It’s that time of the week again where we ask the lovely blog owner: WHATCHA READIN’? In this weekly segment, I give a brief glimpse into the books that are currently occupying my spare time, as well as a little recap of the past seven days, overall.
So, Amber, whatcha readin’?
Seems that I’m in a pattern of posting these once every two or so weeks, haha. I’ve started going to Barre classes after work on Tuesday (and Thursday!) nights, which has been sorely cutting into my WRW time. However, I haven’t made too too much progress this week in terms of reading due to the sheer volume of things I had to get done in my personal and work life all last week. I swear, I’m treating myself to the most decadent shots once this brand work finally launches. My ass has been busted to hell and back with this. BUT AT LEAST I’M READING A LITTLE BIT RIGHT. RIGHT?
This was my latest tub-time book that eventually turned into “the other book I’m reading is dense as hell so here’s something a little lighter for me to read on my commute through the Metro.” Sandy Hall’s A Little Something Different is exactly what it says on the tin: it tells the love story of two young college students from the perspectives of the people — and squirrels — around them. Don’t let the sheer volume of differing perspectives alarm you — this book flows well and is a quick read. I had put it down for about two/three weeks while I worked on other books, but was able to quickly pick it back up and finish it in about two shots. Expect a review of this to go up sometime this weekend!
And this is the aforementioned “dense as hell” book that I needed A Little Something Different to water down. The Radium Girls is a non-fiction account of the medical horrors that befell hundreds of women radium workers in the early 20th century and the struggles they faced to get legitimate treatment — if they even lived to tell the tale. Not only is this book dense as previously mentioned, but it is heavy as hell; another person dies essentially every other page, which only highlights how rampant radium-induced poisoning was in the workplace. Honestly, I get more and more pissed off at the blatant misogyny and pursuit of the dollar with each page — but that’s the marxist feminist in me pissed off at the world in general.
It took a month, but I finally completed Defy the Stars over the weekend. Wow wow wow, what an ending on this one. While I’m still a little blindsided with how quickly everything was resolved at the end of all of the action, I can easily say that this book has totally turned me on to reading more space operas like this one in the future. Furthermore, the book isn’t even published until April 4th, so I’m hoping I can sit down this weekend to write my review and release it on the Book Birthday! It’s always great to read a book that’s out of my usual genre comfort zone and be pleasantly surprised at how it can change my perception of a whole group of stories I’d otherwise overlook. I’m so pleased with this book and I hope y’all pick it up on the 4th when it comes out.
As mentioned previously, I read Me Before You to help pull myself out of a depressive period, only to pick up After You this year after another depressive period. (Yay, chronic major depression!) However, reading Louisa gradually come to terms with losing Will, striking it out on her own, and learning to love again. One of my favorite things about Jojo Moyes’ writing is that her characters get involved in some pretty extraordinary circumstances, but the characters themselves — Louisa, Treena, Lily, Sam, the Traynors, Mrs. & Mr. Clark — feel like they could step off the page as fully-realized people. This approach makes it such an enjoyable trip through the course of the story — and lends itself to being the perfect bubble bath time read.
I, more or less, picked up Husbands on a whim at my favorite comic book shop, when I was told that I could get a discount on my purchase if I got the book and attended Queer Book Club the following week. Hell yeah, I’ll take it. QBC took place on Saturday, the 24th, so while I’ve already analyzed and scrutinized this book and back with my fellow queer peers, I’m probably going to write a mini-review about it to go up this weekend or so. Husbands follows Cheeks and Brady, a newlywed couple who got drunkenly married in Vegas after 6 weeks of dating, as they travel through various dimensions to learn more about themselves as a couple. It’s cute, it’s fluffy — and it doesn’t need to be anything more than that.
Alas, my most recent project! After the heaviness of both Defy the Stars and After You, getting to The Truth About Happily Ever After is a nice palate cleanser to get into the groove of some cute, predictable contemporary romance — just in time for my anniversary with my partner. This follows Alyssa, a Cinderella face character for Enchanted Enterprises, as she navigates her second summer at the Enchanted Dominion. Up until this point, her life has been nothing short of a fairy tale — but now she has to start working to juggle life with and without the tiara. Romance bursts, tempers flare, and wigs get stuck with lollipops by bratty children, but Alyssa can handle the stress. It’s what princesses do, right?
A year and a half after the release of the Star Wars episode VII, I’ve finally gotten around to re-reading these mini books by Valerie Estelle Frankel. Expect reviews tomorrow, honestly. They were quick little one-offs that I could slam back on my train rides to and from New York City this week. AGAIN, WE’RE CLEARING THE BACK LOG OF OWED REVIEWS, WHEW.
A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, everything’s all said and done with Crystal Cadets! This was my second read-through of the graphic novel and it was just as enjoyable as the first go-round! As corny as this sounds, I picked this back up because I desperately needed to get caught up again on my reading pace, as I was two books behind where I needed to be as of last week; this was such an easy read to breeze through while waiting for all of the passengers to board my plane from Dallas to Chicago last Saturday. As I mention in my review (which will be posted tomorrow), it’s a perfect iteration of the magical girl genre for the type of feminist, diverse generation that follows us. Read it for you, pass it to your sisters, pass it to your brothers — but just spread the message.
