Finished reading: Brimstone by Callie Hart 📚

Look, the special girl gets more special!

Seriously, Hart’s worldbuilding and storytelling are massively improved from the first book, and this is a worthy read. (I really want to know who the Hazrax is, …

Finished reading: Cursed by Benedict Jacka 📚

Jacka continues to write fun urban fantasy with a little noir detective thrown in.

My unfamiliarity with London geography continues to make some of this series hard to follow, and the characters don’t see …

Finished reading: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden 📚

I finished this years ago, but apparently didn’t blog about it.

This third book takes the calm dark winter fairy tale of the first two books and turns it into an action movie that …

Finished reading: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst 📚

A worthy follow-up to The Spellshop, about Caz’s creator continuing her forbidden magic. Sort of.

I like this world, and I enjoyed seeing another part of it. Felt a bit long in places, …

Finished reading: The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst 📚

Not sure what I thought I was getting—something like The Spell Shop, probably—but this is not that.

Three teenage girls go to a summer camp, but when they arrive, it’s been burned down, the …

Finished reading: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson 📚

Outrageously detailed, as usual for Isaacson, with all kinds of facts and stories I’d never heard, despite having visited Milan’s da Vinci museum.

Highly recommended, with the caveat that, …

Finished reading: Quicksilver by Callie Hart 📚

A quick read with faeries and vampires and magic and gods.

Checks the romantasy boxes: brooding hero, gorgeous magical special girl, companions on both sides.

Some rough prose, but if you don’t expect …

Finished reading: Twelve Months (The Dresden Files, #18) by Jim Butcher 📚

A fun palate cleanser. Important plots move forward. A few important bits of lore get revealed. Nothing gets quite enough attention. (Dresden and Lara could have used an …

Finished reading: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Another nice cozy story. Includes a nice little riddle near the beginning that’s fun to piece together yourself.

The ending is a little too telegraphed for me, and …

Finished reading: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz.

Cozy restaurant with robots, set in a speculative future where California has violently seceded from the US.

It’s pretty short and rapid-fire. Which makes the bingo card of San Francisco …

Finished reading: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

A cozy bit of magic, with raspberry jam.

Plays a little fast and loose with the timeline, and I had trouble envisioning the myriad nonhuman characters because only exceptional bits got described. …

Finished reading: Cursed Charm by Jali Henry

Could have been a fun fantasy read: vampires versus witches. Instead, the very special girl is saved not by relationships or character growth but by learning she’s even more special!

Also: hamfisted race …

Finished reading: Captain Kidd by Samuel Marquis

An opinionated, thoroughly researched biography of history’s most notorious pirate. Turns out most of what I “know” about Kidd was British propaganda to save the king substantial embarrassment.

Even …

Finished reading: SPQR by Mary Beard.

A long history of Ancient Rome, ending abruptly a few centuries after Christ. I learned a lot from this book, but the author does you no favors to help keep straight dozens of similar names and timelines. (She …

Finished reading: Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Amazing, creative, interlocking far-future stories structured after the Canterbury Tales.

Fascinating, but reads more like an anthology of short stories rather than a novel. Definitely want to read the next …

Finished reading: A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot Book 1) by Becky Chambers.

This is the first book on my #TheologyOfRobotics reading list, which is expanding rapidly. A great fiction exploration of planetary stewardship and the …

Finished reading: On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

An exuberant diary, apparently lost for four decades, of Rick Steves and his friend Gene traveling overland from Istanbul to Katmandu. This trail is likely impossible today, but the journey was …

Finished reading: Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

A series of interesting insights about building the life you want through small experiments. I particularly appreciated the concrete suggestions: make a pact, join a community, learn in …

Finished reading: The Formula by Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg

For a new fan, this book was a great history lesson of the business of F1 and the transformation since 2017 or so, culminating in the insanity of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

📚

Finished reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini

I didn’t realize until the afterword that Paolini was only 21 when Eldest was published. What a masterwork for someone so young, and yet it explains some of the inelegance of plot elements and prose. I …

Finished reading: 1633 by David Weber.

The addition of David Weber got us even more Mary Sue/Marty Stu characteristics, but at least there’s some serious risk in this one, with some major players stuck in England under Charles II, Amsterdam under …

Finished reading: 1632, Second Edition by Eric Flint

A rollicking alternate history with a thousand characters, most of whom can do no wrong. Serious divisions between heroes and villains, and an awkward writing style to boot.

