Tag: reading

Top Five List: books I most want to buy right now

~ EMM

It’s #FridayReads / #WeekendReads time, and I’ve managed to go the whole week without purchasing or borrowing any new books. I’m in the middle of two books that are not holding my attention very well. And there’s nothing available on ebook right now from either of my local libraries that I really want to read.

So… I started looking longingly at my wish list and decided to make a list of the top five books that I most want to purchase right now. And here it is… the top five books, in order of preference, that I would buy right now if I could bring myself to pay full price for a new book when I have a ton of stuff I haven’t read yet that I already own:

  1. Uprooted by Naomi Novi — this one just came out in May and I have heard so many good things that I’m tempted to drop everything and pay the $9.99 just to read it right now.
  2. Vicious by V. E. Schwab — why does my library have Darker Shade of Magic (the sequel) on ebook, but not Vicious? What crazy nonsense is that? I’ve had this on my list since December 2013, and it’s only recently (finally) dropped in price to $9.99
  3. Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds — this is a novella, and I can’t understand why Amazon is charging $8.69 for a < 200 page book on Kindle
  4. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins — this just came out on Tuesday and they want $12.99. For an ebook. Seriously?
  5. The Book Riot “Surprise Beach Reads” box — this one is the major splurge… but the last thing I need is a box of four mystery books (in print, no less), and a bunch of bookish swag for $100… or is it?

 

Note: This list is limited to only books that are available to buy right now. No pre-order books allowed. And no books that I could otherwise borrow from the library on ebook.

Book vs. TV/Movie: Game of Thrones

~ EMM

After last night’s season finale, I’m pretty much done with the Game of Thrones HBO series.

*** Warning! this post is full of spoilers for season 5 of Game of Thrones… ***

Originally, the thing that I loved about GoT the HBO series was how the two dudes writing and directing the show were able to streamline GRRM’s detail-bloated novels.

Granted, I’ve only read the first four books, so far. I’m waiting until the release date for book six is announced before I read book five because I hate long gaps between books in a series — especially when memory of details is important.

But, through the end of last season, I noted with approval the small changes they chose to make in order to streamline the plot, mostly by omitting some minor characters here and there. No big deal. I became convinced that maybe I would just need to watch the HBO series and not have to bother plowing through three more epic fantasy novels of door-stopper girth.

*** Spoilers are coming! You’ve been warned… ***

Then came the pre-season five rumors… There were going to be major deviations from the books. Major, beloved characters might/would die, etc. Immediately everyone feared for Tyrion’s life.

Then the season kicked off and things were going relatively well — until the first major deviation from the books was revealed. There would be no “fake Arya” wife for Ramsey. No, he would marry “real Sansa.” Hmm… Still, this felt like the other, small changes. I thought this could be okay. This could seriously streamline things. Potentially a good move. Judgement withheld.

And then there was the wedding… and the reaction to the post-wedding scene ignited much uproar on the Interwebs. Not Sansa! they said. You’ve taken your rapey-bit trope a little too far this time, they said… I wasn’t pleased with how that episode played out, but also, I wasn’t surprised. It was my lack of surprise, my sort of shrugging and saying, yeah, I guess we should have seen that coming, that was my first hint that this season might have jumped the shark.

Then, the week after that there was that weird “most beautiful girl in the world” prison strip tease thing with Bronn and the Sand Snakes… Basically an excuse for some more female full-frontal nudity. Again, not in the book (at least that I remember…). But that’s not all, we get another not-in-the-book scene where Sam and Gilly get it on. Because we just couldn’t leave “Sam the Slayer” a virgin, now could we?

Then, the following week we got an extended final scene (seriously felt like half the episode) of Jon and the Wildlings battling the Whitewalkers. Also invented — also not from the books. The show writers took a chance to let their imaginations run away with them, again. Okay, whatever. I’m not watching for the battle scenes, but meh, fine. Except… the writers go and introduce a badass female Wildling. And just when I think we’re going to have a new character to love, she sends her kids off on a boat telling them she’ll be along on the next one, and we know she’s going to die. But HOW she dies is what made me want to throw my laptop across the room (yes, I don’t have a TV). As I said on Twitter the next day:

That one nearly did me in. But the following week redeemed itself with dragons. Because, dragons!

And then, last night, the finale… Okay fine. Finally we have our death of a main (and beloved) character that was hinted at in the pre-season rumors. And there were some more deaths. Because, Many Faced God and Valar Morghulis and all that. For what it’s worth, I’m in the “he’s not dead yet” camp. Because fan theory. (This is something I also guessed at from reading the books). And Melisandre’s timing was WAY too coincidental otherwise.

