Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

This book was a total judge-the-book-by-its-cover impulse buy. I kept seeing it in the bookstore and finally just bought it without even reading the back. I figured with the amazing glow in the dark cover and the title, how could I dislike it?

Turns out, I made the right call. This book was delightful. It was whimsical without being twee and techie without giving me hives. Clay is unemployed, living in San Francisco, and takes a job at the eponymous bookstore, working the night shift. He notices that elderly patrons come in and request strange, old books. The weird part is that they all have discount cards that let them take the books for free. Clay, his Googler girlfriend Kat, and his friend Neel start to investigate and uncover all sorts of centuries-old shenanigans.

My favorite part of this story was the characters. They are all interesting and quirky. I think one of the best things Robin Sloan did was create these characters who are quirky but never adorkable or twee. I enjoy New Girl as much as the next gal, but sometimes you just don’t want that adorable nonsense. They are all resourceful and smart. In many ways the group reminded me of Harry Potter – smart kids piecing together the mystery while a benevolent old man watches.

Where this book lost me was some of the plot elements. It was engaging, with secret societies and geeky tie-ins (I especially like the connections with a fantasy series) but there were times where it just asked a lot of the reader. There comes a point where suspension of disbelief is no longer possible, and this book hit that point for me.

Despite its plotting faults, I really loved this book. I am a sucker for well-written characters and reasonably decent plots and this book delivered. It was the perfect weekend quick read.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah is a love story. It is about Ifemelu’s love for America, her love for Nigeria, her love for Obinze, and everything in between.

This book has so many different layers. There’s immigration, race, romance (interracial, adulterous, childlike, and more) and also family and identity.

Ifemelu is a Nigerian woman living in the US. The story opens with her reflecting on moving back to Nigeria in a hair salon. From there, it flashes back to her childhood and adolescence in Nigeria, meeting Obinze, moving to America and how her journey has brought her here, to this salon. One thread throughout the book is her career as a blogger and speaker.

I absolutely loved this book. The way Adichie explores Ifemelu’s past is tender and funny, but also heartbreaking. I loved the exploration of immigration and what it means to “become” black as an African immigrant. Though her romances are a huge part of the book, the book is never about her romances. It is about how they shape her, how she makes decisions within and without them, and ultimately how they lead her to the conclusion.

I think a lot of people want to pigeonhole this novel as a Book About Race. And while that is true, race and identity play a huge role, I think that is a simplistic way of viewing Americanah. It is at its heart a novel about a woman finding her way in the world, and part of her journey is confronting her identity as an African immigrant in a racially charged country. To say that the book is only about race is to completely invalidate the romance, family, and self-discovery this book also explores.

There were a few times in this book where it felt like the narrative wasn’t going anywhere, especially when it was exploring in-depth her life with one of her boyfriends. Other than that section, this book was fantastic. It never felt like a 400-page book. In fact, I read it in less than a week which, considering how slowly I’ve been reading this summer, should say something about how engrossed I was by Adichie’s writing.

All in all I can’t sing the praises of this book enough. Engrossing characters, fantastic writing, and overall wonderful storytelling.

Friday reads

Still exhaling from finishing Americanah Friday. Review coming soon.

Throne of Jade – Temeraire #2

Throne of Jade is the second book in the Temeraire series. Temeraire is a Chinese Imperial dragon living in England during the Regency era with his handler Captain Laurence. Laurence used to be a naval officer, before becoming Temeraire’s handler and joining the Aerial Corps. The second book centers around the conflict between England, who thinks they won Temeraire’s egg in a battle, and the Chinese prince who sees it as an affront to his country’s honor. Parts take place in England, on the sea, and in China.

Let’s start with the positive. I’m still loving the idea behind this series. The idea of talking dragons as the air force is such an inventive idea. I love Laurence’s discomfort with anything outside his Regency-era norms, Temeraire’s challenging of them, and how he is dealing with that and changing some of his ideas. Laurence has shown growth from doing his duty to being part of the aerial corps. I enjoyed the glimpse into Chinese history, which I know embarrassingly little about.

Now for the bad. I struggled to get through this book. When it opens, you feel like you missed a chapter or a prologue. It starts in the middle of a scene. There’s no real rising action, the story just kind of goes along and then all of a sudden climaxes (twice). So much time is spent on the boat watching the British and Chinese offend each other. Temeraire gets a cold.

This whole book just felt like there should be more plot (Laurence might lose Temeraire, after all), but it really just seems like it’s a blow by blow of a boat journey.

After this one, I need to decide whether I want to continue with the rest of the series. I think I’m going to try the third before deciding to abandon the series, but I was quite disappointed with this one.

Best Books of the Year

In keeping with The Millions, Book Riot, and everyone else, I present: the best books of the year (according to me). These books are not necessarily published this year, in fact none of them are. Instead, I’ll just be going over my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. (I’ve included links to my more in-depth reviews.)

