2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE 2018
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[COMPLETE] Jakob: 2 books a month (24) + reviews
THE LISTThis is the list of books I've read this year. Will update as I progress.
1. All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders — 01.01–06.01 — ***
2. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks — 06.01–12.01 — *
3. Millilending by Jónas Reynir Gunnarsson — 21.01–22.01 — ***
4. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt — 02.06–22.06 — ****
5. The Martian by Andy Weir — 23.06–26.06 — ****
6. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng — 26.06–28.06 — *****
7. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman — 28.06–01.07 — *****
8. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins — 01.07–03.07 — **
9. Oh Sh*t... What Now? by Craig Oldham — 17.08–18.08 — ****
10. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli — 18.08–19.08 — ****
11. Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson — 04.07–31.08 — ****
12. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng — 01.09–06.09 — ****
13. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith — 06.09–18.09 — ****
14. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah — 19.09–10.10 — *****
15. Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón — 11.10 — *****
16. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi — 11.10–16.10 — *****
17. I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking by Leyna Krow — 17.10–22.10 — ****
18. Looking for Alaska by John Green — 22.10–24.10 — **
19. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel — 27.10–29.10 — *****
20. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead — 31.10–25.12 — ****
21. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris — 25.12 — ***
22. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff — 12.01–31.12 — **
23. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman — 27.12–01.01 — ***
24. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling — 18.11–01.01 — *****
And because I'm studying graphic design and definitely sometimes judge a book by its cover, here's a patchwork of the covers of the books I've read so far.
Lol, love your comment :DBrave New World wasn't my favourite either. I do however always have the next book waiting for me so that does help me to finish a book even though I'm not a fan. Unfortunately the days that I could read all day long (and all night) are over. I just lose my concentration (or worse, fall asleep!)
What will be your first read?
Wishing you the best of luck with your goal Jakob & a very happing reading year!
This sounds interesting, graphic design not one of the easy studies. I can relate to you guys have the same problem, after coming back from work, doing some chores at home I am sometimes really unable to concentrate or fall asleep while reading. Also english is not my native language even though I sometimes feel like it is. 🙂I am currently reading Never Let Me Go and I am bit disappoimted after so many recommendations and most of my friends rating it 5 or 4 stars ☹.
Good luck to all of us with our challenges private and book ones!
#1 All the Birds in the Sky — 01.01-06.01 — ***
For the yearly challenge: Clear the Shelves
I bought All the Birds in the Sky last summer, grabbed it along with a few other books from the SALE pile at the local bookstore. I liked the cover, which is what originally got my attention, and the synopsis sounded promising enough. It's an easy read and I went through sizeable chunks of the book quite quickly; sitting down to read one chapter and suddenly it's 100 pages later and I'm still just going. That's not to say that the book was necessary one that I couldn't put down because I was so captured in it. I wasn't the biggest fan, but it was decent: I've read far worse, but I've also read far better. I understand why it was on sale.
In the end I gave the book a three star rating. The writing was... eehhh, but the story itself wasn't boring. I'm not quite sure if it is meant to be a young adult novel or not, it's a little confused by itself I think. There's a little bit of magic and a little bit of sci-fi and a little bit of just plain weird. The underlying plot is promising, but the execution wasn't the greatest. This is also one of those books with what I feel is a non-ending – there wasn't really any resolution in my opinion.
Final thoughts: Not one of those memorable novels that leaves you feeling things. Reckon I'll end up putting the actual physical object in a donate box at some point, a few years down the lane when I need to make space in my bookcase for more books (or else buy a new bookcase, also an option). It isn't a must-keeper.
Jakob I love that you call out your books that is awesome! I wish you all the best in reading this year and I will definitely be back to see how you made out with Brave New World
Blagica wrote: "Jakob I love that you call out your books that is awesome! I wish you all the best in reading this year and I will definitely be back to see how you made out with Brave New World"I read Brave New World last year. It only took me 80 days to read it... That's a pace of less than 3 pages a day. I was just soooooo bored with it I had to force myself to read. Started it on January 22 and finally managed to finish it on April 11 — there was just never anything compelling me to pick it up. The next book I read after that was almost 900 pages and I read it in 5 days (173 pages/day).
BNW was just not for me, clearly. People kept on recommending it to me, mainly because 1984 by Orwell is hands down my favorite book ever. So it was a bit of a let down.
