Welcome to Litsy!

I didn‘t catch all of the court intrigue—it‘s not what I come to this series for. I love the gas lamp aesthetic, the magic system, the representation, the main characters‘ sincerity, and above all, these books‘ interest in liberation. This second novel follows Dame Grace Hensley as she confronts the crimes her father committed, her own privilege, the debate between incremental vs radical change, and her attraction to the journalist Avia Jessop.

After Witchmark, Grace finds herself in the position of dealing with the aftermath. Too bad she also has to deal with a manipulative father, a faerie envoy, a tempting journalist, & the moral center of her country.

I adore the setting of these books. & Grace redeems herself for me. Charming characters, & lots of political intrigue. & a examination of radical change vs moderate steps. The ending left one major plot point undealt with. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

This is the second book in the Kingston Cycle, a historical fantasy series nominated for the 2022 Hugo Best Series award. The book didn't wow me like the first one did but it's a pick all the same.#hugoawards #hugo2022

I can tell the author is Canadian (like me) because the biggest threat to humanity is a series of monster snowstorms!

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

It was great getting a story focused on Grace! The political intrigue, romance, and world building were a lot of fun, and the flow of action was excellent. I did wish Miles and Tristan had been fleshed out a bit more, though. They felt like flat side characters. #Fantasy #StormPowers #Magic #LGBTQ

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 321.
#bookstoread
#tbrpile
#bookstagram

Ehn...

Tonight‘s risotto gave me lots of listening time! I tried mushroom with bleu cheese in place of Parmesan, and it was quite tasty indeed. #audiocooking

I planned to reread STORMSONG entirely on audio since I read it with my eyeballs the last time and variety‘s good, but I tore through my WITCHMARK reread in a day and needed more, stat. Now I‘m doing the audio/eyeballs combo thing so I can gulp it down all the faster.

Okay, so, I was leery of this one, as the protag was one of my Least Favorite characters in the first book, and also there was a Lot more political intrigue, which isn't usually my jam... But dug it. Character goes through a good arc, I was well-satisfied by several plot turns, I'm even more invested in the world, and!!!! Really looking forward to the third book!!! Also this one (& the next I think) is wlw. I like when authors go back and forth.

Work has been exhausting but man does it feel good to have a stack of fresh library books again!

Even better than the first one. Grace's character arc was well-executed and while the events of the latter half of the book kept me on my toes, they did so in a way that was well foreshadowed (also true of Witchmark, but moreso here).

I saw a few middling Goodreads reviews with variations of "I wanted more Miles and Tristan" and I would like to ask those people what book they read because Miles and Tristan are very present in this story.

February was an odd little month. I got stuck on a couple of books, saw hardly any TBR reduction as I succumbed to library pressure (and bought some stuff), and read fewer comics than I have in YEARS.

I did read some awesome things, though. STORMSONG was amazing, and I‘m furious with 2012 Me for failing to recognize THE DRAGONFLY POOL‘s brilliance. It belongs on my Best of 2020 list, but I‘ve got a strict No Rereads On Best Ofs rule. Blah.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. Dune; LotR - The Two Towers
2. I'll go with fave romance authors rather than books, can't pick just one: Cat Sebastian and KJ Charles
3. Stormsong! A gift to myself! (if buying for myself doesn't count, then it was probably some Peppa Pig and Usborne books for my niece and nephew)

STORMSONG blew me away, y‘all.

Polk shifts her focus to politics as Grace, who often horrified me in WITCHMARK, deals with such topical issues as government corruption, ethical power sources, climate change, and persecution along class lines. It‘s an enormously complicated situation, and Polk handles it well—all while exploring how tackling these problems impacts Grace‘s worldview.

STORMSONG is about social evolution and honest engagement. ⬇️

I‘ve been trying to save STORMSONG for when I‘ve got a good stretch of reading time, but after the books-at-breakfast scene I read last night I had to make it MY book-at-breakfast. It‘s so damned good, y‘all—but I‘m only 25% from the end and there‘s still so much that‘s gotta happen. I‘m relieved to know there‘ll be a third book. Fingers crossed it centres on Robin, who feels well positioned to conduct the next stage.

Book & tea before bed.

I‘ve just read a scene where the protagonist and her love interest read their separate books while they eat breakfast together. The context makes it obvious EVERYONE in Aeland does this. A whole country, reading merrily away first thing in the morning while their dining companions do likewise.

Have I mentioned how much I love Polk‘s worldbuilding?

Of course now is when all my library holds come in at once so it's not practical for me to drop everything and read this. [shakes fist]

Breakfast-for-supper with STORMSONG.

I dove into my ARC last night, and it was just this side of unreadable. Sob! I re-downloaded it from NetGalley in the desperate hope Tor had corrected the formatting issues, and they had. Whew!

Now I‘m hard into it. Polk is SO good at layering stressors on her characters, and I‘m in love with her worldbuilding. People say ahoy instead of hello! And their coffee comes out of burpers! How cute is that?

I deliberately chose not to start STORMSONG before bed last night because I knew I‘d just get frustrated when I was too tired to carry on.

Then I spent the whole day avoiding it because it‘s my most anticipated book of 2020 and sometimes I‘m chickenshit.
(Also, I had stuff to do.) (And my ARC‘s got terrible formatting, which kinda worries me.)

Now it‘s 11:00 and I‘m going in. Wish me luck.

Here‘s another of my looks-daunting-but-isn‘t #weeklyforecast posts.

I‘ll dive into STORMSONG later today (!!!!!!). When its over, I‘ll read either SON OF A TRICKSTER or GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN, then finish the week with whichever one I didn‘t choose.

On the comics front, I‘ll read TO YOUR ETERNITY VOL 12 and DEAR SCARLET, then at least start ESSEX COUNTY.

I‘ll keep picking away at BLACK WRITERS MATTER, the Sagas, and Colette.

I decided to go for 100% Canadian women on my February Must-Reads list.

I also plan to reread WITCHMARK right before I dive into STORMSONG.

wow this sounds good! and that cover! 😍 😍

Witchmark (the first book) was one of my surprise favourites last year. I didn't go in with any expectations, and I loooved it. hopefully I will love this one as well, since I definitely have expectations now! I'm so intrigued for Grace's story. the blurb sounds like a delightful blend of politics, magic, and queer romance so I don't think it can go too wrong for me. exciiited!

out Feb 2020

Sometimes you‘ve just got to #galleybrag.

Hello there, most anticipated book of 2020.