This is yet another been on my TBR list for awhile. It was okay and I think partly because I already employ most of the these techniques. I think the book wasa good way to reflect on my relationship and history with smart phones and social media.

I keep trying to find regency romance novels that I like as much as Georgette Heyer’s and Jane Austen’s. While most of the books are fine, I don’t love them. This one was the same.

This a queer regency romance with a transgender woman as lead. It had great reviews and it is well done in parts. I liked the protagonist. As usual, I could have done without the male lead who was super angsty (dad issues, PTSD, physically disabled, drug addiction). I really liked the supporting best friend who was the lead’s sister-in-law. That was a good character.

My biggest issue with this book was that it was too long. I started in early January on vacation but it took me ages to read 15%; it was a very slow start. I contemplated giving up on it a few times before powering through to one third into the book. At that point, it did pick up in plot but I still found it all a bit too over written personally. I had to skim a lot to finish it.

I do think for people who read a lot of regency novels, this is probably one of the better ones. I think I preferred this over the Bridgerton in terms of quality of writing and characters. Therefore not for me personally but not bad overall.

I am going to stop picking up regency romances now. I keep hoping to replicate my love of the classics but it never does.

3/5 stars. Read on Kindle January 4-20, 2023.

Without going into personal stuff details too much, 2022 was a more difficult year than I had anticipated. It’s been a rough time with COVID-19. I really hope that personally and globally, we all recover. On a book front, I was able to maintain my reading goal of reading over 52 books every year. It was a decent year for reading books. I read 60 books which is not as good as 2021’s 70 but a great year in terms of quality books and audiobooks. This is by no means exhaustive and I really could not list all the good books I read this year.

For 2023, I am aiming to read more from my collection so less new books and more classics.

Audiobooks and Non Fiction

2022 was a great year for audiobooks. I was able to appreciate it more and listen to them while I was sick, knitting, or puzzling. The following are great books and well narrated.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Not non-fiction but narration by Tom Hanks really made this novel.

General Fiction and Literary

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Young Adult and Children’s Fiction

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

Last Night at the the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Graphic Novels/Manga

Satoko and Nada series by Yupechika

I picked this one up in a little library in Sydney. It’s by an Australian author and set in Melbourne. I knew from initial impressions and some light reading on good reads that it was a “domestic thriller” similar to the work of Liane Moriarty. I debated about bringing it back but eventually decided to try for it as my plane reading.

My expectations were low because I don’t really read a lot of these domestic thrillers. Upon reflection when I have read the popular ones, I don’t mind them as much as say modern romance novels.

I found myself liking this more than expected. I did figure our the twist half way. I didn’t love the romance or abuse survivor storylines. I think these thrillers use trauma too much as a plot device. The resolutions to these storylines was a bit too neat as well.

What was good is the author seems to really know middle class women and to a certain extent, a woman from a poorer background. Of course the women are all white and most of it happened in a very privileged setting. Still, I found myself actually liking and relating to the women in the book. They were all messed up but the author had a nice way of showing their relatability.

As a novel published in Australia by an Australian, I found moments and words which were for that audience and would likely have been changed for international readers. I liked that after my own experience travelling in the country.

Not bad pulp fiction. Didn’t regret reading it and it kept me occupied for a few hours. Sometimes these kind of novels are great for travel.

3.5/5 stars. Read January 13, 2023.

In 2009, I owned a copy of this book when I lived in London. As with a few other books I had there, I never got around to reading it due to my graduate studies. These books became casualties of my move when I left. Since then, I continued to want to read it especially after reading March by the same author. In the last year, I heard someone in my book club read and I also found a copy of this in a Little Library. It seemed that the universe was telling me to finally read this book.

I really like Brooks’ writing style and how she researches a time period and historical events but weaves ordinary characters into them. She did the same here as she did in March where she has people in history acting as best they can in extraordinary circumstances. I like her prose and character writing and will read more from her.

