bluesalamanders 2024

Hi! I'm Blue, I live in New England in the USA, and I generally read science fiction, fantasy, and now (still a little to my surprise, I admit), romance. I usually finish around 150 books per year, although the last few years have varied wildly from 130 to 250, so who even knows.

Favorite new reads of 2023:
The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto by Sam Starbuck
The Doomsday Books (The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen and A Noblemen's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel) by KJ Charles
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Once a Rogue by Allie Therin
System Collapse by Martha Wells

Previous challenges:
50 Book Challenge lists: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
75 Book Challenge lists: 2011, 2011.2, 2012.1, 2012.2, 2013.1, 2013.2, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Here's to a better and brighter 2024.

Welcome back, Blue!

Happy New Year!

>2 drneutron: Thanks, Newt!

>3 SilverWolf28: Happy new year!

Finished Book 1: The Silver Sea by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, patreon short story
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 47p

This is a short story that takes place after Sleep No More/The Innocent Sleep. It’s very sweet.

Finished Book 2: The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara
Big Bad Wolf, book 1
New read, adult, romance (fantasy, mystery), audiobook, 8h 17m
Content warnings: open-door sex, fantasy racism, police abuse of power, kidnapping

I did not enjoy this book particularly. The main character is annoying, rude, racist (fantasy racist, against werewolves), and kind of dumb. I honestly don’t know why the love interest is interested in him. Maybe if this had had alternating POVs and I could have seen him from the other guy’s perspective, it would have made more sense.

In addition, the narrator read the audiobook like he was in a race to the end. I have never heard an audiobook read so quickly. Consistently, through the whole book! It was frankly stressful. I’ve listened to other books narrated by the same person that didn’t have this issue, so I don’t know what was going on.

The only reason I pushed through to the end despite the multiple reasons I didn’t especially care for this book is because my friend who recommended it said that the rest of the series is really good, so here’s hoping that it’s worth it.

Happy reading in 2024, Blue!

Happy New Year, Blue!

Happy New Year and happy new thread!

Happy new year, Blue!

Happy new year!! I really want to get to The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen this year.

Happy new year FAM, nora, foggi, Micky, and curious!

I hope you enjoy Secret Lives, curious! It and Nobleman's Guide are definitely some of my favorite KJ Charles books.

Finished Book 3: The Wolf at Bay by Charlie Adhara
Big Bad Wolf, book 2
New read, adult, romance (fantasy, mystery), ebook, 240p
Content warnings: open door sex, bad/lacking aftercare, discussions of infidelity, discussions of drug addiction and overdose, blackmail, self-harm, suicide

And we have character growth! It’s still a little rough, but Cooper is gaining a little emotional awareness and is more entertaining to read about. The plot was a lot of Surprise Twists that were mostly not all that surprising, but it was not bad. Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first one and I’m actually looking forward to reading the next one.

Happy New Year, Blue!

>13 ronincats: Happy new year, roni!

Happy new year, Blue!

>15 PaulCranswick: Happy new year, Paul!

Finished Book 4: Thrown to the Wolves by Charlie Adhara
Big Bad Wolf, book 3
New read, adult, romance (fantasy, mystery), ebook, 241p
Content warnings: open door sex, kidnapping, murder, betrayal, lying, discussion of child abandonment

This book was fine. Personally I think this series as a whole is fairly mediocre, but not everything has to be the Best Thing Ever and I am enjoying them enough to keep going. I did not, I admit, enjoy spending most of this book annoyed with Park, the love interest or non-POV main character or whatever you want to call him, who had seemed like the more intelligent of the two in the previous books, but I guess family can make fools of us all. And I was disappointed (but not surprised) with who the bad guy turned out to be, but it all pretty much made sense with the overall story.

Finished Book 5: The Human Division by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 5
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook (audible), 14h 53m

I like this series, and I really like this book. It’s the same universe and the same types of characters as the other OMW books, but these stories are about diplomacy and the events surrounding diplomacy and as much as I like John and Jane in the first trilogy, I actually find these stories more interesting.

