Chapter Two Hundred Sixteen: Artemis

So I listened to Artemis, the newest novel by Andy Weir (author of The Martian), because The Martian was really excellent on audio, and I figured the same would be true of Artemis.  Guess what?  The same is true of Artemis!  I was hooked--it was the kind of story that made me not want to get out of my car because I wanted to keep listening.  (It's probably also fun as a read, but if you do audiobooks, definitely listen to Artemis, delightfully narrated by actress Rosario Dawson.)  While there are a couple of really weird moments, mostly this is a fun, fast-paced, smart, and entertaining caper story.  I really enjoyed that our main characters--who live in the first and only lunar city, Artemis--come from all over Earth, offering a surprisingly and pleasantly diverse cast.  The main character, Jazz, is highly intelligent and also has her share of human flaws, a combination not found often enough in books, I think.  If you enjoyed The Martian, check out Artemis.  (If you haven't read either, go read both!  No, the movie of The Martian doesn't count, though it is good.  And yes, I'm hoping for a movie of Artemis.)  If you're looking for a smart, irreverent adventure story, check out Artemis.  In sum, go check out Artemis.  It's really good!

Chapter Two Hundred Fifteen: The Library at the Edge of the World

The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy is a feel-good small-town story without being overly sweet or unrealistically and relentlessly upbeat. While I didn't find this novel to be earth-shattering, I did enjoy and care about its cast of characters, and I liked its Irish setting (its author is Irish).  Also, if you hadn't guessed, it's about a librarian!  Although she is a somewhat (very) begrudging librarian...  This book reminded me a bit of Louisiana Saves the Library, which I read back in April of 2016--apparently I'm pretty into reading books about librarians.  Who'd have guessed it?  However, you needn't be a library junkie to enjoy this novel--it actually reminds me a bit of A Man Called Ove, too, though it didn't make me cry like Ove did.  If you're wanting some contemporary realistic fiction, try The Library at the Edge of the World.

Chapter Two Hundred Fourteen: Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet

I couldn't resist following up Candyfreak with an audiobook about eating bugs, and the library where I work kindly obliged!  (Actually, I wouldn't have found either of these titles if I hadn't been browsing the shelves at the library, an exercise I highly recommend.)  Daniella Martin's Edible offers a fascinating look at global entomophagy (that's a fancy word for eating insects).  Martin is herself an enthusiastic insect eater, and her enthusiasm infuses Edible as it covers topics as diverse as entomophagy's health benefits, its environmental benefits, and some of the various cultures that already embrace eating at least some insects.  Most important, Martin reminds listeners and readers that many insects, if prepared well, actually taste good!  Martin has spent years of her life researching entomophagy, and not just by eating insects, so if you're looking for some well-informed and informative non-fiction about a topic you probably haven't thought much about, definitely try Edible--you might be surprised at what you learn!

Chapter Two Hundred Thirteen: The Invisible Library (and The Masked City and The Burning Page)

So, for a book club I'm in, I read Genevieve Cogman's fantasy novel The Invisible Library, which I'd been vaguely meaning to read for some time, and I enjoyed it so much I had to immediately read its sequels, The Masked City and The Burning Page, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the next book (The Lost Plot), which is due later this winter!  Cogman's novels have all, or at least most, of the elements of the elements I want in a fantasy story: a strong female lead, alluring supportive male characters, a fearsome villain, a mysterious organization (which in this case is a library, even better!), dragons, fae, and multiple worlds with varying levels of magic, technology, chaos, and order.  If I haven't already convinced you, perhaps you're not a fantasy reader, in which case these books may not be for you, but if you like fantasy at all, or want to dip your toes into clever, action-packed fantasy for adults, check out The Invisible Library and its sequels.  I really can't recommend them enough!

Chapter Two Hundred Twelve: Candyfreak

I just finished listening to Steve Almond's (nonfiction) book Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America, and let me say that this was a really fun listen!  While it does have the occasional dark moment, Almond's joy (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) for all things candy is infatuating.  He delves into the sales and manufacturing of several regional candies, from my one of my very favorites (NECCO's Sky Bar) to ones I'd never heard of (Twin Bing, anyone? Big Hunk?).  His focus on the little guys of the candy world not only serves as a cultural exploration of various parts of the U.S. (he travels throughout the country to visit small candy factories) but also introduces a quirky cast of characters, as the people running these small candy companies tend to be as weirdly passionate about candy as Almond is.  If you like candy, or if you're looking for a light but fascinating non-fiction experience, give Candyfreak a try.

