Hello, everyone! How’s your week been? I’ve had quite a good week of reading and finally getting one of my assignments done, so I’m pleased with myself. Just one more assignment to go… for now. Gah.

Books acquired:

  

Super excited about both of these, since I’ve been anticipating them for, ugh, a year? So hurrah! Butterflies in November is a book I got via a book exchange on Facebook; I’ve never heard of it, so I’m quite intrigued.

Books received to review: 

I’ve been curious about this trilogy for a while, so I dug out the first book — and got the second from the library — the minute I received this review copy.

Library books:

  

 

The Iron Ghost is the second book of the series, and I already have The Copper Promise, so let’s have at it! As for the other books, well. I had to make my library trips worth it, right?

Books finished this week:

   

    

Reviews:

–Fathom, by Cherie Priest. Ultimately I wanted more from it, especially knowing how much I love a couple of Priest’s other books, but it was enjoyable enough. 3/5 stars
–The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black. My catchphrase, once more: communicate, damn it! But some clever stuff with fairy tales, and subverting narrative expectations. 3/5 stars
–The Selection, by Kiera Cass. Surprisingly, I quite liked this, and appreciated the main character’s friendships with other girls and determination to figure out what’s best for her. 3/5 stars
–Liars and Thieves, by Karen Maitland. A short story that adds just a little to Company of Liars. 2/5 stars
–Blood and Feathers, by Lou Morgan. Easy and pacey to read, but quite predictable. If you’re a fan of the CW’s Supernatural… 3/5 stars
–The Wicked Day, by Mary Stewart. A whole rant about how Stewart broke her own story in trying to adhere to too many different Arthurian threads. I found this one really frustrating. 2/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Owl Killers, by Karen Maitland. Looks like I enjoyed this one a lot, especially because it taught me about an aspect of history I had no idea about. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: People You Should Follow. A non-exhaustive list of blogs I like and regularly read.

Now excuse me, I really must be doing something productive reading more. Happy reading, everyone!

Yes, that’s right! For the first time in a while, I’ve actually avoided acquiring any books this week. I haven’t done much unstacking though, either. I’ve read a couple of books, but I got bogged down in The Stress of Her Regard (Tim Powers), of which I’m not enough of a fan to be getting very far with it. Still, I did some more reading on Friday that I’d done all week…

Books finished this week:

  

Reviews this week:
–Stormy Petrel, by Mary Stewart. Not my favourite of Stewart’s romance/suspense novels, but a comfort reread for me. 3/5 stars
–A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar. Richly written and vivid, though I think I wanted more resolution or… something. 4/5 stars
–A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. I reread I loved even more the second time round. Awesome alt-history with study of dragons, what’s not to love? 5/5 stars
–The Black Moth, by Georgette Heyer. Since this was Heyer’s first novel, it’s understandably not as great as some of the later ones. But it was still a lot of fun! 3/5 stars
–Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson. I actually prefer Lawson’s blog as a context for her writing, I think, but there’s no denying she’s funny as hell. 3/5 stars
–Library of Souls, by Ransom Riggs. Pretty good finish for the series, though my enjoyment was somewhat marred by the fact that it’s less a series and more one continuous story. It took me a while to pick the threads back up. 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan. Not as whimsical as I expected from descriptions, but enjoyable, though not comfortable. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Library closures. The perspective from someone who helped to run a community library on the importance of libraries — and trained librarians.
–Shelf Love Challenge April Update (and TBR list). Also featuring my love letter to my (ex-)local library.

Hello everyone! It’s been a busy week, particularly as I’m now trying to tackle my library books and get them down to zero, in preparation for a long trip to stay with my partner. I have a month, and 36 books to go… and some of them are the second book in a series where I own the first book but haven’t read it yet. Uh, wish me luck?!

Received to review:

 

So excited about all three of these!

