2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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Samantha (AK): 30 in 2017
------------------------------------Book #1/30
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First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower
Rating: 3/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 400 pages
Challenges: Dewey Decimal Nonfiction Challenge, Popsugar Reading Challenge, #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
Finally, a book written exclusively about those women who so very often fade into the background: the First Ladies of the United States of America. Unelected, but close to the President nonetheless, these women are important figures in history. I appreciate the book for giving insight into that, at least.
However, the tone of the book is often gossipy, with poor attributions such as 'a White House Staffer,' which makes it decidedly uncomfortable reading at times. YYMV.
------------------------------------Book #2/30
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Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Rating: 3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 256 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge, #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
Immersive, surreal, and enjoyable. Well rounded first novel. Looking forward to more by this author.
------------------------------------Book #3/30
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Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 275 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
A little odd, a little meditative. Some things I liked, some things I didn't. More in review.
------------------------------------Book #4/30
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Into the Wildfire: Battle Scars by Noor Shirazie
Rating: 3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 185 pages
Challenges:
Review HERE
Notes:
Noor Shirazie continues to grow as a writer. Very enjoyable, and more varied than the first volume.
------------------------------------Book #5/30
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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Rating: 3/5
Format: Ebook
Length: 248 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
This book caused quite a stir when it was first released, but I hadn't sat down to read it until more recently.
It's persuasive, but Alexander's strengths lie more in her description of the evolution of our legal system at the federal level than in her understanding of historical progression. Her underlying argument--that structural racism has been a driving influence behind the development of our lopsided prison system--is not fundamentally incorrect, but it is so simplistic as to be useless on any sort of analytic level.
On the other hand, Alexander does an excellent job of illuminating the reality of lopsided drug enforcement in the US... and its consequences. That was something that I deeply appreciated.
I'm in the middle of reading another book at the moment, Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment, that digs deeper into the how of drug laws in the USA. Fortner doesn't dismiss Alexander's claims--by no means! He acknowledges right off the bat that the current system is uneven--but he does direct his attention to a more detailed--and useful--case study of New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws, after which the federal legislation was patterned.
I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading New Jim Crow, exactly, but I would ask that it not be the only book on race and/or the Criminal Justice system that people use as a reference.
------------------------------------[Belated] January Retrospective*
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Books this month: 4
Pretty varied reading for January, which makes it hard to compare the books. By far, the most disappointing thing I encountered was my unrecorded DNF-- Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope. While the art initially intrigued me, I read the first two issues of the volume and decided it was not for me. Sex and violence, oddly enough, are not automatic game-overs for me, even in graphic novels. (I like Saga well enough, after all). Low, however, stomped on those buttons with unnecessary force. In the absence of an engaging plot or characters to redeem the work, I decided to move on.
Of the works I finished, Central Station stood out as phenomenal. Different, and a bit odd, structurally, but I really enjoyed it.
I'll have February up in a week or so... long enough to come up with something more than 'battle of the Criminal Justice analyses', I hope.
---
*This and future retrospectives inspired by our wonderful Mod Cassandra!
------------------------------------Book #6/30
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Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment by Michael Javen Fortner
Rating: 5/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 368 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
This is the sort of nonfiction that I love to read. "The facts will out," if you will. Fortner does an excellent job of tracing the evolution of New York's drug laws in an evenhanded manner, along the way demonstrating the weaknesses of current macro-level analyses of the same.
There's a time and place to take a broad view of politics, but it's important not to ignore what's taking place on a community level.
Most of the lower star reviews on this work seem to be due to the academic writing style ('dry,' 'repetitive,' etc.), rather than the content. I actually found Fortner to be quite engaging for an academic writer, and--as for repetitive--everything he says has a point. He's offering proofs for his thesis one by one, as is typical for this kind of work.
------------------------------------Book #7/30
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Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 3/5
Format: Kindle Ebook
Length: 224 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
I love Butler's work, but this particular volume gets 3 stars. I enjoyed it, was fascinated by it, but never really connected to it. Still recommended, but I liked Wild Seed better.
------------------------------------February Retrospective
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Books this month: 3
Didn't read nearly as much as I'd hoped to this month, but what I read was decent-to-amazing.
