Books 2019

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay

This was a re-read for me, as it just became available on Kindle.  It in fact wrapped up my complete re-read of Kay’s fiction, which I mostly handled in 2018.


Grant by Ron Chernow

After reading the award-winning (and musical-inspiring) Hamilton by Chernow, I was moved to pick this one up — especially after a positive review by the Grant-fanatic in my life.  I’ve only read through the start of his presidency, but Chernow delivers the same unaffected but impactful style and brings his subject to life.  Incidentally, there are a lot of books about the Civil War; they often neglect the western campaigns. This book covers the War, of course but its subject requires Chernow to pay attention to that part.


The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes

Book 2 of the Rogues Of The Republic, a follow-up to The Palace Job

The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes

Book 3 of the Rogues of the Republic.

Taken together, these three books are a decent if low-impact fantasy series. Intentionally or not, they have a real Leverage vibe (especially the third one), although they’re not quite as polished as John Roger’s classic TV show. Con jobs in fantasy settings are becoming more common (The Lies of Loch Lamora, the Mistborn series) but they all seem to veer into straight up combat at some point. Weekes does a decent job moving the plot along and the (huge) team of players is well-constructed, with everyone getting sharply-drawn personalities.


The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas pere

Solaris Rising Vol. 2 anthology

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

A People’s Future of the United States anthology

Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe ed. by Robert B. Parker

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

The Raven Tower by Anne Leckie

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit by James Traub

An excellent biography of the 6th President, whose term in the Oval Office was in fact one of his lesser accomplishments in the fields of diplomacy and public service.

James Madison

The Clockwork Dynasty

Neverwhere

The Collapsing Empire

The Consuming Fire

A Wizard of Earth-Sea

Fall, or Dodge in Hell

The Collected Works of Arthur C. Clarke

The Map of Knowledge

Nevernight

Everless

The Fifth Season


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