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What I Just Finished Reading
Seedfolks – Paul Fleischman
This YA novel tells the story of a neighborhood garden across 13 chapters, each related by a different character. Fleischman set out to make very specific points on tolerance, inclusion, poverty, urban decay, etc., but on the whole it works, largely because his characters all come in shades of gray that keep the story from descending into the heavy handed. It’s pretty ridiculous to think that this volume ended up on a banned book list somewhere.
Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
I’d never heard of Ryan before this year’s scavenger hunt, but I’d happily read her other novels. Ryan’s style is clean and engaging, and she has a true knack for observing the world through the eyes of her 13-year-old protagonist, a member of the landed Mexican gentry forced to migrate to California for agricultural work. Ryan’s characters come with strengths and warts both, and she eschews easy narrative outs to explore the many contradictions with which they must contend. The depictions of communal bonds and familial affection were heartwarming, as well.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Binding – Bridget Collins
This novel appears well-written and thus likely to give me odd dreams during a period when I could do with fewer of them. Therefore, I have put it down for the time being.
Opium – John Halpern & David Blistein
“A landmark project,” trumpets the front cover, but 40 pages in, this is turning into a bog standard pop science volume, complete with half-baked pet theories presented as gospel truth and footnotes citing Reddit.
The Half-Drowned Prince – Linnea Hartsuyker
I’ve been sitting on this one for a few years and decided, in my thrashing around to determine what I really felt like reading this week, to give it a go. Three chapters in, it’s shaping up to be "Morgan Llewellyn writes vikings," which is by no means bad, but just not what I’m feeling this week.
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson
I only put down this well-written and riveting history when it grows too heavy to hold.
蟲師 5 – 漆原 友紀 (Mushishi vol. 5 – Urushihara Yuki)
The second story in this volume involves a girl who magically acquires eyesight so good she can eventually see through walls, then over long distances, and then through time itself. It’s one of the more Twilight Zone-esque stories Urushihara’s written.
What I'm Reading Next
This week I picked up George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, completing this year’s scavenger hunt, and Zen Cho’s The True Queen (to celebrate completing this year’s scavenger hunt).
これで以上です。
Seedfolks – Paul Fleischman
This YA novel tells the story of a neighborhood garden across 13 chapters, each related by a different character. Fleischman set out to make very specific points on tolerance, inclusion, poverty, urban decay, etc., but on the whole it works, largely because his characters all come in shades of gray that keep the story from descending into the heavy handed. It’s pretty ridiculous to think that this volume ended up on a banned book list somewhere.
Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
I’d never heard of Ryan before this year’s scavenger hunt, but I’d happily read her other novels. Ryan’s style is clean and engaging, and she has a true knack for observing the world through the eyes of her 13-year-old protagonist, a member of the landed Mexican gentry forced to migrate to California for agricultural work. Ryan’s characters come with strengths and warts both, and she eschews easy narrative outs to explore the many contradictions with which they must contend. The depictions of communal bonds and familial affection were heartwarming, as well.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Binding – Bridget Collins
This novel appears well-written and thus likely to give me odd dreams during a period when I could do with fewer of them. Therefore, I have put it down for the time being.
Opium – John Halpern & David Blistein
“A landmark project,” trumpets the front cover, but 40 pages in, this is turning into a bog standard pop science volume, complete with half-baked pet theories presented as gospel truth and footnotes citing Reddit.
The Half-Drowned Prince – Linnea Hartsuyker
I’ve been sitting on this one for a few years and decided, in my thrashing around to determine what I really felt like reading this week, to give it a go. Three chapters in, it’s shaping up to be "Morgan Llewellyn writes vikings," which is by no means bad, but just not what I’m feeling this week.
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson
I only put down this well-written and riveting history when it grows too heavy to hold.
蟲師 5 – 漆原 友紀 (Mushishi vol. 5 – Urushihara Yuki)
The second story in this volume involves a girl who magically acquires eyesight so good she can eventually see through walls, then over long distances, and then through time itself. It’s one of the more Twilight Zone-esque stories Urushihara’s written.
What I'm Reading Next
This week I picked up George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, completing this year’s scavenger hunt, and Zen Cho’s The True Queen (to celebrate completing this year’s scavenger hunt).
これで以上です。
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Holly Black is hit or miss for me. I love Spiderwick and the Tithe trilogy, and thought The Cruel Prince was a return to form (still need to read the second in that series). But Curseworkers and her short stories and novellas leave me cold.