September book round-up
Oct. 2nd, 2013 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardNoooooooo research this month, even though I was still working on my diss at the beginning of the month; that was all writing, no new reading.
The complete list (finished books):
Dog Wizard, Barbara Hambly
Chimes at Midnight, Seanan McGuire
Sun Horse, Moon Horse, Rosemary Sutcliff
Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein
Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews
Steampunk!, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (eds.)
Crown of Vengeance, Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory
The Ropemaker, Peter Dickinson
Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Karen Traviss
Live by Night, Dennis Lehane
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space, Karen Miller
1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles C. Mann
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, Sean Williams
Untold, Sarah Rees Brennan
Shadows, Robin McKinley
The Snow Queen, Mercedes Lackey
Novellas and short stories:
A Tangled Web Mercedes Lackey
"Never Shines the Sun", Seanan McGuire
"Forbid the Sea", Seanan McGuire
The Bane Chronicles: Saving Raphael Santiago, Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan
"A Questionable Client", Ilona Andrews
Books in progress (as of October 1):
Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire
Star Wars: Red Harvest, Joe Schreiber
Indexing, Seanan McGuire (serial)
Did Not Finish:
The Magicians' Guild, Trudi Canavan
Huh, I thought I'd read more Star Wars stuff, but some of what I thought I read last month I've actually read this month. (Yes, I know it's only the second day of the month. When I'm not otherwise engaged, I read about a book a day or every two days.) (I might have a post about tie-ins and fanfic coming up, but I'm not sure.)
Best book I read last month: Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein, who also wrote Code Name Verity. HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK. HEART BREAKING BUT BEAUTIFULLY, BRUTALLY DONE. I read it on the plane back from England, finished it, and then kind of just stared into space. (I also couldn't get at any of the other books I'd brought with me, so it was just this and Sun Horse, Moon Horse on the plane and then I did wordsearches and listened to my iPod for the rest of the flight.)
Book I read last month that I was (and am) most excited about: Crown of Vengeance, by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory, because I had no idea it was out or even existed until I saw it in the library. It's a prequel to my favorite high fantasy trilogy ever, The Obsidian Mountain trilogy, which I don't talk about much because it falls into that strange category of media that I feel like I have to justify my enjoyment of, either because of content or author or genre or other combination of factors. (And I really hate the concept of "guilty pleasure" or "justifying enjoyment", but brains are weird.) Crown of Vengeance is fab because it's about -- and y'all will know this is one of my favorite things -- the elven High King (who is a woman; it's a gender-neutral title) who by the time of the Obsidian Mountain trilogy is a legendary figure, about the development of elven society from a hundred warring feudal states, and the rise of the great evil that threatens the world in the later two trilogies (the other one takes place a millennium after the Obsidian Mountain trilogy and it didn't make much of an impression on me). The main character in Crown of Vengeance is Viellisar Farcarinon, the last surviving scion of House Farcarinon, who was raised by the family that destroyed her house before being sent away into life-long service in the Sanctuary of the Star; if she sets foot outside it her life will be forfeit. But she wants vengeance for her house -- and there is a prophecy that she believes she is the living embodiment of. (There's a really cool twist on soulbonds, too; it's a nice nod to something from Valdemar.)
Weirdest thing I read last month: One of the short stories in Steampunk!. I can't remember the title or the author, but it turns out that steampunk ancient Rome is WAY TOO WEIRD for me, even if the history (aside from the steampunk elements) was actually spot on.
I do feel like last month I read a higher than normal proportion than normal of books that I started out pretty excited about and was pretty meh on by the end, either because they did something I wasn't comfortable with (there are certain ways of ending short stories or novels that I really dislike) or because they felt predictable or any number of things. Looking back at my list -- oh, hey, you know why that is? I didn't do any rereads last month, everything was new. That's really unusual for me. The Snow Queen, which is a 500 Kingdoms novel, may be a reread -- I've read all the others and this one isn't new, so I suspect I've read it before, but I honestly can't remember, so I didn't count it as one. Discount Armageddon, on the in-progress list, is a reread, but it's also a book I just started to do a reread on because I didn't feel like reading anything else at the time and it's a lot of fun.
