My Year In Books - 2017

Current Read: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Current Listen: The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Hello, internet! Happy New Year! It's been a busy end of the year, as usual (there was one weekend in December where I sang 7 concerts between Friday night and Sunday night), but I have been able to get enough reading in to complete (and exceed) my reading goal for the year! My goal was to read 110 books in 2017, and I ended up reading 125. This year I decided to make a spreadsheet of my read this year so I could keep track of what kinds of books I read, particularly in terms of representation. If you're interested, here is a link to my 2017 list!

What books did Katie read in 2017?

Some statistics that I thought were interesting:

-I read 23 books written by an author that is not American.
-I read 38 books written by people of color.
-I read 82 books written by women.
-I read 42 young adult fiction books (that is honestly not as high as I thought it would be).
-I read 26 middle grade and children's books.
-I read 22 graphic novels.
-I read 22 adult fiction books.
-I read 17 nonfiction books.

Some interesting things for me to think about regarding what I like to read and what I could read more of. This year I am going to attempt to write down what my favorite books were this year. I always find this SUPER challenging, since on the whole I do not read a lot of books that I don't like. But we're gonna try. I've been agonizing over it, and I decided to do a top 5 for YA, a top 5 for adult fiction, and a top 5 for non-fiction. These lists will be in no particular order (because putting them in order would make it 10 times harder). 

TOP 5 YOUNG ADULT
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Warcross by Marie Lu

TOP 5 ADULT FICTION
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
The Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown
Artemis by Andy Weir

TOP 5 NON-FICTION
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Dear Ijeawele and We Should All Be Feminists by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie (I'm gonna count these two as one because they are both about 50 pages each)
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie

There are so many more that could have been included, but overall I think I am pretty happy with these lists. This has maybe been my best reading year ever, and in the next week I will be letting you all know what my reading resolutions are to make 2018 even better. That's all she read!

Let's Talk Graphic Novels

Current Read: The Reader by Traci Chee

Current Listen: Morning Star by Pierce Brown

2017 Reading Challenge Count: 98 out of 110 books

Hey internet! I have a bookish thing on my mind that I wanted to mull over. And that thing is graphic novels.

I feel that, on the whole, the book world tends snubs its nose at the graphic novel. Until quite recently (probably fall of 2016), I was guilty of this as well.

No longer, I say. My eyes have been OPENED.

I'm not sure if the graphic novel is experiencing a renaissance or if it has always been this good, but MAN! Some of the graphic novels being released are just...top-notch. I've even added a few to my all time favorites list. So I thought I'd give you a breakdown of some of my recent favorites. I feel it's my duty to expose more people to this magical world of great art.

Spill Zone

Written by Scott Westerfeld

Illustrated by Alex Puvilland

Colored by Hilary Sycamore

This book inspired me to write this post. I have never actually read a Scott Westerfeld novel (they're on the list, but so are a lot of things), but I heard a booktuber mention this and picked it up at the library. It takes place in the aftermath of some sort of nuclear event in Poughkeepsie, NY. It follows Addison, a teen who lives near the remains of the "zone" and illegally enters it to take pictures. Quite the intriguing concept by itself, but the artwork that accompanies it makes the story endlessly more compelling. The book uses two main color schemes, one for inside the zone and one for outside. Outside the zone uses mostly dark, muted colors and a lot of shadows, but when Addy enters the zone the color palate changes to sickly greens, oranges, yellows, and pinks. IT'S SO COOL.

My only complaint is that there is only one volume out so far.

The March Trilogy

Written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Illustrated by Nate Powell

This is John Lewis' three volume graphic memoir of his involvement in the civil rights movement. That description alone was enough for me to SCRAMBLE to read them all, especially since the third came out fairly recently and I could marathon them. As a teacher, it is universally acknowledged that graphic novels are very helpful with reluctant readers. Part of the crazy acclaim for these books, then, has been that they take the civil rights movement and represent it with POWERFUL visuals that will help future generations understand the importance of these events. Additionally, they don't dumb anything down. The first book actually begins with John Lewis in early 2009 while attending Barack Obama's inauguration, which I thought was a cool way to begin the story. The first book then takes the reader through the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, of which Lewis was a leading member. Books two and three then take us through the freedom rides, the drama between the SNCC and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the march on Washington, and the fight for the Voting Rights Act. I appreciated that Lewis did not shy away from telling of the ideological divisions that existed within the major players of the movement, and it seemed to me to be a fairly unbiased telling of the facts. To me, a memoir gives itself way more credibility if it does not sugarcoat things. And also, just look at these COVERS. 

Lumberjanes

Created by Grace Ellis and Shannon Watters

Illustrated and written by like...20 different awesome women

Lumberjanes is a graphic novel series that takes place at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqui Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. It began from a desire to created a girl-focused comic book series and has more or less turned into a sensation. It has featured eight different illustrators and five different authors in its six volumes, all women. This maybe should have been confusing, but did not bother me at all. The storytelling for the books seems very consistent and I barely noticed that some volumes had very different artistic styles. The series centers around one cabin of girls at camp and their adventures while trying to earn different badges (the descriptions of which are VERY funny). Magic is incorporated into the plot of the books in a very smooth and almost casual way. The books are not about the magic, but rather about the relationships between the girls. Each character has grown and become more complex which each book, and I'm VERY MUCH invested in all of them (particularly in the great romance developing ever so slowly). A favorite feature of the books is how the exclamations of the characters will almost ALWAYS include the names of famous women, many of whom I have never heard of. The below blog compiled a list of every woman featured so far and did a great job: 

