It’s that time again: December/ January/ February Reading Roundup! Totally normal timeframe! I’m definitely not wildly behind! Yes, I did originally intend for these book roundups to be monthly, but… pobody’s nerfect. In any case, here’s my selection of book’s I’ve read recently-ish.
The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas
This is the fourth installment of Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series. I wrote about the previous three back in October, and finally got my copy from the library in December. That’s the Problem With Popular Books. This book continues the lives of the characters, as expected, and is engaging, etc. etc. Mostly this made my list of Books To Talk About because I want to commend the author (or editor) who has cracked down on the use of the phrase “which happened to be”. I have Sherry Thomas herself to thank for the discovery of my hate for that phrase, when used incorrectly. It is acceptable when the feature being described is something coincidental or ironic, not when you just want more words to say that something is. When used purely to flower up your language, I picture you going around perpetually surprised by your environs, eyebrows frozen up at your hairline.
The Burning Sky Trilogy, by Sherry Thomas
Now we get straight fantasy from Thomas, having previously explored her takes on historical and modern fiction. This is a trilogy in the book-in-three-parts sense, with only sub-conclusions to the first two books. In other words, ya gotta read them all. Thankfully, they are highly readable and engaging (I might need to find a new word for that soon)—once you get into it, that is. The beginning of the first book is the most difficult part to get through: it is exposition-heavy to the point that I almost gave up reading halfway through the second chapter. My persistence was ultimately rewarded, though. My only other big complaint was the footnotes. Throughout the series, she uses footnotes to add more detail and explanations. While I like these additions and the world-building they bring, I don’t like the format. Footnotes in this context felt very clunky. I would have preferred something like chapter openers, even if that meant sacrificing some of the information.
Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott
While this is ostensibly a book on writing (alright yes the tag says “and life”), Lamott has stuffed it full of her observations on life, and her advice for living. Even the parts on writing and the writing process are easily and directly applicable to non-writing aspects of live. Best of all, she writes with a humorous and what I can only describe as real voice that at times had me legit laughing out loud. Highly recommend.
Sweep With Me by Ilona Andrews
Full disclosure before I get into this one: I absolutely love everything I have read by Ilona Andrews. Their settings and characters are just everything I want in life, and I don’t care if you disagree with me. “Sweep With Me” is the fifth book in their Innkeeper Chronicles series, which I believe starts its life as blog installments before moving to book form. This one concludes some arcs from the third and fourth books, but still leaves open some big questions that have been lurking in the background throughout the series. It felt a little short to me, but I do always want more from them so that might be it. I’m frankly too lazy to check actual lengths, since I only have Kindle editions. I highly recommend checking out the first book, Clean Sweep (PUNS), if you’re at all interested in alternate-Earth fantasy with aliens.
The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
We’ve finally made it to actual February reading! Here we have a mystery woven through the centuries (ok, a century and a half). This is a beautifully written book with a rich cast of characters connected through time and place. The reveals are well paced to maintain interest, in that sweet spot of progressing quickly while still giving you time to breathe. The exception in my mind is the end, which did feel a little rushed. Or I might have been reading it too quickly. The world may never know.
Range by David Epstein
This book is an examination of the modern love of specialization, and why that is stifling innovation. Also, why you shouldn’t feel left behind if other people are “ahead” of you: different paths lead to different specialties and, crucially, different collections of knowledge. Epstein weaves a narrative line through anecdotes and biographies, exploring the differences between breadth and depth; the latter is valuable, but the former is required for making true progress, by connecting disparate subjects.
February Reading Roundup Review
I’ve left out some December/ January/ February reading in the interest of, well, interest. Check out my October reads for some insight into that. Right now I’m really enjoying the books on writing, because – shocker – writers make really good authors, and they have some good insight on life. I also have a growing pile of physical books that I need to read, that I keep pushing down the list as library books come off hold. [Ok side note I’ve spent a long time now looking at that last phrase, and I can’t tell if that’s proper English. Do book come off hold? Come up for checkout? Get off the hold list? Someone please help me I don’t know what to say.] SO, if you have sent/loaned/watched me buy a book recently and it hasn’t been featured yet, it’s assuredly not because it didn’t make the cut. I’m just not to it yet.
Like this? Check out some other recent posts!
- Great Books Roundup of 2021A bit overdue, but here we are. 2021 has definitely ended. Probably. If you perchance wish to bury your face in a book (which would be weird, considering how great the world is right now), hopefully you can find some here that pique your interest — or that you might now know to avoid.
- The Story of Democracy?Let’s go win democracy! First you find your Main Character, then you fight your battle harder than the others, then YOU HAVE WON!
- Who Are You, or Is Your Personality Your Facebook Profile?Is it possible that, by sectioning off parts of your life (facets of your personality?) that you aren’t being true to yourself? Could it be the case that when you behave differently around your children compared to when you’re at work you lack integrity?
- The Reconciliation in Truth and ReconciliationLast week I started in on the topic of Truth and Reconciliation by examining the truth. Now it’s time for more thoughts on reconciliation than you ever cared to read! In order to reach reconciliation, we must first have a common truth, a common history. After all, what is history but the story we tell to explain our present? The dead don’t care what we say.
- Truth and Reconciliation: Thoughts on TruthIf you’ve been here before, you know that I like musing on basic subjects: fear, isolation, motivation, fear again. For my sanity, I’m going to break my thoughts on Truth and Reconciliation down in a similar way. The logical place to start then is with truth.
