I've got 7 books on the list for January, plus the PIFM book which hasn't been chosen yet. We're resuming our buddy read of The Foreigner Series by C.J. Cherryh this month, and also my reread/buddy read of The Dragonlance books. This is one that I'm on the fence about rereading so we'll see if I actually end up reading it again. I'm also looking forward to starting a couple of new series this month, both are relatively short series so they won't be ones I'm reading all year long. I had to reign myself in with the buddy reads. There were more I wanted to participate in.
Reading with my book club-
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
For fans of A Man Called Ove, a
charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship,
reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a
giant Pacific octopus
After Tova Sullivan's husband
died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium,
mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope,
which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik,
mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova
becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus
living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine
but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human
captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever
the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son
disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate
body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.
Shelby
Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a
hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt
impossible.
Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-
The Second Generation (Dragonlance: The New Generation) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Years have passed since the end of the War of
the Lance. The people of Ansalon have rebuilt their lives, their houses,
their families. The Companions of the Lance, too, have returned to
their homes, raising children and putting the days of their heroic deeds
behind them.
But peace on Krynn comes at a price. The forces of
darkness are ever vigilant, searching for ways to erode the balance of
power and take control. When subtle changes begin to permeate the
fragile peace, new lives are drawn into the web of fate woven around all
the races. The time has come to pass the sword -- or the staff -- to
the children of the Lance.
They are the Second Generation.
Destroyer (Foreigner #7) by C.J. Cherryh
The seventh novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences…
It
has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a
rescue mission where over four thousand human spacers were under attack
by a hostile alien race. Now, exhausted from their journey, the crew of
the Phoenix yearns for home. But when the ship makes the jump into atevi
space and contacts Alpha, they learn the that supplies to the station
have been cut off; that civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland;
that the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and that
Tabini-aiji, Bren Cameron's primary supporter and Ilisidi's grandson and
ally, is missing and may be dead.
With no one left to lead the
Western Association, Ilisidi and Bren know that the survival of their
allies lies in their hands. And with the atevi world at war, the only
safe landing strip lies on the human colony at Mospheira. Although there
are many dangers inherent in bringing a powerful atevi leader such as
Ilisidi onto human lands, Bren realizes they have no other choice.
But
even if they safely survive their landing, will Bren and Ilisidi
together prove strong enough to muster the remaining shards of the
Western Association and regain control of their planet?
The
long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre
readers in sub-trilogy installments. Destroyer is the 7th Foreigner
novel, and the 1st book in the third subtrilogy.
Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell
THE WORLD HAS FALLEN INTO RUIN. MYTH AND LEGEND HAVE PROVEN TRUE. MONSTERS HAVE RETURNED TO ILLIAN.
Orcs,
an ancient fiend thought lost to history, have risen from The Under
Realm. Their hunger for total dominance has plunged Illian into war,
pushing the survivors to Namdhor, the last refuge of man at the top of
the world.
For those who stand up to this foe, they do so in
darkness. Ash clouds smother the skies, blocking out the sun as the orcs
rampage across the land.
Behind it all, manipulating from the
shadows, The Black Hand fuels the war on both sides. The Crow, the one
who was promised, has seen the future and works in the depths of The
Bastion to forge a new weapon, a weapon that can stand against the dark
at all costs.
Gideon Thorn is adrift, his order decimated, and
his oath to protect the realm meaningless. The Master Dragorn faces his
greatest test yet, balancing his duty to the people and his duty to his
order.
Inara Galfrey has a choice to make as the realm’s darkest
hour approaches. Malliath and Asher cannot be ignored but holding fast
to her courage could save the world. It could also spell her end.
Doran
Heavybelly finds himself at the throne of his father. There are realms
of hell he would rather visit than the halls of his ancestors. Shackled
and bound, however, the dwarf has no choice but to face his past…
Reading with The Mystery Book Club-
Silenced Girls (Agent Tori Hunter #1) by Roger Stelljes
She moved far away to try and forget her past. A
past that would seep back in when she least expected it and crushed her
soul over and over. She tried to keep the evidence packed away in boxes
high up on a closet shelf like carefully packing away a tragic part of
her life. As if sealing the boxes, was sealing away a time in her life
she desperately wanted to go back and change. Until one day a mysterious
letter arrives from an unknown sender that unravels everything.
FBI
Special Agent Tori Hunter returns to her hometown of Manchester,
Minnesota for the first time in twenty years to investigate the
disappearance of a woman who is gone without a trace. She is desperate
to solve a case that will cause her to confront her own painful past and
question the motives of friends she thought she knew and trusted. It
will plunge her and the other detectives into the crosshairs of a
dangerous killer while in search of the truth.
The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White
Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem.
She’s the “invisible girl,” compelled to poke into her wealthy clients’
closely guarded lives. It’s a harmless hobby until Kit sees something
she can’t unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark
it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This
makes Kit dangerous to the couple. In turn, it makes the couple—who
might kill to keep their secret—dangerous to Kit.
When homicide
cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home
known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent
attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no
body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only
witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the
night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.
As
Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone
involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes
that nothing is quite as it seems.
And no one escapes their past.
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard
No one knew they'd moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder?
56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO
When
lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move
in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to
flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees
it as an opportunity to hide who - and what - he really is.
TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
Will
they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown
provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?
PIFM Book-
To be determined.
