2024 Book Bingo: My TBR (with book suggestions for all the prompts).

My 2024 Book Bingo blog post was one of the most successful blog posts in the history of this blog. It had 3K views so far, and yep, I am happily surprised by that number.
I have had a TBR for the Hard Mode of this challenge since the beginning of the year, but I didn’t have the time to post it here so far.
Without much further ado, here’s my TBR: I might change some of the choices like I did last year, but in its totality I hope to be as successful as last year in reading most of the planned books):

Bingo Challenge Hard Mode TBR:

First Row:

*Hard Mode: Novella by an author you didn’t read before – I’m between two choices here: The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht Or Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. And I might even read both books since they have been long in my TBR anyway.

Rainbow: LGBT+
Another book that has been for years in my radar:
Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner #1) by Lynn Flewelling

*Hard Mode: 700+ Pages
I already managed to read a book for this prompt in January, and that was
Lord of All Things (Herr aller Dinge #1) by Andreas Eschbach, Samuel Willcocks (Translator).

*Hard Mode Jumping Cat: Book with a witch and her cat familiar on the cover or story. In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1) by Auralee Wallace

Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title.
Red Mars (Mars Trilogy #1) by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Second Row:

*Hard Mode Robot: Non-Human character is the protagonist/main character of the story.
Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard (Barsk #1) by Lawrence M. Schoen

Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title.
I will still decide which book I will read for this prompt. Perhaps The Haunting of Blackwood House (The Haunting of Blackwood House #1) by Darcy Coates. I am not sure yet.

Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover
I like to read historical fiction/romance/mystery sometimes. Therefore I’m planning to read The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) by Claudia Gray. Another idea for this prompt would be The House Witch (The House Witch #1) by Delemhach, I heard good things about it on Booktube.

Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title.
I might read The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes for this since it has a green cover. This book would also fit the romance prompt above.
An idea for the purple cover would be The Disasters by M.K. England. This book would also fit the LGBT prompt.

*Hard Mode Rocket: Sci-fi without aliens.
I plan to read Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. This has been in my TBR for years now.

Third Row:

Number in the Title
20 Years Later by Emma Newman. I really like the writing style of this author, so I plan to read all her books.

Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read.
I rarely read and enjoy Horror books, but I will try to read Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef (Gods and Monsters: Rupert Wong #1) by Cassandra Khaw.

Free Space

*Hard Mode Favorite Author: Three books by your favorite author.
I will read three books by Adrian Tchaikovsky:
Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3)
Bear Head (Dogs of War #2)
The Doors of Eden.

I already finished Lords of Uncreation and really liked it.

Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel
I must still decide what I will read here. Perhaps the graphic novel, The Moth Keeper by Kay O’Neill.

Fourth Row:

Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

*Hard Mode Record Player: Three books written before you were born.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

By An author you never read before

Knot: Book with a twist.
I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton now in January and I really liked it. It has more than a few twists!
I surely want to read more books by this author.

A Book In Translation
I read the dystopia I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz (Translator) for this prompt and really liked it. This book would also work for the feminist prompt below.

Fifth Row:

*Hard mode Detective: Book with a mystery written by a woman or nonbinary author.
I will be continuing the Three Pines series with A Fatal Grace (Three Pines series #2) by Louise Penny.

I would gladly accept recommendations of mystery books by nonbinary authors, since at the moment I can’t think of any.

Bipoc Author
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

*Hard Mode ‘One’ Book: Three Standalones
I haven’t decided yet, but I might read three mystery standalones for this prompt. My ideas here would be:
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton,
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

*Hard Mode Gothic AND Feminist: Why choose? Read one Gothic and one Feminist book.
Feminist – The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
Gothic – All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, Angela Slatter

Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition by Patricia A. McKillip.
Other ideas for this prompt would be:
Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Chronicles #1) by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman.
Dragonsbane (Winterlands #1) by Barbara Hambly
Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by M.L. Spencer.

Happy reading!

My Favorite Books of 2023 Part 3: Horror, Mystery, Poetry and Historical Fiction

Though I mostly read Science Fiction and Fantasy, now and then I pick books in other genres too. I’m often surprised to place them among my favorites of the year.

