Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
What are some interesting portrayals of religion in fantasy? Do you like seeing invented religions, or do you prefer fantasy worlds to have none?
Let’s get that second question out of the way first–a fantasy world without any religion is completely unbelievable. Now, I’m not saying that every Fantasy novel has to talk about it, give us details, or anything–there can just be a passing mention of a deity, temple, priest, cleric, whatever–even just a religious symbol. This is an invitation for someone to suggest a religion-free fantasy to me to make me eat my words.
Now, I think it’s obvious to anyone who’s even glanced at what I post on weekends that I take religion pretty seriously, and I like to see books that do that, too. There’s a danger in that when it comes to, say, Crime Fiction—because that typically ends up with a religion/church being depicted in a less-than-flattering way, a protagonist throwing out their faith (at least for a time) to get something nasty done, hypocrites run-wild, etc. And actual, according-to-Hoyle, blasphemy is lurking around the corner for an even well-intentioned author to stumble into (or a not-so-well-intentioned author to rush into). This also comes up in SF about humans in either the far-flung or near future. If we get into an alien race’s religion, we’re typically on safer ground. (there are exceptions to this, I said “typically” not “universally.”)*
The same is true in Fantasy—typically, we get totally made-up religions—yes, there might be an analogue to one in our world, but that’s not the same thing. And it’s not just the religions that are made up—the deities and their mythologies are made up, as are the rites, beliefs, etc. When an author chooses to spend some time on this, they can do a lot. This can be fertile ground to display world-building, for creating ethical grounds for the character’s actions/attitudes, and for plot as well. I don’t want to say it’s a must for a Fantasy novel, but it does make the world more “lived-in” when there’s some sort of religion (even if the characters are non-practicing and it’s a wholly background thing mentioned once or twice).
Here are six depictions of religion in Fantasy that leap to mind. (Yes, I could spend some more time and come up with a longer list—but I’ve got to cut it off somewhere). Five of these I really appreciated, and one has bothered me for a long time and bugs me more the more I think about it.
The Princess Beard by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Let’s start with something silly. Throughout this book (I don’t remember this showing up in the first two books in the series), the Sn’archivist receives direct revelation from the god of Pellanus. He’s spent most of his life on one subject–but now Pellanus has come up with a new book for the Sn’archivist, and the topic is…let’s go with odd. Perhaps even at the level of juvenile humor (okay, not “perhaps.”). We check in on this poor, beleaguered figure throughout the book, and it’s sillier practically every time.
Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
I’m embarrassed to admit how little I remember about the religion of this one (a good excuse to reread it–and finally the rest of the series). But I do remember a fairly corrupt church leadership, prone to twisting events to fit their own ends. I also remember a faithful priest, dedicated to service and unaware of how corrupt the leadership was (or maybe he was aware and just didn’t let it alter his practices). I remember admiring the priest and hoping the best for him, and can easily imagine several in that sort of position during many time periods in reality.
Widdershins Adventures by Ari Marmell
Well, I did a quick fact check on this, and I was conflating a couple of series together. So, I had to throw out a lengthy paragraph. Still, I really enjoyed this series featuring a young woman thief who is the only follower of a god from another country than her own. As this god’s only follower–she’s possibly the only person alive who’s heard of Olgun–she essentially has him living in her head, communicating with her freely (and inopportunely). The not-always-friendly relationship between these two characters makes the series shine, as together they take on enemies supernatural and mundane.
Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The underlying beliefs of the religion aren’t that terribly outstanding. What stuck with me is the ecclesiastical structure/religious culture of it. (Okay, there’s some bits of the religion that stuck with me, but they all involve ruining the book if you haven’t read it yet). The book focuses on an adventuring party, and their cleric/leader’s religious beliefs inform the telling of the book and are the default setting for the reader. Then, midway through the book, we meet their archbishop (I don’t remember if that’s the actual name, but it’s an episcopalian structure, so that’ll work). His take on prophecy, orthodoxy, interpretation, and the like is significantly different than the cleric’s. But he doesn’t demand she agree with him. Then we meet a sect of the church that disagrees with both, with an even more significantly different take on a particular prophecy. Their existence suggests they’re not the only one around. Basically, you’ve got a bunch of people vying for conceptions of truth (to be commended–even if I can’t sign off on their methods) and power. It’s a kind of Church that feels real, lived in.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The religious lives of the Gentleman Bastards are part of their identity–they are the congregation for their temple. At the same time, they don’t really seem to care about their god, Crooked Warden, the god of thieves. It’s about their duties to the temple. In their youth, Jean Tannen went and trained with students of another god, and could carry out their rites. (I cannot remember if the rest of the group did something similar). While it didn’t seem to be encouraged–or even openly discussed that much–but the idea that the various priests had an understanding where one could step in for another is kinda cool.
