Bookwormish, 1st quarter of 2021
May. 4th, 2021 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starfishstarHa, well, apparently April was the sort of month where I didn't manage even to think about writing up my reading from the first quarter of the year (January–March) until now in...May. Yeah. But here we go!
VERY TOP BOOKS
We Are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez – Damn, this book hits hard and real. It was impossible to decide which of my three "very top books" from this quarter should be listed first; frankly, they all deserve to be first! But I'm putting this one at the top, because I think its very human message is going to stay with me for a long time. It's about three teenagers who flee their home in Guatemala when dangerous circumstances become untenable ones. The book follows them through the long, arduous journey across Mexico (a part of the migrant journey I knew NOTHING about) and then the perilous crossing of the U.S. border. It's a tough read, but an important one, and more than that a good one. It's a fantastic portrayal of tight-knit friendship. The author absolutely succeeded at what she clearly set out to do: put a human face to a catastrophe that's mostly talked about in sweeping terms and statistics. (Similar to how I felt about When Stars Are Scattered, which similarly put a human face to the too-massive-to-comprehend crisis of life in refugee camps.) Talking about all this heavy stuff is probably not a great way to sell anyone on why they should read this book, but it's really good. And maybe essential reading for anyone in North America. (Oh, and I highly recommend the audiobook! Getting to hear the accents and the correct pronunciations of all the foods and such added such richness. Mm, now I'm very curious about Guatemalan food...)
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas – I mean. Surely it was clear by now that everything Angie Thomas does is amazing! I loved this empathetic portrayal of a teenage boy trying so hard to do right by the responsibilities that are piling and piling up on him, despite pretty much everything being stacked against him. For much of this book I found myself saying over and over, "Oh, kiddo. Oh, kiddo." Because yes, Maverick makes a bunch of bad decisions along with the good ones, but given everything he's up against, the logic of those decisions is so relatable. And yet, because it's Angie Thomas, the story is beautiful and compelling too! I also really appreciated how firmly this book pushed back on racist stereotypes about Black men as absentee fathers. All the fathers in this book are incredibly present, fiercely looking out for their kids – yes, even in the case of the dad who's having to do his parenting from prison. I found myself having to excavate and examine some prejudices I still hold, even though I'd like to think I don't, and I'm grateful for it.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor – This book, too, deserves to be listed at the very top of the top three. Obviously! I think it's only down this far because this time around it was a reread. Or a reread of a reread? I've lost track... I was finally able to pick back up my big read of the entire Logan Family series, after I tracked down one errant book that the pandemic had made inaccessible to me, so stay tuned for more of the Logan family! Mildred D. Taylor is masterful. She's one of those writers (like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) where I find myself thinking, how do they do that? Even when they're writing about mundane things, it's so compelling. And the non-mundane things, of course, are even more compelling.
MORE TOP BOOKS
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit – The brilliant nonfiction writer and thinker Rebecca Solnit, pulling back the myths around disaster (people panic and revert to animals, it's every man for himself...) to unearth surprisingly optimistic and hopeful truths: in reality, the best of people and of society often arises in disaster. As always, Rebecca Solnit reshapes my thinking in deeply appreciated ways.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan – Another really interesting nonfiction tome. I've been curious about this topic ever since first reading years ago about the new research into the potential of psychedelics for profound treatment for such serious human conditions as depression and fear of dying. And now, having read this book, I'm even more intrigued! I hope this field of research keeps expanding.
