I started out the year with a goal to hit 100+ and I’m on track to make it! However, to really make this a stand out year, I want to record my thoughts on what I’m reading.

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

Started 8/12, NetGalley, Kindle – My first thoughts: I am really enjoyed the fast pace, excellent sense of location (the Bay Area) and characters. I love the tiny inputs of Chinese culture reference to ancient gods and battles – it makes me want to learn about Chinese mythology. Also, I am very into Genie – she is honest and hilarious.

Tags: YA, Chinese Mythology, California, Funny, Chinese and Chinese American Characters, Ownvoices, Diverse Reads

The Unseen World by Liz Moore

Started 8/8, Audible (free streaming channel) – First thoughts: Wheelhouse book, quiet, lyrical, coming of age, girl wanting to be normal in an abnormal upbringing. The language is very lit fic and slow, reveling in the language of science and sharp focus on characters.

Tags: Lit Fic, Boston, Coming of Age, Science, Isolation, 80’s, Teen Girls, Father – Daughter Relationships,

Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma

Started 8/8, Netgalley, Kindle – First Thoughts: Lit Fic, global narrative, insight into a wealthy family in Brazil, scenic and atmospheric, wondering if the awful way the lower classes are treated is done to show real society and its ills or just a detailed painting.

Tags: Lit Fic, South America, Europe, Brazil, Rich vs Poor, Death, remembering the past, London, Unhappiness,

Tinkers by Paul Harding 

Started 8/8, Paperback – First Thoughts: Wheelhouse, enjoying the detailed depictions of nature, the characters in the family and met through the father, wish this was about women more – I feel a little distanced from the characters, might be a bad time to read it because although it is beautiful, it is hard to read more than a few pages at a time.

Tags: lit fic, quiet, atmospheric, winter, death, reflections, father and son, epilepsy,  remembering the past, stream of consciousness, nature

The Dhow House by Jean McNeil

Started 5/11, NetGalley, Kindle/iphone – First thoughts: I feel like I should like this book more – it is defintely my wheelhouse, but it’s hard to get into. The descriptions of the land are gorgeous, but I do feel uncomfortable about reading about white, rich people in a colonized African country and volunteer doctors amid a war they don’t understand or connect to.

Tags: Lit Fic, Tanzania, Africa, War, Terrorism, Nature