#S.A. Chakraborty

[viinas]

Whenever @eerna commissions me to draw her latest Special Girl I always know I'm going to have a blast.

[novelconcepts]

Another year, another absurd amount of books read (296, because if I wasn't reading or writing this year, my brain was on fire). I was asked again for my top books of the year, so here we go: 2023's top 10, in no particular order.

This was the first book I read of the year--literally, vacated the hangout with my wife and sibling-in-laws to sit on their couch upstairs and eat through it. Do you love The Fall of the House of Usher, but wish for a nonbinary protagonist and a lot more mushrooms? This is the book for you! (T. Kingfisher is fucking rad, I made a concerted effort to only list ONE of her books on here, but honorable mention goes to The Twisted Ones for fucking me upppp.)

A gay, post-apocolyptic Pinocchio retelling involving copious robots, found family elements, and a cool-ass treehouse. Klune always hits for me with his unrepentant queer family dynamics and sense of humor. Honorable mention to the first two in the Green Creek series (although that's got a lot more...adult elements in among the werewolves, you've been warned).

I thiiiink I found this through The Homo Schedule podcast (PSA: if you missed out on Jasmin Savoy Brown and Liv Hewson doing a podcast together, now you know better), and it wrecked my shit. Tons of trigger warnings, as this is a memoir about abuse within a queer relationship, but it's so beautifully written. I personally suggest listening to the audiobook first, then standing anxiously behind someone at a book warehouse sale, hoping they'll set down the only paperback copy so you can swipe it.

A fantastical-historical reimagining in which the KKK is filled with literal monsters, and Black women are resistance fighters armed to take them out. Visceral and intense, and truly an excellent horror story.

Just. Such a soft time travel story about a daughter and her father and cherishing the time you get with loved ones. I was thoroughly unprepared for how lovely I found this one. It's very kind.

Spooky house, take-no-shit redhead, protective sibling elements, bisexual recluse with a sword who really just needs a nap. I haven't found a Harrow book yet I haven't slapped five stars on. She's so good at character and atmosphere, and I'm always surprised at how fast her stories race by.

The whole Daevabad trilogy (of which this is the first book) is just magical. A girl from the mortal world finds herself embroiled with the centuries-long prejudices and wars of djinn in a fantastical city. It's one of the rare stories of its kind that does have a love triangle, but doesn't feel like a love triangle; it's far less interested in the insufferable "who gets picked" than it is in the actual horrors these people are both perpetrating and coping with. It's an intoxicating ride.

Fuck You, TERFS: the book. Given that fact, there's obviously quite a lot of transphobia to deal with, but it's very clear that those people are wrong, and it's a super-engaging (and super-oh-god-what-comes-next) witchy time populated with queer, protective, interesting characters I'm excited to see again in the follow-up.

Have you ever wanted a haunted house story with visceral imagery and a rather lovely twist? Gailey has you covered. As much as I enjoyed The Echo Wife, I think I actually loved this one more, and it makes me so excited to see what else they've got up their sleeve.

One of my final reads for the year, when I was just churning through hardcovers at the speed of sound. I love this book. I recognize it won't be for everyone, but it takes so much of what I love about IT (one of my all-time favorite books, despite its flaws) and twists it through the lens of an author who escaped the Mormon church. It's horrific, it's fantastically abstract in places, it explores childhood and memory, imagination and abuse, and almost every character is queer. It's a great "I simply cannot sleep until I've finished" read.

[cryptrees]

Beginning and ending of the trilogy

[bookaddict24-7]

✨Currently Reading and Loving ✨

[newnamesamecharlotte]

For while the pious claim money doesn’t buy happiness, I can attest from personal experience that poverty buys nothing. It is a monster who’s claws grow deeper and more difficult to escape with each passing season, with even the slightest misstep setting you back years, if not forever.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

[rubypomegranates]

“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward. It makes you a survivor."

