeat a Demon-King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe π§ narrated by Suzy Jackson and Steve West
May TIOLI 7 - Number in the title
BingoDOG 24 - Published in 2020
A heavily Zelda-influenced litrpg story in which the protagonist decides that the world can't wait for the prophecied return of the Hero and so goes out to defeat the Demon King herself. It started a little slow, but once it picked up it was very cute and funny, especially if you've played any of the Zelda video games. Probably funny if you haven't, but you'll miss a lot of the references.
100antqueen
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
May TIOLI 16 - Emerald green cover
Stefan is a convict sentenced to life in prison, and the only prison in this dystopian dying-earth world is in the middle of a jungle filled with all sorts of monsters, and maybe with more than that, certainly more than most of the remnants of humanity expects. Dual timelines again here, where we follow both Stefan's life in the prison and the story of how he wound up there. Odd, but good.
Β
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
May TIOLI 19 - A book using the vocabulary of an Horologist in the title or author (moon)
Minli goes on a journey to find the Old Man of the Mountain and improve her family's fortune, meeting dragons and magical goldfish and tigers and kings along the way. Based on Chinese folklore and told by way of both the main story and many small, related sub-stories told by the characters. Very good, and the illustrations are beautiful.
101antqueen
Saga, Volume Six by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
May TIOLI 14 - SF/Fantasy by an author you've read before
Getting near the end of the Saga series of graphic novels too. We'll need to find another series soon! Anyway, Hazel and her grandmother are in a re-education camp, and Marko and Alana are trying to find them. Very good, though for anyone looking to start the series be aware that it is quite NSFW...
Β
Dodge & Twist by Tony Lee π§
May TIOLI 15 - Ampersand in title
May GeoCAT - A place you'd like to visit (London)
An audio drama rather than a narration, in which Oliver Twist returns to London to resolve problems with his inheritance and runs into the Artful Dodger, who is determined to pull him into his newest scheme. Fun, if not great. It reminds me how long it's been since I read Oliver Twist.
102antqueen
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
June TIOLI 8 - A book about something you've missed during stay at home orders (Family)
I always want to like magical realism-y books more than I do. I think I like real fantasy too much and I wind up wondering why they're so wishy-washy about the magic. But for what it was it was pretty good. Lots of family angst and such.
Β
The Sea Fairies by L. Frank Baum π - 1st in the Trot and Cap'n Bill series
June RandomCAT - Set near/on a body of water or with a body of water in the title
June SFFKit - With aliens or fantastical creatures
June TIOLI 16 - Connection to pentecost/shavuot
An odd book. A little girl and her old sailor friend visit mermaids. The first part is pretty plotless, a sort of underwater travelogue or series of anecdotes as they're shown around. Later on they and the mermaid queen and princess are kidnapped by an evil wizard guy and have to escape.
103antqueen
Evans Above by Rhys Bowen π§ narrated by Roger Clark - 1st in the Constable Evans series
BingoDOG 4 - Title is/contains a pun
June MysteryKIT - Detectives
June TIOLI 9 - Related to Morphidae's 55th birthday - 2 sheep on cover
Constable Evans moved to a small Welsh village in the hope of a quiet life where the most serious problem is the occasional lost hiker or mountain climber. No such luck, of course. After a series of suspicious death on the mountain, he's convinced that not only are they not accidental, but are even linked. A sort-of detective cozy, if that's a thing. The romance subplot was a bit eye-rolling at times but I often find them that way and it didn't take too much of the story. I'll have to get the next one.
Β
Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine by Ben Winters π§ narrated by Scott Aiello, Kevin T. Collins and Ellen Archer
June TIOLI 12 - 3 or more words in title/subtitle
Three short stories set in social-distancing/self-quarantine times. The first was hilarious, one of mobster-types (the accent was definitely film-mobster, anyway) trying to plan a heist via Zoom while stuck at home with their families, etc. The other two were ok.
104antqueen
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi π§ narrated by Wil Wheaton
June SFFKit - Aliens
June TIOLI 11 - Aliens/fantastical creatures
Take your pulp sf scary blob aliens, complete with creepy tentacles, mind-invasion abilities, and really nasty smells... except all they really want is to make peaceful contact, and they know just how they'll appear to us. And so, naturally, they hire a Hollywood agent to smooth the way for them. Just as silly and shallow as the description makes it sound, but it was fun to listen to. The main (human) character got a bit irritating at times but Joshua (an alien) made up for him.
