Wrap-Up

November 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

December 19, 2019Books, Wrap-Up

I know, I know. December 18 is almost January. And definitely not even close to the end of November. But this month has been crazy! I started a new job at a new school teaching a new grade level. So that’s my excuse, but I hope you enjoy my wrap-up nonetheless.

In terms of audience, I read 3 young adult books and 5 adult books. I read 3 of these books physically, 3 of these books as e-book, and 2 via audiobook. Finally, I read all of these as rentals from my library, except for one – the Golden Compass, which I purchased at a local book store.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

An occult fantasy set at Yale where we follow Alex who is in charge of policing the magic at the other secret societies.

This book is majorly hyped, which I get (major YA author transitions to adult and goes extra edgy), and I think it deserves some of the hype. It definitely isn’t perfect (some parts dragged, some issues were handled in a way that I didn’t love), but it was pretty great overall. That being said, this book has several elements that are “auto-buy” factors for me – secret societies, Ivy League setting, and occult magic. If you’re sort of “meh” about these plot factors, then the larger issues with this book might really bother you. Since I have affinity towards books that share many of these features, I was much more forgiving and just happy to be in this immersive atmosphere.

Girls on the Verge by Sarah Biggs Waller

A high school senior in Texas needs access to abortion, so she takes a roadtrip with her friends. The story of what it means to be a friend and the importance of a women’s right to choose.

This book knocked my socks off. If you told me that a story about a teen girl seeking abortion would be hard hit-hitting but also joyful, I wouldn’t believe you. I mean, how is it even possible to infuse joy into a story about a girl who does not have access to abortion? This book somehow pulls it off. While this book definitely has an agenda and absolutely intends to inform, it also entertains in a heartfelt way that I didn’t expect. I read this in almost one sitting and I am so glad I picked it up. This should be required reading for high schoolers. Seriously. If you have even a little bit of interest in YA about this topic, pick it up. You’ll be impressed and entertained.

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

A middle grade/young adult/adult fantasy (determining an audience for this is nearly impossible) about Lyra’s journey to the magical north to escape from the “gobblers” who steal children and her determination to save the children who have been stolen.

I finally picked up the Golden Compass, and boy did it deliver on the things I was hoping it would. First, the writing style blew me away! It is so lyrical and prose-y and the kind of writing that you want to read out loud. Lyra is such an interesting protagonist (not necessarily likable but truly fascinating to follow). The plot is meandering, for better or for worse, but that’s the sort of thing I like. And finally, the themes and setting are incredible. This is a classic for a reason, and everyone (I mean everyone) should read this.

Bunny by Mona Awad

A genre-bending novel that follows an outcast in her MFA program filled with sugar sweet prepsters. When accepted into their clique, our protagonist finds that they’re doing some interesting things… with bunnies… and men…

It’s nearly impossible to describe this book without spoilers because it’s so bizarre. It’s literary fiction meets horror meets science fiction mets thriller. If you love thriller/horror and want to dip into literary fiction, give this a try. If you love literary fiction and want to dip into thriller/horror, then this would be a great pick.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

A romance about two people who are sharing a flat to save money – one party works 9 to 5 at a publishing company and the other works 5 – 9 as a hospice nurse. They get to know each other through the notes they leave to each other, and things evolve as their lives begin to blend…

This is easily my favorite romance of the year. Not only is the premise adorable, but the writing is stunning and far beyond what I usually see in romance. Furthermore, the side characters are highly developed in this story and actually contribute to the plot in a meaningful way. Also, this is a dual perspective story, with distinct writing styles for each character. There is also a social justice bend, including diverse characters, which is also rare in romance.

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky

A tale of privilege in the northeast, we follow a writing professor fresh off of a hot novel who hooks up with one of his students. When he unexpectedly moves in with her mother, things become tricky. A multi-perspective story that touches on many social issues

This is a hard book for me to rate. It’s a beachy literary fiction (if that’s even a thing), with about 6 different points of view that all intersect in fantastic finale. Everything about this book is incredibly subtle, so if you like a layered story that has only a slight element of family drama, salaciousness, social commentary, and relationship drama – then you might like this. For me, it mostly just fell flat.

