Elizabeth Fitzgerald's Blog: Earl Grey Editing, page 19

Audiobooks

One of my goals this year was to try audiobooks. They’d never particularly appealed to me; I had podcasts and music for the times my hands were busy and books for the times my hands weren’t busy. However, I ended up with some eyestrain while judging the Aurealis Awards last year. I found the experience very frustrating. Podcasts helped, but I got tired of listening to so many back-to-back. I wanted something I could sink into a bit more.

A few months ago I signed up for Libby, an app which allows me to borrow audiobooks from my local library and listen to them on my phone. I picked out The Scorpio Races, a stand-alone contemporary fantasy by Maggie Stiefvater. Not only was it my first audiobook, but it was also my first book by Stiefvater. I think it was a good choice. The story really hooked me in. The audiobook had dual narrators, which didn’t entirely work for me, though it was skilfully read.

I’m not quite ready to jump on the audiobook bandwagon, though. This is mostly because it competes for time with my podcast playlist. However, I still have trouble with eyestrain from time to time and it’s nice to know that the option is there for when I need it.

Are you an audiobook fan? I’d love to hear your experiences with the format. What are your favourite audiobooks?

The Magician’s Keeper by Nicola E. Sheridan

Published: November 2017 by Escape Publishing

Format reviewed: E-book (mobi)

Genres: Fantasy romance

Source: NetGalley

Reading Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2017

Available: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where people judge one another by exacting standards of size and style, being a big girl like Eudora Splat was never going to be easy.

Though trouble is brewing between magic folk and human purists who would see them all destroyed, Dora, a half-giant, tries to eke out a quiet, unnoticed life for herself, but its hard to be subtle when you’re over seven feet tall.

Losing her job as a gardener due to human complaints, Dora is recruited as a prison guard, where she’s enlisted to protect the magician Evander Bear Gordon from human purist attack. Bear encourages her to embrace her power and celebrate her heritage, introducing her to a world where she can be extraordinary and not just weird.

But after years of hiding and shying away, can Dora find the strength to grab onto a new life and hold on to the man she’s falling in love with?

I wanted to like The Magician’s Keeper more than I did in the end.

It started out well. The beginning establishes just how lonely Dora is and gives a really clear picture of the prejudice she faces as a half-giant. She chooses to remain isolated at work, rather than face the microaggressions (and sometimes just aggressions) of her colleagues. This microcosm also shows what things are like in this alternate Australia.

I also enjoyed the setting. The action takes place in and around Perth. When we start out, Dora is working at the botanic gardens and there are some brief but evocative descriptions. It’s a setting that suits Dora’s nurturing nature, making the prejudice and heartbreak she faces on losing her job all the more poignant.

Readers who have difficulties with depictions of sexual harassment may want to steer clear. I appreciated the way things built up, beginning with small infringements of Dora’s boundaries, and the way there are times when Dora hasn’t given whole-hearted consent but is insecure enough that she doesn’t speak out, either.

Unfortunately, there were a few things that didn’t work for me. I really enjoyed Bear as a character. He was sweet and considerate. He was also the only other decent person in the story, which I felt undermined the romance somewhat. Adding to this was the fact Dora and Bear spend relatively little time together–even less as anything approaching equals. While I felt it was plausible they could make a relationship work, given time, it did have a flavour of insta-lust.

The sex scene also didn’t do much for me and I found it decidedly unsexy in places.

I also had an issue with the introduction of nano bots. There had been nothing in the worldbuilding to prepare me for this possibility and it broke my suspension of disbelief. It also served no purpose, except to render Dora temporarily “ugly”, so that Bear could show he cared about her beyond her looks.

Overall, I felt that The Magician’s Keeper had some great potential, but didn’t quite work for me.

New Berth in Mother of Invention

I’m delighted to announce I’ve sold a story to Twelfth Planet Press for their forthcoming anthology Mother of Invention. The book will be edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts and contains stories about gender, AI and robots.

From their pitch on Kickstarter:

From Pygmalion and Galatea to Frankenstein, Ex Machina and Person of Interest, the fictional landscape so often frames cisgender men as the creators of artificial life, leading to the same kinds of stories being told over and over. We want to bring some genuine revolution to the way that artificial intelligence stories are told, and how they intersect with gender identity, parenthood, sexuality, war, and the future of our species. How can we interrogate the gendered assumptions around the making of robots compared with the making of babies? Can computers learn to speak in a code beyond the (gender) binary?

