I didn’t know much about this book when I started it. I got it as a part of a mystery bag I bought last year at NYCC. That’s what I love about getting books like this because they can surprise you. I am not sure I would have picked it up on my own. Vega is the Astronomer. Like her mother before her and her mother before her, she is the only one who can read the stars. The world has been consumed with sickness and it is said that the Astronomer will read the stars and save them. The action begins when Vega sees two stars in the sky that were not there before. This is the sign. She must find the Architect to take her to the see. A couple of issues. She doesn’t know how the Architect is and she has also never left her home in the valley. She runs into Cricket and then Noah, who help her out but there is a group of men, who will do anything to find her. The Theorist, basically a gang but run by a man who obsessive in finding the Astronomer because he more then anything wants to save himself. Vega, who has been sheltered her own life, is very brave. She doesn’t hesitate when she sees the stars even though her mother just died because she knows what’s at stake. Despite all the advisory she faces, she never wavers from her mission and keeps going. The twist at the end, I’ll admit, I did not see coming and the ending does leave it open for a sequel. The part of me that wants a happy ending hopes there will be but I also do like an open-ended ending. Life keeps going no matter what happens. Even in fiction.
Welcome to April! I can’t believe it is already April. Time waits for no man, eh? It’s a new month and the end of the week, so I’m back with another weekend reads that has suggestions for this month’s TBR Project Book Club on Fable. The TBR project is our book club with a twist: everyone reads their own selection! The catch is that it has to be something off your TBR. Every month, we pick a theme, you pick a book, and we cheer each other on and discuss our picks (no spoilers) on Fable.
After last month’s theme of Stories that were meant to stay fiction a.k.a. it was a story, not a suggestion, we thought this month we’d shoot for something lighter. I was thinking something Springy, maybe something pastoral and Beth suggested Cottage Core. The idea here is to pick something that is home-centered, chill, maybe a little bucolic, maybe a little slice-of-life. This is a good theme for that classic you’ve always wanted to get to but never had or that one romance novel you’ve been saving for just the right time. If you needed a sign, this is it! So, without further ado, here are four picks for you to consider.
An all-time fave here at Stacks, Beth and I have both read this multiple times. It follows the adventures of Heathcliffe as he meets a girl, loves a girl, loses a girl, and then proceeds to mess up both his life and hers! It is terrible people doing horrible things to each other and I know that doesn’t sound like a recommendation, but it is. If you like messy people, reality TV, and gossip columns and you haven’t read this yet, this is a classic for you.
This one has already made an appearance in weekend reads, but I’d be remiss in not mentioning it because it is my pick for this month! Beth read it an age ago and lent me her copy, and it is time I read it, too. I’m promised adventures, romance, hijinks, flying houses, and piracy. It is not necessarily the pastoral notion I first envisioned, but from the cover it seems like it’ll fit the bill. (And, yes, I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but… I’m also judging it by Beth’s recommendation. So, I think I’m all good.)
If you’re feeling the pastoral, country vibes of the theme, but you’re not excited for something soft and romantic, then I’d like to recommend some gothic horror to you. Set in the time after Mexico’s war for Independence, Beatriz moves to the countryside to her new husband’s pulque-producing estate. She has big plans about being the lady of the house and making her mark, but house itself has some other ideas. Interesting characters, good atmosphere, chilling and creepy moments. This is a fun one.
Last but absolutely not least, if you’re feeling the slice-of-life, soft home vibes, but you aren’t feeling the country aspects of the theme, try Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. Part of the Brown sisters series, this installment follows eldest sister Chloe Brown as she decides to get a life. Chloe is thoughtful, hardworking, and serious and so she makes herself a to-do list of life-getting goals. This book was so cute. Chloe is wonderful and relatable. Red is also great. Chloe’s family are a hoot. I absolutely love this series and I think you will, too.
So, there you go. Some recs to start your weekend off right. Let us know what your favorite books with cottage core vibes are in the comments!
This theme just popped in my head and I couldn’t tell you why. I thought it and it made me giggle and now here we are. So, without further ado here are some recommendations for your weekend that all share a common theme, they involve bodies.
