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books read: 2021 jul-aug
Started going back to the office four days a week, then delta got pretty bad in Texas, so we're back to working from home with the option of going in -- which I am on Wednesdays. But after Labor Day next week, we're supposed to be back in the office three days a week. Mine are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for now, but I'm wondering if it would make more sense to do Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays since I need to wrap up a lot of Thursday evening programs.
I read less in July because of how busy YLI and interns kept me, but got kinda back into it in August. Does the to-read list actually get shorter, or do I just keep adding new things to it? I did start a tiny desk library at work so I could foist off some books to coworkers who might enjoy them, and they are free to add/borrow books at their discretion.
I read less in July because of how busy YLI and interns kept me, but got kinda back into it in August. Does the to-read list actually get shorter, or do I just keep adding new things to it? I did start a tiny desk library at work so I could foist off some books to coworkers who might enjoy them, and they are free to add/borrow books at their discretion.
- Cry Wolf by Charlie Adhara - (Big Bad Wolf #5) Honestly the mystery killing and shenanigans was pretty interesting, but I found the resolution to fall a little flat. That said, the relationship stuff was nice and I am generally fond of Cooper and Park and am rooting for them; Eli added a nice little kick to the dynamic without making me think we were angling for a surprise OT3. Apparently the author is writing about Eli next?
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - It was interesting to read the perspective of someone not so sold on school and academics, yet still found a home at Howard -- and now as faculty. And also someone who isn't religious and believe in some kind of higher meaning as gifted by God. There was a distinct lack of false hope or answers, but it still felt honest and like there is value in life and living, in other people, and essentially in trying to strive for that to matter, even if it is on a personal level and within a system that is designed to target Black bodies.
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - One of my favorite reads in ages, featuring a grumpy old man who likes order and rules and picking at his neighbors who fail his expectations, and who is looking for a way to day now that his wife has passed. And yet while Ove is not exactly likeable, he is someone you grow to care about as more of his past and his relationship are revealed through the story, and also as you see the way he interacts in the present day with people. He values life and people more than he likes to admit, and it reaffirmed for me some of my own philosophy about what makes life worth living amid, well, everything. Translated from Swedish - and Ove is very proud to be Swedish, lol. Both very funny and very moving, the thing I liked best about this book was how it made me reflect on my own values in life.
- Subpar Parks by Amber Share - Based off a very funny Instagram account combining the artists' park paintings with one-star reviews of state and national parks who failed to live up to rater's expectations. A few extra interesting tidbits about the history of national parks, highlights that the author loves about them, and more thoughtfulness about indigenous lands and history than I expected.
- Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe - The story of the Sackler family, who are behind Purdue Pharma, who are largely responsible (in more ways than you think!) for the recent opioid crisis. A fascinating history of the family, from the original guy Arthur Sackler, who was really into Chinese art and invented pharmaceutical marketing/bombardment of doctors, and the incredibly shady tactics of the next generation. This was, as typical of Keefe, incredibly readable and well researched but infuriating. Particularly with the end, which lacked resolution as Purdue Pharma was in the midst of bankruptcy settlement that would decide whether or not the family as individuals would be protected from future lawsuits regarding their responsibility in the opioid crisis. Well, headlines this week announced that, in fact, the Sackler family would be granted immunity as individuals. Fuck.
- The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid - A darker adult fantasy which was billed as a combination of Novik's Uprooted and Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale. The main similarities I think are that the forest played a big role and the girl was sort of cast off from her community/family, and there are some significant roles for Jewish culture and history. I think I enjoyed Arden's prose more and feel that her characters (though unlikeable) were better drawn. In this story, the most remarkable and memorable part is the submissive (kneeling!) prince. That was a fun dynamic and I liked the relationship better than the one in Uprooted.
- World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever - Less memoir and more travel guide, with some interesting highlights. Unfortunately, not applicable to a lot of places I've been and as for places I want to go -- well, Spain and Portugal, you're next on my list, for sure!
- Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater - (Regency Faerie Tales 1) Surprisingly delightful! The premise being the main character had half her soul stolen by a faerie in her youth, and hence only feels things as if from a distance, rather than intensely. A handy way to not have your heroine engage in that many emotions, haha, but it also worked well with the story. Loved her close friendship despite their differences, and how the jerk male love interest eventually did get shown to have a reason for being a jerk/angry all the time. While not all of society's ills can be fixed in the length of this one story, a valiant attempt was made at showing the underbelly of the Regency era (particularly one that focuses on nobility) and why caring, and trying, matters.
- Line Mates and Study Dates by Eden Finley - (CU Hockey #4) I started getting Check Please! feelings off the "lighthearted" son of the coach with the grumpy star hockey player (with baggage), but Asher has much different baggage than Jack Zimmerman. Wasn't my favorite of the couples in this universe, but it worked well enough; obviously any kind of FWB situation is always going to evolve into real emotions.
- Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymickowza - Translated from Polish, this is set in Krakow in 1893, and I learned a lot of history through it! The main character is a professor's wife who is a little bored of social climbing and really interested in solving this murder that she stumbles across in her charity work. I enjoyed the setting and characters and think I'll check out the next book in the series once it's translated. The most disappointing thing is that the author is not a woman but a penname for two guys! Boo.
- FOG by 漫漫何其多(man man he qi duo) - Parts of this reminded me a lot of Glory but with less focus on the game and more on the relationship. It was actually one of the better paced and better written gaming cnovels I'd written - even when the translation was shaky, you could tell the original story and the way it paced its flashbacks compared to present day narration was really nice. The main relationship was lovely and codependent, just how I like, with both characters having their own flaws. But damn, this story edged a bit on racist/xenophobic toward non-Asian gamers, with a lot of stereotypes about Korean, SEAsian, and European players and teams.
- Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly - This came up as a rec for books about Golden Age Hollywood, which is not something I'm usually interested in, but was sold on the magic mayhem and trio of cute Pekingese. Despite the premise (of an evil Chinese rat god spirit causing havoc), the story was pretty well written and the characters surprisingly well-drawn, sympathetic, and with facets and depth. The "ditzy" bombshell starlet is actually genuinely kind to her sister-in-law, whose budding relationship with a Jewish cameraman is formed through real friendship and doesn't gloss over her past trauma, and the gay Hollywood character is treated with more kindness by the narrative than is likely he was by the era. The Chinese characters, while kinda "mystical" due again to the premise, at least never spoke broken Chinese, and were shown to have intelligence, agency, and motives/desire of their own that weren't dismissed as sinister. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised.
- Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap - A story collection from a Filipina author that spanned science fiction, fantasy stepped in Filipino lore, urban legends, horror, and modern day magic realism. A fun mix! Some more affecting than others, and a mix of m/f, f/f, m/m relationships featured. I'm not sure which was my favorite but I enjoyed the magical girls as grown women in NYC, the estranged friends at a girls school surviving things together that binds them together in the future (last story), the sweet modern day San Francisco romcom, and the one about Duterte's brutal war on drug dealers/criminals.
- How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang - I have no interest in the Gold Rush or the American West in that part of history, but I read this on my two-part flight to Maine because it was an Asian American author with a story placing a Chinese family into that part of U.S. history where we're so often erased. It was a fast read, if not an enjoyable one. I hated all the characters, and yet by the end sort of understood and pitied them as well. What a voice, though! This author's writing is remarkable, even if it is not my favorite. Very different from my usual fare but I don't regret reading it.
- Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater - (Regency Faerie Tales 2) Interesting to see a servant's perspective in this world, especially one that is genuinely lower class and not "genteel" that allows for a nobleman to eventually marry her in a lot of typical regencies. But of course it's not a typical regency given the presence of faerie. He was silly but mostly likeable. Overall, I liked the characters and their relationship, but the class things are again hard to wrestle with believably in the span of such a short (mostly fluffy) book. Everything went a little too smoothly, probably.
- Natural Wine for the People by Alice Feiring - I learned about what natural wine is and that far too many people have strong feelings about all the different ways it's superior to other kinds of wine-making. In general, there are people who care way more about wine than I ever will! It was interesting info and I'm generally pro trying more natural wines, but I will also continue to enjoy other kinds of wine. And I will never do real wine-tastings that require spitting.
- Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So - I knew they were short stories but didn't realize they were all interconnected about the same Cambodian American community; it is heavily based on the author's own life but not actually autobiographical (though feels very much like it could be). The last two stories were my favorite in tying the threads together from earlier stories, and particularly because they offered a female and intergenerational perspective on the community.
- Us Against You by Fredrik Backman - I think I cried harder at this book than at Beartown, which this is a sequel to. Even though Beartown gave glimpses of the kids' futures so you know how some things turn out, this is the immediate aftermath and how a town and its rival town fracture apart and kind of figure out their shit, but only after someone dies. Same structure as the first book where you know there is a death or a terrible event, and you spend time seeing the build up to it with some deliberate misleading as to who or what exactly is involved, but it still all works so well for me. Fuck small towns and their hockey obsessions, but it's all bigger than that; Backman is just such a good writer of the complexities of human nature and relationships. I felt the most for Kira, Ana, Benji, and Bobo. My heart.
- Frederica by Georgette Heyer - A quick and delightful reread. Charis and Endymion truly are so stupid, but thankfully it is only a little bit at the end. Jessamy and Felix are delightful, and I do love that Charis truly loves her sister and has no pretensions. It was so nice to see Alverstoke/the hero be more in tune with his feelings of romance than the heroine, and to be the one ruing his own feelings while Frederica is blissfully ignorant and focused on other, more practical things, unaware of the people who genuinely admire and care for her. Love that is not depicted as a violent passion so much as it is a deep affection and a desire to rid them of all the problems they may face, forever. ♥
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Authors shouldn't sike readers like they do with books like Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing. Tsk tsk.
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