isweedan

Links are to my AO3 entries, which will be the most up-to-date.

BTW! I think repodding is awesome. That would mean I have a version of the podfic I didn't have to edit at ALL \o/
And if you would like to make a Fannish Thing based or inspired by a Fannish Thing I have made, go for it! Blanket Permission!

( I make Podfic now. Podfic is cool! )

( Other things on my journal that might be useful )

( Other things not on my journal that might be useful )

Oh, Also! It's totes cool for you to friend me, but could you comment and say how you found me? You don't have to! Saying words to other people on LJ/DW can be hard. But I always wonder.

Crossposts: https://isweedan.livejournal.com/97551.html

BTW, my Dad's fishing camp marina down in Grand Isle says they're having a mandatory evac and Dad and some friends went down to go fetch the RV back.

Grand Isle is like, literally a pile of sand people live on if they're really keen on fishing. There are also sno cone stands and a really smol library.

Crossposts: https://isweedan.livejournal.com/140963.html

I think ruffles are my least favorite kind of potato chip.

Some people are Not At Home for kettle chips, but I like them just fine. Especially if Salt & Vinegar flavored.

Crossposts: https://isweedan.livejournal.com/140673.html

What am I supposed to read.

Crossposts: https://isweedan.livejournal.com/140392.html

Hello internet, this calls for BLOGGING.

Here is an mp3 of my THE LAST JEDI thoughts and feelings. I underwent a journey recording this, for sure.

Crossposts: https://isweedan.livejournal.com/140276.html

I have finished two books so far this year!

The Hum and The Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

~~Urban~~ Rural Fantasy that turned out to be much more of a Magical Realism flavor and thus not my jam. A very nicely written book! Nice audio! It did not bring me joy.

(Bronwyn Hyatt one of the Tufa of Cloud County Tennessee comes home from Iraq a CNN darling and War Hero, there's a Haint waiting to talk to her, and her mother's been seeing death omens.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

JOY. SO COOL. SO GREAT. Twitter was very pleased with my choice to read this and within one page, SO WAS I.

It's the early 1970s and Janet is starting her freshman year at the minnesotan liberal arts college her parents work at. She can quote HELLA shakespeare and Keats and makes friends. Classics majors are WEIRD. Somethings going on with them. It is a retelling of TAM LIN (obvs? ovbs.) set in near-modern america! It's BLISSFUL. It is a lovely lovely tale of attending college. And also thwarting a fairy queen.

I am currently reading The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2 - Squirrel You Know It's True written by Ryan North. It is very Squirrel Girl-y.

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/138881.html

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Pulley, Natasha

SO LOVELY? SO LOVELY. I have so many yuletide hopes pinned on this book.
'thaniel is a telegraphist for the UK government who mysteriously acquires a watch that warns him of and saves him from a bombing attack. Keita Mori is the japanese baron living in london as a watchmaker. He has precognition and has always known thaniel would be his friend. if he made the right choices. [] is the student scientist at oxford trying to prove the existence of the aether. Her time is running out, soon she will have to find a husband who will support her in her efforts after she graduates.

There is a clockwork octopus, gilbert and sulivan are working on the mikado, and EVERYTHING is connected.

It reads like a comfort read on the VERY FIRST READ-THROUGH. Easily in my top 5 for 2015. EASILY.

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer Jones, Kelly

CHARMING, beyond my wildest dreams. Epistolary novel of a 12 year old biracial girl whose family has move to the country. Sophie must gather up and learn about the 7 unusual chickens her great uncle Jim owned. Telekenesis, Invisibility, petrification, super speed and 3 more mysterious chickens all while the local poultry expert lady is trying to steal her chickens right out from under her.

D A R L I N G.

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek Wagenen, Maya Van

Memoir in the vein of those books and blogs where you slavishly follow the advice of a publication for a week/month/year - in this case 8th Grader Maya is following the advise of a 1950s teen popularity manual. Some things go well, some thing do not. Unexpected twist ending for a nonfiction book there.

Carnet de Voyage Thompson, Craig

I liked hearing from Craig Thompson at ALA this past May, but man was this a depressing chronicle of a book. It's an illustrated journal of his travels as he researched Habibi and travel through out the middle east, the med, and france. He was nearly perpetually unhappy or lost or in pain or other negative things. :(

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power North, Ryan

Dinosaur Comics guy does it again! This was charming, but not charming in the same squee-ful way as Ms. Marvel. This is a more...hipster humor? idek how to describe it. Love the Squirrel Girl is the WORST at having a secret identity though. Well, I say the worst, I mean charminly she fumbles her way through being actually quite successful at keeping it a secret. And her problem solving skills are unorthadox and AMAZING. Would rec.

Court of Fives (Court of Fives, #1) Elliott, Kate

Fuck me but I loved this. One imperial culture that reads as Chinese to me invades an conquers a nearby african-probably land and the culture of the native kingdom that survived was the Court of Fives which is basically a Very Important version of American Ninja Warrior.

Really.

And it's GREAT.

The invading society does NOT value girls or women but the native kingdom did whhic leads to some highly interesting culture clash. Our protag is the daughter of a military man of the old empire and his beloved native lady he is not allowed to marry because laws. She has two or three sisters, the pretty one that looks like an invader, the club footed clever one who wants to become an archivist and the ...annoying little sister one? Anyway that's a hella lot of sisters. Most invaders would have left those unwanted girls at the temple to die or become priestesses but her dad hasn't. but ehr dad also hasn't been promoted like he would be if he had a pretty Patron wife and a son...

So our protag is sneekingo ut at night to train to run the fives and she's god at it and stuff but then she almost wins her first public competition and has to fake a loss b/c if she won she'd have to take her competitor's mask off and then her family would be shaaaaaamed so she looses on purpose to a dud who turns out to be a prince.