Dr. Jen Gunter is (was? now that twitter is no longer twitter?) twitter’s doctor, especially when it comes to downstairs parts. This is a good resource to keep around. It dispels myths and gives you clear and forthright information about the vagina, vulva, uterus, and other bits.
This is a standalone novel by John Scalzi related to another of his novels, Lock in. Set in a world where people with Haden’s disease become locked into their bodies and have to interact with the outside world through android, Chris Shane is an FBI agent and a Haden who is called in to investigate a Haden-related crime. This book was so good. There was mystery, politics, betrayal, characters you loved and characters you loathed. This is definitely something you can finish in a weekend. And you’ll want to. It was hard to put down.
You know how I said that I had no idea where this theme came from? I think I have solved my own mystery. I assigned Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to students taking a general humanities course about the modern world, which means I’ve recently re-read it. This is a classic for a reason. Science, madness, reason, love, hate, what does it mean to be human? What do we owe each other? There is so much in this classic.
Okay, so there you have it. Selections of pieces and parts. Have you read any of these? What did you think? What are you planning on reading this weekend? Sound off in the comments!
I know, I know. It is Sunday Scaries time, the weekend is over, why I am even bothering? For starters, I’m trying to make a commitment to this new regular feature. And, secondly because we announced this month’s theme for the TBR project and I want to recommend some books!
The TBR project is our book club on Fable. Unlike regular book clubs, where everyone reads the same book, the structure of this club is a bit different. We pick a theme and everyone picks something off their TBR that has been hanging out there for awhile and fits the theme. We then share our choices, our struggles, and we cheer each other on towards a TBR that is one book shorter!
This month’s theme is Fiction that was meant to stay fiction a.k.a. It was a story, not a suggestion. So, now is the time to find the dystopian classic that is feeling a little too real for a lot of people and dive in. The theme is meant to be interpreted as broadly or as narrowly as you’d like, so I imagine you could also go for that non-fiction book about something historical that shouldn’t have happened. Without further ado, here are some of our suggestions. If one of these is on your list, March might be its month!
This is the first book of a trilogy that is unflinching. R. F. Kuang’s writing often deals with themes of colonialism, trauma, and racism. This one also deals with war and sexual assault, and doesn’t shy away from depictions of violence. The story follows Rin as she goes from a poor orphan to a member of the army. Beth loved this, and you might, too, but keep in mind it may contain upsetting descriptions
Another first book in a series, Children of Blood and Bone follows Zelie, who has a chance to bring magic back to Orïsha after it has been brutally wiped out by the monarchy. She and her friends must escape from the crown prince and stay a step ahead of him because if he wins, magic will be gone forever. These books are so good and a film based on them is now in production!
I hadn’t intended on picking three books that were first in a series, but I have. The Sapling Cage is the story of Lorel, a trans character who joins the witches in the place of her friend Lane. She must protect her identity to keep herself safe, but also help solve a mystery that has the power to be tragic not only for herself and witches, but for the entire world. Magic is being taken from the land, leaving it barren and dead. The witches have to figure out what is happening and stop it before they are blamed and hunted to extinction. I loved this one so much. Lorel is such a wonderful character and the side characters were also very fun.
So, here are three to get you started. Let us know in the comments what your favorites are. And, if it sounds like fun, join us on fable!
I will admit that I didn’t realize that this was a companion series to Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. I wasn’t made about it. I enjoyed that series. I also didn’t realize it was a duology. I guess I should be grateful it is only two books. Heir takes place twenty years after the end of the previous series. It is told from the perspective of three people. Quil, the Heir to the Martial throne and nephew to the Empress. Aiz, an orphan with some anger issues from a Keger and Sirsha, an outcast hired to track down a killer.
A Few Spoilers for both series ahead.
