Time keeps on slippin....
Oy Vey! It has been so long since I posted. I will try to catch up on my summaries, but I may just skip ahead. I have decided I will start including spoilers. I started doing the book reviews so that I could remember what happened in each book since I'm having some trouble with retention. I think that's a side effect of listening to the books rather than reading them, but hopefully when I make the time to write about them afterwards I will be able to retain the information much better. Here's what I've got so far:
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
(ATY: A book with a Muslim character or author, PopSugar: A book by a Muslim American author)
I want to read this because it is the end of the series.
Great ending. So much better than I expected. Elias, Helene, and Laia all experience the worst things that could happen to them, but in the end they save the world and come out the other side with some resolution. Laia’s mother becomes Soul Catcher so Elias gets to leave the Waiting Place and marry Laia. Helene becomes empress and gets to protect the empire she loves so much. They all lose so much. Helene loses her entire family (except her infant nephew), the love of her life, and numerous friends. Laia loses her brother, her mother, and suffers the betrayal both from Elias and from Keenan disguised as the soul catcher. Elias very nearly loses himself and then his grandfather, but doesn’t in the end. There is a lot of tragedy in this book, in this series, but I’m glad I stayed with it for the ending. It wrapped up in a really satisfying way.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
(ATY: A book with flowers or greenery on the cover, PopSugar: A bestseller from the 1990s)
I want to read this because I really liked the movie.
The movie was about the story of dealing with the fallout of Jimmy’s death, and it’s a very enjoyable movie. The book, on the other hand, is about the relationship between sisters, both Sally and Gillian and Kylie and Antonia. Kylie and Antonia are teenagers in the book so there is quite a bit of interplay between them. The sisters are typical in terms of fighting and jealousy, but subtle magic is thrown in to spice things up. Jimmy doesn’t want to stay dead and his influence drives the sisters apart more and more. Eventually the investigator shows up and the book has no love spell Sally cast as a child, but it does become clear they are drawn to one another. Gillian is paired up with an unlikely romantic interest and both the girls are paired up with love interests. All of it is threatened by Jimmy’s evil influence. In the end, the aunts show up with some fancy blue magic stones and they build a patio over Jimmy which disperses his influence and puts things back on track for a happy ending all around. It wasn’t as compelling as the movie, but it wasn’t completely boring either. I just feel kind of meh about it.
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
(ATY: A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum)
I want to read this because Shelly recommended it.
First published in 1967 and yet it held up pretty well. It’s a fun children’s story about a group of kids who invent a game about the land of Egypt where they pretend to perform ancient rites and ceremonies. Well, that’s the story on the surface. The main character April has been sent to live with her grandmother by her actress mother. She is sure it’s just a temporary situation, but she reluctantly befriends some of the other children in the apartment building. She has a hard time comes to accept that her life with her grandma is a healthier environment for her to grow up in. Her friend Melanie and her little brother Marshall are African American and live upstairs and Elizabeth Chung is Asian American lives in the basement. Just like one of Shelly’s previous recommendations this cast is quite diverse which I appreciated. April doesn’t have experience with other children and through her friendships learns to grow. She eventually learns the value of living with her grandmother and comes to feel at home with her. Though there’s a frightening experience where she’s nearly kidnapped and she’s rescued by the mysterious Professor who the whole community thinks committed a heinous act. It’s a satisfying end all around and everyone gets a happy ending.
Beowulf by The Beowulf Poet
(ATY: A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list, PopSugar: A book that was published anonymously)
I want to read this because it is a classic.
I spent most of this story having no idea what is going on. I think maybe I should give this a try with the annotated version. Most of what I did figure out was what I remembered from the movie.
Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
(ATY: A book connected to ice, PopSugar: Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge)
I want to read this because it’s the next in the series.
I was so worried this was going to be a really rough read because it was set up in such a way that Henry and Vic wouldn’t be in it. Fortunately that was not the case. It was excellent! The accompanying cast was fantastic and entertaining as all get out and Henry and Vic work their way in to the story. There’s quite a bit a levity for such a dire situation. Cady has been kidnapped by one of the most dangerous men in Mexico and an old nemesis of Walt’s, Tomas Bodarte. Luckily he insists that Cady remain unharmed until she is auctioned off to one of Walt’s many enemies. The whole thing wraps up with a high speed bus chase, a standoff, and some dreams or conversation with the dead depending on if you believe in that sort of thing. I can’t wait to read the next one.
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
(ATY: A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read, PopSugar: A book that discusses body positivity)
I want to read this because it’s the next in the series.
Oh golly, I loved this. Dani and Zaf were ADORABLE!! Of course, I didn’t expect anything different because I loved the first one, and as with the first one the course language of the sexual tension and acts was not off putting! Although after recommending the first one to Mary Morris she gave me the feedback that practically the whole book was sex or the characters thinking about sex. That is… kinda true. However, all that lust is mixed with pining and contemplation of consequences of that pining and it gives me all the feels. In the first one, I loved how the author dealt with Chloe’s struggle with invisible illness. That really resonated with me since I was still struggling with my CVS and coming to terms with a body that sometimes kicks me in the ass so to speak. In this book, Dani is struggling with past relationships which ended in being cheated on. Again, this particularly resonates with me because I know how being cheated on can really skew one’s sense of self. Zaf is struggling with grief, but he has got a lot of really great coping mechanisms and seems much more well adjusted. He’s started a charity that focuses on using rugby to help teenage boys to work out and communicate about their feelings in healthy ways. When a picture of him carrying Dani out of a building during a drill goes viral, it unexpectedly helps his charity in a BIG WAY. So, of course, Dani and Zaf agree to enter into a fake relationship that turns into real feelings. Dani gets to meet her hero, a feminist professor, who gives her the advice (read: permission) to pursue things that make her happy, like ya know, being in love. It all culminates in a cheesy declaration on a rugby field just like in one of Zaf’s romance novels. I love the happily ever after in this one and I can’t wait to read the next one.
Cultivating Compassion: Live from the Beacon Theater by Dalai Lama XIV, Richard Gere
(ReadHarder: Read a book by/about a non-Western world leader)
I want to read this because it’s the Dalai Lama and because it’s short.
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into with this. It’s not really a book per se (I’m keeping it anyways because I’m not going to find another book to fill the category so late in the year), it was a recording of some of a speech the Dalai Lama gave mixed with some short commentary from a narrator (Whoa! That was Richard Gere?!). A lot of it was in Tibetan (I think) and there was a translator who would do his thing, but while the Dalai Lama was speaking my brain would zone out and start thinking of other things. So, when the translator started speaking sometimes it would take me a moment to catch up. Also, there was a lot that was reading and interpreting Buddhist scripture with referrals to Buddhist concepts I was not familiar with which didn’t have the impact that I was hoping for. What I did get from this experience was a new concept of anger to think about. The Dalai Lama says that anger has two sources: one is an anger on another’s behalf or an anger at situational things whereas the other anger comes from a strong sense of self. Generally I think of a strong sense of self as a positive personality attribute, but the more I think about it, the more I can see where this would create a predisposition to anger. When you’re confident in your stance, when you ardently believe you’re right and someone else is wrong that can fuel some pretty strong anger. I don’t think I believe in shooting for not feeling anger at all, but I do believe that anger is always a secondary emotion. It comes from fear or sadness or something else, and I think it’s healthy to analyze it, identify the source feelings and work through them. So, that was a helpful train of thought prompted by this book.
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
(ATY: A love story, Popsugar: A book from your TBR list chosen at random)
I want to read this because I really wanted there to be a romantic element to the Murderbot series and I figured this could sort of work to fill that niche.