Chapter Two Hundred Eleven: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

So I wanted something short-ish to read on a plane ride recently, and also something that I could get as an e-book (due to luggage restrictions...), so I finally got around to Gabrielle Zevins's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which has been vaguely on my to-read list for quite some time.  It wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but I really enjoyed this novel nonetheless.  The narration is oddly distant from the characters, sort of keeping them at arm's length, which I normally wouldn't go in for, except they're all so loveable, or at least interesting (plus they're book lovers) that I didn't mind the emotional distance of the narration.  This novel is sort of a cross between a curmudgeon-finds-family tale (think A Man Called Ove) and a small-town-life tale (think At Home in Mitford), and I found it totally delightful, if a little rough at the start.  If you're looking for a heartwarming tale of an unusual family and its unusual little town, try The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

Chapter Two Hundred Ten: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume I)

So naturally I had to read Philip Pullman's newest book about Lyra as soon as it came out!  And I'm thrilled and relieved to report that this first book of a prequel trilogy (titled The Book of Dust) to His Dark Materials absolutely fulfilled my expectations and hopes for a continuation of Lyra's story--or maybe an expansion of her backstory is a better way to put it, since she's only six months old during this novel, though, as anyone who knows Lyra will suspect, that doesn't stop her from being quite a character!  But an eleven year old boy, Malcolm, is the main hero of this tale, and this new character is a totally worthy addition to the cast of characters from His Dark Materials. (I also really like Alice Parslow, a major accomplice of Malcolm's in La Belle Sauvage, although I hesitate to call her a new character, because I suspect that she'll later become the Mrs. Lonsdale of the early chapters of The Golden Compass, though I could be wrong...)  It's also fun to see younger and less major characters from His Dark Materials, especially Hannah Relf and Coram Van Texel, in a different context--and of course, we get some fascinating glimpses of the younger Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter, too.  While I think you could enjoy La Belle Sauvage without having read His Dark Materials, I also think everyone in general should read His Dark Materials anyway, and La Belle Sauvage not only lives up to His Dark Materials but also expands that universe in interesting and meaningful ways that make me want to go back and re-read His Dark Materials again.  I also can't wait for volume two of The Book of Dust--it literally can't be published soon enough to suit me!

Chapter Two Hundred Nine: The Woman Who Smashed Codes

I listened to Jason Fagone's biography of Elizebeth (yes, that's how she spelled her name) Smith Friedman as a sort of follow-up to Code Girls (see Chapter Two Hundred Five)--apparently everyone is writing about American women code-breakers of WWII just now...  It was a really interesting listen, especially in the context of Code Girls as Elizebeth Smith Friedman was certainly the first American woman to gain fame and steady work as a code breaker.  While her husband, William Friedman, is better known--he also broke codes during WWII and is considered the father of the NSA--Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a distinguished cryptanalyst in her own right.  The couple worked together to break codes for the U.S. government during WWI, from there continuing to build some of the U.S. government's and military's first serious code-breaking departments during the interwar years.  Elizebeth Smith Friedman also spent time in the 1920s and 1930s working with the U.S. Coast Guard to help bust rum runners during Prohibition, adding to the general excitement of her life, at least from an onlooker's perspective.  This biography also includes more personal details, like the fact that for years the Friedmans sent out their Christmas cards to family and friends in (simple) codes, and that their daughter wrote to them from summer camp using a simple code.  If you're looking for a good biography or an exciting story or more information on WWII, The Woman Who Smashed Codes is an excellent choice.

Chapter Two Hundred Eight: All About Emily

This small novella by (my favorite) Connie Willis practically jumped off the shelf at me while I was visiting another library for a meeting.  You don't need to have seen All About Eve to enjoy this novella about a series of encounters between an aging broadway actress and a very lifelike "artificial" (i.e. a robot) who aspires to become a Rockette.  All I'll say is that I was really surprised by how this story ended, and that I'll probably spend more time mulling it over than I did reading it (it's very short).  It's set around Christmas, too, so if you're ready to get into the holiday spirit now that Halloween is past, or if you just like stories about robots, or if you're looking for a quick read, try out All About Emily.

