Of Swords and Soulmates
Is this a kissing book? Of Swords and Soulmates features two couples (and sometimes more), with varying reading preferences and experiences, as they read, listen, and sometimes watch romantasy stories and discuss plot, fantasy elements, romance, spice, theories, and more. Join us for our non-expert opinions as we discuss, argue, rave, rant, and hopefully entertain. We may just help you find your next reading obsession or at least contribute to that TBR list!
Of Swords and Soulmates
Book Bliss and Reading Regrets: A Year-End Literary Adventure
We reflect on our literary journey in 2024, discussing our favorite challenges, surprising reads, and popular books left unread. The episode showcases the variety of genres we explored and the sense of community built around our shared experiences.
• Reflection on reading challenges tackled throughout 2024
• Celebrating favorite reads and their impact on personal journeys
• Discussion on popular books owned but left unread
• Anticipation of upcoming releases in 2024
• Examination of the joys and significance of rereading
• Exploration of surprising and disappointing reads
• Insights shared on the longest and shortest reads of the year
• Recap of best series explored throughout the year
• Debating unpopular opinions and expectations on popular books
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Views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants. The hosts make no claim to be literary experts and their opinions are exactly that opinions. All creative works discussed or reviewed are the intellectual property of the creators of said stories and is being used under the Fair Use Doctrine.
Mari:Hello and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast where we read, watch and discuss romancy stories. I'm one of your hosts, mari, and with me I have Kelly.
Kelly:Hey everyone, it's Kelly and we also have Ashley.
Ashley:Hey guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.
Jonathan:Hey y'all, it's JP, so much less enthusiastic I'm sorry. I'm sorry y'all, I'm coming off the cold.
Mari:Coming off the kid journey. Unfortunately, jonathan and Ash are getting over the winter crud. That's what Santa brought them. Today we're going to be doing an end of year wrap up for 2024 and I look forward to the new year. So we won't have a new segment. We're not going to be talking about any one particular book. We're just going to be kind of chatting about the year and the year ahead and I've got some questions that we'll go through and we'll go from there, and I don't know that we need to do this in any particular order. So whoever wants to jump in can jump in. The first one is your favorite reading challenge that you tried this year in 2024. And it could be you individually or it can be us as a group. It doesn't have to be Romanesie, just whatever your favorite reading challenge of the year.
Ashley:So this is my first year, challenging myself to anything I hadn't really followed, like Goodreads or anything like that, prior to 2024, not in earnest, and I kind of lost sight of it in the last couple of months. But that aside, I did read at least 60 books this year, yay, which is the first time I've counted. So it's not to say that I've read more or not in the past, but I thought it was pretty cool to like see that you know that progress, that kind of accomplishment, that kind of goal I've never really tracked it before. Um, so it's the only challenge that I gave myself this year how about you guys?
Kelly:I mean, the only challenge I did was the Goodreads challenge and I read 50 books. I may finish the 51st, probably not, but we'll see. But it's probably going to be 50 books and that's more books than I've read in a couple of years because of being in school the last few years before this.
Mari:Yeah, you're reading those chunky chunky textbooks, yeah.
Jonathan:Oh, challenges. I think my favorite challenge that I tried for 2024 was just when we were going through our own list for this podcast. I thought that was a unique and fun and interesting way to kick it off, so I'm really stoked that we, that we ventured down that path.
Mari:Yeah, I'm, I'm right there with you. That was. That was my thing too. I think my favorite challenge was like when we decided we were going to go to the fabled fantasy thing and we were like there are these books, there's a bunch more authors than we're going to be able to read. There's more books than we're going to be able to read before the event comes around and we started just randomly picking and I thought that was fun.
Mari:It was a good time, because it's like it's one thing to read a book with expectations, like if you've heard a book is good, or if you've heard a book has certain tropes in it or a friend recommends it or something heard a book has certain tropes in it or a friend recommends it or something, but then you have certain expectations of that book. As opposed to if you just kind of literally, are randomly picking a book from a list, I think the book almost has a better chance because you don't have any expectations. Yeah, and I definitely read books I wouldn't have. I don't think I would have read otherwise or even known about otherwise. So I think I enjoyed. I enjoyed that a lot. I think it's a fun time I also feel like it.
Jonathan:It connected us to the event a little bit more and it made that event so much better. I don't know if I would have had as good a time, because we had. I feel like we had much more to talk about with the authors that were at the event than we would have if we had flown and, kind of like, just went blind or not blind, but kind of as we were.
Mari:Yeah, what is a popular book that you own and haven't read yet?
Jonathan:How much time do you have, Ashley? I'm looking at these stacks that are still in the wrapper.
Ashley:Are you talking to me?
Jonathan:Yeah, I can see the shiny.
Ashley:No, dothan you answer for?
Mari:yourself.
Jonathan:Yeah, you gotta answer for yourself, my dear yeah, I'll go.
Ashley:Then Some of these I've read and these are just trophies. What are you?
Jonathan:talking about.
Ashley:What are you talking about?
Jonathan:Like a set of five of that one from that thing. I don't know you got a lot over there. Did you read that book, murphy Brown from the other Dragon Boy?
Ashley:Murtaugh? Yeah, I have not read Murtaugh.
Jonathan:There you go. What about those other? Why?
Ashley:are you volunteering my answer?
Jonathan:I'm sorry my bad, you go. Goodness, I just know that your list is.
