Category Archives: Awesome

Books you should read NOW. Yes, NOW. Right now. Stop what you’re doing and READ THIS.

The Hands of the Emperor – Victoria Goddard

Posted on 27/10/2023 by readerofelse

Eight separate people told me that I, me specifically, should read this book. I don’t honestly get recommended a tonne of books anyway (possibly not unreasonably, a lot of my friends assume I’ve heard of the books I’ll want to … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Whoaah… we’re half way the-ere!

Posted on 31/05/2023 by readerofelse

Whoah-oh… no I can’t think of a funny way to continue that. Maybe if I’d read Spare? As of a couple of hours ago – I’m half way through my reading goal for the year, a whole month early. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Awesome, Not A Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Saint of Bright Doors – Vajra Chandrasekera

Posted on 22/05/2023 by readerofelse

I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading this, but honestly, I think that was the best plan I could have had. Expectations would have only held me back (and/or been absolutely useless to me). The Saint … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Else, Fantasy, Literary | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

What I read last week – 10th to 16th of March

Posted on 18/03/2023 by readerofelse

Last week, I went on holiday! Specifically, on a reading holiday. From Friday to Monday, I was in a shepherd’s hut near Windermere, listening to the rain on the roof, snuggling under blankets, drinking my body weight in tea and, … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy, History/Myth, Short Stories, Weird | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Taste of Honey – Kai Ashante Wilson

Posted on 07/01/2023 by readerofelse

I realised, a while ago, that almost none of the books I had read with gay male protagonists/major characters was written by men (gay or otherwise)*. Given that in the other direction, I’d be a bit wary of books about … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Ithaca – Claire North

Posted on 13/12/2022 by readerofelse

There are a lot of Greek myth retellings floating around now. And not just Greek myth retellings, but feminist ones specifically. In many ways, I am the targetest of target markets for the subgenre, and I have to admit, even … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, History/Myth, Literary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gingerbread – Helen Oyeyemi

Posted on 20/02/2021 by readerofelse

It’s been rather a while since I’ve written a blog post. Some of this is pandemic-induced inertia, but most of it is down to the fact that my laptop has died, and so I have two choices for writing anything … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy, History/Myth, Literary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Paladin’s Grace – T. Kingfisher

Posted on 13/09/2020 by readerofelse

My short review is simply: It’s like Terry Pratchett wrote Dragon Age fanfic for a female-gaze audience. My long review obviously has a lot more words. Comparing things to Terry Pratchett is… not something I do lightly. I know it … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harrow the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir

Posted on 30/08/2020 by readerofelse

Alix E. Harrow provided the most accurate possible summary of Harrow the Ninth (henceforth simply Harrow) with the following gif: Here does not endeth the review, because I clearly like the sound of my own voice enough to have a blog, but … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine (reread)

Posted on 18/02/2020 by readerofelse

This is a post for people who’ve already read the book, without question. But it’s also not really a post for anyone at all, except myself. If you’re interested in my more general thoughts, I posted about it when I … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Awesome, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment