It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan 30th)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date. Each week we post what we've finished, what we are currently reading and what we plan to read next. We then visit other blogs to see what our friends are up to.

What I Finished:

My review for this one is up. I thought it was pretty good, though I wish it had done more to show the reasons for Maddie's behaviors and that it had made better use of its cast.

J just finished this yesterday morning. Definitely worthwhile for anyone questioning whether they are, or could be, a femenist. I found Roxane's thoughts on many of these topics insightful and refreshing. Definitely want to read more from her.

What I'm Reading:

This book is hilarious and reminds me, in many ways, of how obsessed I was with Confessions of a Shopaholic. Definitely going to be happy to wrap it up. I really love Sofia's voice and the tight friendships and family bonds found here. A delightful read that has made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.

What's Up Next:

I got this for $4 on Audible and it's been tough going holding off from reading it earlier than I scheduled it for during the Reading Assignment Challenge.

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I knew I would need something cute to read this month. Adorkable looks like it should be totally up my alley and I can't wait to dive in.

So, what are you reading this week? I'd love to know, so feel free to leave a comment. 

TBR Takedown 5.0

#TBRTakedown is a Twitter-based read-a-thon taking place from February 6-12th 2017. The goal is to read a few of the books on our ever-expanding TBR piles. Want to keep track of what's going on? Follow @TBRTakedown .

The thing that grabbed my attention about this read-a-thon is that there are themed challenges to help participants select their TBRs. Here are my picks for each category:

1. On Your TBR Shelf For Ovr A Year

Redeemed
by P.C. and Kirtsten Cast

In the final electrifying novel in the HoN series, Neferet has finally made herself known to mortals. A Dark Goddess is loose on Tulsa and the world. No single vampyre is strong enough to vanquish her - unless that creature has the power to summon the elements as well as the ability to wield Old Magick. Only Zoey Redbird is heir to such power…but because of the consequences of using Old Magick, she is unable to help. Find out who will win and who will lose in this epic battle of Light versus Darkness.

The House of Night has been one of my favorite series since the beginning. I got into this before I started my blog. And yet, I haven't read the final book yet. It's time to fix that. I want to know what happens to these characters.

2. Most Recent Book Haul

The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven - but the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

This was suppose to be read during DiverseAThon, but I joined that late and read  a 450 page book for oe of my picks, so the fact that I didn't get this done doesn't surprise me. However, I do feel that this book is important and really want to read it, so here it is. This could have easily been the 'out of my comfort zone' pick, but since it is the most recent thing I've purchaed, I'll put it here.

3. First Book In A Series

Catching Jordan

by Miranda Kenneally

ONE OF THE BOYS

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?

I started this years ago and ended up having an arthritis flare that prevented me from finishing it. However, I enjoyed the part I did read so I think it will be fun to sit down and finish this fully.

4. Catch Up On A Series

Romancing The Nerd
by Leah Rae Miller

Cool guy. Geeky girl. Let the games begin.

Dan Garrett has become exactly what he hates—popular. Until recently, he was just another live-action role-playing nerd on the lowest rung of the social ladder. Cue a massive growth spurt and an uncanny skill at taking three-point shots in basketball and voila…Mr. Popular. It’s definitely weird.

And the biggest drawback? Going from high school zero to basketball hero cost Dan the secret girl of his dorky dreams.

A tuba-playing nerd with an eclectic fashion sense, Zelda Potts’s “coolness” stat is about minus forty-two. Dan turning his back on her and the rest of nerd-dom was brutal enough, but when he humiliates her at school, Zelda decides it’s time for a little revenge—dork style. Nevermind that she used to have a crush on him. Nevermind that her plan could backfire big time.

It’s time to roll the dice…and hope like freakin’ hell she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.

After reading and enjoying The Summer I Became A Nerd, reading this seems like a natural next step for this category. I'm looking forward to seeing what crazy, nerdy antics will happen in order for these two to get together.

5. Out Of Your Comfort Zone

The Fire This Time
by Jesmyn Ward

National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin’s 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping off point for this groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race from the most important voices of her generation and our time.

