This was a good week for books. I got some promising new stuff, and I finished two novels, both of which made me want to hug my Kindle when I finished them. Read on to find out more…

Inbox (books acquired)

• All My Puny Sorrows (signed hardcover) by Miriam Toews — I received this book because I subscribe to Powell’s Indiespensible and this was the most recent selection. I read the summary and it sounded like a somewhat depressing book. But, then I read the interview with the author and now I’m thinking I might give it a go. Mental illness and suicide kind of freak me out a bit. When I was younger I would avoid things that freaked me out. But I’ve come to believe that it’s this fear of things we don’t understand, while completely natural, is ultimately unhealthy and prevents us from experiencing all the awesomeness that life has to offer and from treating others with empathy and kindness. So, now I confront these things head on.
• Parable of the Sower (kindle) by Octavia E. Butler — In an effort to “put my money where my mouth is,” I’m creating a reading project for myself for 2015: reading books by diverse authors, or that feature diverse main characters. I’ll talk more about this new project in a separate blog post (or video) as we get closer to the end of the year. I bought this book because I’ve had it on my list since I saw it on a top five sci-fi book list by author Robin Sloan (Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hr Bookstore). It sounded amazing. It’s sci-fi by a female, African-American author, so it qualifies for my project. I am *very* excited to read this book.
• Astonish Me (kindle) by Maggie Shipstead — This one had been on my list for a while. It’s a literary fiction novel set in the world of ballet dancers. I started it almost immediately. More on this below…

Outbox (books finished)

• This Night So Dark (kindle) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner — I just discovered and purchased this novella last week. There’s also a preview of the sequel to These Broken Stars at the end of this novella. I pretty much devoured this delicious little morsel of story, but I really want the next book. I’ve had This Shattered World on pre-order since May. It’s already been released in some countries, but it doesn’t come out in the US until the end of December 23rd. I expect I’ll have it finished before Christmas.
• Ready Player One (kindle) by Ernest Cline — I’ve been holding off reading this because of the hype. The premise sounded so cool. So many people whose book opinions I respect gave it great reviews. I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to the hype and I’d be disappointed. I needn’t have worried. I *loved* this book. It might end up as my favorite book of 2014. The 80s pop culture references are great, but what I appreciated most was that the author took a few non-standard narrative turns that ended up giving the book more meaning than you’d expect from some 80s gaming culture nostalgia book. If you’ve had this on your list and haven’t read it yet, read this next. You won’t be disappointed.
• Astonish Me (kindle) by Maggie Shipstead — Ballet dancers and dance culture are fascinating to me, partly because I used to dance, but mostly because I appreciate the discipline, athleticism, and commitment necessary to succeed in this world. I love getting glimpses into this world that I would never have been talented enough to enter. But, beyond that, the story is so tightly wound and so intricately woven. It’s not told in a straightforward linear progression, which adds to the suspense and drama. The ending is perfect. I could not put it down. When I finished it, I kind of want to start over at the beginning and re-read it.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I still need to finish The Algebraist … it’s due on the 10th, and I don’t think I can renew it again…

I need to read about four more books this year in order to hit my annual goal of reading 36 books per year. With Christmas vacation coming up, I don’t think that will be a problem. Of course, all this reading means that little writing is getting done, but I’m okay with that for December. Just like November is a great month for writing (for me), December is always a great reading month for me. There is something about the holidays and the cooler weather that always makes me want to curl up with a book.

One bonus I’ve noticed since I started writing this post each week is that knowing I am going to have to report out on my “outbox” encourages me to actually finish whatever I’m reading. On the other hand, one downside is that it’s definitely highlighting the number of books that I buy. I knew I’d gotten into the habit of buying a lot of books this year, but this is ridiculous. So, if anyone out there is considering what to buy me for Christmas…, may I recommend an Amazon (or Powells) gift card?

Inbox (books acquired)

• A Court of Thorns and Roses (Kindle) by Sarah J. Maas — This one doesn’t come out until May, but I pre-ordered it. This is the start of a new series by the author of the Throne of Glass series that I’ve been enjoying. Because of that series, she has become one of my “auto-buy” authors. I can’t wait to see what she does with this new world she’s created!
• The Martian (Kindle) by Andy Weir — This comes highly recommended from several sources. So, when I saw the price drop to $3 on Kindle, I jumped on it. Like my other ebooks purchased when I see them on sale, I probably won’t get to this one for a while.
• This Night So Dark (Kindle) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner — This is a novella set in the same world as These Broken Stars and is meant to bridge to their new release (which I pre-ordered months ago), This Shattered World, which comes out at the end of December. I’ve been enjoying their YA Sci-Fi, and I like that they have kicked the “series” trend and decided to just create a bunch of loosely connected novels all set in the same world. I am so looking forward to the next book, hopefully this holds me over until then.

Outbox (books finished)

• Grave Mercy (Kindle) by Robin LaFevers — I first heard of this one on the Book Nut blog when she reviewed it over two years ago. So, it’s been on my radar for a while. This is the first in a trilogy of books, each set in this same world but featuring different main characters. Each book features a different assassin, who tells the story from their perspective based on their role in the unfolding drama. It works because it’s historical fiction that sticks close to the key points and characters in history, while adding in the invented concept of a convent dedicated to training the “daughters of Death” (one of the nine “old gods”) to become assassins charged with carrying out the will of their god, Death, in service to the duchess of Brittany. As far as a premise goes, this sounded really great. I grabbed this when it went on sale and dove in, expecting awesomeness. Unfortunately, I immediately got hung up on a technicality. The author chose to write this in the first person, present tense POV. That is my least favorite way of telling or reading a story. This choice of narration continued to annoy me for the entire tale. I mostly enjoyed the story, but I didn’t really bond with the main character (the one telling the story) because her unquestioning acceptance of authority was a little too frustrating for someone with my personality. I’m trying to decide if I want to continue the series. The other two main characters (her “sister” assassins, both introduced in this book) sound slightly more interesting. But if the other two books (book 3 was just released) are also written in first person, present tense POV then I don’t think I want to. For now I’m just going to put the next one on my watch list and wait for an ebook sale and a deep discount. But, if the premise sounds good to you, and you don’t think you’ll be bothered by the narration, it is a good story. I got sucked in quickly and spent precious writing time reading this instead because I wanted to know what would happen (even if I did figure out who the “bad guy” was very early on in the story).

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Kindle) — I picked up this one two weeks ago. Now I have about a week to finish this before book club on Friday.
• I still haven’t finished The Algebraist yet, either…

Now that NaNoWriMo is almost over, I should have a little more time to read. Which is a good thing, because I need to finish another seven books in order to hit my reading goal for this year.

I could tell you about the books I’ve been reading, but you might be disappointed. August hasn’t been a strong reading month for me. I’ve added a lot of books to my “to read” list and I’ve been dreaming of curling up with a pile of books and hiding out for days, but for some reason I’ve just not been able to get started on anything. Even my book club books. Which makes me sad.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I haven’t been able to get into any of my new books, and I finally realized, I was craving a real, tangible, paper book to read. Not my Kindle (for once). Almost every book I’ve read this year has been on Kindle.

I think it all started when I was in Portland… I made a visit to my book-mecca, Powell’s, and I think that hardcore book feeling hit me. Suddenly, reading on my Kindle just wasn’t enough. I needed the real thing.

(Cue U2’s Even Better Than the Real Thing…)

Ironically, I didn’t buy any books at Powell’s when I visited. I got a great t-shirt, and several stickers, and a Kleen Kanteen pint glass… your basic tourist stuff. I did buy a few books for my niece and nephew, but not for me. But I made up for it when I came home. And now I’m so excited about my purchase that I can hardly handle the anticipation…

I FINALLY SUBSCRIBED TO INDIESPENSIBLE!

Yep. Little magical book bundle boxes arriving on my doorstep nearly once a month. And the first of these will be David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks. I Can. Not. Wait.

So, don’t mind me while I spend the next week or so eagerly checking my mail for my very first book package from Powell’s. Maybe I’ll make an unboxing video when it gets here. You know you want to see that.

I’m only slightly sad that I missed last month’s shipment that featured The Great Glass Sea. But, it’s okay. I’ll just add that to my hold list at the library. Luckily, we have a really good library, and I’ve already put six books on hold to keep me going while I’m on this real-deal book kick.

Books. They come in all shapes and sizes and I love them all.

This weekend I started re-reading one of my favorite childhood books.

I remembered this as the book that made me want to become a marine biologist, which is the first “what do you want to do when you grow up?” job that I remember having… besides those irresponsible, starving-artist things like “dancer” and/or “writer” that made my parents cringe and tensely explain about “back-up plans” for when those “careers” inevitably didn’t work out… This was also the book that first put the idea of swimming with dolphins into my head where it took firm hold and has never let go. Needless to say, I did not become a marine biologist (even though I didn’t change my mind on this until just before deciding on which college to attend). I also have yet to swim with dolphins. But I will.

The other thing I’m realizing while re-reading this book is that, unlike some formative childhood books that you re-read and realize they weren’t as good as you remember them, this one is still good. Actually, it’s not just good, I think it blows away nearly all modern YA I’ve read. I know. Bold statement. But here’s why: the book is written in a way that doesn’t simplify everything into black and white, good and bad, employing simplistic vocabulary with high drama and romance along the way. The text isn’t “dumbed down” for young adults. The vocabulary is rich, the writing is descriptive, the world is complex and modern (it’s not fantasy / sci fi / dystopian), and even though the main character gets confused and conflicted because of a pretty girl, it’s no more than your standard teenage boy hormones and not some dramatic love-triangle nonsense. The “strong female” character around which the story revolves, is not even in a “lead” role. She is a highly intelligent pre-teen who is wiser than her years, yet still vulnerable, open, and honest in a way that makes her more realistically “sassy” and “spunky” than all those modern YA heroines combined.

In short, this is the kind of book that makes me nostalgic for the time before social media and cell phones and ubiquitous technology… you know, before the “dumbing down” of society where everything has to fit in a short attention span sound bite and be categorized into “is this a good thing, or a bad thing?” buckets for people who’ve forgotten, or never learned, how to think for themselves.

It’s also the kind of book that makes me think that everything I’ve ever written is complete crap and I’ll never be this good a writer.

So, what is this amazing book? You’ve probably never heard of it before. It’s not one of the “classics” that make it onto reading lists. The author has more well known books, books that are definitely on those lists. But out of all those books, the book at the top of my “formative books” list? The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L’Engle.

If you’ve never heard of it, and you like YA, marine biology, anything else by Ms. L’Engle, and/or dolphins, you should check it out. You will not be disappointed.

My July reading recap might as well also be considered the vacation reading recap. I read three books on my vacation, which is all I managed to read in all of July.

Which three books of the ten that I brought with me did I end up reading? The answer is, one from almost each of the categories of books I brought with me.

One actual paper book: The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neil Stephenson

One of the science fiction novels: Restoree by Anne McCaffrey

One of the mystery fiction series located in the Adirondacks: To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming

And, as predicted, none of the non-fiction books.

I wish I’d had more time for reading, but I was just having too much fun playing with kids, swimming in the lake, and hanging out with friends.

 

I ended up reading two books in June: The Goldfinch and The Rosie Project.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Goldfinch. I was reading it for a book club, so I didn’t read the plot summary before picking it up. I knew it was “literary fiction” book. So, I wasn’t really expecting a story with a plot or with characters I would care about. But I was wrong and I got sucked in, and I really wanted to know what happened next, so much that I had trouble putting the book down for any length of time. I liked the main character (Theo), but I LOVED Boris — for me, he was maybe the most well written character in the book.

Many of the reviews on Goodreads are mixed and many people didn’t like the details or thought she was too long-winded. I don’t agree. I liked the details, I liked the feel of the writing. I liked that the place the story took me to felt like a real place that I could see, smell, feel. I loved that the book was fundamentally about struggling with the knowledge that we’re all going to die, and that people we love die, and the importance of loving being alive.

Without giving away the ending, I will say that the author takes the liberty of “summing things up” for the reader at the end of the book. Which could be annoying. Except the message of this book really resonated with me, so I didn’t feel like I was being bashed over the head with it. I’ll give a long quote from the end:

“That life — whatever else it is — is short. That fate is cruel but maybe not random. That Nature (meaning Death) always wins… That… it’s our task to immerse ourselves anyway… And in the midst of our dying… it is a glory and a privilege to love what Death doesn’t touch.”

Anyway… that’s what I took away from this book. If that sounds at all interesting to you, then it is well worth the investment of the 750+ pages.

The Rosie Project on the other hand… was not my favorite. I had trouble getting into it. I have difficulty with books where the author is writing from the perspective of someone with “special needs” and doesn’t themselves have those same “special needs.” In this case, Aspergers. Sometimes it feels to me like white people doing black-face. And even if it’s supposed to be “respectful” I just don’t see how it can be. Maybe I’m just overly sensitive, but that’s how I feel. So, I had a hard time with the narrative voice and the way the main character was written. However, I stumbled on a way through this book. I ended up reading almost all of it out loud to my husband over the course of an afternoon. It started when I read him a bit a few chapters in that I thought he would find amusing and then he just wanted me to keep reading. So I read more and more until I just basically had to finish the book. We haven’t read out loud to each other in a long time, so that was fun, and he enjoyed the book a lot more than I did. So, in that sense it was worth it.

Bottom line on The Rosie Project? If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, then you will probably also like this book.

So, what’s in store for July? VACATION! And hopefully lots of reading and swimming and having fun with friends and family.

I’ve narrowed my vacation reading list down to about ten books. There is no way I will read that many over vacation.

I am bringing two paperbacks: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.

I am bringing the next three books in a mystery fiction series by Julia Spencer-Fleming set in the Adirondacks (where I will be on vacation). I read the first three books last year, starting with In the Bleak Midwinter. This year I will pick up again with To Darkness and To Death.

I have three science fiction books picked out: On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds (companion/sequel to Blue Remembered Earth), Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach (recommended by my friend who I will be vacationing with), and Restoree by Anne McCaffrey (this was her very first published novel, and I’ve never read it).

And, last (and probably also least likely to be read), I’ve chosen two non-fiction books: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (about nine American rowers and the 1936 Berlin Olympics), and Wild by Cheryl Strayed (about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Canada to Mexico in the Cascade Mountain range).

 

I read eight books in May!

That is more than the total number of books I’d read from January through April *and* it puts me back within striking distance of my three books per month (or thirty-six books per year) reading target.

Hooray! So, what did I read this month and how did I like it? Here goes…

Best book of this month was: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

I can’t say much without giving away the story, which would be tragic because it’s such a good story. I can say, generally, that the story is a coming of age story of a girl and her cousins who are born into a very privileged, “old-money,” East Coast family. The story takes place over several summers at their vacation homes on their privately owned island off Cape Cod. I will also say that E. Lockhart is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary YA authors. Read this book on your summer vacation. And if you like it (you will), then go read The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (also by E. Lockhart). You will then, like me, want to go read the rest of Ms. Lockhart’s books.

Other really good books I read:

• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton — Reviews on this ran hot and cold. Some people couldn’t finish it, others loved it. I didn’t “love” it, but I really enjoyed reading it. I completely ignored the astrological thingy and just enjoyed the story, set in the gold rush era in NZ. It’s written a bit like a Sherlock Holmes mystery with a large cast of characters and a stranger whose job it becomes to solve the mystery. Oh, and it’s also VERY LONG.
• Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger — Definite Salinger voice and characters. Reminded me of The Royal Tenenbaums. Excellently written characters. It’s definitely “of an era,” but still readable and relevant.
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green — I avoided reading this for the longest time. I was sure it would be good, but I was also sure it would be sad. I have to be in the right mood to deal with a “sad” book. However, the movie is coming out soon and, mood or no mood, it was time to read this book. I’m so glad I did. Yes, it’s sad. But it’s not *that* sad. It’s strangely hopeful. And smart. And funny. And sweet. And I’m very excited to see the movie.

That said, I at least “liked” all the books I read this month. Here are the rest and why they just missed being “great”:

• The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman — Nate is a bit of a jerk but he doesn’t really understand what he’s doing wrong. Make no mistake, though, he’s not really a “lovable jerk.” The story is primarily about his latest relationship with Hannah, but there are many flashbacks to previous relationships. I think the author does an excellent job of getting into the brain of a specific type of guy (the liberal arts educated, articulate, city-dwelling, publishing industry type). I’m having trouble remembering why I only gave it three stars…
• Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey — This is definitely still what I think of as “early fantasy” Anne McCaffrey. It was written in the ’80s. I started reading her books in the ’90s when they’d definitely taken a more sci-fi turn. I skipped the “dragon era” and the “early fantasy” books because they just didn’t appeal to me. Last year I read some of the dragon books and confirmed that I was probably right to skip them (they’re like romance novels with dragons). Now I’m trying to decide if I feel the same about this series. So far, it’s not bad, but her writing just gets so much better in the Talents / Tower and Hive series, the Freedom series, and the Planet Pirates series. Those will forever remain my favorites.
• Solving for Ex by LeighAnn Kopans — I picked this up to read months ago because it’s a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (and basically the only one of those I’ve come across). The writing in the first few chapters is so bad that I put the book down and didn’t think I’d finish it. This month, since I was on a roll and needed something light after TFiOS, I picked it back up, determined to plow through. It got better. I’ll spare you going into great depth about where I think it lacks in terms of a modern adaptation. But I will say, if the main character (first-person POV) tried to remind me one more time how “cool” Mathletes was in her prep school, I was going to stab the book. But, in the end, it was a good, if slightly annoying, light-hearted read.
• Recklessly Royal by Nichole Chase — You may remember that last year I read the first book in this series (Suddenly Royal) and really enjoyed it. The writing in this book also gets off to a rocky (annoying) start. But then you quickly get to a REALLY hot make-out scene, and you sort of forget about the writing. This book was way more all about the sexual romance than the first book. As a result, it’s a smoking hot book to read, but somewhat lacking in plot and character development. I like Suddenly Royal better, but I’ll still probably pick up the next book (to be released in August), just to see if maybe that one has more of a plot… 😉

What’s on deck for next month? Well… I’m not sure yet. I’ve already picked out some books for my summer vacation coming up soon, but the only book I definitely plan on reading in June is The Goldfinch because it’s my “book club” book this month.

Alastair Reynolds’ sequel to Blue Remembered Earth comes out on Kindle in June (yes, I’m still buying Kindle books, don’t shoot me, and I still like Amazon, deal with it), so I’ll probably read On the Steel Breeze as well.

Since those are both going to be long reads, I don’t expect to get anywhere near the eight book record I set this month, but we’ll see.