S.A. Chakraborty "The Empire of Gold”

[malicedafirenze]

Unfiltered readalong thoughts about the Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty below the cut

Recommended if you like: Djinn, Arabian Mythology, Healing Magic, Complicated relationships, messed up family dynamics, slow burn romantic subplot, not knowing whether that‘s a corruption or redemption arc, fire magic, water magic, powerful female leads who aren‘t fighters, complex female villains, generational trauma and revenge for oppression, enemies to lovers to enemies, enemies to friends to lovers, palace intrigue and violent coups

Proper review here

I loved it, lots of spoilers in the rest of this post

[raspberrybrain]

but the turbans

I want to draw fanart of the Daevabad Trilogy so bad but I'm so ignorant about the clothing styles. Spessifically turbans are causing me issues. There are so, so many types! And they all seem to mean something important! Ad in the fact that this isn't current fashion, but historical fantasy fashion and I'm at a loss.

Anyone know key words I should use to do my research on what different characters might be wearing?

[anxiouswizardart]

Alizayd al Qahtani as Qaid

[inspiredbyabook]

lit meme: series or books [2/10] ↝ the daevabad trilogy by s.a. chakraborty

i do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power—particularly when they do it with lands and people who are not theirs.

[prosedumonde]

Souvent, les choses les plus puissantes ont une origine des plus modestes.

S.A. Chakraborty, La Cité de Laiton

VO : “Often the mightiest things have the humblest beginnings.”

[bookaddict24-7]

AUTHOR FEATURE:

﹒S.A. Chakraborty﹒

Five Books Written By this Author: 

The City of Brass

The Kingdom of Copper

The Empire of Gold

The River of Silver

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

___

Happy reading!

[ninja-muse]

I may have read The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi towards the start of the month, but it remains my top read for April. Guys, it's so much fun! There are pirates and heists and a conniving grandmother and a Mistress of Poisons and explosions and things with too many tentacles and sarcasm and…. I won't go on. I don't want to spoil, only wet, er, whet your appetite.

Basically, this is pure Chakraborty in its sheer zip and "Oh, I guess this is happening" and its attention to historical detail and the way it brings to past and the characters to life—but it's a very different book from the Daevabad trilogy. You're not going to find a lot of political machinations or power struggles here. You're not going to have the same sense of epic scale or breadth of time. You're not going to have multiple POVs or plot threads. It's a woman on a boat, trying to either find someone or not die, thank you, depending on the chapter.

Which is to say, if you liked the Daevabad trilogy, you'll very likely like this, and if you didn't like the trilogy or it didn't catch your interest, you should give this one a shot. And I think I might like it better myself?

[good-books-to-read]

Travel Destination: Egypt

Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi

A young Egyptian woman chronicles her personal and political coming of age

We meet her across three decades, from youth to adulthood: As a six-year old absorbing the world around her, filled with questions she can’t ask; as a college student and aspiring filmmaker pre-occupied with love, language, and the repression that surrounds her; and then later, in the turbulent aftermath of Mubarak’s overthrow, as a writer exploring her own past. Reunited with her father, she wonders about the silences that have marked and shaped her life.

I Do Not Sleep by Ihsan Abdel Quddous

Sixteen-year-old Nadia had been raised by her father, after her parents divorced when she was only a baby. Indulged and petulant, she remained the only female in her father’s life. But when she returns from boarding school to find that he has remarried without her knowledge, she conspires to restore her rightful place, creating misery, confusion, and a flood of unexpected consequences in her wake.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world forty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents — who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she's a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing—are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.

But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she's forced to reconsider her beliefs, that will take her all the way to Daevabad, the legendary city of brass–a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Books of 2024 - December and Wrap-Up

In contrast to November, I did get to both of my planned nonfic reads. I also ended up rereading a bunch of books I've been wanting to revisit; only one turned out to not hold up on a reread. And only one book this month was strictly audio; I really enjoyed taking it slowly with printed books as the nights grew longer. All in all, a lovely, cozy wrap-up to reading in 2024.

Fun fact: This is the first time in four years where I didn't read a C.S. Lewis book in December. (In 2022 and 2023, C.S. Lewis was my last read of the year.)

Total books: 10  |  New reads: 4   |  2024 TBR completed: 1 (0 DNF) / 36/36 total   |   2024 Reading Goal: 92/100

November | January 2025

potential reads

#1 - The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty - 4/5 stars (reread, audio)

This is one of those books I read several years ago, remember liking, and wanted to revisit. The first time I read it, I distinctly remember enjoying it--the writing style and world especially--but there were aspects of the plot that left me unmotivated to continue the trilogy immediately.

