Valerie

This isn't my favorite Octavia Butler book, probably because it's true historical fantasy instead of one of her amazing science fiction epics. That said, it is still a very powerful book, and one that I'm glad I read. The story follows a black woman in 1976 through a bizarre series of time travels to repeatedly save the life of her white, slave-owning ancestor. Each time, she her journey is fraught with peril from all directions, and she is repeatedly forced into the life of a slave on her ancestor's plantation.

Butler makes slavery viscerally real in a lot of ways, from her no-sugar coating descriptions of the beatings slaves received (and the horrors of the relatively mild beatings Dana receives) to her fully-fledged, multi-faceted portraits of the black characters living under the Weylin estate. Dana is an easy character to see through, as she has witnessed all of the slave stereotypes modern media has furnished and also the complicated lives of African-Americans in what is still relatively early on in the Civil Rights Movement. Dana, a writer in her own time, chronicles the people she meets not as Mammies or Uncle Toms or noble martyrs, but as flawed humans struggling to survive however they can, sacrificing whatever levels of pride and dignity they can individually bear.

Dana's relationships with the white characters are just as complicated. From Rufus, the man she is called again and again to save for whom she feels something despite is reprehensible treatment of her and those she cares for, to Kevin, her progressive, white husband who seems to, if not belong in 1819, at least manage to justify and fit in even as he forms his own stop on the Underground Railroad. The ties we forge for ourselves, the ways we let coventions and society make slaves of us, make us believe things have to be certain ways, these are themes Butler's works bring up again and again. Here, though, they are not cloaked in alien metaphor, but very real and remarkably present.

Butler's work is as relevant (maybe more relevant?) than when it was written, and while I don't claim this book to be an easy read, I think it's an important one.

Last night, I saw the musical adaptation of this graphic novel, and it was a striking show. They had a t-shirt for sale depicting audience members leaving the theater saying, “That's exactly like my family except completely different.” I think those words speak for the original piece as well. I don't have a lot in common with Alison Bechdel on the surface. I've never struggled sexual identity, obsessive compulsive disorder, or losing a loved one to suicide. Also, I'm a pretty terrible artist. That said, I was still able to strongly identify with her because she highlights a lot of the struggles that we feel are unique but are actually almost universal: depression, not knowing your family as well as you think you do, shame about being the only one, grief, self-doubt. Her story is one of extremes, told in nakedly candid fashion, and that honesty is powerful. I don't think I could ever be as open about the extreme parts of my life as she is in this... and then she let other people adapt it to a musical. She's a pretty incredible woman, and her work is definitely worth reading.

I really went into this book knowing nothing about it besdies it won a bunch of awards, so I really enjoyed the slow reveal of what is actually happening. At times, the in-depth physics was too much for me, but on the whole I thought it was an incredibly unique and insightful piece of science fiction that really deserved all the awards. As someone who reads a lot of books by western authors, the difference in narrative structure and cultural references were refreshing. My concept of modern China is pretty fuzzy, I'll admit, so it's interesting to see a book by a Chinese author portraying Chinese history and future through a critical lens Ken Liu's translation was very helpful in explaining a lot of the cultural nuances without taking away from Cixin Liu's story. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into book 2 right away, but definitely logging it on my to-read list for the future.

This book is something I want to give to pretty much every woman in my life. I read it as part of a professional development unit, looking at how shame might be affecting my students, but Brown's primary focus is on how shame affects women. She is thorough, insightful, and page after page builds relatable stories that help the reader identify how shame has been motivating their choices or lack thereof. She also offers several tips for building shame resilience to help women recover from shaming experiences. These strategies align with the growth mindset theory I read for my last class, focusing on strengths and positive change instead of dwelling on weakness and self-doubt. Her strategies do not sound particularly easy, but they do feel sound.

When I think about this book in regards to being an educator, it makes me think about the language I use around my students, especially when I am at peak frustration. It makes me consider how I can talk to them to make them feel guilty about their actions without feeling ashamed of themselves. While again, the focus of this book is on the culture of shame specifically surrounding western women, the ideas are really applicable to lots of different people. It's a great read, and one I hope lots of people will absorb.

