Goodreads Update Part 2
Okay. I think I might be ready to continue on with this project. I really hope I don't find myself in this stituation ever again.
Onward!
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer - Someone recently told me they just read this and really enjoyed it. Rainy is a book witch. She can enter fiction, but there are rules. You can't eat, drink, or fall asleep inside a book, or you will be stuck there forever. And, above all, do not fall in love with a fictional character. Rainy is on her last strike. If she is caught with the Duke (the detective in her favorite mystery series) one more time, she will be kicked out of her coven. But when her grandfather disappears, he's the only one she trusts to help her find him.
Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett - Firstly, this is the author of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Which is whimsical and lovely. Now she's writing about cats? Yes, please. But also, look at this cover!!!
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler - This title. I mean, come on. This can't be anything but a banger.
Whistler by Ann Patchett - I have no idea what Whistler has to do with this story, but I trust Ann Patchett to make it work. In this one, a woman and her husband visit the MoMA and are followed around by an elderly man. It turns out he was her stepfather for about a year when she was 9. She hasn't seen him for over 40 years. They are reunited and reminisce. It's probably pretty emotional.
Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves - I wasn't going to add this to my TBR, but somebody said something somewhere that made me change my mind. I'm not mad. There's a kitty on the cover.
60 Songs That Explain the 90s by Rob Harvilla - Rob Harvilla is a music journalist. I listened to music in the 90s. This looks interesting.
Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - I bought this a few weeks ago, because it was one of the few classics on the shelf that I hadn't already read. I was in a mood. Just now as I was entering this, I wondered if this is related to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, since the cover rather looks like it might be. Imagine my surprise when I read the first line of the summary: More commonly known as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame... There's my answer.
Country People by Daniel Mason - This is about a guy who is kind of stalled out in his life. His wife takes a visiting professorship at a college in the middle of nowhere Vermont. In the country, he falls in with the inhabitants of his new small town home, who are weird in varying degrees. Sounds fantastic.
Contrapposto by Dave Eggers - I need to read a Dave Eggers book for my HRCYED challenge. Sometimes I like Dave Eggers. Sometimes we don't get on. I guess we'll see if this one works for me.
Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See - In 1870, 3 Chinese women land on the shores of Los Angeles to marry men chosen for them. The Chinese were not particularly welcome in Los Angeles, and the road ahead is rough. The last Lisa See book I read was Island of Sea Women, which was about Korean women. Looks like we are back to the Chinese here.
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray - I put this on my list because I love Marie Benedict. I have to say, though, that this sounds highly unlikely. It's the 1930s in New York. Eunice is the first black female prosecutor and is out to bring down Lucky Luciano, the head of a large crime family. Polly is the madam of a very successful brothel who is after Luciano for putting her girls in danger. Together they work to topple his reign. I looked it up. As unlikely as it seems that NY would have a black woman assistant district attorney in the 1930s, Eunice Carter was a real person.
The Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst - This is actually the 3rd book in this series, but I got it on audio as an advanced copy, so I put it on my list. I've read the first one. Spoiler alert: you'll see the 2nd in the series later on this list.
The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden - This is about Anne of Brittany. I don't know a lot about her, and the summary of this book is pretty confusing. From what I can tell, she doesn't want to marry the person the king wants her to marry, so she sets up a unicorn hunt so she can run off and marry someone else. The cover is pretty though.
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England - This looks cute. As a kid, Oaklin was forced to join a cult. The cult has now been destroyed, and Oaklin is unfettered. They buy a farm and vow never to use their magic ever again. But the farm has a ghost who has other ideas. It's another one with a cast of interesting side characters. Excellent.
Sleepy Head: Narcolepsy, Neuroscience and the Search for a Good Night by Henry Nicholls - I feel like the reason I've added this is obvious. I've been dealing with Narcolepsy my whole life. I finally got medication several years ago. Now my kid has a narcolepsy diagnosis, also. This seems like good timing.
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Ok. I really put this on my list because the word "Elder" is in the title. One of my HRCYED challenges is to read a book related to my birth tree. Which is an Elder. This book is only 200 pages, so it's not too scary. It's labeled both science fiction and fantasy, so I have no idea what to expect here.
Sunrise by Tea Obreht - I really liked The Tiger's Wife by Obreht. This is about a town in Wyoming and the bizarre events there over 120 years.
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon - Grace O'Malley is an Irish woman who wants to be a pirate. Her dad marries her to the leader of another clan. She does her duty: raises kids, helps him conquer other clans, etc. After he dies, she goes back home and lives her pirate dreams.
Taipei Story by R. F. Kuang - This woman is writing books faster than I can read them! This is about a Chinese-American college student who goes to Taipei to do an intensive language program. Then her grandfather dies, and she struggles. Apparently, it's funny as well as bittersweet.
American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee - Here we are following a family from Korea. In Seoul, they were comfortably situated. Then the Asian financial crisis of 1997 struck, and they couldn't keep up. They eventually end up in California, and the rest of the story is about them and their friends trying to figure out the world.
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel - It's 2031, and California has just seceded from the Union. Everyone in L.A. is going to an "exit party"; only the vibes are off. Nothing goes right. There is a hint of a paranormal situation, as the main character looks back on that night.
Ply by Hernan Diaz - I don't care what this is about. Trust was so good, I will read this man's grocery list.
The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig - This is the sequel to The Knight and the Moth. I own the first one. I haven't read it.
A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas - This is the 6th book in a series. I've only read the first one. Apparently, it is also the first book in a spinoff series. Interesting.
The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman - Alice Hoffman's witch books always slap. They are witchy, but also like literary fiction.
Ok. I have to stop. There are still more books on the list, but I will just have to let that go until another day.
Let me know if any of these look interesting to you.