Hamilton: The Revolution: being the complete libretto of the Broadway musical, with a true account of its creation, and concise remarks on hip-hop, the power of stories, and the new America by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter – Yeah, I went from "casual Hamilton fan" to "hopelessly obsessed Hamilton fan" pretty much overnight, in July when the movie version dropped and a friend was kind enough to share her Disney+ account with me so I could watch. This book (also known among fans as the "Hamiltome," because everything Hamilton-related has to be a Hamilton portmanteau, heh!) interlaces two elements: short thematic sections giving some delightful background on the cast, crew, and process of creating the show; and a FANTASTIC annotated version of the libretto, with copious notes from Lin-Manuel Miranda on his writing process and various details and stories behind the creation of each song. Am I entirely convinced about Alexander Hamilton as a person, or even as a character? Nah. Am I in awe of the talent of Lin-Manuel Miranda? YES. That man is a walking master class. I will take any speck of insight he wants to share. :-)
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall – Oh, goshdarn it. Everyone who recommended this book was right! I was thinking just recently about how it's perhaps funny that I'm not a reader of M/M romances, the way I know some fandom folks are. Nothing against M/M romances – there's clearly a very understandable crossover appeal between that and fanfic! But I tend to think I get enough of that genre/form/themes from fanfic, and don't really need to add more to my life... And then, goshfreakingdarnit, Alexis Hall happened to my life. Not only is this book absurdly charming, but I really, deeply love how Hall's romance novels don't rely on a bunch of sitcom-style miscommunications and plot twists to create tension and draw out the romance; they're about human, flawed people, trying to do their best and wanting to be together, but realizing they've got some shit of their own to work out before they can make that happen. (Yes, I read three Alexis Hall romances within the space of about a month and a half, so I'm speaking here in the general and not just about this one book.) They're not perfect – Hall does seem to rather like the cinematic "misguidedly break up then embark on an epic road-trip-grand-gesture to make up for it" device – but I love that they're stories about what it is to be a person and be in a relationship, not just about finding "the right one" and overcoming pesky external obstacles, the end.
EVEN MORE GOOD BOOKS
Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore – Ooooh, the new book in the Graceling Realm! Unexpectedly so, after we all thought it was long ago complete as a trilogy! I suppose I found this book a little uneven in some ways (Cashore clearly had some themes she very, very earnestly wanted to examine, some of which slotted into this existing world better than others) but at the end of the day, I love Cashore's writing that offers both humor and empathy, I LOVE these characters, and I love getting to see this world continue to expand. Keep writing in the Graceling Realm forever, please, Kristin Cashore! :D
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder – A quiet and lovely story of the unlikely unfolding friendship between a single mother, her young son, and the elderly professor whose house she cleans, who has no short-term memory. A story of found family, in a way. (Also,sanguinity, math!)
Giant Trouble and Whiskerella by Ursula Vernon – STILL UTTERLY CHARMING. The fairy-tale-twisting adventures of Harriet, irrepressible hamster princess.
Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison – A charming and odd little book! I tracked it down because Amal El-Mohtar was talking it up everywhere; I didn't love it as much as she did, but I enjoyed it. It's a sort of fable/fantasy remixing of everything from Norse mythology to medieval real-world Constantinople, thoughtful and yet light-handed. And by the way, Amal El-Mohtar's writing about Naomi Mitchison is marvelous.
The Blue Fox by Sjón, translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb – While I still haven't met a Sjón work I liked anywhere near as much as Moonstone, this has something of a similar feel: a spare, brief narrative that nonetheless encompasses a breadth of humanity and human questions.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama – I'm assuming Obama's aim here was to give insight into the real, human "what it's actually like to be the president" side of the story that the public doesn't usually get to see. (Has any other president written so candidly about what it's like on the inside of that role?) This book is such an odd combination of drowning to death in policy details, and yet also really intriguing as a whole. (And let me tell you, reading about Obama fighting to pass the healthcare bill at the same time as living through Biden fighting to pass the covid relief bill was SURREAL. I felt like I was living in both 2010 and 2021 simultaneously.) Also, while I still don't actually think policy makes for a compelling, page-turning topic, nonetheless I somehow sucked down this 29-hour (!!!) audiobook in just a couple of days.
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller – A sweet story of family, bridging cultures, and facing loss and end of life with something far more complex than just fear or avoidance.
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez – Charming! A rec fromgrrlpup. Delightfully silly middle-grade with just the right amount of earnest heart.
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall – A rec from my friend who's always looking for new books to read with her eight-year-olds. :-) A charmingly classic-feeling (though contemporary) children's story of four sisters navigating challenges and adventures over one memorable summer vacation.
The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead – This is a very quiet one (I think Rebecca Stead is amazing, but I don't think this is one of her books that will most stand out in my memory...though maybe I'm wrong!) but it's a lovely story of navigating family changes (divorce, parent coming out, remarriage, cousin rivalries and sibling anxieties) where everybody cares about each other and everybody is doing their best. I also loved how the middle-grade main character didn't always make the best choices or totally understand things, in a very realistic kid way, and yet had parents who understood her and loved her exactly as she was.
