Reading Challenge: Half-Way Point!

2017 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge

1. A book recommended by a librarian - The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long - Up A Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

3. A book of letters - The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

4. An audiobook - Coraline by Neil Gaiman

5. A book by a person of color - Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai

6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title

7. A book that is a story within a story

8. A book with multiple authors - Troll’s Eye View by Ellen Datlow

9. An espionage thriller -

10. A book with a cat on the cover

11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym - Who Could That Be At This Hour? By Lemony Snicket

12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read

13. A book by or about a person who has a disability - Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison

14. A book involving travel - Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

15. A book with a subtitle

16. A book that's published in 2017

17. A book involving a mythical creature - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile - I Will Surprise My Friend! by Mo Williems

19. A book about food - Gut by Giuila Enders/Healthy Southwestern Cooking by Bob Wiseman

20. A book with career advice - Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute

21. A book from a nonhuman perspective - White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

22. A steampunk novel - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

23. A book with a red spine - Shade’s Children by Garth Nix

24. A book set in the wilderness - Breaking Trail by Arlene Blum

25. A book you loved as a child - Holes by Louis Sachar

26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited - What is Chemistry? By Peter Atkins

27. A book with a title that's a character's name - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

28. A novel set during wartime - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

29. A book with an unreliable narrator - The Pull of the Ocean by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

30. A book with pictures - Tales of Mystery and Madness by Edger Allen Poe

31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you

32. A book about an interesting woman - Florence Nightingale by Catherine Reef

33. A book set in two different time periods - Kindred by Octavia Butler

34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title - The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

35. A book set in a hotel

36. A book written by someone you admire

37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017 - Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas

39. The first book in a series you haven't read before - Gone by Michael Grant

40. A book you bought on a trip

Advanced

1. A book recommended by an author you love

2. A bestseller from 2016

3. A book with a family member term in the title - The Color of Water by James McBride

4. A book that takes place over a character's life span

5. A book about an immigrant or refugee - Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

6. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of -The Number Devil by Hans Enzenberger

7. A book with an eccentric character - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

8. A book that's more than 800 pages - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

9. A book you got from a used book sale

10. A book that's been mentioned in another book

11. A book about a difficult topic - Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt

12. A book based on mythology 

Reading Challenge: May 2017

Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute (book with career advice)
Such a good book. A self-help/career advice sort of book told through a narrative. Are you in the box, or out of it?

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (book with a title that's a character's name)
What is beauty? What makes someone beautiful? Can evil people be beautiful? Can beautiful people be evil? A beautiful book about a beautiful man who does ugly things.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt (book about a difficult topic)
This is one of those books that are hard to review. A tragic story about a 14-year-old boy struggling to get to his baby daughter, fighting against his father, social workers, detention, and stigmas. This book took on several difficult topics.

The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzenberger (book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of)
For those of you wondering whether mathematical fiction exists, it does. Now, if that doesn't fill you with terror . . .

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky (book with an eccentric character)
A sad, difficult book. Some parts were definitely relateable, and I found it hard to think that there are people out there that could probably relate with all of it.

Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life by Arlene Blum (book set in the wilderness)
A fun, sometimes heartbreaking book. Blum began climbing mountains when she was in college and pressed upward, despite storms, conflict, sexism, and the ever-present threat of death.

