Reading Reflection: 2023

 

The end of 2023 has arrived, so it's time for another yearly reflection. As I predicted at the end of last year, I was not able to read very much at all. The combination of graduate school and my regular instructional coaching job took up most of my time and napping took up the remainder of it. I did still manage to read a little bit though. Here is the breakdown:

My goal was to read 24 books in total and I did read 24. It feels like a very small victory compared to reading 101 books last year, but considering the different demands on my time, I'll take it. You can view my year in reading here.

I was hoping to read 24 books from my own shelves this year, but I ended up getting distracted by books at my school and fell short. I ended up reading a total of 13. I'm hoping to do a little better with this next year. You can see the list of what I read from my shelves here.

Overall, I would not say that I am particularly happy with my reading this year. I did read some really enjoyable things, but the stresses in my life made it difficult to enjoy them like I usually do. I feel like I gained some perspective though, and am getting more used to my busy schedule. I still have another year of graduate school to go, but I'm hoping to relax a little more in 2024 and get a little more reading done. 

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

 

I've had The Mists of Avalon on my shelf for a seriously long time. My husband bought it for me back when we were first dating, which was over  twenty years ago at this point. It's been sitting on my shelf all that time, waiting for me to finally pick it up. To put things further in perspective, when I finally did pick it up a few months ago, an old Blockbuster receipt fell out of the back. I rented Heavyweights in 2002. That movie is still iconic. 

Anyway, the reason it has taken me so long to get to it is its length. This is a 876 page tome with small print. I have so many other books I want to read that I tend to shy away from picking up long ones that will take a few months to get through. I must have been feeling ambitious back in November though, because I decided to finally give this epic fantasy a try.

The Mists of Avalon is a sprawling fantasy epic that retells the legend of King Arthur from the perspective of the women involved in the story. The point of view shifts between several women throughout the text, but the main character is Morgaine, more commonly known to us as the enchantress Morgan le Fay. The novel follows her from childhood to her old age as she works to preserve the holy island of Avalon in the face of different threats, including the invasion of the Saxons and the spread of Christianity. At first, protecting young Arthur and ensuring he takes the throne are her main priorities. He has sworn an oath to always defend Avalon. However, as time goes on his support of Avalon wavers and Morgaine's mission turns to removing him from power. Her journey is an emotional one, fraught with many struggles, betrayals, and losses along the way. She must eventually learn to make peace with the path her Goddess has dealt her and come to terms with her changing world.

This was a really phenomenal novel. I read it slowly and it took me a long time to make my way through it, but it was well worth the time. When I finished reading it, I felt like I had experienced something special; The Mists of Avalon is more than a book--it's an achievement. Telling the story from the viewpoints of the female characters gave the well-worn legend a fresh and interesting face with new layers of depth. This is not exactly a page turner. Instead, it is a story meant to be savored and considered from the many different perspectives running through its pages. 

The world-building was excellent. Bradley truly made the famous places from Arthurian legend come to life. The mysterious Avalon and the regal Camelot we rendered in loving detail. Similarly, the characters were developed beautifully. Each were different with distinct personalities, opinions, and goals, and each changed over the course of the novel. Each one was interesting to read about, and I never felt that there was a weak or boring perspective presented. The overall themes of loyalty versus compromise, men versus women, Christianity versus other religions, and old versus new continually asked interesting questions and presented compelling situations for the characters to grapple with. I enjoyed every aspect of it. 

Reading The Mists of Avalon is certainly a commitment, but it is one that is worth making for any fantasy fans that haven't given it a try yet. It may have taken me over twenty years to pick it up off my shelf, but I am very glad that I finally did. The beauty, complexity, and emotion of this one will stay with me for a while. I consider it a new favorite.   

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 23/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 13/24

Reading Check In

 The past few months have been a very busy time for me. I have gotten a little reading in, but between work, school, and sheer mental exhaustion, I haven't had the time or energy to blog. I did want to stop by to post briefly about the books I have finished lately though, just to maintain my reading record.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

This was a fun little mystery/suspense novel about a mysterious inheritance and a very troubled family with lots of twists and turns. It wasn't the most complex or wise story I've ever read, but it kept me turning the pages until the end. 3 stars.

The Windeby Puzzle by Lois Lowry

This was a very unique middle grades historical fiction novel based on what the author supposed the life of a young person living in the iron age might have been like. Lowry based her story on a real-life adolescent skeleton unearthed in England and presents the reader with two different versions of what might have happened to it. I appreciated the story for its unusualness, but I doubt it would catch the interest of the middle grades readers it's intended for. 3 stars.

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives it Changed by Dashka Slater

This young adult nonfiction novel chronicles the true story of a high school that became embroiled in turmoil when a social media account featuring several racist jokes about students surfaced. The author chronicles the creation of the account, the painful discovery of it, and the terrible consequences that followed. This was a fantastic read that asked deep questions about the effects of racism and the damage that comes with passive participation in it. 4 stars.