For Real by Alexis Hall – Like I said, I fell down the Alexis Hall rabbit hole! This one is About BDSM almost to the exclusion of anything else (I feel like Hall's other novels I've read have more subplots and themes, instead of being quite so monolithic, but does anybody who's better-versed want to tell me if I'm wrong about that?) but again I really appreciated how the characters were allowed to be people, well-rounded and mixed up and sometimes surprising.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids ed. Cynthia Leitich Smith – Most of the individual stories here didn't particularly grab me, unfortunately, but I LOVE the concept and thus want to promote it anyway: a bunch of different Native characters, written by Native authors from many different nations, all converge on one powwow in Michigan. Really lovely to see how each story by necessity has its characters doing some of the same things (arriving at the powwow, attending the same dances, etc.) but all with different backstories and focuses.
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez – I wasn't as drawn into the story as I would have liked, but I appreciated the different perspective this gave me, of the challenges faced by a girl growing up in Argentina with big dreams but not a lot of resources.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – This came up in this year's ALA awards and the reviews seemed positive, but I was...underwhelmed. Mostly by the worldbuilding or lack thereof – there are hints that could be interesting, but nothing feels cohesive or fully thought out, which is more frustrating than if there'd been no worldbuilding at all. And yet, it's true that the characters were endearing, and stayed with me after I finished the book.
ALSO!! SHORT STORIES!!!
I try to also mention when I read something particularly good in the realm of short fiction, even though this space is mainly set up for me to burble about books...
I really enjoyed a big round of background reading I did in preparation for my Purimgifts Spinning Silver fusion fic: classic tales like It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach, Bone Button Borscht by Aubrey Davis, my beloved Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel, and of course some Isaac Bashevis Singer. Also as background reading but for a different project, I reread some of Luke Pearson's delightful Hildafolk series, children's graphic novels about a plucky girl who encounters trolls and various other figures from Scandinavian lore. And Mildred D. Taylor's Logan Family series includes a number of shorter works as well as novels, so this quarter I read both Song of the Trees and Mississippi Bridge. As for short stories proper, I especially liked “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer; “The Lovers” by Eleanor Arnason was also intriguing.
.
VERY TOP BOOKS
We Are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez – Damn, this book hits hard and real. It was impossible to decide which of my three "very top books" from this quarter should be listed first; frankly, they all deserve to be first! But I'm putting this one at the top, because I think its very human message is going to stay with me for a long time. It's about three teenagers who flee their home in Guatemala when dangerous circumstances become untenable ones. The book follows them through the long, arduous journey across Mexico (a part of the migrant journey I knew NOTHING about) and then the perilous crossing of the U.S. border. It's a tough read, but an important one, and more than that a good one. It's a fantastic portrayal of tight-knit friendship. The author absolutely succeeded at what she clearly set out to do: put a human face to a catastrophe that's mostly talked about in sweeping terms and statistics. (Similar to how I felt about When Stars Are Scattered, which similarly put a human face to the too-massive-to-comprehend crisis of life in refugee camps.) Talking about all this heavy stuff is probably not a great way to sell anyone on why they should read this book, but it's really good. And maybe essential reading for anyone in North America. (Oh, and I highly recommend the audiobook! Getting to hear the accents and the correct pronunciations of all the foods and such added such richness. Mm, now I'm very curious about Guatemalan food...)
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas – I mean. Surely it was clear by now that everything Angie Thomas does is amazing! I loved this empathetic portrayal of a teenage boy trying so hard to do right by the responsibilities that are piling and piling up on him, despite pretty much everything being stacked against him. For much of this book I found myself saying over and over, "Oh, kiddo. Oh, kiddo." Because yes, Maverick makes a bunch of bad decisions along with the good ones, but given everything he's up against, the logic of those decisions is so relatable. And yet, because it's Angie Thomas, the story is beautiful and compelling too! I also really appreciated how firmly this book pushed back on racist stereotypes about Black men as absentee fathers. All the fathers in this book are incredibly present, fiercely looking out for their kids – yes, even in the case of the dad who's having to do his parenting from prison. I found myself having to excavate and examine some prejudices I still hold, even though I'd like to think I don't, and I'm grateful for it.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor – This book, too, deserves to be listed at the very top of the top three. Obviously! I think it's only down this far because this time around it was a reread. Or a reread of a reread? I've lost track... I was finally able to pick back up my big read of the entire Logan Family series, after I tracked down one errant book that the pandemic had made inaccessible to me, so stay tuned for more of the Logan family! Mildred D. Taylor is masterful. She's one of those writers (like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) where I find myself thinking, how do they do that? Even when they're writing about mundane things, it's so compelling. And the non-mundane things, of course, are even more compelling.
