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May 2022 Wrap-Up

I couldn't believe my luck that Tor was giving away a free ebook of Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild-Built, just in time for my anniversary too! I also had an ebook for review, a great book club read, and another great poetry read, so a fantastic reading month to end off the semester and some time between jobs...


Books Read This Month

  1. Ashes of the Firebird by Amy Kuivalainen--I received the ebook for review from LibraryThing, and I truly enjoyed this fast-paced supernatural romp. I also enjoy jumping right in the thick of things with the second book in a trilogy. I was able to pick up fine, although there is an enormous cast including at least six viewpoints, so you might want to make notes! That said, the author does an excellent job of weaving and innovating lore to create a unique cast of supernatural beings--definitely a lot of Slavic influence but also Classical and indigenous, and an Elven race that's actually from another planet?!? Lots of romantic tension too, naturally. Looking forward to the finale. 
  2. The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck (book club)--I almost didn't read this because I got it from the library so late, but by the time I finished the night before book club and the night after I started reading, I was trying to slow it down! This was an unexpectedly fantastic read, extremely well-paced and compelling, based on the life of Virginia Hall, a real-life female spy from Baltimore during World War II. When I read about her research afterward, it was amazing how many of the characters and what happened were actually true! Highly recommend.
  3. What to Miss When by Leigh Stein--Stein's second book of poems did not let me down! As relevant, pithy, and irreverent as her first collection, it's tied together around the early days of the pandemic; the original cover art (see left) and some of the poems also thematically allude to the Decameron. Fun read. 
  4. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers--My love for everything Chambers writes is still going strong! This exploration of a gentle utopian world and the dialogue between a human monk and a "wild-built" robot (the first such encounter in centuries) is just what I needed. Looking forward to the next in the series!

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