The Ruin of a Rake, Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian might be my favorite new author. She writes wonderful historical m/m romances, that are satisfyingly of-their-time and also satisfyingly romantic, about people who like each other and need each other and make each other better. In this one we have a rake and a rogue who needs to improve his reputation after a novel is published about his exploits, so that he can keep seeing his beloved nephew (right now he's a "bad influence). And we have a stuffy very proper businessman who has struggled to make himself acceptable to high society without a title, who has built levels of polish and veneer between himself and the world so that he's protected. One offers to help the other repair his reputation, and once they have to spend time with each other they can not only hlep, but protect each other. It's absolutely lovely, and I liked it so much.

Grade: A
#52 in 2017

The Furthest Station (Peter Grant #5.7), Ben Aaronovitch

Always a pleasure to spend time with Peter. I wish it were longer, but I always wish novellas were longer. I liked the ghosts and the mystery -- now can we get back to the main plot? I am dying to know about [spoilers redacted].

Grade: A

#51 in 2017

An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities #2), KJ Charles

The last book in this series was not really my thing; this book VERY MUCH was. I love Justin. He is an amoral schemer who pretends to be a medium and talk to the dead. (Side note: one of my least favorite things in the world is watching someone cold read on television and make people cry. It infuriates me. I can't sit through a commercial for the Long Island Medium without storming out of the room.) Justin is fully aware that what he does is awful, and has nothing but contempt for people who believe in what he does. But it's what he's good at, and he's built up a little family of assistants he needs to look out for. Nathaniel, on the other hand, is a crusading lawyer, who despises what Justin does (but is ridiculously attracted to him). Nathaniel doesn't really get much of an arc in this book, most of the forward movement is Justin's, because Justin is being crushed under the weight of what he does, and what he wants to do, and the idea that maybe, just maybe, he could be someone better if he got the chance. ...Oh, and also the fact that people are trying to kill him for most of this book. Justin is the perfect kind of scoundrel; convinced he is bad through and through, that he doesn't want anything and he doesn't deserve anything, and fiercely unapologetic for the choices he's made. Nathaniel is sure that there's some good inside Justin, even if Justin refuses to see it or admit it. I loved the way they came together and I love this book.

Grade: A

#45 in 2017

At Attention, Annabeth Albert

This book is so perfectly plotted just for me. You have a single dad raising twin daughters and trying to get over the trauma of losing the man who was the love of his life. And then you have the hot young guy who has always had a crush on him, who is the nanny just for the summer, trying to prove that he's an adult now, and responsible, and that it's okay to move on and find love again. I loved this book so much. Those are tropes I always enjoy, and this book very much hit the sweet spot of romance and plot for me.

Grade: A
#38 in 2017

The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin

What a delight. I know I read it in late elementary school and loved it, but I didn't remember anything about it. It's sincerely great -- the diverse characters, the nuanced interactions, the really fun mystery. And a spunky pre-teen who solves the mystery an becomes a successful business woman. No wonder it stuck with me.

Grade: A
#36 in 2017

My Fair Concubine, Jeannie Lin

Just an absolute delight from start to finish. I always enjoy Jeannie Lin's books, and this one was hot affffffffff. I love a good historical romance, and it's so nice to spend some time in historical China instead of it always being Regency England. Grade: A #34 in 2017

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes, Tamim Ansary

This book is PHENOMENAL. Read it RIGHT NOW.

I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, especially if you've got any interest in current events (or history), but even if that's not normally your thing. The writing is exceptionally clear, and it covers topics you may have heard here and there, but puts them into context and makes sense of huge swaths of history normally dismissed in a sentence or two in Western history books. It also does a wonderful and even-handed job of explaining how the modern middle east came to be the way it is, and how the current world climate of distrust between the West and Muslim countries came to be the way it is. I got this copy from the library but have already purchased a paperback copy because I'll need to read it again and use it for reference. I have also already used it in all the world history classes I teach.

