Week 13: 3/29 - 4/4

In terms of reading, this was a pretty good week. Trump extended out the Social Distancing advisory out til April 30 so this 40 book list I started last week (now 36) seems less ridiculous than it did. If I keep a rate of 4 books a week, that's 10 weeks or the end of May. If I average 5 books a week, that's only 8 weeks. I'll probably get tired of reading from the list somewhere in there and change it up. In any case, this is beginning to look like we are settling in for the long haul.

I've already talked a bit about my reading from last week, and I'm saving The Woman in the Mirror for a later group post, so I'll leave this with just one micro review.

Internment by Samira Ahmed is a book that came out in the last couple of years and that one of my coworkers highly recommended. This falls nicely into the area of speculative fiction. It isn't quite mainstream because it posits either an alternate present or a near future where something has happened so that non-Muslim Americans have turned against Muslim Americans and rounded them up in internment camps. The main character, Layla, is a teen-aged spitfire who has a natural flare for resistance. While the adults are more or less willing to go with the flow and try to wait out the camps, the teens band together to make their plight visible and heard.

This is a book that is making a point. It does a good job of pointing out the kind of thinking that lets a populace go along with blatant prejudice and the thinking of the members of the minority that lets it happen to them. There is always a sense of "but that couldn't happen here, it couldn't happen to me" that lets people ignore horrible things happening right in front of their faces. Internment also does a good job of examining the realities of confining a whole group of people. Regardless of intention (assuming there are positive intentions in there), it's a situation that lends itself to abuse. At the core, it is an act that allows a group of people to be judged based on some sort of arbitrary factor instead of who they are as individuals, which is wrong. I suspect that kind of thinking is the easiest way for an average person to become evil because it's not about hate really; it's about fear. Anyone can be afraid.

There are a lot of good things about Internment, but the writing was uneven and the plot a little forced. It's a book that could have really used more space to develop.  Given space to develop the secondary characters, a lot of the odd moments would have felt more genuine.

Plague List 2020:

1. Mosquitoland by David Arnold
2. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
3. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
4. The Deceivers by Alfred Bester
5. White Cat by Holly Black
6. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
7. The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer
8. Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney
9. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
10. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz
11. The Circle by Dave Eggers
12. Riverworld and Other Stories by Philip Jose Farmer
13. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
14. Write Beside Them by Penny Kittle
15. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
16. Razor Hurst by Justine Larbalestier
17. March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
18. March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
19. March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
20. Rags and Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt
21. Edge of Spider-Geddon by Marvel Authors
22. Spider-Geggon by Marvel Authors
23. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
24. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
25. Here, There Be Dragons by James Owen
26. The Search for the Red Dragon by  James Owen
27. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
28. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
29. Miles Morales Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds (Finished 3/30/2020)
30. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
31. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
32. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
33. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
34. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
35. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
36. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Week 2 of Distance Learning Done

I find myself oddly optimistic. This whole situation is weird and scary. I worry about my students and family, but so far no one is sick. 

Teaching at a distance is oddly exhausting for both the teachers and the students. Everyone is showing the strain, but at the same time we are all really pulling together. You'd think sitting in my rocker teaching class would be easier, especially since I have the afternoons off. However, the reality is that we spend a lot more time retooling the lessons and even though the "hangouts" help with delivery, it's not the same. It's hard to track what's going on with the students and I know it's hard for them to track as well. We spend those afternoons reteaching, tutoring, grading, and communicating with students and parents. It's hard.

And yet, some of the students seem to be embracing this new format. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the traditional classroom, but this could definitely be worse.

On a more personal level, I'm going stir crazy but I'm also really enjoying some aspects of this. I'm getting to cook more and read more.

Thomas is struggling some with the change in routine and the lack of activity. But he's adjusting as we all are.

Life moves on, as always.

Comic Book Plot Lines: Spider-Verse

Something weird happened in the 80's and 90's to comic plots; they went completely bonkers. Superman is dead! Superman is alive again! Superman is from an alternate evil reality! Miss an issue and you are completely lost. Like many of my exact age group, we just didn't get hooked into superhero comics until they calmed down some (or at least we had reasonable reading guides available online).

Honestly, as much as I like graphic novels as a form of literature, I still don't read superhero comics much.

And then "Into the Spider-Verse" captivated me. Once it came out on Netflix, I watched the thing on a loop for a solid week. In response to this, Ryan started buying up copies of the related comic book collections. I think, in part, he just wanted to watch something other than Miles Morales on the T.V. thwipping around and learning how to be a hero. In hindsight, I can't blame him...I was obsessed.