Slade House by David Mitchell

This was a fun and well-written horror novel about a mysterious house that only appears to a chosen few and is connected with several disappearances. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person that visits the house and the reader is left to piece together the narrative from their various accounts. I really liked this one. It's a perfect read for the spooky season. 4 stars.

I'm currently reading a very long book, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, so it will likely be awhile before I'm back here. Hopefully by then I'll be in a better place to write a full review.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 17/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 12/24

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

 

The next book I first picked up off my TBR pile was Gideon the Ninth, a fantasy/science fiction novel that I bought years ago based on recommendations from the book YouTubers I follow. A few months ago, a friend from real life happened to mention that they were enjoying this one, so my interest was re-piqued. My last few reads were both quite serious and emotional, so I was craving a book that would be a bit more fun. Gideon seemed to fit the bill nicely, so I dove in hoping to get lost in a fantasy world.

Gideon the Ninth is set in a universe divided into nine houses. Each house is led by a ruling necromancer with a different necromantic talent. Protecting each of these ruling necromancers is their cavalier, a classically trained protector ready to defend their adept with their finely honed rapier skills. Gideon, who is none of these things, is from the Ninth House, a secretive and deeply religious group living on a remote planet. They are charged with guarding a historical and important tomb and live an ascetic lifestyle. Gideon, who was mysteriously orphaned on this world as a child, hates everything about the Ninth House, including its leader Harrowhark Nonagesimus, and is forever trying to escape it. She is continually unsuccessful, despite her best efforts. The Ninth House is in decline and does not let its people leave. 

Her fortune changes, however, when an invitation goes out to each of the houses inviting each ruler and their cavalier to a competition of sorts to ascend to the elevated role of Lyctor, a powerful position within their ruling structure. Harrowhark, who is hungry for power and completely out of options in her dying house, makes Gideon an irresistible offer - accompany her to the competition and act as her cavalier in return for her freedom. Gideon grudgingly accepts and soon finds herself thrust into the center of a deadly mystery and surrounded by a hostile cast of characters. She must work together with Harrowhark to unravel the secrets of the competition and end the game before it costs them their lives.

This novel was unlike anything I have ever read before, in a really good way. The combination of science fiction and fantasy was quite strange at first, but I ended up liking it quite a bit. In this world we have both space travel and bone magic. Light switches and rapier duels. Automatic doors and revenants. I became more used to it the further I got into the story, and really came to appreciate the unique world that bloomed out of all these disparate elements. Tamsyn Muir's writing was irreverent and darkly funny. Gideon spoke with a voice that sounded like a sarcastic best friend, and it quickly made me love her. The other characters all had their own unique personalities as well, and they were very interesting to get to know. In addition to the world building and characters, the story was extremely interesting and original as well. It was mysterious, exciting, and had a lot of great twists. The action sequences were particularly well written and vivid. It's essentially a gothic murder mystery in space, which is a crazy collection of story elements, but they somehow all worked together very well. This was such a weird and awesome reading experience that it's hard to describe. It's one of those stories you have to check out for yourself. 

The one drawback I found was simply the sheer amount of names to keep track of. This book has a lot of characters, and each of them is referred to in several different ways. Characters switch between using first names, nicknames, last names, titles, and house numbers regularly. Thank goodness for the character list included in the front of the novel, or I would have had an even harder time. I really struggle to remember numerical information, so the house numbers in particular were very difficult for me to keep track of. I got through it in the end, but there was more than one time I was mistaking which character was which.

Even so, however, I really did enjoy Gideon the Ninth and highly recommend it to fans of science fiction and fantasy. This is book one in a series, and I'm actually quite interested in continuing on with it after I get through a few more of the books I already own. This was a surprisingly great and really unique read.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 13/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 10/24

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

The next book I picked up from my TBR pile was The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I bought this one awhile ago, based on excellent reviews. I hadn't read anything by Coates before, but I knew going in that this was a very highly regarded writer, so my expectations were fairly high. Happily, I wasn't disappointed. 

The plot of the novel follows a young man named Hiram Walker. He was born into slavery in Virginia and was separated from his mother when he was a small child. He can't remember anything about her, but he did inherit her gift - the ability to magically transport himself from one place to another. This power lies dormant inside of him until an accident brings it to the surface and awakens a desire in him to escape from bondage. He is unable to use his powers at will initially, and his escape attempt leads him on a journey through all sorts of dangers. Through it all, he persists in trying to secure his own freedom, and the freedom of everyone still trapped in the terrible institution behind him.

This was, to put it simple, a very good book. From beginning to end it was beautifully written and engaging. It spoke about slavery in a way that showed the absolute abomination and tragedy of it all and brought its monstrous impact on families to light. I don't always love magical realism, but I found that I really enjoyed it here. Coates ties Hiram's mysterious powers to love, family, and memory in a way that emphasizes the humanity and dignity of enslaved people. The whole story felt very wise and important. It's clear that Coates is a master of his craft.