Finished Book 6: The End of all Things by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 6
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook (audible), 11h 24m

Finished Book 7: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 1
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 4h 44m
Content warnings: brief transphobia, major character death, mutilation of bodies/corpses, discussion of emotionally/psychologically abusive parents, moderate gore

Finished Book 8: If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 4h 38m

This is an excellent novella that a friend recommended to me. It’s about someone who works at One Wizard, a call center for people with magic-related problems to ask for help. Yes, really.

Finished Book 9: Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 2
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 4h 4m
Content warnings: neglectful/controlling parents, death, moderate gore, brief fatphobia

Finished Book 10: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 3
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 4h 11m
Content warnings: fatphobia, discussion of dieting and other controlling behaviors, discussion of racism, mild gore/body horror, mentions of suicide, drowning

Finished Book 11: Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 5
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 3h 52m
Content warnings: possession, drowning, major character death, panic attacks, moderate gore

I'd planned to reread the whole series before reading the new one, but I finished this one, and realized I didn't want to reread any of the others just now.

Finished Book 12: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 9
New read, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 4h 40m

Really liked this! It was definitely heartbreaking at times and made me tear up at least twice. As glad as I am that she found her door, I'm going to miss Cora most of all; she is absolutely my favorite character, even more than Nancy.

Finished Book 13: Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty
The Midsolar Murders, book 2
New read, adult, science fiction (mystery), audiobook (audible), 11h 47m
Content warnings: there are a few other minor things, but the big one is bugs, pretty much constant swarms of wasp-like aliens throughout the whole book

I think I liked this one better than the first one, which is probably because of the issue I have with the end of the first book. This one I thought was a little more cohesive, plot-wise.

Finished Book 14: Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 8h 39m

Finished Book 15: Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
Fuzzies, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook (librivox), 5h 36m

Finished Book 16: Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
The Saint of Steel, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (high fantasy), audiobook (hoopla), 12h 31m

I read this before, but I didn’t remember much of anything about it. I don’t think it was the right time, anyway, because I didn’t go on and read the following books, which I am absolutely going to do now.

Finished Book 17: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Wayfarers, book 2
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 11h 29m

I really like this one, possibly more than the first one but it deals with a lot heavier and more intense topics, so I can’t reread it quite as often.

Finished Book 18: For Never and Always by Helena Greer
New read, adult, romance (contemporary, queer), ebook (library), 369p

I may have been skeptical about the first book in this series, but now I’m a definitely fan and I’m really looking forward to the next one.

Currently Reading:
All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows (ebook, sister’s kindle)
Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher (audiobook, hoopla)

Finished Book 19: Paladin's strength by T Kingfisher
Saint of steel, book 2
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 15h 38m

Finished Book 20: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Wayfarers, book 4
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 9h 55m

I really love this book. My dad read this series recently and he was surprised at how much he liked this one in particular, because nothing much really happens? An eclectic group of people sit around various places and talk for most of it. But the characters are so compelling and just wonderful to spend time with.

Finished Book 21: Paladin's hope by T Kingfisher
Saint of Steel, book 3
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 9h 7m

These books are really great, as are the audiobooks, though I’m probably going to read the newest book on ebook because the audio isn’t going to be out for several months.

Finished Book 22: First Test by Tamora Pierce
Protector of the Small, book 1
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook (audible), 5h46m

Finished Book 23: Page by Tamora Pierce
Protector of the Small, book 2
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy ,Audiobook (audible), 6h28m

Hi Blue! My names Owl or Lily. How are you?

Finished Book 24: The librarian of crooked lane by CJ Archer
The Glass Library, book 1
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 8h 9m
Content warnings: fatphobia (from the main characters, I think), misogyny (not from the main characters), discussions of war, ptsd/trauma

Aside from several instances of fatphobia, which I found distasteful and unnecessary, I really liked this book.