This is the book I needed right now. I've loved this series a lot since Leviathan Wakes debuted. It used to be because it filled the Firefly-shaped hole in my heart, but the crew of the Rocinante have evolved so much, the scale of the story has expanded so much (see what I did there?), that it has gone far beyond an enjoyable space romp. Now, the story is much more poised as a mirror of what humanity can be at both its best and its worst. We find our favorite crew (plus Clarissa Mao whom I hope gets a bigger role in the next book), caught up in the war that has destroyed Earth, trying to make alliances and save lives wherever we can. We get the return of several characters we haven't seen in many books, Michio Pa and Prax Meng, and watch how their small pieces fit into this large universe. We get to see into the world of terrorist kings and the justification of people who follow them. It's all good. It's just a brilliant series and I can't wait for more.

I enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more than the jacket cover led me to believe I would. It's hard to explain without giving away rather major plot points, but it's a very clever twist on both the secret government organization trope and the body snatcher trope. It also highlights the importance of effective administration no matter how super-powered you may be. In short, it's a book that glorifies the indoor nerd, and there really are not enough of those. I'd say if you enjoy characters like Baru Cormorant or Sithren from “The Dragon's Path,” you'll probably enjoy Myfanwy Thomas, at least one version of her.

Occasionally, the structure of the book plays heavy to the exposition, but I found I enjoyed reading the exposition dumps enough that it didn't really impact my reading experience. Also, the vastness of superpowers in this universe is occasionally just plain silly, but hey, that's the world we live in. I found there was only one plotline that really bugged me as feeling extraneious, The Bronwyn plot line. I don't really understand why Myfanwy would take so many extremely stupid risks over a person who is basically a stranger, and Bronwyn showing up right now feels forced seeing as no connection to the main plot ever really explains it.

Other than that, I found the book very enjoyable and hope to get into the sequel once I knock a few more updated series off my to-read list.

The first volume of Sithrah was a little slow to catch my attention, but I'm glad I supported the second kickstarter because this next one is much more interesting. Now that we've established basic characters and situations, we can start exploring, ever so slowly peeking into this new, fantastical world Brubaker has created. The art is stunning, the book quality is well worth the price, and also, CAT! I love Brubaker's cats, ok? Especially when they can communicate with spooky entities existing just parallel to us.

If you're a fan of ReMind or futuristic fantasy comics in general, Sithrah is worth your time.

Peter S. Beagle makes me cry a lot. Normally, I don't read books to cry, but it's okay when he does it... I guess? This collection of short stories made me cry twice, once in Two Hearts (an epilogue to the Last Unicorn) and once during A Dance for Emilia, a story that so perfectly captures the length and depth of the grieving process my heart broke several times. A lot of the stories reference other past Beagle works (Two Hearts, Quarry), potential future Beagle works (el Regalo), and even some Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (Mr. Sigurson). I'm not sure the status on those future works, but I wait ever upon new words from this man. He has such range, poetry, and subtle humor in all his stories. Also, he understands the differences between dogs and cats and can write both equally well. It's a little thing, but it's very important to me.

Within this collection, Two Hearts was definitely my favorite, although I'm extremely biased towards it. I also liked Salt Wine, because dark twists on mer-people tales are always fun. I prefer the more fantastical stories to the more mainstream, but I can't deny the quality of both. Recommended to all who like short trips into amazing worlds.

This book was my Thanksgiving Break homework, and I have to say it was eye-opening. I've attended lot of professional develpment, staff meetings, and and seminars centering around closing the achievement gap, but Delpit not only presented my with new perspectives and data, she also challenged the data I'd held as foundational.

Some of the breakthrough thoughts: the negative effects of desegregation in that it nearly eliminated educational and administration positions from black people, replacing them with young, inexperienced white teachers who generally were just looking for ways to not teach their anymore.

The fact that Teach for America and programs like it replaces primarily minority teachers with non-teachers unconnected to their students' culture or community and only sticking around for 2-3 years.

The idea of “language poverty” as a cultural construction rather than an actual educational deficit.

There's tons of less revolutionary (for me at least) ideas too, mainly concerning students of all colors identifying with their teachers and school communities to see ways in which they can be successful in places that value their unique perspectives and abilities. Delpit is extremely ability-focused which is always a nice change of pace from a lot of staff meetings. Reading this book definitely inspired me to look more closely at my teaching and speaking styles, at what I'm asking my children to do and how else they can demonstrate their mastery. Highly recommended to teachers working outside their home culture.