Β
Athrya by Steven Brust π§ narrated by Bernard Setaro Clark - 6th in the Vlad Taltos series
June TIOLI 10 - Purple or teal cover
June SFFKit - Aliens and fantastical creatures
Vlad, on the run, winds up in a little farming town where he meets Savn, a physicker's apprentice and the POV character, and runs afoul of an old enemy or two. Not my favorite of the Vlad Taltos novels, but ok. Savn seems passive somehow even when he's doing things, and I miss Vlad and Loiosh's banter. I read this in print years ago and only had the vaguest memories of it, so it was almost like reading it for the first time.
105antqueen
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
BingoDOG 12 - books, bookstores, or libraries
June RandomCAT - Set near/on a body of water or with a body of water in the title
June TIOLI 5 - By a woman and was given, bought or recommended to you by a woman
An intricate, dreamy story about stories. When Zach finds a mysterious book that seems to include an incident from his own childhood, he follows a series of clues and finds himself in a place as cryptic and mysterious as the book itself, where time and space is fluid and stories are, perhaps, real. I liked the way all of the stories wove together bit by bit and the way you weren't quite sure which stories were related to which people (or any people at all) at various points. I think it got a little bogged down in its own mysteriousness in the middle, but overall I enjoyed it. Also, I would love to visit :)
Β
Inspector Hobbes and the Blood by Wilkie Martin π§ narrated by Tim Campbell - 1st in the Unhuman series
June SFFKit - Aliens and fantastical creatures
June TIOLI 13 - a word that suggests color in the title (blood)
Andy, a rather incompetent reporter, is assigned to cover Inspector Hobbes' investigations. As Andy is as incompetent in pretty much everything as he is in his job, he's quickly in over his head, and doubting his own sanity as he begins to see more and more of the supernatural around him. Andy got on my nerves a bit, but the incompentent-yet-determined narrator works so well in the story that I didn't mind too much. Funny, and well-narrated too. I'll have to listen to the next one.
106antqueen
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - 5th in the Inspector Grant series
BingoDOG 7 - Red cover
June TIOLI 5 - By a woman and was given, bought or recommended to you by a woman
Inspector Grant, hospitalized and bored, investigates, with the help of his visitors, a historical mystery - the (presumed) murder of England's King Edward IV's sons by his brother Richard. This was very good, much more entertaining than you might think a book entirely narrated by someone confined to a bed in a hospital room would be :) I had to go look up the incident in question after I finished, as it's not a piece of history I was very familiar with.
Β
Confluence by S. K. Dunstall - 3rd in the Linesman series
BingoDOG 16 - Female non-US/UK author
June TIOLI 17 - A book that you keep putting off reading
June GeoCAT - Space
In which Ean continues to discover new things about the lines and the alien ships and political maneuvers continue to threaten war. A fun space opera, and I like the characters, especially Ean and Radko (and the ships!). This is the last in the series, so far at least, but though it ended well there's plenty of room for sequels. I hope they write more.
107antqueen
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan π - 1st in the Percy Jackson series
June SFFKit - Aliens and fantastical creatures
June TravelKIT - Legendary places
June TIOLI 6 - Set during summer or has 'summer' in the title
Percy's summer hasn't started out well -- he's been kicked out of yet another school and attacked by monsters. It only become worse when he realizes that his missing father is Posiedon and someone is trying to start a divine war by accusing him of stealing divine artifacts on his father's behalf. So, he of course goes off on a quest with friends Annabeth and Grover to retrieve the stolen items and return them to their rightful owners.
I read this with my daughter and enjoyed it more than I expected to. A good mix of comedy and action and character interactions. She's a binger, so we have already started on the second one...
Β
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden - 2nd in the Winternight series
June SFFKit - Aliens and fantastical creatures
June TIOLI 7 - a book with a connection to Russia
Vasya, after the events in The Bear and the Nightingale, wants only to run off and explore the world. But Russia isn't through with her, and she finds herself drawn back to Moscow and her family.
There's a lot going on in this. Vasya's not in any way the proper Russian girl her family and society wants her to be (but I like her brother Sasha for supporting her as well as he can). There's more politics here, with tensions between the Tatars and the Prince in Moscow. The conflict between the Russian folklore beings and Christianity is less central in this than it was in the first, though it's still there, and Morozco the death spirit/frost demon becomes more of a character. I liked the way he developed in this. Very good, and I look forward to the third book.