And then her dad's military sponsor dies in horible debt and her dad has to mary a patron lady and abandon her family who get HORRIBLY WORNGED by the inlaws and they get locked in a tomb alive. It's a thing, but it's not a thing that sould happen to THEM.

STUFF HAPPENS. It's exciting and full of cliffhangers and I had WAY FUN.

Black Widow, Vol. 2: The Tightly Tangled Web Edmondson, Nathan

I remember almost nothing about this comic.

The Thread That Binds the Bones (Chapel Hollow #1) Hoffman, Nina Kiriki

When I read Why This Book Is So Great I was charmed by Jo Walton's love of Nina Kiriki Hoffman so I got her Nina's first book - Thread That Binds the Bones - It reads like a late 80s/early90s paperback comfort read - which is EXACTLY what it is. I would not be opposed to reading more from her.

Princess Ugg Volume 1 Naifeh, Ted

A barbarian princess enrolls herself in a lowlander princess school to learn diplomacy to settle her people's differeneces with the frost giants but everything is SO DIFFERENT than what she's used to. She makes friends, she makes enemies, it's totally charming.

Those Who Hunt the Night (James Asher, #1) Hambly, Barbara

Turn of the century/Pre WWI novel about a former spy (and Oxford professor) hired by a vampire to do an investigation into several recent vampire slayings. Looove it as a historical mystery. Barbara Hambly and all, ofc. I would have consumed the WHOLE SERIES I'm pretty sure except at this time of the year I'm trying to cram a diversity of books in for booktalking purposes.

What Do You Do with an Idea? Yamada, Kobi

Picture book where Ideas are litke little spirits or creatures you adopt and care for . Nice on a straight read and the metatextual level.

Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch, #3) Leckie, Ann

SPACE OPERA OF MY HEART. I rec the Ancillary series left right and center they're SO GREAT. I love the resolutions we get in this book.

Purple and Black Parker, K.J.

OMG OMG OMG BEST IOF EPISTOLARY NOVELLAS.

The Sleeper and the Spindle Gaiman, Neil

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. I liked it. the illustrations were a TREAT and I liked the twists and the ending.

Bone Gap Ruby, Laura

Fucking weird. But in a really GOOD way.

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/138712.html

Last Flight (Dragon Age, #5)

Merciel, Liane

I absolutely TORE through this Dragon Age tie-in novel. It's about how the now-extinct GRIFFONS become extinct and it is a story of Garahel and the end of the fourth blight and I found it highly interesting and way compelling. Would make less than full sense to someone who does not have a backround in the Dragon Age world.

Things revealed in Last Flight had no impact on DAI which is both exciting and frustrating. WHEN. HOW. EXPLAIN MOAR.

Last First Snow (Craft Sequence #4)

Gladstone, Max *

I adore the Craft sequence still. I was pretty nervy coming into this book - all the previous books had been standalones having only the world in common but this one revisited characters from previous books! Books I last year or the year before that!

Previous novels included:

bb Necromantic Lawyer's first case - asset divisions of a dead god. who was murdered.
Magic Enviromentalism and water rights consulting in a city powered by wizardry
Offshore tax havens when your currency is made of people's souls

Last First Snow is: Gentrification, property insurance, and the Occupy movement when your leader is a priest of dead gods and his opposing number is a walking talking skeleton wizard.

They're GREAT. I was worried for Temoc SO MUCH. SO MUCH SHIT WENT DOWN.

Deadpool, Vol. 1: Dead Presidents

Posehn, Brian

After reading Hawkeye vs. Deadpool I was game to add another Marvel writer to my list of comics people I read so I checked out Brian Posehn's firs work on Deadpool - Dead Presidents!

I liked it! It's a lot gorier than the Hawkeye side of things, but in a Kingsman kind of way, not Locke and Key.

A rogue magician raises all the presidents from the dead and they want to DESTROY AMERICA but shield decides it'd be a pretty poor showing to have the avengers do it so the hire Deadpool. Funtimes!

Sex Criminals, Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop

Fraction, Matt

THINGS DEVELOP in Sex Criminals land! Still interesting, well written, very pretty. Good, good, good.

The Curse of Chalion (Chalion, #1)

Bujold, Lois McMaster *

This was a comfort re-listen of the audiobook. 5/5 stars 4ever.

A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey, #1)

Chisholm, P.F.

A Famine of Horses is really #onbrand for me - it's a historical murder mystery set on the English side of the border with Scotland in the early 1600s there is much stealing of cows and horses and things happen.

It was not utterly beyond measure, but it was reasonable fun.

This was read on a rec from my GPGC Humanities teacher when I was 12. We hang out socially now whenever I'm in Lake Charles which is surreal but awesome. I recced her Code Name Verity (ofc).

Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)

Cho, Zen *

This book has been getting SO MUCH HYPE. It did not live up to FIVE STAR HYPE for me, but it was a solid 3.75.

It's a REGENCY MAGIC AND POLITICS AND INTRIGUE story. With poc protags!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Roach, Mary *

Also not QUITE as great as the hype, though it was WAY FUN. I just thought The Poisoner's Handbook was betterrrrrrrrr.

Lol just watch this turn into Oxford vs Cambridge Latin Course.

[OXFORD BEST, BTW]

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/138275.html

Nine Goblins Kingfisher, T. 4.18

Goblins get magically transported by a wizard to behind enemy lines and have to solve mysterious deaths, feed themselves and try to get home. Very Monstrous Regiment but with fewer girls dressed as boys. (But still a girl as Sargent)
It was blissfully lovely stuff.

True Pretenses (Lively St. Lemeston, #2) Lerner, Rose * 4.15

Oh my god. Oh my god? SUCH a great regency romance. Your leading lady is really invested in her family's place in the local community's charity efforts through the Whig party and idk stuff marriage of convenience to the con man who proposed she marry his brother.

Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1) Aaronovitch, Ben * 3.91

This is my second experience of Rivers of London - I read the book in November of 2012 - one of my VERY FIRST books of my reading renaissance. (I've read so many books since then, you guys :333333)

This time, I listened to the audiobook! And kept my ears alert for moments that caused fanwriters of the world to ship Peter and Nightingale *g*.

Rook Cameron, Sharon * 3.78

I was SO DISAPPOINTED in how lacking in happy and compelling I found this book. It's a post-apocalyptic retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel! And yet. I read two other books this week instead of finishing it. and I read it extreeemly slowly. With frequent twitter breaks. :(

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/138128.html

Oh god, I'm sorry I don't have the wereithal to do full bookreviews the way they deserve. I've left it until there are far too many.

Uprooted Novik, Naomi * 4.24

EVIL FOREST. MYSTERIOUS WIZARD IN A TOWER HOLDS BACK THE EVIL CORRUPTING FOREST. HE TAKES A GIRL FROM THE VALLEY EVERY TEN YEARS. EVERYONE KNOWS HE'LL PICK KASIA. He doesn't. He picks Agnieszka. and now he's training her up to be a witch. Eastern European folklore fabulosity. Feels a bit Howl's Moving Castle. As excellent as expected.

Penric's Demon (World of the Five Gods, #3.5) Bujold, Lois McMaster * 4.34

Bujold wrote a novella about a boy from a poor-but-noble cheese making family who accidentally inherits a demon. Way lovely.

Shadowshaper Older, Daniel José * 4.03

So this is an urban fantasy novel about a Afro-Latina girl in Brooklyn coming into her magical powers. But though it sounds great and the cover is the prettiest thing, it's...not that extraordinary a read. For me.

The Great Greene Heist Johnson, Varian 3.87

THIS THOUGH. This is a HEISTFIC. Set at a middleschool. Centering around a class presidential election. It's so super great. Like wow. And so nerd-perfect! A component of thier plan is called the Kobayashi Maru.

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Crushed Wilson, G. Willow * 4.28

Darling as ever. Kamla takes down Loki at a Valentines Day dance and meets some new Inhumans!

Prairie Fire Johnston, E.K. * 4.12

I have so many feelings. I can't believe how wonderful and feelings-ful this book was. I love the subtle (and not subtle at all) alternate history moments a dragon-full world has. The ways Shioban and Owen's actions in the last book affect them in this book, thier experiences in the Oil Watch, THE ENDING.

#majchardeath #earned #good #somanycreys

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 2: Fandemonium Gillen, Kieron 4.33

MAJOR EVENTS EVENTING. KIERON GILLEN DOES GOOD WORK.

Chocolate: Sweet Science & Dark Secrets of the World's Favorite Treat Frydenborg, Kay 3.43

There are worse nonfiction books for teens to read. There are better nonfiction books for people I like to read.

Pure Grit: How WWII Nurses in the Pacific Survived Combat and Prison Camp Farrell, Mary Cronk * 4.09

A very nice nonfiction book for the upper middle grades. good pictures, good stories (though I got the nurses mixed up rather a lot, sorry), compelling content.

There are SO MANY teen nonfictions books about WWII you guys. So. Many.

To Hold the Bridge Nix, Garth * 3.83

I did this one as an audiobook and had a GREAT time with it. Every story had a different reader.

I'd only seen Garth had put out a new book of short stories by happenstance - seeing it at a library I visited while on vacation! The first story, To Hold The Bridge was the only Old Kingdom story in the collection (as is usual) but there was also a story from the Shades Children universe AND one from the Confusion of Princes Universe.

I loved the variety of settings and genres the collection ran to. Vampire Weather was a particular favorite. I REALLY didn't expect one of the stories to involve Hellboy. How licensing?

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/137962.html

I hit a spate of straight 4 and 5 star books last month. It was AMAZING.

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool Duggan, Gerry *4.18

This was funnnny. Gerry Duggan took Matt Fraction's Hawkeye(s) and wrote them to a T! He also did a great job with Deadpool, though I'm not conversant enough in Deadpool to say 'whose' he is.

It's Halloween - Deadpool did NOT dress up as Freddy Kreuger, much to his regret. Clint is only handing out fun-size candy this year and someone just slipped him a USB drive before they got taken out. Mind control and constumed adventure follow!

The Castle Behind Thorns Haskell, Merrie *3.90

A reworking of Sleeping Beauty from the POV of a boy with a preternatural gift for making and mending - he just wants to be a Smith, but when he makes a wish in the local saint well he wakes up the next morning in THE CASTLE BEHIND THORNS - twenty years ago the ducal family lived there but then a calamity struck, the castle was rent in two, and thorns grew up around it. The boy sets about getting over being quite upset and investigating a castle frozen in time where everything from tables and chairs to turnips and iron stewpots have been violently torn apart. Eventually he settles upon mending the castle, and foraging for strange unperished food.

In the crypt beneath the castle's chapel he gingerly places the bodies back together in their niches. And then, slowly, one of them comes alive. She was the daughter of the duke (and she was poisoned by order of her stepmother) and now they are the only inhabitants in a castle that is slowly coming back to life, surrounded by bloodthirsty enchanted thorns.

( Read more... )

A very nice twist, a solid if not mind-blowing read. Middle Grade reading level.

