May was a relatively light month for reading, a term used loosely since I still read ten books. I don’t even have NaNo or Camp NaNo to blame for this; I’ve just been concentrating on other things this month and trying to make better use of my time. (She says while checking her phone for Magikarp Jump training points.) Here goes!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: I wanted to like this book. (This is becoming a theme lately, isn’t it?) The truth is, I loved the last 20% of the book, but reading the first 80% to get there was a huge, confusing drag with not much actually getting resolved in the end. I might read the next book or two, but I won’t actively seek them out. (3 out of 5 security badges)

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari: I listened to this book, an overview of humanity from our pre-Homo Sapiens days to how humans developed things like agriculture, currency, science, and empires. The book also goes beyond humanity on to what we could do with all the things we’ve created. Could we wipe ourselves out? Could we become immortal (or amortal, as the author puts it–that is, immortality barring things like catastrophic accidents)? Can we become cyborgs? There are some parts that could have been less Eurocentric, but overall this was a good read. (4 out of 5 humans)

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn: Oh man. I stayed up past my bedtime to zoom through the end of this book. I’ve read and loved Flynn’s other two books, and this one was no exception. The characters popped right off the page, fascinating as ever, from the main narrator Libby Day to her brother who was serving a prison sentence for murdering his mother and two of his sisters (minus Libby). The pieces of the mystery came together beautifully and gave depth to the story. And the writing, oh the writing, the way Flynn really gets the reader inside the characters’ heads. The only thing I have to add is that the inside of Flynn’s head must be a really disturbing place. (5 out of 5 murders)

When in French: Love in a Second Language by Lauren Collins: I listened to this book. I like memoirs and love languages (not too surprising, considered French was one of my college majors), so this book seemed like a natural read. Personally, I found the discussion of the history of language and culture way more interesting than the author’s own experiences with her life in French. The books switches back and forth between the two, with her own stories wandering away from the point frequently to the point where I often found myself wondering if some of the later stories had a point. Still, this book left me wanting to get back into French and linguistics, which is never a bad thing. (3 out of 5 translations)

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab: This is the final book in the Shades of Magic trilogy, and it is great. As usual with Schwab’s writing, the tension starts at 10 and works its way up even further, the characters change and grow so much throughout the course of the book, and of course the writing itself gives me something to aspire to. This was a wonderful conclusion to an already-great series, and if you haven’t read them already, you need to. (4 out of 5 Inheritors)

The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire by Stephen Kinzer: I listened to this book. The late 19th and early 20th century are one of my huge gaps in US history, in part because that part of my AP history course consisted of me being out on frequent field trips and extracurricular outings. This book helped to fill some of those gaps with the familiar (and unfamiliar) figures while not being too dry. Even though this book was a little hard to listen to at times thanks to all the characters and events, it was still overall well-done, and I got a lot out of it. (4 out of 5 imperialists)

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel: I listened to this book, which tells the story of a man who lived in the woods of Maine without interacting with anyone for over twenty years, not even to let his family know he was still alive. The author does a good job of capturing the story and the character of hermit Chris Knight, who faced a lot of challenges in order to live the way he did. These challenges led some people to become skeptical. How’d he live out in the woods so long without suffering much from the consequences of Maine winters? Or without getting sick or suffering major injury? Spoiler: in the end, it was theft from the cabins in the area that ended his adventure. (4 out of 5 cold nights)

The Shining by Stephen King: I read this book because I apparently own the sequel. This is my second King novel, and I just couldn’t get into it. The writing is good, but there’s not enough going on in the first half of the book and too many flashbacks, making the last quarter of the book come out of nowhere. Still, this is early classic King, so maybe I’ll like the sequel better. (3 out of 5 bad feelings)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: I listened to this book, which tells multiple stories at once. There’s the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black woman whose cells would eventually become the HeLa cell line used by many scientists today. There’s also the story of Lacks’s family left behind after her death, particularly her daughter, who bonded with the author over the time when this book was written. And then there’s the story of the cells themselves, from the Guy lab to the questions posed by informed consent and profiting from cells and other body matter. The book takes on a lot but does it well, weaving the stories together so there’s not too much to take in at once, even in the science chapters. (4 out of 5 cell lines)

The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis: I read this book for my library’s book club and finished it fifteen minutes before the meeting started. (Good thing I live five minutes away, right?) I’m still not sure what to make of it. The book plays with a lot of ideas: free will, alternate history, robots, servitude… it sounded like something I would love. But while the last quarter of the book flew by, I still had to slog through the first 300 pages with really dense writing and slow storytelling. This may have something to do with the fact that I was reading this book a chapter at a time instead of zooming through the book, but even then, reading it chapter by chapter was a slow process. This book is the first of a completed trilogy, and thanks to the end I’m interested enough to pick up the rest of the books… just not in a huge hurry since my to-read list with deadlines is haunting me. (3 out of 5 clackers)

What’s next? I started listening to Timothy Tyson’s The Blood of Emmett Till today. I also plan to start reading The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz tomorrow or the next day so I can count it for the library’s summer reading challenge and because it’s due back at the library in a week. Let’s get on that, self.

