Bookwormish, 2nd quarter of 2021

[starfishstar]

Ha. Yeah, I guess life has indeed been so hard (see note below) that it's now November and I still have sitting here a nearly complete draft of my write-up about the books I read in the second quarter of this year. As in, books I read from April to June. And now it's November. (This write-up was already very belated even when I first wrote it, sometime over the summer, and then things got even harder and I never had a chance to come back to finish it.)

So I'll just share this as it is, with my thoughts mostly complete. Not sure whether I'll do posts for the third (long since fled) and fourth (racing toward its close) quarters of this year. I was thinking I was going to come here and say that I'm probably going to have to stop writing these quarterly round-ups entirely – but rereading this one reminded me how much I enjoy doing these! So, we'll see. Maybe I'll do a very abbreviated list of just top favorites, of the 3rd & 4th quarters squished together, at the end of the year?

Dunno... Anyway, here's what I wrote for the second quarter of 2021:

 

Well, life seems to be stuck on its hardest setting, so here’s an abbreviated version of my books post for the second quarter (March–June) of 2021. To keep this manageable, I’m going to make it a challenge to myself to express myself in a SINGLE SENTENCE about each book(!) although I’ll of course allow a few exceptions if there are cases where I really have a lot more to say. Let’s see how it goes…

VERY TOP BOOKS

Let the Circle Be Unbroken and The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor (as well as one of the short stories in the series, The Friendship) – Taylor is one of those authors who is SO GOOD that I keep asking myself, How is she so good?? She makes every little plot element captivating, from the mundane to the beautiful to the terrible. I’ve been rationing out this series, trying to savor it as long as possible, but I’ve inevitably reached the point where there’s only one book left and I’m already sad about it!
 

MORE TOP BOOKS 

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh – A thoughtful coming-of-age story that’s brief but covers exactly the ground it needs to, and leaves the character at a refreshingly realistic point, growing into herself and what she wants in life, but without everything being unrealistically wrapped up and perfect.

The Seas by Samantha Hunt – Weird and rather wonderful; I read this because I’m always low-key seeking out various perspectives for the selkie-inspired story I keep thinking I’ll write one day, and while this take on that type of theme was a lot darker than mine would be, it was still an intriguing one.

Apple (Skin to the Core) by Eric Gansworth – A memoir about growing up Onondaga/Tuscarora, from the author of the wonderful YA novel If I Ever Get Out of Here. This memoir really served to remind me that the trauma of the boarding schools is much, much more recent than I think, and still has an enormously heavy impact on so many Native American families.

Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine – More probing reflections on racism and humanity.

Little Red Rodent Hood by Ursula Vernon – Another series I’m sad to see end, this one because it’s so very charming; I especially liked in this one that there’s some moral ambiguity…is Little Red the innocent victim here…or is it the weaselwolves??
 

EVEN MORE GOOD BOOKS

Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams – I think Stacey Abrams may well save America.

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry – Fun, not quite as deep-diving as I’d hoped, but a fun tale of a girls’ field hockey team discovering witchcraft…or possibly just their own human power.

Pansies by Alexis Hall – A sweet romance that left me thinking about the ways we end up programmed into beliefs about our own identities.
 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
 

SOME BOOKS ABOUT WRITING:

The Anatomy of Curiosity by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
The Kite and the String: How to Write with Spontaneity and Control – and Live to Tell the Tale by Alice Mattison

FAVORITE REREADS:

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

 

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Comments

[gracerene]

Ooo, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed The Seas! I thought it was super interesting.

[sanguinity]

How delightful to see you, although I'm sorry to hear that life has been on its hardest setting.

Yes, Mildred D. Taylor is just that good. I have... three? books left in the series, maybe, and am very much looking forward to them.

[rachelindeed]

It's lovely to hear from you! I'm sorry things have been rough lately. I really hope the things that have been hard in your life will start to improve soon, in whatever way they can. I am always cheered by hearing your thoughts on what you've been reading, even though I rarely know the books. It's just nice to know there's so much good stuff out there, even if I never get to it, lol :) Plus, hearing about what makes a friend happy makes me happy, too. Sending you many warm best wishes.

[starfishstar]

I did! It's a weird book, but in a captivating way. :-)

[starfishstar]

Thank you! It's just the same hardest setting that it's been...well, since at least the spring if not before, and then of course even more so over the summer. (*Both* parents in and out of the hospital, and me shouldering everything again. At the same time as finally starting a new job!) Feeling a shade more sane these days.

I am still at the point where I have just one book in the series left (All the Days Past, All the Days to Come) and I STILL haven't read it, because I don't want it to be over! But that would be a silly reason to end up never reading a book I very much want to read. Maybe I should try to read it by the end of this year.

[sanguinity]

I say you should keep it until your wanting to read it outweighs your wanting to save it. That's my usual strategy, anyway. It's not going anywhere; it'll keep until you're ready for it.

And that's a lot, and has been for a long time. *offers hugs* Congrats on the new job, though, and I'm glad to hear things are feeling a little more sane.

[starfishstar]

Thank you! I really appreciate those good wishes. And I love that you enjoy these posts despite generally not having any personal connection to the books I talk about. :-) I feel like that's very you, to enjoy something simply because a friend does!

ALSO, I want to tell you that I was talking to a friend the other day who's new(ish)ly fallen in love with the world of fanfic. She was saying how much she appreciates stories where the characters are really good to each other, and I was saying how much I appreciate stories that prove you don't have to have capital-C Conflict or trope-y misunderstandings in order to have engaging plot, and so I recced your "Rewriting History" to her... She read it immediately and LOVED it. (Me: Wait, I hope I didn't oversell this by talking it up so much... Her: NOPE, it's every bit as good as you said!) And then immediately started quoting back to me bits that she loved. Just wanted you to know – further confirmation that your writing really is as good as I think it is. :D

[starfishstar]

Thank you! And I suppose you're right...*forcing* myself to read something I actually really want to read would be about as strange as *not* reading something I actually really want to read! I just can already picture myself putting it off endlessly because I haven't yet found the exact "perfect" time for it... But hopefully I'll get there. :-)

[rachelindeed]

Thank you so much for this lovely note, I'm so delighted that you remember "Rewriting History" fondly enough to recommend it to a friend (!!) and that your friend wound up really enjoying it (!!!) That is the most wonderful bit of news, I feel so warm and pleased thinking that people are out there not only enjoying something I wrote, but enjoying it for the same reasons that I did. I too am a huge fan of stories that focus on people being good to each other and that defer capital-C Conflict in favor of growth that is perhaps more halting and gentle. Thank you so much for telling me about that, it really means a lot to me :)

Reading the comments above, I just want to add my belated congratulations as well for your new job & I hope it's turning out to be a good fit for you as you settle in. And I'm so sorry that your parents are both having such a long, ongoing health crisis -- I'll keep sending all my hopes and best wishes to them and to you. You are remarkable, and I hope life will leave you more room for *yourself* as time goes on and that small joys and comforts will keep finding you from day to day. <3333

[starfishstar]

You are so very welcome – it was a joy to be able to rec that fic to a friend, and then doubly a joy that she enjoyed it as much as I hoped...and then triply a joy to be able to tell you about it! :D

Thank you for all of these kind thoughts and good wishes. It's continued to be very hard (my mom continues to require a ton of care, and between that and a full-time job I'm stretched so thin...all compounded by my TERROR of catching this highly transmissable new covid variant from my public-facing job and then passing it on to my mom...) But I do try to find the small joys, just as you said. I hope you've been doing well!