Foxen books in 2019

Hello!

Wow. I think my last 75 book challenge thread was in 2012-ish? I have fallen off a bit, but this year is going to be a good year for books, I think. 2012-ish I was starting law school; since then I've graduated, passed the bar, and become a librarian (again). Basically, I finally have time to read again. No idea if I will reach 75, but I'm resolving this year to clean up my LT and start tracking my reading again.

Currently reading:
commute reading (e.g. Kindle):
Aloud reading: Wool by Hugh Howey & Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North or Boxcar Children books??
Actual book reading (we'll see how this goes): Ragnarok by A. S. Byatt

Books read in 2019:

1. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
2. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
3. The Sable Quean by Brian Jacques
4. The Farthest Shore by Ursula K LeGuin
5. Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin
6. Tales From Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
7. The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin
8. The Daughter of Odren by Ursula K. LeGuin
9. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
10. The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
11. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
12. Grass by Sheri Tepper
13. Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
14. In the Darkness That's Where I'll Know You by Luke Smitherd
15. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
16. The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
17. The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman
18. The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman
19. The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman
20. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
21. Blackout by Connie Willis
22. All Clear by Connie Willis
23. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
24. Firewatch by Connie Willis
25. The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis
26. Bibliophile by Tom Bruno
27. Heist by Tom Bruno
28. Mars Needs Librarians by Tom Bruno
29. Strange New Worlds by Tom Bruno
30. Reference by Tom Bruno
31) The Call Number of Cthulhu by Tom Bruno
32) Acquisition by Tom Bruno
33) Batgirl was a Librarian by Tom Bruno
34) The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
35) A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
36) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
37) Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
38) Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge
39) A Skinful of Shadows by Francis Hardinge
40) Fly Trap by Francis Hardinge
41) Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge
42) The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
43) John Dies at the End by David Wong
44) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
45) 101 Smart Questions to Ask on Your Interview by Ron Fry
46) Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge
47) The Library Book by Susan Orlean (didn't finish)
48) Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
49) the Book of M by Peng Shepherd
50) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
51) The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (didn't finish)
52) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
53) The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
54) MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
55) This is How you Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
56) The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
57) The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
58) The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
59) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Hiyah, Katie! Welcome back! I’m glad the law school/Bar thing turned out well and that life has settled done some. LeGuin’s a fave of mine - hope you like it!

Happy New Year!

Happy reading in 2019, Katie!

Happy new year all!

Hi, Katie. Cats, science fiction, fantasy--I'll be checking out your thread this year!

Happy New Year Katie! And happy new thread!



Wishing you and your family the best for 2019.

I'll keep an eye on your fantasy reading.

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Katie, this year.

Welcome back!

Thank you all, and happy new years! Glad to see some familiar faces (er, names, I guess) as well as some new ones! Happy reading, all!

Reading was slow/nonexistent over the holiday, but now I'm back to commuting (which, for better or worse, is where most of my reading happens these days).

Thoughts on A Wizard of Earthsea? I know it's a classic, and I'm seeing lots of things that later writers have clearly drawn from (all of how Naming works, Name of the Wind?), but I'm finding it a bit slow going. Mostly I just don't like Sparrowhawk. Hoping he gets over himself sometime soon...

>10 Foxen: I read this last March for the group read in honour of Ursula Le Guin’s passing so I went back to have a look at what I said about the first book of The Earthsea Quartet. It did start slowly for me, but I think Sparrowhawk’s early arrogance is integral to the story.

ETA: you remind me that it’s been sitting on my bedside since then (part of my physical TBR tower) and I ought to read the other three books soon.

