I enjoyed this! It features a loveable rogue who's quite different from the usual Pratchett protagonist, top tier satire of corporate greed and bureaucracy, plus a compelling romance. And my beloved golems make an appearance! I enjoyed the depiction of radical activism that doesn't rely on laws or government entities, a nice departure for the setting. Marked down for a pretty fatphobic joke, unfortunately.
A strong sequel! I loved that this one focused more on the real world history and politics, but there was still plenty of folklore. I'm not really reading for the romance, but it was suitably in the background and compelling. I love a good cross-dressing narrative, and there were some twists that genuinely made me gasp! This trilogy is really tempting me to try learning Russian against my better judgment.
Unfortunately, there was a noticeable dip in the quality of the prose. The plot wasn't engaging and was weirdly nationalist. But I enjoyed seeing the characters' stories resolve.
Sometimes I suspect that an author has been forced to change their book to make it sellable - a forced trilogy, a certain kind of romance, a jawdropping revelation about the MC's parentage, etc. It makes me wish I could see their true vision for the story.
The style felt a bit too self-consciously irreverent in places, but this was still hugely enjoyable. I'm fairly knowledgeable about medieval history, and it's impressive how much territory Janega covered in such a short book written for a general audience. She made an interesting argument about how misogyny and patriarchy perpetuate themselves, even though the specific stereotypes about women change.
My first ebook of 2024. I really loved both the concept and execution of this. Mason's prose is strong and chameleonic across the different chapters. I found several of the characters extremely compelling, though the ending was too neatly symmetrical. It's my one major gripe with the entire "interlocking stories" lit fic subgenre. Still a compelling experiment in combining historical fiction and ecofiction.
The most impactful nonfiction I have read in a long time. An informative deep dive into some unsavory corners of the internet combined with an examination of the cultural significance of doppelgangers. It has led me to reframe some of my assumptions about conspiratorial thinking and the intertwined nature of various historical and modern oppressions. Feels like a political therapy session: raw but productive.
Book 8 of 2024: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris
5 stars
I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. Gorgeous art, a compelling mystery, two fascinating historical settings, queer themes, nuanced characters, and a loveable child protagonist who feels painfully real. It ends on a cliffhanger, but luckily I only have to wait a few months for the sequel!
As an agnostic, this meditation on faith and suffering was interesting and sometimes frustrating. The prose was sparse but quite lovely, and I enjoyed the epistolary passages. I found the protagonist self-absorbed and unlikeable, though that was probably intentional. I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into the colonialist implications, as well as the hybridized form of Japanese Christianity which is only hinted at.
This book truly has it all: feminist sci fi, compelling characters, a mysterious virus, a spy plot, a sweet queer romance, and anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist politics. I've also read Griffith's medieval historical fiction and it was so fun to see her tinkering with similar themes in a completely different setting. A sequel seems unlikely at this point, but I live in hope.
I enjoy nonfiction about cultural heritage crimes because it's basically low stakes, less violent and gendered true crime. The bare bones of the story are compelling: a working class amateur art connoisseur who steals art at an astonishing pace for several years. I was intrigued by the short passages on the psychology of art theft and personal art collections, so am looking forward to mining the bibliography.
Book 12: The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life
5 stars
One of the best biographies I've ever read. Carlisle is a philosopher, which provides a rich lens for analyzing Eliot's life and work. She articulates things about Eliot's style and influences that I've sensed but been unable to verbalize. I identified with the way Eliot's creative life was shaped by her simultaneous awareness of her own talent, self-doubt, and shame about her ambition.
Book 13 of 2024: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
4 stars
This was a lovely cozy fantasy with some truly funny moments and creative trope subversion. The characters were deeper, the themes more complex, and the world building more interesting than I was expecting from the fluffy marketing. At the outset I wasn't sure whether I'd bother reading the sequel, but I certainly want to now!
Only a true genius could dedicate an entire book to addressing the plot holes of her own setting. Le Guin confronted these contradictions, saw the pain and oppression at the root of them, and used them to craft a beautiful narrative of reconciliation.
I'm dealing with several losses, so the book's focus on the naturalness and necessity of true death, without resurrection or afterlife, has been very cathartic.
Another strong installment with several of my favorite characters from the series. Some withering satire about banks along with my beloved golems, a compelling villain, a fun romance, and some good old clownery. Unfortunately I thought there was one subplot too many, but it's forgivable when Pratchett is just so good.
Not for the faint of heart, but I'm glad I read this. A brutal stream-of-consciousness portrayal of the rise of a far right regime and refugee crisis from the POV of an average mother. It's shameful that it only received so much attention because it's set in a western, white country, although I know this was Lynch's intention. The prose is an acquired taste; it mostly worked for me but was sometimes a little belabored.
@hawksquill@bookstodon I wasn't quite so generous with my rating, but I agree with most of your review. The last few chapters felt a bit drawn out and don’t feel the same as the rest of the book.
@franksting@hawksquill@bookstodon It's certainly timely. I agree that the prose is an acquired taste - "belabored" is a good descriptor; a little much? But yes, it gets at the very raw, basic things that a conflict like this would do to a family in a way I'd never read before.
@educaremom@hawksquill@bookstodon there are chapters in the middle where the pure banality of existence in such a situation are among the most compelling things I've read in a while. As an Irish person, I really got how people just looked out for each other…up to a point
This one was a mixed bag for me. I really loved some of the characters and thought a few of the arcs were perfectly executed, but there was simply too much going on. It's the longest Discworld novel and felt much too long, particularly at the end. I loved the working class characters but found the racial politics surprisingly regressive for Pratchett. I did learn a lot about football, though.
Book 18 of 2024: Illuminae Files_01 by Kaufman & Kristoff
4 stars
I expected garden variety sci fi romance and this surpassed those expectations. Lots of well-paced twists and turns with interesting characters and themes. The romance was a little flat for me, but the innovative art design is what truly shines. The most stylistically interesting book I've read in a long time. I never thought I'd read an ergodic YA novel, but I'm very glad to be proven wrong!
A rare case where the sequel is better than the first book! I found the romance in this one more compelling, and the characters a little better-drawn and realistic. The ergodic elements continued to be interesting and well-integrated with the visual design. Several plot twists made me gasp aloud. I'm now impatiently waiting on my library hold for the final book in the trilogy to come through!
@hawksquill@bookstodon I’m reading this now. Actually, an audiobook from my local #library. (Not sure now what brought it to my attention; it was on a holds list for a few months, so popular I guess). My kids were undergrads in Troy and Saratoga & we were always driving the Mass Pike through the Berkshires, so I imagine the land and home tucked away there over the hundreds of years of the story.
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