#2 The Wasp Factory — 06.01-12.01 — *
For the 1st quarter challenge: Must Read Books
Okay, okay, okay. So I saw this book on the 1001 Must Read Books listopia list and remembered greatly enjoying The Crow Road back when I was in high school. I'd decided to read at least two books from the list for one of the 1st quarter challenges, so off I went to the bookstore to grab Iain Banks' debut. Ugh.
First of all, I've come to realize that more often than not I dislike books that are written in first person. There's just something about them that doesn't really speak to me. So that was already working against The Wasp Factory, but it's just one nail in the coffin. It's a disturbing book and while it didn't bother me enough to call it quits the graphic description of violence often felt like it was just trying too hard. And then I read the ending, and the entire premise for the whole story was revealed and I just got pissed off and gave the book one star. It had been sailing towards... three... maybe... but yeah, the reveal, ugh. That's all I can say, ugh.
Final thoughts: UGH. Straight into the donate box.
#3 Millilending — 21.01-22.01 — ***
I almost never read in Icelandic. I read one book last year (or the year before?) and then just in high school, from which I graduated in 2010. So yeah, not much. My sister bought this with some money our gram had given her (explicitly to buy books in Icelandic) and left it at my house so that I could read it first (she started, but got sidetracked). It was short, I went through it quickly.
It's another debut novel and another first person narrative.
And very Icelandic.
I suppose it's very, Catcher in the Rye-esque. It tells the story of a girl on a 24 hour stopover in Iceland on a Friday or Saturday; a brief visit no-man's land between leaving her life in Brighton after a breakup and moving back in with her dad who now lives in Denmark. She's obsessed with how ugly and ironic her coat and rainboots are and drinks a lot of booze. I wasn't a fan of Holden Caulfield and I'm not really a fan of hers (María I think? I forget) either. It's trying to say something deep about the human condition, but at the end of the day it's just... not that memorable or insightful. I gave it three stars, guess I liked it just a tad better than Catcher in the Rye. Maybe it was more relatable, being you know, Icelandic and having walked those exact streets.
Also! The cover is eye-catching. That holographic film!
Final thoughts: I can't seem to shake the thought of just how Icelandic it was. Young-adulthood is a strange time in life. That's what I took from it. Otherwise, eh, not too memorable.
Three books down you are fantastic hope next month brings great reads.
As I expected school has come at me full swing and I've not been able to read much at all for the past couple of weeks. I DNF'd a book that I had to read for school because I just couldn't get into it.Hopefully I'll get some time this week, maybe even finish Fire and Fury. It's taken a while.
Jakob I hope that March is a great month for you and school gets easier maybe is the right word.
“Reading brings us unknown friends” While the warm weather is coming I hope you make some new friends in May!
“I have always imagined paradise will be a kind of library.” I hope you find a corner in Paradise with some great books!!
Well then. We're almost halfway through August and I haven't updated this thread since February. Until now.I graduated with a BA in Graphic Design (or Visual Communication, whichever you prefer) in June and then went on a month long (and well deserved, might I add) holiday to the States. And finally managed to get some reading in. Finished five books in the space of a week and a half I believe, which I've added to my list up there in the second post.
I hope to getting around to reviewing them shortly, or what I remember of the reading experience anyway.
I'm still working my way through Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House and I had started to read Oscar Wilde back in winter, but I'm not sure if I'll get back into it, not this year at least. I am also currently reading Fourth of July Creek, just need to find the book because I misplaced it before the weekend.
According to the Reading Challenge counter I am currently six books behind schedule. So I suppose I best get to reading then...
Congratulations on your graduation Jakob! A well deserved holiday indeed!5 books in a week and a half?!? Wow, impressive!
Good luck with the remainder of your goal!
Susy wrote: "Congratulations on your graduation Jakob! A well deserved holiday indeed!5 books in a week and a half?!? Wow, impressive!
Good luck with the remainder of your goal!"
Thank you. I think I'll make it, if only for the reason that I am very competitive (against myself) and stubborn.
I finished The Goldfinch on June 22nd and eleven days later I had started and finished another four books.
If the fancy strikes me and I have no obligations (or obligations that I can happily ignore) I can read for hours without so much as standing up from wherever I've made myself comfortable. A few years ago I read two books in one sitting and last year I finished a mammoth of a book (876 pages, Seveneves) in only five days. It was towards the end of the semester and I should've been writing some essays, but I felt like reading instead. Practically inhaled the book.
Wow, just wow! I wish I could read that fast/much. I’m a slow reader ánd I get easily distracted (which is relatively new for me).