I happened to read this during a time when Florida was in the news for creating a social studies curriculum that attempts to soften the harm and emphasize the benefits of slavery. This idea is obviously outrageous, and it felt even more insulting to me while I was in the midst of this story. This is a fictional tale, but the ideas and themes still ring true. Hiram's story, magical though it is, makes clear to readers the pain of this time period and the absolute wrongness of it all. Honestly, this would be an excellent novel to add to a high school English curriculum to show how authors can bring increased understanding and empathy to real world issues through literature.

 The Water Dancer is the kind of book that is perfect for book clubs and great to recommend to anyone. It was an emotional and thoughtful read with an important message. I look forward to trying more of Coates' work in the future.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 12/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 9/24

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

 

It's been quite a break in between posts this time around! I have been reading a little, but mostly I've been relaxing and enjoying my summer before the hustle and bustle of the academic year begins again. I am still here, however, and getting back on track with blogging now. I read The Paris Wife  back in June and wrote most of this review. However, I never ended up wrapping it up and posting it. I finally got around to it today!

In keeping with my tradition as of late, I picked up The Paris Wife simply because it was the next book on top of my to-be-read stack. I've had this one on my shelf for ages, but I don't often reach for historical fiction, so I never ended up picking it up. Plus, the plot of this one centers around Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife. Hemingway is probably the most famous author I know nothing about, so I also hesitated to pick this one up because I wasn't sure if I would be able to appreciate it without having any background knowledge. The rules of the stack are the rules of the stack though--I read whatever is next on it. The Paris Wife was next, so I gave it a try.

As I mentioned, this novel is a fictionalized account of Hadley Richardson and her marriage to Ernest Hemingway. The story is told almost entirely from Hadley's point of view and begins right around when she first meet Ernest while staying with friends in Chicago in 1920. The pair are drawn to each other right away and maintain a long-distance relationship through letters after Hadley returns home at the end of her trip. The distance between them does nothing to dampen their feelings and eventually they get married. Their early life together is quite difficult--Ernest is struggling to make it as a writer, money is extremely tight, and Ernest's PTSD from his time serving in WWI periodically throws him into serious bouts of depression. Hadley is determined to help him make it though, and they move to Paris so that he can be close to the developing literary scene there. Through the mentoring of figures like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein, Ernest finally begins making some progress in his writing. Troubles are lurking on the horizon, however, and soon a secret will be revealed that will change Hadley and Ernest's relationship forever.

I ended up really loving The Paris Wife, and I was not expecting to feel that way. McLain's writing was slow paced and elegant. Reading it really made me feel like I was in 1920s Paris with all of its glamour, rusticity, and ugliness coming out at the right times. The details were well chosen and beautifully described. This was a lovely novel to fall into and escape, and I came to regard my reading time with it as a special treat. A lot of the historical fiction I read is centered around some type of large-scale tragedy, like wars or scandals, but this was a much smaller and quieter type of story. I appreciated the more private vibes I got with this one.

McLain's character development was similarly excellent. She wrote Hadley in a way that felt relatable and genuine, and I developed a lot of empathy for her throughout the novel. I was worried about not knowing much about Hemingway before starting this, and it turned out that I really didn't need to because this is Hadley's story, through and through. I'm sure there are references to things sprinkled throughout that went over my head, but I never felt like I was missing anything at any point. 

So in the end, The Paris Wife was a nice surprise for me. I went into it not expecting much and came out with a lovely reading experience. I felt like I got a peek into the past and learned a little bit about a famous author from a different perspective. Funnily enough, this book did not make me want to actually read something by Ernest Hemmingway. He was a very troubled man who hurt a lot of people, but I know that's true of a lot of authors. I'm sure I'll eventually come around and give him a try. This book, however, I would definitely recommend to anyone. 

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 11/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 8/24

Recursion by Blake Crouch

 

The next book I picked up from my stack was Recursion by Blake Crouch. I bought this novel a few years ago on the recommendation of a book YouTuber and it had been sitting in my little book cart ever since. I hadn't read any true science fiction in 2023 up to that point, so I was definitely due to give one a try. I jumped in ready for some page-turning, science-y action. Happily, I wasn't disappointed.

Recursion follows two characters. The first is Barry, a detective. He is struggling in his personal life as the novel begins and is still grieving the loss of his teenage daughter who died in a hit and run several years ago. One afternoon, he responds to a call about a potential suicide. A woman is about to throw herself off of a building. When he arrives to try and talk her down, she tells him a strange story about having two sets of memories in her head. She can distinctly remember two lives--one in which she was a happily married wife and mother living out in the country and the one she is currently in now, in which she is a single high-powered executive. She can't reconcile the two sets of memories, she wants to go to the life where she was a mother, and is in despair over the whole situation. Her story intrigues Barry, who sets off on a path to investigate these mysterious memories.

