I’m at Te Papa, the museum in New Zealand that has a ton of Māori stuff, and wow, some of the navigation stuff is very Kip Mdang. I’m assuming she did a ton of research (for the less fantastical parts of it at least!)

Oh, cool! That's always fun, and makes me feel better about the books (which I already felt pretty good about, but now even better)

Te Papa is amazing! I still want to go back to Wellington and spend at least a week there.

Yeah we went to Te Papa on Wednesday when we got to town and didn’t see it all, so when our morning ferry was canceled/rescheduled to afternoon, we went back to see the rest! Which is when I saw the navigation info that made me think of the Emperor series.

Anyone reading anything wonderful and new? I've been in a horror mood, and I can't recommend The Last House on Needless Street enough. Oh, and Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay, which is not really new, but a real gut punch. Which I was not expecting from what is more or less a zombie novel.

Also devouring Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series (Victorian mystery). They're almost a really early reboot of her Lady Julia mysteries, down to characterization and everything else, but I'm not really caring because they're so much fun, and I adored the Lady Julia books anyway.

Amy I’ve been in a reading slump lately. So, I’ve been reading some T Kingfisher books. Currently, The House With Good Bones, which I think is newish and a fast read. I finished Thornhedge last week, which was also a good, fast read. And I recently became obsessed with Jennifer Saint’s Greek mythology retellings.

I have Chuck Tingle's horror novel Camp Damascus sitting next to me waiting to be read. It's gotten great reviews and I can't wait to get into it.

Amy, I just started Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age on Fay's strong recommendation and I like it better than Veronica Speedwell or Lady Julia so far.

I have Thornhedge but haven't started it yet. Every time I think about starting it I feel like I will get annoyed at having to stop reading to sleep or work or whatever and read something I am looking forward to a little less instead. That can't last too much longer, though.

Oh, I have The House With Good Bones on my list! I hope it's good.

I also love A.G. Slatter's newest books, Path of Thorns and All the Murmuring Bones. Very light fantasy, and only connected in that they take place in the same universe.

I started Naomi Novik's Uprooted but got stuck. I'm not sure where it's going, I guess. She doesn't seem concerned with giving the protagonist a clear purpose. Or maybe she does and I'm just not getting it?

Amy, I’m almost done with it. Let me know what you think, when you read it!

I really loved Uprooted, but I guess it does take a bit to take off.