#4 The Goldfinch — 02.06-22.06 — ****
So back in 2014 I believe, a friend of mine suggested I read The Goldfinch, probably in the same breath (although this was over the internet, so in the same, typed piece of dialogue) that he suggested I join Goodreads. I hadn't actually read a book for a few years and the length of this one seemed absurd to me. He then suggested it to me again a couple of years later, and this time I made sure to add it to my to-read list.
Then my mum recommended it to me.
Some more time passed and I spotted it at my favorite bookstore back in February of this year. I bought it and it then sat on my shelf for a bit while my attention was fixed on my final project. And then I finally got around to reading it.
I had a lot of thoughts about the book while I was reading it, but I cannot remember the details now. I probably should've jotted down my review when it was still fresh. The top two things on my mind right now are that the book was beautifully written, absolutely fantastic prose, and that I hated Boris. I understand there wouldn't have been much of a plotline without him, but he irritated the bejeezus out of me. Thus, my favorite part of the book was at the beginning while Theo was still in New York, because Boris' character still had not been introduced, and then again when Theo went back to New York, before the climax of the storyline, to keep it vague.
Final thoughts: Ultimately I think I gave the book four stars primarily because I enjoyed reading it, but the plot did fall short for me at times and I felt Boris was too exaggerated.
#5 The Martian — 23.06–26.06 — ****
Okay, so. I had already seen the movie. My (frequently cited) friend had read the book after the film had been announced but before it came out and he wasn't psyched about the book. He did, however, think that it would translate into film quite well. Later when he saw the movie, he greatly enjoyed it. I put a lot of stock into what this friend of mine says, so I didn't go in with high expectations of the book even though I'd enjoyed the film.
Now, like I've already said, I'm not a big fan of first-person narration. Especially not epistolary novels. I did groan a little bit when I started reading and realized that The Martian fell into that category, but decided to trek on anyway. I'm glad I did, because once the other narrative mixed in with Watney's log/diary/whatever, I felt like Weir had managed to strike some sort of balance.
It also helped that I had Matt Damon's character floating around in my brain while I was reading. It made Watney more believable. He wasn't as... annoying... as he potentially could've been. It's interesting to think that when there's a film and a novel, you only get one chance at the order in which you read and watch them. Once you've absorbed the story in one medium, it'll inevitably have an impact on how you view the other medium, and it's impossible to see it from the other side. That's wild.
Anyway.
Final thoughts: Quick, easy, enjoyable read. It's got appeal, if you like popular sci-fi anyway; that is, sci-fi that isn't too bogged down with actual science. I also think Matt Damon was a good fit for Mark Watney. I can't remember who else was in the film, nor can I remember any of the other character's names, which says something.
#6 Little Fires Everywhere — 26.06–28.06 — *****
This is one of those books I could've easily read in one sitting (but I didn't because life). It was so good. Just wow. It's not even like a particularly eventful book, I don't think anyway. It just speaks to the human condition on some level that resonated quite deeply with me.
That's about all I have to say. Writing these little blurbs a couple of months after reading the book isn't the best practice, to be honest. I did immediately buy Ng's Everything I Never Told You at my friend's suggestion after finishing Little Fires, so I'm excited to read that soon.
Final thoughts: It was great. I'll probably have to re-read some day, just to experience it again, to gain a better understanding of what it was that had me so enamoured with it.
#7 A Man Called Ove — 28.06–01.07 — *****
Okay, so. This book was such a surprise to me, the fact that I gave it five stars came way out of left field. As with all of the books I read in that week and a half while away on holiday they were partially picked out of convenience. I had had this on my to-read for a while, but probably wouldn't have read it when I did were it not for the fact that my parents (whom I was visiting) had it on their bookshelf in the guest bedroom. Anyway, back to the book.
I started reading and it's an easy read, easy prose. I wasn't a fan of the writing style—it was quite juvenile I remember thinkig—and I felt Ove's character was greatly exaggerated. I really didn't think I would like the book. It was going to be mediocre at best, like a solid three star review. I've read worse though, and I was on a streak, so I kept at it. So glad I did.
The style of the book grew on me, and in the end I think it was so well suited to the story. Once Ove's plans for himself became apparent a third or so through the book, I actually felt quite emotional, and this hardened character I intially disliked became familiar and lovable. Which is just how the other characters in the story experienced Ove. And the way it is written I feel was hugely important in this particular experience.
The grumpy old man and the people who love him, and whom he begrudgingly loves in return. The story felt somehow simultaneously improbable and realistic, it was strange. I likely saw some of myself in Ove's character as well, which could explain the reaction I had to the story.
Final thoughts: I can't accurately convey how much of a surprise this book was. 10/10 would recommend. And even though it made me emotional at times, it's also just a great feel-good book.
#8 The Girl on the Train — 01.07–03.07 — **
As much as I like to hate on first person narrative/epistolary novels I sure seem to read a lot of them.
Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, people seem to be pretty divided about The Girl on the Train. Some people absolutely loved it (my dad thought it was great) and some people feel very strongly about how much they hate the book, the story and, most of all, the characters. I lean towards the latter, but not with passion.
So, I've not read a lot of books with an unreliable narrator, not that I can think of off the top of my head anyway, and it was an interesting experience. I can't say I liked whatshername too much though and if I was meant to feel any pity for her, I didn't. The two (wait, three?) narratives kept the book fresh for a while, and it was a quick read, but then it just got super twisted and weird. The ending just felt rushed and forced or something of the sort. I think the setup for the story was good, but in the end it just failed to deliver.
Final thoughts: Look, I can understand the hype around the book, and I can understand why people like it. But the characters just weren't, relatable, not for me anyway, and it did feel a little like the book was trying to be as dark and as twisted as possible. Good premise, faulty execution.
#9 Oh Sh*t... What Now? — 17.08–18.08 — ****
So the actual title of this book is Oh Sh*t What Now?! Honest Advice for New Graphic Designers, which you know, explains in part why I read it.
It's a hard book to rate and review because honestly, it's not necessarily a book you buy with the explicit intention of reading. I sure didn't. It's only 120 odd pages long but it is thick af because the majority of the pages are printed on thick card (maybe like 600g paper, to compare, regular printing paper is usually 90g) and a lot of it is neon pink and green. There's also lots of full page typographic quotes. So yeah, it's more meant for looking than for reading.
But it's a book, and I read it, so towards my goal it goes.
When people have been in the Industry™ (as Craig Oldham calls it, it being graphic design/visual communication) for a while they've certainly ammassed some amount of wisdom that newcomers would find helpful. Oldham is no exception, and this book is just his stream of consciousness aimed at those who are newly graduated or even those thinking about studying to enter the Industry™. Having graduated myself this summer and feeling a little lost it did offer me some insight into what I should or might do next.
Final thoughts: Pretty visuals and some sound advice.
Thank you, I 💓 what you LOL call "rambling" because I love "rambling" chat (in some things) Wow, congrats on the completion of your studies - Graphic Design, I hope you 💗 it because work is always best when one 💓's what they do!
I started up at Goodreads (in earnest) just this month, it would pop up when I completed a book & I would (sometimes) review for them, but mostly Amazon. I thought that I would have to 'commit' to the Facebook revolution, which I rebel against stringently (yes, I have become my parents/grandparents😕😵😒😅) & apparently I found out that I didn't & the rest is meeting you & others here 'Sweet' Victory.
I will do a book "compare," (OCD about that SMH) but get ready to be "followed!"
Happy Reading 📚
#10 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda — 18.08–19.08 — ****
First, a couple of things. This book has been hanging out in the top five on the list What We've Read So Far in 2018 which is sort of what brought my attention to it. I can't say I read a lot of currently popular YA (I've read one Rainbow Rowell book and then one by John Green) but after reading the synopsis for this one I decided I'd give it a go. The reason being that I do some work with LGBT youth and figured it'd be worthwhile to have a look at the literature aimed at and available for them these days.
The fact that it's a book clearly meant for teenagers also made it a little bit difficult for me to rate it, because I think I'm a little inclined to give these books a lower rating because of the lack of depth in the the story compared to what I might usually read. So compared to The Goldfinch for example, these fours stars are a lot different than the fours stars that book was given, because they're just worlds apart.
Now that that's out of the way.
I was working a 12h night shift last night so I grabbed this with me to read when I had some downtime. I knew I couldn't take the book I'm currently reading because that one required more concentration and Simon would be something that I could put down mid-page if needed. I had less time to read at work than originally anticipated, but finished the book in 24h regardless, because while it was an easy read it was also a compelling one.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a great feel-good romnatic novel, for LGBT and non-LGBT young people alike. It doesn't shy away from the fact that even though society has come a long way it can be hard to come out and it can have some negative consequences, but that's also not the main focus of the story. The characters here are just regular ol' kids dealing with some regular high school stuff, which can be difficult to navigate for anyone.
