lady_ragnell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lady_ragnell) wrote2023-11-28 03:36 pm
lady_ragnell) wrote2023-11-28 03:36 pm
2023, Post 15
I was thinking the other day about how at the start of this year I said it was my goal to slow down and savor a little. While I've done that with some specific books, I really have not done it overall, as evidenced by me hitting 150 books before December. Whoops!
The Mysteries by Bill Watterson & John Kascht
A very short read, but I wanted to acknowledge it! Watterson's style of story remains much the same, even if this is obviously very different from Calvin & Hobbes. Kascht's art style doesn't super work for me, but still, it was an interesting read and I liked it!
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
The end of Marske's debut trilogy, and I think it did really well getting through what it needed to plot-wise while still being a standalone romance! The second book, as the most romp-ish (and woman-focused) of the three, remains my favorite, but I had a lot of fun with this one and, clearly, so did Marske. It was a great series ender, but it still left enough loose ends that if she ever wants to return to the universe or even to the characters she definitely can, which I think is smart. (There's one thing from book two that didn't pay off when I really thought it would, which jarred me, but then again, this book was packed pretty tight as it is.) Also, Marske is just really good at writing characte chemistry, that was off the charts here.
Network Effect by Martha Wells
I finished up my reread! And man, I love this book so much, Wells really did engage with so many tropes and story beats that I love with my whole heart here, and did them really well. Murderbot and ART's interactions are SO good, funny and heart-wrenching both, and I like this cast of side characters, too. Anyway, not much more to say about this, since I've had this on here multiple times before!
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
I had "afrofuturism" on my book bingo card and I've been meaning to read more Okorafor anyway, so I picked this one! My library service only had it in audiobook form, so I listened to it while doing some sewing, but unfortunately the narrator's voice was in the precise register to get blocked out by the sound of my sewing machine, so that was occasionally frustrating, and there were times when I didn't track the story and particularly its time markers very well. The book itself was really good, though, despite those frustrations! Fast-paced, interesting characters, a hell of a lot of interesting things to say, an intriguing world and future, plus the ending was great, I really appreciate a good ending. Not a light read, but one I liked a lot.
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare
A fun little novella! I like Dare a lot. This is some of her older work, I think, with a bit less humor, but this worked better for me than a lot of romance novellas first because it was snapshots across time instead of an extreme fastburn and second because it largely does sell that feeling of "these people do feel instant chemistry and a kind of mutual understanding to go with it," even if the love interest is a bit of an asshole about it.
System Collapse by Martha Wells
Devoured this as soon as it came out, of course! I saw one review that said this feels rather like an extra 200 pages of Network Effect, and while I don't know if it's wrong, I didn't really care, either. It drew together a lot of pieces from previous books that I liked, had Murderbot and ART and Ratthi all heavily featured when they're my favorites, and had a moment of storytelling payoff so glorious I gasped a little, and I could not possibly ask for more from it than that.
The Earl I Want for Christmas by Colleen Kelly
High-heat romance that was available for free upon subscribing to a newsletter, which I then read because I was tired and it seemed like just what I needed! If you're looking for a Christmas romance this year and your taste tends to the angsty and high-heat over the sweet and low-heat, you should absolutely give it a look, though! It hasn't stuck with me, possibly because I read it all in one night and finished it around 2am during one of the most stressful weeks of my professional year, but I do know that I had fun reading it.
Some Dukes Have All the Luck by Christina Britton
I've only read a few from Britton so far, but I quite like her, I find! In that older Balogh tradition of going rather angsty with things, so when I'm in the mood for something a bit less frothy from my romance reading it's good to know that I have a bunch from her to reach for. This love interest had three young wards who were sometimes just plot conveniences but did actually manage to be real characters sometimes, which is more rare than it ought to be, and I just generally had a good time reading this one. Marriages of convenience really are one of my favorite tropes!
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
This one was SO fun. I'm sometimes leery of worldbuilding that has fairies AND old gods AND angels and so on and so forth, they can start feeling contradictory and overstuffed, but this one worked really well, even if I question whether society would be quite this similar to our history given all the real magic. Plus it was narrated by Puck! Hall does a great job of walking that line between Puck being narrator and character, and the characters and world are all great, and the banter is absolutely glorious in places, so overall, a delightful romp if of the book's elements sound intriguing to you.
Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai
Another romp! I've read a bit of Rai before, but this is my favorite I've read from her so far. This had a great action romcom plot, competent characters who had reason to be competent, interesting side characters, and a good romance arc. What more could I ask for? I don't have a lot to say about this, but I had a good time with it.
