mabith's 2018 Reads (Meredith) Part II

I am regularly very behind on reviews this year. Struggling to keep up with most everything after my mom's sudden death last fall. No matter how much I talk about books and reading on here, it's such a loss to not be able to tell her specifically about my reading and share recommendations (she was such a prolific reader, and such an influence on my reading habits).

July-December Reading

Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
Interesting Times – Terry Pratchett
1066 And All That – WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman
Magnificent Delusions – Husain Haqqani
The Pleasure Shock – Lone Frank

Fire Road – Kim Phuc Phan Thi
Redemption in Indigo – Karen Lord
Dear World – Bana and Fatemah Alabed
Archangel – Sharon Shinn
Diggers – Terry Pratchett

Ghost Bride - Yangsze Choo
The Blue Tattoo – Margot Mifflin
Wings – Terry Pratchett
What Unites Us – Dan Rather
Memoirs of a Polar Bear – Yoko Tawada

Barkskins – Annie Proulx
Don't Ask - Donald E. Westlake
Mister Monday - Garth Nix
Grim Tuesday - Garth Nix
Drowned Wednesday - Garth Nix

Sir Thursday - Garth Nix
Lady Friday - Garth Nix
Superior Saturday - Garth Nix
Lord Sunday - Garth Nix
Jovah's Angel - Sharon Shinn

Feminism is for Everybody - bell hooks
It Devours! - Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine
The Alleluia Files – Sharon Shinn
Where We Once Belonged – Sia Figiel

Jagannath – Karin Tidbeck
Cosmopolitanism – Kwame Anthony Appiah
A Writer's People – V.S. Naipaul
Deadly Election – Lindsey Davis
Warriors Don't Cry – Melba Pattillo Beals

A Corner of White – Jaclyn Moriarty
Justinian's Flea – William Rosen
Anarchism and Other Essays – Emma Goldman
Barracoon – Zora Neale Hurston
Animal Magnetism – Rita Mae Brown

The Cracks in the Kingdom – Jaclyn Moriarty
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion – Fannie Flagg
The Girl Who Smiled Beads – Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
The Spy Who Couldn't Spell – Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora – Pablo Cartaya

A Tangle of Gold – Jaclyn Moriarty
Radio Silence – Alice Oseman
Playing in the Dark – Toni Morrison
Other People's Children – Lisa Delpit
Fascism: A Warning – Madeleine Albright

The Creature in the Case – Garth Nix
Goldenhand – Garth Nix
Call Me American – Abdi Nor Iftin
You All Grow Up and Leave Me – Piper Weiss
The Inner Life of Animals – Peter Wohlleben

Evalina – Fanny Burney
The Kindness of Enemies – Leila Aboulela
The Search for Modern China – Jonathan D. Spence
Oceanic – Aimee Nezhukumatahil
Pandemic – Sonia Shah

Six Days in Cincinnati – Dan Mendez Moore
Wounded in the House of a Friend – Sonia Sanchez
Small Country – Gael Faye
The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama – Carl Barks
Angelica – Sharon Shinn

Welcome to Lagos – Chibundu Onuzo
Summer for the Gods – Edward J. Larson
Zami: A New Spelling of my Name – Audre Lorde
Comics For Choice – Hazel Newlevant, Whit Taylor, OK Fox
The Course of Honour – Lindsey Davis

And Be a Villain – Rex Stout
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
Overture to Death – Ngaio Marsh
MEM – Bethany Morrow
I Contain Multitudes – Ed Yong

Unpunished – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Picking Cotton – Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, Ronald Cotton
A Vietcong Memoir – Truong Nhu Tang
Hypercapitalism – Larry Gonick and Tim Kasser
The Silver Pigs – Lindsey Davis

Unnatural Death – Dorothy L. Sayers
The Lightless Sky – Gulwali Passarlay
Belle – Paula Byrne
Foxmask – Juliet Marillier
Astrid the Unstoppable – Maria Parr

The Empire Striketh Back – Ian Doescher
Five Children and It – E. Nesbit
The Chessmen of Doom – John Bellairs
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
The Secret of the Underground Room – John Bellairs

Operation Nemesis – Eric Bogosian
Red Winter – Anneli Furmark
Coming of Age in Mississippi – Anne Moody
Angel-Seeker – Sharon Shinn
Farthest North – Fridtjof Nansen

Lincoln's Melancholy – Joshua Wolf Shenk
The Man Who Wasn't There – Anil Ananthaswamy
Rez Life – David Treuer
The Three Caballeros Ride Again – Don Rosa
The Old Castle's Other Secret – Don Rosa

Maskerade – Terry Pratchett
Spilt Milk – Chico Buarque
The Almost Sisters – Joshilyn Jackson
Saturnalia – Lindsey Davis
Newt's Emerald – Garth Nix

The Other Side of Paradise – Staceyann Chin
The Hippopotamus Pool – Elizabeth Peters
Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot
Dread Nation – Justina Ireland
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States – Sarah Vowell

Thinking in Pictures – Temple Grandin
No God but God – Reza Aslan
Red Azalea - Anchee Min
The Polish Boxer – Eduardo Halfon
The Wife – Sigrid Undset

The Cross – Sigrid Undset
Talking to my Daughter About the Economy – Yanis Varoufakis
Gender Outlaw – Kate Bornstein
Dear America – Jose Antonio Vargas
Daughter of the Forest – Juliet Marillier

The Library Book – Susan Orleans
Girl at War – Sara Novic
Son of the Shadows – Juliet Marillier

Here's my author map for the year so far, doing so well and almost at my goal for the year! 47 unique countries so far.

>2 mabith: Wow. That is very impressive diversification for just one year ... well, just half a year. I think that you have probably managed to cover more countries this year than I have in my whole life, which is a sobering thought.

James, it became really easy after I made a point to think about it. Now it just kind of happens on it's own for a lot of countries. I still just read books that appeal to me (or at least I'm not reading genres I never touch just to check off a country). The harder bit is finding older works or non-fiction works in audio format, but I don't do too badly. I keep a separate map for countries read since I began recording my reading in 2006.

I keep a book spreadsheet for my reads, which includes nationality. So every time I add a newly finished book I see the last 25 or so and it's very visible if I've been reading a long string from the US and UK. The W1 designation indicates no marginalized identities (so the author is straight, white, cis, able-bodied, etc... I'm not separating out white women as marginalized, though they are, since my gender balance in reading is favoring women now and I need to make sure they're not mostly white women).

>4 mabith: That looks fascinating. I think I will start keeping that sort of analysis too. I am aware that, without any conscious decision to do so, I have been reading a lot more non-fiction books and books by women over the last few years.

I feel like it shows there have been some positive changes in publishing and how stores stock their shelves. Though could also just be the excellent people we follow here on LT!

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

I really enjoyed this book about three siblings whose lives are blighted due to their absent father's life as a Jihadi and their relations to that, each other, and the world at large. I'm only just reading that it's also a reimagining of Antigone. Regardless of what you go into the book expecting, it's a great read.

Isma has raised her twin younger siblings after their mother dies. They are finally 18 and she is picking her life back up and going to graduate school in the USA. Her brother Parvaiz has disappeared and she worries about her sister Aneeka taking care of herself and her schooling.

