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Oy, messed up the numbering again. It's a good thing I keep a master list.
#82. Wool by Hugh Howey. 4. This post-apocalyptic tale started off as three different published-online books, but works remarkably well as a whole. The first, short, story is about a sheriff of a civilization entirely contained to a silo who commits the crime of wanting to go outside. The second section features the mayor's decision on how to replace the sheriff. The third, which is the bulk of the book, follows the new sheriff as she discovers secrets hidden for generations and pretty much the entire social structure falls apart. It's extremely compelling, and I wanted to spend more time in the world. Unfortunately, a quick look at the two sequels show they're focused entirely on stuff I was less interested in, so I think I'm stopping here.
#83. Tainted Moonlight by Erin Kelly. 2. This could have used more editing, rather badly. The tendency to switch tenses inexplicably mid-paragraph is maddening. It also mostly wastes a novel premise (involving a virus that creates werewolves and a society that makes non-werewolf sponsors responsible for furry friends) for a not-very-compelling noir plot. Plus, the back cover promises vampires which may have been in the author's worldbuilding but don't seem to have made it into the actual book.
#84. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. 5. Re-read. Intricately plotted, lushly described, the entire world of Terre D'Ange is enthralling. It's a doorstop of a book that you can't put down. But if you haven't heard of the series, do be warned...it's seriously kinky. If you're easily squicked...uh...this is not for you.
#85. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. 4.5. Re-read. Carey expands her world, taking us beyond Terre D'Ange (France) into the Mediterranean. It's a little more meandering than the last one--really, half the adventures could probably be snipped out without being missed. But Carey slightly off her game is still leagues beyond most authors.
#86. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey. 5. Re-read. This one goes...rather darker. Interestingly enough, she puts what most authors would make the climax around the middle of the book, and things just keep going. In a way, it's better. We get the slow healing from the trauma of the mid-book. And the difference between Phedre's goals and Kushiel's goals stands out. A lovely, if seriously intense, conclusion to the series.
#87. The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry. 5. A detective wakes up with no memory, and has to discover himself even as he tries to fake his way through his latest case. Much of the appeal here is watching someone learn that they were not a particularly likable person, when they no longer have access to whatever self-delusions they'd told themselves. The ending depends a bit heavily on some coincidences, but is nonetheless satisfying in a way that does not betray the huge plot twists.
#88. The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin. 4. Comics writer MG struggles with leaning in at work, when a handsome cop shows up needing her help with a vigilante taking a page from her favorite comic books. Super cute. A bunch of threads are left dangling, though, in a way that makes it hard to give this the 4.5 or 5 I wanted to. I guess she's trying to set up a series, but it's a bit annoying. Still, adorable!
#89. The Story Behind by Emily Prokop. 3. Kind of ideal as a bathroom reader. Taken from a podcast, this is a bunch of 2-3 page stories on how various things got invented. Interesting without being super memorable. The tl;dr section at the end of each chapter feels rather unnecessary, given how short the chapters are.
#90. The Upward Spiral; Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time by Alex Korb. 3.5. The actual suggestions here aren't super novel (although the bits about massage are new to me), but I did like the explanations of what's going on from a neuroscience perspective.
#91. The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger. 5. Charming gay werewolves get up to shenanigans about packs and dominance and will-they/won't-they/will-they-again. It's delightful fluff.
#92. The Sumage Solution by G.L. Carriger. 4.5. Had to re-read after Omega Objection. Still delightful, although I dock half a point for bringing up some worldbuilding ideas that get left by the wayside in favor of relationship stuff. Which I still wanted, I just also wanted to know what Max would do with the photos on his phone of the book...
#93. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. 4. I seem to be reading a lot of Russian/Polish inspired fantasy this year. Chernobog keeps coming up. While not quite the brilliance of Spinning Silver, this one is also a lovely and engaging tale of a young woman courted by winter. I liked the rather complicated approach to the Church--too often, the Church is either all good or all bad, and here it's appropriately complicated. I also like the truth of how even a nobleman's family would have had a long, hungry winter in the hinterlands. Have to say, though, the title seems to be chosen mostly because it sounds good, because the actual characters named are some of the less interesting parts of the plot.
