Rabbit Hole #59: 12 Reads for 2017

2016 isn't over yet (seriously, it's the year that will never end), but I'm already thinking ahead to my reading for next year. The books below aren't new releases; rather, these are ones that have been sitting on my list "to read some day." That list is ridiculously long and growing all the time, but here is a quick look at some of the ones I hope to read in the coming twelve months:

1. Hamilton by Ron Chernow--I'm in love with the musical, and Hamilton: A Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter was one of my favorite reads of this year. It's probably time to pick up the source material. 

2. The Great Gatsby Anthology: Poetry and Prose Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald's Novel--This collection put out by Silver Birch Press collects short works by over 80 authors that are all inspired by Gatsby. If you know me, you know how much I love the novel, so it's no surprise that this collection is calling my name. 

3.  A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan--Logan's The Gracekeepers was a beautiful, haunting novel based on myth and fairytale. This interconnected short story collection is centered around Scottish myths that two women tell their unborn child. 

4. Hogarth Shakespeare Series: Ok, this is a bit of a cheat; it's actually five books, not one (with more to come). These are retellings of Shakespeare plays by contemporary authors. The top two on my list are Hagseed by Margaret Atwood (The Tempest) and Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (The Taming of the Shrew), but honestly, they all sound incredible. 

5. An Untamed State by Roxane Gay--Gay's best known work, the essay collection Bad Feminist, was one of my top reads of 2015. An Untamed State was her 2014 debut novel and centers around a Miami-based attorney who is visiting her family in Haiti when she is kidnapped by armed gunmen. 

6. Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang--This graphic novel set has been on my radar for years, since I first read American Born Chinese. This duology follows two children, Little Bao and Four-girl, juxtaposing their very different experiences during the Chinese Boxer Rebellion.

7. An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz--As the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline showed, most of America doesn't know (or doesn't care) about the indigenous people who were here long before most of our ancestors showed up. We learn U. S. history, but not our entire history. This is a book to help fill in the gaps.

8. Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie D. Glaude, Jr.--Yes, racism is still a problem. We need to learn as much as we can in order to fight it. 

9. The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly--This is a middle grade novel about immigration and family, centered around two Filipino girls abandoned by their father and living with their stepmother in Louisiana. 

10. Josephine: The Hungry Heart by Jean-Claude Baker--Josephine Baker is one of the most fascinating figures of the 1920s, but she was so much more than that. This is written by one of her "adopted" children, so it's part memoir/part biography. 

11. The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney--Egypt and a strong, powerful woman. I'm here for this biography.

12. There Was and There Was Not: A Journey Through Hate in and Possibility in Turkey, Armenia, and Beyond by Meline Toumani--In today's society where the "other" is so often demonized, we often refuse to listen.

True Story

Things Worth Fighting For

Just a reminder to myself, when the world looks dark.

This is just some of what we're fighting for:

Equality
Compassion
Family
Friends
The environment
Basic necessities for all
A living wage
Equal pay
Black Lives Matter
Reproductive justice
The end of the death penalty
LGBTQIA+ rights
Quality education for all
Prison and criminal justice reform
Religious freedom--for all religions
Our veterans
Common sense gun control
Art--both visual and performance
Music
Literature
Free speech
Voting rights
And, as Lin-Manuel Miranda put it:
Love is love is love is love.

I refuse to stop believing that we are better than this moment in time. 

Rabbit Hole #58: In/Out Dec. 4-10

A fairly quiet reading week, but I'm back to reading regularly!

Recently Purchased

I have to buy Christmas presents...I have to buy Christmas presents...I have to buy Christmas presents..

Recently Finished

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (4 stars)

This is one of those books I'm a little ashamed I hadn't read yet: it's a classic and I'm an English major, AND it's written by arguably my home state's most famous author, Willa Cather. I knew the story, but for whatever reason, hadn't picked it up. I'm glad I did--this short work talks about devotion to a place you love and is filled with Cather's beautifully evocative prose. The protagonist Alexandra is a female farmer which is extremely revolutionary, both for then and now. The novel also contains Cather's insights into the variety of immigrants who helped settle and develop the Midwest, with all of their positive and negative traits (she's not very kind to my Swedish ancestors!).

