Becca
Taking on a completely different genre from her flagship, The Sparrow, A Thread of Grace is set in the Holocaust. Improbably enough, Doria Russell manages to make a Thread of Grace stand apart from the myriad of books that had previously been written in the setting. She brings her signature touches of a gift for character development and a canny ability to make her reader see every side of an issue, with heavy helping of moral greyness and questionable means to get to still questionable ends.
Doria Russell will long be remembered as one of the epic novelists of our time.
Let no one say that Neil Gaiman is not the king of urban fantasy. Certainly, Anansi Boys does nothing to bring his title under dispute; however, as a fan of American Gods, I found myself missing the darker, grittier tone of the latter. Anansi Boys is excellent, but will not meet the expectations of readers looking for American Gods redux.
I lack the capacity to adequately describe this book. Russell worldbuilds with the trained eye of a sociologist, but the light touch of truly a gifted novelist. However, what really makes her work is a dedication to exploration of issues of moral complexity, grittiness, desperation and redemption.
The Sparrow is without equal.
I wanted to like this book; I love Connie Willis and have adored pretty much all of her other works. Maybe it's that I'm not a movie buff, or maybe it's the pacing (Willis is usually at her finest in her novellas, but this reads slowly for such a short book) or something else entirely. Whatever it was, I failed to love this book despite my best efforts.
As a teenager, I was going about my own merry way until Margaret and her literary ilk sent me into a neurotic spiral of “why don't I worry about my body shape?” “Why don't I have obsessive, angsty crashes on guys?” “Why don't I care whether my friends have their periods?”
The answer, revealed years later is that I'm far wiser than these girls and their nonfictional counterparts – a truth I wish I knew as a middleschooler when teachers harassed me about not being able to find ways that Margaret resonated with me.
A book about a petty and shallow girl, befitting petty and shallow preteens and the intelligent young women who want insight into why their peers have suddenly gone crazy.
A wacky take on the classic Arabian nights genre this is Jones at her best – nothing is as it seems, and in the end there are several morals to be learned. However, the link between Castle in the Air and [b:Howl's Moving Castle 6294 Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165560187s/6294.jpg 2001] is tenuous at best, and at worst Castle in the Air is cheapened by the association, as the feel is extremely different and the characters from Howl seem shoehorned in.
I'm in love. Great graphics, nice pathway diagrams and comprehensive coverage of disease. Not really a book for making treatment decisions, but great for diagnosing and understanding IEMs.
I was hesitant to buy it because I don't need the endocrinology and I worried IEMs would be included as an aside, but they in fact predominant, the chapter authors are a who's-who of metabolic disease and the chapters include the diseases that you (I) wish most metabolic textbooks would: comprehensive review of CDGs, neurotransmitter deficiencies, purine and pyrmidine metabolism, B12 and folate metabolism, disorders of mineral metabolism and metabolic bone diseases
Leo: I like it
What do you like about it? That they make the dragon a bookstore
Is there anything you don't like about it Well, at the beginning, the people aren't very nice to the dragon.
Anything else? It's interesting that they make the dragon be the bookshop and not, like a plane or a helicopter.
Parents say... A lovely book about the importance of tolerance and how to make friends by sharing a love of reading. The illustrations are beautiful, the rhyming fails to irritate me and some lines like “Franklin and Luna felt like they were made of stories” really stick with me. Also, ballerina spiders (Leo: “They're not wearing ballet dresses, but they are holding the handles.” Me: “Yeah, they don't have tutus, but they dance at the barre.” Leo: “what's a tutu?”) and kung fu bats. Just super cute.
Leo says: “It reminds me of Harold and the Purple Crayon.”
What did you like about it? “It was beautiful.”
Anything else: “She freed the bird at the end. I knew she was going to because that was nice.”
I think: this is a gorgeous, word-less picture book. I was worried that my 4.5 year old wasn't going to understand a book without words, but she actually really understood what was happening. There was a lot of oohing and aahing over the pictures, and especially the forms of transportation and castles and not all of it on the part of the preschooler.
An entomologist writes about his life collecting hoverflies and in general being a biologist and collecting stuff
Leo says:
How do you feel about it? Meh
What do you like about it? “When the doctor says no more pink cupcakes! You can't eat pink cupcakes if you're still pink. It's so silly”
What don't you like about it? “All the pink!”