This was neither as bad or as good as I thought it would be. Once again, I came into a book with a set of expectations and those turned out to be incorrect. I thought I was going to be reading a cheesy ‘80s romance and instead I got an early young adult sci-fi novel that confronted a lot of larger themes such as social class, poverty, and the challenges of a producing/consuming based economic system. The main character Jane is a sheltered sixteen year old girl in a future that sees a lot of the worst “could happen” things. Her mother is very wealthy and Jane has lived a pampered life in a house that reaches the clouds. Her mother is also a parent who goes by the book and leaves very little room for affection and compassion. Jane’s friends are also wealthy and exhibit some of the worst stereotypes of the wealthy class. They are in turn cold, cynical, overly dramatic, uncaring, and downright cruel. The larger story presented is that robots are now able to replace people in most of the workforce and because America is still clinging to a capitalist economic system that measures worth (aka what you get paid) in individual contribution, there is still rampant poverty. One isn’t even allowed to work unless one can prove the economic need to work. There are only a few jobs which robots can’t perform and most of them seem to revolve around the arts until the G.O.L.D.E.R, S.I.L.V.E.R. and C.O.P.P.E.R lines of robots are introduced. Protests and riots break out leading to a recall of the robots by the company that created them. Amid all of this is Jane and the robot she has fallen in love with, SILVER. SILVER’s line of robots specializes in making music. When they run away together and Jane’s mother cuts off Jane’s funds, it is SILVER’s music that earns them the money to survive. Jane struggles with the idea of being in love with a machine and though SILVER is always tender with her, she never quite believes in his love. By the time she figures out that he’s evolved into something much more than a machine, SILVER’s life is in danger from the corporation that created him. They make a plan to get out of the city and go somewhere they can live in peace, but it all goes awry when an earthquake hits the city and SILVER and Jane are caught. I really liked the portrayal of Jane’s friend, Clovis. As a gay man (refered to as MB or mirror bias in the book) in early ‘80s literature I thought he was portrayed really deeply. While all of Jane’s “friends” were jerks, Clovis exhibits a protectiveness of Jane that mildly redeems him. To sum up, I liked this book okay. I wanted a quick romance with some steamy scenes and a happily ever after. What I got was a multilayered, rich story about one young woman’s exponential growth through a tragic first love experience.
Lore Olympus: Volume Oneby Rachel Smythe
I want to read this because Ivy feverishly recommended it.
So…volume one and all the rest. I caught up to its current release and all I can say is SWOON!! This is such an excellent retelling of the Hades/Persephone myth. It takes a myth about a male taking a female by force and turns it on its head by making it ALL about consent. Hades is the most respectful, well adjusted hero I have ever read.
Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven by Janet Evanovich
(ATY: A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, PopSugar: A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child)
I want to read this because it is the next in the series.
Stephanie Plum is always fun. I acknowledge that the books are pretty formulaic, but I love them anyways. This is the first Stephanie Plum book that I feel needs the background of the book before it. Grandma Mazur got married to Jimmy the mobster in the last book and he died on their honeymoon leading his mobster buddies to think Grandma had the keys and information on a hidden treasure that The Lazy Boys stashed somewhere. They are incorrect, at first. At the end of the last book Stephanie and her grandma discover the keys in Jimmy’s chair. This book is about pursuing that treasure. Stephanie spends a great deal of this book idolizing Indiana Jones and trying to do as Indy does. It works out being just as amusing as one thinks. Morelli has broken up with Stephanie because of the treasure quest so we get a fair amount of Ranger goodness. The author introduces a new character named Gabriella Rose who will star in her own series. Gabriella is essentially a professional treasure hunter, but for some of the book Stephanie thinks she’s Morelli’s new girlfriend. There’s a funny skip that gets integrated into the gang and a dangerous skip that had me cheering upon his apprehension. This thing always happens when I read the Plum books. Stephanie gets in a pickle and I think she is going to get help from one of the hunks in her life, but then she does something outrageous to take care of her own damn self and it fills me with joy! This time was with a dangerous skip who had tried to stab her and she kicks his ass! It was awesome, even Ranger was impressed. I anticipated that the treasure would be worthless or for some random reason Stephanie wouldn’t get it and I was right. The ending though was still super satisfying and well done. I can’t wait to read the next one.