But super fun if you …

Finished reading: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

I almost don’t want to admit I read this book. But I did. The story is fascinating.

But the writing continues to be without expertise. Yarros forgets she’s writing fantasy, or she just didn’t build a …

Finished reading: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

This book about a girl growing up in Nazi Germany in 1939 is hard to get into. It is absolutely worth the patience.

I don’t want to write anything else for fear I might spoil it, except it is one of …

Finished reading: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

After Fourth Wing I decided I should go back to an older and wiser dragon novel. And yep, it was fun! Less sex, but more more wisdom, and no hokey failures to remember the fantasy realm is not the …

Finished reading: Countdown 1945 by Chris Wallace.

A fascinating, if a bit too prone to run down rabbit trails, look at the 116 days between Harry Truman becoming president and the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

Maybe the most …

Finished reading: Rocket Men by Robert Kurson

The success of Apollo 8 is one of the biggest achievements of American spaceflight, or possibly all human spaceflight. I love space stories, but I knew Apollo 11 and 13 far better than this one, so we …

Finished reading: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

This story is so epic it deserves better treatment. Unfortunately, this narrative weaves in dozens of names and focuses on a few, almost exclusively black women and white men (with few …

Finished reading: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Damn, what a book.

We follow a number of major characters in the Troubles of Northern Ireland from about 1968 to about 2016. I learned much more than I’ve ever known about this history.

The …

Finished reading: Fated by Benedict Jacka

These books are always recommended for folks who keep re-reading the Dresden novels because nothing compares.

Indeed, nothing compares. The feel is mostly the same—urban wizard who has a day job sucked into …

Finished reading: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I read this book to try to understand why it’s so popular, and I failed. It has all the trappings of a rollicking fantasy: a poor girl from the north is kidnapped by an evil magical …

Finished reading: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

What an absolute mess of a book. But it’s clearly fantasy for somebody, and the world is definitely interesting. A better author could tell some great stories in this universe; this author …

Finished reading: The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

It was not at all what I expected. Quentin is an unlikable main character; Penny and Eliot are hardly fleshed out; and Alice… well, I like Alice a lot. I really get the feeling Alice is the true main …

Finished reading: Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb

I cannot express my despair at the end of this book. As soon as I saw where the ending was headed, I didn’t want to keep reading and nearly put the book down. Kudos to the author, I guess, …

Finished reading: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

I went into this book thinking it was more YA fantasy. And it is! A special girl goes to school where her mom is in charge, and she learns she’s even more special than she thought! The small-town …

Finished reading: Royal Assassin (The Illustrated Edition) by Robin Hobb

The world continues to intrigue me, and Fitz continues to be a great conflicted character. I do think Hobb delights just a bit too much in hurting him, and the ending was even …

Finished reading: 2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron.

Picked this up off a Reddit thread. Good thing it was cheap, because it contains little advice a thinking writer doesn’t know (you should do some planning before you start writing!), and it needs editing …

Finished reading: Assassin’s Apprentice (The Illustrated Edition) by Robin Hobb.

I know I’m late to the Farseer trilogy/universe, but I really enjoyed this first installment. An unexplained Skill, a Wit, a Fool, more than one father figure, …

Finished reading: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree.

Fun prequel to Legends and Lattes, but missing some of the magic of the original. Still worth reading. Would be a great children’s/YA book with some light inessential cleaning up. 📚

Finished reading: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Awesome investigation of evolution from a totally different (sci-fi) perspective. Made me think fun thoughts. Excellent up until the last couple of pages, which were totally disappointing, …

Finished reading: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman.

A critical reminder that being the kind of person you feel you ought to be is impossible, and that’s okay—perhaps even freeing, when considered rightly.

Burkeman spends a lot of time …

Finished reading: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher.

More swashbuckling! And spies! And a very weird planet. And cats. A good follow-up.

Now, Mr. Butcher, please get back to writing Twelve Months…📚

Finished reading: Slow Productivity by Cal Newport.

What a spectacular book for post-pandemic white-collar knowledge work. Partly philosophical and partly actionable, Newport says maybe we should step back from the cliff of minute-to-minute …

Finished reading: Hangman’s Gate (War of the Archons 2) by R.S. Ford

This world of forgotten gods where prayer and worship actually affect their powers continues to fascinate me, but unfortunately the writing doesn’t measure up to the story. …

Finished reading: The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

Apparently Sanderson’s fiftieth novel, and the last of the four Kickstarter books. Directly impacts the Cosmere, and the first of these weird ones where having read everything Cosmere really …

Finished reading: A Demon in Silver (War of the Archons) by R.S. Ford

Magic is creeping back into the world. Some parts think they’re ready; others have no idea; almost nobody’s prepared for what actually happens.

A fun read, with disparate threads …

Finished reading: The Law by Jim Butcher.

A fairly weak entry in the series, maybe intended as a palate cleanser after Battle Ground. We see a little of Dresden’s psyche, but not much. A short return to the early novels’ PI theme, but with Dresden …

Finished reading: Heroes by Stephen Fry.

A fantastic addition to Mythos. Fry picks some of the best-known Greek heros (and one not-so-well-known) and brings them and their complete stories to life. He tells complete stories, bringing in all the …

Finished reading: Mythos by Stephen Fry.

Excellent retelling of the classic Greek myths. Plus some I’ve never heard. If you ever read (or refused to read) Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, you owe it to yourself to read this one. Fry brings the characters …

Finished reading: Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. An epic end to an epic trilogy. Disappointing in all the best ways. One smidge darker than I’d hoped, but you have to be realistic about these things. 📚

Finished reading: Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. Even better than the first. Characters you want to know better, mysteries abound, swords and sorcery and sex and what else do you want from a book? 📚

Finished reading: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Dirty, but not dark. Cynical, but leavened with hard work. Clichés and anti-clichés. Excellent, not stereotypical fantasy. 📚

Finished reading: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. Fun as usual; kind of a fantasy/mystery/romance. I didn’t love the storytelling device, but the story itself, the world, and the magic were all top-notch Sanderson. 📚

Finished reading: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. Spectacular, sweet fairy tale in fantasy clothing. Deserves its accolades. Highly recommended. 📚

Finished reading: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. Fun, quick romp through a particular many-worlds hypothesis. A little too cute in places, and far too embedded in the real-world time (including soon-to-be-obscure Trump jokes), but a …

I’ve lived in San Antonio for twelve years, and today I got my first library card.

(I’ve read dozens of books on Libby over the years with what was apparently a “temporary” card, and I finally had to go get a real one to keep reading.) 📚

Finished reading: Thirty Questions by Timothy C. Tennent. Structured like a catechism but with answers far too long to memorize. Not a bad introduction to Christian doctrine, but fits better as a study: Tennent clearly expects you to do some of the …

Finished reading: The One Hour Bible by SPCK. Edited by Philip Law. A great idea—not paraphrasing or summarizing but eliding: using the actual words of the New Living Translation to tell the story of God in fewer words.

Unfortunately, while this …

Finished reading: For the Body by Timothy C. Tennent. A critical exposition of the need for the modern church to develop and espouse a positive theology of the body rather than the decades of pure negative theology: “don’t do that; that’s wrong.”

A …

Finished reading: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. Tremendously dissatisfying. A chaotic run through a fascinating world, but the plot was so contrived to prevent progress as to frustrate me with every page turn.

Not recommended. If you want a …

Finished reading: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Slow start for an amazing ending. Fun wordplay and enough mystery to hunt down the sequel. 📚

Finished reading: The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson. A fun, quick read. Pretty un-Sanderson. Seems like he was experimenting with style, similar to Tress, just not in the Cosmere. 📚

Finished reading: Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. Like “Pyramids”, an excuse for Pratchett to make a billion pop culture jokes in a row. Tons of fun. 📚

Finished reading: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Wow, what a fun novel. I had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen. Definitely better than her Uprooted. Thanks to @jsonbecker for saying exactly that and giving me the …

Finished reading: The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I’ve never read a book so full of hints but so devoid of answers. Also with such a powerful, but dumb, protagonist. I want Denna’s story so badly… which I guess puts me in good …

Finished reading: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Late to the party on this one. One of the most beautiful fantasy books I’ve ever read. Incredible command of language and myth and character. Also frustrating; I knew that going in, but I …

