Books. Cats. Nonsense.
While hunting through my shiny new Scribd account, I stumbled upon P. Djèlí Clark’s Cairo novellas and was intrigued. I queued up the audiobooks and ended up absolutely loving these gorgeous fantasy tales! As these were quite short, today I’m bringing you mini reviews of these two books.
I’ve been wanting to read Ted Chiang’s short science fiction works ever since his much acclaimed Stories of Your Life and Others. His work gets loads of praise from literary types who don’t usually look twice at genre fiction, so I was definitely curious and picked up a copy. When two of the works in the book were nominated for Hugo awards, I finally picked up Exhalation and read it. I was absolutely blown away by his incredible writing and thought-provoking plots.
Harrow Lake first burst onto my radar when the publishers were sending out the coolest looking proofs (seriously, check it out!) in the winter. I was immediately interested in the book as soon as I read the summary -- I’ve never been much of a horror reader but have been trying to dip my toe into the genre lately. Harrow Lake turned out to be a great stepping stone into horror for me with its creepy, atmospheric setting and things that go bump in the night.
I’ve been struggling with YA fantasy for the past year or so, however I wanted to give it another try while in quarantine. I dusted off my copy of The Descendant of the Crane -- one of my most highly anticipated 2019 releases that I never managed to read (oops), which is coming out in the UK in June. It turned out to be the perfect escapist read filled with gorgeous world-building, fun characters, and more twists and turns than I could have ever anticipated!
Welcome to my stop on the Goldilocks blog tour! This book snagged my attention back when it was announced and was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020. I adored Lam’s book False Hearts, and was eager to pick up what sounded like a book that was written for me. A feminist science fiction novel about five women who steal a spaceship? Leaving Earth in order to seek out a better future? Comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale? Yes please! I’m so thrilled to say that this book absolutely lived up to my sky-high expectations and I loved it -- it is easily one of my favourite books of the year so far.
Welcome to my stop on the Incendiary blog tour! Incendiary has been on my radar for ages because I loved the idea of a Spanish Inquisition-inspired fantasy novel. Despite my recent ups and downs with YA fantasy, I gave my first Zoraida Cordova book a try, and I ended up really liking it! While I think that a lot more could have gone into the world-building and the characters, it is such a fun and addicting read with a great ending.
Welcome to my stop on the Deck of Omens blog tour! I absolutely devoured (heh heh) Herman’s debut novel The Devouring Gray last year and have been desperately waiting for the sequel. The Deck of Omens is an addicting and thrilling read that introduces strange new aspects to the world of Four Paths, all while giving a satisfying conclusion to the story and characters.
I was immediately drawn to the concept of The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart -- it seemed like it had everything I wanted. Time travel! Brooklyn! Women-led fiction! The 80’s! Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but I think that’s because of my own expectations going into it and confusion as to where this books falls in terms of genre.
I’m not much of a horror reader, however lately I have been dipping my toe into the genre and am loving what I’ve been read so far. Having recently finished My Best Friend’s Exorcism, I was so excited to pick up Hendrix’s new book, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. His trademark wit and humor balanced the truly horrifying elements of the book, making it a thrilling, hilarious, and fast-paced read that kept me up long past my bedtime.
Greetings from isolation! March has obviously been a super weird month for all of us -- it's not every day you get locked indoors due to a global pandemic. Lockdown did, however, mean I read lots of books and despite so much anxiety, I managed to keep up with my usual rate of reading in March!
