redbird: full bookshelves and table in a library (books)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2023-06-29 07:14 pm

catch-up reading post

Mostly just another list, with some notes copied from my "booklog" file.

Lake, Celia, Winter's Charms. Three winter-themed novellas connected to some of her novels. I particularly liked the one about how Seth, Dilly, and Golshan became a triad (after Seth and Dilly were married, and also after Golshan was seriously wounded in the War).

Rather, Lina, Sisters of the Vast Black. Weird sf, with living spaceships, some of them convents, one of which is named Our Lady of Infinite Constellations, and vaguely hand-waved FTL. This is set a few decades after a very destructive war that left behind extremely nasty plagues. I enjoyed the story, but it is vastly implausible, and not just because it involves faster-than-light travel. This is the first in a loose series, but I didn't like it enough to look for the next one.

Christie, Agatha, After the Funeral and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Murder mysteries about Hercule Poirot, well constructed but once again, the solutions to both of mysteries hinge on ibe person masquerading as another.

Moniquill Blackgoose, To Shape A Dragon's Breath. A very good fantasy novel set in a somewhat alternate-history 19th century New England, with dragons. The viewpoint character is a member of the Wampanoag tribe, as is the author, and a significant part of the plot is driven by settler prejudices against the Indigenous inhabitants of the area. First in a trilogy, and I definitely want to read the next book.

Hogan, Linda, The Radiant Lives of Animals. A mix of poetry and natural history, hard to describe but I liked it. I think someone recommended this to me, but I don't remember who.

Mandel, Emily St. John. Sea of Tranquility. An oddly constructed novel about time travel and pandemics.

Dimaline, Cherie, Venco. This is a fantasy novel about a poor Metis woman from Toronto who finds a spoon, which connects her to women who are working against a deadline to assemhle a coven, and about her relationship with her grandmother. I liked this, and not just because it takes it takes older women seriously.
sabotabby: (books!)

[personal profile] sabotabby 2023-06-30 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
I liked VenCo a whole lot. To Shape A Dragon's Breath is definitely on my list.
bibliofile: Fan & papers in a stack (from my own photo) (Default)

[personal profile] bibliofile 2023-06-30 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
I'm in the middle of To Shape a Dragon's Breath, and I like it very much. VenCo is definitely on my list. (I recently finished Funeral Songs for Dying Girls.)
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[personal profile] otter 2023-06-30 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
To Shape A Dragon's Breath looks really good. I may send it to my young friend.
stdesjardins: (Default)

[personal profile] stdesjardins 2023-06-30 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
I did like Sisters of the Vast Black, but I have difficulty judging it as a stand-alone because I read the sequel, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars, first, and I think the original did not benefit from having the plot beats thoroughly spoilered. I did think the sequel was better.
mrissa: (Default)

[personal profile] mrissa 2023-06-30 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
It's Lina Rather, not Lisa.