Monthly Archives: December 2018

TTT – Winter Reading List

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and she has a giant list of participating blogs, so head on over and peruse what people are reading this winter!

This week’s theme is “Your Winter TBR list.”

I have several books that I’ll be reading between Christmas and New Year’s, for the End of Yearathon, but beyond those, these are the books I’m looking forward to reading:

 

Two books by Anna-Marie McLemore – Blanca & Roja (LOVE that cover!) and The Weight of Feathers.

Christina Dalcher’s Vox just got to me (you’ll see it again in tomorrow’s Library Loot!)

Sam Hawke’s City of Lies.

 

Black Wings Beating by Alex London. (I have some black-feathered costume wings and a box full of crow feathers, so I’m going to try to take some neat Instagram photos with it!)

Ling Ma’s Severance was my December Book of the Month – I haven’t read November’s either, which was The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory. Or, for that matter, my…September, I think, book, The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. I need to catch up on those!

 

For the last two I’m intending to read this winter, I actually have two of Charlie Jane Anders’ books – her first, All The Birds In The Sky, and an ARC of her second, The City in the Middle of the Night.

Book Review: Krampus, the Yule Lord

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krampus yule lordKrampus, the Yule Lord
by Brom
Dark Fairy Tale/Mythology
350 pages
Published 2012

Let’s head into Christmas with something out of the ordinary, shall we? This was one heck of a dark fairytale, set in West Virginia, in a town where everyone knows everyone and the head of police is in cahoots with the local crime lord.

The story opens on Christmas Eve with Jesse Walker, failed husband and father, depressed, alone, and contemplating suicide, until he sees Santa Claus attacked and fleeing into the sky, leaving behind his magic sack. What he doesn’t know is that Santa’s attackers are mostly after the magic sack, and what he thinks is his salvation turns out to be what traps him into everything that follows.

And what follows is a thrillride! Jesse is roped into being one of Krampus’ servants, along with his belsnickels, people Krampus has lent a portion of his magic to. The magic twists them into fur-covered monsters, but also grants them healing and near-immortality.

Between trying to rekindle the lost traditions of Yule and hunting down Santa Claus to end him for good, Jesse also struggles to save his wife and daughter from the possibly-murderous cop they’re living with.

By the end of the book I wasn’t sure who to cheer for, other than Jesse and one of the belsnickels, Isabel. But Krampus? He might be right, but is he good? I’m not sure. Similarly, except for his millennia-past misdeeds, Santa is good NOW. But I’m not sure he’s right. In an ideal world, the two of them could come to some compromise and apologize to each other, but this is a dark fairytale, so of course that’s not the case!

I enjoyed this book, even if there wasn’t a lot of happiness in it. It definitely embodies the Appalachia Gothic idea.

From the cover of Krampus, the Yule Lord:

One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus. But the lines between good and evil become blurred as Jesse’s new master reveals many dark secrets about the cherry-cheeked Santa Claus, including how half a millennium ago the jolly old saint imprisoned Krampus and usurped his magic. 

Now Santa’s time is running short, for the Yule Lord is determined to have his retribution and reclaim Yuletide. If Jesse can survive this ancient feud, he might have the chance to redeem himself in his family’s eyes, to save his own broken dreams, and to help bring the magic of Yule to the impoverished folk of Boone County. 

Sunday Funday

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black catfolk2So I have a Catfolk Assassin (Ninja) in a Pathfinder game that has gotten so into my head that I’ve been writing short fiction about her downtime. I’ve written enough that I’m considering writing a few more about the beginning of her story and major plotpoints and running it as a weekly series here on Sundays. It’s kind of a major change, because I haven’t posted any of my creative writing here on the blog, just reviews, but I’m pretty proud of my little peeks into her world, and my DM, at least, thinks they’re really good. (He’s my husband, though, so maybe he’s biased?)

I don’t know, would any of you be interested in the story of a young catfolk, traumatized by the murder of her entire clan at the hands of a fascist government, escaping into another country to make a life for herself far away from everything she’s ever known?

So far she has found a new goddess, found a group of adventurers that seem to like her, taken out some goblins, a couple of demons, and some ghouls, and died, talked to her goddess, and come back with a newfound commitment to her purpose. Our D&D group resumes meeting January 2nd, so we’ll see where her story goes from there!