1st book of 2019 finished! A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

Thoughts/mini-review: Yes, about two pages after I complained about the protagonist's arrogance, it was addressed in a big way. Humouress, said it well - "integral to the story" is a great way to put it. After that, I really enjoyed it. I like the lyrical tone and portrayal of events in an almost mythological way. I really like the world - every new island with it's own take on life was delightful to explore. For whatever reason, I love island narratives, and island-hopping stories - I can't think of too many other works that do it, but I love the joy of discovery you get in, e.g. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where each chapter is an introduction to a new, self-contained world. (For the video-game inclined, I highly recommend Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker if you like that vibe, probably my favorite game ever).

I can see why this is a classic, and will probably go right into the rest of the quartet.

>13 Foxen: Have you read the Riddle Master trilogy? I’ve always thought it had a similar feel to Earthsea.

I have not! Added to the reading list. :)

>13 Foxen: I need to re-read the Earthsea books. It has been a good long while since I first read them. Thanks for the reminder, Katie!

Hi Stasia! So pleased to see you're still active in the group! Off to find your thread. :)

>13 Foxen: Glad you ended up enjoying it! There are actually 6 books. The first three were written much earlier and have the same feel. Some 20 years later, Le Guin started questioning some of the assumptions made about both gender and magic and wrote the second trilogy and they have a much different feel as a result. Some people really don't like what she did; others, like me, do appreciate what she is consciously trying to do and can enjoy the story-telling. But I still like the first three best.

Thanks Roni! I'm really looking forward to the whole series (however many there are, haha). Interesting that there's such a different feel to the two sets. I've been enjoying LeGuin's afterwords (in the Kindle edition of the original three... well, two so far), where she reflects on them. Interesting thoughts about race and gender as a fantasy writer in the 60s. I really like her!

Happy New Year!

Book 2! The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin

Thoughts/mini-review: No hesitation this time, this was a great book. Getting to know Arha as she got to know her strange world as fascinating. Interesting also to see Ged again from a very different perspective. I thought the contrast between Wizard of Earthsea and Tombs of Atuan was particularly interesting - Ged gets a wide ocean of freedom in which to find himself; Arha gets a desert full of constraints and rituals. The afterword by LeGuin went into her thoughts (decades later) on that, particularly around gender, and was really interesting. I like it as a representation of female strength and power in spite of oppression - Arha is a really interesting character. I also appreciated the representation of her mental state in the last part of the book - it struck me as a quite good picture of what it would actually be like to reject everything you'd previously known and valued, and I'm glad that was explored.

No idea what's coming in the next one, but I am impressed with how versatile the world of Earthsea is!

>21 Foxen: Great review, Katie. I admit, I do not remember this book at all. Definitely time for a re-read of the Earthsea books.

I hope you enjoy the next book as much as you did this one.

Thanks Stasia!

And welcome, EllaTim!

Book 3) The Sable Quean by Brian Jacques

Thoughts/mini-review: Oh, Redwall. Let me say first that I love Redwall, it's been with me since childhood, and I also appreciate Brian Jacques' willingness to keep writing them more or less indefinitely. That said, this one is... not good. I remember reading somewhere that Jacques said that he would keep writing Redwall books as long as fans wanted to read them. As someone who frequently finishes a book or series and wants more, I've always appreciated that. But. At some point he ran out of stories he actually wanted to tell, and just started writing on "the Redwall formula." We've been reading some of these later books (which I never read as a kid) as read-aloud books while one of us is doing a project, which it's fine for, since we need something light, entertaining, easy to follow and to pick up and put down at any time, and we also enjoy our own snarky live commentary. Plotholes abound, and this generation of Redwallers are really laughably bad at basic security, but there are a few good characters and it's overall a fun read, just don't go in expecting too much.

Hi Katie! Nice to meet you. Congrats on finishing up the law degree and welcome back to another year with the 75ers. Hope you find more reading time this year.

>24 Foxen: I have never read any of the Redwall books. Are there any that you especially recommend, Katie?

Stopping by to say hello Katie and glad to see you're enjoying the Earthsea books. I can feel a reread coming on....

Hi Kim & Stasia!

