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    • Mini Book Reviews May 2020

      Posted at 7:35 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on June 11, 2020
      beach read
      a heart so fierce
      afterlife
      untamed
      catch and kill
      sadie

      Who is in desperate need of a good book to read? I read some fantastic books last month.

      And I’m honestly curious here; since when has it become a trend to write without quotation marks to denote dialogue? Not. A. Fan.


      The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)  by Victoria Schwab–published 2011–YAL fantasy–two stars:  Can I start by saying that I love Schwab? Her Shades of Magic series shades me 8 different kinds of fangirling any time I read her name, so OF COURSE I had high expectations for TNW, her debut novel. Lexi lives in Near on the edge of a moor, and years ago, the town’s councilmen killed a witch, who they thought was responsible for the death of a boy. When the wind starts singing and children start vanishing, their disappearances are blamed on a stranger who’s come to town. This book just isn’t the same kind of caliber as Schwab’s later novels. It nearly bored me into binging Schitt’s Creek on Netflix instead of finishing, but I plodded along, barely avoiding picking up the remote. This may sound strange, but I had an issue with Lexi’s name. The book possesses an old-world magic vibe, so Lexi sounded too contemporary.

      The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)


      If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane–published 2020–chick lit–three stars:  When Laurie’s boyfriend of 18 years dumps her out of the blue, she and her coworker Jamie, a hottie who’s trying to make partner at their law firm, decide on a fauxmance to make Laurie’s ex jealous and to help Jaime look like less of a womanizer in the eyes of their bosses. I’m sure you can figure out where the majority of the plot goes from there . . . I might have missed something, but I’m unsure how the title fits in with the book. I struggled with the dialogue in places too; my not-up-to-date-status with British slang left me missing some things. Also, are you aware that the British equivalent of MILF is yummy mummy? Mind blown. (Also, gag.) However, I did love that this was solely from Laurie’s first-person point of view. It seems like every romance novel I’ve read recently alternates chapters from one love interest’s perspective and then jumps to the other’s.

      If I Never Met You


      American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars:  American Dirt has been surrounded in controversy since its release. While I was hesitant to read it, I decided to open it to make my own decisions about it. Lydia and her small son, Luca, are the only survivors of a drug cartel massacre in Acapulco. Facing the cartel’s retaliation, Lydia and Luca are left with no choice but to try to make it to the United States for safety. While I understand this is a work of fiction written by an author who researched her topic, this book is a prime example of why the #ownvoices movement matters. I even have a really hard time reading books written by men anymore where there’s a female protagonist, let alone a book like this. I’ll give Cummins the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think she meant any harm in writing this book, but I had other issues with this book as well. It’s written in third person omniscient, my least favorite point of view, and I didn’t feel like the narrative benefitted from it. The narrative was painstakingly slow. It seemed as if every waking moment was described. Especially towards the end of the book, there were paragraphs that were pages long. Granted, I was reading it on my Kindle on a size four font, but did there really need to be a five-page paragraph that only had ten sentences in it? Cummins also does that really annoying bit that C-list historical fiction writers are known for where they try to teach you about things instead of letting the narrative happen.

      American Dirt


      Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite–published 2019–YA contemporary fiction–three stars:  A family curse? A shipwreck?  Extremely early-onset Alzheimers? Shoddily constructed embezzlement plot? Modern epistolary (cringes–#deathtotheepistolary)? This book was too much, but it has that whole cutesy writing vibe I like, even though I didn’t quite buy into some of the allusions Alaine made. Would a teenager bring up Jeff Goldblum?

      Dear Haiti, Love Alaine


      Cork Dork:  A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker–published 2017–nonfiction–four stars:  Totally in the running for being the book with the longest title that I’ll read this year. Yeesh. Bosker quit her day job, which was working at The Huffington Post as a technology writer, to try to become a certified sommelier. I found this book fascinating. Not only does it weave in her trials and tribulations of navigating working in restaurants and the complexities and rigorous training of becoming a sommelier, but it also discusses the history of wine, wine table service, and the science of smell and taste. This book may not be for everyone, but I particularly loved it because, duhhhh wine, and how it highlights just how hard it is to work in the service industry. Bring on the riesling. Cheers.

      Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste


      City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1) by Victoria Schwab–published 2018–middle-grade fantasy/horror–four stars:  Both of Cassidy’s parents are bonafide ghost story writers; however, her parents don’t know that Cassidy can actually see ghosts. In fact, her best friend is one. When her parents get offered to turn their books into a TV show, they pack Cassidy and their cat up and head to Edinborough, the City of Ghosts, to film their first episode. For a middle-grade book, these ghosts are legit scary. This book is everything Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces wasn’t but could have been.

      City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake, #1)


      Untamed by Glennon Doyle–published 2020–memoir/self-help–four stars:  Even though I rated this four stars, I plan on recommending the shit out of this book. It’s the best self-help book, a genre I typically eschew, I’ve ever read. Doyle, a well-known Christian author and motivational speaker who left her husband after she fell in love with a woman, writes exquisitely and honestly. It’s empowering in one sentence, and then in the next, she’ll write a truth that will tear you apart. And what I love about this book is that Doyle never stops questioning the world that she finds herself in. I loved the structure of the book: pithy essays (chapters?) layered with a few longer ones. However, I didn’t relate to what she had to say about “Knowing.” She talks about looking deep within yourself instead of relying on others and society, and trust what your mind and the “Knowing” are telling you. And while I do believe that to a certain extent and I know she’s trying to say you’re the only one who knows you and can make the best decisions for you, I don’t always trust my decisions. Also, anytime she relayed dialogue, it was full-blown sentences that didn’t really read like a true conversation.  Let me leave you with this quote from the book:  “It is difficult for a woman to be healthy in a culture that is still so very sick. It is the ultimate victory for a woman to find a way to love herself and other women while existing in a world insisting that she has no right to.” Preach, Doyle. Preach. Plus–how gorg is this cover?

      Untamed


      A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars:  Brad moves his blended family into an older neighborhood, leveling the original house and raising a McMansion in its place. Valerie, a black woman who is also an ecologist, files a lawsuit against him and the city when her beloved oak tree starts dying, a byproduct of Brad’s inground pool. Despite the animosity between the two families, Juniper, Brad’s stepdaughter, and Xavier, Valerie’s son, begin dating. Don’t bother with this book. I know I’m a white girl, but this book read like the author, an older white woman, is trying to show off how woke she is. A black boy gets unjustly accused of raping a white girl, there are southern good ol’ boys, there’s gaslighting, there’s pedophilia, there’s a teenage girl who makes a chastity vow, and there’s suicide. Fowler tries to do too much at once, and I don’t think white women should be telling the story of what it’s like to be a black male, again #ownvoices. Speaking of storytelling, what the actual f*ck is going on with the POV? It’s third-person omniscient, and then there are parts that are narrated by the collective “we” of the other neighbors. Fowler does try to share a message with the “we” POV at the end of the novel, but aren’t “we” a little past the point of blatantly stating the message at a story’s end?

      A Good Neighborhood


      The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks–published 2010–high fantasy–four stars:  Why are high fantasy books so long? I really would have liked this one a bit more (This is close to a three for me, but I rounded up.) if it had been 200 pages less. I still haven’t figured out who the black prism is either, but I do no know that Gavin is the Prism and there’s a pretty great twist pretty early on in the story.  It was heavy on the war parts and light on the parts really pivotal to the storyline. There were a few places where I didn’t know what was happening or how other characters knew that some characters had gotten captured or switched sides or whatever. At one point I even went back through five previous chapters to see where a character got captured because I had thought I missed it, but I hadn’t. It just wasn’t described. I thought Liv’s character was written pretty ship-shoddily. I don’t know if I’ll continue this series.