Finished Book 25: Squire by Tamora Pierce
Protector of the Small, book 3
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook (audible), 10h48m

Finished Book 26: The Medici manuscript by CJ Archer
The Glass Library, book 2
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 7h 59m
Content warnings: discussions of war, ptsd/trauma

I'm enjoying this series but the one thing I find kind of irritating is how pretty much every new male character who appears on page starts blatantly flirting with Sylvia. It’s edging into a Bella Swan-esque “oh she’s so shy and doesn’t have any experience with men, but all the men she meets are falling at her feet” sort of thing, which is not helped by how she keeps making a big deal about how she gets nervous talking to men (although rarely seems to actually get nervous talking to men).

That sounds like a big obnoxious thing, and it really isn’t, it’s really just a minor annoyance from several different incidents. And it’s definitely not stopping me from continuing to read the series; I’m on to book three already!

Currently Reading:
All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows (ebook, sister’s kindle)
The Untitled Books by CJ Archer (audiobook, hoopla)
Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce (audiobook, audible)

>22 Owltherian: Hi, Owl! I'm good, thanks. What's up?

>24 bluesalamanders: Nothin' much, just wanted to say hai.

>1 bluesalamanders: I love The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto, really enjoyed the recently released The Royals and the Ramblers (includes cameo of Caleb and Buck) and excited about the upcoming book featuring the World Cup and accompanying new lead character. I also really enjoyed the audiobook version of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen and liked the follow-up A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel but not so well as the first book.

>8 foggidawn: If Found, Return to Hell sounds fun! And clearly popular based on the wait time in Libby. Same with For Never & Always.

You're reading lots of good stuff! I love the Saint of Steel books (I devoured the new one when it came out in December) and the Protector of the Small books are some of my comfort reads :) I'm slowly discovering KJ Charles -- loved the first Will Darling book and have The Sugared Game out from the library to read next. I also bought a paper copy of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, but it will probably take me a bit longer to get to it.

>27 curioussquared: I love the Will Darling Adventures! I'm rereading them now! I definitely recommend the audiobook version of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen because the narrator is awesome.

>26 justchris: The Royals and the Ramblers was not my favorite of the Shivadh books, but it's nice to talk to someone here who's heard of them! I do love Twelve Points and I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.

>27 curioussquared: yeah, I'm really enjoying the Saint of Steel books! I'm looking forward to the next one, when my turn comes up on the library or if I get impatient and just buy a copy. POTS has always been one of my comfort reads and I've been having trouble sleeping recently, so I've been laying awake in the middle of the night listening to it recently.

Unlike justchris, I do not recommend the audiobook of Secret Lives. There's an issue with - I don't know if it's the reading or the editing, but there are frequent pauses in very weird places that makes it really hard to listen to. Which is too bad, because the voices and accents the narrator does are great! But I actually returned my audiobook and bought a paper copy.

The book is great, though. I love Secret Lives and the sequel both.

The Royals and the Ramblers wasn't my favorite either, and the new romance was pretty meh for me, but there were a few fun scenes I really enjoyed. I've gotten a friend hooked on the series. So much love for these charming romances.

>30 bluesalamanders: Good to know re: the Secret Lives audiobook! Good thing I have a paper copy already :)

>30 bluesalamanders: Huh. I didn't notice the pauses, so they didn't detract from my experience. Maybe because I have a tendency to listen while focused on various tasks? But I can see how that would be a barrier to enjoying the story.

>31 justchris: There definitely were some scenes that I loved, too. Eli and Noah's scenes, as I recall, were particularly cute, although they felt out of place in the book (to me).

I've tried to get some friends into the books, but haven't quite managed it, unfortunately.

Finished Book 27: Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
Protector of the Small, book 4
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 11h 13m

This series has been a comfort read for me for years.

Finished Book 28: Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
Incryptid, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 11h 20m

Finished Book 29: Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Incryptid, book 2
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 10h 59m

Finished Book 30: Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
Incryptid, book 3
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 10h 17m

I got to this point in my reread of the incryptid series and not for the first time stalled there. The first three books are reasonably light and fluffy and book 4 takes a sharp turn. It’s a lot darker and a lot more horror than the previous three, and horror is not a genre I read by choice. I may go back and try to reread some more of the series later, skipping 4 and going on from there.