Books finished this week: 

    

   

Reviews this week:
–Clean Sweep, by Ilona Andrews. Lots of fun, and funny too. Ilona Andrews’ books are always fun, I think. 4/5 stars
–Junk DNA, by Nessa Carey. Spoiler: there’s probably no such thing as junk DNA. At least not in the amounts previously thought. Nessa Carey writes clearly and concisely, and I think the book should work for laypeople. 4/5 stars
–The Winner’s Crime, by Marie Rutkoski. I’m not sure if my writing might be too generous — the plot relied heavily on miscommunication/lack of communication, which always drives me bananas. 4/5 stars
–Solstice Wood, by Patricia A. McKillip. More accessible than the other book, Winter Rose, but less enchanting. 3/5 stars
–Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell. Love, love, love. Might read it again before long. 5/5 stars
–The Winner’s Kiss, by Marie Rutkoski. Got over most of my quibbles from the second book, and ended things well. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Helen of Troy, by Bettany Hughes. Enjoyable take on the myth of Helen and the way it has developed, though probably dry if this isn’t an area of interest for you. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven’t Talked About Enough/In A While. What it says on the tin!

How’s everyone? Anything exciting going on?

Well, for the first time in a while I haven’t got any new books this week! I did pick up some print copies of books I already owned for my collection, but I don’t really count those as acquisitions unless I’m going to reread. And there was a library trip, but only a small one!

Yes, honestly, that is a small one. I technically own the Heyer books… somewhere.

Books read: 

  

  

Reviews this week:

–The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home, by Catherynne M. Valente. A worthy final book, though I was disappointed not to see more of a couple of characters. It ends very neatly. 4/5 stars
–Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, by Brian K. Vaughn. I wanted to like it more, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the art. Made a decent introduction, though. 3/5 stars
–Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip. I normally love McKillip’s work, but this was my third read and I consistently don’t seem to “get” this one. 3/5 stars
–Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, by Kai Ashante Wilson. I wanted to like it, but the pacing was off and there were so many things skimmed over that I really wanted to know. 2/5 stars
–Alex + Ada: Volume One, by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn. Very very introductory, so it’s hard to say if I’ll like the rest of the series. 3/5 stars
–Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay: The Dodgy Business of Popular Music, by Simon Napier-Bell. Gossipy and light, but uses terms like “Red Indians”. Whaaa? 2/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Postman, by David Brin. An interesting concept for a post-apocalyptic story. I wanted more female characters, though. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Why reread? Examines why I like to reread — and asks whether you do, too.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR. What it says on the tin: some books I hope to read soon.

So how’s your week been? I wish I’d read more, but it hasn’t been a bad week. My only worry is getting together the money for my domain name renewal and such.

You know how I said last week there was a bookalanche? Well, it seems to have… set off another? Plus I got some review copies. And I joined a new library. At least I read quite a lot too?!

Books to review: 

 

Between being a fan of Ada Palmer’s work with Sassafrass and Jo’s praise, I couldn’t resist picking up the latter, and I’ve seen so much enthusiasm about Passenger, so I thought I’d give it a try. And Demon Road, well, the hardback from the library is a beast so glad to have the ebook. Thanks Tor, Hachette and HarperCollins!

Library books:

 

 

Grabbed the Stiefvater books since it’s the first time I’ve seen them both on the shelves, and I don’t know when I’ll next swing by that library. The Alastair Reynolds books are for my epic reread with my sister; we’re starting with Century Rain, which is the book we both started with way back when (and the book which got my sister to read again after years of refusing). A Natural History of Dragons is for a reread and Saturn’s Children because I don’t feel like reading in ebook lately. The other two I was just randomly curious about.

Books bought: 

 

 

  

Um. My only excuse is that some of these were secondhand and thus very cheap or free, and then the novellas were from my partner via our Valentine’s Day agreement (for me: £10 ish for books, no questions asked, each month; for her: at least one nap, no pouting allowed, each month). You can see four distinctive sections — romance novels, fantasy novellas, Alastair Reynolds, and kickass ladies in comics. And then an Ilona Andrews one tacked on that I almost forgot to list.

