Today I’m doing a Booktube Tag created by Roisin’s Reading. Don’t forget to check her very interesting YouTube channel!
End of April is a bit late for this tag but I have seen this just now, so better late than never, right?
Questions:
How many books have you read so far? As of 4/28/2022, 41 Books.
Have you already found a book you think might be a 2022 favorite?
I’ve been extremely lucky to find so many favorites by Aliette de Bodard, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, T. Kingfisher and Nghi Vo that I could already make a long post about my favorite books of the year. I will though probably wait and make a series of four posts in the end of 2022 on my favorite Novellas, and in the Fantasy, Science Fiction and other genres like in 2021. Or I will make posts about each of these authors and the books by them that I really liked.
1 star books / least favourite book of the year?
I didn’t rate any book 1 star yet this year, since I very rarely do that. When I see that a book will be not at all for me I usually prefer not to finish it than to force myself to finish it and give it a very negative review. Life is too short to continue reading books you don’t really like.
Most read genre so far? Fantasy and Science Fiction have been quite equilibrated so far as my two favorite genres.
A book that surprised you? Siren Queen by Nghi Vo. This was the first book I read by this author, but I’ll be reading others in the future surely, because I could not put this amazing book down! It had wonderful multi-layered characters. And an extremely original story world, with an earned and beautifully written character journey.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Book that’s come out in 2022 already that you want to read but haven’t yet?
Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky, that I’ll be reading now in May.
One goal you made that you’re succeeding at
I’ve been quite successful at my goal of Reading books by my favorite authors.
One goal you made you need to focus on
Reading the physical books I own. I have read two grahic novels and one nonfiction physical book so far, but physical books often get to the bottom of my priorities while I’m prioritizing reading my e-book ARCs by NetGalley, e-books borrowed on the library and my audiobooks on Storytel. I might pause my audiobook subscription for a couple of months in August and September so that my physical books can become a priority once again.
New to you Booktubers/bookstagrammer/booktokers for 2022 you recommend?
Not exactly new, but one of my favorite Booktubers is Thomas@SFF180 He is always presenting new book releases with brilliant good humor.
And since I’m a book blogger I will recommend a couple of book blogs that I often take a look at:
Here is this year’s challenge bingo card that you can download here. At the moment I don’t know who created this card so let me know in the comments.
And this is my initial TBR for this yearly challenge. I won’t be describing each of the prompts, so for a better challenge description look here.
I might need to change a couple of books because one of the rules states that “You may not repeat an author on the card” and I thought of books by Adrian Tchaikovsky for four of the prompts. I wrote the books I thought about here even if they won’t be my final choice but I plan to read all of those anyway and I recommend them too.
A couple of my book choices may be not speculative fiction, but as usual I will either change my final choice or not submit a card next year since I always participate in this challenge in a low key way.
First Row Across
A Book from r/Fantasy’s Top LGBTQIA List: The Cloud Roads (The Books of the Raksura #1) by Martha Wells I want to start this series since years.
Weird Ecology: (Semiosis Duology #1) by Sue Burke This has been in my TBR for a couple of years now and it qualifies for hard mode since it isn’t written by Jeff VanderMeer or China Miéville.
Two or More Authors: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff I have the third book in this trilogy since years in my list of series to finish, so I might just finally read it.
Historical SFF: The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray. The setting here is New York City 1926, so this probably qualifies for hard mode.
Set in Space: This is probably the easiest prompt in this bingo board for me. I might read Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.
Second Row Across
Standalone: The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
Anti-Hero: The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus #1) by Jonathan Stroud
Book Club OR Readalong Book: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Cool Weapon: I have no idea yet, but I think many of my fantasy books will be fine for this prompt.
Revolutions and Rebellions: I also still have no idea yet, but I think I’ll just find it along the way too.
Third Row Across
Name in the Title: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Another book I have since years in my TBR.
Author Uses Initials: Swordheart (The World of the White Rat) by T. Kingfisher
Published in 2022: Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I read the first book in this duology in March and I want to continue it asap.
Urban Fantasy: The Nightjar (The Nightjar #1) by Deborah Hewitt. I don’t know much about this book but let’s try a new author for this prompt.
Set in Africa: Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy #1) by Tade Thompson. Yet another case of a book I have had for years in my TBR.
Fourth Row Across
Non-Human Protagonist: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I read the first book in this series awhile ago, but I want to continue it this year.
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. Yet another case of a book that has been in my TBR for years now.
Five SFF Short Stories: I have a lot of anthologies I want to read so I hope to read one of them for the hard mode of this prompt.
Features Mental Health: We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. This seem to be an interesting mixture of Contemporary and Sci-fi.
Self-Published OR Indie Publisher: Death Trace (Hound of Hades #1) by Zoe Cannon
Fifth Row Across
Award Finalist, But Not Won: The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky- finalist for the BSFA award 2021, didn’t win. I know this is now my third book by this author but until I find better choices for these prompts, this will be my choice.
BIPOC Author: A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger.
Shapeshifters: I still have no book for this prompt but I often come across shifters in my fantasy books. I would recommend here The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky since it also has shifters.
No Ifs, Ands, or Buts: It’s difficult to find a title that does not include the following words: the, a/an, and, or, if, of, but. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon did the trick though.
Family Matters: I can’t think of any SFF book for this prompt at the moment so I hope to come across it as I read my books this year. As a no SFF book I could think of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield but yet again, even if I read this book, it would not fit as a final choice.
I hope though that I could inspire you to participate in this challenge even if in a low key way like me.
I participated in this challenge in a low key way in 2021. More information about this challenge can be found here.
Here is the 2021 r/Fantasy Bingo Card made by u/eriophora.
BINGO CARD
First Row Across:
✔️Five SFF Short Stories
I did this one hard mode. I read The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen with an introduction by Theodora Goss. Rating: 5 stars! A book with beautiful prose, some of the stories were extremely sad and heart breaking, but the exquisite writing style made me not able to put this short story collection down. The stories were original and heartfelt, I want to read more books by this author in the future. I recommend this anthology if you like fairy tales with a modern, original twist. This author and Theodora Goss are especially talented for fantasy with mythical themes.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
✔️Set in Asia
I read Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee Rating: 2 stars. This book reminds me of The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi where the world was interesting and there were loads of action but I had difficulty caring enough to go on reading even though. I can’t explain why really… I continued this book but I won’t continue the series.
✔️First Person POV
I read The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1) by Laurie Forest. Rating: 3 stars. Fantasy with a very interesting world and powerful themes.
*Spoiler alert: The only thing I didn’t like is how slow the plot moves for the main character, the story feels stretched with so many side characters storylines. I do care about the side characters but each of them gets a subplot full of new questions of their own and it becomes too much altogether. *End of Spoiler
Even though, I’ll continue this series.
Second Row Across:
✔️Book Club OR Readalong Book
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson Rating: 4 stars. I liked the dialect, the characters (especially Mami) and the plot. It was a fast, original read and I could not put it down.
✔️New to You Author
I haven’t heard anything about this author before deciding to pick up this book, so I think this qualifies for hard mode. I was pleasantly surprised with Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. Rating: 4,5 stars. This was a very beautiful book that I wanted to take my time and hear slowly. I wish it had been longer. I’ll keep an eye for more books by this great author.
✔️Gothic Fantasy
The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox Rating: 4 stars. Very atmospheric, and with gothic elements quite present in the plot. I liked all the characters, spoiler alert even if all of them were really unnerving either by being toxic, quite messed up or way too passive/slow to act and very emotional and dramatic at the same time. end of spoiler I could not put it down.
✔️Backlist Book
The Well of Ascension (The Mistborn Saga #2) by Brandon Sanderson Rating: 4 stars.
I liked this book but I think that some great concepts had to be more fleshed out. Most of the creatures are very much only monsters with details so disgusting that you don’t want to hear much about them. I missed the fleshing out that the non-human sentient beings have in Stormlight and that make them beings with a culture and objectives of their own, not only monsters to be killed because they are bent on wrathful destruction all the time. The whole idea of “non-human creatures are evil and we have to kill them all so we survive” is not the best kind of story. It might work in a middle grade book, but I expect more from Sanderson after Stormlight, therefore this doesn’t get five stars.
Zane was also a very promising character but he doesn’t get the fleshing out he deserved so the reader would understand better what was happening to him and what of that was connected to the Cosmere, you can mostly draw your own conclusions and wonder about the story behind it. An idea would be a Novella about Zane’s journey to the extremely powerful Mistborn he became, he would be the perfect unreliable narrator.
A very entertaining book, but the Stormlight series, with its fleshed out characters, non-human sentient beings, and world is still my favorite.
Third Row Across:
✔️Mystery Plot
Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Rating: 5 stars! This hidden gem is not talked and hyped enough, the story is full of edge-of-your-seat tension, many layered characters and the best writing ever. I could not put this down!
✔️Comfort Read
Diamonds and Daggers (Vampire Knitting Club #11) by Nancy Warren. Rating: 4 stars. Again a very entertaining mystery with paranormal fantasy elements. This whole series was my main comfort read in 2021.
✔️Published in 2021
ReDawn (Skyward #2.2) by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson Rating: 5 stars! This packs a punch! I don’t want to say much because Novellas are so easy to spoil but all Skyward Flight Novellas are a wonderful addition to the series.
Fourth Row Across:
✔️Latinx or Latin American Author
My chosen book has only 571 ratings at the moment which it’s a pity since this series does deserve more eyes on it. Prime Deceptions (Chilling Effect #2) by Valerie Valdes Rating: 5 stars! With a plot that goes, happens and explodes and funny, relatable characters, this was a very entertaining sequel. The Spanish expressions are as extremely funny to hear on the Audiobook as they were to read on the book. And it even has a Portuguese dialogue, we always need more of that. I need more books in this series too! Thankfully the next book in the series will come out now in 2022.
✔️Genre Mashup
The Boundless (The Deathless Trilogy #3) by Peter Newman. Rating: 5 stars! I would say that this series is fantasy with horror elements. This third and final book was awesome and beautifully epic in so many ways. The characters are rarely done in such relatable ways and I really liked how this story wrapped up. One of the best fantasy series I ever read!
Fifth Row Across:
✔️Trans or Nonbinary Character The Vela (The Vela #1) by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, S.L. Huang. Rating: 5 stars! This serial has four things I really liked:
1) Great writers collaborating in a cohesive and well done narrative, 2) Well done, many layered, characters, 3) A surprising and fast paced plot that never gets boring and 4) Food for thought of extreme, utmost importance. Many of the questions this story asks could be translated to our current world situation and how we handle world problems like refugees and climate change.
This serial packs a punch. I liked how it made me think about a lot of important things and I recommend it to anyone who wants to get out of their comfort zone while reading a very entertaining science fiction story with fast paced action. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
✔️Debut Author
Machinehood by S.B. Divya Rating: 3 stars. This had a very good premise and ideas but the narrative style wasn’t unfortunately for me. I would recommend this to people who like science fiction technological thrillers and are OK with a narrative in Michael Crichton’s style. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I will again be participating in a low key way in next year’s challenge.
My Reader's Journey 