Book Review: P.S. I Still Love You

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ps i still love youP.S. I Still Love You
by Jenny Han
Young Adult/Romance
339 pages
Published 2015

PS I Still Love You is a continuation of Lara Jean’s story from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. It really is a seamless continuation – it picks up almost immediately where the first ends, in the holidays, with Lara Jean pining over Peter.

I didn’t like this one as much as the first – the sisters are still here, but Lara Jean doesn’t spend as much time worrying over her dynamic with her sisters as she did in the first book. This second book is all about Peter, his ex, and what’s going on at school. That’s fine – obviously the story needs to evolve and move, but the sisters were such a huge part of the charm of the first book that I really miss them in this one.

A second boy is introduced in this book – John – and to be honest, I like him more than Peter. I know Peter and Lara Jean are really set up as THE couple in this series, but – John’s so nice. And Peter’s so oblivious.

There’s one more book – Always and Forever, Lara Jean – and while I’m sure it won’t happen, I’m holding out hope that John will come back in book #3 and win Lara Jean over. I really, really liked him.

From the cover of P.S. I Still Love You:

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.

They were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean has to learn what it’s like to be in a real relationship and not just a make-believe one.

But when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him suddenly return too.

Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara Jean is about to find out that falling in love is the easy part.

Friday 56 – Krampus, The Yule Lord

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krampus yule lordThe Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. The rules are simple – turn to page 56 in your current read (or 56% in your e-reader) and post a few non-spoilery sentences.

Today’s quote is from Krampus, the Yule Lord. Thought I’d do some holiday reading!

Santa remembered why he hated teenagers – they worked so hard not to believe in anything. Did their very best to spoil the magic for everyone else. “Go home.”

The teenager blinked. “Hey, this here’s a free country. You can’t go telling us what to do.”

“Is that a new bike?”

“Sure is,” the kid said with obvious pride. “Got it for Christmas. Fucking rad.”

“Would you please get off of it?”

“What . . . huh? What for?”

“So you will not be upon it when I toss it down the hillside.” Santa nodded to the steep incline on one side of the trail that bottomed into a ravine of broken rocks.

As you can see, this is not your normal jolly Santa Claus! This book is awesome and creepy, and the full review will be up soon!

Book Review: For A Muse Of Fire

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for a muse of fireFor A Muse Of Fire
by Heidi Heilig
Young Adult/Fantasy
494 pages
Published September 2018

I’m starting to realize I might have a thing for lady necromancers. They’re the right kind of dark, badass, I’m-going-to-do-the-right-thing-even-if-you-don’t-understand-it amazing women that I love. From Tea in The Bone Witch trilogy to Odessa in Reign of the Fallen to Jetta in this book, these women are amazing. I have one more lady necromancer book out from the library right now, Give The Dark My Love, and I hope it lives up to the rest of these women!

So in For A Muse of Fire, we have Jetta, with amazing powers but also with what she refers to as her malheur – she’s bipolar. She and her parents are traveling to another country to seek a cure for it, but in their journeys they wind up in the middle of a rebellion. Her powers let her see wandering spirits, bind them to physical objects, and command them. In this way, she’s made shadow puppets that don’t require strings or sticks, and her family has a small amount of fame as the best shadow puppeteers in the region.

We learn secrets about Jetta’s family, ancestry, and just how far her powers can go, while she fights off army deserters, generals, smugglers, and ghosts. She imbues unexpected objects with unexpected spirits (one such instance being the best scene in the book, in my opinion).

I can’t wait for the next book. Jetta is maturing into her powers and deciding what to do with them, and once she makes up her mind the world is going to shudder at her feet.

From the cover of For A Muse Of Fire:

Never show. Never tell.

Jetta’s secret has kept her family from starving. It has made them the most famed troupe of shadow players in Chakrana. With Jetta behind the scrim, their puppets move without stick or string.

Never show. Never tell.

With a drop of blood, Jetta can bind wandering spirits to the silk or wood or leather of the puppets and bring them to life. But the old ways are forbidden. If anyone discovered her ability, Jetta could be thrown in prison and left to rot – or worse.

Never show. Never tell.

As rebellion swells and desperation builds, Jetta’s power becomes harder and harder to hide. Especially from Leo, the young smuggler with sharp eyes and secrets of his own. When he and Jetta capture the notice of both the army and the rebels, she may be the spark that lights the rebellion . . . if she isn’t consumed by the flame first.