Reading Roundup: Summer/Fall 2024

This is a much delayed list of all the things I read from June to December of last year, though I skipped a couple of sequels to things.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

Alright, yes, the book is awesome. I mean this is a story that occurs as a play acted out in a dream. It’s ridiculous. Who came up with that? And it works, wonderfully. I was never quite sure where this story was going, in part because of the form, in part because of the unique world and characters. Also, reading this while breastfeeding meant that I had a very intimate knowledge of exactly how one of the most upsetting scenes in the book played out. Great timing for me. It will take me years to get that out of my head. Anyway if you have not picked up this book and are at all interested in experiments with form, please go do so. (Fantasy)

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

I greatly enjoyed this book. It’s the most firmly adult book Bardugo has written. It’s also set in Spain somewhere between the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and I happen to be blessed to have taken an art history course in Spain that allowed me to well visualize the colors, tastes, and smells of the time period. It was a great deal of fun for me, and I appreciated the ending, though I do think some readers might find it to be not quite what they are hoping for. Also, it’s worth finding the NPR interview that Bardugo did about this story. It is quite good. (Historical Fantasy)

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Yes, it was a long time coming. But I have arrived. I have finally read The Raven Cycle. I think I’ve put these books off for so long because so many people have told me I had to read them because I was from Virginia and liked fantasy. I am an obstinate creature at heart. If too many people tell me to read something I will not read it on principle, until I realize I’m not reading it on principle and decide I am being elitist, which is against my principles. Thus when someone gifted me their old copies of these books I decided to at last engage – only to be thwarted by my baby’s desire to contact nap. Luckily, I found free copies of the ebooks on the library website. Huzzah for libraries!
Anyway, I did end up enjoying these. They even got Virginia a little right, which is to be expected since I looked it up and yes, Stiefvater is from here. We’re a complex sort of state, so I did object to some things just on principle – yes, there’s that word again. It’s pesky. But I found the writing at the line level to be a delight and the characters were fun, plus who doesn’t like a hunt for an ancient Welsh king? Lots of fun. (Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult)

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

This is a book I had high hopes for that just didn’t quite manifest. It’s got all the elements – AI, an android, sentient octopi – but something in the plot just didn’t quite pull together to be what I wanted. That said, I did not DNF, which is a big deal when books have become your sole source of entertainment. I left it on the list as an intriguing scifi story, since a dearth of scifi marked the latter half of my year. (Science Fiction)

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Another highly enjoyable Kingfisher story knocks it straight out of the park. I particularly liked the older protagonist. I am a sucker for older protagonists at this juncture, as I am heading towards being an older protagonist myself. Having a baby has made me surprisingly uninterested in hot young things with hot young thing problems, probably because of the crushing weight of being utterly responsible for another human life, possibly also because of the immense amounts of pain involved. Sort of puts things in perspective. Anyway, it’s quintessential Kingfisher – creepy quadrupeds haunting the woods, ghosts, a very upsetting sequence with a fly, and a practical woman with a horrific problem. A+. (Fantasy, Horror)

Jane, Unlimited by Kristen Cashore

I’m not quite sure what to say about this book, except I read it and had a lot of feelings. A lot of different feelings, some of them a surprise. I also can’t tell you what genre it is. It was a fun book that did interesting things, and while it was not my favorite book for various reasons, it was solid and ambitious in structure. I recommend reading it. (Fantasy, Horror, Thriller, ????)

Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

Was there a new Ilona Andrews release? Yes. Did I read it? Yes. Did I love it? Also yes. There are no surprises here – except that Ilona Andrews sold a book to Tor right around the time this particular novella was released and I am so very excited. Anyway, this is a story in the Kate Daniels world, featuring Roman, whom I’ve always liked. If you enjoy Russian and Russian-adjacent folklore you might enjoy this one. I certainly learned some things. (Fantasy, Urban Fantasy)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I saved this book for last in my reviews because it is one of two books I’ve read this year (Kindred being the other) where the last paragraph is what makes the whole book come together. I do not know how to write such a thing – it seems the sort of magic that you fall into, much like the labyrinth in Piranesi. Anyway, several people had gushed about this novel and it just didn’t sound like something I wanted to read for quite some time. When I started it, I was mostly skeptical. But I was still intrigued, and I kept reading, and then things started picking up and I was still along for the ride but not sure what all the fuss was about. Until the very last two lines of the book. What an absolutely magical work. I am so glad you all convinced me to read it. (Fantasy)

The Girl in the Tower/The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

These books were exactly what I wanted. Katherine Arden is rapidly becoming a must-read writer for me, and I am pretty sure I’m not alone in that regard. While I had enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale, it felt emotionally complete enough that it took me some time to come back to the rest of the series. I’m glad I read this, and the historical research that must have went into this book was so fun as a reader. (Fantasy, Historical Fantasy)

Someone You Can Build a Nest in by John Wiswell

This was a pretty fun monster book, if you’re into monster books, with a non-traditional romance element that didn’t feel overly romantic to me. Some of the plot and characters actually reminded me a bit of the Stones in C.S.E Cooney’s Saint Death’s Daughter, but Shesheshen was definitely her own particular beasty. Wiswell’s work is always original and insightful. (Horror, Fantasy, LGBTQ)

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

This book had me reading almost despite myself. Sensual, creepy, and a lot of fun. If you’re looking for sapphic content that isn’t saccharine, you’ve found it here. Any sweetness is certainly a disguise for something bitter. (Horror, LGBTQ)

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

And Katherine Arden appears again, this time in a middle grade book that perfectly captured for me the vibes of Halloween. Seriously, if you’re looking for something that makes you feel the way your first Ray Bradbury story made you feel at fifteen, may I present to you Small Spaces? I recommend reading it on a rainy day in the fall, for reasons. (Horror, Middle Grade)

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix still writes horror that would make an excellent film. which I appreciate. While this wasn’t my favorite work of his, it was a solid read with a trademark, gritty heroine who hangs on by grit more than any special power. I really enjoyed the critique of box stores in general, because yeah it kind of feels like that. (Horror)

And with that I wrap up my book reviews for 2024. I’ll try to be more frequent in 2025. But until then, I hope you all have a happy holiday!