And then, just recently, I started seeing this series mentioned all over the place, so I decided to reread The City of Brass and see about finally continuing the series.

Upon completion, I find myself massively conflicted. Like.... What is the plot? What exactly is going on here? And why is it taking forever to get where it's going? My initial review called the writing "exhaustingly intense" which...I mean, yeah, if Past Me couldn't find a clearer way to say "I have no idea what's going on here and I'm feeling a little stupid about that, because I think something is going on?", sure. "Intense" works, I guess.

In fact, I'm so confused by this book that I'm breaking my own rule of never changing my initial rating of a book unless it's to give it a higher rating; with City of Brass, I deducted a star.

I love the world Chakraborty created. That's my favorite part. The writing style remains vivid and largely immersive (though sometimes the language shifts and I'm yanked out of the story), but it's so dense. It feels like The Final Empire all over again. (Another book I'd probably detract points from if I ever read it again.) I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters except, oddly, Muntadhir and Zaynab. Nahri kind of just let the plot happen to her. Ali was equal parts compelling and confusing. Dara is...Dara. And then there's whatever is going on with the politics.

I still have no idea what's going on with the politics.

Honestly, it feels like too much. I wanted to like it, but by about the 60% mark I was so bored, and kind of irritated, and just ready for it to be over. I think I can see why people like this story and it looks like it gets better in the second book, but I don’t have the patience for it.

More books featuring the elements I DID enjoy from "City of Brass": The historical fantasy angle and Nahri and Dara's early dynamic reminded me of the Winternight trilogy, and something about Ali's arc reminded me, for some reason, of "The Goblin Emperor". Note that this is all based on, like, the first quarter of the book.

#2 - The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff - 5/5 stars (reread)

The Lantern Bearers is the book in this series that everyone talks about, and I've always intended to read it, and I know you don't have to read this series in order to enjoy each entry, but I like reading a series in order. I had intended to get to this one next year; however, someone recently shared some fanart of Cottia and a bunch of my mutuals were passing it around the dash, and I had to start my reread early. So here we are, with me revisiting The Eagle in preparation for diving into the rest of the series.

First of all: I remember almost nothing about this book! There were a few vague images and impressions in my head, and some of the details came back to me as I read, but it was almost like reading a completely new book. I definitely enjoyed this just as much as, if not more than, the first time around. Marcus is a fantastic POV character, sympathetic, compelling, and charming, and the supporting cast are all colorful and delightful. Sutcliff's ability to transport readers into 2nd century AD Britain, across all of its landscapes and in all of its varying cultures, is breathtaking.

And then Sutcliff caught me by the throat in the last chapter and laid me out in a wreck on the floor. I had a great time.

This will be going on my regular rotation of books to revisit. I probably won't get to the rest of the series until next year, though.

More like this: It feels soooo much like "The Blue Sword" to me. I'm not positive why. And the setting naturally reminded me of Lawhead's Pendragon trilogy.

#3 - Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto by Tilar J. Mazzeo - 4/5 stars ('24 TBR)

The last of my official reading list for the year! This book has been on my TBR for years and I'm so glad I finally got to it.

In Irena's Children, Mazzeo explores not just Irena’s story, but that of her network of wartime co-conspirators and resistance fighters; and of Warsaw and Poland at large, in all of its intricacies and terror. That alone makes it worth the read.

As far as the writing itself is concerned, Mazzeo relays events in very short “scenes”, the majority of them ending on some grim or dramatic note suggesting future trouble for Irena and her friends; and yet the story (especially around the middle of the book) regularly gets waylaid by repetitive descriptions that time and again remind us how terrible and dangerous everything is. The writing also feels a bit scattered or choppy at times, making it difficult to follow the details of some events as they unfold.

It feels awful to judge a book with such a heartbreaking, breathtaking story as anything but perfect; and it was clearly well-researched and written with passion. I would definitely recommend it.

#4 - Q's Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books by Helene Hanff - 5/5 stars

Yes, yes, I chose to read this one now because it's a "Q" title, and probably the smallest "Q" titled volume on my TBR. In my defense, it has been on my TBR since I read 84, Charing Cross Road nearly two years ago.

That aside, I adored this one nearly as much as 84. Hanff's way with words is stunning. It's so gentle and unassuming and vivid and breathtaking. I teared up at several parts. And, like Helene with Q, I ended my reading with the urge to go out and buy all of the works mentioned here. Which, to me, is some of the best kind of writing.

