Tag Archives: naomi novik

Kate’s Favorite Books of the Year!

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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!

Best Non-Fiction: Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

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.

Best Book I picked up on a Whim: Yolk by Mary H.k. Choi

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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.

Best Bestseller I’ve had on My List for Ages: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

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.

Book a Friend Recommended: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

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.

Best Book that has been on my Shelf and I finally Read this Year: The Queer Principles of Kitt Webb by Cat Sebastian

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

I started so many good ones this year. Kitt Webb, of course. But also the Gideon the Ninth series, Spoiler Alert, This Poison Heart, His Majesty’s Dragon , Renegades , The Beautiful , The Brown Sisters and Three-Body Problem . Since most of these I either binged (The Gideon books and the Poison Heart) or I completely finished (Kitt Webb, Three-Body Problem) it is fair to say I enjoyed all of them. But there were some stand outs.

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.

Honorable Mention, Best Book about a House: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

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!

Review: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

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Dragons, but set it in the time of the Napoleonic wars, this was so fun. So, this is the beginning of a series and follows Captain Will Laurence and Temeraire as they prepare to defend England from invading French forces. Temeraire is born in the first part of the book and Laurence is a naval captain and not from England’s air defense, so we’re introduced to the world of fighting with dragons as they are. Temeraire is born from an egg that was captured from a French vessel with very little documentation, so he doesn’t even know what kind of dragon he is. So many different types are explored and explained as part of this search (we also get to meet them when Temeraire and Laurence are training and deployed.)

Temeraire is the best. My friend who recommended this book to me said that he has baby boy energy, and she was right. He’s without ego, curious, hardworking, and caring. I only want what is best for him and I love when that happens with a character. Because we learn about the dragon world as he does, I got caught up in his interest in his kind and the world. When he was angry at something, I was angry at something. When he did well, I was proud of him. This first installment ended with an answer to a question and some implied future danger, so I look forward to reading the next one. It was a lovely read.

So, if you like historical fiction with elements of fantasy, dragons, characters with baby boy energy, or any and all of the above, I really recommend this. It was a fun and touching adventure!

Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

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uprooted I can sum up how I felt about this book with one word. Meh.  Is that a word?  It started off slow but eventually picked up and I became interested but well meh.  It wasn’t that it was bad. I just thought it would be better.  Maybe that’s because both Maggie Stiefvater and Rick Riordan, two authors who I love gave it such high praise on Goodreads that I had higher expectations for it.  So what’s it about? Every 10 years the Dragon comes down from his tower and takes one girl back with him.  The Dragon is the Lord of the Valley and a wizard, not an actual dragon as some stories say he is.  The girls he takes always come back changed but never say what they did while they lived in the tower.  The people continue to  do this because the Dragon helps defend them from the mysterious Wood that lies just beyond the Valley.  The Wood has a very mysterious evil about it that corrupts all that come in contact with it.  Agnieszka knows that her best friend Kasia is going to be the next one to be picked.  It’s common thinking that the Dragon always picks the most special girl out of her generation and it’s widely agreed upon that Kasia is that girl.  So it’s surprise Agnieszka who is not a great beauty or has any special talent beyond getting dirty is picked instead.

Setting this story up took  a lot of time and that’s what slowed down the pace of the story in the beginning but once it was able to get over establishing who everyone was, what the Wood was and why the Dragon does what he did, the story was able to move forward at a faster pace.  Agnieszka is a likable character.  She’s the typical heroine as she isn’t special on the outside but is on the inside.  Her relationship with the Dragon starts off antagonistic.  At first he really wants nothing to do with her and the same for her too.  We eventually learn that he picked her because he saw that she too had powers and it was his duty to teach her.  She isn’t really into the lessons until her village is under attack from the Wood and the Dragon is not around to help.  This is when things after speed up.  The plot starts to fill out.  We meet Prince Marek, who comes to the Dragon for help of saving his Mother who ran into the Wood 20 years ago and never heard from again.  The Wood ups it’s attack but and like most things the politics get in the way.  The Wood is crafty and is plays everyone perfectly and Agnieszka is always a step behind but still a step ahead from everyone else.  The battle at the end is a little bit anti-climatic after the previous battle but it’s a good ending.  So maybe I’m missing something but I thought it was good but not great.