Books read in 2024 📚 log(book)

Decided to stop reading about two-thirds in. Just thoroughly meh, unevenly paced, way too in love with itself.

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.

An Unkindness of Ghosts

by Rivers Solomon · published 2017 · last read 2024-11-17

An Unkindness of Ghosts is so good that it seems implausible that it is Rivers Solomon's debut novel. I mean, I'm very much into generational starships as a literary setting, but this is the best usage of the genre I've encountered so far

Infinity Gate

by M. R. Carey · published 2023 · read 2024-11-13

I thought this was going to be a three- or even four-star book, but alas, the let-down. Promising in the beginning: I love a good alternate-worlds story that puts some thought into how the whole thing can shake out socially and economically

Bread and Wine

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1999 · read 2024-11-11

Chip meets Dennis, who lives on the street. It’s everything. It’s romantic, it’s hot, it’s matter-of-fact. It only gets better by knowing they are still together. I’m not usually one for graphic novels (graphic novellas?), but this one … yu

Here & There

by Joshua V. Scher · published 2015 · read 2024-11-10

This book is an odd one – I liked the premise, and while there is one easily-guessable/telegraphed “twist”, it’s not the actual twist that you get slapped with on the last ten pages, so that part is all good. However. The main plot

Taking Control

by fake a smile · published 2008 · last read 2024-11-06

Yawn. Classic way overpowered fanfic protagonist who is super special and nearly everybody else is stupid or evil, but He Prevails And Also Finds True Love. Even while needing a power fantasy, it feels kinda cheap.

swallow some of their history

by basketofnovas · published 2024 · read 2024-11-03

basketofnovas is writing amazing stuff again. It’s still in her very cool spin on the Potter universe, only this time it opens up an alternate universe, where Hermione is thrown back in time (and into an alternate universe) and ends up shar

Measure of a Man

by inadaze22 · published 2022 · last read 2024-10-31

Very empathetic take on what having Alzheimers does to a person and their family and friends. The fact that it’s embedded in a slow-burn Harry Potter fanfic romance is basically irrelevant, as it should be – the subject matter is taken on w

A Night in the Lonesome October

by Roger Zelazny · published 1993 · last read 2024-10-31

I love this book to pieces, to the point of ~~making~~, uh, encouraging my book club to read it with me, as intended, one chapter a day through the whole October. It’s a delight. Sure, a bit cutesy in places, and way too genre-aware to be t

survival is a talent

by ShanaStoryteller · published 2024 · last read 2024-10-30

Solid fanfic. Hypercompetent kids get a bit much sometimes, maybe, but competence porn is a thing I’m happily falling victim to sometimes, so this is just a nice read when I want to be reassured that sometimes people are competent and have

The Book of Elsewhere

by China Miéville · published 2024 · read 2024-10-24

Finally, a new Miéville book! I didn’t end up reading the graphic novels it is based on beforehand, even though I wanted to, because that’s just not my genre, no matter how hard I try. Oh well. I had a lot of fun reading this book once I

Time of the Basilisk

by Arsinoe de Blassenville · published 2010 · read 2024-10-07

The fluff continues escalating, and the author has decided that they are, uh, whimsical and funny. They are not.

Influence

by MarauderLover7 · published 2024 · read 2024-10-06

The story continues escalating with real stakes, real character development, and tons of accumulated background that is used well instead of ignored as in the og series. For example, in the very first installation, the series introduces lif

The Best Revenge

by Arsinoe de Blassenville · published 2010 · read 2024-10-06

Infinite fluff. It's just … mountains of fluff. Not even a good take on competent adults or anything, just "what if everything just worked out forever".

Intensity

by MarauderLover7 · published 2021 · read 2024-10-02

It's wild how this series started out worse than mediocre – because here, it's actually good. Maybe good-for-fanfic, but the upper end of that, at the very least. Characters come together, and act with intelligence (especially the villains,

Impose

by MarauderLover7 · published 2016 · read 2024-09-29

The series continues at its new fun-not-stupid fanfic levels, rather than the first volume of why-please-stop levels, so that's nice.

Identity

by MarauderLover7 · published 2014 · read 2024-09-28

Best of the series so far. Ginny's perspective on possession and second year was well done, even as Gryffindor Draco continued to be weirdly written.

Initiate

by MarauderLover7 · published 2014 · read 2024-09-22

Slightly better than the first part, but not by much. The fanfic logic is still making my brain hurt. Please, god, why.

Innocent

by MarauderLover7 · published 2013 · read 2024-09-21

Logic is the author's enemy. Frustrating read, because there were some neat ideas in there. It's a longer series and I shudder to think how bad the plotting and characters will get when built on a basis this shaky.

