books, books, books: 2019 jan-mar

[meitachi]

First three months of 2019, I read things! A pretty good mix of things, I guess. I'm not sure my To Read list ever shrinks but I haven't updated it in a while. I need to write it down and look at what books I want to tackle first. It's a mix of ebooks, library books, and stuff I actually have to buy to get my hands on because they're out of print/circulation! Also Slam Dunk.

1. Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas by Joanna Chambers - A short novella, the sequel to Introducing Mr. Winterbourne. It was sweet and Christmassy and I read this on the plane to Japan. I am fond of the characters though not particularly in love with them, but it was nice to see a little more of them and their world.



2. Public Relations by Katie Heaney and Arianna Rebolini - This is basically filed off the numbers Harry Styles/OC fanfic, and the authors own that. That said, it read fast and was entertaining and the main character was likable and not an OTT Mary Sue. I like all the tropey beats the story hit, very romcom familiar, although I'm not sure I saw the personal appeal of their star Archie (or Harry Styles, tbh). I'm glad there was some conflict outside of just the relationship stuff, involving work and relationships. Quick and fun. Also read on the plane to Japan!



3. Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer - I thought I'd give Heyer's mysteries a try! This one was recommended as one of her better ones (whereas everyone said stay away from the mess that is Penhallow). This is pretty classic closed house party, limited pool of suspects murder mystery. Every character is interesting and aggravating and the mystery to solve is who did it when everyone seems to have a motive but no opportunity. Pretty standard and enjoyable for the genre, and though I will of course always prefer Heyer's regencies, it's nice that she also wrote for my other genre of choice!



4. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - YA fantasy billed as a heist...which, I'm gonna tell you, the heist portion is greatly exaggerated or at least a letdown in terms of how it was executed. It seemd to rely on a lot more luck than planning in the end, which is not what I want out of a heist story. I want amazing cons executed well! But the world was interesting and the characters...hmm, well, they definitely had highlights and I enjoyed them, but they all needed to be aged up about 10 years. No way I believe these are 16 and 17 year olds. They all had some form of dark, tragic pasts but their character interactions and dynamics kept me engaged enough to finish the book, despite the disappointing heist. The set-up at the end did make me want to read the sequel at least, so that's something.



5. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie - Picked up this book at a used bookstore because I didn't remember reading it, though I think I must have at some point in the past two decades when I was first on my Christie binge. In any case, I didn't remember the culprit (I rarely do) and so it was a fun and fresh read anyway. Small town murders, as is the wont with Miss Marple stories, but with poison pen letters! Very focused on small town gossip and skeletons in the closet while sifting through the various motives and opportunities.



6. Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride by Eli Easton - This title and cover did not sell me onto the story when I first saw it months ago, but in the interim I've run into reviews saying it was silly but fun. So I gave it a shot. It was indeed silly but fun, kind of like a crackfic (or at least crack premise) treated semi-seriously. At least enough for me to buy it for the length of the story. Not my usual fare, being set in the tropey Old West, but it worked for the story. I never mind a good crossdressing in disguise story either.



7. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han - I'd read the original last year and finally got the sequel through the library! It introduced the new love interest, who was really a past love interest, and I actually didn't mind the semi love triangle because it was really less about the love triangle and more about Lara Jean sorting herself out in terms of what she wanted from life and her relationship with Peter. Also Peter was kind of a dick. Not an irredeemable one where I wanted her to leave him for the alternative (not quite kdrama levels of second lead syndrome here), but enough that it was understandable that their relationship was having issues. My favorite bits were still about Lara Jean's relationship with her family.



8. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend - Billed as similar to Harry Potter, but with a female protagonist, and it was! A protagonist rescued from a crappy home life, swept away to a new magical world and school, where she is special (without understanding just how special) and learns to make friends and find a place for herself. But it's not that simple and the school part doesn't even really start right away. But the worldbuilding is fun, the characters are fun, and Morrigan herself is likable and relatable as an 11 year old both overwhelmed and enchanted by her new world, and terrified of losing it/her place in it. I like her friendship with Hawthorne and eventually Jack. I'm never quite sure how I feel about Jupiter, who is certainly a memorable character and someone who means well but...hmm.



9. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han - The last book in the series and possibly my favorite because there was even more focus on Lara Jean's personal growth and family relationships! Some of that is shown through her relationship with Peter, but I will argue it is still about Lara Jean in the end coming to terms with her senior year and what she wants beyond that. I am also especially fond of it because of the mentions of and cameo by UNC. This was very much a coming of age story where romance played a part but was by no means the end all, be all.



10. City of Thieves by David Benioff - An unexpected kind of book for me! Fictional story set during the Siege of Leningrad during WWII, kind of absurdist humor but also absurdist tragedy given that it is set against a backdrop of war and starvation. But the story is about a boy who teams up with a soldier on the hunt for a dozen eggs for a colonel's daughter's wedding in order to not be imprisoned for "deserting" Russia. Some disturbing things come to pass, but it never feels like pointless misery porn and wasn't a slog through the prose itself. The ending was fitting. Even though I saw it coming from a mile off, it still felt like a satisfying end.



11. The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer - Another of her mysteries featuring Inspector Hemingway. Another house murder mystery, except this time too many different people had opportunities. Again, more about the characters and their relationships than the Clues™ themselves. I'm not sure how much I like the resolution, but it was an entertaining story at least.



12. Deke by Eden Finley - Book 3 of the Fake Boyfriend series, featuring a journalist and hockey player. Surprisingly(?), my favorite of the bunch despite not really liking Lennon (the journalist) when he'd been introduced in Book 2. But he was really likable in this, and sympathetic, and he and Ollie had great chemistry. Ollie's family backdrop was fun and made me laugh a bit; it's very Staal family inspired. I liked the UST, the resolved sexual tension, but also the feelings and plot that unfolded, drawing in the universe and previous characters in the series; none of it felt forced. I also liked the coming out scene for involving two hockey players who were actually not coming out for each other/involved in each other. That's not common for these types of m/m sports stories.



13. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo - The sequel to Six of Crows and honestly I liked it better than the first! Possibly because it didn't have to spend time setting up the world or character backstories, but it felt a little more cohesive. I also liked the plot/heist better, by a lot. I think it felt a lot more competent and involved actual planning, with a few surprise twists thrown in (which I appreciate when the explanation feels plausible rather than due to sheer dumb luck). The characters got a little better at feelings and nuance in this one, but not by a lot. I still feel like they should've been in their mid-20s.



14. Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles - Probably my favorite thing I've read from her, though still with reservations for some reason. I really need to just own that we are never totally aligned on what we want out of relationship/plot dynamics. This had a kinda heist/deception plot I enjoyed, but the characters were only just fine for me. The sexual dynamic was pretty hot but I felt like the love and feelings came out of nowhere fast. That's a lot to risk suddenly. As did the Strong Female Character who owned everyone with her awesomeness at the end, though I see it's tied to a book she wrote earlier set in an earlier period. She's a good writer, but I have to accept that I will just never love any of her stuff, even if I can enjoy them enough to read them through.



15. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend - The sequel to Nevermoor and finally the first school days! But it's not quite like HP because the focus is not that heavily focused on the school -- probably due in part to the fact that it's not a boarding school, so we see a lot of Morrigan in other settings. It was nice to see the students' relationships evolve with each other, but still have some consistent delights like Hawthorne's friendship and brightness. Morrigan is still a relatable character and exploring the world with her is still fun. I feel like we could do with a smidge more dramatic tension and wonder though; sometimes incredible things are sort of just reported matter of factly. It's the constraints of not wanting the book to be 700 pages, I'm sure, and a difficult balance. Overall, still enjoyable. We'll see what future books/school years bring.



16. Ten Kisses to Scandal by Vivienne Lorret - A silly little romance that followed some tropes and defied others. I really enjoyed that there was no pointless and convoluted misunderstanding, but I also felt like after the set-up of Why It Would Never Work, hero and heroine both ignored all those signposts and dove headfirst into their feelings (or at least sexual attraction) with very little angst. The age gap is not my favorite (14 years, with the heroine being only 20) because I'd feel better about it if she were at least a little older. That's a lot of discrepancy in experience that isn't so easily handwaved for me by the heroine being "different from other girls" or whatever. The matchmaking business also only works if you suspend disbelief about society... Nevertheless, a cute little story if you don't take it too seriously. I'm looking forward to the next book featuring heroine's older, straitlaced spinster sister and the "brutish", really jacked owner of a gaming hell across the street, lol.

Onto my April books!