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Books read 2020! Otherwise known as: my attempt to force myself to write at least a mini-review of everything I read this year. New reads will be added to this thread. Concept shamelessly stolen from @JCHart
1: The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke, by @TinaMakereti. My first book read in 2020, but otherwise extremely late - I've been meaning to read this since it came out. Painful, lively and gorgeous, and quite apart from the story itself, I really liked what Makereti did with reo.
2: The Court of Mortals, by @lancasterwrites. Not officially out yet, and so acquired through effective badgering of the author. Whipped through it in one day - Lancaster tells stories with a light touch that is completely inescapable.
3: Mary Shelley Makes a Monster, by @OJCade. More a story in verse than a poetry collection; layered and powerful. Feel like I should have read it by firelight instead of on my phone. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48649890-mary-shelley-makes-a-monster
4: The Apple-Tree Throne, by Premee Mohamed. Honestly no idea what the title refers to but loved the alternate history Albion and the unraveling of secrets in this postwar Not-Britain.
5: Beyond The City Limits: Fantasy and Science Fiction Anthology - a fun collection of stories. I particularly enjoyed @KuraCarpenter's contributions. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49338120-beyond-the-city-limits
6: A Quiet Life In The Country (Lady Hardcastle Mysteries, #1). Fun dynamic between the aristocratic detective and her trusty maidservant, with well defined secondary characters. A fun intro to a series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30178957-a-quiet-life-in-the-country
7: In The Market For Murder (Lady Hardcastle Mysteries #2). The narrator and her dilettante detective lady are still fun, but neither the A-plot or B-plot mysteries grabbed me enough to pick up book 3 straight away. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31143583-in-the-market-for-murder
8: The Kingfisher's Debt, by Kura Carpenter. Urban fantasy set in Dunedin? I'm there. A cracking read with a fantastic twist on modern fae and a heroine I want to see more of. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40919029-the-kingfisher-s-debt
9: The Mermaids Singing, by Val McDermid. I saw McDermid talk at @verbwellington last year and now must make my way through her entire backlist (a hardship indeed!). Perfect combo of twisty crime and just as twisty protagonists. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/459386.The_Mermaids_Singing
10: The Wire in the Blood, by Val McDermid. Gorier than anything else I've read in a while! Interested to see how this case might continue to come up in the series; feels like not the end of this problem. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11793636-the-wire-in-the-blood
11: The Last Temptation, by Val McDermid. Loved the use of historical events underpinning the serial killer plot, and the now-historical techiness in the overall book (and series!). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8741.The_Last_Temptation
12: Beneath the Bleeding, by Val McDermid. Time for a break, I think; a great setup and the usual sharp characterisation of new and existing characters, but all wrapped up a bit flat and quick. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964750.Beneath_the_Bleeding
13: The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern. I wanted to like this book more than I did; I felt like I should love it but the atmosphere was too distant and dreamy to grab my heart. Which is a hell of an achievement for present tense. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43575115-the-starless-sea
January recap! I read 13 books last month, almost all by authors new to me. It feels amazing. Last year I feel like I got bogged down by work-reading, and as my jobs compete for time this year, I have to remind myself how wonderful reading for pleasure is.
Whoops, I forgot an entire book! The perils of reading series at speed. 14: The Torment of Others, another Val McDermid. Wonderful suspense and a plot purpose-built to re-open the characters' wounds from earlier books. Great stuff.
14 books in January!
14 books in January!
15: Minimum Wage Magic, by Rachel Aaron. A fun, suspenseful urban fantasy with awesome worldbuilding and a fantastic MC. I've had this one on my Kindle for a while and am glad I finally got around to reading it! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42385018-minimum-wage-magic
16: Part-Time Gods, by Rachel Aaron. Sequel to the above, and tops it in every way including ending with a nail-biting cliffhanger. I'll have to check out Aaron's previous series while waiting for book 3! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46252905-part-time-gods
17: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, by HG Parry. I'll be honest: the cover, title and blurb did nothing for me and it wasn't until I heard Parry talk about the book at the launch that I realised this is the sort of book I should love. And I did. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42779072-the-unlikely-escape-of-uriah-heep
18: One Good Dragon Deserves Another (Heartstrikers, #2), by @Rachel_Aaron. I'm really enjoying this series; though I am finding it a bit less must-read-more than the DFZ books so far, I'm loving Julius and Marci. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25635416-one-good-dragon-deserves-another
19: Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers, eds Witi Ihimaera and @WHereaka. A fantastic collection; I borrowed a copy to read but will be buying my own. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44662307-p-r-kau
20: False Value (Rivers of London, #8), by @Ben_Aaronovitch. The last book ended on SUCH a gamechanging note, I was relieved that this book appeared to be [spoilers] but then [spoilers spoilers]. And now I'm stuck waiting for the next book again. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45016688-false-value
So far in March I've read very few book-books, and a tonnnne of fanfic. Chur @archiveofourown.
