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Finished reading:
The lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I know I'm fifteen years late to the party, but Gods, this was so good. As a first-published novel I am SO IMPRESSED. I inhaled 500 pages of it, and I can't think of anything I'd cut, even. I loved Father Chains so much, and the twins, and watching Locke just determintedly bullhead his way through cons to a goal (a set of nice clothes! by this evening!) was watching a master at work. I feel like the story wobbled the dismount ever so slightly, and then nailed the landing so well I literally put the book/phone down and covered my face for a moment. Oh my feels. I'm deeply keen to read the second one, but shall take a short breather and go with some light-obligation/curiosity reading first.
The year the maps changed by Danielle Binks. A debut Australian pre-teen novel. It was a gift from my Granny for my birthday, which means I wanted to like, but as a novel feel like it tried to do way too much. Winnifred (Fred)'s family life is complicated, and not by choice – her mum had Fred as a single mother, met Luca when Fred was three, and Luca then became Fred's adopted dad. Fred's mum then died when Fred was six, leaving Fred with an adopted dad, and a maternal (I think) grandfather. Then as our story starts, Luca has gotten into a relationship with a woman who has a year-younger son, both of whom have moved into Fred, Luca, and Pop's house. I desperately wanted to know what it felt like, psychologically, to be growing up not-quite-adopted, but also so adrift from a 'grounded' for want of a better word, family.
And Binks does touch on it, but she also layers in a ( spoiler ) and the main plotline about small-town Australia grappling with the (based on a true story) arrival of a group of Albanian refugees from the Yugoslavian war, and there's no space for any of those three things to get the proper depth they all deserved, which is a damn shame.
Currently reading:
I'm reading a novel I kickstarted, but it's not great, and I may well DNF. Gonna give it 50 pages or so.
Up next:
Attempting to reserve as an ebook from my local library:
Upright women wanted by Sarah Galliey, which I've had my eye on for a while (post-apoca Western! Queer librarians on horseback!). Goodreads reviews seem to say it's a 'fails well' novella, with much pleading for an actual novel. So I'm doubly curious to read it.
The lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I know I'm fifteen years late to the party, but Gods, this was so good. As a first-published novel I am SO IMPRESSED. I inhaled 500 pages of it, and I can't think of anything I'd cut, even. I loved Father Chains so much, and the twins, and watching Locke just determintedly bullhead his way through cons to a goal (a set of nice clothes! by this evening!) was watching a master at work. I feel like the story wobbled the dismount ever so slightly, and then nailed the landing so well I literally put the book/phone down and covered my face for a moment. Oh my feels. I'm deeply keen to read the second one, but shall take a short breather and go with some light-obligation/curiosity reading first.
The year the maps changed by Danielle Binks. A debut Australian pre-teen novel. It was a gift from my Granny for my birthday, which means I wanted to like, but as a novel feel like it tried to do way too much. Winnifred (Fred)'s family life is complicated, and not by choice – her mum had Fred as a single mother, met Luca when Fred was three, and Luca then became Fred's adopted dad. Fred's mum then died when Fred was six, leaving Fred with an adopted dad, and a maternal (I think) grandfather. Then as our story starts, Luca has gotten into a relationship with a woman who has a year-younger son, both of whom have moved into Fred, Luca, and Pop's house. I desperately wanted to know what it felt like, psychologically, to be growing up not-quite-adopted, but also so adrift from a 'grounded' for want of a better word, family.
And Binks does touch on it, but she also layers in a ( spoiler ) and the main plotline about small-town Australia grappling with the (based on a true story) arrival of a group of Albanian refugees from the Yugoslavian war, and there's no space for any of those three things to get the proper depth they all deserved, which is a damn shame.
Currently reading:
I'm reading a novel I kickstarted, but it's not great, and I may well DNF. Gonna give it 50 pages or so.
Up next:
Attempting to reserve as an ebook from my local library:
Upright women wanted by Sarah Galliey, which I've had my eye on for a while (post-apoca Western! Queer librarians on horseback!). Goodreads reviews seem to say it's a 'fails well' novella, with much pleading for an actual novel. So I'm doubly curious to read it.