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Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the late post, I forgot what day of week it was yesterday and then today was just stupid busy.

This week all I read was A Gentleman in Moscow. I realize I'm in the minority in this, but man I really did NOT like this book. Tedious, no character development, took me forever to get through. I honestly can't really see why people love it so much, it's baffling. Sorry if it's anyone's favorite!

Currently reading:

For a Few Demons More - Hollows re-read

The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One - Big fan of her poetry, and I don't particularly enjoy poetry. Just reading a few here or there, but love them.

QOTW: I realize there's still reading to do, but what are some of your top reads for the year? I read quite a few 5 stars. A few of my top top ones are:

Saga: Compendium One - such a lovely, heartbreaking story. I need it to continue.

Educated - well written, fascinating, a little horrifying that this is a true, modern story. This is a book club pick for February, so will be interesting to talk about more.

Circe & The Song of Achilles - love retellings in general, but these were excellent examples.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - usually if i start of not particularly caring for a character, it kinda stays that way. But I just fell in love with Elanore, and it was such a good story.

A Closed and Common Orbit - while i loved A Long Way To a Small Angry Planet, loved this one even more. It was such a great story, focused in on two characters and really delved into complex issues of rights and autonomy and purpose.

Middlegame - love Seanan McGuire overall, but this was just fantastic. So complex and engrossing. Much different than some of her other fantasy work, somewhat verging between science fiction and fantasy.

Been a quiet week here as we recover from vacation and prepare for both the holiday week ahead, and my job change next month.

Knocked off two shorts this week that had been timed to arrive at the library for me when I got home last Saturday. White Sand, Volume 3 is the conclusion of Brandon Sanderson's trilogy foray into the graphic novel format. Definitely enjoyed it, although the format makes it read so differently than his other works that it's hard to compare it.

Read the Terry Gookind novella The Scribbly Man and have its next installment ready to pick up later this week. Goodkind's last bunch of novels have been really disappointing to me, coming off a much more bland than his earlier work. Though lacking the sheer power of his peak in Temple of the Winds (or Faith of the Fallen- yep, I'll go there!), Scribbly Man felt like a return to the way Gookind used to write, and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the series.

Currently working on The Starless Sea. I love Morgenstern's mastery of creating dreamy, whimsical prose and setting, but have mixed feelings on the plot so far. Will report back with my final thoughts once I'm done with it, and I see where she's ultimately going.

QOTW- favorite books from this year:
The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London - Just so incredibly fascinating and well told.

The Skystone - the beginning of one of me favorite series. Author Whyte can almost be forgiven for one of the slowest starts in history of amazing books.

The Burning White - the suitably epic conclusion that this series deserved.

The Gathering Storm/Towers of Midnight/A Memory of Light - ditto

Master of Formalities - This book started so "blah," and about halfway through got totally turned on it's head. It wound up being such a delightfully unexpected ride and ending.

Admiral - For one that I randomly grabbed on a whim, it was unexpectedly both fun and fascinating to watch this story unfold. Who in the heck is this guy?????

Doing a final push to hit my goal for the year, including some rereads of childhood favorites The Borrowers and Gone-Away Lake. Also enjoyed several FoE recommendations for short books.

Most of my five star books this year were rereads of favorite authors (Gail Carriger, John Scalzi, Elizabeth Peters, JK Rowling, Carol Nelson Douglas). New five-star books were How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, The Red Notebook, and two Veronica Speedwell books A Curious Beginning. I also enjoyed How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems.
Four more to go before the end of the year....

Happy holidays, everyone! <3

I finished Resistance Reborn just in time to see the movie. It was a good setup for it, but it did make me wonder where all these EU characters were in the movie.

I'm currently reading The Lady Rogue. I haven't gotten too far yet. That's one of the downsides of being home from work; I actually have less time to read, because I have more distractions here. Hopefully I can make some progress on this one before the end of the year, so I can jump right into my challenge books on January 2.

QOTW: My favorites aren't always five-star ratings, but the books I really want more of. T. Kingfisher's fantasies Clockwork Boys, The Wonder Engine, and Swordheart, which I devoured in quick succession. Also, Seanan McGuire's Middlegame. This was also the year I discovered Courtney Milan's The Brothers Sinister: The Complete Boxed Set #.5-4.5.

I'm probably a little over-generous with five-star ratings, since I kind of give them in the afterglow of finishing the story. Generally, I give them if I really connected with a book and the characters, or if I finish the book wanting more of the characters and/or the world. Some of my 5-star reads this year: The Bear and the Nightingale, Steel Crow Saga, Gideon the Ninth, Uprooted, Spinning Silver, Circe, and Pumpkinheads.