Book life in 2024 by Alexandra_book_life ;) - part 4

I thought it was time for a new thread, and also time to summarize my reading in 2024 so far :))) (I’ll probably be too tired to do this around Christmas, lol.)

Books read: 96

Fiction:
Premier Sang by Amelie Nothomb
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett 3.5 stars
The Great Passage by Shion Miura 5 stars
Kokoro by Soseki Natsume 4.5 stars
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 5 stars
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 3.5 stars
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin 4 stars (but more like 3.7)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding 3 stars
Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles 4 stars
The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura 4.5 stars
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes 3 stars
The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett 5 stars
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan 4 stars
Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett 5 stars
Persuasion by Jane Austen 5 stars (re-read number...)
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon 5 stars
Eclipse by Keiichiro Hirano 5 stars
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan 5 stars
Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena 4 stars
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum 5 stars
The Forger’s Requiem by Bradford Morrow 2 stars
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 5 stars

Mysteries:
Death in the Spires by K.J. Charles 4 stars
Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino 4 stars (but more like 3.7)
Malice by Keigo Higashino 5 stars
Newcomer by Keigo Higashino 5 stars

Non-fiction:
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Restoration Britain by Ian Mortimer 5 stars
The Last Duel by Eric Jager 5 stars
Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O’Meara 3 stars
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton 4.5 stars

Science fiction:
Lake of Souls: Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie 4.5 stars
Clarkesworld issue 205 4 stars
Clarkesworld issue 206 4 stars
Clarkesworld issue 207 4 stars
Clarkesworld issue 208 3.5 stars
Clarkesworld issue 209 3.5 stars
Clarkesworld issue 210 3.5 stars
Clarkesworld issue 211 4 stars
Clarkesworld issue 212 4 stars
Clarkesworld issue 2013 4.5 stars
Clarkesworld issue 214 4 stars
The Seven Brides-to-be of Generalissimo Vlad by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey 4 stars
Upgrade by Blake Crouch 3.5 stars
Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar 1 star
Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hastings 2.5 stars
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky 4 stars
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh 4 stars
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes 2 stars
She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor 4 stars
A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright 3.5 stars
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei 3.5 stars
Rose House by Arkady Martine 4 stars

Fantasy:
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence 4 stars
The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher 4 stars
The Stranger Times by C.K McDonnell 4 stars
This Charming Man by C.K McDonnell 4 stars
Love Will Tear Us Apart by C.K McDonnell 4 stars
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark 3 stars
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher 4 stars
Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher 4 stars
Paladin’s Hope by T. Kingfisher 4.5 stars
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson 4.5 stars
The Demon Daughter by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
Penric and the Bandit by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
Death’s Lady: The complete trilogy by Rachel Neumeier 4 stars
Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov 5 stars
Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier 5 stars
Nikoles by Rachel Neumeier 5 stars
Derring-Do for Beginners by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
In the Company of Gentlemen by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness by John Connolly 4 stars
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi 2 stars
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo 5 stars
Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett 3 stars
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher 4 stars
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett 5 stars
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett 5 stars
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett 5 stars
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison 5 stars (a lovely reread)
The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
The Fox Wife by Yangzee Choo 4 stars
Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard 5 stars

Graphic novels/manga:
Blue Flag Vol 7 by Kaito 5 stars
Blue Flag Vol 8 by Kaito 5 stars
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition vol 3 by Hitoshi Ashinano 5 stars
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition vol 4 by Hitoshi Ashinano 5 stars
xxxHolic vol 2 by CLAMP 4 stars
xxxHolic vol 3 by CLAMP 4 stars
xxxHolic vol 4 by CLAMP 4 stars
xxxHolic vol 5 by CLAMP 4.5 stars
Mao vol 2 by Rumiko Takahashi 4.5 stars
Mao vol 3 by Runiko Takahashi 4 stars
Rin-Ne vol 7 by Runiko Takahashi 4 stars
Skip and Loafer vol 1 by Misaki Takamatsu 4 stars
To Your Eternity vol 1 by Yoshitoki Oima 3 stars

Happy New Thread!
May the end of 2024 bring you as many wonderful books as your heart desires.

