IN WHICH The Girl Broadens Her Horizons

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I feel my posts have been a bit too list-centric lately, but I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in a while and this one seems fun: top ten books I enjoyed recently that weren't my typical genre or were outside my comfort zone.

This prompt is a little hard for me for a couple reasons. For one, I was just thinking that I haven't been branching out as much as I should lately. I become obsessed with certain genres and primarily focus on those books for a couple years at a time. Recently, that genre has been young adult fantasy/science fiction, so about 70% of the books I read are from one subsection of literature. On the other hand, there is very little I won't read. Since I read a little bit of everything, few books are outside my comfort zone. Therefore, this list will cover some books I've read in the last year from genres I haven't been partaking in as much recently or that are fairly new to me.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

One of the main reasons I wanted to do this particular list is because I was just saying yesterday how Blood Red Road took me in an unexpected direction. Clearly, I read a lot of young adult fantasy, so this book seems to fit right into my normal genre. However, Young writes a dystopian novel that reads like a western: characters journeying across deserts and mountains on horses with slingshots and arrows. I wouldn't normally say westerns are my thing, so I was surprised how much I liked this book. Young's descriptions are very cinematic, and the landscapes would make a beautiful film. The book is also full of action - and it's pretty thrilling action - with showdowns, cage fights, and even a Tremors-ish fight with a giant worm. I may find myself searching for more directly western-themed books in the future.

Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt

Another very recent read. On the surface, this also doesn't seem far from my comfort zone. Nevertheless, it is an adult book - so that in itself is a move away from my norm - and heck if I could tell you exactly what genre this is supposed to be. It's like an Arthurian romance in a 19th century Gothic setting with a quirky, modern sense of humor. Actually, the most unusual aspect of the book for me personally is the comedy. I can't say I read a lot of comedy, though I certainly should. Undermajordomo Minor is one supremely odd and captivating novel. What I loved most was the writing style, particularly the dialog, which is mostly done in a deadpan manner. It's brilliant and hilarious.

Paper Towns by John Green

Can John Green be considered his own genre? At this point, probably. I don't read nearly as much contemporary young adult as I do fantasy, but I've been branching out over the last couple months. I have found some gems, such as Anna and the French Kiss, but I didn't love Paper Towns, my first John Green novel. I've put off reading his work for a while now because of the hype and because I don't really want to read about kids with cancer. There were a few things here I liked, such as the interactions between Quentin and his two best friends and the ending. However, everything felt overly dramatic. I realize these are big moments in the characters' lives and they are self-actualizing or whatever, but I don't need ten different inner monologues about how people aren't how you imagine them in your head. And this is probably why I mainly stick to young adult science fiction/fantasy instead: I like the teen hormones balanced out by a fight against aliens.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

The genre I read the least is non-fiction, particularly essay collections. I try to read a few a year, but that's about all I manage. It's not that I dislike the non-fiction I do read; I just always crave story more than facts. I enjoyed this collection though. Gay looks at the connection between her personal experiences, pop culture, and social issues, particularly feminism, sexual violence, and race. The essays vary significantly in tone from funny, nostalgic essays about the Sweet Valley High books to heartbreaking essays about rape. Overall, I found the essays both entertaining and insightful. In the future, I would read these types of essays one at a time over a longer period of time, however, because it's a little overwhelming in one shot.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

I haven't read too many contemporary literary fiction novels recently, so this was a nice change of pace. It took me awhile to get into this book, but eventually found myself enjoying it. In a way, I still think Egan is trying a bit too hard to be unique - though it obviously worked as she won a Pulitzer - and some chapters, like the Powerpoint slides, are downright gimmicky. However, I found a lot of the narrative perspectives interesting and wanted to know more about the characters, particularly Sasha. The narrative structure here is kind of a game of "Tag! You're it!" The narrator (and sometimes the style) changes each chapter often based on someone mentioned in the previous chapter. Therefore, you get threads connecting the chapters, but often vague threads that jump all throughout time. I kept trying to guess who would be next. Overall, there is a common theme of how we can't escape the changes of time - that old goon - nor can we escape our previous selves.

