Steph Is Reading

 The Wednesday Witches Book Club, by Sarah Beth Durst, may be the literal sweetest thing I've read all year. It's very short (I'm now over halfway through that set of Amazon Originals I keep posting about), and the conflict is largely internal (although there is an external one). Ashley firmly believes that every witch needs a book club, and once you understand the magic system in this story, you'll fully agree. I want to say this may be my favorite magic system I've ever encountered in a book, and I'm not sure if SBD has any other books that employ it but if so I'd like to read them. Anyway, Ashley is joining a new book club, because she left her old one behind in Texas after her divorce.  In fact, the book club is short a member currently, because of what happened to one recently -- and Ashley will end up finding the clue that uncovers exactly how and why that happened. The secondary plot strikes me as much more important though -- are there any women out ...

 The Lion's Tusk, by Robert Jackson Bennett, is another from the Amazon Magic & Mystery collection. They're short stories aligned with a theme, and for Prime members they're free on Kindle and Audible. This is the second collection of these stories I've read -- the first collection, I only downloaded because Joe Hill was one of the authors, if I'm remembering correctly, and then I anjoyed the whole set (I think it was 4 that time, this set has 7). It has a little Game of Thrones feel, but not like it's copying GRRM's style, more like someone else telling a story that could have happened in the same realm, or a similar one. This time, the narration begins many years after it all takes place -- our narrator has solved a cold case by rereading the notes. Except this cold case happens among nobility and the wealthy in a world that has somewhat different creatures than we're familiar with here. It's only about an hour long, but I had to relisten from ...

  This is another of the Amazon Original Stories, currently available for free on Kindle and Audible for Prime customers. I'd never read anything by Scott Lynch before, but I will definitely be looking him up and reading more of his books after this one. The premise is that a group of wizards meets up every 13 years on a beach that only resurfaces that frequently -- and this time, one of them is setting out to prove that another can't actually do magic at all. It quickly turns into a murder mystery -- on a beach that will only exist briefly, and in a world where the suspects can change things around them. It honestly felt a lot like reading a Terry Pratchett novel, with some of the same humor. In just about an hour and a half, the author took me into a whole new world, set up the magic system enough to be recognizable and understandable, introduced a variety of characters with their own biases, personalities, and motivations, and made all of them unique recognizable individuals...

 Set in 1871, this book follows a Black family as they head for a settlement they've been told about. First of all, I have to tell you, this is the second book I've read by Due, and I had high expectations of it based on the previous experience (The Reformatory). Expectations met and surpassed. I love this author so much. Every word she writes is so real. It doesn't matter if it's interpersonal or supernatural, every detail she writes rings 100% true. This is one of those Amazon Originals, that was offered free on Kindle and Audible for Prime users, and honestly, her name is the reason I decided to download the set. This is a short book, maybe 2 hours listening time, but you feel like you know these characters in no time flat. Lucy, our 10yo protagonist, has a special ability...at least, she's pretty sure she does. Unfortunately, Black settlers had an extra element of difficulty during the westward expansion, as one might guess. But Lucy's uncle has written and ...