Chapter Two Hundred Seven: Yawn: Adventures in Boredom

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Mary Mann's little non-fiction book about boredom was actually quite interesting.  (Also, at about 150 very small pages, there isn't much time to get bored!)  Inspired by her own experiences with boredom, Mann briefly considers boredom in the workplace, boredom in romantic relationships, and boredom in entertainment (particularly the unique frustration experienced by people who have paid for entertainment only to find it boring).  She also offers a brief history of boredom, muses on its class implications, and considers some of the consequences of boredom, including irritability and violence.  If you've ever been bored, or especially if you've somehow never been bored, give this small book a try for a wider perspective on a very common phenomenon.

Chapter Two Hundred Six: Spinster

When Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick came across the circulation desk at work, I knew I had to check this book out.  While women are increasingly writing about their experiences as single women and studying the experiences of single women more broadly, there still isn't an overabundance of books, at least that I've encountered, on the topic, and I was interested to read Bolick's take on the matter.  She takes an interesting approach, interspersing her own experiences as a never-married woman from her twenties through her early forties with the lives of five successful female authors from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  (Many of these women authors did marry at some point, though few of them stayed married for the duration of their lives.)  By no means a manifesto against marriage or coupledom or cohabitation or family life, by no means a long and rambling screed against men (whom Bolick generally portrays kindly), Spinster instead strives to consider how marriage (or its absence) still shapes a woman's personal and professional lives.  Bolick isn't out to tell anyone else how to live her life; rather, by considering her own life thus far as well as the lives of the five female authors she's found particularly inspirational, as well as her late mother's short life, she offers a way to think about modern womanhood that includes but is not limited to marriage.

Chapter Two Hundred Five: Code Girls

When I started to listen to the audiobook of Liza Mundy's Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II, I was a little concerned it would be a dreary reckoning of all the ways that the U.S. government benefitted from the labor of women during WWII without according them the full benefits received by male civilians and veterans alike.  While that's true, Mundy's account focuses more on the positive attributes of the work done by these women, focusing on a smaller handful of them by way of examples.  If you're looking for a fascinating account of one of the lesser-known aspects of America's involvement in World War II, namely its female code breakers, or if you simply want a true story of deep friendships and fulfilling work, read or listen to Code Girls.

Chapter Two Hundred Four: Turtles All the Way Down

Of course I had to read the newest John Green book when it came out!  While YA realism isn't my favorite genre, I've been reading Green for long enough that I had to at least give Turtles All the Way Down a try, and I was hooked from page one.  I appreciate what feels to me to be Green's honest attempt at portraying one teenage girl's experience of mental illness from the inside.  Whatever faults this portrayal may have--and I haven't had enough time to parse it all out yet--I appreciate that Green has his protagonist, Aza, explicitly refuse to glamorize her mental illness while also having her explicitly state that some days are better than others and that there is no miracle cure on the bad days and that she is not merely her mental illness but a person with other elements to her.  I don't want to say much about the plot for fear of giving anything essential away, but if you've read Green's other works, you should definitely try Turtles All the Way Down (if for some reason you weren't already planning to), and if you're new to John Green but want to know what all the hype is about, I think Turtles All the Way Down is an excellent place to start.  It may even be my favorite John Green book to date.

Chapter Two Hundred Three: Jane, the Fox, and Me

So I noticed this large-format middle-grade graphic novel when someone else requested it at the library, and I was so attracted to the something about its illustrations that I decided to request it for myself.  I don't read graphic novels very often, though I tend to enjoy them when I do read them, and that's certainly the case here.  Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault comes to us out of Montreal (translated from the French by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou) and tells the story of Hélène, a preteen girl whose schoolmates have turned on her for reasons not mentioned in the story (and possibly unclear to Hélène herself). Alternately taunted and ignored by her classmates, Hélène finds comfort in books--Jane Eyre, in particular--but there's no escaping the torment of a two-week long class trip to a nature camp. Eventually, Hélène finds a friend in a girl who no longer wishes to put up with the antics of the mean girls and also realizes that the weight problems her classmates tease her for are non-existent.  While that particular point of plot resolution felt a bit too easy to me, and while the overall story arc is not terribly original--ostracized girl finds a friend--I found the illustrations to be so evocative of Hélène's suffering while tormented at school and joy while escaping inside Jane Eyre that they made the whole book a worthwhile read for me. 

