Tsana's July Status

Hello, readers! It's been a month heavy on reading and also comic books. I will admit, I took advantage of having bought the first three volumes of Saga by reading them all in a day and queueing up the reviews to post while I was on holiday. (In case you were wondering why that particular week seemed slow.)

It's been a bit of a long month, as well, with a lot happening, or so it feels looking back. The most dramatic news was that on of my favourite imprints,  Strange Chemistry (of Angry Robot), closed its doors. Very sad news, especially for authors with upcoming books that were cancelled with various degrees of suddenness. I still have some Strange Chemistry books left in my review pile, so keep an eye out of those. (Sadly, there was one book I reviewed that got pulled before publication and another ARC I have which is presently not being published and hence I probably shouldn't review... :-/ )

On a completely different note, my next status update will be a few days early (in the sense that I usually aim for the 15th of each month) because I will be off to WorldCon in London and then a holiday. Before that, there will also be something exciting coming to the blog, but you'll have to wait to find out what. It does mean that I'll probably have some reviews stored up to post while I'm away, so it won't be a complete black hole. Anyway...

What have I read? 

• The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne — A really excellent read. A different kind of near-future SF and one of my favourite books of the year.
• Short stories on the Hugo 2014 ballot — Generally pretty good. I'm very impressed with most of them.
• A semi-random selection of short stories — Good reads by design. Wouldn't've bothered otherwise.
• Use Only As Directed edited by Simon Petrie and Edwina Harvey — A themed anthology where the theme (also the title) works very well and has produced some nicely broad stories. 
• Bound by Alan Baxter — Dark Kung Fu urban fantasy.
• Red Sonja Volume 1: Queen of Plagues by Gail Simone — New comic book series. My favourite part was Red Sonja gaining clothes as the story went along. (Also, it was a good read.)
• Innocence Lost by Patty Jansen — Dutch-inspired fantasy world, a pretty quick read.
• Chasing the Valley: Borderlands by Skye Melki-Wegner — book two of the Chasing the Valley series (review of book 1 here). I really like this series. Steampunk dystopian is a very loose description.
• Saga Volume One by Brian K Vaughan — Science fictional comic book series, this volume won a Hugo last year.
• Saga Volume Two by Brian K Vaughan — Science fictional comic book series, this volume is shortlisted for a Hugo this year.
• Saga Volume Three by Brian K Vaughan — As above, but released this year.
• Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier — Awesome YA book. Set in 1930s Sydney, sort of about razor gangs. (Did you know that guns were illegal at that time in Australian history too? I didn't.)
• Chasing the Valley: Skyfire by Skye Melki-Wegner — The last book in the Chasing the Valley trilogy. <3 although it had a bit of a weird end.

What am I currently reading?

I'm currently reading three main books, ignoring books I've been part way through since last month but haven't picked up since (but still plan to). The novel I'm currently reading is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It's been Hugo-shortlisted, which is why I'm reading it now, and I've heard lots of good things about it from many people, which is why I'm reading it at all. So far, it has lived up to expectations better than I expected. The start is a little slow (I'm about a quarter of the way through), but I'm finding it sufficiently interesting to make up for the pace.

The short story collection I'm reading is Last Year, When We Were Young by Andrew McKiernan. I've only got four stories left, so the review should be up soon. They're mostly horror-ish stories, some more horrific than others.

And finally, I'm reading the non-fictional Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer. I was intrigued by the extract of it provided in the Hugo voter packet and then, when I saw it in a real-life bookshop, I was entranced by how pretty it is. And my husband agreed that it could be an early birthday present. And it's so pretty. I'm also reading it intentionally slowly — because it's that kind of book — so who knows when a review might appear (or what kind of review it would be).

New Booksies

I have another large book haul this month, which only serves to make me more behind on my reading. Such are the pitfalls of being a book blogger. And also of spontaneously buying books because you can.

• Ambassador 1: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen — purchased because on sale and because I've been meaning to read it.
• Bound by Alan Baxter — ARC from Voyager. Already reviewed.
• Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis — purchased because it looks pretty great.
• The Ocean At the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman — purchased paper book because we went to a paper bookshop and it saves me having to buy it when I'm at WorldCon or something.
• The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter — purchased at the same place and for the same reasons as above.
• Saga Volumes One, Two and Three — as above and also because Volume Two is Hugo shortlisted. Already reviewed: One, Two, Three.
• Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer — purchased with above because it's pretty. And because I'm hoping it will motivate me to write a bit more than I'm currently managing.
• A Wrong Turn At the Office of Unmade Lists by Jane Rawson — purchased because AWW and Aurealis Award shortlisting.
• Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes — ARC from (US) publisher via NetGalley. Looking forward to it.
• Help Fund my Robot Army!!! & Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects edited by John Joseph Adams — collection of SFF stories in the form of Kickstarter proposals. A Kickstarter that I backed a while ago (because that is the most obvious choice of delivery for such a book).
• Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier — Purchased because. Already reviewed.
• Big Bang (Hal Spacejock #7) by Simon Haynes — Purchased because I realised it existed.
• Daggers of Dresnia by Satima Flavel — ARC of the first in a début fantasy series (which was a smidge late getting to me).
• Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress — ARC via NetGalley of short (maybe novella?) SF book. Have enjoyed the author's short stories in the past.
• Loving the Prince by Nicole Murphy — ARC via NetGalley, science fiction romance.
• The Sorcerer's Spell by Dani Kristoff — ARC via NetGalley, fantasy erotica (eek).