MORE TOP BOOKS
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit – The brilliant nonfiction writer and thinker Rebecca Solnit, pulling back the myths around disaster (people panic and revert to animals, it's every man for himself...) to unearth surprisingly optimistic and hopeful truths: in reality, the best of people and of society often arises in disaster. As always, Rebecca Solnit reshapes my thinking in deeply appreciated ways.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan – Another really interesting nonfiction tome. I've been curious about this topic ever since first reading years ago about the new research into the potential of psychedelics for profound treatment for such serious human conditions as depression and fear of dying. And now, having read this book, I'm even more intrigued! I hope this field of research keeps expanding.
Hamilton: The Revolution: being the complete libretto of the Broadway musical, with a true account of its creation, and concise remarks on hip-hop, the power of stories, and the new America by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter – Yeah, I went from "casual Hamilton fan" to "hopelessly obsessed Hamilton fan" pretty much overnight, in July when the movie version dropped and a friend was kind enough to share her Disney+ account with me so I could watch. This book (also known among fans as the "Hamiltome," because everything Hamilton-related has to be a Hamilton portmanteau, heh!) interlaces two elements: short thematic sections giving some delightful background on the cast, crew, and process of creating the show; and a FANTASTIC annotated version of the libretto, with copious notes from Lin-Manuel Miranda on his writing process and various details and stories behind the creation of each song. Am I entirely convinced about Alexander Hamilton as a person, or even as a character? Nah. Am I in awe of the talent of Lin-Manuel Miranda? YES. That man is a walking master class. I will take any speck of insight he wants to share. :-)
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall – Oh, goshdarn it. Everyone who recommended this book was right! I was thinking just recently about how it's perhaps funny that I'm not a reader of M/M romances, the way I know some fandom folks are. Nothing against M/M romances – there's clearly a very understandable crossover appeal between that and fanfic! But I tend to think I get enough of that genre/form/themes from fanfic, and don't really need to add more to my life... And then, goshfreakingdarnit, Alexis Hall happened to my life. Not only is this book absurdly charming, but I really, deeply love how Hall's romance novels don't rely on a bunch of sitcom-style miscommunications and plot twists to create tension and draw out the romance; they're about human, flawed people, trying to do their best and wanting to be together, but realizing they've got some shit of their own to work out before they can make that happen. (Yes, I read three Alexis Hall romances within the space of about a month and a half, so I'm speaking here in the general and not just about this one book.) They're not perfect – Hall does seem to rather like the cinematic "misguidedly break up then embark on an epic road-trip-grand-gesture to make up for it" device – but I love that they're stories about what it is to be a person and be in a relationship, not just about finding "the right one" and overcoming pesky external obstacles, the end.
EVEN MORE GOOD BOOKS
Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore – Ooooh, the new book in the Graceling Realm! Unexpectedly so, after we all thought it was long ago complete as a trilogy! I suppose I found this book a little uneven in some ways (Cashore clearly had some themes she very, very earnestly wanted to examine, some of which slotted into this existing world better than others) but at the end of the day, I love Cashore's writing that offers both humor and empathy, I LOVE these characters, and I love getting to see this world continue to expand. Keep writing in the Graceling Realm forever, please, Kristin Cashore! :D
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder – A quiet and lovely story of the unlikely unfolding friendship between a single mother, her young son, and the elderly professor whose house she cleans, who has no short-term memory. A story of found family, in a way. (Also,
sanguinity, math!) Giant Trouble and Whiskerella by Ursula Vernon – STILL UTTERLY CHARMING. The fairy-tale-twisting adventures of Harriet, irrepressible hamster princess.
Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison – A charming and odd little book! I tracked it down because Amal El-Mohtar was talking it up everywhere; I didn't love it as much as she did, but I enjoyed it. It's a sort of fable/fantasy remixing of everything from Norse mythology to medieval real-world Constantinople, thoughtful and yet light-handed. And by the way, Amal El-Mohtar's writing about Naomi Mitchison is marvelous.
The Blue Fox by Sjón, translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb – While I still haven't met a Sjón work I liked anywhere near as much as Moonstone, this has something of a similar feel: a spare, brief narrative that nonetheless encompasses a breadth of humanity and human questions.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama – I'm assuming Obama's aim here was to give insight into the real, human "what it's actually like to be the president" side of the story that the public doesn't usually get to see. (Has any other president written so candidly about what it's like on the inside of that role?) This book is such an odd combination of drowning to death in policy details, and yet also really intriguing as a whole. (And let me tell you, reading about Obama fighting to pass the healthcare bill at the same time as living through Biden fighting to pass the covid relief bill was SURREAL. I felt like I was living in both 2010 and 2021 simultaneously.) Also, while I still don't actually think policy makes for a compelling, page-turning topic, nonetheless I somehow sucked down this 29-hour (!!!) audiobook in just a couple of days.
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller – A sweet story of family, bridging cultures, and facing loss and end of life with something far more complex than just fear or avoidance.
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez – Charming! A rec from
grrlpup. Delightfully silly middle-grade with just the right amount of earnest heart. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall – A rec from my friend who's always looking for new books to read with her eight-year-olds. :-) A charmingly classic-feeling (though contemporary) children's story of four sisters navigating challenges and adventures over one memorable summer vacation.
The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead – This is a very quiet one (I think Rebecca Stead is amazing, but I don't think this is one of her books that will most stand out in my memory...though maybe I'm wrong!) but it's a lovely story of navigating family changes (divorce, parent coming out, remarriage, cousin rivalries and sibling anxieties) where everybody cares about each other and everybody is doing their best. I also loved how the middle-grade main character didn't always make the best choices or totally understand things, in a very realistic kid way, and yet had parents who understood her and loved her exactly as she was.
For Real by Alexis Hall – Like I said, I fell down the Alexis Hall rabbit hole! This one is About BDSM almost to the exclusion of anything else (I feel like Hall's other novels I've read have more subplots and themes, instead of being quite so monolithic, but does anybody who's better-versed want to tell me if I'm wrong about that?) but again I really appreciated how the characters were allowed to be people, well-rounded and mixed up and sometimes surprising.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids ed. Cynthia Leitich Smith – Most of the individual stories here didn't particularly grab me, unfortunately, but I LOVE the concept and thus want to promote it anyway: a bunch of different Native characters, written by Native authors from many different nations, all converge on one powwow in Michigan. Really lovely to see how each story by necessity has its characters doing some of the same things (arriving at the powwow, attending the same dances, etc.) but all with different backstories and focuses.
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez – I wasn't as drawn into the story as I would have liked, but I appreciated the different perspective this gave me, of the challenges faced by a girl growing up in Argentina with big dreams but not a lot of resources.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – This came up in this year's ALA awards and the reviews seemed positive, but I was...underwhelmed. Mostly by the worldbuilding or lack thereof – there are hints that could be interesting, but nothing feels cohesive or fully thought out, which is more frustrating than if there'd been no worldbuilding at all. And yet, it's true that the characters were endearing, and stayed with me after I finished the book.
ALSO!! SHORT STORIES!!!
I try to also mention when I read something particularly good in the realm of short fiction, even though this space is mainly set up for me to burble about books...
I really enjoyed a big round of background reading I did in preparation for my Purimgifts Spinning Silver fusion fic: classic tales like It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach, Bone Button Borscht by Aubrey Davis, my beloved Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel, and of course some Isaac Bashevis Singer. Also as background reading but for a different project, I reread some of Luke Pearson's delightful Hildafolk series, children's graphic novels about a plucky girl who encounters trolls and various other figures from Scandinavian lore. And Mildred D. Taylor's Logan Family series includes a number of shorter works as well as novels, so this quarter I read both Song of the Trees and Mississippi Bridge. As for short stories proper, I especially liked “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer; “The Lovers” by Eleanor Arnason was also intriguing.
.