Finished Book 31: The Untitled Books by CJ Archer
The Glass Library, book 3
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla), 7h 59m

Finished Book 32: An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (historical, mystery), Audiobook 7h 38m
Content warnings: open door sex, murder, torture, ableism, classism, racism, alcohol abuse, abusive family, homophobia, suicide, major character death

Finished Book 33: Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 13h 45m

I liked it a lot better than the previous couple of books in this series, that’s for sure.

In notes I wrote immediately after reading this book, I said it was the most upsetting Incryptid book, but I don’t think that’s actually true. It’s the most sad, certainly, but the one where Artie’s mind was wiped was the one that made me angriest. I also thought, right when I finished it, that I would never want to read this one again, but now I don’t think that’s true, either.

I really liked Mary as a narrator. She was an interesting character to learn about and from, I enjoyed seeing the world from her perspective, and it was nice seeing the variety of characters she was in touch with.

There are two main down sides to the audiobook. One is that the novella included at the end of the print edition isn't included in the audiobook. The other is that the narrator of this audiobook is, hm, not fantastic at accents.

Finished Book 34: An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 2
Reread, adult, romance (historical, mystery), Audiobook, 7h 54m
Content Warnings: open door sex, murder, torture, abusive family, homophobia, cults, discussion of implied rape, classism, racism, major character death

Currently Reading:
All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows (ebook, sister’s kindle)
The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto by Sam Starbuck (ebook, free)
An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles (audiobook, audible)
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (audiobook, hoopla)

>35 bluesalamanders: I stumbled into the InCryptid series last year via a short story meetup between Verity Price and Elena Michaels from the Women of the Otherworld series that I was binging. I really liked Verity and then Antimony, so I read their parts of the series and then circled back to books 3 and 4 featuring Alex. All of the other characters in the series are fine, but I didn't feel driven to keep reading beyond That Ain't Witchcraft. What was the novella at the end of Aftermarket Afterlife?

>36 bluesalamanders: I think An Unsuitable Heir is about my favorite of the historical KJ Charles books, followed closely by A Seditious Affair and Band Sinister. At this point, I think I've worked through everything except the Magpie Lord books.

>37 justchris: It's something with Verity, I think? I haven't read it, because I listened to the audiobook and those aren't included with the audiobooks, unfortunately.

As much as I like Sarah, I don't love the books between That Ain't Witchcraft and Aftermarket Afterlife, so honestly? I think stopping there is a solid choice.

I don't love the Society of Gentlemen series, but Unsuitable Heir (really the whole trilogy) and Band Sinister are definitely two of my favorite KJC also! I also really love Any Old Diamonds the Doomsday Books. You know, she's got some upcoming books I'm really looking forward to.

>38 bluesalamanders: I love Any Old Diamonds! I have a soft spot for Society of Gentleman mostly because it's a favorite time period. And I think the lovers tiff over waistcoat color is hilarious. Mostly I like the secondary characters running the molly house, and a relationship built on kink & books and do names even matter? Until they do. Didn't like the third book at all. I really liked The Secret Life of Country Gentlemen but was pretty meh about A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel. I haven't looked ahead to future books. Thanks for the heads up.

I recently binged A Useful Woman series by Darcie Wilde, and it's interesting to see how different authors incorporate key historical events like Peterloo and the Cato Street conspiracy into their storylines and character development viz. A Seditious Affair and The Secret of the Lady's Maid.

I like the idea of Seditious Affair, but honestly the sex squicks me out. No judgment to people who like it! I just do not. I liked the first book, but I can't reread it either, because I really dislike one of the main characters from book 3 (guess which, lol) and he's such a large part of the series, he even taints the first one.

I haven't heard of Darcie Wilde, were they good books? Do you recommend them?

>40 bluesalamanders: yeah, I don't really like that asshole either. No worries about what works or doesn't for each reader. I've enjoyed the Darcie Wilde books. Murder mysteries with a very slow burning straight romance, strong female protagonist.

Happy new thread Blue! Well, newish, sort of.

Finished Book 35: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook (hoopla),
Content warnings: fantasy racism, suicide, classism, probably other stuff I forgot to note down

So, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it.

