February was a pretty amazing month of reading. 13 books completed, 4 of them fulfilling challenge prompts. Favorite was tagged book. #bookreport
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A Brightness Long Ago | 
February was a pretty amazing month of reading. 13 books completed, 4 of them fulfilling challenge prompts. Favorite was tagged book. #bookreport
I love the characters/perspectives of Jelena and Adria in this amazing book. Two strong and phenomenally talented women who forged a role for themselves in a time when women were rarely appreciated as more than ornaments or caretakers by men. This historical fantasy turned out to be a 5 ⭐️ read for me. Hope it gets shortlisted for a Hugo award!
#weeklyforecast Currently working on the tagged book, which is a remarkable book of “historical fantasy,” unlike anything I‘ve ever read. Will definitely be one of my 5 nominees for Hugo best novel award. Will start/finish The Murders of Molly Southbourne for Feb #bookspin. Doing a buddy read of The Comedy of Errors and reading Rogue Protocol for #booked2020 read in a day prompt.
I also forgot to share my December spending log! Holiday sales let me fill some gaps in my permanent collection and nab a few things from my wishlist.
I‘m pleased with my year end total, too. I spent $158.61 less than I did in 2018, I bought 146 fewer books, and only 6 of my 2019 purchases are still unread. Of those, I deliberately saved two and one is a series title I can‘t knock off La TBR until I source the book that goes before it.
pickReviewing my books for 2019 I realise I never mentioned A Brightness Long Ago which is one of my favourite books of the year.
Guy Gabriel Kay is definitely a new favourite author and I am so looking forward to catching up on his back catalogue.
September stats! I read far fewer comics than usual, twice as many audiobooks as in August, and a whole lotta library books. I also managed to reduce La TBR by a fair chunk, even though I bought three books right at the end of the month. My ultimate goal—250 books or less—is in sight!
No 4.5ers in September, unfortunately, but A BRIGHTNESS LONG AGO was a hell of a 5-star read. Guy Gavriel Kay (almost) always comes through for me.
pickIt‘s TL:DR time, because A BRIGHTNESS LONG AGO is everything I love about Guy Gavriel Kay.
It‘s got sweep to spare, with its focus on warring factions in a place reminiscent of Renaissance Italy, but it‘s deeply personal. ABLA cares less about significant political shifts than how the world‘s changes alter the characters‘ lives. The biggest event—the fall of Sarantium—happens off-page because as much as it affects everyone, it‘s not the POINT. ⬇️
Nightstand shot! I‘ve got three Canadian dudes, a Japanese woman, and an American woman all piled up there.
I had to take a break from A BRIGHTNESS LONG AGO after a chapter that destroyed me. It was one of those cases where I started to weep as soon as I realized where it was going, then bawled my eyes out once it got there.
This feels to me like the crux of Kay‘s pseudo-Renaissance novels (A BRIGHTNESS LONG AGO and CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY). They‘re very much about the coincidences that shove their characters in unexpected directions, but they‘re also about the choices that lead these people there. The characters are far from passive. They‘re born into circumstances they don‘t necessarily like, and they manipulate their options until they‘ve changed everything.
Time for some outdoor reading, with iced coffee because the painkillers make me so damned tired.
This book is phenomenal. KAY GIVES US ANOTHER HORSE RACE!!!!! (The chariot race in LORD OF EMPERORS is one of my favourite scenes in all of fiction.) I‘ve got lots of thoughts on the structure and themes, too, but they‘ll have to wait until I‘m less sleepy.
Pain day breakfast. I couldn‘t stand up long enough to cook proper food.
One advantage of being laid up: I should be able to wallow in A BRIGHTNESS LONG AGO. Kay‘s excellent for wallowing.
pickI love, love, love GG Kay, and this is one of his best. His writing is so beautiful and the characters engaging. I preordered it, knowing how much I like his books, and I am not sorry! Highly recommended.
If you buy books and haven‘t checked out Penguin‘s Readers Rewards program, you need to! Got this for free just for buying books! #bookmail
https://account.penguinrandomhouse.com/rewards/
pickA fantasy set in an era that evokes the Italian Renaissance told by the main character as a reflection back on a memorable time in his life. This is one of those books where the character development and focus on human nature is where the real beauty lies, but the plotline holds it's own here too. The inclusion of some Pride Month representation was a nice surprise, as well.
4 out of 5 stars. #booksparks #booksharks
😀😀😀😀😀😀 ahhhhhh can't read his writing but still so fantastic.
pickA tale of an almost-Italy, amid warring city-states and political intrigue, a young scholar, son of a tradesman, witnesses the rivalry between two of the most prominent mercenaries of the day. Beautifully written, with a pensive tone, this is a standalone extension to his Sarrentine history. Highly recommended.
Look, Massive Moo(min)* needed new books. It's all on him.
In all seriousness, probably my last new books for a good while. I've been very self-indulgent. I'll get Jo Walton's Lent and the third of the Ninth Rain trilogy, but that should be it.
*I have Mini, Middling and Massive Moo, okay. Three sizes. They can't all just be called Moomin.
When Margaret Atwood recommends a book, I pay attention!
