meitachi | books read: 2023 jan-mar

I read things in the first three months! I'll save April for the next batch. Working through things along with staying busy at work, but the summer should be less busy since I changed departments last fall and won't be running our Young Leaders Institute.

Had a very lovely trip to Edinburgh and want to immediately move to Scotland. How realistic is that? I don't know, but Texas is really wearing me down.

A Winter's Earl by Annabelle Greene - An m/m regency romance that I did not enjoy, alas. Supposedly enemies to lovers but I didn't buy the tension/enmity, nor the love, and really just didn't like either character. I also remember some extremely shitty attitudes toward the servants, which was uncalled for.

Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn - (Daisy Dalrymple #4) Absolutely charming. I'm glad Daisy's getting to spend more time with Alec Fletcher's daughter and mostly gets along with people (but not everyone). Train travel seems so exciting in books, but rarely in real life.

The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James - Nothing particularly memorable, but enjoyable seasonal mysteries.

The Lemon by S.E. Boyd - A satirical novel with expies clearly based around Anthony Bourdain and (I think) Jose Andres, but then Bourdain himself actually was mentioned in-world in the novel. Strange. But a kind of sharply funny novel poking fun at how the death of celebrity chef has ripple effects on the PR team/TV network/fellow chefs of the world, based on how social media and influencing operate.

One Piece vol 88-102 by Oda Eiichiro - Caught up through the rest of the Wano arc and Kaidoh fight and, my god, this would have been agonizing to read week by week. Started the new arc but already lost the thread; will have to backtrack again. For the Wano arc, I am fond of many folks, but really I would've loved to see the Zoro/Hiyori bit a little more. I was kind of rooting for it!

Thus was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell - (Hilary Tamar #1) A rearead of a delightful murder mystery series that depends a lot on boring trust law featuring some fine barristers with very littel self-awareness.

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer - A reread of a delightful romp. There are so many well-meaning but extremely silly characters.

Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews - (Kate Andrews: The Wilmington Years #1) I don't think it's as strong as the original Kate Andrews series but still fun! Possibly because I care less about family unit/precocious kids stories, but still good on the found family stuff, and always good on interesting characters/mythology/world-building.

The Appeal by Janice Hallett - Fun mystery reliant on a lot of "trial evidence" documentation via emails, voicemails, etc. Fun way to approach the mystery, though the focus on local community theater (raising money for charity) made me Very Tired. It's not my crowd! But it does make for an interesting insular group to explore.

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by Agatha Christie et al. - New takes by various authors, often adding new dimensions in terms of character diversity and more progressive sensibilities. I liked seeing each other's different approaches and the new lenses they brought to Christie's work, but some of these were not as strong on prose or on the mysteries themselves. But a nice tribute nonetheless.

Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan - (Celestial Kingdoms Duology #2) I feel like the first book was stronger on plot and pacing, but this one actually surprised me and made me root for the romance. I thought the first book was rare enough to make me believe in the protagonist's connection with both love interests, but this! Yes. However, I will say the bit about her father felt unearned and to be honest unnecessary.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton - A graphic novel memoir by the author of Hark! A Vagrant. I only read that comic intermittently back in LJ days but this was lovely; really tough to read about the isolation and bad human behavior out in the Albertan oil sands, but the stories were very human -- good and bad, how they treated women, how lonely they were. It definitely requires time to process.

Fire Season by K.D. Casey - An m/m romance but with baseball instead of hockey! Veteran player and the team's ace, both pitchers, falling into friendship and then lust and then love. I enjoyed it!

I Ship My Adversary X Me by PEPA - A reread of one of the greatest cnovels of all time; I genuinely forget how funny it is until I'm rereading. It makes me burst into giggles all the time. Fewer shenanigans after they actually hook up but still very cute!! Also: the manhua is so pretty and also incredibly cute!

After School Lessons for Unripe Apples by Soonkki - A sweet slow burn m/f Korean webtoon featuring a pair of childhood "friends" (they hung out for one summer) who actually become real friends when they become neighbors in middle school. Lots of studying and daily life and school shenanigans, and they're just slowly beginning to realize their feelings. Ongoing.

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James - (Would-Be Wallflowers #2) Regency romance that is billed as enemies-to-lovers but really was a straightlaced earl who cares about propriety, a lady who sleeps around and is shamed for that but somehow kept in polite society, and a terrible younger sister who plays villain for no reason except there needed to be a villain. I don't know, largely forgettable for me.

