Books of 2018- Installment #3

11. Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton

I saw this at the local bookstore and decided to read it. I had low expectations because it seemed kind of like one of those themed mystery novels, and perhaps it can fit into that category, but it's actually really good! Now this is book two which is not the ideal order to read a series in, but I did it. And now I think I'll go back and read the first one!!!

12. A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire

This is the second book in the October Daye series. I love the concept behind It Occurs to Me that I am America, but I needed something light too. Life is bringing me down- between the horrific alternative universe where Donald Trump is the president that I live in and the shite happening at work, I just needed October Daye!!!

13. It Occurs to Me that I am America edited by Johnathan Santlofer

I don't know how you reacted to the presidential election results of 2016, but I was and am devastated by them. So when I learned about this book, I had to buy it. The proceeds go to the ACLU. Another reason to buy it. I'll admit, when I bought it was a little disappointed that there wasn't any Sherman Alexie in it. I thought for sure if nothing else there should be his poem Hymn in it. Then, you know... all of the sexual misconduct allegations against him came out. I don't know... it's a tough time. How to love those who hurt you? How to love in the face of hate? How to love when you are being knocked down and beat up? How to love when you are feeling destroyed? I don't know. I don't know. I just know that I want to try. So I say to the writers of this book- lift me up! Or bring me down or console me that I am not alone. Help me deal with the trauma.

• Lift me up- “Among other things, democracy is about respect for joy, and books are joy.” - Balancing Acts
• Bring me down- “Directly from the funeral I came home. I sat on my bed and wrapped myself in my blanket and I took these pills, all these pills. But not because I think it was my fault. It’s only, nothing has changed. If we’re silent, if we speak up; if we’re cowardly, if we’re brave; if we’re unwary, if we’re prepared; if we’re harsh, if we’re merciful: the ending is the same.” - If They Come in the Morning
• Console me that I am not alone- “In general, Joelle had been hovering just above despair with the occasional dip into hopelessness. Her mood was not buoyed by the news updates that she ingested regularly on her iPhone, despite her best efforts to limit her intake. Her own life became as uncertain as American democracy.” - Lucky Girl
• Help me deal with the trauma- “What I most want my daughters and grandchildren to understand is that it’s okay to love flawed people with your whole heart and soul because if you don’t, you’ll end up with a low opinion of yourself.” - Top Step

14. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

So I'm not sure how it happened, but I got this book free from Tor.com. It took me awhile to get into this book for whatever reason... (could be it doesn't match my It Occurs to Me that I am America mood, could be the royalty in the book... As a rule, I really don't like stories with kings and queens) But once submerged in this world, I found it enjoyable and am interested in reading the second book in the series- Windwitch.

15. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 edited by John Joseph Adams and Charles Yu
I listen to a really interesting podcast with John Joseph Adams and when he talked about editing this anthology (Geeks' Guide) with Charles Yu, I was in!! I love the other anthology I read that John Joseph Adams did (Cosmic Powers) and I like Charles Yu (Science Fictional Universe). So you know I went to the local book store and bought myself a copy. It took me a long time to actually read it because I've been crochet in my free time and not reading but that does not mean I did not want to. I wanted to!!! What I didn't realize was how much the intro was going to make me think of It Occurs to Me that I am America, but it did. A lot. I also didn't think Charles was going to say what I've been feeling- that the universe split and I'm in the wrong alternative universe. I want to be in the one with Hillary as the president not (insert favorite Cheetos-themed expletive here).

Short Story Collections/Anthologies

I adore short stories! Adore them! I, of course, love the immersive world of a fabulous novel, but a short story can pack a wallop like nothing else! Sure not all stories are going to grab you, that's true for long or short stories. But when you read that one! Oh! What a thing of beauty! They stay with you in a more complete way, I find, than a novel. And as someone who doesn't reread much, I find a great short story such a pleasure to reread.

One thing, though, is finding those great short stories. That takes a lot more effort. I've read plenty of collections that have not held my interest. Why is that? I cannot say, rather what I can say is what works for me. Generally I would say great collections fall into two categories for me: those by authors that I adore and those curated by an editor I adore. Now, I only recently came to understand the importance of the editor. By far my absolutely favorite curator/editor of short stories is John Joseph Adams. I first "discovered" him via Geek's Guide to the Galaxy (I like David Barr Kirtley, too!), where he impressed me when discussing his anthology Cosmic Powers. He did not disappoint! In the interest of full disclosure, though, I've only read two John Joseph Adams' anthologies thus far, but I will change that in the near future!

So I decided to collect my own compilation of short story anthologies. Enjoy!

1. The 13 Best Horror Stories of All Time edited by Leslie Pockell (1902)
2. The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017 edited by John Joseph Adams and Charles Yu
3. Cat Pictures and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer (2014)
4. Christmas Stars edited by David G. Hartwell (1964)
5. Cosmic Powers edited by John Joseph Adams (2017)
6. Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen (2017)
7. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1945)
8. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins (2014)
9. Quantum Zoo edited by DJ Gelner and JM Ney-Grimm (2014)
10. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (2002)
11. Strange Romance by Scott William Carter (2012)
12. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Annie Bellet (2012)
13. Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman (2013)
14. A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham (2015)

Books of 2018- Installment #2

6. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
I read the first book in this trilogy last year and loved it. This book continued the tale and did not disappoint! I devoured this book, and it feels so relevant to me.

7. Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor
I love short stories! Love them!! So I had to check this book out. It was interesting and I enjoyed various aspects of stories. My favorite was probably the first one (Swimmer among the Stars) where linguists/ethnographers(?) are interviewing the last speaker of a language. In that story there is a lot of reflection on the connection between language and culture... right up my alley. But my second one was Cultural Property because the main character is an Indian archaeologist in England who wants to steal from the dig to take this British artifact to England. I definitely liked that!