Man, talk about your sleeper hit with this book. As of last week, it was pretty clear that I just was not feeling anything about Gilded Cage whatsoever. It took me two weeks just to get through the first thirty percent of the story, but once I started getting into it more throughout my travels, everything fell more into place. By the end of it all, I was engrossed in the uprising building in Great Britain against the Equals and the institution of the Slavedays. I don’t want to get too much into my thoughts and feelings on this book, since I have a review going up on Friday, but just definitely do know: it was a pleasant surprise. I just wish that it didn’t take peeling away layers for all of the plot’s action to get truly rolling.
Now that I’ve finished Pro, this book has become my main project. If I finish Gilded Cage this week like I intend to, it’ll be the fastest I’ve turned in a review to NetGalley since I first started collecting galleys! Since I started reading the book, I’ve learned that my first impressions weren’t exactly hitting the mark. This is actually an alternate reality, so it’s interesting to see the characters talk about slightly-altered historical events. Each chapter comes from the point of view of an entirely different character: while this is an interesting, Game of Thrones-esque technique, I’m curious to see exactly how she’s going to roll it out as the book moves on. Will characters repeat or will we continue getting the different perspectives? And why is there a naked dude on a leash? How did we get to that point? I need to learn more about the history behind this society, honestly.
The original copy of Pro that I was reading from a few weeks ago was actually borrowed from the library and I stupidly put off reading it for months (literally, 2 months) before starting, not realizing that people might actually put a hold on it. Once I had to turn it in, I recognized that, yeah, this is something that I need in my personal library. In the chapter I just finished today, Pollitt expertly approaches different arguments against legal abortion and breaks them down individually to get to the root of each argument. (Hint: it essentially boils down to thoroughly-entrenched misogyny.) Thus far, her writing and exploration into what it really takes to start turning the tide in the battle of keeping abortion legal in the US is approachable, understandable without being condescending, which is always welcomed in what can be an isolating space.
In a bit of a panic, I realized I was a few books behind on staying on track with my reading goal for 2017 — and so I pulled I Can’t Tell You from my shelves. This book is one that I’ve had in my personal library for about 10 years at this point, so it’s basically a relic of a different time in my reading career. After a blow out with his former best friend, college freshman Jacob Jacobsen (yup, his actual name) decides to undergo a vow of silence in order to avoid any further verbal ruin. This book follows a different storytelling structure than most: the entirety of the plot is told through notes passed between Jacob and his friends as he works through his feelings about friends, family, and what it truly means to embrace the silence.
Adichie’s words were consistently quoted within the feminist sphere back in my Tumblr days — and for good reason. She has such an eloquent, yet succinct way of getting her ideas and message across, so that even the less-seasoned of those in the feminist movement will be able to pick up the book and understand. One of the great things about this book, as well, is that it clocks in around 50 very short pages; it’s actually a published version of a xTED Talk she delivered a few years back. Honestly, I started — and finished — it today, all within the span of one train ride to work. I’ll be doing a mini-review on it for later in the week, but know that this is an important text.
Since I’ve been focused on working on the other two books, Mind of the Phoenix fell to the wayside. It’s probably for the best, too, because I’m not really feeling it that much? As the book moves forward, Moira, the main character gets increasingly insufferable as a Mary-Sue type. Everyone wants to fuck her, she’s — of course — got some kind of secret power that makes her the most sacred in all the land, she’s got ~*unique*~ physical features that make her stand out. Furthermore, at the point I read to today on my way home from work, the plot went completely off the rails — and not in a good way. Where the story is now is completely irrelevant to how it started, reminding me a lot of Every Big and Little Wish. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I need to submit a review to NetGalley, I would have quit this by now.
Half-Blood Prince is chugging along well; I’m in the home stretch, essentially! The last time I updated Goodreads, it indicated that I was 71% of the way through the novel. It might be a little bit more than that now, but I don’t think I’ve touched the book since I did the Goodreads update on Friday. Harry’s putting forth his best efforts in trying to obtain the one clouded memory from Slughorn, while also trying his best to figure out exactly what Malfoy’s up to. Ron and Hermione seem to be catching feelings for one another, as well! The gradual development of their relationship is actually one of my favorite things about the series and it’s so pure to see it unfold all over again. Since neither I nor my partner have any traveling or major events demanding our attendance this weekend, I wouldn’t be surprised if I finished this by Halloween.
The further I get into this book, the more and more engrossed I become. There’s something about the main character, Senza, in the Heartbeat Thief that I want to absolutely abhor, but I can’t help but adore her at the same time? Now that she’s fully embraced her role at the edge of mortal existence in stealing away heartbeats, it’s interesting to see her change into a far more aloof woman than she was when she was merely a debutante. Of course, she still pines for the man who gave her such a burden to bear, but I’m excited to see where her constant need to change roles in society takes her. I’m about halfway through this book and might be able to finish this, too, on the train or when we’re waiting in places. Lord knows the lines are going to be long Saturday while I’m waiting to get my early voting done.
Only True Magic 