2021 Q3 Book List

7/1: My Soul to Keep (African Immortals #1) by Tananarive Due (University library, 1997)

7/2: The Savior (Black Dagger Brotherhood #17) by J.R. Ward (library, 2019) - It was fine. I actually really like Murhder as a main character.  I didn't care much for the heroine and really wanted more for Murhder.  Also, can't John Matthew just be happy for a book?  Just one book?! (No, seriously, I'm embarrassed at how much I adore these dumb books.)

7/3: The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N.K. Jemisin (library ebook, 2015)

7/5: Blood Truth (Black Dagger Legacy #4) by J.R. Ward (library ebook, 2019) - Not a great entry in the world, to be honest. The murder plotline makes no sense, the heroine is as spineless as spaghetti, and I honestly think Boone didn't get punished enough for the torture he's been conducting. I mostly like the OG Brotherhood series and this Legacy series has been a bit of a letdown for me, but I feel like I would miss a ton without reading them, so I continue on.

7/6: Where Winter Finds You (Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5) by J.R. Ward (library ebook, 2019) - I thought Ward was brave by not having a HEA in The Shadows, but all the hard work was undone by this stinker of a book.  I'm giving her one more book before I shut it down on this series. I haven't really liked any of the couples since Blood Fury, so Ward's got some work to do.

7/7: The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante (library, 2008)

7/9: On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (library, 2012) - I'm not a fan of an age-gap romance, so this was a bit of a miss for me.

7/10: The Sinner (Black Dagger Brotherhood #18)  by J.R. Ward (library ebook, 2020) - This was much better than Where Winter Finds You, but less satisfying that earlier entries in the series. I like the characters of Syn and Jo very much (thank goodness we finally get a female lead with a backbone!), but everything about this book was rushed, particularly the development of their relationship. I understand that vampire males immediately bond with women, but the love at first scent thing Ward does over and over again is not my favorite trope.

7/11: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (library ebook, 2020)

7/12: The Jackal (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp #1) by J. R. Ward (library ebook, 2020) - Interesting idea for us to read about working-class vamps instead of the Brothers and the aristocracy. Unfortunately, the execution was not as awesome as I'd have liked.  

7/16: The Whole Package (Veteran Movers #1) by Marie Harte (library ebook, 2019) - Romance novel with absolutely no conflict in it.  Meh.

7/17: Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis (library, 2020)

7/20: Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri, translated by Morgan Giles (University library, 2014)

7/23: Fatal Affair by Marie Force (library ebook, 2010) - Um. It was a book. Not the Marie Force I'm used to.

7/29: The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin (library, 2016)

8/2: A Warm Heart in Winter (Black Dagger Brotherhood #18.5) by J.R. Ward (library ebook, 2020) - I do like it when Ward goes back to a couple and writes a book about a difficult time in a relationship.  I think it was a good job here to show that "happily ever after" for Blay and Qhuinn doesn't mean there's no troubled waters. 

8/11: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (library ebook, 2017)

8/14: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (library, 2020)

8/23: The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (library, 2017)

8/24: Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (library, 2019)

8/29: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (library ebook, 2013)

8/30: Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez (library, 2019)

8/31: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (library, 2020)

9/2: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (library, 2020)

9/3: A Man Called Ove (library, 2012)

9/8: The Fall (The Seventh Tower #1) by Garth Nix (library, 2000)

9/12: Exciting Times by Noaise Dolan (library, 2020) - Very unexciting times, if you ask me. This was not a book written for people like me.

9/13: While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory (library, 2021) - Perfectly acceptable romance. Not memorable for any reason, good or bad.  

9/16: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder (library, 2009)

9/18: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (library ebook, 2019)

9/23: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (library ebook, 2004) - Hm.  We follow Ged, a young hot-headed wizard, as he grows up.  It's an internal book, a bit grim, and not as fun a romp as you might expect for a YA fantasy.  

9/25: Amnesty by Aravind Adiga (library, 2020)

9/28: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (library ebook, 2020)

9/30: A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum (library, 2019)

Total: 34

Books I Didn't Finish:

Riverland by Fran Wilde (library, 2019) - I DNFed on this one pretty quickly because the scenes of domestic violence were graphic and sent me into a bit of a spiral. I had nightmares for two nights afterwards and it was just too hard for me.

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3) by Jim Butcher (library ebook, 2001) - I wanted to power through this because so many people I trust love this series, but after 40%, I just couldn't do it anymore. I know people love these books, but I'll put it in the same place where I put Star Wars and Breaking Bad as popular things I just can't get on board with. The male gaze is extreme in these books and I just couldn't anymore.

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty (library ebook, 2017) - DNFed at 19%. This is not my style of world building, I guess. I was absolutely befuddled by the number of different magical tribes, creatures, and groups. I wasn't willing to put in the work, so I guess this one's on me.  It's quite well regarded, but this is a book for a different kind of reader than I am.