This week brought us more March and another three books read. I got to the second of the four books of the Fae Isles series I’ll be reading this month. I then breezed through a short work from one of my favorite nonfiction writers. Finally, I topped that off with a wild romp in a series that’s a ton of fun so far. Here’s the full recap!

1. Lord of Gold and Glory – Lisette Marshall

CW: Blood, Graphic Depictions of Violence & Injuries, Torture, Child Abuse, Sexual Content, War, Slut-Shaming, Abandonment, Depression

This is the second book in the Fae Isles series. I covered the first book Court of Blood and Bindings in last week’s recap post. The author gifted me books 1-4 and I’ll be reading all four by March 31st to celebrate the release of the digital box set. This one picks up exactly where the last book left off. We then see our heroine forming alliances and training her physical skills. She’s also further refining her ability to practice magic and use it in new ways while also making some major discoveries to lead her through the overarching plot.

While I love how the story is building and I’m still excited to see where it’s going, this book was longer than it needed to be. There was very little action to speak of in the first half. The few obstacles there were felt forced, as though they were only included to make the text longer. This effect was intensified by the number of new characters introduced by name that have no notable contribution to the story.

Once I got to the second half of the book, the pace picked back up and then made up for lost time. I’m still fascinated by the magic system, and I loved the new twists and turns. I’m hoping that the next book doesn’t suffer from the same lull in pacing that this second one did. I would not have minded so much in a shorter book, but this one is over 500 pages, and that lull took up more than 250. I’ll be covering the third book next week.

2. How to Fight – Thich Nhat Hanh

I love everything I read from Thich Nhat Hanh. I’ve now collected and read nearly all of his How To series, with How to Fight being my latest addition. One of these days I’m going to make a post of titles to help you get back into the reading habit after burnout, and his work will feature heavily. He had a way of making the complicated and overwhelming feel simple and manageable.

While he does draw extensively from Buddhist teachings for his writings, the messages from this series are beneficial to those of any faith. How to Fight feels like much more targeted advice than most of the other titles in the series. Whereas the advice he includes in (for example) How to Focus or How to Love can be applied to any relationship or situation, this one is for specific instances. Its focus is on how to avoid or mitigate interpersonal conflict when possible, and how to navigate it when it’s inevitable. He was an incredibly wise man with a deep understanding of how peace works both within and between people. His words are both soothing and actionable, and they are much needed in the world of today.

3. Clementine – Cherie Priest

CW: Racism, Misogyny, Gun Violence, Civil War, Graphic Depictions of Violence & Injuries

Clementine is a novel from the Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest. I read the first installment back in October and absolutely loved it. It was one of my top ten reads of the year. This one is not technically considered book two. It’s listed instead as Book 1.1 because it’s a much shorter adventure. While Boneshaker was over 400 pages long, this one barely broke 200. As a result, we end up with less world and character development, and much more concentrated action-packed adventure.

Having read the first book, much of the worldbuilding carried over, and I had already become acquainted with several of the main characters. Those introductions could easily be skipped over here, and doing so left more space for all the airships and explosions. Unfortunately, one of the two protagonists was not in the previous novel, and the lack of familiarity made her harder to connect with. An additional complication is her Confederate ties in an alternate history where the US Civil War is still going on many years after it ended in reality. Our other three main characters are black men. Without giving her more relatability, it sets up a dynamic that makes her hard to like. Her backstory showed the reader her skillset more than her roots, which would have better demonstrated her loyalties and reasoning for them. Mostly, her likeability comes from other characters’ opinions of her.

This was a wildly fun adventure. I loved the rapid pace, the piracy, the explosions. I do think I’ll like Maria a lot more if her character gets more deeply explored in other books in the series, but I don’t think I know her enough yet. Going off very few data points, it seems as though the longer books are more enjoyable for me overall, but these short interludes are a great little treat. I may keep them in my pocket as palate cleansers after titles I find too long and slow-paced. I’ll definitely be back for more of the series.

More March Next Week!

There will be more March next week too! I’ve got another two books in the Fae Isles series that I’ll be getting to this month. I’ve also got another couple of ARCs that I’m very excited about. For one of them, I actually squealed when I got the email letting me know I got it, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on it with you once I’ve read it. I’ve also got a towering physical TBR pile that just keeps growing with no signs of stopping. My partner and I are still making our way to all the independent bookstores in Massachusetts and I make purchases every time. You can visit along with us in our videos – we have a whole playlist for you to check out!

Keep an eye out on my YouTube channel or the main updates page here to follow along on all our bookish adventures. My reading recaps go out on Mondays and our bookstore adventures go out on Thursdays. As always, I want to hear from you! What have you been reading lately? Are you having fun with it? Have you read any of these titles, and if so, what did you think of them? Tell me everything, and follow along for more!