Review: Brandon Sanderson – Secret Project #1

Tress of the Emerald Sea
Brandon Sanderson

Tress lives on a rock, and feels satisfaction in drinking her salty tea, and catching up with Charlie. When Charlie is sent away, Tress takes it upon herself to search him out. The seas are full of deadly spores, not water, so Tress needs to change herself to find Charlie, and perhaps bring him home.

This is the first Secret Project that has been released as part of the ‘Year of Sanderson’. I had almost forgotten that it would be coming on the first of Janurary 2023, despite being delieriously happy to buy in on the hype when I saw the KickStarter. What a way to start the year! At first I wasn’t very keen on the storyteller’s voice (Hoid, for those of you who are wondering), but I dropped into the story and loved it.

“As the weeks passed, Tress fell into a lethargy. She felt less like a mere human being, and more like a human who was merely being.” I think this 100% decribes the burnout that I’m currently warding off. Trust Sanderson to put in words so gracefully what so many people are feeling about their work! I’m always fond of a good pun, and this novel is packed with them – I found myself grinning wryly at so many parts.

Tress tames her hair with a brush, despite it being curly! So many people have commented that Sanderson had gotten it wrong – that noone with curly hair would brush it… I disagree. I have vibrantly curly hair that I brush! And then the wind separates it into curls when I ride. So I argue that Sanderson has gotten this right, particularly as exposure to all the salt would make beach-waves out of Tress’ hair.

I’ve now read this novel twice, and would consider it to be a bit of a comfort read. Not as amazing as Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, but still an easy read to slip into when I want something familar. 5 stars from me.

 

Review: Brandon Sanderson – Secret Project #3

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Brandon Sanderson

Painter is a lone warrior, isolated from his past friends by a mistake that we don’t know exists. He protects the borders with his bamboo art, and survives from day to day. Yumi is a spirit whisperer, ritually required to do nothing for herself except make art to please the spirits. One exists in darkness, while the other exists on a hot planet. When a Connection is formed between the two, it seems like the spirits want something. But what is it?

I’ve already read this twice, and I don’t even have the physical copy yet. Something about the storyline, the art, and the awkward main characters appeals to me. This is another of Sanderson’s efforts at writing an unconventional romance/love story. Everytime someone complains about the lack of sex in his writing, I wonder to myself why that would be required for a good story. So many TV series seem to rely on people cheating on each other to make the story happen / fill in time!

Who do I like more? Yumi or Painter? I don’t know! I love Painter and the fact that he simply knows nothing about how the world works, but in a different way to Yumi not knowing it either. It’s also good to see Sanderson writing younger characters. Is it a comment on society that Painter seems to have no purpose? Personally, I wouldn’t want to survive as he does.

I’m still a little unclear on how the shroud works, and how/why there are individual sections. Why has it not covered everything? Also, how does Yumi go from the same day to multiple days and not be remade every day at the same town (I can’t give more detail here or I’ll spoil a major plot point)?

It’s no wonder also why I enjoy it when Sanderson says the inspiration was partially Final Fantasy X. That’s the first FF I ever played, and the only one I could kind-of win (but never finished). Why not have a crazy job to a real-world human, but a job that is typical in its story-world? I can see myself revisiting this novel as a comfort read quite often – a much easier read that The Way of Kings or the Mistborn novels.

I pre-bought this novel as part of Year of the Sanderson kickstarter. I’m still loving it, and am dreading 2024 – no more bonus books!

Review: Amanda Woody – They Hate Each Other

They Hate Each Other
Amanda Woody

Jonah and Dylan have nothing in common. Nothing. Never. It’s why their friends are so determined that they will end up together – enemies to lovers. When they end up accidentally sleeping in the same bed, they decide to fake it until their friends get over it. But will Jonah and Dylan discover that they have more in common than they thought?

Is this too neat? I mean, it’s gonna be a teenage romance, so OF COURSE they will end up together. The author digs a little more deeply though into each of the boy’s home lives, and deals with some difficult topics including sexual harrassment, abuse, trauma and body image. It could be triggering for some people – don’t believe what TikTok tells you about the book, go and actually read the publisher’s website to be sure that it’s a book for you.