Simon versus the Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli

A YA contemporary about Simon and his email correspondence with a potential love interest when a peer intersects these emails and sees an opportunity for blackmail. Deals with the teen experience and coming out.

For the most part, YA contemporary just isn’t my thing. It’s rare that I read a YA contemporary that rises to the 4 star level to me. That being said, this book is so well written and if you like YA contemporary, there is no doubt that you’ll love this. Becky Albertalli does probably the best job of capturing a teen voice that I’ve ever read. I listened to this on audiobook, which I highly recommend, because much of the book is teens bantering back and forth or the internal thoughts about day to day teen life. Because Albertalli captures the voice of Simon so well, it was totally encapsulating to listen to on audio. I liked this one SO much more than Leah on the Offbeat, which I listened to early this year.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

A romance about a woman with little to no experience with sex who hires an escort to help her learn.

The things I liked about this book – amazing own-voices autism representation and great side characters. The things I didn’t like about this book – everything else. But that isn’t the book’s fault! I just don’t love romance, particularly romance that is so focused on physical aspects of a couple’s relationship. The slow burn thing works way better for me in terms of reading experience, so this book just didn’t strike on all cylinders for me. Basically, this book worked as well as it could have for me, considering my limitations on the genre.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

A science fiction about a “murderbot” that prefers to watch space dramas than do its security duty. The story about the challenges of human interaction and the power of agency over one’s self

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Ahhh! I am so torn between 4 and 4.5 stars on this book. It took a while for me to get into it because the beginning is very world-based jargon heavy, but once you get past that, it’s great. The narrator, Murderbot, is incredible. I totally related with the character, as an introvert, who would rather spend time watching television dramas (in my case, reading) than socializing. Because this is a novella, though, I missed some world building. I’ll probably pick up the next in the series soon, though!

October 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

November 11, 2019Books, Wrap-Up

Intro

In terms of audience, I read 3 middle grade, 1 young adult, and 6 adult books. For genre, I read 2 thriller, 3 supernatural/paranormal, 3 fantasy, 1 non-fiction, and 1 romance. I read 3 physical books, 4 e-books, and 3 audiobooks. All of the books I read were acquired from my library or Scribd.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Middle grade supernatural/paranormal about a girl grieving the loss of her mother by holing away with books. When she comes across a mysterious book about the lore of a local farm, she needs to rely on her wits and her friends in order to survive a spooky situation. Touches on themes of grief, friendship, and bravery.

Despite the mid-range star rating, I really enjoyed this book! After reading The Bear and the Nightingale and loving the writing but not the story, I was excited to try another series by Katherine Arden. The cover also totally hooked me and the story seemed perfect for spooky season. This book didn’t have a particular impact on me, but the story really was beautiful and I was engaged throughout the entire thing. I might even read the second installment in the series after reading and loving a sample chapter and liking it just as much, maybe more, than this one. If you like middle grade or know a middle grade reader, I think this is a solid pick. Also – the book features a single dad (!!!) who loves to bake (!!!) and decorates their home in bright colors (!!!).

Keeper of the Lost Cities – Neverseen by Shannon Messenger

A middle grade fantasy series about Sophie, an elf, who is deeply connected to the Black Swan, a group of rebel elves. Sophie follows their clues to find out who she really is, as well as other mysteries in the lives of those close to her. She relies on her friends (some of which are boys with crushes on her and vice versa). Standard theming around friendship and bravery.

