State Of The Bookshelf 7/10/23

State of the bookshelf 7/10/23

It is JULY. 

I read a lot of Courtney Milan’s romances recently. I really love her work not just because it makes me feel things (my heart goes doki doki etc) and not just because her characters are great (they are) or even because she includes characters who are queer and POC without making the whole story About That (although she does), but because her books also have these supporting themes that just get me so emotional. 

Recently read: 

What Happened at Midnight, Courtney Milan. Romance novella. I loved it. In this story, the two leads (w/m) actually knew each other and were engaged… until the heroine’s father is revealed to be a swindler and crook. The heroine runs off before she can be jailed, but she ends up in very reduced circumstances. When the hero finds her again, she is working as a lady’s companion in a household where the lord of the house is abusively controlling. They team up and serve him his comeuppance. (And the heroine also gets the lady of the house away and to safety as well!) (Suffice to say, content note for domestic abuse and period-typical misogyny) Oh, and there’s a really nice little bit where the heroine plays the piano and thinks about the uhhhh the musical… theory? Of the piece she plays. Recommended! (Disclaimer that there is a sex scene)

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, Olivia Waite. Romance novel. LOVED IT. This one’s wlw, and the protagonists are a woman astronomer and the widow of a famous astronomer. Although the widow has been around scientists all her life and has facilitated their work, her passion is in embroidery. This one also gets a content note for domestic abuse since the dead astronomer husband—may he rot in obscurity—was a shitbag. The book overall has some really beautiful things to say about science, art, and the interplay between the two. The nature same-sex relationships is also visited a lot, and quite tenderly. Strongly recommended! (Disclaimer that there are sex scenes)

Snow Way Out, Christine Husom. Mystery novel. Loved it! The premise is already good: the heroine runs a shop that sells snowglobes. One night, when she’s alone in the store, she finds a new one on the shelf. It shows a scene with a man sitting on a park bench… and the snow inside is still falling, as though the snowglobe was just set down. Later, she walks home via the park and finds the same scene reenacted—except that the man on the bench has been murrrrrdered! From there, the actual plot is fine. (Caveat: it wasn’t great. But it was serviceable.) But what I really really liked about it was that the heroine and one of her friends are both adopted! And yet! The story is not About Being Adopted. Instead, the characters get to be characters. That is SO refreshing. And the characters’ feelings about their families felt very realistic to me. I later learned that the author’s sister was adopted, which makes sense :) Strongly recommended!

Hen Fever, Olivia Waite. Romance novella. Loved it! This is the same author as Celestial Mechanics, and it’s another wlw book. I thought it was really fun. One of the heroines is super duper interested in chickens, which was very entertaining to me. The other protagonist is a war widow, and she and her quirky friends go and live in a big mansion and… listen, this book was very delightful and an easy read, and the bit with the quirky friends living together in the big house just read like Comfort Escapism to me, in the best way. (Disclaimer that all the quirky friends are also pretty obviously traumatized by the war; the escapism is that they are now able to life comfortable and safe lives in this big house wow that was a depressing sentence.) Recommended, especially if you like chickens. (Disclaimer that there is a sex scene)

Once Upon a Marquess, Courtney Milan. (Worth series #1) Romance novel (w/m). I read this one as an audiobook so I feel like I missed some stuff. It was solid but I didn’t LOVE it like I normally love her books. It’s also the first of a series, and it kind of feels like one. There are a lot of threads Milan is trying to establish, which she explores throughout the rest of the series, but because she is weaving those in now the book overall feels a little scattered in parts. That said, it’s still a solid story. I liked the characters, especially the way the protagonists talked to each other. 

Her Every Wish, Courtney Milan. Romance novella (w/m). Side story in the Worth series. I LOVED this one. It’s very short, and it follows Daisy, who enters a competition to get funding to start a business. She’s the only woman in the running. Her friend and onetime-lover Crash helps her prepare. This one is SUPER GOOD because of the Themes. Crash is brown, multi-racial, illegitimate, and his family is poor. Despite this, he values himself and his family, and he is proud of his heritage. The way he speaks of his family actually made me tear up (in context, this is a good thing). Loved this book, and it’s extra great because it’s so short you can read it in one sitting.

