I have a few books to recommend this quarter: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, which was recommended to me by my brother & a very enjoyable read; The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold, a thoroughly researched and well written refutation of the idea that all of the Ripper’s victims were prostitutes; Recursion by Blake Crouch, scifi at it’s best; The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, blurring the lines between poetry & prose in an absolutely beautiful, dreamy way; and The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland for a look at some of the realities of taking a DNA test.
I also finally read something by Piers Anthony – the first Xanth novel. Anthony was a prolific scifi/fantasy writer & often features on recommended lists… but he won’t be appearing on mine. Hard pass! Sexist AF, and super creepy to boot. After finishing the book, I googled him and turns out he has published some truly horrific stuff, basically pedophilia. So, um, yeah. No thanks. And the Xanth novels are supposed to be funny fantasy, but they really aren’t. Give your kids/teens something by Terry Pratchett instead, please.
July
Diggers, Hatters & Whores by Stevan Eldred-Grigg
Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox
Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibran X. Kendi
The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte
August
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Tracing Your Canal Ancestors by Sue Wilkes
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy ed. by Marie Hodgkinson
The Deathless by Peter Newman
The Radleys by Matt Haig
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
Is 5 by e.e. cummings
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron
Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Oats in the North, Wheat from the South by Rgula Ysewijn
Qualify by Vera Nazarian
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
Paging the Dead by Brynn Bonner
Dead in a Flash by Brynn Bonner
Picture Them Dead by Brynn Bonner
Wolf Speaker by Tamora Pierce
As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows
When She Reigns by Jodi Meadows
September
The Ruthless by Peter Newman
All His Pretty Girls by Charly Cox
The Asylum by Nathan Dylan Goodwin
What Lies Beneath by Elspeth Sandys
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
You Are Destined to Be Together Forever by Dean Koontz
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
Honor Bound by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
The Disasters by M. K. England
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Meet Me in the Future by Kameron Hurley
Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman
Rise Sister Rise by Rebecca Campbell
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce
Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 by Gerard Way
Stop Surviving Start Fighting by Jazz Thornton
The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte
Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy by Nick Barratt
Getting Started: Who Do You Think You Are by Laura Berry
Creating Sanctuary by Jessi Bloom
Captain Marvel Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Bitch Planet Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
The Lost Family by Libby Copeland
The Stranger in My Genes by Bill Griffeth
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
75 in total.
