2023 Retrospective & 2024 Goals

 2023 was a sucky year.

I try to be up-beat about things, but it just was. 2023 sucked. In every life there are going to be streaks of horrible luck, that was this last year. We were in a car accident, work was crazy, and we've been battling identity theft since April. (And that's really just mentioning the major stuff) It was a tough year and a lot of things fell to the wayside by necessity. This feels like a good year to pull things back together, so a lot of my goals don't seem very ambitious but they'll move us in the correct direction.

I really want 2024 to be a year of renewal where things feel more on track.

1. 100 books - I managed 91 books in 2023 and now that I have a handle on how grad school impacts things, 100 is probably a reasonable goal. I can actually probably manage more, but my focus needs to be elsewhere. 

2. Professional reading - I hate pedogogy books, but being back in school has definitely exposed me to professional reading I might actually find interesting. So outside of class-reading, I'd like to read 10 books specifically for my teaching.

3. Journaling - I really should be journaling every day and I'd like to work towards that, but a good first step is going back to my book summary/reviews. It might be only for me but it really does help me remember titles better. I'll start with some of my books from the end of December.

4. One walk or hike per day - Ideally, I'd be able to hike for an hour or so every day, but that's just no feasible. A short walk is though. One way or another, a walk is possible every day and I should be getting out and moving. I'd like to do at least one family hike each month at a minimum although obviously more during our large breaks.

5. Log 2 hours a week cleaning - we've had a clutter explosion...again. It's not that bad really and 20 minutes a day, every day would probably take care of it. But it will take some consistency.

6. Food Pantry - this one is a Thomas thing but we've been trying to fill a box for the local food pantry each month and getting it in. We are good at collecting the food, but not so good at getting the box in to one of the pantries on a regular basis.  Once a month seems reasonable.

7. Exploring Food - I have a ton of cookbooks and I live in a city with a diverse food culture. I want to try at least 1 new recipe or 1 new restaurant each week. Otherwise, I cook the same dishes and we get the same takeout - boring ruts-ville. There's so much other there to try and to introduce Thomas too. :-)

8. 1 board game a week - This was a goal last year and it fell by the wayside which is really too bad. When we were doing it, it was actually quite a lot of fun. 

9. Thomas time - I really want to spend more off screen time with my son. It can be reading together or playing a game or doing a puzzle....anything really.... but I want at least 10 minutes of good Thomas time every day.

10. Something just for me - I need to start treating myself a bit better. I get so caught up in all the things that have to happen, that I don't do things that make me feel good.  So every week I need to do something just for me. It doesn't have to be a big deal. It can be painting my nails or buying a new pretty shirt, but something...each week. (however, it can't be reading a book or playing video game.... that's mindless escapism on some level)

December List - Closing out the year

I'm behind. Everyone knew that was going to happen. However, I only need to read 18 books which is tantalizingly possible. Difficult but definitely in the realm of the possible. I'm also 6 books behind on my TBR reads and 3 new ones will come out by the end of the month. I don't know. I should probably let it be, but I want to just catch up... maybe it's some kind of flailing at the world and circumstance.

Anyway, I've filled the list with easy things to read or things that are pressing for some reason.

1. Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
2. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (Finished 12/19/2023)
3. The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (already started but a slow read)
4. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
1. King of Scars
2. Rule of Wolves
5. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
6. Homecoming by Orson Scott Card
1. Memory of Earth
2. The Call of Earth
3. The Ships of Earth
7. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (TBR)
8. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (borrowed from Samantha)
9. Descendants Series by Melissa de la Cruz (borrowed from Samantha)
1. The Isle of the Lost (Finished 12/4/2023)
2. Return to the Isle of the Lost (Finished 12/5/2023)
3. Rise of the Isle of the Lost 
10. Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow
11. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
12. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (TBR)
13. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (TBR)
14. Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino
1. Volume 10  (Finished 12/4/2023)
2. Volume 11 (Finished 12/13/2023)
3. Volume 12 (Finished 12/20/2023)
4. Volume 13 (Finished 12/20/2023)
15. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (TBR)
16. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
17. The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight (next semester's text book)
18. Restart by Gordon Korman (Finished 12/21/2023)
19. Teachings of Buddha edited by Jack Kornfield
20. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (The new Thomas Bedtime book)
21. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason
22. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
23. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (Finished 12/27/2023)
24. Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol 1 by Fujino Omori
25. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
26. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (TBR)
27. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
28. Peter & Max by Bill Willingham
29. Fairest by Bill Willingham
1. Vol 1 Wide Awake
2. Vol 2 The Hidden Kingdom
3. Vol 3 The Return of the Maharaja
4. Vol 4 Of Men and Mice
5. Vol 5 The Clamour for Glamour

November List

 October went a little better. I at least mangaged to read a handful of books. November is still mostly the same list. I'm going to keep working through, but the pace seems glacial.

1. The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (already started but a slow read)
2. Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (Prequel to Series)
3. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (Previous TBR)
4. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
1. City of Heavenly Fire
5. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
1. Clockwork Angel
2. Clockwork Prince
3. Clockwork Princess
6. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (borrowed from Samantha)
7. Descendants Series by Melissa de la Cruz (borrowed from Samantha)
1. The Isle of the Lost
2. Return to the Isle of the Lost
3. Rise of the Isle of the Lost
8. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (Current TBR)
9. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (Current TBR)
10. Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino
1. Volume 1 (Finished 11/13/2023)
2. Volume 2 (Finished 11/14/2023)
3. Volume 3 (Finished 11/15/2023)
4. Volume 4 (Finished 11/16/2023)
5. Volume 5 (Finished 11/17/2023)
6. Volume 6 (Finished 11/17/2023)
7. Volume 7 (Finished 11/18/2023)
8. Volume 8 (Finished 11/18/2023)
9. Volume 9 (Finished 11/18/2023)
11. Early American Cookery or Ye Gentlewomans Housewifery by Margaret Huntingotn Hooker 
12. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (Current TBR)
13. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (Finished 11/15/2023)
14. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
15. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (Previous TBR)
16. Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol 1 by Fujino Omori
17. First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez
18. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
19. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (Previous TBR)
20. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
21. The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

October - my Favorite Month and a good time for a rethink

 As predicted. . . grad school kicked my behind at least in terms of side reading. Overall, it's good and it's worth having to readjust my patterns. However, it feels like I started class in August and I'm just now poking my head up to breath. I only really read 3 books in August and 4 in September which is really just pitiful for me especially considering that 2 of them were books I read with Thomas for bedtime reading. 

