Books of 2017- Installment #9

41. The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time by Brooke Gladstone
This is a great topical look at what lead us to a Trump presidency. She discusses research, literature, the founding fathers, and reporters. My personal favorite part is when she discusses the dystopian fears of George Orwell (1984) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World). Orwell feared that we would become captives and Huxley feared we would be caught up in a trivial culture. Orwell's fears seemed totally on track back in the 40s but this description of Huxley's fears seems terrifyingly accurate. But if you want a glimmer of hope... she says, “Trump’s rise has moved many people to view paying for news as a moral obligation, an act of resistance. It may not last, and if it doesn’t, journalism probably will fail again.”

42. Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell
I love Rainbow Rowell- I have ever since I first read Eleanor and Park. I first heard about this book ages and ages ago. I feel like it's been two years. At any rate, all I could do was wait. It never seemed to come out. Then today I walked into my local bookstore- Avid Reader- with my friend and there it was. Just one copy, sitting there on the top of the bookcase in the young adult section. Well, I picked it up and looked at the price. $0.00. Hmmm... that's an odd price for a bookstore... Well, it's the only copy and I've been wanting to read this ever since I heard it existed.... We get up to the register and I say, "I don't know how much this book costs." "It's free." "Well, I'll take it then." Turns out the publisher had just given them a stack of them so they couldn't charge anyone for them. Interesting. Good for me I guess. Turns out it was only published in the States last month. Hmmm... Well, it's a short story about waiting in line for The Force Awakens. Interesting! Well, Rainbow Rowell and Star Wars- all I can say is I love it!! (I demonstrably can say more... clearly...)

43. Changing Planes by Ursula K Le Guin
When I picked up this book I thought it would be about changing planes of the inter-dimensional variety, but then I read the author's note and thought it was about airplanes. I was shocked to say the least, but no it's really was of the inter-dimensional variety. I really enjoy Ursula's writing, though I often wonder what I just read... With that said, I really love her sociological/anthropological look at societies. One of my favorite stories took on rapt commercialization.

44. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A vampire novel set in Mexico?? Sign me up! I really liked that she introduced me to vampire lore that I've never heard of and that she made the vampires of different vampire lore into different subspecies. For many, many years I've thought vampires should be their own species, and that is what she does in this story.  Another interesting thing is because of the title I was introduced to a poem.

Love Sonnet 17

Pablo Neruda 

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

45. Waking Kate by Sarah Addison Allen
This is a sweet short story about being with the wrong person.

It's been kind of a rough couple of months for me, but the following picture kind of sum up my coping strategy!

Books of 2017- Installment #8

36. Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
Recently I went and saw Alan Cumming in concert. Afterwards, even though I was familiar with this memoir, I had to read it. It took a bit for it to become available from the library, but once it did, I devoured this book. One of the things that struck me at the concert was just how joyous and gracious he was. He talked a great deal about things that are in the book so they dovetail well. But the contrast with the trauma in the book and the joyousness of his concert made the book rather compelling. As might be obvious from the title, he talks about his father a fair bit in the book, and even though his relationship with his father is not like mine, there were some moments where I found myself struck by what he had to say. To end on a lighter note I have to say that even though he didn't say it in the book, at every mention of Eli in the book I heard his concert self saying, "Alicia! What the hell's going on?"

37. Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood
I wasn't going to read a Phryne just yet. I hardly have any left and I love them. I was going to read a book about physics or another Indonesia book. In fact I started both of them, but the crazy situation in the US and at work meant I just needed Phryne. This one is set at the end of 1928 at an opulent end-of-the-year week-long bash. It felt like another world... just what I needed! Though I concede the quote that grabbed doesn't seem far removed from our world...

38. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
This was a hard read for me, not least of all because she only passed away 4 months ago. I of course loved Princess Leia in the first two movies- Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back. She talks about Star Wars and her relationship with Princess Leia. The part that fascinated me the most was reading her writing then and now (2016 is still now for a bit).

39. The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian
This book is presented as a ghost story set in a mysterious house in northern New Hampshire.Well, a ghost story AND in New Hampshire! Sign me up! A house my parents considered in the old granite state was reported to be haunted, and I was so mad that my parents hadn't bought it! I guess that says quite a bit about me... This house, however, is not a house nor a town I would want to live in...

40. The Great Passage by Shion Miura
A novel about making a dictionary, a love of words and language... This is a delightful book about the making of a dictionary in Japan. The love of words and books comes across so very clearly in this book. I'm adding this book to my list of great books about books!!