Mari:Jonathan, you want to talk? What's your list? Yeah, you go first no, I, I'm yeah because I know one wait, you know one, I know one that you have, that's popular, that you haven't read yet, that you have oh, what's that? The the glittery book. Uh, the Ruby Dixon.
Jonathan:Yeah, that's Bull Moon, Rising Bull Moon yeah. I bought that one. I bought a couple purely for their cover. That was one.
Mari:It's a good book, though. I would recommend reading it. I think you'll enjoy it.
Jonathan:I'm definitely going to read it. I just haven't gotten there yet.
Mari:Yeah, no understand.
Jonathan:I'm not lying when I say that currently, at the moment, as the collective works of Juliet Cross stacked on top of it, the other one that got away from me, masters of Death, I don't even know what that's about.
Mari:Olivia Blake. Yeah, yeah.
Jonathan:I just thought it was a good looking book. I've heard great things.
Mari:Yeah, I just thought it was a good looking book.
Jonathan:I've heard great things.
Ashley:Yeah, so I'm hoping those two Bull Moon Rising and Masters of Death, I'm hoping to get around to soon. All right now. Asha's going to that event in January at the Barnes Noble yeah, and my Corlin's going to be there.
Mari:I've heard good things about that one too. I have not read that one, but I've heard good things about it.
Kelly:Kelly, how about you? I don't know. I mean, we have tons of books that Mari's bought that.
Jonathan:I guess we both own.
Kelly:I love that. I mean, I guess I haven't read any more of the Akatar books. I haven't read any of that stuff, so I guess I haven't really read a lot of the popular Romantic stuff.
Ashley:You would feel strongly about it if you'd read the second book. Yeah, it's all about that second book. Akatar really was just okay.
Mari:It's'd read the second book. Yeah, it's all about guitar really was just okay, it's all about that second book. So, um, for me, popular books I own and haven't read yet would be crescent city two and three, which technically I'm reading crescent city two right now, but I literally haven't picked it up in a a good while. So crescent city two and three, um, infernal devices that you got me ash, that I still need to read. Holy series, it's, it's pretty.
Ashley:I just need to read it, pretty. She's very controversial too, like, yeah, I don't know all the tea I don't want to know because I love her so much yeah, I don't know a whole lot, and that's fine.
Mari:And Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights had been on my bookshelf for years and it was when I first fell in love with Jane Austen and I was likere which I like as well and Wuthering Heights, and then I found out a little bit more about Wuthering Heights and how apparently everybody is a really not likable character, and so I'm like, eee, it's just been on my list there to read eventually and I probably need to read it at some point, but I've never actually read Wuthering Heights and I have it on my bookshelf. All right, this is an easy question. What new releases are you anticipating in the coming year?
Ashley:Oh I got a list. Same you can go first these. These are not in order Onyx Storm first and foremost. If anybody on this podcast is not ready for Onyx Storm first and foremost, if anybody on this podcast is not ready for Onyx Storm, it's Kelly.
Ashley:Kelly's not ready, it's only Kelly, accomplice to the Villain. Super excited Hannah Nicole Mayer, we love you. The Things Gods Break, abigail Owen, and you're going to like this one. I don't know if you've heard. So there are a couple of um, excuse me, there are a couple of rewrites that are happening this year or releasing this year. So writers, uh, like fan fiction writers on ao3 are now in the process of like converting their works into publishable, like traditional publishable books, and so so we all know about Manicold, which I think you knew right. Yeah, we talked about that, but there's one releasing in the summer and it's called the Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy, which is a rewrite of Draco Malfoy and the mortifying ordeal of being in love, which is one of my favorite fan fic reads of all time give me the name, that's actually gonna be the irresistible urge to fall for your enemy.
Ashley:Okay, I can send it to you. I've already pre-ordered it, please. Um, I think there's another rewrite that I didn't save and I think it's a rewrite of the auction which is in the vein of manacled, but I didn't catch the name it was all over tiktok, though, so I'm going to try and find it, but I'll send you the link, because I loved draco malfoy in the mortifying ordeal of being in love. That was. That was moving.
Mari:I actually haven't read that one and I've heard great things about it, and it's it's on my list.
Ashley:Chef's kiss, 10 out of 10. I like there was giggling feet kicking Like. It was delightful, absolutely delightful. It was everything that Manicled was, without all the depressive scenes, nice.
Mari:Cause there was a lot of depressing stuff in there.
Ashley:Yeah, yeah, so that's the list that I was able to come up with, um for today. So the onyx storm, accomplice to the villain, the things gods break and the irresistible urge to fall for your enemy that's what I got for me.
Mari:I've got onyx storm, of course, easy answer emily weld's compendium of lost tales, which is the third one, yeah, oh, third.
Ashley:Yeah, I'm a whole book behind yeah, and it's.
Mari:Yeah, I'm excited about those. I really enjoy those. I enjoy those as audiobooks especially. They're just really, really well done. Um, the enchanted greenhouse, which is the sequel to the spell shop, where we get to kaz's backstory, maybe, uh, the ballad of falling dragons, which is the when the moon hatched, book two. And faith breaker, which is the god killer series, book three, all those sequels I think 75 of what I'm waiting on.
Jonathan:Ashley and Ashley popped out there. What was it? Onyx storm? Um, things got the things. God's break. A compass to the villain. Those three I'm I'm definitely looking forward to, but I'm also looking forward to a rebel without a clause.