But that death didn’t really bug me much (probably because I don’t believe it). What bugged me were 1) Theon’s completely unbelievable pivot into “hero” from “whipping boy” and 2) the extended scene of Cersi’s trek through the streets of King’s Landing in her “birthday suit.” Hello, more female full-frontal. Granted, it was EXTREMELY well acted. She nailed that scene. It was just weirdly long and extremely uncomfortable to watch. And without a solid and/or satisfying resolution. At first she appeared truly shamed. Truly repentant. Then, what? Zombie Mountain to the rescue, carrying her off into the sunset to avenge her against her enemies? Moving character development. Then, psyche! Just kidding!

What is up with this season? It seems that any time the writers are left to their own devices and allowed to make stuff up that’s not in the books, they immediately go to some misogynistic trope-like crap. They spin the wheel and see if it lands on 1) meaningless death, 2) naked ladies, 3) rapey bits, or 4) damsel in distress! Or some random combo of all of the above.

Game of Thrones has some great characters (male and female). Even though GRRM takes a lot of crap for making his fantasy world a pretty awful place for the ladies, one of the cool things is that they are still out there, running things, despite the environment. The women in his books are some of the smartest, most strategic, and resilient characters in the books. But the TV show seems intent on undermining their power, and missing much of that nuance. Which is really disappointing.

I’ll keep watching. But I’m going back to reading the books. Because I no longer trust these TV show writers to handle the narrative and be true to the story.

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 8 June

~ EMM

Late post this week (again) because I got home from a weekend hike/camping trip last night and was too tired to post….

Inbox (books acquired)

  • Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (Kindle, library) — My library hold timing game is way off. I was hoping to get this in time to read on vacation. But my hold came up earlier than expected, so I guess I’m reading this now. No big deal, I have other good choices picked for vacation, and I’m pretty excited to read this one.

Outbox (books finished)

  • The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (Author), Dan O’Grady (Narrator) (audiobook, library) — This book definitely suffers from “sequel sickness”… The two main characters (Rosie and Don) that we met and enjoyed in the first book have become caricatures of themselves in this book. Neither of them end up behaving in a believable manner. And the plot is constructed of barely plausible miscommunications. The ending feels rushed and slightly ridiculous. If you liked the first book, I’d say just skip the sequel.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • Almost finished Astoria this weekend… we’ll probably finish it this week…
  • Started a re-read of Slaughterhouse Five while camping because I needed a thin paperback to take on the hike. I’m already about halfway through it…
  • Still chugging along through Blightborn… the chapters are really short, so this makes great lunchtime reading… but I may have to pause on this one so I can read and finish Crazy Rich Asians before it’s due back to the library…

Well, time to go catch my bus…

 

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

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 1 June

~ EMM

Posting a bit late because I was gone all weekend… This week I discovered that I’ve been relying too much on the Sausalito Public Library (my local library) and need to leverage the San Francisco Public Library more. The Sausalito library is great because wait times are usually not that long (less demand). But, their selection of ebooks and audiobooks, as I found out this week, is just not as good. Meanwhile, at least half of the books on my wish list are available on ebook from the San Francisco Public Library. Sure, I’ll have to wait for many of these, but at least now I don’t have to wait for ones I really want to read to go on sale! I can just put them on hold at the library!

I was so excited about this discovery that I turned around and went a little crazy pre-ordering books that are coming out in the second half of this year. The good thing about pre-orders, though, is that you don’t have to pay for them until the release date. Still, I limited myself to only the ones that were cheap, or that I’m absolutely 100% certain that I’m going to drop everything and read right away.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark (library, audiobook) — Before we get to the pre-orders, I have acquired a couple of audiobooks from the library because I have some weekend road-trips planned with my hubby. So, I started scouring the library audiobook selection to see what was available that we might want to listen to in the car. This first one was on a Nancy Pearl recommendation list and it’s the story of how this town in Oregon was formed back in the early 1800s. Hubby and I have a soft spot for Astoria, and the history sounds fascinating. I was thrilled that this was available at the library and I think it will be a big hit.
  • The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (library, audiobook) — This is another selection for our upcoming weekend road-trip(s). We read the first book (The Rosie Project) out loud to each other and thought we’d give the sequel a try. Sequels can be tricky, and we’re really hoping it doesn’t end up being a re-do of the first book. Still, I wanted some fun fiction to balance out the serious non-fiction selection.
  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Kindle, pre-order) — For anyone that read and loved Fangirl and hasn’t heard yet, Rainbow Rowell is writing the Simon Snow story that plays a major part in the plot of Fangirl. So now we’ll know the real story. This is her first fantasy book, and I’m so very excited to read it. I will be dropping everything in October when this comes out so that I can read this book immediately.
  • The Harvest (The Heartland Trilogy Book 3) by Chuck Wendig (Kindle, pre-order) — I am planning on reading the second book in this “corn-punk” YA trilogy in June, and the third book is only $3.99 on Kindle, and I know pre-orders are really important to authors, so I ordered this one so it will be ready to go in July and I can read it after the inevitable cliffhanger that will be the end of the second book.
  • Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Hardcover, pre-order) — This book comes out in October. I added it to my list before it even had a cover design, I think. Amie Kaufman is one of the co-authors of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World (and the upcoming Their Fractured Light, see below…). These books are the first new YA space operas I’ve seen since in recent years and I LOVE that someone is writing YA space operas. They have been light on the science and heavier on the romance than most space operas, but that’s kind of a given for YA. This book, however, sounds like it might be a little more sci-fi and maybe not as much romance… Still, this is another one I’ll be dropping everything to read when it comes out. I originally ordered it for Kindle, but then I saw a booktube video by someone who got an advanced copy at a book conference, and I realized that this is going to be better in hardcover. So I switched my pre-order.
  • Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Kindle, pre-order) — When I was buying Illuminae, I realized that the third book in this series is coming out in December and I immediately pushed the pre-order button. I have no idea how this slipped past me. I should have been all over this…