Chapter Two Hundred Two: Rust: The Longest War

So, pairing nicely with the audiobook Ceasar's Last Breath, I listened to another science book on audio, Jonathan Waldman's Rust: The Longest War.  If you're thinking, Surely, not a whole book on RUST???, that's what I was thinking when I picked this up, but, really, it is a whole book on rust, and it was quite interesting.  After all, almost any metal you interact with on a daily basis is subject to rust, and Waldman focuses on several interesting real-life examples of the problems caused by corrosion and various people's efforts to combat corrosion.  Did you know the Statue of Liberty nearly rusted out in the 1980s but was successfully restored?  Did you know that pop-top cans (like soda comes in) will corrode around the opening if stored on their side for a few months?  (Did you know how many people find dead mice in their sealed soda cans???  Please, pour canned drinks into a clear glass before consuming!!!)  Did you know how tricky it is to find and prevent weakening areas in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline before they become actual leaks?  (It's really tricky.)  Did you know that LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow and Star Trek has also acted in movies about corrosion made by the U.S. government?  These are some of the many the fascinating tidbits in Rust, and I especially appreciated the audiobook version because the reader keeps a slight undertone of humorous incredulity in his voice--like he's thinking, Really, I'm reading a whole book about rust?--and this really added to my experience of the text.  If you want solid science writing full of quirky characters and amusing anecdotes and useful information about a super-common element of daily life, definitely check out Rust: The Longest War. 

Chapter Two Hundred One: Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us

I listened to Sam Kean's (nonfictional) account of air and gasses more generally, Caesar's Last Breath, on audio, and I found it to be a really interesting listen.  Kean includes plenty of real-life stories about various unusual people (usually, though not always, scientists) who have been involved with the study--or consequences--of gasses, including a man who lived on Mount Saint Helens and refused to evacuate before the eruption.  (They never found his body.)  There's plenty of actual science content, though, including clearly-explained information about the nature of various elements and molecules in their gaseous forms.  Mostly following a chronological sequence, Kean chronicles the various gasses that formed earth's previous atmospheres as well as exploring the gasses that comprise its current, life-enabling atmosphere.  He also includes events such as the discovery of oxygen (or, more properly, how humans finally figured out what oxygen is), the first hot air balloon flights, the career of a French performer known as the Fartomaniac, the fallout of atomic bombs and subsequent atomic bomb tests, and the purported Roswell flying saucer incident.  In the final chapter, Kean gets a bit fanciful, considering potential futures for our planet and how humans might respond to the atmospheric changes that result from human activity (climate change), but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The bonus PDF that comes with the audiobook version includes Kean's works cited and all of the numerous (black and white) illustrations from the printed book, which are definitely worth a look.  If you're looking for some quality science writing, definitely consider Caesar's Last Breath.

Chapter Two Hundred: Bird Box

So I read Josh Mallerman's Bird Box for a book club, and I'm so glad I did!  This sort of apocalyptic horror story is not my usual fare, but that didn't stop me from being totally absorbed into Bird Box.  Not only was the premise--that some mysterious creature has appeared on Earth, driving anyone who sees it to madness and then suicide--original and totally creepy, but the story of one woman's struggle to adjust to this new state of affairs is masterfully told.  I especially appreciated how we get two timelines: Mallorie's life about five years ago, when the creatures first started appearing, and her life in the story's present, when she and her two young children are trying to escape down a river, blindfolded, to a place where Mallorie hopes she'll find safety for them all.  Of course, I don't want to say too much more for risk of giving away key information, so I'll just conclude by urging you to check out Bird Box, even if you're not typically a horror reader. 

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Nine: To Be Where You Are

Basically, as soon as another Mitford novel is published, I'm already anticipating the next one, so I was super excited for Jan Karon's latest, To Be Where You Are, and it definitely delivered the entirely enjoyable read I was expecting!  As this sprawling series (I believe this is book 14) progresses, the cast of characters whose perspective we get widens, which I really enjoy--especially because it keeps me on my toes each time I have to figure out who's narrating now.  If you haven't read the previous books, I wouldn't start here, since there's so much previous knowledge you'd need about all of the characters, but the flip side of this is that, for someone like me who's been following Karon's Mitford  stories for more than a decade now, they truly feel like real people who could actually be living in (fictional) Mitford, North Carolina, and as always, I was so happy to return to them once more.  If you're looking for a homey, small-town kind of read for this winter, and you've got time to spare, I'd definitely give this series (the first is At Home in Mitford) a try--I certainly enjoy it.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Eight: Jane Bites Back