The two main problems I had with it were, firstly, the character names were very complicated and similar and I had a really hard time remembering who was who and, secondly, I found it extremely, almost painfully slow to get started. It’s not that I hated the beginning or anything, it was just so slow for the first half or maybe two-thirds of the book. The rest of it was really enjoyable, with a lot of action, dramatic events, and payoff for earlier setup. Not that I necessarily need a lot of action and drama in the books I read, but, well. You get the picture.

I’m not sure if the name thing was an audiobook problem or if I would have had just as much trouble if I’d read it in text, but either way, it contributed to the other issue, because not knowing who anyone was made every scene much more confusing than it should have been.

Finished Book 36: Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 3
Reread, adult, romance (historical, mystery), Audiobook, 7h 28m
Content warnings: open-door sex, cults, body dysphoria, murder, torture, homophobia, ableism, classism, racism, major character death

Finished Book 37: Android’s Dream by John Scalzi
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 10h 34m

Finished Book 38: Redshirts by John Scalzi
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 7h 41m

Finished Book 39: Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
New read, adult, mystery (NOT romance), ebook (netgalley), 273p
Content warnings: closed-door sex, racism, ableism, classism, homophobia, alcohol use/abuse, discussion of rape, discussion of abortion

A letter is arrives at Jem's work, accusing him of committing an unsolved murder that happened a decade earlier, and he decides that the only way to deal with it is to discover once and for all who the real murderer was.

I really liked this! The beginning is pretty stressful but I love the second half and the resolution makes everything worth it.

>42 humouress: Hi, humouress!

Finished Book 40: Lock In by John Scalzi
Lock in, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook (audible), 10h 56m

Finished Book 41: Head On by John Scalzi
Lock In, book 2
Reread, adult, science fiction, audible (audible), 7h 36m

Finished Book 42: Yeti for Love by Neva Post
Alaska Yeti Series, book 3
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook (hoopla), 232p

This is a silly book and while it’s not exactly my most preferred genre of romance, it’s both cute and short enough that I’m going to go ahead and read some more of the series.

Finished Book 43: Ready for Her Yeti by Neva Post
Alaska Yeti Series, book 1
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook (hoopla), 178p

Finished Book 44: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
Reread, adult, science fiction (mystery), audiobook (audible), 11h 24m

Finished Book 45: Fake Dating Her Yeti by Neva Post
Alaska Yeti Series, book 2
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook (hoopla), 226p

Finished Book 46: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
The Athena Club, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook (audible), 13h 39m

Finished Book 47: Allowing the Night by T S Winterway
New read, adult, fantasy (romance), ebook (early reviewer), 154p

The best I can say about this book is that it was ok. It was interesting enough (and short enough) that I read it all in one sitting, but it just seemed like it lacked depth. There were a lot of pieces of worldbuilding, but they didn’t quite fit together to make a cohesive whole. The most obvious example is that the book started off with a detailed description of magically-powered machines - and then they had no impact on the story and were never mentioned again. That happened several times; something new would pop up, either sound important or almost impact the characters, and then never be mentioned again.

The description says the book is a “character-based romance” and I will say that the characters were the reason that I continued reading, since I found the worldbuilding lacking and the plot kind of weak.

Finished Book 48: European travel for the monstrous gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, book 2
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 24h 27m

Finished Book 49: Unbury the Bones by Coyote JM Edwards
Ember Bones, book 1
New read, adult, mystery (fantasy), ebook (kobo), 79p

Vampire PI Grim and their werewolf partner investigate a series of strange coincidences.

I liked this! There were some things I think could have been a little more developed. But unlike some other things I’ve read recently, this was still an enjoyable book and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Finished Book 50: Boneless by Coyote JM Edwards
Ember Bones, book 1
New read, adult, mystery (fantasy), ebook (early reviewers), 62p

Grim’s werewolf partner has been kidnapped, but how do they even begin to search when captives steal themselves away?

I also liked this one! It’s a direct sequel to Unbury the Bones, so I’m glad I read that first. As with the first one, I could wish it was a little longer, but overall I enjoyed it and I hope there will be more Ember Bones books.