The book: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord



The summary:

A tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit. Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi— who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.

A contemporary fairy tale that is inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale.

How I found it: I'm pretty sure it was recommended at a FogCon panel, although I can't remember any specifics about the context. Also I've never read anything by Karen Lord, but she's been on my "I should read something by this author" list for awhile.

What inspired me to read it now: The jacket copy and several of the author blurbs mentioned the book's humor, and I was in the mood for something on the lighter side. (And my copy is only 188 pages, which also factored in to my decision to pick it up.)

The verdict: Overall I enjoyed this book very well. The writing is brisk and engaging, the narration style works perfectly for a tale that is both based on and feels like folklore -- and the narrator is not shy about sharing their opinions -- and once I past the first couple of chapters, I found the characters interesting and entertaining. I particularly liked the Sisters, both individually and as a community. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes folklore retellings.

( Some more specific thoughts, cutting for length and minor spoilers )

So I do recommend this book, despite what was, for me, a rough start. And I look forward to seeking out more works by Karen Lord in the future -- specific recommendations are welcome!

The book: Books 2-6 of the InCryptid Series by Seanan McGuire, starting with Midnight Blue-Light Special

The summary:

The Covenant of St. George was founded to uphold one simple ideal: anything that was not present on the Ark—anything they deemed "unnatural"—needed to be destroyed. Monsters. Creatures of myth and legend. All of them would be wiped from the Earth in the name of Man's dominion. Unfortunately for them, not all the monsters agreed with this plan...and neither did all the human beings.
After their rather abrupt departure from the Covenant, Alexander and Enid Healy found themselves alone in the world, but with a simple mission of their own: to protect the cryptids of the world from those who would harm them without just cause. It was a cause that would eventually claim both their lives, leaving their children, and their children's children, to take up the fight. Now in the modern day, their descendants struggle to stay beneath the Covenant's radar, while defending the cryptids from humanity—and humanity from the cryptids.

How I found it: Like many of us, my gateway Seanan McGuire book was Rosemary and Rue, the first October Daye story. From there, I began seeking out her other work, and as another urban fantasy series, InCryptid seemed like the natural next step. I read the first book, Discount Armageddon, in 2013 or so, and I enjoyed it, but didn't fall in love with the universe or the characters nearly as much as I had Toby and her world. So when I had to set aside the second book, Midnight Blue-Light Special, only a few chapters in, I didn't feel any strong urgency to return. But I kept buying the new volumes, on the assumption I would get back to them someday. And someday is now.

( Read more... )

According to Goodreads, I read 28 books in 2016; that includes several graphic novels and one novella, but one book was a trilogy collected in a single volume. Still, in terms of actual books that's fewer than two a month, which seems kind of dismal. I blame my Critical Role obsession -- catching up on the show, and then rewatching it took many many many hours of time, at least some of which would otherwise have been spent reading. But that's over now, so I want to read more in 2017, and also pick up gaming again. I hope to make the quest for balance a theme this year, in my life generally as well as in media consumption; wish me luck.

Some stats (counted by book -- I have a couple of duplicate authors):

• 22 women/6 men (79% women) -- I'd bet that's about average for me, although I don't usually track this data. It might be a little higher than usual because I was still doing the Bradford Challenge at the start of the year.


• 21 white authors/7 authors of color (25% PoC) -- This is... not great, although it could be worse. I want to read more books by authors of color in 2017, particularly men -- every single one of these authors was a woman, which is kind of cool in some respects, but it's still a limit on reading diversely. And there are male authors of color, like Daniel Jose Older and Tobias Buckell, who I've been meaning to try for years. So this could be a good opportunity for me to broaden my repertoire.

Some favorites, listed alphabetically by title:

( Books published in 2016 )

( Books published before 2016 )

( Movies/TV/Other Visual Media )

Coming in 2017

Lots of movies, shows, and books are headed my way in 2017. To mention some of the more obvious: Star Wars Episode 8, Wonder Woman, Hidden Figures (which I will have already seen by the time this goes live), The Lego Batman Movie, The Dark Tower. Regarding television, besides the aforementioned-Defenders, I'm looking forward to seeing where Supergirl and Agents of SHIELD go through the rest of their current seasons. As for books, it's hard to know where to start, there are so many, but I'm quite excited for the new John Scalzi space opera series (I heard him read the prologue at WorldCon, and it was really great), as well as the final books in a number of series: Buried Heart by Kate Elliott (Court of Fives series), The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth), and Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (The Memoirs of Lady Trent). There's also a new October Daye book coming, and I'm sure there's more but I'm very bad about knowing upcoming books that aren't books in series and/or by my most favorite authors. :) So I'm sure there's more coming. On the video game front, there's Mass Effect: Andromeda out in March, and although I'm more of a Dragon Age girl, I'm still looking forward to it. The Final Fantasy XII remaster is also slated for 2017, no specific release date yet, and is this the year we finally get Kingdom Hearts 3? Only time will tell.

I've never set specific, measurable reading goals before, but I want to try in 2017, if nothing else to see how it works for me.

In 2017, I will read:

• At least 40 books total, not including novellas/short fiction or graphic novels/comics collections.


• At least 20 books by authors of color; of these, at least 10 by new-to-me authors (i.e. authors whose work I've never read before).


• At least 5 non-fiction books.


• At least one novella and one piece of shorter fiction each month -- not just during Hugo reading season!


• At least 10 books or graphic novels/comics collections off my existing TBR shelf.

Not so long ago, I could have read 40 books in my sleep, but my media consumption patterns have changed, so I wanted to be realistic. Three books each month and a little more -- that's not so bad, right? And if I hit that goal early, I can re-evaluate.

I hope you all found books, movies, TV, and games you loved in 2016, and have plenty to look forward to in 2017 as well! Any favorites that you think I shouldn't miss? Comment and let me know.

Cheers, and Happy New Year to all.