I did much more reading in April than this looks like, but it's all either re-reads or unfinished yet. May will probably be hard to fit everything into! At least that's the hope. The Phantom Coach was my favorite Twitch read this past month and I think I'm going to go look for more of her fiction. Both the modern books were mildly disappointing. Also, I've developed a taste for Regency pamphlets, satirical and serious both. I need more!
panNo idea what I just read. No idea how to really review it. Might be worthy of 1 star or 2, maybe 5. I'm going with 1. Very weird, and not my cup of tea.
bailedSince it‘s longlisted for the Women‘s Prize for fiction, I tried really hard to make this book happen. But despite having engaging writing, the story is so convoluted that I‘m not following it well and I just don‘t care. I made it 2/3 through and am calling it. I could stare at that cover all day long, though.
panWhat a disappointment. I love science fiction and was delighted that an SF book made the #Womensprize long list. For most of the book, I was confused. When the puzzel pieces came together, I no longer cared about the story. 2 🌟
pickOnly marginally a standalone. Readers who haven't read the first two books will struggle to orient themselves or feel invested. Lots of characters from previous books, allusions to events and people that are only relevant if you know the backstory. I read these back to back and I still found it messy. Soft pick for me but fully understand if others bail in confusion.
#WomensPrize2024 #WomensPrize
Owen was also a benefactor... Money from his music royalties... was being funneled into teamwork research, both in raw games like football and in VR gaming. But it had been Charyssa, a savvy media mogul and entertainment icon in her own right, who had noticed Owen's interests and decided to recruit him to her dream of a unified Earth.
"That's perfect, that is," Kanoa muttered to himself. "A former beauty queen who really wants world peace."
pickWhat a great SF Little Mermaid retelling! A scientist who devoted her life to studying a species of underwater beings seeks out a man who purports to be able to turn humans into "mermaids," and after rescuing one and going on the run from the government, she's desperate to find some way to learn more about them again. Sticks devastatingly close to the original fairy tale.
Reading with my foster kittens
bailedIt‘s official…I‘m going to be a non-completist of this year‘s #womensprize for fiction!
The first 20% of this was OK then it lost me completely. I looked it up on GR to see if I could glean any clues, only to learn that it‘s book 3 in a series. (Although some called it a ‘companion piece‘ not a sequel and others said it stood alone just as easily).
I also read that there was a glossary of characters in the back so I thought that might be ⬇️
