Wednesday Reading Meme

[rosanicus]

What I've Just Finished Reading

Our class book in Year 5 this term is L.D. Lapinski's The Strangeworlds Travel Agency, which I had vaguely heard of but not read. However, after reading three (3) chapters to the class last week I took it home, bought the sequels and read all three books in their entirety over the weekend. They're middle grade low fantasy books about a twelve year old girl who, after moving to a new council house with her parents and baby brother, stumbles into a travel agency which turns out to be filled with suitcase-based portals to other worlds.

They're very good books, page-turners with thoughtful plotting and excellent characters, and the casual way they approach queer representation is super refreshing to read. There are crystal caves and thieves' guilds and adventures on the high seas in a disintegrating soap-bubble of a world. There's a spooky lighthouse. There's baby lesbians! I will definitely be buying hard copies of the second and third books to add to my book corner, although it's overflowing quite severely already...

The third book in particular handles grief and mourning in a really beautiful way as well as having an excellent resolution to three books' worth of buildup to the potentially multiverse ending threat. Really I just enjoyed a book with a character being offhandedly trans and gay and also - crucially - a bit of an annoying prick due to being eighteen years old. I relate to Jonathan Mercator an unfortunate amount.

What I'm Reading Now

Technically Gimlet Mops Up, although it's taking me a while to get back into it.

What I Plan To Read Next

Possibly going to dive back into The Hands of the Emperor, which is a proper doorstopper and therefore intimidating. I also do want to read a couple of Biggleses due to I-Miss-Biggles-Disease, which is chronic and painful. Ysande's post about Buries a Hatchet also has me tempted to reread... we'll see what happens.

Comments

[gattycat]

if you liked strangeworld, i think all of Lapinski's stuff is very ambiently queer, Jamie has been doing well this year, but ive not read their other series. also a vote for the murder most unladylike series for queer middle grade (though it only gets gay later on)