Mary Soon Lee's Blog, page 6

December update

For the curious, here is my December update.

Favorite November reads

End-of-the-month reading report: the book that I liked best this month was Dzur by Steven Brust, book 10 in his Vlad Taltos series, a re-read for me. The culinary scenes that begin the chapters are particularly nice, and I thought the ending very good indeed.

In second place, I'd probably put Owner's Share by Nathan Lowell, the conclusion of his Trader's Tales SF series. I enjoyed 5 of the 6 books in the series very much, though book 4 wasn't as much to my taste [a dark, uncomfortable read for me].

What did you especially enjoy reading in November?

November update

For the curious, here is my November update.

Favorite October reads

In October, I enjoyed several books that were a delightful refuge from the news. They were lower key and sweeter than much of what I read, which was perfect.... Victoria Goddard's Derring-Do for Beginners set in the same universe as most of her fantasy, a prequel that introduces two of the characters before their more famous adventures begin.... And the first three books in Nathan Lowell's slice-of-life SF series mostly set on an interstellar freighter (book one is Quarter Share). Caveat for anyone also looking for a gentle read, book four is much darker.

October Update

For anyone who is curious, here is my October update.

Favorite September reads

In September, my two favorite novel-length reads were both by Natasha Pulley, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow [sequel to "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street" which I'd read earlier: I love them both] and her standalone book The Kingdoms. These are fantasy. I very much like her characters and how she tells stories. I liked Pepperharrow a smidge better than Kingdoms, but Kingdoms had the scene that stood out most for me.

I also read two SFF poetry chapbooks that I liked very much: F. J. Bergmann's "Shelf Life," which is perfect for booklovers, and Kym Deyn's Dionysia which plays on mythic Greek figures.

September update

For anyone who's curious, here is my September update.

Favorite August reads

In August, I gobbled up books two through five of the Astreiant books by Melissa Scott + Lisa A Barnett. Plus I very much enjoyed Orca, this month's re-read in the Taltos series by Steven Brust [N.B. I particularly enjoyed the addition of Kiera's first-person sections].

I also recommend The 2024 Rhysling Anthology and Dwarf Stars 2024 anthologies of speculative poetry. I read them so that I could vote on the corresponding awards and there were a lot of good poems in there.

August update

For anyone who's curious, here's my latest writing/reading update.....

Favorite July reads

What did folks read in July that you loved? My two favorites were both by Natasha Pulley. I read her 2024 SF novel, The Mars House, loved it (though I note some readers had issues with it), and then went back and read her debut F novel from 2015, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which I also loved.

I also very much liked Steven Brust's Athyra, book six in his Taltos series and the gentlest in tone so far, a re-read for me. Plus Lois McMaster Bujold's Knot of Shadows, the eleventh in her wonderful Penric-and-Desdemona series, more melancholy in tone than usual, but very good.