February Read

My February read is pretty bare bones since I read two longer books this month and have been much busier with school and work.

I re-read Jane Eyre, which I read in high school. I had been expecting Jane Austen and was caught off guard by this book. I ended up being underwhelmed because I went into it with the wrong mindset. I enjoyed it so much more this time, and I’ll be putting up a full review soon. I also read American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I loved. I loved the different mythologies brought into the novel as well as the language, which was simultaneously simple and beautiful. Throughout reading those two longer-reads, I read the first five books in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I reviewed the first three here and will be reviewing the next three in the next few weeks.

In March, I’m hoping to get a lot more reading done over Spring Break. I’m planning to continue working through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Julius Caesar, and we’ll see what else.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

In American Gods, Neil Gaiman weaves together parolee Shadow Moon’s life with the looming war between Old Gods and New Gods. Shadow is released from prison and almost immediately finds himself in the company of Mr. Wednesday. The mysterious Mr. Wednesday pulls him around the US in a string of used cars pulling cons and trying to round up the Old World Gods for battle.

One of the main ideas behind the novel is existence as result of belief. People who believed in mythologies brought their beliefs to America and then abandoned them. The Leprechauns and sprites have to fend for themselves in this new world where no one believes in them. This is a recurring theme throughout the novel: are you still a God if no one believes in you? The theme carries over to the New Gods, who have seen the Old Gods pushed to the side and fear the same fate for themselves.

This book is the kind that you want to savor. There is Shadow’s character growth, the stories of the people and Gods he encounters, and the larger story of mythology and existence make the story dense and layered. Gaiman has a knack for using simple yet beautiful language. You won’t find many multisyllabic SAT words, yet the writing never feels simplistic.

This was my second Gaiman book, the first being his novella The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I saw many similarities between the two. He creates fantasy worlds within our world. There is never the moment of shock and awe for the main character, though, when they find out about magical happenings. They simply accept it and move on. This attitude toward magic as unsurprising makes the stories and characters more compelling.
At times haunting and hopeful, American Gods was one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I’m definitely looking forward to re-reading it, as I suspect it is a book that gets better with each read.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: the first three

I read ASOUE a long time ago. I started when the first three were already out, and read them as they were published. I remember them being dark but a little funny, taking place in an indeterminate place at an indeterminate time. Going back and re-reading them has been a lot of fun so far. They are just as dark and funny as I remember, but as an adult there are a few things that I like even more.

One of my favorite things from this series is the way that Lemony Snicket uses higher-level vocabulary and defines it within the text. It’s a great way for kids to learn vocabulary without being condescended to. I also love all the little literary references, like Mr. Poe’s son Edgar.

In some ways, though, the series is almost devastatingly sad now. The adults who consistently ignore what the Baudelaire children say, how they get shuffled from distant relative to distant relative with little attention to how they are faring, Mr. Poe’s general feeling that they are a nuisance. Children with dead parents who are continually left at the mercy of adults who are supposed to protect them. I didn’t remember the books being quite so dark in that regard, but I may have just not noticed.

Now that I have the first three down, I’m looking forward to heading into the conspiracies and Quagmires that fill the later books in the series.

Highlights from the first three books: Mr. Poe’s tone deaf announcement of “oh hey, you are having fun at the beach but your parents are dead.” Sunny playing with the Incredibly Deadly Viper. Aunt Josphine’s pile of cans to scare burglars.

January Wrapup

My goal of reading 40 books this year is off to a strong start! This month was kind of a hodgepodge. I had two standalone YAs, two Sherlock Holmes novels, and a middle grade. I bought an anthology of every Sherlock Holmes novel and short story, so I’m going to be working my way through that this year. I’m also going to be working my way through A Series of Unfortunate Events, one of my favorite series.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I reviewed this one [here], but I’ll do a quick recap. I loved the characters and Cath’s relationships with her family, roommate, and friends. It was sweet and sad and everything that freshman year is: terrifying but exhilarating.

Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

I also reviewed this one [here]. I was a little disappointed in this book, it definitely felt like it was a bridge between books one and three. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, just not as good as the first. There was a serious cliffhanger, though, and I’m really excited to see where this goes.

Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

This one I didn’t review because I couldn’t decide how I felt about it. I still can’t. I enjoyed the book, it was a really fresh take on vampires. In this world, vampires spread a virus when they bite. Once bitten, you are “cold” and can either (agonizingly) wait for the infection to take its course, or drink blood and become a vampire. Colds and vampires are quarantined in Coldtowns. There’s a centuries-old feud between vampires, a girl whose mother went cold, and all sorts of drama ensues. That being said, I was overall kind of underwhelmed by the book despite my enjoyment. I thought some of the character development was iffy, and some of the plot elements didn’t make a lot of sense.

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This one I reviewed last week. I loved the introductions of all the characters, I was less enamored of the surprise western adventure.

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I liked this one better than Scarlet. It was just Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan with only a few other characters. The mystery was exciting and Mary was actually a pretty progressive female character: she’s smart and brave, even if Watson’s response/description of her isn’t so progressive. Overall, I’m enjoying working my way through the original canon.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

I read these as a kid, so it will be interesting revisiting them as an adult. There were some quirky in-jokes that I didn’t notice the first time around, like Mr. Poe’s son Albert. I must say, I recently watched the movie and I forgot how much more grim the books are. The movie is dark but in more of a Tim Burton way, the books have much less of the humor than I remember. I still love the little asides of “a word which here means….” I cannot describe how much of my vocabulary I owe to Snicket’s use of high-level vocabulary and his little built in dictionary.

This month went well for being back and school and work. Hopefully in February I will finish Jane Eyre and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and whatever else I may throw in. I may finally crack and read The Fault in Our Stars (which I have been putting off partially because I do not like to be unhappy, and partially because I have enjoyed John Green’s novels but never fully understood all the fuss).