Mari:Oh yeah, which is?
Jonathan:coming out in February. Yeah, that's a book, one in the Southern charm series.
Mari:It's going to be fun.
Ashley:Yeah, and it's listed as the stay a spell next gen. Yeah, so it's like a spinoff in the same thing.
Jonathan:Yeah, looking forward to that. Sorry, she already has me sold on the cover. Those are the four I'm looking forward to. How about you, Kelly?
Kelly:I think the biggest one I'm looking forward to how about you, kelly? I think the biggest one I'm looking forward to as far as Romanesco goes is probably the next book in the Spellshop series.
Mari:Yeah.
Kelly:Because I really enjoyed that book. I probably will read the next Assistant to the Villain book. I just haven't read the second one yet. You've got time. I do want to read the second one. Just haven't gotten the second one yet. But you've got time. I do want to read the second one. Just haven't gotten there yet. So I'll probably pick up the third one at some point.
Mari:But is there anything that you guys are looking to reread this coming year? Do you guys do rereads? Is there anything you want to reread that you've read before?
Ashley:I I see a lot of Rebecca Yarrow's in our future. I think a lot of us are going to be rereading Onyx Storm. I think she's been really good with her Easter eggs it's not even out yet Well for next year you'll be rereading yeah.
Mari:Yeah, so do you want to reread in this coming year?
Jonathan:Yes, both yeah. Read and reread. I see that. Let me ask you are you going to hammer through it like on day one? You're going to pick it up and slam it down.
Ashley:It's a very, very bad habit of mine to hammer through.
Mari:I absolutely plan to as well.
Ashley:Consume it.
Mari:Yes 100%.
Jonathan:Are you then going to go back through it and do the reread?
Ashley:Yeah, Automatically Okay, are you?
Jonathan:then going to go through it, go back to it and do the reread automatically. Okay, probably, yeah, yeah, reread. I have 12 that I reread every year. I have them on audiobook, but this past year I started collecting them in what I can think of the format Analog.
Mari:Yeah, Like actual paper. Physical copies.
Jonathan:Yeah, physical copies. So I like to start my year off with the seven habits of highly effective people. Um, and then the gifts of imperfection by Brene Brown be our guest, which is um like Disney's. Um perfecting the art of customer service. Extreme ownership by um leaf Babin and Jacko Willink. Um, let's see impact players by uh Liz Wiseman. Digital body language by Erica Dawan I forgive me, I don't know how to say her name the um verbal judo, the gentle art of persuasion. By George J thompson, phd. And jerry b jenkins. Leaders eat last. By simon cynic. The infinite game by simon cynic. Creativity inc. Which is uh, that, the, the inspirational story behind uh pixar, never split Difference, which is negotiating as if your life depended on it, by Chris Voss. Those are my keys. That's the secret to business leadership.
Ashley:Sounds like homework. It is my thoughts.
Mari:exactly, Ash, I was like that sounds like school.
Ashley:I can't even tell you when I glazed over.
Jonathan:I'll probably even I'll get you. I'll make a certificate for you too blazed over.
Mari:I'll probably even I'll get you, I'll make a certificate for you too, okay? Well, I generally don't read non-fiction unless it's like really compelling, uh. So for me this could be all fiction as usual, all fictional, all escapism all the time. I, yeah, I, um, I have some books I always read in december, I always read a reread in December. I'm not really counting them, but I read the Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. It's a zombie Christmas book. Love it. Comedy. I read Christmas Carol, I mean Dickens, it's classic. Nothing like ghosts at Christmas. Krampus, the Yule Lord by Gerald Brom Love it. Great read, great listen.
Jonathan:Beautiful artwork, I'm sensing a trend.
Mari:Hmm, artwork, I'm sensing a trend creepy christmas and then I have the nutcracker um, you have a giant rat king or a rat king anyways. So yeah, I like my christmas creepy. Uh, those are my christmas stuff, but I wasn't really gonna do the christmas, but I do I. That's really the time of year that I mostly reread every year. For sure, I reread those. As far as what I plan to reread this year, that I don't necessarily reread every year, just that I'm thinking about rereading this year stuff I maybe haven't read in a while.
Mari:It's been probably two years since I've gone through and read all of Jane Austen's stuff, two or three years. So I probably am due for a Jane Austen reread Everything except Sandition and Mansfield Park because I don't like those, but I'll reread the rest. I'll probably be rereading Swordheart this year because I think there's a new version or a re-released version coming out. It's T Kingfisher Love her stuff, uprooted by Naomi Novik, because it's been since I think the year that came out was when I first read it and I haven't read it since, um, and I think that's a good like spring maybe, or fall read. I'm sure I'll be rereading Wicked for I don't know the billionth time, um, probably before November when the second movie comes out. Probably I'm gonna reread some Anne McCaffrey Dragon Riders of Pern because fourth wing makes me want to read Anne McCaffrey and it's been a while, so I think I'm going to try and read that whole series in order, which I've honestly never done. I read it all out of order because my parents weren't billionaires.
Jonathan:Is there an order for it?
Mari:Dragon Riders of Pern. Yeah, there's actually like three different planets that are part of the series. I'll send you the chart, this whole chart, for it.
Jonathan:I thought I remember seeing that chart.
Mari:There's nothing we love more than the chart.