>26 alcottacre:: Ooh, they're good fun, although they have their quirks. It's kind of ultimate fantasy comfort reading - good and evil are well defined and you know what's going to happen in the end, but the journey getting there is inventive and interesting (with at least one feast and a riddle, as well as the fighting and self-discovery). If you're interested in the series I recommend publication order, which starts you with Redwall and then Mossflower (IMO the best in the series). Or if you just want to try a representative good one, Mariel of Redwall is one of my favorites, and stands well on its own (and its direct sequel The Bellmaker is also pretty good).

>28 Foxen: Hmm; so worth starting my ten year old on that? He enjoys reading all levels below and up to slightly above his age level.

>29 humouress: Oh definitely! That's a great age for Redwall!

Finished the next one:

4) The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin
Thoughts/mini-review: This one did not strike me quite as hard as the first two. It was still very good - a fitting end to Ged's story, we meet dragons, more exploration of the Archipelago. The only part that really grabbed me, though, was the part with the Children of the Open Sea (shades of (and probably an inspiration for) The Scar, which is one of my all-time favorite books). Having thought about it a bit, I think this one seemed too foregone throughout - it's ostensibly from Arren's point of view, but we know from almost the beginning how it's going to end, and Arren is shepherded through his adventure by Ged, whom we know isn't going to fail him. Arren (while certainly worthy) doesn't go through the same sort of trial and transformation that Ged and Tenar do. Still a beautiful book, though.

I may take a break from Earthsea before starting the next, as I've been warned that they're different. Or not. Depends what I feel like on tomorrow's commute. :)

Well, I did keep going with Earthsea. Glad I did, too, since the next one follows on pretty directly.

Also started reading Wool by Hugh Howey as our next read-aloud book. Really enjoying it so far!

5) Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin
Thoughts/mini-review: It's definitely starting to be a different type of book. I think what LeGuin is really good at is human emotion, and this book really shows it. The whole thing is about coming to terms with loss, and pain, and evil, and LeGuin is really fantastic at showing that process. It doesn't make for a page-turning adventure, but that's ok. It was nice to see the characters experience the consequences of adventure instead of just riding off into "happily ever after." Also good to see Tenar again, and although he only put in a brief appearance, I like Arren even more now. Gender politics is gender politics, and I'm not going to go into that, but I appreciate that LeGuin addresses it face-on, and understand her characters and their motivations. Really intrigued to see what changes are coming to Earthsea and watch Therru find her place in it.

Happy Sunday, Katie

Good morning!

Been out sick for a few days, then had a houseguest, then taught three classes. Finally back to something more like normal.

Reading accomplished in the mean time:

6. Tales From Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
7. The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin
8. The Daughter of Odren by Ursula K. LeGuin

Finished Earthsea! I'm not sure I have anything particularly profound to say about it. I enjoyed all of it. Particularly the stories - Otter and Irian were both great, and the Daughter of Odren story was also a fun dive into the Earthsea world. I do really like how LeGuin explores characters once they're no longer glorious. It's interesting, but it's still also somewhat unsatisfactory, but in a way that makes sense.

Anyway.

I picked up Spinning Silver for my next commute read. Enjoying it so far!

9. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Thoughts/mini-review: Holy moly this was good! I had no knowledge of the plot going in except that it involved fairy tales, and it grabbed me right away. All of the characters were interesting and well thought out, and I loved the way the reader's perception of the characters is changed over the course of the book as we come to understand them. I really liked the narrative style - I thought the first-person with multiple narrators created some great reveals, and really let Novik explore the idea that everyone is the center of their own story. The plot was also great and engaging throughout. I was a bit worried that it would fall flat at the end, but it didn't - everything felt balanced and resolved at the end, which is impressive considering how wildly things went awry for or characters and how divergent their "happily ever after" scenarios started out as. I read this for about three days non-stop, and I've kept thinking about it ever since.

You have certainly been reading some high quality stuff this year, Katie!! All classics (cause Spinning Silver will be one, I'm sure).