I've been reading the Amulet series for ages, and I only wish these came out sooner. I feel like the gaps in between volumes are large enough that I have to go back and remind myself of the whole series every time a new one comes out. First world reader problems again.

That said, Amulet is one of my favorite series to give to my students. It has simple characters going through complex problems and also robots and talking rabbits. The art is beautiufl, and the story is engaging enough that my kids get crazy-excited when I tell them there is a new volume. I've had to replace this series in my class library more than any other, so third grade book kleptomaniacs agree that it is worth risking a referral to obtain.

I've had some David Wong books on my to-read list for a while, but luckily the Sword and Laser picked one for the monthly read so I can finally cross one off. I'm a big fan of the Cracked website, and was excited to see what that style looked like as a novel. In short, it's pretty insane.

The book is as bizarre as its title, taking place in the no rules, no government, no consequences sity of Tabula Ra$a, Utah where trailer park barista Zoey Ashe suddenly finds herself heiress to her estranged father's fortune, debts, and messed up life. Life in this near-future world is all recorded and broadcast on the voyeuristic “Blink” network, and billions of people subscribe to watch super-powered serial killers hunt people down. All she wants is to go home with her cat.

The story is frenetic, sarcastic, and as creatively violent as the title warns. It definitely gets a little harder to read at the end, but most of the time, it was a darkly humorous adventure, not too heavy on the moralizing. The characters are a bit flat (though Zoey is a wonderful change from a traditional SFP or damsel in distress) and the cat behaves like no cat I have ever known in my life (I care a lot about realistic cat portrayals. Cats aren't dogs!), but if you're just looking for a fast, exciting read and don't mind a LOT of blood, you'd probably enjoy this book. I don't know that it's one I'll remember well in a few years, but I enjoyed it while reading it.

I listened to the “Lightless” audiobook on the recommendation of Kevin Hearne and absolutely loved it. I don't log my audiobooks on GoodReads, but I found it a claustrophobic, suspense-filled sci-fi thriller with powerful prisoners, artificial intelligence, and solid storytelling. So I was excited when I won “Supernova” through the First Reads Program.

Supernova is very different from Lightless in that where Lightless felt painfully combined, Supernova is impossibly vast. While Althea remains one of our narrators, the other is the terrorist saboteur whose shadow lingered over the crew in Lightless, but now is dealing with the aftermath of her successful revolution. Meanwhile, Althea deals with Ananke's newfound intelligence, trying to instill a moral code into her daughter. I was disappointed that Ivan and Mattie do not figure very prominently in this story, but I'm assuming their role is going to be much larger in book three.

Overall, I don't think I liked the structure as much as the first book, mostly because the revolution storyline was not as interesting as Althea and Ananke's storyline. I kept waiting for them to link up, but the fateful meeting is more or less teased all the way through. While Lightless is hardly free from tragedy, Supernova has death and destruction on every page, making it a lot harder for me to get through, and the ending is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. I feel like I know where the series is going, but I'm very interested to watch it get there.

So while it didn't quite capture the same feel of Lightless, that's probably a good thing. It shows Higgins has range and raises the stakes a lot for the next book. It wasn't quite as aligned to my tastes, but I'm still very game to continue. Recommended for fans of AI gone awry, overthrowing empires, and seriously complex female protagonists.

I must've picked up this book at bookstores a couple dozen times and put it back with a, “No. No more buying books till you read what you have.” Like that has ever stopped me. Then it got picked for Sword & Laser, so shucks darn, I had to get it. I'm really glad I did.

The Golem in the Jinni is a story of parallels, two undocumented immigrants forced to live exactly the opposite as they were born to be. The Golem, a creature whose very nature is defined by servitude, living in terrifying freedom. The Jinni, an embodiment of fire and freedom, bound to human form and forced to serve the masses to pay bills and live a life of quiet desperation. It's a brilliant concept, brilliantly executed.

The story takes place during the Ellis Island immigration era of New York, primarily in the Jewish district and Little Syria. The two main characters are a pleasure to read, but almost equally enjoyable are the cast that surrounds them, each nuanced and unique portraits of people who might actually existed. I think I especially like Sophia Winston, who gives some depth to the idea of a Jane Austen style heroine and Arbeely, who really was doing just fine until a naked man appeared on the floor of his forge... really he was.