Jonathan:It was very interesting.
Mari:Yeah, so when I read it it was just whatever book was in the library, wherever we were living at the time. We never actually bought the books because my parents weren't billionaires. Like I do now, I read a lot back then. It was more expensive back then because you didn't have like the libby app and audiobooks on audible and all that stuff, um. So I read them all out of order. So it'd be interesting to read everything in order. All right, so this one you can answer both or one, whatever you want to do. Favorite new character or author from this year New to you. It doesn't have to be a new author New to you.
Ashley:Juliet Cross was new to me this year and I think we all wholeheartedly fell in love with her. I thought her writing. I devoured that series immediately, probably in a way that I didn't read anything else as quickly this year.
Jonathan:Yeah yeah, go with the same. You know I really did enjoy juliet cross as an author. Oh, that's a tough one. So I really did like abigail owens work too. The two of those are my favorite. Um, yeah, yeah, I'm going with that. Juliet cross, abigail owen favorite author. I don't know that I have a favorite character. It's not cats 100, cas carol is that cas or lou cas and lou what about uh spoke? Yeah what about, uh kingsley?
Ashley:you know don't kingly fucking kingsley for the win. That guy is such an icon. I can't wait to hear his story yeah, I need to know his story. I think it's coming. Excuse me, I think it's coming. Kelly kingsley. Yeah, kingsley's like like tied for kaz.
Kelly:Yeah I liked kaz. I think he was definitely one of the best side characters um this year. There was a lot of new authors that I read. I don't know that I would say one was in particular my favorite, although out of all the new authors I read maybe the stuff written by T Kingfisher I enjoyed the most.
Mari:I do love some T Kingfisher. For me, favorite new characters this year was I almost want to say, everybody in Throne of Glass. So if I had to pick one, probably manon blackbeak from throne of glass was a, was a kick-ass character.
Ashley:They're on my list of like one one of your categories.
Mari:Tog, yes same maya from the goblin Emperor by Katherine Edison. It was a book that really caught me off guard. I ended up enjoying it so much and the main character was just wonderful. As far as authors, as far as new ones to me this year would be Sebastian Nothwell. I want to read more of his stuff. I really enjoyed his works Opal Rain I still need to finish dust walker bride series. I really like her stuff and a new one that I just finished, maybe a few weeks back, is ll starling. She's only has one book published it's the chronicles of between, and I really, really enjoyed that. I listened to it as an audiobook and it feels like a little bit assistant to the villain, a little bit golden girls a little bit. That's an interesting charmed. I don't even know what else to combine it with. It's an interesting world and I know she's writing the sequel now, uh, but yeah, I really enjoyed the world she created. So lL Starling was a very new to me author this year. Most surprising or disappointing, or both. Book.
Jonathan:Interesting. I'm going to stay away from disappointing because I don't want to set the vibe down the wrong path everybody's feelings.
Ashley:No, I mean, I think disappointing for me was the ending to three dark crowns, because it was. We were hooked um, and I was really interested to see where it goes. And it wasn't a bad ending, I think it it was kind of like Game of Thrones series where they just wrapped it up too fast, you know, like they tied it up in a bow and I don't know it was. The ending was strange in that it all just ended so quickly after a three book series. So I think that was my disappointment now that it was bad writing or I didn't like the story, or that I didn't like the ending, because arguably I liked the game of thrones ending. I just think they they expedited. It is like they ran out of money, they ran out of time, they ran out of ink true, true, um.
Jonathan:Most surprising to me would be um the land of milk and honey money, glory, milk and farm.
Ashley:You know what that's fair? Yeah, we've been trying to talk other people into reading it just hear me out, hear me out like a chapter into it.
Jonathan:Yeah, definitely, our sister-in-law had a. It's like huh interesting.
Ashley:I don't think she finished it.
Jonathan:No, I don't think she did either. I think she was like I gotta go take a shower. Oh my god, Extra soap.
Ashley:I downloaded this in Kibok, I just haven't gotten to it.
Jonathan:It was surprising to me. I didn't think I would be as entertained yeah, entertain, that's like I just didn't.
Mari:Yeah, um, I'm surprised so I still think it could be. I think part of what I love about that series is because it is, it's, it's, it's an easy, you know smut kind of lures you in. But then she like actually writes a story. And then she also like pulls in some modern references and allegory and like things that are happening in our world and I'm like, hey, isn't it messed up that X, y and Z happened? And she does that in almost everything of hers that I've read, that in almost everything of hers that I've read. I read one of her books or I don't know, conductions or whatever. This month it's called. There Arose Such a Clatter Tales from the Naughty List, and it's a collection of short stories.
Ashley:Oh, that was her I saw it on your thing.
Mari:It's a collection of short stories, christmas based. It's not set in Cambrick Creek so it doesn't tie to those works that we read, but it's still the same author and it's similar vibes and the first story. This gives you an idea for the vibe. Yes, it's sexy, smutty, it's grownup book, whatever, but it's in a world where Santa and Krampus exist and elves and etc. But like hey, the economy's tough because all all the uh, the skilled labor is being outsourced and so the elves aren't like needed to do carpentry and all that stuff anymore. And like the distribution centers are basically run like Amazon distribution centers and so it's a really tough work environment and there's no unions, etc. So there's all these Christmas characters now work at a place called Santa's Workshop, which is like a strip club, and that's how they make their money. That's the concept of the first story and I'm like this is brilliant.