I think this one is best gone into without too many expectations. I found it well done and almost the moment I thought it was too simple or too predictable it shifted and developed further. It's not a LOUD action packed story, and that's a good thing for me and the type of book Shamsie was writing. Highly recommended, I'm eager to read more by her.

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett RE-READ

Pratchett is always a solid comfort read for me and Cohen and the Silver Horde are special favorites in this.

1066 And All That: A Memorable History of England by WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman

I've been meaning to read this for a while, so when a good friend mailed me a copy I started right away (granting for that to necessarily happen it also has to be a very funny book).

It's all the history that can be remembered, so there are only two dates (four were proposed but two cut for not being memorable). I loved it, and am familiar enough with English history to only need to look up a few things as I went. This was a favorite little bit:

"Although the plan failed, attempts are made every year on St Guyfawkes' Day to remind the Parliament that it would have been a Good Thing."

Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History by Husain Haqqani

Really good history, the vast majority of which I did not know. Well written and very readable as well.

Definitely recommended.

The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor by Lone Frank

The subtitle says it all! One of the reasons for the book is also to more fully investigate why the NEW studies using these techniques didn't seem to recognize that it had been pioneered decades earlier.

It's a well done, interesting book, though a few things the author said made me give her the side-eye pretty hard. That was very minor though and I don't think impacted the important substance of the book.

Fire Road: The Napalm Girl's Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace by Kim Phuc Phan Thi

Kim Phuc was the subject of a famous photograph of the Vietnam war, of children fleeing after a Napalm attack. She survived thanks partly due to chance and was left with extensive scarring.

After she started attending college she was was trotted out as a propaganda piece for foreign interviews (eventually removed from school completely), and her words were not translated accurately. Eventually she was able to leave the country and spent a number of years in Cuba before seeking asylum in Canada.

A lot of the book centers around her conversion to Christianity as a young adult, her converting others, and her faith. That's fine, of course, but hers is not a faith that seems to respect other faiths, and it is one which asks most people she interacts with if they're sure of their place in heaven with Jesus.

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Lord of a Barbadian author and this book is a retelling of Senegalese folklore. I absolutely loved this, though it probably won't work for everyone. It does not try to pull the folklore out of itself or shade that origin, but celebrates it.

Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace by Bana Alabed and Fatemah Alabed

The background on this is that a very young Syrian girl starting sending out tweets about life in Aleppo. There's some discussion on how much her mother influences the content (beyond the English), and accusations of the account being propaganda (though it seems most of those are coming from within Syria).

As far as the book goes it's the best young author work I've read, I think. It's only half from Bana's perspective, the other half is her mother, which helps. Bana's sections felt like there was enough substance to warrant being there but the voice is realistic for her age (vs that extra cloying "adults badly writing a child's voice" that you get sometimes).

Good work for children to introduce the conflict to them.

Archangel by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

Tis the year for my fantasy re-reads. I really enjoy Shinn's Samaria books, especially the original trilogy (there are two stand alone novels in the same world), which twist a bit from what you might expect. The characters are very well developed and she writes anger very well, which I think some authors struggle with.

In Samaria there are mortals and angels. Angels literally have wings and their songs to their God, Jovah, in order to change the weather, call down medicines, etc... An Archangel is chosen to serve for twenty years and each year a Gloria is held where voices from all the races and groups in Samaria are raised together to show Jovah there's harmony. The previous Archangel's reign has been anything but harmonious though and more and more issues come to light.

Love these every time.

Diggers by Terry Pratchett RE-READ

Had to wait so long for this second in the series since there were more holds than expected. These books really are great fun, and as usually Pratchett's commentary on leaders and leadership is spot on. Great trilogy for children.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

There was so much promise in this book, in the premise. Set in Colonial Malaysia, it's about a young woman whose father is draining the family money with his opium habit. Another family requests that she become a ghost bride for their son. It could have had a wonderful light-fantasy, supernatural, folklore feel, but it got lost.

The plot just wanted to go twenty different places and none of them added up to much. Not recommended. If you're trying to fill a reading spot with a Malaysian author I'd recommend The Garden of Evening Mists or Sorcerer to the Crown.

The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman by Margot Mifflin

I really liked this work, but the rest of my book club found it too academic. I've read MUCH dryer works, and with a fascinating subject, I can't imagine how they were bored, but each to their own.

Olive Oatman was taken captive by (Yavapai Native Americans) with her sister in 1851 after most of their family was killed. After a year or so they were sold to a Mohave group, who adopted the girls as their own and integrated them into the tribe. Olive underwent facial tattoos to mark this before being turned back into white society.

I quite liked the book, but if you don't read much non-fiction your mileage may vary.

Wings by Terry Pratchett RE-READ

Final book in the Bromeliad/Nomes trilogy. So much fun. This trilogy is really such a good start for children into the world of Pratchett.

What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism by Dan Rather

I found this book rather anemic. It slides over complex issues as if they're simple, it occasionally has a little bit of the "both sides are as bad as each other" vibe, and in the end I felt the title should be "What should unite us."

There are no solutions, there are not even strategies for uniting people. It's a vague book which I don't feel serves much purpose.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada

Finally the last book club book of the month! This is a very strange book. It looks at three 'generations' of polar bears (though they're not really connected one situation to another for how the child of bear got there).

Some of the bears can literally talk to humans (the first writes her own memoir) and there are other animals just sort of living among humans. But later they can't communicate that directly or can only communicate in dreams. It was very odd.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

This is a very long book focusing on the timber industry mostly in the US, going through two huge family trees and hundreds of years. Parts of very impactful and parts are not.

I think especially in the last quarter or third of the book Proulx tries to go too quickly. We're with characters so briefly that we don't care about them or their stories aren't explored fully. It needed to be a bare minimum of fifty pages longer.

I liked it, but I couldn't love it.

Don't Ask by Donald E. Westlake RE-READ

It's re-read kind of month for me, not surprising as it's been a very hard month.

This is the eighth book in the Dortmunder series and for me a particularly amusing one, if only because it has some especially amusing characters and Westlake's history of the saint in the book is so funny (the chapter on the saint's history specifically listed as "optional, not for credit").

Dortmunder must steal the femur of Saint Ferghana, a relic, being used to determine which new county (of a formerly single county) gets the UN seat for reasons which somewhat elude Dortmunder and the gang. As usual, the path to success is never an easy for Dortmunder. Westlake has a lot of fun creating the history and personality of the two countries.

The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix RE-READS

The titles of this juvenile fantasy series each have a day of the week in them, so when I finished the first (Mister Monday) on a Monday and the second on Tuesday I decided to just read the series straight through in order to finish each on the appropriate day. This is exactly the sort of silly thing I enjoy, though I don't usually like reading so many books by one author in such quick succession. This series is kind of like one giant book though, and I've had a hard time reading lately, so it worked for me.

Nix is my favorite children's/YA fantasy author when it comes to world building and good writing. The world of The House in this is particularly fun and you get nicely thrown into it. Our main hero, Arthur, really doesn't want to be the Chosen Hero and really doesn't see it as an 'adventure' but just wants to get back home to his family. They're such fun books with some really good lessons and cracking characters (particularly Arthur's main sidekick, Suzy Turquoise Blue). High recommended for children age 9 and up.

The last two books aren't paced quite as nicely as the rest of the series but it makes some sense given that by then Arthur has more power, knowledge, and friends.

Jovah's Angel by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

Since I read the first book in this trilogy I kind of had to read this too. And then I got sucked in and made my main book. I'm trying to be okay with binging re-reads but it's against my usual style.

So Samaria has literal angels who basically lead the world and can fly and sing prayers to change the weather, bring down medicine, etc... This book takes place 150 years after Archangel. The Archangel (leader of Samaria, basically), Delilah, is injured and can no longer fly. The new Archangel Alleluia is anxious and unsure politically. She's also one of the only angels that the god, Jovah, can still hear, so parts of Samaria are suddenly mired in rain and everyone's getting pretty unhappy.

I remember reading this for the first time so clearly and getting to the foreshadowing of the twisty bits and being so excited and amazed (there was foreshadowing in the first book too, but I tend not to notice until it's fairly obvious). Love these books.

Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks

This is a basic primer on feminism, and the type of book that hooks said she'd been looking for for years. So finally she wrote it herself. Definitely a useful and important work, though one wonders if the people who need it (other than the young) would actually open it.

It's a reminder about the most important tenets and where the message has gotten lost or twisted along the way. Even as an educated (on this subject) reader there were a few interesting things about the earlier second wave movement that I didn't know.

It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

The second Welcome to Night Vale novel. I actually read the first before really listening to the podcast, though I'd been seeing an immense number of quotes from it around for months ahead of that.

This one balances the podcast and the novel better, I think, cutting out the radio show interludes (which is the main aspect of the podcast) and integrating the trademark Night Vale humor more successfully (assuming my memory of the first novel is at all accurate!). The audiobook could have been better, as I don't think Cecil Baldwin was the best choice for the reader, much as I love his voice, since he's a character in Night Vale and all. I wonder if that was a choice insisted on by the audiobook publisher.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

A devastating collection of prose poems on the subject of racism in the US. One I'd been meaning to get to for a while, and it's an incredibly important read.

The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

The final book in the Samaria trilogy. The two later books are stand alone, but I think it's best to read the trilogy in first and it MUST be read in order, or at least it's better that way. Don't be fooled by the fact that they take place 100-150 years apart and think they'll read well in any order.

This one has some really interesting relationships and is maybe my favorite of the three, except they all stand together so there's no point having a favorite. In this one Samaria is again experiencing very difficult times, combined with the first decades of their own industrial revolution.

Really excellent SFF books, a good series for people who don't usually read it fantasy or science fiction (or one of the two).

Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel

I spent too long working on this book. Not because I didn't like it but because partly it's hard reading in print with physical pain (and emotional pain) and that was made a bit harder due to the all the Samoan. Luckily for me, my power went out for six hours recently and I had no choice but to read in print! Maybe I should arrange to have the power cut for one to two hours every day...

The book was really good, though it suffered from my slow, spread out reading. This is definitely one to read more quickly. As I said there's a lot of Samoan, some of which is in the glossary in the back and some of which isn't. It can pretty much all be googled and a fair bit you can get from context.

It's one of those books which is foreign and familiar. Alofa is a teenage girl and we're witness to her family, friends, inner thoughts, school life, and experiences with love, sex, and violence.

Really good read, if challenging.

Jagannath by Karin Tidbeck

This is a collection of very short stories. For me it didn't quite work. They were interesting, sometimes very interesting, and the writing was really good. But honestly they all felt far too short. Too short to say all that much, too short to become invested in.

However, there's some equally short fiction I HAVE felt invested in, so it's less an issue with length and more an issue with the author or the subjects.

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers by Kwame Anthony Appiah

An interesting book by a philosopher who has had maybe a particularly large number of acquaintances across varied groups. It was interesting, made sense, and a good read. I'd happily read more of his work.

Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis

This is the third Flavia Albia novel. The first two I wasn't convinced by, but this one seemed more enjoyable what whatever reason. Maybe she just had to get used to writing Albia. She should get some good political humor of the most recent, as she's set these books during the reign of Domitian. Domitian was long regarded as power-mad, extremely paranoid, uneducated and the worst of tyrants.

In this one Albia is also helping with a political campaign which is quite fun (Lindsey Davis writing about it makes it quite fun anyway).

Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals

This is such an important book, and one of the hardest I've read. Beals experience was absolutely horrific and she writes so well. Her task is also helped and enhanced by her own diaries kept throughout her childhood.

I read a lot of tough books, but I do honestly think this was the hardest (partly testament to Beals gift for writing) and arguably one of the most important as well. I'd seen some descriptions of what the group of nine kids integrating this school went through, but they were obviously dealing only with the lightest of what the Nine endured.

Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe by William Rosen

An okay history work, but quite dry and I'm not sure Rosen really connected everything to the extent that the subtitle suggests. Or wasn't skilled enough as a writer to make this reader feel that "Of course! It makes so much sense!" moment.

Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

A mixed collection of essays. As one might predict, given the passage of time, some aspects are extremely dated (the dangers of homosexuality) and others are still relevant.

A Writer's People by V.S. Naipaul

I actually finished this writing memoir just before Naipaul died, which was especially random as it's the first work of his I've read. The book is about some of the influential writers in his life and how he got started as a writer as well.

A good read, well written and interesting.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston

Cudjo Lewis or Oluale Kossola was the last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade. Hurston interviewed and visited with him numerous times in order to get the materials for this book in 1928 (after an initial brief interview in 1927) but it has only just been published this year. The book goes into details about the ship that took them, and the Africatown neighborhood the survivors of that transit organized for themselves.

Well worth reading.

Animal Magnetism: My Life With Creatures Great and Small by Rita Mae Brown

This book was billed as a memoir focusing on Brown's life with animals. Brown is best known for mysteries involving animals, the Mrs. Murphy series being co-authored by her cat. The animal bits were well and good, but these anecdotes are constantly interrupted by Browns gross and often hypocritical and misinformed opinions on disability, taxes, minimum wage, etc... This was published in 2009, so quite recently.

The tax and minimum wage rantings mostly felt like bitterness that she wasn't able to have a giant farm/ranch. She literally said there should be a secondary minimum wage scale for agricultural workers, as if those workers don't have their own dreams to finance. She blames taxes for her inability to hire servants and people "trying to do everything on their own makes people miserable" as if the servants don't still have housework and cooking and such at their own homes? Who will pick up the slack there? She encouraged all rich people to leave the country and take their money, as if they don't already? As if they don't avoid taxes and outsource jobs. Yet she also talks about rich people gobbling up land and ruining it/cutting it off from people. She says the Everglades must be protected at any cost, and doesn't seem to realize taxes are part of that.

She also pretty much literally said that sure, more babies live now due to modern medicine, but what about overpopulation. Scientists have debunked the idea that we're close to overpopulation food-wise for a long time (and it's giant companies that are causing the vast majority of pollution and waste). We also have abundant proofs that prehistoric groups cared for disabled members long after the disability happened (if they can, we can, and in the book she says humans have always left disabled people behind). She says being "useless" is the worst thing ever for humans (kind of her able-bodied self to decide for ALL people) and seems to only count physical ability as useful. Yet later decries the lack of respect for emotional intelligence. Then towards the end tells an inspiration porn type of disabled-sighting story where she implies that a DOG is a hero for 'working with' a disabled trainer in a dog show. She also says "love works miracles" when it comes to accepting/caring for animals but is blind to how that works with humans.

There's also a reasonable helping of sexism in the book, such as “Horses, like women, dazzle. The result? Brains fly out the window.”

And then this book to dredge in the hypocritical crap. “They were impaled on belief systems that bore no correspondence to reality. Caught up in... the worst vice of all self-righteousness.” Rolling my eyes so hard.

I kept reading the book to see how deeply she'd dig herself in, and because it's quite a short book. Otherwise I'd have chucked it right after her first bit about disability and now I am not reading anything by her again.

The Colors of Madeleine Series A Corner of White, The Cracks in the Kingdom, A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty

I didn't read these all in a row, but thought I'd just post a single review for the trilogy. Personally, I think Moriarty is one of the best writers of teenagers AND of the adults in their lives. A lot of authors can do one of those, but not the other. They either make the teenagers the ideal, cool teens they wish they'd been or they idealize the adults into perfect adults. Moriarty does it beautifully in Feeling Sorry for Celia and it's present again in this SFF YA trilogy.

Madeleine lives in England, where she's recently landed with her mother after running away from home (her mum tagged along). Once used to the finer things in life, she is now friends with Belle and Jack who are all home-schooled together, with different adults in their lives teaching different subjects. One day Madeleine sees a note sticking out of a parking meter. This turns out to be a crack connecting her world to the Kingdom of Cello and she begins corresponding with a boy there. The books alternate between their perspectives though remain written in the third person.

The trilogy also teaches you rather a lot about Isaac Newton, light, color, and other scientists. It's a really fun ride and an interesting world. I love the rules around the magic in Cello, and aspects feel very Baum-ian (always a good thing for me). The teenagers make mistakes and grow but not in an obnoxious way. The audiobook productions are flawed, but bearable enough that this is the third time I've listened to the trilogy. Definitely recommended.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Funny to have read this almost directly after the Rita Mae Brown book since she and Flagg used to be a couple.

Flagg's books are generally on the lighter side, with some more serious issues, and a soft humor. This is no exception but also delves into the history of the WASPs, the women pilots who ferried airplanes during WWII in the USA. They operated for a very short period, unlike women in UK who were part of the WAAFs or ATA. This aspect of the book is so important.

Sookie has just married off most of her children and needs a break. She must still deal with her domineering (and frankly mean) mother. She then discovers that she was adopted, and after all her mother's harping about the Simmons family and that legacy, it's quite a shock.

We just read this for my book club after a number of too-depressing (according to other members) books in a row, and it was a good break. Every single person who came to the meeting finished the book, which hasn't happened the entire two years I've been a member. Everyone liked it, though to different degrees. Some of the aspects they disliked I really liked because it made everything feel more realistic and less pat.

Generally a good read with some quite funny moments, and what I needed right now.

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya

The memoir of a Rwandan girl who was separated from family during the fighting. She and her older sister lived together in refugee camps before being able to move to the USA. As usual, they received so little support after arriving, which always shocks me (I've read a number of similar memoirs).

Wamariya really struggles with her anger, and it's so important that it's shared. The book is really well written and her feelings are expressed so clearly. Highly recommended.

The Spy Who Couldn't Spell: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Really interesting book about, Brian Regan, a signals intelligence expert who worked for the National Reconnaissance Office for five years. After feeling slighted and racking up massive credit card debts he began smuggling out classified documents (around 15,000 pages) and formulated a plan to sell the intelligence to either Libya, Iraq, or China.

He showed a mix of very smart behavior and ridiculously sloppy mistakes. It was quite an interesting book, and I enjoyed hearing the story.

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

A YA novel about a Cuban American boy's family restaurant fighting a property developer.

Some interesting bits to the story, but I feel like there wasn't enough characterization and parts were overly typical of the YA genre.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

This YA novel is very of the moment. It deals with podcasts (quite inspired by Welcome to Night Vale, I think, which it mentions), teen identity (school behavior vs home behavior), expectations, and more shades of sexuality than we usually get (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and demi-sexual).

It's done quite well, and seemed pretty realistic. I'm not a big fan of contemporary YA, just don't love spending my reading time with teenagers. A good book, all in all, which I picked up specially for the demi-sexual representation.

Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison

This is a fascinating work of literary criticism, and something I (shamefully) had never thought about.

From Wikipedia - "Linda Krumholz described Morrison's project as "reread(ing) the American literary canon through an analysis of whiteness to propose the ways that black people were used to establish American identity.""

Really worth reading, especially if you read very many American classics.

Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit

Another great work of cultural criticism, and vital for anyone remotely involved in the school system (whether it's working for them, or just having a kid in school).

Really important and interesting research. Delpit isn't afraid to talk about her mistakes and assumptions in her early career. Some of the real quotes from people about children/teaching are very disturbing though. Great work for strategies and the reminder that we need to train teachers in a variety of methods and in how to recognize when a switch to a different method is needed.

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright

Relatively good book, but colored by Albright's preconceptions. She is very snappish about communism (principle, not the flawed practice the 20th century has seen) due to her family history. It could also use some talk about how centrists and neo-liberals contribute to fascism's rise with the assumption that it can't last and things will work out.

A mixed read, but generally good.

The Creature in the Case and Goldenhand by Garth Nix

The former is a novella the events of which immediately precede the later full length book. I'd read the novella when it was newer, but wanted to see how much Nix repeated and have the story fresh in my mind. In the events of the previous full novel Abhorsen, Nicholas Sayre is taken over by a destructive entity. Lirael saved him and Sabriel attempted to get him to stay in the Old Kingdom but he returned to Ancelstierre out of fear. In the Novella he chased a free magic creature back to the wall and Lirael is there to save him again.

Goldenhand introduces us to some nomad tribes who we haven't really met before, and a number of people and events slowly come together as the kingdom is under an especially serious threat.

Definitely a good one, and makes me want to reread all of the books again. I've read seventeen books by Nix, but I've reread some of them so much that my reading history spreadsheet shows his name 52 times...

Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftin

This is the memoir of a boy who grew up in Mogadishu, born around 1985. His parents were from a nomadic tribe who moved to Mogadishu during one of the seirous droughts that made their life unsustainable. When he was about six the civil war started, and the family barely survived a flight from the city. The tile of the book comes from his nickname, due to his fixation on American culture and teaching himself English. He witnesses the shifting power structures of Mogadishu, and the rise of the Islamist faction and imposition of Shari'a law.

It's a very good memoir, well told and worth reading. It deals with his culture shock on coming to the USA as well (in terms of racism, violence, etc vs the picture presented in Hollywood movies).

You All Grow Up and Leave Me: A Memoir of Teenage Obsession by Piper Weiss

In this book the subtitle reviews to both the author and the subject sharing her memoir's focus, Gary Wilensky. He was a teenage coach who largely coached girls under 18. In 1993 he attacked and attempted to kidnap one of his students. After fleeing the scene he left a trail of possessions before killing himself.

The author was won of his students, and struggling with her own deep insecurities and depressive thoughts at the time (an in an elite prep school where she felt she didn't belong). When the basic events came out she wondered why she hadn't been his favorite (and thus the target). After discovering her mother had a box of clippings from the time about the case and Weiss' time as Wilensky's student she becomes obsessed again.

The combination of memoir and true crime works really well for me here, just well written and fascinating.

The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion--Surprising Observations of a Hidden World by Peter Wohlleben

This book didn't work for me, or anyone in my book group that read this, as far as I know. Wohlleben is a forest manager, and has more encounters with forest animals than most of us. He brings in actual scientific studies and findings of animals but still seems to think that the vast majority of scientists believe animals have no capacity for emotion or creative intelligence. He doesn't go into the scientific bits as much as most of us wanted and when he does he doesn't have the training to explain them as well as most need. I think this sort of book needs to either be one side of the other. The science or the personal stories, when written by a layperson.

I highly recommend Bats Sing, Mice Giggle: The Surprising Science of Animals' Inner Lives instead, or The Gifts of the Crow for a more niche read.

Evalina by Fanny Burney

I enjoyed this, though I know my knowledge is lacking for me to get everything possible out of the text. Regardless it was a nice trip back in time with a classic author.

The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela

This was a really good read. It switches back and forth between the UK in 2010 the Caucasus and Russia in the mid 19th century. Nadiya is a half-Russian, half-Sudanese professor studying Imam Shamil, who led anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasus. Her favorite student's family possesses what they believe to be Shamil's sword and and his mother agrees to Nadiya coming for a visit to talk about it. When he student is arrested it throws her world into turmoil.

I really liked this and found it to be a very quick, absorbing read, especially the historical sections. The writing style itself isn't wonderfully beautiful, and sometimes feels fairly clunky, but the story kept me involved. Recommended.

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence

The work starts in the 17th century and carries on to almost present day (depending on which edition you're reading, it was first published in 1990). And what a different end picture he would have had in 1990 compared with today.

Very good work, and especially handy for me to go over some of the earlier ground (I've done a fair bit of reading about China in the 20th century). This is a more academic work, definitely not popular non-fiction, but I didn't find it dry at all. Though my book club members would state I have a very general scale for dry non-fiction (nothing compares to The Eastern Front 1914-1917 for dryness).

Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Very recent collection of poetry, which didn't light me on fire. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't wriggle under my skin or make me want to share the book with everyone the way some poetry does.

>52 mabith:. I was interested to see your response to this book. I read Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees last year. While I found a lot of the factual content absolutely fascinating, I struggled with his writing style which seemed to veer without warning between s very detailed and scientific approach and a sort of hippyish rant.

Definitely went into hippy "scientists are the enemy" territory while also quoting their studies. I can't remember if his The Hidden Life of Trees did that as well or if it just did it less annoying since that's really his subject.

Pandemic: Tracking Contagions from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond by Sonia Shah

The subtitle kind of says it all! It's a very balanced book. Shah doesn't limit herself to a single disease or try to cover too many or too many aspects of pandemics. Very readable and informative. Recommended.

Six Days in Cincinnati: A Graphic Account of the Riots that Shook a Nation a Decade Before Black Lives Matter by Dan Mendez Moore

Short but well paced graphic non-fiction covering a complex subject. The protests and riots were a response to a police shooting of an unarmed black man (as you might guess from the subtitle). The author was in high school at the time, but participated in protests. The book isn't just his recollection though, but quotes and interviews from a wide variety of people about their memories and experiences.

Well done work, recommended.

Wounded in the House of a Friend by Sonia Sanchez

Really enjoyed this collection of poetry. Just the title alone really spoke to me, and there was a lot of quality and beauty in it.

I marked some poems to copy out but managed to forget and returned the book already. Recommended.

Small Country by Gael Faye

Novel by a man who grew up in Burundi as the son of a French father and Rwandan mother. It's about a young boy with the same background as the author and his experiences of life in the run up to the Rwandan genocide.

However, the book didn't really work for me. The working in of the necessary political background that the reader needs is clumsy (it's a first novel, written by a musician, so that's not surprising) and the narrator is far too articulate to be remotely believable. I think Faye would have done far better to work with a 16-20 year old narrator (or to just write a memoir, frankly). Writing adult novels from a child's point of view is difficult even for experienced writers and I'm surprised an editor didn't insist on a change there.

Your mileage may vary, and the book seems to be getting good reviews. It just didn't work for me and the "debut novels" problems were dominant for me.

The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama by Carl Barks

Volume 19 of the complete Carl Barks Disney library covering 1957 and 1958. Includes one of my favorite stories from childhood, known to me as "the pickle borer story" (properly titled Forbidden Valley). It had a few other stories I remember as a kid as well. A fun volume.

Angelica by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

Continuing with some comfort re-reads. This is the fourth book in the Samaria series, but a stand-alone volume which actually takes place long before Archangel (first published book in the original trilogy). Regardless of all that coming and going I recommend only reading them in published order the first time as there are sort of spoilers.

Shinn does lovely character development, and while her plots aren't dull this is definitely character driven SFF. She is also great at building gradual relationships and varied relationships.

In this one catastrophic visitors are coming to Samaria, no one knows how to stop them, and Susannah must adapt to isolated angel hold life after a nomadic existence where family and clan and love took upmost importance.

Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo

I read Onuzo's first book The Spider King's Daughter earlier this year, and while I didn't find it an amazing read, I saw a lot of potential in the writing. While Welcome to Lagos is a more solid novel, there were still a lot of issues in the writing.

It's the story of a disparate group of people who wind up banding together, trying to survive and leave their pasts behind. My trouble was that Onuzo didn't show this process well. One minute they were strangers who disliked each other and the next they were living in semi-harmony. It wasn't a believable transition (the transition wasn't shown, we just skipped from one moment to one weeks or months ahead) and this impacted my enjoyment of the entire book.

The strength is in showing us Lagos and a few slices of Nigerian life. I greatly enjoyed aspects of the book but couldn't enjoy it as a whole novel.

Summer for the Gods: the Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion by Edward J. Larson

A good read and a surprising book in some ways. Predictably, our cultural consciousness of the Scopes trial is way off base from the real history (thanks, Inherit the Wind). Really interesting to catch up to the reality. It also delves into the resurgence of evangelicalism trying to have a stranglehold on education.

In WV in the 1970s we had a bit of a textbook war in my county. It wasn't exactly religion vs science (more like racism and religion vs multiculturalism), but there were a lot of bombs planted and I believe someone was shot. A woman I know was a student then and LOVED it because they canceled a crapload of school days. We're in a group that mostly has non-West Virginians in it and she regularly gets to shock them with the story.

Zami: A New Spelling of my Name by Audre Lorde

Beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful work. There were parts of this that made my heart sing for shared feelings.


Comics for Choice

Comics anthology dealing with reproductive rights in the USA. Good collections covering a lot of viewpoints and aspects.

The Course of Honor by Lindsey Davis RE-READ
Davis' first novel set in ancient Rome, but not published until the Falco books were well established. It's a beautiful, quiet, subdued love story with humor and a great flow. I love Lindsey Davis so much.


And Be a Villain by Rex Stout RE-READ
Been in the mood for mystery re-reads lately, and it's been a while since I've read a Rex Stout. This is a really fun one. For some reason mystery books and TV shows set around radio production, theatre, or movies are usually great (this is a radio one).


The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Finally got around to this after my online book club picked it. I enjoyed it and the world and the writing, though I think Le Guin couldn't quite get out of gendered thinking enough. It was written in the 1970s when a wave of alternative pronouns were being created, but instead of creating one for her world she has the narrator (who is making a somewhat sociological record) use he/him for everything (while noting this isn't accurate). The male characteristics also seemed to get a lot more attention. Still well worth reading though.

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

I've really enjoyed the earlier Marsh books and am trying to get back to them. They've been harder to get from my library system.

This one is set around an amateur theatrical production, with a fairly small group of suspects and a very trick mode of killing. Very enjoyable. Inspector Alleyn is really fun, very much a regular person and so likeable.

>69 mabith:. I thought I had read pretty well all of Ngaio Marsh's books a long time ago, but I had never even heard of this one, and will definitely be tracking it down. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Can't go wrong with Marsh! I think she's less known in the US solely because people get nervous around names they don't feel confident pronouncing.

MEM by Bethany C. Morrow

I'm going to paste in the publisher's summary for best clarity:
Set in the glittering art deco world of a century ago, MEM makes one slight alteration to history: a scientist in Montreal discovers a method allowing people to have their memories extracted from their minds, whole and complete. The Mems exist as mirror-images of their source ― zombie-like creatures destined to experience that singular memory over and over, until they expire in the cavernous Vault where they are kept.

And then there is Dolores Extract #1, the first Mem capable of creating her own memories. An ageless beauty shrouded in mystery, she is allowed to live on her own, and create her own existence, until one day she is summoned back to the Vault.

I really enjoyed this! It's a slim thing, but means the idea doesn't get overplayed or more complicated than necessary. It is also still long enough to be satisfying.

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

The subtitle says it all! Solid popular science book, nothing mindblowing, but good and interesting.

Unpunished by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This mystery novel was written in 1929 but Gilman was unable to find a publisher (I mean, maybe doing a more edited manuscript would have helped, Charlotte, but that wasn't your way, according to the afterword). More immediately after her death it was sent round again but still not accepted. This was finally published in 1997.

A doctor who is meeting with a private detective friend is called to a private house and asks the detective to go with as the family is a bit funny. Inside the patriarch is found dead, killed in five ways (shot, stabbed, strangled, bludgeoned, and poisoned).

It was a fairly enjoyable read in the end. Not a really great masterwork, and I thought for a minute Gilman had decided to end the book in a ridiculous way, but there were some nice aspects. The detective is really a team with his wife, who is great, though one can tell this is not a genre Gilman loved. The book fights with itself, trying to get Gilman's message of gender equality and current pitfalls for women across while using a popular genre for marketability.

Gilman herself could have been so much more. She was rampantly racist, eugenicist, and had weirdly strong feelings about breeding programs of domestic farm animals due to the inbreeding in those systems for someone who married her own first cousin (and had fictional characters do the same). Given her stance on Anglo-Saxon blood (and belief that certain people should be "taken hold of by the state"), if she'd been younger she'd have been been a prime candidate for a Lord Haw Haw-esque broadcaster from Nazi Germany (she died in 1935).

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson-Cannino

This has been on my to-read list for so long, but I kept skipping over it because I didn't for "up to" the subject matter.

Thompson-Cannino was raped at knife point and tried to make a point of memorizing his features. When the police showed her photographs she assumed they had a suspect in mind and picked the one closest to her memory. Other aspects of the case reinforced in her mind that Ronald Cotton was her attacker. Only he wasn't, and spent 11 years in prison until DNA evidence exonerated him.

The book goes back and forth between their lives and perspectives and was really well written. It's an important book for a lot of reasons and very much a test case of the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.

Recommended.

A Vietcong Memoir by Truong Nhu Tang

Tang remains the highest level official to have defected from Vietnam. He was a founder of the National Liberation Front and had fought extremely hard for Vietnamese independence, but by 1978 he was disillusioned enough to flee the country.

A really interesting book about important events, and very readable. Recommended.

Hypercapitalism: The Modern Economy, Its Values, and How to Change Them by Larry Gonick and Tim Kasser

This is a comic book, but it's not of the ones that you can read quickly in one sitting. It's packed full of information, some of it quite dense.

Great book about the extremely artificial system we're in and how we got here. Highly recommended.

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis RE-READ

It's been a long time since I read this, the first book in Davis' Falco series. I adore the series so much, and even though some aspects of this first book are rough, I still love it. Davis is totally in her stride by book four, but the first three are really enjoyable as well.

Marcus Didius Falco is an informer, a private investigator. The Emperor Vespasian is trying to get Rome back on an even footing, and there should be more silver coming out of Britain. Someone has to investigate and Falco is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Davis seems to have a lot of fun imagining what Romans would have thought of stereotypical British weather. Her books always have humor as well.

The Lightless Sky: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape From Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World by Gulwali Passarlay

Subtitle says it all, really. I've read a number of refugee journey memoirs and this isn't a bad one. First published in the US Jan 2016.

Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice by Paula Byrne

This is a rare instance where, I believe, the movie came before the book. The book is well done, but the reader must go in knowing that the facts directly related to Belle are thin on the ground. Starts out quite dry but that drops away.

Foxmask by Juliet Marillier

Audiobooks are finally out of this book duo by Marillier (Saga of the Light Isles, starts with Wolfskin. I really love the set, dealing with Norse arrivals in the Orkneys. As usual, you become attached to Marillier's characters so quickly. Emotional connections are the key to her books in general. This takes place a generation after Wolfskin where three young people are looking for their futures and happen upon a strange community.

Most of Marillier's books are historical fantasy, real time/place/people but usually with their religion/mythology being real. They aren't hanging out with talking cats for the whole book. I recommend her to everyone because her character building is just a wonder.

Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr

Astrid is the only child living on Glimmerdal, and spends her time annoying the health retreat owner, skiing, and sledding. The book is being posed alongside Pippi Longstocking, Anne of Green Gables, etc...

Unfortunately the book didn't work for me. It seems to be trying too hard and Astrid never felt like a fully developed character. Her bad behavior didn't seem warranted or explainable in the way Pippi's is (having been raised by pirates), so just appeared rude and entitled (but it's not at all a "spoiled child unlearns bad behavior" book like Understood Betsy either or the daydreamer just gets carried away like with Anne Shirley). The deeper story line also felt very contrived and extremely rushed in characters suddenly opening up or liking each other after all. I don't think it comes anywhere close to the classics of children's lit or the great girl heroines.

William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher

I mostly enjoyed the first adaptation but my enjoyment went way down with this one. It just got too far away from the source material (AT-ATs are driven by people, they shouldn't have monologues).

Lots of eye-rolling for me.

Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

There are plenty of things about Nesbit's books that are dated and annoying, but she does build good stories and the sibling relationships usually feel very realistic (as well as the 'children sneaking around' bits).

The Chessmen of Doom and The Secret of the Underground Room by John Bellairs

These are the last two Johnny Dixon books that Bellairs wrote before he died. Neither is a special favorite of mine, but both solidly fun.

>84 mabith:. I remember loving Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet as a boy. They were already very old back then but I read and reread them many times. I would be interested to see how they strike me now, and will see if I can dig out my old copies.

James, one of my main complaints about Nesbit is just the overpowering "girls do this, boys do this" crap. I've only read hers as an adult though, and still really enjoyed them. The Phoenix and the Carpet was a little more solid, I think, but both fun. Would definitely be curious about how you find them now! I've had some childhood re-reads that have actually ended up being even better than I remember, because of aspects I couldn't appreciate so much as a kid.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison's first novel. It may not be her 100% finest work ever (according to most people? I'm a baby Morrison reader), but her language is so beautiful and brilliant, the structure of it was really effective, and the subject of internalized racism so well handled.

Looking forward to working my way through her novels.

Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide by Eric Bogosian

Really solid non-fiction book, well written, and a good initial primer on the genocide itself. Plus gives you a great list basically for further reading.

Recommended.

Red Winter by Anneli Furmark

Graphic novel set in northern Sweden during the late 1970s. Siv, a married mother of three, begins having an affair with Ulrik, a Maoist who's in the area to try to militarize a steelworkers union. The point of view shifts between Siv, Ulrik, and at least one of her children (I am way behind on reviews so finished this November 2nd!).

It was moderately interesting, but not amazing.

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

First published in 1968, Anne Moody worked with the NAACP, CORE, and SNCC during college. The book covers her life from childhood growing up poor and working as early as she could. Her voice is so strong and confident and the book is such an important snapshot (she was born in 1940, so everything is very immediate).

I'm so far behind on reviews, but this is one I really wish I'd written within a couple days of finishing the book. There's a lot in here, and I highly recommend the book.

Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

The last of the Samaria books. Unlike all the others, which are set a few or many generations apart, this is set within the reign of the Archangel Gabriel, one of the main characters in the first book. It's the only one of the series that has any focus on the Jansai peoples, where women are kept secluded from men outside their families. I think she actually does a really good job with the balance there too vs "all the men are evil, all the women are unhappy"

No summary, since this wouldn't be a good place for anyone to start reading from! Not that it would necessarily ruin anything, but if you have the choice I do think it's best to read these books in publication order (Archangel is first).

Farthest North by Fridtjof Nansen

Polar exploration narrative covering the author's 1893-1896 voyage, published in 1897.

Somehow the structure/writing of this one made it less interesting than a lot of these books. Certainly many reviewers disagree though.

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled his Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Interesting book, a good read. Subtitle says it's all really, and I thought the book was quite well done.

The Man Who Wasn't There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self by Anil Ananthaswamy

Solid popular science book. I read a fair few of these covering different areas but this covered more unusual things, like the people who feel like one of their limbs is not their own to the extent that they often try to amputate it (or cause damage that will lead to amputation) themselves.

Nice one if you read these.

Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer RE-READ

Re-read for my book club. A well balanced book that goes back and forth between Treuer's own family and experiences and events on various reservations and Native history.

Rest of the book club really liked it, and I was happy to re-read it.

The Three Caballeros and The Old Castle's Other Secret by Don Rosa

Volumes 9 and 10 of the Don Rosa library, the last ones! I grew up on Rosa, and these still make me laugh so much. Rosa was such a genius and I'm forever sorry he quite. The forward to this says he quit because he didn't have more stories to tell but what I remember is a story that he stopped due to contract issues (not being able to keep his original art maybe?) and vision issues. Whatever it was, huge loss for Duck comics.

Happily, when my niece and nephew are over, Duck comics are the first thing they go for.

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett RE-READ

Being a casual opera and less casual theatre fan, this is a favorite Discworld book of mine. The Witches books are so brilliant anyway, but the combo with opera is just perfection.

“Well, basically there are two sorts of opera," said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. "There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh I am dyin', oh oh oh, that's what I'm doin'", and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although sometimes they drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely.”

Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque

Really interesting little novel. The narrator is in a nursing home and his memory is getting worse. We hear different versions of the same events, we skip around in time, we hear him pleading with or trying to impress staff or confusing staff with family.

I found it remarkably well done and vivid.

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Most of my book club liked this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Leia is a comic book artist, a successful one who has drawn for numerous Marvel (and DC? I forget) titles. She realizes she's pregnant, her step-sister's marriage implodes, and she finds out her grandmother has serious dementia all very very early in the book.

If it sounds really book-clubby and cluttered (I'm leaving half the other early things out of that synopsis) it is. There are some good things, like some really nice work on white privilege. On the other hand the narrator is SO immature in a ton of different ways that weren't very believable for a 38 yr old freelance artist who wasn't particularly spoiled by her family. The writing of a nerd character was done in a very 18-yr-old male nerd way, which to be fair is the stereotype. The way people actually IN the industry are is generally a far cry from that stereotype. All the characterization felt so heavy and generalized.

Saturnalia by Lindsey Davis RE-READ

The 18th Falco book (there are *only* 20). It takes place, as you would guess, around the holiday Saturnalia, which is thought to be the root for some aspects of Christmas (perhaps particularly the old Lord of Misrule).

This one revisits one of my favorite early books, The Iron Hand of Mars, which saw Falco in Germany and he and Helena Justina's favorite brother need to seek out and negotiate with a German priestess, Veleda, who is inciting the tribes to rebel. She's been brought to Rome at this late date as a prisoner when she escapes. A brutal killing happens in her house-arrest residence, so Falco's just got Veleda to find, a murder to solve, and his brother-in-law's marriage to fix (a side effect of Veleda being in Rome).

Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix

Something a little different from Mr. Nix, a Regency fantasy number. It was very light and fairly fun, but I definitely prefer the full fantasy works where I get to revel in Nix's world building.

After Lady Truthful's magical Newington Emerald is stolen from her she devises a simple plan: go to London to recover the missing jewel. She quickly learns, however, that a woman cannot wander the city streets alone without damaging her reputation, and she disguises herself as a mustache-wearing man. During Truthful's dangerous journey she discovers a crook, an unsuspecting ally, and an evil sorceress—but will she find the Emerald?

The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin

Chin is a spoken word poet and performing artist. This is her memoir of growing up in Jamaica, dealing with various shades of hardship and abuse. Towards the end it's also her realization about her sexuality and how people around her treated her.

Really good read. I loved Chin's spirit and attitude.

The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters

The 8th Amelia Peabody book, and a really fun one. These are candy books, and as ever Peter's sense of humor is perfection.

Amelia and Emerson are in Cairo to greet the 20th century, when a mysterious Mr. Shelmadine presents them with a gold ring from an unknown tomb bearing the cartouche of Queen Tetisheri. The Emersons must defend against criminals and tomb robbers. This time, Amelia is up against two unknown parties, one to save, one to avenge.

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

Mailhot is a First Nations Canadian writer. This short memoir is a heart-wrenching, explosion of a book. The writing is beautiful and intense. Highly recommended.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

This books was GREAT! It was unique and well written, the narrator is the best, and it was fun (plus some great commentary on racism/passing/privilege in there). Highly recommended, one of my top reads for the year!

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

Good, light history focus. Well written, occasional humor.

Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism by Temple Grandin

Memoir detailing the author's thought process and how thinking in pictures has aided her or hindered her. Good book, but best to treat only as a personal memoir. A fair bit of the generalizations about autism are outdated. Important book, good read.

No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan

Does what it says on the tin. Well written, fascinating. There are some places where I think he's a little too sure on ancient actions/motivations without providing back up facts, but that's religion for you.

Recommended.

Red Azalea by Anchee Min

Min's memoir of her childhood and early adult in China. She was the one picked from her family to go to the countryside and then she began an affair with a woman. Her recounting of the relationship and longing and limitations was very moving.

Intereing book, recommended.

The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon

A man character in this book is named Eduardo Halfon and I never know how to take that. The books deals with Eduardo, his life, and his grandfather's story (who is Polish and was in a concentration camp but was not a boxer).

The book shifts rapidly between events. Interesting, but not something I can love.

