Books read in 2023 📚 log(book)

Good fanfic, in which Sirius is not an idiot.

Fox’s Tongue and Kirin’s Bone

by Allison M. Kovacs · published 2021 · last read 2023-09-07

Not sure why I keep reading this tbh. It's got a huge world, but refuses to do the required worldbuilding. Lost interest in the initial hook, muddling through, and also by now removed all the initial chapters, lol. Honestly just still readi

Nova

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1968 · last read 2023-08-29

Nova by Samuel Delany was alright – a beautiful space opera telling the story of a captain and is impromptu crew in a well-thought, well-described future a thousand years from now. I can't really say why it didn't grip me as much as other

Deaf Republic

by Ilya Kaminsky · published 2019 · last read 2024-11-28

Not falling in love with this one, but there are very strong parts in it, and what more can you really ask for in a poetry collection / smol epos. Re-read because I’m giving the book away.

Babel-17

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1966 · last read 2023-07-30

It's been a long time (apart from Too Like The Lightning) that I've read a novel that felt so tailored to me like Babel-17. I mean, it's a queer polyamorous scifi novel where linguistics are key, even to winning space battles, which the

The Lathe of Heaven

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1971 · last read 2023-07-26

I liked the premise of one person (well. -ish) changing the world via dreams, inclusing heavy retroactive changes. I liked the characterisations, and the overall themes, even if the pacing was a bit off. I even agree with the (Taoist) philo

Empire Star

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1966 · last read 2023-07-20

Second book by Samuel Delany, second book I positively adore. Thoroughly impressive, I don't think I've highlighted this much in any book in the past year, and it's a really short book at that. Describing it wouldn't do it justice, and so

Elder Race

by Adrian Tchaikovsky · published 2021 · last read 2023-07-04

Might be the only Tchaikovsky I've read so far that is not entirely bleak in its conception of the human race, so that's a new one. Other than that … what's there to say? It's a solid little book. It's just … kinda lazy? I feel like Tchaiko

Artificial Condition

by Martha Wells · published 2018 · last read 2023-06-25

The Artificial Condition is the second volume of Martha Wells' Murderbot series, and it's definitely better than the first one. I see why people love Murderbot, now – they, and their interaction with both humans and other bots, are bitter

All Systems Red

by Martha Wells · published 2017 · last read 2023-06-24

It's hard to judge All Systems Red on account of it being so short – it's fast-paced and engaging though, and I felt invested in the story. But after reading it, I was more interested in reading the next part and finding out more about

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick · published 1968 · last read 2023-05-17

Sci-fi that I like. Real, easy to read. Also, sheep.

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut · published 1969 · last read 2023-05-10

Vonnegut witnessed the Dresden bombing, and this is his book about it. Of course, it's not just that, and even where it is just that, it is processed beautifully. Vonnegut is brutal and yet kind, dramatic but always matter-of-fact.

Roadside Picnic

by Arkady Strugatsky · published 1972 · last read 2023-04-20

Roadside picnic was a good book to read, and I was surprised that I didn't find it depressing. It takes place in a small town in roughly-Canada, where an alien exclusion zone has spawned that is very much like a radioactive dump: People a

The Palace Job

by Patrick Weekes · published 2012 · read 2023-04-10

It starts so promising – fun heists, bit too heavy-handed, but good fun. But then it drags. and drags. and drags. You get to see every turn coming, and there are so fucking many of them. The quipping – fun at first – grows stale, and the be

My Real Children

by Jo Walton · published 2014 · last read 2023-04-05

This review is biased. Of course, all my reviews are biased, what else are they there for? But this one is more biased than most. My Real Children by Jo Walton came recommended by a friend who said “if you ever feel the need to bawl

Accelerando

by Charles Stross · published 2005 · read 2023-04-01

I cannot tell you why I bounce off Accelerando so completely. I tried reading it twice, and when the third attempt finally got me through in early 2023, I … apparently read it? I got a file filled with highlights/quotes, and I remember abso