Jonathan:Those reindeer are so horny. See how that worked out you're, you can't no what, oh how, about you kelly anything disappointing, or um what's?
Kelly:surprising or surprising. I think akatar was disappointing, given the hype everyone had for it I thought we laid it very realistic yeah, we're like hey, the first book is the worst, but you gotta get through it, you gotta get.
Ashley:Those are the rules now kelly's right. It was disappointing we're not taking no arguments, we're just saying we set the expectation. We told you it was not, there's so much.
Jonathan:But people like clamor for like, oh yes, this is a great it is a great series, a whole cosplay off of tamlin yeah, but then you told me I'm gonna hate him, so I haven't finished it, yeah, but you got deep or tam tam no, not poor tam tam, for reasons you haven't discovered yet.
Jonathan:Not poor damn, yeah don't go any further in it, kelly, or they think you're gonna hate tammer the tammers, aka tampon, if you type it in a phone I mean tampons are that's what people actually call them the tampons have a? Have you texted?
Mari:tampons are tough. Tampons do a great job. Tampons are are a wonderful thing in society. It is a hard job you know what I don't? Know that the tampons deserve that, uh that malalignment my goodness yeah so my I'm sorry, kelly, are you done?
Mari:yeah my most surprising book was a tie, because I can't decide on one, I'm sorry. Surprising was the goblin emperor, because it was just an amazingly well-written book about like compassion and it just it was really good. Um, butcher and the blackbird, which is billed as a dark romance, and it's not um, which I'm not a fan of dark romance, but I read it because I promised someone I would and it's actually like dark humor and there's a romance. It was like, if you like Mr Right, the Anna Kendrick, sam Rockwell movie, I suggest you read or listen to Butcher and Blackbird.
Mari:And then the one I read fairly recently that was a surprise for me that I liked a lot was the Nightmare Before Kissmas. So I think I mentioned it on our Nightmare Before Christmas episode and it's basically a world where the holidays exist as royal families basically, and they're run like corporations or mafia families, but instead of money it's all about joy. So they have mergers and takeovers and all this for holiday joy and the Prince of Christmas and the prince of christmas and the prince of halloween fall in love.
Mari:Very sweet, oh, very well done it sounds so it is really well done and she's a sequel's coming out in march. That's like the younger prince of christmas and then, I guess, the prince of saint patrick's day or whatever, and it's called go luck yourself. Um, yeah, they're fun reads. My disappointment is the same disappointment it was when we talked about the mid, the mid-year, which was this is how you lose the time more. That was not a great read for me.
Ashley:All right, longest and shortest book you read oh, I mean, I feel like six scorched roses was pretty small. Hold on, I think my Goodreads told me I forgot to write it down. Somebody else go first.
Jonathan:My shortest book would be green eggs and ham. That is uh. What am I? That's another. If you're ever in the need, uh, for a change of spirits, I recommend this. This is a pro tip for everybody Dr Seuss book. It takes minutes to read and it changes your mood and your temperament. So I I. If you're nervous about going into a meeting or you're just having a shitty day, just stop for a second and reset yourself with a Dr Seuss book. So I do that often. I keep them in the office here. I fully recommend that. That was my shortest book. The longest book it's gotta be for me. I think it's. It's is iron flame longer than um Akatar. So I think those are two. Those two are probably the longest books that I've read this year.
Mari:Those are like um pages for me. The shortest book I read was um stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. It's a robert frost poem and it's illustrated into a book format by Susan Jeffers. We picked up the book at the links, which is an independent bookstore in Gainesville, and it was just a really really pretty, really well done illustrated version of that poem and it's like 32 pages. So that was my shortest read. And then my longest read was kingdom of ash, the last of the throne of glass books, and it's a 984 pages Dang.
Ashley:That's like three books in one. Yeah Dang Okay. So according to Goodreads, my shortest was Six Scorched Roses, which was 187 pages, and earlier this year I had done a Harry Potter reread, and so my longest book was 759, which was the Deathly Hallows, which apparently has Rebecca Yarrow speed out.
Mari:All right, so the next one is the best series.
Ashley:Oh, I didn't see that one.
Mari:I can start. I'm going to.
Ashley:I was going to I think, well, no, I, well, no, I'm lying I did see it and I wrote down akatar and I think, but and I know that I haven't finished it and I think it's because I'm so scared because it is unfinished but as far as like series and I read a lot like, I read like a lot of like the rebecca yaros contemporary stuff which I highly recommend she will kill off a main character. Everybody prepare themselves. She's, she's zero, fucks, um, and I love that for her, not so much for me, um, so I will highly recommend anything that she has written. I've, I've read most of them, um, but I think Akatar, and I think it's because book one was so awful.
Ashley:But you gotta do it, you gotta do it to, but book two and three really just suck you in. And you're committed. And I think book three just ended, you know just politely enough that I could walk away For now With my heart intact. So that's what I have written for that.
Mari:Guys.
Jonathan:My goodness, the series for me, I'm. So I have a toss-up Stay a Spell and Empyrean and it's I'm cool. So I have a toss-up Stay a Spell and Empyrean and I think the other reason I don't have a definitive one is because I haven't finished Stay a Spell yet, and not that Empyrean is that much longer to date as far as what's out there. But I think I've spent more time with Empyrean than they have with the stay a spell series yeah but I think they're. They're tied for me. How about you, kelly?