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

Oh hi, regency romance, I haven't seen you lately! I used to read a lot of romance, but then my obsession switched to young adult - though clearly those often have romance as well - and I put these books on the back burner. I know many people look down on the romance novel, but I'm a fan. They are a light, quick reads that you know will have a happy ending. And sometimes on a bad day, you just want a damn happy ending. This particular book was cute and funny with a My Fair Lady inspired plot. Maybe I'll add some more romances to my line up - after I finish the ten books I already have checked out from the library.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Not only is Wild non-fiction, it's about the outdoors: hiking and camping and all sorts of things I avoid at all costs. Personally, I have no interest in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, so this didn't really seem like my kind of book. But it had good reviews and a movie, so I checked it out, and actually it was quite nice. The book is well written and Strayed effectively mixes her experiences prior to the hike with her experiences on the trail. It's interesting, emotional, and suspenseful. But man, the descriptions of her feet were so detailed and disgusting that it reaffirmed my desire to stay inside and read.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Historical fiction with a LGBTQ main character. You don't see too many books in this genre, though luckily we are getting more fiction with queer characters recently, particularly in young adult. I found parts of this book interesting, but I didn't like it nearly as much as I hoped. Waters is an excellent writer and starts off the book with amazing historical details of post-war Britain and the slow burn of Frances' relationship. However, part way through it becomes a dramatic mystery that was somehow both over-the-top and boring. While I'd certainly like to read more books from this genre and from Waters herself, I was disappointed with The Paying Guests.

Watchmen by Alan Moore

I've only read a handful of comics/graphic novels in my entire life. I'd like to get into comics more, but it just seems so overwhelming. Some story lines include decades of issues. How do you catch up? Hence, I often read the more contained stories like Watchmen and Persepolis (and yes, a Buffy comic or two). Since I'm so used to reading words instead of pictures, it took some getting used to Watchmen, and I moved through it slowly. I'm also sure I missed many details the first time around. However, it was a lot of fun. Advice on how to enter the comic genre smoothly??

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

I get so caught up in the new releases that I tend to fall behind on the classics. I've been woefully negligent recently. I only read a few last year, including As I Lay Dying. While this is probably the easiest Faulkner book to follow (of the ones I've read at least), it was not my favorite. Oddly enough, it's a little too ridiculous. I prefer The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! despite needing a road map to figure them out. Luckily, I have joined a Women's Classic Literature challenge. I'm being a bit slow with it though. I started Agnes Grey, which isn't the most exciting of books, and have switched it out for Anne of Green Gables at the moment. I'm halfway through it and liking it a lot. Hopefully, I'll be better about my classics this year.

Let's drink to trying new things! What new genres, styles, or books did you read recently?

IN WHICH The Girl Quotes in a Thankful Manner

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. As always, I'm a day late and a dollar short - or a week late in this case as last week's list was top ten quotes from books you read this year. However, this week's list is actually a Thanksgiving freebie. Therefore, I am thankful for the chance to list my quotes now (and include more than 10 - you should have seen this list before I cut it down this far)! 

Quoty Quote Quotes

2015 Style

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

“My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression.” 

“You have to be with other people, he thought. In order to live at all. I mean before they came here I could stand it... But now it has changed. You can't go back, he thought. You can't go from people to nonpeople."

Fangirl

“To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.” 

The Girl with All the Gifts

“Melanie thinks: when your dreams come true, your true has moved. You've already stopped being the person who had the dreams, so it feels more like a weird echo of something that already happened to you a long time ago.” 

“And then like Pandora, opening the great big box of the world and not being afraid, not even caring whether what’s inside is good or bad. Because it’s both. Everything is always both. But you have to open it to find that out.” 

Never Let Me Go

“I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes. More cures for the old sicknesses. Very good. But a harsh, cruel, world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go.”

The Joy Luck Club

“So this is what I will do. I will gather together my past and look. I will see a thing that has already happened. the pain that cut my spirit loose. I will hold that pain in my hand until it becomes hard and shiny, more clear. And then my fierceness can come back, my golden side, my black side. I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter's tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and giver her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter.” 

Station Eleven

“WHAT WAS LOST IN THE COLLAPSE: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty. Twilight in the altered world, a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a parking lot in the mysteriously named town of St. Deborah by the Water, Lake Michigan shining a half mile away.” 

“I've been thinking lately about immortality. What it means to be remembered, what I want to be remembered for, certain questions concerning memory and fame. I love watching old movies. I watch the faces of long-dead actors on the screen, and I think about how they'll never truly die. I know that's a cliché but it happens to be true. Not just the famous ones who everyone knows, the Clark Gables, the Ava Gardners, but the bit players, the maid carrying the tray, the butler, the cowboys in the bar, the third girl from the left in the nightclub. They're all immortal to me. First we only want to be seen, but once we're seen, that's not enough anymore. After that, we want to be remembered.” 

The Night Circus

“Prospero the Enchanter's immediate reaction upon meeting his daughter is a simple declaration of: "Well, fuck.”

“Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep overlapping and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there in no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.” 

On Writing

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

“It was true that Blue was just shy of five feet and it was also true that she hadn't eaten her greens, but she'd done the research and she didn't think the two were related.” 

“What an impossible and miraculous and hideous thing this was. An ugly plan hatched by an ugly boy now dreamt into ugly life. From dream to reality. How appropriate it was that Ronan, left to his own devices, manifested beautiful cars and beautiful birds and tenderhearted brothers, while Adam, when given the power, manifested a filthy string of perverse murders.” 