In light of recent tragedies and widespread protests across the nation, The Progressive magazine republished one of its most famous pieces: James Baldwin’s 1962 “Letter to My Nephew,” which was later published in his landmark book, The Fire Next Time. Addressing his fifteen-year-old namesake on the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Baldwin wrote: “You know and I know, that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.”

Award-winning author Jesmyn Ward knows that Baldwin’s words ring as true as ever today. In response, she has gathered short essays, memoir, and a few essential poems to engage the question of race in the United States. And she has turned to some of her generation’s most original thinkers and writers to give voice to their concerns.

The Fire This Time is divided into three parts that shine a light on the darkest corners of our history, wrestle with our current predicament, and envision a better future. Of the eighteen pieces, ten were written specifically for this volume.

In the fifty-odd years since Baldwin’s essay was published, entire generations have dared everything and made significant progress. But the idea that we are living in the post-Civil Rights era, that we are a “postracial” society, is an inaccurate and harmful reflection of a truth the country must confront. Baldwin’s “fire next time” is now upon us, and it needs to be talked about.

I saw this book on many must-read non-fiction of 2016 lists, and it immediately piqued my curiosity. That said, a book like this should never feel easy or 'comfortable' to me. In a perfect world, a book like this would not be needed. However, two of my goals for 2017 are to read at least one non-fiction book a month and to read more diversely, so here we go.

Are you taking part in TBR Takedown? Leave a link to your post and I'll take a look at what you're reading, too. 

My January 2017 Diverse-a-thon TBR

So, I just found out that this is going on a couple nights ago. That means I'm a little late to the party. It also means that if I want to get involved there isn't a second to spare. Anyway, here are the books I'd like to read between now and the 29th. Let's see if we can make this happen...

Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged
by Ayisha Malik

"Brilliant idea! Excellent! Muslim dating? Well, I had no idea you were allowed to date.' Then he leaned towards me and looked at me sympathetically. 'Are your parents quite disappointed?'

Unlucky in love once again after her possible-marriage-partner-to-be proves a little too close to his parents, Sofia Khan is ready to renounce men for good. Or at least she was, until her boss persuades her to write a tell-all expose about the Muslim dating scene.

As her woes become her work, Sofia must lean on the support of her brilliant friends, baffled colleagues and baffling parents as she goes in search of stories for her book. In amongst the marriage-crazy relatives, racist tube passengers and decidedly odd online daters, could there be a a lingering possibility that she might just be falling in love . . . ?

Sofia Khan is not Obliged is the hilarious and authentic debut novel by Ayisha Malik."

Reading On: Kindle

Length: 456 pages

Current Progress: 48%

Why I Picked This: As far as I can recall, I've never read about a Muslim main character. So as a romance addict and writer, the premise of someone writing a Muslim dating book set in the framework of women's fiction / chick lit caught my interest. Upon trying the sample I knew I had to keep going since Sofia's voice is hilarious and vibrant and the storytelling overall has completely sucked me into her world. 

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven - but the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Reading On: Audible / kindle (haven't decided yet)

Length: 306 pages

Current Progress: %

Why I Picked This: This is the DiverseAThon group read, so of course I want to make sure I am ready for the discussion about it on Saturday. Going in I am interested but apprehensive. Topics like this tend to make me want to throw things because I cannot wrap my head around the levels of cruelty people are able and willing to carry out against each other.

Bad Feminist
by Roxane Gay

Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink—all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I’m not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman of color while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years and commenting on the state of feminism today. The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better.

Reading On: Kindle / Audible

Length: 320 pages

Current Progress: %

Why I Picked This: I have very mixed feelings about Feminism and what it stands for. I am generally not one to call myself a Feminist, because there is a lot of baggage, unrealistic expectations and bullshit that tend to come along with the title. However, I went and listened to Roxane on several YouTube videos and I think I will enjoy her book whether or not I end up fully agreeing with everything she says. Plus, this will kickstart one of my goals for 2017, which is to read one non-fiction book each month. 