Rite of Passage

by Alexei Panshin · published 1968 · read 2023-03-29

A scifi book from the 60s, with a young black girl as protagonist, written by a white dude from the US, that isn’t terrible? And also isn’t praised and listed on all the reading lists everywhere? Reading this book was a big surprise, I have

Bambi

by Felix Salten · published 1922 · read 2023-03-26

Not tagging plot spoilers for obvious reasons – the movie did not deviate much from the book, all told: Bambi grows up, lears words, plays with other young deer and other animals with quirky personalities, like the owl who is always happy w

Between Two Fires

by Christopher Buehlman · published 2012 · read 2023-03-20

★☆☆☆☆

Didn’t feel it – decent writing, and historical horror with a Joan of Arc theme can work for me (as the other book with the Byzantian robots has shown, which I keep confusing with this one, because how many Joan-of-Arc-gritty-alt-history-gr

This Rebel Heart

by Katherine Locke · published 2022 · read 2023-03-17

Historical, fantastical fiction about the 1956 revolution in Hungary, and it has absolutely everything. It’s Jewish. It’s queer (gay, bi, poly). It’s a good adventure and it’s written so sensually that it’s also more than that. And it’s HEL

A Mist of Grit and Splinters

by Graydon Saunders · published 2020 · last read 2023-03-16

Saunders goes back to military fiction here, and I didn't find any part of it particularly compelling, apart from the sneaky worldbuilding updates. The characters had enough personal stories, but didn't interest me, the overarching plot was

Flowers for Algernon

by Daniel Keyes · published 1966 · last read 2023-03-15

I liked Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes – even though the ending in itself felt predictable, it was very clear that the journey to that ending was the core of the book. It's not an easy question: How much does intelligence dete

Yendi

by Steven Brust · published 1984 · read 2023-03-15

Prequel to the first book, showing Vlad's beginnings. I continue to be super into the series, and i already know I'll have to re-read it in the end to catch all the connections, the politics, the relationships. Also we see Vlad and Cawti ge

Under One Banner

by Graydon Saunders · published 2018 · last read 2023-03-14

The series started dropping off for me a bit here: I didn't find the protagonist compelling, and her recovery from an active magic user to a military adviser only as interesting as the world it exposed. But the focus on military matters did

The Rook

by Daniel O'Malley · published 2012 · last read 2023-03-13

Wow! This book has bits of Charles Stross in it (as in: secret modern British agency dealing with the supernatural), but at the same time it's totally different. More action oriented, fast-paced, witty, and it never felt like a Laundry kn

Safely You Deliver

by Graydon Saunders · published 2016 · last read 2023-03-12

by Graydon Saunders · published 2015 · last read 2023-03-12

A Succession of Bad Days

Following The March North is not easy in any way, and yet, Saunders manages. Same world, directly after the events of the first book – but in a completely different role, keeping only side characters around. I'm very into this sort of con

The March North

by Graydon Saunders · published 2014 · last read 2023-03-10

Sometimes I read books that make me very happy, so that I have to focus a lot to find reasons why other people would not be into them. Not so for The March North.

Terminal Boredom

by Izumi Suzuki · published 2021 · read 2023-03-09

Everything here sucks: The protagonists are all a mix of stupid, unreflected, and plain assholes. There’s a distinct lack of imagination: e.g. in a world without men, lesbians are still somehow repulsive and gender roles are well and alive.

The Employees

by Olga Ravn · published 2018 · read 2023-03-07

Was rather happy to forget much of this book, and remembering it a year and a half later for the review makes me feel like when I read it: indifferent and like I could to much better things with my time. The best thing about this book was c

Fall of Kings

by David Gemmell · published 2007 · read 2023-03-02

Solid, but also rambling and less tight than the previous books. More nods towards names you already know, but that didn’t add too much in themselves, more as a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, like having one of the women in last-minute bow-trainin

Tomorrow, the Killing

by Daniel Polansky · published 2012 · read 2023-02-27

The distance between the aristocrats and the lowest of the low is drawn fairly neatly, even though we only see the criminal underworld. As always, there are just a tad too many witticisms for my taste, but the story is decent, and, cruciall

