An LBGTQ Dystopian Western!

One million stars for originality for Upright Women Wanted!  If Sarah Gailey hadn't made her characters librarians I would have given it five stars.  Remember, these are not REAL book reviews, these are just my opinions.  I am not a big fan of books about librarians.  I know I am a librarian, but I just don't like librarian books!  So putting the whole librarian thing in there...which I totally get, because the librarians were really supposed to be the censors in this dystopian, fascist world, and so that was totally funny and cool, but it just took the joy out of it. 
I don't want to go into the whole librarian thing but I do want to say I LOVE the librarian job that I have and I HAVE LOVED ALL of the librarian jobs I have had! 
Anyway...I do love westerns.  I didn't think I would but then I accidentally read one!  I had ordered the latest Robert B. Parker and when I got it, well it wasn't Spenser and it wasn't Sunny and it wasn't Jesse and it wasn't even a detective or cop novel!  I was disappointed...but then...wow!  Once I met Cole and Hitch I was hooked.   I went on to read other westerns, too but C and H are my favorite.  So I liked the neo-western theme.  I loved the characters, too.  And it wasn't too long.  It was just the whole librarian thing!  But if you don't have a problem with books about librarians, this one is five star fun (and serious). 

Grace

I find I don't have much grace for some segments of society these days...that is my shame. I just can't seem to comprehend those who claim to follow Jesus to also be defenders of capitalism.  Our country is more polarized than ever.  The current crisis seems to bring out the worst in people, myself included.  It makes me want to run back to places where I found like minds and hearts.  And further isolate myself.  This is hard, hard time. 
The Grace Year reminds me of our society in many ways.  Before COVID19 there seemed to be a start, something glowing, something beginning, where people who had never had much say before, the marginalized, were rising up and things were moving, and dawn was breaking even among such shameless hate and greed and division and "us" and "them" mentality.  But now I wonder what will happen.  There is even more need for acceptance and affirmation and love and unity, but if I am any indication, I simply want to flee back to safe places.  I simply want to listen to Jesus and those who attempt to follow His words.  I simply want to draw strength from them instead of trying to be Christ to those who seem so sure that it is legitimate to ask "what is worth more, saving lives or saving the economy?" and "what difference does it make if COVID19 breaks out among the incarcerated and the undocumented?" and those who say, "These are the end times all the signs are here!"  And I am sure they don't want to hear from me, either! 
But I digress.  The Grace Year was quite good.  It was disturbing but hopeful. But it is one of those books that I would have read in 2015 and thought, "Things will never be this bad!  This is dystopian fiction!" and now I read it and think, "This is realistic fiction."  and I wonder if in a few months I will look back on it and think, "This is uptopia."  Because things are getting worse.  Fortunately God is still God.  God weeps with us.
God created ALL of us in God's image and we can grow into God's likeness by following Jesus's example.  And we are filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to treat ALL of God's in accordance with who they are --- GOD's children. 
Sometimes we forget that Christ is not Jesus's last name. 
Jesus is God come in the flesh.
Christ in the incarnation of God.
The first incarnation of God is creation.  We are called to be Christ in this world.
Now Jesus was different!  I mean, Jesus is God!  But Christ is a bigger thing.  It is complicated.  But it is an old alternative orthodoxy.  One book that really helps to break it all down is The Universal Christ.  I recommend this so highly.
I am scattered today.  I imagine we all are.
Much love,
Ing

Perhaps not the best time...

To go back and relisten to Life as We Knew It, the first in the Last Survivors series by the incredible Susan Beth Pfeffer.  I loved this series...and I still do...but it was more "real" listening to it now and I don't think it was good for my psyche-- except it WAS!  I mean, there is hope in this book, there is hope in the whole series. It is just so well done.   I wonder if SBP has had anything to say regarding parallels.  I know she retired in 2014, maybe?  Oh she has been active on Twitter!  I will have to follow her! 
In 2013 I had the total honor of meeting her at PLA...she was so so so so so cool and nice!!

Just finished rereading The Dead and the Gone.  Love this one, too.  But still...hard to read right now...

I Had

written about the trend in publishing to link new books to other books and media and Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful had been recommended for fans of Black Mirror and Westworld.  However, for those of us who are living in 1952, this was not helpful, as I had not heard of these, which are tv shows, but I didn't know they were.  I had to google them! SFAMB was very good in parts.  The parts about the Russians just didn't do it for me, but that's just me.  But it did significantly reduce my enjoyment of the book, but again, that is just me. 

