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Books and comics read in January 2026
Feb. 14th, 2026 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhatsAll Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now - Ruby Tandoh
The Tomb of Dragons - Katherine Addison
The Grapples of Wrath - Alice Bell
A Case of Mice and Murder - Sally Smith
No Such Thing As Duty - Lara Elena Donnelly
Inventing the Renaissance - Ada Palmer
Secrets of the First School - TL Huchu
An Oresteia - Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles trans Anne Carson
In the Shadow of the Ship - Aliette de Bodard
So my resolution to DNF more is certainly going... well?
First in a series (of which I accidentally read the second one first, oops) of murder mysteries set in the Inner Temple around the turn of the century, in which one of the lawyers keeps getting dragooned into solving mysteries instead of spending all day solving difficult legal puzzles, as he'd prefer. The setting is very well drawn, as is the lead character (who by today's standards would be described as aroace and sitting somewhere in the overlap between autism, OCD and anxiety) - even with only two books out his development is already promising, but I also loved that he's never cold; right from the first time we meet him, he's trying to meet other people with kindness and sympathy, even if he doesn't entirely understand their emotions or why illogical platitudes help.
This first one suffered a bit from the solution to the mystery not quite landing - more of a "sure, I suppose that makes sense" than an "of COURSE" - but the second one is already better on that front, so hopefully the author will hit her stride with that aspect as well.
Secrets of the First School - TL Huchu
Final volume in the Edinburgh Nights series, in which teenage ghost talker Ropa Moyo gets increasingly tangled up in magical goings on in near future slightly AU Scotland. I feel like this series has always had pacing problems, and this volume is no exception - I could have done with one more book to give all the twists and revelations slightly more time to land - plus it's been frustrating to see Ropa keep on yoyo-ing between "I must do everything alone! No wait I have friends and allies! But I must ignore them and do everything alone!". But those problems aside, I've really enjoyed this series, and I'm sorry that it seems to have been flying under the radar a bit, there's so much good stuff in it.
In the Shadow of the Ship - Aliette de Bodard
De Bodard has been more miss than hit recently, but I liked this one a fair bit! I would have preferred it either without the romance or with more development for the romance than the page count allowed, but otherwise, a nice solid little slice of the Xuya universe.
Didn't finish:
What if the late 18th century, but with magic? This slightly fell between two stools for me - it's not quite weighty enough to be serious, and a bit too serious to be fun.
The Iron Below Remembers - Sharang Biswas
I just don't enjoy prose superheroes - I keep trying, but there it is. There was a lot else in this novella that I liked, but... prose superheroes. They just don't have the weight for me of their comics counterparts, and it made the superhero characters in this feel underdeveloped.
Project Hanuman - Stewart Hotston
I wanted to like this, but it felt like the prose style was fighting me, and I didn't quite like it enough to soldier on. (It didn't help that it was FULL of typos, what is going on at Angry Robot.)
The Tomb of Dragons - Katherine Addison
The Grapples of Wrath - Alice Bell
A Case of Mice and Murder - Sally Smith
No Such Thing As Duty - Lara Elena Donnelly
Inventing the Renaissance - Ada Palmer
Secrets of the First School - TL Huchu
An Oresteia - Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles trans Anne Carson
In the Shadow of the Ship - Aliette de Bodard
So my resolution to DNF more is certainly going... well?
A Case of Mice and Murder - Sally Smith, Secrets of the First School - TL Huchu, In the Shadow of the Ship - Aliette de Bodard
A Case of Mice and MurderFirst in a series (of which I accidentally read the second one first, oops) of murder mysteries set in the Inner Temple around the turn of the century, in which one of the lawyers keeps getting dragooned into solving mysteries instead of spending all day solving difficult legal puzzles, as he'd prefer. The setting is very well drawn, as is the lead character (who by today's standards would be described as aroace and sitting somewhere in the overlap between autism, OCD and anxiety) - even with only two books out his development is already promising, but I also loved that he's never cold; right from the first time we meet him, he's trying to meet other people with kindness and sympathy, even if he doesn't entirely understand their emotions or why illogical platitudes help.
This first one suffered a bit from the solution to the mystery not quite landing - more of a "sure, I suppose that makes sense" than an "of COURSE" - but the second one is already better on that front, so hopefully the author will hit her stride with that aspect as well.
Secrets of the First School - TL Huchu
Final volume in the Edinburgh Nights series, in which teenage ghost talker Ropa Moyo gets increasingly tangled up in magical goings on in near future slightly AU Scotland. I feel like this series has always had pacing problems, and this volume is no exception - I could have done with one more book to give all the twists and revelations slightly more time to land - plus it's been frustrating to see Ropa keep on yoyo-ing between "I must do everything alone! No wait I have friends and allies! But I must ignore them and do everything alone!". But those problems aside, I've really enjoyed this series, and I'm sorry that it seems to have been flying under the radar a bit, there's so much good stuff in it.
In the Shadow of the Ship - Aliette de Bodard
De Bodard has been more miss than hit recently, but I liked this one a fair bit! I would have preferred it either without the romance or with more development for the romance than the page count allowed, but otherwise, a nice solid little slice of the Xuya universe.
Didn't finish:
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians - HG Parry, The Iron Below Remembers - Sharang Biswas, Project Hanuman - Stewart Hotston
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians - HG ParryWhat if the late 18th century, but with magic? This slightly fell between two stools for me - it's not quite weighty enough to be serious, and a bit too serious to be fun.
The Iron Below Remembers - Sharang Biswas
I just don't enjoy prose superheroes - I keep trying, but there it is. There was a lot else in this novella that I liked, but... prose superheroes. They just don't have the weight for me of their comics counterparts, and it made the superhero characters in this feel underdeveloped.
Project Hanuman - Stewart Hotston
I wanted to like this, but it felt like the prose style was fighting me, and I didn't quite like it enough to soldier on. (It didn't help that it was FULL of typos, what is going on at Angry Robot.)
