Fiction:
An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch visited Gilded Age Newport, Rhode Island, in 1878. After closing a politically sensitive case in his home country of England, Finch is pressured to visit the United States while the court case unfolds. Along the way he’s dragged into a murder case set among fabulously wealthy Americans who’ve built “cottages” (actually mansions) at the seaside; meanwhile, he muses upon his career and if he wants to continue with it. This novel is fourteenth in the Charles Lenox series; I had read one previous installment, much earlier in the continuity. I don’t think it’s necessary to be familiar with the series to enjoy the book; this one felt very different from the other one I read in both tone and plot.
Repercussions: Deceptive Disguises by L. A. Hall is seventeenth in the Clorinda Cathcart’s Circle series, and I need to start referring to family trees as there are now many more characters that there were in the original series! This is all to the good. I love this series because it always leans towards maximum felicity, plus there’s the soothing familiarity of characters I’ve spent many pleasant hours with.
My #TBRChallenge book for November was The Conductors by Nicole Glover.
Fanfiction:
I live next door to a haunted bookshop owned by an immortal cryptid bastard. AMA! by kyaticlikestea is basically Reddit crossed over with Good Omens, TV edition. It’s hilarious. Crowley as a Redditor is delightful.
brilliant (like a confession) by kathkin explores how it might go if Lois figures out she’s in love with Clark Kent, and Clark feels obligated to reveal his secret identity as Superman. This friends-to-lovers story gave me a new way of looking at how and why Clark is able to hide his secret identity in plain sight.
He Won’t Tell You That He Loves You by hellshandbasket is House/Wilson slash that takes place after House detoxes from Vicodin and is living with Wilson while he recovers. It’s a friends-to-lovers domesticity story. House has been denying his love for his best friend for years, and has to diagnose his own feelings. Meanwhile, Wilson’s being patient. Mostly. I enjoyed this one for the banter and the diagnosis angle, which fits in so well with the character.
The Constellation of Touch by what_alchemy is sweet Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson slash set at Christmas, but the most excellent part is Matt’s answers to Foggy’s questions about his enhanced senses; a lot of great worldbuilding there.
Be As You’ve Always Been by gyzym is a delightful post-Good Omens tv story in which Aziraphale is slowly coming to understand his feelings about Crowley, their long history together, and his existence as an angel. There’s romance but also growing self-knowledge, and some Discworld crossover as well. It’s a lovely story.
The Edge Between the Sand and the Stars by rain_sleet_snow veers off canon after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, following Rey’s journey as she connects romantically with Finn and Poe as well as searching for her birth family, all while training to be a Jedi and fighting a war against the First Order and the Knights of Ren. I spent most of a week reading this and enjoying how thoughtfully her emotional journey was depicted.
Something Dumb to Do by poisonivory is a very sweet Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson romance featuring fake marriage and friends-to-lovers tropes. My favorite part was the depiction of Foggy’s family.
