Humouress settling in for 2024 - second thread

review posted/ rated/ written/ read/ (released)
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June

 43) The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry
✔     42) A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
✔          41) When He was Wicked by Julia Quinn
✔     40) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
 39) The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly
 38) The Crow Folk by Mark Stay (2021)
✔     37) Elephant and Castle by Hannah Ledford (2024)
✔     36) The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (2011)

review posted/ rated/ written/ read/ (released)
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May
✔          35) To Sir Philip With Love by Julia Quinn
✔   34) Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (2023)
✔       33) Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (2002)
✔     32) The Shadow Cats by Rae Carson (2012)
✔     31) Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler (2003)
✔   30) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2011)
✔     29) Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

review posted/ rated/ written/ read/ (released)
✔ /  / (#) / Title

April
✔     28) Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard (2016)
✔     27) The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu (2021)
✔     26) Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener & the Walkers of Dembley by M.C. Beaton (BBC adaptation) ( / 2010)
✔     25) The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (2013/ 2022)
✔     24) Lirael by Garth Nix (2001/ 2014)

First quarter

review posted/ rated/ written/ read/ (released)
✔ /  / (#) / Title

March

✔     23) Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener & the Walkers of Dembley by M.C. Beaton (BBC adaptation) ( / 2010)
✔     22) Same Time Next Summer by Annabelle Monaghan (2023)
✔     21) The Guidal; Discovering Puracordis by Roxy Eloise (2021)
✔       20) Off Season by Clive Fleury (2024)
✔   19) Paragon Lost by Dave Duncan (2002)
✔     18) The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston (2023)
✔     17) A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers (2020)

February

✔       16) Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (2011)
✔     15) Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (2022)
✔   14) The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (2013)
✔     13) The Four Forges by Jenna Rhodes (2006)
✔   12) The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen (2019)
✔       11) Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023)

January

✔     10) Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater (2020)
✔       09) Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho (2020)
✔     08) The High King's Tomb by Kristen Britain (2007)
✔     07) Nora Goes off Script by Annabel Monaghan (2022)
✔     06) Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig (2023)
✔     04) & 05) Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death & The Vicious Vet by M.C. Beaton {BBC adaptation} (2010)
✔     03) The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)
✔     02) Good Neighbours: The Full Collection by Stephanie Burgis (2022)
✔   01) Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith (2010)

As could be expected of a Second Assistant Librarian, she reached for the book first

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

That is not to say that girls and women did not matter to Illyria: behind every great tapestry was a woman who wove it, just as behind every great sorcerer was a wife to tend to his domestic affairs, a governess to teach his children, a cook to warm his gullet, a maid to keep his fires lit.

And behind every boy who dreamed of being a sorcerer was a mother who raised him to be brave, noble, and kind. And perhaps that boy even had a sister, who, right before the Council for the Magical Protection of Illyria finally visited his humble home to test him for a magical gift, made sure the chicken coop was spotless.

That is not to say that girls and women did not matter to Illyria: behind every great tapestry was a woman who wove it, just as behind every great sorcerer was a wife to tend to his domestic affairs, a governess to teach his children, a cook to warm his gullet, a maid to keep his fires fit.
And behind every boy who dreamed of being a sorcerer was a mother who raised him to be brave, noble, and kind. And perhaps that boy even had a sister, who, right before the Council for the Magical Protection of Illyria finally visited his humble home to test him for a magical gift, made sure the chicken coop was spotless.

Here, she's laid-back and cheerful and like...a woman instead of a mother, which is utterly weird.
Oh god, it just strikes me that maybe she's got a crush on someone. Maybe it's George's dad. Eww. Can people in their late thirties even have crushes? That's, like, way ancient to have a crush.

In reply, they all talk in low voices among themselves, as though I'm not right here in front of them and can hear every single word they're saying.
Papa: “You're right, he's hopeless.“
Eleanor: “Told you.“
Nainai: “He'll be celibate his whole life. No one will continue the family name.“

Indonesia's a pretty conservative country when measured up against Western standards, but the Chinese-Indonesian community is even more conservative. It's not even about religion; it's a really weird thing where I feel like a large part of the Chinese-Indonesian culture is based around olden-day Chinese customs that most people in China have moved on from, but we never got the memo because we left China.

Here, she's laid-back and cheerful and like...a woman instead of a mother, which is utterly weird.
Oh god, it just strikes me that maybe she's got a crush on someone. Maybe it's George's dad. Eww. Can people in their late thirties even have crushes? That's, like, way ancient to have a crush.

In reply, they all talk in low voices among themselves, as though I'm not right here in front of them and can hear every single word they're saying.
Papa: “You're right, he's hopeless.“
Eleanor: “Told you.“
Nainai: “He'll be celibate his whole life. No one will continue the family name.“

Indonesia's a pretty conservative country when measured up against Western standards, but the Chinese-Indonesian community is even more conservative. It's not even about religion; it's a really weird thing where I feel like a large part of the Chinese-Indonesian culture is based around olden-day Chinese customs that most people in China have moved on from, but we never got the memo because we left China. Dating is very much one of these

