May 9: N or M? by Agatha Christie. The second Tommy and Tuppence book. I briefly considered Endless Night but that’s another “eerie” book with a “twist” ending. Nope.
Crooked House by Agatha Christie. DNF, because I looked up if the nice people would have a happy ending (can’t stand unhappy endings right now) and found out whodunnit and why. I’m very glad I didn’t read the whole book to find that out. Wonderful, wonderful spoilers. (partial disclosure: I can’t stand evil children right now, either)
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian and Iona Datt Sharma. I don’t know how I got it (probably bought it on a whim) but it was in between the fanfic and I started it and found it intriguing. After I got used to the very explicit queerness — sometimes too much as if the authors felt they had to make a point rather than just writing these people because, well, people exist — I got into the fun of the magical scavenger hunt. Still don’t know why this person (human, more or less accidentally born in Fairyland) led his two lovers, who didn’t like each other to start with, on the magical scavenger hunt; to get them to become friends? Enemies-to-allies-to-friends is a welcome change from enemies-to-lovers, anyway.
May 6: Remaking: Young Wizards. Tom getting Carl back from very deep.
The Sceptre at the Feast: Lord Peter Wimsey. Tragedy with an appropriate ghost.
Self-Reliance: Valdemar, Kethry and Varma story with rather more layers than I was prepared for (but eventually worth the effort).
red as redcurrants, gold as a lion’s mane: Goblin Emperor post-canon with Maia and Csethiro’s children and a foreign queen so wonderful that the empress and the emperor both want to run away with her. Some name typos but that doesn’t throw me out of the story.
Reading Against/Reading With: Mastering the Oppositional Discourse in Textual Healing: WTF, intentionally so. Explicit (and humorous) Star Trek.
Poor Hardworkin’ Pleeshman: Lord Peter Wimsey and Charles Parker start working together. Meh (I should have been alarmed when Lord Peter was called “diminutive” in the first paragraph; he’s not among the world’s giants but only a little shorter and slighter than average). Had to read it on the site because there’s a glitch in the epub that makes my ereader think I’ve finished the story after 40% at best when I make the font almost too small to read, otherwise it’s 20% or so.
Queen of Berries: charming Smith of Wootton Major story.
The Pirate Bachelorette: Ines Montoya of Princess Bride fame trains women pirates. Nice! Gender swap usually isn’t my thing but this works.
May 5: Peter and the Power of Suggestion: somewhat strange Peter & Harriet, but good characterization (of Miss Climpson, too).
Peace & Purring: Goblin Emperor fluff. With a cat!
Or Worse, Expelled: Peak Hermione.
No Second Coming: long The Dark is Rising fanfic. A bit hard to get into, and I was fighting against “no not more reluctant Will-and-Bran” but at 21% it became irresistible. — Er, perhaps I shouldn’t have read the blurb because I thought Simon’s fiancee was only called Elaine. Deeper layers than I thought when I started.
Majesty: Minerva McGonagall meets Queen Elizabeth! Found it while searching for the link to the other Majesty. (Now I want Minerva McGonagall to meet the Dowager Duchess.) (Pff, there’s this. Different universe, different Dowager Duchess.)
After All These Years: Harry Potter/Lord Peter Wimsey crossover — sort of — which I found when searching for Dowager Duchesses of Denver at Hogwarts.
Another Year: Yes! Honoria is a wizard. Five birthdays: Honoria, Lord Peter, Bredon, Mervyn Bunter and Harriet Wimsey née Vane. Worth the search even though the Potterverse is only touched on very lightly.
Like the dew I begot you: Lord Peter Wimsey and Albus Dumbledore meet at an auction. If this is the same corner of the multiverse as Another Year, Honoria and her brother are both wizards!
Come Again, That I May Cease to Mourn: Harry Potter/Lord Peter Wimsey crossover: Bunter and Teddy Lupin. Okayish, slightly touching. Pity that Ron Weasley and others are portrayed as jerks.
Vamping the History Department, Right and Left: Harry Potter/Lord Peter Wimsey (Gaudy Night) crossover. Very subtle. (But, dear writer, it’s “Miss Layton”; women weren’t “Ms” in the nineteen-thirties.)
The Dowager Duchess and the Detective: Charming Lord Peter Wimsey-in-absentia story in letters. Only I’m a bit irked that the Dowager Duchess is called “Duchess”, something Miss Climpson would never do.
Aunt Jane: how “Miss Marple” became “Aunt Jane” for Inspector Dermot Craddock between one book and another. Found it while searching for the Murder at the Fête link.
The Next Great Adventure: Kate and Cecelia, and wtf? In this story it’s Cecy marrying Thomas, and there’s hardly any mention of James. Without that being a plot point or anything. Perhaps the writer only got the names mixed up but I’m not interested enough to investigate. Short enough to finish but now deleted from ereader.
The Mystery of Johnny Elkins: Poirot/Hastings (though it only transpires at the end that they’re a couple). Another nice little mystery.
May 4: Murder at the Fête: Nice little Miss Marple mystery.
Majesty: Narnia, after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when the kings and queens are children again. Characters done well.
Kitty: How Miss Climpson became Lord Peter’s Miss Climpson. Full of infodump that so belongs in fanfic because editors think readers don’t want it and some readers (me, for one) do.
Invisible Banquets: A Tasting Menu: Invisible Cities with food. Strange, intriguing, sometimes borderline disgusting. (Yoon Ha Lee wrote it so I’m not surprised.)
May 3: The Tough Guide to Fantasy Cities: Tough Guide to Fantasyland supplement. Meh. Perhaps because I like epic fantasy better than urban fantasy.
How Horses Came To The Desert: Tough Guide to Fantasyland silliness.
Four Things that Weren’t Adequately Covered in Mulan’s R.A. Training: Disney princesses go to (U.S.) college. Splendid, even though I don’t have all the context (my eternal problem with college stories, but on the other hand that makes it enticingly exotic like I used to read boarding school stories as a kid). Everybody brings her unique voice and background. Naomi Kritzer wrote it. I like it when established authors write fanfic too!
In Which Worlds Collide, and Eeyore Investigates a Terrible Crime: Gentle pleasant Winnie-the-Pooh/Discworld crossover.
Also one DNF, a crossover of Goblin Emperor and something I don’t know and probably don’t want to read.
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. The first Tommy and Tuppence mystery. Most of it has stood the ravages of time except the politics, oh my. And the casual racism and sexism, though the latter is less bad than in books without a Strong Female Protagonist. I don’t know if it’s just me but it seems to get weaker towards the end, plot and characterization both (though I like Jane | Annette! And Julius is a darling).
Earlier reading notes:
Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8
Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16
I actually made Minerva McGonagall meet the Dowager Duchess: Old Ladies’ Witching Circle.