Transforming your self

by Steve Andreas · published 2002 · read 2023-02-25

Reviewing this book a year and a half after reading it is rough, because I … barely remember reading it, tbh. But after going through my notes, a lot of it seeped into my thoughts, especially the attitude of “don’t try to do the thing, inst

The Blade Itself

by Joe Abercrombie · published 2006 · read 2023-02-18

Like the last time, I just can't get into this book. I can appreciate the characters and the writing and the depth. I do think that the "Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say …" is funny. I can see how the grit and darkness can be enjoye

A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1968 · last read 2023-02-15

Deep wisdom, calm storytelling, and some love shining through: I love Earthsea a lot, and re-reading this book made me very happy. Apart from the near-lyrical style, I was also surprised to remember that the story is quite dense, and there

Deep Wheel Orcadia

by Harry Josephine Giles · published 2021 · read 2023-02-15

I tend to really like the experimental stuff, especially when it’s playing with language, and very especially epic poetry. So why didn’t this work for me? I don’t know. Harder for a non-native speaker to get into, I guess, because it runs

Rock Falls, Everybody Dies

by zechamp · published 2023 · read 2023-02-14

Isekai parody, making a rock go on a quest in a broken levelling system. Surprisingly cute for the genre-aware. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

the grave of the saint

by basketofnovas · published 2022 · read 2023-02-11

Difficult to tie off a series like this (and I'm perpetually grateful for the one-shots and shorts illuminating the time after the main plot's end). There is too much going on, but I found all the moving parts interesting in the end, and wa

the glass fortress

by basketofnovas · published 2021 · read 2023-02-10

I could read basketofnovas for a week straight without getting sick of the stories tbh, even though I found the second part getting a bit stuck on occasion, especially in fleshing out the political system. It all comes together once you've

before the door of hell lamps burned

by basketofnovas · published 2020 · read 2023-02-09

The brilliantly difficult series is a top contender for my favourite fanfic series. It's ambitious, and it sometimes fails, but especially if you read the one-shots, the author ties it together so well. Possibly the only AO3 author I will r

The Glass Hotel

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2020 · read 2023-02-09

★☆☆☆☆

Again with the flat emotional affect and the repeating characters. Jumbled, didn't go anywhere, and wasn't compelling enough to convince as a slice-of-life. The only things I slightly cared about were the less obvious connections to [Sea of

Evitative

by Vichan · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-11

Spent my February reading all the good fics. This one starts as a standard re-sort, then goes sideways into a beautiful take on dark magic, rituals, friendship and love. Like, some of these rituals I just want to adopt for myself. Let's

Sea of Tranquility

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2022 · read 2023-02-08

Inoffensive to a fault. Read for book club. Feels odd in several ways: feels slice-of-life even when it's not; doesn't feel sci-fi even when it isn't. The characters are cool but I won't remember them. The author stand-in is awkward. The ti

The Same, But Different

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · read 2023-02-07

This author just gets queer fanfics. Nice takes on reincarnation, dysphoria, old wisdom and new hormones. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Lily’s Boy

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-21

Again, actually nice fanfic – same author as the last one, so that's not too surprising. Covers the whole story. Bit standard and boring in places, but then picks up, with some actual foreshadowing. Cedric's death

Independent Study

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-13

Actually sweet fanfic. Things happen, most of them are not nonsensical, the fluff is somewhat earned and slow to build. Good finale, but then drags on into an overly excessive (even by fanfic standards) happily-ever-after. Anywho, fun. T

Draco Black and the Bastard Dragon

by starbrigid · published 2022 · read 2023-02-03

We call it "trying too hard". Falls down all the terrible pitfalls of terrible fanfic. (You know, among the fanfic that is readable and has an understanding of grammar and punctuation.) This book is part of the [2022 Backlog Incident](

