May 2023 Wrap Up Pt. 2

All I can say is it's a good dang thing I did that mid-month wrap up because we have a lot to get through here today. Get comfy.

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage Per Second by Wilson Andolfo - This was one of the best volumes yet in this series. I really liked it. My hubby saw my reading it and said, "I thought you'd already read Ms. Marvel." I said, " Yes, this is volume 7." I haven't read ALL of Ms. Marvel yet.

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman - Klosterman is one year older than me and we share a lot of memories of the 90s. Each chapter in this book discusses some cultural phenomenon of that unique decade. One of them I had no frame of reference for because it was about professional basketball, but I did remember some of the events, like when Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. Otherwise, I thought it was an incisive look at what was really behind the memories I have.

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - This book had me right up to the end. The end, though. What even was that? Jane is the elder sister in a family of two sisters. She isn't very pretty, so her family counts on her skillful wielding of magic to procure a husband. Melody is very pretty and vivacious, but she sucks at magic. In this regency world, magic is used to change the way the world is perceived. The neighbor girl uses magic to fix her teeth and when she's in public for very long, she always passes out from the effort to keep her magic in place. Anyway, there are 3 eligible young men in the neighborhood. Jane has her eye on the neighbor gentleman, but so does Melody, and Jane knows she would never be picked over Melody's beauty. Long story short, nothing is as it seems (magic, duh) and the ending went all crazy with magic being thrown around everywhere, and people getting shot. I hated the ending.

Cat + Gamer, Vol. 1 by ataru Nadatani - Is this kitty cute? He gets separated from his family and a security guard at an office building finds him. A worker in the building who never goes to any after work functions and never talks about herself at work takes the kitten to everyone's surprise. Now she has to figure out how to take care of it. She's never had a pet. It's a pretty typical cat, and the story is that she has no idea what's normal and what's not. Also, she spends all her free time playing multi-player games online.

Cat + Gamer, Vol. 2 by Wataru Nadatani - In this volume, kitty gets toys and the girl makes a social media account where she shares all the pictures she takes of the kitty. I'm really miffed that the English translation for the third volume doesn't come out until October.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty - This took most of the month to read because it was too big and heavy to cart to work every day. But I did love it. The characters were all so fully themselves the whole time. They were all flawed and most of them grew over the course of the book. The setting was vibrant and beautifully described. The various problems that had to be solved were believable and relatable to today's world. I can't wait to get the next one, but I think I'll get it in paperback.

Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson - I talked a bit about this one last week. My statement that the best narrator was definitely Chance the Dog still stands. I still don't love the mom character, but she was ok. There was a totally predictable plot point that I hated, but it was short-lived and worked out ok. The end was great. Good dogs.

Ok. That's 7 books to add to the 4 I had earlier. 11 books for May. Not too bad since May is historically a busy month for me.

What did you read in May?