Wizard in Rhyme Series by Christopher Stasheff
I haven’t read this entire series, so maybe it gets better–or some of my problems with this get ironed out. But a man is sucked into a parallel universe of some sort. Earth physics work, as does some sort of magic–and the Roman catholic church exists there, too. Well, it’s a pre-Reformation Church (and one without any of the Eastern Orthodox communities). What irks me is the way that Roman Catholicism exists in this world–how does that happen? Also, the way that our Earthling is able to get Saints and others to work things in favor of the rightful ruler (and those working for her cause) just seems odd. It almost makes the religion another form of magic–belittling it. It’s been too many years since I read them last (and I really enjoyed the first book…the next one less so, and the next less…), so my recollection is liable to be faulty, but I’m pretty sure about it.
So, anyway–these are some of the more memorable Fantasy uses of religion. If I took a week or two off, I’d be able to come up with more. This aspect of a Fantasy novel can really make things sing–can make the world feel alive in ways that other things can’t (I should’ve mentioned A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, I now realize), and I don’t think it gets enough attention compared to other parts of the worldbuilding.
* I’m not trying to suggest that various congregations, church leaders, even ecclesiastical structures don’t have this kind of depiction coming–nor that there’s a good amount of realism to base it off of. I just don’t see as many positive, or even mixed, depictions in SF/Crime Fiction, so I’m not as liable to be able to list depictions of religion in those genres that I like as I can in Fantasy.
I’m sure some of the other posts in response to this prompt will be more thoughtful. I’m looking forward to reading them. Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Let’s start off with this feel-good story. Make-a-Wish Idaho helps a fifteen-year-old cancer survivor become a published author with an assist from Ridley Pearson. The book can be ordered here.
Do You Actually Have to Finish That Novel?—I’ve linked to several pieces about DNFing over the years, but this one is from The Yale Review, so it has to be smarter, right? (snark aside, it’s worth your time)
How To Read Sixteen Books at Once (At All Times)—this might make you tired just reading it. My hat’s off to Jo Walton for this, I just cannot imagine doing this.
Benjamin Stevenson on the “Gamification” of Crime Fiction: How fair play mysteries invited readers in even further.—a good piece on Gamification that’s at least as charming as his books.
Paperback vs. Hardcover: Which is Better For Readers (and For Writers)?
How to Find Your Book Twin—In which Carol introduces me to a new term.
Quirky Picturebooks to Read Aloud for Rhyme Times and School Classes!—making notes for Grandpappy’s Corner.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Belated Binge The Rise and Fall of Sonder in the Alex Verus series —I haven’t finished it yet, but Sonder’s arc in the Verus series is one of the most intriguing (and not one I would’ve guessed at). Glad to see it getting attention.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Dead is Better by Jo Perry—one of the better books I read that year. Still an all-time fave.
Risen by M. T. Miller—I’ve been reading Miller that long, too? Impossible.
And I mentioned the releases of: The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen; An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel; and Snakewood by Adrian Selby
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips—”Amateur private investigator and new dad Charlie Shaw gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to track down a young girl’s missing father.” I talked about it earlier this week. It’s just so much fun.
Black Bag by Luke Kennard—”An out-of-work actor accepts the role of a lifetime—sitting soundlessly in a lecture theater, zipped into a large leather bag—to aid a professor’s psychological experiment. What could possibly go wrong?” I wrote about this absurd and thoughtful book last week.
The Lost Daughter of Sparta by Felicia Day, illustrated by Rowan MacColl—”a feminist graphic novel about the lost mythical character of Philonoe—Helen of Troy’s sister.” I’ve started this, and am enjoying it.
Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson—”Ten heists. Ten suspects. A murder mystery only Ernest Cunningham can solve in this delightfully clever and twisty new novel.” I’m finding Ernest himself harder to put up with the more the series goes on, but these are too clever to stop with.
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano—Finlay attempts to come to Vero’s rescue from the law and a stalker.
I had fun with this back in ’23, but keep forgetting to do it since then. Thanks to Witty and Sarcastic Book Club for reminding me to tackle it.
First Book Read in 2026
 /td> |
| Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis |
I started this year by wrapping up my 2025 project of reading Lewis works with his final novel.