I think moving forward, at least during the regular school year, all my reading needs to be for relaxation. It's not about mental fiber right now, it has to be about mind candy and holding on to my sanity. Unfortunately, I didn't come to this conclusion by the time TBR came up with a new round of books (probably because I never got around to reading the previous round) so those still look moderately meaty but I'll get it fixed for next time around. Any way this is a pretty much all new list full of things I really want to read and should mostly be quick books to get through. My goal is to get my reading rate back up to around 8 books per month. I'll worry about catching up ... later.

1. The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (already started but a slow read)
2. Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (Prequel to Series)
3. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (Previous TBR)
4. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
1. City of Bones (finished 9/29/23)
2. City of Ashes (finished 10/1/23)
3. City of Glass (finished 10/5/23)
4. City of Fallen Angels (finished 10/12/23)
5. City of Lost Souls (finished 10/16/23)
6. City of Heavenly Fire
5. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
1. Clockwork Angel
2. Clockwork Prince
3. Clockwork Princess
6. Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate
1. Vol 1 (Finished 10/6/23)
2. Vol 2 (Finished 10/7/23)
3. Vol 3 (Finished 10/7/23)
7. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (Current TBR)
8. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (Current TBR)
9. Early American Cookery or Ye Gentlewomans Housewifery by Margaret Huntingotn Hooker 
10. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (Current TBR)
11. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (The new Thomas Bedtime book)
12. The Minus-One Club by Kekla Magoon (finished 10/19/23)
13. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
14. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (Previous TBR)
15. Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol 1 by Fujino Omori
16. First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez
17. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
18. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (Previous TBR)
19. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
20. The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

August & September List

The crazy has begun. School, grad school, mommy-ing...all at once. Good times! Honestly, I'm feeling pretty upbeat about it. The grad school is a lot but I think I can feel my brain waking up. It's like I'm using things that I haven't in decades and I kind of like it. 

Reading will probably slow down tremendously now that school is starting back up. I'm just doing a lot, but I will definitely try to keep it going. This month's list is all easy to digest things and we'll just see how it goes.

August List;

1. Ace of Spades by Fridah Abike-Iyimide
2. The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
3. King of Scars Duology by Leigh Bardugo
1. King of Scars
2. Rule of Wolves
4. Flavia de Luce Series by Alean Bradley
1. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Book 7)
5. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
6. Even as We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (TBR)
7. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
8. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate (Book 3)
2. Cibola Burn (Book 4)
9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
10. Fairy Tale by Stephen King (Birthday Book)
11. Last Night at the Telegraph by Malinda Lo
12. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason
13. How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (TBR)
14. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
15. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (TBR)
16. Shades of Magic Series by V.E. Schwab
1. A Darker Shake of Magic (Finished 8/5/2023)
2. A Gathering of Shadows (Finished 9/6/2023)
3. Conjuring of Light
17. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
18. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
19. Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami
20. The Science of Murder: the Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine

School books and finishing up:

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

July List

This is maybe the busiest summer that I've had in a while. Even the mega car trip last summer didn't feel this busy. Even so, I'm staying on top of my reading which is good. It's a bit of a struggle with everything else going on and I sometimes wonder if it's something I should just put aside until I'm done with my grad program. Of course If I'm just going to put it aside, then I need to start boxing up books and stop buying more. Oh well, it's a descision I can make later. 

This month is all things I want to read. If this is going to be my last month for a while with time to read, I'm not going to waste it with things I ought to read. 

July List;

1. Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Finished 7/30/2023)
2. King of Scars Duology by Leigh Bardugo
1. King of Scars
2. Rule of Wolves
3. Flavia de Luce Series by Alean Bradley
1. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Finished 7/13/2023)
2. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Book 7)
4. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
5. Even as We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (TBR)
6. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate (Book 3)
7. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
9. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
10. How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (TBR)
11. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
12. Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. The Other Miss Bridgerton (Finished 7/5/2023)
2. First Comes Scandal (Finished 7/10/2023)
13. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (TBR)
14. Game Keeper by Guy Ritchie (Graphic Novel)
15. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Finished 7/27/2023)
16. Gallant by V.E. Schwab (Finished 7/12/23)
17. Liselotte Witches Forest vol 5 by Natsuki Takaya (Finished 7/4/2023)
18. Barely Balanced: The Adventure Begins by Cameron Tomele
19. The Science of Murder: the Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine
20. The Best of Judge Dredd (Graphic Novel)

Books to finish or be rid of:

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Trust by Hernan Diaz (TBR)
3. The Principal as Curriculum Leader by Glatthorn, Jailall, and Jailall
4. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (Finished 7/3/2023)
5. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)

June List

May was finally a break. . . for me. Ryan ended up on a bit of a scramble at the end of the year so the stress shifted, but that's the way it goes. I had a great reading month. All in all, I read 16 books in the month of May. 9 of my reads were graphic novels which accounts for some of the speed but I've managed to catch up to even for the the beginning of grad school! (I'm sure I'll slide behind again, but still it is an achievement) To celebrate I made a big list for June. I have some exciting things on here including a lot of YA and some things I've been waiting forever to read.

June List;

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Rebound by Kwame Alexander
3. King of Scars Duology by Leigh Bardugo
1. King of Scars
2. Rule of Wolves
4. Flavia de Luce Series by Alean Bradley
1. Speaking from Among the Bones (Finished 6/21/2023)
2. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Book 6)
5. Trust by Hernan Diaz (TBR)
6. Orbiter by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran (Finished 6/7/2023)
7. Discovery of Witches Series by Deborah Harkness
1. A Discovery of Witches (Finished 6/6/2023)
2. Shadow of Night (Finished 6/12/2023)
3. The Book of Life (Finished 6/18/2023)
8. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate (Book 3)
9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
11. Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Finished 6/22/2023)
12. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
13. Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. Because of Miss Bridgerton (Finished 6/8/2023)
2. The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (Finished 6/13/2023)
14. Game Keeper by Guy Ritchie (Graphic Novel)
15. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
16. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
17. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
18. Barely Balanced: The Adventure Begins by Cameron Tomele
19. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)
20. The Best of Judge Dredd (Graphic Novel)

May List

April ended up being another difficult month. It really has been a busy, trying school year. It's felt like we haven't had more than two weeks at a streach that didn't present some sort of unusual challenge.  We've weathered the various storms well, more or less, but it's kept us hopping from one perch to the next and hasn't left much time for pleasure reading. 

At this point, I've just lost momentum so even when I do have time, I'm not using it. Maybe I'm just exhausted. Anyway, I'm behind by about 7 books which means if I were somehow able to catch up in May (not likely) I'd need to read something like 19 books in total. It's actually not impossible, I've done it before, but still not very likely. 

The list this month is short and full of things that should be quick reads. I'd have to read every singly one of them to get myself on track, but I think the big bulky lists weren't helping my current mood. We'll have to see how it goes.