The Penelopiad

“Who is to say that prayers have any effect? On the other hand, who is to say they don't? I picture the gods, diddling around on Olympus, wallowing in the nectar and ambrosia and the aroma of burning bones and fat, mischievous as a pack of ten-year-olds with a sick cat to play with and a lot of time on their hands. 'Which prayer shall we answer today?' they ask one another. 'Let's cast the dice! Hope for this one, despair for that one, and while we're at it, let's destroy the life of that woman over there by having sex with her in the form of a crayfish!' I think they pull a lot of their pranks because they're bored.” 

The Darkest Part of the Forest

“Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill monsters and feel quite proud of themselves.” 

The Goldfinch

“And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve them and save them while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the wreck of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next.” 

“Because--isn't it drilled into us constantly, from childhood on, an unquestioned platitude in the culture--? From William Blake to Lady Gaga, from Rousseau to Rumi to Tosca to Mister Rogers, it's a curiously uniform message, accepted from high to low: when in doubt, what to do? How do we know what's right for us? Every shrink, every career counselor, every Disney princess knows the answer: "Be yourself." "Follow your heart." Only here's what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can't be trusted--? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight toward a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?...If your deepest self is singing and coaxing you straight toward the bonfire, is it better to turn away? Stop your ears with wax? Ignore all the perverse glory your heart is screaming at you? Set yourself on the course that will lead you dutifully towards the norm, reasonable hours and regular medical check-ups, stable relationships and steady career advancement the New York Times and brunch on Sunday, all with the promise of being somehow a better person? Or...is it better to throw yourself head first and laughing into the holy rage calling your name?”

The Outsiders

“Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.” 

IN WHICH The Girl Lists Things

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I'm double parking on this one. The list I really want to do - top ten books I've read so far in 2015 - is actually from a couple weeks ago. I'll throw in today's question - last ten books to come into my possession - as well.

Best Books of 2015 Part I

My Goodreads goal for 2015 has jumped up to 150, and I'm nearly halfway through (just one book off). Even though I've read 74 books this year, I still get stressed when Goodreads tells me I'm 5 books behind schedule. Stop pressuring me! Here are my favorites in the first half of the year. I had an incredibly hard time narrowing it down and can hear the runners-up yelling, "Why didn't you choose me???" in my head.

The Literary

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This book will creep into your mind and never let go (see what I did there?). It's like watching a car crash; you just can't look away. I think my eyes were wide open in fascinated horror throughout the whole book, which I read in almost one sitting. The less you know about the book going in, the better, so I won't give anything away. My favorite so far.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. As one of the bestselling books in the last couple years, this one isn't much of a surprise. However, critics and regular old readers have hotly debated its merit. I really enjoyed it. Many people have called it Dickensian for good reason. It's a sprawling coming-of-age tale that despite its length (all 800 pages) actually left me wishing I had more details about the missing moments of Theo's life. And boy does it have some entertaining minor characters with great names: Pippa, Welty, Toddy, Hobie, and Boris.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I have mixed feelings about Atwood's work, but I liked this little book a lot. We all know Penelope faithfully waiting for Odysseus, but she's got her own tale here that she is more than willing to provide from beyond the grave. It's a weird combination of styles, everything from memoir to chorus song to play, and deeply feminist. But Atwood's got a biting wit here that pulls me in.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I read this once before, but it was over ten years ago, and all I remembered was that putting salt on your food while at a dinner party deeply insults the host. Tan provides multiple perspectives on the mother-daughter relationship with all of its expectations, misinterpretations, and twisted acts of love. I found it best to read each story separately because it's a little like getting punched in the heart. Sometimes the losses each of these women experience are so subtly mentioned that they are all the more heartbreaking. Tan just has a beautiful way with words.

The Fantastical Adult

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. What if you were a monster and didn't know it? The Girl with All the Gifts is a new take on a old genre. It's not a genre I usually enjoy, but I found the character portrayal and the moral complexity interesting. I actually found myself losing a bit of interest once the book moves on to more action and less introspection. The book works better if you don't know the topic (though I think most people already do), so I'll just stop here.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Once upon a time, a little girl went into the forest and never came back. A common tale but I've rarely read a story with a forest as terrifying and alive as this one. The villagers must sacrifice one girl every ten years to the "dragon," or wizard, who protects the residents from the Wood. But the Dragon doesn't pick the expected girl, and the world starts falling apart. The complex relationships between the characters makes this fantasy stand out from all the others.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Man, I just want to live inside the world of this book. It's just so magically magical. In the book, two magicians start a contest between their young protegees. As the contestants age, their entire lives, and the lives of everyone in the Night Circus, revolve around this duel they know little about. Inevitably, the competitors fall in love and must find a way to break free. Morgenstern's language is incredibly visual, and I can easily picture how the circus and all of its inventions would look on screen.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Another unusual spin on a common genre. It follows the lives of several characters before and after a flu takes out all but a handful of the population. Beyond displaying the tragedy of witnessing an apocalypse and the harsh reality of living in its wake, Station Eleven focuses on the creative outlets people need to survive. For example, the two most prominent perspectives are of a Shakespearean actor and a Traveling Symphony. While most dystopian novels involve intense action and drama, Mandel's book is understated and elegant.

