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Raven Strategem: This second book in the Machineries of Empire trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee (@motomaratai) that opened with Ninefox Gambit was just as compelling as the first, which I read at the end of 2018. Calling this military space opera doesn't begin to do it justice. The belief systems and their implications, the technologies in use and their implications -- the characters, action, and setting all work together for an incredibly detailed understanding of context without burdening the book with sidebar explanations.
Revenant Gun: The third and final book in Machineries of Empire, although I hope for more set in this universe.
Deep Work, Cal Newport: After hearing Jocelyn K. Glei's interview with Newport on her podcast Hurry Slowly (which I highly recommend), I bought this and pre-ordered his next one, Digital Minimalism. I've tried a number of approaches to block out "think time" ever since reading the piece "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" by Paul Graham a decade ago. This book gives me more tools and the science behind why this matters. (It also gives me a sneaking suspicion that if I keep reading at this pace I won't accomplish any deep work.)
Born to Walk, Dan Rubinstein (@dan_rube): Described by one reviewer as "a hymn to walking", it's also a great round-up of research on the benefits of walking. Chapter headings give you an idea of what you'll take away: Body, Mind, Society, Economy, Politics, Creativity, Spirit, Family. Finished this on the way to the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington, D.C., where I walked 3-4 miles each day to and from my hotel and the convention center. That gave me ample opportunity to pay more attention to the act of walking.
Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott (of @fierce_inc): "Fierce" doesn't mean angry, it means passionate, focused, and hard to tackle. Good specifics about how to approach conversations to get beneath the surface to real people, feelings and issues. Great follow-up to reading Deep Work.
Civil Blood, Chris Hepler (@TheOtherHepler): This combination of vampire virus, Big Pharma run amuck, and Constitutional law was packed with distinctive and compelling characters, plenty of action, and (always a favorite for me) a kick-ass woman as a central character. Looking forward to the sequel.
Swordheart, T. Kingfisher (@ursulav): I so loved this book. It's set in the same world as Kingfisher's Clocktaur Wars and picks up on a short story she wrote that I read a while back, "Sun, Moon, Dust." Say you're an ancient warrior embedded in a sword and when the sword's drawn you come out to protect your wielder, who happens to be a round and cheerful widow of 36 whose distant relatives are scheming to take her new inheritance. Go from there.
Summer in Orcus, T. Kingfisher: This may be my favorite of all her works. The central character, Summer, is a little girl but that doesn't make this a children's book. It's a Baba Yaga story but it's really about Summer, who has adventures and makes friends and finds courage. Read it.
Radio Silence, Alyssa Cole (@AlyssaColeLit): Switched up my reading out of Fantasyland to an End of the World (or is it?) trilogy. At the beginning we don't know what fried the grid, we just know people's phones, radios, and everything else electronic don't work. People deprived of information are not all nice people. With main characters who are African-American, Korean-American, and gay, this book gets off to a fast start and keeps the pace going.
Signal Boost, Alyssa Cole: Second book in the trilogy. Cole shifts focus to center on a gay love story and we learn more about what happened to the grid.
Mixed Signals, Alyssa Cole: Final book in the trilogy, again shifting focus to center another couple of characters.
My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own, Alice Waters (@alicewaters) and Fanny Singer. I enjoy reading cookbooks -- I taste things in my head, get ideas for flavor and ingredient combinations, and sometimes even cook the recipes. This work has relatively few recipes and not a lot of new information for me as an experienced cook but would be good for someone who hasn't done much scratch cooking and wants to learn some ways to intensify flavors or wants to make some gourmet gifts.
The Lost Plot and The Mortal Word, Genevieve Cogman (@genevievecogman): Books 4 and 5 in The Invisible Library. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1-3 since being a librarian was my idea of happiness when I was a kid. In the worlds of the Invisible Library the Fae represent chaos, dragons represent order, and the Librarians (with a capital L, of course) have to
The Apple-Tree Throne, Premee Mohamed (@premeesaurus): Read this haunting ghost story novella thanks to a recommendation from Aliette de Bodard, who mentioned it on Twitter and on her TBR list in her 2018 awards recommendations post. An alternate British empire, a man haunted by what sounds as if it might have been the Charge of the Light Brigade or a similar disaster.
