FRIENDS Book Tag

Instead of a Top Ten Tuesday this week, I’m participating in the FRIENDS book tag!  This tag was created by Steph at alittlebutalot.

Thanks to Books Are 42 for tagging me to participate!  I tag Ruqs over at many things bookish – your turn!

Ross: Seems harmless, but problematic – Name a book you had problems with:

THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett
This was a book that started out strong. The writing style was good, the mythology seemed interesting, and for the first third I was confident I was going to give it at least four stars. But as the book progressed I became increasingly troubled by the treatment of women. They were being sexually assaulted right and left, and when they weren’t, they were hopelessly pining after men who had fates too grand to settle for a mere home life. The book had other problems as well, but that was the one that stuck in my craw the most.

Monica: neat and tidy – Name a book/series that ends satisfyingly

CITY OF MIRACLES by Robert Jackson Bennett
This was a hard one to pick an answer for, given my tendency to start but not finish series.  But this was an excellent read and concluded a trilogy I thoroughly enjoyed.  It’s an unusual series in that the books are years or even decades apart, and each has a different protagonist, but the same characters and locations recur, offering the chance to see how events in one book play out far into the future.

Chandler: funny and relatable – Name a Firm Fave

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch
I love a story about a loveable band of rogues pulling off an impossible heist. This scratches that itch, with, daring, fun, and danger around every corner.

Phoebe: reliable and friendly – An author you always rely on

Brandon Sanderson
I know, I know, but having just read SKYWARD, Sanderson is three for three on series I’ve enjoyed, with the additional challenge of those series being very different in genre, from epic fantasy to sci-fi, adult to YA.

Rachel: she grows on you over time – Name a book/series that’s grown on you over time

THE DRESDEN FILES by Jim Butcher
Here’s the thing about THE DRESDEN FILES.  The first few books are fun as hell, but appear to be fairly straight forward urban fantasy mysteries.  But once you hit about book four, all those little threads that were casually thrown out earlier in the series start to twine together, and the tales become increasingly complex stories of magical politics, with Harry Dresden squarely in the middle of it all.  The series went from good to great and I love it for that.

Joey: looks good on the outside – A book whose cover is better than its contents

THE SMOKE THIEVES by Sally Green
I love this cover.  It gives you a sense that all the characters you are about to encounter are just pieces on a board, that there’s a large game afoot.  Unfortunately, the book itself underwhelmed me, given what the cover and synopsis promised.

Gunther: always there, always ignored – A book you’ve had on your TBR forever

THEFT OF SWORDS by Michael J. Sullivan
I shelved this on Goodreads in 2013 and have never gotten to even purchasing this to read.  I really do want to read this series…I just keep forgetting it’s there.  I’m going to have to do something about this problem next year…..

Carol and Susan: keeping it diverse – An LGBT+ book you love/hate/wanna read

ANGER IS A GIFT by Mark Oshiro
In some ways, this is a companion read to THE HATE U GIVE, though it tackles the issue of police violence from a different angle.  High Schooler Moss Jeffries is black and gay in San Francisco, and his life is further complicated by the fact that his father was mistakenly shot by police a few years ago. At once a love story and a novel of social protest, ANGER IS A GIFT doesn’t offer any easy answers, but continues to raise questions about today’s society that we all need to be discussing.

That’s my list!  Feel free to share your own in the comments below!