#reading reports

Another whirlwind of a month, with family visiting and a good bit of travel. Loved seeing everyone, but honestly, also very glad to have at least a few days back in my apartment to myself. Haven't been doing a lot of work, but trying to get some research reading done as well as my leisure reading. (Which I didn't do as much of as I had hoped while traveling. Because I was the navigator for our driver. Which was honestly murder on my nerves.) I feel like I've been out of a routine for so long now and it's hard to see signs of one returning anytime soon, but I'll just have to keep doing my best. As far as reading, not a bad month at all.

The House With the Golden Door (Wolf Den Trilogy #2) by Elodie Harper- 4.75/5 stars Not much of a second book slump here, though perhaps I didn't love it quite as much as the first one. Still a lot of attention to the characters, the setting, and the emotional ramifications of the plot. Just really enjoyed it all around!

Man In The Middle Voice: Name And Narration In The Odyssey by John Peradotto*

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal- 4/5 stars I liked this a lot. Really interesting exploration of erotica, sex, the place of storytelling, and the varied ways cultural expectations can be met, managed, restricting, and comforting. Plus the mystery aspect was a pleasant surprise.

The Temple of Fortuna (Wolf Den Trilogy #3) by Elodie Harper- 5/5 stars I think the first book might still be my favorite, but this one deserved five stars too. A fitting ending to the trilogy that took a really interesting approach to Pompeii's eruption and provided great closure for our characters and their stories.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge- 4/5 stars What a weird little book. The cosmic god stuff is not super my thing, but I really liked our main character and this was such a great exploration of friendships--how they're formed and broken and can change everything, for better or for worse.

Among Others by Jo Walton- 4.25/5 stars I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but not exactly what I got. The blend of Mor's prosaic life with its ordinary teenage struggles against the backdrop of the fae and her magical mother was fascinating. I also enjoyed reading all her opinions on books, even if I hadn't read most of them myself.

The Hod King (The Books of Babel #3) by Josiah Bancroft- 3.75/5 stars I feel like I should be rating these books higher because I do think the world is really, really interesting, and I think the characters are generally well-written and offer a wide range of personalities that are engaging to read about. Maybe it's just that I don't like all the characters equally? And each book feels reeeaaally packed. This one was no exception, and I'm sure the final one will be as well.

The Routledge Handbook to the Ghost Story edited by Scott Brewster and Luke Thurston*

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James- 3.5/5 stars This was a solid mystery. I had suspicions about the twist, but wasn't disatisfied with guessing it. Wasn't expecting the slight supernatural twist, but executed well enough.

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed- 4/5 stars This novella sometimes felt longer than it was--not unlike the forest itself--but the writing was very lyrical. I quite liked it overall, just felt a touch repetitive at times.

*read for academic purposes and therefore not rated

Well, my dissertation is submitted! It was honestly a really weird feeling; kind of anticlimactic, and the week afterwards left me feeling odd and off-balance. Kind of tough to celebrate a big win by yourself in a foreign country. But it's done! On to other projects--preparing courses, revising shorter pieces, etc. But despite all the weird feelings (maybe because of them?), it was a huge reading month for me, for better or for worse.

Roots of My Fears edited by Gemma Amor- 2.5/5 stars Short story collection and tragically, most did not hit for me. Not very memorable, and several stories that I actively disliked. Bummer.

The Pomegranate Gate (Mirror Realm Cycle #1) by Ariel Kaplan- 3.75/5 stars This was neat! I wasn't as absorbed in the world as I would've liked, but I think it's an intersting blend of history and myth. There were some neat twists and turns and a lot going on, in general. I do think maybe I would've liked the history to be a little more closely integrated with the fantasy but alas.

Collected Ancient Greek Novels edited by Bryan P. Reardon*

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel- 4.5/5 stars I was afraid this would still be too soon to read post-pandemic, but I really liked it. It did a good job weaving together all its characters and their stories across the before-during-after, and I appreciated that it was ultimately hopeful.