21: No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished (Heartstrikers, #3), by Rachel Aaron. Still really enjoying this series, but looking forward to moving past the clan-rule politicking to whatever comes next :) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26116636-no-good-dragon-goes-unpunished
22: Pixie Me Up (Newborn Pixie Cozy Mystery, #1), by Willow Mason. A cute, short urban fantasy that mainly stands out for being set in NZ! Very keen to read more NZ UF. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50549100-pixie-me-up
23: Selective Spells (Beezley and the Witch, #1) - another of Willow Mason's series starters. I liked the secondary characters (esp Beezley and the cat) but feel the MC's bad-ness didn't fit what we saw on the page. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52809054-selective-spells
24: A Dragon of a Different Color (Heartstrikers #4), by Rachel Aaron, in which the shit that started to hit the fan at the end of the last book really starts to hurt! Yesss. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35226198-a-dragon-of-a-different-color
25: Gourmet Hound, by Leehama. Read it on @webtoon if you are up for a good cry 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37933386-gourmet-hound
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37933386-gourmet-hound
Back at it! 26: Blood Stain Vol 1 by @LindaSejic. Then, in quick succession, 27: Blood Stain Vol 2 and 28: Blood Stain Vol 3. Then reread them all immediately so they should all count twice really. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26779817-blood-stain-volume-1
29, slightly cheating: The Stone Wētā, by @OJCade, published by my @PaperRoadPress on 22 April. I've read it enough times by now that I had better be able to claim it here. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51888547-the-stone-w-t
30: Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. Another many-times reread. Still excellent. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6294.Howl_s_Moving_Castle
31: When in Rome, by Ngaio Marsh, one of a pile of nth-hand paperbacks. No one's murdered for ages, and Alleyn barely shows up! Really. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/280868.When_in_Rome
32: Clutch of Constables, by Ngaio Marsh. Goodness, what a drag. I feel I could go a very long time without reading any more of Marsh's descriptions of POC, regardless of how she skewers racism in her characters. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/270919.Clutch_of_Constables
33: Death in a White Tie, by Ngaio Marsh. Good sympathetic victim, so I did want to know whodunnit, but all undermined by horrific romantic reveal between Alleyn and Troy at the end. Hork. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/280991.Death_in_a_White_Tie
I have read more books since May, I swear! Updates incoming. Hope I can remember enough about the books to say something about them
34: No Man's Land, by @AJFitzwater. It'd be embarrassing if I didn't remember this one, since I published it! Queer girls and shapeshifting magic in WWII Central Otago, with a gorg @layahimalaya cover. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53414477-no-man-s-land
35: Heiress for Hire (Duke's Heiress #1), by Madeline Hunter. Here's where I scupper myself by not reviewing for several months. I must have enjoyed it enough to finish it, but I can't actually remember anything about it... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51054407-heiress-for-hire
36: Love In The Afternoon (The Hathaways #5), by Lisa Kleypas. All the good stuff - main couple who hate each other for ~reasons, exchanging letters they think are written by different people - but it just didn't come together for me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8531249-love-in-the-afternoon
37: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water,
by @zenaldehyde. Features everything a good book needs, i.e. one character grumpily binding another character's wounds. Five million stars. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53100320-the-order-of-the-pure-moon-reflected-in-water
by @zenaldehyde. Features everything a good book needs, i.e. one character grumpily binding another character's wounds. Five million stars. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53100320-the-order-of-the-pure-moon-reflected-in-water
38: Vexatious Voodoo: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Beezley and the Witch #2), by Willow Mason. More silly urban fantasy fun! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50081780-vexatious-voodoo
39: The Right Swipe (Modern Love #1), by Alisha Rai. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been sold to me as enemies to lovers; it's more of a misunderstanding-to-lovers. Still fun, though! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45176104-the-right-swipe
40: The A.I. Who Loved Me, by Alyssa Cole. I legit did not expect this to be actual SF romance, given the romcom cover! More fool me. Sweet characters, awesome sequel bait friends, and neat worldbuilding. More pls. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53467163-the-a-i-who-loved-me
41: Rogue Myths (Gatekeeper #1) by Layla Lawlor. First in a new UF series with some intriguing worldbuilding and fun characters. I'll be checking out book 2 soon! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54344860-rogue-myths
