Aja Jin wrote:

Recent reads include Eric Morganstern's The Starless Sea, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and Swordheart by the wonderful T. Kingfisher. 

They had me when I read that the story is largely set in a fantasitc and endless?? underground library. Superficially, a "portal" fantasy, as one reaches the library via hidden doors.  The structure of is interesting. There is the main story, interleaved by short selections from several books from the library, little vignettes/fables. The relationship of the multiple story lines becomes (somewhat) more clear as the book progresses. A languid sort of read, reminds me somewhat of Piranesi.

 

I'll have to check out the Morgenstern.  It immediately reminds me of both Walter Moers and Carlos Ruiz Zafon (with The City of Dreaming Books and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books sequence respectively). And of course Borges' Labyrinths.

Most of my reading so far this year has been re-reads of some old favourites (Zelazny, Pterry etc) and a bunch of British police procedurals.  The only notable new genre title I've read and enjoyed has been the recent China Mieville collaboration, and I'm still thinking about my reaction to that one.  I'm not ready to talk about it here just yet.

I am looking forward to new titles from Nick Harkaway in April and from Joe Abercrombie in May.
 

I have worked my way through Kingfisher, whom I enjoy enormously. And I also liked The Starless Sea quite a lot. 
My sister gave me a book for Christmas - The Fourth Wing, I think it was called? It seems to be all the rage, but I did not care for it at all.  Extremely derivative. 
Apart from that, I’ve been reading Anna Karenina, which has resolved me not to read any more 19th century fiction written by men involving adulterous women.  I am also reading  a biography of Lafayette by Mike Duncan, which is great, and I’ve started a biography of Lise Meitner that Star recommended about a decade ago, and I’m working my way through 20 murder mystery books by William Kent Kruger set in Minnesota. They are better than okay but not great, i think.  His main character is part Native American and the weaving of that culture into the narrative is interesting. 
I read Prophet Song by Paul Lynch last fall - set in Ireland, focusing on a small family dealing with the onset of a totalitarian regime. It is nightmare incarnate and particularly terrifying given our current regime here. One can see it coming. It won the Man Booker prize in 2023, and is an amazing work, but very painful to read. 
I also read a book called Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner, I think her name is, about a female provacateur hired by unnamed government/corporate entities to infiltrate a commune in rural France for nefarious purposes.  There was a lot of talk of Neanderthals in the book.  I quite liked it.  
And my spouse and younger child and I are watching the West Wing, which is quite a fantasy these days.  We have one episode left, and I don’t look forward to finishing. 
I see that the Murderbot TV series is on its way. I have mixed feelings about it. I have such a strong internal visual of the characters of the books that i am a bit worried about watching someone else’s realization of it.  And so much of it is internal to SecUnit, hard to see how they will convey that.  But my younger daughter read the first in the series and liked it so she may be willing to watch the show with me.  i get scared so I need her there to hold my hand from time to time. 

K I am so pleased that you kept that recommendation in mind for all this time! I love Lise Meitner’s story. The biography I can’t say much about all this time later, because I can’t distinguish between the person I’m fascinated by and the book that tells her story -