Search Results

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Down Comes the Night, a young adult fantasy story featuring magical 01 Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft I love the setup of Saft's romantic young adult fantasy novel

Rachel Hartman's young adult story follows irresistible, hardheaded, wonderfully faulted Tess as she breaks from rigid medieval gender roles in favor of adventure and discovery. It's captivating, sometimes weighty, and often playful, but never silly. She felt like she was seeing with two different eyes: an eye full of stars that still saw the romance, and a new eye, one she'd acquired while walking, an eye full of... It was full of fire, she decided. Her second eye saw the flesh of this story burned away, held the bones up to her own story, and saw the injustice. In Hartman's Tess of the Road, Tess doesn't fit the mold of an obedient, quiet young woman in her medieval kingdom of Goredd, where men rule the land and each household within it. Without airing out all of the family's dirty laundry, let's just say that this time Tess has really taken things too far for fine society, and she's not a young lady who can be subdued. So Tess's family decides to send her to a nunnery. But Tess has other plans. On the day she's scheduled to report for the beginning of her cloistered life, she cuts her hair, pulls on walking boots, and runs away, determined to craft a life for herself outside of the narrow parameters set upon her. Tess's long-held ability to get into trouble leads her on an adventure of a lifetime. Tess is irresistibly faulted and headstrong; she is full of wonder and desperate for adventure; she is pushing at the edge of the disappointingly limited possibilities for young women; and she finds herself increasingly frustrated, then furious, about the double standards, injustices, and power inequality between men and women. There are various complex serpent- and dragon-like creatures within the story, and the longtime, unorthodox friendship between Tess and a dragon-adjacent creature (called a quigutl) helps root the story. Yet the heart of this book is based upon timeless issues, a search for justice, and pushing traditional boundaries. There's a "woman dresses as a man to escape gender limitations" trope; the story emphasizes loyalty, duty, and bravery; and there's some dabbling in faith issues as well as feelings of disillusionment related to certain religious conventions. Tess experiences unexpected, touching, and never-cheesy romance. We witness some of Tess's sobering realizations about the dark truths in the world--as well as her sometimes overly simplified, bull-headed, endearing insistence on interjecting herself to try to help others...or advance her own interests. Hartman's 521-page story is immensely satisfying. Tess of the Road is playful yet never silly. The story zigzags in an appealing way through phases of Tess's young explorations. The tale is full of captivating discoveries of all kinds while also addressing deep issues about gender, power, and possibility. It addresses female empowerment within the frustrating constraints of the time, laying out some hopeful, plausible baby steps toward progress. I'm excited to read the sequel. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rachel Hartman is also the author of the Seraphina series. The second book in the Tess of the Road series, In the Serpent's Wake, was published last month. I can't wait to read this one!

I hope you'll also check out the books on my first Greedy Reading List of Six Fantastic Dystopian and The tone of Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth was unlike any fantasy novel I’ve read, and the friendships

The Books I'm Reading Now I guess this list is an Escape from Reality attempt, as I have three fantasy I'm listening to Ruby Dixon's sassy fantasy novel, Bull Moon Rising ; I'm reading M. L. Wang's recently published dark academia novel, Blood Over Bright Haven ; and I'm reading Frances White's fantasy The cover is arresting, and the sparkles and art are a nod to the novel's fantasy genre. Wang is also the author of The Sword of Kaigen and the YA fantasy series The Volta Academy Chronicles

The fantasy-science-fiction novel Moonbound spans time and splits into several stories, for me never In Robin Sloan's science-fiction-fantasy tale Moonbound , it's eleven thousand years in the future, and

I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Sarah Rees Brennan's darkly playful dive into life as a villain in a fantasy dying, and in a panic, she makes a magical deal in which she lives on...in the world of her favorite fantasy Sarah Rees Brennan is also the author of the fantastic character-driven young-adult fantasy In Other

