This is my first progress post for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I’m aiming for the Mount Blanc level: reading 24 of my owned TBR books during 2017. That means reading two books every month, and I would prefer at least one of them to be from my physical TBR shelf. All of them have to be bought before 2017.
In January I managed to read 6 owned TBR books, out of which 1 was a physical book! I acquired 3 books during the month, so I’m still ahead. Go, me!! Here is what I finished.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
154 pages / ebook
I had started this book last year, but since I read the last 50% in 2017, it still qualifies. This is a collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, and while I did find it to be a weaker volume than the previous one, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I enjoyed being introduced to Mycroft, and of course, The Final Problem is a very good and dramatic story.
3 out of 5 stars
The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell
144 pages / ebook
The second novella in the Lychford series, this continues the story of three witches in the small town of Lychford. An apparition of a small boy appears in Lizzie’s church, and the witches have to figure out what this means. Is it a ghost? A vision of the past or an omen of the future?
This one was a lot creepier than the first novella, The Witches of Lychford. I enjoyed the creepiness, but I thought that the plot was a bit more confusing and less coherently written than the first one. There was also less Judith than I would’ve liked.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal
92 pages / ebook
In a future where everyone stores their memories as video files, antique dealer Katya is kidnapped and goes off the grid. Weird stuff happens, but since she is not recording, there is no proof. Katya can’t even trust her own memories, since she can’t visit them in vivid detail on video like she’s used to.
This is a high concept science fiction novella about memory that never really clicked with me. I really enjoyed the future memory tech, but didn’t connect with the story.
3 out of 5 stars
Borderline by Mishell Baker
400 pages / ebook
A fast-paced and highly readable urban fantasy book with fey! Millie has borderline personality disorder and is paraplegic after a suicide attempt that got her kicked out of film school. She gets recruited to an organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland.
The book is Own Voices as far as the Borderline personality disorder goes, and I felt like this was well handled in the book. Millie tends to lash out at people, while being incredibly vulnerable herself, and I liked that it makes her a complex, not-perfect character. Also I love unpredictable fey in books, so…. that’s a pretty big plus.
4 out of 5 stars
Queers Destroy Fantasy! Anthology
272 pages / ebook
An anthology of fantasy short stories and non-fiction entirely written and edited by queer creators. This one I’d also started reading in 2016, but had 50% left for 2017.
Like most anthologies, some stories I enjoyed more and some less, but the quality was pretty high. My favourite original short story was Catherynne M. Valente’s The Lily and the Horn, which was about the preparations for an irregular, poisonous feast, written in gorgeous prose. My fave reprint was Caitlín R. Kiernan’s The Sea Troll’s Daughter, a story about a hero killing a troll that didn’t follow the expected, familiar, well-worn paths of revenge stories.
4 out of 5 stars
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
249 pages / paperback
Harry Crewe gets kidnapped by the Hillfolk King for reasons mysterious even to the King himself. She learns the ways of the Hillfolk, as well as about her own magic and heritage.
I probably would’ve inhaled this book as a kid, but found it very hard to get into as an adult. I have never read anything from McKinley before, and found her writing style pretty dry and an effort to read. It took about a 100 pages of a little more than 200 page book for things to start happening and for me to become a little interested. There was also some pretty bad POV skipping in between paragraphs, which always confuses me. This book might need some nostalgia behind it.
2 out of 5 stars
Those were all the books from January that qualified for the challenge. I also read two novels and two comic trades from the library, so all in all I had a pretty good reading month. How are your 2017 challenges going? Are you taking part in the Mount TBR Challenge as well? Let me know!
Maija's Fantasy Reads 