February 2023 TBR

This month kicks off my Tortall reread!

I’m going to start with Beka Cooper, reading Terrier first and then the other two. My goal is to post about each book, and then do a mini wrap-up of the trilogy to both pull my thoughts together and contextualize (yes, so fancy and highfalutin) it within the world of Tortall and also in YA fantasy.

I am totally, absolutely, 100% planning to finish editing Dark Swan this month, since it did not happen in January and I feel like a sham of a writer for not pushing through. Much of January felt very hazy and unfocused for me.

And I also want to read all the other things and do all the things, so this coupled with my mood readery self means that this month is going to get interesting.

I’ve got a mix of ARCs and backlist titles for this month. I’m pleasantly surprised that I was able to get ahead on my ARCs so that I’m wrapping up April releases (although not as far ahead as I’d wanted, but oh well), but who knows if this is going to last.

As always, blurbs are from Goodreads.

Beka Cooper

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost’s Guard, commonly known as “the Provost’s Dogs,” in Corus, the capital city of Tortall. She’s assigned to work with Mattes and Clary, famed veterans among the Provost’s Dogs. They’re tough, they’re capable, and they’re none too happy about the indignity of being saddled with a puppy for the first time in years. What they don’t know is that Beka has something unique to offer she hears information that is passed in murmurs when flocks of pigeons gather … murmurs that are the words of the dead.

Also up is the rest of the trilogy, which where my two least favorite Tortall books (although Numair’s book was also not a fave), so we’ll see if that opinion changes after ten plus years since reading them.

• Bloodhound
• Mastiff

The ARCs

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (April 4)

In the far north of Canada sits Camp Zero, an American building project hiding many secrets. Desperate to help her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother, Rose agrees to travel to Camp Zero and spy on its architect in exchange for housing. She arrives at the same time as another newcomer, a college professor named Grant who is determined to flee his wealthy family’s dark legacy. Gradually, they realize that there is more to the architect than previously thought, and a disturbing mystery lurks beneath the surface of the camp. At the same time, rumors abound of an elite group of women soldiers living and working at a nearby Cold War-era climate research station. What are they doing there? And who is leading them?

The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur (April 18)

Gemma needs a wife to meet the terms of her grandfather’s will and Tansy needs money to save her struggling bookstore. A marriage could be mutually beneficial, if they can fool everyone into thinking it’s a love match. Unexpected sparks fly as Tansy and Gemma play the role of affectionate fiancées, and suddenly the line between convenient arrangement and real feelings begins to blur. But the scheming Van Dalen family won’t give up the company without a fight, and Gemma and Tansy’s newfound happiness might get caught in the fallout…

The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart (April 18)

Lin Sukai has won her first victory as Emperor, but the future of the Phoenix Empire hangs in the balance – and Lin is dangerously short of allies.  As her own governors plot treason, the Shardless Few renew hostilities. Worse still, Lin discovers her old nemesis Nisong has joined forces with the rogue Alanga, Ragan. Both seek her death.   Yet hopes lies in history. Legend tells of seven mythic swords, forged in centuries past. If Lin can find them before her enemies, she may yet be able to turn the tide. If she fails, the Sukai dynasty – and the entire empire – will fall. 

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (April 25)

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Backlist Titles

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Leah is changed. Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

In the fictional Chinese town of Yong’an, human beings live alongside spirits and monsters, some of which are almost indistinguishable from people. Told in the form of a bestiary, each chapter of Strange Beasts introduces us to a new creature – from the Sacrificial Beasts, who can’t seem to stop dying, to the Besotted Beasts, an artificial breed engineered by scientists to be as loveable as possible. The narrator, an amateur cryptozoologist, is on a mission to track down each breed in turn, but in the process discovers that she might not be as human as she thought.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

This is the story of Misery Nomaki (she/they) – a nobody from a nowhere mining planet who possesses the rare stone-working powers of a saint. Unfortunately, these saint-like abilities also manifest in those succumbing to voidmadness, like that which killed Misery’s mother. Knowing they aren’t a saint but praying they aren’t voidmad, Misery keeps quiet about their power for years, while dreaming and scheming up ways off their Forge-forsaken planet. But when the voice of an angel, or a very convincing delusion, leads Misery to the center of the Empire, they find themself trapped between two powerful and dangerous factions, each hoping to use Misery to win a terrible war.

Audiobook Hopefuls

In list form, because who knows what library holds will come in? But it looks like a fairly nonfiction heavy month, which sounds good to me. I also want to catch up on some podcasts this month too.

• Cackle by Rachel Harrison
• Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
• The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia
• The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
• How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
• Shine Bright by Danyel Smith

What do you plan to read this month?