The Potato Witch

Last day of the month, so it's time to look at the books I've read recently, even if I didn't write reviews for them.

Manga I Read

The Fox and the Little Tanuki, vol 2, by Tagawa Mi - I'm loving this series so far. It's adorable and wholesome, and full of things that I think both kids and adults can benefit from hearing. Kind of similar to the way My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was, only here it's filled with Japanese folklore and mythology instead.
There Are Things I Can't Tell You, by Mofumofu Edako - BL manga that's kind of problematic in the way a lot of BL manga are, though thankfully not rapey (I'm really tired of the, "I'll convince you that you really want it," trope that I see way too often in BL stuff). It's not bad or anything, but it doesn't exactly bring anything new to the table; it's one of those things where if you like typical BL manga, then you'll probably like this one too.
A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation, by Momochi, Sando, and Misaki - A twist on the isekai genre by having someone from a secndary world dimension-jump into another secondary world, rather than having someone from this world dimension-jump into a secondary world. It was pretty fun, and really got me thinking about why some tropes work and others don't.
Blue Flag, vol 1, by KAITO - Girl 1 likes Guy 1, and asks Guy 2 for help catching his eye. Guy 1, though, actually liked Guy 2. Also, Girl 2 likes girl 1. It's a contemporary love story, only the queer crushes outnumber the straight crushes, and I'm really interested in seeing how this series plays out. I'm hoping for everyone to get together with a stable group relationship, honestly. XD
Venus in the Blind Spot, by Junji Ito - A collection of shorts by a horror manga master. A really good intro to his work if you haven't already experienced it, though fair warning, it's filled with a bunch of body horror images that can get quite disturbing!

Books I Read

Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Set in Mexico in the 1920s (and thus giving me a glimpse into a time and place I know quite little about), and packed with mythology I also know quite little about, so it was definitely a fascinating read. I also have a bit of a soft spot for books in which deities interact with mortals, so I figured in advance that I'd enjoy this one.
Within the Sanctuary of Wings, by Marie Brennan - I finally got to read the final Lady Trent novel! Though I'd picked up some of what happened here when I read Turning Darkness Into Light, it was still good to read it for myself. I do love me some fantasy natural science!
Storm Front, by Jim Butcher - The 1st Harry Dresden book, and honestly, I'm of 2 minds whether to continue with the series, because the sexism in this book was just disgusting to me. I do hear that things improve in that regard, but I'm not entirely sure I want to slog through the bad books waiting for the improvement. Kind of sad that I have to say it was a good story... so long as the main character wasn't thinking about or talking to women.
Fangs, by Sarah Andersen - Not manga, so it didn't go in that category, but also not a novel either; it's a graphic novel. Or rather a collection of one-shot comics about a vampire dating a werewolf. It's adorable, and I love it.

Books I'm Reading

The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E Harrow - 7% finished. The beginning seems a lot like the start of Catherynne Valente's Fairyland books, which I'm very much into, and I hear good things about this novel, so I hope it lives up to the hype. It's good so far.
Murder of Crows, by Anne Bishop - 16% finished. A comfort reread, which I seem to need at hand more and more these days. Which just makes me extra glad I have them.

It's the end of the month, so it's time to take a quick look at what I read over the course of July.

Books I Read

Updraft, by Fran Wilde - A reread, but it had been so long since I first read it that I'd forgotten so much of what happened in the story, so it was almost like reading it for the first time. Definitely worth reading if you're into unique fantasy worlds and people uncovering hidden truths.
Written in Red, by Anne Bishop - Another reread, and I'm looking forward to rereading the rest of the series because I kind of love the Others novels. They're not quite the same level of comfort reading as the Black Jewels novels, but they're pretty close!
The Ghosts of Sherwood, by Carrie Vaughn - Novella dealing with the hypothetical children of Robin Hood after his famous adventures have concluded. A fun short read.
The Heirs of Locksley, by Carrie Vaughn - Sequel to The Ghosts of Sherwood. On its own, it was okay, if not quite as good as its predecessor, though I'll be pretty disappointed if there's no third story in this series because that will mean each of the Locksley children will have gotten a novel focusing on them except for the child who's autistic. And I'm not so keen on that kind of backhanded representation.
Jade City, by Fonda Lee - Another reread, and similar to Updraft, one I read so long ago that I'd forgotten a good deal of the story. Freaking amazing East Asian-inspired secondary-world urban fantasy, and I'm super excited to finally read the sequel soon.
Drowned Country, by Emily Tesh - Sequel to Silver in the Wood, which I liked, but this one didn't quite do it for me as much. Partly due to relationship drama that didn't really add anything, and partly due to a pretty unsatisfying ending. Still not a terrible novella, though.