Kristin Lavransdatter Parts II and III, The Wife and The Cross by Sigrid Undset

I read the first part. The Wreath, at the end of 2016, which I quite liked. It was the old translation using the more archaic language. For these two volumes I read the new translation and didn't like them nearly as much. Potentially just because of the heavier emphasis on religion and female guilt but it's hard to say. All very conflicting.

The book was written in the 1920s and Undset was the third woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The volumes read as one long novel following Kirstin, set in the 14th century. They're praised generally for their depiction of medieval Norway.

Talking to my Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis

Great little book. Well written, really informative.

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein

Bornstein was assigned male at birth but transitioned as a woman in the 1980s, eventually having sex reassignment surgery, which was pretty much required to be trans at that time. However, Bornstein never felt comfortable with the then mandatory and still prevalent idea that all trans femmes were "women trapped in men's bodies," and now identifies as non-binary. Bornstein doesn't regret her surgery and often states that if there's only male/female they're female, but luckily there's a wider story.

The book was first published in 1994 and has now been updated. It's a good read for anyone, with a lot of humor. There's science and history and lived experience.

Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

Vargas left the Philippines for the United States when he was 12, to live with his grandparents. He did not realize he was there illegally until he was a teenager and, unbeknownst to his grandparents, took his papers to go take the driver's exam. After that he and people around him helped him attend college and get work. After seven years working as a journalist Vargas wrote an article detailing his immigration status.

Really good book, required reading.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier RE-READ

I just read this trilogy in January but here I went and started it again. Very much comfort reads. Like all but four of Marillier's books they're historical fantasy, this one being set in the 10th century in Ireland and England. It's Marillier's first book, and this trilogy especially is built on oral tales, so the writing isn't high and beautiful. Marillier's gift always, before and after the writing improves, is in making us care.

"Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift--by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. "

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The perfect book for most book lovers! Orlean gives us an intermittent history of the LA public library and the serious fire that engulged it in the 1980s. That was very interesting and well done, but my favorite parts were the bios of various heads of the library, many of whom were quite eccentric and the library history in general.

Great read!

Girl at War by Sara Novic

Book club selection. It was okay, good in giving a snapshot of the Croatian War for Independence and its aftermath. The US focus was on Bosnia and in general super simplified reasons for the conflicts in the former Yugoslav states. The author's family is Croatian. One interview I read said she was born in the US and went to Croatia after high school but another book club member said an afterward mentioned being in Croatia until age 5 but leaving before anything kicked off. My audio edition didn't have the end note.

The book didn't quite work for me. We jump into things without any good sense of who the characters are or their family dynamics before the war and obviously those change because of the war and the narrator's younger sister being seriously ill. We also don't spend long in any one bit or setting. It's a short book and we're seeing what felt like a few moments and some general observation during the war and then the same for the next part of the book, set in 2001.

For me, I didn't know enough about any of the characters to really care about them. There are good seeds here, but definitely still suffering from first novel issues that weren't otherwise compensated. Most of my book club had a higher opinion of it.

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier RE-READ

Book two of this trilogy. The first novel is narrated by Sorcha and this is narrated by her daughter, Liadan.

Old evil awakened, turmoil at Sevenwaters, kidnapped to heal a member of a mercenary band, yadda yadda yadda.

>112 mabith: That is so interesting that you preferred the old translation to the new one; I've heard that the old one was practically unreadable. Was the emphasis on religion/guilt the translator's choice, then, in the new translation?

I loved all of the historical details in the books and enjoyed them overall, but like you I was put off by all the female guilt (and I cannot stand her whiny, sulky husband. I've blocked his name out of my brain the best part of the book was when he went up to the shack or cave or whatever after he rightly decided that he wasn't good enough for her. If only he had then disappeared from the book... ).

>117 mabith: I'll be adding this one to my library holds.

Jennifer, I think it was just how the books are, transition from badly behaving girl to wife living with her mistakes. Maybe it also felt more emphasized because of modern writing tricking my brain about when the books are set and when they were written? And YES, Erlend was so whiny, I had a lot of "Oh, honey..." thoughts when Kristin was endlessly berating herself over his issues. Maybe eventually I'll go back and read the old translation for comparison, but not any time soon!

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes

This has been on my to-read list for a few years and finally showed up in audio format, allowing me to get to it more quickly.

Really interesting and well written. Recommended.

Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier RE-READ

Another comfort re-read, the third in Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy. I appreciate this one more each time I read it, as the protagonist is much more complicated than in the other two books.

Recommended if you like historical fantasy and character driven fantasy.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett RE-READ

The usual December re-read. This was the second Discworld book I read, and still one of my very favorites.

Archangel by Sharon Shinn RE-READ

So many re-reads, more fantasy this time, the first in another trilogy. Love these books so much.

I'm noticing lately how often favorite books have really misleading or odd summaries online and this is one (it includes a massive spoiler for the rest of the trilogy). So here's my short version.

Samaria is home to angels and mortals, brought to the planet from a homeland of war. They willingly gave up advanced technology in hopes of living in harmony. Their god, Jehovah, requires a demonstration of this each year at the Gloria where all groups must be represented singing together. Gabriel is set to become Archangel after 20 years of growing inequality and corruption and no one knows how difficult the transition will be.

Freedom Hospital by Hamid Sulaiman

Graphic non-fiction about Syria in 2012, focusing on a hospital largely run by a woman named Yasmin.

Sometimes the flow of dialogue feels a bit too spare, but the art and events are well matched and it's worth reading.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

One of those classics I really wanted to read if only to check it off the list. There were parts I really enjoyed but all the side stories and reviewing got a little tedious.

It's also my last read of 2018!

In 2018 I read 261 books, by authors from 57 unique countries.

38% of my reads had authors with maximum privilege (in the big five anglophone countries, who were white, cis, straight, and abled). Given that I had to do a lot of comfort reading by those privileged authors, I'm proud this percentage still stayed that low.

57% of my reads were by women. 63% of authors were from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

I read a lot of books, so my Best Of 2018 list is pretty long too.

Non-Fiction
The Fact of a Body – Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
The American Plague – Molly Caldwell Crosby
How Dare the Sun Rise – Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe – Kapka Kassabova
Things I've Been Silent About – Azar Nafisi
The Queen of Whale Cay – Kate Summerscale
Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide – Isabel Quintero and Zack Pena
The Line Becomes a River – Francisco Cantu
The Trauma Cleaner – Sarah Krasnostein
I am, I am, I am – Maggie O'Farrell
1066 And All That – WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman
Magnificent Delusions – Husain Haqqani
Warriors Don't Cry – Melba Pattillo Beals
Playing in the Dark – Toni Morrison
Other People's Children – Lisa Delpit
The Search for Modern China – Jonathan D. Spence
Zami: A New Spelling of my Name – Audre Lorde
Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot
Red Azalea – Anchee Min
The Library Book – Susan Orleans

Fiction
Roots – Alex Haley
Amatka – Karin Tidbeck
Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler
We Didn't Mean to go to Sea – Arthur Ransome
Lotus – Lijia Zhang
Nada – Carmen Laforet
The Queue – Basma Abdel Aziz
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Circe – Madeline Miller
Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
Trumpet – Jackie Kay
Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward
The Bread Givers – Anzia Yezierska
Redemption in Indigo – Karen Lord
Where We Once Belonged – Sia Figiel
MEM – Bethany Morrow
Spilt Milk – Chico Buarque
Dread Nation – Justina Ireland

New thread!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/301747