It's been a while since I posted a reading update. While I'm not on the same breakneck pace as last year, I'm still doing fairly well. 41 titles so far this year, putting me on pace for ~178, or right around average for me. I usually manage between 150 and 200 titles in a year.
“Foxglove Summer,” book 5 of the Rivers of London series be Ben Aaronovitch.
These books have been a load of fun, but I'm stuck at a crossroads of 'book six isn't available from Overdrive' and 'I don't have enough audible credits.' I may have to break down and do the next one the old-fashioned way, on an ereader.
“The Churn,” book 0.2 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Leviathan Wakes,” book 1 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Caliban’s War,” book 2 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Gods of Risk,” book 2.5 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Abbadon’s Gate,” book 3 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Cibola Burn,” book 4 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Nemesis Game,” book 5 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“The Vital Abyss,” book 5.5 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Babylon’s Ashes,” book 6 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
“Strange Dogs,” book 6.5 of The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
Re-reading The Expanse. For some reason I never got 'round to book 8 and with book nine coming soon I figured I had best get back up to speed. I was really surprised how much of the story was 'new' to me. Far more than can be explained away by getting older, or maybe not.
“The Edge of the World, book 1 of Terra Incognita by Kevin J. Anderson.
I'm not sure what it is about Keven J. Anderson's writing, but while it's perfectly serviceable sci-fi/fantasy, I find it incredibly unmemorable.
“For a Few Demons More,” book 5 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“The Outlaw Demon Wails”, book 6 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“White Witch, Black Curse,” book 7 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“Black Magic Sanction,” book 8 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“Pale Demon,” book 9 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“A Perfect Blood,” book 10 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“Ever After,” book 11 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“The Undead Pool,” book 12 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“The Witch with no Name,” book 13 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
“American Demon,” book 14 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison.
Finished the re-read of The Hollows in preparation for books 14 and 15, "American Demon" and the forthcoming "Million Dollar Demon." Harper Voyager needs to not meddle in the creative process. The new book set in The Hollows are squeezed in between the end of the main story arc and the final "20 years later" scene found at the end of "The Witch with no Name," and it's impossible to generate any tension. We already
know all the main characters are going to be fine. How can we get overly concerned when one is placed in peril? The sad part is that she has a new series that is being stifled by Harper Voyager in favor of books that are never going to be able to live up to their predecessors.
“Steal the Sky,” book 1 of The Scorched Continent by Megan O’Keefe.
“Break the Chains,” book 2 of The Scorched Continent by Megan O’Keefe.
Decent fantasy series. Nothing groundbreaking, but good yarns all the same. Not a steampunk series, despite airships being a common trope there.
“Rebel Island, book 7 of the Tres Navarre series by Rick Riordan.
The conclusion to Riordan's thriller series. It strikes me as odd that he completely bailed on the thrillers that were quite successful to write kids books. Not that I'm complaining. Some of those kids books are among my favorites. Still, I do wish he'd write some more thrillers. He's quite good at it.
“Everything Trump Touches Dies” by Rick Wilson
Being a political book, I'm going to pass on saying much about it.
“Nightlife,” book 1 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Moonshine,” book 2 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Madhouse,” book 3 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Deathwish,” book 4 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Roadkill,” book 5 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Blackout,” book 6 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
“Doubletake,” book 7 of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.
The first book in this series nearly turned me off the series completely. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, or maybe the first one really wasn't as good as the rest have been. I'm glad I read her Trixter books first since that's what gave me the impetus to move on to book 2. Cal Leandros is a monster. He knows it and is unapologetic about it. After all, sometimes it takes a monster to fight monsters.
“An Ember in the Ashes,” book 1 of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
“A Torch Against the Night,” book 2 of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
“A Reaper at the Gates,” book 3 of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
“A Sky Beyond the Storm,” book 1 of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
One of the better sword and sorcery series I've read in recent years. It hits all the common tropes, yet manages to keep things relatively fresh. It's got a mid-eastern flavor which probably helps since we see so little of it in the west.
“Calculated Risks,” book 10 of InCryptid by Seanan McGuire
McGuire resolved the cliffhanger ending, but provided the weakest of the InCryptid books to date.
“Indexing,” book 1 of Indexing by Seanan McGuire
“Reflections,” book 2 of Indexing by Seanan McGuire
An interesting duology based on the idea that fairy tale tropes can bleed over to the real world, becoming real, and the secret government agency that handles the issues. Not McGuire's best work, but an entertaining ride none the less.
“The Wailing Wind,” Navajo Mysteries book 15 by Tony Hillerman
I am nearly done with the Navajo Mysteries written by Tony Hillerman. They have grown to be among my favorites. I hope his daughter takes good care of the characters Tony developed along the way.