April feels like a light month of reading for me, but in reality I did most of my reading with my ears instead of my eyes. And boy, was there a lot of listening.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christoper McDougall: I listened to this book, which is one part stories of the Tarahumara (a tribe of distance runners), one part analyzing why we get running injuries and how to prevent them. As a runner nowhere near being able to run ultras (yet?), the stories of some of the toughest ultramarathons in the toughest locations in the world drew me in and occasionally made me want to start training for some of these ultras. The characters are memorable, and the stories are educational and entertaining. I just wish there were more about the science and culture of running through history. (4 out of 5 ultramarathons)

The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom by Carrie Wilkerson: I listened to this book, narrated by the author. Truth be told, this book just annoyed me. I got tired of hearing all about Wilkerson’s personal life without its applications to starting her own business. Look, I’m sure losing a hundred pounds and raising a special needs kid has its challenges, but without telling me what this has to do with starting a business, I can’t bring myself to care. There’s a little bit of practical advice in here, but most of it is buried under the same material over and over again, which is only made more annoying by the chipper sound of her voice talking about profits. (2 out of 5 profit margins)

Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet: This book took over a week to read, and I’m not sure why; it’s not a thousand-page tome, and I enjoyed reading it. Maybe I was savoring the prose, the character studies, relating to being the first in the family to go to college, remembering what life was back in 1999 and 2000, even though I was in middle school, not college. It’s a powerful book, one that you might like if you like character studies as opposed to plot driving the story. (4 out of 5 new environments)

Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time by Bill McGowan: I listened to this book. I’m a wee bit awkward when it comes to conversation, so this book turned out to be really useful in picking out speech traits that I need to improve. Whether you’re giving a speech, an interview, or just trying to get away from that one person who won’t stop talking about their fungus, there’s something in this book to help out. Even better, most parts of the book can help you in other areas of communication, so don’t neglect a section just because it doesn’t sound relevant to you now. If you’re seriously looking to improve your speech and communication skills, I recommend buying a physical copy of the book so you can mark it up and refer back to specific parts as needed. I may do this myself. (4 out of 5 speech tips)

Northbounders: 2,186 Miles of Friendship by Karen Lord Rutter: My friend’s mom wrote this children’s book, a tale of hiking the Appalachian Trail from the dog’s perspective. Copper’s point of view is perfect for the voice of a children’s book, and seeing the hike through the dog’s eyes lends a friendly voice to the story that fits Copper’s personality while making the reader wonder where Copper’s adventure will take him next. Since I’ve read my friend’s entire blog while he was hiking the trail, I was already familiar with a lot of the stories (and was there for the end). True to the style of a children’s book, there’s a summary at the end of each chapter (state) of what happened and main takeaways. Example: don’t mess with skunks. Sadly I wasn’t the first to rate and review on Goodreads. Alas. (5 out of 5 mountains)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare: This is one of those books I somehow made it through childhood without reading. This book tells the story of an orphan girl who moves from Barbados to a stern Puritan community in Connecticut. She hates everything and only feels like herself in the meadow when she visits an older Quaker woman. Unfortunately her relatives don’t take well to this as that woman is seen as a witch to everyone else. I wish I had read this book as a kid, but I enjoyed it as an adult. This is a great example of a book that shows a children’s book can be just as well-written as adult lit. (4 out of 5 witches)

The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor by Mark Schatzker: I listened to this book, which tells a history of food and flavor and how the flavors of food have changed over the last 60 to 70 years. This has led to spices and other artificial flavors being added to foods, often adding more calories and making us crave more of that flavor. While his thesis is well-argued, his solution is not practical for many people. He suggests seeking out fresher, less processed foods. This problem isn’t unique to his book; most of the food books I’ve read have suggested this. Still, this is a good read with research I hadn’t heard before. And now I want to ask my dad about how food tasted when he was a kid compared to now. (4 out of 5 Doritos)

