State of the ARC #2

Today, we're continuing State of the ARC - where I talk about how behind I am on my ARCs and make excuses for why I'm not through them yet. State of the ARC is run by Avalinah's Books. Read the official rules HERE.

I skipped last month (partly because I forgot, and partly because I hadn't really made any progress anyway), so I'll combine my progress. When March began, my pile looked like this:

During the months of March and April, I actually got quite a few books read! It was refreshing to be catching up on my ARCs. But there was one problem - I requested a few books as I finished one book, thinking that I'd be approved for one of the many I requested. I ended up being approved for several....so now I have a bunch more books that are coming due. However, I got a lot done, so maybe it evens out? 

BOOKS I FINISHED

        

  

I'm unreasonably proud of myself for getting these books done - five books in two months isn't a huge amount, but it's showing me that my pile of ARCs can be dealt with! I was also worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the new ARCs that I've ordered, but my total number of ARCs has gone down over the past two months, so I'm really happy with myself. While I still have a decent amount to get to, it's a number I can handle over the next several months. Below is my chart for where I stand now that April is over:

I now have 23 total books to finish (until I order more...) and I feel like getting under the 25 book mark is a pretty big deal and I'm fairly content with myself and my progress. More books are done! And more will get done next month!

What progress have you made on your pile of ARCs this month? What was the best ARC you read? The worst? What do you plan to do once you have your pile under control?

Readathon live updates!

HOUR ONE: It begins!

Good morning! It's finally time for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and I could not be more excited! As always, my planning went a little awry - I talked about my plans in this post a couple weeks ago. I thought I'd be finishing up other books in time to devote myself entirely to my planned pile of books. But then I picked up Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on a whim and it's taken a lot longer than I thought. So - in addition to the other books I planned on reading, I'll be (slowly) working through that.

This morning, I'll be starting with All Systems Red and then spending some time finishing up Another Fine Myth. These are both pretty short (and I'm already most of the way through Another Fine Myth), so I think it'll give me some success early in the day and lots of motivation to continue reading. Plus, tweeting about my successes (@mynameis_anna) and thinking about the reviews will give me a nice break.

  

I'll check in here every few hours, but you can hang out with me during hour 4 while I moderate the Goodreads group and do some discussions there! Happy reading!

HOUR 3: Chuggin' along

So far, so good! I finished All Systems Red and am continuing on with Another Fine Myth. What I'm most loving is checking Twitter every few chapters to see what my fellow readers are up to - there are so many books out there that people are devouring and I'm so happy to see so much reading getting done!

If you aren't already aware, one part of this readathon is the quest to reach 1 million pages read between everyone participating. You can log your pages here! 

Also, come visit me during hour 4 on the Goodreads group, where we'll chat a bit about what books you're excited to be reading today.

May you enjoy your current read and finish it quickly!

HOUR 5: Break time!

I've spent the last hour talking with all you delightful people on Twitter and Goodreads (and sneaking in a little reading here and there when things got quiet) and now I'm ready to take a short break from the internets - with my book, of course. I started Stoner by John Williams just before my hour 4 duties and I'm finding it to be an interesting book that differs quite a bit from what I've been reading this morning. It's refreshing to have something completely new to be working through.

If you want some music to pair with your next read, check out my Goodreads discussion thread - I got some new music to try out and also some differing opinions on whether it's appropriate and helpful to listen to music while you read. Also check out the other hourly discussion posts!

Keep reading and I'll see you all in a few more hours!

HOUR 8: Back to the half-read books

I started this morning by reading All Systems Red, finishing Another Fine Myth, reading Stoner, and then taking a graphic novel break to read Lazarus, Vol. 1: Family by Greg Rucka (which I highly recommend - it intrigued and refreshed me enough that I quickly checked out the next 3 volumes on my kindle). 

I thought I'd be feeling much more tired at this point, but I still feel excited and interested in reading. I'm sure I'll be a mess tomorrow (especially when it comes to starting all those reviews....), but for now, I'm loving this. We are about 1/3 done with this challenge and the goal to read 1 million pages seems far off (last I checked, they had just about 90,000 pages recorded), but it's still a worthy goal and an excellent way to begin measuring group progress! And hey - maybe next time, it'll be met! 

I am currently returning to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I originally was thinking that I may not be able to finish it today and that it might not be worth my time to even delve into it, but now that I am 60% of the way through, I think I need to power on through and finish it - even if it takes hours. As always, I'm excited to continue this adventure and to get so many books read. Happy reading!

HOUR 13: Success!