I went ahead and read the synopsis for the second novel in this series and have determined that I might be interested in continuing reading the books as they come out. The premise of the next book centering around a different character in the friend group at Creekwood HS gives me a sort of Skins or SKAM vibe (popular YA TV shows, if you don't know), which is interesting, because there's room for more character development and different angles to be had.
Final thoughts: Cute feel-good LGBT YA romance novel that also touches on some of the more difficult aspects of high school life. Will definitely recommend this to my youth group kids.
#11 Fourth of July Creek — 04.07–31.08 — ****
Disclaimer: The fact that I started reading this book on the Fourth of July is 85% coincidental.
What a bleak and heavy piece of literature. I read it in bursts over the span of a couple of months, but I sort of wish I'd have had the time to read it in a much more condensed time frame. I think it would've benefitted from me not going two or three weeks between picking it up.
It took me a bit of time to wrap my head around the format of the narration, but I think it contributed well to the overall gritty feel of the story. Because of the jumps between characters it required a fair bit of concentration, which is why my scattered reading made it a bit more difficult for me to really get into it.
When I say it's bleak, I mean it's really bleak. There's some resolution to the various themes going on in the novel, but not really. Much like real life, I suppose. You meet all sorts of people in life and you become an actor in part of their story, but how many people do you really see through to the final act. Fourth of July Creek is like that in some respects; there's an ending but not an end.
And this is not a spoiler, but like the final sentence of the book says:
You can't just go through life acting like there are answers to every—
Final thoughts: Life is mostly just humans bobbing around trying to do their best, maybe. Like I said, it's not a feel good novel. Bleak to the bare bone. But well written and captivating at times.
#12 Everything I Never Told You — 01.09–06.09 — ****
Halfway through my goal for this year!
I sort of accidentally read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng while on summer vacation, as a result of which I bought her debut, this book. Man, does she have a way with words. 😍
The story is like an onion (to quote a beloved green ogre), you just get to peel back layer after layer to discover the center. Ng manages to move so gracefully between the present and the past (and in this case the future) that it's just magnificent to read.
I really felt the weight of contradicting dreams and expectations while reading this. It's certainly something I struggled with myself as a teenager, and into adulthood, but not to the degree that Lydia and the siblings feel it. Potent human emotion.
Final thoughts: I don't know. I'm not finding the words to describe the novel. It's just one of those things you know, you know.
P.s. This just made me want to read, and experience, Little Fires again, because while this one was good, that one was magnificent.
#13 Career of Evil — 06.09–18.09 — ****
Aah. This is one of those times where I really wish Goodreads had a half star rating system, because Career of Evil really is a solid 3.5 for me. Ultimately, I decided to rate it at four stars, simply because I think Rowling has an exceptional way with words and I think it was decidedly better than the last installment, The Silkworm, which I rated at three stars. It's all a matter of context.
The novel is about 450 pages of red herring and then the last few chapters are spent on the resolution. Rowling sets up four possible suspects early in the timeline and proceeds to feed information to the reader through both Robin and Strike's perception, as well as the real killer's. On a side note, I wasn't the biggest fan of how the killer's mind was portrayed, but it accomplished what it was supposed to do, so there it is.
Without saying too much, or giving anything away, I was left wondering who the actual culprit was well until the end, although I would've hedged a bet against one of the suspects over the others. Not saying who...
When I was about two thirds through the book I do felt like it was dragging on a bit, but I still felt compelled to keep reading. One, there was a constant anticipation that something was going to happen to one of the main characters, and secondly because of the occasional dilvugence of narrative from the killer's mind, which added to the suspense and gave more pieces of the puzzle. The book absolutely could've been shorter in my opinion, but it wasn't that much of a drag.
I also just like Strike. Even if he is a bit of a stereotypical detective in a crime story, down on his luck, etc. I know there's a TV show version of the Strike series, and I've seen stills from it, but I'm not really inclined to watch, mainly because the actor portraying Strike doesn't fit in with my imagination of him. I just like imagingin this huge boxy character. Anyway...
Final thoughts: I'll be reading Lethal White when it comes out, but generally I don't feel like I get anything special from whodunits. I only got into the Strike series because, well, it's J.K. Rowling. Basically, well written, good suspense, another notch in the (reading) belt.
Edit: Turns out Lethal White actually hits the shelves today. Huh. Coincidence much.
