What have I read this week?

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks

This is a feminist nonfiction book about masculinity and how men need to learn to love themselves and others in order to become fully realised humans and counteract patriarchal expectations and structures. I found this very interesting, and I definitely want to read more of hooks’ work.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

This is a nonfiction book about race and feminism in Britain. I found it really interesting and it definitely resonated with me. It’s also a little depressing, because it shows how much work needs to be done in regards to combating racism here in the UK.

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What have I read this week?

Apologies for putting this up late; I’ve been ill.

Aftershocks (The Palladium Wars Book 1) by Marko Kloos

This is a science fiction novel set after the end of an interplanetary war. It follows several characters from both sides of the war. I enjoyed this. I liked the characters and the world. I’d probably read more in this series.

The Book of the New Sun Vol. 2: Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe

This is two science fiction novels set in the far future, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch. They follow the further adventures of Severian. I still didn’t really enjoy these; I was mainly reading them for completeness having read volume 1.

Pale Guardian by Barbara Hambly

This is a vampire novel set during WWI. It follows James and Lydia Asher, a married couple. Lydia is working as as a radiographer at the front and James is back in England recovering from an illness. It didn’t really grab me; I’m not sure why. I think I liked the idea of it more than the reality, and I didn’t finish it.

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What have I read this week?

The Heart of What Was Lost: A Novel of Osten Ard by Tad Williams

This is a fantasy novel set in the same world as the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series and occuring after the events of those books. It follows three characters: the Norn Viyeki, the human Duke Isgrimnur and the human soldier Porto. I quite enjoyed this, although I think it might have helped to have reread the original series.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

This is a fantasy novel set in the African kingdom of Orïsha. It follows the three characters Zélie, Inan and Amari. I liked this a lot. The world is really interesting, and the characters are good.

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What have I read this week?

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

This is a nonfiction book about Elizabeth Holmes and the company she founded, Theranos. I found it really interesting, but there was some ableist language and connotations that I found jarring, and which tended to throw me out of my immersion in the book.

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What have I read this week?

Blood Upon The Sand by Bradley Beaulieu

This is the sequel to Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, and continues the adventures of Çeda. I enjoyed this. I like the world and the characters. It did drag a little for me, until about the last third of the book, where it got very exciting.

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

This is the story of Stan and Charmaine, a married couple who become homeless during a huge economic crash in the United States. I didn’t really like this. I didn’t like the characters or the plot. It just didn’t work for me at all.

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What have I read this week? Just one, this time.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

This is a science fiction novel about a robot called Brittle in a post apocalyptic wasteland where robots have killed off humans. I quite enjoyed this; it’s a different take on the AI apocalypse.

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What have I read this week? Quite a few, this time.

The Book of the New Sun: Vol 1: Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe

This book consists of the science fiction novels The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator. They are about a man called Severian who is a torturer. He lives in the far future. I didn’t particularly like or dislike this. I enjoyed the world, but it didn’t really click for me. I probably will read the last two books, just to find out how what happens, happens.

Archer’s Goon by Dianna Wynne Jones

This is a children’s fantasy novel about a boy called Howard. He comes home one day to find a very large man there waiting for Howard’s father to write something. I enjoyed this. The characters are interesting and the world is fascinating.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

This is a time travel novel about a man called Doyle who is an expert on Coleridge. He is asked to do a job for a rich man and it ends up being far more complicated than he anticipated. I enjoyed this. I like the plot and the characters, and it managed to do time travel without a bunch of loopholes, which I appreciate.

Where We Land by Abigail Barnette

This is a romance novel about Daniel and Lauren, who end up becoming roommates. I liked it. It’s very sweet and I liked the characters, even though romance novels are not really my thing.

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What have I read this week?

I haven’t actually managed to finish anything this week. Hopefully next week.

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What have I read this week?

Twelve Kings (Book One of The Song of the Shattered Sands) by Bradley Beaulieu

This is a fantasy novel about a woman named Çeda, who is seeking revenge on the twelve Kings of Sharakhai who killed her mother. I enjoyed it: Çeda is an interesting heroine, and I find the world compelling. I will definitely read more in the series.

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

This is a collection of short stories in the fantasy and science fiction genres. I enjoyed this; the stories are varied and interesting.

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What have I read this week?

Girl Most Likely by Max Allan Collins

This is a thriller about a female police chief in a small American town and her father who join forces to solve the murder of one of her ild classmates. I didn’t like it; the plot was okay but the writing was grating.

The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson

This is a sequel to The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. I remember liking the first book, but I find the sequel kind of dull and pretty contrived. I didn’t finish it.

Hunt Them Down by Simon Gervais

This is a thriller about Pierce Hunt, a DEA agent whose daughter is kidnapped by drug dealers who he hunts down. I didn’t really enjoy this; I think the writing style just doesn’t work for me.

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