HesterAnadil

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eleniel
@eleniel

In 2021 my reading goal was 5 books. I read 4. This year I set a goal for 10 and had to up it to 30 after getting through ten by March!! Yay reading! Here’s what I read this year:


  1. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Did Muir single-handedly reignite my passion for reading? Probably!! GtN is beautiful and weird and fucked up, and I just love it so much I actually read it and later listened to it too. Bury me in the Locked Tomb, I live here now.
  2. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. This book is a work of genius. The way it puts the reader deeply into Harrow’s perspective is brilliantly done. It’s disorienting, and it’s meant to be. But the payoffs are incredible, and rereading is wildly satisfying. A favorite that I will cherish for a long, long time.
  3. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. This year I decided to start reading all of Tamora Pierce's work in publication order, since her work was something I had missed growing up. The first book is definitely one that is fine, and it mostly holds up, but I would have made this thing my entire personality when I was a kid. I am very much looking forward to more Pierce.
  4. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. I read A Deadly Education late last year, and got around to the sequel in February. I liked this one even more. The way El goes from hoping to survive the system to working to dismantle it is incredible, and I love the entire cast so so much. I just want them all to be okay!
  5. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 2 by Kamome Shirahama. A gorgeous and gentle manga about art and creativity. Just lovely.
  6. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 3 by Kamome Shirahama.
  7. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. If you've ever been murderously angry about misogyny, this book is for you. I loved it.
  8. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. A beautiful novella that I appreciated more than loved, although the ending absolutely rips.
  9. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 4 by Kamome Shirahama.
  10. Space Opera by Cat Valente. It's doing the Douglas Adams thing, but nobody is Douglas Adams. That said, I really liked the characters, and a lot of the alien species were very fun and inventive. Goodreads tells me there's a sequel on the way, which I will definitely check out! And I absolutely need to read more Valente.
  11. In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce. Y'all, I admit completely forget what happens in this one.
  12. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce. This one did not age as well as the other Alanna books. Alanna spends time with one of the nomad tribes of Tortall, and it's problematic! I did like the treatment of Alanna's relationship with Jon, though.
  13. Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce. THIS book, though? This book slaps. A thrilling and bittersweet conclusion to Alanna's story (for now??).
  14. Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing, Lee Garbett, Jorge Coelho. I started to get very interested in Marvel's Loki after adoring Thor: Ragnarok, and this is the series that kept coming up. I adored it. There's something about this trickster shapeshifter constantly grappling with their identity that speaks to me I guess!!!! I feel like I'm already due for a reread.
  15. Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen, Jaime McKelvie, Matt Wilson. Going backwards in time for Loki here. This comic is so painfully and wonderfully mid-2010s, a period that feels ancient now. Anyway. It's great, I liked it a lot.
  16. Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce. The Tamora-thon continues! Pierce's next heroine is Daine, a girl who is connected by magic to all the beasts of the world. This is even more my speed than beloved knight Alanna. Really looking forward to seeing where Daine's journey takes her.
  17. Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. I had no idea what to expect going into the third Locked Tomb book. In the epilogue of the second, Harrow appears to have lost her memories and is living with Camilla and Pyrrha, and that is right where Nona begins. We are once again thrown into a completely new world and a mostly-new cast with no idea of what all of this has to do with what's already happened. And somehow, Muir pulls off that magic trick once again. I can't wait for hell to be unleashed in the final installment.
  18. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. This little book. Made me feel. So seen. It really is like a warm cup of tea.
  19. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. The horror and the stakes ramp way up in the final Scholomance book as we follow El out of school and into the greater magical world. I found it to be a bit heavy on the plot and could have spent more time with El's friends, but overall, a wonderful ending.
  20. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto
  21. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 2 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto
  22. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 3 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto. The first three volumes cover the first big arc of SIKTC, wherein we meet monster-killer Erica Slaughter and follow one of her hunts in the midwestern US. Great horror, terrifying and gross and heartbreaking.
  23. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. The follow-up to Psalm and just as good. Loved it.
  24. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 4 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto. A backstory volume going more in-depth about Erica joining the House of Slaughter.
  25. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 5 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto. A new arc that, so far, sets up some really terrifying villains for Erica.
  26. Poison Ivy by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara. It's great! Issue 7 is out now! I wrote about the first six issues here!
  27. The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh, Walter Baiamonte. Just an adorable comic about high school stage crew and a magical backstage pocket dimension. Steven Universe vibes, sweet and fun.
  28. The Backstagers, Vol. 2: The Show Must Go On by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh, Walter Baiamonte. More of the above!
  29. Legends and Lattes by Tavis Baldree. Mentioned previously! It's really nice and I liked it a lot.
  30. Loki: The God Who Fell to Earth by Daniel Kibblesmith, Oscar Bazaldua, Andy MacDonald. While not as personal to me as Agent of Asgard, this series was nice and fun and just getting going before being tragically cancelled. Verity was back and everything! This is why I hate comics!!

THAT'S IT. Another 30 in 2023? Maybe. Another year of being fucking obsessed with the Locked Tomb? You bet.


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