If necessity is the mother of invention, what exciting AI might come to exist in the hands of a more diverse range of innovators?

We are excited to already have a team of fantastic, innovative SFF writers from around the world lined up to write stories for us:

Jo Anderton, John Chu, Kameron Hurley, Rosaleen Love, Sandra McDonald, Seanan McGuire, E.C. Myers, Justina Robson, Nisi Shawl, Cat Sparks, Bogi Takacs and Kaaron Warren.

Mother of Invention will also feature an essay about an Indigenous women’s perspective on artificial intelligence by Ambelin Kwaymullina.

New Berth is a steampunk space story about a mother who has to come to terms with the fact her daughter has become an adult. It was picked up during the open submission period, along with stories from several other fantastic writers:

Arguing with People on the Internet – E.H. Mann
A Robot Like Me – Lee Cope
Junkyard Kraken – D.K. Mok
Knitting Day – Jen White
Rini’s God – Soumya Sundar Mukherjee
Sugar Ricochets to Other Forms – Octavia Cade
The Ghost Helmet – Lev Mirov
The Goose Hair of One Thousand Miles – Stephanie Lai
Tide Falling, Falling Tide – Meryl Stenhouse

Needless to say, I’m ecstatic. Being in such amazing company is a dream come true.

Loose-leaf Links #50

Loose-leaf Links is a feature where I gather together the interesting bits and pieces on sci-fi, fantasy and romance I’ve come across and share them with you over tea. Today’s tea is China Rose from Adore Tea. It’s pretty much as it says on the box. Rose has a strong scent and can be a bit of an acquired taste, but I’m fond of flowery teas.

Awards News

The World Fantasy Awards were announced last weekend. Congratulations to all the winners, but especially to Jack Dann for winning the Best Anthology category with Dreaming in the Dark.

The A. Bertram Chandler Award is currently open for nominations. The award is given for lifetime achievement in Australian science fiction.

A reminder that entries for the 2017 Aurealis Awards close soon. The awards are open to Australian works of SFF published in 2017.

Also, if you’re hoping to nominate works for the 2018 Hugo Awards, you need to make sure you’re a member of Worldcon 75, 76 or 77 before the end of the year. Thanks to ULTRAGOTHA and File 770 for the reminder.

Community and Conventions

The World Fantasy Convention announced that Margo Lanagan is going to be one of their 2019 Guests of Honour. Congratulations, Margo! The convention will take place on 31 October until 3 November in Los Angeles. The theme will be Fantasy Noir.

The minutes for the 2017 Worldcon Business Meeting are now online.

On Equity

Liz Bourke takes apart the argument that publishing’s focus on diversity comes at the cost of quality.

Martha Wells talks about secret histories in her World Fantasy Con Guest of Honour speech.

File 770 reports on Rebecca Kuang’s criticism of the WFC panel on cultural appropriation.

Sarah Kuhn discusses Asian female aggression and the trope of the dragon lady.

Chuck Wendig reminds readers that not being inclusive is also a political choice.

Jackie C. Horne discusses feminist romance.

For Writers

Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine are looking for fiction, non-fiction and poetry from women for their special issue celebrating International Women’s Day.

Maggie Stiefvater speaks out about the effect digital piracy had on her career.

Over at Barnes & Noble, Jeff Somers suggests 13 books by SFF authors that offer a masterclass in writing.

Marie Brennan discusses worldbuilding and food at the Book View Cafe.

For Readers

Sword and Sonnet, a forthcoming anthology about battle poets, is currently being Kickstarted. Edited by Aidan Doyle, Rachael K. Jones and E. Catherine Tobler, it will feature stories from Alex Acks, C. S. E. Cooney, Malon Edwards, Spencer Ellsworth, Samantha Henderson, S. L. Huang, Cassandra Khaw, Margo Lanagan, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Tony Pi, A. Merc Rustad and A. C. Wise.

Shooting Star, a new Canberra press, have announced they will be publishing a collection of short stories from Gillian Polack in 2018.

Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar have teamed up to produce a novella that will be published by Saga Press in 2019. That’s entirely too long to wait.

Restoration, the third book in Angela Slatter’s Verity Fassbinder trilogy, has a cover!

If you’re looking for some impetus to tackle those 500+ page books on your Mt TBR, the Tome Topple reading challenge starts 17 November.

A.C. Wise continues her series on non-binary authors.