108mstrust
I loved Daughter of Time, glad you did too.
Taking a BB for Inspector Hobbes, it sounds like fun!
Taking a BB for Inspector Hobbes, it sounds like fun!
109antqueen
>108 mstrust: Fun and quite silly :) I hope you enjoy it!
110antqueen
Sovereign by Jeff Hirsch π π§ narrated by Jesse Einstein
June SFFKit - Aliens and fantastical creatures
June GeoCAT - Space
June TIOLI 11 - Aliens/fantastical creatures
Micah is stranded alone on an alien planet after his family's scout ship is damaged, and he has to figure out how to survive until rescue hopefully comes. There was more backstory than I would have preferred, and his time on the planet was rather implausible in many ways, but for a title aimed at middle grade readers it was ok and somewhat mindlessly entertaining. I enjoyed the bits about the alien life on the planet the most.
Β
Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington π§ narrated by Sharon Washington
June TIOLI 4 - Name the puppy
A short, audio-play memoir about Washington's time as a child living in the New York City Public Library where her father worked. Touches on books and family and a child coming to terms with a parent not being an idealized, perfect adult. I enjoyed the performance.
111antqueen
Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett - π§ narrated by Elizabeth Klett - 1st in the High Society Lady Detective series
July MysteryKIT - cross-genre mystery (historical)
July TIOLI 6 - female author you haven't read before
Olive, a poor English aristocrat, is struggling to find work when her cousin contacts her to ask for help finding out about her sister's new fiance. This, of course, soon becomes more involved than Olive and her relatives had expected. Nothing stunning, but this was a light, pleasant historical cozy with lots of suspects and motives for covering things up. I suspect there will be a romance in later books, but this one didn't have much.
112christina_reads
>111 antqueen: BB for me, I think. I enjoy historical mysteries, and I do love that cover!
113antqueen
>112 christina_reads: Hope you enjoy it!
Β 
Β 
Murder on Thames
Mystery at the Manor
Murder by Moonlight
by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ narrated by Neil Dudgeon - 1-3 in the Cherringham mysteries
July TIOLI 13 - Fits a Seattle Library Bingo category (2 (ok, 3) by same author)
Three short mysteries set in a small English town, starring a single mother and a retired New York detective who wind up investigating suspicious deaths that the local police have deemed accidental. Short, enjoyable and undemanding, and with an interesting cast of characters, which was exactly what I wanted :)
Β 
Β 
Murder on Thames
Mystery at the Manor
Murder by Moonlight
by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards π§ narrated by Neil Dudgeon - 1-3 in the Cherringham mysteries
July TIOLI 13 - Fits a Seattle Library Bingo category (2 (ok, 3) by same author)
Three short mysteries set in a small English town, starring a single mother and a retired New York detective who wind up investigating suspicious deaths that the local police have deemed accidental. Short, enjoyable and undemanding, and with an interesting cast of characters, which was exactly what I wanted :)
114antqueen
The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - 2nd in the Hyperion Cantos
July SFFKit - space opera
July TIOLI 16 - Set off earth
So, I have to start this out by saying I liked the first book, Hyperion, I think primarily because of the individual stories of the pilgrims (a la Canterbury Tales). This second one doesn't have that, and while you get sections from various perspectives it's generally more jumbled. And then it goes all-in philosophical and mystical and religious to an eye-rolling degree. That said, I did like parts quite a lot. The
Β
The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis π§ narrated by Michael Lewis
July KITastrophe - weather events
July TIOLI 2 - Storm or synonym in title
A short audiobook about the US National Weather Service, forecasting, and data collection/processing/access. It goes a lot of places for such a short book and so is a bit scattered at times, but interesting. The sections on withdrawing public access to data seem unfortunately timely at the moment...
115lkernagh
>113 antqueen: - You caught my attention with the Cherringham mystery books!
116antqueen
>115 lkernagh: They're pretty much short stories, and I've never read many mystery shorts. I enjoyed them more than I expected to.
