Books of 2017- Installment #16

76. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
I'll admit it. I watched the show Haven and loved it, so then I found my way to this story. This is a great short novel. I really enjoyed it! That said, it's fascinating to think that the creators of Haven took this story and went where they went with it.

77. Time Loves a Hero by Allen Steele
When I was in high school, I bought a book called Timescape by Gregory Benford. The guy at the register told me that the author would be there the next day for a book signing. I could come in and have the author sign my book. Well, I didn't know anything about the book or the author; it had just sounded interesting. Still the next day, my parents kindly took me to Tower and I got to go to the signing. I handed my book to the author, who promptly told me he wasn't Gregory Benford. Well, I was confused. I looked around and discovered that the book tour was for a book called Heart of the Comet written by Gregory Benford and David Brin. David Brin talked to me for what now in my memory was hours while my parents waited outside. Well, I didn't like Timescape, but I did like Heart of the Comet and just about everything else David Brin has written. So here it is some 30 years later, and I'm reading Time Loves a Hero and who should appear in the book but Gregory Benford! Timescape, Heart of the Comet, and David Brin all get discussed. So a book I was already enjoying- it's a time travel story!!!- goes from good to delightful! It's a whole little inside story that means so much to me!

78. Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer 
I read the eponymous title and was hooked. I had to go get this book. It's still one of my favorite stories in this book, but I can honestly say I loved most of the books and thought they all were excellent!!

79. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
I was so excited to read this adult version of Scooby Doo!! It was good, really well written, and engaging.... but it is a tad darker than I wanted and I don't know how they could have physically done all the things they did....

80. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
I love the premise of this book. We have a long history of not looking at animals in an intelligent way, so we can't understand animals well. Our biases deeply impact how we try to understand animals. I would have liked it to be a little tighter and a little less repetitive, but I was on board and it was clear he was trying to get people on board...

Books of 2017- Installment #15

71. Fen: Stories by Daisy Johnson
I first heard about this author from LeVar Burton. He has a podcast called LeVar Burton Reads and he read one of the stories from this novel. I can't say I liked every story in this collection, but none of them were boring! It was especially interesting to read this book after having just read The Wake which also takes place in the fens of England.

72. Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman
This is a fun collection of stories. My favorite by far was the one by Nalo Hopkinson. She is amazing! I've been interested in a couple of her books and now am even more interested!!

73. The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything by John McDonald
I loved the TV movie with Robert Hayes and Pam Dawber when I was a kid. Then I read 11/22/63 and Stephen King referenced it a couple of times and filled me with a thrill. Surely, the book would be a delight! Well, some things are best unvisited, and stop calling me Shirley. Honestly, the treatment of women in this novel is so unacceptable to me that I can't even pretend to think this book is okay. I'm now unwilling to rewatch my beloved little movie because I'd rather think it was sweet than risk learning it closely follows this book...

74. Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
Oh, how I love Ray!! I feel like I came to Ray late in life even though I had read Fahrenheit 451 when I was young and maybe some other stories. But it was only with the last 5 years or so that I started digging into his work, reading lots of his stories and what a joy! This collection of essays of his thoughts on writing is no exception. His joy at life is so clear in this book. It put a smile on my face and some tears as well!

75. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This was a book I decided I needed to reread this year. I don't think I have read it since 6th grade which now is such a long time ago. It's such an interesting thing to revisit a powerful book after so many decades. The things that I remembered and the things that I forgot. The lessons that as a society we still haven't learned. I've been reading so much Bradbury lately that I'm seeing the ideas that sunk their teeth into him and wouldn't let go so much more clearly than I ever did before. And that's fascinating as well.

Books of 2017- Installment #14

66. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
An orphan boy at an monastery finds the name of a fabulous city ripped from his mind. He is left with the mysteries of this city, now known only as Weep. I found this first book in a series a delight to read. I was instantly transported to this place and wanted to solve the mysteries of Weep as well!!

67. Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

This is a fun story about a San Francisco that had demons stage an invasion. It didn't work, but a bunch of humans got some super and not so super powers out of it. Of course just because the initial invasion didn't work doesn't mean the demons are done trying!

68. Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin
This is a really interesting look at reincarnation, in particular those children that remember their previous lives. It focuses on one particular four-year-old boy and his mother's quest to help him. He doesn't have the ability to explain to her what's happening so she doesn't have an easy time of it. The doctor/researcher that does try to help her has his own memory issues...

69. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
This is a really, really good book. Amazingly good! It's super engaging and full of fascinating insights into the American psyche. I've not read much Stephen King, but it's my favorite for sure. But... it is long and you need to be in it for the long haul. Even reading about 200 pages a day it takes a week, and I couldn't read 200 pages every day. But it's an amazing book and I highly recommend it. As you might guess from the title it's about Kennedy's assassination. The main character, Jake, gets a mission from his friend Al to save Kennedy, and while we go on that journey, it's about so much more!

70. A Tangled Yarn by Betty Hechtman
Okay, so this book was an impulse buy because of the cover. The cat was not at all important in the story, so false advertising there... It was a mystery set in a fictional town on the Monterey Peninsula- Cadbury by the Sea, but it was really a mix of Asliomar and Pacific Grove. I miss Monterey and I loved being back there- even in a fictional version of it so, that's the best I can say about this book. It made me think of my beloved Monterey.

Books of 2017- Installment #13

61. Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson
We used to celebrate British Christmas in February to celebrate PBS playing the Downton Abbey Christmas episode, so why not read about Christmas in July? There were some delightful stories in here and some recipes too!

62. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
This wonderful story starts out as a mystery about a skeleton found in a renovation project but leads to a very real race riot in Tulsa. It jumps between two narrators- one today and one in 1921. The characters in this book are deeply human, meaning they don't always do the right thing but you can see the journey they are on to do the right thing and how sometimes it comes too late and sometimes it doesn't. Is it a perfect book? No, it's populated with humans and since none of us are perfect, neither are they, but I actually think that's the point of this book. Not being perfect but striving to be better than we were before. It's a great read- very engaging and dealing with deeply important social and historical issues that we struggle with daily.

63. Shelf Life by Sue Larkin Weems
This is an interesting short story collection. She covers an array of topics from suicide to playing in the piano in church. As a theme I would say it's about continuing, keeping on, if you will.

64. And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich
This is a dark, creepy story. I was grabbed instantly even though I had no idea where it was going- just hints and inklings. But, oh, what a satisfying ending! And looking back I realized how much I had missed the first time 'round!

65. The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
This is an adventure. A linguist adventure. It's written in essentially modern English but made to look like Old English because this book is about a man's experience in the loss of his England - the England that existed before the Norman invasion of 1066.

Out of the 65 books I've read so far this year 21 have been published this year.

Books of 2017- Installment #12

56. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
This is a young adult book about finding love, about finding your feet so to speak in the world of dating. It has a very diverse cast of characters and is very sweet. Many of the characters were of different races and sexual orientations, though I didn't feel the racial identity of the characters was actually developed.

57. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
Wow! This book grabbed me on the first page and never let go! The premise is basically that the narrator is the reason we don't live the Jetsons' lifestyle "promised" to us in the science fiction of the 1950s. The book is part glimpse into the world we're "missing out on" and part the steps that got us this world with a whole lot of chagrin mixed in. I've always been a lover of time travel stories and they are no less appealing given what's happening in the world now... Plus in his world, science is actually important- oh what a utopia!!

58. So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
This was a book I had heard a lot about when it first came out. I didn't read it right away, and then when I did look for it at the library, I had to wait for a few months before I could get a copy- that many people wanted to read it! And guess what! It was totally worth the wait. It is an engrossing and quick read. I'm not particularly active on social media, but this book definitely felt completely relevant to me.

