Back in
my childless teacher phase, I read at least a book a week. They were almost always young adult and I would
do book presentations for my class of gifted youngsters (future X-men). Now I am in two book clubs and am so
overwhelmed with reading those two books a month that I hardly have time to
read anything else. But I try, oh I TRY,
to carry on! Thank you, father, for the
kindle a few years ago. I can usually
manage to read a chapter in the dark whilst rocking Booberry to drowsy. And thank you to the Multnomah County Library
for making it possible for me to save a few bucks and read some of these for
freesies. Because babies are expensive,
yo, and they lick my books. Booberry
personally threw up on three board books last week. One wasn’t even hers. So it’s good that libraries exist and have
e-books even though I miss the smell and the tactile satisfaction of paper
books…mmmm….sensory bliss. It’s ok. I’ll have to get my jollies with board books
and get on the e-book wagon.
Here
are some books I read this year that I want to discuss. In no particular order:
Eleanor and Park by
Rainbow Rowl. She is so hot right
now. And this book is great. It’s a quiet young adult (some mature
content) romance about a ginger (you know I have a thing for those) girl and a
non-ginger boy. The ginger thing isn’t a
big part of the story really. It’s about
LOVE. And I enjoyed it.
Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. I have read 2/3 of the trilogy. This is also one of those trendy ones I heard
about on the internets or somewhere. IT
IS WEIRD. The pitch: it’s like X-files mated with Lost and did shrooms. Which
sounds like the best thing ever, right? But the style is self-proclaimed “weird.” It’s about a scientific expedition into a
mysterious Floridian Area X that has creepy, maybe alien, maybe nature-gone-mad
elements. There’s repetitive imagery and
lots of mysteries. And deadly
fungus. I had to take a break before
doing the third book because the book sorta took me over like one of its spores
and I couldn’t sleep.
Where’d ya Go
Bernadette by Maria Semple. I read
this AGAIN. Why haven’t you read it
yet? It’s like if Desperate Housewives were written as a novel by a writer for Arrested Development (which Maria Semple
was) and set in Seattle. It’s light and
easy to read without being stupid or “a girl book” as The Doctor would say.
Red Rising by Pierce
Brown. This book got a lot of good buzz
but didn’t actually catch on the way other YA violent sci fi has for whatever
reason. Reviews often say that it’s like
a Hunger Gamesy Harry Potter. But it is SIGNIFICANTLY more violent than either of
those. Like, cringing while I read
violent (which last happened to me during American
Psycho to give you reference). BUT
IT’S COOL. I am planning to read the
sequel. It’s about future colonists of
the planets and has a Brave New World class
structure with Capitol on crack type physical enhancements. And there’s a school for training but it’s
not wizards it’s WARRIORS. It’d say it’s
more male than a lot of YA today but I don’t mean that in a good or bad
way.
Sleep Donation by
Karen Russell. I HATED HATED HAAAAATED Swamplandia.
I threw it across the ROOooooom when I finished it, I hated it so
much. But I very much enjoyed this
novella and wish to see the movie/read the whole thing should she ever flesh it
out. It had a Fahrenheit 451 vibe to it and is about what happens when people
stop sleeping. Cool concept well
executed.
Sisterland by Curtis
Sittenfeld. I like alllll her
books. I recommend all of them. This one is her newest and it really stuck
with me because the characters seemed very much like people I could know/be. It’s about twins who are psychic but not in a
YA paranormal way, just in the way some people seem to think they’re psychic
and you either believe them or you don’t.
One sister grows out of the novelty of her power and lives a pretty
straight forward suburban life. The
other makes money on her gift and predicts a big earthquake which sends the
community into a panic. The plot is
about the days leading up to the predicted event. It’s quieter than my normal YA adventures and
is much more grown up, albeit a light read.
Looking for Alaska
by John Green. He’s having a moment, of
course and I love him and his books and his vlog and his run on sentences. This is one of his earlier novels I hadn’t
read. It has echoes of Fault in ours Stars greatness but is
more like a dark Abundance of Katherines.
It’s heavy. It has a pixie dream
girl, of course. It’s moody. I liked it.
Lowland by Jhumpa
Lahiri. NOPE! Worst ever. I voted for it in book club and could barely
finish it. The only reason I did is because
there wasn’t an adequate Wikipedia summary.
I like her short stories and this is the first full novel I’ve
read. HATED. Everyone in book club for the most part took
issue with the main female, a cold, depressed person whose grief basically
ruins everything for everyone for their whole lives.
Star Wars: Shadows of
the Empire by Steve Perry. Because I
voted for the horrendous Lowland, I
was coerced into picking this dud as the next book. Nerds love it. I am a nerd.
It was a huge waste of valuable reading time for me. It takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return
of the Jedi. So basically, it’s
filler. SO ANNOYING. Enjoy it if you like fan fiction.
On Immunity by Eula
Bliss. Maybe the most important book I
read this year. As you know, I get
really RAGEFUL when I think about anti-vaxers and their bioterrorist ideas
about killing us all with pox parties. Sometimes
I think about Booberry getting measles (her heat rash yesterday set me off…she
had epic heat rash and I was concerned) and I get whipped into a panicked
frenzy and murderous ideas come popping up.
So I try to keep it civil. This book
helped. A journalist and mom, Bliss wasn’t sure about vaccines so she did her
REAL research (not reading Bob Sears’ blog) and has come to the conclusion
that, DUH, vaccines are a good idea. The
book explains why from a historical, lightly scientific, and emotional
standpoint. Basically this book gives me
ammo when anti-vaxers start talking about “natural immunity.” Too bad I bought the kindle version—otherwise
I could just throw the book at them. Like
at their faces.
Saga by Brian K
Vaughan and Fiona Staples. My first
non-political allegory graphic novel!
The Doctor picked this for book club and I devoured over two days. I let Booberry crawl around her room with her
toys while I read it in the glider. She kept
coming up to me and wanting me to read it to her…but it has boobies. Breastfeeding boobies, sure, but also sex and
monster boobies. It’s about star crossed
future lovers who have a mixed race baby and have to flee their enemies and raise
their girl in the midst of interplanetary war.
It’s super fun and amazing. Plus
it’s fast and has cool pictures.
Next up: Station
Eleven. The premise is that it follows a group of traveling Shakespearean
actors in a post-apocalyptic North America.
Basically, I’m pretty sure this book was written JUST FOR ME.
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