Happy new thread!

>4 clamairy: >5 pgmcc: Thank you very very much! :) Here's to wonderful books!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>8 Narilka: >7 haydninvienna: Thank you very very much :)

Happy new thread!

A new thread!! A reason to celebrate!!

>10 Sakerfalcon: Thank you very much!

>11 jillmwo: Thanks a lot! How should I celebrate? I am open to suggestions :)

>12 Alexandra_book_life: Generally speaking, one looks around in search of new books, a variety of cheeses to try and a glass of wine. There are no hard and fast rules, so take the opportunity to treat yourself.

>13 jillmwo: As of yesterday, I have a new short story on my Kindle, so it probably counts. I shall have to see what I can do about cheese and wine!

I finished The Humans :)

A book club pick :)

Nice book. I think I wanted more.

An alien is on Earth with a mission: to stop a mathematical breakthrough before anyone finds out about it, because humans are too barbaric to be trusted with it. (“a human is a real bipedal lifeform of mid-range intelligence, living a largely deluded existence on a small water-logged planet in a very lonely corner of the universe.”) So the alien takes over the body of professor Andrew Martin, the mathematician responsible. Andrew Martin dies. (Why are aliens always nasty?)

Then the alien Andrew Martin (I will call him AAM, ha) has to find out who else knew about the maths thing and eliminate them. This means the AAM has to blend in among humans. The disorientation in the beginning of the book is a lot of fun. Humans are insane, awful, cruel, and weird in all kinds of ways. Their planet is strange.

“I was not really used to weather you had to think about. But this was England …”

“Indeed, war and money seemed to be so popular on the news it should
more accurately be described as The War and Money Show.”

Pretending to be human means you have to handle humans, including your “wife” and “son”. AAM does it in his own unique way. Whoa, he has a family now. Perhaps humans merit further study, he tells his “employers”. This is all quite heart-warming and chuckle-worthy. I didn’t think the book handled some of the tragedy and the ethical issues very well, though. From the first pages, I knew this wasn’t the most philosophical novel ever, but it bothered me.

Anyway, AAM discovers that humans can be kind and care about each other. Also, Earth has peanut butter, tea (“it tasted like comfort”), and Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Awww. (This is the second book I read this year that referenced Emily Dickinson. Universe, are you trying to tell me something?)

Naturally, there is a heartbreaking crisis towards the end. The ending is nice, there is hope for AAM.
Throughout the book, we are veering dangerously close to twee and the astute exploration of human condition that is Hallmark. I am very thankful we never crossed the line! I did have fun and a few warm chuckles.

Favourite quote:
”There is only one genre in fiction. The genre is called “book”.

3.5 stars

Terec and the Wild - done! :)

Here is a story about Terec! (He’s Conju’s lost love. And if you don’t know who they are, then don’t start your Nine Worlds journey here, obviously.)

Terec happens to be a wild mage, and the magic of Astandalas is like an oppressive weight which is there every day, every minute, suffocating. There is fire in him, and he afraid of hurting people he loves by accident. So Terec exiles himself, without saying goodbye to anyone.

Following his travels is a melancholy thing. Oh, to be very young, alone, inexperienced, vulnerable, and far from home.

“He wanted to go home, so intensely that he could not breathe. He sat there, longing crashing over him.”

As Terec comes ever closer to the Border, his magic grows… content. It’s lovely.

The writing is as wonderful as always. But I thought that Terec was not as compelling or interesting as so many other characters I met in Victoria Goddard’s books. So his story did not grab me as much as other Nine Worlds tales. I wouldn’t mind reading more about Terec, though – there is one more short story/novella out there.

The Nine Worlds journey will continue :)

4 stars.

Overdue by Mark Lawrence - done :)

A short story for me to read after The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, while the second part of the trilogy is jumping impatiently in my book queue. (I’ll get to you, no worries.) The blurb says that this can be read as a stand-alone, but I think it’s much nicer to have memories of the Library while reading.

“Every bookshop needs a cat.” Naturally. I wish more people knew this.

There is a bookshop in Edinburgh, and there lives a cat named Wentworth… there is a bookshop in a different place and time, with another cat whose name begins with a W… and another such in another place…

Books and universes leak into each other. There is a book called “The Book That Burned”. Yute visits all of these bookshops, for reasons that will become clear by the end. (Raven and Volente have cameos, I appreciated it very much.)

This is a story about why authors write, about books that truly matter to readers, about choices and regrets and trying to put things right. It’s wonderful, it’s delightful, and it pushed all the right buttons. I am a happy reader :)

5 stars

>17 Alexandra_book_life: That sounds delightful.

>18 clamairy: I am glad I decided to read it! I can recommend diving into it right after The Book That Wouldn't Burn :)

Returns by Mark Lawrence - done :)

Two short stories set in the Library trilogy universe. Having read Overdue, and now Returns, I really like how these stories complicate and expand the multiverse introduced in the first book.

Returns

Livira is supposed to return a very mysterious book to a faraway shelf. The book is written in cipher and Livira is curious of course. It is called “The Book of Many Stories”, and it is a book within a book within within a book… about “The Book of Many Stories” that is very very very overdue. Yute travels to retrieve it.

Let’s think about untouched shelves as graveyards, where books stand in enforced silence; narratives of our lives; people as books...

P.S. A character calls Wentworth The-Cat-Of-Many-Places. Lovely!

About Pain

Holden Cornfield has a lot of rage and sorrow in him. Also, he has a book to return to the library. It’s a classic called Catcher. (Nice!) Holden meets a young fighter whose name is Clovis, and a mysterious librarian whose name is Livira. All the conversations and Easter eggs are very enjoyable.

This story is about returning to a book, and never reading the same one again.

“It’s a thing that emerges between the reader and the text, and it’s always changing...”

4 stars

Happy new thread!

>20 Alexandra_book_life: That may be too many Catcher in the Rye references for me. :) However, I did like your review of The Book that Wouldn't Burn.

>21 Karlstar: Thank you!

I read Catcher in the Rye a looong time ago, and enjoyed it very much at the time :) I don't know whether I'd want to read it again :)

The Book that Wouldn't Burn was very enjoyable, I would recommend it!

>22 Alexandra_book_life: If you enjoyed it the first time, I'm not sure it is a book that needs re-reading. I read it a few years ago and I think I remember it well enough that I don't yet feel the need for a re-read, I may not, ever.

>23 Karlstar: Some books don't really need a reread, for various reasons.

I've just started reading The book that wouldn't burn so I will have to track down these stories too!

>25 Sakerfalcon: They are very nice companion reads, if you like the novel :)

Some reading updates:

I am halfway through North is the Night. I've got an arc, the book will come out in January. It's a fantasy story inspired by Finnish folklore! I like it a lot so far, but a (short!) break is in order. Things are looking grim at the moment and I am too worried about the characters to continue.

Also, I am starting a buddy read (not on LT) of The House of Niccoló series by Dorothy Dunnett. (Now that I am done with Lymond Chronicles :) ) I've read up to chapter 5 of Niccoló Rising today. I love the fact that we are in Bruges in the fifteenth century! (I've been there once, and have wonderful memories of the place.) The descriptions are great:

"Bruges was the multiple voice of working water; and the quality of brick-thrown echoes, and the hiss of trees and the flap of drying cloths in the flat-country wind, and the grunting, like frogs in a marsh, of quires of crucified clothes, left to vibrate in the fields of the tenters. Bruges was the cawing scream of gulls, and the bell-calls."

>27 Alexandra_book_life: What an incredible bit of descriptive writing.

>28 clamairy: Yes! Dunnett is amazing :)

>26 Alexandra_book_life: So far I am very much liking the novel!

>30 Sakerfalcon: That's very nice to hear!

I love Dunnett so much!

>32 littlegeek: Yes, and yes, and yes!

66% done with North is the Night :)

Today is a very fitting day for this update - it's Finland's Independence Day! Congratulations, Finland!

Anyway, Tuonela is the kingdom of the dead in Finnish mythology. This book is quite dark, but then there is this:

"Does Tuonela have a sauna?"
She signs in annoyance, setting her shuttle down. "We're not animals, Aina. Of course we have a sauna."