#5 - The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein - 4/5 stars

Another book that came to me by ways I can't recall. I'm confident I learned about it on tumblr, but I have no idea from whom.

Thoroughly engrossing, with an easy, immersive style and compelling characters (plus a setting I always go ham for). And then it got a bit dark, a bit weird, and I ended it with a very befuddled, "Huh??"

I’m waffling in continuing the series because I don’t trust Wein not to hurt me lol.

#6 - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - 5/5 stars (reread)

I haven’t read this book in three years. I still love it.

#7 - The Girl and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - 5/5 stars (reread)

It was at this point that I said, "Hey, I could get to 90 books this year with just a little effort, and also I'm home all week...." So I snatched up an appropriately wintry book I've been wanting to reread, and here we are.

It’s a testament to Arden’s writing that this book has so many elements I typically hate reading about, and yet it has stayed with me since I first read it seven years ago. And it’s just as solid on a reread: the setting, the characters, the fairytale depth of it. Gorgeous.

More like this: The Vibes are similar to "Spinning Silver", though the styles themselves vary.

#8 - Stand Still, Stay Silent: Book 1 by Minna Sundberg - 5/5 stars (reread)

I have finally returned to this series to read through it for the first time! (I only got about halfway through the webcomic.) And it’s even better than I remember. This is a perfect introduction to the world and characters, with STUNNING artwork. I love it so much.

#9 - A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner - 5/5 stars (reread, mixed print and audio)

Sophos my belovéd. I am drawing hearts all over this book.

(Also hi hello turns out the last time I read this, in August 2021, was also the first time I read The Eagle of the Ninth, which is fun. Also fun is the fact that the first time I read The Thief, I was entirely neutral about it, and it took me coming back to it years later with tumblr's help to fall in love. As with The Eagle.)

#10 - The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff - 4/5 stars (mixed print and audio)

Aunt Honoria 🫶

I’m learning that Sutcliff’s writing is best enjoyed read, rather than listened to; or else the narrators so far haven’t done her work justice. I listened to portions all the same while working. Not quite as compelling to me as The Eagle, but I LOVED Justin and Flavius’s dynamic so so much, and I’m always one for a ragtag band of heroes coming together.

The question now is whether I proceed with the series from here in publication or chronological order....

Similar characters: Evicatos's background is very similar to that of Ed from Digger, so naturally I love him; and Cullen reminded me strongly of Randal from The Perilous Gard.

Honorable Mentions:

I completed another Bible read-through this year! It was all audio again, so definitely not counting it toward my reading.

DNF:

Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot - While I agree with Elliot's thesis (if perhaps not some of the finer details) I found her arguments vaguely frustrating. I managed to get about 40% of the way through this before she once again got to the cusp of a conclusion and then skipped right on to the next point. I think Elliot's aim was to lay out every aspect of her overall argument and then bring it together in the end, but it felt so scattered that she lost me.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty - Got nearly 10% in and still couldn't be bothered to care about any of these characters. And, purely personal, but the five-year time jump was a bit odd. I am willing to be convinced to give this another chance, however, especially because it has a higher average rating than the first book, and the third book has the highest rating of all.

All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor (reread) - I took forever to get to this, and then it was due back at the library and I had lost interest. Yes, there's a clock ticking down to system-wide destruction. Yes, there's a bunch of emotional investments to...invest in...if you can keep track of the characters involved. But there's so many little pieces moving all over the place--or perhaps it's that the scope is simply too grand, too broad--that the impact is gone. It felt like such a drag, and I had no enthusiasm for it.

For the series overall (at least the original trilogy): I had a decent time revisiting it, but it's not going on my shelf.

Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker - I picked up this book a couple of years ago because I loved the concept (war veteran abandoned on a dusty old planet just trying to get home to her daughter; Firefly vibes with her crew) but the writing was not it. Also I happened to glance at the content warnings and saw “graphic rape” so…. After years of it sitting on my shelf, I have to pass.

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill - Barnhill is a very hit-or-miss author for me. This one was a miss. (If I’m being petty, I gave up when a passage made me say “That is NOT how you shear sheep” out loud.)