Outbox (books finished)

  • X-Men Vol. 4: Exogenous by by Marc Guggenheim, Dexter Soy, Harvey Tolibao (trade paperback) — I think this series just keeps getting better. This one was very “Lady X-Men in Space,” which I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed the many pop culture references. Though, now I’m more than a little curious about the backstory of Rachel Grey, who was featured a bit more in this story arc. I’m also a little curious about a couple new side characters introduced in this story: Deathbird and Agent Brand. Nothing a little Wikipedia can’t help. There is one page in here that just stopped me in my tracks because it is just absolutely gorgeously drawn. I seriously wish I could have it as a poster for my wall. There are several other panels throughout with excellent artwork, and I have to say, this is the first one where I really noticed the artwork. So good.
  • Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by by G. Willow Wilson, Jacob Wyatt, Adrian Alphona (trade paperback) — This continues to be a great new series. I’m loving the direction she’s taking this story. It’s cute, and funny, and I love the addition of the giant teleporting dog. This one was a little more “theme-heavy,” but it worked well with the story, so I didn’t mind.
  • Boomerang by Noelle August (Kindle) — I had the opportunity to sit in a lounge chair by a hotel pool in L.A. this weekend, and I picked this out of my “vacation reads” stash. When I selected it I knew it was a “new adult” romance, but with a cute and slightly different take on the general formula for these sorts of books. What I didn’t realize was that it takes place in L.A. So, that was a cool coincidence. I really enjoyed the romance and the fact that the two characters were both interesting outside of the relationship. I also appreciated that the guy was not the brooding, possessive type with creepy stalker-like tendencies. So, if you need a good “chick flick” type romance to read pool-side, I recommend this one.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • We started both Astoria and The Rosie Effect during our road-trip this weekend. Of the two, we are enjoying Astoria more.
  • I started Blightborn after I finished Boomerang (one word titles that start with a “B” book theme?), and I got just far enough that I’m sucked in. So, I’m pretty sure that will be what I’m reading next.
  • And, I hate to say it but I think I might “DNF” The Innocents Abroad… so far the humor is just coming off really snarky without saying anything insightful or even interesting, and I’m just not into it. I think I maybe prefer Mark Twain’s fiction to his non-fiction…

That’s it for this week! Hope you are all enjoying your summer reading!

 

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

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 25 May

~ EMM

Here’s what’s been going on in my book-life this week…

Inbox (books acquired)

  • The Swimmer by Joakim Zander (Kindle) — I mentioned in last week’s post that I saw this book from Nancy Pearl’s summer reading recommendations and thought it looked interesting. When I added it to my wish list, I realized it was only $1.99. So I grabbed it and added it to my vacation reading TBR. It’s being blurbed as a thriller / mystery / spy novel along the lines of John Le Carré. Plus, there’s the title…

Outbox (books finished)

  • Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller (special edition hardcover, signed) — This was the featured book in my most recent Powell’s Indiespensible subscription box. It’s a thriller, sort-of, about a girl whose survivalist father takes her into the woods and convinces her that the rest of humanity is gone and they are the only two left. But, of course, that’s not the truth. None of the characters are particularly “likeable,” and in that way, I imagine it’s probably very similar to Gone Girl (which I haven’t read).
  • Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Kindle) —  Oh, man. This book. I really loved this book. Everyone says it’s “post-apocalyptic,” but the story seems to equally straddle the “before” and “after” of the world-changing event. It’s not told in a linear fashion, and it’s not a really “plot-driven” book. It reads more like literary fiction. The world-building and characters are fantastic. This imagined future feels very realistic, but also hopeful in a way unlike most other books in this genre. I have so many favorite bits in this book. For example, the very first line: “The king stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored.” But I won’t share all my favorite parts because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it. I’ll only say that, besides the first line, the part of the story referred to in the title may be my favorite thing.
  • Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (paperback) — I just finished this story this morning. I love the art and the humor. The main characters are so well done. I especially love Nimona. I love that the author made her complicated and imperfect and more of an anti-hero than the traditional fantasy heroine. She seeks out the “bad guy” and convinces him to allow her to become his sidekick. I love how she calls him “boss” even though she is pretty much the one coming up with the plans. And I love the complicated relationship between the “bad guy” knight and the “good guy” knight, and how there are “rules” and an institution that governs how they “fight.” Lumberjanes (by the same author) is good, but this is better.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I put together a reading list for June… I may not stick to it, but here’s the current plan:
  • Of those, the very next thing I’ll be reading is probably The Innocents Abroad, because the work book club discussion is on Friday. I probably won’t be able to go, but I’d like to read it anyway because it’s Mark Twain and he’s one of my favorites.

And that’s it for my birthday month. That went by fast! According to my stats, it turned out to be a pretty good month for reading…

May reading stats

  • Total books finished: 9 (5 novels and 4 comic trades)
  • Favorite book read: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
  • Favorite comic read: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
  • Book(s) read by diverse authors (per my 2015 reading project): Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Somehow I’ve read almost as many books so far this year as I read in all of last year. My goal was to average a book a week this year, but I’m well ahead of that, even if you don’t count the comics trades I’ve been reading. Maybe it’s just my commute, or maybe I’m just in story-absorption mode right now. I’m writing as well, not as fast as I’d like, but I’m making progress. Still, I don’t think that if I slowed down my reading pace it would make more time for writing. I think my creative brain is just hungry right now. So, I guess I’ll just keep feeding it.

 

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

Dear reader: a follow-up

~ EMM

So, you may remember that last week I posted about trying to decide what book to suggest to my friend, who asked for a recommendation. By the end of that post I’d narrowed my choices down to these four:

  1. Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
  2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  3. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
  4. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

By the end of that post I’d pretty much convinced myself not to recommend The Sparrow. And after that post I found out that he’s already read Ready Player One. That left me with two choices.

All last week I was pretty torn between Blue Remembered Earth and The Dog Stars. The first is actual science-based sci-fi, and the start of a multi-generational space opera. The second is what, up to this point, I had considered to be the best post-apocolyptic fiction book I’ve read — mostly because I found it to be believably realistic and yet also hopeful.

But last week I started reading Station Eleven…  I haven’t finished it yet, but so far, I think of the two books, Station Eleven will maybe nudge out The Dog Stars as best post-apocolyptic fiction book I’ve read. So, I could recommend Station Eleven instead… but now we’re back to the problem I had with The Sparrow… both of those books are getting a TON of hype right now and I don’t really want to recommend something that he’d be likely to read on his own without me pointing it out to him.

Honestly, any of these books I’ve mentioned would be a good choice. And it’s just so hard for me to pick only one “best” book. But, when it comes down to it, I keep coming back to one book… I think it’s going to have to be: Blue Remembered Earth.

There are just so many things about that book that I love. The elephants. The technology. The moon colony. The fighting robots. And more stuff I won’t say for fear of spoiling it… It’s such a richly imagined story. I really hope he likes it as much as I do.

 

Summer reading lists

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, and apparently that generated some sort of bat-signal that prompted everyone to publish their “what to read this summer” lists. I’m not sure exactly how that makes sense. Maybe Memorial Day should be associated with lists of best books about wars and armed forces (fictional and real)? That might make more sense… hmm…. did anyone do that list? That sounds like a good list….

*goes to Google*

*returns frustrated*

I guess that’s not a thing. It should be a thing. Book people should get on this…

In the meantime… as for summer reading lists, I like reading these lists to see if they include any books I haven’t heard of yet and might want to read. But, it’s always a bummer when they contain all books that I’ve heard of, and ones that are getting a ton of press already. I like this list by Nancy Pearl (via NPR) because I haven’t heard of any of these books and at least two are definitely going on my wish list (The Swimmer, The Strangler Vine, and maybe The Revolutions). I also like this list by Book Riot which features a ton of diverse authors and genres. There are so many excellent books on this list. I already had several of these on my wish list and after reading this list I added at least four more. Book Riot, the very best at crushing my TBR pile.