By far, Chava and Ahmad carry this story, though. Their struggles to understand what they are, where they are, and eventually who they are, made these 500 pages fly by all too quickly. I can't recommend this book enough to people who love mixing their mythologies. It is a fine piece in that tradition.

Thanks, Kickstarter, for continuing to bring me web comics I love in easy to re-read print editions. TOY is in its third volume, and while I sort of miss the early days, it definitely retains its charm. Also Alfons is a great addition to the character cast. TOY is a honest and charming romance. If that's your thing, give the webseries a go. Then back kickstarters for honest and charming postcards.

This is another one of those books that makes me happy I joined Sword and Laser. From the cover and the description, I would've shelved this under “Dad Book” and moved on. Boy, would I have missed out. This book is vast. The scale goes from a small, medieval society all the way up to incomprehensible transcendant superintelligences. Yet, both ends of the civilization scale and everything in between are treated as viable peoples with genuine concerns. There is no stomping about by superhumans in the stone age, and in fact the stone age poses its own threats.

Its also vast in its ideas of consciousness and thought. I don't think many would disagree that the best part of this book is the Tines, a pack-minded species of sentient dogs who are only intelligent in groups of 3 or more which make up an individual person. It is one of the best reveals of a concept I've ever read, and I ended up caring for these characters so much. Maybe too much as I was always a little disappointed when POV switched back up to space opera.

The scope made me feel like I was reading a little Redwall and a little Ringworld at the same time, and that is really all I every wanted out of a book. I have a large stack of must reads on my shelf, so it may be a bit before I get to the sequels, but I definitely plan to get to them.

I'm constitutionally unable to not purchase a Gaiman comic on sight. Accidentally bought this when I went to pick up my pull list. It's not my favorite short story of his, but it's definitely a good one. It's fun looking into the world of an adolescent boy and realizing that to him, girls are so very alien. And then... they actually are aliens. The art does great justice to the story, especially the final scene with Stella on the stairs. That's a panel that will stick with you. All in all, a great piece for any lover of Gaiman, comics, or Gaiman comics.

I had been waiting so long for this book. So very long. I remember last year finishing The Fifth Season on the day I both finished Ash vs. The Evil Dead” and saw Star Wars, and thinking that it just wasn't my day for satisfying endings. Obelisk Gate is still not a satisfying ending, of course (part 2), but that isn't really a problem when the story is so damn good I'll be upset when there actually is an ending.

The world expands in this novel as we learn more about Guardians, how orogeny works, Stone Eaters, and what the heck is up with the Moon. We also learn exactly who is narrating all these second person chapters, aking all the haters realize there WAS a good reason for using second person after all. Additionally, we start getting Nassun's point of view, and learning all the things that make her a part of and set her apart from her mother. Schaffa too joins our POV list, as NK once again makes me feel a sympathy for characters I never thought possible.

And of course there's a cast of diverse, believable, and unique individuals supporting us. A million points for Tonkee, everyone. One million points.

It's good. Jemisin is really really good and completely deserving of her recent Hugo success. If you read The Fifth Season, you know you can't afford to skip this one. If you haven't read The Fifth Season, what's wrong with you?

Oh Neil, I never get tired of hearing your voice in my head. This collection of Neil's non-fiction is not exactly what I was hoping for, but I still enjoyed spending time hearing his thoughts. This issue was that I only had a frame of reference for some of his thoughts because so many of these articles are very out of context. When I was familiar with the book or person he was discussing, I really enjoyed reading; when I wasn't, I had a harder time getting into it. It does provide a handy reading/viewing/listening list for anyone who wants slowly absorb all the Gaiman knoweldge and references in existence. I may or may not attempt that.

While this book isn't destined to be one of my favorites, I read it at the exact right time to enjoy it. I just started playing D&D again, and the characters in this book put me exactly in that RPG campaign space. This book functions as an anthology introduction to the Witcher universe. It is a series of self-contained tales within a frame introducing many of the characters that later appear in the series (and the video games which you do not need to play to enjoy the books. The novels came first and the author has said he holds them far over the games in terms of canon). The stories draw a lot from fairy tales and Slavic mythology, making them both familiar and original. The characters are not terrifically interesting or unique, but are fun representations of RPG archetypes. I might enjoy a novel-length treatment of the characters more, but this was an enjoyable series of adventures to get me back in that D&D headspace.

