Paladin’s Hope by T. Kingfisher

This is the third book in the Saints of Steel series that I found on Hoopla.

Published: 2021

Genre: fantasy

Length: 300 pages or 9 hours 7 minutes

Narrator: Joel Richards

Setting: in and around Anuket City, a bit after the events of Paladin’s Strength

Summary: Short version: Galen and Piper fall in love over the mystery of some dead bodies

His Family by Ernest Poole

This was the first book to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

Published: 1917

Genre: literature

Length: 299 pages

Setting: New York City, 1910s

Summary: Short version: Roger watches his family grow and change

Proof by Induction by Jose Pablo Iriarte

This is another short story nominated for a Hugo Award this year.

Published: 2021 in Uncanny Magazine (where you can read it for free online)

Genre: science fiction short story

Setting: generic future

Summary: Paulie proves a mathematical conjecture using technology to talk to his dead father, but it doesn’t fix his relationship.

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat

This was a BBC Big Read book I could find on Hoopla to listen to.

Published: 1951

Genre: historical fiction

Length: 520 pages or 17 hours 48 minutes

Narrator: Simon Vance

Setting: England and the Atlantic Ocean, 1941-5

Summary: Short version: Life aboard a convoy ship escort during WWII

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

This was a Time Top Fantasy novel I saw at the used book store and decided to pick up.

Published: 2018

Genre: fantasy

Length: 370 pages

Setting: Mostly Elsira, an industrialized country

Summary: Short version: Jack and Jasminda must awaken the Queen Who Sleeps to stop the True Father

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

This is the second book in the Magicians series. I’m trying to finish a few series before I start new ones, but it’s so hard to remember to go back to a series.

Published: 2011

Genre: portal fantasy

Length: 400 pages

Setting: Fillory and various locations around Earth, two years after The Magicians

Summary: Short version: Quentin and Eliot are on a quest to save magic and Julia has changed

Salt by Mark Kurlansky

I was in the mood for some nonfiction in a science or science-adjacent topic and found Kurlansky.

Published: 2002

Genre: nonfiction history

Length: 449 pages of text, 484 pages total

Summary: Short version: A history of salt use and production around the world

Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow

This is another short story nominated for a Hugo this year.

Published: February 2021 at Apex Magazine (you can read or listen to the story for free at that link)

Genre: fantasy short story

Setting: present day Earth

Summary: Our narrator is a Junior Reaper, but Sam keeps restarting a kid’s heart instead of leading his young soul across the river

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Since I’ve caught up on my current book reviews, I have time to post some of my old reviews. When I read this, it was just being made into a movie. I wanted to refresh my memory of the source material before I watched the movie.

Published: 1986

Genre: superhero graphic novel

Length: 1200 pages

Setting: alternate history US, 1985

Summary: Short version: Ozymandius prevents WWIII by staging an alien invasion

Alta by Mercedes Lackey

I picked this book off the library shelf because it was a book about dragons from a author I loved as a teen. I didn’t realize until I put it on GoodReads that it was the second book in the series. Luckily the jacket text had lots of details about the first book to fill me in.

Published: 2004

Genre: fantasy

Length: 402 pages

Setting: the city of Alta, an ancient Egypt-type location

Summary: Short version: Raising dragons from an egg changes the power dynamics in Alta