The first big block of books came in for my birthday and he's been supplementing them as I move forward in the various series. I'm still working at it because in order to read the related material for that one movie, it involves reading hundreds of pages of graphic novel across a half dozen inter-related and inter-connected series. Get far enough along and you start getting into even more related series all of which are in the spider-verse. It's an aracnoplosion. :-P

I just finally got through the Spider-Verse collection which is this 648 page tome of crazy. There are all these alternate dimension spider people grouping up and splitting off to take on various tasks while being pursued by a family of energy vampires who want to destroy them. It sounds crazy complicated and it is crazy complicated but someone on that writing team is a plotting genius because it all works and is fun to read.

My only potential criticism is in how they cut all the various stories together. The editor (or whoever) decided to streamline the main plot line and push all the side missions off to the second half of the book. So the "story" is resolved about half way through the book and the rest of it, dips backwards into the narrative at several points to what groups of spiders were off doing in the meantime. It works, but I think it would have been better to read it all a little more chronologically. Maybe, it's hard to say. I guess the risk of that is losing the reader off down a branch and losing track of what is going on in the main story. *shrug*

Ok, so that's done and dusted, but I'm still not done reading all the Spider-Verse material. Back to it I guess.

Isolation

I've been thinking lately about isolation as a concept.  Obviously we are all experiencing some degree of isolation while waiting out COVID-19. In my somewhat suspect sense of timing the first book I picked up off my list is Internment by Samira Ahmed which presents a near future where a prejudiced government rounds up all the Muslims and sticks them in internment camps which is another form of isolation.

Isolation is interesting as a device because it doesn't need to be literal physical isolation. Isolation can be an internal feeling or a social dynamic. A person can be isolated while within a crowd because it's about the lack of connection between people. It's hard to write a story about isolation. The plot tends to become more internal to the characters but I was thinking about books that feature isolation as a major component to the narrative.

Shipwreck stories are an obvious area. Robinson Crusoe, obviously. But Life of Pi by Martel as well, I suspect (I haven't read it yet.)

There's also Speak by Laura Halse Anderson which is a case of social isolation of a rape survivor.

We have always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson relies on isolation for its spookiness. Stephen King has also used isolation to create tension. Misery is a prime example of this.

There has to be more....thoughts?

Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

It's always sad when a movie adaptation of a series of books fails, and it is particularly frustrating when the series fails right before the last movie. tsk. tsk.

The books themselves are actually an excellent example of the dystopian sci fi trend in YA literature. Most people point to Hunger Games as the prime example, but even though I think Hunger Games is a better book than Divergent, the Divergent Series is stronger over all than the Hunger Game Series. Warning: while I try to avoid huge spoilers here, it is the nature of the beast that there will be a few unavoidably.

Divergent, the first book in the series, sets the stage of a future Chicago shut off from the rest of the world. The populace is split into five factions that each promote a specific virtue. Abnegation values selflessness, Candor values honesty, Dauntless values bravery, Erudite values intelligence, and Amity values peaceful coexistence. Each member of the community goes through a test that is supposed to determine which faction they should be in. The main character Beatrice is born in Abnegation but chooses to switch to Dauntless when she is 16 after finding out during the test that her brain isn't wired for any of the factions making her something called "Divergent". Most of the book is her training process and realizing that there is something sinister to the tensions between Abnegation and Erudite concerning the governing of the community.

All the writing is from Beatrice's, or Tris's as she becomes, point of view. The narration is straight-forward and easy to follow. While there is a healthy does of intrigue, Tris feels like a pawn pushed around by much more powerful members of the community which is appropriate for the story. That being said, there are plenty of hints about the bigger picture that lay the groundwork for the next two books.

Insurgent comes next. Abnegation is decimated and Dauntless is split. Tris is on the run with Four, her brother, and a couple others. Erudite hunts them and they seek sanctuary first with Amity and then Candor. Why would Erudite hunt them? Because they are Divergent which is presented as a quality that could become a downfall of there society. A mystery emerges surrounding the divergent and information held in trust by Abnegation. Somehow the leader of Erudite comes to find out this secret which leads to a lot of the events of the first book. Tris and Four have a new mission but their relationship is strained by a mutual lack of honesty.

This book is also solely from the point of view of Tris. It is structured more like a crime caper in some ways. The characters are constantly on the move and having to react. There are a couple of rough scenes in it when Tris is captured, but mostly it is a solid easy read that does an excellent job of continuing the character arcs of Tris, Four, Peter (bad guy from book one), and Tris's brother Caleb.

Allegiant is the third book in the series and up until this last week the only one I hadn't read. I have a student in my first period class who was doing a reread and inspired me to bump the book up my to-read list which is why the massive reread. In this book we finally find out what is outside the boarders of future dystopian Chicago. It's an odd sort of the inside reflects the outside situation and Tris finds herself in conflict once again. Additionally, Four finds pieces of his core identity challenged in a way that rocks their whole relationship and his relationship with their friends.

