I read Sigyn’s Sigil by Megan Trotter. I’ll write a more thorough commentary here than I sometimes do because this is self published by a local (?) writer and I expect you’ll have difficulty sourcing you own copies. It wasn’t even listed on Storygraph until I added it myself.

Last time I left the used book sale with a self-published book like this, I complained here about offensive restrictions on the copyright page. No such objections can be made about this book, and that’s because it … well, it doesn’t have a copyright page. The front cover is nicely illustrated, the half-title page is autographed by the author, and then it’s straight into chapter one. Not even a list of the author’s other works, although I suspect this is a sequel to Sigyn’s Song.

Sigyn used to be a mermaid, possibly one heavily inspired by HCA’s Little Mermaid. Now in Sigil, she has fresh legs and lungs in her humanoid form. She also has the hots for the Norse god Loki, but is insecure about it because as a siren, she can make anyone fall in love with her and isn’t sure if Loki’s feelings are real or magic. Anyway, she and Loki are hanging out with Thor because he needs help getting his hammer, Mjollnir back from the giants. Apparently he mislaid it while whoring it up with some festival wench. The giant king is apparently willing to return it if Freya marries him, which isn’t going to happen. So Loki shapeshifts Thor into the form of the goddess Freya, and himself into her handmaiden and the three ‘girls’ set off to trade her for Thor’s hammer. Other than Sigyn’s involvement, this plot line is from Thrymskvidha in the Poetic Edda, portions of which are excerpted for the chapter headings. Amazingly, they manage to pull this ruse off, despite the gods’ unladylike behavior. Giant shaman Ymir knows the truth and doesn’t out them, but isn’t as helpful as they’d hoped although he seems to not want to get Sigyn killed for her part in this. They learn the hammer is hidden in the ocean, and Sigyn displays heroism and her mermaid background to recover it, while protecting the team from a deadly horse shaped water Nokk. Thor gets his hammer back and Ymir bestows Sigyn with a magic water sigil. They also liberated the Egyptian god, Set from Thrym’s dungeon and might be setting up for a sequel involving him.

Romantasy isn’t a genre I usually seek out, although I found this more humorous than erotic, and better writing and proofreading than some more commercially successful authors I’ve read. As appropriate for a polytheistic setting, the characters never say “goddamn”, it’s always “godsdamn”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book like this, but I think it satisfied my expectations anyway.

Here’s how I’ve scored my card so far:

Not claiming bingo yet, but could drop one quickly, especially if I reclassify a few things. Currently reading something by an Australian lady and intend to mark B2 next.

I’m reading two because they’re related. Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, and White Fire by Preston and Child. I’ve mostly had second-hand exposure to Sherlock Holmes, and figured if I’m going to read / watch / play things inspired by the thing, it’s time to read the original thing directly. At about the halfway point, I’m liking both and hoping they finish strong.

Finished up Purity by Jonathan Franzen. Took a little longer to get through than I’d thought, either because I had other things on my mind, or because I reread the confusing parts. There are some complicated strands of plot, told out of chronological order, but I think it eventually fits together sensibly. I’d recommend this one and might take a chance on one of Franzen’s other books.

If you know a little French, there’s Mots d’Heures. English translation and commentary is provided, so you don’t need to understand much French, just how to pronounce the words.

A young niece is about to be gifted a copy of Who’s Saying What in Jamestown, Thomas Savage? by Jean Fritz with illustrations by Sally Wern Comport. I was invited to quickly read it before mother mails it off as it pertains to all of our family history. It reads like a biography, but is rightly classified as fiction as the author confesses to a lot of interpolating between sparse historical records to make a child-friendly story. It’s probably a little too advanced for a 1st grader, but in a few more years she might read it.

Finished up Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass. It’s more fun for people familiar enough with Oak Ridge to recognize some of the landmarks. I do know Oak Ridge, but not as well as the person who recommended this book to me.

I think up next is going to be Purity by Jonathan Franzen who is a new author for me. The title character and most of the people she meets in the first 50 pages are, if not complete basket cases, deeply flawed humans, so it might get interesting.

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. It’s an interesting look into Manchurian folklore, with Snow’s explanations about how fox-girls like her see the human world, navigating potentially dangerous interactions with superstitious humans. The lady who sold it to me said it was excellent, but I’ll have to see how it ends before saying if I agree.

It’s a match for the ‘Supplementary’ bingo square, even though the author’s note unfortunately includes "However, I realized readers might not be fond of footnotes so I cut back on them." There’s plenty of room left in the margins, and she’d have heard no complaints from me if she’d done as she originally proposed. I like marginalia.

About 1/3 through Still Life With Crows by Preston and Child. In a deviation from my usual pattern, I’m reading the AXL Pendergast novels in order, at least through the first four ( I don’t have #5 and might skip to #13 next.)

I usually like Niven and Pournelle’s stuff, and particularly recommend The Mote in God’s Eye for a great first contact encounter. There’s a sequel The Gripping Hand which is not as great, but still worth the read.

Started on Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. A lot of people say they like this one. Not far enough into it yet to say if I agree with them, but it looks like there’s some detailed worldbuilding which is a good sign.

I’ll go with The Magician’s Tale by the author whose nom de plume is David Hunt. It has 20 reviews on storygraph. Kay Farrow is a colorblind art photographer working on a ‘streets of San Francisco’ series when one of her subjects misses an appointment due to being dead and dismembered – in a manner reminiscent of the serial killer her cop dad caught years earlier, shortly before he took early retirement from the force. Dad doesn’t want to talk about that, so Kay investigates other leads, talks to other prostitutes, a helpful homeless guy, the titular Magician, the victim’s mysterious sister, and works out his background and why he got murdered.

I’m sure I’ve read more obscure stuff, but this is one I’d recommend. Not to everyone since the subject matter is quite dark and sexual, but I thought it was well written.

The Suicide Murders by Howard Engel, the first book of his Benny Cooperman series. It’s almost a parody of the private detective genre which may or may not have been the author’s intent. The cover art isn’t much, but I’ve concluded it’s an African tribal sculpture, normally posing as office artwork, but also sturdy enough to bash in the skull of a crooked psychiatrist on page 60, so I’ve scored it in the weapon on the cover category hard mode.

The Middleman by Olen Steinhauer. This is a new author to me. It’s about a group of left-wing activists who suddenly disappear and go off-grid. A lady FBI agent has been monitoring them for a while, even though there’s no evidence they intend violence. Well, things happen, people die, and the surviving members are officially labeled terrorists. Anyway, I have about 100 pages left and some very suspicious characters haven’t yet had their involvement adequately explained. If it finishes strong, I’ll add Mr. Steinhauer to my list of authors I would read another book by.