5/28/15 - March Book

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Three months late, I finally manage to find a decent-sounding book published in March by - as per the new rules of the Monthly Debut Challenge - an author I've never read. We'll see if we can get something for April and May eventually.

Let's just hope that it's better than Liars, Inc., though, because Liars was a pretty underwhelming offering.

Basically, what happens is that three kids decide that making a profit on lying for their school's high schooled population - forging signatures and such, ensuring that their generation of horny teenagers sleeps with enough of each other so that they won't be a laughingstock for the whole remaining six months of their high school existences - is a really good idea! Except one of the members, the son of a senator, soon vanishes, and because apparently the stupidity of the whole Lying At School, Inc. has rubbed off on the main character, Max Cantrell, he decides to lie to the FBI - the FBI - when they ask if Max knows what happened.

When your MC lies to the FBI because he thinks it might piss off his friend, you know that your MC has some priority issues. Or the story does.

After the painfully bad choice - I mean, this is an agonizingly misjudged, dude-decides-to-hit-himself-between-the-legs-with-a-baseball-bat-painful kind of choice - Max continues to make even worse choices! Running from the FBI? Check. Running from the FBI after firing at them even though you are totally innocent? Check. Trusting the shady privately-employed mercenaries instead of the FBI? Check, check. Max and his Mary Sue girlfriend, Parvati, are idiots. Idiots. As much as I applaud the attempt at adding a little diversity, all Parvati's biracial inheritance supplies is a lot of talk about almond-shaped eyes, ink-black hair, white saris, and a little guilt on this reviewer's part for criticizing her. Parvati is still a Mary Sue.

There's also the general shoddiness of the story. Nothing hangs together well - not the beginning, which is the only part which actually includes the titular organization, and certainly not the ending, which had me physically rolling my eyes. I won't spoil anyone who wants to read this for themselves, but... dear Lord. It was, in all honesty, awful.

If you must read a March 2015 book, go for another one. You're not missing anything, giving this one a pass.

5/19/15 - A Book Written By Someone Under 30

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This is the book I finished on the airplane ride home from Paris! I would say it has good associations now, but that was a nightmare of a homecoming, so... there are no good associations. Except for the delicious bagel I got the morning of the second day of flying, and even that is clouded over by the fact that the airport milk I got was bad... so disappointing. Thankfully, Alif the Unseen, the book for the Book Written By Someone Under 30 challenge, is good enough to provide plenty of good associations on its own.

Go read the Goodreads snippet, if you don't already know what the gist of the story is. Because I, for sure, cannot sum it up myself in a way that would do it any justice. Middle Eastern unrest, a clever yet impossibly lame hacker for an MC, something like One Thousand and One Nights, actual jinn and their supernatural habitat, the mingling of technology and magic! Not to mention fantastically drawn characters! What is there not to love about this story?

I gave it a solid 4.5 on Goodreads, which echoes another recent 4.5 - A Darker Shade of Magic. The two stories give me a lot of the same feelings - there wasn't the emotional depth that would have otherwise catapulted these two books into a full 5 stars, but they have everything else. The writing is not flowery or purple, but it's beautiful, expressive and magical without sacrificing coherency; the characters flow over their stereotypes to become heroes you really, really root for; both authors excel at mingling magic with a sense of the Real World. 

Alif comes with the added bonus of truly beautiful musings on religion. The religion of choice is, of course, Islam; however, like any story with a decent perspective on religion, there are moments specifically for adherents of Islam (a lot rests on the translation, or inability thereof, of the Qu'ran) and there are moments for everyone who believes in a higher spiritual power or deity. And what beautiful moments Wilson gives. They made my brain purr.

This is an adult book (often classified, mistakenly, as YA) and for that reason I would warn younger/more sensitive readers of some brief sensual scenes and strong language, but, seriously, if there's any chance of you not being disturbed by these things, read this book. If there's any more adulty book that you read, it should be this one. 

5/5/15 - An Author I Love

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Jodi Lynn Anderson is the kind of author that I trust. While she has never done anything truly mindblowing on the level of, say, Markus Zusak, she writes well and consistently. My personal favorites were her middle-grade May Bird series, but there was also Tiger Lily which I have wanted to reread almost since I finished reading it the first time.

May Bird being other-world fantasy, and Tiger Lily being glorified Peter Pan fanfiction, these of Anderson's offerings made me used to her fantastical side. Peaches takes up on the more realistic side, though the peach orchard that the novel's three protagonists - Leeda, Birdie, and Murphy - inhabit for a while might be more magical than even Neverland. 

From the very first page, it's made apparent that Peaches is a novel for a slightly older teenage audience. The situations are more mature, but more than that, Anderson's style is more mature. It's solid and dependable with just the sweetest, slightest hint of magic - a lot like the story itself. Her characters are... they're basically flawless. I went from feeling meh about all three of them to rooting for them to live together forever, on the peach orchard, happily ever after, please.

It wasn't quite that simple, of course, but I still loved where the story went. It was meandering but not pointless, a little circumstantial but never in a way that made me want to suspend my suspension of disbelief. Anderson executed a balancing act that deserves applause and frequent return trips. And there are sequels!

3/18/15 - Based On/Turned Into A TV Show, and the February Book

I made up for last week by reading not one but two Challenge book! One for the 2015 Challenge, and one for the New Book Every Month thing. I present: A Book Based On or Turned Into a TV Show, and a Book Published In February 2015!

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Dead Until Dark has always sounded sort of like a bridge between the less-modern classics of Anne Rice and the super-modern classics of Twilight. Less class than the former, but still more than the latter - you know what I mean?

And though I've not yet read any Anne Rice (it's on my list), I can definitely say that it did have a bit more - not much, but more - than Twilight. For one thing, it's set in Louisiana! The south! My homeland! Sort of. Not really, but close enough for the setting to feel real familiar. 

Though this only ended up with three stars on my Goodreads account, I can say that it was a high 3. Maybe somewhere like a 3.5? Mostly because of sheer comparative value. Sookie is, compared with 99% of the paranormal heroines I've read about, is an incredible person. Almost every situation that your average contemporary YA heroine is faced with is in this book, and Sookie pretty much turns every cliché response on its head and actually is... really, really intelligent, most of the way through. At least in comparison to most vampire lovers. AND THERE IS AN ACTUAL PLOT WITH ACTUAL CONFLICT. I almost cried when I realized that what we had here was an honest-to-gosh problem and real live issues instead of some cockamamie fabricated bullcrap. It was beautiful.

Does all this have something to do with the fact that this is adult fiction written about a decade ago and not current YA? Probably. Does this mean that the reason I really appreciate this book is probably not quite valid? Almost certainly. Does it make me like Sookie Stackhouse any less, or make me want to read the next books any less? Frick no. I'm on the Sookie bandwagon at this point. Bring on the rational decision-making and the Honest-to-Gosh Conflict.

Note: Dead Until Dark is an adult book and I would not recommend it to any younger readers who would be sensitive to adult content/a bit of adult language.

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For the February Book, I managed to snag A Darker Shade of Magic, and it is absolutely one of the best decisions I've made this year in regards to reading.

A Darker Shade of Magic splits the difference perfectly between old and new, unique and timeless. There are original systems of magic, and there's the plucky streetwise girl-thief who wants to become a pirate. (She is, however, a wonderful character, not at all like her description makes her out to be, and I liked her almost as much as the male MC.) There are also some pretty despicable but interesting villains, as well as relationships that are frankly beautiful and I hope dearly that they get some fleshing out in the continuing books.

One of the greatest things about A Darker Shade of Magic is the fabulous pacing. Schwab can write very well but she also structures this book intelligently: it's broken up into almost 20 different "parts," with relatively short chapters between them. Like I said in my Goodreads review, it's like Max Ride with quality - it's a normal-sized book for adult fic, but the short chapters and parts make the story whizz by, especially aided by the fantastic pacing outside the technical structure.

A Darker Shade of Magic is a huge success. Please go out and read it right now.

Note: This is also an adult book and while there are not as many adult situations there is still a bit of adult language. Not that much, though. Three or four instances.

2/4/15 - Nonfiction / January Book

(Lets pretend that I haven't missed nearly a month of reviews, shall we?)

In the last week of January, I said that I had two books for my challenge: Unapologetic by Francis Spufford, going under the Nonfiction slot, and The Sweetheart by Angelina Mirabella, for my January Debut book. I have good news and bad news and ish news. I finished Unapologetic for that week and it was pretty good! Bad news is that I did not get through The Sweetheart, instead putting it on my DNF list. The ish news is that I read my January debut book after all, even though the author has been published before.

But first, Unapologetic.

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This book was written by a British chap a few years back, and its subtitle is Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense. Christianity is, if Spufford is anyone to believe, very different across the pond, and so some of what he says about the American church would probably badly offend a good portion of us over here. Still, the meat of what Spufford says carries out the stated message of the subtitle fairly eloquently (though with a lot of F-bombs - something that I'm sure we'd also get our feathers ruffled for.)

Nevertheless, Spufford has a strong sense of self-awareness, and I think that's a valuable commodity that a lot of the American Protestant church lacks. But he never lets up on the utter respect and awe of God, which makes for a realistic yet deeply spiritual little book that I desperately need for my shelf.

9/10 would recommend to anyone interested in Christianity and what it means and how it works emotionally.

And now, onto my January Debut book: All The Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven.

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If you're anywhere on Goodreads or probably any of the other various online book catalogue systems, you've probably seen this. It's not the kind of book I usually go for. It's got JUST LIKE JOHN GREEN! JOHN GREEN STYLE! BASICALLY THE NEW FAULT IN OUR STARS! DID WE MENTION JOHN GREEN!-esque marketing, an immediate turn-off. I'm not a John Green fan (Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska can both be found on my the-stupid-it-burns GR bookshelves). Not to mention this just isn't my genre. And it's got such a hipster title. 

To be honest, I don't know why I put this on hold at the library. Maybe because I just couldn't get past The Sweetheart's length and its second-person POV, and this was the only January release-date book that the library had that looked any good.

I'm really glad I picked it up.

I can see the appeal for John Green fans. It's that kind of book. But it's not John Green, and it garnered five stars from me. The funny thing is that a lot of people hate it for the same reasons that I tend to hate John Green books (except for TFiOS, I liked that one moderately). This means that I am, in all likelihood, a hypocrite. But moving on to All The Bright Places! (Ugh. I can't get over that title still.)

It's a suicide book, like TFiOS was a cancer book (so if that's a touchy subject for you, please stop reading). Unlike cancer, suicide is kind of a topic I know a bit about, at least from the inside out. I've never been affected by losing someone to it, thank God. So the stuff that Violet and Finch go through - mostly Violet, though Finch to some degree, too - is a subject pretty close to me. Maybe that made me blind to whatever unapologetic [see what I did there] pretentiousness it has, but even if it didn't, it made me connect with this story to a degree that I don't think I ever have in a "real-life" sort of book.

I will admit that the ending had the kind of dragging, emotionally exploitative ending that I loathed in Looking For Alaska. I stuck out this one because I actually loved both Violet and Finch, and, while a little bit trivializing, this one had more punch. And it was worth it at the end.

Reading some of the more negative reviews, I find I can't argue with most of them. Especially when I say the exact same things about John Green! It's a very frustrating position to be in, forced to see myself as the curmudgeonly, spiritually-fifty-four-years-old fun-sucker that I am, hating on young cancer love and dead author quoting. (At least Niven had the decency to force her characters to Google Virginia Woolf quotes to keep up their facade, for gosh sakes.) 

However, there is one area I want to defend ATBP on: the idea that it gives no hope for kids who are suicidal. I saw at least one reviewer who said something to this effect. While no one person is the same, I can't say that I found this true for me. I wouldn't go shoving this book into every suicidal or borderline kid's hands, because it made me feel a lot of things and not all of them were positive, and it might be too much for some. Still, there was hope to be found. It's called All The Bright Places for a reason. It was even, dare I say it, inspiring.

So, while I did cheat a little bit - on the first month, no less! - by not reading a true debut, I can't say that I regret the choice. ATBP is a new favorite and I need a copy as soon as possible.

2014 - December 20

It's twelve days until 2015 begins. Might as well kick this off a little bit early, in order to lay some groundwork.

This coming year will be my third calendar year of college, starting off with my second semester of the Sophomore Slump. Since I started college - and even before then - my reading has drastically suffered. Over 200 books read a year, easy, has turned into a tooth-and-nail struggle to see if I can hit 150. (Hint: I'm not sure I can. I'm at 143 today.)

What's the obvious solution? A reading challenge!

I found this nifty little thing on Tumblr back when I was indulging in that musty blue hellhole:

It's fifty items, and fifty-two books when you take the "trilogy" item into account. Which works out pretty nicely as a book a week. Obviously I want to read more than 52 books in 2015 - 2015 is going to be a good year like 2014 was supposed to be and wasn't! - but I think this little reading challenge will keep me on track.

Not to mention it's fun! Who doesn't like checking off boxes and feeling that sense of satisfaction that you've achieved a set goal, no matter how insignificant?

I'm going to try to give a quick review of each book, as well. And who knows - maybe since it's a pretty easy challenge to beat, especially when I get to summer break, I'll find another challenge to incorporate!

Let me lay some ground rules:

1. No multitasking. That is, I can't use Les Mis for both "a book over 500 pages" and "a book over 100 years old." I have to read 52 books to win the challenge.
2. Where possible, I'm going to be reading new books, not rereading old ones. Some of them require rereading ("a book from your childhood," "a book that made you cry") but this is a challenge! It's for breaking into new territory!
3. Going in the order shown on the list is not mandatory.
4. Have fun! If I beat the challenge at the end of the year, I will eat an entire carton of Cool Whip and I will not feel guilty about it.

It's a reading challenge, not an Olympic event. Who needs rules, anyway?

Over the next week or so (and probably throughout January), I will be assembling my list of projected books to read. You can check them out at the handy-dandy little page to the right of this post. -----> 

And that's about it for groundwork. If you want to do the challenge, too, comment and tell me! Better yet, start your own blog. It'll be fun! 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Joyous Reading!