Alexander's New Jim Crow and Fortner's Black Silent Majority made for interesting parallel reads. Of the two, I prefer Fortner's approach, but Alexander had things to say worth hearing, as well.
Butler's Mind of My Mind was good, but not really something I connected to.
Going forward, I didn't finish it yet, but Delaney's Dhalgren, with its thinly-veiled commentary on the late 60s and early 70s, also slots nicely into the reading niche carved by Fortner and Alexander's books. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of it pans out.
------------------------------------Book #8/30
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Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Rating: 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 801 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
Dhalgren is something else. Days later, I'm still not quite sure how to describe it with words other than I used in my actual review. It deserves its accolades, but equally deserves the more exasperated responses. I like it well enough--but ymmv.
I'm not much for explicit sex scenes in books. I tolerate them, but they're not my thing. Be advised that--if this book were a film?--it would probably exceed the R-rating. There is a lot of sex. O.o'
------------------------------------Book #9/30
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Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 448 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
I'm having some trouble articulating; Dhalgren fried my brain pretty well. This was wonderful and tragic and sweet all at once, and I'd love to read it again when my head's not spinning.
For those who didn't care for the experimental nature of Mindscape, rest assured that this is much more straightforward.
------------------------------------Book #10/30
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Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 158 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
What a breath of fresh air after the last two books! (Not that they were bad--quite the contrary--but they were dense.) Of course, Lewis is dense, too, but it's not the same kind of density.
I really enjoyed it, but I'm keenly aware that I have a nostalgic bias for all things C.S. Lewis, so I'm trying to keep myself in check.
------------------------------------Book #11/30
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Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 2/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 213 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
------------------------------------Books #12 though #15/30
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Ok, I'm just going to throw this out here--I'm having a heck of a time keeping up with this thread, so this is just going to be a quick 'batch' update of my reading challenge. Maybe after this I'll get back to my typical format?
12. Nearly Orthodox: On being a modern woman in an ancient tradition by Angela Doll Carlson
Me if I was 20 years older and started Catholic instead of Protestant. Maybe. Anyway, not a fan of the style, but I identify with a lot of her struggles. 3/5
13. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Solid collection, but it didn't resonate with me the way some others have. 4/5
14. Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan (Illustrator Fiona Staples)
It's Saga, people. Of course I liked it. 4/5
15. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
CS Lewis is like 90% theology and 10% snark, folks. I enjoy it, you might not. 3/5 because he gets pretty heavy-handed.
...And with that, I'm at the 50% mark! Yay me, I guess?
------------------------------------Books #16 and #17/30
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Looks like I was wrong and I'm still too tired to do multiple write-ups...
16. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Really fun. Nice change of pace. Kind of sappy at the end, but I enjoyed it.
17. A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
Fun and snarky, but not my usual reading preference. Liked it well enough.
Most definitely yay you, Samantha! Congratulations on reaching the halfway mark of your goal :) I really like your format and setup and it's always interesting reading what you've thought of the books :)
Keep it up!
------------------------------------Book #18/30
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That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 4/5 ...(3.5/5?????)
Format: Paperback
Length: 382 pages
Challenges:
Review HERE
Notes:
Er... I'm just going to point in the general direction of the review link, and casually remind everyone that we are talking about C.S. Lewis, here. ;)
---
Also, thank you so much, Lisa! I appreciate the encouragement; I've been pretty frazzled lately.
------------------------------------Book #19/30
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Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by Fiona Staples
Rating: 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 152 pages
Challenges:
Review HERE
Notes:
Ow! my heart! Favorite volume to date.
------------------------------------Book #20/30
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Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu, Illustrated by Sana Takeda
Rating: 2.5-3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 202 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017, Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
I gave this three stars because there's really nothing wrong with it, even though it wasn't for me.
I wanted to like it, and the world is interesting, but... between the murkiness of the illustrations (possibly a printing error--the underlying art was wonderful, just hard to interpret), the opacity of the world (better at the end of the volume, but I wasn't engaged enough to reread the beginning), and more horror elements than I'm actually comfortable with, I'll probably pass on the rest of the series.
