What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

Here's what I read this past month, including what I've been reading to my son!

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: Laini Taylor's beautiful writing came alive with Steve West's masterful audiobook narration. The start was a little slow, but the characters all felt so real, the world-building was excellent, and the romance was actually enjoyable despite technically being kind of instalove. I really enjoyed my time spent in this other world and plan to read the sequel.

Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford: Ford covers a lot of "issues" in this memoir — having an incarcerated parent, surviving sexual assault, experiencing neglect and abuse — but she balances these hard truths with other truths, about the care and closeness she experienced from family members and friends, about the confidence in boundary-setting she found after going away to college, and about the healing she found through therapy and time.

The Space Mission Adventure by Sharon M. Draper: The Black Dinosaurs go to space camp, where they participate in simulated space missions and learn a lot about space travel. This was a more contained kind of adventure/mystery than the previous books, but my 6-year-old and I enjoyed it either way.

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea: Urrea is a talented writer, dropping the reader into the midst of a large family gathering. That said, it's exhausting enough attending an actual family gathering, and I don't know that I got much from the literary experience of sitting through someone else's, particularly as the book focused almost exclusively on the men, who were engaged in some kind of ongoing pissing match with each other.

Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families by Nicole Lynn Lewis: Lewis deftly combines her own story of teen parenthood with both statistics and the stories of the young parents her organization serves today. Through her stark honesty, she helps the reader understand the many factors that shaped her life, detailing the ways she barely escaped falling through the cracks to be able to begin and then successfully complete a college degree.

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: So glad I finally picked this up! This makes excellent use of the graphic novel format (even if it's a little gory for my taste). There's suspense and action and humor, and I'm definitely interested in continuing the series.

Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data by Stephen Few: This is a pretty good overview of the best design principles for dashboards. I was familiar with much of it already, but I found it a thorough review of the practical considerations that make dashboards easier or harder to use. The screenshots are from 2006, so they're pretty hilarious and not exactly representative of what you'd see today, but they still get the point across.

Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen: I had a hard time relating to this. The author's target audience seems to be college students, as there are various references to classes and papers and tests. Most of the jokes were ones I've seen elsewhere before, and the themes of lack of self-control, poor self-image, and periods being the worst thing in the world just didn't resonate with where I am in my life.

The Backyard Animal Show by Sharon M. Draper: Draper is skillful at working in important topics through stories of kids having adventures. In this fifth book in the series, the Black Dinosaurs have a pet show gone awry that is grounded in lessons about deforestation and habitat destruction. Sad there's only one book left in the series!

A Psalm of the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: This was just lovely. Chambers has written a book for this moment, for those who have been burnt out by the pandemic or by late-stage capitalism, who need permission to try something new or to just sit with a cup of tea for a bit without accomplishing anything. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller: Miller is an incredibly talented writer, and she did an admirable job narrating her own audiobook. Through a minutely detailed account of the aftermath of her assault by Brock Turner in 2015, she gives the reader a visceral sense of what it's like not just being a survivor of assault but surviving the court process that is involved in trying to get justice.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin: Young adult books can be wildly hit or miss for me, and this one had most of the attributes that make one a miss. The writing and editing were sloppy, the adults don't seem to care what happens, there's painfully token diversity, and the love interest in the alphahole of all YA alphaholes. I was not a fan.

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Ace, The Vanishing Half, and Sabriel
Five years ago I was reading: A Little Life, Adoption Parenting, La traduction est une histoire d'amour, and On the Road
Ten years ago I was reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Ten Bookish Pet Peeves

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

As far as I can tell from going back through my archives, this is a new one! This week we're talking about our bookish pet peeves. Here are ten of mine!

1. Books that are only available in hard copy
The only books I intentionally read in hard copy nowadays are those with a major visual component, like graphic novels. Otherwise it's very hard for me to find time to sit down and read a print book. Most of my reading is done via audiobook while I'm doing tasks around the house, and the rest is via ebook, which I can read on my phone standing in line at the store or at night on my backlit Kindle screen under the covers where it won't wake the baby. So if I want to read something but it's not available in digital formats, I need to really want to read it.

2. Books that would have been fantastic if they'd just been edited a little better
It's so frustrating when I read a book and think, "This would be fantastic if it weren't for [the constant typos / the inconsistent details / that one plot line that didn't make any sense]." As someone who's done developmental editing as well as proofreading, it's clear to me when a little more attention from a careful editor could have made the book a 5-star read but that just didn't happen.

3. Characters who make irrational or out-of-character decisions to move the plot along
Characters don't have to make the decisions that I would have made, but I need to understand why they're making the decisions they are. I get annoyed when characters suddenly choose to do something that's convenient for the plot but has no rational explanation or is completely at odds with the person we know them to be up to that point.

4. Children whose maturation is wildly out of sync with their supposed age
Look, I have a developmentally delayed kid, and I get that not all kids develop at the same rate, but if a kid is acting way younger or older than their age, I expect it to be commented on. To take one example (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry), why is a seemingly average 2-year-old being propped up with pillows and spoonfed and then called "exceptionally verbal" when at 3 years she's speaking single words? Or maybe there's a kid whose speech patterns and behavior suggest they're in elementary school, and then after only a few years have passed in the story they're celebrating their 18th birthday. In this kind of situation I spend way too much time flipping back, trying to figure out if I missed something.

5. Excessive focus on a character's identity or difference
I am all for character diversity, and I also think there's a place for books that are specifically meant to teach about certain identities or experiences. I get annoyed when these attributes are slapped on characters in lieu of giving them a personality or when the book dwells unnecessarily on how unusual this aspect of the person is. Go read Writing With Color and get yourself some sensitivity readers!

6. Hints about an epic plot twist that never materializes
This has happened to me multiple times now! The author drops hints here and there that all seem to point to a potential twist or plot resolution, and I get excited when I think I've figured it out, and then... nothing. The plot is predictable, the resolution is a trope, and none of the hints are ever explained. So annoying!

7. Nonfiction authors who make assumptions about their readers
I know Sheryl Sandberg gets a lot of crap for Lean In, but I personally appreciated how explicitly she laid out the narrow audience her book was for. It's much more frustrating to me when a career or self-help book is purportedly for "everyone" but is actually addressed to people who share a multitude of characteristics with the author. Or the many parenting books that assume throughout that the reader is a woman who is married to a man and who physically birthed the child herself, even if they include a throwaway sentence about how "dads can get something out of the book too"!

8. Plot twists that I figure out hundreds of pages before the characters do
I enjoy the feeling of putting together the pieces and guessing what's going to happen, but I prefer to figure it out just a few steps ahead of the characters. If I've figured out a key plot twist early on and then I have to wait for the entire rest of the book for everyone else to catch on, I spend the whole time going, "Why hasn't anyone figured this out yet? Is the reader supposed to know something the characters don't or did I just figure this out really early? Am I wrong? [Usually not.] Can we hurry up and get to the reveal already?"

9. Quotations inserted as full sentences without a clear source (except for an endnote)
This is a major pet peeve of mine with nonfiction books. Rather than saying "As so-and-so said" or "According to such-and-such article" some authors will just put entire sentences in quotation marks in the middle of their writing with no context except for a footnote or endnote that you have to stop and look up. Either invite the other writers into conversation with your text by referencing them by name, or put more effort into synthesizing their ideas into your own thesis, even if that means not directly quoting the great way they expressed an idea.

10. Switching between past and present tense without a clear reason
Some books intentionally have alternating timelines that are told with different verb tenses, which isn't my favorite, but it can work fine. But sometimes this fluidity of tenses serves no clear purpose and leads to confusion, and sometimes (along the lines of #2 above) verb tenses will even switch mid-sentence because the author and the editor(s) weren't paying close enough attention. It's so distracting!