Kelly:I think the best series I've read so far this year has been the paladins grace series, saints of steel series by t king fisher.
Mari:I've really enjoyed that I love that series so much I may reread that next year too. We'll see um. My best in my series for me this year was throne of glass. Um, throne of glass. I thought was a very well done story as a whole. Yeah, I will probably be reading that one next year too, knowing me.
Ashley:We'll see. Was it book one that took you nine months to?
Mari:get through. No, that's Crescent City. Crescent City, okay, crescent City. I'm on book two now, and I have been for a while.
Mari:I haven't touched that second one for a while, so we'll see. Yeah, that second one for a while, so we'll see. Yeah, no, throne of glass. I read in like a month it's like seven books and the and the last one is like whatever, it was 900 something pages, um, and I read, I read them all in, I think, march of this year. I was like I'm gonna read throne of glass this month, not knowing what I was getting into, because I didn't want to. Yeah, I didn't want to look up anything because I'd already read akatar. But like I didn't want to look up anything because I'd already read Akatar, but like I didn't want to look up anything about Throne of Glass because, I mean, there's so many spoilers, and so I was like I don't know how many books there are, I don't know if there's a reading, I know nothing. There are, like multiple reading orders too.
Ashley:I definitely feel like an outsider anytime I pass, like the merch and the TikToks and social media stuff, because it is.
Mari:It is an actual cult following yeah, it's a, because it's a complete series, so you have a full story. It's oh, I'm not gonna start, you know, but it's a good. That was my best series. I'm gonna do. It's on my list and, uh, equally I'd say, or very close to that, is the monk and the robot books by Becky chambers. It's only two of them and they're super tiny, short little books. So the first one is a Psalm for the wild, built um and really well done. Um little story kind of like gives you life lessons. It reminds me of the little Prince, uh, in that. Or like the alchemist, um, paulo Coelho, like it's that kind of a story. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, I would say that. Um, I would say dust walker brides too, but I haven't read them all yet. It just completed this year. She just wrote the last one this year, but I'm only on like book four.
Ashley:So I would say those top two that was so much spicier than I thought it was. Yeah, it was Question so much about myself.
Mari:That was everybody, right, okay.
Jonathan:I think so.
Mari:Unpopular book that you liked, or and or popular book that you didn't like, and I don't mind going first. For me it was. I Really Liked when the Moon Hatched, which a lot of people have not. I hear a lot of bad things about it but I thought it was really well done. It's just a book that is very difficult to talk about because if you give the synopsis you're kind of giving away the whole plot and the whole way that she pulls you through it. So when the Moon Hatches, one that I like that was unpopular and for me one that I disliked that was popular is the Fledgling by Octavia Butler. I really Like the Octavia.
Ashley:Butler yes, yes, it was. Octavia wrote a book and you didn't like it.
Mari:I mean Octavia Butler. It's not your favorite. No, I didn't like it at all. It was a vampire book too, which should be up my alley. But the main character is old, like I don't know. She's like 100 and something years old, but she's in the body of like a, a child, I think, like a 15, 13, 15 year old, and she does some really adult things and it just it didn't. I didn't see the reason for it, it just didn't. It didn't work for me. Um, yeah, it was just it felt really gross, uh, and I was just like I, yeah, I didn't like it. Um, so that's, that's my answer to that a popular book that I didn't love.
Ashley:A popular book I didn't like. I don't know that. I you know you're not gonna like this answer. Uh, I didn't love initially. It took some time, but initially I did not love the cruel prince. I didn't see it. I could see that, um, and I think only because I listened to the audiobook and the voice really sucked me in.
Mari:Excuse me, when the plot takes a while to get going too it does, it really does, and it wasn't unlike I.
Ashley:I think it was. When the book got taken away from me, it was living and then I was like wait, oh no, what do you mean? Um, so while it was not my favorite book, I thought it was a really good series. I I don't think it's everybody's cup of tea, but it does have its own, you know, popular following. I, probably, I. I don't know that I would reread it. I don't know that I would read it without it being an audio book.
Jonathan:I think that's probably really what did it for me I feel like if I say that, I feel like if I say this book, that kelly might be thinking the same thing that I'm thinking. So, kelly, uh, you want to read my mind for a moment. Which book that is popular? Amongst many people that we know and socialize with, like a book that's popular. They were like, hey, this is the best book ever. You should never said that.
Mari:Yeah, none of us said that I didn't like it.
Ashley:Nobody said that I didn't like it in fact, we were very clear that what do you think, kelly?
Jonathan:which? Which book do you think that would be akatar? Oh my gosh, it's like we were made to be. It's kismet.
Mari:Yeah, 100, we're gonna have to come back to this conversation when you guys read the second one. All right, so if you guys could have a book redo, what would? What would it be so if you could read a book again for the first time? Basically, which book would you pick, pick and I I can go first. For me it would be the second akatar book, uh, but of course you'd have to reread the first one, but it would be the second akatar book.
Ashley:So ironically I have the third akatar, not the second, but the third one. There was a lot of shit that happened in book three. Yes, yes, and I know I didn't grasp it all I was. If I could have drank this book I would have Like through osmosis.
