Mini-Reviews: April 2018

Look at me, moving right along with these mini-reviews.

Sorry, now I have that song stuck in my head. AS I WAS SAYING

Look at me, moving right along with these mini-reviews. At this rate, I may even finish reviewing 2018 books before 2020. Crazy talk? Maybe but we shall see.

April was apparently a good month for me, since 2 of my favorite reads from 2018 happened that month, so that's swell. Of course, that also means I sort of already did a mini-review for them. Like just a couple days ago. I suppose I didn't think these posts through entirely. My bad. So there will be some repetition here. I guess...feel free to skim a bit? Or I mean, you're free to do that whenever. How would I even stop you? I'm not going to be forcing quizzes to make sure you did the reading. That's a silly idea, why would you even suggest it?

This post is getting away from me, so why don't we dive into the mini-reviews? Great idea, good job, me.

The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

I won this book from Book Riot and I honestly can't remember why because I got it and then it sat on my shelf for a while. As you do. The main character, Ivo, is in hospice care, slowly wasting away with no visitors except the hospice nurses. To keep his mind sharp, one of the nurses encourages him to play a game where he goes through the alphabet naming a body part and a memory to go along with it. And thus we learn the story of Ivo's younger life, how he ended up where he is, what happened with his love Mia, and why he is alone, mostly due to a series self-destructive decisions. It is a depressing book. I guess, it could have been more depressing except a lot of the characters (Ivo, his friends, his sister) are pretty unlikeable so while I'm not saying you want him to be in pain and dying, it also doesn't feel like grief porn. This wasn't a cold uncaring world dumping on this guy, but a guy who regrets making a lot of bad choices. Would he regret them if he wasn't dying? Probably not. So the book was fine. Not great, but not terrible. I don't remember that much about it, but I'm pretty sure it didn't make me cry, despite the depressing nature. And if you're curious, yes I DID cry over Opportunity, the Mars rover "dying", so that's all it could take to get me to cry.
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Texts from Jane Eyre by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

This book was so funny. So great and nerdy and a quick read. When I was writing about it for my best of 2018 reads post, I skimmed through it again to get a feel. And then decided "I should just read this again because it's SO GOOD". And then I did. It was a good choice. It is a hilarious collection of what it would be like if various characters and literary figures could text each other, usually with one of them being a hot mess of a person and the other playing the straight man. And sure, that could get a little repetitive but also, shut up, it's funny every time.
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Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Oh look, another favorite read of 2018. It's a memoir about food. Memoirs are fun, food is GREAT. And Knisley loves food. Her mom was a chef (is a chef? I dunno what her mom is up to these days) so she grew up appreciating food. I was going to say "grew up around food" but like...yeah. We all did. Or else we starved. Anyway, graphic memoir about growing up and food and there are even some recipes and I'm getting hungry thinking about it and also should I stop writing this and reread this book right now? Yes, maybe.* That sounds like a good idea. Sorry, this wasn't helpful. But read it, how bout that?
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*Fact: I did exactly that and thus it took me basically an extra day+ to finish this post. Worth it.

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell

This was fun and I’m pretty sure I read the entire thing in one sitting while hanging out at a sbux. It is about, surprise, surprise, weird things that customers say in bookstores. It’s short and sweet and a very quick read, so reading it in one sitting isn’t actually that impressive but whatever. ALSO the book contains a submission from a certain book blogger and all around awesome person Emily (As the Crowe Flies and Reads) so you know this book is Quality.
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Best Books Read in 2018

So one of my last post was my general stats for 2018 reading. I was going to write a little something about the best books I read last year as well but as the post was getting a bit long, I figured it would make more sense to split this into two posts. Plus then I get two posts out of this so wins all around.

Since I did a LOT of rereading this year (42%), I'll split the best reads into rereads and new rereads. Because obviously if I'm going to reread something, it's a book I love. Why would I spend my time rereading a book I was lukewarm about? That'd be dumb. Don't do that.

Also I suppose this will end up being more mini-reviews? Except I think even shorter cos there are a lot of great books I read last year. Mini mini-reviews. At this rate I'm going to get to posts where my book reviews are a single word. Not a helpful word like "Good" or "No" but something that does not tell you anything about whether you should read the book or not. "Effervescent". "Lilac".

Anyway, hey here are some good books

Fav reads of 2018 (new to me books)

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
This was so good and/but also made me cry several times in public. Excellent

Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen
Hilarious webcomic about awkwardly adulting. Yes plz

Texts from Jane Eyre by Daniel Ortberg
Also hilarious but instead of webcomic it is famous literary people/characters texting each other nonsense and the Hamlet chapters(?) are the best because 100% what he would be like (i.e., a pain the ass)

Relish by Lucy Knisley
You know, I said I do not care for graphic novels or graphic memoirs and such, and yet here is a second one on this list. I don't know what I'm talking about, is what I'm getting at. ANYWAY, Knisley's stuff is great and this is about food so doubly great.

Becoming by Michelle Obama
This made me sad to listen to, given the current political climate, BUT when not making me sad, it was a wonderful memoir.

Fav reads of 2018 (rereads)

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I should really, read more mysteries. Or maybe more specifically, more Christie cos I have basically just read this one but it's so so good.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (which I reread TWICE in 2018 alone)
I just love this book so much. It's so funny and it is as much about female friendship as it is a rom com and I want to hug it.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
It's ridiculous and absurd and hey, this is the second Hamlet-referenced thing on this list, so that's fun.