First Review of 2026
I really don’t like calling my posts reviews, but for the sake of this tag, I’ll swallow that. I’m a little fuzzy about what they’re asking for, was that the first review of the year? Or was it the first book from this year that I reviewed? Eh…I’ll do both, just because.
 |
| Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor |
Cranor’s series premier about a rookie FBI agent was plenty of fun and the first book I posted about this year.(my original post about the book)
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| Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Ace Atkins |
It took me a few weeks longer than it should’ve to read it, but Atkins’ 80s set spy thriller with a sense of humor was the first book I read and posted about this year.(my original post about the book)
First Debut Read in 2026
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| She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan |
This did not read like a debut novel–but according to the Internet (the repository of only truth), it was. (my original post about the book)
First “New to Me” Author of 2026
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| All the Best Dogs by Emily Jenkins |
This charming MG novel about the best dogs was my introduction to Emily Jenkins.(my original post about the book)
First Book of 2026 that Slayed Me
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| Twelve Months by Jim Butcher |
Twelve Months
I’m still recoving from reading this book back in January.(my original post about the book)
First Book of 2026 that I Wish I Could Get Back the Time I Spent Reading It
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| A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay |
This was just…pointless, generally unpleasant (and not just because of a unsavory protagonist), and a mess. It erased a lot of the respect I had for the author after his memoir.
First 5 Star Book of 2026
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| Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Ace Atkins |
I’m known for enjoying Atkins’ books, but this is probably the most fun I had with one of his books. Fast, clever, and funny. (my original post about the book)
As usual, I’m not tagging anyone in this—but I’d like to see what you all have to come up with.
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter: He is Vengeance, He is the…no, that’s pretty much it, Vengeance.
The Rage of Dragons
by Evan Winter
DETAILS: Series: The Burning, Book One Publisher: Orbit Publication Date: March 10, 2020 Format: Paperback Length: 523 pg. Read Date: February 2-5, 2026
“The days without difficulty are the days you do not improve.”
Tau ran harder. He was not the strongest, the quickest, or the most talented, not by any measure. He knew this and knew he could not control this. However, he could control his effort, the work he put in, and there he would not be beaten.
He made a pact with himself, a pact he swore on his father’s soul. If he were asked to run a thousand strides, he would run two thousand. If he were told to spar three rounds, he would spar six. And if he fought a match to surrender, the man who surrendered would not be him. He would fight until he won or he died. There would be, he swore, no days without difficulty.
What’s The Rage of Dragons About?
Tau is a teenager who is destined for military service—like pretty much everyone in his nation. Tau’s advantage is his father’s tutelage as a swordsman. His father is training Tau’s higher-class friend and works Tau into the lessons.
Their nation, the Omehi, was driven from their ancestral home and took refuge in another land—and has spent every day since then combating the indigenous people for enough land to survive.
Several injustices are visited by people close to Tau, and then his father is struck down in a senseless fight—and those who did the killing (and ordered it) are protected by their status. Tau is not much more than a competent sword-fighter, but he commits himself to becoming skilled enough, powerful enough, to kill everyone involved in his father’s death.
The next few hundred pages tracks all of this learning and efforts toward that goal—the allies he makes, the many mistakes he makes, and the blood he spills along the way as his quest intersects with the Omehi’s war.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I started this because it was the Book Club pick for the month—and I was pretty curious, because I remember a lot of positive buzz when it was released years ago.
I kept at it because as frustrating Tau was—infuriatingly so, at times—I had to see what was going to happen to him. The broad brushstrokes of the plot were pretty obvious—it was a question of how he got to the point of “greatest living warrior.” Did he have allies left? Had he changed his worldview? Did he actually get any of the vengeance he set out for? Did he become some sort of monster along the way? Did he pick up any kind of wisdom?
Also, it’d just been a while since I’d read a fantasy novel with a bunch of action—and I tell you what, this is so far beyond “a bunch of action.” This was a big brick of adrenaline, and there’s no chance to think about stopping.
A Portrait of Monomania
Single-minded is an understatement when it comes to Tau. Where a lot of people will talk about devoting themselves to revenge, or justice, or a new business. But other than Bruce Wayne before he returns to Gotham, we’ll see them relax with a friend, take time for pleasure in something, and take care of themselves. Tau, on the other hand, literally has to be ordered to bathe; he eats and sleeps just enough to keep going—other than that, from waking to sleep, he’s working. His work ethic (obsession) reminded me of Adam Lowe, the Olympic Long Jumper from Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie, just more intense.
Where Adam is so focused on a millimeter or two of distance for the record—always just a little further, a little faster, Tau looks for just a little bit of edge when it comes to combat. And then a little more, and a little more, and then a little more. He’s destroying himself in the process of becoming what he demands of himself—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, those of his fighting unit (“Scale”) are not unlike Tau—they’ve lost family members, they’re of the lowest caste—without a real opportunity to make anything of themselves to support their family if not as warriors (and even then, it’s not that much of an opportunity). They want all the things that Tau does—and more. But they’re not willing to give up as much, to deny themselves as much, to push themselves as much. They’d love the opportunity to help Tau, to be a team for him—to take part of his burdens on their shoulders, and have them do the same for him. But he’s so…obstinately focused on his vengeance that he doesn’t pay them the heed he should.
For example, one of his Scale is a solid tactician and could really help Tau with patience, subtlety, a plan. Tau’s idea of subtle is not shouting a battle cry before he attacks; a plan for him is knowing which sword he’s going to use first against you. That’s not true—he comes up with several plans throughout the book—and then abandons them at the first opportunity for a wild impulse to come along.
The Non-Tau Elements of the Book
If it sounds like I’m down on Tau, I’m really not. He’s an impetuous hot-head, but you can’t help rooting for him (as you keep wanting some sense to get knocked into him). But, it’s really good that he’s surrounded by characters who aren’t exasperating—and for the most part, are the kind of characters you’d typically want to focus on. The others in his Scale, his commanders, his love interest, his childhood friend, even some of the men he’s trying to kill are just really good, even fantastic characters—there’s even at least one Xiddeen that I enjoyed getting to know (as angry as I was with her for who she killed).
The magic system, the government of the Omehi, the way they control dragons (although I want to see them burn by dragonfire for it), the mysterious Cull that drove the Omehi from their land…all of that—utterly fascinating, so rich, frequently so unlike things we’re not used to seeing in Fantasy.
And really, you remove Tau from the equation and leave everything else—and Winter’d have the making of a pretty decent Fantasy novel/series. But when you mix in the living weapon that is Tau to the mix? Then you get something epic.
So, what did I think about The Rage of Dragons?
This is deep, this is rich, this is thoughtful—and it’s non-stop action. How Winter pulls off that trick is something you’d have to study this for yourself to really understand. But he does it.
I haven’t actually said it yet, but the combat scenes—either in training, or real combat—or the giant battle scenes? Some of the best I can recall. If it weren’t for Michael Michel, I’d probably say I couldn’t remember the last time I’d read some that were so good.
The Rage of Dragons hits all the marks you want in a Fantasy novel—characters, magic, setting, combat, a struggle between nations/peoples that’s a scale almost to hard to comprehend, an intricate social structure, and the promise of more of all of that in the books to come. Oh, and dragons. Can’t overlook them!
If you haven’t picked this up yet, you’re going to want to. If you have—you’ll understand my excitement about this. I’m eager to find a way to work the second book into my schedule this year—and I heartily suggest you find a spot for The Rage of Dragons.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays
by Harper Lee
DETAILS:
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Format: Hardcover
Length: 224 pg.
Read Date: January 28-30, 2026
What’s The Land of Sweet Forever?
The short version is that this is a collection of eight short stories and eight short non-fiction pieces by Harper Lee.
That seems a bit lacking, so here’s what the Publisher says:
Harper Lee remains a landmark figure in the American canon – thanks to Scout, Jem, Atticus, and the other indelible characters in her Pulitzer-winning debut, To Kill a Mockingbird; as well as for the darker, late-’50s version of small-town Alabama that emerged in Go Set a Watchman, her only other novel, published in 2015 after its rediscovery. Less remembered, until now, however, is Harper Lee the dogged young writer, who crafted stories in hopes of magazine publication; Lee the lively New Yorker, Alabamian, and friend to Truman Capote; and the Lee who peppered the pages of McCall’s and Vogue with thoughtful essays in the latter part of the twentieth century.
The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee’s early short fiction and later nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee’s youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan, The Land of Sweet Forever invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life.
There are three pieces that I want to focus on: two short stories and one essay.
“The Cat’s Meow”
This story takes place in Maycomb—our favorite fictional community. Our narrator (a thinly disguised Harper Lee) returns home for a visit from New York City, and stays with her sister (a thinly disguised version of her sister, Alice). In this story, Alice has a “Yankee Negro” gardener with a criminal past. His actions, life, and interactions with people in the community are the focus of the story.
The narrator is clearly not comfortable with the way that the gardener is treated—but lacks the courage to follow through beyond a comment or two lest she do something to cause an irreparable rift.