Thinking of Deer Fei Fei by Mo Li - A very short entertainment cnovel. Cute but not memorable, beyond the sweet naïve hero being very tall.

Bite Your Fingertips by Su Jingxian - Possibly my favorite cnovel ever! I have extreme recency bias but this was also so incredibly made for my id I could eat it up with a spoon. A high school m/m love story featuring the school's flower/beauty (whom everyone agrees is this boy even though typically it's a girl) and the school delinquent/golden boy genius with an angsty past. They don't get along at school until they do -- because the flower inexplicably becomes a vampire only sated by the delinquent's blood. Very Twilight. No explanation. And then they go through a delightful sequence of "you are my only exception" scenes, which are my favorite, as they are oblivious but everyone around them is like "omg". Anyway, a bit of family angst and darkness (and murder), random street racing, an earthquake, and lots of test taking and fun classmate characters. I almost immediately reread this and love it lots.

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri - (Books of Ambha #2) Set a decade or two after the first book. Lovely prose and exploration of character/identity and what it means to lose connection to a background or culture you weren't raised in but is still part of you. A lovely romance -- so far both books have had romances with guys that actually seem genuinely likeable, with solid redeeming qualities. Strength of women is far more the story though.

The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by P.J. Fitzsimmons - (Anty Boisjoly #1) Sold as Wodehouse but with mysteries to solve! Yet I have no memory of this story at all, though I recall enjoying it? I may try the next book in the series, but tougher to commit when the library doesn't have the books.

The Little Book of Scottish Beasties by Tim Kirby - A very cute funny comic book bought in Edinburgh making fun of Scottish animals (both real and mythological).

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants by Fez Inkwright - Nonfiction book of plants and the ways they are deadly to humans, plus some historical lore/myth/context.

Miss Percy's Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons) by Quenby Olson - (Miss Percy Guide Book #1) The premise of this is that a spinster inherits a dragon egg that hatches. I wanted to like this so much more than I actually did, unfortunately. The writing was just not very strong, and the pacing bad, and the romance unnecessary. Won't be reading the sequel.

Sinister Spring by Agatha Christie - A collection of short stories; I felt like all of them were new to me, though I also have a terrible memory, so who knows.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Actually quite fun! I've been hearing a lot about this book and people saying they enjoyed it even more than The Martian. I enjoyed Grace and Rocky's friendship a lot!! The science was hand-wavey and fine, but the stakes felt real enough to be dramatic and fun.

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black - (Stolen Heir Duology #1) I do enjoy this world and I enjoyed Oak more than I thought, but this definitely ended in a bit of a cliffhanger to set up for the next book. Follows the trend of monstrous female characters who have to rein in their viciousness; we shall see how much Wren does in the next book.

Trust by Hernan Diaz - Put on my list because it was shortlisted for a lot of awards and because Obama had it on his end-of-year list. The premise was interesting too: the story of a rich magnate told from different perspectives, revealing just how different a story of a man could be depending on who's doing the telling. Always fascinating to see the prose choices to reflect each different story and its narrator, and how those contribute/hide. I enjoyed it!

The Guest Cat by Hiraide Takashi - Translated from Japanese, a story of passing seasons and time in our protagonist's lifee as marked by the visit of a neighbor's cat. Bittersweet.

Playoff hockey has been fun. Went to my first playoff game in Carolina against the NY Islanders! If the Florida Panthers make it to the next round, my friend and I will go to South Florida so we can indulge our Tkachuk obsession while the team plays either my team (CAR) or her team (NJD). I'm happy Toronto made it past the first round though; I like the team a lot (even if their fan and media base are insufferable.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think that's a fairly reasonable perspective, even though holidays aren't the same as reality. Hopefully you can find a better place for you ^^

I do find a lot of enemies to lovers just... doesn't stick. They don't seem like true enemies.

I felt the same about Marple: Twelve New Mysteries. Some of the stories dragged, and that really shouldn't be the case for a short story!

I think I liked the Cruel Prince and the other books because they took place over a longer time period. Journey stories can work, but they're a lot harder for selling the romance aspects.

Oh I've fallen in love with many places only on holiday and knowing I wouldn't enjoy daily life there as much! But Edinburgh really seemed so lovely and livable -- walkable compared to Houston, too.

Yes, I also found the Cruel Prince trilogy worked better for me since it covered more time, but I like the world and characters enough to see through The Stolen Heir duology at least. At most I will believe they're attracted to each other, but something deeper usually needs more time!

books read: 2023 jan-mar

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