Reading Challenge: April 2017

The Pull of the Ocean by Jean-Claude Mourlevat (book with an unreliable narrator)
Modern-day adaptation of Tom Thumb. I checked this out because it had twins in it (even though the twin part turns out to be unimportant) and was not particularly impressed. It's beautifully written, but vague.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi (A book from a non-human perspective)
Much like The Pull of the Ocean, this book is beautiful but even harder to understand. Miranda has a rare eating disorder called pica: she finds non-food items like chalk and plastic tastier than actual food. As her father and twin brother try and help her, mysterious things start happening in their childhood home. In fact, they are so mysterious, they are not even explained to the reader!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (steampunk novel)
I liked this better than City of Bones, but was still bored by how the author went on and on and on and on about how blue Will's eyes were and how pale Jem was---look, I get it, okay? They're cute, can we move on? Clare has built a fascinating world that was overshadowed by how hot Tessa's love interests were.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (book with a family member term in the title)
McBride sets the stage for his mother's life in this novel, using both her words and his to describe what their lives were like.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (A book that's becoming a movie in 2017)
Had a cool twist with Maddy's disease and a discussion about what it means to really live, but nothing particularly special. I'm really not sure how I feel about the ending.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton (book with a month or day of the week in the title)
Wow. Such weird. Much crazy. Had some genuinely funny moments, but mostly it was just . . . weird.

Also read, but not for the challenge:

Legend by Marie Lu
I really liked this book! June and Day were both really awesome protagonists, in a way that was shown as well as told to us. Also liked how it explored how governments, schools, and the media can shape how we view the world, history, and the people around us.

What the Nose Knows by Avery Gilbert
Gilbert is a sensory scientist, and he brings many studies, theories, and insights into this book. Fascinating and in-depth look at how our noses work.

The Neptune File by Tom Standage
A story about the triumph of Neptune's discovery, and how that has influenced science to this day. Neptune was the first planet to be discovered mathematically and theoretically before it was observed.

Reading Challenge: March 2017

Kindred by Octavia Butler (book by a person of color)
My review for Kindred can be found here. This story is about slavery and racism, as seen through the eyes of a time traveler.

Tales of Mystery and Madness by Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated by Grim Grisly (a book with pictures)
The illustrator's name truly fits him: the illustrations are grisly and uncomfortable. I would go so far as to say they are more gruesome than Poe's words. I love Poe's writing, but the illustrations were a bit much.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (a novel set during wartime)
An uncomfortable sort of book to read; raises a lot of good questions. Set during the end of the 1900s-beginning of 2000s, the story is of two Afghani women who endure through many long years of war and abuse.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (a book about an immigrant or refugee)
Based on the author's experiences, this book tells the story of a girl and her family fleeing Vietnam and settling in Alabama. What's it like to come to a country where you don't speak the language, don't like the food, have a different religion? Thanhha Lai shares her thoughts.

Look Me in the Eye! by John Elder Robison (a book by or about a person who has disability)
John Elder is a tech and music genius. He also has Asperger's Syndrome. Having never read a book like this before, I was really interested in the way he thought and how he was able to succeed in life even with a disability---and in some cases, because of the disability.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (an audiobook)
Creepy children's book about a girl who meets her "other mother." Would totally recommend to anyone who likes eerie, tension-filled books.

A drawing I did based on the Coraline artwork on the audiobook. (original drawing by Dave McKean on the left)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (a book involving travel)
What should have been a quiet and uneventful journey from Istanbul to England is interrupted by murder! Luckily, Hercule Poirot is more than willing to investigate.

Also read, but not for the challenge: 

Physics: Everyday Science at the Speed of Light by Isaac McPhee
A quick overview of the history of physics, from ancient times to now. Explains scientific principles and how they were discovered simply and easily. There were times when I felt the author left out a bit too much, however. Still a good book for the beginning science reader. 

Started reading We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, but didn't like it much so I stopped.

Cover photo from Unsplash.

Book Review: Kindred

Dana is an African-American woman in the 1970s, living a normal life until she is unexpectedly dragged back in time to the Maryland slave days, where she saves the life of her great-great-great-grandfather . . . a white slaveholder named Rufus Weylin.

This book was written by Octavia Butler, the first African-American woman to publish science fiction novels. I will admit that this book doesn't feel much like sci-fi, mostly because it never makes any attempt to explain what is going on, but I feel like that wasn't the point. This book made me feel things, which I think was the point. I felt shock at the treatment slaves received at the hands of their masters, and sometimes at the hands of other slaves. I felt sadness at the portrayal of how slavery and discrimination affects both blacks and whites (similar to how sexism affects both females and males). I felt disgust at Rufus' treatment of Dana, Alice, Nigel and others, even knowing what he did about Dana and where she came from.

