Rachel Coleman

Books on pre-order:

1. The Lotus Empire (Burning Kingdoms 3) by Tasha Suri (12 Nov)

Books acquired in July:

• and read:
  1. The Cowgirl's Forever Love by Vivian Arend [7]
  2. The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen
  3. Penric and the Bandit (Penric and Desdemona) by Lois McMaster Bujold
  4. The Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles [1]
  5. Second Chance Donuts (Unity Falls 1) by Cleo Croft [7]
  6. Playing to Win by Kim Findlay [7]
  7. Chaos & Cabernet by W.V. Fitz-Simon [7]
  8. Brambles by Intisar Khanani [7]
  9. Wards of the Roses (Mysterious Charm) by Celia Lake
  10. In the Cards (Mysterious Charm) by Celia Lake
  11. On the Bias (Mysterious Charm) by Celia Lake
  12. Seven Sisters (Mysterious Charm) by Celia Lake
  13. Forged in Combat (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  14. The Fossil Door (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  15. Fool's Gold (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  16. The Hare and the Oak (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  17. Point by Point (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  18. Mistress of Birds (Mysterious Powers) by Celia Lake
  19. To Hunt a Ruby Remedy by Jen Lynning [7]
  20. The Ocean’s Mercy (Seas of Caladhan) by Jessica S. Taylor [7]
  21. Ember and Eclipse (Coven of Ruin) by T. K. Tucker [7]
  22. FIYAH #31, Disability, Summer 2024 edited by Emmalia Harrington
  23. Small Wonders, Issue 13, July 2024 edited by Stephen Granade & Cislyn Smith
• and unread:
  1. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  2. Murder in the Marginalia by Julie Ecker
  3. Stoneskin Dragon (Stone Shifters 1) by Lauren Esker writing as Zoe Chant
  4. Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow
  5. Bound for Perdition (Mysterious Arts) by Celia Lake
  6. Shoemakers Wife (Mysterious Arts) by Celia Lake
  7. Perfect Accord (Mysterious Arts) by Celia Lake
  8. Best Foot Forward (Land Mysteries 1) by Celia Lake
  9. Nocturnal Quarry (Land Mysteries 2) by Celia Lake
  10. Old As The Hills (Land Mysteries 3) by Celia Lake
  11. Upon A Summer's Day (Land Mysteries 4) by Celia Lake
  12. Illusion of a Boar (Land Mysteries 5) by Celia Lake
  13. Three Graces (Land Mysteries 6) by Celia Lake
  14. The Magic of Four (Land Mysteries 7) by Celia Lake
  15. Four Walls and a Heart (Charms of Albion) by Celia Lake
  16. Ancient Trust by Celia Lake
  17. Complementary by Celia Lake
  18. Casting Nasturtiums by Celia Lake
  19. Country Manners by Celia Lake
  20. Chasing Legends by Celia Lake
  21. Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings
  22. Nine Tailed (Realm of Four Kingdoms 1) by Jayci Lee
  23. Hexarchate Stories (Machineries of Empire) by Yoon Ha Lee
  24. Moonstorm (Lancers 1) by Yoon Ha Lee
  25. The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
  26. The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu
  27. The Earl who Isn't (Wedgeford Trials 3) by Courtney Milan [1]
  28. Daughter of Fire by Sofia Robleda
• and previously read:
  1. The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart

Borrowed books read in July:

1. Hilda and the Troll by Luke Pearson [3]
2. Hilda and the Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson [3]
3. Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson [3]
4. Hilda and the Black Hound by Luke Pearson [3]
5. Hilda and the Stone Forest by Luke Pearson [3]
6. Hilda and the Mountain King by Luke Pearson [3]
7. A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
8. Role Playing by Cathy Yardley [3]

Rereads in July:

1. Demon Daughter (Penric and Desdemona) by Lois McMaster Bujold

I acquired a truly silly amount of books this month, most obviously getting Celia Lake's backlist while it was half-price (I did actually do this in several tranches but as I kept enjoying the books I decided to just complete the collection). I have cancelled my KU subscription again, partly because I didn't use it this month, partly to pay for all books I did buy, partly because I have just given myself more than enough books to keep me going for months. Not listed: quite a few more freebie books I haven't even started, but I'm not going to list unless they make it through the 15-minute test.

All the Hildafolk books were as good as jinty suggested; I originally listened to the audiobook novelisation of the first two Netflix episodes (I haven't yet seen the Netflix series), which turn out to be fairly closely based on the first two books. There are eight more Netflix tie-in novelisations, all of which are in the library system, if I feel like being completionist.