Books I'm Reading

Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski - 20% finished. Absolutely no progress made.
We Ride the Storm, by Devin Madson - 5% finished. Also absolutely no progress made.
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 3 chapters in. Started this because it was in my bad when I was waiting for the bus, and because I need to return it to the library soon. I mean, also I've wanted to read it for ages, but that's why I made progress on this when I didn't make progress on the two others I've technically had "on the go" for two months now...

I've declared next month to be a Manga Month on Bibliotropic, so I'll be reading a lot of manga titles in August, but since they're so quick, I'm also hoping to make some better progress on novels that I've had backlogged for ages.

Since I'm highly unlikely to finish another book by the end of today, I may as well post my reading progress for the past month now.

Books I Read

Or What You Will, by Jo Walton - A multi-layered nonlinear story about a dying author and the muse inside her head who tries to save her (and himself) by taking her into the fantasy world she created. And because it's a Jo Walton novel, that description doesn't remotely do it justice. I really enjoyed this one, as much as it was a massive head-trip at times.
Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders, by Aliette de Bodard - A novella set in the Dominion of the Fallen series, though I don't think you need to have read the main series in order to read and enjoy this one. It was a short, dark, fun murder mystery with fallen angels and Vietnamese dragons, and that's plenty good enough for me.
Silver Phoenix, by Cindy Pon - Reading this book felt like reading an expanded legend. I'm sorry that it took me so long to actually get around to reading it, because it was really enjoyable and kept me turning pages pretty easily, even if I don't normally read much YA anymore.

Books I'm Reading

Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski - 20% finished. Didn't really make much progress on this over the past month due to brain fog and health stuff.
Updraft, by Fran Wilde - 43% finished. A reread, though it's been ages since I first read it, and I never did get around to reviewing it when I read it the first time, so I thought it was high time I read it again and actually wrote that review.
We Ride the Storm, by Devin Madson - 5% finished. Barely started this before other books and a lack of sleep kept distracting me. But I have started, and I will finish!

I read 9 books this past month.

Breakdown
2 YA
2 rereads
2 kidlit
2 novellas
1 nonfiction

So, not exactly a hugely taxing month when it comes to reading. Fairly light stuff and short, and what wasn't light was mostly rereads anyway. Still, that's the most I've read in a month in quite a while, so I'm okay with it.

Thoughts

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott - As far as YA novels about kids with chronic illnesses go, I've read worse. However, I've also read better. There was inaccurate stuff in here, it wasn't internally consistent with its rules (people with cystic fibrosis must stay 6 feet away from other people with cystic fibrosis, something that's hammered in repeatedly throughout the book and is even where the book's title came from, but also you get scenes where two CFers get close enough that one can snatch an oven mitt from the other's hand, and this just gets glossed over like it didn't break the rules the characters have been talking about from the get-go), and it also invokes the Bury Your Gays trope. Not maliciously, I believe, but still. When the only gay character dies? I'm not pleased.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire - Sequel to Every Heart a Doorway, this novella tells the story of how Jack and Jill (characters from EHaD) grew up, found their way to their otherworld, and ended up becoming themselves in disturbing and powerful ways. The setting is very Frankenstein Meets Dracula, and I love it. I love seeing the characters develop, I love seeing what shaped them as they went through an unconventional life that was nevertheless suited to them in ways too intimate to do anything but feel, and if I didn't love the Wayward Children series before, I certainly would after this. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as EHaD, but I still loved it.

