Finished! (A book log)

 It's been a season since I last posted a book log, so here I give you a very paltry list of reads. Life was crazy the last few months and my reading was most productive when listening to audiobooks while traveling between Washi and Cali. So here goes:

The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle - this should've been on last book log, but somehow I think it fell off the list. Jack and I listened to it together and it was eye-opening, mind-spinning, and made me feel a lot better about the author, who had been my cycling hero back in my high school days.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - I just noticed that this is a tv show on HBO now... I'll have to look into that. I did not realize that this was a pandemic book when I picked it up, not until I was a chapter or two in. But I kept reading it because it was beautiful, it painted an interesting world, had lots of little ruminations on life sprinkled throughout, and reminded me that our current pandemic could've been so much worse. If you feel like leaning into pandemic fiction just a smidge (and no more than that!), I recommend this book.

How to Be Fine by Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg - this is basically the book report of my favorite podcast. It summarizes what they learned by following the rules of over 50 self-help books and what they wish they saw more (and less) of in the self-help industry. It was a pleasant read, lots of short chapters. This would be a great bathroom or bedside reader, just gives you little tidbits to ponder each time. Not a great one for reading straight through as you don't get to digest it that way.

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery - This is the 4th book sequentially in the series, but it was written at a much later date. And you can tell. It feels less like a through-line story and more like a collection of vignettes that the author wanted to publish but hadn't been able to fit into other stories. Very few of the characters appear in more than one part of the book, and Anne is mostly nosing into everybody else's business and solving their problems, which is frankly annoying. I still laughed out loud and possibly teared up here and there, but it was not as pleasurable as the previous books in the series.

Recipe for Persuasion & Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev - I read these two out of order; Recipe for Persuasion ended up on my list somehow (an NPR review?) and I devoured it in audiobook form when we drove up to Washington; then I realized it was a series and went back and listened to Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, which is supposed to be the first book in the series. These delicious reworkings of classic Jane Austen novels are beyond phenomenal. The Indian American semi-royal family intermingling with Americans and Brits of various social backgrounds creates the same level of gossipy intrigue that you find in the original novels. Plus the author ties in so much more from tackling serious topics like marital rape to her emphasis on food and flavors that really makes you feel as though you're eating your way through the book instead of just reading (or listening) to it. The romance novel aspect is there, but steamy scenes tend to fade to black before they get too intimate. And if you are not familiar/comfortable with reading names, phrases, and other words out of India, might I suggest the audiobook? Hearing words read aloud by someone who knows how to properly pronounce them is a big bonus when you're broadening your literary horizons.

Finally, two books that I started but chose not to finish:

1. Give a Girl a Knife by Amy Thielan - I got this from the library and was enjoying it in the midst of our move; but when it came time to turn it in or renew, I chose to turn it in unfinished. As interesting as it was, and as well-written, it simply wasn't the type of narrative that was compelling me in that moment. I was satisfied after the several chapters I had read.

2. The Prey of Gods by Nicky Dreyden - This landed on my list because I liked a short story of Dreyden's as read by LeVar Burton in his LeVar Burton Reads podcast. It was intriguing, but I just couldn't get into the book. A main part of the premise is this recreational drug that makes you have crazy hallucinations and I guess I just couldn't really relate. There were definitely aspects of it that intrigued me, though, like the little robot companions everybody has (like if your phone walked around outside of your pocket), or the witch-not-witch in the beauty parlor... so curious about that woman!

And that's it for now. I've got a couple different books that I'm partway through reading which I hope to finish up soon; I received several new books for Christmas (Jólabókaflóð!); and perhaps now that we're settled in I will get back into a better reading rhythm and be able to report back more finished books every 2-3 months again instead of 2-3 times a year. My plan is to focus on reading the books I own (because I just moved several across state lines that I only moved BECAUSE I hadn't read them yet!) and avoiding the library as long as I can hold out. It will be good to read through what I have and pass them on so that I can clear my shelves a little more. :)

Until next time!