Finished reading: Eric by Terry Pratchett. Just fun. Less effort than previous books, but more entertaining. Plus: Rincewind! Only problem is it’s very very short. 📚

Finished reading: League of Dragons by Naomi Novik. Probably my favorite of these, which is nice because it’s last. Pacing worked out, some growth arcs concluded, and the inevitable future is hinted but not written. 📚

Finished reading: Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik. I will never get used to the pacing of these books; and especially the ridiculously abrupt endings. Not even cliffhangers, just endings. 📚

Finished reading: Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik. Fantastic adventure in the Andes devolves to more boring British politics by the end. Novik loves the history of the Napoleonic wars too much, and it weakens the stories. 📚

Finished reading: Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik. Unexpectedly appropriate for my long layover in Sydney. I like Laurence better as an explorer than soldier. More adventure, less British politics. 📚

Finished reading: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik. Pacing finally feels good, and as a result I enjoyed this one more than the previous four. Feels like the world is changing, which is fun to watch. 📚

Finished reading: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. Tremendous effort and tons of fun. Lots of Cosmere elements together, and the joy of Hoid everywhere. I just wish he hadn’t tried so hard to sound like Terry Pratchett. (Recommended by …

Finished reading: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Probably my least favorite of the series so far. So many moving parts, and the jokes didn’t land for me. 📚

Finished reading: The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson. I absolutely tore through this book. As usual, Sanderson’s organization awes me, although I couldn’t help but feel he tossed a little too much Cosmere lore at us in one book to prepare us for …

Finished reading: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik. More like a log of adventure than a novel. Temeraire and Laurence finally have a hard decision to make, although their expressed value system removes the tension entirely for the reader. Still a fun …

Finished reading: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik 📚

Finished reading: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik. Seemingly totally independent from the first novel except the characters, another exploration into a world where dragons are rare but natural. The pacing is again weird, but the world entertaining …

Finished reading: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. Learning a new world is always fun, and Novik launches in as if England and France have always used dragon fleets in their wars. The climax is too long in coming though, and too short; …

Finished reading: The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden 📚

Finished reading: Pyramids by Terry Pratchett. Long train rides make these books fly by. Another one, like Wyrd Sisters, where Pratchett clearly enjoyed himself with puns and satire and camels. 📚

Finished reading: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. The first Discworld novel that actually made me laugh out loud. The Discworld is the same glorious place, but the words—powerful things—tickled me just right. I suspect I missed a lot more …

Finished reading: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Takes a long time to get going, but spellbinding once there. Another winter fairy tale. Recommended by @hollyhoneychurch as a follow-up to Uprooted; good recommendation. 📚

Finished reading: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett. The self-consistency of Discworld, despite the total lack of logic, amazes me every time. All of its legends and myths and prophecies are true, just never in ways the reader expects, yet somehow always …

Finished reading: Mort by Terry Pratchett. Death hires an apprentice so he can take some time off and experience life, and maybe find a husband for his daughter. All of those things happen, but as is common on Discworld, not exactly in the expected …

Finished reading: Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Starts as a twist on a fairy tale, ends as high fantasy. The finale is a bit more chaotic than you’d wish, but the whole thing is a good time. 95% for children, but very much meant for grown-ups. 📚

Finished reading: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. I absolutely devoured this book. It pays off the first book’s cliffhanger better than the second even tried to, and while the writing got a little cheaper the story exploded into awesome. 📚

Finished reading: The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. More fun in the Scholomance. Cliffhanger from the previous novel doesn’t pay off, but a great read anyway. 📚

Finished reading: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Clearly written for the Harry Potter set, but profoundly different and exciting and, helpfully, well-written. Immediately a favorite young adult novel. 📚

Finished reading: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson. Concludes as expected, a surprisingly similar scene to Hero of Ages. I wish we’d seen Hoid more, but the tease of Kelsier at the end was worth it.📚

Finished reading: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson. Beautiful, tragic, ending. Harsh cliffhanger, but didn’t leave me desperate for more Cosmere like most of this series does. 📚

Finished reading: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. As fine a primer on headology as one could hope for. 📚

Finished reading: The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett 📚

Finished reading: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett 📚