Mini-Reviews: Feb & Mar 2018

Look at this, I can knock out not one but TWO months in 2018 with some mini-reviews in one go. It really helps that last year I was going through a bunch of ARCs and while I may be a procrastinator when it comes to my own personal reviewing, when I have something I actually have to get out there I am somewhat on the ball with things. Way to go, past me.

Anyway, in an effort to keep this blog train a-rolling, especially now that the lil monster is in daycare and I'm figuring out what the new normal schedule looks like, why don't I get some more mini-reviews out of the way?

February 2018

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Wooooooooow, I loved this one. It was great. Was I crying in Penn Station reading this while waiting for my train? Yes, on multiple occasions. Did I think perhaps I should save this book for a more private setting? Haha, no because that would mean I would have to stop reading it and I did not want to do that. Besides, crying in a place like Penn doesn't really make you stand out and if anything people give you a wide berth. Do I need to go into what the book is about? You've probably read it. Or at least seen the trailer for the movie. It was great and painful and frustrating and heart-wrenching and yes I enjoyed. Despite all of the tears in public (which despite my list of "pros" before, I'm not super a fan of) I have considered giving this a re-read already.
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March 2018

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

A book club pick and right now I can't remember who's selection it was but I want to go back and thank them again because this was excellent. An illustrated memoir (had to look that up cos "graphic memoir" doesn't seem right, and neither did "graphic novel memoir") about Thi Bui emigrating from Vietnam to America and her relationship with her parents as she herself becomes a new mom. The artwork is beautiful in telling her story I realize how little I know about the Vietnam war (basically nothing). Really excellent book.
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Full list of books read in February and March of 2018
February
The Merry Spinster by Daniel Ortberg
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles

March
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
World War Z by Max Brooks
Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen

December Reading Wrap Up

Wow. 2018 is done. Man, December went fast. Super fast. Guess that's what happens when the holidays come around and also maternity leave is ending so you're freaking out a bit (a lot). So yeah, I clearly got no blogging done but I did get some reading done. Reading with my ears, at least. As of late that has been much easier to accomplish than sitting down and reading reading, though now that the commute is back, perhaps that will change.

Why not get right into the December stats? Let's do it.

Oh but first, a follow up to last month's turkey butt. December had reindeer butt. Thank you, baby clothes makers, for putting so many designs on the bums. You're doing great work.

Anyway, stats.

Number of books read
5
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets by Stephen Fry, John Woolf and Nick Baker
Twain's Feast by Andrew Beahrs and Nick Offerman
New Family Values by Andrew Solomon

Number of pages read
1,076

Fiction
20%

POC authors
20%
Not great but it's something, which is more than I can say for the last few months

Female authors
40%

US authors
80%

Rereads
20%

Book formats
audiobook: 80%
hardback: 20%

Where'd I get the book
Gift: 20%
Kindle/Audible: 80%

Decades published
2010s: 100%

Resolution books
40%
Becoming by Michelle Obama (POC author)
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets by a bunch of UK authors

Will I get a 2018 round up post done? It's always possible! I mean, this one took me like 4 days to get finished but you never know.

November Reading Wrap Up

November is done. The year is almost done. That is crazy. Time, right?

This was the very first Thanksgiving I haven't spent with my dad. Usually I travel to South Carolina to visit him and my stepmom and their various animals, but since I have my own little monster this year and Tom was, as always for the holidays, away for work, I really didn't want to make the trip by myself. I know, I know, they say traveling with children at this age is relatively easy. Except a 2+ hour flight followed by 2 hour car ride, while trying to schlep not only the boy but all of the accessories babies require (OMG so much stuff) sounded all kinds of awful and stressful. BUT luckily my dad and stepmom came up to visit the week before so while we didn't have a Thanksgiving meal together, we were able to spend time together.

But the reading. How'd that go? Not too bad, largely due to audiobooks. And there was a bunch of Harry Potter in prep for some HP trivia. Oh and while this is unrelated, I saw someone point this out and it just made me so happy

It's wild how like...JKR is so skilled at so many aspects of writing, especially in little character moments, but when it comes to implications of throwaway lines she just...not a single thought.
Like in Chamber of Secrets, when Harry is talking to Tom/Voldemort and is like, you framed Hagrid, Tom is like, yeah he was always trying to raise monsters.
He says that Hagrid tried to raise werewolf cubs under his bed like...
Oh you mean like, children? Like human children?

I love HP so much, for the stories and the characters yes, but also for the shit like this.

Oh, and before we get to the stats, how about a quick picture of the little monster in his Thanksgiving best?

Anyway, onto the stats!

Number of books read
6
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
Where Should We Begin?: The Arc of Love by Esther Perel
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

OK so the Esther Perel one may be a podcast? But I got it through Audible and instead of "episodes" it has "chapters" and basically I'm counting it as an audiobook.

Number of pages read
1,440

On that note about Perel, I can't find a page count. But I did some math to figure out how many pages could be read in a minute. Obviously there will be variations but basically I found a page count for a book, how long the audiobook was, and went from there. If you're curious, I came to about 1/2 a page for every minute.

Fiction
67%

POC authors
0%

I will do better. I'm sorry

Female authors
67%

US authors
33%

Rereads
83%

Book formats
audiobook: 50%
hardback: 17%
paperback: 33%

Me w/ the audibooks (plus baby strapped on me)

Where'd I get the book
Chain bookstore: 33%
Gift: 33%
Kindle/Audible: 33%

Decades published
1990s: 50%
2000s: 17%
2010s: 33%

Resolution books:
83%
I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets were all published before 2000
Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Tales of Beedle the Bard and Where Should We Begin are all by authors from outside the US (UK and Belgium)

Mini-Reviews: January 2018

November almost got away from me. Guess that's what happens around this time of year. As soon as you hit October things start picking up and I swear it's a sprint through the holidays. But I'll go into more of that with my November wrap up post.

For now, let's see if I can get through a few more mini-reviews! And I'm finally into 2018 so for a brief period I will be within a year of getting these things out, which is pretty exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

This was a re-read, sure, but one I realize I had never written about here. I picked it up again after Tom and I had visited the Strand. While waiting for me to finish browsing, he picked up a copy of this and started reading the ending because it's one of his favorite pieces. Which inspired me to revisit the entire book and even knowing how it ends (or at least mostly remembering how it ends) it was still great. There's a reason it's sold so many copies and if you haven't read it yet, you should probably get on that. Also I should probably read some more of her stuff since this is, I think, the only thing of hers I've read.
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The Girls by Emma Cline

This was a selection for book club and one that had made the rounds when it came out. ALSO this review is slightly easier as I had written out thoughts and emailed them to someone right after reading this so score one for past me. Anyway, this book was fine. I was entertained and it's a sorta-version of the Manson family and I like crime stuff so this fit my interests but ultimately wasn't that memorable. I was happy that the story focused mostly on the girls and little on Russel (the Manson figure), which would have been boring so that's a good thing. Oh but I have a note about how the author used the word "moist" a lot so that's a negative.
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

I love this play. Love love love love love this play. I will randomly quote pieces from it. When I was studying abroad in Italy and for Italian class we had to put on a short skit, my friend and I translated the "Do you think death is a boat?" scene and no, no one in the class got it but whatever, we were amused. I heart Shakespeare but I don't even know if that much knowledge of Hamlet is necessary to enjoy this. Read a cliff notes summary and you have enough background. But I acknowledge that an existential, absurd play about two minor characters from Hamlet who have no idea what is going on but just sort of go with things and should probably figure out which one is which, but does it really matter? And while I could go on and on and include a whole bunch of lines (ultimately the entire play? probably), let me just share with you that boat scene.

Rosencrantz: Do you think Death could possibly be a boat?
Guildenstern: No, no, no...death is not. Death isn't. Take my meaning? Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat.
R: I've frequently not been on boats.
G: No, no...what you've been is not on boats.

...Look, I understand why no one in class got it. Anyway.
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All January 2018 books read
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Where The Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Girls by Emma Cline
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Mini-Reviews: Wrapping up 2017

I realize 2018 is almost done and I'm just getting through the last of the mini-reviews for 2017 but that is what it is. Will I be able to catch up on 2018 before 2019 is over? Only time will tell.

