Posted on February 25, 2024 in Books
Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang with LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)
Read on the first day of the Lunar New Year for the Reading Glasses Challenge: Read a holiday book. The graphic novel is a YA love story with paranormal elements which were a bit spookier than I’d prefer. The book had some great art especially for all the lion dance scenes and the story had some complicated emotions about growing up.
Setting: Bay Area, California USA.
Read on iPad. Feb 9-11, 2024.
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
This was a really good follow up to Legends & Lattes. I think I liked it even more. There were delightful side characters and I was engaged with the mystery and action in this one. Also, it took place in a bookshop which I really liked. Listened to about 15% on audiobook because Baldree is a great narrator. I did score a copy from my library so I finished it in print in quick succession. I would not mind another trip into Viv’s world.
Setting: High Fantasy.
Feb 10-12, 2024.
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield (The Provincial Lady #3)
Read by Georgina Sutton. This concludes my journey through the E.M. Delafield provincial lady, at least for now. This was a nice conclusion. I found it fascinating to listen to a travel diary from the early 1930s of places I’ve been to like Toronto, Niagara Falls, New York, and Boston. As usual done in Delafield’s breezy yet relatable style. It does remind one that boorish people exists through all ages.
Setting: America and briefly Canada.
1.0x. Feb 10-15, 2024.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
Read by Rebecca Lee. I had the hardcover from a Little Library in my neighbourhood. I debated about reading it in text but the nature and subject of the book was better for listening to. I listen to a lot of audiobooks when I wake up on the weekdays. There were some interesting moments and reflections about winter, cold, and how humanity and cultures cope or don’t cope with it. There were some other stories in the book that did not mesh as well. For example, the story about her friend’s financial problems and her singing. In any case, it was an alright listen.
Setting: England.
1.5x. Feb 12-15, 2024.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Read by Adepero Oduye. This was a short literary crime novel. It’s more of a character and family dynamic book than a typical thriller. It was sad, tense, and full of unlikable characters. The narrator and lead was sympathetic but by the end of it, the reader questions how much humanity she has left really for the sake of family. I enjoyed the character work and Oduye’s narration really developed the characters. The narration and Korre’s dialogue is in her American accent and she affected a Nigerian accent one for everyone else. This oddly worked to differentiate the protagonist from her surroundings. I think it’s a good book since it’s short yet packs a lot of character work. It was a bit frustrating with the ending and how unlikable most of the characters were. This i often the case with literary thrillers like this and Yellowface.
Setting: Lagos, Nigeria.
1.5x. Feb 15-16, 2024.
Posted on February 16, 2024 in Books
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Read by the author. I had this book in hard cover. I got the audiobook via Libby to help me start it. It became so engrossing that I listened to it completely and flipped through the book for the photos. I like when a book is narrated by the author. I really liked this book because it balanced the story of a library’s awful fire with the people who worked there. It’s also a love story to libraries in general. Like the author, I have very fond memories of the library as a child. It had a good history of California and Los Angeles as well. I regret not going to the LA Central Library when I was there in 2018 which was the year this book was published. Wow, 2018 was six years ago. Great read and recommended to all library lovers.
Setting: Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1.25x. Feb 2-6, 2024.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Deya Muniz
So cute. Diverse, funny, and lighthearted YA graphic novel. It had one of my favourite tropes: woman cross dressing as a man. I liked the manga style in colour. Really fun and quick. Now I have a big grilled cheese craving.
Setting: Alternate Europe.
Feb 6, 2024.
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World by Gretchen Rubin
Read by the author. Another easy listening weekday audiobook. I generally like Ruben’s methods and ideas about improving one’s life. I liked her emphasis on routines and trying new things in this one. This audiobook comes with a PDF as well which I will peruse to see if I can incorporate any of the ideas. I preferred the style and ideas of this book over Rubin’s last one. Her books are easy listening.
Setting: New York City.
1.5x. Feb 6-8, 2024.
My Aunt Is a Monster by Reimena Yee
I adored Séance Tea Party last year. I do like the themes of found family and female relationships carried through both books. I found myself less engaged in the art and the story of this book though. There were actual villains and an antihero whom I was less interested in. The latter was less developed than I would have liked.
Setting: Alternate Earth.
Feb 8-9, 2024.
The Provincial Lady Goes Further by E. M. Delafield (The Provincial Lady #2)
Narrated by Georgina Sutton. I actually liked this one more than the last one. This series became bed time listening. It was low stakes, amusing diary entries with social history. I remember reading other diary books when I was younger like the Princess Diaries and Adrian Mole, but this was better written. The only annoying aspect of this book was the Pamela character. Other than that, I am liking this lighthearted series from the 1930s. I have already queued up the next one.
Setting: England.
1.0x. Feb 3-10, 2024.
Posted on February 11, 2024 in Books
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis
Narrated by the author. I put this on my to read list last year when I was going through things mentally. I am glad to say that I am in a better headspace now but I still wanted to read this book. It’s a short book so mileage varies on how much you can get out of it. It’s more on changing perspective care tasks and yourself. I like that tasks should not be tagged with moral values and that not doing something does not mean I am a bad or lazy person. I think I could reread it in ebook or print to absorb certain ideas. Not sure I will use any of the tips but it was a good listen.
1.6x. January 30-Feb 2, 2024.
Monstress, Vol 8: Inferno by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda
This is such a crazy comic book series. This installment has more “What the hell is going on?” questions rather than the revelations of the last one. There is one big one in here. I continue to love the wildness of the story and the artwork though.
Setting: High fantasy sci-fi alternate universe.
January 31-Feb 2, 2024.
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
Miss Marple #7. Damn Christie is good. You think you get some of her twists but then she turns it on you once more. I only wish there was more Miss Marple in these stories. I love her more than I do Poirot as her methods are so cunning.
Setting: London, UK.
Feb 3, 2024.
What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
I had this on ebook but I was able to score an Express copy via my library’s Bookmobile. How I love the library and that it has a bookmobile. The book has short, interconnected stories centred around a local library and the enigmatic librarian who helped the patrons. The stories were very Japanese as almost all of them deal with work, employment, or lackthereof and how the characters relate to it. I think most people would find some aspects of the book very cheesey almost saccharine. For me it worked because I like the wholesome and cozy messages about books, libraries, and how readers interpret and interact. It was a good companion to The Library Book which I also listened to during the same week.
Setting: Tokyo, Japan.
Feb 4-5, 2024.
Posted on February 3, 2024 in Books
Diary of Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Narrated by Georgina Sutton. This was a short and often amusing autobiographical novel and diary from the 1920s. I needed something lighter after I finished the ACOSF and for my first work week back. It was nice to have in the evenings. I wouldn’t say it was the funniest book I’ve read but a couple of moments were very funny. I would keep going. Narration was good except the French was intentionally mangled.
Setting: Devonshire, UK, London, and a bit in South of France.
1.1x audiobook. Jan 22-24, 2024.
Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus
Narrated by the author. I’ve heard the author on podcasts and this was a Reading Glasses recommendation. While there were a couple interesting and amusing parts, I did not really like a lot of this book. I have discovered that raunchy humour often does not work for me. I’m indifferent to hot dogs most of the time and the author didn’t always make me interested. A lot of the book was also depressing as it exposed American jingoism and capitalist greed. I think I still like Jamie Loftus but did not love this book. It did give me a big craving for hot dogs which I will have to fill sometime soon. I do not regret it reading this book but I’d hesitate to recommend it.
Setting: Most of the continental USA.
1.5x audiobook. Jan 24-28, 2024.
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Motherlands by Heather Fawcett
Narrated by: Ell Potter, Michael Dodds. I listened to this book and read it on hard cover at the same time. That was a first time I’ve ever done that for a book completely. I love this series. The first book Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries gave me such a lovely book hangover. I remember vividly where I read it in Australia on a hot day contrasting it nicely to the setting. I love the heroine who is intelligent, prickly, head strong but has enough self-reflection when she is wrong. Her love and analysis of stories makes her so relatable to bookworms. I love that her romantic interest respects and admires her for her intelligence and tenacity. He is flawed and otherworldly. I love how this book walks the line of being a fairy folk tale but also a novel with real character development and reflection. I could go on on and on. I’m in love with this series and happy to have bought both hardcovers. Can’t wait for the third and final instalment.
Setting: Alternate universe Cambridge, UK and Austria. High Fantasy faery land.
2-2.5x. January 28, 2024.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Narrated by Eunice Wong. I listened to Dial M for Aunties which was narrated by a different narrator. I found the writing a bit over the top and was not eager to read Sutanto again. However, I thought the premise and the reviews sounded promising. I did like this book a bit better. I think the author is great with Asian American characters and relationships. I liked all the characters in this novel with a caveat. The story is told from many perspectives and the beginning feels a bit of a drag as each of them is wracked with guilt. All of them except Vera had self-esteem issues. I knew the twist and murderer early on. I liked Vera and the food descriptions. I am not sure if I want to continue. Wong’s narration is great though.
Setting: San Francisco, CA, USA.
1.5x. January 28-29, 2024.
If I was a Horse by Sophie Blackwell
Cute children’s picture book.
January 31, 2024.