Tag: Becky Chambers

July Reading Roundup

As I’ve mentioned in my last few posts, July was a pretty hard month for me emotionally. Mostly because it sunk in that this pandemic is here to stay and I’m not going back to work or going to see my friends for several more months, possibly almost a year. I recognize that I am extremely lucky. I have a stable job where I can work from home, I’m in a safe place, and I’m not struggling to get food or anything. But as much as I want to go back to work and see my colleagues and have writing group in person and go to trivia with friends and work-out at in-person barre classes and all the great things I was doing pre-pandemic, I also don’t want to venture out of my safe bubble unless I absolutely have to. The outside is kind of terrifying. Social distancing is not designed for the blind, and I have to rely on other people doing the right thing all too often for my own comfort. So my feelings are all confused.

So in July, I did what I always do when I have feelings. I read. A lot.

Collage of the 14 books I read in July: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, The Sound of Stars, Orbiting Jupiter, You Should See Me in a Crown, The Kingdom of Back, Chasing Secrets, Record of a Spaceborn Few, The Waste Lands, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Castle Hangnail, and Upside-down MagicI read fourteen books in July, bringing my total for the year up to seventy-two. Six of them were rereads. I read two sci fi, two contemporaries, four paranormals, four fantasies—two of them middle grade—and two historical novels—one of them a historical fantasy. One of the books I read was in Braille, bringing me up to six Braille books for the year so far. I’m still one behind where I want to be to meet my goal of reading twelve Braille books this year, but I’ll catch up. This was a very eclectic reading month, and I really liked most everything I read.

I started July with The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow. Aliens have invaded Earth, trapped all the humans in centers where they have to work for the invaders, and banned all forms of art because they inspire rebellion. Janelle is a human teenager operating a very illegal library of books she managed to save from the aliens’ purge. Morris is a teenage alien with too-much of an interest in human art. When Morris discovers Janelle’s library, he doesn’t turn her in, on the condition that she find him some music. But then they’re caught and they have to run for it, and then they wind up trying to stop the aliens from turning Earth into an alien resort planet. I love so much about this book. I love watching Janelle and Morris grow from enemies, to suspicious but curious companions, to friends, to something more than friends. I love that Janelle is such a diverse YA protagonist. She’s black, queer, fat, and has a thyroid condition. It’s not important to the plot, but it’s who she is and I love it. Most of all, because I’m as much of a nerd as these two, I love all the references to my favorite books: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, The Hate U Give, and even The Light Between Worlds. My only problem with this book is the ending, and it’s only a problem if there isn’t going to be a sequel. Without giving spoilers, if there isn’t a sequel, then that was a really unsatisfying ending. If there is a sequel, it is a great ending. But I don’t know if there is going to be a sequel yet. So we’ll see.

Next I reread all four of the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. I’ve already talked about these at length over here, so if you’re curious go check that out. I’m not going to reiterate my thoughts here, because I’m currently trying to dig myself out of the Twilight-shaped hole I fell into post-Midnight Sun. Never fear, Midnight Sun will be getting its own post too, because I have so many feelings.

Next, I read The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu. This was a fascinating historical fantasy book. It’s about Mozart and his older sister as children, growing up and touring Europe as composers and musicians, and also their adventures in a fantasy world called the Kingdom of Back. I knew vaguely that Mozart had a sister and that she composed and even that there are theories that she composed some of his pieces, and this was a great look into what it must have been like for her growing up in Mozart’s shadow because she was a girl. I admit I had a hard time with this book at first, because the excursions into The Kingdom of Back felt disjointed, and at times while I was reading this, I didn’t understand why Marie Lu didn’t just write this book about any two children, instead of tying it to the Mozarts. But then I read the author’s note at the end of the book, which said that there’s historical evidence that the Mozart children did in fact invent a fantasy land they called The Kingdom of Back while on tour in Europe. This made it all make sense, and I wish I’d read the Author’s note first. This wound up being a really good book, and I would definitely recommend it.

After that, I read Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. This was a short contemporary middle frade book. I read it in one evening. Twelve-year-old Jack has a new foster brother, and the new foster brother has a daughter he has been separated from. This book deals with all the preconceived notions foster children with troubled pasts might have to face. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and I just love it. I was definitely balling my eyes out by the end of it. And I definitely recommend this book.

I needed something light after that, so I reread Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon. Castle Hangnail needs a new master, but when twelve-year-old Molly Utterback arrives claiming to be a wicked witch, well it’s not what anyone expected. Crazy adventures ensue, including deals made with magical moles, turning donkeys into dragons, and fending off a corrupt real estate agent with his own shadow. And then of course the evil sorceress who’s supposed to be Castle Hangnail’s real master appears. This is such a fun book and I love it so much and I will always love it.