Jonathan:If I, with fresh eyes, could read another book, could read a book again, it would probably be the games gods play. I just I feel like I had. I had a. I had a good time reading that book and I feel like I would like to have that same good time again. Kelly, do you have any do-overs that you'd like to, fresh eyes, take a peek at?
Kelly:None that we read this year.
Mari:It doesn't have to be from this year, just in general in your life.
Kelly:I mean, there's tons of books that I would love to read over again, but I don't know, it's not something I really care about talking about. I mean, most of them are books that are either obscure or most people have never heard of.
Mari:All right. So a book you wish you would have gotten to this year, a book you had wanted to finish this year, gotten to this year a book.
Jonathan:You, you had wanted to finish this year. Oh man, I feel like, I feel like. I feel like mari, since you had to set that goal, there's probably a good list of those for you um, for me, yes, um.
Mari:For me, it's either kushiel's dart series, which I, when we did our little mid-year talk, I mentioned that I was going to read that this year, didn't read it, haven't read the first one, haven't picked up the first one. So the Cushiel's Dart Series, because a billion people have recommended it to me for years. So I hopefully will read that next year. We'll see. And then probably finishing up the Dustwalker Brides series, now that it's complete, I need to finish the rest of those.
Jonathan:Nice, nice, ash, do you have any that you wish you had gotten to?
Ashley:Throne of Glass.
Jonathan:You haven't read Throne of Glass.
Ashley:Don't we own it? No, we do. There was a sale and I invested and we just I haven't gotten to maybe we need to read it as a podcast. I don't think you're gonna get the. She be thick girls what do we talk?
Jonathan:how thick is thick thick is? Is that the 900?
Mari:The last one is 900.
Jonathan:Brb, how big is the first one she's going off. She's on a quest now.
Mari:She's got visual aids.
Jonathan:Oh yeah, she's getting me. Oh no, we're out. Sorry, fuck you. Book two no, how big does those look like?
Mari:Book one is 432 pages.
Jonathan:Get that what Book one is? She says book one is 432 pages. Are the words just big and so they needed more pages?
Mari:There's a lot of story to tell.
Jonathan:Page count. She said 400? She might have. The first one is Throne of Glass. Okay, hold on. I said 400. She might have. The first one is Throne of Glass. Okay, hold on. Oh, okay, book one. We could do book one. She's now holding up book one, which looks reasonable. The other two books look unreasonable.
Mari:There's seven books.
Jonathan:There are seven books. Oh God, ashley, put your headphones on so you can. No, well, you can talk to me in the book one. It looks like a very blah cover, though.
Ashley:And not want to finish it. That doesn't make any sense to me. Sorry, I'm back.
Jonathan:Interesting. I have them out of order apparently. Yeah, alright, what was our question again? What do you wish I?
Mari:would have given to you this year, apparently not thrown a glass for you not thrown a glass for me.
Jonathan:I wish I you know secretly. I wish I had gotten the masters of death. I see it when I look at it. I wish I you know secretly. I wish I had gotten the masters of death. I see it, it's taunting you.
Ashley:Do you want me to read it for you and tell you?
Jonathan:No, I don't want you to read it. No, I would like to. I don't know, I just I wish.
Ashley:I had read it and I just never got to it.
Jonathan:That's fair. Yeah, kelly, is there one that got away from you um? I?
Kelly:mean I'd wanted to get to apprentice to the villain just didn't get there.
Kelly:Maybe I'll get to it this year. There were a couple of other books that had caught my attention that I didn't get to. One was floating hotel by grace curtis. Then there were a couple of non-fiction books I had wanted to read for a while.
Kelly:I was reading a bunch of books about some of the espionage stuff that went on in World War II. You know the old saying about how World War II was won because of American industry, russian blood and English intelligence. So I read like year before last I read Operation Men's Meat and some books that were like that about some of the crazy stuff that the intelligence services did during the war that probably significantly played a role but weren't found out about until all that stuff was declassified in the 90s. One of the books I wanted to read this year that came out was a book called D-Day Girls and it's about spies the spies in Vichy, france during the occupation, who were sabotaging the Nazis and doing all kinds of crazy stuff becoming saboteurs because women were least likely to be suspected of being saboteurs, running around, blowing stuff up, you know, doing all kinds of stuff.
Kelly:Oh yeah, completely all organized by women. They, you know, they organized a train derailment, they blew up weapon caches, they destroyed a power plant. I mean, these women were pretty badass, I like it, and they were pretty much trained by the English, sent back over there with the directive to just set Europe ablaze in retaliation.
Ashley:Fuck yeah.
Kelly:And like half of them, ended up getting caught and executed and their story pretty much remained a secret until you know this came out and got declassified in like the 90s Wow. So the women who didn't get caught lived with this secret, you know, until most of them had passed away by the time this was all declassified.
Jonathan:Wild. Very nice, I like it Was that. Do you say it was fiction?
Kelly:No, it is nonfiction, that's like. That's like actually from the declassified, you know MI6 English intelligence files that you know, from all the stuff they did in the war, like Operation Mincemeat where they dropped a dead body for the Germans to find, to mislead the Germans about the D-Day invasion, stuff, like that. The English intelligence did some really crazy stuff and there's a lot of history from that era, during the war years, of the contributions that women and minorities made that have been largely ignored by history. I mean, we all know about the you see the pictures of Rosie the Riveter and all that kind of stuff. But there was a lot, a lot of other things that women and minorities were doing that still most people don't know about and there's probably even still that nobody knows about still.
