Last month I read a total of five books. I track stats including genre, special formats like plays or graphic novels, some types of representation for authors and main characters, and my star ratings. I also track the different book “projects” I’ve created for myself. You can read the descriptions for each project on my About page.
The stats for last month’s books are:
Projects
3 #projectnew
2 #projectSAMS
0 #projectreread
2 #projectTBR
Authors
4 by a woman
0 by an author of color
1 by a queer author
0 by a Jewish author
Main Characters
2 with a woman main character
1 with a POC main character
1 with a queer main character
0 with a Jewish main character
Genres
2 Nonfiction
1 Contemporary
1 Fantasy
1 Sci-Fi
Other
1 DNF
Ratings
1 
1
1 
2
Three of the books were for the Exploreathon readathon.
Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst DNF
It’s not a terrible book, but it is boring and surface level, especially in worldbuilding. I never felt invested. It contained a lot of introspection/infodumping/weak writing. Despite time moving, the plot moved sloooooooowly. The dynamic was basically “Denna/Mare feel helpless/above current events, someone threatens/insults the other spurring the first to explode in rage, they feel guilty,” rinse/repeat.
Limit of Vision by Linda Nagata
I enjoyed this half sci-fi, half adventure story about symbiotic nanotechnology gone out of control. There were a lot of moving parts and characters I was invested in. I actually think it was pretty light in depth on the hard sci-fi parts (ponderings about the sentience of the nanotech didn’t really go anywhere), but the well-paced adventure parts made up for it. I do think there were way too many loose ends at the end regarding the fate of the LOVs and remaining characters, the Mother Tiger AI, the political dynamics, etc.
I applaud the author’s ability to weave a story around the moral points he wants to make. It really is done extremely well. Just know that it is ROUGH to read (CW for killing pigeons en masse, peer pressure, bullying, cultivating violence and hate in children). I can definitely see parallels in the town’s celebration of butchery/hate in other societal issues. Again, very well done, but won’t leave you feeling happy or even satisfied at the end.
The other two books were both nonfiction.
The Hedge Druid’s Craft by Joanna van der Hoeven
This book read as half philosophy, half personal journal. While some parts were interesting or thought-provoking, there was little of practical use. The author provided sample rituals to perform, but she wasn’t clear about what types of information the practitioner should be seeking or, when found, how to incorporate such information into daily life or grow your own practice. I also don’t feel like I have a clear idea of the differences between Wicca, Druidry, and witchcraft; after a very brief description of each, the book goes into how the author practices/thinks without specifying how the different approaches work together.
The author’s passion and anecdotes were quite enjoyable to read.
The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
Almost every approach described in this book felt so right. It finally pushed me to take the plunge and start my indoor garden with a basil plant. I will be using the guidance in this book for a long time.
What did you read last month? Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts about them!
Hissing Potatoes 