North Carolina Love! I love reading novels with Southern, Appalachian, and specifically North Carolina settings. Here are six I've loved set in the Tar Heel State. Have you read any of these? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought. Do you have any favorite books set where you live? 01 When These Mountains Burn by David Joy Joy offers an often dark work of Southern literary fiction through which bubbles of hope emerge. Ray has outlived his beloved wife in the mountains of North Carolina. He has a precious old girl of a dog, a fascination with (and healthy fear of) coyotes, a love of reading, and a no-nonsense manner that makes clear he doesn't brook fools. He has almost resigned himself to the heartbreaking idea that his addict son is too lost to be saved. There's an undercover cop nearby who's trying to help take down a robust drug ring, and then there's Ray, who uses old-fashioned methods and his knowledge of mountain terrain to address injustices in a straightforward way. When These Mountains Burn isn't always easy to read, but it isn't over the top, and Joy's characters are fascinatingly faulted and keep you humming right along. I read this in 24 hours while wishing I were making it last longer. For my full review of When These Mountains Burn, click here. 02 Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown Taylor Brown's five-star, 1950s North Carolina-set novel offers mountain clans, whiskey runners, folk healers, family conflict, and dark, brooding woodland settings. I loved it. Rory Docherty has returned to rural North Carolina with a wooden leg and haunting memories of his time fighting in the Korean War. He's running whiskey to juke joints, brothels, and other seedy spots in his 1940 Ford, driving fast, avoiding federal agents, and living with his grandmother, a healer with strong opinions about Rory's love interest, a snake-handling preacher's daughter in the mill town nearby. Family secrets and conflicts come to a head as The Gods of Howl Mountain reaches a dark, brooding, beautiful crescendo. Brown’s descriptions are intensely arresting. He delves deeply and deftly, cutting to the quick and avoiding what in less skilled hands could have been caricatures of North Carolina mountain folk. I loved every bit of this story. Taylor is also the author of Pride of Eden, Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War, and Wingwalkers. For my full review, check out The Gods of Howl Mountain. 03 When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash I loved Cash's Eastern North Carolina setting, the character of Sheriff Winston Barnes, and the pulsing racial, class-based, and family conflicts explored in When Ghosts Come Home. Sheriff Winston Barnes knows he probably won't be reelected. He does things by the book and isn't flashy, while his aggressive opponent seems to amass more wealth and (dubious sources of) support each passing day. Meanwhile, Winston's wife is in cancer treatment and his daughter has just experienced a devastating loss and is drifting, unmoored. He's got a lot on his plate. But when a body and an abandoned airplane are found in his quiet, coastal North Carolina town, Winston must try to unravel the mystery of the events at hand. Rumors, long-simmering conflicts, clashing loyalties, and Barnes's personal tragedy all complicate the discovery of the truth. I was all in for the shocking events that occurred late in the book. Wiley Cash is also the author of A Land More Kind than Home, The Last Ballad, and This Dark Road to Mercy. Click here for my full review of When Ghosts Come Home. 04 The Caretaker by Ron Rash Ron Rash's Appalachian-set novel explores a small town shaken by upended expectations, the Korean War, and selfish rigidity that threatens to undo them all. Blackburn Gant is the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery in 1951 Blowing Rock, North Carolina. He lives a quiet life, which is partially dictated by his physical limitations since suffering through polio as a child. When his best (and only) friend Jacob is sent to serve overseas in the Korean War, Blackburn promises to look after Jacob's wife, Naomi. The two had eloped just months after meeting, which led to Jacob's being disowned by his wealthy family. Blackburn and Naomi grow close as they anxiously await word of Jacob's fate halfway around the world. When an important telegram arrives, they fear the worst. IA series of elaborate falsifications, outrageous subterfuge, and outright lies creates a tangled web for all involved--and the situation just begs for justice to be served to those blinded by selfish desire and rigid expectations. I loved the glimpses of rural life and of the specific place and time that Rash crafts so well. The writing is beautifully spare, and the ending is satisfying in multiple ways. For my full review, check out The Caretaker. 05 The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda Miranda uses the framework of a famous fictional rescue story to imagine the characters' turmoil and desperate coping mechanisms, crafting a fascinating look at the depths beneath their surfaces. Olivia (then called Arden) was a small child when she sleepwalked into a storm and was washed away. Three days later, she was recovered in a miraculous series of events that ended up with her rescue and removal from a storm drain. Now someone from her past has resurfaced, and he could reveal her carefully hidden secrets and ruin everything. When evidence of brutal violence emerges close to home, Olivia wonders if someone is protecting her or possibly seeking some kind of revenge--and if that someone might even be Olivia herself. I found the ending of the book gloriously terrifying. The last few pages felt a little disjointed from the story. But the familiar echoes of a story like "baby Jessica in the well," the media frenzy, and the public's emotional investment were a intriguing framework for Miranda's story. For my full review of this book, see The Girl from Widow Hills. 06 The Last Child by John Hart I loved John Hart's brusque, determined Clyde Hunt, the scrappy and unstoppable young Johnny Merrimon, the sinister underbelly of their rural North Carolina town, and basically everything about this intricate literary mystery-thriller. Hart knows how to masterfully build a story around unforgettable characters with layers they reluctantly reveal. I didn't expect the resolution Hart allows to unfold at the end. But I was in for whatever he was dishing up, and I was fascinated all along the way. The Last Child appears in the Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year. John Hart has also written many other books, including The Hush, the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and the wonderfully written, often tough-to-read Redemption Road, as well as The Unwilling. Hart has written many other books, including The Hush, which is the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and Redemption Road. Side note: I'm captivated by Hart's stories, but I admit that I had difficulty sitting through the horrific cruelties perpetuated by multiple characters in Redemption Road. I loved his imperfect, brave, relentlessly tough protagonists, and Hart is a gifted storyteller, but the rock-bottom depravity and evil underpinnings of much of Redemption Road story were upsetting and difficult to read.

