I read a lot. I read so much that my husband thinks I should read less, but I love the written word. On my Goodreads page right now, it says that I'm currently reading eight books. Eight! That seems crazy to me, but when I review the list, they are books that I am "currently" reading, though some of them have been laid aside for other books, I will come back to them.
My mother and my sister- who read, but aren't "big" readers- ask me how I can keep up with eight books- or even three books- at a time. This is how I explain it. People watch television series all the time, and they can keep track of three or four storylines a week at the very least. (My mom LOVES the soap opera, Days of Our Lives and records it so that she never misses it!) For me, reading is the same way. I can pick up a book and immediately remember the characters, the story, where we were going and what I was expecting.
I'm one of those people who will cry because of a book, who will hug a book to my chest because it is so wonderful or the character needs a hug. I'm a sucker for romantic stories, or stories where people grow, so my most commonly read genres are Young Adult and Romance, but I read practically anything put in front of me. If it's well written, the characters are well developed and the storyline intrigues me, I will read it.
So, some books that I have finished recently:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: Far and away 5 stars for this one. I would recommend this to everybody who wants to be a writer and I would love to teach this book. The character, Xiomara, is incredibly relatable in her fights with her (excessively) religious mother especially about what it means to be a proper young lady in modern day New York City. The way the character develops, and finds her voice and her courage make for a wonderful story. I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation- though I want to hear more of that story!
The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: Five stars! Again.. another book I would love to teach to my students, but most of all I think every teacher and social worker should read. This book had me looking at my students in a completely different way, and made me want to hug every single one of them. The way that Mr. Parnassus deals with trauma affected children is amazing, and the way that the reluctant social case worker, Linus, deals with his own emotional growth is incredibly well written. It's so wonderful to have a character that you're rooting for and then watch him grow a heart. I loved the philosophical discussions that Linus and Arthur have around the idea of moral imperative. It was perfect.
Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller: Three stars, but mostly because I don't really like reading non-fiction too often. The writing is well done and pushes you forwards into the narrative quite a bit, but the reveal about the subject of the book, David Starr Jordan, and his philosophies was disappointing. I felt like I had been given a team to root for and then told that the team was involved in kicking puppies or something. I listened to this one mostly on audiobook (Thank you Life's Library for that!), but found myself putting it down - or turning it off- a few times. The ending was a bit redemptive for Miller, who weaves in her own memoir amongst the research on RSJ, but I still wasn't entirely thrilled with this book.
That's what I've been reading. What is currently on my desk and will get reviewed as I finish them:
For Jolebokaflod: Hubby picked Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells out of a stack of books that I already owned- since I didn't need to buy more books- for our traditional Yule book reading. I'm excited about this, since I love Murderbot!
From Life's Library: Rosewater by Tade Thompson: Only two chapters into this sci-fi story and loving the narration so far. Trying to keep with the LL accelerated calendar so I can participate in the discussions this time around. I'm not great at that!
Also reading: How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith: I'm already almost halfway through this book and loving the personal reflection and history of places that I will probably never visit, but which are so important to the story of slavery.
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