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
(ATY: A book with a Muslim character or author, PopSugar: A book by a Muslim American author)
I want to read this because it is the end of the series.
Great ending. So much better than I expected. Elias, Helene, and Laia all experience the worst things that could happen to them, but in the end they save the world and come out the other side with some resolution. Laia’s mother becomes Soul Catcher so Elias gets to leave the Waiting Place and marry Laia. Helene becomes empress and gets to protect the empire she loves so much. They all lose so much. Helene loses her entire family (except her infant nephew), the love of her life, and numerous friends. Laia loses her brother, her mother, and suffers the betrayal both from Elias and from Keenan disguised as the soul catcher. Elias very nearly loses himself and then his grandfather, but doesn’t in the end. There is a lot of tragedy in this book, in this series, but I’m glad I stayed with it for the ending. It wrapped up in a really satisfying way.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
(ATY: A book with flowers or greenery on the cover, PopSugar: A bestseller from the 1990s)
I want to read this because I really liked the movie.
The movie was about the story of dealing with the fallout of Jimmy’s death, and it’s a very enjoyable movie. The book, on the other hand, is about the relationship between sisters, both Sally and Gillian and Kylie and Antonia. Kylie and Antonia are teenagers in the book so there is quite a bit of interplay between them. The sisters are typical in terms of fighting and jealousy, but subtle magic is thrown in to spice things up. Jimmy doesn’t want to stay dead and his influence drives the sisters apart more and more. Eventually the investigator shows up and the book has no love spell Sally cast as a child, but it does become clear they are drawn to one another. Gillian is paired up with an unlikely romantic interest and both the girls are paired up with love interests. All of it is threatened by Jimmy’s evil influence. In the end, the aunts show up with some fancy blue magic stones and they build a patio over Jimmy which disperses his influence and puts things back on track for a happy ending all around. It wasn’t as compelling as the movie, but it wasn’t completely boring either. I just feel kind of meh about it.
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
(ATY: A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum)
I want to read this because Shelly recommended it.
First published in 1967 and yet it held up pretty well. It’s a fun children’s story about a group of kids who invent a game about the land of Egypt where they pretend to perform ancient rites and ceremonies. Well, that’s the story on the surface. The main character April has been sent to live with her grandmother by her actress mother. She is sure it’s just a temporary situation, but she reluctantly befriends some of the other children in the apartment building. She has a hard time comes to accept that her life with her grandma is a healthier environment for her to grow up in. Her friend Melanie and her little brother Marshall are African American and live upstairs and Elizabeth Chung is Asian American lives in the basement. Just like one of Shelly’s previous recommendations this cast is quite diverse which I appreciated. April doesn’t have experience with other children and through her friendships learns to grow. She eventually learns the value of living with her grandmother and comes to feel at home with her. Though there’s a frightening experience where she’s nearly kidnapped and she’s rescued by the mysterious Professor who the whole community thinks committed a heinous act. It’s a satisfying end all around and everyone gets a happy ending.
Beowulf by The Beowulf Poet
(ATY: A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list, PopSugar: A book that was published anonymously)
I want to read this because it is a classic.
I spent most of this story having no idea what is going on. I think maybe I should give this a try with the annotated version. Most of what I did figure out was what I remembered from the movie.
Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
(ATY: A book connected to ice, PopSugar: Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge)
I want to read this because it’s the next in the series.
I was so worried this was going to be a really rough read because it was set up in such a way that Henry and Vic wouldn’t be in it. Fortunately that was not the case. It was excellent! The accompanying cast was fantastic and entertaining as all get out and Henry and Vic work their way in to the story. There’s quite a bit a levity for such a dire situation. Cady has been kidnapped by one of the most dangerous men in Mexico and an old nemesis of Walt’s, Tomas Bodarte. Luckily he insists that Cady remain unharmed until she is auctioned off to one of Walt’s many enemies. The whole thing wraps up with a high speed bus chase, a standoff, and some dreams or conversation with the dead depending on if you believe in that sort of thing. I can’t wait to read the next one.
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
(ATY: A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read, PopSugar: A book that discusses body positivity)
I want to read this because it’s the next in the series.
Oh golly, I loved this. Dani and Zaf were ADORABLE!! Of course, I didn’t expect anything different because I loved the first one, and as with the first one the course language of the sexual tension and acts was not off putting! Although after recommending the first one to Mary Morris she gave me the feedback that practically the whole book was sex or the characters thinking about sex. That is… kinda true. However, all that lust is mixed with pining and contemplation of consequences of that pining and it gives me all the feels. In the first one, I loved how the author dealt with Chloe’s struggle with invisible illness. That really resonated with me since I was still struggling with my CVS and coming to terms with a body that sometimes kicks me in the ass so to speak. In this book, Dani is struggling with past relationships which ended in being cheated on. Again, this particularly resonates with me because I know how being cheated on can really skew one’s sense of self. Zaf is struggling with grief, but he has got a lot of really great coping mechanisms and seems much more well adjusted. He’s started a charity that focuses on using rugby to help teenage boys to work out and communicate about their feelings in healthy ways. When a picture of him carrying Dani out of a building during a drill goes viral, it unexpectedly helps his charity in a BIG WAY. So, of course, Dani and Zaf agree to enter into a fake relationship that turns into real feelings. Dani gets to meet her hero, a feminist professor, who gives her the advice (read: permission) to pursue things that make her happy, like ya know, being in love. It all culminates in a cheesy declaration on a rugby field just like in one of Zaf’s romance novels. I love the happily ever after in this one and I can’t wait to read the next one.
Cultivating Compassion: Live from the Beacon Theater by Dalai Lama XIV, Richard Gere
(ReadHarder: Read a book by/about a non-Western world leader)
I want to read this because it’s the Dalai Lama and because it’s short.
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into with this. It’s not really a book per se (I’m keeping it anyways because I’m not going to find another book to fill the category so late in the year), it was a recording of some of a speech the Dalai Lama gave mixed with some short commentary from a narrator (Whoa! That was Richard Gere?!). A lot of it was in Tibetan (I think) and there was a translator who would do his thing, but while the Dalai Lama was speaking my brain would zone out and start thinking of other things. So, when the translator started speaking sometimes it would take me a moment to catch up. Also, there was a lot that was reading and interpreting Buddhist scripture with referrals to Buddhist concepts I was not familiar with which didn’t have the impact that I was hoping for. What I did get from this experience was a new concept of anger to think about. The Dalai Lama says that anger has two sources: one is an anger on another’s behalf or an anger at situational things whereas the other anger comes from a strong sense of self. Generally I think of a strong sense of self as a positive personality attribute, but the more I think about it, the more I can see where this would create a predisposition to anger. When you’re confident in your stance, when you ardently believe you’re right and someone else is wrong that can fuel some pretty strong anger. I don’t think I believe in shooting for not feeling anger at all, but I do believe that anger is always a secondary emotion. It comes from fear or sadness or something else, and I think it’s healthy to analyze it, identify the source feelings and work through them. So, that was a helpful train of thought prompted by this book.
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
(ATY: A love story, Popsugar: A book from your TBR list chosen at random)
I want to read this because I really wanted there to be a romantic element to the Murderbot series and I figured this could sort of work to fill that niche.
