Category: Book Recommendations

I had a great reading month this August. Here are the highlights. Please, share yours!

Hedesa by Rachel Neumeier – the 10^th book in her Tuyo series. The first book in this series and the ninth, Rihasa, are my favorites, but Hedesa has the same thoughtful, immersive quality to the storytelling.

The Ninth Element by Sara Hatami – the first book in the Legend of Nohvan series. I’m not actually a big fan of trial fantasies, but the world building is solid and the protagonist’s insecurity compelling.

Towerbound by Samson Chui is the second book in a regression LitRPG series. The current rash of books where the protagonist starts out by dying/failing but then gets a chance of a do-over while retaining all their knowledge from the first time around fascinate me. This series, which celebrates the underdogs, is one of my favorites. There’s a roughness to the storytelling that suits the Scrap Rats, but it’s the compassion in the story that appeals to me.

Ilona Andrews published The Inheritance, which they’d previously shared in instalments on their website. It hit number one in the Kindle Store, which is awesome. It proves there are multiple paths to market. It’s also, simply, a great read. It’s a dungeon crawl with a mom as the protagonist … and I’m not sharing any spoilers!

I discovered that some of Phyllis A Whitney’s modern (as in written a few decades ago) gothic romances are in Kindle Unlimited and I went on a bit of a reading binge. I don’t love all of them, but they’re worth checking out. Hunter’s Green has a young American woman struggling to rescue her marriage to an English aristocrat in the Swinging ’Sixties.

Alex Karne released a new isekai novel (a Marine transported to a new world) that promises to be a series. It’s a little bit sweary and violent, but also funny and with a core of kindness and respect for Marine values. Magic Murder Cube Marine.

In non-fiction I read Homo Criminalis: How Crime Organises the World by Mark Galeotti which was fascinating for exploring the very blurry line between legal and illegal activity in different times and places. I’d already read his book The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia and I thoroughly recommend it.

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I also added a few things to the website. Most importantly, Ghosts Cry, the fourth book in the series is available for pre-order.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNQV2314

Ghosts Cry book page on this site: https://caldryn.com/books/ghosts-cry/

I have added three new character pages: Landry Alsop, Francesca Razon (manager of the Caldryn Parliament press office) and Acacia Morrison (CEO of a luxury concierge service and woman of mystery). And a new location: Toady’s.

A few weeks ago in a fantasy group someone asked for non-fantasy book recommendations and I immediately thought of To The Hilt by Dick Francis. It’s a mystery/thriller from 1996 (I’m not sure if his son, Felix, co-wrote it). It’s a relatively recent book, but I’m still going to include Dick Francis in my Golden Age mystery author list because he has that style. His heroes are confident in themselves and the rightness (even righteousness) of their actions. The stories are also immersive. You live and breathe the (generally) horsey world.

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Phoebe Atwood Taylor (who also wrote as Alice Tilton) is an American Golden Age mystery author. I particularly enjoy her books from the 1940s. Written during the war, they convey a sense of the world then without losing any of her appreciation of the absurd. Check out File for Record.

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Talking of insight into WWII, Margery Allingham (one of my all-time favorite Golden Age mystery authors for her beautiful writing) wrote The Oaken Heart to explain to American readers the nature of life in England in the early years of the war. Tiger in the Smoke was my introduction to Margery Allingham’s writing and it is an awesome book. This is post-war London; damaged, smoky, enduring, and glorious. The characters are superb.

Before anything else I have to say a HUGE thank you for reading, reviewing, and supporting me with your kind comments and messages during Hexes Fly’s release week. You are awesome!

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I indulged in some re-reading in July including Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn, and Rihasi by Rachel Neumeier.

I hit a few books that were just … almost worth finishing. I finished them, but I was underwhelmed. Some books I DNF’d. Hence my happy dive back into old favorites.

Fortunately, my non-fiction read was awesome. I thoroughly recommend Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer. It’s a long book, meticulously researched, and written with passion and humor. It’s setting me rethinking a lot of my historical assumptions—and some of my current day ones, too. Excellent book!

What did you read in July?

I love romantasy. I adore the yearning, the action, and the imagined worlds. I was reading it before it became romantasy and one of the biggest selling genres in fiction.

But…

(oh, you knew there was going to be a but)

Have you noticed how many romantasy protagonists in recent releases suffer from self-loathing?

I was shocked when I realised that the emotional driver for the book I was reading was the hero and heroine’s mutual rescue of each other from self-loathing.

Once I put the cause of their angst into words — “I hate myself. I’m despicable. Nobody could love me.” — I realised that the previous romantasy I’d read had a similar vibe, although it only had one protagonist drowning in self-loathing and the other hauling them out.