The second character is Helena, a scientist studying memory in an effort to help Alzheimer's patients. Her goal is to be able to build a device that allows her to trigger memories in peoples' minds on command. She is brilliant, but unable to secure the kind of funding she needs to take her research to the next level. This changes when she is approached by a tech billionaire who offers her a chance to build the memory machine of her dreams at his private facility. Her work soon starts yielding incredible results, but the implications of what she creates are very dangerous and she fears what could happen if her work ever falls into the wrong hands.

The paths of these two characters eventually cross as they both work to sort through a series of impossible and dangerous consequences born from the intersection of technology and memory.

I really ended up liking this book. It was action-packed and contained lots of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. I couldn't really guess what was coming most of the time and I was totally engaged trying to figure out where the story was going. Aside from the interesting plot, Crouch's writing was easy to read and very engaging. The narration flipped back and forth between Barry and Helena and created lots of mini-cliffhangers along the way. Both sides of the story were great though, so I was never too annoyed to cut away from a character for a little while. In addition to all the exciting bits, the story asked some deep questions about memory, trying to change the past, and how humans experience time. Like all good science fiction, it gave me some complicated ideas to think about after the story was over. I couldn't help by feel like this would make a great limited series on TV.

Recursion ended up being an excellent read. I would definitely recommend it to science fiction fans or even people interested in trying out the genre. It's a very approachable story with a highly interesting and engaging plot--the perfect book to escape into. I'm happy to have randomly picked it up. Hopefully whatever book is next in my stack will be just as enjoyable.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 10/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 7/24

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

 

After reading a few very serious books, I was happy that the next title in my stack was on the lighter side. Adult contemporary fiction isn't a genre I usually pick up, but I made an exception for Landline based on the author. I've been a fan of Rainbow Rowell's young adult work since I read Eleanor and Park years ago, so I was very interested to see how I would feel about her fiction for grownups. 

The plot of the novel follows Georgie McCool, a TV writer in her thirties. She is married to her husband Neal and they live in LA with their two young daughters. As the story begins, Georgie and Neal are going through some trouble in their marriage. Georgie has been focusing on her career while Neal, who is a stay at home dad, wishes she would spend more time with the family. When a big opportunity comes up that requires Georgie to work over Christmas, Neal decides to take the kids and visit his family across the country without her. Afraid that her marriage might be over, Georgie tries calling him to check in using her old landline phone and discovers something impossible. Her landline is calling Neal in the past, from just before they got engaged. Speaking to the younger version of her husband stirs up a lot of old memories and feelings in Georgie, and it also presents her with an interesting opportunity: a chance to save her present-day marriage by reaching into the past.

I ended up really enjoying this book, even though it was quite a different pick for me. Rowell's writing was easy read and felt quite relateable. The emotions were genuine and the characters were layered. I found myself torn between Georgie and Neal's issues. Georgie was often careless in the way she treated her family and should have placed more importance on being there for them. However, Neal was struggling with a personal aimlessness that made him needy and resentful, often unfairly so. Neither character was perfect but both were still sympathetic, which brought complexity to the story. I also appreciated that while the topic was a serious one, the tone wasn't too depressing. Georgie's dry sense of humor kept things from being too dark and the supporting characters (especially her mother and sister) added some lightness as well.

So, much like I enjoyed Rainbow Rowell's writing for young adults, I enjoyed her writing here too. I wouldn't say this is one of those novels that will stay with me forever, but it was a fun bit of escapism and the perfect thing to break up the serious stories I have been reading lately. This was a solid read that ended up being a sweet and emotional treat.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 9/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 6/24

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

 

There hasn't been much rhyme or reason to my reading selections lately. I've just been picking up whichever book is next in the stack on my book cart. That was how I ended up reading The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. It's a novel about a pandemic, which I didn't think would appeal to me at this particular point in time, but this ended up being a special one and I'm very glad I happened to pick it up.

The plot of the novels follows several characters living in a small college town in California called Santa Lora. As the story begins a handful of college students fall ill with a mysterious sickness. They fall asleep and can't be woken up. Quickly, the illness begins to spread and more and more people begin to fall asleep. Hospitals are overwhelmed and panic starts to set in. Eventually, the entire city has to be quarantined to try and stop the spread. Doctors are able to determine that the brains of those who are asleep are extraordinarily active. They are dreaming intense dreams, but no one knows what they are dreaming, what is causing it, or how to wake them. 

The chapters alternate between some of the students first exposed to the virus, two children left alone when their father falls asleep, a new parent with an infant, a college professor, and more. Each of them have to try and survive in their new reality, facing all of the fear and uncertainty that now defines their daily lives. 

This novel was beautifully written and highly engaging. Walker's prose is a pleasure to read; even a topic as freshly traumatic as a pandemic felt interesting and mysterious in these pages. She did a nice job of capturing the sadness and complexity of emotions that comes with a crisis like this and creating a world that felt genuinely real. Even though there are a lot of characters that we only get to know for a short space of time in their lives, I found that I was totally invested in their stories and was rooting for everyone to be okay. It's hard to put anything more specific about why I liked this book so much into words, but it was one of those that I didn't want to put down. Even despite my limited reading time, I moved through it pretty quickly.