The Second String

by EiderDown · published 2001 · read 2024-09-17

Sweet, well-written, if not always logical. On the other hand, overpowered overly wise protagonists are a plague, so him being a mix of brave and stupid kinda tracks, honestly. Things are occasionally too handwavy/fanfic-logic, but honestly

i won’t just survive (no you will see me thrive)

by EclipseWing · published 2018 · read 2024-09-15

It's getting dark outside, so it's fanfic season again. This one was really pretty alright – I think I found it while looking for anything featuring basic competence in everybody involved, because even when looking for stupid fanfic comfort

Skeleton

by Ray Bradbury · published 1947 · read 2024-09-12

Bradbury has a way with words, and I prefer his short stories to his other stuff. I'm not generally a horror person, and you can see where this one is going, but the tone and everything just flows together so well. 3.5 stars, basically. Gre

The Little Dirty Girl

by Joanna Russ · published 1981 · read 2024-09-12

Okay, so I put "genre: horror" because that's just the closest thing – there is a ghostly entity, kinda, somewhat, if you know what I mean. I thought this story was very nicely written, very tidy, with some nice turns, but at the same ti

The Dragon Keeper

by Robin Hobb · published 2009 · read 2024-08-18

The start of a new series, this is quite good – but it’s not nearly as good as Robin Hobb can write. The book is mostly character setup for the rest of the series, which results in some odd pacing choices. Following a group of teens is … al

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince

by Robin Hobb · published 2013 · read 2024-08-13

Novella set in the Elderlings saga, telling the story of how the gift of the Wit came to be despised. Pretty cool point of view character (playmate to the princess, wet-nurse to the prince), and neat context, but also ultimately predictable

Tori Transmigrated

by Aila Aurie · published 2023 · last read 2024-07-23

This is pure, self-indulgent Mary-Sue-to-the-extreme competence porn. It’s decently written for an online fic, but it’s also full-on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The logic isn’t always (or often) logicing, it’s really just t

The Left Hand of Darkness

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1969 · last read 2024-06-19

Wow! This is a fantastic, clever, wonderful scifi book. I loved the explicitly humanoid species (that are probably expanded on, especially their origin, in other parts of the series). I loved the mostly-androgynous species, their peculiarit

Assassin’s Quest

by Robin Hobb · published 1997 · last read 2024-06-16

Concluding the first part of the trilogy trilogy, I still liked it. Yes, it's slowly paced high fantasy, yes, the protagonist is not a Mary Sue at all (whiny and annoying, more like), yes, the conclusion is a bit deus-ex-machina - I still l

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb · published 1996 · last read 2024-06-15

Second volume, and a lot happens (well, not that much per page, but fun nonetheless): Fitz gains confidence, but loses his girl, his King, his King-in-Waiting, his Queen-in-Waiting, and ultimately his life (-ish, no huge cliffhanger).

Assassin’s Apprentice

by Robin Hobb · published 1995 · last read 2024-06-13

Now this was a fantasy novel I really enjoyed. I went in with no expectations at all, randomly chose it from my Kindle, and oh boy, was I in for a ride.

Embassytown

by China Miéville · published 2011 · last read 2024-06-06

★★★★★

Embassytown by China Miéville starts out as okay-if-weird scifi, with decent characters, plausibly weird worldbuilding, and appropriately weird aliens, so everything you'd expect from Miéville. It starts by following a good if generic f

Parable of the Talents

by Octavia E. Butler · published 1998 · last read 2024-05-22

Very very nearly a five-star book for me due to the ending, and I enjoyed it much more than the first volume. The story of Olamina told by herself, but commented on by her daughter, is really something. The pacing is outstanding and not ver

Digging for the Bones

by paganaidd · published 2011 · last read 2024-05-19

Decent enough hurt/comfort Severitus. Nothing special, but nothing stupid either.

Comes Around Again

by scarletjedi · published 2016 · last read 2024-05-19

Sansukh-variation, with travelling back to the past to fix things. Not as well-written as Sansukh, but then again, what is? Decent and entertaining, but might have done more with the added knowledge – "some moments in time are fixed" is suc

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler · published 1993 · last read 2024-05-15

4.5 stars for me, but let's round it up. We see Lauren starting a new religion about God being Change in not-quite-post apocalyptic America. I think that's it. I'm not really sure where I stand on the mysticism, but the characters and

Raven Boys

by Maggie Stiefvater · published 2013 · read 2024-03-28

It’s a year later, and the only thing I remember is being annoyed at the amount of teenage/YA angst, so I’ll just say that this book was not for me and move on.

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

Camp Damascus

by Chuck Tingle · published 2023 · read 2024-02-14

Gay horror – and man, am I not sure how I feel about this book. I'm not one for horror generally, to be fair, and it doesn't help how uneven this book is. It's got a lot of high points, especially in implicit worldbuilding. Showing off

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

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

Spear

by Nicola Griffith · published 2022 · read 2024-02-11

Lots of fun – an "anti-monarchical Arthurian fantasy", Jo Walton called it. A queer Arthur reimagined by an author who knows her Arthur to the point of making puns in Old Welsh to make the story work. The author's notes alone bumped this

The Past Is Red

by Catherynne M. Valente · published 2021 · read 2024-02-09

Cat Valente is somebody who I like for the odd blog post, but apparently just not for her books. This one was unpleasant to read to the point that I kept actively looking for redeeming features. Didn't help that the protagonist-narrator was