117antqueen
The Novice by Trudi Canavan - 2nd in the Black Magician trilogy
July TIOLI 1 - 7th on the shelf
Sonea, now a novice in the Magician's Guild, finds a whole new set of problems. The (spoiler for book 1)
So, I liked the first one better. I think a lot of it is that so much of this one was the class-fueled bullies and Sonea's attempts to avoid them, which is a subplot I find myself impatient with lately and it started to feel overdone here. Dannyl's bits were interesting, though, and that and the tensions at the school beyond the student-level make me want to know what happens next.
Also, what's with the cover? There's a weird bat-winged demon-pegasus or something. There was nothing even remotely like that in the book.
118antqueen
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan π - 2nd in the Percy Jackson series
July TravelKIT - Myths and legends
July TIOLI 12 - 151 or more pages
Percy's continuing adventures, this time to the Bermuda Triangle to rescue Grover and retrieve the Golden Fleece. He and Annabeth even have to cooperate with his old enemy Clarisse. As fast-moving and funny as the first.
119antqueen
13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro
July RandomCAT - A book with pictures
July TIOLI 5 - JULY rolling challenge
BingoDOG 6 - Epistolary
This was an odd book. An academic in Paris finds a box of letters and mementos from a woman who lived in the WWI era and finds himself increasingly obsessed with them and her life. One of those books where it's unclear whether the MC is really experiencing some kind of magical connection with people from the past or whether he's dreaming (hallucinating might be a better word) it. Kind of interesting, and I liked all of the photographs of letters and items and such, but overall it didn't quite hold together.
120antqueen
Ok, I haven't checked in for way too long! Here's some even-shorter-than-usual book notes...
Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe
July TIOLI 12 - 151 or more pages
Fantasy and SF short stories, a few bordering on horror, most lighter and often humorous. Overall very good.
Β
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ narrated by Grover Gardner - 8th in the Miles Vorkosigan series
July SFFKit - Space opera
July TIOLI 9 - at least #7 in a series
A re-read, this time in audio. Miles finds himself stuck on Earth and having to juggle his Naismith and Vorkosigan personas amidst all sorts of problems, from bored mercenaries to kidnapping and impersonation attempts. Still fun!
Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe
July TIOLI 12 - 151 or more pages
Fantasy and SF short stories, a few bordering on horror, most lighter and often humorous. Overall very good.
Β
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold π§ narrated by Grover Gardner - 8th in the Miles Vorkosigan series
July SFFKit - Space opera
July TIOLI 9 - at least #7 in a series
A re-read, this time in audio. Miles finds himself stuck on Earth and having to juggle his Naismith and Vorkosigan personas amidst all sorts of problems, from bored mercenaries to kidnapping and impersonation attempts. Still fun!
121antqueen
Β 
Fables: Happily Ever After by Bill Willingham - 21st in the Fables series
July RandomCAT - Picture This
July TravelKIT - Myths and legends
July TIOLI 8 - Uplifting, cheerful, or inspiring title
Definitely wrapping up now, but so many tiny little story lines that it was too scattered for my taste. I'm sure the last volume will tie everything back together, though.
Fables: Farewell by Bill Willingham - 22nd and last in the Fables series
July RandomCAT - Picture This
July TravelKIT - Myths and legends
July TIOLI 9 - at least #7 in a series
... and it did :) A good ending, I think. Not exactly happily ever after but moreso than I was afraid it might.
122antqueen
Redshirts by John Scalzi π§ narrated by Wil Wheaton
July TIOLI 15 - Ruby - bright red or pink cover
Another audio reread. Very fun, though if you didn't grow up watching the original series Star Trek you might find it less so :) Basically, the alien-fodder redshirts have have figured out what's going on and try everything they can to avoid their fate.
Β
The Spies That Bind by Ally Carter π§ narrated by Rebecca Soler - Gallagher Girls prequel
July TIOLI 11 - A prequel
This is a prequel to a YA series I've never read, Gallagher Girls. 12 year old Cammie starts her first year of super-secret spy school. I suspect someone who already knew the characters from the main books would have picked up on fun stuff that I missed. Kind of cute even so.
123antqueen
Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone) by Sam Wineburg
July NonfictionCAT - Human science
July TIOLI 10 - Read a book with portions of more than one image on the cover separated by straight lines
Short version: What students really need to learn is how to think about history rather than just collecting random facts about it.
The section about multiple choice history tests found a sympathetic audience in me, as they are why I utterly despised history until I had my one single good history professor in college. I also found the comparison of how students and historians tried to verify sources on the internet, versus fact-checkers who do that every day and (unsurprisingly) are much better at it, rather scary.