It's funny how a book that I picked up totally at random ended up becoming one of my favorite reads of the year so far. The emotion, the characters, and the mystery of it all really spoke to me and made for a great reading experience. I really enjoyed The Dreamers and am definitely interested in checking out more by Karen Thompson Walker.

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 8/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 5/24

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez and The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

I’ve been buried in school work these past few months, but I did manage to read a few books. Both were young adult historical fiction, so I decided to talk about them both in the same post.

Historical fiction is a genre that I don’t pick up as often as others, but I always enjoy it whenever I do. Young adult novels in this category tend to hit me hard, with emotional storylines and compelling plots. These two stories were no exception to that.

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez centers around two teenagers named Naomi and Wash living in a rural 1930’s Texas oil town called New London. Naomi just moved to the area from Mexico with her younger brother and sister to live with her stepfather. Her relationship with her stepfather is fraught and abusive, but there are better opportunities for her siblings in New London. They are light enough to pass as white and are able to attend a good school there. For their sake, she forces herself to stay. 

When she meets Wash, an African American boy, she is instantly drawn to him. Though she tries to deny her feelings at first, they fall in love with each other and start dating in secret. Although neither one is white and both suffer from the racism of their surroundings, no one believes it’s appropriate for them to be together. They dream of running away to Mexico to start a new life, but their plans are thrown into chaos when the New London School explosion occurs. The disaster sets a chain of events into motion that threaten to destroy everything Naomi and Wash have been working towards.

This novel was beautifully written and completely gut wrenching to read. It touches on many heavy topics including racism, domestic abuse, substance abuse, grief, and more. Trigger warnings are in order for just about every bit of sensitive content out there, but those that are up for taking an emotional journey will be rewarded with a complex story about love persevering through unimaginable difficulties. The chapters are quite short and rotate through the perspectives of several different characters, making this an easy book to pick up and read a little bit at a time. It was very sad, and very good. 

The New London School explosion is a real event that killed over 300 people, most of them children, in 1937. A natural gas leak caused a massive explosion that destroyed the part of the school housing the 5th-11th grades. I had never heard of it before reading this novel, but it was horrific and absolutely devastating to the community. It was a very intense backdrop to Naomi and Wash’s story and Pérez did a nice job of integrating it into the text. 

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 6/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 3/24

The second novel I read was The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. This novel was based on the life of a real Auschwitz survivor, Dita Kraus. Dita was taken from her home in Prague and imprisoned in Auschwitz when she was a young teenager. While there, she and the other children attended a makeshift school run by other captives. The school managed to assemble a secret collection of eight novels to use in their teaching, and Dita was placed in charge of these books. To be found with a book in Auschwitz would mean instant death, so Dita's job was extraordinarily dangerous. Fortunately, Dita is an extraordinary girl, and her bravery and determination to keep her little library safe keeps a spark of hope alive in an unimaginably terrible place. 

This was another beautiful book set in a brutal place. Iturbe is a Spanish writer and this is a translated work. Sometimes the language sounded a bit off in the way that translated works do, but it was still a very touching story and a great reading experience. The terror and sadness of Auschwitz was portrayed clearly, and Dita’s story was told in a way that was inspirational and emotional. The story did what great historical fiction does–make history come alive to readers. It’s incredible that the real-life Dita Kraus was able to keep this secret library safe. I really enjoyed learning about her story through this novel.

So ultimately, even though the pace of my reading has slowed down quite a bit, I have still been able to find some really great reads. Both Out of Darkness and The Librarian of Auschwitz were excellent books. My semester is nearly over now and I’m looking forward to a summer where I can read and write a little more frequently. It’s funny–I’m in a graduate program to learn about the science of reading and how to help struggling readers. I’m literally spending so much time reading about reading that I don’t have time to read. Go figure.  

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 7/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 4/24

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

 

I was in the mood for an escape this month, so for my next read I decided to pick up A Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. I've had this young adult fantasy sitting on my shelf for ages now, so it was high time to finally give it a try. Ready to read about some magic and some teen angst, I dove in.

The novel is set in the world of Austermeer, a place where magic exists, but is feared by most of the population. Its use is restricted to designated sorcerer families and the rest of the population gives it a wide berth. Magical spells are recorded in grimoires, which are dangerous objects that must be handled with extreme care. Grimoires can spring to life in demon form if proper precautions are not taken. Some are powerful enough to lay waste to entire populations. To keep them contained, they are placed in special libraries and protected by wardens, a class of warrior-librarians that guard the books and monitor their usage carefully. 

The plot of the story follows a teenager named Elisabeth, a warden apprentice working at a library. Her greatest dream is to become a full fledged warden, and she takes her work extremely seriously. Everything she's worked for is thrown into chaos, however, when one of the grimoires in her library breaks out of its restraints and turns into a demon under suspicious circumstances. The demon murders the director of the library, and Elisabeth is accused of being responsible for it. In order to clear her name, she joins forces with a prominent sorcerer named Nathaniel, a partnership that challenges her preconceived notions about the danger of magic and leads her to uncover some deeply dangerous truths about the world she lives in.

