Hi! You may know me as woodburner. Or hey, you may not. Anyway, this is a mostly open journal - subscribe/unsubscribe at will, no need to ask permission. :)

Oh my gosh you guys, Cadbury owns my soul.

And now, for some books that I have read! (*) indicates 50books_poc eligible books.

*The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin (aka nojojojo):

I was a bit excited about this because it kept popping up on my f-list. I was kind of expecting a somewhat different story than the one I got, but that is not to say that I was disappointed. It was incredibly fun! A real page-turner. I tore through it in two and a half days, and this is book is a tome.

( In which we revisit why it's never a good thing to be favored by the gods. )

But anyway, overall verdict = CRAZY FUN READ, I recommend it.


Soulless, by Gail Carriger:

Another ridiculously fun read! This is a mashup of paranormal romance, steampunk, and Victorian comedy of manners. Basically it is about an acid-tongued spinster - who just so happens to lack a soul - having madcap adventures as she gets tangled up in vampire and werewolf politics (and also a bizarre scientific cult!) while attempting to navigate polite society.

( This book is *hilarious*, y'all. )

Verdict: If you like or at least do not outright hate the paranormal romance genre, and you like steampunk and irreverent hilarity, it's difficult to go very wrong here.


*Ash, by Malinda Lo:

This is the one the internet has dubbed "Lesbian Cinderella". Well, that is certainly what it is! The book's major conflict boils down to the heroine having to choose between the King's huntress and her childhood dream of being stolen away by the fairies. Kaisa, the huntress, basically represents down-to-earth, real-world happiness, while Sidhean, the fairy, represents forbidden attraction, escapism, the appeal of the dangerous and the strange, and all that jazz.

My feelings about this novel are rather mixed. ( Longwinded! And very vaguely spoilerish. )

Final verdict is, I do recommend this book - it was a very enjoyable read - but it was a little lacking in some areas.


Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld:

You guys. You guys.



Deryn. Oh my god Deryn. ♥__________♥

So this book is set in a steampunk AU WWI and follows a teenage girl that crossdresses as a boy so that she can enter the Royal Air Force. A swashbuckling, slightly batshit nuts teenage girl. Do I really need to say more? Oh, and there's also a young mech-piloting Austrian prince, I guess.

...Okay no really, the prince was adorable and I loved him, but he was up against a crossdressing girl who throws herself off the side of airships to save people and holds royalty hostage with a pocketknife in front of enormous mechs, so I can be forgiven if I maybe didn't notice him as much. Basically what I am saying is Deryn is pretty much the greatest thing in the history of EVER.

( I do not even know what to say about this book, it's like being repeatedly punched in the face with AWESOME so many times I've been rendered insensible. )

Verdict: I have nothing particularly intelligent to say about this book because I am too busy FLAILING WITH GLEE. :DDD Why are you not reading this book right this minute.