September Wrap Up # 2

Since my last update, I've read 5 things.

I'm not a huge thriller reader typically but in the autumn, I sometimes enjoy one. I heard about The Chain by Adrian McKinty and decided to pick it up. The premise is that a woman gets a call that her daughter has been kidnapped. She must do two things in order to ensure her child's safe return; she must pay a ransom, and she must kidnap another child to continue to chain. Similarly to the last thriller I read, this was a bit far-fetched but held me captive. I read the book in just two days. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed but overall, a good read. I gave the book 4 stars.

I then picked up The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa translated by Stephen Snyder. This was a Japanese dystopian that I had been hearing a lot of buzz about. The characters live on an island and things keep disappearing. The people then forget the things and destroy any remnants that exist. There are some people who don't forget and they are taken away by the Memory Police. It was very reminiscent of the book 1984 in which a society is being controlled by a group at the top, but what fell flat for me is the citizens didn't do much to protest or rebel. Overall, disappointing and something that will quickly fade from my memory. I gave it 3 stars.

I only have two more challenges for my Book Riot Read Harder challenge so I decided to use this next book to cross off one more task. I read Under the Painted Sky by Stacey Lee as my historical romance by an author of color. This was a YA western/romance so not in my wheel-house at all but it was fairly enjoyable. A young woman of Chinese descent runs away with a slave in the 1800s to find freedom, safety, and love on the Oregon Trail. The book was fast-paced, with minimal cringe-y scenes. I gave the book 3 stars.

Afterwards, I picked up George Takei's graphic memoir called They Called Us Enemy which documents his time in a Japanese internment camp in the 1940's. This was a period of history I knew little about and felt that the story was informative and interesting. I found it especially poignant when he compared his time being unlawfully detained to the border camps that are currently detaining incoming immigrants. While not the same thing, it's important to learn from our mistakes and I felt this information was crucial to current day events. I gave the book 3.5 stars.

The last book I finished was Almost Love by Louise O'Neill. This book was described as a book about an unhealthy relationship, an obsessive love, and possibly abuse. It definitely wasn't quite how I expected. A woman does get in an unhealthy relationship with a man 20 years her senior but he makes it clear from the start that he just wants no-strings sex. She agrees to that but then keeps wanting more. When he's clear that he has nothing more to offer her, she goes back and forth wanting him but being afraid to ask since she knows what he'll say. She was an extremely unlikable character with very little growth. I didn't connect to her and felt she was whiny and in a situation completely of her own making. I gave the book 2.5 stars.

September Wrap Up #1

So I've done a poor job updating you on my reading but so far I've been sticking pretty close to my TBR.

I'm going to split this into two parts, the first covering the first five books I read this month.

I picked up the graphic memoir Hostage by Guy Delisle. This was his account of being kidnapped in a part of Russia during his time with Doctors Without Borders. The story was captivating but also captured the boredom he endured being trapped in a small room for weeks on end. The art style wasn't my favorite, with only shades of blue and gray but his story was definitely interesting. This was translated from French. I gave it 3 stars.

Then I listened to Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson This is a amnesia thriller about a woman who loses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. She starts to embark on writing down her truths and finds she cannot trust her husband. Is he lying to protect her or is he hiding something? This was a bit unbelievable but still a compelling read. I will say that there is not much of a twist but since I do not read many thrillers, I did not need something too shocking. I gave it 2.5 stars.

Eagerly, I picked up my pre-order To be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. I have read her three previous books and enjoyed them immensely, but unfortunately, I was disappointed by this novella. I think the thing Becky Chambers does best is create really well-rounded characters but because she decided to use the majority of the book with world-building instead, the characters were pretty flat. It is an adventure story of future astronauts going on a habitable world tour to learn more about different planets that can host human life. There were some interesting ideas on how they could adapt to specific challenges but overall, I just wanted more. I gave it 2.5 stars.

After reading some meh books, I decided to listen to a re-read of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. I find listening to a favorite can sometimes jump start me out of a slump. It was phenomenal and I finished it within a few days. I'm hoping to hold on to this last one so I can finish sometime around Christmas.

Finally, my library hold on The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead came in. This is a story based on a real-life reform school in Florida. The story is about a teen boy named Elwood who has a promising future when a simple association with crime gets him sent to this school. The corruption, beatings, and sexual assaults are horrifying and it especially hurts because he doesn't deserve to be there. This left a strong impression and I will search out other books by this author. I gave the book 4 stars.

August NEWTs Wrap Up

I did it! I became a Hogwarts Charms Professor.

I needed 7 NEWTs and I completed 10.

I needed A,E,O in Charms. I needed A, E in Defense against the Dark Arts, and 2 additional A's in other subjects I wished to teach.

