More great books this week!
Bill: Much of this past week was spent finishing (finishing—yay!) final papers, now let the summer reading season commence! I read and absolutely loved Circe, Madeline Miller’s retelling/reshaping of Greek myth while One Pagan’s Strange Survivors was a solid popular science book. Currently I’m reading Darwin Comes to Town by Menno Schilthuizen, a so far fascinating look at evolution centered on urban ecology.
Jana: This week I hosted a Very Important Guest (hi, Mom!) and didn’t have a lot of spare time for reading. I did finish Robyn Bennis‘ By Fire Above, and thought it was an honest examination of both the absurdity and the brutality of war. (Review to come shortly, along with a #FearlessWomen blog post containing an exclusive excerpt.) I also read K.M. Sparza’s Nebula-nominated novelette “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” which has an fascinating use of vampirism as an allegory for gender transition. (Review also to come.) I started Lara Elena Donnelly‘s Armistice, the sequel to her swoon-worthy Amberlough, and I’m really enjoying being immersed in Donnelly’s world and characters. Should time and weather permit in the coming week, I’ll be able to work my way through The Overneath, Peter S. Beagle‘s 2017 collection of short stories, along with Claire North‘s upcoming novel 84K. This will be the first full-length novel of hers that I’ve read, but I have very high hopes after reading the generally-enthusiastic FanLit reviews of her other work.
Kat: I read the latest novella by Lois McMaster Bujold, The Prisoner of Limnos, which was nice but not thrilling. I started Elliott James’ PAX ARCANA series. This is a contemporary fantasy with a sarcastic hero. I’ve grown to like him which, I think, is key to enjoying this series. I read Charming and Daring and am now starting Fearless. Reviews coming soon, of course.
Marion: I read John Scalzi’s Head On. The FBI team of Leslie Vann and Chris Shane from Lock In are on the case again. The story deals with discrimination, professional sports and a murder that technically, at least, should not be possible. Terry Weyna told me she thought I’d enjoy it, and she was right. Look for a joint review from us soon.
Stuart: We’ve been busy enjoying the rare and precious good weather in London recently in between the cold and rainy days, and I’ve been revisiting Neil Gaiman‘s adult books, Neverwhere, Good Omens, Anansi Boys, and now American Gods. The last in particular has very split opinions among readers, as I didn’t like it the first time a few years back, and remember Kat also was unimpressed. Having now gotten on Gaiman’s wavelength and giving it another chance, I find it’s better than the first time, though there are some gratuitously explicit scenes. There is now an original Netflix series, which I may try when I’m done with the full-cast audiobook.
Taya: I am reading Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe and also To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. One of the books is quite promising and he other one is turning out to be a bit of a disappointment. I’ll not designate which is which.
Terry: Why, yes, I am still reading almost everything I was reading two weeks ago. I did finish John Scalzi‘s Head On (in fact, I gulped that one down in only two days; review forthcoming) Saladin Ahmed‘s Black Bolt Vol. 1 (which I thought was only okay, though that could be due to my unfamiliarity with the character), and Toni Onyebucki’s Beasts Made of Night (which I didn’t much like). I should probably work at finishing up the other six or so books I have bookmarks in, but instead I’ve picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch for a second reread. For me to reread something once is unusual; twice puts in firmly in the category of lifetime favorite books.
Terry, as someone only *slightly* familiar with the comic character Black Bolt, I liked Ahmed’s take a great deal, but I am LOVING his original series, ABBOTT.