#94. The Silent Strength of Stones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. 2.5. There are some interesting points in this sleepy tale of a boy working in a vacation town who discovers a clan of visiting magicians. But this is the scraps of worldbuilding from another book. (Maybe the first one in the series? I haven't read it, but few of the characters seem to overlap.) All the interesting things happened not in this book. Also, while I sense maybe the incredible boundary violations are addressed in the previous book, here they're mostly shrugged aside without being dealt with.
#95. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 4. You know, I'd never actually read this? I mean, I recognize 95% of the words, since even descriptions get quoted pretty heavily in the many film and stage adaptions. But it was interesting seeing what is and isn't from the original text. It's purple as all get out, as one might expect, but quite delightful.
#96. The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia A. McKillip. 4. An old mage struggles with guilt over a spell gone terribly wrong; a young prince tries to find a way forward for his traumatized people; a kitchen girl is more than she seems, or remembers. It's a surprisingly subtle book that rewards close reading and is more about facing mistakes than magical battles. I do wish that Saro had done more to free herself rather than waiting for the guys, though.
#97. Prague: A Cultural and Literary History by Richard Burton. 3. This one is all over the map, literally. There's not a lot in the way of straightforward histories of Prague in English. This one assumes that you're already deeply conversant with Czech history. (Of course I know all about White Mountain, who doesn't?) It starts as almost a walking tour of Prague neighborhoods, with associated history, before abruptly switching to a narrative of artistic movements of the twentieth century vaguely overlaid on the history of the country. Feels more like stream of consciousness of whatever caught the author's attention at the moment. There's a bunch of really interesting bits, but not quite the framework to make sense of it all. And the non-Czech author's faint superiority complex grates a bit after a while.
#82. Wool by Hugh Howey. 4. This post-apocalyptic tale started off as three different published-online books, but works remarkably well as a whole. The first, short, story is about a sheriff of a civilization entirely contained to a silo who commits the crime of wanting to go outside. The second section features the mayor's decision on how to replace the sheriff. The third, which is the bulk of the book, follows the new sheriff as she discovers secrets hidden for generations and pretty much the entire social structure falls apart. It's extremely compelling, and I wanted to spend more time in the world. Unfortunately, a quick look at the two sequels show they're focused entirely on stuff I was less interested in, so I think I'm stopping here.
#83. Tainted Moonlight by Erin Kelly. 2. This could have used more editing, rather badly. The tendency to switch tenses inexplicably mid-paragraph is maddening. It also mostly wastes a novel premise (involving a virus that creates werewolves and a society that makes non-werewolf sponsors responsible for furry friends) for a not-very-compelling noir plot. Plus, the back cover promises vampires which may have been in the author's worldbuilding but don't seem to have made it into the actual book.
#84. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. 5. Re-read. Intricately plotted, lushly described, the entire world of Terre D'Ange is enthralling. It's a doorstop of a book that you can't put down. But if you haven't heard of the series, do be warned...it's seriously kinky. If you're easily squicked...uh...this is not for you.
#85. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. 4.5. Re-read. Carey expands her world, taking us beyond Terre D'Ange (France) into the Mediterranean. It's a little more meandering than the last one--really, half the adventures could probably be snipped out without being missed. But Carey slightly off her game is still leagues beyond most authors.
#86. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey. 5. Re-read. This one goes...rather darker. Interestingly enough, she puts what most authors would make the climax around the middle of the book, and things just keep going. In a way, it's better. We get the slow healing from the trauma of the mid-book. And the difference between Phedre's goals and Kushiel's goals stands out. A lovely, if seriously intense, conclusion to the series.
