Chapter Two Hundred Forty-One: Warbreaker

On the sound recommendation of a good friend whose reading taste is often aligned with mine, I read my first ever book by prolific fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker.  The friend who suggested this was right that it was a good place to start, since it's a fast-paced standalone that's easy to get into and totally absorbing--which is really exactly what I'm looking for in leisure reading, these days. 

The basic premise involves a world where some people mysteriously return from the dead and are treated as gods.  There is a sort of magical life force--Breath--and having more of it (as do the Returned) enables greater perception of colors, as well as certain other powers.  Plus, there's a mysterious God King, who has more breath than the rest of them combined.  But his priests keep him very secluded, so he's something of a terrifying mystery to most.  However, this story starts when a princess from a neighboring/rebel kingdom is sent, per a peace treaty, to be the God King's bride.  This could be so cliche and, frankly, gross, but it's handled without any icky rape-turns-to-romance situations.  

But this is a story of intersecting stories, so in addition to the princess who's sent to marry the God King, we also get her sister's perspective, as well as that of a very mysterious figure who may be big trouble, and the perspective of one of the other gods in the God King's court, who isn't sure if he believes in his own divinity.  I enjoyed watching their stories become ever more entwined, and I was enthralled by the end, when the plots all converged.  If there's ever a sequel, I'll gladly read it.  I'll probably even read some of Sanderson's other books, one of these days.  

If you're into fantasy and want a unique type of magic and plenty of action, give Warbreaker a look.

Chapter Two Hundred Forty: The Constant Rabbit

 Well, it's been awhile, and I've certainly been reading in that time, but we'll start from recent history, and maybe I'll go back and add some of my favorites from the gap in which I haven't posted.

In the meantime, a book that I read recently and greatly enjoyed was Jasper Fforde's newest, The Constant Rabbit.  I was so excited this summer to read that Fforde had a new book coming out, and I was even more excited when it was finally my turn to borrow the library's e-book copy.  This is just as weird as all of Fforde's novels--the premise is that there are a bunch of anthropomorphized rabbits (they're human-sized, can speak English, and walk on their hind legs) due to a spontaneous anthropomorphizing event in England back in the 1970s.  The story, set in 2022, follows an apparently hapless civil servant working in RabCoT (Rabbit Compliance Taskforce) using his unusual skill at telling rabbits apart to identify wanted rabbits.  But when his new neighbors are a family of rabbits--and the lady of the house happens to be his college crush whom he hasn't seen since rabbits were barred from university--he finds himself questioning most every aspect of his life.

This is satire, mostly of contemporary British politics, but you certainly don't have to know anything about UKIP or Brexit or really anything based in reality to enjoy the story at hand--there's plenty going on without worrying about catching every allusion.  The rabbits' culture is particularly fascinating all on its own--they have been anthropomorphized, yes, but they have a distinct culture with their own language (though they can also speak English just fine), religion, customs (lopping the ears of rabbits who have turned traitor to align with humans; males dueling with pistols to steal another's wife), taboos (burrowing in residential areas), and sports (gamboling).  I don't think I need to say any more for potential readers to decide whether they're remotely interested in such a weird story as this, but for those with a taste for the zany, I highly recommend The Constant Rabbit.

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Nine: Akata Wtich

I've read a couple of other books by Nnedi Okorafor, one for adults (Lagoon) and one for teens (The Shadow Speaker), so I was looking forward to reading Akata Witch, and it did not disappoint!  It definitely feels directed at younger teens, or even pre-teens (the main characters are all between 12 and 14 years old), but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  It has superficial similarities to Harry Potter--the protagonist, Sunny, discovers that she, unlike her parents or siblings, has magical abilities, and she joins a school where she learns more about these abilities and makes friends with similarly gifted children.  But it is not just a re-telling of Harry Potter that happens to be set in Nigeria.  Akata Witch draws on a variety of African traditions in its magical world-building, as well as offering depictions of current (more or less) life in Nigeria, and its plot and characters are pleasantly nuanced.  Some elements worked better for me than others--for example, I would've liked to see a little more questioning of tradition, though I loved how this book encourages readers to question the bias and perspective of any text they read, and the romantic subplots, though minor, felt utterly unnecessary, but on the whole, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the sequel, Akata Warrior. 