Then, because I love middle grade fantasy and Castle Hangnail wasn’t enough to satisfy me, I read Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Emily Jenkins, and Lauren Myracle. Nory’s magic does not do what it’s supposed to do. Instead of turning into a kitten, she turns into a dragon-kitten, or dritten. Instead of turning into a skunk, she turns into a skunk-elephant, or skunkafant. When Nory’s wonky magic causes her to fail the entrance exams to her father’s prestigious magic school, he sends her to live with her aunt and attend a program at the local public school for upside-down magic. Nory meets a bunch of new friends with magic as crazy as hers. She deals with bullies and magical accidents and also how much she hates that she doesn’t have normal magic. This book was just so much fun, and I loved it lots. I’ve since read the second book and loved that too.

After that I read Chasing Secrets by Jennifer Choldenko. What I didn’t realize when I picked this up is this is a plague book. Oops. Lizzie  is the daughter of a prominent doctor in San Francisco in 1901. There’s an outbreak of bubonic plague, and Chinatown has been quarantined, and the family’s Chinese cook is trapped inside the quarantine. But Lizzie knows what a quarantine should look like, and the Chinatown quarantine isn’t that. Lizzie is determined to get their cook out and to uncover the truth about the plague. Even though this is a middle grade book, it deals with issues of class, gender, and race in the early 1900s. The plague aspect of this book was pretty disturbing right now, so if you’re interested in reading this, I might wait to read it until the plague is over here. I’m also not sure the subplot about Lizzie’s brother was satisfying to me, but on the whole this was a good book.

My next book was also about a girl named Liz, though this was not an intentional choice on my part. I’ve been adding a lot of books by Black authors to my want to read shelf on Goodreads, and this month I got You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson out of the library. Liz is depending on getting a music scholarship to attend her top-choice school, and when she doesn’t get it, she decides to run for prom queen to try to get the scholarship that comes with it. Her hometown takes prom, and the race for prom court, very, very seriously. We follow Liz as she steps way outside her comfort zone and makes new friends, mends old relationships, falls in love with the new girl in school, and faces down some truly epic mean girls who are trying to use her race and sexuality to force her out of the race. This is a great book, and I had so much fun reading it. I actually caught myself wishing I’d gone to my own high school prom (I came to my senses later and have no regrets). I definitely recommend this book.

Next, I read The Waste Lands by Stephen King, the third book in the Dark Tower series. I think this was my favorite book in the series so far. Until we got to the suicidal talking pink monorail, which, I’m sorry, I just can’t take seriously.

And then I read the next book in Becky Chambers’s Wayfarers series, Record of a Spaceborn Few. This book follows a group of people living on the Exodan Fleet, the fleet that left Earth hundreds of years ago. Among these characters is Ashby’s sister (Ashby is the captain of the Wayfarer in the first book). This book is really about the lifestyle of these particular humans and how some cling to it, some reject it, and some seek it out. And it’s beautiful and I love it. I just love these books so so much, and I can’t wait for the next one to come out in 2021.

And finally, it took me all month, but I reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling. I also talked about this a little in my Twilight post. It was a hard book to read, particularly this month, because the ministry’s denial of Voldemort’s return feels very much like certain politicians in the U.S. denying the coronavirus and letting it run wild. But I read it, and enjoyed it by the end.

And that’s it for the month of July. Have you read any of these books? Do you agree with my thoughts?

June Reading Roundup

Well, we’ve made it to July, though honestly I’m not sure if we have indeed made it or if we’re going to make it much longer. The best I can say is we are more than halfway through this disaster of a year. But as coronavirus cases are rising all over the country again and there’s no end in sight, I’ve kind of given into the existential dread I was fighting off in April. We’re all going to die. If someone could convince me otherwise I would really appreciate it. Because I haven’t been sleeping or writing much or generally feeling like a human. Which is why

i’m writing this so late into the month this time despite my really good intentions to get it done sooner.

So let’s talk about the books I read in June.

Collage of the covers of the books I read in June: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Briar's Book, We Must Be Brave, Speak, A Closed and Common Orbit,Such a Fun Age, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and The WitchesI read eleven books in June, bringing my grand total for 2020 up to fifty-eight books. Five of the books were rereads for me. Four were dystopians, one was science fiction, one was historical fiction, two were contemporary, and three were fantasy. And I read one book in Braille, bringing the number of Braille books I’ve read in 2020 to five, just one behind where I should be if I’m going to reach my goal of reading twelve books in Braille this year.