I like your review. Adding my thoughts about Strike. I find him irresistible! Smart. Obviously sexy as his previous loves prove. Irascible... and the darling assistant ... they bring me back !! JK great. Her details ADD instead of "fill space." Lethal White now out and as soon as I finish my present book, I'll give it a go!!
You are on your way to having a great year in books! Do you have a book you still can't wait to read?
I have two "difficult" books I want to read before year's end. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI and Beneath a Scarlet Sky. Both pretty heavy!!! So I need some liveliness in between. On deck for that is: The Answers and Mrs. Fletcher. Also want to find time for: Dear Mrs. Bird -- lots of good hype on this one.
Blagica wrote: "You are on your way to having a great year in books! Do you have a book you still can't wait to read?"There isn't a specific book that I'm itching to get my hands on, but I've been moving and recently found Homegoing in one of my boxes. I bought the book earlier this year after a friend gave it a glowing review and haven't gotten around to it yet. Thinking it might be my next read.
#14 Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood — 19.09–10.10 — *****
Oh man. Where do I start. I very much enjoy Trevor Noah, I've seen some of his stand-up and frequently watch excerpts from the Daily Show. His voice very much echoed in my head for the entirety of this read.
I don't read a lot of memoirs, there's the odd one here and there but I don't seek them out. (sidenote: I feel like every review is me mentioning how I don't read a lot of this or a lot of that. I think the take-away is that I don't read enough of anything. More books plz.) That being said I throughoughly enjoyed this one.
There were moments in the book where I actually laughed out loud. Anyone who knows me know that that's a pretty big deal, I don't really laugh at things, I breathe at things I find funny. If that makes any sense. Anyway. Trevor (and I feel like using his first name here, partly because I'm Icelandic and that's what I'm used to, but also because the narrative was so intimate and he frequently includes dialogue where people address him as Trevor) manages to relay the story of his South African upbringing in a great way, intertwining his own story with a larger one of how things changed in post-apartheid South Africa. I did an entire semester on apartheid in high school history but I still feel like I learned a helluva lot through his story. My only qualms about the book is how non-linear it is, but that's a minor detail and doesn't take away from the narrative.
There are parts of the narrative that are down right tragic, but Trevor has a way of telling the story of his life through an optimistic lens, we get a glimpse of his comedic nature and how he can look back at some or most of the events in his life with humor. He's describing a way of life that is completely foreign to me, someone living in an entirely different world, but for him it was all he knew, so you know, that was just life. Makes you really think about how diverse the world is.
Uhm, I don't really have anything else to say. There were some really quote worthy bits of the book, I actually went so far as to underline some bits. That's also extremely unlike me.
My favorite quote is definitely this. Trevor is talking about meeting other mixed-race kids as an adult and how their lives were completely different than his because their parents left South Africa while his mother opted so stay despite having an illegal child.
It goes like this:
Imagine being thrown out of an airplane. You hit the ground and break all your bones, you go to the hospital and you heal and you move on and finally put the whole thing behind you—and then one day somebody tells you about parachutes.
Final thoughts: Uh yeah, excellent memoir. Definitely recommend reading it. Trevor Noah is a great narrator and storyteller. A++
Jakob wrote: " #14 Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood — 19.09–10.10 — *****
Oh man. Where do I start. I very much enjoy Trevor Noah, I've seen..."
Great review, I saw him talk with Jerry Seinfeld on his show & briefly on the anniversary of Def Comedy Jam (he had a clip) He is not only hilarious, he is an awesome human being. You can tell he was raised Well!
Great job on your reading challenge! I am 7 out of 12 & finishing #8
any momentToday 💃
#15 Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was — 11.10 — *****
Okay, so this was an interesting situation, reading an English translation of an Icelandic book. I was at the university bookstore (my favorite) when the cover of this just called out to me. I had heard of the book, but didn't know anything about it, and just decided to buy it on a whim.
I don't know, there is something about the novel. Or novella, actually, I think it probably falls under that definition. I read it in one sitting, it just captured me.
Honestly, I don't want to say too much about it. I saw at least one review here on goodreads where the person urged others to read the story without knowing anything about it. I'm inclined to say the same thing, I went into it having read only the blurb on the back.
Anyway. After reading I immediately gave it four stars, but then bumped it up to five only a couple minutes later. There's just somehting about the story that reverbed inside me. It's not even overly complex, deep on some levels and not on others.
Final thoughts: Beautiful.
So yesterday there were apparently 81 days left of the year. I have nine books to go until I reach my goal, so that means I have to read one book every nine days to make it to the finish line.Already a third through Homegoing, which I started reading last night.
