September and October 2020 reads

Work has slowed down a little bit for me, so I have a little extra time to blog now. Yay! 

I didn't read a ton during September, although looking back at the books I read 2 out of the 4 I read were ~800 pages or more, so I guess I did read a lot in actual words, just not book numbers. It doesn't feel quite as productive to condense it like that, but when all you're really motivated to read is very fun fantasy series, that's what happens. :) And I realize October isn't quite over yet but it's my blog and I'm gonna count October reading as finished.

Rise of Empire (Riyria Revelations #3-4)

by Michael J. Sullivan

★★★★/5

Ahh, as I've said before and I'll say again -- the Riyria books are such a fun ride if you're a fan of fast-paced fantasy. They're a very specific style which in my head I dub "anti-Brandon Sanderson." I LOVE Sanderson, but he's very convoluted in writing and a lot of things are hidden and obfuscated for a reason in his works. Sullivan's style is pretty open air (although of course there are mysteries to be solved within) and the writing is straightforward and fast-paced. Highly recommend getting into them if you haven't!

Heir of Novron (Riyria Revelations #5-6)

by Michael J. Sullivan

★★★★/5

Same here as above review, because I have the same things to say and although I predicted the twist pretty far back into the books, I was still incredibly pleased to read it. 

Home

by Marilynne Robinson

★★★★★/5

I read Housekeeping (by Robinson) ages ago and did NOT enjoy it all. I'm honestly not sure if I finished it all the way -- I felt disjointed and uncomfortable and couldn't understand why anyone was touting Robinson as such a preeminent American author. Then CloseReads announced they were doing Home so I figured I'd give her another chance. WOW. Suffice it to say I 100% get the Robinson hype now. With the release of Jack a few weeks ago, every other copy in the rest of the Gilead series is sold out or unavailable everywhere, so I'm patiently waiting to either get it at the library or for Thriftbooks to tell me they've received another copy. So deeply moving, so deeply theological, so deeply interesting -- definitely recommend. 

The Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey #7)

by Dorothy Sayers

★★★★/5

Ahh, each new Dorothy Sayers novel is such a treat. I found the plot of this one extra-intricate, perhaps complicated by the Scottish accents and Scottish names thrown around so easily in this one, but it certainly didn't detract from the enjoyment.

The Death of Dulgath (The Riyria Chronicles, #3)

by Michael J. Sullivan

★★★★/5

After I finished the second trilogy of Riyria, I thought I had to say goodbye to Royce and Hadrian forever -- not so!!! There were more to be discovered! Thank goodness for Goodreads alerting me to the continuation of the Chronicles trilogy in this one. Loved going back into their world. 

Warbreaker

by Brandon Sanderson

★★★★/5

I hadn't picked up a Sanderson in a long time, making myself wait until I'd taken a break after my Sanderson-heavy 2019. This one was such a good stand-alone to jump back into! It's incredible how well he can craft an entirely new world seemingly so easily. Highly recommend.

The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4)

by Brandon Sanderson

★★★★/5

Aaaaand once I went back into Sanderson I had to do another in a row. ;) This one is the second trilogy of the Mistborn series, set a couple centuries forward in time. It's sort of a Wild West version of the fantasy world, where there are guns and gunslingers and inventions of "technology" and again, an incredibly good cast of characters and a fast pace. It was a tad shorter than Sanderson tends to usually be, and I think on advice from his publisher he probably separated out what would have been really long book into three smaller ones. I'm not complaining! 

Currently I'm reading The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn, which I've had on my list forever and finally got from the library -- holding out criticisms yet because it's SO highly rated by everyone but not my favorite, yet. Next up I'll be reading The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (my first Percy!) and I have The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty out from the library, too. What are you reading right now? Got anything I need to desperately add to my ever-growing list? ;)

HG