After this group, I only have two squares left on my book bingo for the year! And I know what books I'm doing for both, I just have to read them. Other than that, I still have a lot of books on my shelf, with a bunch I'm excited about, so hopefully you'll all see the fruits of that as time goes by!
The Mysteries by Bill Watterson & John Kascht
A very short read, but I wanted to acknowledge it! Watterson's style of story remains much the same, even if this is obviously very different from Calvin & Hobbes. Kascht's art style doesn't super work for me, but still, it was an interesting read and I liked it!
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
The end of Marske's debut trilogy, and I think it did really well getting through what it needed to plot-wise while still being a standalone romance! The second book, as the most romp-ish (and woman-focused) of the three, remains my favorite, but I had a lot of fun with this one and, clearly, so did Marske. It was a great series ender, but it still left enough loose ends that if she ever wants to return to the universe or even to the characters she definitely can, which I think is smart. (There's one thing from book two that didn't pay off when I really thought it would, which jarred me, but then again, this book was packed pretty tight as it is.) Also, Marske is just really good at writing characte chemistry, that was off the charts here.
Network Effect by Martha Wells
I finished up my reread! And man, I love this book so much, Wells really did engage with so many tropes and story beats that I love with my whole heart here, and did them really well. Murderbot and ART's interactions are SO good, funny and heart-wrenching both, and I like this cast of side characters, too. Anyway, not much more to say about this, since I've had this on here multiple times before!
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
I had "afrofuturism" on my book bingo card and I've been meaning to read more Okorafor anyway, so I picked this one! My library service only had it in audiobook form, so I listened to it while doing some sewing, but unfortunately the narrator's voice was in the precise register to get blocked out by the sound of my sewing machine, so that was occasionally frustrating, and there were times when I didn't track the story and particularly its time markers very well. The book itself was really good, though, despite those frustrations! Fast-paced, interesting characters, a hell of a lot of interesting things to say, an intriguing world and future, plus the ending was great, I really appreciate a good ending. Not a light read, but one I liked a lot.
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare
A fun little novella! I like Dare a lot. This is some of her older work, I think, with a bit less humor, but this worked better for me than a lot of romance novellas first because it was snapshots across time instead of an extreme fastburn and second because it largely does sell that feeling of "these people do feel instant chemistry and a kind of mutual understanding to go with it," even if the love interest is a bit of an asshole about it.
System Collapse by Martha Wells
Devoured this as soon as it came out, of course! I saw one review that said this feels rather like an extra 200 pages of Network Effect, and while I don't know if it's wrong, I didn't really care, either. It drew together a lot of pieces from previous books that I liked, had Murderbot and ART and Ratthi all heavily featured when they're my favorites, and had a moment of storytelling payoff so glorious I gasped a little, and I could not possibly ask for more from it than that.
The Earl I Want for Christmas by Colleen Kelly
High-heat romance that was available for free upon subscribing to a newsletter, which I then read because I was tired and it seemed like just what I needed! If you're looking for a Christmas romance this year and your taste tends to the angsty and high-heat over the sweet and low-heat, you should absolutely give it a look, though! It hasn't stuck with me, possibly because I read it all in one night and finished it around 2am during one of the most stressful weeks of my professional year, but I do know that I had fun reading it.
Some Dukes Have All the Luck by Christina Britton
I've only read a few from Britton so far, but I quite like her, I find! In that older Balogh tradition of going rather angsty with things, so when I'm in the mood for something a bit less frothy from my romance reading it's good to know that I have a bunch from her to reach for. This love interest had three young wards who were sometimes just plot conveniences but did actually manage to be real characters sometimes, which is more rare than it ought to be, and I just generally had a good time reading this one. Marriages of convenience really are one of my favorite tropes!
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
This one was SO fun. I'm sometimes leery of worldbuilding that has fairies AND old gods AND angels and so on and so forth, they can start feeling contradictory and overstuffed, but this one worked really well, even if I question whether society would be quite this similar to our history given all the real magic. Plus it was narrated by Puck! Hall does a great job of walking that line between Puck being narrator and character, and the characters and world are all great, and the banter is absolutely glorious in places, so overall, a delightful romp if of the book's elements sound intriguing to you.
Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai
Another romp! I've read a bit of Rai before, but this is my favorite I've read from her so far. This had a great action romcom plot, competent characters who had reason to be competent, interesting side characters, and a good romance arc. What more could I ask for? I don't have a lot to say about this, but I had a good time with it.
After this group, I only have two squares left on my book bingo for the year! And I know what books I'm doing for both, I just have to read them. Other than that, I still have a lot of books on my shelf, with a bunch I'm excited about, so hopefully you'll all see the fruits of that as time goes by!
no subject
no subject