It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What’s the best book you read in March 2024 and why did you love it?
It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF, or even fiction. We just want to share some great reading material.
Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our 5-Star SFF page.
One commenter with a U.S. mailing address will choose one of these prizes:
- a FanLit T-shirt (we have sizes M, L, XL)
- a book from our stacks.
- a $5 Amazon gift card (this is the only option for non-USA addresses).
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I finally bit the bullet and bought the “Necronomicon” and “Eldritch Tales” H.P. Lovecraft story collections from Blackstone Audio. I’m not sure there were printed versions of those, but if course there are a zillion print collections of Lovecraft. One or two or three of his most-famous stories contained some memorably purple prose, of course, since he’s famous for that. Overall, it seems to me that he was definitely a conscious, devoted craftsman.
I kind of hope that this means that I have “done Lovecraft,” because I tend to be a completist, and if there is “more stuff” out there I would definitely want to read that as well.
Anyway, my favorite story in the collections was the one where the protagonist or narrator saw something eerie and unsettling! (Ha-ha.)
Typos: “*If*there were”…”but *of* course.”
Moon of the Turning Leaves (Waubgeshig Rice) continues the tale of the Anishinaabe forced to return to some of their traditional ways when the reservation is left without power and food deliveries after the collapse of civilization. It’s about a dozen years later in this book, and now middle-aged Evan volunteers for a mission to see whether there is a better place for the community in the south of Ontario, since they are stressing the ecosystem where they live. Accompanying him is his daughter Nangohns and four other adults. They encounter some other pockets of Anishinaabe on their long trek, as well as white supremacist militia members who have united under a self-appointed General. This isn’t a “quiet apocalypse” novel, because there is danger and killing, but much of the story is just an account of the six searchers’ travels through the wilderness. Although there is no definite explanation, it sounds like a huge solar flare may have killed the power grid and caused the collapse. It’s as engaging as Moon of the Crusted Snow, the first book.
I really enjoyed Moon of the Crusted Snow and had no idea there was a sequel out. Thanks for the heads up!
I’m going to have to find these and read them.
My fave was Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. Though it wasn’t perfect, I did enjoy the hell out of it and the main characters felt like real people (and real, older people, too.)
This was the first Kingfisher/Vernon book I’ve read, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. With the mention of paladin Stephen’s dead God so prominent in the blurb, I wasn’t sure if this would be a mystery about what killed his god, etc, but no. What I got was a cheerful, enthusiastic, slightly awkward mashup of low fantasy and romance. The world building was great, the characters were actual adults even when they were hitting romance novel beats, and overall I really enjoyed it. The plot felt like it might have had one too many plot arcs going in it, and the ending all fell together a bit too neatly, but I forgive that for everything that it did right.
Andromeda Strain- Michael Crichton. An oldie but a goodie.
My best was a re-read of Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I’d read it back in the 90’s (maybe twice) and it became one of my all-time favorites. It’s still just as good as it was–and as tragic–though perhaps not a tip-top favorite any more. (There’s so much wonderful SFF coming out now that I’ve found new faves in recent years!) Still a great example of Willis’s ability to spin a gripping yarn and immerse the reader in both a historical time period and the world she creates.
I also very much enjoyed A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan and Bloodmarked, the sequel to Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. March was a great reading month for me!
Inspection by Josh Malerman
I did not think I was going to like this as much as I did. That changed very quickly. I won’t say too much…I’m not big on rehashing the plot, etc. I will say that this would be a great movie. I mean seriously. It’s a relatively self-contained story so I would think filmmakers wouldn’t mess it up too much, but then again, we know how that usually goes.
That ending though. Wow. Excellent!
N/E
A collection of stories, Patchwork, including an alternative version of how the main characters’ story went in the first book, Tess Carletta’s Kit and Basie. Basie and his mother are immortal, or at least, very long-lived, so it’s a shock when Basie’s mother says it’s time. Kit had been in contact with her for a commission, and ends up buying a house in the town. it’s a cozy romance (MM), set in a very small town in rural Pennsylvania. Includes some domestic magic.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kage Harper. Lyon was a sorcerer but after a tragic and horrifying event, he fled for the countryside. Years later, he’s still dealing with ptsd including multiple mental health issues and living quietly as a translator. Tobin, his childhood friend, now guardsman (I think higher rank) for the king who needs Lyon’s help…
Re-read of Magician by Kristin L. Noone about Lorre, a long-lived half-river spirit (he’s around 300 yo), extremely powerful, who’s retreated to a tropical island because he’s tired of the machinations of politics and almost burned down a kingdom including his ex and daughter (in Sorceress). Many people have searched him out trying to cajol him into helping this, that, or the other. He found them tiresome and turned them all away. Then Gareth, a sunshiny prince of a tiny mountain country, shows up. Smarter and more patient and definitely more intriguing than the other visitors–hey, he asked a random magician to make him a charm to find someone who could help and turned up on the beach of the most powerful one known–who wants help with bandits and the killing cold that accompanies them.
Out of genre, Alexandra Caluen writes stories set in the creatives in Los Angeles area and Las Vegas–dancers, musicians, a director, actors, etc. Most characters are older or there’s an age gap between the main characters. Although not creative myself (too lazy to get good!), it’s my one of my jams to read about them so I really enjoy her books. Although there can be angst, her characters tend to talk about their issues, go see therapists, and act like “adults” in a good way. I haven’t quite read all the way through her books yet, but I’ve read most in the last two months.
Also I read a bunch more Amy Lane. The first few I read by her were cozy romances which I enjoyed and then I think I read one or two that I thought were so-so, so I quit reading her. Last year I somehow came across another cozy series set on a sheep farm which exists for the wool to be knitted by the owner, his best friend, employees, everyone who comes in contact…that was a lot of fun. One book included bad guys coming after one of the newer residents (an ex-grifter) which led to a different series set in Sacramento and is law enforcement-related. Another jam. Much more angst, lots of shooting and bad guys. I keep forgetting that Lane writes a lot of different tropes. She’s very prolific so it’ll be a while before I get through her books.
“Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kage Harper” Freudian slip there. ;)
The next Avatar: The Last Airbender canon graphic novel is “North and South”, Part One, where the focus changes to Katara and Sokka as they return home to the Southern Water Tribe. The Northern and Southern Water Tribes are cooperating more than ever in the post-war reconstruction efforts, but some fear this is just the prelude to a takeover by the North.
Goldeen Ogawa’s eighth Professor Odd novella, “Chronostrophe”, lives up to its dramatic-sounding name! It’s explained that some universes are flexible for time travel and others don’t allow it at all. The crew of the Oddity land in such a universe, but somehow someone has tampered with the past, resulting in a series of inexplicable phenomena as the universe melts down.
The Last Trial: book eleven in Scott Turow’s loosely connected “series” of legal thrillers set in Kindle County. As with the others, this book is an exciting story built on layers of deception hiding dark secrets and characters willing to kill to keep those secrets buried. 85-year-old defense attorney Sandy Stern is forced to question everything when his longtime friend and celebrated cancer researcher, Dr. Kiril Pafko, comes up on charges of fraud and murder.
R ,if you live in the USA, you win a Fan Lit T-shirt (please specify 1st and 2nd preferred sizes) OR a book of your choice from our stacks, OR a $5 Amazon gift card. If your address is outside of the USA, you will get a $5 Amazon gift card.