World War Z by Max Brooks
I've already re-listened to this in 2019 because it's that good, always.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
I think...I think the movie might be better than the book. BUT the book is still excellent, it's just that the movie is soooo good. I read this in anticipation of the movie, mostly while sitting by a pool in Hawaii, which enhanced the re-read experience that much.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
You know, I don't think of myself as a rom com fan, and yet here is a third one that is funny and sweet.

Notes from a Small Island / Neither Here Nor There / I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
This is technically 3 books, except I got an audiobook copy of all of them together as one, but they were abridged versions so. Bryson is great, love his travel experiences and his curmudgeonness

January Reading Wrap Up

Hot on the heels of my 2018 reading stats are the stats for January 2019 because yes, that's how far behind I am. I really meant to get that 2018 stats piece out before January ended but alas, that did not happen.

I thought I'd get more reading done in January. I had more train time, the goblin was in daycare, but getting back into a routine (even a routine of reading, something I enjoy) takes more effort than I assumed. Also I spent a lot of the month re-listening to old episodes of How Did This Get Made when I suppose I could have been listening to another book, but if it feels like homework, is it really how I want to spend my limited free time? It is not, let me laugh.

Oh and I don't have any clothes with seasonally themed icons on the bum, but I DO have this picture of the lil one dressed in a bear snowsuit, so I suppose that will have to do

Anyway, stat-y stat stat stats, here we go

Number of books read
4
The Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Abreen Razia
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
Lullaby by Jonathan Mayberry
World War Z by Max Brooks (a yearly re-listen)

Number of pages read
981

Fiction
100%

POC authors
25%

Female authors
50%

US authors
75%

Rereads
50%

Book formats
audiobook: 75%
ebook: 25%
Even with all the podcast listening, it's still mostly audiobooks cos turns out it's easiest to listen to books now that my time to just sit around has been cut down

Where'd I get the book
gift: 25%
Kindle/Audible: 75%

Decades published
2000s: 25%
2010s: 75%

Resolution books
25%
Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Abreen Razia is both by a POC author and by a UK (aka, non-US) author

2018 Reading Stats

This is a bit of a cop-out post, but whatever, it's my blog and I'm making the effort to post more. Even if this is a post that's not heavy on substance and also late to the game. Anyway, I'm thinking I should do a 2018 year in books review, even though we're almost now in February and this is really the type of thing that should be done in early Jan or even before the new year. But given the way my blogging has gone as of late, I think we can all agree it's impressive I'm getting this written before June.

I was going to do an infographic, cos pretty BUT since I'd need to use a different computer to do some of it and that computer is over there ::gestures to computer not 4 feet from where I'm sitting:: and I'm over here, that is just way too much work. Perhaps I'll finally get an infographic out comparing my reading in 2018 to previous years.

But for now, let's look at some 2018 book stats to get us started!

My reading volume wasn't terrible, considering all I had going on (i.e., making a person) but stats were down because my reading definitely got lazy as I did a lot of simple re-reading, and mostly what I had digital copies of so I could read it on my phone (which is not a way I had ever read things before but became a necessity in the later half of the year). Of course, that isn't really an excuse and is a bit upsetting to think that if I don't make any effort I backslide into white, US-born, recently published pieces.

My resolution percentage isn't as bad as I would have thought given some of the other stats, but I've found that's largely due to UK authors (mostly white UK authors).

Number of books read
48

Number of pages read
13,525

Fiction
52%

POC authors
16%

Female authors
60%

US authors
83%

Rereads
42%

Review books
15%

Book format
audiobook: 23%
ebook: 48%
hardback: 4%
paperback: 25%

Where'd I get the book?
Borrow: 2%
Chain bookstore: 4%
Gift: 13%
Indie bookstore: 15%
Kindle/Audible: 52%
Netgalley: 15%

Books by decade:
1930s: 2%
1960s: 2%
1990s: 10%
2000s: 13%
2010s: 73%

Books by genre:
Biography: 2%
Essays: 2%
Graphic Novel: 4%
History: 7%
Horror: 7%
Humor: 4%
Lit Fic: 13%
Memoir: 13%
Mystery: 4%
Play: 2%
Rom Com: 9%
Satire: 2%
Science: 4%
Self-Help: 4%
Sociology: 2%
Thriller: 2%
Travel: 7%
YA: 4%
YA Fantasy: 7%

Resolution books:
44%
13 books were by an author from somewhere other than the US
8 books were published before 2000
7 books were by POC authors

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (non-US author, published before 2000)
Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward (POC author)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (non-US author, published before 2000)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (POC author)
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li (POC author)
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (POC author, non-US author)
The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah (non-US author)
Meaty by Samantha Irby (POC author)
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell (non-US author)
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (POC author, non-US author)
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (POC author, non-US author)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (non-US author)
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (published before 2000)
Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson (published before 2000)
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson (published before 2000)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling (non-US author, published before 2000)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (non-US author, published before 2000)
The Tales of Beetle the Bard by JK Rowling (non-US author, published before 2000)
Where Should We Begin? The Arc of Love by Esther Perel (non-US author)
Becoming by Michelle Obama (POC author)
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets by Stephen Fry, John Woolf, Nick Baker (non-US author)