Β
Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans by James Stavridis
July TIOLI 4 - With a connection to the navy
A combination of history, memoir, and recommendations for the future, written by a retired Admiral in the US Navy. I lost interest in the more memoir-y parts, in general, but overall an interesting look at the importance of the world's oceans to everyone.
124NinieB
>123 antqueen: Regarding Why Learn History, ouch! That's a book bullet!
125rabbitprincess
>122 antqueen: I've heard good things about the audio of Redshirts! I read it in print and loved it.
126antqueen
>124 NinieB: Hope you like it! I wish I'd been in one of the classes he talks about helping arrange, where they let the kids look at various documents, etc and debate what conclusions to draw from them. Would have been much more memorable than anything I did!
>125 rabbitprincess: Wheaton didn't do as much character-voice difference as many do, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I thought he did a good job with it (and, really, who better?)
>125 rabbitprincess: Wheaton didn't do as much character-voice difference as many do, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I thought he did a good job with it (and, really, who better?)
127antqueen
Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry π§ narrated by Jayne Entwistle
July TIOLI 6 - Female author you haven't read before
Maeve really doesn't fit into her overly pretentious girl's school in Victorian London, and when she finds a genie in a sardine tin she's sure all of her problems are over. It is probably not a spoiler that she's wrong :)
This was ok. Maeve got a bit irritating after a while, but I liked the poor orphan Tommy and Maeve's friend Alice, and the story was often funny as she tried to avoid the numerous pitfalls that having the genie opened up.
Β
Β 
The Titan's Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan - 3-4 in the Percy Jackson series
August TIOLI 3 - TIOLI August - A book about a doll, or for which there is a doll
In The Titan's Curse, Percy, with new friends and old, has to find the missing goddess Artemis and help protect Olympus from the Titan Kronos. In The Battle of the Labyrinth he finds himself, unsurprisingly, in Daedelus's labyrinth looking for help against Kronos.
Still funny, and I still like the interactions between the characters.
128antqueen
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths π§ narrated by Anjana Vasan, Sarah Feathers, Esther Wane, and Andrew Wincott - 1st in the Harbinder Kaur series
August MysteryKIT - Set outside the US
August TIOLI 2 - A book from one of the lists on fivebooks.com
Clare's fellow teacher and friend is murdered, and soon it becomes obvious that there are ties to an author whose work Clare teaches. More ties are gradually found to both the author and Clare, even to the point of someone writing messages to her in her supposedly-private diary. This was darker than I was expecting, though I think I knew when I got it. Spooky, a almost ghost-story feel in parts. Once I adjusted to the ambience I enjoyed it.
Β
Childhood, Interrupted: Raising Kids During a Pandemic by Sanjay Gupta π§ narrated by the author
August TIOLI 4 - Acquired on or after 3/15/20
A short discussion about, well, raising kids during a pandemic :) Basically, Gupta says, even parents who are highly-educated medical professionals struggle to make the same decisions everyone else is struggling with. But he addresses the issues in a matter-of-fact, science-based way, which after listening to some of my relatives was very refreshing.
129antqueen
To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts
August SFFKit - Female authors
August TIOLI 14 - Published before 2010
Princess Anja disappears after her fiance's arrival in her small, isolated kingdom, and (at first at least) only the foreign, not-entirely-trusted guard captain Mykkael suspects that sorcerers may be involved. I really enjoyed this. Lots of characters with their own agendas at cross-purposes and a gradual revealing of current and past events and circumstances. I've had it forever, I guess in part because it's a pretty long book, but it's one that I now wish I'd read sooner.
Β
Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor π§ narrated by the author
August RandomCAT - Music
August TIOLI 11 - 1st word of title is longer than 2nd
A short memoir of James Taylor's early years, before he became famous. I'm not a huge fan, but I liked in particular the discussions about the real-life events that prompted some of his music, and how he used the music to come to terms with them. There were short clips of many of the songs too.
130antqueen
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March/April 2020
Clockwork robot rebellions, hair magic, high-stakes sf locked train mysteries and more. Overall a good collection of stories.