Thanks Roni! Hopefully the trend continues!

>28 Foxen: Thanks, Katie. I know my local library has at least Redwall - not sure how much of the rest of the series is there - but I will be on the lookout for it next time I am in.

Spinning Silver is coming up for me shortly too. I am hoping that I enjoy it as much as the other inhabitants of the 75ers have!

I will read Redwall this year as it falls in with the British Isles Author Challenge.

>39 alcottacre: & >40 PaulCranswick: Ooh, excellent! I hope you both enjoy it!

10. The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
Thoughts/mini-review: Well. That was... something. I figured out the "what" but not the "why" early on (and, in fact, the middle kind of drags as they continue to reveal the "what" at length) - but the "why" really keeps you guessing until the end. In fact, possibly 'til after the end, because I'm still not sure I get it. Not sure what to make of this one.

>36 Foxen: This is next in the library pile to start, and after seeing so many positive reviews of it here I'm very excited!!

>43 fredanria: I hope you enjoy it! I just started Uprooted because I couldn't get enough. :)

>42 Foxen: Hello, just enjoying your thread today /night.

In your mini-review/comment of The Man Who Was Thursday, I think I should give it another try. I probably got bogged down about where you said "the reveal" was going on a great length.

I was was so numb with the prose that I am not sure I even realized there was a reveal going on! I started The Man Who Was Thursday in December (winter had blasted into town and I wanted to be a couch-potato). It was difficult to feel like picking it up when I always have 3 or 4 other books on the go.

A good friend has been encouraging me to get out of my usual literary rut, or I probably wouldn't have chosen a Chesterton title. Since it was due back at the lending library, I didn't persevere.

>45 SandyAMcPherson: Glad my thoughts were helpful! It's ... a very weird book, and gets weirder the further in you get.

I haven't been keeping up with my thread! Will add thoughts later, but for now just noting:

11) Uprooted by Naomi Novik
12) Grass by Sheri Tepper

(Both fantastic)

>47 Foxen: Agreed re Uprooted and Grass.

Ahh, I am behind on everything. Not actually behind on at least listing books, though, since I've been (re)reading Gnomon all month. Plus/minus of long books.

I'm also thinking of including here thoughts about other narrative media - since I'm not always reading, and there are lots of podcasts, TV series, video games in there, too. Of course, giving myself more things to review sounds counterproductive - but maybe it will help me keep up momentum.

One thing I am definitely discovering is that I need to just give up on keeping up with other people's threads! Y'all are prolific! So I will be dipping into threads occasionally and binging comments and reviews inconsistently. Sorry, I just can't keep up!

>46 Foxen: Well, I am being a wuss, I added The Man Who Was Thursday to my (not on LT) DNF graveyard.

I tried to pick the story up where I left off last autumn and as sibyx has been known to say "Life is too short". In fact, I donated the copy we had to the 'fund our symphony' book sale which is held every spring.

I am in the thick of catching up on my TBR list because when gardening starts (which is mid-May here), I will not be reading very much for the LT 75-challenge. I have some dandies there to be moving on, if my brain doesn't get too full.
And I should spend less time trying to nose out what BBs I can find from the Talk threads!

>50 SandyAMcPherson: Understandable! At least the copy went to a good cause! I will be swinging by your thread, interested to see what's keeping you busy!

13) Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
Thoughts: This books is incredibly fantastic. This was a re-read: I recommended it to a coworker, she read it about a year after I did, and recently asked me a question about the ending... and I realized I didn't remember it! That may seem like an anti-recommendation, but I was immediately excited, because that means I get to experience it again! (And in my defense, by the end there are so many narratives and counter-narratives, and truths and counter-truths going by, that it's easy to not internalize the final score. You have to sit with it a bit. And maybe cry.)