What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier #3) by T. Kingfisher- 4.5/5 stars Another banger from T. Kingfisher. Something about the precise way the horror was actually not-horror but then also sort of was kept this from being a perfect 5 from me, but I had a great time, as always.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish- 5/5 stars This was a weird book to read right after finishing my dissertation. On the one hand, some of its sentiments about academia, particularly Aaron's frustration with his dissertation and research project, was, to a certain extent, very relatable. On the other, it was sometimes frustrating in and of itself. And while I understand why it was necessary for the story, I didn't love our flashbacks to Helen's past, which felt less connected to the other parts of the story. Esther's story was great though.

The Wolf Den (Wolf Den Trilogy #1) by Elodie Harper- 5/5 stars Finally picked this up because I'm going back to Pompeii in a couple of weeks and I'm so glad I did. I'm not going to claim this is perfectly historically accurate or anything (honestly I'm not enough of an archaeologist or historian for that), but this felt like a really vivid, realistic portrait of the beauties and agonies of life in ancient Pompeii. The character work was great and I felt like the complexities of both the historical setting and realities and the ways they would impact the characters was handled really, really well.

Classical Closure: Reading the End in Greek and Latin Literature edited by Deborah H. Roberts, Francis M. Dunn, and Don Fowler*

Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity in Western Scholarship by Anthony Grafton*

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier- 4/5 stars I've never really read much set in the Pacific island region before, but I liked this a lot! The romance was cute and not overbearing, the plot moved smoothly and sensibly, and the world, while not super built-out, was interesting.

Forgery Beyond Deceit: Fabrication, Value, and the Desire for Ancient Rome edited by John North Hopkins*

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle- 3.75/5 stars Maybe I would have liked this more if I was more familiar with Lovecraft? (My sister got me a collection for Christmas, so I'll get to it...eventually...) Quick and compelling, but I wasn't blown away.

*read for academic purposes and therefore not rated

I'm back abroad and trying to get my dissertation finished in the next couple of weeks(!) (advisor #2 please give me feedback...) so that's been where a lot of my focus is lately. The new year is off to a pretty good start, though I have been feeling kind of lethargic lately, not sure what's up with that. (Other than like, the general state of the world.) Doing my best to push through it though and still do fun things, while still getting the rest I need. And reading! Always doing that, if somewhat more slowly than I might like.

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley- 3.5/5 stars I would've liked this more if *spoilers* the main romance hadn't ended the way it did. It felt kind of thrown in for the sake of having a romance and...I didn't like it. Which is a shame because I think this is otherwise a very innovative take on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale with very enjoyable writing.

The Arm of the Sphinx (The Books of Babel #2) by Josiah Banecroft- 3.75/5 stars Pretty much on par with the first one, and I'm glad I finally got to pick this one up. The world is so fascinating, and I like (most of) the characters a lot. (Voleta annoys me deeply I am sorry to say.) There were some interesting elements introduced here and I look forward to the next installment.

Cinder House by Freya Marske- 4.5/5 stars Really innovative take on Cinderella, and I loved the relationship between Ella and the prince, especially in its ending. I'm not sure I would call this a "queer Gothic romance" which is how the blurb markets it, but I'm really okay with none of those elements ending up super strongly in the book (imo) and enjoyed it a lot anyway.

A Conspiracy of Truths #1 (A Conspiracy of Truths) by Alexandra Rowland- 3/5 stars I keep trying Rowland's stuff because I liked the worldbuilding in A Taste of Gold and Iron a lot, but so far, nothing else has been super for-me. I think I just don't always vibe with her tone/voice, and that was a big part of this one too. I think the underlying structure and the big ideas explored were really interesting and raised excellent political and philosophical questions, but it was sort of...boring? And I didn't love our narrator.

The Hiding Place by Amanda Mason- 2/5 stars Ugh, disappointing. Turned out that both of our main characters kind of sucked, even though one was a child. Cheating plotline which I never enjoy. And despite some good scares, the overall explanation/ghost element of the story was underwhelming.

Throne of Jade (Temeraire #2) by Naomi Novik- 4/5 stars Didn't like this quite as much as the first one, and it's a little hard to put my finger on exactly why. Maybe because we didn't see as much Temeraire? Maybe because there were a couple of things about the cultural differences I didn't 100% love? I'm not sure, but I did still enjoy it and plan on picking up the next one.