It's Been Awhile

since I have read something like Dry.  The whole dystopian, natural disaster book.  Wait!  That makes it seem like I am putting this book down, just saying it is "one of THOSE books." But it really isn't.  It is quite good.  And realistic.  And it really could happen.  Maybe this whole country is dystopian.  Since we don't have a president anymore.  This is very much worth the read.  Good, good stuff.  Scary. 

Everything Comes Around

"People" say life is like a circle and everything comes around but I heard a woman, with great optimism say that she likes to think of a life a spiral, and yes, everything comes around, but with each turn, we go up and up, things get better and better.

Well I thought that was lovely.  I don't know how much faith I have in humankind, but I do believe that we draw closer to the day we will be with God with every moment and turn and so, yes, I do believe we go around and around, but we keep going up!

The Voiceless was a great short story by one of my most favorite authors in the whole world.  And it will make you think!

Good stuff.  Thank you again, Ms. Kellerman.  

So this is...

Maresi.  The first in the Red Abbey Chronicles and it was published in Finland in 2014 but published in the US in 2017 and it's getting some Printz buzz.  It's hard for me to make a judgement call because this is SO out of my world of reading.  It has a fantastic cover.  And the description makes it sound so good.  But man...I just couldn't really get into it at all.  I started it one day and then couldn't finish it so went back and tried again.  And I have to say that by the time I finished it, I really could appreciate what the author, Maria Turtschaninoff did with the book.  Some books take work.  And I am a lazy reader sometimes.  I think this one took work for me.  But I am glad that I worked on it!  I gave it 3 stars, but it is more 3.5 and the lower rating of it is because of my personal feelings toward this kind of book, not a reflection on the quality of it.  I could recommend this book, for sure.  Printz worthy?  I honestly don't know.  

That Was Different!

Landscape with Invisible Hand was very different!  But in a good way.  I have to say it was not what I was expecting. I should have probably had an idea, given that it was listed some place as being good for people who enjoyed Grasshopper Jungle.  I did really enjoy GJ.  A lot.  I like LWIH, but not as much as GJ.  I am not sure why.   However, I did love the ending, very, very much so.  Maybe it was my ridiculous sensibility toward bodily functions.  That really turned me off, but I know some people wouldn't be so stuck on that!  It's just a bit of a deal-breaker for me as far as LOVING a book goes!  Still, I could easily recommend this.

Dream On and on and on and on and on (or maybe it was the speed of the audio)

The last book in the Vault of Dreamers trilogy seemed endless to me.  The Keep of Ages just was not my thing.  I have to say though that it very well may have been the audio production and the speed at which I listened.  I had it up to 1.5 and the main character, Rosie, was just so whiny!  And so alarmist!  And just going on and on and on and in a panic throughout the whole book.  And it was really annoying.  It just ruined the book for me.  I mean, I was glad to find out how it all ended and I did care.  So it didn't ruin it, which says a lot about how much I do like Caragh M. O'Brien and the world she created here and also in Birthmarked. 
I see that I had a sort-of similar reaction to the third book in the Birthmarked series and so now I wonder if it is one of those deals where the publisher made O'Brien turn a one-book idea or a two-book idea into a trilogy.  That's what I think happened with Matched and what I know happened to Claws because the author is my friend.  Still, this was a good and unique premise.  Read the first two for sure and then if you listen to the third, play it at regular speed, you might like it!

Great Wrap Up

Lauren DeStefano didn't lose any interest or ability when finishing up the Internment Chronicles series.  The third book, Broken Crowns, is just as good as the first. 

A LONG time ago

I read the first book in the Internment Chronicles by Lauren DeStefano.  I loved it.  And I loved Wither, from DeStefano.  Fantastic.  And then some how I forgot about the series!  And so now the series has been done for a while and I just finished the second one, Burning Kingdoms which was great.  Three years after reading the first I was able to enjoy this one, as DeStefano did a great job of reminding me what the first one was about (though I did remember a lot of it, it was just that good) without giving the sense that the book was just a rehash.  Great character and world building!  So good!  Reading the third one now!

Sod Houses

No one lives in a sod house in Midnight at the Electric.  But the thing is, this just seemed really done before, even though I know it wasn't done before, because it was unusual.  And I think if it were written for younger kids it would win the Newbery because part of it takes place during the Dust Bowl and it seems like books that take place during the Dust Bowl and feature white girls ALWAYS got Newbery recognition, until as recently when the Newbery really has been going to deserving books like The Crossover and Dead End in Norvelt.  Of course,  there was Moon Over Manifest. Shudder.  But the Printz always seems to be a better choice than the Newbery and so I don't think this will win.  At least it didn't do it for me, not at all.  I just didn't really love or like many, or any of the characters.  But not to say it wouldn't be great for someone else.  I just really didn't like this one at all and found it hard to finish.

Still Standing

Okay so.  I finished The Stand.
And it was "meh."
I mean, I did like it.
But it didn't blow me away.
And it was waaaay too long.
And I am just glad it is over!

Gotta Be

The way I figure, Trenton Lee Stewart has to be a super smart guy.  A genius with a fantastic imagination and an incredibly talented writer who knows how to suck kids (and adults) into a book, yes, yes, but also a SUPER smart guy. The Secret Keepers snuck up on me.  I didn't realize Stewart had a new book out and was super excited to see it.  Great, great book and what I think will be a stand-alone which makes it even better!

What We See in the Mirror

The Rule of Mirrors is the second book in the Vault of Dreamers series by Caragh M. O'Brien who wrote the Birthmarked series.  I read the first one in the series, but during last year when I wasn't keeping up with the blog.  So all I can say is I really did like it!  And you really should start with the first one first.  The Rule of Mirrors is that we don't really see ourselves, ever, as others see us.  I was going to write "we don't really see ourselves as we really are" but that really isn't true, is it?  I mean, what is our "real self?"  The one that we see or the the one that others see?  Or are we many selves, like Naked Masks? Ah!  Big questions of little real import!  In any case, this is a very engaging series.  I am not quite a sucked into it as Birthmarked, but I can recommend it for sure!

Hidden

For a long time I have been recommending the Shadow Children series.  I am honest when I do and say that I have not read them, but I have heard great things about the book.  I finally thought I should give one a listen.  I don't know if I can recommend them any more without saying that I personally am not too blown away by them!  Among the Hidden is the first.  To be fair, I need to remember that this was published in 1998.  It isn't dated, not really, except the dialing up sound of the modem was a neat memory that kids won't recognize.  But there have been so many stories like this since then.  Maybe not exactly like this, of course, but a dystopian society, ruled by a punishing government, in this case, because natural resources are becoming more and more scarce, the number of children a family is allowed to have is two.  It really isn't far fetched though, is it, considering China's female infanticide horror.  The father in this story is just awful.  Just awful.  I remember really promoting this series when it first came out, I wonder what kids think of it today.

Another Little Add On...

The Favorite is #2.6 in the Selection series.  I have gone on about these novella .897 before, and I think most of them are just money makers.  This one was okay.   I am more generous with it than I might be, had I not liked the series so very much.  But I listened to this one because I didn't have anything else to listen to last night.  If you love the Selection, go head.  If you are "meh" or just "it's good" about it, it probably isn't worth it.

A Diamond in My Crown

Emmylou Harris sang this and has been one of my favorite songs.  Of course, that has nothing to do with The Crown, the final installment in The Selection by Kiera Cass.
I thought that this was a much more satisfying end to the series than The Heir was.  Which makes sense, because The Heir was not the end!  But I don't think I knew that at the time!
No...I just read the blog about it and I did know that it was not the end...huh...well, it sounds like I didn't like The Heir so much...but I did like The Crown more!

So that is why...

A novella from The Selection series.  This was kind of disturbing at first.  This is told from the POV of the Queen Amberly, Prince Maxton's mother.  It was hard to take her submission to the one-day-to-be King.  This is her selection story.
But then I read in goodreads, someone say that not all relationships were healthy in real life and this story wasn't meant to be a guide to relationships.
Looking at it from that way, I did find it helpful to see how the King and Queen before Maxton and America came to be the people they are.
If you like the Selection and can understand that this isn't a model of healthy love, then it is interesting to get the Queen's and King's POV.

Since

I have been off of my obsessive reading kick for a while, I didn't even know that Kiera Cass had written another book in the Selection series.  The Heir is number four.  The Queen is a short story that I didn't know existed, either.
I think it is time to surrender and change my goodreads goal. There is no way I will make 300 this year.  I am cutting it in half.
I can't say I liked The Heir all that much.  While I loved the Selection, this one just didn't do it for me.  And the ending was pretty irritating.  I will read the next one though...and yes, there will be next one, for sure.