In an Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire - Book 4 of the Wayward Children series, because I don't have book 3. Fortunately, once you read the first one, the others can be read in any order you like. Really, they all can, but they have more meaning and context if you read the first book first. Anyway, this book was such a kick to the chest, and in the best way. Highly relatable. The main character is a quiet, shy, introverted, thoughtful bookworm, the way I was when I was young. Whose name is basically my legal first and middle names, but reversed. And spelled very slightly differently. So yeah, it was hard to not relate to her. IaAD is the story of how she, like the others, finds her otherworld, and how she has a limited time to make the decisions as to whether or not to stay there or to leave it behind her. The world runs by specific rules, albeit with a lot of flexibility, and one has to follow the rules in order to get by. But there's the letter of the law and the spirit of it, and the two are not the same, and damn, when I got to that ending, I basically had to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for a while as I processed everything, heart aching. This series is utterly brilliant, and I think this is my favourite, after the first one.

The Shadow Queen, by Anne Bishop - I love the Black Jewels novels. So. Damn. Much. This is the first book in a duology spin-off from the core trilogy, set not too long after the core trilogy ends, and is about a territory trying to rebuild itself after the destruction of most of the Blood. It's about Cassidy, the new Queen of the territory, feeling like a fish out of water while trying to do her best for a downtrodden people while also being blocked by Theran. It's about Theran, who wanted a Queen with more flash and glamour, someone to excite him and make him want to follow her, which Cassidy is definitely not, even though she's exactly what the territory needs in terms of, well, actually being a ruler. It's about a clash of personalities and doing what's best and ugh, the problem with summarizing complex amazing fantasy novels is that it can take so very long and is hard to do without giving spoilers, especially in a single paragraph. It's good. Go read it if you like fantasy. 'Nuff said.

Shalador's Lady, by Anne Bishop - The sequel to The Shadow Queen, continuing the same story. Less Queen-blocking in this one, but more grass-roots politics and learning about how to actually be what the people around you need you to be, what you're born to be, and what you're best at. Also about the downfall of pride and vanity, and the abuses that someone can be willing to overlook when they love the abuser. Again, a complex novel that's part of a complex series. If you liked The Shadow Queen, you'll like this one.

Winter of Fire, by Sherryl Jordan - In a post-apocalyptic world, the only source of fire is coal, and the only people who mine coal are the Quelled, slaves to the Chosen. If you're born Quelled, you're always Quelled. If you're Chosen and you commit a serious enough crime, you'll be Quelled. The only person who can divine coal is the Firelord, who has always been a man, and always Chosen, because that's how it works when you've got castes like that. Only the Firelord chooses a Quelled woman to be his handmaiden, and it turns out she can divine coal as well, something that's unheard of. What follows is one woman's attempt to upend history and reveal the truth to a world that needs her services but doesn't want to accept that they need anything from a slave. Pretty good, all things considered, and it's not a book I see people talk about when they talk about YA fantasy novels. Maybe because it's an older book, I don't know. I enjoyed it, though.

Little House in Brookfield and Little Town at the Crossroads, both by Maria D Wilkes - 2 spinoff books from the Little House series, focusing on Caroline Quiner as she grows up. Not as engaging as the original Little House books, to be honest, and the characters felt rather unreal to me, like they had very little personality. Or if they did have any personality, they basically had only one trait, like Martha being stubborn/obstinate about everything. Many of the scenes felt like repeats of scenes from the original series, too. I'll probably read the rest of the series if I can, but more so that I can say I have, rather than because I'm particularly invested.

Looking for Class, by Bruce Feiler - I really enjoyed Feiler's Learning to Bow, so I had high hopes for this one, which is about the year he spent at Cambridge University. It wasn't bad, really, but I felt that it lacked a lot of the heart of Learning to Bow. I don't know, maybe it was because British culture isn't particularly alien to me, but I didn't get as invested in this as I wanted. I mean, Japanese culture isn't that alien to me either, I suppose, and I typically enjoy accounts of people attending elite educational institutions, so maybe it just... actually wasn't that good. Not bad, per se, but it did feel lacking, especially when compared to other things I'd read of his.