After the Wedding, Courtney Milan. Romance novel, Worth series #2 (w/m). In this one, we follow another noblewoman brought low by circumstance. This one was solid as well. The man-love interest is flawed in ways that are totally believable but that I occasionally found frustrating. That said, I enjoyed the story overall. I especially liked the side characters who are employees in the man’s family’s company. 

The Suffragette Scandal, Courtney Milan. Romance novel, part of the Brothers Sinister series.(w/m) I LOVED THIS ONE. The heroine is a suffragette, and the hero is a scoundrel who is secretly a lord. Their meetcute is amazingly cute. (The hero’s like “oh you’re a suffragette.” and the heroine’s like “You’re pronouncing the word wrong. You need an exclamation point, like ‘huzzah! Suffragettes!’” It’s very charming. Anyway.) this is another one where Milan’s best quality as a romance author—her inclusion of additional themes—is on display. You might assume this time I’m talking about gender equality and feminism, but actually the theme that once again had me on the verge of tears was persistence. Specifically, the characters talk about how the suffragettes keep fighting for equality despite seemingly insurmountable odds. The analogy they use is trying to drain the Thames with a thimble. And they talk about why and how the suffragettes keep going. It’s good.  Strongly strongly recommend. Also note that there are sex scenes.

Okay, currently reading: 

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. This one’s about female rage. I’m not sure how I feel about the book yet. The way in which it is written is a little unconventional, and it’s… more engaging on an intellectual level than emotional level? It would be more accurate to say that I’m interested in what will happen to the protagonist than that I care about her. Like… It feels more like a thought exercise than a story. It reads more like a biography—interrupted by excerpts from in-universe documents—than a story. But I’m halfway through and I don’t dislike the experience. It’s compelling, kinda. But I don’t feel connected to it.

The Devil Comes Courting, Courtney Milan. This is also in the Worth series. It’s finally in China, so yay. I tried to read this one before but didn’t get far into it, so I hope I enjoy it this time. 

Recent entries on the amnesty list (AKA DNFs, AKA did-not-finish books)

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder, by Valerie Burns: I didn’t like the narrator so I didn’t make it past the 2nd chapter. I know she’s going to undergo a lot of character development, but eh. Maybe I’ll check out one of the later books in the series. 

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette. There was nothing “wrong” with this book, but the antagonist characters were so antagonistic I didn’t want to read any more. It’s a balance. 

Recent and ongoing rereads

Reread: Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal, Making Money, The Truth, and Unseen Academicals. 

Currently rereading Thief of Time

Also rereading Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss

I was upset that I didn't have any birthday presents, but today I bought one and I'm very happy🎉

Nope

It’s not a Discworld joke unless you read it, don’t parse it as a joke, and then carry on with your life for ten years until someone stops you to say something like “It’s a pavlovian response because the dog ate a pavlova” and you scream Terry’s name with enough indignant rage you hope it rattles the pillars of the multiverse so wherever his soul is he’ll hear it.

Since I am approaching 24 hours of witches posting, was thinking about the bit in Wyrd Sisters where Granny breaks down all the duchess's justifications and compartmentalizing to force her to "see her true self" and is flummoxed when the duchess shrugs it off and goes "yes I know I've done wrong and I don't care". Granny is so fixated on all the ways she can go astray, so convinced that her true self is bad and she needs to monitor that at all times, that she can't conceive of anyone not feeling that way. Actually Granny you're not as wicked as you think you are.

One of the worst parts of current internet culture is that it makes good old fashioned complaining so difficult. I don’t wanna cancel anyone or bully anyone, I’m not trying to form a hate mob I’m not calling anyone out, i just wanna bitch about something. Because complaining is fun, good for you, even. Is that too much to ask? Where is the room for shooting the shit?