May List;

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
1. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Finished 5/30/2023)
3. Trust by Hernan Diaz (TBR)
4. DV8: Neighborhood Threat by Warren Ellis et al. (Finished 5/31/2023)
5. Ghost Rider: The Road to Damnation by Garth Ennis et al. (Finished 5/30/2023)
6. Just a Pilgrim by Garth Ennis (Finished 5/7/2023)
7. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanore Estes (Finished 5/12/2023)
8. Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Finished 5/11/2023)
9. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (TBR) (Finished 5/4/23)
10. Discovery of Witches Series by Deborah Harkness
1. A Discovery of Witches
2. Shadow of Night
3. The Book of Life
11. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Finished 5/17/2023)
12. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel
1. Only Human (Finished 5/10/2023)
13. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Finished 5/20/2023)
14. Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab (Finished 5/25/2023)
15. Gloom Cookie Graphic Novel Series by Serena Valentino
1. Gloom Cookie Volume 1 (Finished 5/5/2023)
2. Gloom Cookie Volume 2 (Finished 5/6/2023)
3. Broken Curses (Finished 5/6/2023)
4. The Carnival Wars (Finished 5/24/2023)
5. The Final Curtain (Finished 5/25/2023)
16. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)

April List

April's list is pretty much just March's list with my new TBR.co books added and the candidates for the new World Lit class novel. I actually did a pretty good job with my spring break sub list, knocking out four books. In May, I'm going to do a reset and change things up. Four months seems like a good run for some of this stuff, and it's fun pulling random books :-)

April List

1. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Cirriculum Check) (Finished 4/2/23)
2. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Volume 2
3. Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo
1. Six of Crows (Finished 4/4/23)
2. Crooked Kingdom (Finished 4/12/23)
4. Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (RP)
5. Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
1. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
2. Speaking from Among the Bones
3. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
4. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
5. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd
6. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
7. The Golden Tresses of the Dead
6. How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng (RP)
7. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed from Dad) (Finished 4/5/23)
8. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova (Christmas Gift)
9. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate
2. Cibola Burn
3. Nemesis Games
4. Babylon's Ashes
5. Persepolis Rising
6. Tiamat's Wrath
7. Leviathan Falls
10. Trust by Hernan Diaz (TBR)
11. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick (RP)
12. Desert Flower by Earis Dirie (RP)
13. Serge Storms Series by Tim Dorsey (RP)
1. Florida Roadkill
2. Hammerhead Ranch Motel
3. Orange Crush
4. Triggerfish Twist
5. The Stingray Shuffle
6. Cadillac Beach
7. Torpedo Juice
8. The Big Bamboo
9. Hurricane Punch
10. Atomic Lobster
11. Nuclear Jellyfish
14. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (classic)
15. Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (Cirriculum Check)(Finished 4/8/2023)
16. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (TBR)
17. Symphony of Ages Series by Elizabeth Haydon (RP)
1. Rhapsody: Child of Blood
2. Prophecy: Child of Earth
3. Destiny: Child of the Sky
18. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang (Finished 4/10/23)
19. Trader by Charles de Lint (RP)
20. Jason Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum (RP)
1. The Bourne Identity
2. The Bourne Supremacy
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
21. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason (RP)
22. Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah (Cirriculum Check)
23. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (TBR)
24. The Color of Water by James McBride (RP)
25. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel
1. Waking Gods (Finished 4/21/23)
2. Only Human
26. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (RP)
27. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
1. The Cruelest Month
2. A Rule Against Murder
3. The Brutal Telling
4. Bury Your Dead
5. A Trick of the Light
6. The Beautiful Mystery
7. How the Light Gets In
8. The Long Way Home
28. The Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. Because of Miss Bridgerton
2. The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband
3. The Other Miss Bridgerton
4. First Come Scandal
29. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (borrowed from Stephanie)
30. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (RP)
31. Cooking Light: Mad Delicious by Keith Schroeder (RP)
32. Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab
33. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (RP)
34. Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami Translated by Yuji Oniki
35. A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (Reread for Sci Fi)
36. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (RP)
37. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)

 

Spring Break List

 I've decided this spring break to have a dedicated sublist of 10 books. My World Lit teacher is looking to adopt a new novel for next year, so I need to read her short list of four titles. I'm actually pretty excited about it. The rest of the little list is all stuff I'm excited to read either because it's TBR.co or series that I've been itching to read. I'd also like to use this week and this little list to get back to blogging. I haven't decided whether I'm going to try and blog the backlog of books yet, there are some really goods in there, but I'm going to start with more recent things. Getting sick and then being in a car accident really knocked me off my game.

I will post a list fo rthe rest of the month at the end of break :-)

Spring Break List

1. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Cirriculum Check) (Finished 4/2/23)
2. Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo
1. Six of Crows (Finished 4/4/23)
2. Crooked Kingdom
3. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed from Dad) (Finished 4/5/23)
4. Trust by Hernan Diaz (TBR)
5. Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (Cirriculum Check)(Finished 4/8/2023)
6. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (TBR)
7. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang (Cirriculum Check)
8. Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah (Cirriculum Check)
9. A Memor Called Empire by Arkady Martine (TBR)
10. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel
1. Waking Gods
2. Only Human

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

 This is one of my TBR recommendations. I remember when the Netflix adaptation came out, it looked interesting but I never got around to watching it. I managed to spend a week laid up with bronchitis. In that time I managed to read two books. The Ghost Bride was one of them.

The Ghost Bride is something between a work of historical fiction and a ghost story. Set in Malay in 1893, it explores a world and a culture that I almost entirely unfamiliar with. The protagonist Li Lan is the only child of a good family fallen on hard times. Her father endlessly mourns her mother who died when she was a child. As a result, he spends too much time smoking opium and not enough time attending to practical matters.

Beautiful young woman that she is, she's had almost no marriage offers and nothing is being done to remedy this when the powerful Lim family approaches her father with the idea of Li Lan being a ghost bride for their deceased son, Lim Tian Ching. Ghost brides were a real thing although always rare. The idea was that a young woman would be married to the deceased, live out her life with her in-laws as a widow, and then travel through the underworld with her husband when she dies. It was never a common practice and was generally done to placate a restless spirit so it's all more than a bit tragic. 

Li Lan, being in a tight spot without many options, considers the offer as she starts having vivid dreams of her potential husband. Ultimately, she gets pulled into the afterlife while her body lies in a coma and must unravel the mystery of Lim Tian Ching's death while helping a spirit government official, Er Liang, investigate corruption in the afterlife. It sounds pretty complicated, but it works well.

It was fun and I did get pretty wrapped up in the weird little romance going on. 

I've started watching the show on Netflix but I don't think I'll continue it. The book is just so much better!

