The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. le Guin Published by Penguin on March 15, 1987
Genres: Fiction / Classics, Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Science Fiction / Alien Contact
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780441478125Ursula K. Le Guin’s groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
Such a thought-provoking book on gender and identity, an epic look into a world that doesn’t have gender. The world-building is probably the biggest focus for people but everything else works in the background and slowly sneaks up on you. Not realizing how emotionally I was invested in all of this til near the end.
The Vengeance by Emma Newman
Published by Solaris on May 6, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / General, Fiction / Horror, Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / Vampires, Fiction / Sea Stories
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
A swashbuckling adventure set in a version of Alexandre Dumas's world haunted by vampires...
Morgane grew up at sea, daughter of the fierce pirate captain of the Vengeance, raised to follow in her footsteps as scourge of the Four Chains Trading Company. But when Anna-Marie is mortally wounded in battle, she confesses to Morgane that she is not her mother. The captain of the enemy ship reveals he was paid to kill Anna-Marie and bring Morgane home to France and her real family. Desperate to learn the truth about her lineage, Morgane spares him, leaving the Vengeance and everything she knows behind. Her quest reveals a world of decadence and darkness, in which monsters vie for control of royal courts and destinies of nations. She discovers the bloody secrets of the Four Chains Trading Company, and the truth about her real mother’s death, nearly twenty years before...
I was so excited to read this ARC! I mean vampires and pirates, sign me up. But about 30% into the book, and I couldn’t do it anymore. I try to push through and finish books that are advanced copies, but I was so bored. The first few chapters, where the pirates ransacked a ship (and Morgane’s mother/aunt was killed), were fascinating and totally engaging. After that it was a lot of moving around of ships and travel, and I stopped before Morgane even reached France. I had such high hopes for this and they didn’t pan out.
Sister Queens: The Noble and Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox
on March 5, 2025
Genres: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, Biography & Autobiography / Royalty, History / Europe / Great Britain / Tudor & Elizabethan Era (1485-1603), History / Europe / Renaissance, History / Europe / Spain, History / General
Pages: 413
Format: Hardcover
The history books have cast Katherine of Aragon, the first queen of King Henry VIII of England, as the ultimate symbol of the Betrayed Woman, cruelly tossed aside in favor of her husband’s seductive mistress, Anne Boleyn. Katherine’s sister, Juana of Castile, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, is portrayed as “Juana the Mad,” whose erratic behavior included keeping her beloved late husband’s coffin beside her for years.
But historian Julia Fox, whose previous work painted an unprecedented portrait of Jane Boleyn, Anne’s sister, offers deeper insight in this first dual biography of Katherine and Juana, the daughters of Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella, whose family ties remained strong despite their separation. Looking through the lens of their Spanish origins, Fox reveals these queens as flesh-and-blood women—equipped with character, intelligence, and conviction—who are worthy historical figures in their own right.
When they were young, Juana’s and Katherine’s futures appeared promising. They had secured politically advantageous marriages, but their dreams of love and power quickly dissolved, and the unions for which they’d spent their whole lives preparing were fraught with duplicity and betrayal. Juana, the elder sister, unexpectedly became Spain’s sovereign, but her authority was continually usurped, first by her husband and later by her son. Katherine, a young widow after the death of Prince Arthur of Wales, soon remarried his doting brother Henry and later became a key figure in a drama that altered England’s religious landscape.
Ousted from the positions of power and influence they had been groomed for and separated from their children, Katherine and Juana each turned to their rich and abiding faith and deep personal belief in their family’s dynastic legacy to cope with their enduring hardships.
Sister Queens is a gripping tale of love, duty, and sacrifice—a remarkable reflection on the conflict between ambition and loyalty during an age when the greatest sin, it seems, was to have been born a woman.
A gripping history on Katherine and Juana, two women who were manipulated, harmed, and side-lined by the men in their lives. I wasn’t expecting this story to be such a page-turner, but Julia Fox did a really great job of bringing these two women to life. The book did focus more on Katherine after they were both sent off to their respective husbands. But there’s the facts that Juana’s husband barred her from certain places and then her father locked her up in Tordesillas, so there wasn’t really anything to write about Juana (unfortunately). I did love that Fox gave her due diligence to both women, especially Juana who has been grossly referred to since then as “Juana the Mad.” Learning that the men in these women’s lives were the real problem is not so surprising, knowing history as I do.
Court of the Vampire Queen by Katee Robert
Published by Sourcebooks on September 6, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Erotic, Fiction / Romance / Fantasy, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Bisexual, Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / Vampires
Pages: 491
Format: eBook
Three Powerfully Alluring Vampire Men
And One Queen to Rule Them AllAll Mina ever wanted was to escape her father's control. Half human, half vampire, she lived eternally torn between two worlds, never fully experiencing the pleasures of either—until her father chose her as the pawn in his latest political move, gifting her to the darkly powerful and dangerously seductive Malachi Zion.
Malachi is not a vampire to be trifled with. He rules with an iron fist and has a reputation for the darkest of sins. But the longer Mina spends with him, the more she realizes he's not the monster she first thought—and as fear bleeds into lust, then trust, then something more, Malachi opens Mina up to a world she never knew could be hers for the taking: including the love of Malachi's two closest friends and companions.
Now surrounded by all three men, the center of their shockingly seductive world, Mina may finally have the power to face down her father and take back the life—and crown—that by all rights should be hers.
I’m going to have to go hide from my book club friends (don’t hurt me). I don’t care if people want to read purely smut, but I do like some plot in my books. Not only that but the characters in this book themselves were pretty boring and flat. The men were just reproductions of Damon, Spike, and Dmitri and Mina a pretty lackluster characters who is powerful enough to be an angel (something that even scares the Damon character) but needs three men to unleash these powers…I’m confused (and a bit grossed out). I do hate writing this about a Katee Robert book because I love the Dark Olympus series. For anyone out there who’s only read this Katee Robert book, I’d highly suggest giving her other books a try.
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