In our monthly book club, we discuss whatever we happen to be reading and ask everyone in the comments to do the same. What Are You Reading This Month?
Sugar Run by Mesha Maren
I have The A.V. Club’s 2019 books preview to thank for putting Mesha Maren’s debut novel, Sugar Run, on my radar. The descriptors “queer” and “Southern noir” were enough to pique my interest, but noncommittally thumbing through the opening pages, I was quickly drawn in by the spectacular sense of place in Maren’s writing—here the rolling blue hills and socioeconomic fringes of rural West Virginia—and the story’s unconventional protagonist. When Sugar Run begins, Jodi McCarty is mere seconds from freedom, 18 years of life behind bars coming to an abrupt, blinding halt at the end of the hallway. On the other side of the door, she has no family to greet her and no idea of what to do with herself, really, except try to follow through with a promise she’s held onto since she got locked up, one she hopes can redeem her. Not long into her journey, Jodi is sucked into the orbit of Miranda, a charming but rudderless young mother of three living at the motel where Jodi is staying. It’s in these borrowed, transient spaces—rented rooms, Miranda’s old Chevette, crashing with Jodi’s toxic family or squatting at her grandmother’s abandoned cabin—where the two carve out a makeshift life together, but like the fracking operations consuming the land around them, reality threatens to overtake it at every turn. Maren tackles a lot across Sugar Run’s 300 pages—the collateral consequences of incarceration, homophobia, poverty, addiction, energy and environmental concerns—but it never feels heavy-handed. It just feels real. [Kelsey J. Waite]
In Search Of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Fiona Sampson
Inspired by the 200-year anniversary of Frankenstein in 2018, I recently picked up British poet Fiona Sampson’s new biography In Search Of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein, published last summer in honor of that same anniversary. Eclipsed throughout her life by her famous friends and family—first by her radical philosopher parents, and then by her free-love advocate poet husband—the details of Shelley’s childhood and adult inner life remain obscure. And so, as Sampson notes in her introduction to the book, her mission is to reclaim Mary Shelley, both as the mother of the science-fiction genre and as a human being. Sampson’s poetic intuition is key to this reclamation, using the social history of the period as a base from which to make connections between what little facts we do have about Shelley’s life and the romantic, morbid sensibility that permeates her writing in order to create snapshots of key moments in her life. Fifty pages in, I’ve already learned quite a bit about about 19th-century glassblowing and the Enlightenment’s fascination with public dissection, as well as the extremely goth fact that Mary Shelley learned to read by tracing the letters on her mother’s grave. [Katie Rife]
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
I’ve long been a fan of YA lit, but less so of mysteries—I’m the kind of person who jumps a foot if somebody startles me at work in the middle of the day, and there are plenty of other genres that are better suited to my low threshold for dramatic tension. Which is possibly why I waited a year before reading Truly Devious, the first in a series of YA mysteries by Maureen Johnson (who, full disclosure, sent me a signed copy of Truly Devious last year because we’re friendly on Twitter; I’ve been a fan of her work for some time, and I don’t know her in real life).
Truly Devious takes place at an oddball elite boarding school in Vermont, a two-year high school for a handful of students who have intensely passionate interests and curiosity, like building machines, or writing novels, or, in protagonist Stevie Bell’s case, solving mysteries. Stevie applies to Ellingham Academy based on her interest in a nearly 90-year-old mystery at the school that involves one death and two disappearances. There are things that are predictable: Stevie immediately sets forth to solve the case that nobody else could crack; she feels at home at Ellingham, but also worries that her acceptance was a mistake; she has a confusing and complicated crush on one of her fellow students. But with that as a framework, Johnson builds her most original and elaborately plotted book yet, a novel with overlapping mysteries from the 1930s and present-day that she carefully unspools chapter by chapter. As one mystery appears to resolve, another one opens, and Stevie and the reader move in ragged parallel as the story moves between time.
More than a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, though, Johnson writes Stevie as a real human being, not a plucky heroine with a quick wit. Stevie’s still figuring out her love of detective work, and the adults at Ellingham take her seriously and support it. She and her friends are real and funny, and have different genders and races and mental illnesses—all of which are simply part of their characters, rather than hacky plot devices. It’s deeply compassionate on top of being a lot of fun, even if I had to stay up until 2 a.m. to finish it because I couldn’t handle the anxiety of not knowing how it would end. Because it’s the first book of a series, it ends with more mystery, but luckily for me, the second installment is out next week. [Laura M. Browning]
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I’m reading The Possessed by Elif Batuman. It’s about her adventures in graduate school, studying Russian literature, among other things. It’s good. She’s a good writer.The End
I just finished The Idiot, which is a more fictionalized version of her undergrad year. I liked it a lot, though it took time to get into. The narrator is very passive and ambivalent about things, but I really grew to like her as I recognized a lot of myself when I was younger in that ambivalence. She captures the feeling of slowly learning to think or oneself and, eventually, act on those thoughts. Good stuff.
Anyone else read Dave Itzkoff’s Robin Williams biography?
Anyone else read Dave Itzkoff’s Robin Williams biography? I have, and highly recommend it. I thought I knew a lot about his life, but didn’t. There’s nothing too dishy in it, but neither is it a hagiography.
I’m reading The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. It’s the third book in a trilogy that began with The Bear and the Nightingale. The books are about a girl named Vasya, the daughter of a minor lord in medieval Russia. Vasya has a gift and is able to see magical creatures and demons that most people are blind because they have moved away from their traditions and towards Christianity. This is essentially killing the old gods and spirits. Vasya’s “gift” is really both a blessing and a curse as many are afraid of witchcraft. The books are Arden’s take on Russian folklore and are fantastic. Katherine Arden is a young author with the first book in the trilogy being her first published work. My descriptions of her books do not do them justice. If any of it sounds interesting at all I encourage you to pick up “The Bear and the Nightingale” to help support a budding young author.
That’s also what I’m currently reading.
There’s something weird about getting to a point in life where I’m reading authors younger than myself. Katherine Arden is great and I look forward to reading whatever else she writes in the future. Another young author I really like is Pierce Brown. His first trilogy Red Rising was incredibly impressive for a first-time writer. I really like supporting new aspiring authors.
That’s on my list as soon as I finish the book I’m reading now. The first two books were great. The way Arden blends fairytale creatures with religious figures is very reminiscent of Neil Gamain’s work.
I’m rereading the John Dies at the End series, it’s been a while and, while the books aren’t as good as the original stories, it’s still a cracking series of yarns.Too bad Dave and John aren’t nearly as funny as they used to be:(
I’m doing the Goodreads challenge for the year and have committed to reading at least 52 books this year. That’s approximately one book a week for those of you who aren’t mathematically inclined.I kicked off the year by reading an author I’ve always wanted to read and heard raves about, but had never picked up myself: Kurt Vonnegut. Specifically Slaughterhouse-Five. It’s, predictably, a fascinating read, with the “unstuck in time” structure being extremely neat, even if it makes the narrative a little less compelling. It’s interesting reading such an anti-war book in light of having read Heinlein’s Starship Troopers in December which is somewhat more militaristic. And I’m still not sure if I should be reading Slaughterhouse as pro or anti-Fatalism.For my second read of the month, I’m checking off a classic epistolary novel, and the progenitor of a million different pop cultural characters, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The epistolary style combined with Victorian prose has always been something that annoyed me, and is the major reason I hadn’t finished it before. I’ve powered through this time, and according to my Kindle, I’m currently 91% done. Though i thought I was familiar with Dracula through pop cultural osmosis, I realized that I didn’t know the actual story. One obvious thing I didn’t know about was the character of Quincey Morris, who I guess didn’t make it to a lot of the Vampire/Dracula movies.For my next book, I’m going a lot more pulpy and reading gaming fiction, specifically Know No Fear by Dan Abnett, the 19th book (of 54!)in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy Series. I’m not expecting greatness, but Abnett generally writes super entertaining gaming tie-in books, I enjoy the completely ridiculous backstory of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and well, I’m 18 books in already, so I’m committed at this point…Beyond that, I have no idea, though I am up to God-Emperor of Dune in my reread of that particular sextet…
I do that Goodreads challenge as well. My goal every year is 12. I think my best year was 18.I see people on there reading 100 or even 300 books in a year! Even your goal of 52 seems impossible to me.Serious question: How do you possibly read 1 book per week? I would have thought you’d be reading short, simple YA books, but the titles you mentioned are not easy reads. Do you not have a job? Do you skim, or are you actually digesting the book? I am in awe.
I do have a job (and am in fact typing this at work), and I can absorb most of the stories just fine at a book a week pace. I typically read a couple of chapters before going to sleep in the evening, and a chapter in the morning as my first coffee is brewing. I probably don’t get enough sleep, so that’s the time management culprit.It might help that I don’t have any kids in my house, since my son lives with my ex-wife so I only get him certain weekends and every Wednesday after school. Also, I’m technically already behind a book a week pace. I also do sprinkle in the occasional YA book or Graphic Novel, which can be knocked out in an evening, so that does help.
I have a full time job and baby, you know how I read 3-4 books each month? Audiobooks. You can consume more books that way: in the shower, at the gym, while driving to work, gardening, folding laundry. The list goes on. I still read traditional ink and paper books when I can, but whenever I am doing a mindless task, an audiobook is on. Some people will tell you that this is not truly reading. I think they’re being pedantic, but fine, I don’t argue with them. Audiobooks are an enjoyable way to spend your time, and can enrich your life, what’s wrong with that?
You do it by reading multiple books at once, and like, reading all the time. I have 50 for goal this year, and I’m already 5 down 🙂
I’m on the subway for 10 hours a week and get a lot of reading done. I love reading novels. To me, it’s more about quality than quantity. Some books are quick-reading but many aren’t. I just read Michael Connelly’s latest which I thoroughly enjoyed (in my next life I’d like to be more like Hieronymous Bosch) and that took five days. Before that was The Sot-Weed Factor, which took two weeks. What was important was that I read two great books, not two great books. I’m just finishing Severance by Ling Ma. Very impressive (and it’s a four-day book.)