>34 Alexandra_book_life: And of course there's an obvious soundtrack.

>35 haydninvienna: Oh, yes, There should be.

>34 Alexandra_book_life: Ha! :o)

North is the Night - done! (Note: I put the treatment of religion in this book in my second spoiler tag.)

My goodness, a fantasy based on Finnish mythology? Gimme, gimme, gimme.

I am not an expert on Finnish folklore – I did read a children’s version of Kalevala, but I don’t remember much (except for Väinämöinen the legendary hero and a magic mill called Sampo). So I really liked how the book dropped me right into the magic and never let go. The author really wanted to tell this story, and it showed. The writing style is very obviously influenced by folklore, with the literary mixed in – they blend together in the joy of storytelling. I’ve learned a lot about Finnish mythology! (Note to self: don’t mess with Finnish gods. I’m serious, don’t do it.)

Siiri and Aina are best friends, just living their quiet lives in the village. There are grim things in the background, though. The Swedish colonizers are coming, bringing their religion with them. The old Finnish gods have withdrawn, it seems. The people are plagued by disease and untimely deaths. And it seems that something or someone is kidnapping young women… This monster has taken Aina.

Siiri’s quest to save her friend has begun. The story continues in alternating POV chapters – when I came to the end a Siiri chapter, I said “no-no-no, give me more Siiri”; when I came to the end of an Aina chapter, I said “no-no-no, let’s not change POV”. In other words, we have two awesome characters to follow.

Siiri is so stubborn, so strong, so impulsive, so fierce. She has faith, love, courage. What a journey she makes! I loved her interactions with gods! There is also a lot of darkness, heartbreak, violence, gore and death.

“You know, in Mummi’s stories, the women are always waiting for things to happen to them. … This is a new kind of story.”

Aina is in a scary, creepy, cruel and horrible place. Ah, she is clever, honourable and resilient. She finds solutions and she finds hope. Aina has her own superpowers. “Everyone should have a good pair of socks, even a goddess.”

It was great to see Aina and Siiri grow, understand who they are and what they are capable of. I did not expect to see a book with a love triangle and a Persephone/Hades theme I could get behind. So well done!

I did not much care for the “evil Christian priests” subplot. It felt simplistic, with a bit of hammering the message in. On the other hand, there isn’t much nuance and complexity in religious fanaticism. But I wish I didn’t have to see the expression “bring back the true religion”. All religions are “true”, in a sense. And I thought the characters were against zealotry? This felt like a false note. The characterization faltered slightly at times, as if for a short while, the people forgot how to fit in the puzzle of the book.

Hence the 4 stars, even though I considered going higher. Still, I enjoyed the book a lot and I am glad I read it! There were many 5 star-worthy chapters that took my breath away. I’d love to read the sequel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

>38 Alexandra_book_life: It does sound interesting, and I am glad you enjoyed it

>39 clamairy: Thank you, it was a good read! :)

Niccolo Rising, currently at 39%.

"Messer Arnolfini said, 'My dear Claes! What have you done to your face?'

It was becoming, there was no doubt, a tiresome question. One might ask the same, if one was unkind, of Messer Arnolfini. It was twenty-five years since Jan van Eyck had painted that pale, cleft-chinned face with its hairless lids and drainpipe nose ribbed at the tip like a gooseberry. Giovanni Arnolfini hand-in-hand with his future bride."

I love Dunnett :)

And here is the lovely masterpiece in question:

>41 Alexandra_book_life: I’ll just leave this here: https://notalwaysright.com/the-internet-can-teach-you-anything-but-sometimes-it-....

>42 haydninvienna:
LOL!

>42 haydninvienna: 🤣🤣🤣

>42 haydninvienna: I have to admit that was the first thing I thought of when I looked at >41 Alexandra_book_life:. And I don't think I have ever noticed that before. But perhaps I haven't looked at this painting for a decade or so.

>42 haydninvienna: I'm never going to unsee that now!

>42 haydninvienna: ROFL. Oh. Dear. What a thing to have stuck in one's head moving forward.