Laia, Elias and Helene from the An Ember in the Ashes series all appear but as minor roles. This story is about their children or nephews. Quil is the son of former Emperor Marcus and Livia Aquillius and he doesn’t want to be Emperor for fear he will become like his father. Laia and Elias’ son Sufiyan is one of Quil’s closest friends. In a neighboring country, Keger attacks the Martials and Quil must escape to find Tas, his friend and spy to fight back. On the way, he meets Sirsha, a tracker who has been hired to find a killer who is plaguing the Empire. Their objectives align. Aiz is an orphan from Keger, a small country in the south with little connection to the rest of the world but obviously will collide with the other two. I do appreciate an angsty hero and a witty protagonist. Quil and Sirsha are such a great couple. Good Chemistry. About halfway through the book, it is revealed that one of the POVs is not happening in the same timeline as the other two but in an earlier time frame. As soon as I realized that, I knew exactly where the story was going. I wasn’t completely right but I did figure out who the murderer was based on the reveal and clues about this character that I have already learned. I didn’t mind it because the writing made the journey to get to that destination fun. I wanted to know how they turned. My one critique would be that I thought It was a little too long. It kind of dragged on a bit for me but left enough of a cliffhanger that I am looking forward to the next one.
I picked this up because there is a K-drama called Black Out on Hulu that is based on it and I was wondering how much of the insane misogyny in the story was part of the original narrative and how much of was just natural consequences of the changes they made to the story plus the change of setting it in Korea. (This is not to say that Korean culture is insanely misogynistic. But it is a patriarchy and that does entail some misogyny.)
Anyway, our detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are called to the scene of an accident where a woman fell from a pedestrian bridge. In the course of investigating, they discover that not only was it not an accident, it is related to a controversial case from a decade prior where a teenage boy, Tobias Sartorius, was convicted of killing two girls. There are some things about the the old case that don’t add up, like where are their bodies? And when another girl goes missing, they find themselves in a race against time to solve both the closed case and the new one.
So, how much of the insane misogyny is in the original narrative? Oh, a bunch. But, because of the differences in narrative choices, you are confronted with it in the K-drama in ways that just absolutely made my blood boil that weren’t in the original text. In both, there are discussions and depictions of rape and a bunch of abelism directed towards an autistic character. So, if those things are triggering for you, be aware.
I obviously kept reading the series, so there were things here that I liked, but I’m not sure I’d necessarily recommend this. This story had a good ending, but overall it was very dark. The end of the year was very busy and difficult, so I wanted something that felt comfortable, and detective stories and mysteries are a go-to for me. So, if you’re into dark tales and whodunits, these aren’t a bad choice, but if you absolutely can’t deal with depictions of rape or ableism, then give it a pass.
This has been a wild year of reading for me! I have done so much of it for fun! During COVID, I lost a bit of my desire to pick up books. There is still a bit of that resistance there, but with a combination of some great series, letting my whims take me, excellent recommendations from people in my life, and audiobooks, Ive managed to get back to being a reader! Alright! Let’s do this!
I didn’t read a lot of non-fiction for fun and, funnily, they were all memoirs. Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning and Consent by Jill Ciment were excellent, and they have both brought up important topics that need to be considered and discussed, but Nanette gets the nod here for a combination of also touching on important topics that need to be considered and discussed, emotional resonance and Gadsby’s audio narration. This one had me in tears, both from happiness and sadness. It was a great read.
I don’t know I can really say this was on a whim. I put it in my library want list on a whim ages ago and when my library finally got it, I was first in line. This is a story of sisterhood and family. It is also the story of growing up Asian-American and navigating multiple sets of cultural expectations while also trying to figure out who you are. Some of the story felt so relatable and some of it felt like a brand new experience for me. I love how stories can be both mirrors and windows. Anyway, this was at times thoughtful, funny, and sad and I loved the growth journey the characters went on.
Y’all this book was so good, seamlessly interweaving multiple tales of motherhood and family highlighting different kinds of conflicts that arise from differences in income, ethnicity, and race. I couldn’t put it down and I needed to know what happened next! The characters were well-written, the plot contained surprises. I really loved this one.
The Starless Sea is stories within stories within stories. I loved Zachary, the main character. He was thoughtful and interesting and I was happy to have him as a companion on this journey of so many twists and turns. Putting it over the top in this category is the multiple excellent narrations, including a performance from one of my favorite audiobook readers, Bahni Turpin.
This romance novel was a delight! I tore through it and finished it in time to pick up its sequel at the same independent bookshop I bought it at, The Ripped Bodice! 10/10. bookshop and 10/10 novel I took too long getting to. I liked the characters, I liked the intrigue, I liked the spice, I liked the ending. This was wonderful!
Best Series (Plural) I started this Year: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, and This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Part sci/fi and Part fantasy, these books have mystery, sword play, and fiery heroines that are delightful.
An Alternative history with dragons! Temeraire was described to me as the best baby boy of characters before I read it and I couldn’t agree more. I want nothing but the best for this sweet dragon and his handler Laurence, who find themselves in the middle of a war between England and Napoleon’s France. The only reason I haven’t gotten to the rest of the series is that the other books in my library hold queue keep getting in my way.
I was so taken in by Briseis and her moms and the mystery at the heart of these books that having to wait for the second one to come available at the library was torture. Briseis is a wonderful heroine and these books interweave myth with the modern in a really fun way.
I read a lot of books this year that featured houses. A House with Good Bones, The House Across the Lake , and Nothing But Blackened Teeth just to pick a few. But Cañas’s gothic novel set after Mexico’s war for independence scratched all the itches for the gothic horror genre. Beatriz is an interesting narrator, although not as naive as you’d expect and that was a nice twist. I enjoyed this immensely and would definitely recommend it.
This has been a great year for reading and I already have things queued up for the new year (including reviews of things I started this year, but haven’t posted yet!) Beth and I hope you have a Happy New Year and we hope to see you in 2025 for more from our endless stacks!
A couple of months ago, I discovered Fable. It’s like Goodreads but more reader-friendly. For one, It’s not owned by Amazon. I’ll be honest I don’t know who owns it. I like that I can give half-star ratings because we have all read books that are not a solid three or four stars. It also asks you about the vibe, spiciness, and other things readers want to know. There are great ways to connect with other readers, join book clubs, and get recommendations. You can also keep track of our TV shows in the same manner. The best part was you could transfer all your books and reviews from Goodreads so you do not lose anything. You can also purchase e-books directly from them. They have a pretty decent selection.
I hear that Storygraph is also a good alternative and is owned by a Black Woman. I think I am going to look into that one next. For now, I am going to stay on Fable. If you are looking for an alternative to Goodreads, you can join me on Fable or check out Storygraph and let me know what you think.
This was such a great trilogy. I am curious to see how it turns into a movie or TV series. I know the rights have been sold and Tomi is involved in the script. Zelie has been through so much and honestly wouldn’t have faulted her for giving up but of course she didn’t. Nor did her brother and friends. At the end of the last book, the Maji were successful in overthrowing the king but then overtaken by the Skulls from across the sea. King Baldyr has been hunting Maji’s because he needs the one to help him achieve Godhood. We all know this is Zelie. She escapes but not before he implants in her gold medallion that changes her powers. She has a vision that she must find the other magical person Baldyr needs. Another woman from a mysterious nation, New Gaia. Mae’e is a great addition to the books. I liked her stoicism and fire. I know that might not make sense but it’s true. It was nice to see an expansion of the world but we did sacrifice what was going on in Orisha since most of the action was happening elsewhere. The other criticism I have that the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I feel the epilogue could have given a little bit more. Other then that I found it to be a fun adventure like the other books. Baldyr is a much scarier villain then the previous king was. The stakes were much higher because the threat wasn’t just to the Maji or Orisha but to New Gaia as well. This was a good series and I am looking forward to what Tomi does next.
This book was nothing but delightful. Evie Sage needs a job when she literally stumbles upon the Villain in the woods and wouldn’t you know, he needs an assistant. So Evie goes to work for the mysterious Villain. Who for the last 10 years has been causing a ruckus in the kingdom and to the King. Evie loves her new job. Yes, from time to time the Villain may shoot at one of the interns and Becky, head of HR is her personal nemesis but other than that. It is a good job. The villain is also a good boss for a villain. It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome again for a villain. Lately the Villain’s plans have been foiled. It’s like someone from the outside knows when and where he is going to strike and he asks Evie to track down the traitor. Comedy ensues as Evie tries to find the traitor but can’t quite keep up. This book is so much fun and entertaining and I was happy to find out that it’s a series so there will be more adventures with Evie and the Villain. I can’t wait to read more.
2 Women, So Many Books 