Reminicent of Lose You to Find Me, this book is a worthy additional to #ownvoices Queer novels. I’d put this near the top of my recommendation pile for someone with a young gay in their lives. It’s not always a comforting or comfortable read, but it is pretty good fun in parts. I couldn’t decide if I was on Team Dylan or Team Jonah – I love a great baked good, so I guess Dylan wins. Both are well-rounded characters that have been given unique quirks and flaws rather than being one-dimensional standins for “best practice gay boys”.

I ate this book up in a single afternoon, so it must have been good! On a couple of occasions I almost found myself crying for the characters. 5 stars from me, with a thought that after the storyline fades nicely in my head, I will want to reread it. Only time will tell.

Hachette | 9 May 2023 | AU$22.99 | paperback

Review: Karelia Stetz-Waters – Satisfaction Guaranteed

Satisfaction Guaranteed
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Cade never expected to inherit anything from her family – it’s not like she’s ever fitted in and she’s always privately thought that she must have been adopted. Serena on the other hand hasn’t been able to plan for the future after her last falling-out left her with nothing. Thrown together to try to save a sinking sex toy store, will Cade and Serena be able to save the shop, their sex and their lives?

Cade and Serena are great examples of characters that some people will recognise themselves in (I graviated towards Cade) and others may think are just too stereotypical. The good news is that you don’t have to like them both to enjoy the novel! You also don’t need to like sex toys (it’s perfectly ok if you don’t like or need sex) or art to appreciate the novel.

Karelia and her publisher kindly provided me with a eBook copy – which I promptly failed to review (darn, I hate eBooks). I then waited patiently until my physical copy arrived in the mail, and then began reading it aloud to the other two lesbians in my household. Unfortunately, I was really REALLY invested in the story again, and so I wanted to read ahead of them. So… I finished it without them. My copy is actually looking a little beaten up, which I guess shows how much I love it.

I then wrote a review… and WordPress ate it! Grah! I’m back again now considering my third re-read because I loved it so much. I thought it was much better than the previous novel in this ‘series’ which was Worth the Wait. I’m now waiting impatiently for the next book, Behind the Scenes. If you’re a person who identifies as queer, know someone who identifies as queer (which is surely just about everyone?) – this author is for you.

I passionately recommend all of Karelia’s novels to the Queers in your life. Karelia writes a really enjoyable romance style where the sex is a bonus rather than expected. I find that most of her characters come alive for me, and even though I know what the ending will be, I still feel certain that I might be tricked and there won’t be a happily ever after.

Review: Rebecca Yarros – Fourth Wing

Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros

Violet has been training to become a scribe like her father, rather than a dragon rider like her older sister, decreased brother and cold mother. At the last moment, Violet must pass the parapet and become a rider – where not all the riders will be chosen by dragons… and not all would-be riders will survive.

Character development? Not really. Amazing world-building? Yup, maybe! Fun storyline where you can’t decide whether you want the protagonist to live or die? 100%! Although I had no real prediction as to how it was going to go down, the ending was highly satisfying.

I’m not sure they are grumpy enough dragons (or that there’s enough dragon time)! I mean, when we get to the final parade in front of them, I felt like they could have incinerated a couple more of the cadets. If they aren’t going to choose them all, why not put the others out of their misery?

Winner! Another main character with a physical disability that doesn’t let it get in the way of what she wants to do (see also: A Curse so Dark and Lonely). Damn, girl! I guessed the ending just a couple of pages out from the end of the book and was 100% paranoid that the book was going to end before I confirmed it.

If you’re sensitive to, well, erotica, this might not be the book for you. Violet definitely spends a fair bit of time thinking about sex, and then it gets worse as you progress through the book! The first half is relatively safe though

For once it’s not a group of 15-16 year olds fighting it out, it’s actual adults. I really appreciated that aspect and it made the violence seem slightly less out of place? I think that the way young children are killed off in something like The Hunger Games very dystopian. It’s an uncomfortable thought to know that although that’s a fantasty world, in the real world children are dying right now anyway.