Jonathan:Yeah, very cool stuff.
Mari:If you guys haven't seen it, like I didn't read anything about it. But Kelly told me about the operation mincemeat. But there's a movie. I just got both the Darcy's in it. It's got Matthew McFadden and Colin Firth in it, but it's, it's a. It it's got Matthew McFadden and Colin Firth in it, but it's, it's a. It's a good movie and it tells you the craziness of like operation mincemeat and everything they did.
Kelly:Yeah, the entire premise of what they did is so ludicrous, but it's all like a hundred percent factual.
Jonathan:That's pretty neat. I like that.
Mari:All right, the only other other, like last two, everyone answered right yeah, I think so the last two questions I had was just, I had put it out to everyone, whatever and all the social media stuff to see if anyone had any questions for us. And we had a question from Lisa on Facebook and it was just simple your favorite book, I guess, of the year, favorite book and least favorite book and I can start, because I'm throwing this out at you guys. So least favorite book for me was Fledgling, which we've already talked about, and then favorite book of this year, I can't pick just one. Like there was 258 books and like 49 of them were five star books. So I read a lot of good books this year. But I can break it down by genre.
Mari:So for sci-fi, it was A Psalm for the Wild Built. It was very, very good and it's a tie between that one and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. They were both very, very good sci-fi books. I would recommend to anybody. For fantasy weird they were both very, very good sci-fi books. I would recommend to anybody. For fantasy Goblin Emperor 100% Beautiful story, great listen. And then for romanacy, actually it's going to be Between, the Chronicles of Between. It was a very well fleshed out world with a lot of really cool quirky characters and it's a book that I would recommend to just about anybody and you could listen to with anybody, other than the fact that it's long. It's a long book, but it's a really charming. Cozy, quaint world Makes you feel like you're watching a comfort TV show. So those are my answers so I'm digging here.
Ashley:I think the book that um I liked this year that I don't think we've talked too much about, was blood marked um, which is the second book in the Legendborn Cycle series by Tracy Dion, and it's in and I'm going to butcher this, so please don't make fun of me it's an Arthurian tale, so I don't think I've ever read anything in the vein of you know, like the Knight's Table and King Arthur.
Ashley:So this is like a modern day, not necessarily retelling, because they bring in Arthurian legend have been um passed down through like genealogy, but like the twist with this one is that um is that there's a young girl who's the main character and she's of african-american descent, which goes against everything um that they've known as their like, as they've been following the genealogy stuff and I'm butchering it because I'm just coming on the spot with it. But I really liked book one and book two was released in January, so I'm not sure when book three comes out, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the plot was really well done. It is YA, so there's like zero to no spice, but there is like a whole love triangle situation and it was just like a really interesting concept to me of. You know, powers being passed down through the generations isn't necessarily new, but I had not read anything in the vein of Arthurian tales and I thought that was really cool.
Mari:I've heard of this series. I haven't read it, but I have heard good things about it.
Ashley:Yeah, I really liked it. It's not anything like mind blowing or brand new, probably to those who are familiar with the legends, but there are some flashbacks, like there's a whole reason, obviously, why she's involved, and it actually digs into a lot of African-American history and that trauma. I just thought it was very well done and very well explained. I was a big fan.
Jonathan:Interesting For me. Least favorite book a dowry of blood just wasn't, wasn't my jam. And then favorite book you know I had more five star reads than I thought I did, but the majority of those are, uh, nonfiction. So if I had to go with fiction, hmm, I would say, um, ooh, iron flame. But I don't want to leave it at just iron flame. Um, I also want to say maybe so three, my favorite three wolf gone wild, I did enjoy, assistant to the villain. Those three, those three are that's the trifecta for me. Kelly, did you have a best and a worst?
Kelly:I only gave a five star to one book this year and that was the Ministry of Time, by far and away the best book I read this year and the least favorite book I read this year. The book that I gave the lowest review to was the Last Storm, and we talked about that on the episode where we reviewed it and most of that was I. Just it was not a book I enjoyed. It wasn't my cup of tea because of a lot of the issues that were in the book. Many people enjoyed it and that's great for them, but it wasn't for me.
Jonathan:I agree, I have that one marked low as well.
Mari:Yeah, all right. Is there anything else wrap up wise or for next year that we want to bring up, or?
Jonathan:talk about. Before I wrap it up, I just want to say thank you. It's been a great year of reading. Y'all have opened my world to new and exciting worlds and I'm grateful for that.
Mari:It's been a fun ride with you guys. Yeah, it's been good. I'm glad we are doing this.
Jonathan:Agreed.
Mari:All right. Thanks for listening to of swords and soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check out the show notes, rate, review and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice. It helps others to find us. Follow us on instagram, at of swords and soulmates, or join our facebook page at of swords and soulmates. Check us out on our website of swords and soulmates dot com, or on YouTube, tiktok, pinterest, same username, if you'd like to offer a suggestion for a future episode. Reach out to us on any of these options above or email us If you want to read along with us as we prep for a new episode. Follow us on Goodreads at of Swords and Soulmates, or for chapter by chapter interaction on the Fable app at the Of Swords and Soulmates book club. And we hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode, when we will be talking about Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros. Bye-bye.
Jonathan:How'd you get Kelly into it? How'd you talk Kelly into?
Ashley:it Poor Kelly.