Since I'm in the midst of my master's classes, I ended up taking it pretty slow with this book, just reading a chapter here and there over the course of several weeks. That ended up being a nice approach, because it allowed me time to really sink into the story and get lost in the rich, detailed world that Rogerson created. This was a well written novel, full of creative ideas and interesting plot elements. I loved the idea of warrior librarians and books that come to life. The story moved at a good pace and remained interesting throughout. I was engaged and enjoying myself the whole time I was reading, which is nice because I've found my interest in young adult fantasy waning somewhat over the years. I still read a lot of it, but it often doesn't hit me like it used to. This book reminded me of why I used to like it so much.

One element of the book that I thought was pretty unique was Nathaniel's sexuality. It's not a central focus of the story at all, but it does come up a few times that he is bisexual. He has a romance with Elisabeth, and it doesn't bother her at all. I don't often see that kind of diversity in medieval fantasy novels, so I appreciated its inclusion. It's not a big thing, but I thought it was pretty cool. 

Another element I really enjoyed were the overall themes of challenging prejudices and staying loyal to your friends. Throughout the story, Elisabeth has to adjust deeply ingrained beliefs she's held about magic for her whole life. She's been taught to distrust and stay away from sorcerers since she's been old enough to understand the words, but her interactions with Nathaniel and some other characters lead her to reevaluate her feelings and overcome them. She decides who to trust based on their individual actions rather than on broad generalizations. There are clear parallels to real social issues, but the story doesn't feel preachy. I thought Rogerson did a nice job conveying this message naturally through the plot.

Ultimately, I very much enjoyed Sorcery of Thorns. I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity of the story and I liked getting lost in the world Rogerson created. I can definitely see myself recommending this to young adult fantasy fans. Another point in this novel's favor is that it is a standalone, a thing that is very rare in this genre. I liked it being a one-and- done situation. As I don't have as much time to read as I used to, my reading time is precious. This novel was worth the time. 

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 4/24

Clear the Shelves 2023: 2/24

Straight On Till Morning by Liz Braswell

 

"Never Land isn't just a simple place of childhood dreams--because childhood dreams are actually never simple."

As I've written here on the blog a few times before, I love a good Peter Pan retelling. I always pick them up at the bookstore when I see them, and I've read quite a few over the years. There's just something about the mystery and magic of Neverland that lends itself well to new interpretations. I still have a few sitting on my shelves that I  haven't read yet, and I decided to give one of them a try for my next read. I settled on Straight On Till Morning, one of the Disney Twisted Tales books. This series takes classic Disney movies and reimagines them around one fundamental change. In the case of this story, author Liz Braswell explores what might have happened in Peter Pan if Wendy first traveled to Neverland with Captain Hook.

The story begins in London with an older, somewhat despondent Wendy. It's been four years since she found Peter's shadow in her nursery and she's been waiting for him to come back and claim it ever since. She's an imaginative child, prone to daydreaming and fantasizing about fantastical places, and her preoccupation with Neverland is beginning to worry her parents. They decide to send her to Ireland as a nanny in an effort to bring her back down to earth and develop more ladylike traits in her. Dismayed at the prospect of being sent away, Wendy realizes that Peter probably isn't going to return for his shadow or to save her. Instead, she decides to save herself. She reaches out in her mind to Captain Hook and offers to trade him Peter's shadow for safe passage to Neverland. He is only too happy to oblige.

 Captain Hook manages to sail his Jolly Roger up the Thames and whisk Wendy away, but almost immediately breaks the spirit of their bargain. He plans to keep her on the ship as a mother to his crew, and he seizes the shadow to use as part of a plot to destroy all of Neverland. Realizing that her risky bargain might end up destroying the place that she loves, Wendy manages to escape the ship and reach Neverland's shores, where she almost immediately runs into Tinkerbell. Together, they embark on a dangerous and fantastical journey to find Peter Pan and stop Captain Hook from putting his evil plan into action.   

This was a pretty entertaining read, and I was impressed right away with Liz Braswell's writing style. I thought at first that this novel might be geared more towards a middle grades audience, as its involves Disney content, but I was pleased to find that the text was firmly in the young adult category in terms of the complexity level. Braswell's prose was slightly dark and very beautiful, perfectly suiting the mood of Neverland. There were several truly striking passages, and I found myself marking some quotes to read again later, which is something I rarely feel moved to do. I also very much enjoyed the themes of independence, following your heart, and creating change that ran throughout the story. Braswell did a nice job of taking a classic tale of magic and imagination and tying it to the emotional struggles and problems of our reality. There was a surprising amount of real things in these pages for a story set in a complete fantasy world.