The point of view in this book shifts between Four and Tris. It is always tough to end a series like this in a world where there are plenty of unhappy endings. A writer's job, therefore, is to make the deaths of beloved characters meaningful which can be hard. This is where the Hunger Game Series went seriously off track. Roth pulls it off though and this is an excellent read straight through to the end.

Overall, this is a good series. It's just a shame what happened to the movies. The first movie sticks pretty close to the book and the changes make sense in the interest of preserving the plot while reducing the amount of time needed for the movie. The second movie, though, makes huge shifts in the plot and introduces whole elements that aren't in the books. Taking a step back from it, I think I can see what they were trying to do, but I think it simplified in a way that detracted from the character development that was such a strength in the books.

I haven't watched the first Allegiant movie yet. I'm actually strangely hesitant to do so since I know they will never finish off the story. Again, sad.

Week 12: 3/22 - 3/28

It is strange how exhausting teaching from home is. It's difficult to separate home from life. The kids struggle too. The disruption of routine makes even easy things hard to do.

I too am feeling the difficulty of disruption. It's difficult sometimes to get moving and everything feels floaty. Time is just passing. Obviously, I'm running classes but it's all very surreal.

I've decided to run home to old patterns and created a mega list. 40 books to read during "the plague". It feels a little like living in The Decameron.  Obviously, I'm not going to get all through this list if we go back to class by April 13, but it'll give me something to work through. I'll try to get the writing going again too.

Plague List 2020:

1. Internment by Samira Ahmed (Finished 3/25/2020)
2. Mosquitoland by David Arnold
3. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
4. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
5. Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen: Sitting in a Tree by Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Latour (Finished 3/25/2020)
6. The Deceivers by Alfred Bester
7. White Cat by Holly Black
8. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
9. The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer
10. Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney
11. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
12. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz
13. The Circle by Dave Eggers
14. Riverworld and Other Stories by Philip Jose Farmer
15. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
16. The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James (Finished 3/25/2020)
17. Write Beside Them by Penny Kittle
18. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
19. Razor Hurst by Justine Larbalestier
20. March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
21. March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
22. March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
23. Rags and Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt
24. Edge of Spider-Geddon by Marvel Authors
25. Spider-Geggon by Marvel Authors
26. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
27. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
28. Here, There Be Dragons by James Owen
29. The Search for the Red Dragon by  James Owen
30. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
31. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
32. Miles Morales Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
33. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
34. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
35. Spider-Verse by Dan Slott (Finished 3/25/2020)
36. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
37. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
38. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
39. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
40. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Week 11: 3/15/2020-3/21/2020

I think we can all agree that it has been a crazy week, beyond crazy really. With all that's happening with COVID-19 and the media, it really feels like I've stepped into one of my sci-fi novels. We, in the teaching world, have been scrambling to create online learning environments to keep the learning together going for our students.

It's going to be an interesting time and probably a bit tough going for us for a while. We'll get through it, of course, but it makes me think on how this must be affecting others. This is going to be a difficult time for many and if/when public transit shuts down, I worry for people living in Atlanta's food deserts. This isn't the easiest city to navigate at best of times. 

I think maintaining routines and a sense of normalcy is going to be important for everyone, so here's my list. As predicted there's a lot of overlap from the previous one.

1. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
2. Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen: Sitting in a Tree by Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Latour
3. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz
4. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
5. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
6. Razor Hurst by Justine Larbalestier
7. Edge of Spider Verse by Marvel Authors (Finished 3/19/2020)
8. Spider-Verse by Marvel Authors
9. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
10. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
11. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Finished 3/18/2020)
12. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
13. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
14. Black Panther: The Young Prince by Ronald L. Smith (Finished 3/19/2020)
15. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
16. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Shakespeare Tavern - Much Ado About Nothing

My husband and I planned to see two members of the Pogues play a concert last night. It got cancelled due to concerns with Covid-19. Since we already had a sitter set up, we looked for a an alternate venue.

We ended up at the Shakespeare Tavern for the preview night of "Much Ado About Nothing". It was hilarious, absolutely worth having to work today on four and a half hours of sleep. I know everyone is worried about illness, but this was full of much needed and well acted levity. It could get shut down at any point so hurry up and go see it while you can.

https://www.shakespearetavern.com/index.php?/performances/show/much_ado_march_2020/

Guilty Secrets

I have a deep dark secret and I feel oddly shamed by it.

I love teen romances. There, I said it.