If you read the title of this post and are thinking that this can't possibly be/absolutely must be a Jane Austen vampire story, then you're so wrong/totally right.  After all, when a novel in which Jane Austen is still alive in the modern day because she'd been turned into a vampire two hundred years ago wanders across my desk at work, what else am I supposed to do but read it?  (Tagline on the cover: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is still alive today... as a vampire.")  This novel by Michael Thomas Ford was actually much better than I thought it would be, although it's pretty silly, even by my standards.  Let's just say that Jane Austen is not the only undead famous author to appear in the pages of this book...  Despite (oh, okay, because of) this and other silly story elements and plot points, this is a fairly enjoyable light read, with elements of horror and paranormal as well as romance.  If you're looking for some silliness or if you just want a fairly light but not totally insubstantial read, you might give Jane Bites Back a try.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven: William Shakespeare's Star Wars (audio recording)

So those of you with long memories may remember that I've posted about Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars three years ago.  For those of you with normal memories, click HERE to see my original post on the trilogy--my comments from three years ago pretty much still stand, except now I've had the delightful experience of listening to this trilogy as an audiobook, and it makes for excellent listening!  While you lose some of the visual information you get from reading the play (seeing that Yoda speaks in haiku, for example, while most of the characters speak in iambic pentameter), the audiobook makes up for this by adding great sound effects, including some fun Shakespearean-era music (where appropriate), music from the original John Williams soundtrack, and occasional R2D2 soundbites.  After listening to the very good but very intense Radium Girls (see previous post if you haven't already), William Shakespeare's Star Wars was exactly the sort of lighter, good-vanquishes-evil listening that I was wanting, and if you enjoy Star Wars or Shakespeare's plays or both, or if you're looking for something fun and quite unusual, give this a listen.  I really can't recommend it enough.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six: Radium Girls

Kate Moore's non-fiction book Radium Girls makes for powerful listening--it was often difficult to bear because the subject matter was so affecting, even as I desperately wanted to find out the ultimate fate of the women at the center of this narrative.  The radium girls were teenagers and young women hired to paint watch dials with luminous, radium-based paint in the years following WWI.  They were taught to point their paintbrushes frequently using their lips, in order to paint the numbers as neatly and quickly as possible.  At first, it was the ideal job--it offered well-paid and well-regarded work in the company of dozens of other young women--but after a few years, several of the dial painters began to fall ill with strange, horrible, and--at first--unexplainable symptoms.  I don't want to give away much more, but this is basically an account of extreme corporate greed and baldfaced deceit, with a hefty dose of acute human suffering as the result.  At turns legal drama, medical thriller, and family saga, this book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart, but it tells a really important story of two groups of women in two different radium plants who persisted in their pursuit of justice for themselves and for future generations of industrial workers.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Five: The Romance Reader's Guide to Life

The Romance Reader's Guide to Life by Sharon Pywell is a novel that combines several genres: while historical fiction is dominant, aspects of suspense, mild romance, and the paranormal are present.  (For those of my readers also in the Boston area, this novel is set in Lynn, MA, adding some fun local flavor, too.)  But sisters Neave and Lilly are the main focus of the story, which follows them as, after losing their jobs to soldiers returning after WWII, they start their own very successful cosmetics business together, each complementing the other.  But Lilly, as you discover in the first chapter, is going to wind up dead, and Neave will be in danger as a result (hence the suspense aspect of the story).  Excerpts from Neave's favorite teenage romance novel, The Pirate Lover, are interspersed with the main narrative, connecting with Neave's life in interesting, if not always subtle, ways.  This was a darker novel than I'd expected based on its title and cover, but it certainly held my interest!  If you're looking for something a little different, you might consider The Romance Reader's Guide to Life.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Four: Boneshaker

I don't read a lot of steampunk, so I don't have much to judge it by, but I really enjoyed Cherie Priest's Boneshaker.  Set in an alternate-history Seattle circa 1880, the premise is that our heroine's late husband had been a mad scientist who had destroyed much of Seattle and unleashed a noxious gas that turns humans into zombies--perfectly and gruesomely referred to as "rotters."  Sixteen years later, Briar is left with a wayward son and a ruined reputation, and when her son ventures into the desolate Seattle to try to learn more about his shadowed past, Briar has to follow him to have any hope of rescuing him alive.  With air pirates, undead, a creative setting and a really kickass heroine, Boneshaker offers a gripping adventure story that, if you're at all like me, will keep you interested until the final page.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three: Slade House

