paperback_cat
Pene / Penelope the Paperback Cat | she/her | book lover and booktuber :)
877 points
0% overlap
My Taste
Reading...
0%
0%
0%
0%
18%
paperback_cat started reading...
2d
The Tainted Cup
Robert Jackson Bennett
In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.
At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.
Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.
As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.
Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
2d
Midnight Crossroad
Charlaine Harris
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).
Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...
0
0Reply
paperback_cat started reading...
3d
Audition
Pip Adam
A spaceship called Audition is hurtling through the cosmos. Squashed immobile into its largest room are three giants: Alba, Stanley and Drew. If they talk, the spaceship keeps moving; if they are silent, they resume growing.
Talk they must, and as they do, Alba, Stanley and Drew recover their shared memory of what has been done to their former selves – experiences of imprisonment, violence and misrecognition, of disempowerment and underprivilege.
Pip Adam’s uncategorisable new novel, part science fiction, part social realism, asks what happens when systems of power decide someone takes up too much room – about how we imagine new forms of justice, and how we transcend the bodies and selves we are given.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat wrote a review...
4d
This book spends most of its time introducing you to the people in this small town who are related to the missing girl. Lots of dodgy guys who all lend themselves to being suspects. It kept me guessing right up to the end, but mostly because it was keeping things open, not because it was particularly twisty. A thrilling ending but it was also all over pretty quickly. Particularly enjoyable as an NZer to see those small town NZ vibes :)
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
4d
When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole
Geoff Parkes
‘She wasn’t the first and she wouldn’t be the last; swallowed into the deep, dark recesses of the King Country bush, never to be seen again.’It’s January 1983. During his university summer break, Ryan Bradley returns to the remote town of Nashville in New Zealand’s rugged King Country.It’s a bittersweet he’s working long, punishing hours as a woolpresser, he needs to sell his late mother’s house, and he’s increasingly feeling like an outcast in his childhood town.But mostly he’s haunted by memories of Sanna Sovernen, a Finnish backpacker and his secret lover, who worked with him in the shearing shed the summer before - then vanished without trace.Now Sanna’s sister Emilia has arrived from Finland, determined to get answers - and as he’s the workmate who reported Sanna missing, she wants Ryan’s help. Because Emilia knows her sister was not the first female traveller in the area to disappear . . .'The stunning King Country landscape and scenery imbue the story with a real atmospheric sense of place. Fans of Chris Hammer, J P Pomare and Alan Carter will enjoy this gripping debut.' Books + Publishing‘A deftly wrought novel, compelling and complex. I loved it.’ MARGARET HICKEY'A gripping murder mystery set in 1980s small-town New Zealand, capturing the stifling atmosphere of a community steeped in secrets. With relentless suspense and a rich cast of characters, this impressive debut keeps the reader guessing to the very end.' ROSE CARLYLE
0
0Reply
paperback_cat is re-reading...
1w
Midnight Crossroad
Charlaine Harris
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).
Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...
0
0Reply
paperback_cat DNF'd a book
1w
The Bees
Laline Paull
The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut.
Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. Yet Flora has talents that are not typical of her kin. And while mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. Then she finds her way into the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. Enemies roam everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. But Flora cannot help but break the most sacred law of all, and her instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire, as overwhelming as it is forbidden...
Laline Paull's chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, The Bees is the story of a heroine who changes her destiny and her world.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat started reading...
1w
When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole
Geoff Parkes
‘She wasn’t the first and she wouldn’t be the last; swallowed into the deep, dark recesses of the King Country bush, never to be seen again.’It’s January 1983. During his university summer break, Ryan Bradley returns to the remote town of Nashville in New Zealand’s rugged King Country.It’s a bittersweet he’s working long, punishing hours as a woolpresser, he needs to sell his late mother’s house, and he’s increasingly feeling like an outcast in his childhood town.But mostly he’s haunted by memories of Sanna Sovernen, a Finnish backpacker and his secret lover, who worked with him in the shearing shed the summer before - then vanished without trace.Now Sanna’s sister Emilia has arrived from Finland, determined to get answers - and as he’s the workmate who reported Sanna missing, she wants Ryan’s help. Because Emilia knows her sister was not the first female traveller in the area to disappear . . .'The stunning King Country landscape and scenery imbue the story with a real atmospheric sense of place. Fans of Chris Hammer, J P Pomare and Alan Carter will enjoy this gripping debut.' Books + Publishing‘A deftly wrought novel, compelling and complex. I loved it.’ MARGARET HICKEY'A gripping murder mystery set in 1980s small-town New Zealand, capturing the stifling atmosphere of a community steeped in secrets. With relentless suspense and a rich cast of characters, this impressive debut keeps the reader guessing to the very end.' ROSE CARLYLE
0
0Reply
paperback_cat started reading...
1w
The Bees
Laline Paull
The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut.
Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. Yet Flora has talents that are not typical of her kin. And while mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. Then she finds her way into the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. Enemies roam everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. But Flora cannot help but break the most sacred law of all, and her instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire, as overwhelming as it is forbidden...
Laline Paull's chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, The Bees is the story of a heroine who changes her destiny and her world.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat wrote a review...
1w
I enjoyed this, but I will admit, some of the main character's actions felt like they came out of the blue. I'm not sure the character's personality came across in the style of the prose? Some quite dark things happen, and the main character is just very blasé about the whole thing. I can't decide if it was bad-ass or inconsistent character work. The plot also felt meandering at times, but impressively, it did all come together at the end.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
1w
All the Murmuring Bones
A.G. Slatter
Long ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom.
A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
2w
Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal
Olivie Blake
Januaries is a collection of new and iconic short stories and novellas from New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake.
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, the tutelary spirit to a magical bridge rapidly approaches burnout. Meanwhile, congress enacts a complex auditing system designed to un-waste your youth, a banished fairy answers a Craigslist ad, a Victorian orphan gains literacy for her occult situationship, and a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away. Escape the slow trudge of mortality with these magical ruminations on life, death, and the love (or revenge) that outlasts both, featuring modified fairytales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry, and at least one set of actual wedding vows.
Also by Olivie Blake
The Atlas Six
The Atlas Paradox
The Atlas Complex
Alone with You in the Ether
One for My Enemy
Masters of Death
0
0Reply
paperback_cat started reading...
2w
Intervention (Intervention #1-2)
Julian May
Intervention sets the scene for Julian May's new trlogy of the Galactic Milieu. This has been split into two books: The Surveillance (containing Prologue, The Surveillance, and The Disclosure) and The Metaconcert, containing The Intervention and Epilogue.
For 60 000 years the five races of the Galactic Milieu have watched and waited for the time when human mental development on Earth is ready for the Intervention ...
As the twentieth century draws to its end, phenomenal mental powers are displayed by 'operants' all across our planet... They can 'farspeak' one another telepathically. They can build mental shields and they are capable of coercion by power of mind.
One of there is Rogatien Remillard, a dealer in secondhand books, whose memories - written a century on - form the core of this chronicle. They tell of a world where the mind has become a weapon; and of two brothers, each possessed of extraordinary powers - one a peace-bringer, the other an advocate of evil...
0
0Reply
paperback_cat wrote a review...
2w
I was initially going to give this 3.5 stars, but this is definitely one that gets better the more you think about it, so I'm bumping it up to 4 stars. An enjoyable, but dark, little story with some interesting allusions.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
2w
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom
Sylvia Plath
Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.
Lips the colour of blood, the sun an unprecedented orange, train wheels that sound like 'guilt, and guilt, and guilt': these are just some of the things Mary Ventura begins to notice on her journey to the ninth kingdom.
'But what is the ninth kingdom?' she asks a kind-seeming lady in her carriage. 'It is the kingdom of the frozen will,' comes the reply. 'There is no going back.'
Sylvia Plath's strange, dark tale of independence over infanticide, written not long after she herself left home, grapples with mortality in motion.
Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat started reading...
2w
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom
Sylvia Plath
Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.
Lips the colour of blood, the sun an unprecedented orange, train wheels that sound like 'guilt, and guilt, and guilt': these are just some of the things Mary Ventura begins to notice on her journey to the ninth kingdom.
'But what is the ninth kingdom?' she asks a kind-seeming lady in her carriage. 'It is the kingdom of the frozen will,' comes the reply. 'There is no going back.'
Sylvia Plath's strange, dark tale of independence over infanticide, written not long after she herself left home, grapples with mortality in motion.
Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat wrote a review...
2w
It is absolutely mind-blowing that this was written in 1909, given how relevant it is to current AI issues and technology dependence. I highlighted so many lines. It cuts so close to the bone, but is also hilarious in the way it does it. If you're reading this review, you should read this short story!
0
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
2w
The Machine Stops
E.M. Forster
The Machine Stops is a science fiction short story (12,300 words) by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in The Oxford and Cambridge Review (November 1909), the story was republished in Forster's The Eternal Moment and Other Stories in 1928.
After being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965, it was included that same year in the populist anthology Modern Short Stories. In 1973 it was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two.
The book is particularly notable for predicting new technologies such as instant messaging and the internet.
0
0Reply
paperback_cat wrote a review...
2w
This was so much fun! I laughed out loud many, many times and had a giant grin on my face for most of the reading experience. The audiobook narration especially hits every beat wonderfully. I especially enjoyed Cobweb and their opinions on gender :P If you need a book to cheer you up, this is it! :)
1
0Reply
paperback_cat finished a book
2w
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower
Tamsyn Muir
When the witch built the forty-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword—and the lovely Princess Floralinda.
But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the fortieth.
In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up.
And winter is closing in on Floralinda…
0
0Reply