If you read my September wrap-up, you’ll know that I completed the 2nd and 3rd books in this series during that month and gave them 2 and 2.5 stars respectively. Why I continued on with this series is beyond me… Well, actually, I was looking for an easy plane read and while these books have major issues that really bother me, the author does a great job with characterization and endings, so I keep coming back to spend time with the characters and see how the series continues. Shannon Messenger builds a great world, but falls short in executing the follow through on the world she creates. She does a lot of tell not show and has crafted a painful love ~~triangle~~ square (?) with Sophie and the 3 male leads. I can see why pre-teens enjoy reading this drama, but a lot of the moments between the characters read as fan service and not character/relationship development. I’m officially ending my relationship with this series and chalking it up to the fact that these books are simply not for me. Some middle grade transcends age, and at least for me, this isn’t one of them.

The Institute by Stephen King

An adult supernatural thriller about a secret compound that holds kids hostage for their telekinesis or telekinesis powers. We follow two main characters – Luke, an 11 year old genius, and Tim, a middle-aged former cop starting a new life – as their unlikely stories merge. King grapples with ethical dilemmas, finding the power in oneself and others, and how can society creep into the inhumane. It shows us sorrow, empathy, and even hope.

First, I have to plug that the audiobook of this is excellent. I listened to all 19 hours and it flew by thanks to the diction and voices from the narrator. This was my first Stephen King book and wow was I not disappointed. There isn’t much to say other than to acknowledge the excellent character building and pacing throughout this novel. The other thing that stands out is the strong emphasis on theme that King provides without feeling preachy. He layers on the social commentary while never letting the reader feel comfortable with a simple explanation of it. My only critique is that the ending felt a bit standard for the complexity of the story and that it didn’t leave the extreme emotional reaction that I was expecting. That being said, those are personal to me and it was just missing the je’ne seis quai that would make it a 5 star read. Otherwise, this was an amazing story that I absolutely imagine I will be revisiting sometime in the future.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez

This non-fiction does a deep dive into the many ways that our society is designed for men, not women. The author talks about how when something is designed without gender in mind, that translates to being designed for men. She covers a variety of topics from restrooms to bus schedules to vehicle design to health care.

When reading this book, I had sticky notes out the entire time to mark the things that I found particularly interesting or profound. The author has a casual writing style that is quite accessible – it isn’t overly academic or conversational, but right in between. The author was frank honest about the inequity that exists, but she was also hopeful when providing solutions to the problems. Some of the chapters that I found the most interesting were about the data biases in technology (voice recognition is heavily reliant on male voices and recognizes them more often), gear design (military and other safety gear manufacturers scale down their men’s designs for women, but they often fit inappropriately and do not work as intended since they weren’t designed for women’s bodies), and transit schedules (designed for men’s working schedules and not the unpaid labor of women that requires more stops than a typical male’s commute). If you’re interested in data and feminism, I’m confident that you’ll like it.

Joyland by Steven King

Published under Hard Case Crime, this is Steven King’s take on a traditional crime novel. We follow Devin Jones, a college student recovering from a break-up, as he accepts a job at a North Carolina amusement park. A young girl was murdered at this park years ago, but no one has caught the killer, and rumor is that her ghost still haunts the place where she was killed. A coming of age story with a hint of crime and the paranormal.

Something about this just really worked for me. Steven King is a master at character building, so it’s not surprising that I totally fell into step with this coming of age story. I also happen to be a sucker for this particular setting – spooky amusement park, especially during a transition from summer to fall. I don’t have much to say about this other than that it was such a fun surprise that I really, really enjoyed reading.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

In this fresh take on a gothic thriller, we follow a down-on-her-luck girl named Jules who comes across the job of a lifetime as an apartment sitter. The rules of this arrangement are a bit restrictive, but Jules doesn’t have much a choice, so she ignores the warning signs until things start to get serious. Lock Every Door has a strong sense of tension throughout the entire thing, and it evokes themes of social class and resilience.

This is definitely one of the better thrillers that I’ve read all year. I read the audiobook, which I think was well done. As mentioned in the summary, Riley Sager does an excellent job at building a sense of dread that slowly and steadily builds over the course of the story. I liked how the setting felt grand and claustrophobic all at the same time, and the many characters were distinct and well integrated. The ending is absolutely wild and completely unexpected, which I liked overall. However, it does go a little bit off the rails, which is why this isn’t a 4.5 or 5 star for me because some of the messaging did feel a bit contrived.