It’s easy to judge the narrator (as the editor seems to in her introduction), but it’s also really easy to empathize and root for her quiet push-back and hope for something bigger around the corner. Anyone who’s been in a dicey conversation in the last few years with a relative on the other side of a political/social divide will be able to relate to this.
The characters are fully human and flawed. Everything is incredibly relatable, and you can’t help but feel for the gardener (even when he makes some huge errors in judgement)
“The Land of Sweet Forever”
This story right here is worth the purchase price of the book. It showed up in Go Set a Watchman, but don’t hold that against it.
There’s something about the characters and conversations in this story that just worked for me—the storyline itself is almost non-existent, but the scenes that make it up are so good that it doesn’t matter.
I can’t put my finger on what about this that clicked with me, and I really don’t know how to discuss it. It’s a simple little story that made my heart swell.
“Love—in Other Words”
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the non-fiction portion of the book, but when I finished it, I put in my notes, “If this is what these essays are going to be like, I’m very happy.” Sadly, this was the best of the batch—by a lot.
It’s really a basic essay about love—Lee invokes historical figures, general sentiment, literature, and the Bible, and comes up with something that just strikes you as true. Practically timeless. Yeah, it’s basic, but it doesn’t need to be more.
So, what did I think about The Land of Sweet Forever?
A lot of the stories/pieces were just fine or underwhelming—the collection as a whole isn’t that great. The high points were high (and I didn’t discuss them all), and the low points were forgettable.
But this is definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. We get to see a lot of different aspects of Lee here—ways she developed as a writer. The way she can lift bits of her older writing and incorporate them into her novels. Her personality. This is a great way to understand her.
I’ve heard and read the story so many times about her friends giving her a place to live for a year so she can focus on To Kill a Mockingbird. We all know how close she was to Capote, or how much she admired Gregory Peck. Reading those things in her own words just makes those things we all know resonate so much more clearly.
I don’t know how often I’ll read this entire collection again (certainly before I re-read Go Set a Watchman), but I can dip back into it here and there. But I’m so glad we have it. I think if you have more than a passing interest in Lee, you will, too.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Twelve Months
by Jim Butcher
DETAILS: Series: The Dresden Files, #18 Publisher: Ace Publication Date: January 20, 2026 Format: Hardcover Length: 463 pg. Read Date: January 20-22, 2026
So at this point, if you haven’t read Twelve Months, there are only a few reasons to explain it: You’re not a Harry Dresden fan; You’re a new Harry Dresden fan and haven’t gotten far enough yet; You’re still on a library wait list; you’re waiting for the paperback and are trying to avoid spoilers. If any of those are true, I’m not going to convince you to read it. And I’m okay with that. I still want to talk about it some. Spoilers for everything before this book.
If I tried to write a full post about this book, I wouldn’t finish. There’s just too much to say, so I’m going to fall back to one of my bullet point lists of things that I’d like to fully develop, but I know that I can’t. I’m most likely missing 6-12 things from this, too. I really have so much I want to talk about when it comes to this book. I just loved the whole experience I had with it.
The book focuses on a grieving Harry—not just grieving Murph. But for all the damage, death, and destruction wreaked on Chicago. Also, the…you know, everything that’s happened in the 17 books before this. It’s raw, it hits you hard. And it is just what this series needed.
This novel also gives a lot of the fans who are still trying to deal with Karrin’s death with the chance to do so with help from Harry. I still don’t want to think of the next few books being Murphy-free, but I’m better about it now.
I didn’t expect to see Fitz return from Ghost Story. When I re-read or listen to Ghost Story, I enjoy him and wonder what happens to him after it—but I promptly forget him. Now that he’s back for the long haul, I’m more than happy to see that. Watching the way that Harry is working with him in ways he didn’t with Molly is interesting—a good sign of character growth (also just a reflection that Molly and Fitz are different).
We got far, far more new characters to the series than I expected. Especially characters that look like they’re going to be around for a while. Better than the number is the quality of the characters.
Of those, my favorite has to be the Valkyrie, Bear. She’s a mighty warrior. She’s wise and oddly emotionally aware. And she’s just fun. I can’t wait to see her and Thomas go into action side-by-side. It’s going to be fun.
I should say something about how powerful the depiction of grief and (the beginnings of) dealing with it were.
Yes, the new characters were great. But the established ones? Even better—Bob, Waldo, Mouse, Sanya, even Daniel Carpenter…I’d missed these guys (yeah, I just finished going through the series again a couple of months ago—but still, I’d missed them). And Will? Will should get a post unto himself.
