Here are the books I read in March:

1. All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (404 p.) The last of the “good” Pern books, in my opinion–one of my favorite sci-fi series. Here, the people of Pern finally beat Thread once and for all….

2. Song of the Beast by Carol Berg (467 p.) Her books usually come in series, but this one is a stand-alone. Aidan–cousin to the king and master bard–has spent the last 17 years in prison for reasons he doesn’t understand. Now, he is free but hunted by the dragon handlers who seem to hold a grudge. Carol Berg writes a masterful fantasy book, almost always filled with heartache and suffering, and this one certainly fits … very good.

3. Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (321 p.)
4. Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (359 p.) These are the two “Pre-Liaden” books, telling the story of Liaden’s far-distant beginnings, how Cantra yos’Phelium and M. Jela meet and ride the luck to help save the galaxy. Excellent sci-fi, though I prefer the “real” Liaden books better, if only because I so like the settled world they created first. I enjoy reading about these beginnings, but love reading the core books more.

5. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (266 p.) A YA book that I would have loved when I was 12 but kind of bored me as an adult. Peggy is newly-orphaned and sent to her family’s home in New England where she’s soundly ignored by her uncle but visited by Colonial-era ghosts who tell her their story … So disappointing–if only I’d discovered it 30 years ago.

6. Dark Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow (186 p.) A modern, urban fantasy book. Theodora is a greatly-gifted witch being hunted (unbeknownst to her), and has been assigned a Watcher named Dante to keep her safe. Good enough book though I didn’t love it–but then, urban fantasy isn’t my favorite.

7. Standing Still by Kelly Simmons (262 p.) Claire suffers from panic attacks, but when she finds an intruder about to kidnap her daughter from her bed, she asks that he take her instead–which he does. This is a first novel by a fellow knitter (I heard about it on Ravelry first) and was very good. Not as intense as the premise sounds, it’s really a very … mellow … kind of story, restricted almost entirely to the hotel room where Claire is held captive. It’s not a daring-escape, edge-of-your-seat kind of story, but it was good. (Which, since it got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly is pretty much what you’d expect, right?)

8. Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb (662 p.) Fantasy, first in a series. Fitz has been living a quiet, isolated life for years, but suddenly is brought back to Court by a threat to the Prince … standard kind of fantasy, well-done, enjoyable enough.
9. The Arm of the Stone by Victoria Strauss (426 p.) Also fantasy. Imagine that the gifts of mind power (telepathy, and so on) used to be part of our world until The Stone was stolen and all the magical towns and people suddenly were in a splintered alternate world? And that that world cracked down on any technological advances as blasphemy? And that one family was destined, in secret, to reclaim the stone that had once belonged to their ancestor? This was really excellent.

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (309 p.)
11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (341 p.)
12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (345 p.)
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (734 p.)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (870 p.)
14. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling–Just this little, YA fantasy series you might have heard of? I’m pretty proud of myself for resisting rereading book seven since I read it in July, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire series from beginning to end.

15. Wood: Craft, Culture, History by Harvey Green (405 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a history of wood, its uses, and how the need of it has affected human development. Informative, well-researched, nicely-written, but not exactly gripping as a story (grin). Still, it was interesting to learn that “hardwood” and “softwood” are not actually defined by the relative strength of the woods, but by the way the trees actually grow. I had no idea–I had just always assumed that hardwood was, well, hard!

16. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermeyer (320 p.) First in an epistolary trilogy–written in the form of letters between two cousins in post-Napoleonic England in an alternate world where magic actually exists. Charming. Fun. Good read.

17. Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True by Elizabeth Berg (223 p.) A very nice book about writing–tips on how to write, how to discipline yourself to write, how to find inspiration … all that.

18. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin (636 p.) Excellent–which, since it won the Pulitzer, shouldn’t be surprising. This tells the story of the Roosevelts during WWII and was fascinating. They certainly had an interesting marriage, but, wow, was Eleanor ever a woman ahead of her time. I’ve never really read a book about her, even though she’s always mentioned on lists of “great women,” and just based on this book alone I’m incredibly impressed. Fascinating story–this is exactly the kind of history book I like best. Stories of the people and personal interactions going on and the way they affected the bigger events unfolding. Because, really, if you don’t know about the people, the rest is just names and dates, right?

19. The Grand Tour by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemeyer (469 p.) The second of this trilogy–Kate and Cecy are now married and travelling together on their wedding journey, when they (and their husbands) stumble on a mysterious plot focusing on various magical ruins about Europe. I don’t think this is as good as the first book, but part of that is because they’re not letters. Instead, Kate is writing in her journal and Cecy is telling her story as part of a deposition–it loses that personal connection of telling the events to someone. But still, enjoyable.

20. The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemeyer (328 p.) Third of the trilogy and it takes place ten years later–another mystery but this time with added children. At least it’s back to direct-address letters again, this time with Thomas and James (the husbands) chiming in with their own. Good, but the first book is still the best.

21. The Garden of the Stone by Victoria Strauss (485 p.) The sequel to The Arm of the Stone, and definitely the weaker of the two. It takes place about 30 years after the first book and focuses on Cariad, Bron’s daughter who has never met him but has been trained as an assassin and wants nothing more than to kill Jolyon for his part in her parents’ downfall. This had its moments but I don’t think it was nearly as good as the first one–Cariad and her story just wasn’t as interesting as Bron’s story in the earlier book, and the best part of this one was when Konstant finds Bron in “our” world….

22. Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan (281 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a book about how to clean things with environmentally-sound products. As in, instead of using harsh detergents that just leach into the world’s water supply, things you can use instead to clean anything from your floor to your furniture to your bathroom to your jewelry. Now I just need some spray bottles to mix some of my own….

23. A Test of Wills by Charles Todd (305 p.) Mystery, first in its series, with Inspector Rutledge taking the lead. It’s 1919 and he’s just back from WWI and suffering from “shell-shock” (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) but struggling to pick up his life as a Scotland Yard inspector. Very good mystery. Enjoyed it a lot.

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Books from March //