A book for an April prompt: Fools, spring or weather

[hildea]

I've almost completed astrangerthere's reading challenge at Storygraph, but I'm missing a book for the April prompt:

April - April Showers / April Fools

• April Showers - a book about rain, weather, spring, or some kind of new blossoming
• ALTERNATIVE: April Fools - read the silliest or most foolish book on your TBR. Can be the title, subject, cover or just your perception that it being on your TBR list at all is silly.

I'm ignoring the TBR reduction aspect of the challenge, and I'm obviously not trying to complete prompts in the right month, but I want to read at least one book for each monthly pair of prompts.

My taste in books:

• I read mostly fantasy, science fiction, and romance, but am also open to other genres, including non-fiction.
• I've found that my tastes are less intellectual than I'd prefer to think I struggled through "The Name of the Rose" once, but usually I'll avoid dense, heavy books. I read for entertainment, any improvement of my mind is a happy byproduct.
• I prefer books with well-developed characters. (My main objection to Lord of the Rings (which I read once as a teenager and have never been tempted to return to) is that the characters are too flat for my taste.)
• For books with love stories, it seems far easier to find stories with a man and a woman, or with two men, so books with other romantic constellations are a plus.
• I don't mind explicit sex in books. I dislike explicit or gruesome violence (an almost DNFed Shelley Parker Chan's "He Who Drowned the World" for that reason, but am glad I stuck with it.)
• My worldview is pretty far left, and these days, books which offer some wish fulfilment in that direction are a plus (for instance when the arrogant marquess gets publicly humiliated and cheated of a fistful of emeralds by charlatans, the homophobic politician gets a kick in the nose by their gay relative who's finally had enough, or the racist, sexist brother-in-law gets a knife in the back at a hunting party )

Some favourite authors: Lois McMaster Bujold, KJ Charles, T.Kingfisher (I've not read all of hers, so recommendations from her back list are fine), Sarah Rees Brennan, Nathan Burgoine, Courtney Milan.

Any suggestions?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by hildea

I've almost completed astrangerthere's reading challenge at Storygraph, but I'm missing a book for the April prompt:[...]

My taste in books:[LIST][*]I read mostly fantasy, science fiction, and romance, but am also open to other genres, including non-fiction.
[...]

Some favourite authors: Lois McMaster Bujold, KJ Charles, T.Kingfisher (I've not read all of hers, so recommendations from her back list are fine), Sarah Rees Brennan, Nathan Burgoine, Courtney Milan.

Any suggestions?

We share a number of fave authors and overlap pretty thoroughly in genre tastes, so: Kimberley Lemming! Her "That Time I Got Drunk And..." series is delightful fluff and nonsense, a hot mess of funny fantasy romance smut. I can't remember particularly gruesome violence, but that's not a dealbreaker for me so it's _possible_ I've forgotten. There is violence, but it's not the full focus of the book, and the vibes are not grimdark or unremitting.

ETA: Probably the best way I can think of to elaborate on this is to quote this review, by Becca on GR, for That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon:

"I'm sorry? A fantasy romcom that is ACTUALLY funny and has a Black woman lead? And there's buckets of nachos? And a lesbian centaur?

Give me a million books in this series please. This author is an insta-buy for me now."

If you check it out and think it might not suit... there's always Morning Glory Milking Farm, for complete bonkers.

[hildea]

Oooh, I remember seeing “That time I got drunk and… “ mentioned and planning to check it out, and then I forgot. Thanks!

Here are a couple examples of the violence I almost noped out on (spoilers for “He Who Drowned the World”):

Spoiler:

The protagonist is sent a huge jar (I think man-height) filled with pickled human hands – an opponent in the ongoing civil war has conquered one of his cities, and chopped a hand off all the inhabitants to send a message.

A major character is intensely unhappy, and deals with this by causing physical pain to himself, by repeatedly digging his fingers into a wound until it festers. This is described in detail.

That book, and the first in the duology “She Who Became the Sun” are really, really good, but not for people who’re in the mood for something cheerful and uplifting.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hildea

I've almost completed astrangerthere's reading challenge at Storygraph, but I'm missing a book for the April prompt:

I'm ignoring the TBR reduction aspect of the challenge, and I'm obviously not trying to complete prompts in the right month, but I want to read at least one book for each monthly pair of prompts.