I have finally finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell! This was one book I didn't think I'd be able to finish today, and yet, I was able to read the last half in just 5 hours! I definitely count that as a win for today. I also read the Lazarus, Vol. 2: Lift by Greg Rucka and began Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld - which is a nice change of pace. It's a big book, so I don't entirely expect to finish it today, but I hope to make a good dent. I'll also probably take a break to read more of the Lazarus books - I've really enjoyed them so far.

  

I didn't expect that I'd last this long reading non-stop, but I've actually done a fairly good job! I'm beginning to want more of break (which I may take for dinner), but I think the change in book and genre will do me a lot of good. Keep reading! We still have several hours in which to tackle our TBRs!

Hour 18: Bedtime

This has been an incredibly relaxing and yet productive day. Why haven't I done a readathon before? Not only did I get to connect with the amazing bookish community, but I got SO much reading done. Here are the books I finished today:

      

  

    

(and I'm one quarter through this:)

All in all, I read:

• 8 1/4 books
• 1674 pages
• 17 hours (with a couple short breaks here and there and a 30 minute dinner break around hour 14)
• 2 cans of Mountain Dew Baja Blast
• 10 tweets (and endless responses to other people's tweets)
• And I didn't even open my bag of Doritos

At this point, I'm ready for bed. It's been a fun, productive day and I'm excited to do this again next time. Thank you Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon for hosting (and keep your eye on their page and book count - as I write this, they're at 309,967 pages read and 1600 books finished)!

How did your readathon go? What were your readathon ups and downs? Best book you read? Book you wish you'd been able to read? And share your readathon posts with me so we can chat:)

The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #6

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE.

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . .).

Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume--The Summoning of Dragons--is missing from the Library's shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes, Constable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, risk everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crisp). A rare tale, well done as only Terry Pratchett can.

I'm finally getting through the Discworld books and I'm so sad I hadn't read them earlier! They're hilarious and bizarre and wonderful. And they're a very unique fantasy series. I'm not far into this book, but I'm really enjoying it so far and I'm excited to read more about the City Watch.

Book Beginnings: This is where the dragons went. They lie..... Not dead, not asleep. Not waiting, because waiting implies expectation. Possibly the word we;re looking for here is......dormant. 

Friday 56: "Can't remember now," said Carrot. "My mother said it was too good for them, anyway. Stealing is Wrong."

Have you read the Discworld series? What are you reading this week? What's your favorite dragon book?

Author Spotlight: Jean Ferris

Jean Ferris has been one of my favorite authors for a long time. When I was in sixth grade, I finished my book during reading time and grabbed a book at random from the teacher's book collection. I ended up being hooked and I finished the book that night and began devouring everything of hers I could get my hands on. The public library only had a few of Jean Ferris' books, so every time I went to a new library or moved somewhere new, I'd check to see if there were any new books by her. With this system (and ordering a few), I've ended up reading a huge amount of her writings.

What I love about Jean Ferris is that she:

• deals with difficult topics with ease - She has books about sexuality, deafness, teen pregnancy, cancer, SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT
• has such ridiculous and whimsical characters - In some of her lighter, later books, Ferris creates bizarre characters. One character only speaks in quotes. Another character in a different book is color blind, so he only wears black (though it is perceived as being menacing when we first meet him). Yet another character knows every word of the film Casablanca. They're all so different and lovable. 
• empowers her readers to be strong-willed and stick by their decisions - Ferris writes for teens and it seems like her whole goal is to help her readers feel like they can be taken seriously by adults and like their feelings and goals matter. All her main characters are human, yet they can make serious decisions and can grow from their mistakes. Reading her books as a teenager, I felt like Ferris understood me and wanted to make me stronger than I was. It was a nice feeling.

One of the funny parts about writing this spotlight is that I realized how unknown Ferris is. Some of her books listed on Goodreads only have a few reviews and it turns out her author website is now a travel guide for Boulder, CO. So that was weird (especially since she released a new book in just 2013). I also found out that she passed away in 2015 - which would explain why she hasn't published anything new in years. Even though she isn't around anymore, Ferris' books still have lessons that ring true and books that anyone can enjoy.

THE BIO

(Taken from Goodreads) This author is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects: living with a deaf parent (Of Sound Mind), facing the consequences of a criminal act (Bad), or questioning one's sexuality (Eight Seconds). But Jean Ferris is also adept at writing comedy, historical fiction, and romance. What's most interesting is that she didn't publish her first novel until she was in her mid-40s. Yet she's never forgotten the intense feelings and changes of her own teenage years. Critics as well as teen readers have seen the evidence of that in her writing and have honored her novels with a number of awards, from Best Books for Young Adults to various state and National Book Award nominations.

THE BOOKS

     

   

   

   

   

   

   

Have you read anything by Jean Ferris? What books made an impression on you as a preteen/teenager? Do any of these books catch your eye?

On optimistic books

I love happy, joyful books and spring is the perfect time for beginning to delve into some lighter, more bright reads. So today, here are a few books that are cheery, optimistic, and that give you a good feeling about being alive.

• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe - This is one of the more ridiculous books I've ever read and also one of the most upbeat. The daring Pirate Captain and his crew join up with Charles Darwin to encourage scientific progress in London - and also to attend a very important pirate convention. It's a delightful book that will keep you giggling the whole time you're reading. Plus, it's a pretty quick read, so you'll be through it in no time.

• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - I was shocked at how much I loved this book and how happy it made me. This whimsical story about cursed Sophie and her adventures with the wizard Howl is so much fun and so sweet and wonderful - and so much lighter than the film. 

• Remembering Isaac: The Wise and Joyful Potter of Niederbipp by Ben Behunin - This sweet, quiet, and slow-paced book about a young potter taking the place of the quiet (and somewhat therapeutic) town potter who just passed away is a happy and overwhelmingly upbeat (though quietly so) read. If you want to smile a little through your happy tears, this is the book for you. (Heads up - this also my grandmother's favorite book, so it's a great gift idea for grandparents!)

• Giant Days: Volume 1 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Whitney Cogar - I've really enjoyed this graphic novel about three best friends starting off at college. While there are some sad parts, it's an overwhelmingly positive story about people learning to be adults. Plus, it's just a lot of fun. This book would make a great gift for your high school senior relative.

What books do you think of as "optimistic"? What makes a book optimistic in your mind? Have you read any of the books on this list?

Music Monday #6

Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE.

It's finally Spring and I could not be more excited. So today, I wanted to pick a couple songs that are upbeat and fun for sunshine-y days.

This first is from Jens Lekman. I saw him live in February and it was one of the most wholesome and happy concerts I've ever been to. Plus, this album is fantastic (though I'm not entirely sure what's going on in this music video).

This next song is by bo en and it is one of the happiest song I have ever heard. 

What have you been listening to recently? Have you heard either of these songs before?

On how to read more diversely

American society today (and some societies around the world) are pushing for more diverse literature, movies, and other media. What does that mean for us readers? To begin with, it means there will be more types of characters, love stories, plot lines, cultures, and interests featured in books we read. In many opinions, it also means that readers are obligated to read more diverse books - more demand=more supply. 
For me personally, I don’t feel the need to go to great lengths to read more diversely just yet. Many of the books I’ve found on Netgalley and won through Goodreads Giveaways are far more diverse and interesting than anything I would find on my own. Also, a large majority of the blogs I read recommend several diverse books, so I haven’t had to work much to find more diverse characters and authors to read. To me, that’s interesting - it’s easy for me to find these sort of books because they’re constantly being pushed upon me. I have very little work to do in order to find them.
If you’re struggling to find more diverse (or even broad) reading, then I have a few resources for you:

