It looks like I haven’t read much this month, but the truth is that I’ve been catching up on Baby-Sitters Club books in an attempt to get ahead on my reading challenge. All that reading has paid off; I’m at 227 books for 2016 (out of 250), which is way ahead even after taking October and November into consideration. More importantly, I’m down to a mere thirteen BSC books left to read before finishing the entire series. That’s doable in a weekend. Dang. (Although I’ll probably reread the very last book for nostalgia’s sake.)
Anyway, here’s what I’ve been reading this month.
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I was expecting this to be a light and fluffy read, which I definitely needed. This book mostly fit the bill on that front. A 29-year-old woman who has done little with her life moves back to her hometown, and the plot plays out the possibilities based on who she takes a ride from one night. Sure, the characters are a little flat, but the story is compelling and kept me wondering what would happen next. The book also gave me a lot to think about, both about my life and how little I’ve done with it, as well as how to make the parallel worlds work in a novel I’m still pondering a rewrite for. (4 out of 5 cinnamon buns)
Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter: If you’ve been following me on Twitter for the past yearish, then you probably know I’m a wee bit obsessed with the Hamilton musical. This book does a great job of showing off the musical, with the stories of its production, the libretto (with some of Lin’s commentary), and shots from the show. Now I want to see the show live even more now (and I already had a mighty need before). (5 out of 5 shots)
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser: I listened to this book, which is a history of nuclear weapons–both the development of nuclear weapons and the politics behind it. It was very well done and accessible to readers without any previous knowledge. Since it is primarily a history, I probably would have gotten more out of it by reading the print, but that’s just me being weird. If you’re interested in nuclear weapons at all (or need to do some post-apocalyptic novel research), pick this book up. (4 out of 5 missiles)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: I really wanted to like this book. It tells a fictional account of four people whose paths cross while seeking passage on the Wilhelm Gustloff during World War II, an incident that I didn’t know about before reading this book. But this book contained several of my literary pet peeves, featuring multiple points of view, all in first person, that sounded the same. Even worse, most of the chapters were only two or three pages long, so I never got a chance to get used to one point of view before jumping to the next one. This book could have been good, starting (at the very least) with third-person points of view and longer chapters. But as it is, I’m just glad it’s finished. (2 out of 5 identification papers)
The Man Who Wasn’t There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self by Anil Ananthaswamy: I listened to this book, which deals with the theory of mind and the sense of self–how do we a form an idea of self? How is the self created? The author does this by examining cases of schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, body integrity identity disorder, and more disorders where something we think of as part of the self disappears, but somehow the sense of self remains. While some reviews of this book thought this book was too research-focused, I found the opposite was the case. Then again, this kind of thing is my idea of light reading (or listening, as it were). (4 out of 5 theories of mind)
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin: I read the English translation of this book for my library’s book club, and oh man was it good. The translator did a great job of keeping the narrative and culture immersive enough for the reader to get lost in, but offered some guidance in the form of extra prose or the occasional footnote for those of us not so familiar with Chinese history and culture. It gave me a lot of food for thought about what we as a species would or should do in the event of alien contact. Do we contact them? Defend ourselves against them? How do we as a species (and groups of countries differing in infrastructure and military development, wealth, and just about everything else) take on this challenge? I finished this book wanting to write everything ever about it (personal essays, not fanfic)… and then immediately requested the second book from the local library. (5 out of 5 chaotic eras)
You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay: I picked this up at a used book sale last year and just now got around to reading it. Sure, the story is fluffy–Megan talks to dead people who have issues with being dead, but all she wants to do is go to the homecoming dance. Sure, the main character is pretty stupid sometimes, but she’s a teenager. This book did a decent job of capturing what it’s like to be a teenager, both wtih and without dealing with zombies, even though some of her decisions (and let’s be honest, the romance) got in the way over the overall story. And holy crap that twist at the end. (3 out of 5 reanimated corpses)
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin: This book is the sequel to the aforementioned The Three-Body Problem. While this book covers a lot of territory in five hundred pages, I just couldn’t get into some of the storylines enough to truly appreciate this book (and perhaps, how it set things up for the third book). That said, there were a lot of good parts in this book, and the author does a great job with the worldbuilding and bringing up questions about life, the universe, and everything. Wait, wrong scifi novel. Anyway, I’m still curious enough to read the sequel, which I hear was translated as the same person who translated the first book, so I’m optimistic. (3 out of 5 hibernations)
Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids by Ken Jennings: I listened to this book. In case you had no idea, the 74-time Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings is freaking hilarious. This book was no exception. You know those things parents tell you, like “Don’t cross your eyes or they’ll get stuck that way” or “Don’t go swimming for thirty minutes after eating”? Jennings researches those myths and reveals whether they’re true or not. Spoiler: most of them aren’t true. This book was fun and educational and made for a great light read (or listen) before moving on to something more intense. (4 out of 5 hairy palms)