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January reading
New books
A Coronet For Cathie by Gwendoline Courtney. One of my childhood’s favourite books is a book by Courney called Stepmother (or Those Verney Girls orElizabeth and he Garret Theatre), a children’s books from the late 40. It’s still one of my go to comfort reads. What I didn’t know until I was an adult was that Courney wrote several books, most of which have been out of print for decades. A Coronet For Cathie is fairly recently republished by Girls Gone By Publishers. In this book teenaged orphan Cathie finds out that her grandfather is a duke about five minutes before he dies and she inherits the title. The first part is about Cathie finding her feet as a duchess as well as recovering from a serious illness. The rest, and longest, part of the book is about her going to school incognito, as she doesn’t want people to be friends with her because of her title.
This is one of the books I know I would have loved to bits if I had read it in my early teens. As an adult I found it enjoyable, but no more than that. I don’t think it’s as good as Stepmother, but I know I’m biased there. Cathie is likeable, as is her supporting cast, though I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Sarah Crewe was the main inspiration for her. I will still try to hunt out Courney’s other books.
The Green Man’s War by Juliet E. McKenna. Part 7 of an ongoing series. My husband described this series as “Rivers of London, but in the countryside”, and that is quite apt.
Infamous Lady by Kimberley L. Craft. A biography over Elizabeth Bathory. I found it well-written and extensively researched, and had some interesting thoughts on how a human being devolves into a torturer and murderer of young girls. However, as the author included a lot of translated witness statements, it also describes in detail how these children were tortured and murdered. I really don’t like to read that, so I skipped large parts of the book, but read some before I realized what was going on. I know, perhaps I should have expected it considering the subject, but I’ve never come across anything this graphic before
Rereads
The Goblin Emperor, The Witness For the Dead and The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison. As the third book in The Cemeteries of Amalo is coming soon, I thought a re-read was due. I really enjoy these books, and it was a joy to re-read. I would love another book about Maia though. If you haven’t read these, but enjoy fantasy (with a strong steampunk flair) and crime novels, then I think you would like those.
A Skinful of Shadows by France Hardinge. I love Hardinge’s YA novels which are always inventive and interesting. This one is my favourite, set in Civil War England, where a young girl, the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, finds out that what she has inherited from her father is the ability to take up dead people’s spirits in her mind.
Deeplight by France Hardinge. Fantasy set in a cluster of islands which was once ruled by a number of terrifying and unpredictable sea gods. But the gods are dead now, and people have slowly started to learn to live without them. Teenage friends Hark and Jelt find a strange object in the sea, an object that can heal- and more. Is it possible for the gods to return? Despite finding Hark’s troubled friendship with Jelt painful to read, I will enjoy this book a lot. Also, one of the main characters, the girl Selphin, is deaf, which I don’t think I have encountered in a SFF novel before.
A Civil Campaign, Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. Bujold is one of my favourite authors, and I’ve been doing a selective re-read. I’m not a huge SF fan, but Bujold has the knack of writing interesting plots and compelling characters, even down to minor supportive ones. I can’t recommend her books enough!
A Coronet For Cathie by Gwendoline Courtney. One of my childhood’s favourite books is a book by Courney called Stepmother (or Those Verney Girls orElizabeth and he Garret Theatre), a children’s books from the late 40. It’s still one of my go to comfort reads. What I didn’t know until I was an adult was that Courney wrote several books, most of which have been out of print for decades. A Coronet For Cathie is fairly recently republished by Girls Gone By Publishers. In this book teenaged orphan Cathie finds out that her grandfather is a duke about five minutes before he dies and she inherits the title. The first part is about Cathie finding her feet as a duchess as well as recovering from a serious illness. The rest, and longest, part of the book is about her going to school incognito, as she doesn’t want people to be friends with her because of her title.
This is one of the books I know I would have loved to bits if I had read it in my early teens. As an adult I found it enjoyable, but no more than that. I don’t think it’s as good as Stepmother, but I know I’m biased there. Cathie is likeable, as is her supporting cast, though I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Sarah Crewe was the main inspiration for her. I will still try to hunt out Courney’s other books.
The Green Man’s War by Juliet E. McKenna. Part 7 of an ongoing series. My husband described this series as “Rivers of London, but in the countryside”, and that is quite apt.
Infamous Lady by Kimberley L. Craft. A biography over Elizabeth Bathory. I found it well-written and extensively researched, and had some interesting thoughts on how a human being devolves into a torturer and murderer of young girls. However, as the author included a lot of translated witness statements, it also describes in detail how these children were tortured and murdered. I really don’t like to read that, so I skipped large parts of the book, but read some before I realized what was going on. I know, perhaps I should have expected it considering the subject, but I’ve never come across anything this graphic before
Rereads
The Goblin Emperor, The Witness For the Dead and The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison. As the third book in The Cemeteries of Amalo is coming soon, I thought a re-read was due. I really enjoy these books, and it was a joy to re-read. I would love another book about Maia though. If you haven’t read these, but enjoy fantasy (with a strong steampunk flair) and crime novels, then I think you would like those.
A Skinful of Shadows by France Hardinge. I love Hardinge’s YA novels which are always inventive and interesting. This one is my favourite, set in Civil War England, where a young girl, the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, finds out that what she has inherited from her father is the ability to take up dead people’s spirits in her mind.
Deeplight by France Hardinge. Fantasy set in a cluster of islands which was once ruled by a number of terrifying and unpredictable sea gods. But the gods are dead now, and people have slowly started to learn to live without them. Teenage friends Hark and Jelt find a strange object in the sea, an object that can heal- and more. Is it possible for the gods to return? Despite finding Hark’s troubled friendship with Jelt painful to read, I will enjoy this book a lot. Also, one of the main characters, the girl Selphin, is deaf, which I don’t think I have encountered in a SFF novel before.
A Civil Campaign, Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. Bujold is one of my favourite authors, and I’ve been doing a selective re-read. I’m not a huge SF fan, but Bujold has the knack of writing interesting plots and compelling characters, even down to minor supportive ones. I can’t recommend her books enough!
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Both of those Hardinge books are great! All her books feel so different and original, which I really admire.
Vorkosigan series is always worth a reread!
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I don't usually read L. E. Modesitt, Jr., but I picked up a book of his called Isolate, and it interested me enough that I read the two sequels. There's fourth coming along called Legalist, and it is preordered.
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Bujold is one of my favourite authors, and I’ve been doing a selective re-read.
I am in the middle of reading the Vorkosigan series for the first time, which is such an enjoyable place to be! (It's already very clear to me that I'll be rereading them at least once and probably several times in the future.) Enjoying them so much. I am just in between A Civil Campaign and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance.
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