[1] Pre-order
[2] Audiobook
[3] Physical book
[4] Crowdfunding
[5] Goodbye read
[6] Cambridgeshire Reads/Listens
[7] FaRoFeb / FaRoCation / Bookmas
[8] Prime Reading / Kindle Unlimited

1. The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
3. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

I read all three of these recently and highly recommend them. They're all big bricks (metaphorically; I had The Water Outlaws in eaudio and the other two in ebook, all from the library) with multiple viewpoints and complicated plots and so. many. women. Also quite a lot of violent battle and gore and death, I guess.

The Water Outlaws is a wuxia story, with very much the feel of a big martial arts movie, complete with spectacular fight scenes and impossible magical abilities. Lin Chong is an arms instructor who gets falsely accused of a crime, which sets her on a path towards joining a band of rebellious outlaws, just as they are making a shift from criminality to challenging the cruelty of the imperial elite. Meanwhile, one of her former pupils finds herself running a dangerous research project into a super weapon on behalf of that same elite. Only after I'd finished the book did I read skygiants's review, in which I discovered that it is a gender-flipped retelling of Water Margin, a very influential Chinese novel written sometime before 1524. Most (but not all) of the characters are women, some of them are definitely queer, and there is a whole range of moral ambiguity, although Lin Chong does her best to hold to her sense of right and wrong throughout.

The Priory of the Orange Tree has magic and dragons (fire type and water type), impending worldwide doom, prophecy, fate, queer romance, magical non-dragon creatures, and a large cast of viewpoint characters, some more sympathetic than others. A Day of Fallen Night is set in the same world, about 500 years earlier, with an entirely different large cast of viewpoint characters. I don't think the second book needs you to have read the first, but there's definitely some things that will make more sense, or have more depth, when you have.

The finalists are:

• And Now His Lordship Is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas (optional podcast version available)
• As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
• Blood Is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon
• A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde (optional podcast version available)
• Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow
• Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen

All six finalists are freely readable online, and I have already read two of them, which I rank as follows:

1. As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
2. Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow

Extra-complicated this month by buying three bundles of books (such a good price!) none of which I have yet read. Some books of the bundles I can say right now I'll never read, so I haven't listed them.

Books on pre-order:

• A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian (6 August 2019)
• The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher (1 October 2019)
• The Duchess Deception by Cat Sebastian (15 October 2019)
• Dead In Dublin by Catie Murphy (31 December 2019)

Books acquired in June

• and read:
  1. Incalculable Diffusion (Clorinda's Circle 3) by L.A. Hall [1]
  2. The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal [4]
  3. Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian [1]
• and still unread - standard purchase:
  1. Natives by Akala
  2. The Wedding Trap (Second Service 1) by Adrienne Bell
  3. Die verlorenen Schwestern by Holly Black
  4. Trapped by Sally Bryan
  5. One (Love by Numbers 5) by E.S. Carter
  6. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal [4]
  7. Paranormal Passions by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese
  8. The Long Earth (Long Earth 1) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
  9. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite [1]
  10. The Vela Season 1 (Serialbox) by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, SL Huang
• and still unread - Hilariously Ever After bundle:
  1. Wrong by Jana Aston
  2. Miss Fix-It by Emma Hart
  3. Pucked by Helena Hunting
  4. Shopping for a Billionaire's Fiancee by Julia Kent
  5. Screwmates by Kayti McGee
  6. Most Eligible Billionaire by Annika Martin
  7. Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix
  8. Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
• and still unread - HumbleBundle:
  1. The Song of All by Tina Myers LeCount
  2. False Covenant by Ari Marmel
  3. Superposition by David Walton
  4. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
  5. The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells
  6. The Siren Depths by Martha Wells
  7. By Blood We Live edited by John Joseph Adams
  8. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams
  9. Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2 edited by Neil Clarke
  10. The Final Frontier edited by Neil Clarke
  11. Blood Sisters edited by Paula Guran
  12. Alien Contact edited by Marty Halpern
• and still unread - StoryBundle:
  1. Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks
  2. Underdogs by Geonn Cannon
  3. Underdogs 2: Beware of Wolf by Geonn Cannon
  4. Spectred Isle by KJ Charles
  5. Sea, Swallow Me by Craig Laurance Gidney
  6. Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney
  7. GlitterShip Year Two edited by Keffy R.M. Kehrli
  8. Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) edited by Catherine Lundoff
  9. Transcendent 3 edited by Bogi Takács
• and read previously:
  1. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
  2. Demon Hunts (Walker Papers 5) by C.E. Murphy
  3. Spirit Dances (Walker Papers 6) by C.E. Murphy
  4. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials 3) by Phillip Pullman

Books acquired previously and read in June:

1. The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander [2] [May]
2. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers [2][5][2017]
3. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal [2][May]
4. Riven by Roan Parrish [May]

[1] Pre-order
[2] Hugo nominee
[3] Physical book
[4] Audiobook
[5] Reread