Inspired by these lists, I decided to make my own summer reading list. For me, the thing that makes something an excellent candidate for a “summer reading” book is not so much that it is “light reading,” but that it has an element of “can’t put down-ness” that makes it perfect for reading when I don’t have other demands on my time. This element also means that my summer reading holds my attention when I may otherwise be distracted by all the crowds in airports and other public places — a definite must during the busy travel season.

Keeping this element in mind, I’ve been holding back some really fun books to read on my summer vacations. Here are a few books that I definitely plan to read this summer because I anticipate they will have that page-turning, can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next, stay-up-late-to-finish it appeal:

  1. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (contemporary fiction) — Yes, I am aware that this is not a new book and the sequel is already out. But, I was looking for fun books by diverse authors and stumbled onto this one. Bonus points for the library having an ebook copy I can borrow.
  2. All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Flemming (mystery) — This is the fifth book in a mystery series that is set in the Adirondacks. I found this series while doing a project for one of my UCBx literature classes, and since then I have made it a tradition to read at least one of these whenever I visit the Adirondacks for vacation. Since I’m going back this year, this one is definitely on my list.
  3. Reamde by Neal Stephenson (cyber-punk) — Again, not a new book, but one I’ve been meaning to get to for years. This was originally going to be my first Neal Stephenson book, but I ended up reading The Diamond Age on vacation last year instead. So, this is the year I’m finally going to read it. (Next year: Anathem).
  4. Scarlett and Cress by Marissa Meyer (YA, sci-fi) — I am psyched to get caught up on this series of sci-fi books modeled after classic fairy tales. I read Cinder last year and enjoyed it and have been saving these two for plane rides and/or vacation days.
  5. The Magicians by Lev Grossman (fantasy) — I am way late to the party here, but I plan to finally get around to starting this series that everyone says is like “Harry Potter for adults.” One bonus for waiting this long is that now I don’t have to wait to read the other two books in the trilogy!
  6. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (sci-fi) — The only new book on this list, this is scheduled to come out on 14 July. After reading and loving Contact and The Sparrow, I think I have a soft spot for “first contact” books. I also have been wanting to read something by this author for a while now. This seems like it may be just the ticket.

Of course, you never know what kind of book-mood you are going to be in. So, I have a list of other books on my Kindle that might make for good summer reading. If you’re on Goodreads, you can see my shelf of potential vacation reads here.

What’s on your list for this summer? Anything you think I should add?

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 18 May

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

Three day weekend! Lazy days and time to read All The Books! Hooray!

This week I decided to use some of my birthday gift card to buy some comics that were on my wish list… and also a coloring book… for adults… because I heard that’s a thing now, I guess? 🙂

Inbox (books acquired)

  • From Moonlight to Mayhem by Jess Schira (Kindle) — I found this book on Goodreads when I was searching through the giveaways. The blurb talks about a woman with Samurai skills and a political plot, and the cover hints at period romance. I entered to win a copy, but didn’t. I added it to my wish list and grabbed it this week when the price dropped to $0.99. I’m pretty sure this is a self-pub book, but with that blurb and at that price, I’m willing to give it a go.
  • Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Jacob Wyatt, Adrian Alphona (paperback) — I loved volume one, and I can’t wait to see how this story develops.
  • X-Men Volume 4: Exogenous by Marc Guggenheim, Dexter Soy, Harvey Tolibao (paperback) — I just finished volume three this weekend, and I’m still loving this all female X-Men team (especially because it includes Psylocke, Storm, and Jubilee). And, I want to read this so that I’m ready for volume five which comes out this summer and is written by the author of Ms. Marvel (G. Willow Wilson).
  • Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (paperback) — I seem to be seeing this everywhere I look, and it’s been on my list for a while now. I just finished volume one of Lumberjanes (by the same author). I enjoyed Lumberjanes, but the Nimona story sounds like something that is much more squarely in my genre wheelhouse. So, I’m really looking forward to this collection of what was apparently a popular web comic.

Outbox (books finished)

