Review:: Shadow and Steel, by JW Troemner

Title: Shadow and Steel

Author: JW Troemner

Series: Urban Dragon, #2

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

Mark of the Dragon

The first one wasn't enough. The second left me begging for more. Luckily, there is in fact, more to come. Also, cliffhanger much?

Review:: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

Title: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Author: Marie Kondo

Series: Magic Cleaning, #1

Rating: ★★★★☆

I have never really read a "self-help" book, but I promised my partner I'd read this one. I'm working on tidying our house -- something that seems insurmountable at times. After reading this, I actually feel motivated to clean.

Review:: Glamour in Glass, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Title: Glamour in Glass

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal

Series: Glamourist Histories, #2

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

Shades of Milk and Honey

Wow. I was really unhappy with how Shades of Milk and Honey turned out, but it seems Glamour in Glass is more my taste. Mary Robinette Kowal seems to come into her own with this novel; rather than seeing a Jane Austen homage, I feel like I can really see her own writing shine through. Glamour in Glass deals with all sorts of issues, while being an easy and quick read. Some spoilers towards the end of the review.

Review:: Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett

Title: Wyrd Sisters

Author: Terry Pratchett

Series: Discworld, #6

Format: Kindle

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

The Colour of Magic

The Light Fantastic

Equal Rites

Mort

Sourcery

At first I was going to give this one three stars, but then I realized that I'd been laughing aloud throughout the entire book. Even if I have some quibbles, those have to be overridden by legitimate lols.

Review:: Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Title: Slaughterhouse-Five

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Format: Kindle

Rating: ★★★★☆

They say Kurt Vonnegut is a love him or hate him kind of author, and I have to admit that while I haven't extensively read him, I fall into the former category. Last time I read Slaughterhouse-Five I was in high school, but I didn't read it for high school. Coming back to it as an adult, it wasn't like I remembered at all (I remembered it being more like Catch-22), but it was a delight to read.

Well, maybe delight is the wrong word.

Review:: The Last Colony, by John Scalzi

Title: The Last Colony

Author: John Scalzi

Series: Old Man's War, #3

Format: Hardcover/Kindle

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

Old Man's War

The Ghost Brigades

From the beginning, you know everything is going to go wrong in The Last Colony. But because it's John Scalzi, you know everything will be okay in the end. This was more Ghost Brigades and less Old Man's War—less focus on humor and more on the issues at hand—but I think it's superior to it in a few ways.

Review:: Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie

Title: Ancillary Mercy

Author: Ann Leckie

Series: Imperial Radch, #3

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

The first thing I thought when I started Ancillary Mercy was, "Wow, I need to re-read this entire series." As I continued through, I began to remember more, but the urge to do a complete re-read continued. I'm just constantly amazed at Leckie's ability to balance action and politics, tea time and cuddle time. Oh, and the ending gave me everything that I ever wanted, so yeah. SPOILERS.

Review:: The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. LeGuin

Title: The Tombs of Atuan

Author: Ursula K. LeGuin

Series: Earthsea Cycle, #2

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

A Wizard of Earthsea

While in many ways The Tombs of Atuan deals with some of the issues I have with A Wizard of Earthsea, I've never liked it quite as much. I think the themes it deals with just don't speak to me as clearly. However, it's a wonderful book, deserving of many a read-through.

Review:: Permanent Present Tense, by Suzanne Corkin

Title: Permanent Present Tense

Author: Suzanne Corkin

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

This round, my book club on Habitica (previously called HabitRPG) selected from a set of non-fiction books. I was hoping that this (or The Victorian Internet) would be chosen. And I got my wish! While I definitely enjoyed it, as you can see from the rating, it wasn't a book without issues. It certainly felt "split," as if Suzanne Corkin couldn't decide if she wanted to write about H.M.'s life or his contributions to science.

Review:: Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

Title: Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

Series: Old Man's War, #1

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

I love John Scalzi. I read Fuzzy Nation in the past year as well, and there's just something about his writing that works for me. I'd read Old Man's War in the past, but this wasn't really a nostalgia reread, as much as a general reread, as I was planning on doing a refresher for reading The Ghost Brigades. (Which I will be starting as soon as I finish writing this review.)

