Rated Grim Folk Tale 8/10
This one is quite good, follows the urban fantasy formula somewhat but there are two main viewpoint characters. Some of the magical rules seem somewhat arbitrary but it makes for a fun story, also I like the moving forward of the main characters' relationships and the resolution to one of the big problems the characters had.
Rated Blacktail 10/10
I loved [b:The Library at Mount Char|26892110|The Library at Mount Char|Scott Hawkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453225113l/26892110._SY75_.jpg|42797715] and this is hardly like that book at all, except for being very engaging and well-written. Most of the characters are animals and it almost reads like an epic legend, but from very personal viewpoints. (Also it's not very long so it's a quick read.)
Rated Buckeye 10/10
Very well done and does a great job drawing a picture of some connected families over generations. Makes me want to look up some more of his writing.
Wants to read How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back
Rated The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine 8/10
This was a pretty good follow up to the first one. It is short and it's mostly plot, with some kind of twist coming almost every chapter. Definitely more idea based than character based, although there are a few different viewpoint characters. I'm not sure if there needs to be a third one.
Rated What We Can Know 10/10
This one was excellent. It took me a few chapters to really get into it but then it snowballed from there until I could barely put it down. A lot of it is the characters and the academic setting and the different viewpoints, plus the realistic near-ish future. This book has a lot to say about history and literature and the study of those things, also none of the characters really come off that well.
This was super informative if often a bit infuriating. Also I was familiar with a lot of it from Cory Doctorow's blog, but it is good to have it all in one place without any digital collages.
Reading Demon Copperhead
Rated Platform Decay 6/10
I finally got my hands on a copy after a long waitlist from the local library. I'd gotten used to the thicker novels so I was a little disappointed to see it was back to the slimmer novellas. I probably should've checked back to read a summary from the last book because I was lost as to who the people were Murderbot was now rescuing.<br/><br/>It's probably partly why I never really made a connection in caring who were the new pack of humans it was trying to rescue. Murderbot getting itself out of no-win situations with multiple humans in tow, especially "juveniles," has become old hat. The emotion checks are a good addition, but I suppose I wanted more evolution by now. More interaction with Three or even that other random...unit? would've been great. And then just getting a line or two with A.R.T. was really disappointing.<br/><br/>All in all, a typical Murderbot novella. For me personally, I would've liked a little less running from crisis to crisis and little more meat.
Rated The Doorman: A Novel 8/10
This is a lot of fun, has interesting details about the fancy building that the 'main' (there is another couple of viewpoints too, but kind of one main one) viewpoint character works at as a doorman. Characters are well developed and the plot is interesting and has a surprising ending. I read another book by this author in July and it was pretty good too.
Rated The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir 10/10
This was interesting to read, lots of parts like her writing about her first experiences with live music were very well written and resonated with me. A lot of sad experiences in her life and I would have liked to see more about her more recent music (and also about her time playing drums for Cub, but that's just because I really like Cub) but I would definitely recommend this if you're a fan.
Rated Or What You Will 10/10
Very well written and a bit of an unusual book. I don't want to spoil it, but it's almost a meta-novel in some ways -- I found the first chapter or two somewhat slow and abstract, but after that it was very compelling, with lots of local Florentine colour.
Rated Mexican Gothic 10/10
Short but good, love the creepy mystery and had a very gothic feel, plus the setting of early/mid 20th century Mexico was novel to me. I liked [b:Signal to Noise|22609306|Signal to Noise|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411422208l/22609306._SX50_.jpg|26580567] and this is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that book. (But still good).
Rated Night Fall 8/10
This one takes conspiracy theories about a US plane crash, then makes them all true (for the book) and also ties in with some other conspiracies and disasters. The character is a little bit less macho thanks to his wife's influence.
Rated White Cat, Black Dog: Stories 10/10
These are just great, perfect combination of modern setting and characters with recognizeable fairy tales/folk tales. I've seen people do modern or SF versions of those before and they usually feel forced, but not only was that not the case here, but the stories and the words were so well done.
Rated Trail of Lightning 10/10
This was a lot of fun. I was late to reading it because it looked a little bit like a somewhat formulaic YA book with the prickly heroine, but it has enough to distance itself from most of the similar books and I liked the combination of future post-apocalypse with indigenous mythology.
