What I enjoyed: 

• the premise - a time (& dimension) travelling sailing ship via maps! 
• the prose - there were some really gorgeous descriptions that set the scene
• Nix's name
• The thorough-seeming historical research

Well, I'm back! I helped run an event for Baraka Umm Ayman Foundation (where I'm a contributor), I got married, went on a mini-moon (a precursor to our honeymoon - which has to happen later because of work), moved, and poked out a few words onto a few pages. Laying it all out like that...ok so maybe there's good reason I haven't written much. But that's not what this post is about! This post is about a book I read which was captivating if not strictly enjoyable. To find out what I mean, read below!

I thought I'd read Deerskin a long time ago, though now I think I actually read a different adaptation of the fairytale Donkeyskin. Still, when I chose to start Deerskin, I did so knowing I'd read and enjoyed other McKinley works, so I borrowed the e-book from Libby and got to reading.

I got through part one and put it down, fully intending to DNF it. It's such a dark story (which I was prepared for, given the horror of the fairytale it's based on, but not prepared enough, as it turns out). And its lyrical sort of prose makes it both engrossing and dizzying to get through if you don't focus. It's also written very much like a fairytale, with elaborate descriptions, poetic repetition, and in a narrative style with little traditionally structured dialogue, which can make it difficult to parse without dedication.

This book brought me unexpected joy! I love period and Regency romances, and having exhausted Austen and the Bronte sisters’ works, I’ve been slowly making my way through Georgette Heyer. Most of her work is fluffy and fun but not quite ...hm, engaging? But Frederica was a romp, a delight, and emotionally engaging!
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Featuring a sarcastic Marquis almost fatally bored with life who enjoys teasing (read: annoying and subverting the demands of) his avaricious sisters, the titular heroine who manages her siblings with spunk and humorous frankness, absolutely hilarious and endearing little brothers, and a very beautiful if vapid (but still sweet!) younger sister who falls for a Regency himbo.