I love Saga even when it breaks my heart. The last couple issues have been painful ones, but this installment has a lot more positive and heart warming moments than others. Alanna and Marko remain amazing, little Hazel is growing up, and our cast of side characters keeps the everything turning upside down whenever you think you know what's going to happen. If you're already reading Saga, I don't have to convince you to pick up the next volume. If you're not reading Saga, you probably should start.

I'm betting Sonia Manzaon hear's “I grew up with you,” an awful lot. It's probably true every time too: 44 years a is a long time to be on a television show and a number of successive generations are taught and inspired by it. Maria was always one of my favorites because so many of her scenes were with Oscar, and Oscar is best muppet. Also Super Grover. I digress.

My school district brought Sonia to speak at our district literacy training, and event which (as a math teacher) was less than useless for me and was starting to make me question career choices. Finishing with her was very smart. Listening to her talk about the power of art and literature and diversity reinvigorated me and made me stop counting the hours of summer vacation left for just a little while. I bought her memoir without a second thought.

This book is heart-wrenching, and made more so because it is probably not a big step away from where my students are right now. Sonia writes candidly and powerfully about her experiences with abuse, racism, sexism, and culture shock in and outside of the country where she was born. Some chapters physically hurt me to read, and others inspired me to be a better teacher to my students, to know that even if we come from different places, we can still connect if we recognize each other as humans. It's a good time in our cultural history to read this book too.

This isn't necessarily a book for Sesame Street fans of all ages, but I think it exemplifies the core of love and tolerance, even in chaos, at its heart.

This book was a bit misleading. I expected to read about whales in their variety and complext and in fact got a book far more about whaling and 80% about sperm whales. It's very informative, and if you're a Moby Dick fan, the first half pretty much follows Melville's life as it relates to whales. It's hard to read about the slaughter, the reasons for the slaughter, and the gruesome details of the whaling industry. The later chapters get more into modern relationships with whales including whale watching and the last vestiges of people still clinging to the whale products industry (amberghris is gross, y'all). While I learned a lot, it's hard to say I enjoyed the book. It was graphic, realistically pessimistic, and just not what I wanted from the subtitle “In search of giants of the sea.” If you are looking to read a natural history of whales, not for you. If you are looking to read a history of human interaction with whales/literary examples of whales, then this is definitely a book you want.

Scalzi is one of my favorite dialogue writers out there, and Lock In is another showcase for his skills in this area. Othere than that trademark snark, though, this book is very different from other Scalzi books I've read. It is a murder mystery at heart, but one set in a future where a large percentage of the popuation suffer from a disease that locks their bodies up, but not their minds. Therefore, these people exist either in an online space or interact with the world via robot bodies, affectionately called “threeps.” This brings into play concepts of racism, classism, and other awful isms we have to deal with in the real world. It's probably not my favorite Scalzi (Redshirts will always have a special place in my heart), and it almost might have been a little too light with its subject matter, but I'll always take too light over too heavy. Also, Scalzi's extreme fondness for “said” speech tags seems to be fading as at least this time, it didn't often interrupt my reading. It's a short read, a good mystery, and a fine addition to any sci-fi collection.

I had a lot of trouble getting through this book, especially given how short it is. I've never read Andre Norton before, though I knew a little about her life going into this book and think she was an amazing person who did so very much for the genre. Still, I think I might have been better off starting with her fantasy. A dated feel to sci-fi can really ruin it, and the actions of the characters are often nonsensical from a modern perspective. I never really bonded with any of the characters, and that made it a real struggle. I did enjoy the inclusion of a P.O.V. Native American character who was actually really well rounded and not at all stereotypical (again, Andre Norton did a LOT for the genre), but it just wasn't enough to hook me. I see how this set standards for time travel fiction, and its influence is obviously very wide, but it just didn't connect with me.

More Princeless is always a good thing. Raven Pirate Princess is the spin-off adventures of the Princeless character I'm most likely to cosplay. I feel like both the art style and the tone make this more of a teen/young adult comic than Adrienne's story which very much has children's book appeal (and pink, fuzzy dragons). Raven's adventures include a lot more romance, fighting, and just a more mature style to the art. Like Princeless, the Fight the Patriarchy theme is very strong, sometimes too strong perhaps, but that's much better the alternative. The scene where Raven basically interviews every guy in an online forum made me laugh pretty hard.

It's an enjoyable spin-off so far and one with which I'll definitely keep up.