Review:: Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

Title: Annihilation

Author: Jeff VanderMeer

Series: Southern Reach, #1

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

It's really cool when I'm not too sick to read. (Which is pretty sick.) It's also really cool when I get to read something that's bizarre and wonderful. So reading Annihilation in the middle of a bout of illness and then finding it vastly enjoyable was exactly what I needed. Or, another way to put it, vastly what the fuck even just I don't know but wow, okay, where's the next one?

Review:: Four Ways to Forgiveness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

Title: Four Ways to Forgiveness

Author: Ursula K. LeGuin

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

It took me a while to get into Four Ways to Forgiveness. The first story was a bit sleepy, and I had trouble understanding the point of it all. But as this collection of four Hainish short stories progresses, the themes surrounding enslavement and gender politics become more clear. This is one of the books in which LeGuin bares her politics. As she so often does, she does it well.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat for President, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat for President

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: Stainless Steel Rat, #5 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still good?

Hella!

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

Harry Harrison making fun of politics? Yes, please! The hijinks in this Stainless Steel Rat book poke at the way democracies end up not being so democratic. He probably could have used a less stereotypical backdrop than Space Latin America to show off his "democratic" dictator plot, but because the setting isn't the joke, it works better than the issues in the last book.

Review:: Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente

Title: Deathless

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Series: Deathless, #1

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

I really do love fairy tale books, but only if they're well done. The modern adaptation needs to add to the story, while still holding onto what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale. Catherynne M. Valente managed to do that and more, creating a rich and complex book that stayed true to its roots.

Review:: The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

Title: The Eyre Affair

Author: Jasper Fforde

Series: Thursday Next, #1

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

I loved this book more than I thought I would as I was reading through it. Much of it was rather predictable (at least to me), but that didn't tarnish its charm in the slightest. It didn't depend on suspense to make the story enjoyable, and actually managed in some ways to use this to a greater thematic advantage. Spoilers in the review.

Nostalgia Review:: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams

Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still good?

YES

Okay, this might not quite count as a nostalgia review because I pretty regularly reread this book and fall asleep to the audiobook. But I haven't actually read it properly in a few years and I wanted to reread the series before I read the book Eion Colfer wrote.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was one of my favorite books as a kid and a young adult. I also loved the text adventure game and the radio dramas. Basically, if it involved this series, I ate it up. The re-read wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I don't remember it being so short and I remember some of the passages differently for some reason. However, one thing was clear: this is still an amazing book.

Review:: The Signal and the Noise, by Nate Silver

Title: The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't

Author: Nate Silver

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

I'd been meaning to read this book for a while. Nate Silver talking about predictions, big data, and our limitations sounded so up my alley I couldn't even. But then I forgot and read other things. And can I say how glad I am that I picked it up? The mathematics in the book was pretty easy to grok and the ideas laid out are definitely worth perusing. It's also a pretty simple read, for not feeling entirely popsci. (Although, let's be honest: it's popsci.)

Review:: Homeland, by Cory Doctorow

Title: Homeland

Author: Cory Doctorow

Series: Little Brother, #2

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

While I understand Doctorow's writing isn't for everyone, it's perfectly tailored towards me. Little Brother is one of my favorite books. While Homeland is still good, I felt like it kind of missed the mark in a lot of ways. But it was still fun to read a hacker tale set in the Bay Area, as a Bay Area hacker.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: The Stainless Steel Rat, #3 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?

YES

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

After frustration with other time travel books (think Blackout/All Clear) I'm reminded that time travel stories can be fun. Granted, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World is pointing out how ridiculous time travel stories can be half the time... so maybe it's not the best example.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: The Stainless Steel Rat, #2 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?

YES

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

This series is honestly my favorite skiffy series of all time. Our intrepid hero, Slippery Jim diGriz is at it again. He's hooked up with the beautiful Angelina who is due for twins and will stop at nothing to entwine him in nuptials. Unfortunately, said nuptials put him back on the grid and the Special Forces have a new assignment for him.