Oh my, this book. Ok, an actual, spoiler-free review: It starts in a surveillance-state future Britain, where the populace has voluntarily relinquished privacy in the name of security, all actions are monitored, and rule is through unmediated popular democracy. Detective Neith is investigating the death of a woman who died in custody during interrogation which involves invasive microsurgery to record the subject's entire cognition. In the subject's mind, the detective finds interwoven narratives - a Greek banker, a Carthaginian alchemist, an Ethiopian artist - that lead her into a frenetic chase through reality and fiction. All of the characters are very well created, and - even on a reread - it keeps you guessing as to what, exactly, is actually going on. Very fun, very thoughtful, and it sticks the landing. Very well done (like all Harkaway's books).

Ok, taking a stab at reviewing some other media:

Category: random
1) Murder at Bedford Manor jigsaw puzzle: This is a really good idea, executed really badly. The concept is that you read a mystery story and then there are clues hidden in the jigsaw puzzle that let you solve the mystery. Sounds clever and fun. But, oh my god this was badly done. First off - the murder mystery short story is just... really bad. Just hack writing, all the tropes - which is fine if you do it well, but this just seemed like they didn't pay the writer enough. Then, the "clues" hidden in the puzzle were just... lame. Like - (fabricated examples, not spoiling anything for those who want to try this disappointing puzzle) I wanted there to be some artifact hidden in the shards of the broken vase, or that you're supposed to notice a blood smear on the window, or that so-and-so is actually left-handed, or something. Instead, not only are all the clues you're supposed to notice vague and unhelpful, but they're ALSO MENTIONED IN THE TEXT! So you could "solve" the mystery without assembling the puzzle at all. And, on top of that, I found the puzzle kind of blah and annoying as well, but that may just be personal preference. Lots of potential, horrible execution. Anyone know of one of these that does the concept well?

Category: podcasts
1) What the Folklore?: This is currently my go-to background podcast. It's silly, and there's a lot of it. Three people read an obscure folklore and critique and then just make fun of it. Perhaps not the most culturally sensitive listening material, but good entertainment. Start from the beginning if you're going to listen to it, though; they have so many in-jokes by now that it's somewhat undecipherable if you just listen to the recent episodes.

2) Thinking Sideways: A previous go-to, now sadly ended. A good unsolved mysteries/true crime podcast. A new mystery each week, and a generally fair and not bonkers-conspiracy-theory take leavened with humor.

3) Potterless: A 26 year old reads Harry Potter for the first time. He starts out ridiculing it, and then gradually falls in love. Very fun to see. Format is that he summarizes the story, with a guest each episode who is a Harry Potter fan. Occasionally very frustrating when his reading comprehension is poor, or when a guest doesn't remember something correctly. Generally pretty charming and funny. He's midway through the 7th book at this point.

>51 Foxen:, Always welcome. I babble off-topic quite often as you may have noticed over on sibyx's thread (at #24).

>52 Foxen: I have heard such good things about Nick Harkaway who I understand is John Le Carre's son.

Have a lovely Sunday.

14) In the Darkness That's Where I'll Know You by Luke Smitherd
Amazon recommended this one to me because of Gnomon. I can see why, as it's about being inside other people's heads. Charlie wakes up one day seemingly inside Minnie's head (in a black room, with a screen onto the view out her eyes). They have to deal with this and figure out what the hell is going on. They're both excellent characters, and it takes a pretty realistic approach to the mental trauma and identity issues that result. Ultimately it's a love story, and a good one.

15) The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.
Figured I would pick up this series - it's good! Relatively light adventure fair, with ridiculous, self-aware fantasy elements and a fondness for books. Can't go wrong. I immediately picked up the second one.

The Cogman books are all pretty good through number 4, which is as far as i’ve gotten. Glad you like them!

>55 PaulCranswick:: He is! I actually haven't read anything by Le Carre (not usually my genre), but I probably should since I like Harkaway so much. I'm guessing that one of the things he gets from Le Carre is a really good handling of misdirection - when there's a twist, you don't see it coming (well, at least if you're me), but it also perfectly makes sense with the characters and the world. Harkaway also has a really unique voice, though - his first novel, The Gone-Away World, does some really interesting things with language. I seriously recommend anything he's written.