Poetry

Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou

Beautiful poems that touch deeply! No need for false complexity here, only honest simple words.

Horror

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

This was part of the Goodreads Choice Awards of 2022 for a good reason.
I could not put this amazing book down!

Bunny by Mona Awad

Also a Nominee for the Goodreads Choice Awards of 2019.
Hypnotic beautiful prose that reads like poetry and I couldn’t put down, if cozy horror exists, then this chilling book is a perfect example of it.

Mystery

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

A beautifully written story, I recommend this even if you aren’t a mystery fan. I surely want to read more by this author.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1) by Elle Cosimano

This was a very funny, original and entertaining mystery book that might appeal to infrequent mystery readers (like me) too.
I will definitely continue this series.

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead (Finlay Donovan #2) by Elle Cosimano

This sequel was even more full of entertaining action, and I will continue this light and fun series.

Historical Fiction

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

I could not put this book down. Katie Lumsden is an author to watch out for!

The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley

Beautiful character journey, I want to read more books by this author!

The Just City (Thessaly #1) by Jo Walton

This was surely original food-for-thought, and out of my comfort zone. I definitely want to continue this series and read more books by this author.

I often like what I consider light-hearted or ‘cozy/humorous’ Mystery, Historical Fiction and even Horror, so if you know of possible light-hearted books in these genres, please let me know.

Best and Worst Book Series of 2023 #booktag

Today I’m doing a Booktube tag from bookslikewhoa to discuss the series I read in 2023.

1. What is the best series that you caught up with this year that is still a work in progress?

I would have a couple of options for this question, but the Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson. This is right now is one of my favorite series by the author. I say it’s a WIP because there are books planned in a next series called Skyward Legacy.

2. What is the best work in progress series that you are still catching up with? OR What is the best completed series that you are still catching up with?

I’m catching up with the Planetfall Series by Emma Newman. I am reading the fourth book at the moment and I still want to read the short story collection: Before, After, Alone: A Planetfall Universe short story collection.

3. What was your favorite first book in a series this year?

I would also have many options to answer here, but The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus #1) by Jonathan Stroud was one of the first books that I most enjoyed and laughed with.

4. What is a first book in a series you read this year that you think should have just been a standalone, not a series?

I would say The Falconer (The Falconer #1) by Elizabeth May. It was over stretched only to become a series, but again, I am not the best audience for Young Adult.

5. What is your most over-hyped series of the year?

I have the impression that it was Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros. I DNFed the first book and consequently the series because I considered it too violent.

6. What is a series that you DNFed this year?

I DNFed more than one series this year, but among them Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) by Jim Butcher. I might try more books by this author in the future, but so far his books haven’t been for me.

7. What was your favorite series’ finale of the year? OR What was your least favorite series finale of the year?

My favorite was the fourth book of the Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson, Defiant.

My least favorite finale was Ptolemy’s Gate (Bartimaeus #3) by Jonathan Stroud because in my opinion it cut short the series way too early, there was enough story there for more books, and it was not so suitable for a Middle Grade book. Still, it was a beautiful finale nevertheless.

8. What was the biggest cliffhanger you had in a series this year?

The book Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan #3) by Elle Cosimano. I am really enjoying this funny mystery series and can’t wait to continue reading.

9. What is your favorite spinoff series you read this year?

None, I rarely read spinoffs.

10. What is your most anticipated next book in a series that you read this year that will come out next year?

This would be Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (Finlay Donovan #4) by Elle Cosimano.

11. What is your most anticipated series to catch up with next year based on what you read in that series this year? OR What is the series you’re most excited to stay caught up with next year based on what you read in the series this year?

I want to catch up with the Diabolist’s Library Series. I read and liked the original Creatures of Will and Temper (Diabolist’s Library #1) by Molly Tanzer a great deal.

12. What is your favorite series that you finished this year?

One of my favorite series was The Legends of the First Empire by Michael J. Sullivan.