Becca says: Man, I hate this book. Way to make vegetables seem like a gross punishment, and there doesn't seem to be any real consequences or moral. It's not particularly fun to read, either. It's not straight up objectionable, like a lot of “girl's books” are but it's still on my “try to lose” list
I normally love experimental literature, but the extreme form of the narrative make Even the Dogs too hard for me to follow. I may try again later.
It was a struggle to get in a mere 35 books this year, mostly in a peri-election slump. I actually did a good job reviewing and adding books this year, keeping pace through August (usually I only keep pace through March or so) and actually reviewing them. And I read at a good clip, up until October, when I read barely anything. Nonetheless, books of the year:Best Book of the Year/Best Non-Fiction[b:The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code 16240783 The Riddle of the Labyrinth The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code Margalit Fox https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387149271s/16240783.jpg 24585584] (Margalit Fox) – Like all good amateur cryptographers, I know the story of Linear B backwards and forwards, but Fox tells it with such beauty and power that it was like I was hearing it for the first time. The idea of being able to figure out what ancient people were writing about with no parallel language source (such as the Rosetta Stone) borders on magical. Fox's tale of the linguists who did add a nice & feminist touch to the story as well.Best FictionTie: [b:The Trespasser 29430013 The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad, #6) Tana French https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462998307s/29430013.jpg 48321130] (Tana French) – At some point in time, I became obsessed with Tana French, and honestly, her work has just kept getting better. The Trespasser changed my worldview with its deep exploration of imposter syndrome and negative self-narratives. It deserves a place next to French's other Greats, like the Likeness and the Secret Place.[b:The Martian 18007564 The Martian Andy Weir https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413706054s/18007564.jpg 21825181] (Andy Weir) – who thought a book about a solitary potato farmer could be quite so charming? I loved the ingenuity of the book. I also really liked the team of humans v. environment conflict as a nice reprieve from interpersonal conflict. Also goods![b:The Goblin Emperor 17910048 The Goblin Emperor Katherine Addison https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1373039517s/17910048.jpg 24241248][b:The Girl with All the Gifts 17235026 The Girl with All the Gifts M.R. Carey https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg 23753235][b:T. Rex and the Crater of Doom 83971 T. Rex and the Crater of Doom Walter Alvarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403031387s/83971.jpg 81068][b:Jackalope Wives 20527580 Jackalope Wives Ursula Vernon https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389652524s/20527580.jpg 37333063][b:100 Sideways Miles 20493997 100 Sideways Miles Andrew Smith https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390410069s/20493997.jpg 16818609]Worst Book of the Year[b:A Guide for the Perplexed 17573649 A Guide for the Perplexed Dara Horn https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1395613421s/17573649.jpg 24513718] – Yup, a book I got for free was the worst book of the year. And it's not for lack of competition, either, this book was just pure awful. It's basically pandering to the audience who reads Books For Jews! Look, it's about Jews! The main character's name is Ashkenazi, so you know she's Jewish. Read it if you're Jewish (only don't, because it's a really boring retelling of the Joseph/Judah story, with Josephine and Judith standing in for Joseph and Judah.)More CommentsMan, I special ordered/bought new/borrowed new a ton of books this year, anticipating new works from much loved authors. This doesn't usually work out well in my life, I'm finding (Tana French being a notable exception.) I read very little nonfiction this year, starting strong, but then trailing off. I partially read at least three nonfiction books that I subsequently misplaced. I think I'm just a slower nonfiction reader and the barrier for me finishing books is remembering where I put them. Maybe I should work on that.I seem to be reading a lot more genre fiction again, after a long period of lit fic. I think I'm over the beautiful prose/speaks to the human condition/while nothing happens for a bit. Genre fiction, I missed you. Friends, I've been out of touch – what's good?Most Anticipated Books Planned for 2017[b:The Lie Tree 23592175 The Lie Tree Frances Hardinge https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423240440s/23592175.jpg 43194799] – I have heard so many good things about this gothic/feminist/fantasy/science-y/mystery novel that it's hard to believe it's all contained in one book.[b:Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals about the Mind 1371694 Talking Hands What Sign Language Reveals about the Mind Margalit Fox https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387743380s/1371694.jpg 1361555] – Perhaps I have already forgotten 2016's lesson to not be overeager for additional books by loved authors, but I need to read everything Margalit Fox has ever written and this book about a sign language that evolves in a Bedouin community with endemic deafness sounds amazing.