Hmm, do I have anything else to say about last month's reading? Nah, I don't think so. This month (October) will probably include EVEN MORE STAR WARS, so that's something to look forward to.
The complete list (finished books):
Dog Wizard, Barbara Hambly
Chimes at Midnight, Seanan McGuire
Sun Horse, Moon Horse, Rosemary Sutcliff
Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein
Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews
Steampunk!, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (eds.)
Crown of Vengeance, Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory
The Ropemaker, Peter Dickinson
Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Karen Traviss
Live by Night, Dennis Lehane
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space, Karen Miller
1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles C. Mann
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, Sean Williams
Untold, Sarah Rees Brennan
Shadows, Robin McKinley
The Snow Queen, Mercedes Lackey
Novellas and short stories:
A Tangled Web Mercedes Lackey
"Never Shines the Sun", Seanan McGuire
"Forbid the Sea", Seanan McGuire
The Bane Chronicles: Saving Raphael Santiago, Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan
"A Questionable Client", Ilona Andrews
Books in progress (as of October 1):
Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire
Star Wars: Red Harvest, Joe Schreiber
Indexing, Seanan McGuire (serial)
Did Not Finish:
The Magicians' Guild, Trudi Canavan
Huh, I thought I'd read more Star Wars stuff, but some of what I thought I read last month I've actually read this month. (Yes, I know it's only the second day of the month. When I'm not otherwise engaged, I read about a book a day or every two days.) (I might have a post about tie-ins and fanfic coming up, but I'm not sure.)
Best book I read last month: Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein, who also wrote Code Name Verity. HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK. HEART BREAKING BUT BEAUTIFULLY, BRUTALLY DONE. I read it on the plane back from England, finished it, and then kind of just stared into space. (I also couldn't get at any of the other books I'd brought with me, so it was just this and Sun Horse, Moon Horse on the plane and then I did wordsearches and listened to my iPod for the rest of the flight.)
Book I read last month that I was (and am) most excited about: Crown of Vengeance, by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory, because I had no idea it was out or even existed until I saw it in the library. It's a prequel to my favorite high fantasy trilogy ever, The Obsidian Mountain trilogy, which I don't talk about much because it falls into that strange category of media that I feel like I have to justify my enjoyment of, either because of content or author or genre or other combination of factors. (And I really hate the concept of "guilty pleasure" or "justifying enjoyment", but brains are weird.) Crown of Vengeance is fab because it's about -- and y'all will know this is one of my favorite things -- the elven High King (who is a woman; it's a gender-neutral title) who by the time of the Obsidian Mountain trilogy is a legendary figure, about the development of elven society from a hundred warring feudal states, and the rise of the great evil that threatens the world in the later two trilogies (the other one takes place a millennium after the Obsidian Mountain trilogy and it didn't make much of an impression on me). The main character in Crown of Vengeance is Viellisar Farcarinon, the last surviving scion of House Farcarinon, who was raised by the family that destroyed her house before being sent away into life-long service in the Sanctuary of the Star; if she sets foot outside it her life will be forfeit. But she wants vengeance for her house -- and there is a prophecy that she believes she is the living embodiment of. (There's a really cool twist on soulbonds, too; it's a nice nod to something from Valdemar.)
Weirdest thing I read last month: One of the short stories in Steampunk!. I can't remember the title or the author, but it turns out that steampunk ancient Rome is WAY TOO WEIRD for me, even if the history (aside from the steampunk elements) was actually spot on.
I do feel like last month I read a higher than normal proportion than normal of books that I started out pretty excited about and was pretty meh on by the end, either because they did something I wasn't comfortable with (there are certain ways of ending short stories or novels that I really dislike) or because they felt predictable or any number of things. Looking back at my list -- oh, hey, you know why that is? I didn't do any rereads last month, everything was new. That's really unusual for me. The Snow Queen, which is a 500 Kingdoms novel, may be a reread -- I've read all the others and this one isn't new, so I suspect I've read it before, but I honestly can't remember, so I didn't count it as one. Discount Armageddon, on the in-progress list, is a reread, but it's also a book I just started to do a reread on because I didn't feel like reading anything else at the time and it's a lot of fun.
Hmm, do I have anything else to say about last month's reading? Nah, I don't think so. This month (October) will probably include EVEN MORE STAR WARS, so that's something to look forward to.