GOOD NEWS: Had a great time during our annual rental cottage vacation. Pretty sure I’ve found a title I like for The Witch Novel.

BAD NEWS: My husband developed plantar fasciitis so the trip to Italy we were to leave for on Saturday is now cancelled. Ah well, Italy will still be there in 2028. If it’s not, I suppose we’ll all have much bigger problems…

On to my reading over the last three months. I continue to be reading less than last year. Sigh.

FICTION:

Palaces of the Crow, Ray Nayler. Another fantastic book by Nayler, featuring his usual war, devastation, and politics but now with added crows.

Exordia, by Seth Dickinson. I quite enjoyed the audiobook of this, despite the mustache-twirling villain (who, it must be pointed out, was a large serpent likely incapable of growing a mustache). It also explores politics, deception, language, and heaven and hell. And things blow up in a satisfying way.

Ring the Hill, Tom Cox. Another excellent book from the Cox collection, this one a series of essays/stories about hills and how to live (or not) on them.

Fates & Furies, Lauren Groff. I loved the other Groff books I read and I initially struggled with this one, which is the story of a relationship, first from one side, then the other. But about two chapters in, I found the groove and ended up liking it. The second half of the story was … unexpected. Which is just fine with me.

The Works of Vermin, Hiron Ennes. This one absolutely blew me away. The story itself was fascinating, but the sheer craft of it boggled my mind. I listened to it as an audiobook (and kudos to Max Meyers for pulling off a very difficult balancing act) and now I want to get a copy so I can go through and figure out how the hell they made it work.

Seasons of Glass and Iron, Amal El-Mohtar. An amazing collection, full of swoon-worthy prose, sharp edges, and rich worldbuilding. The stories have the feel of literary fairy tales, which is absolutely my favourite thing.

NON-FICTION:

From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdogan, Suzy Hansen. Hansen focuses on one neighborhood in Istanbul and charts the changes in politics and culture through the lives of the various people who live there.

This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark, Craig Fehrman. I knew the basics of the Lewis and Clark story, but Fehrman draws on forgotten documents and Indigenous perspectives to retell the story through the POVs of a diverse group, including York, Clark’s slave, and the various tribal leaders involved in their own diplomacy and politics.