Amy Sisson: Books read in 2019

Amy Sisson: Books read in 2019

1. Half in Love with Death by Emily Ross. YA - Mystery. Read 2019-01-01.
2. Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, book 4) by Robert Galbraith. Mystery. Read 2019-01-08.
3. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Japanese literature (contemporary). Read 2019-02-11.
4. The Entertainment and Other Stories by E.M. Delafield. British period fiction (collection).
5. Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee.
6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Read 2019-04-10.
7. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu. Read 2019-05-15.
8. The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland. Read 2019-05-29.
9. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Read 2019-08-05.
10. The Aware by Glenda Larke. (e-book format) Read approximately 2019-10-30.



FORMAT
Audio book -
E-book - 2
Print - 8
TOTAL - 10

REPEAT OR NEW?
Repeat - 1
New - 9
New in German, previously read in English -
New in German, never before read -
TOTAL - 10

LANGUAGE
English - 9
English, translated from Japanese - 1
German -
TOTAL - 10

GENRE:
British contemporary fiction - 1
British period fiction - 1
Children's - fantasy -
Children's - general fiction -
Children's - science fiction -
Fantasy - 1
General fiction - 2
Humor -
Japanese contemporary in translation - 1
Literary fiction -
Literature - American -
Literature - British -
Mystery - 1
Nonfiction -
Science fiction - 1
Thriller -
Urban fantasy -
YA - fantasy -
YA - general fiction - 1
YA - historical fiction -
YA - historical -
YA - mystery - 1
YA - short fiction -
YA - science fiction -
YA - vintage -

TOTAL - 10

1. Half in Love with Death by Emily Ross. YA - Mystery. Read 2019-01-01.

Caroline is devastated when her older sister Jess disappears, and vows to find her with the help of Jess's disreputable boyfriend, Tony. I enjoyed the book at first, but it became a little tedious, especially because Caroline, who is supposed to be very intelligent, acted naively and foolishly throughout much of the book.

>2 amysisson: Does 'intelligent person behaving stupidly' happen enough to be a trope? Like you I find it an annoying way to introduce action/tension in a story.

>3 rhian_of_oz:

That's a good question. Yes, I think perhaps it is a trope!

>3 rhian_of_oz: Does 'intelligent person behaving stupidly' happen enough to be a trope?
>4 amysisson:

Yes, it does: TV Tropes refers to it as carrying the idiot ball

>5 Petroglyph: love that! In Amy’s case it’s maybe a subset, otherwise intelligent one carrying the ball.

>5 Petroglyph: I think I am going to adopt 'carrying the idiot ball' in my RL :-).

2. Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, book 4) by Robert Galbraith. Mystery. Read 2019-01-08.

I really do enjoy these books by Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling. The two main characters are drawn particularly well. I'll likely forget the intricacies of the mystery itself before long; it wasn't super memorable and it was a little too convoluted for my taste. But I'll continue to read and enjoy as many of these as she chooses to write.

3. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Japanese literature (contemporary). Read 2019-02-11.

This is really a novella, at a little over 33,000 words, and I've counted it in my short fiction project, but since it's a standalone book I'm also counting it here. Keiko works part-time (although she seems to work full-time) as a convenience store employee, in a society where at her age she is supposed to be pursing a "real" career or settling down to marriage. But Keiko has never been like other people, and the convenience store is the one place where she feels she has a purpose.

I liked this, although I got a little worried at the introduction of the jackass whom Keiko lets mooch off her to avoid being badgered by everyone in sight about her life choices. But she figures out her way in the end -- although it's not clear how she intends to respond to the busy-bodies from this point forward.

Although it's been quite some time since I read it, this reminded me a little of Douglas Coupland's The Gum Thief. For some reason, I'm drawn to stories of people in every day jobs such as restaurants and retail. I've worked in both those fields and am glad I don't do that anymore, but at the same time I feel as though if I did still work in those fields, I would still give it my all.

>9 amysisson:
I, too, read Convenience store woman, and I loved it. Thanks for the recommendation! (Review here)

4. The Entertainment and Other Stories by E.M. Delafield. British period short fiction. Read 2019-03.

Another good collection of Delafield stories. My thoughts on individual stories will (hopefully) be in short fiction thread eventually....

5. Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee. Science fiction. Read 2019-03-27.

Carr Luka is an up-and-coming zero-gravity boxer who makes his big breakthrough and has his life turned upside-down (no pun intended) in many different ways. I thought this was very well done, and that the action sequences were terrific.

My only two desired changes: 1) that the book have one more chapter or an epilogue; and 2) that his name was Luka Carr instead of Carr Luka.

6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Read 2019-04-10.

7. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu. Read 2019-05-15.

8. The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland. Read 2019-05-29.

9. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Read 2019-08-05.

Pretty decent read about modern day racism. If half of what she wrote about white supremacists is true, that's scary as hell.

10. The Aware by Glenda Larke. (repeat) (e-book format) Read approximately 2019-10-30.

This was a re-read for me, of a book I remember loving. I still liked it, but did not react as strongly as when I first read it many years ago.