13. What is your favorite episodic series of the year?

I’m not sure this series can be called episodic, but I liked the Catwings Series by Ursula K. Le Guin.

14. What is a series that you finally bailed on after holding onto it for a long time?

The Vagrant series by Peter Newman. I liked The Deathless Trilogy by him a lot, and I would be happy to read a continuation of the series, but The Vagrant series wasn’t for me.

15. What is the series you were most surprised that you liked this year?

The Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud because I rarely read Middle Grade, but the writing here was outstanding.

16. What is the series that you meant to catch up with or finish this year that you didn’t?

The Shadows of the Apt Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s planned for next year, though.

17. What is a series you finished this year that you think is greater than the sum of its parts? OR What is the series you caught up with this year that you think is greater than the sum of its parts?

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Not all books in this series are five stars for me, but some are books I want to read again for sure. The characters in this series are also unforgettable, and this makes it one of my favorite science fiction series. I wrote a blog post on all the books of this series.

Consider yourself tagged in case you want to do this booktag and post your link in the comments here.

Happy serial reading! 😉

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2023

This is a Tag, created by Earl Grey Books, that I happily do every June/July and sometimes even late in August, because it is an entertaining way to talk about how my reading is going towards the middle of the year.

Without much further explanation let’s answer the questions:

Best book you’ve read so far in 2023
The Witch’s Heart Genevieve Gornichec. Outstanding and deeply touching characters and story. I want to read more by this author!

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023
The Last Colony ( Old Man’s War #3) John Scalzi. This sequel has a really good resolution and if this series would be a trilogy it would be well finished. I plan even though to continue reading this series since this is my favorite series by this author!

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.
Lords of Uncreation ( The Final Architecture #3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I plan to finish this trilogy(?) still this year.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
Defiant ( Skyward #4) by Brandon Sanderson.

Biggest disappointment.
Survival ( Species Imperative #1) Julie E. Czerneda. The way how the story was developed didn’t work at all for me. Even though I still want to try more books by this author.

Biggest surprise.
Death of a Clone by Alex Thomson. A fast read and a perfect mix of Sci-fi and Mystery. This book deserves more reviews and attention for sure!

Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Molly Tanzer. I read the Diabolist’s Library #1 Creatures of Will and Temper and I plan to read this whole trilogy for sure since the book was very delightful and original.

Newest favorite character.
Penelope in Ithaca ( The Songs of Penelope #1) by Claire North. I like how deeply resilient and patient the characters from this other new favorite author of mine are.

Book that made you cry.
Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou. This is extremely touching poetry.

Book that made you happy.
The Amulet of Samarkand ( Bartimaeus #1) by Jonathan Stroud.
This was so entertaining! A light fantasy read with lots of magicians and djinns!

Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received).
I received a digital ARC with a really beautiful cover, but I don’t feel like talking about it because, even if the cover was one of the things that made me pick the book in the first place, the story was not written in a way that kept me interested enough to enjoy reading it and recommend it.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Around twenty books! And I need to focus on these soon if I want to finish my challenges.

It’s a lot but it can be done. I am always very optimistic with my TBRs!

Everybody is invited to do this Tag in their blog or video if they feel like it. If you do that post the link in the comments so I can check your answers out.

My 40+ Book Unhaul: Part 1

This month I am unhauling more than forty physical books and I am very happy about it. I thought about making a blog post series on why I unhauled these books.

Trigger Warning: Here are my reviews of the first ten books I unhauled, they are mostly not very positive; so if you get triggered by negative reviews of books you own and like don’t read this blog post.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Rating: No rating because I DNFed it. Sometimes I read outside my favorite genres and with that I discover a great read. This wasn’t unfortunately the case here, but it could be due to Horror not really being a genre I enjoy most of the time. I do have some exceptions to this but this was not the case here. I started this book due to all the good reviews on Booktube, but found it too confusing and at a certain point I stopped caring about the characters and plot and DNFed the book. So I won’t rate it, only quit it.