What concerned me was that this is the emotion that resonates with readers. I love a good rescue story as much as anyone (I eat up Cinderella stories, although not as much as Beauty and the Beast ones). However, waiting for someone to love you so that you can love yourself is perilous.

To quote Maya Angelou, “You alone are enough.”

As soon as I started thinking about romantasy that featured this empowering vibe I came up with When Demons Walk by Patricia Briggs. Also Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly and A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (the third book in the Scholomance trilogy didn’t work for me, but I happily read and re-read the first two). Neverthorn by Shannon Mayer is out today, and since her protagonists never wait around to be rescued I’m really looking forward to it (plus, dark academia! I love it).

What fantasy books would you suggest with strong characters, powerful conflicts, and a happy ever after?

As a teen I read and re-read Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels. They’re still fabulous. Such beautiful writing and neat plotting. I’d definitely include Mary Stewart on my list of Golden Age mystery writers.

If you can read The Moon-Spinners and not fall in love with Mary Stewart’s writing … well, I’m sorry for you! The movie starring Hayley Mills is magical, too.

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Site Updates

You’ll find a search box at the bottom of the homepage. I can’t believe I missed this obvious feature originally. Sorry.

I’ve added a couple of recipes (chocolate cake and Devonshire scones) under the Forum City News page (which, itself, is nested under Background).

Potions & Prejudice: A Cozy Fantasy Romance by Tee Harlowe, the first book in the Moonflower Witches series. It has a cozy, sweet vibe with a lot of humour. I was a bit startled when it suddenly turned sexy-times, but this was an enjoyable retelling of Pride and Prejudice (venturing quite widely from the original plot).

The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott was every bit as good as I’d hoped! Great world building, mature characters (living with their choices, not afraid to make new choices) and a fast-paced plot.

The Healing Skies by Seth Ring. I don’t read a huge amount of litrpg, but I’m enjoying the Iron Tyrant series. This is the third book and it has some twists to it that I definitely didn’t expect. Very cool.

What have you been reading?

What have you been reading in May?

I picked up Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer. It’s a big book. I’ll be able to lose myself in it for a while.

I tried a couple of much-recommended fantasy and paranormal romance novels and … I did not enjoy them. Sigh. I won’t name names—and they weren’t new releases, so you won’t be able to guess—but they were disappointing. I think people fell in love with them for what they promised, but for me, after reading the rave reviews, I expected those promises to be met. Instead, the endings fell short.

A few years ago I read that we pick up the next book from an author when the previous book left us with a peak experience, some emotion that moved us and satisfied our expectations.

As a reader I agree with that. Disappointment is discouraging.

As an author, I try to honour the expectations I’ve set up throughout the story. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver!

In better news, I enjoyed Judith Tarr’s Dragons in the Earth. It was both beautiful and wyrd.

I’ve been reading Alice Coldbreath’s Karadock series, a medieval historical romance series set in a fictional kingdom. They are hot ::fans self:: They’re also a delight with banter, strong relationships, and an engaging writing style. I recommend starting with Book 2, His Forsaken Bride. Book 1 didn’t hook me anywhere near as much and it took me ages to try Book 2. I think my favourite is, appropriately enough, The Favourite, Book 6.

I’ve been waiting impatiently for The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott and it is finally out next month (June 10) with the sequel out in November.

Recently I read Rachel Taylor Thompson’s Sasha vs the Whole Wide World (and Dragons) and was delighted to discover references to The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. As much as I read and re-read the Anne stories as a girl, The Blue Castle is my favourite LMM novel as an adult. It has so much in it. The challenge is to discuss it without spoilers!

I don’t think I can. ::wails::

Okay, so I’ll share one thought I have about The Blue Castle and current world events. I think that one of the themes in the novel that will be brought out and explored in books and movies for the next few years is the question: when someone has nothing left to lose, what do they choose?

This isn’t a bleak question. It’s a question that acknowledges the metaphorical deaths in our lives. When we lose, or feel as if we’ve lost, something vital, it’s like dying. Who we were before that point no longer defines who we will become. The starting point for these stories might be painful, but they are celebrations of rebirth. Who do we choose to become?

One of the greatest gifts of a novel is that it reinforces our agency. As we identify with the protagonist we explore issues and environments which could be crushing, but which we (the combined protagonist and reader) have the agency to navigate and affect.

The Blue Castle resonates with so many of us because Valancy is a courageous protagonist who dies to her old life to embrace a world of possibilities and love. And, I promise, it has a happy ever after.