  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Kindle) — I have a lot of thoughts about this one… You may remember me saying last week that I wasn’t quite into this story yet… Well, I ended up liking this more than I thought I would after reading the first few chapters, but still less than I anticipated when I pre-ordered. I have three main gripes about this story: 1) the main character is very whiney through the first part of this book, while the “Beast” character is brooding, but nice. We’re supposed to side with the main character, but all the backstory about why we are supposed to hate the Fae is “told” not “shown,” so we only have the main character’s opinion to go off of, and it just doesn’t seem to make much sense when she’s the one being the ungrateful and hateful jerk, while the “beast” is being kind. Then, 2) there is this spring festival and magic rite that takes place and sort-of also kicks off the romance between the main character and the “Beast.” Except… I don’t want to get spoilery, so I’ll just say, this thing he does during the festival that happens “off-screen,” I’m not sure how *that* can happen directly before they begin to have “all the feelings”… it’s just a weird transition and doesn’t make a lot of sense since she knows what happened “off-screen” and apparently doesn’t care, I guess. And, 3) this is becoming kind of an SJM trope by now, but, like all tropes, once it’s pointed out to you, you just can’t stop noticing it… the main character has no female friends. She has two sisters who are almost useless (at least at the beginning) and who she is not close with. Then she has a maid that she gets information from while she’s staying with the “Beast.” That’s it. Those are the other main female characters… except for the “Big Bad” — but obviously she’s not friends with the “Big Bad” because they are rivals for the affection of the “Beast.” So, yeah. There’s that. I know it sounds like given all that, how could I give this a four star review? (it probably should be 3.5, but Goodreads doesn’t do half stars…) It gets four stars from me because the world-building and the “Big Bad” character are so well done. SJM is just a master of fantasy world-building. And the end is so much better than the beginning that I sort of forgot how we started and actually cared about what was going to happen next. The book got better after SJM departed from the “Beauty and the Beast” parallels and got back to the stuff she’s really good at: telling action-packed stories that take place in a richly imagined fantasy world. I’ll be reading the next in the series, and the next Throne of Glass book due out in the fall, but damn, girl, can we get more females in the good-guy crew? Maybe your next book will do more than just barely pass the Bechdel test…
  • Lumberjanes Vol. 1 by by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen (paperback) — This is like Scooby Doo with an all girl crew (no dog, sadly). The girls are at a summer camp, and seem to have a knack for finding supernatural weirdness in the woods surrounding their camp. It’s all about friendship and fun and adventure. It includes Yetis, and hints at a mystical “Kitten Holy,” The woman who runs the camp is named Rosie and strongly resembles Rosie the Riveter. There are a lot of references to famous women that will likely go over the heads of the younger audience this is meant for (most went over my head as well), but not getting the references doesn’t effect story enjoyment (at least not for me). I think my two favorite bits were the Pungeon Master badge, and the part where one of the characters geeks out on math to solve a puzzle, causing her to exclaim “Fibonacci!”
  • X-Men Vol 3: Bloodline by Brian Wood, Clay Mann, Matteo Buffagni (paperback) — I enjoyed this, maybe a little less than the first two, but still really liked it. The big fight scene takes place in The Adirondacks, which is one of my favorite places. That was a cool thing. The defeat of the “big bad” in this one was a little abrupt and anti-climactic given the set-up. But, other than that I think this was a pretty solid and compelling, page-turning, story arc for this collection.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I finally started Station Eleven this week, and… Wow. Just… Wow. I thought I might finish it before I posted this, but I’m kind of savoring it and reading it slowly…
  • Since I’m reading at home this weekend, I’m also digging in to a few of the hardcovers on my TBR… I started Our Endless Numbered Days, and I might also read Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free if I have time before the end of the weekend…
  • And, if I finish all those over the long weekend and find myself with more commute time to read next week, I might try to read something short and light like From Moonlight to Mayhem…

I’ve also been playing around with my reading list for June. I’ll share that next week when I do my month-end wrap-up. And… I might have finally decided on which book to recommend to my friend… and it might be one that I forgot to include on my list of five star books in that post… More on that before the weekend is over…

 

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

Dear Reader: book recommendations

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

So, one of my good friends (who is also a regular reader of my blog!) asked me for a book recommendation. His request was pretty general:

… what’s the best book you’ve read in the last 5-10 years that you think I should read?

I’ve been carefully considering what I should recommend, and, of course, like anything else, I am COMPLETELY overanalyzing this… I mean, it’s not every day you get asked a question like that. And that word… best… best could mean so many different things. Most entertaining? Made me think about the world differently? Changed my opinion about something? Had excellent writing? Kept me up all night reading? All of the above?

And then there’s the hardest part… How can I pick just one “best” book?

After further questioning, I’ve come to understand that this request is part of a larger scheme invented by my friend… he decided he would allow each of his friends to recommend one book for him to read — and he’d have to read that book. So many times I recommend books to people, or buy books for gifts, and I almost never know if they are even read, let alone enjoyed. But this time… this time he has to read what I recommend. That’s a bit heady…

Of course, the first thing that came to mind as I’ve been over-thinking this, is that I’m primarily a “genre” reader (I think he knows this… he does read my blog…). So, anything I pick as “best” is unlikely to be the type of book that would win some sort of Pulitzer or something. Maybe a Hugo or a Nebula, but it’s definitely not going to top any true literary critic’s “top five” list.

