Weekly Reading Check-in: 05/08/19

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Time for another weekly check-in using WWW Wednesday, a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Want to participate?  Simply answer the three questions below and tag the host site!  Book covers link to Goodreads.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

     

Currently Reading: JADE CITY by Fonda Lee
I’m finally getting to the true intent of my Wyrd and Wonder TBR: backlist books!  First up we have JADE CITY, a book I bought on Kindle – *checks notes* – almost a year ago.  On the bright side, I only have a few months to wait for the sequel if I end up liking this – and so far, I’m liking it!  While I knew this was an Asian-inspired setting, I had erroneously thought it was in a more classical fantasy land, but I’m really digging that it’s more of a China in the 1940s/50s vibe.

Recently Finished: AN ILLUSION OF THIEVES by Cate Glass and ONE WORD KILL by Mark Lawrence
Since I spent the weekend at YALLWest events, that meant I also spent a lot of time in lines, giving me plenty of reading time. Reviews for both books I read are coming in the next week, but here are my initial thoughts.  AN ILLUSION OF THIEVES tries to set up a fantastic premise (a group of outlawed sorcerers who work to pull off impossible feats to prevent diplomatic incidents) but is way too slow in getting to the point.  It weirdly left me excited about where a sequel could go, but is not going on my favorites shelf.  With ONE WORD KILL, I’m still working through my feelings – essentially I’m finding myself at the odd juncture of really appreciating the craft of storytelling that went into this tale, but somehow still being emotionally disconnected from the characters.  More on my thoughts soon!

Probable Next Read: THE KINGDOM by Jess Rothenberg
Okay, I brought this on myself.  I panicked, and I requested THE KINGDOM on Edelweiss and some fool accepted.  Since this book comes out at the end of May, I’m going to read it next and get it done, before diving into another hefty fantasy book.  On the plus side, since the setting is at a Disneyland-esque amusement park, it kind of still ties into the Wyrd and Wonder fantasy theme, even if it’s about a cyborg who may have committed a murder.