I think I'll complete my goal, I just need to get into a habit of reading a little bit every day. I like reading, it's a nice way to wind down, so it'd be a good habit to get into anyway.
Jakob wrote: "Blagica wrote: "You are on your way to having a great year in books! Do you have a book you still can't wait to read?"There isn't a specific book that I'm itching to get my hands on, but I've bee..."
I hope you get into the habit and I am glad that you got to start the book you found. I will be back to see how you liked it.
#16 Homegoing — 11.10–16.10 — *****
This novel was like travelling by train, looking out of the windows. You catch glimpses of stories, fragments of each character's life, and then it's gone, leaving only crumbs of their fate in the following narrative, if that.
If y'all don't know, Homegoing tells the story of sixteen main characters through eight generations, travelling from the shores of Africa all the way to California. It starts with two sisters in the 18th century, one whom marries a colonialist and another who is captured and traded into slavery across the Atlantic. Each chapter gives us a snapshot of one character, a descendent of these sisters, telling us only enough to understand where they came from and where they are going, but focusing mainly on their situation and how they are affected by race.
I read the book two chapters at a time, so I could see each generation as a whole, even if they weren't necessarily happening at the same time in their life. I guess the book could become confusing because there are multiple narrators and these are just snapshots, but I managed quite well.
Anyway.
I thought I was knowledgable about the atrocities committed against Africans and African-Americans by colonialists, slave-traders and whites in general, but I still learnt a lot by the stories presented in Homegoing. I feel like a narrative such as this one presents you with the opportunity to walk a mile, or whatever, in someone else's shoes, even if it is "only" fiction.
Final thoughts: It was heartbreaking, but simultaneously heartwarming, weaving a fabric that tells the story of both human cruelty and perseverence.
#17 I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking — 17.10–22.10 — ****
What a strange little book. It's an anthology of short stories, and believe me this time when I say that's not something I usually read. There are 8 stories and interspersed between them are fragments of a ninth story, which really drives the anthology forward as you need to keep on reading to finish that story.
So, I picked this book up at a tiny little bookstore somewhere in Brooklyn, NYC this past summer because the combination of the title and the cover just intrigued me. There's an astronaut, looking over a pool at a resort, over to the ocean where there appears to be a giant octopus. What's there not to be intrigued by!
Like I said. This is a strange collection of stories. I'm not sure what to say about them really. I think the blurb on the back says everything there needs to be said. Emphasis by me.
In I'm Fine But You Appear to Be Sinking there are stories of strange experiences in familiar places and familiar experiences in strange places. Amdist disappearances, prophecies, catastrophes large and small, action figures, and octopuses, Leyna Krow explores the moments of human isolation that somehow connect us all.
The stories were sometimes hard to understand, hard to get into from the beginning, but then I started to make sense of them, see what the point was, and then they'd just abruptly end. Leaving me to think about humanity and whatever else they were trying to say. I just wanted more, but the irony is that there was, in the end, just the right amount. This review is starting to get out of hand...
Final thoughts: Such a strange—and slightly unnerving—reading experience. Truly moments of connected human isolation.
#18 Looking for Alaska — 22.10–24.10 — **
First thing first. The cover is so (excuse my french) f-in lacking, it is so uninspiring. It is definitely in my top five ugliest book covers ever, of books that I've read anyway, if not the ugliest. I think I'm managing to convey how much I dislike this cover? Sorry Linda McCarthy and Irene Vandervoort (they were the cover designer and art director, respectively, I believe) , but you guys really dropped the ball on this one.
It's like, the cover has been pulled straight out of the, oh I don't even know, the early nineties? Nothing about it screams YOUNG ADULT NOVEL, there's just like a strangely out of focus smoke on the front, in reference to the fact that these teenagers always seem to have a cigarette in their mouth, and then that same motif is repeated on the back, only sideways. And don't get me started on the typography, but I have to mention the gaussian blurred black mess around 'The New York Times Bestseller' at the top of the cover. Ugh, and just the back of the book, and the hodgepodge of typefaces, sizes and colors.
Oh. I just noticed that the smoke is also repeated on the spine! Except even smaller. Oh man...
Look, I've seen a lot of books my John Green (and Hank) and they all look a lot better than this one. They actually look appealing, whereas this one does not. There's so much in the story that can be referenced on the cover instead. Google has revealed a different cover design with a white daisie on the front and some handwritten type instead that is way better and fits in with the rest of Green's bibliography.
