Stephanie Burgis, Masks and Shadows

This novel, set at the Palace of Esterháza in 1779, centers around a group of musicians and a fateful opera performance. Carlo Morelli, a castrato famous throughout Europe, is one of the prince’s guests. Another is Charlotte von Steinbeck, an accomplished pianist whose sister Sophie is the prince’s mistress. As Charlotte and Carlo slowly grow closer, the prince’s opera troupe is rehearsing a new opera by Franz Joseph Haydn, and an assassination plot is brewing that includes the use of dark magic. The various plot lines converge at the opera’s opening performance. I really enjoyed this book — it’s the perfect combination of historical fantasy, political intrigue, and romance. Some of the magical elements were a bit too dark for me, but overall I found the novel very compelling. I’m glad the RandomCAT inspired me to finally read it!

Rachel Bach, Honor’s Knight

This book picks up where Fortune’s Pawn left off: after the climactic battle in that book, Devi’s memory has been wiped, so she can’t remember anything about either the battle or her love affair with Rupert. All that’s left is a strong feeling of revulsion toward him and a sense of confusion about the other crew members. Between that, her visions of small glowing blobs that are apparently invisible to everyone else, and some sort of disease or parasite that periodically turns her limbs black, Devi has more than enough to worry about. This book is a good sequel to Fortune’s Pawn; it explains a lot of the mysterious loose ends from that book and nicely sets up the final book in the trilogy. I also appreciated the character development for Devi, who finds herself having to make complex moral choices for the first time in her life. I’m looking forward to reading the third book sometime later this year.

Kent Haruf, Our Souls at Night

Addie and Louis, both in their 70s, have lived on the same street in Holt, Colorado, for many years. They’ve known each other casually but have never been close friends. Now, however, Addie has a proposition for Louis: she wants him to sleep with her. Not to have sex, but merely to sleep in the same bed, keep each other company, and have someone to talk to at night. Louis is surprised but agrees to the scheme, and the rest of the book deals with the fallout. This isn’t my usual type of book at all — indeed, when I realized that there were no quotation marks, I almost gave up right then — but I’m glad I persevered. This is a lovely but melancholy book about all the ordinary, mundane things that make up a life. There’s no plot to speak of; the book just follows Addie and Louis as they pursue their unconventional relationship, with both positive and negative results. I really liked this one and would highly recommend it!