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All right, time for a break from the intense blog posts. Let’s talk books! Last night I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon] by N. K. Jemisin.
Wow. I’d heard a lot of buzz about this one, which always makes me nervous, because big book buzz doesn’t always translate to a book I’ll enjoy. But I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read so far this year, and as soon as I can remember how, I’ll be recommending it for the Nebula.
Was it a perfect book? No book is. But I loved the narrative style, I loved the worldbuilding, I loved the gods and most of the characters. It was a very well-written fantasy that sucked me in and kept me up late for the past two nights to finish it.
Jemisin has the first three chapters posted on her web site. Go forth and read.
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One of the nice perks of being an author is that you get the occasional ARC or review copy. This has been a good month. Sitting on my To Be Read pile are review copies of:
- In Ashes Lie [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
- A Star Shall Fall [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
- Hulk Hercules, Professional Wrestler [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
I love being a writer 
I’ve also got a copy of Nnedi Okorafor’s Zahrah the Windseeker [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon], which I picked up at her signing in Lansing last week.
What about you? What have you read and enjoyed lately, and what are you looking forward to picking up next?
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
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Currently, I am reading Transformation by Carol Berg and I am loving the narrative and the characters. This is one book I will probably recommend over and over again.
Have also gotten sucked into All The World's A Grave by John Reed - sort of a Shakespeare twist. It was a little difficult to get into at first, but I really like the idea of Juliet being a cheating spouse, Iago being a disgruntled employee passed over for promotion with revenge issues, and Macbeth being a man riddled with uncertainty and doubt while his mistress then wife (the queen) calls all the behind the scenes shots.
Warning - if you don't get on well with the writing style of Shakespeare, this book is not for you. It's my experience that people either love him or hate him. :)
In nonfiction, I completely enjoyed, and couldn't recommend enough, My Life In Shanghai by Nien Cheng. It is one woman's autobiography of her life in China at the time of Mao's Cultural Revolution and her survival of mental and physical torture. It is an amazing story of courage under fire and sheer determination in the face of chaos and loss. I have utmost respect for Nien Cheng (who past away just last year at 94) and her struggle.
What I am really looking forward to that keeps staring a me from my "to read" shelf is Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. I got a copy randomly, haven't heard a thing about it (haven't even read the back summary which is sometimes a very exciting thing not to do!) and I am excited to give it a try.
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I do enjoy Shakespeare, and (as you might have guessed), I have a great deal of fun with the twisting or reimagining of various tales.
Thanks for the recs!