Happy Mad March. Was this week any better than last week? No. Did I go out and have ramen today? Yes. Did I buy snickerdoodles? Yes. Did I spend more money than I should on books (albeit, shockingly, mostly not for myself)? Also yes. Guess we’ll call that a win.
February Reading Stats
Books Finished:
- Aphasia – Mauro Javier Cárdenas
- The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
- Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why – Alexandra Petri
- The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran
- The Office of Historical Corrections – Danielle Evans
- Remote Control – Nnedi Okorafor
Total Pages Read: 1,842
February started out strong and quickly petered out for reasons I am not sure of, but which may have to do with the two behemoths I am currently attempting to read. The February highlight is probably going to have to go to The Office of Historical Corrections, an amazing collection of short stories that I don’t even want to talk about because I seriously don’t want to spoil it for anyone. All I can say is go read it.
My least favorite book may have been Remote Control, which was interesting and definitely thought-provoking but not quite what I expected. (Full disclosure: I was convinced that Sankofa was literally the adopted daughter of Death but she is in fact a human girl imbued with life-ending powers and I was hideously disappointed because I am a sucker for personifications of Death.) I also didn’t love the writing, but there’s nothing actually wrong with the book – it just wasn’t really my cup of tea.
On a slightly shallower note, The Prophet wins Most Aesthetically Pleasing Book of the Month, because I picked up this gorgeous boxed edition at a secondhand store for $10 and I am convinced that I have gotten away with something.
Currently Reading
WARNING: Spoilers.
A Clash of Kings
George R.R. Martin
Current rating: 4 stars. It’s weird reading a series when you already know all the show twists and a lot of the book twists (thank you, ASOIAF wiki). I was surprised when Reek showed up at Winterfell, but I won’t be surprised when he turns out to be Ramsay. On the other hand, the book does have some nice surprises, such as this line:
It was a kindness that his uncle Kevan had two other sons; this one was unlikely to live out the year. Cersei would have him killed out of hand if she learned he was betraying her, and if by some grace of the gods she did not, Lancel would never survive the day Jaime Lannister returned to King’s Landing. The only question would be whether Jaime cut him down in a jealous rage, or Cersei murdered him first to keep Jaime from finding out. Tyrion’s silver was on Cersei.
MINE TOO BUDDY. (Also, since when does Uncle Kevan have other kids??? Guess the show looked at his other two sons and said well fuck that lmao)
Overall I’ve been liking this book, except for Martin’s habit of repeating his characters’ full names for no discernible reason, which drives me crazy. I hate when authors think their readers are too dumb to remember who’s who, even with a chonker like ASOIAF. And, speaking of things that drive me crazy, you know what I am absolutely SICK of? Men who like to initiate sex while their partners are sleeping. I do not see the attraction in bonking an unconscious body, unless the man in question is a necrophiliac. Shae may be cool with it, but in general this is a thing that needs to die because DAMMIT, TYRION.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
Isabel Wilkerson
Current rating: 5 stars. I have a firm policy of not directing other people’s opinions on nonfiction, so I have nothing to say except that everyone should be reading this. It’s slow going at the moment because the text is dense and I’ve been too tired lately to wrap my head around it, but I’m hoping I’ll have more time this week.
Miscellaneous Reading News
I have decided to expand my review archives project to also include old blog posts on topics other than books because I am fresh out of inspo for the purposes of consolidation. This mostly means I’ll be dragging in my old Handmaid’s Tale tumblr rants when I can’t think of anything else to post but still want to make my deadline because #PROBLEMSOLVING
