Sue's Saturday Suggestions #33

Interesting Books

(Descriptions from Goodreads)

The Archived by Victoria Schwab, review at Cuddlebuggery

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord, reviews at The Book Smugglers & The Speculative Scotsman

A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever.

Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies . . . and a force that transcends all.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger, review at Fantasy Faction

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

I have listed these titles in earlier SSS posts: check out my SSS Books Page for links to more reviews:

Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells, review at The Oaken Bookcase

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, review at Gizmo’s Book Reviews

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, reviews at Calico Reaction & Into The Hall Of Books

Firelight by Kristen Callihan, review at On A Book Bender

Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher, review at Parajunkee

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, review at SFF World

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron, review at Far Beyond Reality

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, review at Escaping One Book At A Time

Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson, review at Addicted 2 Heroines

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, review at Fantasy Cafe

Shadow and Bone / The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo, review at The Oaken Bookcase

The Six Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher, review at Fantasy Book Critic & The Book Smugglers

Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason, review at Beauty In Ruins

Giveaways

Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason at My Bookish Ways

Jan De Lima

Jan shares some pictures of snowy Maine from a recent snowmobiling trip to Katadhin . . . plus a disturbing house decoration courtesy of one of her sons . . .

Suggested Blogs

If you are looking for other blogs to follow, you might find this post at Warpcore SF useful in identifying the ones that review the genres you prefer.