2022 Books Read

  1. The Prince of Secrets – A.J. Lancaster
  2. Fated Blades – Ilona Andrews
  3. The Princess Fugitive – Melanie Cellier
  4. Pretense – Tara Grayce
  5. Into the Labyrinth – John Bierce
  6. The Kitchen Diaries II – Nigel Slater
  7. The Book of Life – Deborah Harkness
  8. Mind Over Magic – Lindsay Buroker
  9. The Glamourist – Luanne G. Smith
  10. Stolen Midsummer Bride – Tara Grayce
  11. The Court of Mortals – AJ Lancaster
  12. The King of Faerie – AJ Lancaster
  13. The Kitchen Diaries III – Nigel Slater
  14. Dance of Thieves – Mary E. Pearson
  15. The Menopause Manifesto – Jennifer Gunther
  16. The Legendary Inge – Kate Stradling
  17. The Obsidian Chimera – Marie Andreas
  18. Jewel of the Endless Erg – John Bierce
  19. A Traitor in Skyhold – John Bierce
  20. Botanical Shakespeare – Gerit Quealy
  21. The Lost City of Ithos – John Bierce
  22. The Siege of Skyhold – John Bierce
  23. Legends and Lattes – Travis Baldree
  24. Dreams Made Flesh – Anne Bishop
  25. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London – Garth Nix
  26. The Night Country – Melissa Albert
  27. The Source – Martin Doyle
  28. Beneath the Sugar Sky – Seanan McGuire
  29. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain – Nghi Vo
  30. Masquerade in Lodi – Lois McMaster Bujold
  31. Cook, Eat, Repeat – Nigella Lawson
  32. Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson
  33. The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
  34. White Hot – Ilona Andrews
  35. The New Paris – Lindsay Tramuta
  36. Song of the Forever Rains – E. J. Mellow
  37. Empire of Gold – S. A. Chakraborty
  38. Garden Revolution – Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher
  39. Cast in Courtlight – Michelle Sagara
  40. Elfhame – Anthea Sharpe
  41. A Gilded Cage – Auburn Tempest
  42. About a Dragon – G. A. Aiken
  43. Daughter of the Moon Goddess – Sue Lynn Tan
  44. Half a Soul – Olivia Atwater
  45. Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
  46. The Assassins of Thasalon – Lois McMaster Bujold
  47. A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik
  48. The Forest Unseen – David George Haskell
  49. In an Absent Dream – Seanan McGuire
  50. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking – T. Kingfisher
  51. The Kinsmen Universe – Ilona Andrews
  52. Grey Sister – Mark Lawrence
  53. Shield Band – Tara Grayce
  54. Ink Witch – Lindsey Sparks
  55. Wildfire – Ilona Andrews
  56. Diamond Fire – Ilona Andrews
  57. Sapphire Flames – Ilona Andrews
  58. Emerald Blaze – Ilona Andrews
  59. Death’s Detective – Charlotte E. English
  60. The Rogue and the Peasant – Amberley Martin
  61. Ruby Fever – Ilona Andrews
  62. Tea and Sympathetic Magic – Tansy Rayner Roberts
  63. Sweep of the Blade – Ilona Andrews
  64. The Theft of Sunlight – Intisar Khanani
  65. Cast in Moonlight – Michelle Sagara
  66. Sisters of Saint Nicola of the Almost Perpetual Motion vs the Lurch – Garth Nix
  67. Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon – Lisa Goldstein
  68. Redemption in Indigo – Karen Lord
  69. Vision in Silver – Anne Bishop
  70. Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
  71. Once Upon a Curse
  72. The Hermit of Eyton Forest – Ellis Peters
  73. Striking Mars – Cidney Swanson
  74. Knot of Shadows – Lois McMaster Bujold
  75. The Hanging Tree – Ben Aaronovitch
  76. The October Man – Ben Aaronovitch
  77. Lies Sleeping – Ben Aaronovitch
  78. False Value – Ben Aaronovitch
  79. Songs of the Dying Earth – edited George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
  80. The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison
  81. Keturah and Lord Death – Martine Leavitt
  82. Peril – Tara Grayce
  83. Disenchanted – Brianna Sugalski
  84. Come Tumbling Down – Seanan McGuire
  85. Sweep of the Heart – Ilona Andrews
  86. Briarheart – Mercedes Lackey
  87. Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold
  88. 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.