Romance Novels for Feminists celebrates its fifth anniversary with a list of recommendations.

And lastly, James Davis Nicholl offers six SFF book series that should be made into role-playing games.

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

Published: September 2017 by Macmillan Children’s Books

Format reviewed: Paperback, 448 pages

Series: Three Dark Crowns #2

Genres: Dark fantasy, YA

Source: Pan Macmillan

Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The battle for the crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?

With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favour without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before – ones that put those around her in danger that she can’t seem to prevent.

In One Dark Throne, the enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s The New York Times-bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.

One Dark Throne is a dark fantasy YA novel that had an interesting premise but does disappointingly little with it.

The story probably won’t make much sense to those who haven’t read the first book. There is a little jump ahead in time (though not by much) and not much in the way of recap for new readers.

It’s quite a plot-heavy book, choosing to focus on events rather than characters or world-building. The style is cinematic, with some spectacular scenes as the queens battle it out for supremacy. There’s also a somewhat Gothic vibe, both in terms of the aesthetics and events. It’s toned down from the previous book, which focuses a bit more on the poisoners in their home territory. However, it remains present, particularly in the doomed love elements.

The story is told in close third person, alternating between each of the political camps. This allows the reader to find out what’s going on around each of the queens, but it also slows the pace of the story. Some of this word count could have been trimmed back a bit or put towards adequately foreshadowing some of the later twists and turns.

One of the things I liked about the book was its approach to romance. Each queen has quite a different story–with one telling of mutual (though untraditional) love and the other two telling of unrequited love (both for the queen and by the queen). These romantic elements are fairly low-key and are counterbalanced by friendships which are just as varied: Katharine has become a solitary queen without people she really depends on, while Mirabella and Arsinoe have close friends they count on in quite different ways.

Unfortunately, the book is let down in other ways. The premise of the story–that three sister-queens must battle to the death to win the throne–requires quite a suspension of disbelief from the audience and there’s little to support the reader in doing that. No proper explanation is given, aside from tradition, and it’s never interrogated in any significant way. There are hints those things may happen in later books, but that’s a long time for readers to be holding that space.

The book also lacks a solid theme. There are elements of sibling rivalry and nature vs nurture, but they fail to cohere in any satisfying way and rather left me wondering what the story was trying to say. I kept hoping it would come together later into the story, but after two books, my patience has grown thin.

I also had an issue with the way the story equated insanity with violence. This crops up a number of times, particularly in relation to the war gift and those with more than one gift, as well as in relation to Katharine’s thread. Granted, it is a violent story, but this approach lacks nuance and compassion to those with mental health issues.

All in all, One Dark Throne was not the book for me.

Mt TBR Report: October 2017

With two months left to go, I think I can give up on any vague hope I had of breaking even on Mt TBR this year. Though, to be fair, October is both birthday month and Conflux, so I didn’t really stand a chance.

Fortunately, my other reading goals are looking good. The first was to make at least one trip to the library every month. I’ve been well and truly exceeding that, which is another reason Mt TBR continues to grow. My second goal was to read at least one piece of fanfic every month. I’ve been finding it hard to make it past the bare minimum on this one, despite having plenty of great recs to pick from.

Mt TBR Status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2017: 327

Mt TBR @ 30 September: 337

Mt TBR @ 31 October: 343

Books Read

140-147. Skip Beat, Vols. 30-39 by Yoshiki Nakamura. A manga about a young girl who enters show biz to get revenge on her former crush and rock star childhood friend. I love it so much.

148. The Modern Woman’s Guide to Finding a Knight by Anna Klein. Reviewed here.

149. Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. Star Wars tie-in (obvs.) about Princess Leia’s coming of age. Although interesting, it didn’t engage me much on an emotional level, since I was aware of the strict parameters around the story. However, Leia’s relationship with her parents and her new friends was really lovely.

150. Play by Kylie Scott. Second in the Stage Dive series of romance novels. When Anne’s room-mate moves out abruptly, leaving her with the rent, Anne is at her wits’ end. Famous drummer Mal Erikson steps in–on the condition Anne pretends to be his girlfriend. The story didn’t really work for me, mostly because I found it difficult to get a handle on Mal’s erratic personality.

151. Provenance by Ann Leckie. Reviewed here.

152. Phantom Spies by Dawn Meredith. Review forthcoming.

153. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. YA fantasy. See below.