A couple of nice quotes from Cultural Property- 
“Why can’t we own fragments of your past, since you’ve taken so much of ours?” 
“Nobody feels more entitled to their own history than the English.”

8. Binti: Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okoforator
The last installment in the Binti trilogy! I really wanted to read this the day it was released, but I had so many library books stacked up. And truth be told, I've been hardly reading this year because I took up crochet again...

9. Trees for the Forest by Patricia Cast
This is a book from 1978 that I found in a shelf of used books at the comic book store in town. I loved the title and so I grabbed it. It is a collection of 9 "myths". Some of the stories are clearly drawn from famous stories or historical events and some are not- at least as for me. For the most part they are interesting but nothing that I really feel like is going to stay with me with the possible exception of the last story about Helen of Troy. With that said, it is a quick read. I practically read it all in one sitting.

10. Forgotten Tigers by Annie Bellet
I have read quite a few Annie Bellet stories and find her quite unique. I adored her collection Till Human Voices Wake Us and was excited to read this. Then for reasons I don't recall, I didn't read it. It has sat patiently waiting for me to read it for several years. Well, 2018 is my year to tackle my pile of unread books. Sure I read all the time, but I tend to read library books and ignore the books I currently own under some strange and possibly misguided impression that I can always read the books I own and not the library books. Well, I am so very glad I went back to this book! She comes at topics in a way I never anticipating and is interested in exploring ideas that I don't expect.

Books of 2018- Installment #1

1. Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
This is a delightful collection of short stories based on famous stories or about famous authors. Stories about Alice, Dorothy, and Guinevere or Poe and Dickinson- to name a few.

2. Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

It's been a tough time for me lately. Between the Trump presidency and the Me Too movement things have been hard for me recently. Reading can be a lovely journey somewhere else, far from what's happening in your life, and reading can be a reflection of exactly what is happening in your life now. This book is set in the '60s, and while Alice Hoffman doesn't make the '60s out to be some utopia, the book is filled with magic. Part of what makes reading a journey away or a journey inward is how you see it. What you bring to the book helps define what it is. This book is many things, but one of the things that it is is a commentary on how women are treated. The main characters are witches, descended from a witch tormented by John Hathorne. So here we are in the Time's Up phase of the Me Too movement and this is the quote that sits with me because I am a difficult woman. And nevertheless I persist.

“They didn’t understand why a brave, independent woman had been so brutally treated. Many of them began to wonder why they themselves often feigned opinions rather than speak their minds, no matter how clever they were, for fear they’d be thought of as difficult.” - The Rules of Magic

But there is another really good and appropriate one for our current time...

“We must fight against bigotry in all its forms, for it is prejudice that ruins a society.” - The Rules of Magic

3. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
I've been hearing about how awesome The Expanse is for awhile now, and finally decided to get the books, or at least the first one, and see how they are for myself. The podcast Imaginary Worlds was actually the catalyst for checking them out... It was an amazing book! Completely gripping!!! They do an amazing job of creating these different human enclaves, of contrasting life in the different places- Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt (the Belt). The action is primarily in space or on an asteroid, which is fascinating. I absolutely adore Miller, who is a detective. He has a great arc and he went from being a cop in my mind to my favorite character. He has a epiphany in this story that shifted his entire perspective and made me love him.

With that said, though, I have to mention that I really, really, I mean really, hated how often the word "whore" was used in this book, and how many of the women in the story were prostitutes (and they were never or almost never called anything but whore). Yeah, okay, they weren't main characters, but they were omnipresent in the background, and women with other jobs were not. I can't think of one woman in the novel that had no lines that wasn't a prostitute. Some of that was because of the locations they were found in... there's lots of poverty in this novel. But I will say, if that remains in the following books, I won't be able to continue the series despite all the things I really like about this book.

4. The Churn by James S. A. Corey
This is a little novella set before Leviathan Wakes and so I had to check it out! It is set on Earth and guess what! Lots of whore and prostitute used in it. Sigh... However, this book was set in a crime syndicate in Baltimore so...

5. The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
When I started this book, Ursula K. Le Guin was still alive. Now she is not. It gives me great pain to be reading a book as an author dies. I don't know why. They say that an author lives as long as their books are read. Well, I am doing that, but it feels like not enough for while there are many stories for me to discover of hers, she will not tell us anymore.

"At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact, go home at all. Sometimes also a man or woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home. These people go out into the street, and walk down the street alone. They keep walking, and walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates. They keep walking across the farmlands of Omelas. Each one goes alone, youth or girl man or woman. Night falls; the traveler must pass down village streets, between the houses with yellow-lit windows, and on out into the darkness of the fields. Each alone, they go west or north, towards the mountains. They go on. They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas."

They go alone. They go on. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us...

Trixie and the Moai 2017 Awards

It is time to announce the winner's of the second annual Trixie and the Moai awards.

It's such a painful process. I reflect on the books that the stuck with me the most from the year, and when you read over 100 books a year there's a lot to choose from. Then from that list of over 30, I winnowed it down to 5. I can't tell you how hard it is to pick 5 favorites from that list. They are beloved for different reasons... Short story collections, memoirs, meditations on society, science fiction epics, book-lover odes, cherished series, supernatural treats, sweet love stories, translated gems, historical fiction tomes, and terrifying tales... the list is long and chock full of treasured characters.

Here are this year's honorees!!

Books of 2018!! Reading Challenge

I couldn't find a reading challenge in English that sounded it good to me, but then I saw one in Spanish that looked like it might suit me. With help from Google Translate, I made this one! It looks pretty interesting!

Books of 2017- An Overview

Here are the books I read this year!!!