Hi friends! Welcome to Reading Lately! Be sure to join Catherine (Catherine Chicotka) and I for the linkup below and add more books to your to-read list! When I look back at August, it was a little light on reading. I actually didn’t finish a Kindle book, which is odd for me. I guess I just didn’t have much time to read away from home! But I did get some pretty good reads in.
What I’ve been reading lately
Buried Heart by Kate Elliott: The final book in the trilogy (you can read my reviews of book one and two here) and it was very satisfying. While a YA book, it tackles classism, sexism and all kinds of heavy issues. I would recommend this series if you want books that actually deal with issues without a clear lines between “good” and “bad.”
4 out of 5 stars
Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black: This book sort of surprised me. Earth has been at war with aliens for centuries. Most people live within one of the major cities that pretty much revolve around the war. Or they live in satellite communities that supply the war effort, however, they know nothing about the war except that it is happening. Then there is a very small population that lives in the wilds and doesn’t even know the war is there. This book brings together viewpoints from all 3 “worlds” in an interesting way. However, that also means there are a lot of characters to keep track of, and at times, I just wanted the storylines to at least intersect a little more. There is a cool mix of science fiction with technological advances, space and time variation. But there is also a magical element that is interwoven. I would recommend this book if you enjoy good world building, character development and the feeling that things are not quite what they seem.
4 out of 5 stars
c/o Blogging for Books
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza: This book was on my summer reading list and I finally got to it. It is a young adult-ish science fiction book set in space. The crown princess wants vengeance for her family but it comes out that the entire story has more than she assumed. While this book was enjoyable, it felt very rushed. So much happens in it that it can be hard to keep up. At one point, a character died and I didn’t really realize it until like 3 paragraphs after. I had to go back and read it to make sure I was right. This book would be a good option if you just want to dip your toes into sci-fi-fi in space and like a lot of action. I’ll probably plan on reading the next book when it comes out but will just get it from the library.
3.5 out of 5 stars
What have you been reading lately?
Linking Up: Jana Says, The Blended Blog
I’m just starting your book recommend for September and I’m excited!
Yay! I’m excited you are going to read it 🙂
I just got Warbreaker too from the library and am forcing my brother to read it as well- he has read other books from that author but not that one.
ha, I love that you are forcing him to read it too!
Haha I’ve definitely missed important things and had to go back to reread. As always the books you read sound so interesting! All of them sound good!
This was a pretty good month for reading!
empress of a thousand skies sounds interesting, bummer it was a bit rushed. definitely checking out the Kate Elliott series and ninth city burning!
Empress is one of those books that you really want to like, but can’t decide if you actually do.
One of my coworkers might like Ninth City Burning, I will pass along the recommendation.
It is surprisingly good!
Buried Heart sounds interesting. I’ll have to check out the series.
It is a great YA series!
I like when a YA book tackles hard subjects.
Me too! It is refreshing when it isn’t cliche after cliche.
These sound interesting. I definitely aspire to read more sci-fi as I usually gravitate to fantasy. 🙂 XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
I’m the same way, but I’ve been grabbing more sci-fi lately.