#vaughn's diary needs a security system

[too-pretty-for-this-mess]

Yulian: Vaughn thinks I don't respect his privacy, which is absolutely absurd.

Gareth: When did he tell you that?

Yulian: He didn’t. I read it in his diary.

Gareth: ...

[cricketnationrise]

Books Read in quarantine: Part 2

part 1 is here.

26. Free Little Library by Naomi Kritzer: tor.com short story. there’s a magical being that uses the free little library as the ultimate resource in gaining power and bettering their society. cute with a vengeful twist.

27. Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn: tor.com short story. i don’t remember this one super well but i remember the structure being cool

28. The Naming by Alison Croggon: book 1 in The Books of Pellinor series. cool magic system, some chosen one and mistaken identity, family LITERALLY found. looking forward to the next one

29. CHECK, PLEASE!, BOOK 2: STICKS AND SCONES BY NGOZI UKAZU: volume 2 of an amazing web series turned graphic novel about a college hockey player who likes to bake and falls in love with his captain its FANTASTIC and i recommend this series to literally everyone i know

30. Eric by Terry Pratchett: Discworld #9. Faust retelling as the premise. guy tries to summon a demon. gets Rincewind and his Trunk out of the demon realm instead. hijinks ensue from there. you probably need some discworld knowledge to follow this one

31. The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper: middle grade coming of high school novel. Sparrow Delaney can see and talk to ghosts, but she’s keeping her powers from her family (also ghost seers) because she just wants to be normal. a new family moves to town after their oldest son dies. oldest son’s ghost is hanging around his little brother and meets sparrow

32. An Explorer’s Cartography of Already Settled Lands by Fran Wilde: tor.com short story. what can you map? just geography? how sad for you. this narrator can map all sorts of things from bird migrations to emotions of a city

33. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner: book 2 in the Queen’s Thief series (complete now). i got into these because of a few different fanfics mentioning them and they are AMAZING I’m very annoyed i didn’t know about them sooner. political intrigue, gods, competent people doing their jobs, everyone underestimating said competent people

34. A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict by John Baxter: so i stopped reading this one about halfway through because i didn’t need to read about the various orgies thrown by authors/literary agents this man attended. also he’s not so much into reading as collecting and that’s boring to me.

35. Love Charms and Other Catastrophes by Kimberly Karalius: book 2 in the Grimbaud series. definitely need to read the first book for context. but its a really sweet series with a dark underbelly that gives a nice contrast. think the paper magician series but milder on all fronts.

36. First Kisses and Other Misfortunes by Kimberly Karalius: set after book 1 in the Grimbaud series it expands on what happens to the main couple from book 1 before book 2 opens. read on swoonreads which is now fiercereads.

37. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle: goblin king retelling. first in a trilogy. i enjoyed it, especially as the narrator sticks it to abuse family members

38. The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove: book 2 in the mapmakers trilogy. fascinating world building that you absolutely need the first book to understand. aimed at high schoolers. across the world there are different times existing at once. middle ages, technological age, 1800′s, and more times are interacting depending on where in the world you are. sometimes the lines shift.

39. The Crimson Skew by S. E. Grove: book 3 in the mapmakers trilogy. back in america a war is brewing that has managed to weaponize some sort of airborne disease/??? that explodes people. yeah. satisfying close to the series.

40. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: why why WHY was this my first Novik book. what was i waiting for??? polish folklore inspired. theres a winter (elf? goblin?) king who needs gold and wife. a fire demon trying to escape his (metaphorical) chains to take down the winter world. and a girl who can turn silver into gold. (by trading). politcal intrigue, magic, a really heavy crown. well worth the read. on a wavelength with the winternight series.

41. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, A History by Buzbee Lewis:  I picked this up because its about a bookstore and the author’s name is buzbee. cute little memoir with an overview of the history of books/bookstores from ancient times to now

42. All Systems Red by Martha Wells: book 1 in the murderbot diaries. this was actually a reread for me, but it had been long enough that i wanted to refresh and its a novella so its a fast read. A Security Unit (SecUnit) that calls itself Murderbot has hacked its own governor module so that it can watch its soap operas. Now if only the humans it was responsible for would stop being so dumb.

43. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells: book 2 in the Murderbot diaries. Murderbot has freed itself from its government contracts and is working on its own. Murderbot gets a lift to a planet from its past from an empty transport vehicle, named Asshole Research Transport (ART) by Murderbot.

44. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells: book 3 in the Murderbot diaries. Murderbot’s story continues. pretty crucial that you read these in order. Murderbot continues to be put off by humans and their behavior. Still just trying to consume the media it wants without being bothered.

45. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells: book 4 in the Murderbot diaries. Murderbot meets back up with the humans from book 1. chaos ensues while trying to escape the company that Murderbot used to be contracted to.

46. Network Effect by Martha Wells: book 5 in the Murderbot diaries. first full length novel in the series. another one to come in April 2021. Murderbot gets kidnapped from its human friends. turns out ART needs some help and doesn’t have any other friends.

47. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel: steampunk pirates in airships. kind of similar in vibes to the aesthetic of the leviathan series, but strictly mechanical advancements. cool worldbuilding. teenage girl scientist protagonist. first in a series.

48. The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: book 2 in the cemetery of forgotton books series. very atmospheric. like you can almost see the fog while you read it. supernatural/elements of magical realism. helps if you read book 1

49. I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell: memoir told out of chronological order. each titled with the body part that almost caused death (neck, spine, blood, lungs, etc). by definition, not a happy read, but powerful. trigger warning for the neck story for an almost abduction/assault. content warning for chronic illness/disease.

50. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks: yes that Tom Hanks. series of short stories. some of them are connected. i can’t remember anything super upsetting, and some of them are straight up comedic. elements of the absurd. in one a group of friends goes into space. like without nasa or any organization. they just. build a rocket. and go to space.