Grade: A
#24 in 2017

The Adrien English mysteries #1-6, Josh Lanyon

Fatal Shadows, A Dangerous Thing, The Hell You Say, Death of a Pirate King, The Dark Tide, and So This Is Christmas

I liked this a lot. It's got kind of an old-school flavor to it, with the (eventual) romantic interest being a guy who hates himself for being gay and maybe hates Adrien for it, too, and nearly every side character turning out to have a problem with Adrien being gay. But that's not unrealistic for ten years ago, so it didn't bother me. I love this kind of genre -- amateur sleuth gets involved with murders and the cops -- and my favorite thing is "genre I love, and it's gay." I actually liked this book a lot, but with a couple of caveats. The whole "Native Americans trying to scare away settlers with ghost stories -- could they be real???" subplot feels very worn out and mildly racist (I believe it was done with the best of intentions but I winced a couple of times). Also, it's rough reading a romantic interest who hates being gay and hates gay men, even if he's actually secretly pretty kind to Adrien. Not entirely unrealistic, just a little painful. Jake is a total dick in this book, and the plot is confusing. Adrien, honey, go find someone who actually likes you. I like his adopted extended family, though. Just lots and lots of characters all thrown into this story. (This is probably my fault for reading three books in two days, though.) FINALLY, Jake is forced to admit he really likes Adrien, and do something about it. Adrien believes for a hot second in this book that Jake will murder him to keep it secret that he's gay. I didn't, but it was still a very cathartic moment when Jake is finally like, "No, this is who I am, and I do actually have a line I won't cross to keep my life intact." Jake's self-hating homophobia in the series reads like it should be set in the early 80s, and Adrien's inability to shake Jake off and date someone else (he does date someone else, but he doesn't REALLY like him) is a little weird until Jake starts to get more emotionally mature in this book. But it is a very satisfying arc. Big finish! Jake and Adrien have to decide if they're going to get it together or not. Jake is finally on board with being out and dating another man. Will Adrien be able to get over everything that's happened and make this romance work???? (...I mean, spoiler, yes, he will.) And finally, the "meet the family" Christmas story, where Adrien and Jake get a very cute happily ever after. This series is so great, and the ending is so satisfying. #17-#22 in 2017 Grades: Eh, mostly Bs but the ending is so good it goes to an A

The Lawrence Browne Affair, Cat Sebastian

I loved this! I loved everything about it. I loved Lawrence's bluster and I loved Georgie's struggle to be a better person, and I loved that it was found family, and I had ALL THE FEELINGS while I read it. I'm recommending it to everyone I know, and I can't wait to reread it. This is my favorite new romance that I've read in a long time. Grade: A #14 in 2017

The Soldier's Scoundrel, Cat Sebastian

This was wonderful. It reads just like any other regency romance, except in this one instead of fighting over a woman, the two male leads happen to fall in love. I loved Jack's extended scoundrel-y family, and I loved the B plot, about women helping each other out of untenable situations. Really just lovely.

#12 in 2017

Grade: A

Wanted, A Gentleman, KJ Charles

I loved this book! It's one of my favorite by Charles ever (although nothing will ever knock Think of England out of the top spot, I don't think). It's a romance between Theo Swann, who is a fairly shady guy who runs a newspaper in historical London where people put ads to find romance (or at least someone), and Martin St. Vincent, a former slave who's been freed and has made good as a gentleman. Or at least as good as he can. A young woman who is a friend of Martin's runs off with a jerk she met through Theo's newspaper, and Martin makes Theo help him get her back.

Both Martin and Theo are deeply sympathetic and interesting characters, both are struggling in different ways, and both make each other better. If I had a complaint it would be that the third act twist is telegraphed really obviously, and I would have liked it one percent better if I had been surprised. But overall the whole book is a delight and it's going on my "reread on a bad day" list.

Grade: A
#5 in 2017

Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo

These books are GREAT. I really really really liked them a lot. These are the "read on the subway, read during lunch, read in your spare five minutes, stay up too late to finish" kind of books.