Books read: 

   

   

Reviews this week: 

–Tolkien: An Illustrated Atlas, by David Day. Mostly worth it for the art included. 3/5 stars
–An Earthly Knight, by Janet McNoughton. A reread I appreciated more than I did the first time, based on the ballad of Tam Lin. Lots of historical detail. 4/5 stars
–The Last Enchantment, by Mary Stewart. It felt like Stewart tried to see the best in all the traditional characters, which didn’t always work. 3/5 stars
–The Paper Menagerie, by Ken Liu. Interesting collection of stories, and my only real problem was something about the tone. Probably very idiosyncratic! 3/5 stars
–Murder in the Dark, by Kerry Greenwood. One of the weaker entries in the series, I think, with a weird cult thing going on. 3/5 stars
–Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Morally dubious superpeople and a fun story structure. 5/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson. Fairly typical amnesiac thriller, and rather predictable too. 2/5 stars

Other posts:
–Spoilers! A post on why I like spoilers and why I might not be alone in that.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Characters Everyone Likes But I Just Don’t Get. Apparently it’s unpopular opinions time again?

This week there has been a, uh, bookalanche. Between preorders and filling my stamp card for vouchers at Waterstones (and finding a pre-filled one in my purse too!) and Bookmooch, I’m set for life, I think.

Library books:

I’ve been warned that The Selection is probably not my thing, but I promised to try it all the same, in a bit of boundary-pushing. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, well, the summary I’ve read doesn’t interest me? But I know people have loved it, so I’m giving it a try. And I’ve heard good things about Alex + Ada, and I’ve loved android stories since The Positronic Man, so bring it on.

Books bought:

  

 

 

All of these have been on my wishlist for a while, or are new copies of books I’ve lost or only had as ebooks. It’s quite the haul, I know. There’s actually a few more, thanks to my sister finding some of Alastair Reynolds’ books for me in a second hand bookshop, but I’ll feature those next week!

Books read:

   

Reviews this week:
–Courage is the Price, by Lynn O’Connacht. Great depiction of anxiety, and also being brave and growing up and facing things. 4/5 stars
–The Winner’s Curse, by Marie Rutkoski. Liked this so much more than I expected. Interesting world, and an awesome female lead. 4/5 stars
–Sunset Mantle, by Alter S. Reiss. Epic fantasy, itty bitty living space. 4/5 stars
–The Story of Kullervo, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Disappointing, even for a fan as academically minded as I am. 2/5 stars
–The Wicked + The Divine: Commercial Suicide, by Kieron Gillen. Lacking Jamie McKelvie’s art, I found this kind of unappealing, and the story didn’t progress. 2/5 stars
–The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope. A book I appreciated much more on a second read, with a perfect love story. 5/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Railsea, by China Miéville. Apparently, I found this one unputdownable! 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Meeting Will Stanton. A post about my first experiences with one of my favourite series of books!
–Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books To Read If You’re In the Mood For Complex Fantasy Worlds. Wow, now that’s a long post title… At least it’s descriptive!
–ShelfLove March Update. My progress on the Shelf Love 2016 challenge, plus a bit about this month’s discussion topic — tropes you hate.
–March TBR. Ten books I have to read this month.
–The lesbian dies (again). After waking up to find my sister upset over developments in a TV show, I had a rant about the tragic queer narrative.

Yay, Saturday! I should probably be doing my assignment, so you can probably expect tons of comments today from me.

Books bought

 

I picked up Helen Wright’s book after a chat/recommendations thread on Twitter, and of course I had to grab The Winner’s Crime before I could read The Winner’s Kiss. I did pick up a couple of other books for my permanent collection, too, but all ones I’ve already read and often even had as ebooks. And, hurrah! My Phryne Fisher collection is complete, as I have quietly amassed the other books I originally borrowed, too.