>57 drneutron:: Thank you! I'm definitely enjoying them!

It's been a little while, but I've finished the Invisible Library books! They were good, and I'll look forward to more. Solid fantasy-adventure with librarians, what's not to love?

I also finished Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. So, so good. It was described to me as "like Harry Potter but in Africa" - which is maybe kinda true? It's actually much more like Avatar, the Last Airbender - if that helps you out. Really great characters, and I"ll be looking forward to the sequel.

>58 Foxen: and #59, some hot BB's here, for sure. I'm not short of TBRs of course, but I'm discovering so many wonderful new authors to try out.

I especially like the espionage genre and really enjoyed the likes of Le Carre, Brian Fremantle and Len Deighton, amongst others, "back in the day". My LT library doesn't reflect that because we've been culling to accommodate everything on shelves so we can actually *see* the books without having them stacked more than 2 deep! A lot of the older spy novels were traded for literature that wasn't so stale-dated. Not to criticize that older style of espionage novel, but I'd read them so often, the story was too predictable and I was bored.

This is the first I've heard of Nick Harkaway. Great to have caught this thread just in time to note him. I've been travelling (nothing magically exotic) and my goodness, do all my starred threads ever fill up if I don't check at least every 2 or 3 days!

I haven't hosted a series or an author for a while. I'd like to do so this summer, during a month when the most interested folk have the time to do at least the targeted book, which is only 200 pp. long. I'd like to expose as many people as possible to the works of James H. Schmitz, a science fiction author who wrote from the late '40s through the 1970s. He is best known for The Witches of Karres, but imho has written much better works. Here is my bookshelf.


Many of his works, especially his shorter ones, were very hard to find for quite a while, but in 2000 and 2001, Baen published almost all of his oeuvre in a collection of 6 books, seen to the right of the shelf above. The book I would like to feature is Demon Breed, also found in the Baen collection The Hub: Dangerous Territory. Schmitz is known for his kick-ass female protagonists long before they became the current ubiquitous status quo in his stories about Telzey Amberdon, Trigger Argee, and the hero of Demon Breed, Nile Etland.

See my thread for more info if interested!

16) Blackout by Connie Willis and
17) All Clear by Connie Willis

These were so good. I generally don't read historical fiction unless I really trust the author - I don't like mixing fake facts up with the real facts, because then I remember fiction as actual history - but Connie Willis' work is great. I really trust her representations of what it was like to *be* in the historical context, and the conceit - her time travelers are historians observing the past for real - really works, and I wish more people taught history this way. I feel like I actually know something about WWII after reading these books (which is a deficit of my US public school education which I've never quite fixed properly). Combine that with a page-turning story, and you get a really good (two) books. And, oh, Sir Godfrey... really, really good.

18) The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I ducked into Sandy's thread in a (pitiful) attempt at keeping up with LT, and was intrigued by the chatter about The Egypt Game, which I must have missed as a kid. I enjoyed it - it captures that strange sense of how children play and make friends, which we seem to lose as we grow up.

19) Firewatch by Connie Willis and
20) The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis.
And then I dived back into Connie Willis. Both of these are short story anthologies. I picked up Firewatch because I wanted more of the world of Blackout and All Clear, and the title story delivers on that. I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the short stories, though - I've pretty much only read Willis' time travel books, so I was impressed by the breadth of her sci-fi chops. The short stories in these collections are wide ranging in their sci-fi and supernatural elements. If I were to identify a theme, it's that most of them explore storytelling as discovery - you spend a good portion of the story trying to figure out how things work in that world, before the other shoe drops. Many of the stories were really good, and keep coming to mind long after reading. FYI, there is some overlap in the stories contained in the two anthologies - there was enough unique to each that I wasn't disappointed, but it'd be nice if there were a way to get them without duplication.