Draco Black and the Prisoner of Nurmengard

by starbrigid · published 2022 · read 2023-02-02

Still more silly super-hero, super-villain super-drama. I did like parts of the prison arc, actually, but the general protagonist idiocy was just off the charts. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident

Draco Malfoy and the Talon Brand

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-02-01

Sigh. Relationships. Brands. Blah. Any decent fanfic series inevitable goes insane. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Malfoy and the Wheel of Hecate

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-01-31

Getting longer, and more whimsical, not for the better. But the whole wand-branding thing is more than interesting, though already shows sings of shoddy execution, sadly. This book is part of the [2022 Backlog Incident](/p/2022-backlog-i

Draco Malfoy and the House of Black

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-01-30

Actually decent. Some development, some betrayal, blah. Not great, but could be so much worse. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Malfoy and the Mirror of Ecidyrue

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-01-29

Pretty alright. Drew me in with the back-in-time stuff, and apparently I read the entire series. PTSD stuff, as is only right. New friendships. blah. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Malfoy and the Heir of Slytherin

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-01-28

More of the same. Unreliable narrator, which was fun in places. Very slow burn. Too much patience for this shit, but what can you do. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Growing Old in the Middle Ages

by Shulamith Shahar · published 2002 · read 2023-01-27

Old age was generally precarious and on the margins in the Middle Ages. However, the status and practical circumstances of old people varied by country, century, class, identity and so on, and the results are a fascinating study in options.

Tales of Nevèrÿon

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1979 · read 2023-01-25

What a grand adventure. The tale of Gorgik, starting out free, becoming enslaved, working his way out of slavery through court and the military. The tale of Small Sarg, his friend, partner, slave, master, and them defeating slave-owners. No

Prayer for the Crown-Shy

by Becky Chambers · published 2022 · read 2023-01-24

Even more fluff, lots of recaps, no new conclusion, some unwarranted angst immediately alleviated with more fluff, an ambivalent ending, and too much focus on a non-workable economy. Not a fan, but if you loved the first one and just want m

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers · published 2021 · read 2023-01-23

After not getting on too well with Wayfarers (I liked it, but too fluffy, no desire to go back), this book worked much better for me. Some of that is "right place, right time", of course, but definitely more my thing than Wayfarers. Disc

A Song for a New Day

by Sarah Pinsker · published 2019 · read 2023-01-22

This is not a bad book, and I like Sarah Pinsker a lot. I liked it, and it put my biggest worry at rest: that she wouldn't manage the transition from amazing short stories well. Her plot arc might be a bit wobbly, but her character work is

Joy of Movement

by Kelly McGonigal · published 2019 · read 2023-01-16

You could generally call me an anecdote enjoyer: even when I snark about useless anecdotes in self-help books, I like the reading experience. But this book was … a lot of repetitive anecdotes, interrupted only by equally repetitive "movemen

Age of Witches

by Marina Dyachenko · published 1997 · read 2023-01-12

★☆☆☆☆

Heads-up, I read this one in German, and I thought the translation was fairly good, though in that slightly annoying overly dramatic tone of German that all German Fantasy seems to be in. So props to the translation to be tone accurate, but

In the Stacks (Maisie’s Tune)

by Robin Sloan · published 2023 · read 2023-01-11

Cute little story. Bonus points for the vibes and the actual playable interactive part, but somehow, despite the aging and the library and the everything, it felt superficial and didn't grab me. It's really well-done! Just, I admire it from

Vierbeinige Freunde

by Vera Tschaplina · published 1950 · last read 2023-01-10

Childhood favourite, especially after I found out that this wasn't a magical fairytale about living with a lion in the middle of Moscow, but that it was reality! Lots of small bits that I loved, especially how Chaplina talked about her work

Momo

by Michael Ende · published 1973 · last read 2023-01-09

Momo is a weird book: It clearly has the potential to be and to feel very profound. But it was never quite that for me. Maybe it's that the capitalism criticism is just too open and too jarring when mixed with the magical elements? Maybe

Eon

by Greg Bear · published 1985 · read 2023-01-07