- The Prince of Secrets – A.J. Lancaster
- Fated Blades – Ilona Andrews
- The Princess Fugitive – Melanie Cellier
- Pretense – Tara Grayce
- Into the Labyrinth – John Bierce
- The Kitchen Diaries II – Nigel Slater
- The Book of Life – Deborah Harkness
- Mind Over Magic – Lindsay Buroker
- The Glamourist – Luanne G. Smith
- Stolen Midsummer Bride – Tara Grayce
- The Court of Mortals – AJ Lancaster
- The King of Faerie – AJ Lancaster
- The Kitchen Diaries III – Nigel Slater
- Dance of Thieves – Mary E. Pearson
- The Menopause Manifesto – Jennifer Gunther
- The Legendary Inge – Kate Stradling
- The Obsidian Chimera – Marie Andreas
- Jewel of the Endless Erg – John Bierce
- A Traitor in Skyhold – John Bierce
- Botanical Shakespeare – Gerit Quealy
- The Lost City of Ithos – John Bierce
- The Siege of Skyhold – John Bierce
- Legends and Lattes – Travis Baldree
- Dreams Made Flesh – Anne Bishop
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London – Garth Nix
- The Night Country – Melissa Albert
- The Source – Martin Doyle
- Beneath the Sugar Sky – Seanan McGuire
- When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain – Nghi Vo
- Masquerade in Lodi – Lois McMaster Bujold
- Cook, Eat, Repeat – Nigella Lawson
- Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson
- The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
- White Hot – Ilona Andrews
- The New Paris – Lindsay Tramuta
- Song of the Forever Rains – E. J. Mellow
- Empire of Gold – S. A. Chakraborty
- Garden Revolution – Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher
- Cast in Courtlight – Michelle Sagara
- Elfhame – Anthea Sharpe
- A Gilded Cage – Auburn Tempest
- About a Dragon – G. A. Aiken
- Daughter of the Moon Goddess – Sue Lynn Tan
- Half a Soul – Olivia Atwater
- Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
- The Assassins of Thasalon – Lois McMaster Bujold
- A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik
- The Forest Unseen – David George Haskell
- In an Absent Dream – Seanan McGuire
- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking – T. Kingfisher
- The Kinsmen Universe – Ilona Andrews
- Grey Sister – Mark Lawrence
- Shield Band – Tara Grayce
- Ink Witch – Lindsey Sparks
- Wildfire – Ilona Andrews
- Diamond Fire – Ilona Andrews
- Sapphire Flames – Ilona Andrews
- Emerald Blaze – Ilona Andrews
- Death’s Detective – Charlotte E. English
- The Rogue and the Peasant – Amberley Martin
- Ruby Fever – Ilona Andrews
- Tea and Sympathetic Magic – Tansy Rayner Roberts
- Sweep of the Blade – Ilona Andrews
- The Theft of Sunlight – Intisar Khanani
- Cast in Moonlight – Michelle Sagara
- Sisters of Saint Nicola of the Almost Perpetual Motion vs the Lurch – Garth Nix
- Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon – Lisa Goldstein
- Redemption in Indigo – Karen Lord
- Vision in Silver – Anne Bishop
- Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
- Once Upon a Curse
- The Hermit of Eyton Forest – Ellis Peters
- Striking Mars – Cidney Swanson
- Knot of Shadows – Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Hanging Tree – Ben Aaronovitch
- The October Man – Ben Aaronovitch
- Lies Sleeping – Ben Aaronovitch
- False Value – Ben Aaronovitch
- Songs of the Dying Earth – edited George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
- The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison
- Keturah and Lord Death – Martine Leavitt
- Peril – Tara Grayce
- Disenchanted – Brianna Sugalski
- Come Tumbling Down – Seanan McGuire
- Sweep of the Heart – Ilona Andrews
- Briarheart – Mercedes Lackey
- Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Girl with No Face – M. H. Boroson
Books Not Finished
The Three-Body Problem – Cixin Liu
I’d heard good things about this book, and it’s certainly been well-lauded. But I was just not feeling it. Once I decided to stop reading it, I went and checked out reviews, and it does seem to be a book that either changed your life, or you just can’t understand what all the hype is about.
I’m definitely in the why? camp. I stuck it out for six chapters, and at that point, I still really can’t tell you exactly what’s supposed to be going on, or why I should care. I kept this on my Kindle for a while before I finally decided I should just bow to the inevitable and check it back in. There’s no way I’m finishing it – there’s nothing hooking me in enough to keep reading.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue – Mackenzi Lee
I must be getting old. I’d heard good things about this book, and a friend of mine whose book interests generally line up to mine loved it, so when it came up in Kindle Unlimited, I just went ahead and downloaded it.
I didn’t last the first chapter. I immediately found the main character to be completely, and utterly obnoxious. I’m ok with a nice rogue, but this was just too much for me. Like I said, I think I’m getting old.
The City Beneath the Hidden Stars – Sonya Kudei
I requested this book through the EarlyReviewers program because I thought it sounded really cool – a modern story tying back to the mythological roots of its setting. Unfortunately, I’ve been sitting at the end of chapter one for two weeks now, and I just can’t bring myself to read on, so I’m going to do my review, but not give any stars, because I simply couldn’t finish it.
I lost track of how many characters were introduced between the multi-part prologue and the first chapter. I’m not sure who I was actually supposed to be rooting for, and as much as I hate not completing something I feel like I agreed to, I just couldn’t find a reason to do it. This definitely needed an edit (or two) before it was published.
The Firebird – Susanna Kearsley
I found the first book in this series charming, but the second one wasn’t grabbing me. Too many elements – time travel, physic connections, two people trying to figure out their psychic connections. And we’re going to throw in a trip to Russia in here somewhere. I’m not giving up completely – I’ll keep it around, but I’m definitely not grabbed enough to finish it this year.
Fortuna – Kristyn Merbeth
I liked the world building – humans have spread out to a new star system, and colonized several planets there. Our main characters are a family that live in a ship doing business between them. Mom (the captain) was smart and had a baby in each major world, giving her an in on all of them. Except with baby #2, Scorpia, who had the misfortune of being born early, in space, which means she’s a citizen of nowhere.
Turns out, Mom’s a bitch and playing a long game that involves withholding information from her own children. We see the story through the eyes of the two oldest – Corvus and Scorpia. Scorpia is constantly trying to prove herself, based on what we can tell is bad information.
So I’m about 45% into the book, and Scorpia is about to commit colossal fuck up number 2, and I just can’t any more. I think Corvus might end up saving the day, because he seems to be the only good person in the family, but I’m just done caring.
Heart Seeker – Juliana Haygert
I often nope out of free books pretty quickly – I can usually tell if the writing style is going to drive me crazy with a page or two. I lasted a little longer into this one, until the main character’s mother showed up, and things just got whiny. Too bad, the set up before that had been pretty good.
Seveneves- Neal Stephenson
I really wanted to be able to get further into this book – it starts in the present day, but then goes to a far flung future, where humans long ago left Earth and have evolved into several new races. I suspect I’ll enjoy that part. But I can’t get through the beginning. It’s too close to present day (it’s just old enough that it’s not perfect – social media is still mainly Facebook), but it’s close enough that I can’t do the post-apocalyptic bit right now. I’ll put it away. I might be able to come back to it when it’s aged a bit more.