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Tag: Ann Leckie

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The past two weeks in reading

 

Two weeks ago I plunged into my summer reading pile, and it’s been…satisfying. Incredibly, unusually, remarkably satisfying. While I’ve attempted a few books that I abandoned mid-read, or that I finished but had significant problems with, most of what I’ve picked up have been winners.

Here are a few that I’ve read and particularly enjoyed:

  • Flamecaster (Cinda Williams Chima) – I started with this one, and it was just what I wanted after the stressful spring drew to a close. It put me in mind of Alanna, not for any particular similarity of plot or world, but because I enjoyed it in the same way.
  • The Core of the Sun (Johanna Sinisalo) – an extremely weird and extremely funny *real* (by which I mean it contains some interesting commentary on the everyday world) dystopian novel.
  • An Inheritance of Ashes (Leah Bobet) – I can’t seem to come up with a short snappy summary of this one. So I will just say: I liked it.
  • Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy (Ann Leckie) – It’s been a long, long time since I read any space opera and I was therefore leery of these, but I am so glad I got over it and read them anyway. All three were hands-down fantastic. The coolness of the gender concept (the language/culture of the protagonist does not distinguish between genders, and so everyone is termed “she”) was an added bonus.
  • Children of Earth and Sky (Guy Gavriel Kay) – I love Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, and as a result I was so eager to read this that I dashed through it too fast. I need to read it again.
  • Europe in Autumn (Dave Hutchinson) – This is a page-turner, a spy/SFF novel set in a near-future fractured Europe. This one I will also read again, to pick up whatever I missed the first time around.

Either a lot of good books are coming out these days, or I did an especially good job on my 2016 summer reading list. Or maybe it’s just luck of the draw?

Back to reading!

 

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First pass summer reading list

Some of these are recommendations, some are things I’ve been wanting to read for a while, some are rereads. The list grows.

The list is in no particular order.

  • Children of Earth and Sky – Guy Gavriel Kay
  • Every Heart a Doorway – Seanan McGuire
  • Europe in Autumn, Europe at Midnight – Dave Hutchinson
  • The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor
  • The Core of the Sun – Johanna Sinisalo
  • Roses and Rot – Kat Howard
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J. Maas
  • The Wrath and the Dawn – Renée Ahdieh
  • The Dark Days Club – Allison Goodman
  • Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
  • The Star-Touched Queen – Roshani Chokshi
  • Flamecaster – Cinda Williams Chima
  • An Inheritance of Ashes – Leah Bobet
  • Black Wolves – Kate Elliot
  • Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy – Ann Leckie
  • Forbidden Wish – Jessica Khoury
  • The Moor’s Account – Laila Lalami
  • Heroine Complex – Sarah Kuhn (due out in July)
  • If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino (a reread)
  • La Sombra Del Viento – Carlos Ruiz Zafón (also a reread)

Most of these are sci-fi/fantasy…where my taste is trending these days. Most are NOT young adult, a deliberate decision (and something I’ll write a post about when I can get my thoughts in some kind of coherent order.)

Oh and, on the cookbook front, the 2016 James Beard Awards were just announced. I put some of the awardees/nominees on my list too:

  • Beetlebung Farm Cookbook – Chris Fischer with Catherine Young
  • Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More – Sarah Owens
  • This is Camino – Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain
  • NOPI: The Cookbook – Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully