What I Read Last Month (October 2013)

There is really no reason I couldn't have had this post ready on November 1st like a functional human being. I even managed to finish the last little bit of a book on November 1st just to really make this a perfectly rounded out even post where all the books were finished at the end of the month and I didn't have to say "I'm in the middle of this book so I can't really review it because it's not finished." Nope, everything was finished with a neat little bow on it. Instead (even though this post is mostly just summing up my reviews from Goodreads), life happened. To sum things up, I've been incredibly distracted the last two weeks. Not so distracted that continuing to march along in my aggressive book reading goals, but much too distracted to write anything here or at Simple Hedonisms. Nothing bad happened, but basically I waiting for some news. That news has come and gone and now that I'm not refreshing my email every 32 seconds, I can actually focus on living my life.

And living my life means writing things! Specifically, at this moment, writing things about books! Since I realized that I suck at my 36 book Goodreads goal, I basically have to read 5 books a month just to break even. In October, I actually read 5 books! And some were long! I guess a three hour commute is good for something.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay

I'd continually been hearing for about a year how amazing this book was. When I found out it was about two young guys who start their own comic books, I knew I had to pick it up. I wasn't expecting how much more it would be. While centering around comic books the book also heavily involves the holocaust, ww2, sexuality, family, and a number of other issues. My only criticism of the book would be the lengthy back stories and exposition which was sometimes a little slow. However, all of these tied together to make the book a complicated and fascinating story.

The Circle

I've always been a big fan of distopian future novels and this one definitely fell into that vein. It's interesting to take a step back and look at what could happen with technology in the not-to-distant future and it's important to have books like this that keep us aware of these things, especially in a context that's so tangible.

My biggest problem with the book was the believability of the main character, Mae. At first, she seems like a pretty standard millennial who is excited to have a new job at a prestigious company but her naivety is grating and continues to get worse through out the book.

Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology

Shannon gave me this book to borrow and said it would be a cute read for any cat owner, plus it took place in San Francisco. I thought after a couple of 500+ page books, this would be a nice way break before starting another long book. For the most part, it was pretty funny. The author was definitely a neurotic cat owner but really... aren't we all? However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and reading this book on the train was probably a bad idea as I was trying desperately to not cry and be "that person." It's a short book so I recommend reading it cuddled in bed with your kitties. If you don't have kitties, I would suggest reading something else because you probably won't get this book.

Batman: Year One

You might be thinking, "Hey Nikki, comic books aren't book! That's cheating and no way to reach your goal of 36 books in a year!" To that I say: if it's on Goodreads, I count it as a book therefore, comic books are books. Also, they're much easier to read on my cell phone than actual books and three of the books I read this month were really long, and just about everything was dark and made me want to curl into a ball and cry so just let me have this one, ok?

The Casual Vacancy

Well, that wasn't what I expected... I knew it wasn't going to be an adult book but really was not expecting it to be so very much not at all appropriate for children. While I knew the the book centered around election to replace an empty council seat, I figured the adult tones would focus more around political dealings. However, it crossed into so many more serious topics (which I won't list because I think the shock is part of the reading) than that. The characters are also very complex and more realistic than normally found in fiction. No one character is really all that good and they range in varying shades of grey. At first, this realization upset me because there wasn't anyone to cheer for but it made sense that these characters were acting more like real people who sometimes do bad things but aren't necessarily bad people (and some who actually just are bad people). My biggest criticism is that you meet about 15 characters in the first ten pages and it's really difficult to keep track of them until further in the book. It would have been more helpful to spend a little more time with each family to understand their context better.

What November is Looking Like

Since we're already pretty into the month, I basically know how this is going to look. I've already finished Ender's Game because Boyfriend really wanted to go see it so I finished it and we went to go see Thor because that's how life works sometimes. Anyways, after reading 6 dark or sad or philosophical books in a row, I was about ready to hide under my covers with many bottles of wine and never see the sunlight so instead of starting The Lost Symbol, I solicited ideas for some happy books. Right now I'm reading Good Omens and Geek's Guide to Wolrd Domination. Hyperbole and a Half is also supposed to arrive today and Shannon let me borrow Mr. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. So I think after those 4 happy / silly / funny books, I should be able to tackle the real world again and read something a little more serious. I also have The Killing Joke on my phone right now but I may put that one on hold because I know how it ends and it's not really the sunshine and rainbows story that I'm looking for right now.

This whole book goal is feeling very tangible! It helps that as of last week, I'd read as many books as I did this year. I know that the holidays are a great time for reading because when you want to hide away a little bit from people, no one really seems to get mad if it's with a book.