2016 Reading Wrap-Up: Third Quarter

It’s the end of the third quarter of the year and my reading is still going strong. I bumped up my Goodreads goal from 30 to 60 and have since completed it. It was much easier to accomplish my reading goal this year since I’ve started to read comics, graphic novels, and illustrated books, which have all become my new favorite media to consume.

My reading slowed down a bit this quarter, however, because life got busy. But as I was drafting this, I realized I read more than I thought I did.

Books | Comics | Mangas | Audiobooks

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“The Life of Elves” by Muriel Barbery

I’ve found a new writer to admire.

Cover overview:

An inspiring literary fantasy about two gifted girls from the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Life of Elves sings of the human spirit and conveys a message of hope and faith.

Muriel Barbery’s new novel is the first of two books about Maria and Clara, unforgettable heroines of a world facing annihilation. Animated by a large cast of endearing characters, it is a timeless story about the forces of good and evil and a moving meditation on the power of nature, music, art, storytelling, and love.

When the harmony between living beings turns to discord, the seasons will be loosed from their moorings and the natural world thrown into disarray; human beings—no longer capable of feeling either empathy or enchantment—will abandon themselves to hate, violence, and war.

An epic battle between forces that wish to reestablish harmony in the world and those that wish to shatter it definitively is being waged on earth and in the mysterious land of mist, where the elves dwell. A ragtag army of rural peasants gathers in readiness for the fight—their weapons, an age-old kinship with the land and an affinity for magic. But humankind cannot hope to win this battle alone. Victory depends on help from the inhabitants of a world that is hidden from human sight. Hope rests with Maria and Clara, two girls whose prodigious artistic talents and deep connections with nature make communion with the numinous realm possible.

What’s On Your Nightstand: September 2016

What’s on Your Nightstand is a monthly meme hosted by 5 Minutes for Books that summarizes what you’ve read for the month, what you’re currently reading, and what you plan to read next. It’s basically a wrap-up, though not as detailed, depending on how you structure your reading wrap-ups. The meme is held the last Tuesday of every month.

It’s back to school season, which means a busy schedule for me though I’m not in school and do not have kids and do not work directly with schools. But due to a packed schedule, my reading has slowed a little…or maybe it seems that way because I have less items on my list of completed reads since I didn’t read any comics this month. Hmm…anyways, here’s what I completed since I last did this post.

Book Haul #28: Comics! the books

And now for the second part of my comic book haul. In the first part, I showed the awesome art on the posters, bookmarks, and post cards I picked up at the Small Press Expo. Now I’ll show the comic books and graphic novels I picked up.

“This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki, illus. by Jillian Tamaki

Genre:

Contemporary; young adult

Goodreads overview:

Rose and her parents have been going to Awago Beach since she was a little girl. It’s her summer getaway, her refuge. Her friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had, completing her summer family.

But this summer is different.

Rose’s mom and dad won’t stop fighting, and Rose and Windy have gotten tangled up in a tragedy-in-the-making in the small town of Awago Beach. It’s a summer of secrets and heartache, and it’s a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

Book Haul #28: Comics! posters and such

It’s time for another book haul. I went on a comic-book-buying craze recently that started with me listening to Season 2, Episode 28 of Writing Excuses where the hosts of the podcast discuss Watchmen, a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons with colors by John Higgins. By the end of the show, I wanted to read Watchmen so I took myself to my local comic book shop, where I not only got Watchmen, but also picked up a book I’ve wanted ever since featuring it in a Wishes for My TBR post.

What Would You Eat While Reading This…?

I was recently contacted by Shari’s Berries, an online retailer of dessert treats such as chocolate-dipped strawberries and cake pops (yum!), to feature an infographic they created that pairs 20 books with desserts.

Pairings range from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with tea biscuits and jam to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road with apple pie and ice cream. By the time I was done reading, I was craving the treats and wistful for old books I’ve read like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, which was paired with Turkish Delight, of course, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby that’s best read with some lemon cake nearby.

Well, don’t let me keep you. Take a look at the infographic and tell me which pairing appeals to you the most.

Intergalactic Book Tag

I haven’t posted much all week so I thought I’d do a tag post. Tags are great for blogging lulls and procrastination. They are also fun; well, I find them to be fun. Anyways, I found this a while back on Rachel’s blog, Life of a Female Bibliophile. It’s one of those tags that was created to promote a book: in this case, Starflight by Melissa Landers, which is a young-adult science-fiction novel. I haven’t read it but I sure love the cover!

Space: Name a book that is out of this world – that takes place in a world different from our own.

Diversebookbloggers Feature: Zezee with Books

I’m excited to share that I was featured in the DiverseBookBloggers Feature, a bi-weekly post on Brown Books and Green Tea that promotes diversity in the book blogging community. Check it out! 😀

brown books | green tea

It’s that time of the month again! Here’s yet another fantastic Diverse Book Blogger feature, this time featuring Anaïs from Zezee with Books! 

1. Tell us a little bit about your blog, Zezee with Books! Does it have a specific focus?
   Zezee with Books is simply a blog of my interests. It mostly focuses on books, but sometimes I feature artwork either by me or artists I like and sometimes I discuss TV shows I watch (if the show has upset me in some way). I publish a variety of posts including discussions and book reviews, which I often refer to as reflections because I use my blog as a journal for what I read.
2. There’s a “60 Classics in 5 Years“ challenge on your blog– which diverse classics are you reading, and how has reading diversely changed your idea of what a “classic” book really is?
   This…

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“Every Heart a Doorway” by Seanan McGuire

My mind was in a weird place when I reached for this book, but I was glad to find it the perfect story to satiate it. Every Heart a Doorway tickled my brain cells and made me think of some weird shit; weird because the story is based in our world and it gives credence to the impossible and the fantastic and validates our odd quirks.

Quick overview:

Every Heart a Doorway is a fantasy, young-adult novella that packs a punch. It’s about kids who make it back to the real world after visiting magical ones and how they cope with readjusting to a normal life.

The story is told from the perspective of Nancy, a teenaged girl who recently returned from the Halls of the Dead, as she tries to adjust to her new school, Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a boarding school for children who have returned from other worlds. Eleanor West is an older woman who started the school because she understands what such children endure. She provides a sanctuary for them. Of course, she doesn’t tell parents this. Instead, she tells parents and guardians, who often are unaware of the magical realms, that she can help their troubled charges adjust. That she can “fix” them.

Shortly after Nancy arrives at the school, the students’ lives are threatened and Nancy becomes a prime suspect because of her connection to the Halls of the Dead.