Are you taking part in DiverseAThon? What's on your TBR this week? I'd love to know!

Review: The Summer I Became A Nerd By Leah Rae Miller

This book has been on my TBR for a long time. So long, in fact, that when I picked up my Kindle and was ready to buy it, I discovered that I already did that years ago. Ah, memory. ;)

I've always been a geek. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter, video games... It's pretty much been my bread and butter my whole life. I was not one of the popular people but, thanks largely to my disabilities, I never had the desire to be one of them. Nor did I live under the illusion that was possible.

Do I sound bitter? Let me assure you it is not for myself--I'm 34 and outside of YA fiction high school is way, way in my rear view mirror--but rather for the protagonist of this story. The fact that there are girls out there who feel as she does truly breaks my heart.

(Summary from GoodReads)

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn’t just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

There were some things I really liked about this book, and some things that totally drove me up the wall. At the center of this set of mixed opinions was our protagonist, Maddie. I didn't think she was a terrible person, but as I said in my intro, I couldn't relate to her extreme desperation to be popular, and I think that created a divide between her and I.

There wasn't actually a lot of external conflict that related to the core popularity struggle. The vast majority of Maddie's fears, aside from being laughed at in the prologue and one line of dialogue by a single character near the end, are self inflicted. In fact, I found that with a lot of Maddie's problems, which made it difficult for me to empathize with her.

She won't tell people she doesn't like a popular country singer. She hides her geeky interests to a spy-comedy level of ridiculousness. She has crafted a persona and image for herself, picking people and controlling everything down to two CDs strategically placed in her backseat to match what her friends are listening to.

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't fully believe it. It actually made me feel sorry for the people she has been lying to / using / deceiving rather than making me feel sympathy for her plight.

And yet, despite how hard I'm coming down on this, I did enjoy the book. I think it holds a very important message about the value of being true to yourself and the cost when someone is too afraid to do that.

I liked Terra (Maddie's best friend) and felt bad that Maddie didn't have enough faith in their friendship to confide in her. Logan was all right. A bit too quick to switch his attitude, though Maddie kinda deserved that considering how fake she could be. Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of real presence on the page and despite all the fabulous geeky references and settings we get to explore, his character never really did anything that made him stand out. My favorite character was Dan. He was hilarious, honest and a loyal friend.

Basically, this novel was like a picture just slightly out of focus. What was here was an enjoyable read, but I wanted to dig deeper into this situation. I wanted to understand why Maddie continued to feel her fears were justified. I wanted to get to know the other characters--not just have her tell me how they were. A light, breezy and definitely geeky summer romance, The Summer I Became A Nerd is literary cotton candy. It's sweet, airy and you'll enjoy it while it lasts, but upon looking back you will wonder if you actually ate anything. As with cotton candy, that doesn't mean it should be avoided. Rather, a potential reader just needs to know what they are getting into when they pick this book up.

Top 10 Books I Missed While Not Blogging

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where people make lists about their opinions on various bookish topics.

This Week's Topic:

Top 10 Books I Missed While Not Blogging

Reader burnout: it exists, it's nasty and draining, and it hit me for nearly two years. With such a large lapse in doing much actual reading, it comes as little surprise that there is a lot on my TBR, since I tend to like series and they don't stop just because I'm not reading. Here are ten books I haven't read yet that I really need to get to.

 10. If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo -- This looks like a very interesting read on a very important topic. When I found out about it, there was no way it couldn't end up on my TBR.

09. And I Darken by Kiersten White -- Anyone who knows a little about vampire history knows that Count Dracula was based on Vlad the Impaler. Vlad the Impaler was a vey scary guy. The idea of a female Vlad as a YA lead fascinates me.

08. Run by Kody Keplinger -- I loved The DUFF, Shut Out and A Midsummer's Nightmare, so I am looking forward to reading the books Kody has written while I was taking my break. As someone who grew up fairly sheltered because of disabilities--one of those being that I am legally blind--this had to be here.

07. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard -- A fantastic premise paired with the fact that I got this on sale via Audible for $4 gave it a bump up on my TBR.

06. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell -- I've wanted to read this from the moment I heard about it. I even bought a hardcover copy, but I've started to find that print books take visual effort. So I'll need to grab this for my e-reader instead.

05. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkosski -- Fantastic premise. An idea this out there can make me nervous about how it will be executed, but I still need to check this out either way.

04. Something In The Air by Marie Landry -- I'm saving this for one of those times when i'm stuck. I've loved all of Marie's other books so I can't see this being any different.

03. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas -- I'm planning to do full read throughs of both the Throne of Glass and Court of Thorns and Roses series this year. Figured putting one book was more fair than having repeat entries from one author.

02. Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles -- i adored the Perfect Chemistry trilogy and this has been on my TBR way too long. I cannot wait to sit down and get lost in one of Simone's books again.

1. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi -- Let's just say I've heard some...things...and they lead me to believe that the Shatter Me series is the most important thing on my TBR this year. I won't say any more than that. Just that I am very, very excited.

So, what did you pick as your freebie topic this week? Have you read any of the books I listed? Did you like them? What books are you eager to read this year? Feel fee to leave a comment and let me know.

Discussion: When Real Life Effects Your Reading

Tell me if something like this has ever happened to you:

I've wanted to read The Wrath & The Dawn for over two years. I decided that I would read it for one of my categories in the Diverse Reads Book Challenge. I downloaded the book from Audible. I've got my headphones on. The narrator seems to be doing a solid job.

...And yet I'm not past Shazi and Khalid meeting alone for the first time. He hasn't even entered the room yet. Why?

Well, lets just say I'm freaking out the way someone should when reading Stephen King. Not this. *siiiigh*

My heart is pounding, my stomach is in knots and I keep pausing the book every few paragraphs to try and alleviate the tension. I've read way darker and scarier things both on and off of this blog. Yet this book is stressing me out to the point where I'm not reading / listening to it (or anything, since I tend to focus on one book at a time.) and I am beyond frustrated.

But I think I've figured out why. My Dad had a stroke during surgery last October and was in a coma for 28 hours. I switched from writing my Sealer Saga to working on my Tales of Ellithica series because the characters in Sealer Saga (Lords of Death, Famine, Plague, etc.) felt too raw. Y'know that part from Aladdin where the camera zooms in on the vendor and he goes "Too close. A little too close." That's what I'm talking about.

All of the pausing is also leaving room for a lot of critical questions:

• Why did we not see any of Shazi and Shiva's friendship before Shiva was murdered?
• Why did we not get some time to care about Shazi before she was thrust into this disaster?
• Why am I suppose to care about Tariq? I have no history for him and Shazi.
• Where in the curse does it tell us that Khalid needs to murder wives? Why not find people suffering of uncurable illness, prisoners who need to be executed anyway, host a death lottery, etc.? 
• What is Khalid's full reason / motive? In 1001 Nights we know the king's last wife betrayed him and that he started killing young brides to ensure that this would never happen to him again.
• Shazi, what exactly is your plan? I'm sure we're going to get storytelling to keep her alive past dawn, but how exactly is a noblewoman going to kill a man we've been told has been trained as--and is skilled as--a warrior. 

I think I may be too focused on seeing fault here; like my mind is in beta or editing mode rather than purely in reader mode since stress is keeping me from getting lost in the story the way that I would want to in order to listen and gave an honest review. 

Do you think I should put this one on hold and come back later? Have you ever had real life effect your enjoyment of a book? I'd love to know. 

2017 Diverse Reads Book Challenge

I love a good book challenge, and the Diverse Reads Book Challenge may be one of the most interesting and well constructed challenges I've ever seen Designed to encourage readers to read more diverse books and discover points of view different from their own, I feel this is a challenge that is needed with everything going on in the world today.. Click here for full details, or here to get to their excellent reading list that presents tons of books for each month's theme.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Are you taking part in this challenge? Have you read any of the books I've chosen? Are you looking forward to any of them that are new releases?