A Cheat Sheet for The Real Life Women Featured in Lumberjanes

Saga

Written by Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrated by Fiona Staples

One cannot, in my opinion, recommend graphic novels without talking about Brian K. Vaughan. I could, and probably will, write an entire post about him someday. Saga was repeatedly recommended to me by a friend, and I was soooooooo skeptical. Glad I finally caved, though, because it is one of the best stories I have ever consumed in any form. Written and conceived by Vaughan and illustrated BEAUTIFULLY by Fiona Staples, it is everything a space opera can and should be. It follows Alana and Marko, lovers from opposing sides of an opposing war, and every volume has enhanced the story's beauty like...10 times over. I have never for a moment considered owning a graphic novel series until this one. I have DEVOURED every volume and then often just turned back to the beginning and read them again. It has been praised for its representations of diversity in gender, sexuality, race, and socio-economic status, and it is one of the best stories about war and its impact that I've ever read. Also, there's a cat called Lying Cat who can tell when you are lying and will tell you so. I CANNOT PRAISE THIS SERIES ENOUGH. Someone please buy me all the volumes for Christmas. 

The beautiful Alana and Marko:                                   

And a scene with Lying Cat and a child rescued from sex trafficking that made me WEEP:

Brian K. Vaughan has also begun another series, Paper Girls, which has a much more Strangers Things vibe with fierce newspaper delivery girls and aliens and time-travelling and I LOVE IT JUST AS MUCH. Only three volumes are out so far, but I would accept those as Christmas gifts as well. 

Alright. Well I wrote WAY MORE than I planned to, but these books deserved to be loved. Some honorable mentions that I did not have time to talk about, but that are also great:

Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Maus I/II by Art Spiegelman (all modern graphic novels owe their existence to these books)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Thanks for sticking with me! Let me know if you have a favorite graphic novel that I need to check out! And with that, that's all she read! 

War...What Is It Good For?

Current Read: Last in a Long Line of Rebels by Lisa Lewis Tyre
Current Listen: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
2017 Reading Challenge Count: 88 out of 110 books

Hey internet! It's been...not quite 11 months.

In my defense, this summer was crazy. Two close friends got married, one in upstate New York. I saw Hamilton twice. I went on a cruise and got engaged.

But while all that was happening, I kept reading. And I knew that once things settled down I wanted to come back to this. So here we go!

Over Labor Day weekend, I read two middle grade books. I imagine people judge me for the number of middle grade books that I read, and I'll admit that I am occasionally embarrassed when strangers ask me what I'm reading--it generally ends with me mumbling something about how I know it's a kids book but I'm a teacher, I promise. Most often I read middle grade for the Young Hoosier Book Award program. Students at my school can read them and earn prizes, and I read them so they think I'm cool. I end up rating most of them three stars, since often they are not written with adults in mind and aren't super engaging for me.

Every year, though, there are one or two that astonish me.

This year one of those books was Pax, by Sara Pennypacker.
 
This book begins with a fox and a boy in the back seat of a car. The fox is concerned and confused, as his boy seems distressed. The fox is left in a forested area and the car drives away.

I will admit, I was not captivated right away. I picked this book up and read the first chapter over the summer and then dropped it for something more summer-y. But I'm so glad I picked it up again.

The storytelling and pacing that follows in this book is nothing short of masterful. The story is told from the perspectives of both Pax (the fox) and Peter (his boy). It is revealed early on that Peter has been left to live with his grandfather while his father goes to do...something. We quickly learn that whatever his father is doing must be related to a war that adults around Peter have been discussing. Peter, though, immediately deeply regrets leaving Pax and sets off on a foolhardy mission to find him. Pax, meanwhile, encounters a pair of foxes who, though very suspicious of his human-like scent, teach him to try to survive in the wild.

Through the perspective of a 13-year-old and a fox, Pennypacker manages to impart some gorgeous insight into the consequences of war. The foxes refer to the human soldiers as the "war-sick" and describe the horrible electrical smell of an area full of landmines. Peter is aided in his quest by a woman with PTSD who has lost a leg in this same war and has chosen to live completely off the grid. This book was like nothing I've ever read. It was so powerful to read about a war from those innocent, confused perspectives. It was a visceral experience as a reader, and the ending completely tore me apart. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful, stark illustrations. I finished this book four days ago, and it has stuck with me.

  

After I finished Pax, I unthinkingly grabbed John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Readers who have read this book will immediately know that that probably was not wise. Whoops. I picked up an illustrated edition at the library after seeing it (and being vaguely aware of the movie) for years. It was also featured on an Amazon list of 100 Young Adult Books to Read in a Lifetime, and you guys know I can't resist a good reading list.



This story centers around Bruno, who has recently had to move from his very nice home in Berlin to a small house in a place called "Out-With." Again, I love the use of a child's perspective to discuss a dark topic. It's such an effective way to point out the illogical nature of war. He decides to explore his new home and encounters "the dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy." He begins a secret friendship with this boy, Schmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence. The book is written with a gorgeous, sparse simplicity that very effectively evokes childhood, and the illustrations are mostly in black and white, with spots of color for details such as blue eyes or red arm badges.




The book, as you can imagine, ends tragically. But it is absolutely worth reading. I am continually amazed and heartened by the fact that the world has yet to run out of high quality Holocaust and World War II literature in all genres, and I am particularly impressed by literature for and about children.

Both Pax and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas seem like easy, throw-away reads, but nothing could be farther from the truth. And in these uncertain times, I can only imagine how much books like these about conflict (fictional or not), will give young people a little more understanding of the confusing decisions adults make that impact everyone and everything.

I promise to be back again soon, and for now, that's all she read.