An Enchantment of Raven by Margaret Rogerson

This young adult standalone fantasy takes place in a world where people and fair people (faeries) coexist. Fair people are unable to perform human craft, so they value artisans and pay for these human services through enchantments. We follow Isobel, a painter, on an adventure through the world of the fair people and her complicated relationship with a fairy prince.

I wanted to love this book so badly, but unfortunately a few things didn’t work out. First, I have to say that I LOVE Margaret Rogerson’s writing style, and I would read something from her again. Her writing is the perfect mix of accessible while still having lovely prose. She does an excellent job at building a deeply atmospheric world, but that’s where things start to fall short. The world building starts to get interesting with lush descriptions of surroundings and hints at interesting lore, but there needs to be a lot more depth in order for the world to feel entirely fulfilling. It’s almost like this 250 page book needed to be twice as long. I also struggled to buy into the main relationship because we did not get much in the way of how the two characters grew to love each other. Because most of the plot and the challenges they face are contingent on their love, I was left feeling apathetic and sometimes even frustrated about the choices the characters make. Overall, this is a book that I know I would have loved when I was younger and it is something that I think the fantasy genre needs. As an adult who is a bit more critical, though, I’d be amiss to not mention the parts that fell short. If the premise sounds interesting to you and you’re in the mood for a standalone fantasy story, you might enjoy this.

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill

A middle grade graphic novel about shy little dragons who grow leaves from their antlers that can make a magical tea. A diverse cast with differently-abled and LGBT+ representation and a beautiful story about friendship, love, tradition, and acceptance.

Oh how this book brought me joy. I read it a few times before returning it to my library, and I’m thinking about buying my own copy to have at home. The art is absolutely beautiful and the themes shared through this story are quiet, yet lovely. There isn’t much to say about this other than how lovely it was and what a great gift it would be for yourself or someone you know.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

A thriller where a husband and wife kill women to keep things interesting (yeah, really). Told from the husband’s point of view, we hear his thoughts when he starts to become weary about this “hobby” and things slowly unravel.

In a word, the critique that I’d give to this book is boring. I think that’s what Samantha Downing is going for in a way, but that doesn’t change the fact that long stretches of this book are simply a father describing his day to day life and sprinkling in moments of murder. The thing this book does really well is cause you to think about the kind of person that you can root for and demonstrate a situation where you can have a lovely father but still a terrible person. I listened to this on audiobook and eventually had to switch to 1.5x speed (I don’t know how you 2x speed people do it, my brain can’t keep up that fast). The increase in speed caused the narrator to sound a bit robotic, even further removing me from a somewhat robotic narrator to begin with. I appreciate this book for it’s unique take on a thriller, but it just wasn’t my favorite.

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Georgie is the youngest in her family, and she’s sick of not being taken seriously. Travis is a former baseball player and womanizer who needs to develop a more wholesome image. The two of them decide to “fake date” despite being “off limits” to one another since Travis is Georgie’s brother’s best friend. This is an adult romance with explicit scenes that don’t fade to black.

I might need to write an entire rant review for this one. There’s too much to say to cover all of the bases (get it, baseball pun for a book about a baseball player). In short, I thought this book was cringey, unbelievable, and problematic. Just a few of the things I didn’t like were – The way the male lead talks about the female lead like she’s a little sister, yet still over sexualizes her. The pacing of the book that makes little to no sense (was it one week, one month, or one year). The addition of a female empowerment club that has no purpose other than to introduce other characters for a series. An absurd makeover scene like something from a 2000s rom com. An overprotective male lead that exhibits controlling behavior. Gross ways of approaching virginity, particularly regarding dirty talk during sex. Public sex at a school, which is a literal crime. I could keep going, but I won’t. This book was absolutely not for me, but I should add that many people seem to love this book. I’m not a romance reader myself, so if you like romance, I’d check out a few other reviews to see if this is for you since this isn’t typically a genre I read.