>45 clamairy: I've never noticed that before either! And I also haven't looked at this painting for quite a while ;) Oh dear, oh dear... :)))

>42 haydninvienna: Oh my goodness lol That's hilarious. I'll never see any of his paintings any other way now lol

Niccolo Rising, 43%

"And next to the felt caps and decent hoods there would brush past a griffin, a jester, an eagle. A unicorn would turn to look at a pretty ankle, or a ship in full sail pass by laughing, or a goat or a Charlemagne pause to toss a coin and pick up a sweetmeat."

And this is how you write a Carnival :)

It's Thingaversary time, yay! 🥳🎉🎆 One year on LT!

Any suggestions on how to mark the occasion are most welcome! (I have some ideas too.)

>51 Alexandra_book_life:
Happy Thingaversary!

The tradition was to buy one book for each year and another one for luck. If you missed your Thingaversary date then The Enforcers would make you buy penalty books. The number of books to be bought was determined using formulae based on the number of days late and the number of books grew exponentially. After a week you would be due to buy several thousand books.

Somehow The Enforcers became soft and turned a blind-eye to tardy Thingaversary book buying if they were plied with cheese.

Have a great Thingaversary and kerp some cheese near to hand whatever way you choose to celebrate the event.

🍰🎇🎂🎆🐘🧀

>51 Alexandra_book_life: Happy Thingaversary!

>52 pgmcc: Thank you :)))

There is some cheese in the fridge... Buying books is always a good option! I hope the Enforcers will be kind :)

>53 Karlstar: Thank you, thank you :)

>51 Alexandra_book_life: A very Happy 1st Thingiversary to you! Pretty much ignore everything Peter said, except the bit about offering up cheese. You celebrate however you want to. (Instead of buying books for myself I have started making donations to two libraries that are near and dear to my heart. But I always keep a lot of cheese on hand just in case.)

>56 Bookmarque: Awww, thank you! :)

(I am keeping my fingers crossed.)

>57 clamairy: Thank you! :)

Library donations are a good idea! I've donated some books in the past, maybe I'll do it again (but I won't have the chance until 2025).

There should always, always be cheese in the house!

Happy Thingaversary! May you celebrate many more. :)

ETA: Sometimes I celebrate by having a DNBR day. Do Nothing But Read.

>60 MrsLee: Thank you! :)

Oh, I dream of a DNBR day! Maybe I can manage that over the holidays.

>61 Alexandra_book_life: My traditional DNBR day is Boxing Day. The Christmas panic is mostly over, there are leftovers and snacks, and I really hate all the Boxing Day sales madness. I retreat to the corner of the chesterfield with a pile of books, tea, nibblies, blankets, cats, etc. It's bliss.

We're big on Thingiversaries here in the pub. (The word might be misspelled there, but chalk it up to the quick sip of wine I just had in honor of your Very First Thingaversary...)

tardis is smart in the way she handles it.

>62 tardis: I want a Chesterfield! (Actually I suspect my leather couch is a very modified Chesterfield... It's overstuffed and there are no rivets.)

>62 tardis: I like your way of doing things :)))

>63 jillmwo: Cheers! :)))

>51 Alexandra_book_life: happy first Thingaversary! I think you're doing it right.

>67 haydninvienna: Thank you! :)

Yay!

To celebrate my Thingaversary, I ended up buying two books: Crown of Renewal (from the Paksenarrion series) for my husband and Bee Sting Cake for myself.

I believe the Enforcers were pleased.

>69 Alexandra_book_life: You have met your "obligation" to the Enforcers. The next thing to do is to relax and enjoy your cheese and, hopefully, a pleasant glass of wine.

>69 Alexandra_book_life:
Well done. Those enforcers can be tricky characters. It is always best to have some cheese available.

>70 hfglen: >71 pgmcc: Phew! What a relief!

Now I can enjoy my cheese and my books in peace :)

>69 Alexandra_book_life: Thanks for reminding me that I don't have Limits of Power or Crown of Renewal. Do you know what he thinks of Limits of Power, or have you read it?

>73 Karlstar: I have only read the very first Paksenarrion book Sheepfarmer's Daughter (I liked it!), but he has read and liked the others :)

All right, LT Year in Review is here! Fun, fun, fun.

You wrote 1,103 Talk posts in 2024 (consisting of 62,082 words) and contributed to 93 Talk topics in 3 Groups. You even started 5 topics!

Impressive, impressive...;)

TriviaThing: You answered 1,671 questions in 2024, with 1,384 questions right.

Your top streak was 48 questions!

Is this impressive? Or is it "did you have that much time to kill"? (I did not, actually.)

>75 Alexandra_book_life: Well, FWIW, I'm impressed that you had a streak of 48 questions right in TriviaThing. I didn't match that.

>76 jillmwo: Thank you :)))

Niccoló Rising - done! :)

Hello, a happy Dunnett reader here. I started this series with excitement and some trepidation. What was it going to be like? You know what to expect from Dunnett, and you never know what to expect from Dunnett.

So, we are in the 1460’s – here is Flanders, here is Burgundy, here is Brittany, here is Milan...

Intrigues; back-stabbing; clandestine meetings; assassination attempts; avalanches; swashbuckling; duels (fought with oars, of all things!); battles; crazy fun escapades; merchant house machinations. What a great mix of ingredients! I had no idea I could care so much about trade in Renaissance Europe. Dunnett made it fascinating, glorious, exciting. I had no idea I could care about alum! (I had to google it, too!)

The writing brought me joy.

”Bruges was the multiple voice of working water; and the quality of brick-thrown echoes, and the hiss of trees and the flap of drying cloths in the flat-country wind, and the grunting, like frogs in a marsh, of quires of crucified clothes, left to vibrate in the fields of the tenters. Bruges was the cawing scream of the gulls, and the bell-calls.”

Let’s talk about the characters. Claes/Nicholas: a dyer’s apprentice who is anything but by the end of the book. Dunnett tries to fool you, talking about an “oak tree with dimples”. Claes gets beaten uo a lot and makes people laugh. But ”Claes was always making toys, and other people broke them.”. Me: I think these people and the world had better watch out. Dunnett does a lot of showing and no telling at all. Most characters, and Claes especially, remain obscure. The showing that is going on is akin to a stage magician’s – look into my hat; no, there was no hat. You get glimpses. Claes/Nicholas is a genius, ”He had only his brain, which absorbed instruction and held it, for ever.” I found that I was always ageing him in my head by 10 years or so – there is no way he is eighteen. (Suspension of disbelief is a useful thing.) I do like that my idea of him is not complete yet. There are seven more books to go, after all. As for the others – Katelina (awesome!), Julius, Tobie, Gregorio, Marion – I am so curious about them all. I am curious about the villains, too. They are quite delicious, all wearing a sign “I am the villain of this book, am I being villainous enough for you?” It reminded me of the moment in The Three Musketeers, when d’Artagnan meets de Rochefort for the first time – only Dumas spells it out much more than Dunnett.

The plotting is impeccable, and Dunnett, as always, excels at emotionally exhausting scenes. There were narrative choices I did not quite like, but they did not lessen my enjoyment. Oh, and my heart broke again. The dramatic reveals towards the end are very satisfying to any reader who likes intricate and intelligent plots. The ending is excellent. I am looking forward to the next book so, so, so much!

P.S. The ostrich is great, I loved the ostrich! 😆😆😆

5 stars. Yay.

>78 Alexandra_book_life: Very nice review! I'm tempted but will wait for now.

>75 Alexandra_book_life: 48 questions in a row is awesome!

>79 clamairy: I am happy to hear that :) Thank you :)

>80 Karlstar: I still don't know how I managed it. Luck? My usual average is 10, I think ;) Thank you :)

>75 Alexandra_book_life: I dare not start Dunnett. After your reviews, I fear that I'd read nothing else. (I vaguely remember reading one — don't remember which — some time in the early to mid 70s, at the behest of a friend who was an early enthusiast. Obviously I wasn't ready for Dunnett then, but I wasn't then ready for a lot of things.)

And yes, a streak of 48 is impressive!

