Fiction:
There’s Something About Ari by L.B. Gregg was novella length, I think, a m/m romance that never took off for me, though I did finish it.
I picked up another in a long-running series. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb was fairly rote, but it was ideal for circumstances in which I was constantly being interrupted. I was very happy each time a new characters/s had to be updated on the crime; that was very helpful in re-orienting me to the story.
And I finally read A Stranger to Command by Sherwood Smith, character-based military fantasy; if you liked her massive Inda series, this reminded me of it on much smaller scale. A foreign student is sent away from the intrigues of his home country and immersed in training at a legendary military academy, learning more about governing in the process. It’s a very internal book, but I could still see it as a movie as well.
Fiction Re-reads:
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold, the second Chalion book. It amused me that the prtagonist, Ista, seemed much younger than she had on my first read, because I am now older than she is. I hadn’t read this since it first came out in hardcover, and had forgotten most of the details except for impressions of the characters and their fates; this proved to be true of my mystery re-reads, too.
I was reminded of Kate Ross by one of my brief holiday visits to Twitter, so I re-read the first three Julian Kestrel Regency historical mysteries: Cut to the Quick, A Broken Vessel, and Whom the Gods Love. I highly recommend this series; there are only four, because of the author’s death. Kestrel is a bit Campion with his mysterious background and formerly-criminal manservant; there’s also a precocious girl who brings faint echoes of the Lymond series.
Comics:
Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson has a special guest! And giant reptiles! And Inhumans! I don’t entirely love the art – sometimes I like the cartoony faces, sometimes it seems a bit much. But I am getting used to it. Though this volume had two different artists, there seemed to be an attempt at unity of style, a style tinged with humor. Maybe because they’re aiming at a younger audience?
Hawkeye Volume 4: Rio Bravo is the last of the Matt Fraction run; the next volume will have a new writer. It was pretty intense, and as usual, I loved, loved, loved the clean and spare art. I did not expect to love Clint’s brother Barney, who hasn’t been that great in the past, but Fraction actually managed it. Also, I have Lucky feels. (Lucky is the dog.)
Captain Marvel Volume 2: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue Deconnick features some Guardians of the Galaxy crossover, and also Chewie the cat.
Captain Marvel Vol. 3: Alis Volat Propriis by Kelly Sue Deconnick was unexpectedly moving, more than once, adventure mixing with poignancy.
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps by Kelly Sue Deconnick is the first, and possibly only, volume of the new “Secret Wars” that I intend to read. The story didn’t grab me all that much, as there were a lot of new-to-me characters, and I wasted a lot of energy trying to tell them apart. But the whole female WWII-style airplane pilots thing was pretty awesome, and I loved how well the art matched the idea.
I didn’t read a huge amount of fanfiction in December, due to re-reads and traveling and not having much free time, but I loved I’ll build a house inside of you by magdaliny, an AU story about young Natasha Romanov and the Winter Soldier escaping together. With a happy ending, if you’re worried.