154. Lead by Kylie Scott. Third in the Stage Dive series of romance novels. Lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy, struggles with addiction. When his band gives him an ultimatum, he hires Lena as his assistant and sober companion. If you like romances with asshole heroes, this book is for you.

155. A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire. Second in the October Daye series. When Toby goes to investigate the strange silence from her liege’s niece, she finds herself trapped in an office where the occupants are being murdered one by one. I loved the melding of magic and technology, and the dynamic pace of the story. However, the culprit was perhaps a bit obvious.

156. One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake. Second in the Three Dark Crowns series. Review forthcoming.

157. Unveiled by Courtney Milan. First book in the Turners series of m/f historical romance. When Lady Margaret Dalrymple loses everything to Ash Turner, she goes undercover as nurse to discover his weaknesses and regain her title. However, she soon finds herself charmed by his cheerful ruthlessness. A great start to the series. Milan always writes thoughtful, passionate romances and this is no exception.

158. Birthday Gift by Courtney Milan. A short story featuring two side characters from Unveiled, not intended as a stand-alone. An interesting scene, but doesn’t ultimately add much.

159. The Magician’s Keeper by Nicola E. Sheridan. Review forthcoming.

Books Acquired

Skip Beat, Vols. 32-39 by Yoshiki Nakamura

A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire

Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

Phantom Spies by Dawn Meredith

The Tallow Wife by Angela Slatter

Rebel Flight by Mindy Klatsky

Play by Kylie Scott

Provenance by Ann Leckie

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Changeling’s Time by Lynn O’Connacht

Rainbow Inklings by The Kraken Collective

The Secret History by Donna Tart

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

Winter Tides by Ruthanna Emrys

Lead by Kylie Scott

Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim

Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

Online Reading

Night is Young and the Music’s High by opalish. Follows on from Yuri!!! On Ice. A short story about Yuri’s struggles with handling press conferences and the fallout that ensues. Oh my goodness, it made me laugh.

Provenance by Ann Leckie

Published: September 2017 by Orbit

Format reviewed: Trade Paperback, 441 pages

Genres: Science fiction

Source: Library

Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artefacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

Ingray and her charge will return to their home world to find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray’s future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

I really enjoyed Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy, so I was delighted to get my hands on a copy of Provenance. Although set in the same universe, the focus is on different characters… and, indeed, a different civilisation altogether. The Hwae are a society that values vestiges–souvenirs that mark important occasions or are connected with significant historical figures. These can include everything from party invitations through to the scroll laying out the society’s declaration of independence.

Ingray is on a quest to recover a set of stolen vestiges. Having been adopted into a family of political influence, Ingray was brought up to value ambition. Her mother has pit her against her brother in a competition to prove who is the most suitable heir. This quest is Ingray’s last desperate attempt to prove to her mother she is worthy.

I really loved Ingray as a character. She might have been brought up to be ambitious, but she really only goes along with it because she is an orphan and will be on her own if her adopted family throws her out. And the truth is she’s not very good at it, lacking the ruthlessness needed for political manoeuvring. Ingray’s strengths are in her administrative skills and her compassion for other people. The times when she acts ruthlessly, she’s motivated by the desire to protect someone or something. Ingray is one of those people who work tirelessly behind the scenes, but prefers to avoid the limelight. So, it was delightful to see someone like that cast as the hero of the story.

The plot was full of unexpected surprises and it took me a little while to get a feel for where it was headed. Every time I thought I had a handle on it, it would twist in a new direction. It went from rag-tag crew to heist, to murder mystery, to hostage drama. I rather enjoyed the variety, though, as with Ancillary Justice, the second half felt more settled than the first.

Provenance does a wonderful job of building up the universe. We get to see a different civilisation with different concerns and customs. We even get to see a little bit of what this civilisation thinks of the Radchaai and the outcomes of the previous series. While the sense of a nuanced universe wasn’t lacking from Ancillary Justice, Provenance adds extra layers. It was particularly interesting to see some of the Geck, the second of the alien species known to exist in this universe. They received a passing mention in the previous series, but here we actually get to see the Geck ambassador at work. The author does a good job of making her alien species feel strange and somewhat threatening, while at the same time making them relatable.

Leckie also continues to do interesting things in relation to gender. While the Radchaai use feminine pronouns for everyone, the Hwae differentiate between male and female–which may make the writing style more accessible to some readers. The Hwae also have a third gender. This is never made a big deal of, but is simply present and pervasive, showing the culture as it is without signposting. In this way, the author shows that she trusts her readers, rather than spoon-feeding them.

