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secretlyofthefeywild · 3 months ago

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february book review

books read: 12

Pick The Lock

Author: A.S. King

Genre: fiction, young adult

Summary:

Jane's mother is an artist constantly on tour to earn a living and support the family. While her mother is away, Jane lives in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their controlling, mendacious father and aunt, both of whom have conspired to confine Jane and Henry’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. Pick the Lock follows Jane’s bizarre and brilliant journey to rediscover and reconnect with her mother through punk rock and opera.

Thoughts: at no point in this book did i truly understand what the fuck was happening. which i do think was by design. That being said, i had a wonderful time and thought it was a lot of fun. i loved the growth of all of the characters and the twists and turns in the plot.

Index, A History Of The

Author: Dennis Duncan

Genre: non-fiction, history, literary criticism

Summary:

Most of us give little thought to the back of the book—it’s just where you go to look things up. But here is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known history. Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office, and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists’ living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians, and—of course—indexers along the way. Duncan reveals the vast role of the index in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, and he shows that in the Age of Search we are all index-rakers at heart.

Thoughts: i have not stopped talking abt this book. i learned so many fun facts abt history and i will not stop sharing them w my friends. in the top five nonfiction books of the year for sure.

i highly recommend this book if you like history, esp history pertaining to literature.

Sailing The Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter

Author: Thomas Cahill

Genre: non-fiction, history, philosophy

Summary:

The Greeks invented everything from Western warfare to mystical prayer, from logic to statecraft. Many of their achievements, particularly in art & philosophy, are widely celebrated. Other innovations & accomplishments, however, are underappreciated. Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea explores the legacy, good & bad, of the ancient Greeks. From the origins of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European tribes into Attica & the Peloponnesian peninsula, to the formation of the poleis, to the birth of Western literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, art & architecture, Cahill makes the distant past relevant. Greek society is one of the two primeval influences on the Western world. While Jews gave us a value system, the Greeks set the foundation & framework for our intellectual lives. They're responsible for our vocabulary, logic & categorization system. They provided the intellectual tools brought to bear on problems in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, physics etc. Their modes of thinking, considered in classical times to be the pinnacle of achievement, are largely responsible for the shape Xianity took. They left a less appealing bequest as well. They created Western militarism &, in making warriors the ultimate ideal, perpetrated the assumption that only males could be entrusted with citizenship. The consequences of their exclusion of women from the political sphere & the social segregation of the sexes continue to reverberate. Full of surprising, often controversial, insights, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea is a remarkable intellectual adventure—conducted by the most companionable guide imaginable. Cahill’s knowledge of his sources is so intimate that he's made fresh translations of the Greek lyric poets.

Thoughts: this was very interesting to me. i learned a lot abt the greeks and their lives. i was fascinated the entire time, which can be difficult in nonfiction, but Cahill does it well.

Lie To Me

Author: Kaitlin Ward

Genre: fiction, mystery, thriller, young adult

Summary:

Ever since Amelia woke up in the hospital, recovering from a near-death fall she has no memory of, she's been suspicious. Her friends, family, and doctors insist it was an accident, but Amelia is sure she remembers being pushed. Then another girl is found nearby -- one who fell, but didn't survive. Amelia's fears suddenly feel very real, and with the help of her new boyfriend, Liam, she tries to investigate her own horrific ordeal. But what is she looking for, exactly? And how can she tell who's trustworthy, and who might be -- must be -- lying to her? The closer Amelia gets to the truth, the more terrifying her once orderly, safe world becomes. She's determined to know what happened, but if she doesn't act fast, her next accident might be her last.

Thoughts: oh god. i was so incredibly nauseous the entire time i read this book. i saw the plot twist coming from a mile away, but it still managed to make me have to put the book down and breathe for a few minutes. im not sure if this book has any sort of following, but it needs one.

Chain Of Gold

Author: Cassandra Claire

Genre: fiction, fantasy, historical, young adult

Summary:

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia's friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.

Thoughts: its a really good book, and i love the cast (esp anna lightwood<3), but i did find that i wanted more content abt their parents lol. i just love the tid cast so much, and ik this series is abt their kids but gahh. the beginnings of all the diff love arcs were entertaining too.

HappyHead

Author: Josh Silver

Genre: fiction, dystopian, lgbtq+, thriller, young adult

Summary:

We are in an epidemic. An epidemic of unhappiness. Friends, here is the good news: HappyHead has the answer. When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape...

Thoughts: oh my god. i love love love a good dystopian book. a dystopian book that takes place in a mental health treatment facility was something i didn't know i needed. i have not stopped recommending this book to literally everyone. god it's so good.