Another element of the story that I really enjoyed was how little Peter Pan was actually in it. He doesn't appear until three quarters of the way through, and even then he isn't a major factor in what happens. This story belongs to Wendy and to Tinkerbell and I thought it was an interesting change to focus on them and their growth as characters. At one point, Wendy even comments to Tinkerbell that they need to stop talking solely about Peter to one another and focus on other things. Wendy gains more confidence and independence as she moves through Neverland, transforming from an awkward and sheltered child to a more confident and independent young woman. By the end of the story she has come to understand more about what she wants her life to be like, and she uses the lessons she learns during her adventure to change her own world. 

Overall, I thought Straight on Till Morning was a thoughtful and worthwhile take on Peter Pan, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to students and older fans of fantasy retellings alike. Peter Pan is one of those classics for children that really hasn't aged well. This version, however, strips away the stereotypes and sexism and leaves us with a Neverland that is both full of magic and surprisingly relevant to modern young people. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I am looking forward to trying some other books in Braswell's Twisted Tales series. 

"Ah, so many of us look for adventure and wind up as slaves, one way or another...When you're young, you think the world will make room for who you are and what you want...And then you find the world of adults is even more limiting than the world of children. With no room for adventure, much less your own thoughts."

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

• Goodreads Reading Challenge: 2/24
• Clear the Shelves 2023: 1/24

Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne

 

It is a fact that graduate school will eat up most of my reading time soon, but it is also a fact that there are some reading traditions that I refuse to let go of. Starting off my year with a Jules Verne novel is one of those traditions. This time of year always puts me in the mood for a fresh adventure, and whether I go under the sea, to the center of the earth, or even to the moon, Verne scratches that itch for me. This year, I decided to read Five Weeks in a Balloon. I didn't know anything about the story before I started reading. I chose it simply because it was Verne's first published novel. You see, I've already read all the books by him that I have heard of before. Since I don't know much about the works that remain, I figured it made sense to start going in order. 

Five Weeks in a Balloon was the first novel in what would become Jules Verne's Extraordinary Voyages series and in it, he developed what came to be his defining style. He called it a "Roman de la Science," or "novel of science," and its aim was to blend an interesting fictional story with educational content about science and geography. Verne developed this genre himself over time and he eventually became so successful at it that he is remembered today as the "father of science fiction." Everything people love about Jules Verne started here, in the pages of this novel.

The plot of the story follows Dr. Samuel Ferguson, a scholar and explorer that sets out to chart the mysterious and vast continent of Africa, most of which is still unknown territory when the story is set.  As traveling on foot is treacherous and very slow, he develops a way to travel by balloon instead. He uses a combination of air currents, hydrogen, and a clever invention of his own that allows him to travel the breadth of the continent without running out of gas. He brings two assistants with him, his good friend Richard "Dick" Kennedy, and his manservant, Joe. Together, the three men set out on a five-week journey to see what they can discover. Along the way they run into danger from men, animals, and weather. There are moments that threaten to end the entire expedition and moments that threaten their very lives. However, using a combination of Dr. Ferguson's intelligence, Dick Kennedy's marksmanship, and Joe's agility, they manage to pull themselves out of scrape after scrape and collect more knowledge of the African continent from their perch in the sky than any of the other explorers that came before them. 

Overall, this story is a clear window into what Jules Verne's novels would eventually become. It hits all the hallmarks of a typical Verne adventure. There is an intelligent and unflappable hero with a practical friend and a goofy sidekick. There are long sections of factual information broken up by regular adventure sequences. There are scientific explanations provided for everything, including the technology that Verne made up himself. What was missing, however, was the charm. The cleverness and spirit of his later works simply wasn't here. You can certainly tell that these elements were on the way, but this was Verne's first novel and it felt like a first novel.   

The plot itself was repetitive and dry. As the balloon took flight, the action settled into a regular pattern of geographical exposition studded with short adventure sections, which the characters generally overcame with very little trouble. The stakes never felt particularly high. With one or two exceptions, most of the difficulties the characters encountered were solved by the end of the chapters they originated in. It was very clear throughout that Verne's main goal in this novel was to convey geographical information, and the bits of the adventure story were purely there to hang the different locations around. In his later works, Verne manages to bring the fact and the fiction in his writing together in a more satisfying way, but that balance was very much still in development here.

Similarly, the characters were fairly bland. All three of the main characters were early versions of what would become Verne's classic personality types, but were all a little bit lacking. Dr. Ferguson was the calm genius, with explanations at the ready for any phenomenon the group encountered. He was an inventor and explorer, with no fear and no ego. This mirrors many of the protagonists Verne would go on to write, but anything truly distinctive about this character was completely missing. He didn't have a witty catch phrase, a discernible sense of humor, or any idiosyncrasies to help him stand out. He was the smart guy and the leader and that was pretty much it. His friend Dick Kennedy was the cautious and loyal best friend. His one distinctive feature was his hunting ability and marksmanship, but beyond those skills, he was fairly bland as well. Ferguson's servant Joe had the most developed personality, as the goofy and capable helper character. He was physically very agile, an excellent cook, charismatic, funny, loyal, and eternally optimistic. His presence usually lightened the mood and brought humor to the story. I enjoyed him the most throughout my reading, but again, I've read better versions of this type of character in other Verne novels, so I knew he could have been developed better. 