I've spent most my live mocking people who read these things. I've snorted at the sap-factor, and chortled at the cheese. Then I read one because a student insisted that it was good and I always read a book a student recommends. I liked it too. I never thought I would, but it was actually really good and sweet in a way that didn't rot my teeth.

These books offer more than watered-down regency romance. I think most of the mainstream romance market is either focused on sex or a heavy dose of cynicism. It's always the wounded heroine finds love in spite of her deep seated mistrust of love. Or, wounded bitter man needs the love of a sweeter more optimistic younger woman to remind him what is good in life. Or whatever... add a sex scene to a book and the plot diagram can get even more ridiculous.

I reject the idea that love is necessarily about sex and it doesn't need to be cynical at any age. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my fair share of tawdry romance novels but the stories don't end up being all that interesting really.

Teen romances are different. It's all about the characters with these. The relationships tend to be more focused on emotion and character development. Sex rarely enters into it, and if it does, it's a side note. In many ways, these books are the natural inheritors of the gothic romance. Ok yes, they are a little sappy and a little saccharine, but in a pleasant way.

Here's my top 6 +1 list for authors in this genre:

1. Nelson Jandy - Not the most prolific of authors, but I'll Give You the Sun made me ugly cry. That doesn't sound like much of an endorsement in hindsight, but honestly a good cry now and then is cleansing. The Sky is Everywhere  is her big romance and it's a messy gorgeous story about a teen recovering from the loss of her older sister and the complicated emotions that come out of that kind of grief. 
2. E. Lockhart - What I like about Lockhart is that her characters struggle with themselves. They aren't deeply wounded or deeply flawed. They are just very real feeling teenagers dealing with teenager stuff. There's something nice about that and the characters are appealing for the exact way they reflect an iconically normal teenage experience.
3. Sandhya Menon - Embrace the culture shock. I love Menon's books because she does an excellent job writing romances that involve Indian cultural expectations. I think most non Indians have a hard time wrapping their heads around the viability of arranged marriages. Menon writes these beautiful sweet books where her characters struggle with integrating Indian culture in Western culture. Her characters are vibrant and totally believable and,through her writing, I feel I'm closer to understanding.
4. Rainbow Rowell - Ok, this is a guilty pleasure. I haven't read anywhere near all the books she's written but I love how she writes about us geeks in love. I think I love them because I find myself in them. It's beautiful dorky love among the nerds.
5. Nic Stone -  A newish author, and not everything she writes has a romance angle. However, Stone earns a place on my list for Odd One Out which takes on romantic relationships in the increasingly non-binary world we live in. Both her books are excellent though.
6. Nicola Yoon - Her books make me cry. Every. Single. Damn. Time. So far she's written two: The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything. The Sun is Also a Star might be the most emotionally devastating book that I've ever read. 

+1. John Green - Green doesn't really write romances. He writes anti-romances which isn't as negative as it sounds. Most of his books involve some character dealing with crush fall out in some direction. I've never read a book from him that I didn't love and I put him in this list because sometimes the romance doesn't work or simply fails to launch and that's a good story too.

For the purposes of this list I didn't include any genre authors and I admit to my neophyte status.

Week 9 & 10 - 3/1/2020-3/14/2020

Ok, folks.  It turns out that having a cold-slash-sinus infection for three solid weeks will derail most plans. I feel (at the moment) as though the ick is finally over, so I'm going to, tentatively, restart my projects. I realize I've said this several times already this calendar year, but in my defense, I apparently was in denial about having "the plague." Hopefully, this time I will stay healthy and be able to keep things going.

So in the interest of keeping things moving here's what I've read in the past week and what's on the list for the rest of this one. I'll do my spot reviews in the next couple days.

1. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
2. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz
3. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
4. A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King (Finished 3/9/2020)
5. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
6. Razor Hurst by Justine Larbalestier
7. Spider Gwen: Most Wanted by Jason Latour et al (Finished 3/10/2020)
8. Spider Gwen: Greater Power by Jason Latour et al (Finished 3/10/2020)
9. Spider Women! by Robbie Thompson et al (Finished 3/11/2020)
10. Spider Gwen: Weapon of Choice by Jason Latour et al (Finished 3/11/2020)
11. Spider Gwen: Long Distance by Jason Latour et al (Finished 3/12/2020)
12. There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon (Finished 2/25/2020)
13. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
14. Divergent by Veronica Roth (Finished 3/4/2020)
15. Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Finished 3/6/2020)
16. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
17. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
18. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
19. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
20. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Obviously, this is a ridiculously long list. Some of them are quick reads - Some are new acquisitions for my school library. In any case, I predict that I will continue working this list into week 11. According to Good Reads, I'm about 9 book behind pace, so I'm due for a catch up week week . . . or two.