What I've Been Reading

What have I been up to in the reading department of late? Let's see!

I wrote last year about the book club I'm in with some friends, and how we weren't off to a strong start in the Books I Want to Finish Reading category. We've now had 8 meetings (roughly every two months), and other than the month it was my choice, I've finished three of the books and not finished four. Sigh. I may not be meant for book clubs, though I'm not giving up yet. It's such a good group of people, but I don't think what I would like from a book club (a book that I wouldn't necessarily have picked up on my own, but enjoy reading) meshes very well.

Our most recent book was The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni, and wow did that book not go where I was expecting! Some really wild turns, some dubious moments, and yeah, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might want to read it, but I Had Thoughts (not that I was the only one). At least I finished reading it! And the discussion was good. But it was definitely one I would not have finished but for the book club. Let me just say that the line "This is a haunting, mysterious, brooding modern gothic tale with lessons for real life" from a review on Amazon has me laugh-snorting. What lessons for real life!?

Ahem. Moving on to books I have enjoyed more.

I got the Heroic Hearts anthology from the library recently to read the Patricia Briggs story therein (which was very good, of course, I love her writing). 

But I looked at the other stories, too, because that's how you find new authors to try. And I really liked the story by Anne Bishop, so I got the first of her The Others series from the library, and I've been plowing through them. So good! Maybe a little dark, if you're not in the mood for that, but interesting premise and characters and a found-family feel to it. Sort of. If not all the family members are human, nor want to be.

As for The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, by Theodora Goss, I'm not sure how I got that; maybe my brother gave it to me? I saw it on my shelf and thought, hmm, why not try this? It's pretty interesting, looking at all the daughters of literary characters like Dr Jekyll and Frankenstein, and I wasn't in love with it but certainly had no problem finishing it (though I haven't yet reached for the sequels). I'll also say that I had no trouble following along despite not having read the stories these characters came from; there was enough awareness of the basics that, although no doubt knowing more would have added depth, I didn't feel like I was missing the jokes.

I really enjoyed The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abbi Waxman; light-hearted and fun, though not without depths, and talk about found family! I wouldn't call it especially realistic or plausible, which some of the reviews I see are unhappy about, but as a romp I enjoyed it very much.

Finally (for now), I really liked Good Neighbors, by Stephanie Burgis, a collection of stories/novellas that make a very satisfying story. As the description starts, "When a grumpy inventor meets her outrageous new neighbor in the big black castle down the road, more than one type of spark will fly!"