Currently Reading
(Still reading both of these this week)

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

The more things change. . .

Humans really need to start evolving. 

The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemison

This might be the one science fiction book that hooks me. . . stay tuned. 

Rabbit Hole #57: In/Out Nov. 27-Dec. 3

After a lengthly lull, back to the books!

Recently Purchased

I blame the sales. 

 

Recently Finished

Akata Witch by Ndedi Okorafor (4 stars)

I loved this book. Sunny is a young albino Nigerian-American girl who discovers she is a free agent of a group of magical people called the Leopard People. She and her group of friends attend magical training while keeping their identities secret in the "real" world. They are also the latest Oha coven, whose goal is to stop the renegade Black Hat, a sorcerer who has been kidnapping children to bring about a Nigerian demon. My only real issue with the book, and the issue with a lot of YA books like this, is how quickly the conflict is resolved at the end of the novel. Otherwise, I would highly recommend it--to all ages of YA readers. 

Currently Reading

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

Fear, paranoia, revenge--those things have caused some of the worst atrocities in this country, and the Salem Witch Trials were only the beginning. In troubled times like we have today, it's important to learn from the mistakes our ancestors made and strive to not commit the same. 

The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemison

I've just barely started this novel about a planet with a society based on ancient Egypt, which is one of my weaknesses. I think I've read more science fiction this year than I ever have, and I'm still looking for that one to hook me into the genre. Hopefully this will be the one. 

Rabbit Hole #57: October/November Update

I'm back!! These two months. . .there are not enough words to describe them. I have been reading because one needs an escape in these unreal times, but nowhere near my pace last year. (I knew that was going to be tough--last year was a definite anomaly!). I am reading substantially more than two years ago, though. Look for a new In/Out post later this week!

Bustle Women/POC Reading Challenge (Current Completion: 15/20)

Reread a favorite book from childhood: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (4 stars)

Book about women in war: Girl at War by Sara Novic (4 stars)


PopSugar Reading Challenge 2016 (Current Completion: 36/41)

A book from Oprah's Book Club: Ruby by Cynthia Bond (4 stars)


Read Harder Challenge 2016 (Current Completion: 21/24)

A dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (4.5 stars)

A book of historical fiction set before 1900: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (3 stars)

The first book in a series by a person of color: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (4 stars)


Non-challenge reads: 

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (5 stars)

Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sandition by Jane Austen (finished the trio of novellas) (3 stars)

Definitely me this year

The Day After

Well. . .

Last night, America elected a reality television star to the most powerful position in the country, possibly even in the world; a reality star who sexually assaults women, who is literally endorsed by the KKK and dictators.

In a situation that only seems to happen here, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but because of our strange and archaic electoral college, Trump actually becomes the next President. Even more disheartening, the reports came out today that 46.9% of eligible voters DIDN'T vote at all. Almost 50% left their fates in the hands of other people.

I went to bed in a state of shock, in disbelief that all of the hard work we have put into moving this country forward the past eight years was disappearing before our eyes.

I got up this morning, after only having slept about an hour, hoping that it was all a terrible nightmare. It is, except this is a nightmare we will be having for the next four years. If Trump is even able to push through a third of his horrendous promises, millions upon millions of lives will be drastically altered.

This weighed heavily on my mind this morning as I drove to work. I had no idea how I was going to face my students. So we wrote and we talked. I sat there surrounded by a sea of beautiful young faces: black, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, white. They're male, female, queer, straight, LGBT+, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and everything in between. Only 15-16 years old, my students are very aware of what's going on, and they are extremely disappointed in their elders. They don't understand how we could allow a man who has said such horrific things about, well, everyone really, attain so much power. They're also scared: for themselves, their families, and their friends. These kids represent the very people that Trump and his ilk are railing against, and they know exactly what can happen because they've seen it already in their daily lives.

But as we talked, they gave me hope. When the next election rolls around, they'll be there, and they won't be voting for racism or misogyny or Islamaphobia or homophobia or xenophobia. They're angry but determined that their generation will get it right.

I, for one, will be right by their sides, fighting with them, and cheering them on.

Rabbit Hole #56: In/Out Oct. 2-15

I've discovered the cause of my reading slump: this election and the tornado surrounding it. I've been spending far too much time focusing on it and not nearly enough time reading. I wish I could say that's going to change, but I have a feeling that's won't happen until Nov. 9.

Be that as it may, I have finished a couple of books in the last couple of weeks!

Recently Purchased

BabyLit Board books

Ok, so I didn't actually buy these for me, but for our friend's adorable two year old. They are hands down my favorite books for the younger set, using the original classics for counting, colors, animals, opposites, ocean animals...well, you get the idea. Definitely check these out if you have wee ones around!

Recently Finished

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (3 stars)

Yes! Finally finished. Nothing new was introduced about these historical characters, who are incredibly fascinating, and I still felt her characterization fell very flat, especially for Cromwell. It was interesting, but just not for me, and I won't be picking up the third installment whenever it comes out.

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (5 stars)

I loved this. Plain and simple. The insights into Miranda's thought process, his inspirations, the history, the backgrounds on the principal players: everything was on point and worth every moment. I'll be coming back to this one again and again.

Currently Reading

The Watsons by Jane Austen 

Starting in on the second novella in this collection. It's a bit better than Lady Jane so far; we shall see if it continues. 

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

This is an incredible read so far. It's set in a dystopian futuristic Sudan that in some ways feels very current, but with the added elements of magic. Okorafor's writing is engaging and her characters leap off the page. 

I will break this slump. I will break this slump. I will...

To My Sisters Everywhere

To all my sisters,

You are Amazing.
Courageous.
Brave.
Strong.
Determined.
Important.
Inspiring.

For those of you who have shared your stories, thank you. You've showed others they're not alone and forced this country to sit up and confront the truth.

For those of you who are still hesitant to come forward, you are loved. You have a support system millions of women strong. When or if you are ready to share, you will have a wall of others standing beside you.

The country needs to hear our voices. We won't be ignored or belittled anymore.

Rabbit Hole #55: September Reading Update

Still battling a weird reading slump/rut, so only seven books this month, and wondering if it's because of the three challenges. I feel a bit locked in; there's not a lot of wiggle room for me to read things outside of the tasks. I am reading a lot of amazing books, don't get me wrong, but lesson learned for next year, I think.


Popsugar 2016 Reading Challenge (Current Completion: 35/41)

A National Book Award winner: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (4 stars)

A book 100 years older than you: Lady Susan by Jane Austen (3 stars)


Bustle Women/POC Challenge (Current Completion: 13/20)

YA book by an author of color: Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai (3.5 stars)

Post-apocalyptic fiction written by a woman: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (3.5 stars)


Read Harder Challenge 2016 (Current Completion: 18/24)

A food memoir: Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Meaning by Kim Sunée (4 stars)




Non-challenge books completed: 

March, Book 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell (4.5 stars) 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4 stars)


Check my weekly In/Out posts for more information on the completed reads!

Rabbit Hole #54: In/Out Sep. 25-Oct. 1

Hit a reading wall again. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Recently Purchased

Still doing well on the no-book buying thing. Still miss hitting my favorite stores.



Recently Finished

Lady Susan by Jane Austen (3 stars)

This is a bit of a cheat--I've finished the first novella in here, but I haven't gotten to the others yet. Lady Susan was actually a let down after having read Austen's full length novels. It was full of completely unlikable characters, which I usually like, and multiple narrators, which I also usually like, but the combination just didn't work here. In Austen's other works, you can see a sly wit and beautiful societal commentary, but this seemed lacking in that department. 

Currently Reading

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Still reading. . . Henry VIII's first wife has just died, Anne Boleyn miscarried their son, and Henry's getting the roving eye. Again. 

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

I am taking my time and savoring this. I love the short essays on the development of the musical, and Miranda's notes on the the actual book. It's always fascinating to see a "mind at work."

Rabbit Hole #53: In/Out Sep. 18-24

Only one finished this week, but I'm ok with that. 

Recently Purchased

NONE! (I have mixed feelings about this...)


Recently Finished

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunée (4 stars)

I really enjoyed this, but then, I'm a sucker for travel memoirs and soul-searches. (I unapologetically love Eat, Pray, Love and Under the Tuscan Sun.) This ticked all those boxes, plus having portions set in my beloved New Orleans and some amazing looking recipes, and it's no surprise that it was something I would find intriguing. Yes, it's self-indulgent and self-absorbed in places, but what memoir isn't?

Currently Reading

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

I do normally love historical fiction, but Mantel just isn't doing it for me. This is not one of those books I can't wait to pick up; I pick it up because I'm committed to finishing it (I never DNF--did not finish--a book. Some see this as a weakness, but I feel I can't truly judge something unless I've experienced it entirely, i. e., finishing the entire book). The story is fine; I'm just not thrilled with her writing. I also realize I'm in the minority here. 

Lady Susan, The Waltons, Sedition by Jane Austen

Three of Jane Austen's lesser known short novellas, some unfinished. Not too far into the first one, which is told in as an epistolary, so I'm interested to see how closely these align to her completed works.

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

I really don't think I need to say more, do I?

Rabbit Hole #52: In/Out Sep. 11-17

As I said, nothing finished one week, and then this week--four finished! One of these days I'll figure out my reading habits.

Recently Purchased

 A Wrinkle in Time quintet by Madeline L'Engle

I really thought I still had this series; it was one of my favorites growing up. With Ava Duvernay's new movie version of A Wrinkle in Time coming next year, I knew I had to reread this one. (And the cast! Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling?!?! I am SO here for that!)

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Another post-apocalyptic novel, this time set in a futuristic Sudan, with magical elements thrown in. I'm looking forward to this one, as it's a combination of so many different genres.

Recently Finished

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Much like Jackson's classic short story "The Lottery," we're dropped into the middle of small-town America where ordinary people do horrific things to each other. The Blackwoods, or what's left of them anyway, are isolated in their ancestral home after an "incident" destroys everyone else in the household. It's wonderfully creepy and disturbing, everything Jackson is known for. 

March, Book Three by John Lewis,  Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

A beautiful conclusion to Lewis' story of the Civil Rights Movement, this book focuses on the bombing of the Birmingham church and the March to Selma. And the more we read, the more one realizes that the issues that Lewis and King and so many others were fighting for haven't gone away, they've just changed forms. There is still so much to do, and Lewis, with his sit-in of Congress this spring, is still leading the way. 

Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai

This was a charming, if predictable, middle-grade story about a young girl discovering her roots in Vietnam. There were hints of the Vietnam War and the impact it had, and is still having, on those involved, but it was primarily about a tween learning that the world is bigger than her little corner of Laguna Beach. I would recommend it for younger readers, though. 

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

This was a fun read and interesting enough that I might pick up the sequel. I wouldn't say there was anything particularly ground-breaking about it, though. As I said last week, it's a mash-up of Beauty and the Beast, the Hunger Games, and 1984, which isn't a bad combination; it just doesn't lend itself to stand out among other dystopian fictions. At some point, you would think this genre would wear itself out; I don't know how many more ways you can create a world gone awry.

Currently Reading

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunée

A lot of the reviews of this criticize Sunée for being too shallow, too uncaring. But this is a memoir of her twenties, a time when most of us were shallow and uncaring toward those around us. Taken as such, this is an engaging read, coupled with recipes from New Orleans, Swedish and French cuisine. I'm enjoying it so far. 

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

This is the second in Mantel's series about Henry VIII's advisor Thomas Cromwell.  The story is interesting, but as with Wolf Hall, I'm just not finding her writing style very compelling. It's too much exposition and too many characters thrown into scenes. I'd like a little more dialogue--Twain's showing versus telling, if you will--without it, everything seems very detached. 

Rabbit Hole #51: In/Out Sep. 4-Sep. 10

I have gotten a lot of reading done this week, just haven't been able to finish anything. Next week will be much more interesting. I seem to go through phases--finish three books in one week, and then nothing, and then three the next. I can't figure it out.

Recently Purchased

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

This has been on my radar for a while, because who doesn't like good, creepy Gothic stories?!? It also happens to be my book club's pick for this month. I'm hoping I like it better than the last two.

Recently Finished

Currently Reading

March, Book Three by John Lewis,  Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

With all the controversy (ridiculous, if you ask me) over NFL players not standing for the National Anthem, this is the perfect book to be reading right now. 

Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai

I have to keep reminding myself that this is middle grade YA, so I shouldn't really be as critical of it as I'm being. It's good, but the repetition of how miserable the angsty tween is because she has to spend her summer with her grandmother in Vietnam is getting really old. I know the whininess is realistic, it's just not lending itself to much character development. Here's hoping the last 100 pages or so gets better. 

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Throw Beauty and the Beast, the Hunger Games, and 1984 together and you have The Bone Season. It's been a fun read so far, and a nice switch from the heavier literature I've been reading, but it's nothing spectacular. Probably won't continue with the series unless something truly unique happens in the last 150 pages.

Rabbit Hole #50: In/Out Aug. 28-Sep. 3

A lovely long weekend for reading=heaven. Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

Recently Purchased

Zero. I'm really trying to curb my book buying this year and focusing on reading the stack I have. It's been pretty successful so far, but I do miss picking up new books on a regular basis. 

Recently Finished

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I am apparently in the minority on this one. Critics loved it, my book club overall loved it, I'm just. . . meh. It reminded me a lot of Villa America which I read a few weeks ago--filled with flat, stereotypical characters that I just didn't care about. I really had a problem with the female characters; they were just there as show pieces for the men in the novel and just didn't have much agency, even though one of them was the primary focus.  I have much higher hopes for this month's pick. 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Time of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Yes, I've finally finished this. And it was amazing. And terrifying. And heartbreaking. And disturbing. Reading this you realize how little the general public knows about the Drug War and police policy and court cases that have put more people of color behind bars than were enslaved prior to the Civil War. We've allowed this to happen. Our courts have allowed the Fourth Amendment to become basically empty. And this is why we finally have Black Lives Matter. It's necessary. I have a lot more to say on this book, but I'll save it for another post. Just read it. Now. 

 Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

This book was a close-up of one Mississippi family in the days leading up to and the immediate aftermath of Katrina. It's filled with poverty and basketball and dog fighting and teen pregnancy and Greek mythology and hope and love and so many things rolled into one. Based loosely on Ward's own experiences during Katrina and her mother's during Hurricane Camille, it's a necessary perspective on what life was like for those most vulnerable. My only issue with the book was the dog fighting, but it was a part of Ward's life and those around her. She used what she knew, and it makes for a very successful read. 

Currently Reading

March, Book Three by John Lewis,  Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

I so wish I could afford (or my school district could afford) to buy copies of all of the books in this series for all of my students. It's such a powerful look at the Civil Rights Movement from the inside and shows readers there was a lot more to the Movement than Selma and I Have a Dream (even though those are powerful and necessary to remember as well). 

Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai

I am only about 30 pages into this so far, but it's a fun read so far. I think the best part about this is having my Vietnamese students help me pronounce the words and phrases. They find it interesting, and I'm learning something new!

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Just started this last night, and from what I can tell, it's a dystopian future in London where people with special abilities such as telepathy are forced underground working for shadowy criminal elements. I don't know much more about it, other than it's supposedly the first in a planned seven book series. We'll see how this one goes before I decide to jump in further. 

In the Wings

Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunée

I don't anticipate March taking that long, so I will probably get to this memoir this week as well.