Weekly Wrap-Up #17

 

Happy Friday, all!  This week has been a little rough for me because I’ve been under the weather.  I’ve missed almost an entire week of work  (despite going into the office twice).  I’m starting to pull through, and just in time!  I’ve got my book club this evening, where I’ll be hanging out with fabulous like-minded fantasy folk.

The only good thing about being sick is that you have lots of time to read.  Let’s see how the rest of the week has been in books.

 

Books I read

 

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

 

I had been flagging on Sea of Rust for awhile.  Not because it’s not a good book, it was a really good read, but because I have this delicious stack of physical books and reading on a Kindle is tough for motivation.  I buckled down and powered thtough, and I’m so pleased I did.  A review is forthcoming (as it always is — I’m so behind), but think Firefly meets the robot apocalypse.

I finished up Throne of the Crescent Moon this week as well — it is the book that my bookclub will be discussing tonight.  I have mixed feelings on this book.  It was well-written, but didn’t have enough focus.  I just couldn’t connect with the plot or characters.  It’s one of the few times in my life that I’ve been able to say that an adult fantasy book should have been much longer!

 

Books I’m currently reading

 

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

 

The Diabolic is my newest e-ARC read.  As I told my friend on Goodreads, it is batshit insane and I’m loving every second of it.  After reading two books that dealt with heavy themes, I’m glad to be diving into a bizarre and fast-paced book.

I’ve just started Daughter of the Burning City as well.  I have it as an e-ARC, but picked up an early sales copy at YALC.  It is so intriguing and compelling so far, I’m really liking it!  I can’t say much because I’m about 25 pages in.

Both of these books count toward my ARC August goal!

 

 

Books I bought

 

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The Drawing of Three by Stephen King

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

We all knew that my good spending habits from last week weren’t going to last.  Scottish Fiance and I went on the Ninja Book Box bookshop crawl last Saturday.  Although we got epically rained on (I don’t function well when wet — I’m from Southern California), I still managed to buy three books.

I’ve read a little bit of Ray Bradbury, but it has been ages and I want to give him another go.  The Drawing of the Three is the second Dark Tower book.  I’ve read the first and it was awful, but apparently it is pretty different from the rest of the books.  Nevernight of course is a much-discussed book and with the sequel coming out soon, it is time for me to hop on the Nevernight train.

 

Book post

 

The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy

The Dark Net is a BookBridgr request that came through really quickly!  I have seen some good reviews here, so I thought I’d give it a shot.  It looks like a fascinating combination of science fiction and fantasy.

 

NetGalley Approvals

 

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand

Starborn by Lucy Hounsom

Again, I’ve started adding in my NetGalley approvals to keep myself accountable for all the books I’ve been requesting!

Invictus was one of the proofs being handed out at YALC, but by the time Sunday rolled around I was so disinterested in running for books.  Instead I took a gamble on it showing up on NetGalley and it paid off!  Koh-I-Noor looks absolutely fascinating.  I really enjoy (maybe ‘enjoy’ isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean) reading about the history of the British occupation of India.  Intestestingly enough, Koh-I-Noor is cowritten by Anita Anand.  She wrote Sophia, which was featured on yesterday’s TBR Thursday.  Finally, you all know I can’t resist a pretty cover and Starborn drew me in right away.

 

Life Stuff

This is really an excuse to share more cat pictures.  We went on a little book walk last weekend to get me some Instagram photos, and we ran into an old friend!  Geri the Ginger Canal Cat was our noble escort and as cute as ever.

 

 

 

That’s it for this week!  I’m on the mend thanks to the marvelous healing powers of my two nurses.

 

I am intentionally off of work today because it’s Scottish Fiance’s birthday tomorrow! We are hanging out together today, and my family is coming through tomorrow for more celebrations.  What a spoiled guy!

 

What have you read this week?  Are any of these books in your TBR pile?  Want to wish Scottish Fiance a happy birthday and make him blush?  Let me know!