My taste in books:

• I read mostly fantasy, science fiction, and romance, but am also open to other genres, including non-fiction.
• I've found that my tastes are less intellectual than I'd prefer to think I struggled through "The Name of the Rose" once, but usually I'll avoid dense, heavy books. I read for entertainment, any improvement of my mind is a happy byproduct.
• I prefer books with well-developed characters. (My main objection to Lord of the Rings (which I read once as a teenager and have never been tempted to return to) is that the characters are too flat for my taste.)
• For books with love stories, it seems far easier to find stories with a man and a woman, or with two men, so books with other romantic constellations are a plus.
• I don't mind explicit sex in books. I dislike explicit or gruesome violence (an almost DNFed Shelley Parker Chan's "He Who Drowned the World" for that reason, but am glad I stuck with it.)
• My worldview is pretty far left, and these days, books which offer some wish fulfilment in that direction are a plus (for instance when the arrogant marquess gets publicly humiliated and cheated of a fistful of emeralds by charlatans, the homophobic politician gets a kick in the nose by their gay relative who's finally had enough, or the racist, sexist brother-in-law gets a knife in the back at a hunting party )

Some favourite authors: Lois McMaster Bujold, KJ Charles, T.Kingfisher (I've not read all of hers, so recommendations from her back list are fine), Sarah Rees Brennan, Nathan Burgoine, Courtney Milan.

Any suggestions?

For April, I read Liarmouth by John Waters. I enjoyed it. It's a really odd book with some really odd characters. But then it's written by John Waters (the director).

I can also recommend Under the Whispering Door or The House in the Cerulean Sea both by TJ Klune

[hildea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For April, I read Liarmouth by John Waters. I enjoyed it. It's a really odd book with some really odd characters. But then it's written by John Waters (the director).

I can also recommend Under the Whispering Door or The House in the Cerulean Sea both by TJ Klune

Thanks! Liarmouth sounds interesting. The tagline makes me hesitate, "a feel-bad romance" doesn't sound like it'll fit my current mood, but the description of the protagonist makes me curious. I'll check out the sample, at least.

I liked Klune's first book a lot, haven't gotten around to the second one yet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hildea

Thanks! Liarmouth sounds interesting. The tagline makes me hesitate, "a feel-bad romance" doesn't sound like it'll fit my current mood, but the description of the protagonist makes me curious. I'll check out the sample, at least.

I liked Klune's first book a lot, haven't gotten around to the second one yet.

You have to read it to understand that tag line. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds. I found Liarmouth to be an odd quirky fun read. I listened to the audiobook. It's read by John Waters.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by hildea

Oooh, I remember seeing “That time I got drunk and… “ mentioned and planning to check it out, and then I forgot. Thanks!.

A couple semi-random suggestions in case you noped out of this and are still stuck:

"Thaw" by Elyse Springer (double whammy on the Spring theme with the title/author name!)

"I Love You So Mochi" by Sarah Kuhn (the cover is awash with cherry blossoms)

"Soulless" by Gail Carriger - rainy cover

"Tell Me How You Really Feel" by Aminah Mae Safi - sapphic romance set in a rainy spring in LA

"The Honey Witch" by Sydney J. Shields - super springtime cover vibes.
"Late Bloomer" by Mazey Eddings - same, and sapphic

[hildea]

Thanks! I read and liked "The time i got drunk and saved a demon", and I'll take a look at the others. (For some reason the violence didn't bother me, although the demon tears an arm off people once or twice, and kills a lot of people. Maybe because the violence is over-the-top, almost cartoonish, instead of bleakly realistic?)

I tried the reading sample of Liarmouth, JSWolf, and can see that it can be odd, quirky, and fun. But I found I didn't like the protagonist enough to want to read a whole book about her, so I'll pass on that one.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by hildea

Thanks! I read and liked "The time i got drunk and saved a demon", and I'll take a look at the others. (For some reason the violence didn't bother me, although the demon tears an arm off people once or twice, and kills a lot of people. Maybe because the violence is over-the-top, almost cartoonish, instead of bleakly realistic?).

Yes, I did recall that there was some violence/peril, but "cartoonish" is a good word for it. It's definitely not like the stuff you described from the other book.