#87. The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry. 5. A detective wakes up with no memory, and has to discover himself even as he tries to fake his way through his latest case. Much of the appeal here is watching someone learn that they were not a particularly likable person, when they no longer have access to whatever self-delusions they'd told themselves. The ending depends a bit heavily on some coincidences, but is nonetheless satisfying in a way that does not betray the huge plot twists.
#88. The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin. 4. Comics writer MG struggles with leaning in at work, when a handsome cop shows up needing her help with a vigilante taking a page from her favorite comic books. Super cute. A bunch of threads are left dangling, though, in a way that makes it hard to give this the 4.5 or 5 I wanted to. I guess she's trying to set up a series, but it's a bit annoying. Still, adorable!
#89. The Story Behind by Emily Prokop. 3. Kind of ideal as a bathroom reader. Taken from a podcast, this is a bunch of 2-3 page stories on how various things got invented. Interesting without being super memorable. The tl;dr section at the end of each chapter feels rather unnecessary, given how short the chapters are.
#90. The Upward Spiral; Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time by Alex Korb. 3.5. The actual suggestions here aren't super novel (although the bits about massage are new to me), but I did like the explanations of what's going on from a neuroscience perspective.
#91. The Omega Objection by G.L. Carriger. 5. Charming gay werewolves get up to shenanigans about packs and dominance and will-they/won't-they/will-they-again. It's delightful fluff.
#92. The Sumage Solution by G.L. Carriger. 4.5. Had to re-read after Omega Objection. Still delightful, although I dock half a point for bringing up some worldbuilding ideas that get left by the wayside in favor of relationship stuff. Which I still wanted, I just also wanted to know what Max would do with the photos on his phone of the book...
#93. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. 4. I seem to be reading a lot of Russian/Polish inspired fantasy this year. Chernobog keeps coming up. While not quite the brilliance of Spinning Silver, this one is also a lovely and engaging tale of a young woman courted by winter. I liked the rather complicated approach to the Church--too often, the Church is either all good or all bad, and here it's appropriately complicated. I also like the truth of how even a nobleman's family would have had a long, hungry winter in the hinterlands. Have to say, though, the title seems to be chosen mostly because it sounds good, because the actual characters named are some of the less interesting parts of the plot.
#94. The Silent Strength of Stones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. 2.5. There are some interesting points in this sleepy tale of a boy working in a vacation town who discovers a clan of visiting magicians. But this is the scraps of worldbuilding from another book. (Maybe the first one in the series? I haven't read it, but few of the characters seem to overlap.) All the interesting things happened not in this book. Also, while I sense maybe the incredible boundary violations are addressed in the previous book, here they're mostly shrugged aside without being dealt with.
#95. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 4. You know, I'd never actually read this? I mean, I recognize 95% of the words, since even descriptions get quoted pretty heavily in the many film and stage adaptions. But it was interesting seeing what is and isn't from the original text. It's purple as all get out, as one might expect, but quite delightful.
#96. The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia A. McKillip. 4. An old mage struggles with guilt over a spell gone terribly wrong; a young prince tries to find a way forward for his traumatized people; a kitchen girl is more than she seems, or remembers. It's a surprisingly subtle book that rewards close reading and is more about facing mistakes than magical battles. I do wish that Saro had done more to free herself rather than waiting for the guys, though.
#97. Prague: A Cultural and Literary History by Richard Burton. 3. This one is all over the map, literally. There's not a lot in the way of straightforward histories of Prague in English. This one assumes that you're already deeply conversant with Czech history. (Of course I know all about White Mountain, who doesn't?) It starts as almost a walking tour of Prague neighborhoods, with associated history, before abruptly switching to a narrative of artistic movements of the twentieth century vaguely overlaid on the history of the country. Feels more like stream of consciousness of whatever caught the author's attention at the moment. There's a bunch of really interesting bits, but not quite the framework to make sense of it all. And the non-Czech author's faint superiority complex grates a bit after a while.
