Eligible

Ever heard of The Austen Project?

I hadn't until I was looking for a picture for this post.

I read Eligible on a friend's recommendation, and because it's not that hard to get me to read something based on Pride and Prejudice.

As retellings go, it was really successful. Curtis Sittenfeld achieved a good balance of source material and updating. Plot points were different, but recognizable.

It's set in Cincinnati, and Liz & Jane have to fly home from New York to deal with a family health scare. From there, the story progresses more or less as one would expect.

Darcy is an arrogant neurosurgeon, which feels more believable that just a rich do-nothing.

It was fun. But I probably won't read it again.
(I finished reading this on April 18)

Image from the author's website:

Amber & Dusk

by Lyra Selene

This lovely book came in one of my Owlcrates. I've built up quite a backlog of novels over this school year, and I'm slowly working through them.

The world has permanent night in one place, dusk in another, and permanent day in the part of the world where the book mostly takes place.
There is a legend about why - I thought the plot would relate to that, but no, just some cool world building.

The main character - Sylvie - was abandoned as a baby, raised by people who are essentially nuns, and pretty much had a rough childhood. She runs away from the nuns to make her way to the capital city, which is at the center of the daylight zone. She thinks that she belongs there because she can do magic.

There is some really deep character building with the not-Gypsy group she travels with, but it doesn't really have much payoff in the end.

When arriving at the royal palace, she is disappointed that "her people" (because that's where the magic wielders live) don't welcome her with open arms. They do, however, take her in, and palace drama ensues.  Also, some romance.

Also, a lot of words and descriptions in this book seem to come from a French base, which is kind of interesting.

Amazon gives me these stats:
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press (November 27, 2018)

Stealing this image off of the Owlcrate site, because blogger + phone = no pictures and my phone is my camera...


I read this on April 19.

Scythe & Thunderhead

This was great, I need book 3 to come out!

Image stolen from Amazon: 

Book of Life

All Souls Trilogy
By Deborah Harkness

You know, vampires & witches & demons. But the vampires don't sparkle and the characters are all interesting. 

Book 1 was the best, book 2 was weaker, and the conclusion of the trilogy was fine.

It's the favorite series of a student, and I'm glad to have read it, but I don't I'll read it again.

Image from Amazon: