For my first week's prompt I was given: Read a contemporary or book set in a muggle world. I chose to read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. This story has two timelines, one in 1942 and the other in 1986. The story focuses on a Chinese-American boy named Henry who is sent to a nearly all-white school. He is picked on due to his race. A Japanese-American girl starts attending and they become friends (even though Henry's parents are extremely racist towards any Japanese people.) He see the Japanese (including his friend) being sent away to internment camps and does everything to keep in touch with his young girlfriend. Time and interfering parents separate them. In the 1986 portion, we see older Henry as he searches for something he lost many years ago. It was very sweet but there were some definite errors in the book which distracted me. (For example, he suggests using the internet for an online grief support group when that wouldn't have been around.) Overall, I gave it 3 stars.
Week 2 I received two prompts. The first was "read an urban fantasy" for which I chose Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The story follows Richard Mayhew and how he falls through the cracks and into a "London below" in his quest to help a girl find out who killed her family. The story is filled with all sorts of supernatural beings which was so much fun to read about. I loved the audiobook. Neil Gaiman stories are such a delight. I gave the book 4 stars.
The second prompt was "read a book club pick" and so I chose Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I really thought I'd enjoy this dystopian story which starts with a virus killing off 99% of the population and seeing the pockets of humanity that had survived. There's a traveling symphony and acting troupe and we follow them as they travel from community to community. The chapters alternate between the before and the after. The story felt very disorganized and I just couldn't get myself to care. There were multiple threads that seemed promising that ultimately led nowhere. I was disappointed and gave it 2.5 stars.
The third week I received only one prompt which was to read a book with a pink or purple cover. I stretched this a little and chose Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey which has the title written in hot pink. This is the start to an epic space opera series known as The Expanse. (which also has a t.v. adaptation on Amazon Prime) The book follows two main characters: Holden, an optimistic Earther working as a crew member on the Canterbury spaceship and Miller, a jaded cop living on a Belt space port. We see intricate politics, alien superviruses, and quirky interpersonal dynamics play through a nonstop action-driven book. It was amazing and I can't wait to pick up book 2. I gave it 4.5 stars only because some of it got a tiny bit unbelievable.
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