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!