Received to review:

Read this week:

  

  

Reviews this week:
–Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater. I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped, but I did enjoy it, and Stiefvater definitely has a great touch with atmosphere. 3/5 stars
–Dead Man’s Embers, by Mari Strachan. Set in Wales in the aftermath of the Great War, this isn’t exactly the most cheerful read, but very well written. 4/5 stars
–Ms Marvel: Last Days, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona. The Amazing Spider-man stuff included is pure filler, but there’s good development of Kamala and her close friends/family in the main part. 4/5 stars
–City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett. No surprise here that I was bowled over. Just as good as the first book. 5/5 stars
–Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton. I wasn’t as wowed as everyone else seems to be, but it’s definitely enjoyable and I love the setting. 3/5 stars
–Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi. A very fun reread, gotta love the main character’s snarky voice. Light, but satisfying. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. A classic by now, I called this book a ‘wry smile at humanity’s expense’. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Giveaway: A Gathering of Shadows. Slide in under the wire and get a chance to win one of two copies of V.E. Schwab’s new book.
–The Comfort Zone. A discussion about what might constitute my comfort zone (and a resolution to, perhaps, push out of it).
–Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed That I Didn’t Expect To. Kind of ties in with the comfort zone discussion, since I had trouble identifying what mine is, and that was the original prompt.

It’s been a busy week, both for books bought and books read! What’s everyone else been getting their hands on or reading this week?

Books bought

  

Truthwitch arrived in Illumicrate’s second box, and I’m excited to read it — especially with Robin Hobb’s endorsement on the cover. Courage is the Price is written by a friend of mine, and now it has a print edition, so of course I had to get it. Aaaand Waterstones had a copy of A Gathering of Shadows already, so I grabbed it and cancelled my preorder. But, to make up for that (since apparently sales like that don’t count for first week sales), here is a preorder giveaway!

Plus, uh, a batch of comics. Which I justify by pointing out they are female superheroes, and as such need supporting.

I mean, until Jessica Drew, Carol Danvers and Hope Van Dyne join the Avengers in the MCU, I won’t believe that Marvel have finally got the message we want them.

Library books

 

I already own The Girl in the Road and The Speed of Dark… somewhere. This should be impetus to read them. In theory.

Books to review

  

Thanks, Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury and Saga Press! Because I am dreadfully behind, False Hearts will actually be my first book by Laura Lam, and I’ve only just got The Winner’s Curse… good thing I felt like reading it, haha.

Read this week:

   

    

Yes, I did read all of those. Yes, I do eat and sleep, we just don’t quite understand how I fit it in.

Reviews this week:
–Soundless, by Richelle Mead. Not a favourite of mine, unfortunately, especially because it features the magical healing of a deaf character. 2/5 stars
–The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente. Now this I loved, quite predictably, since I’ve enjoyed the whole series. It’s a Changeling-child of a book within the series, but I didn’t resent it for that. 4/5 stars
–Lois Lane: Fallout, by Gwenda Bond. I love superhero novels, and I love the increasing role of women in comics and comic-related media. So, yep, I loved this, too. 4/5 stars
–Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller, by Jennifer Kloester. It has a lot of detail, and does its best to shine a light on a woman who was very private when alive. 4/5 stars
–Colour Me Calm: Mandalas, by Elizabeth James. One quibble: it had at least one design that has been published before. It could be innocent, but it bothered me a bit. 3/5 stars
–Death by Water, by Kerry Greenwood. I enjoyed this one a lot, since it allows Phryne to leave behind the comforts of home and her familiar cast, and go a bit further afield. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Blood, by Sarah Zettel. The last of the quartet, this romance does interesting things with the Arthurian setting. 4/5 stars

Other posts: 
–Appreciating comics. A piece on how exactly I came to love comics — and appreciate them as an art form.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Songs I Wish Were Books. Heavy on the modern folk music.
–Review of Illumicrate’s Box #2. What it says on the tin!