59. Cats in Space and Other Places edited by Bill Fawcett
This is a collection of Sci-Fi stories that feature a cat (or more) in them. Some of them are quite old and show their age, but it's still a fun read for a cat lover like me! My favorite stories are The Tail by MJ Engh and Space-Time for Springers by Fritz Leiber.

60. 青年靜思小話:感思,尊重,愛 Gratitude, Respect and Love: The Teachings of Dharma Master Cheng Yen (中英對照)
I was given this book on meditations a long time ago, and I thought it was a good time to reread it and reflect. Some I love, some not as much. And lots of Chinese words I don't know!

Books of 2017- Installment #11

51. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
I don't like memoirs! So why have I read FOUR this year???? Well, this one is easy to answer- I adore, adore Sherman Alexie!! This memoir is no exception. For one thing it doesn't seem like a memoir. Sherman writes the way he writes, which is the greatest compliment as far as I'm concerned. He is able to hold joy and sorrow in his hand. He tells the truth as he lies and lies as he tells the truth. He stares unflinchingly at all the ugly and revels in all the beauty. He knows who he is and who we are even when he doesn't.

52. The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman
I read this book while reading Sherman's memoir, and they were beautiful compliments to each other and incredible contrasts. Sherman talked about a white guy asking him what made his work so "particularly Indian." My answer would be read these books together. Neil's isn't a memoir, but it does give a lot of insight into his own thoughts about himself, as does Sherman's. And it's very clear the different struggles these two brilliant writers had.

53. The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
I love Nnedi Okorafor's writing. One of the things that I love about her writing is that she exposes me to things I don't know anything about. This book was a little different and is a little heavier than the other books of hers I've read. I found it a little challenging to get into but once in I found it a great book. Challenging and uncomfortable but engaging.

54. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Oh, boy! I put this book on hold at the library and it took forever to come. By the time it came I thought maybe I would find it too heavy or wouldn't match my mood. That perhaps I didn't want to read more Neil Gaiman so soon. But I was wrong. This was a great book. There was a bit at the beginning that was a little beyond me but that was one short part and the rest was very engaging.

55. A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
This is a cute story told from different perspectives. One thing I enjoyed about it was that she had a squirrel and a bench as narrators. I'm always interested in stories where non-human perspectives are given. Sure, I think most people don't have an idea how to express non-human ideas, but to actually try is impressive to me.

It seems apropos to share a Sherman Alexie quote here.

Books of 2017- Installment #10

46. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Last year I set up a reading challenge for myself to read a book with a local angle of some sort this year. I had googled local authors and local books. To my surprise my next door neighbor wrote a book. I considered that one. Then I was listening to a podcast (Imaginary Worlds by Eric Molinsky) and he talked to Kim Stanley Robinson about this book which was about to come out. Well, after the third mention of Davis, I thought, "All right, my local book this year just might be New York 2140." I've tried to read Kim Stanley Robinson before and I found him hard to get through, but I decided to give it a go. At 642 pages this book took a bit of time to read, but it was definitely worth it! I loved this book! And it is so of the moment. I mean it did just come out this year, but it's set in the future and feels immensely relevant to us in the here and now.

47. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
I got this book from the library at about the same time as New York 2140 and chose to read that one first because it was so long. It's funny to me that they are both set in New York and how different they both are, but Dash and Lily are charming teenagers navigating life, learning how to deal with their various disappointments and challenges in life. It's absolutely delightful!!

48. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This is my third Gabriel Garcia Marquez book, if memory serves (and it doesn't always!) It's a very interesting take on a murder and a town's culpability in said murder.

49. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
This is a book my student, Vahid, gave me. It's about a boy, a girl, and a ghost. Right up my alley!! Well, this is a wonderful modern-day fairy tale. I really enjoyed it!

50. Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant
This YA novel grabbed me from the first page! The main character has some supernatural power to learn about people through touch, but she learns about them in the form of fractals and she's so into math. Love it!!!!

Here some truth for you-