>83 haydninvienna: The danger is real :D (Well, reading nothing but Dunnett isn't a bad thing, exactly, but you might want more diversity. Probably.)

Thank you :)

As of a couple of hours ago, we are at my in-laws' place, and we are a very happy bunch of people.

I did forget my laptop charger! And there is nothing here to replace it :( (My Kindle charger is with me, thankfully :D) I can't access LT on my phone, so in case I disappear for a few days, you will know why :)

So, Merry whatever you are celebrating :)))

>85 Alexandra_book_life: Enjoy! I do hope there will be plenty of cheese!

>85 Alexandra_book_life: No worries. Enjoy yourself. If nothing else, we might just get some piffle going to coax your thread over the magic number.

>85 Alexandra_book_life: Enjoy and Merry everything to you as well.

>85 Alexandra_book_life:
Merry whatever to you too. I hope you have a great time no matter what your Internet connection status is.

>86 clamairy: >87 jillmwo: >88 Karlstar: >89 pgmcc:

Thanks a lot, everyone! We enjoyed ourselves very, very much!

Indeed, there was plenty of cheese :) My father-in-law bought taleggio, morbier, brie, and a couple of others I don't remember the names of :D Good cheese times!

Some holiday reading updates 😄:

A Christmas Carol

Quintessential Christmas!

I have read quite a few novels by Dickens, but I have never read A Christmas Carol. I’m grateful to cultural osmosis for giving me the story anyway, but it’s hardly the same thing as having read it. So here I am, mending matters.

I wasn’t expecting to chuckle as much as I did. I did not expect to be touched, and I was. This is a really, really lovely Christmas story. It sparkles.

It has also been a while since I read any Dickens – the way he plays with and juggles words warmed this reader’s heart.

I expected Scrooge to be a lot more unpleasant than he was. On the other hand, had he been truly despicable, it would have been harder for the author to make him human again. Well, perhaps Scrooge being a little harsh here: ”every idiot who goes around with ’Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”

But smart-mouthing ghosts who come to haunt you is impressive. Go, Scrooge!

”You will be haunted,” resumed the Ghost, ”by Three Spirits.”
…
”I — I think I’d rather not,” said Scrooge.
…
”Couldn’t I take ’em all at once, and have it over, Jacob?” hinted Scrooge."

My Christmas mood is very Christmassy at the moment.

4 stars, I think :)

Currently at 31%, Odin's Child, a book club pick for January.

This fantasy door stopper is not exactly rocking my boat ;) My boat is hardly moving! The setting is so cool, but the rest is... generic. I think parallel reads are in order, or I will pause this until after the holidays. I want my holiday reads to be something I really enjoy, thank you very much ;) And then again, who knows? The book might get better.

>90 Alexandra_book_life: I'm jealous, sounds like a great cheese selection. You reminded me that I was going to read A Christmas Carol this year and have not...

>93 Karlstar: I hope you'll still have time! :)

I thought I would show off a Christmas present ;) It's a second breakfast mug! It's going to be very useful, I think :D

>95 Alexandra_book_life:
Excellent. Everyone needs a second-breakfast mug. :-)

ETA a hyphen to clarify that I do not simply mean a second mug.

>96 pgmcc: Very, very true :)

Ahhh, taleggio and morbier are two of my favorites and both have gotten harder to find here since COVID. I love that mug!

>98 clamairy: I have now been accused of having a second breakfast just because I wanted to use my new mug. I don't know how to plead :D

>99 Alexandra_book_life:
It is a real chicken and egg conundrum: Which came first, the second breakfast or the second-breakfast mug?

>99 Alexandra_book_life: Own it proudly! Second breakfast mugs need to become a standard household item. How many ounces does that mug hold? (Note: My husband is telling me we don't need any more coffee mugs.)

>100 pgmcc: I know! :D

>101 jillmwo: That's the plan! And I agree, there should be more second breakfast mugs out there.
This mug holds about 330 ml - my converter tells me it's ca 11.6 ounces.

You always, always need more mugs :)))

>95 Alexandra_book_life: Very nice!

>104 Karlstar: Thank you, I agree :)