With both the plot and characters lacking in development, this was never going to be the most exciting read. First novels often aren't, and I suspected this would probably be the case going into my reading. However, there was another element that impacted my experience as well that I wasn't expecting, and that was how very poorly this story has aged. I see this in classics all the time, of course. If you're going to read books written in the past, you are going to encounter outdated views. The views expressed here were particularly unfortunate though, and I was cringing the whole way through.

Five Weeks in a Balloon was published in 1863, and it is set in Africa. You can probably imagine how the African people were depicted. Every stereotype you can imagine was present; Africans were described as either uncivilized, childlike, superstitious, violent, or some combination of all those things. Dr. Ferguson and his friends say a myriad of unkind things about them and the times they interact with them all end in some type of deception or violence. Throughout the story, the characters encounter Black Africans and Arabs, and none of them are depicted well. It's outdated to the point where I could definitely not recommend this novel to anyone, ever. I do not believe that Verne was particularly racist for his time, and his other novels show racial views that are much more enlightened. Here, however, the descriptions of Africans are very stereotypical and it does spoil a modern reading experience. 

It is worth mentioning that this novel was an immediate commercial success in its time and it launched Verne's literary career, so the people of the 1860s enjoyed the story quite a bit. Picking it up today, however, and knowing all of the other great works that this author would go on to write, definitely puts it at a disadvantage. It is interesting for those who want to see the origins of a famous author, but definitely not one of Verne's stronger works. 

Like many other Verne novels, this story was made into a movie. It was released in 1962 and starred Red Buttons, Fabian, Barbara Eden, and Cedric Hardwicke, among others. I actually gave it a watch, as I was really curious to see how close it would stick to the book. They made a lot of changes; it's really only loosely based on the novel. One of the more notable additions was the inclusion of a government mission to use the balloon to prevent the slave trade from taking root in Africa. The movie also steered away from showing any black African tribes and kept their inclusions of Africans to Arab characters. The depictions were definitely still stereotypical, but much less offensive than the book. They also included some women in the story, along with a chimpanzee helper who drinks alcohol, smokes a pipe, and uses a rifle (he's the best character). The characters also had more defined personalities as well. Dr. Ferguson, for example, was extremely grouchy and sarcastic in the movie, and it was a very entertaining change. Of course, all of the educational elements were eliminated entirely, so the movie was definitely did not have the same goals as Verne's original novel. It was a rather fun watch though, if you can forgive the cultural stereotypes.

So ultimately, Five Weeks in a Balloon was a first novel from an author that would go on to refine his talents and create masterpieces of adventures. It's not a novel I would recommend to anyone, but I'm also not upset I read it. It was a chance to see where one of my favorite authors began, and a nice way to start off a new year of reading.  

2023 Reading Challenges Tally:

• Goodreads Reading Challenge: 1/24
• Clear the Shelves 2023: 0/24

Clear the Shelves 2023

 

My main reading goal for 2023 is to read books from my own shelves. My Goodreads owned-not-read shelf is currently sitting at 514 books. I want to reduce this number by the end of the year. I will be using this post as a place to list all of the books I have read towards this goal. Any book that I have purchased prior to January 1, 2023, will count for this challenge.

Books Read:

1. Straight On Till Morning by Liz Braswell (3/5 stars)

2. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (4/5 stars)

3. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez (4/5 stars)

4. The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe (4/5 stars)

5. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (5/5 stars)

6. Landline by Rainbow Rowell (3/5 stars)

7. Recursion by Blake Crouch (4/5 stars)

8. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (4/5 stars)

9. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates (4/5 stars)

10. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (4/5 stars)

11. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (3/5 stars)

12. Slade House by David Mitchell (4/5 stars)

13. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (5/5 stars)

Reading Resolutions: 2023

I love deciding on different reading challenges and making a reading plan for the new year. I usually go completely overboard with my plans, but this year will have to be a little bit different. A lot changed for me in 2022. I became the reading specialist at my school and started graduate school. Both of these things greatly affect my reading time, so I have to plan small for 2023. I'm going to keep it simple and focus on reading from my shelves.

 I'm going to stick to a modest goal for this year and set a goal of finishing 24 books. That's just two per month, so I'm really hoping I can accomplish at least that much.

My only other challenge will be another Clear the Shelves Challenge. I did this in 2018 and in 2021. Both times I was able to read several books from my own shelves and donate them, and I am hoping to do the same in 2023. I'm not going to put a number on this, but obviously, the more books I can read here, the better. My owned-not-read shelf on Good Reads is currently sitting at 513, so I've got a lot of books to choose from.

And that's it for 2023! As I said, I'm keeping it very simple because I know I will not have a lot of time to read. I'm hopeful that I will still be able to find some new favorites and clear some books off of my TBR pile.