I’ve long enjoyed Lara as a semi-antagonist, a mostly-trustworthy ally (when they’re forced to work together), but now? I’m on the verge of actually liking her as a character. I’m a little uncomfortable with that. I also trust that I’ll get over that.
I didn’t expect we’d learn so much about the origin of the White Court—and I really didn’t expect it to be anything like what it was.
Part of me feels that the Thomas story arc in this book (and going back to Peace Talks) might have been a little too easy. I don’t know if I could defend that point outside of bullet points like this, but that’s my gut.
I should say something more about how powerful the depiction of grief and (the beginnings of) dealing with it were.
Everything with Maggie just melted my heart. I love this girl like she’s real.
Everything with Molly was almost as good—there was no way to predict that Harry’s padawan would end up anything like she did (so far). I would’ve liked to see her involved some more in Harry’s adventures, but I see how that’s not possible all the time (and might make things less of a challenge for him, so it’s good that she’s not)
There’s a major scene where Harry does some of the biggest and most complicated magic we’ve seen in this series—and wow. Butcher nailed that so well.
In that aftermath, the way that Mab and Mother Winter interact with each other and with Harry? I got chills.
I really want to stress how powerful the depiction of grief and (the beginnings of) dealing with it were.
That said, I laughed a lot and hard throughout this book (right before or right after I got choked up, usually). I cheered so hard at things, too.
Simply put, this is the best thing that Butcher has written. I mean, I’ve spent almost two decades expecting to love a Jim Butcher novel (and have only been let down twice), but Twelve Months has impacted me in ways I didn’t expect. I’m just beyond impressed with this.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
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| Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie |
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Caitlin Davies |
I haven’t gotten very far (40 or so pages) into Leckie’s book, but there’s something interesting afoot. I just need to figure out what it is.
Yes, some of what I’ve heard makes me think that The Spellshop is too heavy on the romance for my taste. But at the same time, a lot of what I’ve heard makes me think the cozy fantasy is just what I need. So, let’s give it a shot, eh?
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky |
Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs, read by Holter Graham |
There were so many things about City of Last Chances that were great and entertaining. But at least an equal amount that fell flat. And I’m not sure that all the good bits belonged in the same book. I’m really looking forward to the Book Club discussion next week to help me work through some of these things.
The premise for this book seems like a stretch—and while I enjoy Asil, I don’t know that I needed this much of him all at once. Still, it was a fun listen.
What do you think you’ll read next?
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| True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color—from Azure to Zinc Pink by Kory Stamper |
Return to Sender by Craig Johnson, read by George Guidall |
I’m looking forward to learning a lot in this focused bit of word-nerdery from Stamper.
I think I could use a return to Longmire’s Wyoming. Might as well take a minute for it now.
What’s been grabbing your interest lately (or, I suppose, what’s been failing to?)?
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Lekan was self-impressed, condescending, and the single best argument against making firstborns heirs to anything.
So your eyes are open. You see the world for what it is. Is it enough? The world as it is?”
Tau was frustrated and had been bold with his umgondisi. He tempered his answer and lowered his eyes, out of respect. “You know it isn’t,” he said, wanting to say much more.
“And perhaps it never will be. But, while we breathe, the best of us never stop trying to make it better, even if just by a little.”
I’ve been a soldier for most of my life and I’ve learned hard lessons. Fight for too long and you lose sight of the things you started the fight for. Fight for too long and you lose anyway.”
Tau sneered. “What then? Surrender? That’s your answer? Surrender, when the fight becomes hard?”
“No. Fight for what’s right, but never forget that fighting can also be done without violence. It can be done as it is now, with words, ideals, people seeking a better path, together.” Jayyed put his hands on Tau’s shoulders. “You can’t imagine a world where we work as hard at peace as we do at war?”
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera should be content. And she is, really. But she’s also kind of–dare she say it–bored. Sometimes, all an old lady wants is a murder to solve. Is that too much to ask for ?
Jump by DL Orton
“Love has a way of slipping in through the side door—usually while you’re fixing the hinges.”
“I’m fine.”
“Nobody’s fine,” I say. “We all fake it in shifts.”
“If I fake any harder, I’ll need a union break.”
Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
But did they really deserve that? All of them? The soldiers, the gamers, yes. But what about the children? And the old folks who’d never done anything wrong? That was the problem with war. It was impossible to color within the lines.
What could they have possibly done for us? …We were a cause to them. And causes were these floating nebulous things that lived on screens and online forums. A ribbon one could put on their profile picture. They were something one could wear like a pair of sunglasses or a new jacket. A way to present themselves to the world. A way to say, “Look at my halo. Look at how much I care.”
I thought of my grandmother, and what she’d said that day she died. I didn’t understand it at the time, I was pretty sure I’d never understood it until just now. “The closer we are to the end, the more we need to embrace our happiness.”
Banners of Wrath by Michael Michel
“Governance is a lot of hard decisions and cold food. In the end, you sacrifice such comforts in the hope that all the hard work amounts to something. Riches and power are one type of freedom. A warm meal and an hour undisturbed, another, more desperate kind…Never forget, we work to ensure the mantle of rule remains in the hands of those who appreciate the latter kind of freedom.”
“I—I can’t.” He wrung his hands together. “You fight them. You have Darkhorn. I’m just a kid. ”
“We’re all kids at first, and then one day we aren’t. We look around and find it is we who must fight. We who must do what others are too afraid to do, because if we don’t the good of this world slips through our fingers until there’s nothing left but the ashes and dried blood of the innocent.”
Death may be the price of warriors, but grief is the price of the ones they leave behind.
Barodane scratched his beard. In the month and weeks it had taken them to voyage across the turgid waters of the Sea Forest, he’d given up shaving. Any man who held a knife that close to an artery with the sea bucking underfoot was either mad or so dumb they deserved to die.
“Tyrants oft arrive in velvet slippers but they always leave in iron-shod boots.”
Hate made an odd bedfellow for love. Nevertheless, the motto brought peace to her heart. It was like cleaning a pot before cooking in it. If she didn’t do the dirty work of scrubbing first, whatever rotten or molding thing that had been there would soil the next.
All she desired were clean memories. Stainless images of love.
“Old women like me need plenty of rest. Sleep though…” Thruna tapped a fingertip against her own temple. “Brain knows the next nap could be the last, so it keeps me vigilant.
It wasn’t ideal, but so few things in life were. For as long as he could remember, he’d been trying to force that truth to be different, stepping over a passing moment of joy to hunt the great mythical beast of happiness.
And missing it. Missing it every time.
Regret, he decided, was the greatest curse of man and the cruelest gift of the gods.
“You are here to make trouble?”
“No, sir. No trouble.”
The taller guard arched an eyebrow. “You reek of trouble.”
“So my mother used to say.” Hymobi raised a palm. “I assure you, that smell is merely my armpits. Nothing a bath won’t cure.”
First Do No Harm by S. J. Rozan
…the question becomes—”
“What was O’Brien hiding?” I finished.
“Took the words—”
“Right out of your mouth.”
“Do you think he was—” Bill stopped but I didn’t pick it up. “Hey, I thought you were reading my mind.”
“I left. It was dark and spooky in there.”
“I thought this was a hospital. I thought everyone was in the business of saving lives, not their own butts.”
“In the business,” Elliott said. “Start from there.”
Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot by Christopher Farnsworth
Hanrahan blinked twice at Jesse. He didn’t get the joke. Or pretended not to. A lot of people reacted that way to Jesse’s sense of humor.
Molly would have told him that was a sign he wasn’t all that funny, but Jesse didn’t really tell his jokes for any outside audience.
Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief by T. Kingfisher
Algol wasnt a bad sort, really. He was bigger than usual for a goblin, a whopping four foot ten, with broad, knotty shoulders and enormous feet. He had the ocher-gray skin of a hill goblin, and he wasnt all that bright—but then, he was a goblin officer.
Smart goblins became mechanics. Dim goblins became soldiers, Really dim goblins became officers.
His clothes were odd. Elves usually looked immaculate. It was how you could tell chey were elves. You could cut an elf’s leg off, and he would contrive to make it look as if two legs were unfashionable. Elves were just like that. It was one of their more annoying traits.
Goblin tea resembles a nice cup of Earl Grey in much the same way that a catfish resembles the common tabby. They share a name, but one is a nice thing to curl up with on a rainy afternoon, and the other is found in the muck at the bottom of polluted rivers and has bits of debris sticking to it.
There were cattle in the town square. Some of the humans had died when the cattle crushed them. It was a mess, a horrible mess, which was a laughably ineffective word for the scene before them.
At least if she thought of it as mess, she didn’t have to think of it as people.
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan
Just as how the seaman finds a barrel to save himself in the rough seas, I keep myself afloat with stories. Books may not solve all my problems, but at least they prevent me from sinking into the abyss.