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon: Even though this book suffers from several things I hate in books–instantly falling in love, little coincidences everywhere–I still enjoyed this book. Why? The characters. I enjoyed getting to know Natasha and Daniel and exploring the little things that made them well… them. Their hopes, their dreams, their natures and how they take in the world. Since one of the novels I’m working on for Camp NaNoWriMo is more of a character story than a plot-driven tale, this book was a good one to read in order to study how characters can be fully explored. (4 out of 5 insta-loves)

Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime — from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door by Brian Krebs: I listened to this book. While hearing about the spamlords and connecting some of the events to things I’ve heard about in the news was interesting, the book also had its dull parts. There was also a lot of information about Krebs’s personal life that I found kind of boring: his time on the Washington Post and all the not-so-juicy communication with the spamlords, among others. I can tell the author is a blogger; some of the content would have worked well as a blog post, but as a chapter in a book, not so much. If you’re interested in cybercrime history, you might like the informative parts of this book. (3 out of 5 spam messages)

The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey by Linda Greenlaw: I tried so hard to get into this book but just couldn’t. The prose itself wasn’t bad, but I didn’t feel a connection to the author or the cast of characters, not to mention I cannot stand fishing. It takes a lot for me to abandon a book and it usually happens about once a year, but here we go. The 2017 abandoned book. (no rating)

Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World by Bruce Schneier: I listened to this book, and it is lovely. I already knew a little bit about big data and tracking before reading this book, but this book still added to my knowledge. More impressively, this book got technical without getting so technical that only security experts could get something out of this book. It’s well-written and engaging, and if you have even an inkling of interest in data and surveillance, you should read this. (5 out of 5 bits of data)

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller: I listened to this book, and ugh. I was ready to dismiss this book as some legitimate findings mixed in with some BS, but then it got worse. The authors claim that there are three attachment types in adult relationships: anxious, avoidant, and secure. Sounds okay so far, but the authors use the most exaggerated cases to show these types in action. The anxious types are exactly what you’d think of from a stereotypical clingy partner, the secure types don’t have any kind of worries at all in a relationship, and heaven help you if you’re an avoidant type because the way they’re characterized in this book reeks of emotionally abusive partner. There are a few good parts, such as the quizzes to help you figure out what type of partner you are, but otherwise, skip this book. Read something less exaggerated instead. (2 out of 5 potential partners)

You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know by Heather Sellers: I listened to this book, which is a memoir of living with faceblindness and growing up in a really messed-up family. When the book began and Heather mentioned a family secret, I was expecting something much more lewd than what had actually happened, like maybe Heather’s husband was once married to her mother and she didn’t recognize him because of her faceblindness. (I’ve read too much fiction, I know.) But no, the actual secret was quite dull in comparison. The story didn’t flow too well, either, and there was a lot of jumping that was hard to follow while listening to the book. I learned a lot about faceblindness, but I wish the story were more about faceblindness or growing up in a messed-up family because the two combined didn’t mesh together all that well. (2 out of 5 unrecognizable faces)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: This is the YA novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and… damn. I read this book in one sitting, stopping briefly about halfway through to heat up some soup for dinner and keep reading. This book is wonderful, the author is wonderful (seriously, I met her at an event here in Atlanta a month or so ago), and everything in this novel is just spot-on–the characters, the prose, the realness of the book, the significance of the events, everything. There were some parts that made me stop and think “Would that really happen?” but then realized that this was my privilege talking and yes, these things really do happen. Stop reading this review and go read the book for yourself. (5 out of 5 protests)

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman: I listened to this book, which is a tl;dr of a traditional MBA program. The author first makes the case that you don’t need an MBA to succeed in business. He has a point, although some people go into these programs for other reasons. What Kaufman does instead is give an overview of most of the business and psychology concepts you’d hear about in an MBA program. Since this book is a summary, there is much more breadth than depth, and Kaufman acknowledges this. But there’s enough material here to give you a taste of what you’re interested in, as well as resources to continue your studies in the area of your choice. (4 out of 5 business plans)

A Passage to Shambhala by Jon Baird and Kevin Costner: I read this book for my library’s monthly book club, and unfortunately this book was a bit of a dud. The book takes place during World War I and is told in alternating prose and graphic format. While the art was great, the alternating storytelling method made the story itself hard to follow. The characters were also hard to distinguish in the art since the images weren’t in full color, but this could be a personal quirk of mine instead of an actual complaint. Despite my worries that I’d be the only one at book club who disliked this book, everyone disliked it. Whew. (2 out of 5 WTF moments)

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George: I wanted to like this book because hello, bookseller! Bookstore on a boat! In Paris! Main character going to find themselves! If there were math in this book, I’d say it were written for me. Jean Perdu is a bookseller who believes some books are remedies for what ail us, but he can’t seem to find a cure for his own ailments of the heart. After finally reading a letter from his lover who left him years ago, he heads south in order to make peace with his past. Good premise with interesting secondary characters, but the execution was disappointing and felt cobbled together and predictable. Some of this may have to do with the fact that the book was translated from German. If you like sweet predictable books, then you might like this. (3 out of 5 book barges)

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads by Tim Wu: As I’m writing this review, I’m switching between this site, Twitter, IRC, email, Godville, and tracking a package out for delivery. This book delivers a compelling history of all the attention merchants trying to grab our attention, from commercial breaks to reality TV to Internet ads, and how we’ve been fighting back: adblockers, not paying attention, and the like. If you’ve ever wondered about how we’ve come to accept all these distractions in our lives, read this book. It’s a fascinating read. (4 out of 5 distractions)

What’s up next? I’m currently listening to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Strangely enough, I’m not reading a physical copy of anything and haven’t in several days due to being busy with other things. Time to change this.

Here we are again, the end of another month, the beginning of another book review post. I’ve read 50 out of 100 books for this year, including one reread for book club. I may have a book problem.

Since Camp NaNoWriMo starts here in five minutes and I may actually be awake for a midnight start, I’m just gonna stop blabbing and let the reviews stand for themselves. Let’s go.

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris: I listened to this book. As much as the atheist part of me wanted to like this book, I couldn’t take it seriously. Harris seems to be much more against Islam than the other Abrahamic religions, to the point where this stance got in the way of his arguments’ strength. The book got a little weird toward the end, the last couple of chapters consisting of some useful tenants of various Eastern religions, which doesn’t fit with the rest of the book at all. If you’re interested in the topic or the author, I recommend his Letter to a Christian Nation, which was written in response to this book: it’s shorter and written better. (3 out of 5 nonsensical beliefs)

Hidden Harmonies: The Lives and Times of the Pythagorean Theorem by Robert Kaplan & Ellen Kaplan: I wanted to like this book. I really did. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts of the book I did like, especially the parts that go on to develop aspects of the Pythagorean Theorem that I didn’t already know about. My main complaint is that the book was kind of all over the place; one chapter would be accessible to non-mathematical readers, while the next one might be hard to follow even for someone with a lot of math knowledge. This mathematical whiplash made the book hard to follow the overall theme underlying the book despite having seen a lot of the material before. I’d love to see the first half or the second half developed into its own book, but the two halves together made for the mathematical content escalating really quickly. (3 out of 5 proofs)

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson: I loved Nelson’s other book (I’ll Give You the Sun), and while I enjoyed this one as well, it didn’t hit me in the feelings quite as hard. This book leads us through Lennie’s life after the sudden death of her older sister, including a (dun dun dunnnn) love triangle. Despite the love triangle, the characters are delightfully quirky, the teens actually act like teens, and there are so many elements of the story that fit together well. Well worth the read. (4 out of 5 poems)

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson: I listened to this book. It didn’t win me over at first due to sounding like a tough guy version of a self-help book, but I’m glad I kept listening. Beneath the “uh, no shit” advice, there are also nuggets of advice in the book that made me rethink a lot of things I’ve been thinking about lately, like my pursuit of more and how we tend to care about the wrong things. Despite the title, the book isn’t about how not to care, but how to care about the things worth caring about. While some of the content isn’t universally applicable, there’s something in here for anyone who cares to look a little deeper. (4 out of 5 fucks not given)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab: Yes, I’m finally reading this series. And yes, I intentionally delayed starting the books until the last one came out just so I wouldn’t have to wait a year for the last book. That said, I really liked this book. The characters and worldbuilding (parallel magical Londons!) are complex and immersive, while the prose itself is beautiful. There are a few slow parts, especially before the main characters Kell and Lila meet, but still, I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book. (4 out of 5 black stones)

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg: I listened to this book. I grew up in the backwoods of the southeastern US, which made this book a particularly enlightening read. While this book surveys the history instead of going indepth about any particular aspect of the history, it still does a great job at summarizing the history of white trash stereotypes in America. That said, I would have loved to hear more about white trash perspectives from the people actually living this life, as opposed to the elites who appealed to poor whites for one reason or another. All in all, worth picking up to read (or listen, even if it is fifteen hours long). (5 out of 5 country hicks)

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance: I listened to this book, coincidentally right after finishing White Trash above. I could see a lot of my own family in his tales; even though my family never went through some of the most extreme horrors that his did. While this book is touted as part memoir, part social and historical analysis, it’s definitely much more of a memoir than an analysis. But it’s an interesting one, with things that I hadn’t realized in my own life before (I remember figuring out financial aid forms and some of the quirks of the higher classes and not even considering some of the more prestigious colleges, just like Vance did). I have to say, this book would be a lot less interesting without Mamaw in it. (4 out of 5 hillbillies)

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach: This is the first Mary Roach book I’ve read, and it wasn’t that bad. This book takes you through the weird curiosities of the digestive system, from your mouth to your rectum. On the way, Mary Roach tells stories about topics such as smell affecting our taste, sampling pet food, smuggling items in the butt, and dying of constipation. While the first half of the book dragged a little bit, the second half, featuring the lower section of the digestive system, more than made up for it. I wish this whole book were about butts. (See also: things I never thought I’d write in a book review.) Roach also manages to tell all these tales with a sense of humor that indulges all of our inner twelve-year-olds. Worth a read if you’re interested in pop science or physiology. (4 out of 5 uncoated kibbles)

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal: I listened to this book. While a lot of this book consisted of telling stories about animals and their intelligence, there’s some analysis as well that more knowledgeable (or just curious) people would enjoy. I probably would have gotten more out of this book if I had read instead of listened to it, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the analysis of these experiments: for instance, that we frequently judge animal intelligence on human intelligence. If you have little knowledge of animal intelligence, you might like this book. (4 out of 5 animal tests)

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: This book is the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, and it’s just as good. Four months after the events of ADSOM, Kell and Lila haven’t seen each other and excitement is afoot for the Element Games. Think Triwizard Tournament, but with more competitors and actual battling. Everything I said about the first book still stands. Now time to get my hands on the third book. (4 out of 5 elements)

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: I read this book for my library’s book club. This is a rare reread for me, but since I read it for a women’s studies class in college ten years ago, there’s still plenty of material that I forgot about and got to re-experience just like a first read. Offred’s story as a handmaid (a young woman capable of reproduction) in what used to be the Boston area shines some light on what an extreme religious world could look like. Some of the things that could lead to such a world are already happening–permission for abortions, laws trying to outlaw abortion beyond a certain point, waiting periods, conservative Christians trying to push their morality on everyone else. I still love this book, even if the timeline is a little confusing at times. That just adds to the tale, though. (5 out of 5 handmaids)

All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera: I listened to this book, which traces the story of the 2007 real estate crisis. The authors go back thirty years to explore events big and small and the consequences of those things. There’s a large cast of characters in this book: CEOs with idealistic dreams who eventually succumb to the profits in subprime lending, government staff who ignore the lending market, executives jealous of the success of competitors and wanting in on the fun. Overall, this is a good survey of what caused the financial crisis. Pick it up if you’re even a little bit interested in the topic. (4 out of 5 subprime loans)

Watership Down by Richard Adams: I know a few folks who label this book as one of their all-time favorites, but I couldn’t get into it. Sure, the rabbits and their adventures were cute, the prose itself was good, and I grew to like Hazel and Bigwig in particular. Overall, though, I couldn’t find myself really wanting to know what happened next. This book would have been a lot easier to read in hard copy, where I could flip back and forth to remember what a Thlayli was, as I kept thinking this was the name of a new character. Still, I’m glad I read this book, as it had been on my to-read list for years. (3 out of 5 rabbits)

Armada by Ernest Cline: I wanted to love this book as much as I loved Ready Player One, but in the end I just couldn’t. The voice of protagonist Zack Lightman, a high school senior and world-class gamer who has to save the world from aliens, is spot on. The plot itself is interesting, just very rushed. This book would have benefited from better pacing (way better pacing), a more cohesive plot, more background, and way more character development. If you’re new to Ernest Cline, read RPO first, then set those expectations aside for this book. (3 out of 5 alien invasions)

Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck by Jon Acuff: I listened to this book. Or rather, I’m still listening to this book because I have about twenty minutes left in it, but I doubt my opinion will change with those last few minutes. As you might have guessed from the title, this is a self-help book designed to help you make the most out of your career. Sure, a lot of the advice is obvious (Show up to work? Who would have guessed?), but his advice breaks down to four things to build: people you know, skills, grit, and hustle. There are also exercises throughout the book to make the most of each of these. I admit I didn’t do these exercises due to listening to the book. If you know absolutely nothing about building a career, then sure, read this and do something about it. (3 out of 5 career jumps)