All in all, I found Provenance a thoughtful, nuanced book that was a delight to read.

 

Loose-leaf Links #49

Loose-leaf Links is a feature where I gather together the interesting bits and pieces on sci-fi, fantasy and romance I’ve come across and share them with you over tea. Today’s tea is a Earl Grey Darjeeling from Lupicia. It’s some of the best quality tea I’ve had in a while and the bergamot perfume is just divine. Ju of Transcendancingintroduced me to the shop while I was visiting for Continuum.

Today’s Loose-leaf Links post is a little later than usual due to my attendance at (and recovery from) Conflux. That means I have a lot of links today! So, be sure to grab a cup of tea before you get started.

Follow Up

Rose Christos’ memoir about her notorious Harry Potter fanfic My Immortal has been cancelled. She claims it was because she took steps to protect the identity of her family.

Victoria Schwab’s Shades of Magic series is back in print in Russia. The initial publisher had excised the central gay romance storyline without permission. A new publisher has taken it on unedited… but will be marketing it as adult.

Intisar Khanani’s Thorn, a retelling of the Goose Girl fairytale, has been acquired by Harper Teen. I loved this book and am even more delighted to discover the book deal includes a companion novel.

Awards News

The winners of the 2017 British Fantasy Awards were announced at the beginning of the month.

The Norma K. Hemming Award (Australia’s equivalent of the Tiptree) has undergone a significant restructure. It is shifting to a 2-year cycle and will be opening to short fiction, novellas, graphic novels and stage plays.

On Equity

Elizabeth Bear calls for greater representation of women in epic fantasy.

Tramp Press is throwing our manuscripts addressed to “Dear Sirs.” Writers, make sure you do your research.

The New York Times copped a lot of flack from romance readers and writers over their autumn romance round-up. It was written by Robert Gottlieb–best known as a literary editor. Melville House has a good overview of the situation. Over on Book Riot, Amanda Diehl takes a closer look at the round-up, taking care to eviscerate some of the more condescending remarks. The Romance Writers of America expressed their disapproval. But the NYT doubled down. And back at Book Riot, Trisha Brown discusses why the NYT’s attitude indicates a bigger problem.

However, that wasn’t the only issue Romancelandia had to deal with this month. The Ripped Bodice released its report on the state of racial diversity in romance publishing in 2016. You can read the full report or get a breakdown from Erin McCoy on Book Riot.

Relatedly, Jessica Pryde discusses the lack of black characters in time-travel romance.

Natalie Zutter checks in from New York Comic Con, reporting on a discussion between N.K. Jemisin and Ann Leckie on what makes a classic work of SFF.

For Writers

Heartwood is a comic anthology looking for pitches from non-binary creators. The deadline closes 13 November.

A reminder that submissions for Rosarium Publishing’s anthology Trouble the Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue close on 1 November. Stories up to 7K.

Also a reminder that Angry Robot’s open submission period for unpublished manuscripts not represented by an agent opens on 1 November. Finished sci-fi or fantasy manuscripts 70K- 130K.

coeur de lion’s submission period for Dimension6 closes 31 October. Stories 4.5-40K.

The 2017 XO Romance Prize is open to unpublished contemporary romance manuscripts until 31 October to residents of Australia and New Zealand. The prize is $5000 and publication.

The Book Smugglers are open for submissions on the theme of Awakenings until 31 December. Stories 1.5K-17.5K.

For more markets, make sure to check out SFWA’s Market Report.

Still at SFWA, president Cat Rambo has written a series on how SFWA came to open membership to indie writers.

Christina at Books and Tea is looking to do a series of interviews with Canadian authors, publishers, editors and industry professionals. If that’s you, get in touch. Details at the bottom of her post.

Australian indie author Patty Jansen has launched her Three-Year Plan series for self-publishers.

Alis Franklin shares some thoughts on beta readers.

Jess Barber and Sara Saab discuss how they co-wrote a novelette for Clarkesworld.

BadRedhead Media looks at strategies for dealing with Imposter Syndrome.

For Readers

Strange Horizons is looking for first readers for their slush pile.

Lois McMaster Bujold has announced she has a new Penric and Desdemona novella coming out. Titled The Prisoner of Limnos, she also offers a peek at the cover.

Tor Teen have acquired a new YA trilogy from Charlie Jane Anders.

Mitchell Hogan has signed a 2-book deal with 47North for a new epic fantasy series.