As a side note: I request most of my books from the library, and inevitably--regardless of content--graphic novels seem to be shelved as YA. I'm a little confused by this, because--while I could maybe squint Monstress into that category if I tried really hard, I really can't see how Saga fits there. *eyeroll*
Samantha (AK) wrote: "…graphic novels seem to be shelved as YA. I'm a little confused by this…"Only kids read comics and watch animated films. All illustrated stories are comics and therefore for kids. Duh.
Honestly, I have not enough eye to sufficiently roll at this ignorance. Likely nothing will change until some parent glances over their kid's shoulder and marches their shocked and irate butt over to the librarian or something.
Nik wrote: "Only kids read comics and watch animated films. All illustrated stories are comics and therefore foror kids. Duh. Honestly, I have not enough eye to sufficiently roll at this ignorance...."
Probably not... despite the content rating printed right next to the barcode. XD
------------------------------------Book #21/30
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The Scent Of Holiness: Lessons From a Women's Monastery by Constantina R. Palmer
Rating: 4/5
Format: Ebook (Kindle Book)
Length: 288 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
Wait, I didn't post about this? What? Okay, I actually finished this back on May 9th, and... apparently just forgot to mention it here. Oops.
This is a really popular book during Great Lent, and now I know why. I started and finished it a little late this year, but it's pretty thought provoking. Monastic life is very different from life in the world.
...this probably also counts toward my Dewey Decimal Challenge, I'm just not sure where to shelve it. XD
(Also, I'm having an issue lately where reviews from my phone don't post to my update feed, despite my settings. Anyone else have this problem?)
------------------------------------Book #22/30
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Rating: 4/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 622 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017, Dewey Decimal Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
All the things they never told us
------------------------------------Book #23/30
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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rating: 3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 275 pages
Challenges:
Review HERE
Notes:
Continuing with the authors that I skipped in highschool (Asimov's in the current batch, too), here comes Vonnegut.
“Like” is not the right word to describe how I feel about Slaughterhouse-Five. More… hollow? I get it. I get where Vonnegut was coming from. I get what he’s saying, but… I don’t know. What is there to say, really? “Poo-tee-weet”?
It’s a very bleak book, sprinkled through with dry and dark witticism. Glad I read it, but don’t plan on rereading anytime soon.
------------------------------------Book #24/30
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The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch
Rating: 1/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 288 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017 , Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
Trigger Warnings: Rape, fertility issues, genocide, suicide, self-harm (as ritual/artistic scarification), problematic depiction of intersex and transgender characters, conflation of asexuality with lack of humanity.
No further comment.
------------------------------------Book #25/30
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The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
Rating: 2/5 (1.5/5)
Format: Hardcover
Length: 371 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Actually abandoned this one (briefly). Hated #24 enough to pick it back up. Pretty Meh. Interesting premise, mediocre execution. Also has the dubious privilege of sporting the worst romantic plot tumor I've seen in a very long time. (view spoiler)
------------------------------------Book #26/30
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You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner
Rating: 4/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 297 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017, Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
This is adorable, and seems to be well researched. My only complaint is the teen drama (Skies above, the drama!), but it's YA in a highschool setting, so...
------------------------------------Book #27/30
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The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
Rating: 4/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 304 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017, Popsugar Reading Challenge, Dewey Decimal Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
Fascinating. Nearly unbelievable in places.
------------------------------------Book #28/30
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Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 296 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
Seriously dated in places (language, lack of women), but still a good/interesting book. Understandable why it's a classic. Fun note: first book by Asimov I've read.
------------------------------------Book #29/30
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Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction
Art By David Aja (#1-3), Javier Pulido (#4-5)
Rating: 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 136 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Alright, so I'm biased. Clint Barton/Hawkeye is already one of my favorites. Don't care. This right here? Good stuff. Unashamed 5-stars.
Love the way Aja's art works with the story. Pulido might grow on me. We'll see. (Something about the way he draws eyes wigs me out. Might be the spacing.)
------------------------------------Book #30/30
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Pym by Mat Johnson
Rating: 3/5 (???????)
Format: Hardcover
Length: 322 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
30 Books! My challenge is technically done! (...and we're only halfway through the year. Dang.)
I go back and forth on the rating for this one, because satire is weird. I 'appreciated' the book, but 'like' might be too strong a word. I don't know. It's the sort of book that'll be rolling around in my head for a while.