I could use this opportunity to make someone (anyone) finally read Sassinak…. Don’t think I haven’t considered it. I have. But I’m not sure my friend would love it as much as I do. Hell, even as much as I love that book, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s the best book I’ve read in the last five to ten years. It’s comfort food for me. And comfort food is always good, but it’s rarely where you take someone on a first date.

So, not Sassinak… what then? This is when I turn to my trusty book shelves on Goodreads. I’ve been tracking my reading in Goodreads since the beginning of 2008. I tracked my reading in notebooks before then, and I could go back and look at those for inspiration, but those are a little harder to search. I think seven years of reading is probably enough. It’s pretty much halfway between the five and ten year time horizon suggested in the question. It’s as good a place as any to start. So, let’s have a look at my “read” shelf on Goodreads and see which books I’ve rated as five stars since 2008…

In no particular order (and only including full-length books, but not including any re-reads) these are the books I’ve read in the last seven years and marked as five stars on Goodreads:

  • We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
  • Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
  • Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
  • Swim: Why We Love the Water by Lynn Sherr
  • Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
  • Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  • Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
  • Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
  • Graceling and Fire (the first two books in the Graceling series) by Kirstin Cashore
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yes, I first read this book in 2009)
  • Momentum Is Your Friend: The Metal Cowboy and His Pint-Sized Posse Take on America by Joe Kurmaskie
  • Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning by George Monbiot
  • Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
  • The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
  • Lock In by John Scalzi
  • The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
  • The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
  • The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Looking over this list, I’m sorely tempted to assign him a Jane Austen book to read (Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park would be my top three). I mean, it’s not that often that you can force a guy to read Jane Austen… and I’m pretty sure that once you’ve read Jane Austen, it’s pretty hard not to see what all the fuss is about (and no, the fuss is not about the romance, though that’s good, too).

Several of the others are young/new adult books (Moribito, Graceling, Fire, We Were Liars, Fangirl, Eleanor and Park, Suddenly Royal…). I read a lot of YA/NA books, and I think many are just as good, if not better than, many of the adult fiction books I read. But, not all adults think that way. If my friend were someone who would never ever read YA, I would use this as my one chance to introduce him to the genre. But, I am fairly certain that he’s not a literary snob. So, I am going to resist recommending these favorites.

Glaciers is a particularly “Portland” book, and could be a really good choice because my friend lives in Portland. But, it’s really short… And it’s not my absolute favorite out of this list of books.

Similarly, Where’d You Go Bernadette has a very “Seattle” feel. It’s hysterical and fun and I loved it. But, it’s probably not the right book to recommend to this friend.

The Night Circus is excellent, and one of my all-time favorites, but my husband (who has very similar tastes to my friend) just can’t get into it no matter how many times he’s tried. So, I’ll hold off on recommending that one this time.

Unless you love the water, you probably won’t be that into Swim. And unless (like me) you have a ridiculous soft spot for novels told in the form of letters exchanged between a pair of characters, you probably won’t be that into The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Momentum is Your Friend is a non-fiction, memoir-type book about a guy who rides his bike across the country with his two young boys, one on a tandem trike and the other in an attached bike trailer. I remember really loving this book when I read it, and it’s a book I think my friend would enjoy because he lives in Portland, likes to bike, and has two young boys. But, this is the kind of book I’d buy as a gift for someone like my friend… not something I’d recommend for him to read because it was the best book I’d read in the past five to ten years.

Several of the others (Left Hand of Darkness, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hr Bookstore, Lock In, The Bone Clocks, The White Tiger, Quiet, Heat…) are books he’s likely to have already read, or likely to pick up on his own without my pointing them out to him. I will say that The Left Hand of Darkness is probably the best book on that list, and I would be more tempted to recommend that one if I didn’t think he’s probably read it already.

This process of elimination narrows my list down to four contenders.

  • Blue Remembered Earth
  • Ready Player One
  • The Dog Stars
  • The Sparrow

I’ve narrowed it down to these four because they are all sci-fi / fantasy books that I’m not sure my friend would stumble upon on his own, and I know he likes sci-fi and fantasy novels.

And at this point, I’m torn…

I really want to pick Blue Remembered Earth, because it’s such a good book, and it’s the first in a series, and I’m pretty sure it’s a new author for him, and one that he’d enjoy. It’s a smart book with a solid grounding in hard science. If I had to pick one book to introduce him to that might set him off on a very productive reading binge, this would be it.