What are some of your bookish pet peeves?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sabriel
Five years ago I was reading: All Creatures Great and Small, Adoption Parenting, and The Guns of August
Ten years ago I was reading: Global Wording

Best of the Bunch (September 2021)

Today I'm sharing the best book I read in September.

Of the 14 books I read this month, I had two 5-star reads:

Womanist Midrash by Wilda C. Gafney

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

They were both excellent, but I think Dr. Gafney's book probably has a narrower appeal, so I'll make the other my Best of the Bunch!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built was just lovely. Chambers has written a book for this moment, for those who have been burnt out by the pandemic or by late-stage capitalism, who need permission to try something new or to just sit with a cup of tea for a bit without accomplishing anything. Our protagonist, an agender monk named Sibling Dex, heads off into the wilderness with a feeling of restlessness they feel guilty about because they have everything they could ever want. But I don't think you have to have a life of privilege to resonate with Sibling Dex. Anyone who's experiencing burnout from 18 months of pandemic life and yet tries to keep telling themself "At least I have [my health / a job / my kids / etc]; I should be grateful" will understand Chambers' message here. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Girls with Sharp Sticks
Five years ago I was reading: All Creatures Great and Small, Adoption Parenting, and The Guns of August
Ten years ago I was reading: Global Wording

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Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

It's time to talk about what we plan to read this season! I read all but one of the books on my summer TBR list, which is repeated here for fall. Here's some of what I plan to read this fall!

1. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
So far Moriarty hasn't been able to live up to What Alice Forgot and Big Little Lies, but I keep reading everything new she writes anyway because it's still good even when it's not great.

2. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
I wasn't quite as obsessed with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe as many people seemed to be, but I did enjoy it and look forward to reading the sequel!

3. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
This was a recommendation from my bibliologist, and I'm looking forward to reading it!

4. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
One of my book clubs picked this to discuss in October. It has unbelievably high ratings on Goodreads, so I've wanted to read it for quite some time.

5. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie
I am continuing with the Miss Marple books, and this one is next!

6. The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcolm Belc
This was another bibliologist recommendation for this quarter.

7. Pregnant Girl by Nicole Lynn Lewis
This is a holdover from summer that I didn't get to. Still looking forward to it!

8. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
I loved the Wayfarers series, and I'm very excited for this new series from Becky Chambers!

9. Rising from Ash by Jax Meyer
This was my final bibliologist recommendation for this quarter.

10. Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans
After Rachel's passing two and a half years ago, I didn't expect to see anything new from her, but this was what she was working on at the time of her death, which her friend and fellow author Jeff Chu combined with other unpublished writings to lovingly craft this final publication.

What do you plan to read this fall?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rebecca
Five years ago I was reading: Peril at End House, The Master and Margarita, and The Guns of August
Ten years ago I was reading: Thirteen Strategies to Measure College Teaching and The Emperor of All Maladies

What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

Here's what I read this past month, including what I've been reading to my son!

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang: This was the first time, to my knowledge, that I'd read a first-person narrative of living with schizoaffective disorder (one of "the schizophrenias"). There are lots of important ideas here to chew on, and I'll definitely be thinking about it into the future.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson: I thought this was primarily going to be a book about kids who catch on fire, but it's more importantly about kids who have experienced trauma and find themselves with an unprepared caregiver. I'm glad to have met these characters.

The Buried Bones Mystery by Sharon M. Draper: I read this aloud to my 6-year-old and we both enjoyed it. The mystery wasn't exactly Sherlock Holmes-worthy, but I thought the resolution was satisfying. We were happy to continue with the series.

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O'Neill: This was a succinct yet wide-ranging book on Big Data, covering everything from bank loans to college rankings to political polling. For a relatively quick read I thought she included a lot of valuable information and made her points well.

Lost in the Tunnel of Time by Sharon M. Draper: This ended up being more intense than I expected! My 6 1/2-year old did surprisingly well with the ghost stories, the extended discussion of slavery and the Underground Railroad, and the life-threatening situation the boys find themselves in at the climax of the book. It was great to have the opportunity to have conversations with him.

Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater: This definitely felt like the middle book in a trilogy, though I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. The developments in this book were big ones and kept the plot racing along. I'm impatiently looking forward to the third book!

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon: This was an enjoyable read! It didn't go where I was expecting, but it manages to be hopeful even if everything doesn't work out perfectly. I see why this book has been recommended forever and am glad I finally got around to reading it!

4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie: She got me again! I definitely fell for the red herrings in this one and never saw the solution coming. I look forward to continuing with the Miss Marple books.

Shadows of Caesar's Creek by Sharon M. Draper: This was another suspenseful adventure with the Black Dinosaurs, though it took a while to get to the adventure part. However, my son is now invested enough in these characters that he was eager to listen to multiple chapters of them walking through the woods, setting up tents, fishing, and learning about the history of the area. This book brought up conversations about Native American history that were valuable to have with him.

Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda Gafney: In this eye-opening read, Gafney painstakingly goes through every place that women are explicitly or implicitly mentioned in the Torah and the books that include the royal women of Israel and Judah. Although it is incredibly thorough and goes into detail about the specifics of translations and the culture of the time being described, it's very readable and absolutely fascinating.

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and Rebecca
Five years ago I was reading: The Lovely Bones, The Master and Margarita, and The Guns of August
Ten years ago I was reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Emperor of All Maladies

Ten Books with Numbers in the Title

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week we're looking at book titles that have a number in them. I last did this in 2019 and tried to come up with titles for 1-10 then. Here are some other number titles that I have read!

1. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

2. Two-Part Invention by Madeleine L'Engle

3. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

4. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

5. Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

6. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

7. Talking from 9 to 5 by Deborah Tannen

8. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

9. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

10. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

What books have you read with number titles?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and Rebecca
Five years ago I was reading: The Lovely Bones, The Master and Margarita, and The Guns of August
Ten years ago I was reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Emperor of All Maladies

Ten Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is books that put a smile on our faces. We've talked before about books that make us laugh, but this is a little different; I included books that were sweet, heartwarming, charming, or just satisfying. I hope they make you smile as well!

1. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
I should have hated this love story, which traffics in tropes and clichés with abandon, but the writing was so beautiful (and beautifully narrated by Cassandra Clare) that it managed to sneak into my heart anyway.

2. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The first part of this book was hard to get through because the main character is treated so poorly by her family, but it's so satisfying when she secures her independence from them and then goes about doing what she wants and daring to be happy.

3. Dear Mister Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood? by Fred Rogers
This is a collection of letters that children sent to Mister Rogers over the years and his responses, which are just as gentle and honest as you would expect.

4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
Although dealing with some heavy topics, this epistolary novel maintains a delightfully uplifting tone throughout and is in turns funny, sweet, and satisfying.

5. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
This book, too, deals with hard topics but in a perpetually hopeful way. Not only do things wrap up in a satisfying way, but there are moments throughout that are just so moving you can't help but smile.

6. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The supernatural children who populate the titular house are some of the most charming characters you'll meet in fiction. I dare your heart not to melt every time Chauncy makes an appearance.

7. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Silverstein's poems are silly and creative, guaranteed to bring smiles to the faces of adults and kids alike.

8. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
This one might veer into laugh-out-loud funny, but oh, these characters are just delightful! Just thinking about the book makes me smile.

9. The Switch by Beth O'Leary
I like to call this book "a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form." Predictable, yes, but funny, sweet, heart-wrenching, silly, and just plain fun, whether you're following 79-year-old Eileen making her way in the city or her granddaughter Leena finding love in the country.

10. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
This is an adorable romance that's sweet and charming and also includes a satisfying punch to the patriarchy in one of the side plots.

What books have made you smile?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Thank You for Voting and Darius the Great Deserves Better
Five years ago I was reading: The Martian and All American Boys
Ten years ago I was reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix