This was a okay reading week, for me. A few books but long ones. Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.

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Middlegame (3.5 stars):

Smart kids get put on a pedestal by parents and teachers alike, and the rest of the class gathers around the base of it throwing rocks, trying to knock them down. People who say ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ don’t understand how words can be stones, hard and sharp-edged and dangerous and capable of doing so much more harm than anything physical.

Ok like many others, I am going to have a lot of trouble explaining this novel. I’m a huge fan of the wayward children and even though I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, there are enough similarities that I wanted to give it a chance. And then I just kept going, though I will say this was likely about a third too long. It could have been a tighter story without as many repeats. I know some of them were on purpose but some just felt like lack of editing, to me.

I think whether you like this novel or not hinges a lot on whether you connect with the two main characters. All the negative reviews I read seem to have felt no connection and the positive ones seem to have loved the two characters. I was mainly on the second camp. I loved these twins. I loved the math vs words split. I loved their connection. So I was willing to endure much to get to keep being in their world. I also loved Erin and really enjoyed watching her evolve.

There are many many interesting references here that I likely missed which could deepen the story in a second or third read but alas it’s unlikely I will. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my time in Roger and Dodger’s world and can’t wait for more Seanan McGuire novels.

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The Wisdom of Anxiety (5 stars):  “As Rilke said, ‘Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart, and love the questions themselves.’ When embarking on inner work, it’s essential to remember that life is a work in progres, and there is not end goal to healing. As humans, we are both whole and broken, formed and unformed. But there is a critical difference between having broken parts that need attention and believing that there’s something fundamentally wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with you. You are intrinsically good, loved, and whole.”

I usually read a book in 1-2 days. I will sit with it, dive into it and then come up for air when I am done. I expected to do that with this book as well and I couldn’t have been more wrong. This book turned out to be a journey for me. A journey through my own anxiety, my own childhood, my ability to be kind and generous with myself. I could not take this journey in one day, I needed it in bits and pieces, I needed to sit with it all.

I have highlighted 73 different sections in this book. I can’t quote all of them here but here’s one more that is the most resonant for me, especially as a parent but also for my own child-self:

“As a parent, one of my deepest desires is for my sons to know that they are loveable and loved exactly as they ae, no matter now angry, loud, messy, or disrespectful they are. I want them to know that all their feelings are welcome and important. I may not always like their behavior – and I let them know – but it doesn’t alter my love for them, which is unchanging and eternal. I’ll say to them “I didn’t like how you treated your friend today, but nothing will ever change how much I love you.” The message I hope to impart is: I love you because I love you. I don’t love you because you’re beautiful (even thought you are.) I don’t love you because you’re creative (although I do reflect back an awareness of your creativity.) I love you because I love you. And that will never change no matter what you do. “

This book is a reminder that anxiety is about a call inward to fill your well, it’s an opportunity to be curious and to be kind and to learn. It’s an opportunity for wisdom and growth. What a kind and generous perspective. It’s the kind of book that encourages action and growth through curiosity, openness and self-kindness instead of blame and shame. I am so incredibly grateful for the time I’ve spent with it and I know there will be times I will refer back to this to remember all of the wonderful and kind lessons she imparts.

Huge thanks to netgalley and sounds true for an early copy and for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

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The Sentence is Death (3.5 stars): I read the first book in the Hawthorne series last year and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to the second one and it did not disappoint. If you liked “The Word Is Murder,” I am pretty optimistic you’ll like this one, too.

I really enjoy the juxtaposition of Horowitz being the writer in the story and having the story within the story aspect to the whole novel. I enjoy Hawthorne and Horowitz’s characters both immensely and the interaction even more. I liked the first book slightly better just because there was so much joy in the newness of the concept and the introduction of the characters.

While I wasn’t able to guess the full whodunnit in this story, there were some twists and turns I was able to see coming and I actually enjoyed that the most. It managed to get me excited about how clever I was as a reader but also kept me guessing until the end in some ways.

Horowitz doesn’t disappoint. Looking forward to #3

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The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna (3 stars): This detailed and thought-provoking novel of a family saga starting in Cambria, Italy and ending in Connecticut over the course of some 100 years started out as a five-star read for me. This is exactly the kind of novel I usually like. It’s character-driven. It takes place over a long duration where you see the characters grow and change and find yourself getting more and more attached to them.

All of which happened. Especially for Stella, her sister, Tina, and her mom. But then the story was too long and my interest (especially over the repeating themes) started to wane. I don’t usually like reading around the topics of rape and incest and they play a reasonably major role in this story so that also started to get to me after 12 hours of audio and I had a hard time staying with it.

I am glad I finished the story and there were so many bits that I loved but, for me, it didn’t finish as strong as it started. And yet, I know it will stay with me for a while.

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And there we go, an okay week of reading. Here’s to a great week next week.

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Books I Read this Week 2019 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2019 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.

This was a meh reading week, for me. Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.

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Marriageology (3 stars): I am a big fan of reading about marriage (and other topics) while things are going well. I feel like at moments like these, I am open to learning and receiving because I am not constantly triggered by what I might be upset about. So all potential ideas feel like options I can try out and use to strengthen my marriage. This book has both anecdotal stories and academic research and statistics. I would say that if your marriage is in trouble and you’re reading this book for ideas, the tone might throw you off a bit. It’s funny and jokey, not in a bad way but it might rub you the wrong way if you’re hurting or angry. 

For me, I enjoyed this reminder of several different areas to pay attention to in my marriage and to always keep working on it.

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The Better Sister (2.5 stars):  This was a relatively fast paced novel that started with an interesting premise but then didn’t keep up the pace as much as I would have liked. If domestic mysteries are your thing, you will likely enjoy this and the few twists it contains. I didn’t really want to put it down while I was reading it which is definitely a sign of good pacing and plot, for me. But alas I don’t think it will stay with me for long.

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The Invited (3 stars): I had read that this story was going to be creepy and while I am not picky in my reading tastes, I generally try to stay away from creepy. After hemming and hawing I decided to pick it up anyway and I am glad I did. This is a medium paced character driven novel, you get attached to the characters through slowing learning more and more about their lives. 

The chapters are short and pacing is much faster than a typical character-driven story though I’d say slower than a typical mystery. For me, this didn’t turn out to be creepy at all. There is a twist here and there and I was able to guess several pretty easily but it didn’t take away from the story, for me, since there’s more depth here than a typical mystery story. 

In the end, I am glad I picked it up.

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With the Fire on High (4 stars): Acevedo is such a good writer. Her characters are so 3-dimensional they come off the page. They stick with you and you find yourself thinking about them all the time. This novel was very different from Poet X and still had some of the similar themes. It was fun, deep, thought-provoking, fast-paced and meaningful all at once. It’s hard to pull off all of those things in one story and she does such a good job with it!

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The Farm (3 stars): Golden Oaks is a surrogacy farm. Women host children for the wealthy. Many of the women who are hosts are immigrants who need money and jobs and a leg up in life. The clients are wealthy and white. This story is dubbed as dystopian but it’s not that far from a potential truth. 

While it was character driven, I still found myself unable to get into it as much as I would have liked. There was not enough variety and inflection in the story. The characters were each different but they all fell a bit flat for me. I felt the story went on longer than it needed to be (especially the epilogue.) 

While I think there are some very interesting ideas in this book and it’s a valuable social commentary, I think the execution wasn’t as tight as it could have been. Having said that I still enjoyed reading it and am glad these kinds of books are getting printed and read.

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And there we go, an okay week of reading. Here’s to a great week next week.

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Books I Read this Week 2019 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2019 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.