Charms 
Acceptable: Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Exceeds Expectation: Monster Volume 2 by Naoki Urasawa
Outstanding: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

Defense Against the Dark Arts
Acceptable: An Unrestored Woman by Shoba Rao
Exceeds Expectation: Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

Transfiguration
Acceptable: The Binding by Bridget Collins

Herbology
Acceptable: Becoming by Michelle Obama

Care of Magical Creatures
Acceptable: As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman
Exceeds Expectation: Dawn by Selahattin Demirtas

Arithmancy
Acceptable: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

September TBR

This is a somewhat challenging TBR because I am having guests visit for a week and will be able to get little reading accomplished. However, these are the books I want/need to read so this is my TBR.

1. Under the Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
2. Almost Love by Louise O'Neill
3. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa translated by Steven Snyder
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
5. The Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (an 800 page behemoth!)
6. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
7. The Forest City Killer by Vanessa Brown
8. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
9. The Chain by Adrian McKinty

August Wrap up #3

Since I've updated you, I've read three more books.

I picked up An Unrestored Woman by Shoba Rao which is a collection of paired short stories focusing on the partition of India and Pakistan. While I knew little about the historical event, I don't felt this shed much light on it. The stories were overall bleak but forgettable. I gave the collection 2 stars.

Then I listened to the audiobook of The Binding by Bridget Collins. This is a magical realism story about book bindings. People go to a book binder to remove unwanted memories and store them safely in a book. The book is about Emmett, who becomes a bookbinder apprentice and learns there's a book with his name on it. What did he choose to forget? It was gripping, beautifully written, with lovely and flawed characters. I really enjoyed it and know I'll want to reread in the future. I gave it 4.5 stars.

Lastly, I read Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell. This is a YA fantasy about Kellen who lives in a society where magic=power and he has very little. He uses trickery to enhance his small amount of magic. This was very fast paced and made me want to pick up the next in the series. I gave it 4 stars.

With only about a week left in the month, I'm unsure if I'll finish anything else before September.

Mid-Year Check In on Resoutions

I'm a bit late with this, but I thought I'd check in with my resolutions to let you know how it's going so far.

Goal 1: Complete 40 books for the Popsugar Challenge- I've completed 35 out of 40 challenges.

Goal 2: Complete 24 books for the Read Harder Challenge- I've completed 22 out of the 24 challenges.

Goal 3: Accept, read, and review at least 6 ARCS- I've accepted 6, but I still have 2 left to read and review.

Goal 4: Read at least 2 books from my owned TBR each month- I've read 23 so far which is definitely ahead of schedule.

Goal 5: Read at least 5 translated books- Knocked this out of the park. I've read 8 so far.

I'm kicking ass at my challenges even though I completely forgot about my fourth and fifth goals. I'm already thinking about goals for next year.

August Wrap Up Week #2

This past week I've read four books.

The first I finished was Nomadland by Jessica Bruder. This is a nonfiction book focusing on older and poor Americans who used to have stable jobs and homes but due to the Great Recession of 2008, they've have been forced into a nomadic lifestyle. These people sold their homes (usually at a great loss) or had them foreclosed. They then live in a van, RV, camper, or bus driving around finding temporary work which was grueling and usually provided little money and no insurance. While I found the topic fascinating, I took issue with how the author wrote about this sad phenomenon. She portrayed these individuals as adventurers embarking on a exciting prospect rather than rootless, destitute elderly people pushing themselves until they die because they can't afford retirement or a home. I gave the book 3 stars.


The next book I read was The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia translated by Simon Bruni. This was a beautifully written, magical realism story about a family living in Mexico during the revolution and Spanish flu epidemic. The story follows a boy named Simonipio who can communicate with bees and see glimpses of the future. He tries to use this knowledge to keep his adopted family safe from the dangers around him. It was a lovely sweeping family saga and I gave it 4.5 stars.


Then I picked up a short story collection titled Dawn by Selahattin Demirtas translated by Amy Marie Spangler and Kate Ferguson. This was written by a Turkish political prisoner who currently has a sentence of 183 years. He wrote stories of things he knew to be true in the Middle East, especially with women having little freedoms. The first story called Sehar is horrifying and immediately wounded me as it is about a honor killing. Some of the other stories don't seem as well thought-out, almost more like a prompt than a complete story. I gave the collection 3 stars.

The last book I picked up was a graphic novel called As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman. This is a graphic novel about a dark-skinned girl who is questioning her sexuality at an all-white Christian camp. I think this could be powerful to other young girls who are struggling to find a way for religion and sexuality to harmoniously coincide, but as an adult, I felt the story was lacking an ending. I ended up giving the book 2 stars.