Even though I didn’t read any “favorites of the year” this month, I still am happy with the reading that I accomplished. Even the books I didn’t enjoy had some enjoyable components. What was your favorite book you read in October? Have you read any of these books? If so, do you agree with rating? Provide some insight below!

September 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

October 11, 2019Books, Wrap-Up

Every season of reading is great, isn’t it? Summer reading reminds me of reading on the beach in the sun, where fall reading reminds me of reading inside with a cup of coffee as the leaves change. September is the transition between these two reading seasons, with the first half more like summer and the second half more like fall (at least in Chicago, where I’m from). Maybe that explains why this month’s books were so all over the place. It’s a bizarre mix of genres, but hopefully that means you’ll find a recommendation in a genre you enjoy or something that interests you outside of your normal reading habits. Either way, I hope you enjoy my quick summaries and mini reviews of all the books I read this month.

PS: All of my mini reviews are spoiler-free, so no worries if you have any of these books on your TBR and don’t want to be spoiled!

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

A bookish millennial discovers she has a huge extended family after her biological father whom she has never met leaves her a gift in his will. We follow Nina, who loves her quiet and precisely-scheduled life, as she grapples with this new discovery and maybe even possibly pencils some dating into her agenda!

I listened to this one on audio, which worked really well for me. If I was reading a traditional book form of this, I might have struggled with it a bit as it really is just a character study/slice of life with our protagonist. So many constant reader types will absolutely identify with Nina, which makes this even better. If you’re looking for a cozy contemporary with a slice of romance and you like character studies, pick this up. This book really stuck with me and is one of my favorite romanic comedy type books I’ve read all year. As someone who is a planner-obsessed, constant-reader, anxiety-ridden (yes, this book has some generalized anxiety disorder rep) millennial, reading this book made me feel less alone and also like I want Nina to join my trivia team!

Note: While the audio narrator is awesome, you will miss out on some things if you choose audio over the paper copy. Each chapter starts out with an actual page of out Nina’s planner. The author reads these aloud, but it would have been fun to see the actual pages. Also, the author uses capitalization to make a point about the sheer millennialism of Nina, which you’ll obviously miss in an audio version.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

A coming-of-age and love story about class difference, social status, and misunderstandings. We follow Marianne and Connell from high school all the way through college and see how each character’s social positioning changes how they view themselves and each other. It’s hard to give this one a summary – just know it’s a beautifully written, literary fiction that is absolutely worth your time.

You’ve probably heard the hype about Sally Rooney, and it is so well deserved. The reason this book is so great is that it is unbelievably raw and paints a picture of fully developed characters and the complexities of platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships within that web.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvian Neuvel

A story told through interviews from an unnamed interviewer about a secret, pseudo-governmental search for giant pieces that can only be remnants of an alien invention.

This is my second attempt at a science fiction in this format and I didn’t love it. My first attempt was Illuminae by Jay Kristoff, which I really did not like. Sleeping Giants is way better, in my opinion, but not my favorite read. I love the “big dumb object” trope and I liked the characters, but the overall plot development didn’t completely hook me. I listened to this on audiobook, which I don’t think did me any favors. The audibook has a full cast, which is a definite bonus, but I think I might have preferred to read this in text format.

End of the Rope by Jan Redford

A memoir from Jan Redford who tells the reader about her experience as a female mountain climber and the complex range of experiences and emotions that come along with it.

I’m obsessed with books about climbing mountains. Don’t ask me why; I have no clue. I don’t climb mountains myself (nor do I think I actually could because I’m chronically anxious and convinced that a rockslide, avalanche, or just a slip of the foot will kill me at any second). This isn’t one of my favorite books about mountain climbing, but I liked Jan and was rooting for her the entire time, which has to amount to something. If you enjoy domestic stories with a hint of mountain climbing, you might enjoy this more than I did. Jan experiences some pretty toxic relationships, one of which lasts a very long time and is particularly traumatic. While this experience is real and her own, I struggled to read through it at times.