March List

Seven books read and two books evaluated and dropped. All in all it's not a bad. Four books overall were from the random picks so it's good movement on the greater project. Five of them came off the urgent list including two of my three TBRs. I set a goal last month of knocking down my Urgent list and I did a good job making headway on that. 

 I'm reading overall less and I predicted that would happen but I don't think I realized how much less it was going to be. I spent about a week total trying to read the two dropped books. My other two Random Pick books were time sinks too. I started reading through the Settlement Cookbook in January and the David Mitchell book took well over a week too. Ryan has said (and he's right) that my impressive pacing has as much to do with what I read as it does with how much time I devote to reading. About 3/4's of the backlog is literary fiction and nonfiction of one sort or another. I can't read those at the same pace as the YA and the genre fiction. So I've reduced the total amount of time I'm spending reading and I've upped the time I'm spending on each book on average. At this rate, it's looking like my reduced goal of 100 books this year might end up being a stretch.

But that's ok. Maybe I'll get faster with the literary fiction.

For this month, I'd like to finish two books that I've been stuck in the middle of for a while: Volume 1 of Asimov's Complete Stories and the Gastro Obscura (which I actually started last year in the fall). I'm also going to start trying to make movement on some of the series by alternating series books with random books. 

Goal for March - Start knocking out the series

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Volume 2
2. Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo
1. Six of Crows
2. Crooked Kingdom
3. Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (RP)
4. Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
1. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
2. Speaking from Among the Bones
3. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
4. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
5. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd
6. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
7. The Golden Tresses of the Dead
5. How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng (RP)
6. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova (Christmas Gift)
7. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate
2. Cibola Burn
3. Nemesis Games
4. Babylon's Ashes
5. Persepolis Rising
6. Tiamat's Wrath
7. Leviathan Falls
8. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick (RP)
9. Desert Flower by Earis Dirie (RP)
10. Serge Storms Series by Tim Dorsey (RP)
1. Florida Roadkill
2. Hammerhead Ranch Motel
3. Orange Crush
4. Triggerfish Twist
5. The Stingray Shuffle
6. Cadillac Beach
7. Torpedo Juice
8. The Big Bamboo
9. Hurricane Punch
10. Atomic Lobster
11. Nuclear Jellyfish
12. Gator A-Go-Go
13. Electric Barracuda
14. When Elves Attack
15. Pineapple Grenade
16. The Riptide Ultra-Glide
17. Tiger Shrimp Tango
18. Shark Skin Suite
19. Coconut Cowboy
20. Clownfish Blues
21. The Pope of Palm Beach
22. No Sunscreen for the Dead
23. Naked Came the Florida Man
24. Tropic of Stupid
25. Mermaid Confidential
26. The Maltese Iguana
11. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (classic)
12. Symphony of Ages Series by Elizabeth Haydon (RP)
1. Rhapsody: Child of Blood
2. Prophecy: Child of Earth
3. Destiny: Child of the Sky
13. The Mindwar Trilogy by Andrew Klavan
1. Mindwar (Dropped for content reasons - it wasn't good.... yeah that's what I'm going with. Dropping the whole series)
2. Hostage Run
3. Game Over
14. Trader by Charles de Lint (RP)
15. Jason Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum (RP)
1. The Bourne Identity
2. The Bourne Supremacy
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
16. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason (RP)
17. The Color of Water by James McBride (RP)
18. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel
1. Waking Gods
2. Only Human
19. Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor (Finished 3/10/2023)
20. Emily the Strange Series by Rob Reger (RP)
1. The Lost Days (Finished 3/13/2023)
2. Stranger and Stranger (Finished 3/15/2023)
3. Dark Times (Finished 3/17/2023)
4. Piece of Mind (Finished 3/19/2023)
21. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (RP)
22. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
1. The Cruelest Month
2. A Rule Against Murder
3. The Brutal Telling
4. Bury Your Dead
5. A Trick of the Light
6. The Beautiful Mystery
7. How the Light Gets In
8. The Long Way Home
23. The Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. Because of Miss Bridgerton
2. The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband
3. The Other Miss Bridgerton
4. First Come Scandal
24. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (RP)
25. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Finished 3/23/2023)
26. Cooking Light: Mad Delicious by Keith Schroeder (RP)
27. Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab
28. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (RP)
29. Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami Translated by Yuji Oniki
30. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (RP)

The Urgent List:

1. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed from Dad)
2. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA, Library)
3. Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers (Ryan Pick, because he really wants me to read it)
4. The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos & Sam Taylor(Finished 3/26/2023)
5. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA, Library)
6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (borrowed from Stephanie)
7. A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (Reread for Sci Fi)
8. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)

Gleanings by Neal Shusterman

 As a general rule, I don't tend to get involved in series before they are finished. It doesn't matter if it's books or television media I just seem to have boundless patience for deferring even starting a series. Of course, once I have started a series I had finishing the first installment and then waiting for then next to come out. I guess I'm impatient by nature and I hate waiting for the next book, next episode, next season, or whatever. 

Occasionally though, I find myself starting a series without realizing it. A good first book in a series can feel like an excellent standalone novel. That's what happened to me with the Arc of the Scythe series. I read Scythe and fell in love. It was the first Shusterman novel I'd read, so I perpetuated my usual pattern and hit the used bookstores to gather up all the Shusterman books I could find. I gathered up close to 20 books on that first run and discovered that there was a sequel to Scythe called Thunderhead. Oh gawd. 

I bought it, of course. I bought it new because it was all of about a month old. I read it and then I waited for over a year for the last book in the series, Toll, to come out. It was excruciating. And because I started about four of my students on the series, they were breathlessly waiting too. It was hard. There was deep psychological trauma. But really, I've spent some time thinking about my book buying patterns and how they don't really help support the writers that I love, at least not directly. It's something to think on.

I thought I was done with the series after Toll. However, I was walking through the school library and I spotted a new volume, Gleanings. Technically it's not a new novel, it's a collection of short stories and novellas set in the Arc of the Scythe world. It actually seems to be a new trend for authors of successful YA series to do this and I haven't decided yet what I think of it.

In this case though, I really liked it. All the stories were excellent and it really made me want to reread the series. It has been long enough since I read the trilogy that I had to really dig to remember some of the references.

All the stories were, as I already said, excellent, but I particularly enjoyed four of them: "Never Work with Animals",  "The Mortal Canvas", "The Persistence of Memory", and "A Dark Curtain Rises." Each of these stories explores aspects of the world that may or may not be directly related to the events of the main series. "A Dark Curtain Rises," for example, occurs well after the trilogy closes and revived one of my favorite characters. 