My main understanding of this book was focused on how our environment affects us. At first, Dana is confused and annoyed by how submissive the slaves are, how they don't fight back against their masters, but as she spends more and more time in the past, she begins to see these very behaviors in herself. She also has a hard time with how Rufus behaves; he knows she is from the future, he knows that there will be more freedom and equality for people of color in her time, and yet he persists in his odious behaviors towards the slaves. Why doesn't his attitude towards her change? Why can't she influence him to become more progressive?

The answer is similar to why the slaves act the way they do: that's the way they were raised, and how their environment influences them to act. The slaves are acting for survival. They know that certain behaviors will get them beaten, sold, or killed, so for the most part they avoid those behaviors. The cook Sarah, for instance, keeps her anger in check because of constant threat that her daughter might be sold if she fights back. It is not that she cannot rise and stand up for herself, but she understands the consequences of doing so.

Rufus has been raised to believe blacks are beneath him; any discomfort he has with these ideas is rationalized and explained away. Again, he could have risen above this, been respectful of Alice, treated Nigel like an equal, but he allowed his environment to overcome him.

I found myself thinking about this theme later. What toxic behaviors am I learning from my environment? What mindsets do I have that I can change?

I had many more thoughts and feelings about this book, but I felt these were the most important and relevant. We are all products of our environment, but that doesn't mean we can't change! Society changes---slowly, but surely, and it changes because of its people.

So, change your mindset. Be kinder, be more loving. Learn more about other cultures, ethnicities, races, and sexes. Rome was not built in a day, but together we can change the world.

2017 Reading Challenge

Popsugar posted a reading challenge for 2017, and I've decided to participate. It's taken me a little while to post, but here's the challenge and what I've read so far:

1. A book recommended by a librarian - The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long - Up A Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

3. A book of letters - The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

4. An audiobook -

5. A book by a person of color - Kindred by Octavia Butler

6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title -

7. A book that is a story within a story -

8. A book with multiple authors -

9. An espionage thriller -

10. A book with a cat on the cover -

11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym -

12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read -

13. A book by or about a person who has a disability -

14. A book involving travel -

15. A book with a subtitle -

16. A book that's published in 2017 -

17. A book involving a mythical creature -

18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile - I Will Surprise My Friend! By Mo Williems

19. A book about food -

20. A book with career advice -

21. A book from a nonhuman perspective -

22. A steampunk novel -

23. A book with a red spine - Shade’s Children by Garth Nix

24. A book set in the wilderness -

25. A book you loved as a child -

26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited - What is Chemistry? By Peter Atkins

27. A book with a title that's a character's name -

28. A novel set during wartime -

29. A book with an unreliable narrator -

30. A book with pictures -

31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you -

32. A book about an interesting woman -

33. A book set in two different time periods -

34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title -

35. A book set in a hotel -

36. A book written by someone you admire -

37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017 - 

38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas -

39. The first book in a series you haven't read before - Gone by Michael Grant

40. A book you bought on a trip -

Advanced:

1. A book recommended by an author you love -

2. A bestseller from 2016 - 

3. A book with a family member term in the title -

4. A book that takes place over a character's life span -

5. A book about an immigrant or refugee -

6. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of -

7. A book with an eccentric character -

8. A book that's more than 800 pages -The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

9. A book you got from a used book sale -

10. A book that's been mentioned in another book -

11. A book about a difficult topic -

12. A book based on mythology - 

Feel free to recommend books to me for the challenge! I am especially looking for books set in two different time periods, books with eccentric characters, and books about difficult topics (though for sure Kindred could have counted for that one as well). I'll be posting reviews as I read and find books I really like---or really hate. What books are you reading for 2017?