Cruisin' Books

During spring break, we took a cruise with my parents. I didn't read a lot (I took Dramamine and napped instead) but I did finish a few books:

The Other Black Girl (by Zakiya Dalila Harris) 

I read this for the Read Harder Challenge category "social horror, mystery, or thriller novel." I still don't know exactly what that category is all about, but the Book Riot newsletter recommended it for this category so I went with it. My hopes were high as I've heard a lot of buzz about this! But sadly it fell flat for me.  The plot never sharpens into focus, there are too many point of view characters whose narratives are unresolved and whose identities aren't even always clear. More power to those who loved this book as I do feel it had interesting things to say about racial identity but the execution was, in my opinion, not good.

Forget Me Not (by Alyson Derrick)

I loved She Gets the Girl so I was excited to get this one as soon as possible and timed it so it could be my first true vacation read (once I finished up TOBG). As with her previous novel, Derrick deals with the real pain of coming from a rural, impoverished, homophobic community.  The romance is well done and the relationship doesn't quite go to some of the predictable places I expected it to go. I've read a lot of YA (you don't say) and so unpredictability is always a plus. I'll be first in line to read whatever Derrick publishes next. And speaking of YA....

The Love Match (by Priyanka Taslim) 

A Bengali-American girl in a Pride and Prejudice-esque love triangle. It's very well written and Begali-American culture is integrated organically. I think the ending is an homage to natok/Bollywood, which is why it's a bit over the top and silly, and weirdly elides the culmination of the big romance. But still, a delightful read and a wonderful main character.

Seven Percent of Ro Devereaux (by Ellen O’Clover)  

I cried so much over this book my eyes were puffy by the end - something about it was so emotional for me, possibly because all the emotions are dialed up to 11 from start to finish and Ro is such a terrific character.  You'd think it was about a terminally ill character instead of someone who develops an app that goes viral.  Of course, the way this plays out doesn't quite make sense but if you suspend disbelief a bit, you'll go on a lovely emotional roller coaster ride. Also I cannot believe any human is named Ellen O'Clover, so I'll have to look into that. 

All the Bright Places (by Jennifer Niven)

I was looking for something easy to read and this popped up in my holds list, I can't remember why.  But it was serendipidous, because it already had some highlights in it and my "farthest place reached" according to my Kindle app was 22%. So this qualifies as "a book you’ve DNFed (did not finish)" for the Read Harder Challenge!

As for the book itself, it reads like a Wish.com version of The Fault in Our Stars. I cry a lot at the end of books but at the end of this one I felt nothing, despite being manipulated to feel All the Feels. I didn't really connect with the characters, basically hated all the adults, and the romance didn't click for me at all.  John Green did it first and did it better.  No wonder I DNFd it!

Recent Book Flurry

I finished a bunch of books this weekend, so here's a catchup entry.

I Have Some Questions for You (by Rebecca Makkai)

I loved The Great Believers, and put this on the library holds list as soon as I heard it was coming out. This is a boarding school literary mystery (emphasis on the literary part) in which an adult woman coming back to teach at her boarding school takes a fresh look at the murder of a classmate.  Our narrator comes back again and again to a litany of crimes against women that serve as a backdrop to both the story and the life of every woman. A favorite read of the year, for sure.

Towards Zero (by Agatha Christie)

I'm reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd aloud to my family (Mina calls him "Mr. Altoid") and on a bit of a Christie kick once again.  I enjoyed the characters of this one, and as usual, didn't guess the culprit. You'd think I'd at least have a fighting chance having read so many of these and yet, no.

Murder in Mesopotamia (by Agatha Christie) 

I thought this was the one, I was so sure I had figured it out at 28% of the way into the book! But of course, I didn't, and as usual I enjoyed being fooled. Of course it's in Mesopotamia so it's racist, as usual.  (I had to identify a "guilty pleasure" book and I immediately thought of Christie. I feel guilty reading her racism! Someone edit out the racism!)

Marbles (by Ellen Forney) 

This is the Read Harder Challenge entry of this book flurry. "Read a comic or graphic novel that features disability representation." Ellen Forney has bipolar disorder and this memoir is about her diagnosis, her efforts to get the disorder under control, and its intersection with her creative life as an artist. Even knowing people with bipolar, I learned a lot from this memoir, and enjoyed Forney's visual style.   

Endless Night (by Agatha Christie) 

Woah, this one was different. A very late Christie set in the 60s (the word "sex" shows up a bunch and I'm like o.O) and reportedly one of her favorites. Slow to get started as it's not a typical Whodunit and the murder doesn't happen until more than halfway into the book.  But even though it echoes some of her most famous works, I didn't see the ending coming and it's so well done. 

Hearts Unbroken (Cynthia Leitich Smith)

Read for the "YA book by an Indigenous author" category of the Read Harder Challenge. This is about a Kansas girl who is a member of the Muskogee nation.  She deals with racism at her school as she tries to navigate her love life.

I would not have finished this book if it hadn't been for the RHC. It's not terrible - I enjoyed the main character very much - but the romance has absolutely no zing, the love interest is unappealing, many plotlines are just abruptly dropped or resolved too neatly, and the middle drags a lot.  So does the beginning. Kind of the end too.  

It's good to have a book that dives into many sides of the Native experience and again, I loved this character and found her unique in a great way. But sadly the book didn't do her justice.

Earthlings (by Sayaka Murata)

Well this was indeed like an amped-up version of Life Ceremony. It was more difficult to read due to explicit depictions of childhood abuse - which at least made all the cannibalism and stuff a little easier to deal with. But it also made it a page-turner, hoping the main character would come out okay.

Sayaka Murata is an unflinching writer, that's all I can say. I much prefer the less-abusey versions of her work, but I was compelled to read all the way to the weird and bitter end.  I eagerly await her next offering.