I was kind-of-but-not-really surprised at how fast April flew by! I was taking a break from writing, mostly, so that was definitely a contributing factor. Now here we are in May and I guess my break is over!
Glancing at my books-acquired-and-read lists, I see I bought 14 books in April, and read 12. The overlap was about normal: I read five of the ones I bought in April. The rest were off my TBR pile, which of course did not shrink. My goal — one goal — was to whittle down my physical TBR pile to something that would fit on the three shelves allotted. I didn’t quite manage that, but I did reduce the overflow.
Okay, the April list:
PEACEMAKER by CJC. I re-read this one from front to back, so I’ll count it. Of course I re-read it as a prelude to reading:
TRACKER by CJC. I really enjoyed it, of course!
VOYAGE OF THE BASILISK by Marie Brennan. I love this series intellectually rather than passionately, but I do love it.
SHIFTING SHADOWS, that short story collection by Patricia Briggs. I definitely like short stories better if they fit into a familiar world. That must be why I get ideas for Black Dog short stories when I never seem to feel inclined to write independent short stories.
NIGHT BROKEN by Patricia Briggs. So enjoyable. Plus horses.
ICE CREAM STAR by Newman. I really admired it, though it’s hard to say whether I liked it or not.
I RODE A HORSE OF MILK-WHITE JADE by Wilson. I loved the setting (Mongolia) and enjoyed the story. I could see myself giving this away to the right 12-year-old kid.
A POINT OF HONOR by Dorothy Heydt. Really enjoyed it.
KINGS IN HELL by CJC and Janet Morris. Unfortunately, it seemed much more a Janet Morris book than a CJ Cherryh book. I mean, that’s unfortunate for me because Morris’s writing simply does not appeal to me. Your mileage may vary, obviously. I put this one on the give-away pile.
KILL ALL THE LAWYERS and KEEP THE LAW by Barry B Longyear. I really enjoyed these a lot. I could not see how Longyear was going to get that one problem to work out, but he did. Lots of grim stuff in this series (starts with INFINITY HOLD), but it’s fast paced, a real page turner. Also, for an adventure story, it’s a startlingly idea-heavy series. I’m going to be thinking about this series for a while.
ALL FOR YOU by Laura Florand. When I was picking favorite authors not long ago, favorite-authors-where-I’ve-loved-at-least-eight-of-their-books, you recall that list, I forgot about Florand. Probably because she doesn’t write fantasy and I was thinking about SFF authors. Anyway, I really enjoyed this books — because Laura Florand! — but, though I may comment more fully later, for now I’ll just say a) very enjoyable; b) but I preferred ONCE UPON A ROSE earlier this year. Ah, Provence! With roses!
A Laura Florand romance was a perfect way to end the month.
Now I must really and truly think about plowing through the revision of the HOUSE OF SHADOWS sequel … DOOR INTO LIGHT? I’m thinking I will just go with that. I believe I can make it work as the title. Anyway, I need to clear that revision away before getting serious about THE WHITE ROAD OF THE MOON, which is, as I’d better keep firmly in mind, mostly unwritten and due in September.
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