What I’m Reading: More “Books, Books, Books” Goodness
Away back on December 9 I did a Just Arrived: Books, Books, Books post and have since reported back on three of the four books featured:
Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Which leaves Teresa Frohock’s recently released Carved From Stone and Dream and Behrooz Boochani’s No Friend But The Mountain still to go. Not too bad going, I feel, when sandwiching the reading in between my own writing.
As you know I’m a fan of Teresa’s writing, which I’ve discussed previously in the following posts:
The Los Nefilim Novella Trilogy
On the Supernatural Underground: Year Of Romance #8: Endless Love in Where Oblivion Lives
So with Carved From Stone and Dream now out there in the world — and the wild 😉 — you won’t be surprised to learn that I’m reading it Right Now! So watch this space for my thoughts (“terribly important” and all that. 😀 )
I’m not sure that No Friend But The Mountain will automatically slot into the next place though, for two reasons.
Firstly, I’ve offered it to someone else to read and review, and secondly, three other books have elbowed their way onto the TBR table:
The first is an advanced reading copy of Network Effect by Martha Wells. Yep, that’s right, the first novel that’s following the quartet of Murderbot novellas, which I really liked. Since it’s due out very soon, too (in May I believe) I’m keen to give it some blog time on or around that date.
The second is Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children Of Edward 1 by Kelcey Wilson-Lee (2019), a non-fiction history of the lives of Edward 1 of England’s five daughters that survived to adulthood.
And just by the way, isn’t that cover just drop-dead gorgeous? I love the richness of the colours in it, which make me think immediately of Robyn Cadwallader’s Book Of Colours. As you know, I’m an instant starter for historical writing of all kinds, so am itching to get into this book. With International Women’s Day only yesterday, too, it seems like a great time to start reading about women who were significant in their day but whose memory history has largely erased.
The third books is by fellow NZ writer (I believe NZ!) Tamsyn Muir. It’s her (again I believe) debut novel, Gideon the Ninth (the Locked Tomb series), which was much anticipated by the specfic reading world and is a recent finalist for the Nebula Award.
I’m further intrigued because of two very different sets of (verbal) reader feedback on the book: one who said they found it “snort-out-loud” funny and duly snorted out loud in innumerable cafes and roadstops around the country; the second who considers the central relationship inherently abusive and many of the characters fundamentally cruel. Two very different views, huh? So unsurprisingly, along with the Nebula nomination (for which, very well done to the author) I’m keen to read and make up my own mind.
Plenty to keep me going in those moments of downtime from my own writing—which, being an avid reader, is all good where I’m from. 🙂
Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children Of Edward 1 by Kelcey Wilson-Lee (2019)could be my sort of thing too. It has got very good ratings on Good Reads and other places.
I am currently reading it and it *is* very good. Look out for a post on it here soon. 🙂