I didn't get what I was expecting (a story about a community of misfits) from David Mitchell's Slade House, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this twisted haunted house story.  Each chapter is from the perspective of a different "guest" at Slade House (hint: the so-called guests are never seen again), and we slowly get enough information to figure out what's been going on at the mysterious Slade House.  The end doesn't offer much resolution, so if that puts you off, this may not be the book for you, but if you're looking for a milder horror story, or  if you're already gearing up for Halloween, Slade House is a contemporary take on the creepy tale that is worth your time.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Two: The Wedding Bees

When The Wedding Bees: A Novel of Honey, Love, and Manners by Sarah-Kate Lynch came across the circulation desk at work, I figured it might make good light reading for an upcoming trip.  I didn't end up having time to read in while on vacation, but I really enjoyed it when I got around to it!  In addition to being well-written, it offers a fun (if implausible-seeming) New York City apartment building as its main setting, and the sort of loveably quirky and flawed cast of characters that I generally appreciate.  I think the subtitle sort of sums up the book, in which the well-mannered Sugar Wallace, an urban beekeeper with a knack for making friends and caring for neighbors, finally--with the help of her new friends and her bees--confronts her past romantic and social disasters.  It's not the most unpredictable plot, but I appreciated Sugar for her kindness to others and, as you've surely noticed by now, I'm a sucker for a happy story, so if you're looking for fun fiction with a heartwarming heroine, I'd definitely suggest The Wedding Bees.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-One: Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002

Hello readers, and sorry for the long wait since my last post!  The summer was far busier than I expected, not that I haven't been reading and listening to a lot of excellent books!  But for now, I want to write about David Sedaris's newest, Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002.  I listened to this on audio--he reads his own work, which makes it so much more personal, as excerpts from someone's diary should be.  Really, give it a listen.  It took me a few discs to get really into Theft by Finding, but I felt my patience was rewarded and by the end, I was sorry to part ways with this book and found myself missing the sound of his voice in my car.  While some of the diary entries were familiar to me from Sedaris's other personal essays, many were not, and I always enjoy his wry observations on the absurdities of humankind.  And somehow, even describing some of the grimmer aspects of human behavior, Sedaris always leaves me with a sense of hope, if not for humankind on the whole, than at least for the possibility of finding the humor that's lurking in the people and situations around me.

Chapter One Hundred-Ninety: My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues

Now that I'm nearly done with grad school, and therefore almost human again and possessed of time to do more leisure reading and write about it, I can get back to this blog!  Fittingly, I'm making my return writing a book that was both a graduation gift (thanks, Grandma!) and a memoir of another avid reader.  Pamela Paul, now editor of The New York Times Book Review, has kept a diary in which she lists what she's read (her Book of Books, a.k.a. Bob) since her late teens.  This book is the basis for this very readable* memoir, which focuses not so much on the books she's read but on how her reading habit has shaped her as a person and the course of her personal and professional life.  (Hint: you don't end up editor of the NYT Book Review by not reading.)  If you like memoirs, or if you like books about the power of reading, I'd definitely recommend My Life with Bob.  (See also Chapters Fifty-Five (2/14) and One Hundred One (11/14) for two other readers' memoirs that I particularly enjoyed.)


*Except for the chapter on children's literature--all I could hear were my many children's literature professors' voices (and, I'll admit, sometimes my own critical voice, too) asking all sorts of piercing questions about Paul's blithe assumptions about children's books.

Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Nine: The Martian

I just have to tell you all as emphatically as possible how much I adore Andy Weir's The Martian.  (Get ready for lots of exclamation points in this post.)  I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but--wow!!--is it great!!  I listened to it as an audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it!  By turns hilarious and nerve-wracking, I couldn't wait to hear what would happen next, and I also really appreciated the main character, Mark Watney because he's resourceful, optimistic, and has a great sense of humor.  I thought a book about a guy who gets stranded on Mars would be super depressing and dark and grim, but in this case it really isn't.  I mean, it has its moments, for sure, but generally Watney is going to give it his all to see if he can find a way to survive, which keeps the tone from being hopeless or too heavy.  If you're looking for a funny and clever adventure story, definitely try The Martian.