I may be slipping into a bit of a reading slump… I’ve tried reading several books this week, but just can’t get into any of them.

Inbox (books acquired)

• No new books… two weeks in a row! That must be some sort of record for me…

Outbox (books finished)

• Promethea Book 1 by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Charles Vess — My brother-in-law let me borrow this from his treasured comic book collection. It’s one of his favorites and he thought that I might also enjoy it. He was right. I think this may be one of the most creative origin stories I’ve seen for a super hero. I really like it.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• Last week, when I put together my August TBR, I was totally excited to read all those books… and now, this week, nothing on that list is sounding all that interesting to me…
• I’m going to give Mistborn one more try — it was a little too “high fantasy” for me when I tried to start it earlier this week…
• If that doesn’t work, I’ll try The Harvest… and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try Reamde…
• And if all those fail, I’ll throw away my August TBR and just grab the first book that looks good to me right now.

Not a terribly productive or interesting reading week for me… Here’s hoping that next week is better…

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)

July is over and I managed to keep myself from adding to my TBR this week! It was a light week for reading, but before I recap my week, let’s have a look at my July reading stats…

July reading stats

• Total books finished: 8 (7 novels and 1 comic trade)
• Favorite book read: tie between On the Steel Breeze (Poseidon’s Children 2) by Alastair Reynolds and Vicious by V.E. Schwab
• Book(s) read by diverse authors (per my 2015 reading project): Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed, and A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

And now for a recap of my week in books…

Inbox (books acquired)

• None. Can you believe it? I can’t…

Outbox (books finished)

• X-Men Vol. 5: The Burning World by by G. Wilson, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson, Roland Boschi (trade paperback) — I really hate to say this, but I’m kind of disappointed by this one. I’ve been looking forward to it for months — partly because it was written by G. Willow Wilson (who is doing Ms. Marvel) and partly because I enjoyed volume 4 so much. But, it was a little hard to follow this story because I constantly felt like I was missing something important. Like, something clearly happened between volume 4 and this volume, but what the hell was it? Does it have to do with all that “Secret Wars” MCU stuff? Do I need to catch up on that to understand this? Sigh. Also, all the pop culture references that Wilson includes in Ms. Marvel that make it feel really fresh and new and young, just didn’t come off as well in the mouths of these X-Men. I mean, it worked for Jubilee, sure. But I just didn’t feel like Wilson got the voices right for the other four — the ones who are telling the story. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been reading Psylocke and Storm for so long I just expect a certain thing, and that’s not what she gave me here. I feel bad. I really wanted to like this more.
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (Kindle, library) — It’s been a long time since I read a book that surprised me, but this one did. It’s dark. The world-building is excellent. The characters are so very well imagined that they practically leap off the page, fully alive, and yet, it didn’t feel “cinematic.” But the best part for me was that every time I thought I was getting a sense for where the story was going, it didn’t go there. It went in a different, completely unexpected, and usually dark or gruesome, place. This isn’t horror. It’s dark fantasy. What comes to mind for me is Neil Gaiman mashed up with Patrick Rothfuss and a little bit of Chuck Wendig thrown in for humor and real-life grit. I really liked it. I might even have loved it. I don’t think this one is getting much hype yet, so, if this sounds at all like something you’d be into, go read it before everyone starts talking about it.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I think Mistborn is next up, since it’s due back at the library soon…
• But I also want to get back to Between the World and Me as soon as possible…

And now I’m going to go find a patio chair and get back to reading and enjoying this beautiful summer day. Happy reading!

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)

I didn’t get much reading done this week… but I did acquire a few new books…

Inbox (books acquired)

• A Rogue by Any Other Name: The First Rule of Scoundrels (Rules of Scoundrels Book 1) by Sarah MacLean (Kindle) — I’ve heard the folks at Book Riot go on and on about how Sarah MacLean is such an amazing romance writer. This week, while listening to the All the Books podcast, I finally decided, what the heck, I’ll give it a try… This was the book they recommended folks should start with, and it was only $1.99 on Kindle. So I bought it. I probably won’t read it for a while, but it will be there when I’m ready for another romance.
• My Brilliant Friend by (Kindle) by Elena Ferrante (Kindle) — I bought it for the Read Harder challenge that I talked about in my last post. But I also bought it because my maternal grandparents came from Naples, or near there, and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything in translation from Italy. France, yes. Spain, yes. Sweden, yes. Russia, yes. But I don’t think Italy… so now I can fix that!
• The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems (Bilingual, English and Spanish, Edition) by Pablo Neruda (paperback) — Everyone needs to own at least one book of poetry, right? Even though my husband and I are definitely “book people” we don’t seem to have even one book of poetry in our house. Since I plan on reading one for the “Read Harder challenge” (see my previous post), and this one will also help me with my Spanish, I decided to buy it.

