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stuff i've been reading this year
Apr. 24th, 2022 04:24 pmThe Power by Naomi Alderman. This was well written and compelling but with a lot of dark content that almost made me stop reading. The premise is that women start developing a kind of electric shock ability and then the political and social ramifications that come out of that, so it realistically needs to go some dark places. Interesting structure and great final line.
A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, & A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab. Technically I only made it halfway through the third book in this series and then I skimmed it but that was still like 300 pages so I'm counting it. I liked the first two books but the last one absolutely did not need to be 600 pages and I'm kind of bitter it still didn't reveal Kell's backstory (unless I missed that in the skimming).
The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I don't usually go for this kind of suspense novel but a friend gave it to me and I had reading time on vacation. I guessed the ending pretty quickly but it was fine. I'd compare it to Girl on a Train where it feels like a very hyped book and I'm like ok I guess just really not my thing.
Vox by Christina Dalcher. Enjoyed this one. Women are restricted to 100 words a day or they get shocked by a bracelet around their wrist. The protagonist is understandably pissed about this and fucks things up.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. Really nicely written. Finished it for the writing because honestly there is very little I find more boring than financial crime.
Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force by Dave Wolverton. A Star Wars tie in (I assume no longer canon) about Obi-Wan Kenobi's padawan days. Someone should have given 12 year old me this series! I was obsessed with The Phantom Menace--my first in theaters Star Wars--and I kind of still am. I've read a lot of Star Wars fic and I know a bunch of the backstory from these novels by fandom osmosis so I figured maybe I'd read them decades late.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Hands down winner of the books I've read so far this year. This is my genre. Space captain has to lay siege to a fortress rebelling against the social order. Bonus ghost of a disgraced general sharing her body. It was a little hard to follow at times but worth it. I aspire to be able to write detailed space military and politics stuff the way this was written. Didn't originally realize it was a trilogy but I've got the next two books on hold now.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Plucked from my old reading shelf. Won that Newberry medal for a reason. Still solidly enjoyable and has some good jokes I probably missed when I read it as a kid.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Obviously I knew the premise of this going into it--man wakes up as a bug--and yet somehow I was still surprised by it. Really committed to the details and changing mindset along with the changed body. (It's only like 50 pages which I didn't realize when I was trying to locate it on the library shelf and I kept missing it even though I was sure it was Check Shelf.)
A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, & A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab. Technically I only made it halfway through the third book in this series and then I skimmed it but that was still like 300 pages so I'm counting it. I liked the first two books but the last one absolutely did not need to be 600 pages and I'm kind of bitter it still didn't reveal Kell's backstory (unless I missed that in the skimming).
The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I don't usually go for this kind of suspense novel but a friend gave it to me and I had reading time on vacation. I guessed the ending pretty quickly but it was fine. I'd compare it to Girl on a Train where it feels like a very hyped book and I'm like ok I guess just really not my thing.
Vox by Christina Dalcher. Enjoyed this one. Women are restricted to 100 words a day or they get shocked by a bracelet around their wrist. The protagonist is understandably pissed about this and fucks things up.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. Really nicely written. Finished it for the writing because honestly there is very little I find more boring than financial crime.
Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force by Dave Wolverton. A Star Wars tie in (I assume no longer canon) about Obi-Wan Kenobi's padawan days. Someone should have given 12 year old me this series! I was obsessed with The Phantom Menace--my first in theaters Star Wars--and I kind of still am. I've read a lot of Star Wars fic and I know a bunch of the backstory from these novels by fandom osmosis so I figured maybe I'd read them decades late.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Hands down winner of the books I've read so far this year. This is my genre. Space captain has to lay siege to a fortress rebelling against the social order. Bonus ghost of a disgraced general sharing her body. It was a little hard to follow at times but worth it. I aspire to be able to write detailed space military and politics stuff the way this was written. Didn't originally realize it was a trilogy but I've got the next two books on hold now.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Plucked from my old reading shelf. Won that Newberry medal for a reason. Still solidly enjoyable and has some good jokes I probably missed when I read it as a kid.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Obviously I knew the premise of this going into it--man wakes up as a bug--and yet somehow I was still surprised by it. Really committed to the details and changing mindset along with the changed body. (It's only like 50 pages which I didn't realize when I was trying to locate it on the library shelf and I kept missing it even though I was sure it was Check Shelf.)
