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January in books
I read 18 books in January.
That may sound impressive, but the truth is, there came a point around book 10 where I was like, "Am I really taking the time to appreciate these books, or am I just choosing quantity over quality so my spreadsheet and reading journal look good?"
(I decided to use both methods to track my reading and have no regrets.)
Then I read another eight books.
Two were graphic novels and three were middle grade, so on the shorter side, but honestly? I just had a lot of time. Like, I was back at "work" from the 15th, but there wasn't much to do, so I read.
Anyway, highlights:
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Historical horror about a haunted reform school in the Jim Crow era south. The ghosts are less scary than the racism.
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyoon Sook and Ryan Estrada
Late middle grade/early YA graphic novel about political repression and the ensuing activism in 1980s South Korea. Banned in some US states because opposing a far right regime sets a bad example for the kids, I guess. I think this is particularly valuable because a lot of young people consume contemporary Korean pop culture but may not be aware of the relatively recent history of the country, and the way its citizens fought for their democracy.
She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
YA horror novel about colonialism, family and a house that eats people. This is one of those books where I go, "This is good, but I'm not sure it's for me." Mainly because horror is generally not my jam, and it turns out horror with insects is specifically not my jam.
Ink Girls by Marieke Nijkamp and Sylvia Bi
Middle grade graphic novel about freedom of the press in fantasy-Renaissance-Italy-with-no-magic. (There's a word for secondary world fantasy without magic, isn't there? We did a whole panel on the genre at Continuum once! I'm drawing a total blank.)
Anyway, I loved this story and briefly indulged in the revision equivalent of cutting your own fringe: asking myself, should I rewrite my middle grade novel as a graphic novel? (I would love to write a graphic novel and really ought to start looking for classes in how to do that.) I also liked the art, which is incredibly colourful and lively, but I also found it a little hard to follow. I'm going to look out for the hardcopy, because I suspect the problem is the size of my iPad Mini's screen.
I also read the first three books of the Mirror Visitor quartet by Christelle Dabos, but I'm waiting for book 4 to come in from the library before I rave about those. (Only my very strict budget has kept me from just dropping everything and buying it in paperback. Well, also it turns out those books are MASSIVE. I've been inhaling them all in a single day, just wandering around the house, cooking meals, with one eye on my iPad at all times. So I thought they were quite slim!)
That may sound impressive, but the truth is, there came a point around book 10 where I was like, "Am I really taking the time to appreciate these books, or am I just choosing quantity over quality so my spreadsheet and reading journal look good?"
(I decided to use both methods to track my reading and have no regrets.)
Then I read another eight books.
Two were graphic novels and three were middle grade, so on the shorter side, but honestly? I just had a lot of time. Like, I was back at "work" from the 15th, but there wasn't much to do, so I read.
Anyway, highlights:
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Historical horror about a haunted reform school in the Jim Crow era south. The ghosts are less scary than the racism.
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyoon Sook and Ryan Estrada
Late middle grade/early YA graphic novel about political repression and the ensuing activism in 1980s South Korea. Banned in some US states because opposing a far right regime sets a bad example for the kids, I guess. I think this is particularly valuable because a lot of young people consume contemporary Korean pop culture but may not be aware of the relatively recent history of the country, and the way its citizens fought for their democracy.
She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
YA horror novel about colonialism, family and a house that eats people. This is one of those books where I go, "This is good, but I'm not sure it's for me." Mainly because horror is generally not my jam, and it turns out horror with insects is specifically not my jam.
Ink Girls by Marieke Nijkamp and Sylvia Bi
Middle grade graphic novel about freedom of the press in fantasy-Renaissance-Italy-with-no-magic. (There's a word for secondary world fantasy without magic, isn't there? We did a whole panel on the genre at Continuum once! I'm drawing a total blank.)
Anyway, I loved this story and briefly indulged in the revision equivalent of cutting your own fringe: asking myself, should I rewrite my middle grade novel as a graphic novel? (I would love to write a graphic novel and really ought to start looking for classes in how to do that.) I also liked the art, which is incredibly colourful and lively, but I also found it a little hard to follow. I'm going to look out for the hardcopy, because I suspect the problem is the size of my iPad Mini's screen.
I also read the first three books of the Mirror Visitor quartet by Christelle Dabos, but I'm waiting for book 4 to come in from the library before I rave about those. (Only my very strict budget has kept me from just dropping everything and buying it in paperback. Well, also it turns out those books are MASSIVE. I've been inhaling them all in a single day, just wandering around the house, cooking meals, with one eye on my iPad at all times. So I thought they were quite slim!)