The monster's eyes widened. Who am I? it said, its voice getting louder. Who am I?
The monster seemed to grow before Conor's eyes, getting taller and broader. A sudden, hard wind swirled up around them, and the monster spread its arms out wide, so wide they seemed to reach to opposite horizons, so wide they seemed big enough to encompass the world.
I have had as many names as there are years to time itself! roared the monster. I am Herne the Hunter! I am Cernunnos! I am the eternal Green Man!
A great arm swung down and snatched Conor up in it, lifting him high in the air, the wind whirling around them, making the monster's leafy skin wave angrily.
Who am I? the monster repeated, still roaring. I am the spine that the mountains hang upon! I am the tears that the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind! I am the wolf that kills the stag, the hawk that kills the mouse, the spider that kills the fly! I am the stag, the mouse and the fly that are eaten! I am the snake of the world devouring its tail! I am everything untamed and untameable! It brought Conor up close to its eye. I am this wild earth, come for you, Conor O'Malley.
"You look like a tree," Conor said.
The monster squeezed him until he cried out.
I do not often come walking, boy, the monster said, only for matters of life and death. I expect to be listened to.
The monster loosened its grip and Conor could breathe again. "So what do you want with me?" Conor asked.
The monster gave an evil grin. The wind died down and a quiet fell. At last , said the monster. To the matter at hand. The reason I have come walking.

"You knew," Fie accused, stacking up every horrid piece. "That's why you ran."
Jasimir shook his head, adamant. "It didn't sound possible until now. All three Swan witches are accounted for, she has no sign, and Tavin and I witnessed the marriage ceremony ourselves. We didn't know she could lose her Birthright for only a moon. I swear, I came to your band for help because Rhusana allied with the Oleanders, and for that reason alone." Fie scowled, baleful, at the dirt. "Aught else you want to tell me? Tatterhelm's got a meaner cousin? The king's really two asps in a fancy robe?"
"I still don't know what Viimo meant about ghasts," Tavin said.
"Me either." Fie's gut twisted. Pa had taught her how to call Swan teeth just on principle, for they had but a largely useless few. Still, in the handful of times she'd blinked through the life in a dead Swan's spark, she'd heard no whisper of ghasts. And that, like so many things, bode ill. Grim silence settled over them once more as Fie plaited a whole new set of troubles into the ones on her head.
Then Tavin's voice broke in. "I really have to know: Which one of us is Pissabed?"

"You knew," Fie accused, stacking up every horrid piece. "That's why you ran."
Jasimir shook his head, adamant. "It didn't sound possible until now. All three Swan witches are accounted for, she has no sign, and Tavin and I witnessed the marriage ceremony ourselves. We didn't know she could lose her Birthright for only a moon. I swear, I came to your band for help because Rhusana allied with the Oleanders, and for that reason alone." Fie scowled, baleful, at the dirt. "Aught else you want to tell me? Tatterhelm's got a meaner cousin? The king's really two asps in a fancy robe?"
"I still don't know what Viimo meant about ghasts," Tavin said.
"Me either." Fie's gut twisted. Pa had taught her how to call Swan teeth just on principle, for they had but a largely useless few. Still, in the handful of times she'd blinked through the life in a dead Swan's spark, she'd heard no whisper of ghasts. And that, like so many things, bode ill. Grim silence settled over them once more as Fie plaited a whole new set of troubles into the ones on her head.
Then Tavin's voice broke in. "I really have to know: Which one of us is Pissabed?"

It was this feeling this knowledge, really that he had finally, and truly, for the first time since he'd become a father, done the absolute right thing for the twins
He'd never be a perfect father. He knew that, and even if he hated it, he accepted it. But he had finally done the next best thing, and gotten them the perfect mother.
It was as if a thousand pounds of guilt had been lifted from his shoulders.
No wonder his muscles finally felt unknotted and relaxed.
He could go into his greenhouse in the morning and not worry. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done that, simply gone in and worked without cringing every time he heard a loud noise or shriek.

And then she told him everything. All about the marriage proposals she'd received, and the ones Penelope hadn't, and the plans they'd jokingly made to grow old and spinsterish together. And she told him how guilty she'd felt when Penelope and Colin had married, and she couldn't stop thinking about herself and how alone she was.

And on the few occasions when she did manage to engage him in conversation, it proved to be nothing more than an exercise in frustration. She would ask his opinion on anything relating to the household, for example, and he would just shrug and tell her that she should handle it how she saw fit. Sometimes she wondered if he'd married her just to gain a housekeeper.
And, of course, a warm body in his bed.

‘Now I’ve had boys of my own, and I know boys aren’t that way. They don’t learn, or grow, or have manners when you’re looking at them. But turn away, and turn back, and there they are, smarter, taller, and charming everyone but their own mothers.’

For Michael Stirling, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.
After a lifetime of chasing women, of smiling slyly as they chased him, of allowing himself to be caught and then turning the tables until he was the victor, of caressing and kissing and making love to them but never actually allowing his heart to become engaged, he took one look at Francesca Bridgerton and fell so fast and so hard into love it was a wonder he managed to remain standing.

He had used it to his advantage; he knew that and he wasn't ashamed. He'd used it that very afternoon, while trying to convince her to marry him right then and there.
And it had worked.

"To trap you into marriage," he interrupted. And then, with stunning speed, he had her back against the wall, his body pressed up against hers with startling intimacy.

"Is he here?"
"He's not here."
"Are you certain?"
"I'm quite certain."
"But he is coming?"
"He said he was."
"Oh. But when is he coming?"
"I'm sure I don't know."
"You don't?"
"No, I don't."
"Oh. Right. Well ... Oh, look! I see my daughter.