Rabbit Hole #61: 2016 Reading Wrap-up

2016: The year that was. In spite of all the drama that 2016 brought with it, and in spite of the fact I felt like I was just in a reading slump for most of it, it still turned out be a pretty decent reading year. Looking back on my 2016 goals, though, I realize I still could have done better.

2016 goals and results: 

1. Read 75 books this year: Nailed it. I actually read 87 this year, for a total of 24, 122 pages.

2. Read 50% books written by people of color and 50% books written by women: 46% of my books were by people of color (so close!) and 72% actually ended up written by women. I'm calling that a win (especially since my percentage of non-white authors in 2015 was only 37%).

3. Read 30% books from non-American/British authors: Fail. Less than 10%. I really do want to focus more on this in the coming year, but looking at my pile already, I'm not sure if it will.

4. Complete three reading challenges: Book Riot's Read Harder 2016 Challenge, PopSugar's 2016 Reading Challenge, and Bustle's Women and Persons of Color Reading Challenge: I didn't complete any of them, but I did come close. (Actually, if I had allowed myself to use a book more than once, I probably would have completed at least two of them, but I was stubborn about only using a book once.) I'll post the link to the full challenges and what I accomplished below.

5. Purge my bookshelves at least once a quarter: Eh...maybe not once a quarter. But I have gotten rid of probably 20-30 books this year. I've even found myself putting a book into the donate pile as soon as I've read it; it never had a chance on my shelf.

I'm still figuring out my 2017 goals, so that post will be coming soon. They're probably going to look fairly similar, but there are some new things I want to try. 

(If you're interested in my reading challenge results, the link is here.)

2016 Retrospective (non-book version!)

2016.

I think most of us would say that we are extremely glad that dumpster-fire of a year is over. After a wretched election that has left many of us truly fearful for what the next few years will bring, a record number of celebrity/notable persons deaths of people that were extremely important/influential to my generation, horrific attacks around the world, natural disasters. . . it was just too much. Personally, we lost our beloved basset Louie this spring, and my teacher, friend and mentor--the main reason I became a teacher--lost her battle to cancer over Thanksgiving. Other friends and family members had losses and health issues as well, and 2016 couldn't say good-bye soon enough. I don't have any illusions that the coming year is going to be an easy one; in fact, I have a feeling it's going to be like nothing any of us have ever seen, with a lot of things we have come to cherish at risk.

But these are some of the positive things I'm going to take with me from 2016:

We celebrated our first Carnival season and our first Mardi Gras.

We went to our first Jazz Fest.

We had friends and family from out of state visit, and we were able to show them the city we love so much.

My husband got a surprise job opportunity that has opened up some incredible doors for him.

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary (and took a trip to Disney World to celebrate!)

Friends got married. And engaged.

Family members got engaged. Cousins are expecting their first baby.

Friends have gotten new job opportunities and are making huge life changes.

We spent our weekends cheering (and yelling at) our Huskers and Saints. (Next year!!)

We have a kick-ass trivia group.

We have amazing friends from all over the globe and are constantly meeting more.

My former students are doing incredible things and are changing the world.

My current students are giving me hope for the future.

We've laughed. A lot.

And we're surrounded by love--which is going to make the upcoming battles easier to bear.


So 2016, thanks for the memories.

2017, do better.

Rabbit Hole #60: In/Out Dec. 11-Jan. 1

Well, we made it to the end of another year. I hope your celebrations over the past few weeks have been joyous and you are ready for what 2017 had to bring. Here's just a bit of what I've been reading the past couple of weeks. (I'll also have a 2016 reading wrap-up/2017 goals post and a top books of 2016 post coming in the next few days.)

Recently Purchased

Not technically purchased, as I was given gift cards, but these are all on their way. I have very generous family members!

 

 

Yeah, the to-be-read pile just became substantially larger.

Recently Completed

The Witches: Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff (4 stars)

I've always been interested in the psychology behind the Witch Trials: what could possibly have made so many people turn on their friends and loved ones? Unfortunately, because of the lack of historical record, we may never know that answer definitively. Since I've taught Arthur Miller's The Crucible several times, I knew most of the information presented in the book from my own research. But it was still intriguing to delve into the enormous scope of the, for lack of a better word, madness. It also solidified the fact that we haven't changed all that much: one of the radical notions that the "devil" was promising the "witches" was that all people are created equal, and that terrified people. As it still does today. 

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland (3.5 stars)

This is a dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel about two sisters who find themselves alone in their forest home after a mysterious illness has wiped out a large portion of the population and their father dies while trying to provide for them. Hegland doesn't waste a lot of time on the outside world, focusing instead on the realities of trying to survive when everything you take for granted is gone. I liked the sister dynamic, but it felt almost too easy for these two teenagers to survive. It was a fun, quick read, though. 

The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemison (4 stars)

I was thinking this was going to be more of a science fiction novel, but to me, it felt more fantasy. Not that fantasy's a bad thing--I like that much more than science fiction! This is the first in a duology and centers on a world where dreamblood is harvested and used to cure the sick. The Gatherers take "tithes" from those who are deemed unworthy by their order (they're really highly skilled religious assassins). But of course, in the wrong hands, dreamblood can be a weapon. Political intrigue, war, alternate realms are all beautifully crafted by Jemison, and I'll definitely be picking up the sequel. 

Currently Reading

What Moves at the Margins: Selected Nonfiction by Toni Morrison

To me, Toni Morrison is the queen goddess of contemporary literary fiction. Her work is insightful, raw, thought-provoking, challenging, and inspiring: everything I need right now as we head into an uncertain time. 

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice

Comfort food

I'm starting this one tonight. 

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.