Zodiac (Zodiac #1) by Romina Russell

Rating: 2 stars.
This wasn’t for me. It felt like I was reading the protagonist’s thoughts over and over again and one of my pet peeves is books without plot where you get stuck in the character’s head most of the time. After a while it got very repetitive. I won’t continue this series.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

Rating: 3 stars.
This was well recommended but not at all for me. Someone else will enjoy this book more than me so it will be sent away to a new adventure. 🙂

Axiom’s End (Noumena #1) by Lindsay Ellis
Rating: 3 stars.
Actually I could not put this down, it was a really entertaining contemporary sci-fi. But it isn’t a book I plan on rereading at all so why keep it, right?

Tantalize (Tantalize #1) by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Rating: 3 stars.
This was an entertaining, page-turner, first book of a series. Only the end was a bit rushed up. On a second note, the end of this book was quite tragic too. To me the main character and her caretaker uncle seemed to be emotionally lost people. Spoiler alert: Especially the main character was a very lonely teen without proper guidance and support from anyone in her life, so she just started to lean on the seductive new chef which was slowly turning her into a vampire. This fictional vampirism could be compared to real life problems of teen girls who get drug addicted or too attached to bad people due to lack of parental support. I considered the end tragic for this reason, but was intrigued by the plot’s thematic layers that turned a girl becoming a vampire not to a romantic thing, as many other YA books, but rather to a Machiavellian murder.
I have been mostly losing interest in paranormal fantasy books lately so this isn’t a series I plan on continuing for now at least. I also don’t plan on rereading this book, so away it goes.

Blood Rights (House of Comarré #1) by Kristen Painter

Rating: 1 star.
This had some interesting story world ideas but the romance (and quite a ‘meh’ romance on top of that) took over the very slow plot. All the characters were also so undeveloped, unlikable and one-layered that I stopped caring after seeing I wouldn’t get any real backstory to explain who they were and why they were hanging out together. I think the most interesting character was the villain with her pet snake but I did not get enough backstory to show all her layers. After setting the book aside I did made an effort to read the end of the story where everything was quite set up for you to go on reading the series, but after this slow beginning I’ll let it go.

The Dreaming Void (Void #1) by Peter F. Hamilton

Rating: No rating because I DNFed it.
In the first chapter I already found something that makes this book dated imo. In the previous books often the author meant that women who went through the rejuvenation procedures could do that and look mid-twenties even if they were centuries old, but that “one could notice” they were older and as such not as desirable as the real young girls of twenty or under twenty. In one of those previous books the author had even two characters, a guy who was happy because he had a young lover who was under 20/30, and not one of the rejuvenated women and his other characters who were male and rejuvenated millionaires always were married or had a harem of “really young girls and not rejuvenated ones” and so on.
I noticed a pattern here of ageism specifically directed towards women and this was the one thing I really didn’t like in the two previous books. It goes on in this book with the “centuries old woman who looks like mid-twenties” asking the guy if he wants to sleep with her out of nowhere and he declining and showing no interest in her. If the author is stating his own prejudices, the prejudices of his characters, or both, I can’t say, but it is quite annoying to see these prejudices repeated in the two first books and in this third one as well. Especially because not in any moment the author mentions that rejuvenated men aren’t as desirable as younger men. I will continue this book for now because I’m interested in the plot, but I had to mention this very outdated part. This was published in 2008 so it does not have an excuse for misogyny and ageism as a book in the 50s or 60s would have.
Later in the week I continued it, but the constant changing of POVs and slow plot development kept me distant and uninterested. I’ll set this aside because it isn’t for me.

Kushiel’s Dart (Phèdre’s Trilogy #1) by Jacqueline Carey

Rating: No rating because I DNFed it.
The story world was interesting but there were certain elements of it I didn’t like. The pacing was meandering slow and repetitive, and I didn’t like the book enough to finish, setting it aside at page 97.

Mage’s Blood (The Moontide Quartet #1) by David Hair

Rating: No rating because I DNFed it.
I gave this a good try, and listened to one hundred pages of the audiobook. I checked at which point the audiobook was on my physical copy before deciding to set it aside. The story world has a lot of information but I am not interested enough to continue the book or the series.

Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Rating: 3 stars.
The characters and the story were interesting but the plot advancement was really slow and the melodramatic narrative style was not my cup of tea. I hope it gets more love on someone else’s shelf.

This was Part One of my Spring 2023’s Book Unhaul. Keep tuned for the next chapters in this series.

Reading Series Books in 2022, a Wrap-up

It was quite surprising for me to see the number of series books I read in 2022. I won’t even talk about all of them, otherwise this post would be extremely long. I will talk here only about the favorite series I started, continued and finished because time is too precious to dwell on book series I don’t want to continue.

Series I started

I started around 19 series last year where the first book wasn’t interesting enough for me to continue the series anytime soon.

Of these there are two series I will surely continue reading, the first books being:

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

4 Stars. This was a very entertaining story that I could not put down. About the main character I thought: Poor guy, he has really the worst job ever and he can’t quit!

The Expert System’s Brother by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Expert System #1)

5 Stars! A fascinating story world with a very original story. I plan on reading the sequel soon.

Series I continued And Finished

I continued a lot of different series in 2022 too. Some of them I don’t plan to continue reading now in 2023, but among the ones I surely want to read more sequels, or I have alread finished, are:

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is an outstanding series that merits a post of its own with reviews for each of its books. I read the last book in this series now in January so I will soon be posting more detailed reviews.

Last year I read 12 books in this series and it was a great delight. This was my favorite series of 2022. I usually shy away from long book series but I could never tire of this one. I finished this series now in January.

Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson

I read two books of this series last year and I’m planning to read Defiant this year as soon as it is published, therefore for now I caught up with all the books. I’ve talked about the two books I read previously in my Brandon Sanderson’s wrap-up post.

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

In 2022, I read Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) and had conflicting feelings about it. Some chapters were very interesting while others were boring and could have been cut out without the plot losing anything by that. It was a 3.5 star read that I rounded up to 4 stars due to my appreciation of the other books in the series.

With the exception of The Way of Kings Prime I believe I have caught up with all the books in this series. I will be reading The Stormlight Archive #5 – Knights of Wind and Truth in 2024 when it is supposed to be released, but I sincerely hope this sequel gets published without hurry and with unnecessary chapters trimmed out.

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

I read the second book in the series, The Girl in the Tower last year and it was a very cozy autumn read, but this surely isn’t a book to be read in a hurry. I want to read the third book, The Winter of the Witch, soon.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I continued this series by reading two books. The Dawn Chorus (The Bone Season #3.5) which was a 3 Stars, underwhelming Novella, only for great fans of the series. And The Mask Falling (The Bone Season #4), a 4 stars, very good sequel that I could not put down. As of now I have caught up with all the books in this series. I plan to read the fifth book in 2024.

Universe of Xuya Series by Aliette de Bodard

I really like the writing style of the Xuya Universe and I want to read more books by this author. I read five books in this series in 2022 and of these my favorites were On a Red Station, Drifting and The Citadel of Weeping Pearls.

I still want to read the collection of stories in this universe: Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight and 2022’s new release: The Red Scholar’s Wake.

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

This graphic novel is seriously addictive and the only one I have bought all three physical volumes so far. You can read it on the internet too, a new chapter every Sunday, but I just felt like I needed to have the physical copies too. It has important themes and mature topics that can contain triggers, though.

Clocktaur War Series by T. Kingfisher

This Duology is an entertaining cozy read and it’s surely reread material. It has extremely likable and relatable characters that you will miss when the second book is over and a good balance of fantasy and romance and both books were 4 stars reads for me.

Vampire Book Club Series by Nancy Warren

All the books in this series so far were light, and entertaining, a proper summer read. Its very slow-burn romance does not take over the light mystery plots and this makes it so bubbly and quick to read.

Lady Helen Series by Alison Goodman

This was my second favorite series of 2022, a perfect blend of historical regency and paranormal fantasy. I read the whole trilogy back to back because I could not put the books down and I surely want to read more books by this author soon.

And you, which was your favorite series of 2022?

Let me know in the comments!

My 22 Favorite Books of 2022 (that I still didn’t talk about).

I wrote four blog posts last year with my reviews of books by my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and T. Kingfisher.

I won’t be talking about these books on this post to avoid repeating myself, but about the other books by other authors which were my favorites in 2022.

I also plan on writing a blog post about the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold soon, so I won’t be talking about the wonderful books I read from this series either.

All the books mentioned below were 4.5 to 5 stars for me, therefore I won’t be posting my Goodreads ratings here, but only the reviews.

Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton, Gareth L. Powell

Original and surprising, this Novella packs a punch in few words! I’ll be reading more by these brilliant authors soon.

The Mask Falling (The Bone Season #4) by Samantha Shannon.
A very good sequel, I could not put this book down. This is one of my favorite YA series because the writing is outstanding, the stakes are high and the story world and characters are deep and multi-layered. An above the average YA series, good enough for adults too.

On a Red Station, Drifting (Universe of Xuya) by Aliette de Bodard.
Beautifully written, with deep and important themes. This book makes me want to read everything in the Universe of Xuya.

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls (Universe of Xuya) by Aliette de Bodard.

I really like the writing style here and I want to read more books by Bodard.
It’s interesting how this author’s stories often addresses the ‘woman against woman’ competition, which happens extremely often in our society in different shades of indirect conflict, but in a not less fierce way than competition among men.
You had it as a central theme in The Citadel of Weeping Pearls with the empress mother versus her bright daughter and the relegated-to-second-place sister versus the bright sister.

This is an import theme that isn’t enough talked about in literature but Aliette de Bodard nails it.

Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) by Ilona Andrews

I do prefer when the team of wife and husband Ilona Andrews chooses to write a more warrior-like heroine. Maud Demille is that with other original characteristics of her own since she’s a widow and her vampire in-laws have her sent to an hostile planet together with her young daughter due to to no fault of her own, but due to something her husband did. She fights and finds her way back into society and love, but this book shows how distrustful someone gets when they have been left outside in the cold by unreasonable and unfair people.
This was so entertaining, I really liked all the characters! I could not put this book down.

House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt #1) by Erin A. Craig

This is a quite Gothic, eerie, mysterious and dramatic retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairytale, but I really like this kind of story now and then and I could not put it down!

The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter, Angela Slatter.

A very atmospheric, beautifully written and interesting story with multi-layered characters. The audiobook was really nicely done. If you like this book I would recommend the Novella Of Sorrow and Such by this outstanding author!

Trigger Warning: Toxic relationships, but written in a deeply felt way! I never saw a book talk about this theme so well.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint.

Great characters and storytelling, a really good new interpretation of Ariadne’s myth.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey.

This was amazing, well written, with multi-layered characters and very profound themes. Not an easy read, it does contain scenes with domestic violence, but it’s a book out of the comfort zone and with food-for-thought of the utmost importance.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

This was a really amazing, humorous and entertaining book that I could not put down.
I really love Weir’s characters because they always strike me as what the GenX generation strives to be. They act with courage, independence and never tiring resourcefulness. They never feel pity of themselves for too long, no matter how difficult the situation and odds are, but they venture, persevere and do their best. And this is an important lesson for all of us if we want to survive the changing world of the future.

A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys.

I absolutely loved this book and I recommend it too. It has a lot about first contact politics, near-future ways to cope with climatic change, and mothers changing the world for the better while changing diapers and carrying their babies around in slings too.
The aliens are extremely well fleshed out and interesting. It was original and different. I like when the first contact situation with its politics and conflicts is so well fleshed out.
It’s so lovely!!! I need more books like this!

Braking Day by Adam Oyebanji.

Above the average, original and entertaining space opera, with awesome story world, plot and characters!
This is an author to watch out for!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

I could not put this amazing book down! Wonderful multi-layered characters. And an extremely original story world, with an earned and beautifully written character journey. This was the first book I read by this author, but I’ll be surely reading more in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Maid by Nita Prose.