One of the main themes running through the trilogy has to do with corruption. Shusterman seems to have really spent some time exploring the adage that "absolute power corrupts absolutely." He does a great job of introducing it into series and hinting that the excesses of some of the scythes were common place without really enumerating them. "Never Work with Animals," followed one of these corrupt scythes and resolved in a very amusing manner.

"The Persistence of Memory" has some similar qualities but involves a strange sort of competition between two scythes with very different interpretations of their job. (Their job being the only source of death in a deathless society.) This conflict comes to a head when the niece of one scythe is marked for gleaning by the other.

 Of the four "The Mortal Canvas" was probably my favorite. This one takes place before way before the events of the trilogy and it involves an art teacher and her class. The art teacher is old enough that she was born before human life could be infinitely extended. Her art class is visited by a scythe who proposes an art contest between the students. There was something incredible about this one. Somehow, Shusterman managed to encapsulate something about how our mortality defines us. 

All in all, a great read. I think I will have to find time to reread the whole series

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Over a decade ago, Stephen King wrote an article about how important cover design is to promoting books. It wasn't a new point, even at the time, but it was the first time I really considered the point. It's true that I tend to make certain assumptions based on cover illustration and that's what happened to Where the Crawdads Sing. 

When it was first published, the cover of Where the Crawdads Sing was this sort of pastel landscape of a marsh with a lot of oranges, pinks, and soft yellows. Whether or not it's fair or not, I assumed it was some kind of mainstream woman's melodrama which is just not my jam. I had plenty of time to contemplate this opinion because at least five of my students were reading the thing so I spent 20 minutes a day staring at the cover while they read. 

I didn't really think about it. I just resolved not to read it in a passive kind of way.

When Netflix turned it into a movie, the book had a resurgence and a couple of my book friends both read it and raved about it. This is a pair who have great taste in books and I generally listen to them when they say I'll like something, so I gave it a shot.

Obviously, my first impression was wrong and had a faulty basis. This is a great book.

Where the Crawdads Sing is actually more of a Southern Gothic. Southern Gothic was a mode more prevalent in the early 19th century, but it features characters with irrational, horrific, or transgressive thoughts or impulses; exaggerated or grotesque charactes mixed with dark humor and an angsty sense of alienation. All this, but written in a realistic style.

Kya is the youngest of five. Her mother abandoned them and her father is abusive. Eventually, Kya is left alone in their shack in the marsh at the tender age of 7 or so. The people of Barkley Cove called her the marsh girl and for the most part left her on her own. She grew up alone and wild. So when the town start Chase Anderws is found dead, the Marsh Girl is the obvious target of suspicion.

The story moves fluidly back and forth through the timeline exploring the experiences and thoughts of Kya.

The beauty of the writing, is that despite the oddity of the circumstances, the matter of fact tone makes it all just flow into the narrative. It isn't until later reflection that the oddness of the characters and situations become apparent.

I really enjoyed it.

Now that I've read the book, I guess I'll have to go watch the movie

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

 This here is the third book in the Flavia de Luce series. I've always had a weird relationship with this series. The first time I read book 1 (Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie), I didn't like it much. In fact I think I got rid of my copy. I didn't hate it, it just didn't call to me. Even then I recognized it as a solidly built mystery. I just find the protagonist detective (Flavia) irritating.

Much, much later on I was looking for a mystery option for my mystery class and it was the book that my students chose. So, that means I had to read it at least two more times - once to prep for the class and once with the kids. Maybe it was some sort of literary Stockholm syndrome but I actually liked it tremendously more on the second and third reads. Even so, I'm not sure I would have continued reading the series if three other things hadn't happened. 

First, I have a wonderfully attentive husband. When he realized I was enjoying my reread, he searched out and bought the other 9 books in the series for me.  Which is cool and it came in handy because . . . second, one of my students was so taken with the series that he asked me for the next book in the series and then the next and so forth. This was a kid who didn't really read fiction recreationally, so it was kind of a big deal. 

Still heady from that success, I realized that my mother-in-law might like the series. . . and she did. This then lead to my father and father-in-law giving the series a whirl. So I own the other 9 books but they were so in demand by people that I turned on to the series that I lost momentum. By the time I read book 2, I remembered why my first try on book 1 was so lukewarm.  

Despite that, I had every intention of reading them except the perversity of the randomized system left them unpicked on my lists for months. That is until last month when book 3 finally came up on the randomizer.

It really felt to me that Bradley hit his stride with book three. Flavia is a little more self aware and a lot less irritating. Additionally, the town of Bishop's Lacey really starts to come alive and feel like a cohesive backdrop instead of a murky pool of side characters.

I've always suspected that the challenge of writing a mystery series is in keeping the relationships between the core characters from going stale. I can't tell if having a prepubescent protagonist would make that easier or harder, but it does create a lot of friction because if you are a kid, just about everyone thinks they know better.

That tension keeps the action moving on the mystery while Flavia makes as many mistakes as she does discoveries.

It's safe to say this is my favorite of the three I've read so far and I'm excited to work in book 4.

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

 Bacigalupi writes climate change thrillers. Well, maybe not "thrillers" but I'm not sure what else to call them. In both of his books that I've read, environmental pressure creates a hellish landscape populated with desperate people. While there are likable people, the tension of his books are watching them encounter people pushed to extreme acts by circumstances while the environment itself is potentially deadly. Bacigalupi has no problems killing off the likable characters.

The Water Knife is set around the Colorado River basin and posits that the area is becoming drier. Water rights are a matter of life or death and the states have closed their boarders to protect their interests. It's not anarchy, but it's a Western U.S. teetering on the edge. The rich and powerful live in arcology projects that are ultra water efficient and luxurious. Most of the population can't afford to live in them and there aren't enough vacancies to go around. Since the Colorado River is the only major source of water for the region, several states vie for control.

The story is told from three points of view. Angel is a water knife which is a kind of spy/mercenary/assassin who works for the Southern Nevada Water Authority based out of Las Vegas. He's a reformed gang member out of Mexico and he protects the interests of his employer. While he's certainly jaded, he's not necessarily a horrible person but he can be ruthless in doing his job. Lucy is a journalist from back east who is covering the slow collapse and desiccation of Phoenix which suffers from more than the usual amount of anarchy and a crime syndicate that squeezes the population while they build and archology of their own. Maria is a young Texas migrant who is struggling to survive on the fringes. She dreams of scraping together enough money to escape north. 

While the set up was very slow going, once the three characters are in the same place and interacting, this becomes a fast paced read. It's thought-provoking and grim but I found the ending somewhat unfulfilling. I had the same problem with Windup Girl which is the other Bacigalupi book I've read. Because of the gritty nature of the setting, it makes some sense that endings don't fully resolve and leave the surviving characters in tenuous positions. It fits with the theme, but I find I don't much like them personally.

Issues with the endings notwithstanding, Bacigalupi is an excellent writer and he uses his stories to make some very good points about human nature and the realities of climate change. I will continue to read his books, but I don't think I would or could ever reread one.

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

 I've always found it challenging to write about sequels. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I end up feeling like they are necessarily cryptic. On the one hand, it's a book in its own right, but on the other, it's difficult to write anything at all about the plot without giving away events that occur in the resolution of the previous book. I hate spoilers, and I'd hate to dish out spoilers to an unsuspecting populace.

Of course that's not really something I should worry about overmuch. 

So, if you are interested in the series... stop now. You've been warned. It's on you. Really.

Vengeful is a sequel to Vicious which I reviewed January 10th. At the end of Vicious, Eli is captured and buried in a special facility that contains people with abilities. Victor has been killed and resurrected by Sydney. It's not long before Victor realizes that something is wrong with his power and it's getting worse. 

In the meantime, Marcella is a mob wife and when her husband tries to kill her, her brush with death leaves her with a new and powerful ability to finally force the city to take notice of her and her abilities. 

All the characters (mostly) are back from Vicious with higher stakes and more intrigue. The world continues to develop. Clearly if the government (or at least a powerful subset of it) become aware of super powered  people, the first thing they are going to do is set up a super shadowy agency to contain them. So we have a secret agency and we have a lot of machinations working in both directions while the agency dances around Victor and Victor dances around them in a weird equilibrium. 

Marcella is a complicating factor that drives the action.

I enjoyed the book but it was a slower read. While there was plenty of tension, it felt more dilute somehow and Marcella was almost a cartoon of an evil mastermind which works for the series but didn't quite tie together as closely as the first book. I really hope that Schwab continues the series. It's a nifty idea and plenty of room for it to expand.

February List

January was a bit of a slow month for reading but it's been an interesting entry into my new system. I only managed to read 6 books. The new exercise regime and the writing are all pressing on time I used to use for reading. While I anticipated this, I didn't really know how much reading I achieved during those times. Additionally, it turns out that a lot of the books that have been waiting forever for me to get around to. . . are really slow reads. Also, even if I end up discarding a book, it takes a couple days to determine that. On the other hand, I'm really enjoying/looking forward to all half-forgotten titles. So, I moved the TBR into the urgent list and replaced all the read books with random picks for next month. 

Apparently I went through a phase where I was collecting the first couple books in long series. A strangely disproportionate number of my random picks in the last two months are parts of series which caused the list to balloon. Additionally, I ended the month in the middle of five books which I intend to finish. Now that I've consistently been exercising, it's time to work in the writing. It's possible that first thing in the morning simply won't work. I'll try evenings for a while and see how that goes.

Goal for February - write and and blast through the urgent list!

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Volume 2
2. Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (RP)
3. Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
1. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
2. Speaking from Among the Bones
3. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
4. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
5. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd
6. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
7. The Golden Tresses of the Dead
4. How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng (RP)
5. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova (Christmas Gift)
6. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate
2. Cibola Burn
3. Nemesis Games
4. Babylon's Ashes
5. Persepolis Rising
6. Tiamat's Wrath
7. Leviathan Falls
7. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick (RP)
8. Desert Flower by Earis Dirie (RP)
9. Serge Storms Series by Tim Dorsey (RP)
1. Florida Roadkill
2. Hammerhead Ranch Motel
3. Orange Crush
4. Triggerfish Twist
5. The Stingray Shuffle
6. Cadillac Beach
7. Torpedo Juice
8. The Big Bamboo
9. Hurricane Punch
10. Atomic Lobster
11. Nuclear Jellyfish
12. Gator A-Go-Go
13. Electric Barracuda
14. When Elves Attack
15. Pineapple Grenade
16. The Riptide Ultra-Glide
17. Tiger Shrimp Tango
18. Shark Skin Suite
19. Coconut Cowboy
20. Clownfish Blues
21. The Pope of Palm Beach
22. No Sunscreen for the Dead
23. Naked Came the Florida Man
24. Tropic of Stupid
25. Mermaid Confidential
26. The Maltese Iguana
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (classic)
11. Count Zero by William Gibson (Dropped - feel a little bad about it actually. I'm good with getting rid of it but Ryan is deciding whether to give it a try)
12. Symphony of Ages Series by Elizabeth Haydon (RP)
1. Rhapsody: Child of Blood
2. Prophecy: Child of Earth
3. Destiny: Child of the Sky
13. Sleeping Beauty: Back to Reality by Jenni James (Dropped - I have issues with the writing style as well as some of the content. I'll be excising this one)
14. The Mindwar Trilogy by Andrew Klavan
1. Mindwar
2. Hostage Run
3. Game Over
15. Trader by Charles de Lint (RP)
16. Jason Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum (RP)
1. The Bourne Identity
2. The Bourne Supremacy
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
17. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason (RP)
18. The Color of Water by James McBride (RP)
19. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (Finished 2/28/2023)
20. Emily the Strange Series by Rob Reger (RP)
1. The Lost Days
2. Stranger and Stranger
3. Dark Times
4. Piece of Mind
21. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (RP)
22. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
1. The Cruelest Month
2. A Rule Against Murder
3. The Brutal Telling
4. Bury Your Dead
5. A Trick of the Light
6. The Beautiful Mystery
7. How the Light Gets In
8. The Long Way Home
23. The Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. Because of Miss Bridgerton
2. The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband
3. The Other Miss Bridgerton
4. First Come Scandal
24. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (RP)
25. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
26. Cooking Light: Mad Delicious by Keith Schroeder (RP)
27. The Settlement Cook Book (Finished 2/25/2023)
28. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (RP)
29. Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami Translated by Yuji Oniki
30. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (RP)

The Urgent List:

1. The Ghost Bride: A Novel by Yangsze Choo (Finished 2/14/2023)
2. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed from Dad)
3. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA, Library)
4. Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers (Ryan Pick, because he really wants me to read it)
5. The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos & Sam Taylor(TBR)
6. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel (TBR)
1. Sleeping Giants (Finished 2/15/ 2022)
2. Waking Gods
3. Only Human
7. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Finished 2/2/2023)
8. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA, Library)
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (borrowed from Stephanie)
10. Gleanings by Neil Shusterman (Finished 2/9/2023)
11. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (finished 2/28/2023)
12. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

I like independent bookstores, mostly. I just love the idea of them, but between various tax laws and a public addicted to the convenience of an online platform, it's hard for independents to survive. Obviously, I do buy from Amazon at times, but by far I get most of my books used. However, when I do go into an independent to browse, I try to make a point of buying something. During the massive most awesome road trip of all time last summer we stopped in an independent in Little Rock, Arkansas called Wordsworth Books. Great people and solid selection for the size. They even had some interesting imports in the kids section. We bought Thomas a Where's Wally book (Where's Waldo but British) none of us had seen before and I picked up Vicious. 