------------------------------------Book #31/30
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The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 3/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 277 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Cliffhangers are cheap, but they work. I don't know if that knocked this book down or bumped it up.
------------------------------------Book #32/30
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The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Rating: 2/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 460 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Didn't live up to expectations. See review.
------------------------------------Book #33-35/30
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Hawkeye, Volume 2: Little Hits
Hawkeye, Volume 3: L.A. Woman
Hawkeye, Volume 4: Rio Bravo by Matt Fraction
Illustrators: David Aja, Annie Wu, Javier Polido, Chris Eliopoulos, Matt Hollingsworth, Francisco Francavilla
Rating: 4/5, 3/5, 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 136, 120, 160 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE (Volume 2)
Review HERE (Volume 3)
Review HERE (Volume 4)
Notes:
I cried. Not ashamed to admit it. What a great run.
...my reading stats are kind of skewed, now, but I've got 6 months of reading, still. ;)
------------------------------------Book #36/30
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Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 355 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Does suffer slightly from middle-book syndrome, but still very good.
------------------------------------Book #37/30
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The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett
Rating: 3/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 368 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
Another post-end-of-world scenario focusing on a small band of people. (Well, really just one). Liked it more than I thought I would, but less than I hoped. Skirts the edge of too-much.
------------------------------------Update
------------------------------------
July was a bad month for me. We had a death in the family, and then a bunch of other IRL stuff (some related, some not). Not sure when I'm going to be able to get back into the swing of things.
#38. Home by Nnedi Okorafor
#39. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
#40. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
My uncle passed away in June, so I'm familiar with that feeling of a fresh wound. I'm sorry for your loss, Samantha. Wishing you peace and strength and thinking good thinks for your family.
------------------------------------Book #41/30
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Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 2/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 256 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Meh. Maybe it's part timing, but I thought this one was uncompelling. Paper-thin characters, with a galactic plot that meanders rather than driving forward.
That said, at least some of my harshness is probably down to mood. Ymmv.
------------------------------------
@Nik
Thank you. My heart goes out to you and yours as well.
------------------------------------Book #42/30
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The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 3/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 189 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Cute. Made me smile.
------------------------------------Book #43/30
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Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Rating: 3/5 (Well... 2.5/5)
Format: Paperback
Length: 256 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
First Philip K. Dick book of the year--it's a doozy. Heavy emphasis on the uncertainty of reality. Somewhat enjoyable in a mind-warp sense despite the writing flaws.
Reader Discretion Advisories: Drugs, Incest, Racism, Genocide, and legalized Hebephilia. All are condemned in-text, but not by the main character. It's an ugly world.
------------------------------------Book #44/30
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Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 208 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Can be read standalone.
------------------------------------Book #45/30
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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Finding the Way to Christ in a Complicated Religious Landscape by Andrew Stephen Damick
Rating: 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 416 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Excellent overview. Related reading below:
Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics
Major Problems in American Religious History (Major Problems in American History
------------------------------------Book #46/30
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The Normal Heart
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 128 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Pretty sure I said it all in the review.
------------------------------------Book #47/30
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The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 410 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
------------------------------------Book #48/30
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Dark Matter: Reading the Bones edited by Sheree Thomas
Rating: 3/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 416 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
Technically I didn't finish this--but I read enough to get a feel for the content, so I'm counting it anyway. See review for full reaction.
------------------------------------Book #49/30
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Lilith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 5/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 746 pages
Challenges: Popsugar Reading Challenge
Review HERE
Notes:
------------------------------------Book #50/30
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The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
Rating: 4/5
Format: Paperback
Length: 413 pages
Challenges: N/A
Review HERE
Notes:
------------------------------------Book #51/30
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The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi
Rating: 2.5/5
Format: Hardcover
Length: 257 pages
Challenges: #ReadWomen2017
Review HERE
Notes:
2025 Reading Challenge
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2017 Personal Reading Challenge
------------------------------------
My Corner
2016 Personal Challenge
Another year, another set of personal goals. Burnt myself out a little last year, so I'm taking it easy this year and aiming for 30. Haven't been through the annual challenges yet, but I'll get my corner up to track them once I've decided which one's I'm pursuing.
2017 Book Roundup:
Did Not Finish
01. Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope by Rick Remender
02. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
03. Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston
04. The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley
05. Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov