What I’ve been reading

In my last inbox/outbox post, I was surprised to learn that I’d nearly hit my Goodreads annual reading goal of 52 books, and it wasn’t quite mid-year. Well, now July has ended, and I still haven’t hit my goal. So, I guess you could say that my pace of reading has slowed down a bit.

When last we checked in, I was at 42 books read. I am now up to 48 books read.Which means, assuming I can manage my August Orilium Autumn Equinox TBR, I should definitely surpass the 52 book mark this month.

Here’s what I’ve read since my last update.

Witch King by Martha Wells took me an unexpectedly long time to finish. It was a true epic fantasy novel, and as such, dense with world-building that made me have to slow my reading pace. I didn’t mind, though, because I really loved the characters.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco also took me a long time to finish, but for almost the opposite reason. In this case, I found that I didn’t like the main character, and I felt like the author was holding back explaining the world (maybe in an attempt to add tension?), and that just didn’t work for me. I liked the book enough to finish it, but probably won’t be reading the rest of the series. (Unfortunate, because I really wanted to like it!)

I listened to You Will Find Your People by Lane Moore on audiobook. The subtitle for this book is “How to Make Meaningful Friendships as an Adult,” and though I got a lot out of this one, it’s a little light on the “how to” part promised in the subtitle. That said, there’s a lot of good stuff in here about friendships that really resonated with me, so much so that I may eventually buy a copy for reference when this comes out in paperback.

I finally read A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell #8) by Deanna Raybourn. This was another fun addition to the series. The mystery plot in this one was well done and kept me on my toes with interesting twists through the end.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton was a weird but entertaining read. If you can get past the flying houses, this is a very good historical romance featuring high society not-so-secret pirates (who fly houses and steal from their peers?). The humor is very dry and very self-aware, which was a delight. And Ned (the hero) was giving me excellent Flynn Rider vibes. I guess the takeaway is, just don’t ask too many questions or press too hard on that whole pirate thing. If you like historical romance and can take the somewhat nonsensical world-building at face value, then you will probably enjoy this book.

Speaking of pirates, my favorite book I read this month was The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and it was exactly the “getting the band back together” and “one last job” sort of adventure that I love, with added bonus points for the middle-aged pirate captain / mom. Blame it on Sarah Connor, but I’m kind of a sucker for the badass mom kicking ass to protect the ones she loves. For more like this, see also a book I read and loved earlier this year, The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliot, and also the Queens of Renthia series by Sarah Beth Durst. (Note: I say this as a happily childless person.)

Now, I’m off to tackle that Orilium TBR. As the Wisteria Society would say, “Tally ho.” Or as Veronica would say, “Excelsior!”