I couldn’t stop reading it and after some time has passed and the second book is published, I will be all there for a reread.

Hachette | 9 May 2023 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Review: Erik J. Brown – Lose You to Find Me

Lose You to Find Me
Erik J. Brown

Tommy has been working as a server in a Retirement Village in the hopes of getting a decent reference letter to enrol at the culinary school of his dreams. He’s got his head down despite his sadistic boss and has a good chance of success. But then Gabe shows up – the boy that Tommy realised he was gay for – but Gabe doesn’t remember Tommy…

You just have to laugh at the puns in the blurb. Go on, I’ll wait while you go look. On this occasion, the blurb doesn’t give too much away! Phew. I remembered how much I enjoyed All That’s Left at the World, and the swift shift by this author to a new area was just fine with me. I read it the moment it came in the door.

Tommy! Yes! Go you! Don’t stand for that crappy behaviour. I mean, watch what you are doing with the knives, but don’t tolerate mixed-signals from someone who isn’t right for you. This resonated back to me with Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell where we see the catfisher’s side (is that even a term?).

I particularly liked the sidestory of Tommy’s best friend too. I did wonder what part of the USA this was in, since they seemed to be getting drunk pretty often, and I had a feeling that was a bit of a no-no in most places / hard to organise before college? Ah well, the drinking definitely reminded me of the Australian culture.

This is a fantastic addition to #ownvoices fiction. Ok, so the premise could be a little more exciting, but I still loved it and couldn’t put it down. I’m giving it 4 stars because I don’t think it’s a reread for me. It was still great fun though – even if I could have gone a few more puns!

Hachette | 9 April 2023 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Tim Duggan – Killer Thinking (S)

Killer Thinking
How to Turn Good Ideas into Brilliant Ones
Tim Duggan

“Killer Thinking is the ultimate guide to creating, developing and recognising incredible ideas that will revolutionise the way you work, from the bestselling author of Cult Status. We need better ideas right now. Everywhere you look, there are growing problems that require fresh, creative thinking to help us solve. The good news is that anyone can learn to master the art of creativity to turn good ideas into brilliant ones.”

This book is exactly as it says, a step by step guide on how to turn good ideas into not just great but killer ideas! The author breaks down the steps into each chapter and gives you lots of business examples to relate to the steps. It’s very well written and kept me wanting to read more! There are also in real life practical questions to ask yourself at the end of each chapter to help get you started on coming up with your ideas. I always love great take-aways from books such as this, as well as a dot point summary at the end of each chapter that you can refer back to without needing to re-read the whole thing.

It’s refreshing to have some new and modern business examples that are not the mainstream, large corporations that are always referred to (Google, Apple etc). Some of the great examples discussed were Canva and Bumble. The author also wrote those stories in a way where you didn’t know what the company was or what their product was at the start. It made you follow their journey of coming up with the ideas and you can see how the process evolved (as well as trying to guess the company as you read on).

I love that the author is an Australian author and also referred to some good Australian businesses as well. The author also didn’t try to sell me their other book Cult Status, which a lot of authors do. But now I am keen to read his other book as well, as this was a great read. I’d recommend this book for anyone that is in the business industry or aspiring entrepreneurs. I’m not sure that it’s quite a re-read because I got what I needed from it from its summaries. 4.5 stars from me.

Pantera Press | 3 May 2022 | AU$29.99 | paperback

Review: Robert Iger – The Ride of a Lifetime (S)

The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
Robert Iger

“In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was more intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. “I knew there was nothing to be gained from arguing over the past,” Iger writes. “The only thing that mattered was the future, and I believed I had a clear idea of the direction Disney needed to go.” It came down to three clear ideas: 1) Create the highest quality content Disney could produce. 2) Embrace and adopt technology instead of fighting it. And 3) Think bigger–think global–and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.”