I started June with the prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. This was the story of the Tenth Hunger Games, and young President Snow, who acts as a mentor the first year mentors are included in the Games. I flew through this book, but I didn’t enjoy it very much. I found the worldbuilding fascinating. I loved seeing how the Games started and how they became what they are in the main trilogy. But I didn’t like being in Snow’s head. Knowing that he’s going to end up president meant that all his struggles in this book felt meaningless, because there were no stakes—everything was going to turn out fine. And Snow wasn’t really a compelling enough character to pull that kind of thing off, at least for me. Also the pacing of this book was really weird. So if you’re interested in the worldbuilding, this book might be for you, but otherwise I honestly wouldn’t recommend it.

I followed this up with a reread of the original three Hunger Games books because why not? My opinions of these books were largely the same as they have been in the past. I loved the first book. The second book was really good but again the pacing was weird, and I have strong negative feelings about the third book that I’ve ranted about in the past so won’t bore you with now. Despite the ending, this series remains one of my favorites, and it was nice to reread it right now.

Next, I finished my reread of Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic series with Briar’s Book. in this book, Briar and the girls face down an epidemic. I was worried about rereading this book, because it’s very much a plague book, but it was actually kind of a nice read. It was nice to escape to a world where the plague is taken seriously and everyone is behaving responsibly and a cure can be found. Plus I love these four young mages and this whole world. This series also remains a favorite for me and I continue to highly recommend.

My aunt gave my mom We Must be Brave by Frances Liardet for her birthday, and when I found out it was a World War II book, I picked it up too, because I love World War II books. We must be brave is about a couple living in the English countryside who discover a little girl alone on a bus full of evacuees. The girl apparently got on the bus by mistake, and the couple take her in while they try to contact her family. They never wanted children, but the little girl takes over their lives completely and becomes theirs as the war rages on. And then her family appears. The premise of the book really hooked me in, but honestly I was disappointed by this book. I found it to be slow to the point of tedium at points, melodramatic and maudlin at others. And it also just would not end. I can see why some people would like it, but personally I wouldn’t recommend it.

After that, I read Speak by Laurie Hals Anderson. This was a powerful and heartbreaking book about a girl finding the strength to speak up after she was raped a party the summer before high school.  i never actually read this book when I was a kid, but I know a lot of people who did and I feel like it should be required reading for all teens.

I needed something fun after that, so I read the second book in The Wayfarer’s series, A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. At first, this book threw me a little because it doesn’t follow the same crew as the first book. It follows Lovelace the AI, now trying to adjust to life in an illegal human body kit, and Pepper, the mechanic we met in the previous book. But once I got used to these new characters, I was totally won over by both of their stories and their struggles and their growth and I was totally crying by the end. I loved how different this book was from the first, but how it was still connected. I also love this amazing universe Becky Chambers has created, and all these great characters with these wonderful heartwarming relationships. I am just dying to read the next book!

Then I read Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. I’ve had this on my list for a while and just happened to get off the waiting list at the library during June. So yes it was topical but not on purpose. Such A Fun Age is about a young black woman, Amira, who babysits for a three-year-old white girl, Briar, and Briar’s blogger mom whose name I cannot remember. When there’s a family emergency one night and Briar’s mom asks Amira to take Briar to the market down  the street to get her out of the house, Amira is accused of kidnapping Briar, and so begins a chain of events as Amira tries to move on with her life and Briar’s well-intentioned mom tries desperately to make amends. I loved this book. Not just because it was topical in today’s climate but because it was about so much more than the incident in the market, though of course that was central. All of the characters in this book were fully developed characters, with serious but realistic flaws, and it was really about Amira’s life and her struggles as she grew up and tried to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. The book encompasses the incident in the market and so much more, and I feel like this is a really important book because of that. Also it was very fast-paced and very easy to read. This is definitely one I would recommend.

I was reading the fourth Harry Potter book all month in Braille. It took me so long because first of all, I’m slower at reading in Braille, and second of all, I was really struggling with how I felt about the author and the books. I talked about this last month, so I won’t go into it again here. But at the end of June, I finished rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and that’s all I’m saying about it.

And I finished up June with The Witches by Roald Dahl. Like most of the Roald Dahl books I’ve reread in the last couple years, this turned out to be both delightful and horrifying. I know I read this as a child but I had no recollection of it and wow, just wow this was a wild book. A lot of fun but really wild.

And that’s it for the books I read in June. Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?