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

An alternative version of the United States (called United Isles of America) where magicians called rithmatists draw figures in chalk that have magical abilities. We follow Joel, a young man obsessed with rithmatists but not granted that special ability, and Melody, a rithmatist who seems hopeless at the fundamentals, uncover the mystery of several missing students at their school.

This book totally took me by surprise! The magic system is so unique, and I wasn’t sure it was going to work, but I should never doubt Sanderson because it totally did. I absolutely loved our lead characters and their friendship. A platonic friendship in a YA fantasy? Cheers to that! I also thought that the relationship that the kids had with adults was very well done. One of my pet peeves in a middle grade fantasy is when kids are given unreasonable responsibility in the fantasy world (yes, I know that is a major trope of the genre but there are ways to construct a story so it is somewhat reasonable), but Sanderson balanced that dynamic really well . The world building was solid, with information being slowly revealed, and a sequel would totally round out the information that we began to receive in this book (Sanderson said he’d like to write a sequel for this one sometime soon, but he doesn’t have it on his schedule at the moment). If you enjoy middle grade, young adult, or even adult fantasy, you’ve gotta give this one at try.

Paper Towns by John Green

A shy and responsible senior named Quentin has a wild night with his impossibly cool neighbor, Margot, and spends the final part of his senior year searching for her in one of her infamous antics.

I know I’m late to the John Greene train. The only other book I’ve read by him was Turtles All the Way Down, and I haven’t seen any of the movie adaptations. In all honesty, I downloaded this to my Kindle because it was available at my library and I needed something that would hook me in right away and be an easy read for my flight. This did just the trick. The main plot of Quentin following Margot’s clues wasn’t my favorite. What I really loved was the trio of friends surrounding Quentin and their friendship. The three boys were each unique without wandering into sickeningly quirky and their friendship was portrayed as positive but also realistic. Additionally, I thought that John Greene did an excellent job with unpacking the “manic pixie dream girl,” and (mild spoiler) I love that he actually kept her as shallow and unlikeable instead of redeeming her in the end. Overall, this is a well-written story that follows great characters who made me want to keep reading in order to continue following them on their adventure.

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Another Brene Brown book about living whole heartedly. This one focuses on what it looks like and how to do so in leadership positions, specifically at work.

This is another hard one for me to review. I listened to this on audio in between other audio books I was listening to or during times when I couldn’t give me 100% attention to what I was listening to. I’ll read anything Brene Brown publishes, but her latest books are really just variations on one another with slightly different themes. This isn’t a criticism as I believe that is exactly what she’s trying to do, but it does taint my experience a bit as the books are starting to become repetitive and I’m not gaining as much out of them as I did in the beginning. I highly recommend the audio version of this as Brene reads it herself, which I think adds to the experience.

Keeper of the Lost Cities – Exile and Everblaze by Shannon Messenger

A middle grade fantasy series that takes place in the elvin world and follows Sophie Foster, a 13 year old who is especially powerful and raised in the human world

In my opinion, this is not a middle grade fantasy that adults will enjoy in the same way that some other middle grade fantasies can transcend age. I have a soft spot for middle grade fantasy because I find that the genre lends itself well to telling beautiful stories that convey fundamental themes like courage and grace really well. Unfortunately, I think that the Keeper of the Lost Cities should stay in the hands of the children it was written for. I enjoyed the first book because the world was so whimsical and the characters were quite endearing. Books 2 and 3 (and also 4, yes I kept reading even though I had given all books after the first one 2 stars) spend a lot of time on fan service and actually have some themes that I find somewhat problematic. I get why this series is insanely popular with children, but if you’re an adult looking for a whimsical middle grade, you can do better.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What was your favorite book you read in September? Let me know in the comments below!