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1 Stevenson, Noelle 4.03

This was FUN. Super charming! I am totally looking forward to volume 2 - though I hear Noelle isn't going to be with it for long? Sad day.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Karen Memory Bear, Elizabeth *3.82

Steampunk lesbian romance novel set in quasi-seattle durring the goldrus featuring a prostitute protagonist who solves a murder mystery OF MY HEART. With bonus Bass Reeves. I highly rec the audiobook. (I honestly don't know how I would do with the dialect as a bookbook)

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )
Otherbound Duyvis, Corinne *3.70

Amara is never alone. Not when she's protecting the cursed princess she unwillingly serves. Not when they're fleeing across dunes and islands and seas to stay alive. Not when she's punished, ordered around, or neglected.

She can't be alone, because a boy from another world experiences all that alongside her, looking through her eyes.

Nolan longs for a life uninterrupted. Every time he blinks, he's yanked from his Arizona town into Amara's mind, a world away, which makes even simple things like hobbies and homework impossible. He's spent years as a powerless observer of Amara's life. Amara has no idea . . . until he learns to control her, and they communicate for the first time. Amara is terrified. Then, she's furious.

All Amara and Nolan want is to be free of each other. But Nolan's breakthrough has dangerous consequences. Now, they'll have to work together to survive--and discover the truth about their connection.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Castle Hangnail Vernon, Ursula 4.39

When Molly shows up on Castle Hangnail's doorstep to fill the vacancy for a wicked witch, the castle's minions are understandably dubious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite polite. (The minions are used to tall, demanding evil sorceresses with razor-sharp cheekbones.) But the castle desperately needs a master or else the Board of Magic will decommission it, leaving all the minions without the home they love. So when Molly assures them she is quite wicked indeed (So wicked! REALLY wicked!) and begins completing the tasks required by the Board of Magic for approval, everyone feels hopeful. Unfortunately, it turns out that Molly has quite a few secrets, including the biggest one of all: that she isn't who she says she is.

This quirky, richly illustrated novel is filled with humor, magic, and an unforgettable all-star cast of castle characters.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act Gillen, Kieron3.98

Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critical tongue-attractors like Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to create a world where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate gods. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Under a Painted Sky Lee, Stacey *4.07

Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life. With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls, so they disguise themselves as Sammy and Andy, two boys headed for the California gold rush. Sammy and Andy forge a powerful bond as they each search for a link to their past, and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. But when they cross paths with a band of cowboys, the light-hearted troupe turn out to be unexpected allies. With the law closing in on them and new setbacks coming each day, the girls quickly learn that there are not many places to hide on the open trail.

This beautifully written debut is an exciting adventure and heart-wrenching survival tale. But above all else, it’s a story about perseverance and trust that will restore your faith in the power of friendship.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

The Jumbies Baptiste, Tracey *3.82

A spine-tingling tale rooted in Caribbean folklore that will have readers holding their breath as they fly through its pages.

Corinne La Mer isn't afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They're just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn't belong to a jumbie. Or could they?

When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne's house, cooking dinner for Corinne's father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine's plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn't know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.

With its able and gutsy heroine, lyrical narration, and inventive twist on the classic Haitian folktale "The Magic Orange Tree," The Jumbies will be a favorite of fans of Breadcrumbs, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/137448.html

What Makes This Book So Great Walton, Jo * 3.84

This book is DANGEROUS. I added like 15 books to my goodreads to-be-read list.
Jo Walton writes/wrote a column for Tor.com where she reread SFF books and wore short essays about them. (Hence, "What makes this book so great.")

I don't always agree with her assessments - she doesn't like Cetaganda but I had so many I KNOW THAT FEEL moments about books I'd read, and even books I hadn't. It's very engaging and fun and was a good book to dip in and out off, what with the short sections and all.

I mostly got the book because I wanted to read her entire reread of the Vorkosigan Saga. The entries are still up at Tor.com, see [here] but this way I got to browse!

I tweeted a couple of my favorites like [] and [].

It is a book about books, but it's HAPPY, not litcrit. Yay!

( Read more... )

Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs Trilogy, #1) Quinn, Susan Kaye * 4.04

This book sounded like it was made of things I would love, but it turned out...not. I was so sad that Third Daughter couldn't live up to the idea of it I had in my head. Steampunk India espionage and intrigue and romance sounds PERFECT. But the steampunk wasn't world-built enough, the characters always felt like characters, and I don't think it was very authentically Indian. Thin veneers, all of them. @littlemousling loved it! So unfair that I couldn't. :(

( Read more... )

Third Daughter is the first book in the The Dharian Affairs Trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance that takes place in an east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.

The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy, #1) Holmberg, Charlie N. * 3.59

Now THIS I enjoyed!

On twitter I was describing it as having a bit of the feel of the craft magic of Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books. Our protag was a scholarship student at a prestigious magical school but when she graduates instead of getting to chose her specialization she is assigned. to paper magic. Ceony is pretty sure paper magic is not NEARLY as useful or valuable or interesting as metal/gunsmithing magic, which is what she was intending to go through. But she's bonded to paper and that's the material she'll work with for the rest of her career.

I looooved the way the author wrote the origami in the book and when the revelation came that some people chose PEOPLE as their material, ooooh. I was thrilled and chilled. A fair number of reviewers didn't like how a good deal of the second half of the book were flashbacks, but I enjoyed getting all those revelations and learning about the pasts of the characters. The romance is pleasingly recolective of Howl's Moving Castle.

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The Voyage of the Basilisk (Memoir by Lady Trent, #3) Brennan, Marie * 4.11

SCIENTIFIC SEA VOYAGE ON A SAILING SHIP, YESSSS. REALLY GREAT ARCHAEOLOGIST CHARACTER, YESSSSSSSx2. (Dragons!)

These books make me happy by giving me things I love. Good formula, that.

I let out a legit moan of dismay when I found out the fourth book does not come out until 2016. THERE MUST BE MORE SUHAIL THE ARCHAEOLOGIST.