Sometimes your favorites creep up on you. It starts out as a solid like, but after a time it suddenly becomes apparent that you'll pick up anything with their name on it. V.E. (Victoria) Schwab was like that for me. Some time over the summer, I realized that I'd happily give anything she writes a shot. 

Schwab writes fantasy about half of which is set in a mostly real world setting. Vicious is about two overly intelligent young men who develop a theory in college about how to create people with extraordinary abilities (EOs). In the world of the book, EOs already exist but they are rare and generally unconfirmed. Most people don't believe in their existence and no one seems to know why it happens. Victor and Eli, as part of their senior seminar, aim to not only figure out what these individuals have in common, but also why it happens.

From there it is really only a short step to trying to create these abilities in themselves. From there things go awry. Turns out that both Eli and Victor have some unresolved issues and super-powers just complicate things.

It's an interesting narrative told along two timelines. The first is when Eli and Victor are seniors in college. The second is ten years later after Victor has escaped from prison with his cellmate Mitch. I often find following two timelines a little confusing, but Schwab did an excellent job keeping the two distinct. While the story overall was pretty dark, I very much enjoyed Victor not because he is the good guy, because he's not, but because he struggles to keep his darkness in check.

A fun read overall and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Exercise Resolutions

 Exercise routines are hard to start. The first day is great. Your fired up, your ready to go. You've decided enough is enough and things have got to change. So getting on that treadmill on day 1, that's a piece of cake. The running routine is a little rough, don't get me wrong, but by jiminy you set a goal and you met that goal. . . on day 1.

Yeah, the hard thing about a new exercise routine is the routine bit. The first few sessions are always pretty decent. It feels good even. However, sooner rather than later there's a day where I just don't wanna. There's nothing really wrong with me, I'm just tired or something and I don't want to. If I don't push through it, often enough that's the end of the routine. 

The secret is that its easy, in the end, to sit still, or find little things to keep occupied. It's hard to get all dressed up for half an hour of exertion. It's easy to rationalize a day off (not counting a legitimate rest day). 

Today was the day I really didn't want to but I did it anyway. I put on my silly running pants and I slogged through the running routing on the treadmill. I'm glad I did, but I'm still not looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully it feels better when tomorrow arrives.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane

 Originally published in 1893, Maggie: a Girl of the Streets is both a classic and a curriculum relic in some areas. I read it because my American Lit teacher is going to be teaching it this year. After a couple of rough experiences I make sure that I've read everything my teachers are teaching if only I so that I can respond with an emphatic "Yes, I have," to the question of "Have you even read what she's teaching?" (The irony is that usually the person asking the question has not read the whole thing, whatever it is, and being able to say yes tends to short circuit the tirade.) Anyway, give the title, I figured that I should really get it read before it's introduced. 

It's a brutal story. In fact, Crane had to self-publish the novella in 1893 because publishers objected to the content and felt that it was risqué. It was later revised and republished in 1896. Honestly, I can see the publishers' point. I don't find it particularly risqué from a modern context, but it's an excellent example of literary realism and it's a story about two kids of alcoholic impoverished Irish immigrants. It's a grim story involving violence, hypocrisy, and rampant alcoholism.

Maggie, the main character, is less a protagonist than she is a victim of her circumstances. Essentially, Maggie first appears as a young girl with her brother Jimmie being terrorized by her parents. Later as a young adult, she begins dating Jimmie's friend Pete which causes her to be kicked out for "going to the devil." Pete later ditches her and it is heavily implied that Maggie turns to prostitution which ultimately causes her death. Like I said, grim. 

In terms of a class text, there are many virtues that outweigh the problems I think. First, it is an excellent example of literary realism which was an important style for the time period. Additionally, it can be used as an example of Naturalism. Second, the content does a good job of illustrating several concerns of the time period as well as illustrate the poverty that was rampant in the big cities. Third, it's short. The copy I read was only about 60 pages long. It packs in a lot of good educational fodder for its size.

However, I got to say, it is not an enjoyable read and I grew to detest just about all of the characters surrounding Maggie. I think that was rather Crane's point though, so I can't really call it a flaw.

Fruits Basket Another by Natsuki Takaya

 I'm a huge fan of Fruits Basket. I read the whole series in '22 and have watched the associated animes several times. I even have a pair of Fruits Basket PJ pants. Ryan is a great one for noticing when I am enthusiastic about something and researching out anything related. Apparently, Takaya wrote a short 4 volume follow up series when they produced the new anime. All four English language volumes came out in 2022. Ryan scooped them all up for me and I just finished volume 4.

Fruits Basket Another is basically a short narrative following the next generation of Somas. The curse is over, so there is no crazy turning into animals when hugged by a member of the opposite gender but a lot of the coloring markers remain. Yuki's son has grey hair, for example. The Somas are still unnaturally beautiful and popular as well.

In this generation, our hapless heroine is a girl named Ayha Mitoma. Unlike Toru from the main series, Mitoma has a horrible borderline abusive home situation that has caused her to be withdrawn and insecure. The main group of Somas pretty much adopt her at school and force her to join the student council. 

Her interaction with the student council members sets Mitoma on a path that builds her confidence. Eventually, she meets Akito's son who is still in Middle School. He is just as withdrawn as she is and their budding friendship helps them both heal.

It's a great character drama that echoes the themes of the original series. The fourth volume really only has the last chapter of the story. The rest of the volume looks like vignette's that were created as promotional material for various releases of the collected volumes and anime seasons. They are interesting but a little lacking in context.

If you are a fan of the original series, I recommend Fruits Basket Another. However, there are a lot of references to events in the original series, so if you haven't read it yet, don't try to start with Fruits Basket Another. It'll lose something by lack of context.

Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri

 I'm beginning my resolve to blog all my reads this year by reviewing the last book I read in 2022. It is lucky then that the last book I read was such a good one. Everything Sad is Untrue is a memoir. I don't read a lot of memoirs and I didn't properly realize that this was one when I started. 

The events are told from the perspective of Daniel Nayeri when he is in middle school and appears to be in the form of a series of journal entries written for a class assignment. Daniel is both directly addressing the reader in places while also clearly writing with the idea of his classmates and teacher as his audience. 

The narrative covers Daniel's first memories around age 3 and continues through to the "present" point in the narrative. In those years, Daniel and his mother an sister leave their homes in Iran as refugees fleeing a fatwa placed on their heads and end up in Oklahoma. Despite being a doctor in Iran, Daniel's mom is forced to start over and life is tough.

Daniel tries to explain a completely different culture to a class of middle-schoolers. He uses Persian stories and episodes from 1001 Arabian Nights to explain ideas to a bunch of kids who are...well, awful but typical.

