How the Word is Passed

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by Clint Smith
First sentence: “The sky above the Mississippi River stretched out like a song.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It talks about violence toward enslaved people, uses the n-word (in context) and some mild swearing. It is in the Biography section of the bookstore.

Clint Smith has written an absolutely beautiful book. It’s not an easy book to read, though the premise is simple: he visits several historical sites that are connected with the slavery in the United States, and recounts his experiences and analyzes the information presented at the sites. He talks to all sorts of people — visitors, tour guides, the people in charge of the sites — in order to get as wide a snapshot as possible.

He recounts his visits to seven sites: Monticello, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, Galveston Island, New York City, and Gorée Island. Some are delving into their history of enslaving people, others not so much. Smith works to understand and critique an inform the reader not just about the history around the sites, but how their interaction and presentation of the past is affecting and informing us today. In short: in order to reckon with the present, we need to reckon with teh past.

It sounds like a difficult read, and it is at times, but Smith’s writing is so beautiful, it doesn’t feel like a chore to read this. He is a poet, and it shows: his descriptions of the places and people, his journalistic interactions, his presentation all draw the reader in and made me, at least, want to read more.

Possibly one of the more important books I’ll read, but also one of the more beautiful ones.

The Anthropocene Reviewed

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by John Green
First sentence: “My novel Turtles All the Way Down was published in October of 2017, and after spending that month on tour for the book, I came home to Indianapolis and blazed a trail between my children’s tree house and the little room where my wife and I often work, a room that depending on your worldview is either an office or a shed.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some mild swearing, and one f-bomb (in the notes). It’s in the Creative Non-Fiction section of the bookstore.

Sometime when Fault in Our Stars came out (I think?), I remember having a conversation with someone where I mentioned that I adore John on the vlogbrother’s YouTube channel, but I find his books, more or less, to be a bit overly pretentious. That’s not to say they’re not good; they are. But, I just preferred his short, 4-minute, thoughtful, smart video essays.

This book (it grows out of a podcast, which I haven’t listened to), is John in my favorite iteration of his writing. It’s a book of “reviews”, that’s loosely organized from his childhood through adulthood, of various facets of human life — from sunsets to Indianapolis to Viral meningitis to the Notes App. But, it’s more than that: it’s thoughtful, funny, full of history and trivia and literature, and I loved every minute of it. I don’t know if I had a favorite essay, but The Sycamore Tree made me decide to buy the book, and Sunsets made me cry. It was a delightful way to spend a few days. Green’s an honest, open, wonderful writer, and this format suits him perfectly.

Highly, highly recommended.

Monthly Round-Up: May 2021

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May happened. It felt like a very long month, from the girls dragging on with the end of school (we made it!) to the weather being dreary, and work being, well, work. I have not been this happy that a month is over for a while.

My favorite this month:

Mister Impossible

Are you surprised? No, you are not. A quick story: we have taken to printing off lists and calling people when new books come out (just some, not all), and a call list for Mister Impossible came up. Who, on that list, has bought the most Maggie Stiefvater books? That would be me.

And for the rest:

YA:

Sky in the Deep
Namesake
Instructions for Dancing

Non-Fiction:

Seed to Dust
Hola Papi

Middle Grade:

Otto P. Nudd

Adult Fiction:

The Bad Muslim Discount (audio)

What was your favorite this month?

Instructions for Dancing

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by Nicola Yoon
First sentence: “Books don’t work their magic on me anymore.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 1, 2021
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, some mention of teen drinking and mentions of sex. It will be in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore when it comes out.

Evie is done with love. Ever since she caught her dad cheating on her mom (and then the subsequent divorce and his pending remarriage), she has determined that love — especially as seen in romance books — is a sham. No one stays happily ever after forever.

And then Evie is gifted with the ability to see couples past, present, and future. This just solidifies her belief: every couple ends in heartbreak. Then she is drawn to a dance studio, gets roped into competing in an amateur ballroom competition, and meets X. It’s got her rethinking love, but in the end: is loving someone worth the inevitable heartbreak?

I have loved Yoon’s books in the past, and this is no exception. She perfectly blends fluff romance (and y’all: X is hot!) with deeper questions about life and relationships. And it’s not just romantic relationships: Evie’s ups and downs with her friends and her family — including her father — are just as important as the budding relationship with X. I loved the deeper end of the book, as Evie struggles with forgiveness and acceptance. But I also loved the fluff: Yoon is very good at writing chemistry, and Evie and X getting to know each other was absolutely delightful.

Very much another excellent book by Yoon.

Hola Papi

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by John Paul Brammer
First sentence:: “I was warned not to download Grindr.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There’s lots of talk about sex, and lots of swearing including multiple f-bombs and a couple of gay slurs.

This is a book that’s, as the subtitle mentions, Brammer’s memoir loosely framed around the advice columns he’s become somewhat known for. He didn’t have a happy childhood: growing up in a small, rural town in Oklahoma, he was bullied in middle school for his “other”-ness (he wasn’t willing to identify as gay until college).This affected much of the rest of his life, his opinion of himself, the way he approached dating, and even his professional life (which had its fits and starts).

It was an interesting book, learning about Brammer’s childhood, his heritage (which is Mexican, but his family didn’t identify as such, which is an interesting thing to unpack), his experiences being a gay man in America. It’s more introspective and less funny than I expected (I don’t know why I expected it to be funny?), and I didn’t love it at much as I thought I would. That said, it’s always good to read about experiences other than one’s own, and it reinforced the idea that being gay in America still isn’t (or at least wasn’t in the early- to mid-2000s) easy.

I’m not sorry I read it, but it’s also not for everyone.