( Read more... )

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1) Tahir, Sabaa * 4.28

This is a read that @littlemousling and I can agree is SMASHING.

[Sabaa Tahir was actually on a panel (At ALA) of YA Debut Authors interviewed by Marie Lu - it was a really great talk!]

So, in a fantasy world that's got the social structure of ancient Rome, but with Persian magic and super swords and clothing borrowed I can't tell where we have TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, one of the soldier class, who really would like to not become a mystical warrior for his empire (and CERTAINLY not be made emperor) and one a girl of the subjugated scholar class who has turned spy for the resistance in trade for a rescue of her brother.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/137171.html

Here's what I've read since last week:

July 4th was good to me.

Voice of the Lost (Medair, #2) Höst, Andrea K. * 4.01

So... everything fell apart in part two. The fact that i could keep NO ONE's name straight didn't help, but this became a forbidden romance story over a war which was not the time travel angst I signed up for. And then there was the conflagration of wild magic that changed the world around them, and the half-reincarnation ghosts... Everything sounded cool but didn't actually work. Sad day.

( Read more... )

Hoarfrost (Whyborne & Griffin, #6) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.51

My last Whyborne & Griffin full length novel for aaaages - until Jordan publishes the next one! This one involved going to the Yukon, one of Griffin's brothers, and the lost city they discover there (with bonus creatures trapped inside). There are a lot of feelings about family, and being away from widdershins and we meet more People In The Know About Eldritch Happenings.

( Read more... )

Bryony And Roses Kingfisher, T. 4.23

This is a retelling of Beauty and the beast where the protag is a practical gardner! (T. Kingfisher is the penname Ursula Vernon uses for her books not aimed at elementary school students.)

This was super enjoyable! Ursula had a lovely forward about finding and reading Robin Mckinley's Rose Daughter at just the time she needed it.

( Read more... )

Pegasi and Prefects (Scholars and Sorcery, #1) Beresford, Eleanor * 4.08

MAGICAL BOARDING SCHOOL STORY. WITH MAGIC HORSES. LESBIAN PROTAG. BESTTTTT.

( Read more... )

The Tropic of Serpents (Memoir by Lady Trent, #2) Brennan, Marie * 3.97

Marie Brennan is getting better and better at writing these! This one was a rainforest adventure and oooh, was the setting real. The new characters we met in this one were also A++. I see Marie setting things up for future books and lo! I'm actually at one of the payoffs as I listen to the audiobook of Voyage of the Basilisk right now. (Cracking good audiobooks, I say - though apparz the paper editions have killlller illustrations I'm missing out on. Alas!)

( Read more... )

Currently Reading:

The Voyage of the Basilisk (Memoir by Lady Trent, #3) Brennan, Marie * 4.10

A journey around the world! Seeing strange sights! Meeting super cool people! HAZARDS! Loving this way much.

Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs Trilogy, #1) Quinn, Susan Kaye * 4.05
I remain unhooked by this book at the 50% mark, which is puzzing since it is so well-received in general and specifically by @littlmousling. I'm going to finish this one just to be sure I'm not missing out.

What Makes This Book So Great Walton, Jo * 3.84

My to-be-read list has gotten HUGE. I have to finish this one soon though. It's an inter-library loan book and it's due back TOMORROW.

Things I Must Read Soon:

@pollyrepeat mentioned Django Wexler last night and ZOMG HIS NEWEST SHADOW CAMPAIGN BOOK COMES OUT July 9. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEE. ( It's f'reals my birthday! \o/)

The Price of Valour (The Shadow Campaigns, #3) Wexler, Django * 4.28

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/136824.html

Read this Week:

The Silence of Medair (Medair, #1) Höst, Andrea K. * 4.14

I have pretty much no idea who anyone's name in this book is, they're all too fantasy-same-y. But MAN do I like the plot. I've put in a interlibrary loan request for part two.

( LibraryThing Tags and Summary )

When Maidens Mourn (Sebastian St. Cyr, #7) Harris, C.S. * 4.16
A Lady of Shallott-themed book! Funsies.

( LibraryThing Tags and Summary )

Murder Is Bad Manners (Wells and Wong, #1) Stevens, Robin * 4.03

Darling! Two girls Holmes and Watson it up at a 1930s british boarding school to solve the mystery of their Science Mistress's murder. Way fun. Way cute.

( LibraryThing Tags and Summary )

Currently Reading:

The Tropic of Serpents (Memoir by Lady Trent, #2) Brennan, Marie * 3.97

What Makes This Book So Great Walton, Jo * 3.83

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/136523.html

Where Shadows Dance (Sebastian St. Cyr, #6) Harris, C.S. * 4.22

Good times, good times.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Stormhaven (Whyborne & Griffin, #3) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.35

A not-as-evil eldritch creature! Evil humans though, of course.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Necropolis (Whyborne & Griffin, #4) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.39

Fyeahhhhh EGYPT.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Hawkeye, Vol. 3: L.A. Woman Fraction, Matt 4.15

All Kate all the time! I did not expect this.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

The America's Test Kitchen: DIY Cookbook: Can It, Cure It, Churn It, Brew It Kitchen, America's Test 4.19

Cooking NERDERY. All sorts of fanyc things you can buy at the store, but made at home. FASCINATING!( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Bloodline (Whyborne & Griffin, #5) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.55

DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. FISH PEOPLE. (DRAMA)

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Loki: Agent of Asgard, Vol. 2: I Cannot Tell a Lie Ewing, Al 3.74

Not as delightful to me as Vol 1. So much of the story happens in other titles and it isn't as much a story about stories.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud and Summary )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/136436.html

IN NON BOOK NEWS - I HAVE A SMARTPHONE NOWWWWWW. I CAN TEXT WITH IMPUNITY AND BE ON ALL THE FUN APPS!
It's a Samsung Galaxy S5 and I am so thrilled.