Despite being bullied and harassed, Daniel's narrative is about finding understanding through narrative. In a way, it does a good job of examining how life and story can never be quite the same thing. I really enjoyed the voice and interweaving of the narratives. By the end of the memoir, I found myself fully engaged and interested in the story. It really is a very good book.

A Clean House is a Sane House

 I don't think of myself as being a "stuff" person. I'm not, generally, tied into having things...especially not things that confer some sort of status. It's just stuff. Yet, somehow I've found myself at a point in my life where I feel swamped by clutter. There's just a ton of stuff in my home and it's everywhere. Sometimes it feels like we are literally wading through clutter.

On reflection, it's not hard to figure out how we got here. While we don't pursue stuff generally, as individuals we have areas where we could be called collectors (if you are feeling charitable) or hoarders (if you aren't). Ryan collects music; his CD collection is enormous. He also is quick to pick up movies and games for Thomas and I. Thomas loves anything Lego, board games, and has a collection of books impressive for an 8 year old. I'm probably the worst of us. I collect books, cook books, cookware, pantry staples, and (bizarrely) yarn. 

Over the years, we've run culls. Boxes and boxes of media have been appreciated, considered, and ultimately left the house as gifts, donations, or second hand sales. Even so, there are literally thousands of books in the house, cds and other disc media is well up over 4 digits, and Thomas has two craft drawer sets filled to bursting with Legos. Board games are overflowing their storage areas, many of which we haven't gotten around to playing. We have stacks and stacks of books, movies, and cds all over the house. We also have full bookcases and racks. It's just a lot, and it doesn't even address all the other incidental clutter that life generates.

The biggest problem is that most/many things just don't have homes. Not being stuff people, for most of our adult lives if the house got messy, it was really just a process of rounding up all the stuff that needed to be tossed out or donated. It took a few hours. We really just didn't have much that needed organizing. As we've aged our collections grew, life became more involved, and we have more things that are worth keeping. Yet, neither of us really has the organizing habit ingrained, so things accumulated over time. They didn't have homes, so they just built up all over the place stuffed into whatever corner was convenient at the time.

I'm out of corners and my tolerance for clutter is tapped out.

The goal for 2023 is to fix it. 

By fix it, I mean everything off the floors. Everything has homes and the storage spaces are organized. This is not going to be a quick process. We are going to need to buy shelving for the basement and finally get around to sealing the wall (before I stick shelves in front of it). I am going to have to consciously work at the backlog of books and finish the various yarn projects I'm in the middle of. We need to unbox and actually play our board games.

Thomas and I actually started in December by cleaning his room and moving his toys out of the old dining room (which we turned into a play room for his toddler years.) It felt doable and his support was amazing. He earmarked 5 boxes of old toys, books, and games that were in good enough shape to be donated and two full bags of broken toys. His room, while still cluttered, is clean and it feels like such a better more inviting space.

With support like that, I feel like this is an achievable goal and it will be nice to feel like we have a house in good enough shape to have company in. 

January List

So my first attempt at pulling 15 books randomly from the shelves was an interesting experience. One of them was a dud in the sense that I only have book 3 in a series. We'll fix that and try again but for time being I replaced it with something from the same shelf. The resulting 15 books are an odd assortment heavy on nonfiction. (They are all marked with RP on the list) About 2/3's of them I remember buying and why we have them. There are a few though that are complete mysteries so it should be interesting.

I'm not really sure how to tackle this. Part of the point is to work through the really old stuff and either read or release them. If I use a strictly random system, it's possible that it will miss all the random picks or will hit them one after another. Either could be bad. On the other hand, if I'm picking from the list, the tendency is going to be to pick the shiniest ones. I'll end up with the least enticing books languishing on the list month after month. It's a quandary. 

I think for now, I'll try the random system with a few caveats. 1. If I start a series, I'm allowed to keep going through the series until I'm ready to stop. 2. I'm allowed a free pick after a couple of random ones just so I can hit the things I'm most excited about.

As always it seems, I have an urgent list still that I can pick from any time I need to.

1. Complete Short Stories by Isaac Asimov (class prep)
1. Volume 1
2. Volume 2 (Christmas Gift)
2. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi (Finished 1/21/2023)
3. Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
1. A Red Herring Without Mustard (Finished 1/28/2023)
2. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
3. Speaking from Among the Bones
4. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
5. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
6. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd
7. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
8. The Golden Tresses of the Dead
4. How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng (RP)
5. The Ghost Bride: A Novel by Yangsze Choo (TBR)
6. I by Zoraida Cordova (Christmas Gift)
7. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Abaddon's Gate
2. Cibola Burn
3. Nemesis Games
4. Babylon's Ashes
5. Persepolis Rising
6. Tiamat's Wrath
7. Leviathan Falls
8. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick (RP)
9. Desert Flower by Earis Dirie (RP)
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (classic)
11. The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos & Sam Taylor(TBR)
12. Count Zero by William Gibson (RP)
13. The Mindwar Trilogy by Andrew Klavan
1. Mindwar
2. Hostage Run
3. Game Over
14. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie - well, it's by Hugh Laurie so it's probably not leaving the house, but I officially have no interest in reading it any more. It's probably not awful, but narrator is winking at the audience way too much. It made it hard to get into the story.
15. Trader by Charles de Lint (RP)
16. The Color of Water by James McBride (RP)
17. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (RP)
18. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (RP)
19. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel (TBR)
1. Sleeping Giants
2. Waking Gods
3. Only Human
20. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
1. The Cruelest Month
2. A Rule Against Murder
3. The Brutal Telling
4. Bury Your Dead
5. A Trick of the Light
6. The Beautiful Mystery
7. How the Light Gets In
8. The Long Way Home
21. The Bridgerton Prequels by Julia Quinn
1. Because of Miss Bridgerton
2. The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband
3. The Other Miss Bridgerton
4. First Come Scandal
22. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (RP)
23. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
24. Cooking Light: Mad Delicious by Keith Schroeder (RP)
25. Villains by V.E. Schwab
1. Vicious (Finished 1/7/2023)
2. Vengeful (Finished 1/20/2023)
26. The Settlement Cook Book
27. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (RP)
28. Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami Translated by Yuji Oniki
29. Fruits Basket Another vol 4 by Natsuki Takaya (Finished 1/2/2023)
30. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (RP)

The Urgent List:

1. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA, Library)
2. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed from Dad)
3. Maggie Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane (Finished 1/2/2023)
4. Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers (Ryan Pick, because he really wants me to read it)
5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (YA, borrowed from Amanda)
6. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA, Library)
7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (borrowed from Stephanie)
8. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventure's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras (NF, finishing it up)