Between work book club, Kindle deals, and library holds, my reading inbox sort of exploded this week. My TBR pile has officially reached out of control status. I could pretty much stop acquiring new books at this point and still have more than enough to read for the next year. But what fun would that be?
Inbox (books acquired)
- Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch (Kindle) — This went on sale for $1.99 and I happened to have a couple of credits for declining my Prime 2-day shipping option. So, I grabbed it. I was going to just let it pass, but I re-read the description, and anything that is said to be a cross between Game of Thrones and Graceling immediately gets my attention, especially when it’s essentially free. I really want to drop everything and start reading this right away, but I have a couple of books I need to at least try to read first…
- Uncle Vanya by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Kindle) — The work book club picked this for the next book to read. It’s actually a play, and it was free on Kindle because it’s in the public domain. So, I decided to download it and try to read it in time for the discussion next Friday…
- The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (Kindle) — This is another work book club pick, also free on Kindle, also relatively short. So, I downloaded it and I’m going to see if I can squeeze it into my busy reading schedule… I really like Mark Twain, so I’m going to really try to read this one before the discussion. I have at least a month, so I should be able to manage it.
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Kindle, library) — I wasn’t really expecting to read this one so soon, especially after I just finished Half of a Yellow Sun. But, my hold just came up at the library. So, I guess I’m reading this as my “diverse read” for May…
Outbox (books finished)
- X-Men Volume 2: Muertas by Brian Wood, Terry Dodson, Kris Anka (paperback) — What I enjoyed about how the plot of this new comic is developing is that it is now not only featuring an all-female X-Men team, but in this volume we have added an all-female sisterhood of “baddies.” This is starting to get good…
- The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater (Kindle) — I really liked the characters in this, and the story featured a unique combination of plot elements (Welsh mythology, private school, southern culture, witchcraft, psychics, murder…). Overall, I enjoyed the story, and I’ll probably eventually get around to reading the others in the series, if for no other reason than I like the characters and I kind of want to see what’s next. But I didn’t instantly fall in book-love with this series. I didn’t really expect to, I don’t read many “witchy” books (what might otherwise be contemporary fiction where witches and psychics are a real part of the real world, as opposed to part of some secret magic world eg: Harry Potter). But if “witchy books” are your thing, and you haven’t read this series yet, you should definitely pick this up. (Kindle lending is actually enabled on this one. So, if I know you IRL and you want to borrow it, let me know and I’ll hook you up.)
- Uncle Vanya by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Kindle) — So, I read it. I have no idea why I read it. It was a fast read because it’s 1) a play and 2) short. There is a somewhat surprising (for the time it was written in) environmental theme. But that’s pretty much a side conversation and barely a part of the plot. The main theme, as far as I can tell, is that life is miserable and pointless and then you die. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a harsh interpretation, but it’s not a very hopeful play.
Queue (what I’m reading next)
- I want to finish Psylocke and the Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed essays before the end of the month…
- And then I guess I need to get started on Americanah so I can get it back to the library before it’s due…
In a related note, this morning I was drinking my tea, enjoying the sunshine, and thinking I might start reading a little of Ms. Marvel Vol 1. I read the first page, laughed, showed it to my husband, expecting him to also laugh and then give it back. But then he just kept reading it. I ended up reading something else while Ilistened to him laugh and waited for him to finish it. Part way through he asked, “Is there more of this? Or is this it?” So, I’m thinking he likes it…
This just in: As I was typing this, he finished it and said, emphatically, “It’s really good.” Then handed it back to me and added, “And I just read the whole thing.” Yes. Yes you did.
(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name… for more like this, go check out those…)
EMM Blogs 