• Book blogs - There are countless book blogs out there that recommend diverse books, that advocate diversity, and that give diversity scores to books they review. Blogs are a fantastic way to get good book recommendations anyway, but I have a few blogs that are worth investigating more.
• Book Riot - Book Riot thrives on sharing books written by diverse authors or about diverse characters. Look at their many book lists for ideas about your next diverse read.
• The Book Satchel - This book blog covers a lot of Indian authors and Indian books, in addition to many books by and about women of color. While the blog doesn’t focus exclusively on these types of books, Resh (the blogger) tends to like those sort of books best, it seems - she writes about them a lot. Also, she takes beautiful book pictures and has great taste in books, so her blog is worth it just for that.
• Rich in Color - This blog is wholly dedicated to writing about and reviewing diverse books. In addition to frequent reviews, they also post lists periodically relating to various subsets of book diversity or in celebration of certain types of diversity.
• Read Diverse Books - This blog also offers many diverse book recommendations and listicles. There are also many link-ups and challenges to encourage other book bloggers to read more diversely.
• We Need Diverse Books - This website (which isn’t quite a blog) is dedicated to making diverse books more accessible and well-known. On one page, they have an infograph of several different diverse books you can read - all depending on your interests.
• Reading challenges - While some book challenges simply get you to read genres you’re unfamiliar with, many reading challenges encourage more diverse reading and some challenges offer ideas of books that will fulfill each criteria. You can also further challenge yourself by taking a normal reading challenge and adding further criteria for yourself - i.e. Each book within the challenge must be written by a person of color to count.
• Popsugar’s 2017 Reading Challenge - While this challenge has very few overt calls for diverse authors or characters, this would be an easy challenge to tweak to your specifications.
• Book Riot’s Read Harder 2017 Challenge - Book Riot does this challenge each year and it typically focuses on diversity in books. This year, many of the challenge suggestions come from authors you may be familiar with (and who may have written books that fulfill some of the criteria).
• Unconventional Librarian - This Diversity Reading Challenge only requires you to read 12 books throughout the year, so it's simple. Also, this blog listed TONS of books for Black History Month, so if you're looking for diverse books, this is a great place to start.
• 4th House on the Left - This Diversity Bingo Challenge has been making it’s way around the internet and is a good way to read books about diverse characters while not letting reading take over your life. They also include a list of books that could fit various categories on the Bingo board. They haven't posted a 2018 Diversity Challenge yet, but keep your eyes open.
• Pucks and Paperbacks - This blog followed the Bingo challenge last year, but took it up a notch. Each month, they picked a different topic and focused on books from that topic. On this page, they listed books that you could read during each month to fulfill the Bingo challenge and to fit within their monthly challenges. They haven't yet posted a 2018 Diversity Challenge that I could find, but their 2017 list is a great place to start.
• Ask someone - Is there someone you know who has wonderful taste in books? Who reads like there won’t be a tomorrow? Who is always up-to-date on the newest books? Who works in a library? Anyone who falls within one of these categories will for sure have a book or two in mind if you’re looking to read more diverse books. And often, once you find an author or two who write really diverse characters, it’s easy to branch out from there.

How do you find new diverse books? What resources do you use to get book recommendations?

On books regarding sexual assault

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I've been wondering what I could do to help promote healthy sexual relationships and helping survivors and I think that literature is a great way to spread awareness and to bring more empathy. With this in mind, I'm going to highlight some books dealing with this topic. This post is based off of the Goodreads list Breaking the Silence: Talking about Violence Against Women.

TOP BOOK

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - "Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. 
  In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

This is a book that I've actually never read, but that I was surprised to see a HUGE amount of my Goodreads friends have. Apparently I'm the last person to hear about this book - it was highly rated by everyone I know who's read it and it was near the top of every sexual assault Goodreads list I looked through. If you're looking to understand more about rape or sexual assault, this is the perfect place to start - especially if you want to know how school can play a part in perpetuating or stopping sexual violence.

BOOKS I'VE READ

I've read 7 of the top 100 books on this list and I was kind of surprised that I'd read so few. I read a lot and I try to read a lot about women's issues and social work issues. Sexual violence fits into both categories - so why have I read so little from this list? I have two theories about this: 1) The books on this list are mostly fictional and I may have read more non-fiction on this subject and 2) Most of the books on this list are books that are widely known and regarded, so it may just be that I haven't gotten around to them OR that I've read less known books on the same topic. I'd be really interested in how this list would change if it had more attention - 188 have added books or voted on books on this list, but only 22 people voted for the top book. 

Anyway - I'll be talking about the top 3 books that I've read here today and looking at how much each book can help us understand how to help survivors and to spread accurate messages regarding sexual violence.

• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (#10) - Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

It's been years since I read this book - probably 8 or 9 years at least. So it's a little difficult for me to remember all the details. However, this book very clearly deals with non-consensual sex and is upfront about how harmful this can be to survivors. It also makes interesting comparisons between healthy and unhealthy sexual relationships. A reread of this would probably benefit me greatly.

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett (#11) - Be prepared to meet three unforgettable women:
  Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
  Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
  Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
  Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
  In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women — mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends — view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

This book captivated me from the beginning and I read it in two days. I couldn't put it down. The story of poor Minny is especially encouraging - Minny is outwardly a loudspoken and sassy woman, but she's being beaten by her husband at home. While the violence described all sounds like domestic violence, there could be sexual assault that Minny doesn't reveal and this book serves as an important reminder that it often isn't clear outwardly if someone you know is suffering.

• Room by Emma Donoghue (#12) - To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world....
  Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience - and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.
  To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. 
  Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. 
  Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

This book centers around the repeated rape of Jack's mother and the consequences of her imprisonment. While so much of the story is told through Jack's perspective, it's still obvious to adult readers what is happening and how much his mother has suffered. It becomes more clear as they begin to navigate the world outside Room and start seeing what it takes to begin making life normal again. 

What books from this Goodreads list have you read? What other books would you recommend to gain more understanding about sexual assault and violence? What are you doing to spread awareness during SAAM this year?