Anyone who knows me also knows that I am largely incapable of two things: 1) Sticking to a TBR and 2) Reading one book at a time. So, rather than just doing normal Reading Wrap Up and Next Five Books posts, I thought it would be nice to also do Currently Reading posts. I’ve seen a similar idea on BookTube where vloggers do weekly reading vlogs, and I thought I’d try my version in “print” format. This way my lovely blog readers can keep up with what I’m reading and what I think of each book so far. It will also hopefully help everyone look forward to reviews of these books as future posts on the blog!
Right now, I’m reading four books, and I’m about halfway through each one. A couple of them are really good so far while the other two aren’t as good as I was expecting. If all goes according to plan, I should finish all four books by the end of the week. (I finished two of the books just before posting this!)
1. The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall
This is a relatively short fantasy book taking place between a fictional world called Ahri and its afterlife world called Mkalis. At least I think Mkalis is meant to represent the afterlife. I’m honestly not sure, but it is a place of 999 realms. Each realm is controlled and ruled by a demon of some kind. The story is about a woman and being known as the Border Keeper who manages something called the Shadow Line between Ahri and Mkalis. She agrees to shepherd a man named Vasethe through Mkalis in search of someone.
The story so far is full of mysteries, and it’s taken me over 25% of the book just to get a grasp on the world as a whole. How that world works or where exactly the story is going is still a mystery to me. The author likes to rely on revealing things to the reader rather than presenting rules for how the world and characters work and letting the reader draw conclusions. I’m not sure how much I like this story yet, but I plan to finish it soon. Look out for my review hopefully next week!
2. Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
In this story witches are real. The main characters are all witches, all live in Great Britain, and they all grew up together. At one point or another they’ve each been a part of a society known as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. Think of it as the magical police squad that takes care of rogue witches and warlocks and other magical and supernatural threats.
Most of the book takes place after a big supernatural war, and the main characters are still adjusting to their new lives as adults. Then, a prophecy is shared about a child that could turn very evil and cause a war even worse than the last. It’s very interesting so far, and I was excited to learn it’s the first book of a planned trilogy. I also need to finish this to discuss it online with book club members!
3. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
My sisters have been trying to get me to read this book for years, and now that I’ve started it, I have no idea why I took so long to read it. The story takes place mostly in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, but it isn’t just the navies and armies fighting. Dragons fill the skies as part of the aerial corps for each side which adds a whole new dynamic to the fighting.
The main character is a Royal Navy Captain named William Laurence. His ship the Reliant defeats and commandeers an enemy French vessel off the coast of Africa, and he is surprised by the fight the crew put up considering how poorly conditioned they are. That is until he sees the dragon egg they were guarding. Despite his best attempts to avoid it, Laurence ends up becoming the dragon’s handler, and names him Temeraire. They go on to form a beautiful partnership and learn more about Temeraire’s origins. It’s a great book and look out for a review soon since I finished it last night!
4. Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
Orbit Books gave me a complimentary review copy of this book, and it took me way longer than it should have to finish it. That’s not because the book is bad, though. It’s very, very good! However, my habit of reading several things at once meant I read this book in snatches instead of a few longer reading sessions.
Eversion is different from a lot of other sci-fi books I’ve read. Basically, the story revolves around a crew on board a ship. The crew’s doctor, Silas Coade, is the narrator and main character. The strangeness comes from the fact that the people on board keep dying. Silas remembers previous ships as dreams. Each time he “wakes up” they are on board a newer version of the same ship, on the same journey, seeking the same artifact. It’s very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey if you ask me, and I did not expect the ending at all. I’ll have a review up for this book in the next few days, so keep an eye out for it!
So, that’s what I’ve been reading the past few weeks. I’ve already started another book to replace the two I’ve finished because I obviously have a problem. Hopefully, I’ll be able to finish Her Majesty’s Royal Coven and The Border Keeper this week. Keep an eye out for a new Next Five Books post soon as well.
Have you read any of these books? Do you read one book at a time or multiple? Let me know in the comments below!
Tea Rex Reads 