To see the first part of December mini-reviews, check out the last mini-review post and man it has been a lot longer than I thought. October was a blur of, honestly, watching a lot of Disney movies on Freeform. They showed Monsters, Inc and Monster University about every other day and I think I watched at least part every single time. #priorities

December 2017 (part 2)

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell

This is made up of two short stories by Rowell, one of which (Kindred Spirits) I had read and reviewed previously, and which I loved and have reread a few times. Midnights is an equally adorable sweet love story about high school friends Margaret and Noel at an annual New Year's Eve party growing together each year. The dialogue is fun and cute, something Rowell does oh-so-well. And the stories are short so really, there's no reason not to read this. I may go reread them right now...
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Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

While I haven't listened to the podcast in awhile, I still have a special place in my heart for Welcome to Night Vale so I was pretty excited to read the book. First things first, you should probably listen to the podcast before reading this. At least some of it. You don't need to get all caught up (cos there are soooo many episodes) but at least get a feel, learn who the main characters are, get a feel for the style. Because I don't think the book will make any sense without some background. Not that it makes a huge amount of sense anyway, but that's Night Vale. The book was...fine. Overall, I'd rather listen to Cecil's comforting tones instead of reading it so maybe the audiobook would be better? But I also wasn't 100% into the story. I prefer getting these small glimpses into the lives of the Night Vale residents via community radio. A longer story delving deeper didn't really work for me since it got fairly tedious.
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You Don't Have to Like Me: Essays on Growing Up, Speaking Out and Finding Feminism by Alida Nugent

I don't remember when I first started following Nugent as the Frenemy but I was a fan and hey, this is a book about feminism and funny stuff and collections of essays from hilarious ladies is my jam so yeah, of course I was gonna check it out. So I enjoyed it but also, at this point, I honestly don't remember much of it. I liked it at the time but it didn't really stick with me. I may give it a reread (or at least skim through it). So I guess, if you like this sort of thing, check it out? Maybe from the library or something. Entertaining if not super memorable.
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Now onto the 2018 mini-reviews

*Full list of December 2017 books read
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion by Ellen Pao
Neurocomic by Dr. Matteo Farinella and Dr. Hana Ros
Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
You Don't Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent

October Reading Wrap Up

Time is flying and that's crazy. I mean I realize that's what time does and it marches forward* and all. Anyway, October is done and once again I had almost no Trick-or-Treaters (except two children who came to both my front and back doors and were legit surprised when the same person answered both) so I have a big bowl of candy and what oh what will I do with it? The goblin had his first Halloween wherein he spent most of the time looking around confused and/or napping. But what an adorable piece of sushi he was.

At some point I will stop adding pictures of him to the top of the blog posts. But not yet. 

Anyway, October reading. I messed up the pattern I had going (1 book in July, 2 in August, 3 in September) by reading too many books in October. Or reading/listening since audiobooks played a part in this. Mildly disappointed, though since I read 5 in October I could go for a Fibonacci sequence pattern instead. Except I'm not going to do that. 8 books in November. Ha. 

Let's get to those stats, shall we?

Number of books read

5

My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag by Jolie Kerr

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

Number of pages read

1,711

Fiction

20%

Turns out when I'm looking for easier reading, I turn to nonfiction. Probably because it's easier to put down and pick up again without having to remember lots of characters and plot points. 

POC authors

0%

I'm mad at me too

Female authors

60%

US authors

100%

Rereads

40%

Readalong/Book club selections

20%

Book formats

audibooks: 60%

ebooks: 40%

Where'd I get the book

Kindle/Audible: 100%

Decades published

1990s: 40%

2000s: 20%

2010s: 40%

Resolution books

40%

Which sounds impressive but it is only because 2 of the books I read were published before 2000. Both Bryson books, ones I have read many many times, although this is the first time I listened to them so that was fun.

Oh November, what will you bring? 

*Unless you're in the afterlife which, according to The Good Place (which you're watching, yes? Because it is super fantastic) is Jeremy Bearimy instead of straight.