This was neither as bad or as good as I thought it would be. Once again, I came into a book with a set of expectations and those turned out to be incorrect. I thought I was going to be reading a cheesy ‘80s romance and instead I got an early young adult sci-fi novel that confronted a lot of larger themes such as social class, poverty, and the challenges of a producing/consuming based economic system. The main character Jane is a sheltered sixteen year old girl in a future that sees a lot of the worst “could happen” things. Her mother is very wealthy and Jane has lived a pampered life in a house that reaches the clouds. Her mother is also a parent who goes by the book and leaves very little room for affection and compassion. Jane’s friends are also wealthy and exhibit some of the worst stereotypes of the wealthy class. They are in turn cold, cynical, overly dramatic, uncaring, and downright cruel. The larger story presented is that robots are now able to replace people in most of the workforce and because America is still clinging to a capitalist economic system that measures worth (aka what you get paid) in individual contribution, there is still rampant poverty. One isn’t even allowed to work unless one can prove the economic need to work. There are only a few jobs which robots can’t perform and most of them seem to revolve around the arts until the G.O.L.D.E.R, S.I.L.V.E.R. and C.O.P.P.E.R lines of robots are introduced. Protests and riots break out leading to a recall of the robots by the company that created them. Amid all of this is Jane and the robot she has fallen in love with, SILVER. SILVER’s line of robots specializes in making music. When they run away together and Jane’s mother cuts off Jane’s funds, it is SILVER’s music that earns them the money to survive. Jane struggles with the idea of being in love with a machine and though SILVER is always tender with her, she never quite believes in his love. By the time she figures out that he’s evolved into something much more than a machine, SILVER’s life is in danger from the corporation that created him. They make a plan to get out of the city and go somewhere they can live in peace, but it all goes awry when an earthquake hits the city and SILVER and Jane are caught. I really liked the portrayal of Jane’s friend, Clovis. As a gay man (refered to as MB or mirror bias in the book) in early ‘80s literature I thought he was portrayed really deeply. While all of Jane’s “friends” were jerks, Clovis exhibits a protectiveness of Jane that mildly redeems him. To sum up, I liked this book okay. I wanted a quick romance with some steamy scenes and a happily ever after. What I got was a multilayered, rich story about one young woman’s exponential growth through a tragic first love experience.
Lore Olympus: Volume Oneby Rachel Smythe
I want to read this because Ivy feverishly recommended it.
So…volume one and all the rest. I caught up to its current release and all I can say is SWOON!! This is such an excellent retelling of the Hades/Persephone myth. It takes a myth about a male taking a female by force and turns it on its head by making it ALL about consent. Hades is the most respectful, well adjusted hero I have ever read.
Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven by Janet Evanovich
(ATY: A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, PopSugar: A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child)
I want to read this because it is the next in the series.
Stephanie Plum is always fun. I acknowledge that the books are pretty formulaic, but I love them anyways. This is the first Stephanie Plum book that I feel needs the background of the book before it. Grandma Mazur got married to Jimmy the mobster in the last book and he died on their honeymoon leading his mobster buddies to think Grandma had the keys and information on a hidden treasure that The Lazy Boys stashed somewhere. They are incorrect, at first. At the end of the last book Stephanie and her grandma discover the keys in Jimmy’s chair. This book is about pursuing that treasure. Stephanie spends a great deal of this book idolizing Indiana Jones and trying to do as Indy does. It works out being just as amusing as one thinks. Morelli has broken up with Stephanie because of the treasure quest so we get a fair amount of Ranger goodness. The author introduces a new character named Gabriella Rose who will star in her own series. Gabriella is essentially a professional treasure hunter, but for some of the book Stephanie thinks she’s Morelli’s new girlfriend. There’s a funny skip that gets integrated into the gang and a dangerous skip that had me cheering upon his apprehension. This thing always happens when I read the Plum books. Stephanie gets in a pickle and I think she is going to get help from one of the hunks in her life, but then she does something outrageous to take care of her own damn self and it fills me with joy! This time was with a dangerous skip who had tried to stab her and she kicks his ass! It was awesome, even Ranger was impressed. I anticipated that the treasure would be worthless or for some random reason Stephanie wouldn’t get it and I was right. The ending though was still super satisfying and well done. I can’t wait to read the next one.