Things I loved: the world building is so interesting! It's set in what I think of as fantasy Netherlands, although fantasy Russia, fantasy Germany (or maybe Finland/Sweden), and fantasy China make appearances. Old school fantasy used to have each country be a different type of person, as if all the people from country X are evil, and from country Y are religious zealots, and from country Q are proud but dumb (cough cough David Eddings cough). This does a great job of showing people from each country being influenced by their own culture and history, but also able to grow and change when they meet new people. There are good and bad people from everywhere.

Things I loved: the characters! A great range are assembled as part of Kaz's gang, not just "a sassy girl" and "a smart boy" and "the love interest." Everyone is complex, everyone gets flashbacks about how they became who they are, and everyone contributes. There is no whiny princess dragged along against her will, nor is there an ass-kicking warrior chick who never talks except to growl or be sexy. I liked everyone. (Okay, I especially liked Inej and Wylan.)

I haven't told you anything about the plot because book 1 is about a heist, and book 2 is about the repercussions of that heist, and you'll be happiest not knowing anything except that. I was sold on these books when I was told that Lymond is one of Bardugo's favorite hero-types, and you can see reflections of that in Kaz, but again, you'll be happiest not explicitly trying to compare this to Dunnett. It's twisty it's exciting, it's awesome.

One thing that made me laugh: everyone is a teenager, because it's YA, but also everyone is weighed down by endless tragic backstory and difficult experiences. These are some worldly, grizzled teens.

Grade: A
#88 and #89 in 2016

The Fate of the Tearling, Erika Johansen

Oh my goddddddddddddddddddd.

I am not sure how to talk about this without spoiling the very end of the series. Here is the non-spoilery review: It did not wrap up the way I expected! I think the ending works, and it definitely builds on the themes that came before it. I loved Lily and Katie and Kelsea. I liked the book's discussion of what is or isn't a utopia and what it means to create a "better world." I liked Kelsea's struggle between wanting to help people and do good things, and wanting to just destroy the shit out of bad guys once she had that power. This book was more dystopian than I usually go for, but it's not utterly hopeless. It's not a Hunger Games ending, if you know what I mean by that. It's really well written, and nearly every question that was asked, gets answered. It takes a lot of YA fantasy tropes and spins them on their heads, for better or worse. And after I finished it, I needed to run around shouting at a friend for a long, long time. I think it's well worth a read.






OKAY HERE ARE SPOILERS. STOP READING NOW. GO READ THE BOOKS. SPOILERS.




One thing that had carried me through the dystopian parts were the little excerpts of books at the beginning of each chapter, implying that Kelsea would win the war and the future would be bright. And at some point in this book you realize that although she wins, these books come from a darker future timeline where everything is even more fucked up -- and when Kelsea makes her ultimate decision to use the Tear jewel to go back in time, they vanish. I loved that.

I had spent a lot of books 1 and 2 wondering why William Tear's vision of a perfect utopia was a kingdom, not a democracy. And that question is pretty thoroughly answered in this book. Because it got fucked up. Because he got killed. Because Jonathan got killed, too, and because the Raleighs were jerks. So in the final timeline there are not and never have been any kings, only one Queen of the Tearling.

SO let's talk about that ending. I figured we were going somewhere ~it's all a dream~ about the time Aisa died horribly, but was absolutely not expecting the way it actually all came down. On the one hand, yeah, it feels a little bit cheap to erase everything. Row gets a fast death after creating centuries of suffering and violence and destroying everything in his path, including children. None of Kelsea's sacrifices or struggle really happened. She never killed anyone, she never had to deal with that. She goes back in time and undoes the major turning point in history, and then that's it. Gavin doesn't have to atone for centuries, either. (Can we talk for a second about the sexy, daring Fetch as a whiny little monster of a teenage boy? I laaaaaaughed.)

But on the other hand -- oh my god, does she pay a price for that. The scene where she murders Row is one of the creepiest things I have ever read. And then at the end, when she wakes up in what is inarguably the Better World at last, having saved her kingdom, having saved all her friends, having saved the world... she's all alone, and she will be forever. She saved the world and lost literally everything doing it. No one knows her. I still expected some kind of wink at the end, for the Mace or someone to also vaguely remember or recognize her. But no one does, not the Mace, not Father Tyler, not Pen. It's devastating. It balances out how good things are really beautifully, but oh my god, it leaves you feeling hollowed out and miserable at the same time. She saved the world! And no one knows, or cares, or remembers her. What a fucking gut-punch.

Grade: A
#87 in 2016

The Hanging Tree, Ben Aaronovitch

I have this book because one of my bffs lives in London and shipped it to me in hardcover when it was released in the U.K. It'll be released in mid-January in the states. (Allegedly. They pushed this release back over a year, and it's been driving me nuts.)

I love this series! I really should have reread all the books before I sat down with this one, because it heavily references earlier books and characters. I don't want to talk about what happens, because it's a mystery series (and this one deals with the ongoing reveal of the Big Bad) so I'll just say it's a delight to spend another few hours reading about Peter Grant. Although, thematically the whole thing didn't come together at the end the way I expected. And now I need the next one, so PLEASE don't push it back another two years, Ben Aaronovitch.

Note: I haven't read a real hardcover book in a long time and I forgot how annoying it is compared to my kindle. I needed a way to mark my page, I couldn't carry it around from room to room nearly as easily, and when I went to bed I had to leave the lights on to read it. I love turning the lights on and using the backlight on my kindle to read until I fall asleep. Also, I found I skipped paragraphs more often while reading actual paper, and had to go back and make myself read more slowly. All around kind of a weird experience.

Grade: A
#86 in 2016

Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut

I've read a lot of Vonnegut, but not this one somehow, and now two of the writers from Cracked have started a Vonnegut book club podcast so I figured I'd catch up. I especially like that, although both of them are huge Vonnegut fans, they discuss not just the beautiful parts of the books, but also the parts that haven't aged well, or where he could have done better. (In this book, I was underwhelmed by Beatrice's character in general, and there's a bit in the jungles of Africa that really wasn't necessary.)

I had honestly forgotten that reading Vonnegut is just about equal parts "ahaha, OH THE SATIRE," and feeling like you've been kicked right in the chest. Ouch. Damn it, Kurt.

Recapping this book would be a nightmare, but it's very Vonnegut-y; there is an invasion from Mars, there is some stuff about joining the army and literally having your mind wiped away, there is some religious satire, there is Trafalmadore, and there is a lot of meditation on the meaningless of life -- just try your best to love the people (or aliens) around you. The book essentially comes down in the same place that Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy does; there is no meaning of life, we are all a series of accidents, nothing is fair, humans are ridiculously short-sighted and self-centered, and probably aliens are controlling everything everywhere anyway. But it's a great story.

Vonnegut's writing style is so beautiful and raw and unique, and his use of language is so musical, and his imagery is so vivid. He just uses words so well. I am usually  not a fan of books where everyone is miserable or hateful, and everyone ends up badly, but Vonnegut makes it worth the struggle.

Grade: A
#80 in 2016

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach

I liked this book a lot. Super interesting history of NASA stuff, super interesting anecdotes about astronauts and how gross, boring, and insane their job actually is. There is some stuff about weightless sex and designing space toilets that was both hilarious and horrible, and will stick with me for a long, long time. It's hard to find an excuse to bring it up in a conversation, but I have been trying. I found the tone here a little less wry than in Gulp, and the footnotes less intrusively cutesy. Great, great book; I would recommend it to my students or my friends who just want some interesting and weird science writing.

Oh, and it reminded me how much I like the romance novel series set at not-really-NASA in the 60s. Check them out!

Grade: A
#79 in 2016

Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs, Dave Holmes

Go read this! It's hilarious and heart breaking, and you will want to read every part of it out loud to whoever is closest to you at the time. Dave manages to be very, very funny, while also reminding you of the crushing pain of being gay in the late 80s and early 90s, before being out and proud was really a thing for kids, especially at Catholic school. And he does it all to a mixtape of songs of the era that made me incredibly nostalgic. I'm a few years younger, but that just means I a) know all the songs and b) voted for him in Who Wants To Be A VJ on MTV, because TRL was requirement viewing for me after school, every single day, no matter how much I hated Korn and Limp Bizkit. My sister remembers my outrage during the trivia contest, shouting, "WHY AREN'T PEOPLE VOTING FOR THE SMART NERD WHO KNOWS STUFF???" when Jesse Camp inevitably won.

This book is a delight. You will feel all the feelings reading it, and you will want to tell these stories as if they were your own.

Grade: A
#73 in 2016

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, Helen Castor

Yeah. I've read one book in a month. Whoops. And I was so on track before. 

I loved this! The prose is super clear, the stories are REALLY interesting, and I loved looking at the rise and fall of these kings from the perspective of their wives. (Or moms.) Highly readable, very very interesting. I have no idea why it took me a month to get through, except I just lacked any spare time for reading, and when I climbed into bed at night I was ready to sleep, too tired to read. 

I should have more to say about a book I really enjoyed, but -- if this sounds remotely like a thing you'd like to read, definitely read it. 

Grade: A

#71 in 2016

The Invasion of the Tearling, Erika Johansen

The second book in a trilogy can be hard to pull off, but I loved this book. It added to what we knew from book one, it advanced the plot, it was full of great exciting moments. And it ends on a cliffhanger, which I figured it would, but.... Now I have to wait a couple of months for the last book to find out if the series sticks the landing. (I really hope it does.)

In case you forgot: the Tear is a fantasy land, and Kelsey is its queen, raised in seclusion so she couldn't be murdered by her mother's enemies. In book 1 Kelsey comes back to her kingdom, realizes how messed up things are, and tries to make it right -- which kicks off a war with a much more powerful country on the border. We also know that Kelsey and other characters read books from our world, reference the Bible and Shakespeare, and came to the Tear on something called "the Crossing," in boats, a few centuries earlier. All the technology and history from before that is more or less lost, though.

In this book Kelsey has to figure out what to do about the invading army. She has magic, and she has the potential to use it to destroy her enemies, but just like Luke Skywalker could have told her, once you go down the dark path forever will it control your destiny. Kelsey can't save her people without doing some potentially terrible things. And meanwhile, she's having visions of the life of a woman before the Crossing, back in Manhattan, dealing with a dystopian slight-future where a terrible US president has seized power and is using censorship to make life terrible, especially for women. But maybe there is hope for a better world...

This story gets dark (if you have trouble with sexual assault or self-harm I wouldn't recommend it) but I loved the story Kelsey finds herself watching, and I loved Kelsey's story, too. I really liked how it expanded what we know about the Crossing, and the Tear, and I liked Kelsey's arc here. I also like Pen, and the Fetch, and the Mace. So many good characters! So much going on!

And who the heck is Kelsey's dad, you guys. Seriously, I need to know.

Grade: A
#67 in 2016

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, Ben Macintyre

Then I took like, 2 weeks off from reading because I'm on vacation and it's the Olympics, whoops. Also, in my defense, this book is non-fiction, and it took me a while to get going with it.

But once I did, my god. someone recommended this to me as vacation reading and I strongly agree. If you like thrillers or spy movies you should take this book to a beach and read the whole thing in a couple of days, under an umbrella with a drink in hand. It's the true-life story of the Russia mole inside MI6 in the UK during WWII and the early Cold War, the man who was simultaneously reporting everything to the Kremlin and running the anti-Soviet counterspy division. The number of ways he was almost turned in, the way he totally duped people, the close calls -- all of these things would seem insane if this were a movie, but they all really happened.

Halfway through the book MI5 begin to suspect him, but that is only halfway through the book! Things continue to escalate in ways that should be outlandish, and are totally real. You will find yourself turning to whomever is sitting closest to you and shouting, "AND THEN, YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS PART, AND THEN--"

If I had a criticism, I would have liked to have the parts about James Angleton and the CIA more fleshed out, but otherwise, this was a literal page turner. ...except I read it on a kindle, so I guess it was a literal virtual page turner.

Grade: A
#66 in 2016