Reading Roundup: December 2019

The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames. I started this book last month and almost posted it as a blind item this month, because at first I thought I would have nothing nice to say about it. For the first 150 pages or so, I didn't. I took to reading a chapter each night before bed… Continue reading Reading Roundup: December 2019

Reading Roundup: November 2019

I read the first two-thirds of Inland in fits and starts, which is how I usually read: sitting on the bus, standing outside of my dance studio before it opens, occasionally over lunch if I take one away from my desk. I read the final third in one thirsty gulp like one of the principal… Continue reading Reading Roundup: November 2019

Reading Roundup: October 2019

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith. My free First Read of the previous month. This book opens unconventionally in a swamp, with our heroine a literal toad who eats bugs and sheds her skin. I buckled up for a wild ride at that point, but the story settles into a conventional enough historical romance… Continue reading Reading Roundup: October 2019

Reading Roundup: September 2019

Exhalation by Ted Chiang. The short stories in this book are fascinated with how technology affects the human condition--but technology is very broadly defined, from sci-fi innovations (such as a device that records your memories as video) to the ancient technology of writing. I was delighted with the opening story, which--like my favorites in the… Continue reading Reading Roundup: September 2019

Reading Roundup: August 2019

Except for the first weekend in August, when I needed a gently used paperback to take to the beach, I pulled all of this month's reading from the stacks in my university's library. I've started a couple of books on my phone--The Poppy War, and Tor's free ebook of the month, The Necessary Beggar--but I've… Continue reading Reading Roundup: August 2019

Reading Roundup: July 2019

It was an absolutely blazing July, with temperatures approaching 100 in Philly, so how about some HOT TAKES? Hot in terms of opinionatedness, not in terms of timing--July's Literary Hot Takes twitter thread has cooled down by now. I never like to participate in those, though, because as strong as my opinions are, there's always… Continue reading Reading Roundup: July 2019