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Legends & Lattes - August 2024 Book Club Reading

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
Legends & Lattes is a 'cozy' fantasy novel written by American author Travis Baldtree. It was published in February 22, 2022. The book tells the story of retired ork adventurer, Viv, as she attempts to leave the world of fighting behind and open up a cafe in a small village. The book centers on the new life she is creating and the friends she makes along the way.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I made sure to plan ahead this time and got my library hold in early! It came in yesterday and I'll probably pick it up on Tuesday.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
I nominated this one after hearing about it so much from so many people. A sequel just came out last year too! @Büge got me a copy of both books last year so I'm excited to start!
 

Olli

(he/him)
I read this one (and the sequel) earlier this year. Great stuff. My wife, who is not generally into fantasy, liked both too.

One note to kick things off: the descriptions of the foods are absolutely mouth-watering. I want one of those
cinnamon rolls so bad.
 

Aurelia

duff mcwhalen megafan
(she/her)
Gonna check this out as my next read! Was looking for some suggestions, and I got kindle credit for my birthday, so definitely feeling this from a vibes perspective atm.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Well darn. I read this back in April.
There's no requirement to read it during this month! I've definitely contributed to threads about books I read quite a while earlier. Just keep discussions spoiler-free until about halfway through the month if I remember correctly.
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
Yeah, you don't have to read it now to participate! And yeah, I don't know if it is a written rule but we do try to avoid spoilers until later in the month as people read at different speeds. If you are going to spoiler make sure you use the tags so it is hidden and label as a spoiler.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I read this a couple of years ago. Turns out the author is local, and was at a book signing that a friend of my ex's went to, and he invited him to the meeting of the book club we read it for, so I actually got to discuss it with him on a Discord call. It was neat! Also, he used to be a videogame designer for some games I'd heard of, like Hob.

I thought the book was nice; I've never read any other cozy fantasy, but I appreciated the vibes. Although it didn't really enthrall me like it did many others, I just thought it was nice.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Yeah, you don't have to read it now to participate! And yeah, I don't know if it is a written rule but we do try to avoid spoilers until later in the month as people read at different speeds. If you are going to spoiler make sure you use the tags so it is hidden and label as a spoiler.
There is biscotti
 

Dark Medusa

Diamond Crusader
(He/they)
Bought the book (and its currently cheap sequel) in preparation for participating. I'll try to start reading tonight!
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I read this pretty quickly, finished earlier in the week and keep forgetting to comment on it here. I liked it a lot -- very pleasant and chill vibes -- although I kind of wished for a bit more of everything. Tension and character development especially. I know the stakes are kept low on purpose, but everything in the book felt kind of effortless. Even at the climax of the book when the shop is burned down, Viv (and by extension, the reader) is warned in advance that Fennus is going to make some kind of move against her, and knowing that it's coming robs that moment of some of the power it should have.

I was also hoping to learn more about the characters besides Viv. I went into the book expecting it to be a sort of fantasy Becky Chambers deal, and while that isn't super far off, one difference is that in a book like The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, every character gets fully fleshed out. In this one, we learn a bit about Viv, but almost nothing about Tandri, or Cal, or Thimble, all of whom I was interested in and curious about. Tell me more about rattfolk and hobs! Tell me what a stone-fey is! Tell me about the time traveling gnome! There's so much room to grow here. Tell me anything about Tandri other than that she's a talented artist who maybe took some wizard lessons? Tell me more about the wizard lessons. I also felt like Viv and Tadri ending up romantically involved just sort of...happened? Without a lot of setup or flirting or anything. It seemed like they had very few conversations that weren't about work or the coffee shop in general.

I know good art is supposed to leave you wanting more, but I still feel like the author could've put some more meat on its bones. I hope I don't sound too negative, because I mean all of this from a place of appreciation. I want to spend more time in the world being built and I want to be more invested in these characters. I enjoyed my read and found it extremely charming, I just think some more depth could've taken this book from good to great for me.


Thanks @Violentvixen for a cozy and fun recommendation!
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
I read this pretty quickly, finished earlier in the week and keep forgetting to comment on it here. I liked it a lot -- very pleasant and chill vibes -- although I kind of wished for a bit more of everything. Tension and character development especially. I know the stakes are kept low on purpose, but everything in the book felt kind of effortless. Even at the climax of the book when the shop is burned down, Viv (and by extension, the reader) is warned in advance that Fennus is going to make some kind of move against her, and knowing that it's coming robs that moment of some of the power it should have.

I was also hoping to learn more about the characters besides Viv. I went into the book expecting it to be a sort of fantasy Becky Chambers deal, and while that isn't super far off, one difference is that in a book like The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, every character gets fully fleshed out. In this one, we learn a bit about Viv, but almost nothing about Tandri, or Cal, or Thimble, all of whom I was interested in and curious about. Tell me more about rattfolk and hobs! Tell me what a stone-fey is! Tell me about the time traveling gnome! There's so much room to grow here. Tell me anything about Tandri other than that she's a talented artist who maybe took some wizard lessons? Tell me more about the wizard lessons. I also felt like Viv and Tadri ending up romantically involved just sort of...happened? Without a lot of setup or flirting or anything. It seemed like they had very few conversations that weren't about work or the coffee shop in general.

I know good art is supposed to leave you wanting more, but I still feel like the author could've put some more meat on its bones. I hope I don't sound too negative, because I mean all of this from a place of appreciation. I want to spend more time in the world being built and I want to be more invested in these characters. I enjoyed my read and found it extremely charming, I just think some more depth could've taken this book from good to great for me.


Thanks @Violentvixen for a cozy and fun recommendation!
I think you'll enjoy the prequel
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Someone shared that Travis Baldree has a free short story on a website, so sharing here!

I didn't get as far as I hoped to this weekend, just on Chapter 3 but liking it so far. There was a lifehacker article recently about the concept of "Competence Porn" and it made me realize I like that ha. I'm getting the vibe that this book will be something similar. I really liked the scene of watching the guy working on the boat and analyzing his style.
 
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Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Someone shared that Travis Baldree has a free short story on a website, so sharing here!

I didn't get as far as I hoped to this weekend, just on Chapter 3 but liking it so far. There was a lifehacker article recently about the concept of "Competence Porn" and it made me realize I like that ha. I'm getting the vibe that this book will be something similar. I really liked the scene of watching the guy working on the boat and analyzing his style.
how do you read a epub file?
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
how do you read a epub file?
Oh, is that what it is? I haven't downloaded it yet since I wanted to finish this first and see if I like it. I'll try after work tonight, I have a Mac and think previous ones I've had just opened in Preview. If not I think most browsers can, definitely remember opening some epub files from the library in Firefox.

I'm sure there's a way to get it onto a Kindle or something too...
 
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Dark Medusa

Diamond Crusader
(He/they)
So yeah, I finished this last night. Specific thoughts below the spoiler.

I want to start off by making it clear that I enjoyed reading the book, it was light and airy and nice, and it definitely tickled my personal fantasy of having a space of my own that I can curate and invite people into to feel welcome. Viv and I share that dream, and so it was nice seeing it play out on the page.

Right, so. I read in the acknowledgements that this book started off as a NaNoWriMo project, and I think it shows through the writing. Similar to what linconic said up above, the entire book is incredibly light on details and feels more like a sketch than it is something fully fleshed out. I think part of my problem with this is that I don't have a ton of experience with light novels, which this story likely hews closer to in terms of style and substance. But everything in this book feels devoid of any real conflict or anything driving the story that would drive interest.

For example, the first real conflict that is introduced into the story is that of the Madrigal, a crime lord/mob boss who is demanding protection money, which Viv doesn't want to do. She's used to standing up to bullies, and she'd rather deal with the problem head on. That's decent characterization. But then the problem gets solved almost instantly, with no repercussions - one of her old party (or even, TWO of her old party) has connections to the Madrigal, she seems to like Viv for reasons that aren't clearly stated, and all she needs to do is give her pastries for free. There's nothing there about how Viv might feel about other people having to pay protection money, or how the neighborhood in general feels about this crime lord, nor anything past that The Madrigal feels welcome to using violence to get her way. As soon as the problem is solved, she becomes an ancillary, helpful, neutered problem. It just deflates all tension. The most she shows up in the story past then is just to give a warning, then to go out of her way to help Viv rebuild. Which, great! That feels nice. But it feels entirely unearned and underdeveloped. This repeats itself with the tension in the second half of the book, where a bad thing happens, but then through the power of friendship everything is actually better and don't worry about it, the bad guy is getting theirs without Viv having to lift a finger.

Another problem I have is that the characters themselves, and their relationships, are underdeveloped. Like lincolnic said above, there's not much in detail about the romance of Viv and Tandri. I think there's quite a bit there about Tandri's hangups (although, again, sketched instead of given specifics) and how Viv and Tandri work together, but the actual chemistry and camaraderie feels missing. When the story ends with Tandri revealing her true self, that should be a really good feeling moment. But we don't get a lot of deft character work showing who she really is without reservation other than that she's an artist and did some magic, and what caused her to clam up. Also, why did she think working for a coffee shop was a good next step after leaving magic school? I know the book explains this away with magic, but it's not a very interesting or investing explanation. I think the only point where something deeper shone through was when Viv was going through her lowest point, and pushing people away. Talking about her older self in specifics made that moment deeper.

Not to harp on this again, but with the mousekin baker, why are they a genius? Why are they not working at a different bakery? How come they suddenly invent all these wonderful pastries? It's incredibly surface level.

Which is to bring myself to my main point, which is that for me, specifically, a book that is comfy and nice doesn't get much more from me other than a "that's nice to think about and read about" unless there's a real sense of build and investment into the characters. I love seeing characters bounce off each other and solve problems to achieve what they want. I think there is a really good, feelgood book in this premise. But because the tension and build, as well as the characterization feels all off, I don't feel any chemistry or connection to the main cast.

To bring this around to something more positive, I think that these are all things that developing as a writer can improve. I'm quite interested to see where Bookshops & Bonedust goes, and if some of these problems are addressed, because I can see the potential. Also, clearly, a lot of people enjoy this book, so I'm willing to concede a lot of my problems are likely a matter of expectations or taste, rather than "this author/premise/book is bad".

Thanks as always to @Violentvixen for the suggestion. I had been meaning to give this book a try, and the book club was a wonderful excuse to do so!
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Finished it. Light, low stakes, cozy, et cetera are all absolutely accurate. I also agree that I wanted a bit more and that things are a bit shallow but it was ultimately just pleasant to read. And I guessed out very early the Stone was just "the power of friendship was inside you all along" or whatever so that wasn't really shocking.

As others have noted several things seemed to come out of nowhere but I didn't mind most of 'em, it fit the breezy tone. I think the only thing that I'm actively bothered by is that whatever is up with the chess-playing guy is never explained. That was just really odd an unresolved, felt like that was going to be more important in an earlier draft and got cut maybe?

The mention of cardamom in the fancy rolls immediately made me think of our famous local pastry the Ocean Roll. They're super good and while they have more crunch than what's described in the book and don't have cinnamon they're what I imagined every time they talked about the rolls.

Finally, being a crime boss who demands baked goods as tribute sounds like a good retirement goal to me.

I'll be reading the second for sure. Maybe not this month but I might try just to keep things fresh in my mind.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Someone shared that Travis Baldree has a free short story on a website, so sharing here!
This was great fun. Once I realized what was going on with the colours of clothing I laughed quite a bit. Took me about 20 minutes to read and I recommend it!

Also started up Bookshops and Bonedust, quite liked how immersed she is in reading.
 

Dark Medusa

Diamond Crusader
(He/they)
Bookshops and Bonedust, which I'm about halfway through, absolutely addresses a lot of the problems I posted above. Definitely more into it.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Bookshops and Bonedust, which I'm about halfway through, absolutely addresses a lot of the problems I posted above. Definitely more into it.
Given that your problems were mostly the same as my problems, this is great to hear! I'll have to add it to my list.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Finished Bookshops and Bonedust. I liked it very much, and it also just hits something I always love, which is when books celebrate a love of reading and the joy of it.

I agree the prequel is a better book, but there was something lovely about watching the business build in Legends and Lattes. I'm having a hard time deciding which one I like better.
 

Baudshaw

Unfortunate doesn't begin to describe...
(he/him)
I guess I should contribute to this since I read it back in July. I liked it, but I thought the romance angle came a bit late. Maybe it was used to make it more "exciting", but I saw the two characters more as friends. It's technically low-stakes, but I still felt there was quite a bit of conflict with the business trying to stay afloat and such. The worldbuilding is a bit plain, but it works really well with the characters. I would rate it an 8/10 looking back, since I was quite invested in the story of the coffee shop slowly building itself up, even if it doesn't do anything revolutionary or even all that interesting. The past party and backstory was the least interesting part of it honestly, so maybe the prequel isn't for me.
 

Olli

(he/him)
The past party and backstory was the least interesting part of it honestly, so maybe the prequel isn't for me.
I would recommend giving it a shot if you liked L&L. The prequel is not concerned much with Viv's mercenary party, even though it does fill in some of the blanks.
 

Dark Medusa

Diamond Crusader
(He/they)
It is, in fact, pre- her mercenary party, and I think does a better job of taking the good elements of the first book and souping up the bits that fell flat. It's not like my favorite book ever, but if L&L was a 6/10 or 7/10 for me, B&B is like an 8?
 

Aurelia

duff mcwhalen megafan
(she/her)
I might be dropping this for the time being sadly. I got around halfway through and it was ultimately fine but not for me.
 
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