Youthful

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. I must have a thing for scary forests lately. I don't always like Black's novels; they have a grittiness that leaves me checking for dirt on my skin. However, I loved this one. I read it back in January and it still keeps popping up in my head. Again we have villagers living on the edge of a dangerous forest - though this one is set in the modern world. Black plays with the childhood interest in fairy tales. Did you fight imaginary monsters as a child? Did you imagine a prince or princess trapped in a magical forest who would one day awaken and fall in love with you? The Hansel and Gretel-esqe main characters do both these things, but in their case fairies are real and the prince does awaken. But fairies are not always nice and both children have been dreaming of the same prince. Adventures ensue. Also, I like that this book is a standalone, which is rare in the young adult fantasy genre.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. You might be able to tell I love the fantasy and science fiction stuff. Unspoken wonders whether being able to read someone's mind is a good thing. Kami never really lost her childhood imaginary friend, but has convinced herself the voice inside her head is not real until the day he shows up as an actual person. Rees Brennan does a remarkable job at showing the complicated inner thoughts of her characters. It also brings up some intriguing questions about how we define our selves as unique from others and where we draw the line on sharing our deepest thoughts. Do you really want your best friends or significant others to know everything inside your head? The rest of the series doesn't quite live up to the first book, but it's an enjoyable read.

I have read so many young adult books this year that I couldn't fit nearly enough of them in here, so here are some honorable mentions: Angelfall, The Raven Boys, Shadow Scale, The Court of Thorns and Roses, Scarlet, and The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

And now for my recently acquired books, I will provide a picture of my latest haul from the used bookstore.

Happy reading all!

IN WHICH The Girl Beach Reads

Sadly, I'm not actually going to a beach, unless you count the lake shore beach here in Chicago. But whenever I think of summer reading, I think of beach books. Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in which they provide a weekly top ten list topic. This is my first go at the list. This week's topic is Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List.

I'm always making a plan for what to read, but I get off track very quickly. Maybe making my list public will actually push me to read the books I intended to this summer. Since I know I will probably read 20 young adult fantasy novels, I'm mainly focusing on my other reading goals on this list. Here are ten books I hope to get through before September. 

1. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I have been meaning to read this for a while now as it has excellent reviews. This will be my first novel by Adichie, though I am a big fan of her TED Talk "We Should All Be Feminists." Plus, I finally got it from the library, so I can start reading this one shortly.

2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Beyond being at the top of the bestseller list right now, this just seems like the perfect summer mystery. I haven't read a good mystery in awhile, so I'm looking forward to deciphering clues.

3. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

I need to lighten the mood after a thriller with some comedy. I recently borrowed this book from a friend, so I suppose I ought to read it soon. It's also set in New Orleans, which I just visited for the first time. 

4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Since I plan to use this for a class in the fall, I need to actually read the book. You would think we teachers planned a little more ahead than that, but no. We are going to compare the book to its movie version, Blade Runner. As I've been so interested in science fiction lately, it will be good to read one of the genre's classics.

5. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Magic! Parallel universes! London! Need I say more? 

6. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

I don't actually know much about this one other than the incredibly positive reviews it keeps getting from people whose book interests are similar to mine. I also like the black and white of the cover. Yeah yeah they say never judge a book by its cover, but you know we all do.

7. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Adding one non-fiction for diversity. I rarely read non-fiction, and I need to start making up for the deprivation. Plus, once I read this particular book, I can watch the movie.

8. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

I lied. Here's one more non-fiction book. I try to sneak in books actually related to my job every once in awhile. I hit up my grammar requirement earlier this year with Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. Stephen King's background and prolific career should make for an entertaining read.

9. The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Often called the Harry Potter for adults, I'd like to see what this series is about. Also, Syfy plans to produce a television series based on the books next year.

10. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Let's add one classic. I loved the trailer for the recent movie version but am trying to hold off on seeing the movie until I read the book. Never hurts to knock one off the bucket list of classics as well.

Extra Extra 

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas 

This book doesn't technically get released until September 1st, so I'm not sure I count that as a summer read. However, I'm dying to read this continuation of the Throne of Glass series. I would trade all the other books to get this one sooner.

I need to get reading folks! Happy summer!