Mister Impossible

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by Maggie Stiefvater
First sentence: “When they came to kill the Zed, it was a nice day.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Call Down the Hawk
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs.It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

I saw a virtual event last fall for Swamp Thing in which Maggie said that writing a graphic novel helped her writing overall, made it tighter and more streamlined. And that it affected the way Mister Impossible was written. And you know what? She’s right. Mister Impossible is a tight, streamlined ride. There is action and tension and mystery and reveals, and maybe she’s not all up in the feels with Ronan and Adam, but it all works. In fact, I would say that this one, while it’s the middle in a series, is one of her best books, overall. (Not my favorite, but definitely one of the best.)

I’m not going to go into the plot because spoilers, but know this: it’s a great book. It’s full of Stiefvater-ness (chapter 13! So many little turns of phrases here and there!) and I love the magical world she’s built. And there’s really no “bad” guy — just competing good intentions. What does one do when your good intention is in conflict with someone else’s?

And the end? Let’s just say that waiting for the last book in this trilogy is going to be agonizing.

I love Maggie’s work, yes, but this one? This one is truly excellent.

Otto P. Nudd

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by Emily Butler
First sentence: “‘Otto, you’re splendid,’ mumbled Bartleby Doyle.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Full disclosure: the author is a friend of a friend, and I am friends wtih her on social media.
Content: The font is pretty large and there are illustrations on every chapter header. There is some talk about parent deaths. it’s in the Middle Grade section (grades 3-5) of the bookstore.

Otto considers himself a Very Intelligent Bird. He was raised in captivity by Bartleby Doyle, but the Old Man (as Otto calls him) has let Otto go free, to make a nest nearby. Otto still comes and helps Bartleby with his inventions, but he really just wants to make sure the neighborhood is in order. This means he’s not very nice to the other birds and animals. However, when Bartleby has an accident, and Otto can’t get in the house to push the emergency button, Otto is forced to turn to the “lesser” birds and animals in the neighborhood to help him out.

I am sure there is some animal-loving second- or third-grader out there who is just perfect for this book. Butler has a very chatty style and is often very humorous in spots. Otto — and Marla the squirrel and Pippa the girl – is an interesting character to hang with for a while, and there is a very delightful birds vs. raccoons skirmish at the end. The book has a nice lesson about making amnends and resitution for wrongs (even if it is just hurt feelings).

But this just didn’t rise above the level of “just fine” for me. And I get it: I am definitely not the target audience. (And, to be honest, I wasn’t when I was in third grade, either.) That doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. It’s just not one for me.

Namesake

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by Adrienne Young
First sentence: “My first dive was followed by my first drink of rye.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Fable
Content: There are a couple of mild swear words and some insinuations to off-screen sex. It’s in the YA (grades 6-8) section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for Fable, obviously.

Fable has been kidnapped by Zola, a merchant/mercenary and rival to both her father, Saint, and her lover, West. It turns out she’s been kidnapped for one reason: as a ransom for Zola to gain favor with Holland, the most powerful trader in the Unnamed Sea. But, as in Fable, everyone is playing a long game, and nothing is as it seemed. And so Fable and West find themselves as pawns in a game they don’t quite understand but have to read.

Much like Fable, this is a lot of fun. I liked the world that Young has built, with its ships and traders and gems and dredgers and a very very slight bit of magic. I liked that Fable was able to hold her own against people more powerful than she (except the end, in which people come in and save her, which was slightly disappointing). I didn’t get much in the way of the romance that was so central to the story — and I kept getting annoyed that West would go out of his way to “protect” Fable, when she really didn’t need it. IN the end, though, they worked better as a team. I do like Young’s world building though, and I wouldn’t mind following other stories set here.

In the end, it was fun, which is really all I wanted out of this one.

Seed to Dust

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by Marc Hamer
First sentence: “The swifts have left the bell tower and are on their way to Africa.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There are three f-bombs scattered throughout, and some mention of abuse. It’s in the gardening section of the bookstore.

For lack of a better description: this book is a lovely homage to gardening and being a part of the earth. Following the months of the year, Hamer talks about his work as a gardener for a country estate in the west of Wales, for a “Miss Cashmere”, an elderly lady he has been tending the gardens for many years. Each small essay is a thought about plants, life, the connection we have to the earth, the weather, literature and poetry… Hamer’s writing is a gift. Both practical — I learned things about gardening! I will probably change a few things I do, like pruning back and cleaning up in the fall, instead leaving it until spring– and lyrical — I loved the way he talked about watching the sun rise, and the changing of the seasons, and how autumn is a season of sadness. He also reflects on his life — it wasn’t easy, with an abusive father and being unhoused for several years — and marriage — I loved his descriptions of his wife.

It’s one of those books you can dip in and out of; it doesn’t really have a narrative the pulls you through, but I think that’s okay. It’s a a meditation of sorts on the joys and sorrows of being alive, and it left me a bit teary in the end. I’m so very glad I read this one.

State of the TBR Pile: May 2021

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Here we are, the monthly check-in on what’s on my beside table. I don’t always read everything there, and sometimes I do a complete overhaul (I’m thinking it might need one soon). But, I do like putting things on there, that were interesting to me at one point or another. And maybe I will actually read them! (Also thinking there’s a lack of AAPI books right now. And another recent inventory of my shelves showed a lack of Latinx books. Hit me up with some good suggestions for either one of those!)

My pile:

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Otto P. Nudd by Emily Butler
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Unsettled by Reem Faruqi
Stormbreak by Natalie C. Parker
The Girl King by Mimi Yu
Firefly Legacy Edition, Volume 1 by Joss Whedon (and a lot of others)
Firefly Legacy Edition, Volume 2 by Joss Whedon (and a lot of others)

What are you looking forward to reading this month?