Final August Books

I finished up two books at the end of August in my quest to catch up on my reading goal; they were my 44th and 45th books of the year.

Midnight Sun (by Stephenie Meyer)

I bought this (yes, with money) so I could livetweet it with Jen, except she gave up on it but I couldn't stop so I livetweeted anyway. It was honestly so fun. Meyer retconned some of the more egregious moments, and there was a whole section with Edward talking about the importance of consent, lol okay Stephenie. But being in his emo brain made the book so much more enjoyable. My ironic love of Twilight continues. It's definitely ironic, okay.  Ironic love.

Real Queer America (by Samantha Allen)

Now here is a book I can wholeheartedly recommend, the memoir of a transgender journalist exploring rural America and kind of hating on coastal LGBTQ liberal elites, of which I am one, in the process. Her take gave me a new appreciation of the strength of queer communities when those communities are smaller and more endangered. It also made me want to take a roadtrip across America (sniffle) immediately. I appreciated her acknowledgement of intersectionality, the breadth of folks she interviewed, and the new perspective on rural America. And the writing, which is wonderful! A great read. 

One to Watch (by Kate Stayman-London)

Such an awesome, fun, body-positive book! About a fat-positive blogger (omg I was one of those!) who goes on a Bachelor-type reality show as the "Main Squeeze." She faces fatphobia, insecurity, and romantic complications. I can't imagine a character I would root for more! And I immediately recommended it to my other plus-size friends. 

Just look at the cover! Really loved it.

Austenland and Midnight in Austenland (by Shanon Hale)

As soon as I found out this book existed, I immediately had to read it, then watch the movie, then read the sequel. This is the kind of escapism that 2020 is crying out for.  Plus, Midnight in Austenland turns out to be a romance about a single parent (she is divorced) so it qualifies for Read Harder also! Score!

Both books are about an immersive Jane Austen-esque vacation house in England called Austenland; both books feature American women who go there for different reasons - Jane in the first book because she is Austen-obsessed and no man can live up to Mr. Darcy; Charlotte in the second book because she feels trapped in her life post-divorce.

I loved both of these romances (and incidentally also the movie) and all the delightful Jane Austen shoutouts along the way. Pure delightfulness to read, and based on the ending of the second book I would love to read a third one. Shannon Hale, are you listening?

New York 2140 (by Kim Stanley Robinson)

This was okay. I read it for the "book about climate change" category and it took me a long time to get through it. By the end I wasn't really enjoying any of the characters, and I wanted more of a clear plot.  It's about New York in the year 2140 (as you may have guessed) when half the island is underwater due to climate change. The worldbuilding is good. The narrative jumps back and forth among multiple characters and none of them have a particularly compelling emotional throughline.

I generally love speculative fiction, but something about this made it a slog for me. 

Two RHC Books

Two quick reads that both qualified for the RHC this year: a debut novel by a queer author, and a sci-fi novella. Except I see I've already checked off sci-fi novella.  I'm bad at keeping track this year!

At any rate, I read two books and here are my thoughts:

London Calling (by Clare Lydon)

I enjoyed Before You Say I Do,  so I decided to check out Lydon's debut. This is about Jess, a woman living in Australia who gets cheated on and then moves back to London, and then has some lesbian adventures. This had the same problem for me as Before You Say I Do, minus the strength of having a strong plot. Namely, the two main characters fall for each other seemingly because they're both very attractive, and then that's kind of it. It definitely feels like infactuation rather than love, so the emotional stakes are missing. And then there's also no real plot to speak of. Add in a slur for transgender people and some editing mistakes, and it isn't something I'd recommend. It is a light read, and not terrible, but very forgettable.

All Systems Red (by Martha Wells)

Hearing great things about this series and as a sci-fi fan, I had this in mind for the RHC from day one and then I kept checking it out from the library and then forgetting to actually read it. As soon as I started it this time around I realized why: it opens with scenery description.  You know me and scenery description. But I pressed on and found a delightful story about Murderbot, a sentient, humanoid security robot whose "governor module" breaks and thus finds itself with free will.  I will definitely continue with this series because it is, indeed, really good.

Two Books

I realized I was (gasp) behind on my reading goal this year since I'm once again reading a long book for the Read Harder Challenge, so I immediately checked out some romance and young adult from the library and started zooming my way through them. It didn't even occur to me until after the fact that Five Feet Apart is about kids with cystic fibrosis and therefore qualifies for a book where a main character has a disability. Anyway, here are some quick thoughts,

Before You Say I Do by Clare Lyons I is a lesbian romance about a "professional bridesmaid" who falls in love with the bride. So basically The Wedding Planner, but gay. One problem is that "professional bridesmaid with fake backstory" makes no sense as a premise. (Like, just be a personal wedding assistant without the lying and stuff?) The other problem is that I bought the characters' physical chemistry way more than their intellectual chemistry. But weddings and hot lesbians? It was super easy to let that go and enjoy the story! I bought Lyons' first novel, which qualifies for the RHC as the debut novel by a queer author and am reading that right now.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippencott was turned into a movie and compared a lot with The Fault in Our Stars, a book that I absolutely love.  Plus, it won the Goodreads Choice award for young adult last year. I didn't quite buy the romance here either because I really hated Will at first, and didn't  understand why Stella decided she liked him. Once it got past that, their romance was sweet and Stella's emotional arc was satisfying. And it helped me understand CF a bit better, which I will now go learn some more about.

(I should note that her deciding that Will, who is, let's be clear, kind of a dickhead, was worth giving up her entire life for was enraging in the extreme, but in keeping with the stupidity of teenagers

He Must Like You (by Danielle Younge-Ullman)

This is about a high school girl working as a server, dealing with sexual harassment and less-than-consensual sexual experiences from her past, as well as a mentally ill father.  I was thinking about how to review this book since I read it with this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach the whole time, but I think it's just that it was triggering, as this hits really close to the experience of a loved one.

I found the father the most difficult character to deal with in many ways, and probably my therapist could walk me through it and tell me why. It's a good book and does a great job tackling these issues in very real and complex ways.  It was a hard read for me though.