Brown's debut fantasy novel offers a swirl of magical books, a makeshift team of world-savers, plenty In Gareth Brown's debut fantasy novel The Book of Doors, main protagonist Cassie Andrews works in a New like the sound of this book, you may want to check out other Bossy reviews of time-travel books or fantasy

He's a fantastic character I loved. This great book by C.A. also want to read Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, which is a standalone book in the same series, is fantastic

their father's death, Intermezzo ; and I'm listening to the first in Rachel Aaron's Tear Down Heaven fantasy Beautiful World, Where Are You . 03 Hell for Hire (Tear Down Heaven #1) by Rachel Aaron I love a playful fantasy

the six books I most loved reading this past month: a heartbreaking, lovely, epistolary Western; a fantasy story with war at the forefront and fantasy in the background; a collection of three short stories by vulnerable celebrity memoir; the latest loooong installment in a favorite mystery series; and a cozy fantasy and the gutsy characters facing wartime struggles and challenges, but I was surprised that the book's fantasy I really liked this, but I was surprised by how light it felt on fantasy elements.

art-focused historical fiction mystery in two timelines; I'm reading The Tainted Cup , a fascinating fantasy-science-fiction fiction-feeling story, a Sherlock Holmes and Watson-type investigatory relationship, and fascinating otherworldly fantasy

Anglish conquerers' constricting rules about its raising and training; and I'm listening to a cozy fantasy But in this cozy fantasy story, Viv has discovered the wonder of coffee and has determined to make a

The focus on the power of books is fantastic. the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies

She realizes that the revenge fantasies that have been instilled in her since birth--along with a distrust Glory examines deep matters in a fascinating chain of events, reflections, unexpected do-overs, and fantastic

fake-marriage, tropical-island-set rom-com The Paradise Problem ; I'm listening to Moonbound , Robin Sloan's fantasy-science-fiction Six More Great Light Fiction Stories . 02 Moonbound by Robin Sloan In Robin Sloan's science-fiction-fantasy

Reading Now I'm reading Lynn Painter's rom-com Betting on You; I'm listening to Gareth Brown's debut fantasy Number, and other books I haven't yet read. 02 The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown In Gareth Brown's debut fantasy

01 Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik Naomi Novik is the author of fantasy novels featuring battles within the books' alternate history, and the human protagonists are wonderfully faulted and fantastic

The Revenge Fantasies...and Revenge Enacted Whether it's about righting wrongs, saving face, renegade the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies heroines unite against the book's sometimes caricature-like, purely evil bad guys by using their new-found fantastical The revenge-fantasy element is particularly satisfying. Echo Wife. 06 The Harpy by Megan Hunter This slim, intriguing book packs a punch, featuring revenge fantasies

This month my favorite reads were a historical-fiction fantasy set during the Spanish Inquisition; an adventure-fantasy inspired by a Chinese legend; literary fiction tracing life in a British boarding school and beyond; a Norse-inspired fantasy saga; a fun young adult, queer, medieval adventure romance I love a mix of historical fiction and fantasy, and while this novel isn't as layered and complex or

He's a fantastic character I loved. This great book by C.A. also want to read Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, which is a standalone book in the same series, is fantastic #postapocalyptic, #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #series, #fourstarbookreview 04 The Dog Stars ​ Hig somehow #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #fourstarbookreview 06 The Boy on the Bridge ​ Months into their save-the-world #postapocalyptic, #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #series, #fourstarbookreview What are your favorite post-apocalyptic

Elaborate mythology swirls around the mysterious author of the blockbuster fantasy series The Falling Goldhero, and fans dream up fantastical stories about the writer and his life.

spreading happiness; I'm reading the third in Naomi Novik's dark, wonderful Scholomance series, the fantasy Novik is also the author of many other wonderful fantasy novels featuring main protagonists I love. 03

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Nocturne, Alyssa Wees's fantasy novel about a prima ballerina in 01 Nocturne by Alyssa Wees In Alyssa Wees's slim (it's 240 pages) fantasy novel Nocturne, set in the

Much of Ginder's novel is focused on a revenge fantasy, but I was drawn more to Nancy Harrison's strong but I had trouble locking into the story's tone, which wavers into extended dark, vindictive revenge fantasies

the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies heroines unite against the book's sometimes caricature-like, purely evil bad guys by using their new-found fantastical The revenge-fantasy element is particularly satisfying.