Β
Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris - 1st in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series
August SFFKit - Female authors
August TIOLI 5 - Word in title starts or ends with P
Agent Braun of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences likes to blow things up, but when she does so once too often she's assigned as an assistant to Archivist Books in the very catacomby archives. He's a bit too (ha-ha) bookish for her, but she manages to get him interested in a set-aside case involving a number of suspicious deaths that her former partner, now declared insane, was investigating.
In general, it was over-the-top but mostly in a good way. Lots of edgy banter, mostly fun though it got a bit repetitive by the end. I think my biggest complaint is the villains, who had rather too much look-how-EVEEL-we-are piled on them. Now, I like the occasional unredeemable evil genius, but this just made me roll my eyes. Mixed feelings on this one, but overall it was a fun story.
131antqueen
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi π§ narrated by Zachary Quinto
BingoDOG 19 - About birth or death
August TIOLI 8 - CFF Mystery Challenge - unidentifiable figure on cover
What happens if murdered people nearly always come back to life, reappearing in their own bed? Weird premise, interesting story. Tony is a dispatcher, someone whose job is to kill people before they would naturally die. Insurance requires dispatchers on hand for surgeries, etc, just in case something goes wrong. But sometimes they get involved in shadier deals too, and now one of Tony's colleagues has gone missing and the police want his help finding him. An interesting thought experiment.
Β
Life Ever After by Carla Grauls π§ narrated by RaΓΊl Castillo, Nana Mensah, and Piper Goodeve
August SFFKit - Female authors
August TIOLI 4 - Acquired on or after 3/15/20
An audio play based on other sf concepts: What if you could replace any failing body part at will? What if you could even replace failing-- or undesired-- thoughts and attitudes, or link your mind with someone else's via ai? How far would you go? In this play, two people meet at various points in their lives and debate all of this in context of an on-and-off romantic relationship. A bit repetitive at times, but I thought it well done.
132antqueen
Noble House by James Clavell - 5th in The Asian Saga
August TIOLI 13 - By an author who shares a first name with susanna.fraser's parents or their descendants
Whew, that was a long book. Plots and counter-plots and shady business deals and smugglers and Russian spies and PRC spies and kidnapping and murder and blackmail and sex and drugs (but not rock-and-roll) and everyone trying to manipulate everyone else. Fast-moving for its size, but I didn't like any of the characters which made it less engaging than it could have been.
Β
Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland
August NonfictionCAT - History
August TIOLI 5 - Word in title starts or ends with P
The Greco-Persian wars are something I knew about in general and I could have named you a few names and places (hello, Thermopylae), but this goes into detail about the lead-up on both sides and some of the leading figures. It's definitely dramatized to a degree, but if you delve into the endnotes you find a lot of references to competing explanations or theories and often a brief explanation as to why he's chosen one over another. A nice, readable history, and more balanced on the Persian side than other accounts I've been exposed to.
133christina_reads
>129 antqueen: To Ride Hell's Chasm looks interesting! I've never read any Janny Wurts; do you think this is a good place to start?
134antqueen
>133 christina_reads: It was the first of hers I'd read, so yes! To Ride Hell's Chasm is a standalone, which is one reason I picked it up first.
135christina_reads
>134 antqueen: Ah, good to know -- thanks! I knew she had written series and didn't want to start with book #3 or something!
136antqueen
A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux π§ narrated by Susan Bennett - 1st in the Medlar Mysteries
September MysteryKIT - series
A cozyish mystery set in a small Florida town. Kate moves in with her estranged aunt, a retired author. All she really wants to do is get away from her mother and find out more about her deceased father, and maybe keep an eye on Jack, a young man who also lives with her aunt and who Kate initially suspects is trying to con her. But when a pair of skeletons are found under an old tree, the three join together to find out what happened.
Pretty good. There are a lot of interpersonal subplots, several romantic threads, family secrets, and backstory problems and misunderstandings to figure out. A little heavy on the romance for me, but that's not surprising given the author and it never became too much.
Β
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
September TravelKIT - Festivals and events
September TIOLI 4 - Numbers game
An account of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago focussed on Daniel Burnham, the main architect, and a parallel account of H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who took advantage of the fair to find victims. The lengths to which Holmes went to kill people were rather disturbing, as was his ability to make people trust him. I most enjoyed the parts about the planning and building of the fair itself, though, and the people involved in it.
137thornton37814
>136 antqueen: I've been avoiding the Devereaux mysteries because I suspected there would be more romance than mystery. Sounds like I'm correct in avoiding them.
