What We're Reading Wednesday

Krispy and I have been reading some surprisingly okay/even good books lately, and I realized we haven't done one of these look-at-what-we've-been-up-to-reading-wise posts in a while.  Take a gander at our recent reads!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - This is the book for which Krispy and I attended a book signing and were generally greatly anticipating for a multitude of reasons.  Krispy read most of it and then I stole it from her while she frolicked in Vegas, and then she stole it back, and I read it while I was at her house and finished it and had to wait impatiently for her to finish it so we could discuss.

Ultimately, she liked the book and I thought it was okay.  I probably would've been more frustrated/critical if I hadn't read the original online version of it; nostalgia hardcore factored into the experience.  A joint review of this light/diet-fantasy adventure is forthcoming.

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard - Krispy just finished this one and rather enjoyed it.  She also judged it to be a book thatI wouldn't immediately lambast with an F and 0 stars due to sheer character incompetence or stupidity, which means I have neutrally medium-high hopes for it.  She did say it was very plotty and we had an interesting discussion about racial stereotypes that may or may not be stereotypes and the difficulties involved in writing them in a historical/period piece like this.

Mind you, the racial discussion sprang from a minor part of the book.  Post on that possibly forthcoming.  In the meantime, Krispy enjoyed the Victorian zombies.

City of Fire by Laurence Yep - I found this MG book at the library and was like holy crap omg because it was Laurence Yep and alternate history San Francisco with shape-shifting dragons, magic, mythological creatures, and more multiculturalism than you could shake a stick at.

It started off amazingly awesome, well-researched and with glorious immersive world-building--but by halfway through, the book started to lag due to pacing issues and a very, very straightforward plot, and Big Reveals that were tossed off in a very flat informative manner.  I do want to read the sequel but I have lowered expectations.

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake - Krispy just got this one from the library and is reading it right now.  It is the much-anticipated (by us) sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood which we both enjoyed and never managed to write a review for, although you can get an idea of how much we liked it from the fact that it was all over our Class of 2011 YA Superlative Blogfest posts.

Krispy's not far in yet but likes it so far, and she'd better read fast because I want to read it too.  We don't read much YA horror around here just because we get distracted by shinier covers and titles, but Kendare Blake pens some good ghost stories.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder - A book about which we have both heard a great deal and which many people have urged us to read.  Krispy got it from the library and as usual I stole it from her.  The only other book I've read by Maria V. Snyder is Inside Out, which I liked but didn't love, and I can tell that Poison Study is her first book from the way it's written.

Which is not to say that it's not interesting and fairly well-written, mind you!  I do have some suspicions about a large plot point though.  Also, despite the fact that the heroine is around 16 or 17, this doesn't seem like YA and the publisher is not a YA publisher, so I'm not sure why I've seen it touted as YA.

That's what's on our current literary platter!  Fantasy, Victorian zombies, alternate fantasy San Francisco, horror and ghosts, and poison fantasy.  Delicious and deadly!

What have you been reading lately?  Old good books, new good books, much-recommended books?