Outbox (books finished)

• The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida (signed, special edition, hardcover) — Such a strange little book, and not at all what I was expecting… Probably best read in one sitting, it’s a fast read with just enough tension to pull the story along, but packed with lyrical prose and symbolism. The story is almost like an accordion, constantly folding back and reflecting on itself, even as the character takes abrupt turns, shedding one skin for another. It’s written in second person, which is surprising at first, but skillfully accomplished.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I’m expecting another busy week at work, so I don’t know if I’ll get much reading in before the weekend… If I can squeeze in some reading, I’d like to start one of my library books — probably The Library at Mount Char…
• I’d also like to finish Between the World and Me…

That’s it for this week! Hope you are enjoying some summer reading and maybe getting in some reading time by a pool, or on a beach, or in a hammock somewhere…

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)

So many books acquired this week… I maybe went a little crazy… maybe.

Inbox (books acquired)

• Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Kindle, library) — People keep recommending this series to me, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s fantasy (if you couldn’t tell from the title) with magic. I wasn’t expecting my library hold to come up so soon, but I think I’ll be able to read this pretty quickly.
• X-Men Vol. 5: The Burning World by G. Willow Wilson (trade paperback) — This is a pre-order, but I can’t wait! It comes out on 7/28, and it’s the compilation of X-Men 23-26. Each volume so far has had a different author, and now this set was writen by the author of the new Ms. Marvel series, and I’m SO EXCITED. I’ve really enjoyed this series so far, and I can’t wait to see where she went with the story.
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Kindle) — I saw this in a bookstore in Brooklyn the day after its release and almost bought it. But I decided I’d rather read it on Kindle. Then I got home and I read the glowing reviews from Book Riot and Powells, and decided I wanted to read it sooner, rather than later. So I bought it and started it earlier this week. I’m familiar with Coates’ writing from The Atlantic, and I’ve been following his articles/tweets/posts for many years now. So, I’m not surprised at all the positive press. He’s a great writer and it’s a timely topic.
• The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida (Hardcover, signed special edition) — My Indiespensible shipment arrived and this is the featured book this time. Of course Powell’s picked a book by Vendela Vida. Of course they did. What I didn’t expect was to actually be intrigued by this book. I’ve read the description and the interview with the author that’s included in the box and I actually really want to read this!
• Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash (paperback, ARC) — This was the second book included in my Indiespensible shipment, and it’s another advanced review copy from an author I’ve never heard of! I love that Powells has included ARCs in these boxes for the last two shipments. It’s so exciting to get a sneak peak at a book that you might not have otherwise heard of, or purchased, like this one. This is scheduled to come out in September. So, I want to read it soon and see if I can pass it along to anyone else who might enjoy it.
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (Kindle, library) — I first saw this reviewed by Cory Doctorow on tumblr. Then, I heard the glowing review from the All the Books podcast. So I added it to my library hold list and it just became available this week. Hooray! Except, I’m sort of overflowing with books at the moment… but I really want to read this. You might remember me mentioning it as one of the five books I wanted to order *right now* (before my library finally got a Kindle copy). It sounds very Neil Gaimen-like, which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.

Outbox (books finished)

• A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev (Kindle) — I started this on the way home from vacation because it seemed like it might be a good companion book to Written in the Stars… It reads just like a Bollywood romance, except without the singing and dancing. So, if you like that sort of thing (I do), then you might like this book. It is 100% romance and has a healthy helping of cheeseball comedy along with your standard issue smarmy and swoony stuff. Exactly what you’d expect from a modern Bollywood romance. And the voice is perfect.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I want to finish Between the World and Me…
• Then I’ll probably start one of my library books… most likely The Library at Mount Char…
• And, I’ll probably save The Diver’s Clothes… for next weekend (since it’s a nice hardcover and I don’t want to take it on my commute…)

So many books! So little time! If only I had another week of vacation! Oh well… at least I have a mega-commute where I can read all the books! (as long as I don’t have work to do…)

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)

I didn’t post a weekly inbox/outbox recap on Sunday because I was offline and on vacation! I didn’t acquire any books last week (because I was offline), but I read so many books while on vacation that I decided I would do a “catch-up” post to tell you about them. Then we’ll be back on track for inbox/outbox this Sunday.

What I read:

• On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds (Kindle) — This is the second book in a space opera trilogy that I am loving. It has elephants in it. I mean, it’s one thing to make a space opera with just humans in it, but if your space opera also has intelligent humanoid machines and humanity has taken the elephants with them to the stars (for reasons…), well… bonus points, really. It’s not just the elephants, though. I really like how the author is crafting this as part adventure, part mystery, and at the same time incorporating a whole lot of social dynamics and politics and moral issues. Book three is already out in the UK, but Amazon wants me to wait until February before I can buy it on Kindle in the US. Which makes no sense. Publishing. Sigh.
• The New and Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott (paperback, ARC) — I got this in my last Powell’s Indiespensible box and I read it and passed it on over vacation. I don’t even know what to say about this book. It was… interesting? It’s about a sad sack guy whose wife left him and who is running his taxidermy business into the ground. To get some cash he gets a brain upgrade via some science experiment that takes a group of loser dudes (only dudes, but “diverse” dudes…) and makes them all Humanities Geeks and Renaissance Men. It was good, but not really my thing. If you liked The Circle, you’ll probably also like this book (somewhere Dave Eggers’ head is exploding because I just linked his book to an Amazon Kindle version instead of a hardcover edition sold by some highly pretentious independent bookstore… oooh! maybe I should have linked to Google Play instead… that would have been better…).
• All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Kindle) — For the last few years I’ve been reading this mystery series that takes place in the Adirondacks whenever I visit my friends’ family Camp. They are pulpy, fast reads, but they feature an interesting cast of characters and do a good job evoking a sense of place and the feel/culture of the area. I don’t ever expect much except a “who done it” puzzle from these books. But I think this one is my least favorite of the series so far. I really don’t like what the author did with Russ’s wife in this book. I have lots of opinions here, but they are all spoilery and I don’t want to give anything away.
• Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (Kindle, library) — This is a *really* fast read, and also a slightly disturbing read. It’s about arranged marriage, and not in a good way. This isn’t so much “arranged” as it is “forced” and it was really hard for me to understand why anyone would do what this family does to their daughter. It wraps up really fast, almost too fast for me because all of a sudden it seems like everyone is acting out of character at the end. Overall, I thought it was an interesting look into a different culture, with a good story and richly imagined characters, but I think the story-telling could have been a little better executed.
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab (Kindle) — I’ve mentioned before that I have been wanting to read this forever. I thought this was the first in a series, but now I am pretty sure it’s a stand alone novel (right? or will there be more?). I loved this book. It met and even exceeded my (already pretty high) expectations. It’s the kind of book I wish I’d written. The characters are complicated and there really aren’t any “good guys,” just many shades of “grey” and a lot of moral ambiguity. It’s dark, but witty, and imaginative while still feeling only just slightly beyond realistic. It kind of reminds me of how I felt after reading American Gods (which I also loved). Only it’s less fantastical and slightly more gritty than anything by Gaiman. Did I mention that I loved this book?

And that’s what I read on my summer vacation. See you on Sunday when I tell you all about the books I’ve acquired (three already so far this week!) and what I’m reading now…

When it rains it pours… new books! After two weeks of a no new books dry spell, this week I got ALL the BOOKS! Just in time for the holiday weekend! Hooray! (enough exclamation points yet?)

Inbox (books acquired)

• Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (Kindle, library) — This one has been on my list for a while, and I’m so excited that I timed my hold right at the library so now I can read it over the holiday weekend. I’ve heard it’s a fast read, and tense. This one is going to be my diverse book pick for July.
• Thinking Fast and Slow by by Daniel Kahneman (audiobook, library) — So, I already own this on Kindle, but I’ve found that I enjoy listening to non-fiction books more than reading them… So, I put the audiobook on my hold list at the library.
• Vicious by V. E. Schwab (Kindle) — Holy crap! Amazon must love me. I mean, I am a pretty excellent customer… Still, I’ve been wanting to read this book FOREVER, and it FINALLY went on sale. So, I bought it. Immediately. So excited. Reading this next.
• Fourth of July Creek by by Smith Henderson (Kindle) — At the end of every year, the Powell’s staff each do a “top five” list of their favorite books released that year. Last year, Buzzfeed used some “top-secret scientific algorithmic process” to create a summary list compilation of the top thirteen of across all the staff lists. This book is on that list. So far this year, I’ve read several of the books on that list, and so far I’ve been in agreement with all their choices. So, when I saw this book go on sale, I grabbed it.
• A Bollywood Affair by (Kindle) — Over lunch a few weeks ago I was telling some work friends who come from India and China/Taiwan about the book I was reading at the time, Crazy Rich Asians. This led to my telling them about my 2015 reading project. Which led to me having to answer: what book was I planning on reading from India… I got a recommendation for A Fine Balance, and I’ve added it to my list. But then, this week I saw A Bollywood Affair recommended by one of the Book Riot editors, and noticed it was on sale for $2.99. So, I think this will be my “book from India,” for now. It fits with the “love story” theme that seems to be carrying across many of my diverse book picks this year (ex: Americanah, Crazy Rich Asians, Written in the Stars), and I think it fits my requirements for a “summer read.”

Outbox (books finished)

• On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds (Kindle) — Why did I wait so long to read this sequel to Blue Remembered Earth? Maybe I was worried that it wouldn’t be as good, or that there wouldn’t be any elephants. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a book *about* elephants. The main characters are all humans. But still, who has ever heard of a space opera that includes wild elephants in the plot? I think Mr. Reynolds should get stickers for the covers of these books that say “Includes Elephants” or maybe “Elephants Inside” (like the “Intel Inside” sticker). I think it would increase sales with non-sci-fi-geeks. Anyway… enough about the elephants… this book is did not disappoint, and if you are looking for a solid and highly imaginative, yet also thought-provoking, space opera, you should definitely check out this series. The final book just came out in the UK, but I have to wait until February before Amazon will sell it to me on Kindle in the US. Publishing is so weird.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• Oh man… so many good books to choose from… where to start? Maybe one of the books I got this week? I already started listening to Thinking Fast and Slow… but I’ll probably stretch that out across most of the 21 day hold period…
• I’ll probably read The New and Improved Romie Futch since it’s a paperback and I want to pass it on to a friend I’m going to see soon…

Hope you survived the fireworks and are enjoying your holiday weekend (if you live in the US).

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)