Skip to main content

Books Read in March

12. Peony in Love by Lisa See

 Lisa See brings another little known (at least in the Western world) phenomenon from Chinese women's history to life. Peony, the character and the book, is representative of a historical cohort of women who fell in love with a fifteenth century opera, The Peony Pavilion, and, in imitation of the main character, wasted away from 'lovesickness.' Read my full review here. 








13. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson















14. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
















Like the first book, A Girl of Fire and Thorns, the second and third books in this compelling trilogy, show that author Rae Carson is not afraid to pull the hard punches. The novels continue to be strong on character development, especially for the main character Princess Elisa, and world-building, set in a mostly desert world with a fascinating religious backstory. Overall, I think the first book is my favorite, but I'm glad I continued to follow Elisa's journey. The end is both satisfying and leaves room hopefully for more books set in this world. Highly, highly recommended.

15. Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

Katherine Longshore has accomplished that wonder of wonders and created a fresh version of the Anne Boleyn story. Read my full review here.







16. Son by Lois Lowry

In each of her books in The Giver quartet, Lois Lowry skilfully builds worlds around a single word. The final installment, Son, illuminates the meaning of the title, and sheds more light for the curious on Jonas' Community, unseen since the first book. The story of Claire, mother of Gabriel, overlaps with and diverges from Jonas' until she finally reaches her eponymous goal. This is a satisfying book in itself and as an end to the series, although The Giver remains my favorite.



17. Pax by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Jon Klaussen

This book broke my heart, a little. It's a children's story about a fox and his boy, in what seems like a possibly dystopian England. The fox, Pax, has an imaginatively rendered way of thinking and speaking that again, seems calculated to evoke the heart strings. I had to curl up for a while with my little fox (read: corgi mix) after reading. Read at your own risk.




18. A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Obbotson

This was a cute audiobook about a Russian countess who escapes the revolution to become an English maid. It's enjoyable, with a predictable ending, but some of the attitude rubbed me the wrong way. The audience is invited to sympathize with a character who habitually fondles maids, and while it's overtly acknowledged that this behavior is "incorrect," it seems to be validated in the end, when pretty maids are hired with him in mind...ugh (it's tacitly excused because the maids in question either like it or don't mind and he "never goes too far" but yeah, not okay). Also, a lot of weird/archaic stereotypes, but the author does seem to be trying to promote diversity...Otherwise, positive message about how eugenics is evil (yeah, I'm not sure why this novel when in that direction, but it did).


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Books with Single-Word Titles

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Books with Single-Word Titles These are all my favorite books that I could think of with one-word titles. A lot of fantasy, a few nonfiction (minus subtitles) and Kindred , whether you consider it scifi or historical fiction. Also two portmanteaus using the word "bitter." I suppose it's a word that lends itself to amelioration. 1. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler 2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 3. Fire by Kristin Cashore 4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer 5. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini 6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 7. Stoned by Aja Raden (has a subtitle) 8. Educated by Tara Westover 9. Fledgling by Octavia Butler 10. Kindred by Octavia Butler

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Speaking of cultures and society, I leave for Spain on January 9. Instead of continuing as a book blog with a specific goal for number of books to read in a year, Space Station Mir will become a chronicle for my adventures in Spain. Expect a post for each new place that I visit, with pictures! I also plan to continue reviewing books, however I will not make a set goal for number of books to read this year. I do pledge myself to read at least one book in Spanish that was not assigned for a class. In terms of my goals for 2009, I was not diligent enough in keeping track of them. Looking back, I've fulfilled some of them and not others. The greatest trend in my reading this year, which marks a huge deviation for me, is that I've read more non-fiction than I think I've read any other year in my life. I've finally developed the ability to sustain interest in non-fiction other than biographies. For a while, biographies were the only non-fiction I ever read, with the exception

Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish

 I feel like I've been DNFing a fair amount lately, mostly with review books. I feel obligated to read review books longer than I would if they were books I just picked up on my own. That said, I have a caveat in my Book Review Policy  that if I feel I am not the right audience for the book, I won't post a review. I try to avoid that by only picking books I genuinely think I will enjoy, but of course I can't always predict that before I read. Also, while book clubs have been a great way to get exposed to books I wouldn't normally read, tastes will differ and every once in a while, I find a book I'm just not willing to finish. I also want to say no shade to the authors or anyone who enjoyed these books--they just weren't for me. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish 1. Caribbean Competitors by Poppy Minnix--LibraryThing review--This one sounded great and has a beautiful cover, but while the island setting was compelling, I just couldn't ge