Wolfish

by Christiane M. Andrews · published 2022 · read 2024-02-08

Middle grade, close to YA. Told as a mix of a fairytale, a straightforward story, and notes found by archivists in a later age (which was nicely done, and I'd have loved that as a kid!). A sweet story with everything a fairytale needs: Prop

The Eye of the Heron

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1978 · read 2024-02-06

Setting: On a planet with a human population at one just one point, exiles from earth who arrived in two waves: First a group of criminals from South America (many thousands, though their origin isn't commonly known among them), then decade

The Power

by Naomi Alderman · published 2016 · read 2024-02-04

Sigh. What a book. It's good on the scene level: the writing is solid and with lots of good observations. Doesn't hold up on the macro level, though: The approach to gender role inversion – give all women magic lightning powers – is a bit s

Red Team Blues

by Cory Doctorow · published 2023 · read 2024-01-31

James Bond, if he were 67, and very annoying and performative and prone to info-dumps about tech. The entire book is so weird – painfully inoffensive, not pushing a topic (except maybe “non-bullshit blockchains are possible”?), flat, uneven

Grendel

by John Gardner · published 1971 · read 2024-01-28

This book decidedly tried to do things and talk about philosophy, but I don't like books that use everything just as a pretext to defend or show off philosophical principles. Didn't help that Grendel himself was just ick. I suppose this boo

And Put Away Childish Things

by Adrian Tchaikovsky · published 2023 · read 2024-01-26

Good god why are all takes on Narnia so depressing? I'm the first person to rant about C.S. Lewis, I really am, but come on! I didn't enjoy this trip at all – I'm not going to call it the British alternative to The Magicians, because that

The Sign of the Dragon

by Mary Soon Lee · published 2020 · read 2024-01-23

This is an epic poem – or rather, a collection of poems telling one epic story: The protagonist Xau is the king's fourth son, and upon his death, is sent to the mountain to be presented to the king-choosing dragon, who has rejected (and kil

Made Things

by Adrian Tchaikovsky · published 2019 · read 2024-01-18

Perfectly good adventure; would have loved it as a kid. The care that went into describing and thinking about the puppets – made from wood, metal, paper, and having different professions and skills and life spans – was typical Tchaikowsky.

The Connoisseur

by Victoria Goddard · published 2020 · read 2024-01-17

Cute, until you start thinking about it – and not written well enough to compensate for that. But not bad, not bad.

Several People Are Typing

by Calvin Kasulke · published 2021 · read 2024-01-17

Not sure if I'm just feeling grumpy. This was solid work tone-wise, but that's not enough to carry more than a short story. Slackbot-horror sounds nice as a concept, but doesn't have legs (heh) for more than micro-to-short fiction, I think.

Arboreality

by Rebecca Campbell · published 2022 · read 2024-01-17

Beautiful, melancholic, and tells you more on a hundred pages than many books manage on 500+. Glimpses of life – sad, but never only sad, never unbearably sad – with and in the climate catastrophe. How there's both suffering and beauty. Ver

Spaceman of Bohemia

by Jaroslav Kalfar · published 2017 · read 2024-01-16

Props for accurate post-soviet vibes, and special props for a space mission with obnoxious af mission sponsors. But. The protagonist is such a whiny idiot asshole. Jesus Christ in a space tin can. This reminded me of nothing so much as *The

Piranesi

by Susanna Clarke · published 2020 · read 2024-01-12

Hard to rate this book – 3.5 rounded down for now, but may round up over time. Immaculate vibes, but a bit thin other than that. The first third or first half is quite cool, while we just vibe and try to figure out what's going on (how does

Freedom And Not Peace

by Lightning on the Wave · published 2006 · last read 2024-01-11

Harry trains his brother. So very repetitive. Each successive book is longer than the last, with not much to show for it. Stopping here on my re-read.

Comes Out of Darkness Morn

by Lightning on the Wave · published 2005 · last read 2024-01-11

More hurt/comfort arcs. Getting long and repetitive with the emoshuns.

No Mouth But Some Serpent’s

by Lightning on the Wave · published 2005 · last read 2024-01-09

More like the first, but starting to show its weaknesses: overly-elaborate stupidity.

Saving Connor

by Lightning on the Wave · published 2005 · last read 2024-01-08

Winter is fanfic reading time: Harry, well, lives for saving Connor. Slow burn, very much focussed on character development, but still sees lots of action and lore. It's pretty alright. I liked the depiction of manners and traditions as dan

Raven Stratagem

by Yoon Ha Lee · published 2017 · read 2024-01-05

Kinda like the first book in the series – a lot of very cool worldbuilding, but … kinda too much coolness and not enough substance. If you look behind the window dressing, it's kinda just Omelas, yet again. Don't get me wrong: It's pret

Ninefox Gambit

by Yoon Ha Lee · published 2016 · last read 2024-01-04

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee was a lot of fun, but at the same time frustrating. It's high fantasy in space, and comes with all the usually frustrating parts of high fantasy (minus the racism). The writing, pacing, and characters are

Spellslinger

by Sebastien de Castell · published 2017 · read 2024-01-03