2024 Reading Wrap-Up!

Off the bat, I think my personal best accomplishment in 2024 is that I read more. Not necessarily more books, but I managed to actually make myself sit down and physically read more than I did last year. Audiobooks, as always, got me through many an hour of cleaning at my second job, many an hour of driving and household work and winding down at night, but in the earlier part of 2024 I was starting to feel like my ability to focus on the page was suffering. Now I'm a little less worried.

My goals for reading in 2024 included:

Read 100 books - lol that was optimistic of me. I got off to a slow start right at the beginning of the year and never quite caught up. Ironically, that was because way back in February I said I only wanted to read physical books, no audiobooks, for a month and I failed splendidly. How times change. However, I marked off a lot of books this year, especially if we count my massive DNF list, and I read some larger books, and I found several new favorites, so I'm content.

Get to some of the older residents of my TBR - I did this! I still have a decent backlog of old TBR books I plan to dig into in 2025, but I cleared out a chunk this year and I'm so proud of myself. (See above about the sheer number of DNFs; I have a feeling 2025 will go the same way, but it still counts.) (And side note: I saw someone online refer to the books on her longstanding as her "TBR veterans" and I love that description.)

More nonfiction! - I did SO well with this one, too! I set up my reading plan for the year with two nonfics per month--one firm TBR, one a more casual want-to-read. Throughout the year, I confirmed I am as picky with nonfic as with fiction (I prefer narrative nonfic, or the almost investigative style that comes with journalists writing longer stuff). Even with my pickiness in mind, I managed to discover several fascinating stories; and I feel a bit smarter....

General Stats:

Total Books Read: 92 (90 last year)

Rereads: 28 (30 last year)

New Authors: 31 (31 last year)

Audiobooks*: 54 (62 last year)

Nonfiction: 15 (9 last year)

DNF: 47 (a definite record for me; only 14 DNF'd last year)

Alphabet Book Titles: 26 out of 26!

Pages Read**: 13,059 (significantly higher than last year)

Hours Listened**: 501 (lower than last year)

*including books where I read part in audio and part in print form

** estimate, including whatever I read of each book I DNF'd

2024 TBR:

Read: 22

DNF: 14

2024 TBR completed in December!

My Top Five Anticipated 2024 Reads:

Agent Garbo by Stephan Talty - 5/5 stars

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - DNF @ 15%

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein - 4/5 stars

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach - 4/5 stars

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - 5/5 stars

Top Five New Reads of 2024*:

Agent Garbo by Stephan Talty

Are Women Human? by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - favorite book of the year! shout-out to the tumblr circle for peer-pressuring me into this one.

The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

*can we please admire how only one of these is fiction? turning 30 did something to me.

2025 Reading Plans:

I'm aiming to keep it simple this year (ha). Instead of self-inflicted pressure to read a certain number of books, I want to:

Brave some of the huge books on my shelves and give them the time they deserve. (The average page count for the 24 books on my 2025 TBR is over 450. The average page count for the books I read in 2024 is around 300.)

Explore some new styles (like poetry and essays) and subjects (more nonfic!).

Mark off some classics that have been on my list for ages.

Dig into the backlists of some of my favorite authors.

All of this involves tackling my longstanding TBR. I was already building my 2025 TBR back in May, and the list included a bunch of the books I've had on my list for over five years. Several of these are marked as books I probably won't enjoy but can't bring myself to not at least give a chance. Hopefully I'll find a few gems in there! (Can I get my digital TBR down below 300? Unlikely--but! We shall see! It used to be over 500 and with some reading and a lot of weeding I've already thinned it out.)

Naturally, I am armed with lists! My actual list of must-get-to books in 2025 is very short, and largely comprised of familiar authors; then I built a second, much longer list, with books to choose from with less pressure. That list has the above assortment of classics, tomes, poetry, nonfiction, and iffy TBR residents I'll likely DNF.

And if I really can't decide what I want to read, I set up one of those online spinny picker wheels to choose for me! (Featuring only TBR books I own or have confirmed I can get from the library.)

Top Five Anticipated Reads of 2025

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

John Adams by David McCullough

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede

[camreadsum]

You guys were right!!

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi!!!!!!!!!!!

Buff Pirate mommy, are you kidding me?! It's like this book was written for me specifically!!

Sister Shanon, MashaAllah, the woman that you are!!!