Thursday, September 01, 2016

August

This month: five full length, adult novels; five other works (kids' books, graphic novels, novellas)

I have a bit of a backlog of books I've been meaning to write about, so let's just knock these out and get them off the table.  I want the blog to be caught up, at least so I can remove some of these things from my Kindle.

Books

Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee. This one was an ARC and was a bit of a bear to read, so it's getting a post of its own on Monday.

Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism, by David Nickle. In 1911, a eugenics-inspired utopian community in the mountains of Montana is visited by Lovecraftian horrors.  I found this book on a list of recommendations for someone who was looking for some horror that dug into the really horrifying racism in Lovecraft.  This book didn't dig very deep into it, but a black doctor in the the early 20th century fighting eugenicists and the aforementioned Lovecraftian horrors--it got the job done.  The horror was pretty neatly horrifying, as was the notion of a town whose motto is "Community, compassion, hygiene." It was well-written, and an engaging read, but there wasn't a lot more going on there; it's been a few days and I'm already kind of forgetting it.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, by Alan Bradley. The second Flavia de Luce book, again delightful.  As with a lot of cozy mysteries, it's mostly small town setup and only really gets to mystery or murder in the last half of the book, but Flavia's delightful, and the reader of the audiobook, Jayne Entwistle, is really amazing. These are always a pleasure.

Stiletto, by Daniel O'Malley. Second book in the Checquy files, sequel to The Rook, I've already blogged about it; flawed but I love it.

The Philosopher Kings, by Jo Walton. Another sequel that I've already written about; an excellent book.

Next post: August's not-a-full-books, coming soon!

1 comment:

Lianna Williamson said...

I'm glad you're enjoying The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag!

Right now I am reading both The Raven Boys and Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, both of which are recommendations from you, and both of which I'm loving!