April started with what felt like a readathon as I raced to catch up with read-alongs and review obligations. It promised to be a month of series finales, but life got in the way before I could grapple with The Hydrogen Sonata, delaying the end of my Culture reread and interrupting my usual blogging schedule. As life remains overpowering, blogging will likely be sporadic through May and June.
Reading Round-up
- Surface Detail – Iain M Banks
- A Conjuring of Light – V E Schwab
- League of Dragons – Naomi Novik
- The Djinn Falls in Love – Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin
- Spellslinger – Sebastien de Castell
- Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch
- The Tombs of Atuan – Ursula Le Guin
- DNF: Crossroads of Canopy – Thoraiya Dyer
- Bitesize Books:
- This Is Not A Wardrobe Door – A Merc Rustad
- Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station – Caroline M Yoachim
- Of Sight, Of Mind, Of Heart – Samantha Murray
- This Is Not A Wardrobe Door – A Merc Rustad
Review Round-up
- Bite-size Books: Proof of Concept – Gwyneth Jones
- Blood of Tyrants – Naomi Novik
- The House of Binding Thorns – Aliette de Bodard
- Space Opera Sunday: Matter | Surface Detail
Stacking the shelves
Oh, ARCs. I just can’t say no, can I? And then I accidentally on purpose wandered into the secondhand bookshop to kill some time rescue some deserving titles.
Conscious demographics
My annual challenge is to read diversely and to love every book. This year I’ve made things a bit more complicated with subsidiary challenges and more fun with the Game of Books.
- 6 male (21%) / 20 female (71%) / 0 trans, non-binary or genderfluid (0%) + 1 antho
- 5 (18%) – by authors of colour / 14 (50%) prominently featuring POC / 10 HEA or HFN
- 1 (4%) – by LGBTQIA authors / 10 (36%) featuring LGBTQIA characters / 5 HEAs or HFN
Challenges
Everything has been a bit hard this month, so I’m just reading things I enjoy and forgetting about challenges for now. It’ll work itself out in the end (or not. Aspirational, after all).
- 27 / 20 books or novellas
- 5 / 4 books by authors of colour
- 2 / 4 non-SFF books of which 0 non-fiction
- 2 / 4 classic SFF books (5 incl. rereads)
- 9 / 12 – off the shelf
- Game of Books score: 139 / 100
onemore.org 