I picked up this book as an audiobook to listen to in the car. I didn’t get to it for a while as I had some other books to listen to first. By the time I got up to it I didn’t remember the synopsis of what it was about and had no expectations. As soon as I started listening, I loved it straight away and couldn’t stop listening! The whole book is structured like a memoir of the story of the authors life. I don’t normally like memoirs but this book was amazing. The story was told really well and kept you listening for more.

I’m glad I didn’t have any expectations going into the book as that would have given away a lot of the story. The insights and knowledge gained from this book was through the one long story. It’s not a theory based book, it just lists all the theories and little stories here and there. The business lessons and journey were fascinating and had me wanting more.

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants some detailed insights of the journey of being a CEO or just to leave you inspired. Overall, this book is amazing! I might even read it again! 5 Stars.

Review: M. Buckingham – First, Break All The Rules

First, Break All The Rules
What the world’s greatest managers do differently
M. Buckingham

“The greatest managers in the world seem to have little in common. They differ in sex, age, and race. They employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. Yet despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom. They do not believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They do not try to help people overcome their weaknesses. They consistently disregard the golden rule. And, yes, they even play favorites. This amazing book explains why.”

I picked up this book from the opp shop. It clearly came out quite a while ago but it is a good solid book on being the best manager. Unfortunately I read it over a long period of time, putting it down and picking it up again so it’s hard to review. It’s one of those books that need this though. You need to read a small section and then go away and think about it. I even found myself thinking about it while reading and required pausing a lot. The only issue with this is I need to read it again before I even finished reading it as I don’t remember the start already!

What I do remember is that it had a lot of good practice tips and tricks. The part I most enjoyed was on hiring “for talent”, you can teach skills and knowledge, but hire for their talent. This is something I have always resonated with when hiring staff. This book gives very practical examples and questions to ask in interviews and what answers you should be looking for. I loved the focusing on your strengths section as well.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a manager, leader, or in a hiring team member’s role. I definitely need to re-read it. 5 stars.

Review: Alice Boyle – Dancing Barefoot

Alice Boyle
Dancing Barefoot

Patch has crushed on Evie for forever! Unrequitedly, of course. Patch knows she’s the least likely person for Evie to get involved with – but that doesn’t mean she can’t ogle Evie when she gets the chance. There’s only the tiny hurdle of not having even admitted to herself that she’s gay, her terrible hair and trans best friend. Can Patch make it past the things working against her?

This novel was phenomenal, and I don’t use that term lightly. I’ve just finished reading it and I’m still having happy thoughts and feeling a warm cuddliness towards the characters. I loved Patch, I loved Evie and I loved Edwin. I even loved Abigail just a slight bit too – even if when her motivation came out it didn’t actually make sense with the time chronology of the novel. I read an ARC, so maybe that’s been ironed out by the time this review goes live.

I’m not 100% in love with the title, but the cover makes up for it I think. It nicely reflects that even if you’re in love for the first time, it can’t just be about two people. Patch knows she has great things in life, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t nervous. Most of the action time in this book really is action time without too much ‘this is highschool and it sucks’.

What I particularly liked was the treatment of Edwin being trans. Some other authors make a huge deal out of it and their main character often struggles to remember the right pronouns for their best friend. Here, Edwin is already one of the guys. It’s a fact. I also like how Patch still feels awkward to come out to anyone, even if it’s probably that Edwin won’t care.

Is it too niche for Patch to be gay, with a single dad, a trans best friend, a scholarship kid at a swanky private college and amazing at art? Have I read too many novels where the lesbian main character is special in some way? Ok, maybe. But this novel makes it into my top of the list for lesbian teenage romances.

In the same way that I loved Jack of Hearts (and other parts) and Camp for their ‘real’ dramas, this novel creates a genuine Melbourne feel and an Australian-ness that isn’t overdone and beachy. I want to spread my love of this novel as far as possible! I want it to be on recommended reading or as a highschool English text.

I feel so distracted and unable to stop thinking about this novel. I don’t feel ready to leave Patch’s home turf – maybe I’ll just have to read a non-fiction book next instead. 5 stars from me.

Text Publishing | 30 August 2022 | AU$24.99 | paperback