Both novels are about difficult times and there is a lot of death. It actually got too grim and bleak as so many bad things happened to the characters in this book. Thankfully it’s not too long. I won’t recommend this book to people because there is very little levity in it.

I do appreciate how Brooks wrote about a time in history that I don’t see covered a lot in literary or contemporary novels. I wish there were more interesting novels about the 1600’s and 1700’s in the old world. The epilogue was satisfying and intriguing. That could be a whole novel in itself. At the core of this novel is a strong friendship between two women of different classes and wish we had even more of it.

4/5 stars. Read October 15-17, 2022.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

This was a lovely YA novel. It’s is a queer love story and very good historical fiction. I found the writing mature and well done. If the main protagonist was a few years older, I could see how this could have been marketed as an adult novel. Really well done

Read Sept 5, 2022

The Maid by Nita Prosse

I noticed this bestseller mystery awhile back and was intrigued by the cover and the concept of the maid in an escape mystery. The protagonist maid is neurodivgerent and this reminded me of Curious Incident of Dog in the Night time. The plot was obvious and depended a lot on the naivety of the title character. I have mixed feelings on how the author leaned into this because it was part of the story that the character was gullible for a time. There is an additional twist at the end which I appreciated but I don’t think I liked this enough to read another book from the author.

Read September 7, 2022.

The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake

I shouldn’t have read this but I wanted something so mindless. This not something I normally read. It’s basically a Hallmark Christmas movie. The characters are all two dimensionally drawn and most of them are not that likeable. The ending is super sappy. I’m wondering if I should be pickier with my books these days. Thank goodness I read fast.

Read September 23-24, 2022.

Reticence (The Custard Protocol #4) by Gail Carriger

I have been reading this series for a few years now. They are mindless steampunk urban fantasy fun. Most of the characters are enjoyable and the author has added onto them over the years. I have read most but not all of this series. I did not know this book was the last in the series until the end. I felt a bit sad that it was over. I gave it a 4 for the solid end to the journey.

Read September 18-25, 2022.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

I loved this. It really helped relax me during a very bad weekend. I love the use of East Asian fairy tales and iconography. There was not enough of the dragon character. I liked all the characters. I also loved how the author subverted one particular fairytale staple. Very fun. I can’t wait for the second book coming out later this month. I already have the author’s first series lined up on my bookshelf.

Read July 31-Aug 1, 2022.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book is a bestseller. I had heard good things from members of my book club. I liked the old Hollywood era and know about it from my love of old movies. I really liked the characters and the romance. The writing is also really clear. There is something really straight forward in Reid’s prose which makes her novel so easy to read. I have Daisy Jones and the Six on audiobook so I will get that next and read her other works too.

Read Aug 2-5, 2022.

Dirt: Adventures, with Family, in the Kitchens of Lyon, Looking for the Origins of French Cooking by Bill Buford.

I read Heat many years ago and remembered vaguely liking it. This one was much longer and I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. I didn’t warm to Buford’s narration for the first few chapters, but I came to enjoy the stories of his working in the French kitchens and all the characters he meets. Sometimes the book meanders on the origins of the French Cooking without much definition. The best part to me was the reflections and connections on the history in the region. While I have not been to Lyon, I have actually lived in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes so I could picture the landscape. It made me miss France and the French language which has become very rusty in the last 6 years. Not necessarily a memoirs that I would recommend unless one really likes French food and history.

Listened July 30-Aug 11, 2022.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

This was different and engrossing even though there were definite moments where I was annoyed with the two leads. It features too many characters and was a bit slow to start, but it’s a fascinating look at class and coming of age in 1950s Naples. Not hard to read but not easy either because I grew to appreciate both the leads. The book ends with a wedding but it’s not a happy one. I have all the novels in this quartet and will make my way through them slowly.

Read August 16-18, 2022.

The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 10

This volume has background on the main character and a revelation. The background was good but the revelation at the end makes me think the ending won’t be satisfying.

Read August 28, 2022.

The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 11

The ending was confusing and odd. It’s bittersweet. Not sure how I felt about it.

Read August 31, 2022.