Quincey I think (the cowboy character?) is in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Keanu and Winona’s Dracula, which is unusually faithful at times and visually stunning if you haven’t seen it.
I haven’t (or if I have it’s been over a decade and don’t recall), but I’m planning on watching it after I’ve finished the book. And yes, it’s the Cowboy.
Slaughterhouse-Five is one of my all-time favorites. Definitely check out more of Vonnegut’s work at some point if you get a chance. I’ve only read a handful of others, but I particularly enjoyed Cat’s Cradle and The Sirens of Titan.
Yeah, I think lost_wifey has just about all his books, so I’m definitely going to do more Vonnegut this year.
I agree with your recommendations and would also add Mother Night and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater to them. Maybe Welcome to the Monkeyhouse (his first book of short stories) as well.
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse is great. Should have included that one initially. I still haven’t read Mother Night or God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. They’re on my list though. Amazon has offered various Vonnegut books for a few bucks a piece of Kindle periodically over the last couple of years, so I own just about all of them now. I just need to get around to reading the rest of them.
Quincy is in the Louis Jourdain version of Dracula, but they give him Arthur’s surname and make him Lucy’s fiance. Arthur is the one written out. It’s still the most faithful production of the book there’s ever been, despite changes like that and making Mina and Lucy sisters.
I’m reading The Culture series thanks to positive comments on here. Read the first and now on part 2, The Player of Games. Quite enjoy it. The main character lives an idyllic life in The Culture, everything provided by computers, but because of his love of games goes off to play the game of Azad in a planetary empire called Azad in which everything is controlled by your skill at the chess-like game, and the ruler is determined by who wins it.That’s a little cheesy and makes me think of an empire in an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel but it’s of course the perfect foil for a lonely main character who is bored with his planet-wide renown for expertise at basically board games and steps out of his shell by playing a life and death all-encompassing version of one.
I went kind of crazy with movies last year and watched 378 of them. Naturally, my reading fell to the wayside. Trying to get back into the swing of things in 2019. I finished the CS Lewis book I’d been working on, The Problem of Pain, and I started back on Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies. Both are great books, though in the case of Goff, she writes these really long chapters where a million things happen and several years pass for the main character and it’s kind of exhausting. Looking forward to finishing, but I may add in a second book or shorter works to break things up. Either Didion’s The White Album or Saunders’ 10th of December. Have them both cued up on my Kindle right now.
My wife is preparing the house for new carpet and one of my jobs was to cull the books in the living room and get down to my current reads and “on deck” list. Top of the current reads is “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” the oral history/biography of Warren Zevon. I’m also finishing “How To Invent Everything” by Ryan North which has been fun. On deck I’ve got a mess of stuff and it depends on my mood but some include “Mort” by Terry Pratchett, “The Mandibles” by Lionel Shriver (on Robbie Fulks’ recommendation), and “The Day the Sun Died” by Yan Lianke.
I’ve nearly finished Maile Meloy’s “Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It”, mostly while waiting in line for a screening of “Glass”. Many of the stories were funnier that I had expected.
I’m reading the first two books in The Cartel series from Don Winslow. First book, The Power of the Dog, was excellent. Just started the second, will have it done before the third and final book is released in February.
I’m reading Scrublands by Chris Hammer, in which a priest guns down several members of his church after being accused of sexual abuse. A year later, a journalist comes to town to do an anniversary piece on the tragedy, and new facts come to light. I picked it up because I’ve seen it compared to Jane Harper’s work numerous times, and I’ve loved both of her books (The Dry and Force of Nature). I’m not super far into it yet, but I’m concerned by the fact that a character is named Mandalay Blonde.
I’m reading Matt Ruff’s Sewer, Gas, & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy. It’s interesting to see what people of the past thought the future would be like. There are some things that are kind of problematic, like how a plague wipe out most of the black people and the Electrical Negros, the novel’s name for robotic servants that look like black people.
I’m currently reading a novel called THE POPPY WAR by RF Kuang. (her debut) A fantasy novel heavily influenced by Chinese history and myth.
Also reading a graphic novel called MONSTRESS which is an epic fantasy with steampunk/art-deco style art that is also heavily influenced by Chinese history and myth.
Both are written (and illustrated in the GN case) by Asian/Asian-American women. Highly recommend both. Both deal with racism, war, and oppression. Good stuff.
I’m reading The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon, which I’m enjoying, even if not quite as much as I did The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or Wonder Boys. I’m also reading The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, by José Saramago (title translated from the portuguese original for your convenience), partly because I usually love Saramago and have a lot of books by him to go through, partly because Ricardo Reis was my least favorite Fernando Pessoa heteronym in school and I take a perverse pleasure seeing him die.