TBR at this point (and the problem is I keep adding to this!) -- My, how they do add up as I grab things on sale, get my book each month for being an Amazon Prime member, download Kindle Unlimited offerings and then change my mind and return one for another.... If you read any of these come leave a comment to tell me why I should move it up to the top of the list (which, by the way, is in no particular order).
- The Lays of Marie de France, Marie de France
- Circe, Madeline Miller: Her Song of Achilles was great.
- So Lucky, Nicola Griffith: I've loved every one of her other books. Read this essay by Dr. Griffith in the New York Times on implicit ableist bias in literature.
- Storywalker, David Bridger
- The Last of the Stanfields, Marc Levy
- Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik: Her previous fairy tale Uprooted was great and I loved her Temeraire series (alternate British history -- naval and aerial battles with dragons).
- The Green Man's Heir, Juliet E. McKenna
- The Girl in the Tower, Katherine Arden: Continues the Winternight trilogy that began with The Bear and the Nightingale
- The Sisters of the Winter Wood, Rena Rossner
- The Mirror Empire, Kameron Hurley and Richard Anderson
- Sunshine, Robin McKinley: Have loved everything of hers I've read, including two of the aforementioned Beauty and the Beast retellings.
- The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
- Native Tongue trilogy: Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin and Susan Squier; The Judas Rose and Earthsong by Suzette Haden Elgin and Julie Vedder
- Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Rebecca Solnit
- Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri
- Starless, Jacqueline Carey
- Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, Kim Scott
- True Places: A Novel, Sonja Yoerg
- Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho
- City of Strife, Claudie Arseneault
- Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger, Rebecca Traister: Picked this up after hearing an interview with her on the "Call Your Girlfriend" podcast.
- Bleak Harbor: A Novel, Bryan Gruley
- The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett
- Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman
- The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace, Ruchika Tulshyan
- So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo. I follow Oluo on Twitter and have had this on my list for far too long.
- The View from Flyover Country, Sarah Kendzior: I've had this on the list forever. I follow Kendzior on Twitter. She's a brilliant and perceptive observer of politics on the grand scale and provides the accountability check we need. If you're a podcast listener find Gaslit Nation, which Kendzior hosts with Andrea Chalupa.
- Torn, Rowenna Miller
- Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories, Vandana Singh: I've actually started this; I keep a story collection around for when I want to read something shorter.
- That's What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together, Joanne Lipman: Recommended by a friend
- The Ragged Edge of Night, Olivia Hawke
- Bandwidth, Eliot Peper
- A Message to Garcia and Other Stories, Elbert Hubbard
- Codebreakers series, Colin F. Barnes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta
- The Shades of Magic Series: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light, V. E. Schwab
- A Reaper at the Gates, Sabaa Tahir: Third in her Ember in the Ashes series. I think I need to go back and re-read the first two once the fourth book is out so I can read all the way through.
- How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
- Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World, Christina Rickardsson and Tara F. Chace
- The Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Shafak
- True Fiction, Lee Goldberg
- Starswept, Mary Fan
- Noni Flowers: 40 Exquisite Knitted Flowers, Nora Bellows
- The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds: About Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose research changed how we understand the way the human mind works.
- The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard
- Angelfall (Penryn and The End Of Days Series), Susan Ee
- Flame in the Mist, Renée Ahdieh: I loved her The Wrath and the Dawn series, expect to enjoy this one too.
- Kingdoms of Elfin, Sylvia Townsend Warner: Found this thanks to the fascinating essay "Hen Wives, Spinsters, and Lolly Willowes" by Terry Windling.
- A Blade So Black, L.L. McKinney: One of those Twitter finds thanks to following another writer, Ellen Oh. Described as Alice in Wonderland meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
A note on local economies and these links: You should shop at a local, independently owned bookstore. Or check these out through your local library -- did you know they can do that with e-books? Links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. I've never made a penny from Amazon but these links give you access to more information and reader reviews. If I ever do make anything I'll donate it to a local nonprofit that helps people who need it most.