A lovely story with entertaining representative characters that I read in just one sitting.
Good thematic and representation of characters with disabilities and how society does an extremely poor job on protecting them against people who will commit violence or robbery or fraud on them.

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

As a mother of two boys I do have lots to laugh and relate about this character. 😉
Trigger: Violence against animals.
Awesome writing, I could not put it down. A book that talks about the role of women and mothers in society in a fair way.

The Pill by Meg Elison.

This short story packs a punch in few words. Food-for-thought, impressive, and amazing.
What means to be an individual, a person, and how much do we have to conform to what society expects from our bodies? Does society expects us to die to fit into those expectations?
I consider this theme extremely relevant due a number of people dying in operations done to improve their appearance nowadays. And this does not get enough focus and discussion as it should.
As a last consideration another question appears. What would happen to this people who were shown as fetiche objects when they would get older? Would they be still as valuable in that role? Such discussion would be interesting for a continuation of this story.

I found this amazing story here, go read it now!

The Dark Days Club , The Dark Days Pact and The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman. (Lady Helen #1-3)

The whole Lady Helen trilogy was really entertaining historical regency/paranormal fantasy. I want to read more books by this author for sure!

Mickey7 (Mickey7 #1) by Edward Ashton

This is written in an humorous way that may sound too silly to some people but I just liked the bubble-headed main character and his journey into betterment. I could not help but think: “Poor guy, he has really the worst job ever and he can’t quit!”
This was a very entertaining story that I could not put down. I will be continuing this series and reading more by this author for sure.

Lock In (Lock In #1) by John Scalzi.

I considered this book quite prophetic and it is a pity I didn’t read this before 2020. I would have been so much more prepared to deal with the reverberation of a pandemic in the world and everything else that this book foresaw if I had.
One metaphor I considered very interesting is that with Haden Syndrome people were paralysed, not leaving their bodies and houses and doing everything online and this had a similar feeling to what happened during Lockdown, people still could move their bodies but were less able to leave their houses and were meeting other people socially, or working, online, so this book was so spot on metaphorically to what 2020 and somehow 2021 felt like.

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

This is an ongoing webtoon series with important themes that you can read here

Only a forewarning though, this is highly addictive and you will be waiting with bated breath for each new episode, every Sunday, from now on. And you might forget about everything else while reading the episodes already available on Webtoon.

And these were my favorites from last year. Which were yours? Link your blog post, Youtube video or just write them in the comments.

2023’s Reading Books by My Favorite Authors Challenge

Since this challenge brought me so many five star outstanding reads last year I will continue it now in 2023.

In this challenge I am reading the backlist books and new releases of my favorite authors and this year I will concentrate on Brandon Sanderson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Peter Newman and T. Kingfisher. I might find a second favorite female author still this year and concentrate on her backlist and new releases too.

Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1)
The Alloy of Law (The Mistborn Saga #4)
Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
Perhaps: Shadows of Self (The Mistborn Saga #5)
New Release 2023: Defiant (Skyward #4)
Perhaps: New Release: 2023: Stormlight 5

Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Expert System’s Champion (Expert System #2)
Dogs of War (Dogs of War #1)
Bear Head (Dogs of War #2)
Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2)
Children of Memory (Children of Time #3)
Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1)
The Doors of Eden
Precious Little Things
Made Things

Peter Newman

The Vagrant (The Vagrant #1)
The Hammer and the Goat (The Vagrant #1.5)
The Malice (The Vagrant #2)
The Vagrant and the City (The Vagrant #2.5)
The Seven (The Vagrant #3)

T. Kingfisher

Swordheart (The World of the White Rat)
Minor Mage
Bryony and Roses
The Raven and the Reindeer

And you, who are your favorite authors? Have you read all their books?

Reading 22 Books by My Favorite Authors in 2022 Wrap-Up Part Two: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My initial plan was to read:

8-Velvet Was the Night
9-Signal to Noise
10-Love & Other Poisons

Silvia Moreno-Garcia had two new releases in 2022. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and The Tiger Came to the Mountains (Trespass Collection #1).

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

I hurried to ask for an ARC on NetGalley!
5 stars! A beautifully written retelling with deep and important themes, where all the characters are given a new layer of relatable humanity and the setting a new historical, geographical, and societal context. The audiobook version of this book was also really well made.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Tiger Came to the Mountains (Trespass Collection #1)

4 stars. Very interesting Mexican historical setting and fascinating characters. The writing of this author is also always outstanding and touching.

Velvet Was the Night

5 stars! I really liked the writing style, the multi-layered characters and the awesome plot based in real Mexican history. This is another great hidden gem like Untamed Shore, and has equally compelling characters and plot.

Signal to Noise

5 stars! This story, with its many layers of significance, deeply felt emotions, and real life characters felt so relatable to me that I felt spoken to in a soul level. One of my favorites by an author that writes profound books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I plan to read Love & Other Poisons which was in the initial plan for this year in 2023.

Reading 22 Books by My Favorite Authors in 2022 Wrap-Up. Part One: Adrian Tchaikovsky

I focused on the backlist of four of my favorite authors in 2022 and tried to read 22 books by them.

I made good progress in reading the backlists of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Brandon Sanderson even if I didn’t read all the books I had iniatially planned.

What also happened is that I included T. Kingfisher as a second female author, so my authors list would be more male/female* balanced and left the third male author, Peter Newman, for 2023.

Therefore, I read books from the backlist of two men and two women in 2022. (*I apologize if I am using the words male and female in the wrong way here, I am still confused about the controversy around these adjectives. And I read books by queer authors too.)

My initial ambitious plan was to read the following books by Adrian Tchaikovsky:

1-The Doors of Eden

2-Dogs of War (Dogs of War #1)

3-Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)

4-The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall, #1)

5-Guns of the Dawn

6-The Expert System’s Brother (Expert System, #1)

7-Elder Race

I read five of these books while including a couple of others, but I concluded— after reading two or more books by him in sequence— that Tchaikovsky’s books need some time to be properly read, reflected upon and enjoyed as the extremely rich in nuances, characters and plot books that they are. I will continue to focus on his backlist and new releases as a favorite author next year.

These were the books I read by him in 2022:

Ogres

5 Stars! I’m still surprised about how original this is. There isn’t a word wasted in this sharp-as-a-dagger story. I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. I read the ebook version but the audiobook narration by Emma Newman must be excellent and I’ll keep this in mind for my future ‘reread’ of this.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)

4 stars. I liked the story world and the characters, but somehow this felt longer than it needed to be. In this book, there are so many factions and characters that it’s very important to look at the glossary, especially if you are hearing the audiobook. The audiobook narration was very well done though and I’ll continued the series.

Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture #2)

5 stars! Adrian Tchaikovsky’s writing is, as always, masterfully done. He is one of the best contemporary Science Fiction and Fantasy authors of this decade. The audiobook was also a lot of fun, though again I would recommend people to look in the glossary as not to lose track of all the characters and factions.

The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall, #1)

5 stars! This is A Game of Thrones with shapeshifters!

A fascinating story world with unforgettable characters. I’ll be continuing this series for sure.

The Bear and the Serpent(Echoes of the Fall #2)

4 stars. The author’s writing style is as always outstanding, but there are too many POVs with distinct story lines and that requires a concentration and patience I didn’t have in 2022. This richness of POVs again reminded me of A Game of Thrones series. I’ll continue this trilogy eventually, when I have the necessary focus, and if possible still in 2023.

The Expert System’s Brother (Expert System, #1)

5 stars! A fascinating story world with a very original story. I want to read its sequel next year too.

Elder Race

5 stars! “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” While reading this, I could only think about this quote by Arthur C. Clarke. A brilliant Novella by this outstanding author, the juxtaposition of science-fiction and fantasy makes this incredibly original.

Guns of the Dawn

5 stars! This book is a masterpiece. A modern classic that should be translated into all languages and read in all schools.

The audiobook narration by Emma Newman was excellent too.

I still plan to read all the books of my initial list that were not read this year in 2023.

I hope this blog post has motivated all my readers to pick books by this outstanding author!