And seriously, if you like V.E. Schwab’s work and haven’t got a preorder of A Gathering of Shadows, welp, I got you covered.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I do look forward to my Saturday posts and going round the regular blogs and some new ones, saying hi, so don’t be shy to leave a comment here — I’ll always reply and comment back on one of your blog posts too. It’s been a quiet week, really: reading-wise, anyway. I did have a friend visiting from the US, so Monday and Tuesday were spent pretending to be a tour guide.

Received to review:

 

I still need to read Garden Spells, so hopefully First Frost will be an impetus to read both! I’m quite hopeful given a couple of friends’ enthusiasm for them. I got Lois Lane Fallout via maximumpop, who have an astounding amount of good book giveaways.

Bought:

 

 

Well, City of Blades actually came via my friend from the US, so it would match my copy of City of Stairs, and The Buried Book and Lone Survivors were gifts from another friend. All of these come from my wishlist, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. Especially The Wicked + The Divine!

Library: 

 

  

I am feeling like a Heyer binge, so I am pleased to note my local library has a bunch in stock at the moment. I need to finish reading Mary Stewart’s Arthurian books, for sure, and I’m a completist, so I had to pick up the Age of Ultron Prelude. Demon Road is Cait @ Paper Fury’s fault.

Read this week:

   

Reviews this week:
–Rose Cottage, by Mary Stewart. A quiet romance I reread for the familiarity/comfort factor. 3/5 stars
–The Collectors, by Philip Pullman, read by Bill Nighy. Atmospheric and creepy, and the narrator really worked. 4/5 stars
–Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey. My first encounter with Lackey’s Valdemar, surprising as that may be considering how long I’ve loved this genre. I quite enjoyed it, but the writing can be weak. 3/5 stars
–The Midnight Queen, by Sylvia Izzo Hunter. A little bit of Sorcerer to the Crown, a little bit of Jonathan Strange & Norrell, and a lot of sweet romance. 4/5 stars
–Song for the Basilisk, by Patricia McKillip. Lovely, though not the most accessible of McKillip’s books. 4/5 stars
–Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude, by Joe Bennett and Will Pilgrim. Unfortunately, rather a waste of time unless you seriously need an update. 2/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Sword, by Sarah Zettel. Third in the series, and seeing these posts go up is making me really want to reread them… oops? 4/5 stars

Other posts: 
–Blog accessibility. A really important post for me, suggesting quick tips to make your blog easy for readers with visual issues to read.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Romances I’ve Loved. Some fairly predictable ones here…

What’s everyone else been up to? Any book sprees, or have you been more restrained than me?

This is definitely not an unstacking week! I bought five books this week, and received one to review as well. And I didn’t get much reading done at all… oops!

Received to review:

I’m quite excited about this one! I love McKillip’s work.

Bought:

 

I’ve heard mixed things about Defy and Soundless, but I was curious anyway and had leftover euros to spend. So hurrah! And hey, I went three months without buying books…

Read this week:

Reviews this week:

–Kingfisher, Patricia McKillip. Her first novel in a long time, everyone’s very excited about this. And I think she delivers. 4/5 stars
–Queen of the Flowers, Kerry Greenwood. Fun and more personal/involving than the last couple of books. 4/5 stars
–Time’s Anvil: England, Archaeology and the Imagination, Richard Morris. A bit prone to rambling and tangents, but interesting. 3/5 stars
–Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre. A reread for me. Worth the second visit, though there’s a lot of things I’d still like to know! 4/5 stars
–Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting ideas — magic in pop music and vinyl! 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Honour, Sarah Zettel. Maybe the most influenced by Welsh mythology of the whole series, this is a comfort read for me. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Unpopular Opinions Tag. Want to know what series I think is overrated? Oh, and there’s an interesting discussion in the comments about the Grisha trilogy!
–ShelfLove Challenge Update. How am I doing on my yearly goals? Quite well, so far!
–Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Settings I Loved. What it says on the tin.
–February TBR. I’m planning to read a lot this month. Let’s see how laughably wrong my TBR pile is!

How’s everyone been this week? Reading more than me, I hope!