Renay (
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ladybusiness2025-07-08 12:36 am
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Let's Get Literate! July 2025 Hopefuls
Well, I made a reading list last month...how did I do?
2/5...I'll take it! I wanted more library holds to work out for me, but them's the breaks when you read newer books coveted by the masses. I read Raybearer and The Last Colony from the above list, plus:
My favorite book this month was 100% The Raven Scholar at 5/5 bananas, followed closely by Mammoths at the Gate. Everything else was solid. Weirdly, I liked When the Moon Hits Your Eye better than Alien Clay for plot reasons, but Alien Clay better for character reasons. But The Raven Scholar and the Singing Hills Cycle are operating at a different level re: characters. I wrote about each SFF title in more detail over at Intergalactic Mixtape #9.
What's in store for July? Here's what I've got:
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig | Orbit | May 2025
She's back! My library holds didn't work out in my favor in June. It doesn't matter if it says "first in line" or not, I guess. :P I've seen some mixed reviews since I added this, but I refuse to give up my spot in the library check out line! S O O N.
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi | Tor | May 2025
Fantasy noir! Roseanna gave this a rave review, with only a few quibbles, so of course I placed a hold immediately so I can try it out. We'll see how kind the library is about this one. :P
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna | Berkley | July 2025
I loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I immediately wanted more of Mandanna's fantasy work and was crushed when this book didn't come out in 2024. But it's out SOON and I will be reading it ASAP.
I learned last year that she also wrote a YA science fiction series that starts with A Spark of White Fire. I keep meaning to order it, because it's old enough my library doesn't have it anymore.
The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella | Lethe Press | March 2025
I feel like my pal Roseanna is all over this list because her review of this novella had me immediately checking if my library had it (no) or if I could order it (yes, the ebook is available via B&N!).
I'm a sucker for a story-inside-a-story, and this is one where a mountain is the main character and the Death of Mountains has come to end them...but first, they trade stories.
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi | Tor | August 2008
My reread continues as I prepare for The Shattering Peace. This is a retelling of The Last Colony from the perspective of the main character's daughter. Anyone who has read the other book knows the ending of this one, so there's less tension.
I tend to like this version of the story better than The Last Colony, because Zoe is so important to the plot and things happen that can't be covered in The Last Colony, but I know I'm in the minority. We'll see how it holds up!
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett | Del Rey | February 2024
I've already started this; it's part of my Hugo Award reading that I fear may be over due to burnout. I was holding a grudge against this author after he did the Bury Your Gays trope in a City of Stairs. The weird pro-AI stuff earlier this year didn't help.
My feelings are complicated because this book is doing really cool things with characterization and world building. Weird supernatural/biological stuff! Giant stompy beasts! A murder mystery! Very cool interpersonal character dynamics! I'm pained. But if any main characters who happen to be queer die horribly in this book I will swear off this author forever.
June was a pretty good reading month. It's been so nice to read without so much friction getting started. Now I can turn my recent book buying habit (I went a little wild for my birthday) into a book reading habit. Those books:
I definitely don't have a problem and can quit whenever I want. :D
- The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
- Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
- A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
- The Last Colony by John Scalzi
2/5...I'll take it! I wanted more library holds to work out for me, but them's the breaks when you read newer books coveted by the masses. I read Raybearer and The Last Colony from the above list, plus:
- The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
- Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo
- Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo
- When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
- First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
- Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My favorite book this month was 100% The Raven Scholar at 5/5 bananas, followed closely by Mammoths at the Gate. Everything else was solid. Weirdly, I liked When the Moon Hits Your Eye better than Alien Clay for plot reasons, but Alien Clay better for character reasons. But The Raven Scholar and the Singing Hills Cycle are operating at a different level re: characters. I wrote about each SFF title in more detail over at Intergalactic Mixtape #9.
What's in store for July? Here's what I've got:
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig | Orbit | May 2025
She's back! My library holds didn't work out in my favor in June. It doesn't matter if it says "first in line" or not, I guess. :P I've seen some mixed reviews since I added this, but I refuse to give up my spot in the library check out line! S O O N.
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi | Tor | May 2025
Fantasy noir! Roseanna gave this a rave review, with only a few quibbles, so of course I placed a hold immediately so I can try it out. We'll see how kind the library is about this one. :P
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna | Berkley | July 2025
I loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I immediately wanted more of Mandanna's fantasy work and was crushed when this book didn't come out in 2024. But it's out SOON and I will be reading it ASAP.
I learned last year that she also wrote a YA science fiction series that starts with A Spark of White Fire. I keep meaning to order it, because it's old enough my library doesn't have it anymore.
The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella | Lethe Press | March 2025
I feel like my pal Roseanna is all over this list because her review of this novella had me immediately checking if my library had it (no) or if I could order it (yes, the ebook is available via B&N!).
I'm a sucker for a story-inside-a-story, and this is one where a mountain is the main character and the Death of Mountains has come to end them...but first, they trade stories.
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi | Tor | August 2008
My reread continues as I prepare for The Shattering Peace. This is a retelling of The Last Colony from the perspective of the main character's daughter. Anyone who has read the other book knows the ending of this one, so there's less tension.
I tend to like this version of the story better than The Last Colony, because Zoe is so important to the plot and things happen that can't be covered in The Last Colony, but I know I'm in the minority. We'll see how it holds up!
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett | Del Rey | February 2024
I've already started this; it's part of my Hugo Award reading that I fear may be over due to burnout. I was holding a grudge against this author after he did the Bury Your Gays trope in a City of Stairs. The weird pro-AI stuff earlier this year didn't help.
My feelings are complicated because this book is doing really cool things with characterization and world building. Weird supernatural/biological stuff! Giant stompy beasts! A murder mystery! Very cool interpersonal character dynamics! I'm pained. But if any main characters who happen to be queer die horribly in this book I will swear off this author forever.
June was a pretty good reading month. It's been so nice to read without so much friction getting started. Now I can turn my recent book buying habit (I went a little wild for my birthday) into a book reading habit. Those books:
- Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady
- Ocean's Godori by Elaine U. Cho (shelf copy)
- The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott (shelf copy)
- Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans
- Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
- I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
- The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson (shelf copy)
- The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O'Keefe
- Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins
- Prophet by Sin Blaché + Helen Macdonald
- Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
- The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee (ebook)
- Redsight by Meredith Mooring (ebook)
- If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu (ebook)
- Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney (ebook)
I definitely don't have a problem and can quit whenever I want. :D