Basically, I hate the cover. And everytime I picked up the book to read it, I would spend some time just thinking about how much I hated the cover. It's an awful cover.
I got a little bit passionate there with all of the bold and italics for emphasis. Anyway.
Now that that's out of the way... the review of the book is better, but not necessarily much better.
Look, I gave it three stars because it's ok. It's not great, it's not even good, but it's not bad. It just, is what it is. I felt the characters were flat, the story dragged on too much, there's too much teenage angst, but whatever.
It's a young adult book. I'm not exactly the demographic for it... If it hadn't been so short, I wouldn't have read it, I think. I think it has a nice message, underneath everything else, but yeah. Read it, time to return it to it's original owner. Not like I would've bought it myself.
Final thoughts: That review was crap, sorry. I just can't stop thinking about the damn cover. The book was ok.
Edit: After thinking about the book and bitching about both it and the cover to some friends, I reconsidered my rating and bumped it down a star from *** to **.
In other news: I am now only ONE book behind schedule. I think I was like eight books behind at the start of summer. Making up a lot of ground, intending to reach my goal.
I AM NOW ON TRACK.That is all. Will write a review for Station Eleven when I have more time. In short though: 😍😍😍
#19 Station Eleven — 27.10–29.10 — *****
Post-apocalyptic semi-dystopian fiction. Sign me up.
I flew through this novel. It's very well written, and the jumping back and forth in time is a favorite literary tool of mine, I think.
Sort of hoping, but at the same time not, for a sequel.
Yeah, basically.
Final thoughts: 😍😍😍 I love it when my friends reccommend me books that are exactly what I like reading.
#20 The Underground Railroad — 31.10–25.12 — ****
Alright, so this one dragged a little bit, because I just didn't
That being said, it's quite a powerful book. I like the goodreads reviews that mention how the reimagining of the Underground Railroad as and actual locomotive system is a metaphor or whatever. I mean, it is a work of fiction, albeit one that sheds light on the atrocious history of African American life in the US on account of the actions of whites.
It's also quite violent at points, there's no rosy glass to look through here. Það er ekkert verið að skafa af því, like you'd say in Icelandic.
Final thoughts: I do believe the book deserves all the praise it has gotten, but it was short of a five star review for me. Maybe it was the writing style, maybe it was the characters, but yeah. More honest fiction about the lived experiences of minority groups in the US, thanks.
#21 The Tattooist of Auschwitz — 25.12 — ***
Got this one for Christmas. Finished it in 2 sittings, basically I read 2/3 of it, watched a bit of TV and then finished the rest of it. It's an easy read, despite the heavy topic.
The holocaust...
I think it is super important to record the stories of people that lived through the concentration camps, to see what they had to do to survive, etc. I really think this is something we need to with every atrocity in history (I feel like I've been reading a lot of books dealing with such topics this year), because we cannot let it fade from our collective memory. And this is also a different kind of love story.
I don't know what else I can say. Also, these reviews are getting... blergh. Anyway...
Final thoughts: Bottom line, it's a so-so book, the writing is mediocre while the topic is interesting — and I do feel it would've made a better movie than a novel.
33 hours until 2019 is here and I'm still 3 books away from meeting my goal.It is on.
2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
A Man Called Ove (other topics)Little Fires Everywhere (other topics)
Station Eleven (other topics)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (other topics)
Norse Mythology (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Celeste Ng (other topics)Neil Gaiman (other topics)
Michael Wolff (other topics)
J.K. Rowling (other topics)
Heather Morris (other topics)
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I do have a nasty habit of starting a book though, getting bored and dragging it out forever (I'm looking at you Brave New World in 2017) and not reading anything in between. Sometimes I don't get motivated to finish a book until I've picked out and am super excited by what I'm going to read next. And then I can also basically inhale a book and read it in one sitting, taking only bathroom breaks (and sometimes not even breaks, I just awkwardly fumble with the buttons on my pants with one hand, book in the other). So, consistency is not my strong suit.
Last year I started out pretty strong, but then in the fall I got bogged down with school (I'm on my last year in a Graphic Design program) and having to write a thesis, so I basically read nothing between school starting and school ending for the fall semester. I managed to squeeze in the last couple of books for my 20 book challenge in the last week between Christmas and New Years. This semester I've got my graduation project, so that's going to be time consuming -- I am hoping that I can at least read one book a month between February and May (while school is on) and then make up those 4 books in the summer or whatever.
Anyway, going to get to reading then.