And then someone recommended the L is for Librarian series, which I'm still finishing:

26) Bibliophile by Tom Bruno
27) Heist by Tom Bruno (can't get the touchstones to work, here)
28) Mars Needs Librarians by Tom Bruno
29) Strange New Worlds by Tom Bruno (grr, touchstones)
30) Reference by Tom Bruno

This is a series of novellas about sci-fi librarians. Each takes a slightly different premise and runs with it, and they're all very fun. They were free for (maybe?) Love Your Library Week? and a colleague pointed them out. Apparently the author has worked at most of the libraries specifically mentioned in the series, and if you're an academic librarian in the Boston area, it's kinda like sci-fi fanfic of your own life. That's probably a pretty niche audience, but they're also just a good take on what it means to be a librarian when futuristic tech exists.

Edit: hm, my numbering has gotten all screwy. I'm actually at book 30. Yay! (Fixing this in this post so I don't get confused next time, but leaving it a mess earlier in the thread. :) )

>63 Foxen:, Hi! I'm glad you found my Zilpha KS chatter.

To my mind, ZKS captured the timelessness of childhood, with the importance of play as part of growing up. Her books (especially The Egypt Game) have enjoyed a renaissance.

I was attracted to your comments about Connie Willis' writing (#62) and about 'trusting' an author. I have made errors in historical facts because of remembering fictious accounts as actual history. Sometimes it is wishful thinking, due to reading too much fantasy and thinking along the lines of 'if only' or 'wouldn't it be brilliant if...' That's when I know I better read a biography or a memoir!

>63 Foxen: Those Tom Bruno books sound cool. And I may have to try and find some Connie Willis. Don’t count it as a BB yet, though; I’m way behind you in my reading.

ETA: correct post number

>64 SandyAMcPherson: Yes! I really enjoyed ZKS. Reminded me of a way of being that I didn't know I'd forgotten. I do recommend Willis for 'trustworthy' fictional history - granted, I don't actually know enough history to verify that she's completely accurate, but with her Blitz books, at least, she seems to have really steeped herself in the archival record and tried to get as close to it as she could.

>65 humouress: I highly recommend both!

>64 SandyAMcPherson: The timelessness of childhood. I like that!

Have a wonderful weekend, Katie

>67 PaulCranswick: Yes, I am still nostalgic for that The timelessness of childhood, especially as the long vacation stretches out ahead. Such rose-tinted glasses, I am sure!

31) The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. A very good recommendation from a coworker. The daughter of a 19th century pastor & natural scientist deals with gender, science, family dynamics, a murder mystery, and a magically real plant specimen. I suppose this is YA fantasy, but the interpersonal dynamics and real-life societal commentary really steal the show. The protagonist struggles against a highly structured societal role, we also see how it's played out in the others around her. Really good insight into human nature, and pretty much all of the characters are a well-developed and interesting exploration of people dealing with their circumstances. And a mystery that keeps you guessing. Really good.

32) A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge. The Lie Tree was the first I'd heard of Hardinge, so I picked up another of hers after I finished it. This one is very different in setting, but equally compelling. An underground world is populated by master crasftspeople who can create delicacies with magical effects - Wines that make you forget, Cheeses that make you remember, Perfumes that can compel those around you - but everyone in this world wears faces like masks - no true expression, only what they want others to see. The protagonist is a girl with no memory and a normal face, and we figure out how this world works as we follow her strange journey through court intrigue and injustice. It's an out-there premise, but it works well - the world is vibrant, and the ever-expanding plot as Neverfell's understanding increases is intriguing. An interesting and fun read.

33) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. This may be one of the best books I've ever read. And completely caught me off guard, too - I mean, Jesuits in space? But wow, the humanity and depth packed into this book is amazing, and the pacing is also phenomenal. I was told going into it that it's better to read it knowing very little about the plot and I will stick to that here. The very minimal description is that it's the story of a Jesuit voyage to first contact with an alien planet. Yeah, sounds strange but the anthropology and love and even the religion in this book are just... wow. I will add a caveat for trigger warnings to my recommendation about going into it blind - there is some heavy stuff in there, so if you have triggers or are concerned, go look it up a bit more.

34) Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. The sequel to The Sparrow, which continues the story. Still wildly compelling, and has been haunting me along with The Sparrow ever since, but not quite as fantastic. Give some closure on The Sparrow while being a good conclusion to the story.

35) Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge. Very fun YA adventures of a smart urchin, her goose, and her unlikely con-man partner. Love seeing a strong young lady protagonist getting along on her wits. Also a fun ride to unravel the plots as they occur.

36) A Skinful of Shadows by Francis Hardinge. YA adventure of a girl who can totally be haunted. Set during the English Civil War. A very satisfying story, great protagonist, and a but of history thrown in as well. Probably not the most memorable thing I'll ever read, but I'd definitely recommend it for the YA audience.

37) Fly Trap by Francis Hardinge. (I've just learned via touchstone disambiguation that this is more commonly titled "Twilight Robbery"? Not sure what's going on there). The further adventures of Mosca Mye, protagonist from Fly by Night. This time with more explanation of the naming/Beloved system - all people are named for whichever of the hundreds of gods presides over the hour of their birth, and some names/gods are more auspicious than others - which allows for some good exploration of the nature of prejudice. This time within the confines of an intriguing town split into the day-town and the night-town, as Mosca gets entangled in their various machinations. Very fun. I'm hoping for more Mosca books in the future.

Hm... well, good news for my book count, less so for my record-keeping skills. Looks like I left off a few of the Tom Bruno books when updating my thread previously. N.b. Fly Trap was actually book 40!

(and the Bruno books I left off were the wonderfully titled "Call Number of Cthulhu", "Acquisitions" (which was a bit mean to archivists, but otherwise one of the series that I liked most, and "Batgirl was a Librarian" - possibly my favorite of the series. Since LT seems to have trouble finding these, here's the Amazon link to the series: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078MQZR8D?ref_=series_rw_dp_labf).

>72 Foxen: I also kept messing up where I was at in my book count, when I first started.

I hit on the (not original) idea of using a specific 2019 tag, so that every time I added a finished book to LT, I tagged it and that kept track for me!

Some of us use tickers to keep count - but then, of course, you have to remember to update your ticker.

yes, I have a ticker, (at the top of my talk thread) but... I needed a way to count books besides my list on my profile. That list worked for awhile, until I got past 30 or so...

Tags work fine for tracking books in a year. Another idea is to have a separate collection for each year, my preferred approach.

I'm pretty sure I'd have just as much trouble updating a tracker as I do this thread! Thanks for the suggestions all - I'll muddle on. :)

Fall book updates forthcoming.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Aw, thank you!

Ok, titles at least! I'll come back and fill in with descriptions/commentary (hopefully!) when I get a chance, but here's what I've read this fall/early winter:

41) Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge
42) The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
43) John Dies at the End by David Wong
44) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
45) 101 Smart Questions to Ask on Your Interview by Ron Fry
46) Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge
47) The Library Book by Susan Orlean (didn't finish)
48) Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
49) the Book of M by Peng Shepherd
50) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
51) The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (didn't finish)
52) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
53) The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
54) MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
55) This is How you Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

56) The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Read this aloud to my husband from the Project Gutenberg version (http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/42796). I vaguely remembered it from childhood, and it stood up! Very charming and cozy story. We'll probably be reading some more of them for cozy children's mysteries.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Thanks Roni and Paul!

Three final books to round out the year:

57) The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
58) The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
59) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I'm really enjoying the Jemisin series - first book of the new year will likely be book 3. The Christie was a read-aloud with my husband.

Onward to 2020!