I'm Reading Now I'm reading A Restless Truth, the second book in Freya Marske's historical fiction fantasy Restless Truth (Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske A Restless Truth is the second in Freya Marske's queer fantasy

Schwab's stories take place within her detailed fantasy worlds, but her characters' conflicts, hopes, and in this final book, darkness threatens to upend the delicate balance the few, essential, magical Antari The fantastic main players are back: Kell, the ward of the Red London's royal family who once thought Schwab's stories take place within her detailed fantasy world (with some historical fiction elements The series is adult fantasy but would be appropriate for a young adult reader--if not averse to Lila's

One of my criticisms of the currently popular romantic fantasy Fourth Wing is that I wanted more more

In The Awakening, the first book in Nora Roberts's Dragon Heart Legacy series, she set up a romantic fantasy Why not take this fantasy all the way, after all?).

pregnancy; the real story of a beloved figure from stage, film, and song; a missing-person mystery; and a fantasy in a panic, she makes a magical deal in which she lives on...in the world of her sister's favorite fantasy Sarah Rees Brennan is also the author of the fantastic character-driven young-adult fantasy In Other

Chakraborty I'm listening to the first wonderful installment in Shannon Chakraborty's Amina al-Sirafi fantasy , and smart, with wonderful banter, a gruff and independent, saucy main protagonist in Amina, and a fantastic

Chakraborty's Daevabad fantasy trilogy, The City of Brass ; and I'm reading Olivia Hawker's upcoming

01 Libby Lost and Found by Stephanie Booth Libby Weeks is the author of the wildly popular fantasy series

I could have listed so many fantastic young adult titles here, but I picked these varied, wonderful six With true friendship, loyalty, and fantastic, clever, clever ladies overcoming obstacles in their paths

preacher Beth Moore's memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life ; I'm listening to Melissa Caruso's time-travel fantasy

Reading Now I'm reading Paper & Blood, Kevin Hearne's second and final book in his quirky Ink & Sigil fantasy Paper & Blood is a quirky, lighthearted fantasy with entertaining pop culture references, copious Scottish

Blanchet's young adult fantasy Neath Trilogy--and her debut novel--to be published next week. Blanchet In Blanchet's young adult fantasy debut, Herrick's End, Ollie's only friend has disappeared,

stories by a former Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer, Jen Spyra; Rachel Griffin's young adult fantasy often leaps over it. 02 The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin In the world of Griffin's young adult fantasy

rom-com I Hope This Doesn't Find You   here and my review of Liang's young-adult historical fiction fantasy

Here are my six favorite reads of the past month: contemporary fiction, young adult, nonfiction, fantasy the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies heroines unite against the book's sometimes caricature-like, purely evil bad guys by using their new-found fantastical The revenge-fantasy element is particularly satisfying. The book revels in wonderful LGBTQ love and tons of sexiness; fantastic New York-centric details; and

And I'm listening to The Blood of the Old Kings , the first in Sung-Il Kim's fantasy series in which

She is also the author of The Khorasan Archives fantasy series (The Bloodprint is the first book in the

The details of everyday life are fantastic, and some characters wield magic and hold mysterious powers Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book--or any historical fiction/fantasy series you love?

I listened to the first installment in Shannon Chakraborty's Amina al-Sirafi fantasy series, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, as an audiobook, which was narrated by the fantastic Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal irresistible main protagonist in the feminist Muslim character of Amina; and the sea adventure with various fantastical She realizes that the revenge fantasies that have been instilled in her since birth--along with a distrust Glory examines deep matters in a fascinating chain of events, reflections, unexpected do-overs, and fantastic

Morris offers some revenge-fantasy satisfaction, but there are some grave casualties in the world of

the Lady Janies trilogy is funny, and smart, with clever asides, wonderful character development, and fantastic fiction retelling of the story of King Edward, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of Scots--with an oddball fantasy This is funny, and smart, with clever asides, wonderful character development, and fantastic banter. #historicalfiction, #fantasyscifi, #series, #fourstarbookreview

death-row inmate's desperate need for escapism leads to an elaborate world of magical thinking and fantastical He imagines a rich imaginary world full of fantastical visions, and these thoughts sustain him through

excited to read this final installment in Freya Marske's Last Binding trilogy, a queer historical fiction fantasy-mystery

the only home she's ever known in order to save her genetic brother, she realizes that the revenge fantasies