A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1) Peters, Ellis 3.99

I've heard about the Cadfael books/ TV series for aaages. I'm pleased to have now read the first one, but I don't think I'll be following up on the series and reading more. Amusingly I had the option of starting one of two murder mysteries starring monks this week - I've also got a Tudor monk detective novel called Dissolution.

Ellis Peters' introduction to the murderous medieval world of Brother Cadfael...
A Morbid Taste for Bones

In the remote Welsh mountain village of Gwytherin lies the grave of Saint Winifred. Now, in 1137, the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the sacred remains for his Benedictine order. Native Welshman Brother Cadfael is sent on the expedition to translate and finds the rustic villagers of Gwytherin passionately divided by the Benedictine's offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise, and all too wordly, he isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder.
( Summary and LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin, #1) Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin, #1) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.18

At

tabulaxrasa 's enthusiastic recommendation I started a new series! They're FUN. If the Mummy series had been a m/m romance set in a New England where Lovecraftian horrors lurk it would be JUST LIKE THIS. They're decently long for m/m ebooks too. \o/

Includes: Mummies! A no-nonsense egyptologist lady! Secret masonic-esque resurrection cults! Lovecraftian horror! Museum galas!

Repressed scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne has two skills: reading dead languages and hiding in his office at the Ladysmith Museum. After the tragic death of the friend he secretly loved, he’s ruthlessly suppressed any desire for another man.

So when handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches him to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of the detective as quickly as possible. Griffin left the Pinkertons following the death of his partner, hoping to start a new life. But the powerful cult which murdered Glenn has taken root in Widdershins, and only the spells in the book can stop them. Spells the intellectual Whyborne doesn’t believe are real.
( Summary and LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

What Remains of Heaven What Remains of Heaven Harris, C.S. * 4.21

La la la fave regency murder solving series, you know my feelings on Sebastian St. Cyr books.

The latest request for help from Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin--from the Archbishop of Canterbury, no less--is undeniably intriguing: The bodies of two men have been found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop's favored but controversial successor. The identity of the other seems lost in time, although his faded velvet attire marks him as gentleman of the eighteenth century.
( Summary and LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Threshold (Whyborne & Griffin, #2) Hawk, Jordan L. * 4.22
I TOTALLY though, because I was unwise to the ways of the Whyborne & Griffin series, that this would be about kobolds. The (uncanny, ofc) things that lurk in the coal mines ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN KOBOLDS HOLLY SHIT.

Introverted scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne wants nothing more than to live quietly with his lover, ex-Pinkerton detective Griffin Flaherty. Unfortunately, Whyborne's railroad tycoon father has other ideas, namely hiring Griffin to investigate mysterious events at a coal mine.

Whyborne, Griffin, and their friend Christine travel to Threshold Mountain, a place of dark legend even before the mine burrowed into its heart. A contingent of Pinkertons-including Griffin's ex-lover Elliot-already guard the mine. But Griffin knows better than anyone just how unprepared the detectives are to face the otherworldly forces threatening them.
( Summary and LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/136119.html

A Spy in the House (The Agency, #1) Lee, Y.S. * 3.78
I was not brought as much joy as I could wish from this book. It was fine! But I bet I could have been happier than I was with a book about a biracial thief trained up to be an infiltrator ans spy by a victorian espionage sisterhood.

Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan (and thief) Mary Quinn is surprised to be offered a singular education, instruction in fine manners — and an unusual vocation. Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls is a cover for an all-female investigative unit called The Agency, and at seventeen, Mary is about to put her training to the test. ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Ghostopolis TenNapel, Doug 4.01

This is my second Doug TenNapel book I've read - the first being Cardboard. I am a FAN. He does such such cool stuff andy everything fits together so satisfyingly well!

A page-turning adventure of a boy's journey to the land of ghosts and back.

Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake.

( Read more... )

Why Mermaids Sing (Sebastian St. Cyr, #3) Harris, C.S. * 4.13
I confess myself heartily delighted by this series. They're such quick engaging reads! I'm already on book five and don't intend to stop until I RUN OUT.

In book three it's finally not girls who are murdered - it's the sons of gentlemen! Excellent. AlsoI love Hero Jarvis. AND the murders are following John Donne's Song/'Go and Catch a Falling Star' poem which is always EXCITING for a fan of Howl's Moving Castle.

It's September 1811, and someone is killing the wealthy young sons of London's most prominent families. Partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed into their mouths, their bodies are found dumped in public places at dawn. When the grisly remains of Alfred, Lord Stanton's eldest son are discovered in the Old Palace Yard beside the House of Lords, the local magistrate turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.

( Read more... )

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Flight of Magpies (A Charm of Magpies, #3) Charles, K.J. * 4.48
Jackdaw Charles, K.J. * 4.23

The continuing adventures of Stephen Day and Lord Crane and the followup sidecharacter novel where they are practically literal liferuiners.

With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student who is flying—literally—off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane, is beginning to feel the strain.

( Read more... )
---
If you stop running, you fall.

Jonah Pastern is a magician, a liar, a windwalker, a professional thief…and for six months, he was the love of police constable Ben Spenser’s life. Until his betrayal left Ben jailed, ruined, alone, and looking for revenge.

( Read more... )

The Storm in the Barn Phelan, Matt 3.72
Because I am dumb, I didn't connect the dots and realise the author/illustrator of this was also the author/illustrator of Bluffton which I also could respect without loving in the least.

Plus, as I said on twitter, I'm pretty sure Out of the Dust forever soured me on Dust Bowl narriatives AND novels in verse.

Tall tale. Thriller. Gripping historical fiction. This artful, sparely told graphic novel — a tale of a boy in Dust Bowl America — will resonate with young readers today.

( Read more... )Where Serpents Sleep (Sebastian St. Cyr, #4) Harris, C.S. * 4.22
This book has many dead ladies but it follows Hero Jarvis SO MUCH and everything happens because of her and that is pretty great. Still going strong, still loving these regency murder mystery novels hella much. Consistent 4 stars from me.

London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor- and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian powerbroker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter's unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/135886.html

Champion of the Scarlet Wolf Book Two Hale, Ginn* 4.46
Part the second of Champion of the Scarlet Wolf: now that shit has gone down, we will let things settle a tiny bit and then SHIT WILL GO DOWN (again).

Skellan saved Milmuraille from the Demon Lord andGrimma Orsir is now dead. He also found out that he’s actually the stolen son of count Radulf and one of the grimmas. Now, it’s time for him to step up as their leader and with Elezar Grunito in his side along with his “powerful” friends – are they equipped enough to beat the Old gods?

Book two was chock full of politics, magic and ACTION. I hella enjoyed it.

Provoked Chambers, Joanna * 4.13
Beguiled Chambers, Joanna * 4.32
Enlightened Chambers, Joanna * 4.45

A series of three quite short novels the together are a trilogy about a repressed but competent young Scottish barrister and the far less repressed Scottish lord who keeps happening to him. Together they have lots of sex, fight injustice, save people, and manage a nice farming estate.

Book 1 - Weavers' Riots
Book 2 - King George Visits Scotland
Book 3 - Farming and Kidnappee Rescuing

And Only to Deceive Alexander, Tasha * 3.72
A historical suspense/mystery novel about a young Victorian widow who was quite enjoying her widowhood until she discovers her late husband's love of Greek poetry and archaeology and falls in love them and with his memory through his journals. Also involves the British Museum, the great Achilles vs Hector debate, antique counterfeiting, courting, Worth dresses, and impressionist painters.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

A Natural History of Dragons Brennan, Marie * 3.77
A vaguely steampunk/gaslight fantasy involving a young woman who overcomes sexist barriers to scholarship and embarks with a small party on a journey of scientific discovery to research wild dragons in vaguely Eastern Europe. also there are smugglers, suspicious superstitious villagers, ruins of ancient civilizations and secret goings on.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/135564.html

A Broken Vessel (Julian Kestrel Mysteries, #2) Ross, Kate

Moar Regency murder mystery? Moar Regency murder mystery!

Sally Stokes, a bold and bewitching Cockney prostitute, picks up three men one after the other and nicknames them Bristles, Blue Eyes, and Blinkers. From each of them Sally steals a handkerchief--and from one she mistakenly steals a letter that contains an urgent plea for help from a distraught young woman.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why Wilson, G. Willow

Who is the Inventor, and what does he want with the all-new Ms. Marvel and all her friends? Maybe Wolverine can help! Kamala may be fan-girling out when her favorite (okay maybe Top Five) super hero shows up, but that won't stop her from protecting her hometown. Then, Kamala crosses paths with Inhumanity for the first time - by meeting the royal dog, Lockjaw! Every girl wants a puppy, but this one may be too much of a handful, even for a super hero with embiggening powers. But why is Lockjaw really with Kamala? As Ms. Marvel discovers more about her past, the Inventor continues to threaten her future. The fan-favorite, critically acclaimed, amazing new series continues as Kamala Khan proves why she's the best (and most adorable) new super hero there is!

PRECIOUS BEYOND THE DREAMS OF MORTAL MEN. I <3 Kamala Khan so much.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Stay Fly DeConnick, Kelly Sue *

Captain Marvel’s space adventure with her pet cat, Chewie, continues! But when they have an unexpected alien visitor, Carol learns that Rocket Raccoon was right: There’s more to Chewie than meets the eye! Chewie is a Flerkin…and a mom to hundreds! Is this the end for Carol and her pet? Then, Carol has her hands full with a special guest-star from the X-Universe: rock and roll maven Lila Cheney! And Christmas comes to the Carol Corps as we celebrate 100 issues and nearly 50 years of Carol Danvers’ high-flying adventures!

But after tracking Captain Marvel and Tic for weeks, the Haffensye Consortium has finally caught up to them both! Carol was barely able to survive the last time she squared off against the Haffensye — will the astronomical Avenger be so lucky again?

There are at least two Captain Marvel series done by Marvel NOW - this is the one without the dinosaur punchings and time travel and cancer, I think. This IS the fluffier one with GOTG and space adventures! Including the many many not-cats featured in the cover art :3

Lord of the White Hell (Lord of the White Hell, #2) Hale, Ginn *

Part two of the interlibrary-loaned series about the land on the edgeo f the industrial revolution and our son of a candy magnate protag at culturally unfriendly boarding school. And also pining. Shit goes DOWN in book two. Totally dug it. Reading the sequel series where our protag couple get a sizeable cameo appearance now!

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

When Gods Die (Sebastian St. Cyr #2) Harris, C.S. *

Brighton, England, 1811. The beautiful wife of an aging Marquis is found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent. Draped around her neck lies an ancient necklace with mythic origins-and mysterious ties to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. Haunted by his past, Sebastian investigates both the Marchioness's death and his own possible connection to it-and discovers a complex pattern of lies and subterfuge. With the aid of his lover, Kat Boleyn, and a former street urchin now under his protection, Sebastian edges closer to the killer. And when one murder follows another, he confronts a conspiracy that threatens his own identity...and imperils the monarchy itself.

I think the Sebastian St. Cyr books maaaay be more my jam than the Julian Kestrel books but it's not like it's really a CONTEST. The more regency mystery, the more I win. And guys, this was SO MY JAM. Not trope-wise, really. But writing-wise? SO EASY, SO COMPELLING.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1 Gaider, David

I totally thought this would be more of a concept art/ behind the scenes book! It's more like the dragon age wiki and codicies turned up to 11 with bonus artses. I really enjoyed spotting what I could think of as forshaddowing for DAI and I'm totlaly interlibrary-loaning volume two when its a bit less new and the request will be allowed.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Champion of the Scarlet Wolf Book One (Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, #1; Cadeleonian Series, #3) Hale, Ginn * 4.35

Five years after abandoning the Sagrada Acedemy (Lord of the White Hell universe), Elezar Grunito has become infamous in the sanctified circles of noble dueling rings for his brutal temper and lethal blade. Men and women of all ranks gather to cheer and jeer, none of them knowing Elezar’s true purpose. But a violent death outside the ring marks Elezar as a wanted man and sends him into hiding in the far northern wilds of Labara.

There, creatures of myth and witchcraft—long since driven from Cadeleon—lurk in dark woods and prowl the winding streets. Soldiers and priests alike fear the return of witch-queens and even demons. Elezar soon learns that magic takes many forms, some too alluring to resist, others too terrible to endure. But just as he begins to find his place in this strange new country, the past he left behind along with his school days returns to challenge him once again.

I read this in one night and stayed up MUCH TOO LATE. it's hard to judge with ebooks sometimes, but I think this one would have been a 500 pager if it were a book-book. And still one more to read! Dueling and political intrigue and trolls and shapeshifter witches and demons and secrets and the underside city society, yay!

Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs, #1) Winspear, Jacqueline * 3.91

Maisie Dobbs isn’t just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence—and the patronage of her benevolent employers—she works her way into college at Cambridge. When World War I breaks out, Maisie goes to the front as a nurse. It is there that she learns that coincidences are meaningful and the truth elusive. After the War, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator. But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

This was far more historical fiction than I expected, though it IS about a private investigator in the twenties, it is also heavily about WWI and its aftermath. Jeeves and Wooster this is not. I respect it, and read it readily, but UNEXPECTED.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/135196.html

Books I've Read

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last of the magicians with the power to travel from London to London. He is the forcibly adopted Prince of Red London - the capital of a mighty magic-embued empire. Kell is one of only two known Anatari who can jump between the Londons using blood magic to convey diplomatic messages from his adoptive parents to Mad King George (of magic-scarce Grey London) and the murderous twins who rule White London.

Kell is tricked into carrying a piece of contagious Black London magic across worlds - an act of accidental treason. He meets, saves, and is saved by Delilah, a crossdressing Grey London pickpocket with piratical ambitions. Together they worldhop, having terrifying adventures as they try to set things right. There are fancy coats.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills

Surprisingly not as much of an Issues and straw men problem novel as I was expecting. It's a LYRC book about a star student whose lunch accidentally gets swapped with her mom's. Her mother's lunch included a paring knife and her school has a zero tolerance weapons policy. Things happen.

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers

Teenaged Breton assassin nuns of a pre-Christian deathgod turned saint! :DDDDDD

Our heroine is rescued by an underground network of devotees after having been sold into marriage by her father (who doesn't like her much since her bio-dad is St. Mordain). She is trained in assassin arts with her fellow novices though she tends to skive off from seduction class and some of the other lady arts to hang out with the potions mistress. Ismae is immune from all poisons which is convenient when you're the novice that helps make them.

She's sent out on her first initiate missions and things don't go QUITE right, even though she see's the sign of the death god on her marks. It turns out things are more complicated than she knows and her abbess sends her off with the bastard brother of the uncrowned Duchess of Brittany for some POLITICKING and INVESTIGATING against France.

Court intrigue! Spywork! Treason! Making a guy you kinda dig take off all his clothes because you suspect he's being killed by a contact poison!

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

What Angels Fear by C. S. Harris

My second Regency murder mystery of the month! This one is the first in a series about Sebastian St. Cyr, a veteran, dangerous duelist, and ex-espionage agent who circumstances conspire to frame for the gristly alter-side murder of a woman and the stabbing of one of the constables who came to arrest him.

Sebastian goes on the run, but refuses many offers from his friends and family to be smuggled out of the country. He's going to figure out what really happened in that church and befriend a street urchin while he does it. It's a good and suspenseful read and I've got book two lined up already!

( LibraryThing Tag Cloud )

Books I'm Reading

A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross

The second Julian Kestrel mystery! This will be my third Regency murder mystery of the month.

The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

I'm not sure about this - necromancers can be quite interesting but I'm not so certain Johanes Cabal will hook my interest. He hasn't yet, but I'm going to give him another 50 pages or so.

Vango: Between Sky and Earth by Timothee de Fombelle

I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen in this book, but it started with Vango at Notre Dame, about to be ordained as a priest and then after some rooftop chasing and shooting we've flashed back to a very curious island childhood. I am promised pirates and airships and trans-European inter-war adventures.

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Sequel to Seraphina which is apparently only a duology - huzzah for duologies! I'm having technical difficulties with some of the audiobook chapters and an early review from TheBookSmugglers on goodreads is making me worried that it won't be quite as satisfying as book one.

I think it's a bit like how with Harry Potter you go in expecting school adventures and get Other Things as the books progress. Book two is not about investigation at court while being a secret half-dragon and also the assistant royal music mistress.

Books I'll Read

When Gods Die by C. S. Harris

The second Sebastian St. Cyr mystery!

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

The first Lady Emily book - Victorian mystery and suspense this time.

Crossposts: http://isweedan.livejournal.com/135091.html

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