And yet…

Ready Player One is a really fun book, full of pop culture references that someone like my friend might really appreciate. This was one I read and passed on to my husband to read and he also loved it. Plus, they’re making it into a movie…

Then, there’s The Dog Stars, which is one my husband read first and passed on to me… it reminds me a little bit of a book that I know my friend likes called Earth Abides… except this one is better. I’m sure he would like it (if he hasn’t read it already). But my husband should really be the one to recommend this when it’s his turn… (even though he’ll probably recommend The Martian… I haven’t read that one yet, but based on what I know, I think it would definitely be the kind of book my friend would enjoy).

My friend already reads a lot of sci-fi, but for people who don’t really read a lot of sci-fi and want to try it… or for people who like to explore philosophical and moral issues, The Sparrow would be my strongest pick. It’s a good “intro to sci-fi” book because it’s an excellent “first contact” with aliens book, plus it’s somewhat more literary because it explores a lot of sticky moral and religious issues in addition to just being a good, creative, action-packed story. But, I feel like this is a cheater recommendation because one of our mutual friends actually gave me this series as a gift. She was the one who recommended it to me. So, it’s really her recommendation… not mine. Plus it was published well outside the five to ten year window, even if I only just read it a few years ago.

What do you think? Should I pick something he’d never pick up on his own (like a Jane Austen book) as my recommendation? Or should I go with the hard sci-fi book by an author he probably hasn’t read anything by, but might enjoy (like Blue Remembered Earth)? Or should I go with something that’s just crazy good pop-culture referencing, action-packed fun (like Ready Player One)?

I’m going to take another day or two to consider. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts…

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 11 May

~ EMM

It’s the birthday week edition of my reading inbox/outbox, in which I offer what is likely to be a somewhat unpopular opinion about the one book I finished this week, and where I admit to not being in love with a book I had pre-ordered and really hoped to love…

Inbox (books acquired)

  • Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves by James Nestor (Kindle) — I have been fascinated by free-diving since I first saw the movie The Big Blue in my high school French class. Since then, Luc Besson has become one of my favorite writer/directors (I’ve watched almost all his movies, and Léon (The Professional) is one of my all-time favorites). So, when I saw this book mentioned somewhere (excerpt in an article online, maybe?), I immediately put it on my someday/maybe list. I was planning on getting it from the library, but the ebook price dropped to $1.99 this week, so I bought it.

Outbox (books finished)

  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Kindle, library) — So… I liked this, but I didn’t like it as much as Half of a Yellow Sun. I loved the writing about modern-day race issues, and I think this would make a great jumping-off point for understanding / discussing race issues. But most (not all) of the main character’s reflections and observations were things I had heard before or knew already (only because I regularly go out of my way to make myself uncomfortable and try to understand this stuff). The primary new thing for me was specifically the main character’s experience being a non-American black person in America, and how that is a different experience from being an African American (sort of “duh” when you think about it, but how often do you think about it if you’re not black, huh?). The “blog posts” were great, but they sounded so much like the movie Dear White People (which I really enjoyed, btw), that it felt like they were lifted from the movie… I know this can’t be true because that movie just came out and this book is two years old, but because I’d seen that movie first, that’s how it read to me. I do think that this would have worked better for me as a series of non-fiction essays (like Bad Feminist), rather than what (to me) reads as a lightly fictionalized story about race and immigration sandwiched between a love story that almost exclusively takes place during the first few and last few chapters. I think if I’d read this when it came out two years ago, I would have loved it and given it five stars, no question. But current me (who has been fascinated and absorbed by inclusion essays and unconscious bias training for the past two years) was way more moved by Half of a Yellow Sun because that one showed me (without telling me) that as worldly as I think I am, there is still SO MUCH MORE that I don’t know. And the fact that I can be successful in the world without ever knowing anything about African history (or even being able to tell the countries apart on a map), somehow hits me harder (and moves me more) than all the hard truths in Americanah.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I started A Court of Thorns and Roses … I knew when I pre-ordered that this was a sort-of re-telling of Beauty and the Beast featuring Fae mythology and a “high-Fae” in the “beast” role. Beauty and the Beast is not my favorite of the Disney Princess stories, and I’ve never been drawn to the whole “Fae” thing, but I liked what this author was doing in her Throne of Glass series, so I was still pretty excited about reading this book. Unfortunately, I’m less than thrilled with the beginning so far… but I’m withholding my opinion until I finish it.
  • After I finish ACoTaR, Station Eleven is next. Finally. I’ve been dragging my feet (due to the hype), and also holding off until a point where I can read and savor it (again, because of the hype). I have high expectations at this point, and that worries me…

I’m sticking to my May reading plan, even though there are several books on my TBR list that are calling to me — ones that I may actually enjoy more than what I’d planned to read in May. This may be ill-advised. We’ll see how next week goes, and if I end up having an unpopular opinion about Station Eleven as well… it may be time to throw out the rest of the May reading list and start over.

 

(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…)