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Eight: The Library Book

I was so excited when it was finally my turn to borrow the e-audiobook of Susan Orlean's new non-fiction book about the Los Angeles Public Library, The Library Book.  It switches back and forth between a more general history (to the present day) of the LAPL and an account of the fire that mostly destroyed the Central Branch of the LAPL in 1986 and its aftermath.  While sometimes it was a little unclear about why the writing was switching from one of these threads to the other, all of the content was so fascinating that I was happy to just follow along.  As one might imagine with LA (and with a public library), there are plenty of interesting characters in the pages of this book!  I also appreciated that Orlean leaves her conclusions about the actual cause of the fire pretty open-ended.  She lays out her research, which goes beyond just what the investigation at the time concluded, but the only concrete conclusion she comes to is that we'll probably never be able to truly know the cause of the fire.  If you like libraries, or history, or you just want a great true story, try out The Library Book.

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Seven: Lab Girl

I'd been meaning to listen to Lab Girl by Hope Jahren for a while, seeing as it combines two topics I really enjoy (memoir and women in science), and I enjoyed this audiobook maybe even more than I thought I would.  Jahren reads it herself, and I found her narration to be soothing in its slower pace, which I also felt really suited the subject matter well.  She also does an excellent job at infusing subtle emotion into her speaking--and, on a few occasions when it's really merited, she really lets the emotions come through in her voice.  I guess my point is that I can see how this style of reading may be slower and steadier than some people would like, but it worked beautifully for me.  Moreover, Jahren's story of being a woman in research science is fascinating, at least to someone like me who doesn't know much about how research science works.  I truly enjoyed listening to this book, and if I were to make a list of the audiobooks I've most enjoyed listening to this year, Lab Girl would definitely be on it.

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Six: Spinning Silver

I'm not sure how I read Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik a little over two months ago and haven't gotten around to writing about it here until now!  It's been a busy autumn, I guess.  Anyway, I quite enjoyed Spinning Silver and definitely plan on reading more by Novik, particularly Uprooted, which I'd heard good things about anyway and seems to be in the same vein as Spinning Silver, which is to say a re-telling or re-imagining of a fairy tale.  In the case of Spinning Silver, it is a story that seems mainly inspired by Rumpelstiltskin and what seem to me to be elements of Russian folklore, as well as elements that seem to be of Novik's own creation (mainly the Staryk, a vicious people of winter who have been menacing the society in the book for years).
It is told from many perspectives, which I really enjoy, and the three main perspectives offer a great variety of experiences: Miryem, a young Jewish woman whose family goes from poverty to moderate wealth all the while being ostracized for their religion, Wanda, a very poor young woman who escapes a brutal father by working for Miryem, and Irina, the wealthy but isolated daughter of a nobleman.  Their stories, plus those of other people, end up being incredibly intertwined, and the telling is all the more nuanced for the multiplicity of perspectives.  In fact, in general Spinning Silver, unlike its fairy tale inspiration, is not a black-and-white story of good versus evil but rather a layered story of sticky situations and difficult choices, for which I greatly appreciate it. 
I wasn't super satisfied with the putative romantic aspects of the plot, which tended to follow far more closely than I would like the fairy tale tropes of clever women needing to tame dangerous men in order to avoid death and falling in love (or at least in lust) with their oppressors, but one can't have it all, can one?  Still, it would be nice to see more romantic relationships, especially in fantasy, that are based on respect rather than fear...
Still, on the whole, I really did enjoy reading Spinning Silver.  If you enjoy fantasy or fairy tales, it's definitely worth your while to try.

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Five: Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World

As with The Year of Less, I ended up listening to Slow by Brooke McAlary, primarily because it was available as an e-audiobook through the library, and secondarily because I was interested in the topic.  Also, the author reads her own book and is Australian, so I enjoyed listening to her accent.  It was refreshing to hear someone talk about the ways she has struggled in her efforts to live more slowly, and it was especially refreshing to hear someone remark that of course it all sounds simple in her book because the process of writing requires streamlining what happened, or she'd be writing the book forever and we'd never get to read it.  I'm also just a little bit nosy, so I always enjoy books where people explain a bit about how they live and what their life is like, and Slow was no exception to that rule.  In fact, I'd say Slow is at least as much about the author's life as it is a how-to, perhaps more, because one of the points she emphasizes is that what works for one person or family won't necessarily work for another.  For her, slow living is more about figuring out what works best for you and your family and disregarding the numerous images of "perfect" lives that are presented to us so frequently in the media and on social media.  Anyway, if you're looking for tips on living more mindfully or if you, like me, are just nosy enough to really enjoy books where someone describes their daily life, you may well enjoy Slow.