There are how-to books out there introducing ‘hacks’ to increase reading speed, and when we’ve just made up our minds to get into the habit of reading, it’s easy to fall into the impatience of wanting to read quickly and read more. But reading is about understanding the world and ourselves, not finishing as many books as possible. We aren’t reading to become faster, but to feel and understand more.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
“I have never understood potatoes,” Sissix said. “The whole point of a potato is to cover it with salt so you don’t notice how bland it is. Why not just get a salt lick and skip the potato?”
Sethi was a quiet place. Out of the way. Modestly prosperous. Uncomplicated. No gaming hubs or prefab stores. There wasn’t even a real shuttle dock, just a wide, unattended area suitable for landing small spacecraft and supply drones. Looking around, Rosemary understood why a young adult would want to leave such a place, and why an elder would want to come back.
Jenks knew a thing or two about time. It was hard to be a tunneler and not pick up some of the basics. Time was a malleable thing, not the measured click that clocks would have you believe. Whenever the ship punched, Ohan had to be sure they came back out in the right time, as if it were all mapped out backward and forward and side to side, an infinite number of stories that had already been written. Time could crawl, it could fly, it could amble. Time was a slippery thing. It couldn’t be defined. And yet, somehow, he knew with absolute certainty that this was the longest ten minutes of his life.
(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)
Stakeouts and Strollers
by Rob Phillips
DETAILS:
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: March 17, 2026
Format: eARC
Length: 336 pg.
Read Date: March 2-6, 2026
What’s Stakeouts and Strollers About?
Charlie Shaw, a former investigative reporter, is now a rookie P.I. His boss has him working low-risk cases as he learns the job—and because he’s a new dad. Charlie is besotted with his little girl, Callie. So much so that he does things like wear down his phone battery enough watching her on the monitor so he doesn’t have enough power to take the photos he needs to document his target’s affair.
Soon after, he’s back on the case and tracks the woman to the home of the man she’s having an affair with. Beyond getting the photos he needs to satisfy the client, two significant things happen.
First, he runs into a teenage girl who is seemingly trying to follow the same person. Secondly, he witnesses the man his target was seeing get beaten by a large man and acts to help him.
My summary is getting convoluted—that’s on me, not Phillips. Charlie tracks down the girl—Friday Finley—who didn’t turn out to have anything to do with anyone that was at the scene he met her at. She’s actually trying to track down her father, who ghosted her and her mother years ago, and is now seemingly tied to some criminals working out of a dive bar.
Charlie’s between jobs, thanks to getting the incriminating photos, so he can help Friday track down her dad. This is where things get complicated and dangerous.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
The cover and title caught my eye, and the premise sold me.
I kept reading because Phillips’ text is smooth and engaging, and Charlie is one of those narrators that you can’t help but like immediately, so you want to see how things turn out for him. And I can’t imagine how a reader can’t want to know what happens next for Friday once they’ve met her.
Basically, everything about the book made me want to keep going.
What does this book tell us about humanity?
The big through-line with this book is family. Sometimes we’re talking about found families, but most of this is blood family.
Some of the families are dysfunctional, some are loving and supportive, some are still figuring themselves out, some are falling apart—but this novel is just littered with families. It’s the key to practically every motivation, decision, and goal for these characters.
Family is something many of us take for granted, at least one we can undervalue, given whatever day/stage of life we’re in. But seeing these characters do all these various and sundry things because of family rings so true. When X is doing Y for reason Z, it’s easy to dismiss Z as folly or greed. But as soon as it becomes “for reason Z and family,” both the character X and the action Y become relatable, understandable, and possibly even sympathetic.
This is on just about every page of this novel, and more than any other reason, it’s what grounds this work and draws you in.
So, what did I think about Stakeouts and Strollers?
This is just fun—Charlie’s got all the makings of a decent fictional PI, but Callie is a big distraction for him. Which makes you like him all the more—he’s such a girl dad. When it comes to Friday, he assumes a role between paternal and big brother.
A book that starts with a P.I.’s phone battery dying because he’s watching his daughter starts off with a certain tone—mildly comedic and light. Sure, there are legitimately tense and violent scenes (nothing that couldn’t show up on Prime Time TV), but the book retains that lightness. It’s practically wholesome—particularly any scene that features Charlie’s family.
The investigation itself is full of a bunch of great turns. And Charlie’s investigative chops are pretty evident.
I don’t know if this is the beginning of a series or just a fun one-off. Either way, it’s a satisfying time, and I recommend you pick it up. I’d enjoy watching little Callie grow while her dad tackles more cases. But if this is it, I can imagine that happening anyway. I expect I won’t be alone in hoping we get to see the family again.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press & Minotaur Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.