The Kalevala

Author: Elais Lonnrot

Genre: mythology, classics, poetry

Summary:

The Kalevala is the great Finnish epic which, like the Iliad and Odyssey, grew out of a rich oral tradition with prehistoric roots. During the first millennium of our era, speakers of Uralic languages (outside the Indo-European group) who had settled in the Baltic region developed an oral poetry that was to last into the nineteenth century. This poetry provided the basis of the Kalevala, assembled by the Finnish scholar Elias Lonnrot and published in its final form in 1849. It played a central role in the process towards Finnish independence and inspired some of the greatest music of Sibelius.

Thoughts: i thought the epic was a lot of fun. it's much different than other epics (which is to be expected when talking abt the Finnish) but i liked it a lot. the language confused me at a few points, but again that is to be expected.

The Beast Is An Animal

Author: Peternelle Van Arsdale

Genre: fiction, mythology, folklore, horror, young adult

Summary:

Alys was seven the first time she saw the soul eaters. These soul eaters are twin sisters who were abandoned by their father and slowly grew into something not quite human. And they feed off of human souls. When her village was attacked, Alys was spared and sent to live in a neighboring village. There the devout people created a strict world where fear of the soul eaters—and of the Beast they believe guides them—rule village life. But the Beast is not what they think he is. And neither is Alys. Inside, Alys feels connected to the soul eaters, and maybe even to the Beast itself. As she grows from a child to a teenager, she longs for the freedom of the forest. And she has a gift she can tell no one, for fear they will call her a witch. When disaster strikes, Alys finds herself on a journey to heal herself and her world. A journey that will take her through the darkest parts of the forest, where danger threatens her from the outside—and from within her own heart and soul.

Thoughts: oouughhh. i liked this book a lot. i rly liked all of the character arcs and growth over time. i liked that i had conflicting feelings abt a lot of the characters and the situations, it made it feel a lot more real. i love the beast so much.

Chain of Iron

Author: Cassandra Claire

Genre: fiction, fantasy, historical, young adult

Summary:

Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade. But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace. Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

Thoughts: i was thoroughly hooked into the plot in this one. i still wanted more parents & magnus content, but i enjoyed the thieves & co plot threads a lot. reading so much abt malcom while knowing everything from tda was wild. there were a few moments where i got rly strong sense of deja vu, so im curious if i read these books in middle school and just completely forgot abt them. regardless, i had a fun time.

Dear Monster Claus

Author: Maeve Black

Genre: fiction, erotica, fantasy, romance

Summary:

Her entire life, Xo has brought others happiness and love, complete with endings tied in pretty little bows. This year, she wants that for herself. Love. Romance. A happy ending. And there's a grumpy Santa who's more than willing to grant her this wish in exchange for finding his love for Christmas again. Where there are candy canes, there are happily ever afters... and they're both about to find theirs.

Thoughts: i read this as a joke for one of my friends, but it actually wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. it was abt 97% smut and 3% plot, but it wasn't terrible. i've definitely read much worse smut. there was a large emphasis of consent and there was no dubcon. i feel like the experienced x virgin tropes can often have a lot of dubcon elements, but this didn't. (not that there's anything wrong w dubcon in literature obvi, this is just an observation). i do have questions abt the nature of santa's penis though.

All Boys Aren't Blue

Author: George M. Johnson

Genre: non-fiction, lgbtq+, memoir, race, young adult

Summary:

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

Thoughts: i finally got around to reading the infamous book. i liked it a lot. obviously, i don't relate to everything Johnson talked abt, but i found i could relate to his experiences a lot more than i thought i would. i think this is a book that a lot more ppl should read.

How To Be Black

Author: Baratunde R. Thurston

Genre: non-fiction, essays, memoir, race

Summary:

Baratunde Thurston shares his 30-plus years of expertise in being black, with helpful essays like “How to Be the Black Friend,” “How to Speak for All Black People,” “How To Celebrate Black History Month,” and more, in this satirical guide to race issues—written for black people and those who love them. Audacious, cunning, and razor-sharp, How to Be Black exposes the mass-media’s insidiously racist, monochromatic portrayal of black culture’s richness and variety. Fans of Stuff White People Like , This Week in Blackness , and Ending Racism in About an Hour will be captivated, uplifted, incensed, and inspired by this hilarious and powerful attack on America’s blacklisting of black Baratunde Thurston’s How to Be Black.

Thoughts: i thought this book was hilarious, which i am aware was by design. i rly enjoyed the was Thurston was able to walk the line between humor and seriousness. since this came out in 2012, i did often find myself wondering how some of the passages would be different in our current political and societal climates.

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