Fangirl
The first book I read this year and one of my favorite. Rainbow Rowell deserves every bit of hype she got from this book. The characters are fleshed out humans with different contexts and motivations. The portrayal of college life is spot on. I especially appreciated her commentary on “The College Experience” (that is, that there isn’t one way to do college). Her portrayal of mental illness and family dynamics are real and heartbreaking. Definite must-read.

American Gods
My second Gaiman, and my obsession. I recently discovered this is getting a Starz series, and I could not be more excited. This is one of my first forays into adult fantasy and it’s safe to say I’m in love with urban fantasy. I love the concept of this book, where the new gods are TV and computers. I love the creepy elements and the mystery aspects. It also doesn’t hurt that Gaiman is a great prose writer.

The House Girl
Though I don’t read as much historical fiction as I once did, this book makes me want to return to it. This story alternates between a slave girl and a modern-day lawyer searching for her story. The book is a reminder of how many different ways slaveholders removed slaves’ agency: the blatant violence we often see, and more subtle oppression like demanding affection and taking credit for their work. We also see family dynamics on multiple different levels. I didn’t love the ending of this book, but I loved the rest so much that it made my top books.

The Casual Vacancy
A re-read for me, it was even better than I remember. JK Rowling is a master of character development and this story is no exception. The class, gender, race, and small town politics slowly peel away to see the characters in all their flawed glory. This book may seem like there is no plot, until it gut-punches you in the end. I think the flak Rowling got when this book first came out was harsh and reactive. Must-read.

The Casual Vacancy

This book, man. This book. I read it two years ago when it first came out and just finished reading it for the first time since. It just destroyed me. The way all the character’s stories intersect, the historical context of the town, the social issues – I just love it.

This book is one of those books you think you get in the beginning. Class issues. Unhappy, trapped people. Smug people. Nothing too crazy, fairly standard fare. Then Rowling begins to peel back the layers, exposing a little more about these people and this town until the shit hits the fan.

I do have complaints, I will not be fawning over this book for the entire post. Since the characters are so vivid and interesting, it is all the more glaring when one is underdeveloped or shoehorned. Patricia Mollison, for example. We already know the Mollisons are insufferable, hypocritical, and condescending. We know Miles is the chosen one. We don’t need her character to re-emphasize these qualities. Since she serves no other purpose as a character on her own, we don’t really need her in the story.

I like that we are left in the dark about many aspects of Barry Fairbrother. It allows us to deal with the fallout from his death and experience questioning like one of the townspeople. That said, I do wish we knew a little more about him. The way the book reads, he is a do-gooder whose only flaw is spending too much time as a do-gooder and maybe not quite enough with his family. He isn’t given any substantial faults, which results in the impression that he was actually perfect, instead of the fact that he is being deified post-mortem.

I loved the stark realism of this book. Fats, with his concerns with authenticity and complete misunderstanding of the world around him, is what John Green’s earnest characters would probably be like in a darker, realer world. All the people in this book, even the “good” guys, have something dark inside them, like we all do. That’s what makes JK Rowling’s characters so amazing. We see (and maybe judge) their darkness, but we also see ourselves.

Favorite Bloggers

Today is the anniversary of Google Reader’s death. In memoriam, I’d like to share a glance into my (inferior) Feedly and show you what I’m reading.

Ashley Riordan

I followed Ashley Riordan originally on her YouTube channel Climb the Stacks. From there, I found her blog. Though not defined as any particular niche, she is very introspective and writes a lot about her travels and her reading. She travels to a lot of National Parks (like two a month) and has great pictures and reflections. I love the breezy, casual tone many blogs have but part of what keeps me coming back to Ashley’s blog is her more serious, reflective style.

Roxane Gay

You may be familiar with the two books she has coming out this year – a novel called An Untamed State and an essay collection called Bad Feminist. Or, like me, you may be familiar with her tumblr. She blogs about a wide variety of topics, but my favorite pieces of hers are ones where she blends food writing with reflections on social justice. It doesn’t sound like it should work, but it’s beautiful. She had a piece recently where she meditates on the futility of being a “good girl” and bakes a pie like a pushy bitch. It shouldn’t work, but it does so well.

The Yellow House

She doesn’t post that frequently, but when she does it’s lovely. The photos are just my style – lots of wood, clear glass, and sunlight. The food is of the healthy-comfort food variety: homemade granola, baked squash, and marmalade cake. She mixes standard recipe how-tos with meditations on family heirlooms and local eating.

EssieButton

One of my favorite YouTubers, she is also one of the few whose blog is more than just a way to get more channel subscriptions. While her YouTube videos do have blog posts devoted to them, her blog is much more than that. When she reviews a new lipstick, she doesn’t just grab one color she likes. She buys the whole line and reviews the consistency, pigmentation, texture, and color. Plus, her smile is infectious and her dog is hilarious.