Juliet Marillier is working on a new historical fantasy series about warrior bards which is due to be released in the US in 2019. I have no idea how I’m going to wait that long.

Saga Press is publishing a new horror novel from Ursula Vernon a.k.a. T. Kingfisher.

Hodderscape shows off the cover for Leife Shallcross’s forthcoming novel The Beast’s Heart. So pretty!

IFWG Publishing have also released the cover for their anthology Cthulhu Deep Down Under. Horror’s not usually my jam, but I kind of love that artwork!

Ellen Datlow has released her Honourable Mentions for 2016’s Best Horror of the Year.

If the thought of getting through your Mt TBR overwhelming, Carina Pereira offers some tips.

Aimee Miles offers some further tips on lowering your anxiety about reading.

Dewey’s Read-a-thon, October 2017

Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon took place on Sunday, Australian time. For those who have somehow managed to miss my incessant posting about it, the event is basically a chance for book geeks across the world to get together and read as much as possible. It is also held in honour of its founder, a book blogger who went by the name Dewey, who passed away several years ago. I participated in my very first read-a-thon in April 2011 and haven’t looked back since.

One of my reading buddies.

The event kicked off on Saturday at 11PM, local time. I was already asleep by then and didn’t start my read-a-thon in earnest until 7AM on Sunday. My goal was modest: to finish off Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (which needed to be returned to the library) plus one other book. I was already 141 pages into Three Dark Crowns, and managed to have the rest finished by around 9:30AM, at which point I stopped for some toast and tea. The book was an easy read and I managed to get through 100 pages an hour for the first two hours I was reading.

Fatigue slowed me down a bit after that. My next book was Lead by Kylie Scott. It’s the third in her Stage Dive series and was another reasonably light read. I’d finished that by 2PM, with a break in the middle for lunch and to watch a bit of the anime movie Summer Wars.

Since I’d managed to meet my goal already, I dithered a bit over my next book, before finally settling on A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire. There was a murder mystery element that kept me interested and paying attention. Plus, I always enjoy Seanan’s work.

Mid-afternoon involved a bit of a change of pace, as I was the read-a-thon co-host from 4-6PM. This involved taking over the official website and Twitter account so that Andi, the organiser, could get some sleep. It was my second time co-hosting and I found it just as frenetic as the first time. The read-a-thon had over 1500 participants this round and the Twitter community is very active. It’s also very friendly and supportive, so I had a lovely time. But I was a bit exhausted by the end and feeling the return of my eyestrain a bit.

My other reading buddy passed out before I did.

A break for dinner helped. My sweetheart cooked and we watched a bit more of Summer Wars together. It let me regather for a final few hours. I didn’t quite manage to make it through the rest of A Local Habitation, but I did make it through the first two-thirds. By the time I wrapped up at around 10PM (acutely aware that I had work the next morning), I’d made it through 850 pages. I’m pretty happy with that.

Once again, a big thank you to Andi at Estella’s Revenge for the tireless effort she puts into organising the read-a-thon. She did it on her own this time, which makes it even more impressive.

The next read-a-thon will be taking place on 28-29 April 2018. Don’t forget to mark it on your calendar. It has a great sense of community that keeps me coming back. I do hope you’ll join us next April.

Preparation for Dewey’s read-a-thon, October 2017

Dewey’s read-a-thon is my favourite reading challenge and runs twice a year–in April and October. It runs for 24 hours, but participation for the full length is optional. Which is a good thing, because this round will be kicking off at 11 PM on Saturday 22 October for the east coast of Australia. As usual, I plan to be going to bed around then, but will be up early to cram as much reading as possible into my waking hours.

When I signed up last round, I’d been hoping to get my Mt TBR back under 300 books. That’s a laughable goal this time around. Instead, I’m just looking to get through what I can. Here are a few things I’m thinking about tackling:

I also have a pile of short stories to tackle–notably all of this year’s issues of Uncanny Magazine. Should keep me pretty busy!

Each time I participate in Dewey’s I try to get a little more involved with volunteering. Last year, I co-hosted for a few hours and I’ve signed up again this year. I’ll be hosting Hours 18 & 19, which correspond to 4-6 PM AEST.

If you need to tame your own Mt TBR or are looking to connect with a great community of book bloggers, I do hope you’ll join me. It’s not too late! You can sign up, follow on Twitter, join the Goodreads group or any combination of the three. If you’ve already signed up, I’d love to hear about what you’ll be reading.