      The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)


      Sadie by Courtney Summers–published 2018–YAL–five stars:  Whoa. This is unlike any YAL book I’ve ever read. It’s like the best kind of mash-up of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Gillian Flynn. It’s the darkest YA read I’ve ever encountered, but I think YAL needs more literature like this. It was slow to get into, but a quarter of the way through the book, I couldn’t put it down. I like how it switched between the podcast about the mystery of Sadie’s disappearance and then Sadie’s narrative. I love how the ending left me, and will leave you too, unsatisfied.  And the writing in general. Wow. Take a look at these two magnificent sentences:  “It’s the kind of motel that makes you feel every one of your secrets. The cost of the stay is only how much you’re willing to live with yourself.”

      Sadie


      A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2) by Brigid Kemmerer–published 2020–YAL fantasy–four stars:  Do yourself a favor, and pick up the first book of this series (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), so you can get to this second one. The writing in both novels is less than stellar, but the storyline more than makes up for it. This book switches gears and introduces new characters as the main ones, a smooth move and the perfect way to move the story along.

      A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2)


      The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms–published 2019–chick lit–three stars:  When Amy’s estranged husband comes back to Pennsylvania from a three-year parental hiatus in Hong Kong to try to reconcile with their children, Amy heads to a library conference in New York City and ends up staying for the entire summer, facing a major case of mom guilt the whole time. Her college roommate Thalia, who runs a woman’s magazine, features Amy in the magazine, giving her a make-over. Amy gets laid, Amy gets a blow-out, Amy has white wine lunches, Amy gets better bras, Amy trends on Twitter, yadda yadda yadda. While the writing at times was witty, particularly the missives from her daughter, it just wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen already. I found the term #momspringa cringe-worthy, and the ending of the book failed to tug at my heartstrings as it should have.

      The Overdue Life of Amy Byler


      Pretty Things by Janelle Brown–published 2020–thriller–three stars:  Nina, a grifter with her sexy Irish boyfriend by her side, heads to Lake Tahoe to pull a con on a rich social media influencer named Vanessa whose father wronged Nina’s family when she was in high school. For starters, no thriller needs to be nearly 500 pages like this one is. The story alternated chapters between Nina’s and Vanessa’s first-person points of view, often resulting in the same plot events being told from both characters’ perspectives. Why? Why? Why? Why? As a reader, I don’t want to read a plot event that I just read AGAIN even if it is told from someone else’s POV. So many pages could have been saved if the storyline could have just moved ahead. This is my biggest hindrance to rating this a four because I really liked the storyline. If you want to read something shorter and faster-paced that touches on the dangers of social media usage, read Followers or Follow Me instead.

      Pretty Things


      Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid–published 2019–contemporary fiction–four stars:  I had to wait eons to get this delivered to my Libby app, but it was worth the wait. Don’t let this novel fool you. It’s got a The Nanny Diaries vibe simply because Emira is a nanny to a wealthy family and has a sweet, tender relationship with her charge Briar, an inquisitive, loquacious toddler ignored by her mother, but it’s also a discourse on race, privilege, and ageism. It starts with Emira, Briar in tow, being accused of kidnapping while at an upscale supermarket because Emira’s black and taking care of a white child. Then Briar’s seemingly well-meaning mother, Alix, attempts to make Emira one of her friends. You will hate Alix. Emira’s boyfriend will make you uncomfortable. If you’re white, this book will make you check your privilege and question your implicit bias.

      Such a Fun Age


      Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes by Kathleen West–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars:  It’s refreshing to a see a story set in a high school that focuses on professional, knowledgeable teachers and administrators instead of a story about teachers with a devious plotline where teachers are criminals or caricatured as idiotic for comedic effect. There are too many Bad Teachers, AP Bios, and Dark Vanessas to view or read. There are so many novels that focus on students instead of teachers. West, a veteran teacher herself, writes a tale about a liberal English teacher (ohhhh hello there) who manages to get a smear campaign issued against her due to helicopter parents and a nasty, secret Facebook parent group that gossips about the teachers and happenings at a privileged high school. One over-involved parent, Julia, even interferes with the theater department casting, sneaks into the school, and accidentally punches a student when the cast list is posted. And of course there’s a viral video capturing it all. People who don’t work in schools have no idea how much scrutiny and criticism that teachers face due to parents, particularly those at high performing schools.  I liked this book, and it was probably closer to a 3 1/2 star rating, but there were far too many alternating third-person limited narrators.

      Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes


      Afterlife by Julia Alvarez–published 2020–contemporary fiction–four stars:  Antonia, recently widowed, helps an undocumented immigrant get his girlfriend safely from Colorado to Vermont at the same time that her mentally ill sister goes missing. Read this instead of American Dirt. The prose, literary and fresh, propels the story at a nice pace. However, be warned that the book lacks quotation marks to signal dialogue.

      Afterlife


      Catch and Kill:  Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow–published 2019–nonfiction–four stars:   I’ve been an avid NBC news freak since I was a tiny person watching the Today show because my mom had it on every morning. My friend and I have even been those people who on a girls’ trip to New York City a few years ago braved the cold to be part of the plaza crowd to catch a glimpse of Savannah, Al, and Matt. I even shook Lauer’s hand that morning, like thousands before me, and he told me it was nice to meet me. Anyway, I had no clue that Farrow was the one who broke the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker, let alone that he had begun working on the piece during his time as a correspondent for NBC. Who knew that Farrow was followed–with real spies–once he started his inquires. Ultimately, 70 percent of this book is really fascinating and does a great job of fleshing out corruption in the movie and news industry as well as making sure the victims’ stories are told, but 30 percent of this book is slow. I’ve also seen in the past few days criticisms of Farrow’s version in a few news outlets, describing him as a sellout looking for a way to further his career, but that doesn’t detract from the hard investigative work that it took to out the criminal sexual behavior of powerful men.

      Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators


      Beach Read by Emily Henry–published 2020–romance–four stars: January moves to her deceased father’s Michigan lake house to heal and write her next romance novel. Her next-door neighbor ends up being her college rival, also a published author. Deciding to swap writing genres for their upcoming books, the two make a bet about who can sell theirs first and spend their weekends doing research for the two genres together. So, I rounded up to four on this one. The plotline is cute and so’s January and Gus’s rat-tat-tat. There are some stunner insights written quite well. I underlined more parts of this novel than I have any other romance. But, the writing dragged here and there, and I had a hard time swallowing when the characters called the University of Michigan “U of M.” Like a good little Big 10 alum, I’ve always referred to it as simply Michigan and owned a “Muck Fichigan” t-shirt for game days. Is it really called U of M? Somebody help this Illinois grad out.

      Beach Read


      All Adults Here by Emma Straub–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars: This is a perfectly fine family drama that’s well written and hits on several social themes. But this reader is ever so fatigued, and I was hoping for a mindless read when I picked this book up. I’ve read other Straub novels, and I wasn’t expecting this one to be so deep. The novel chronicles Astrid and her adult children–Elliot, Porter, and Nicky–by switching out chapters told from a different character’s perspective using a limited third-person POV (for the most part). You see Astrid’s, Elliot’s, and Porter’s points of view. There are chapters told from Cecelia’s, Nicky’s daughter, POV, and then also her new middle school BFF’s perspective. Then there are a few other chapters told from other character’s points of view as well. Here’s the reason why I’m tired: I’m tired of working so hard while I’m reading. Are eight different perspectives needed to tell a stand-alone novel in a 368-page space? I get it when you’re trying to build suspense, it’s a novel in a series, or focusing in on a few key characters, but what other point is there? Is it necessary to introduce a brand new perspective in the second to last chapter when that character has been dead from the first chapter and the story has been told chronologically from the get-go? No. Is an epilogue needed? The last two chapters really didn’t even need to be included in the novel at all. Why. Are. There. So. Many. Long. Paragraphs? Give the readers a break! However, Straub nails middle school angst on the head.

      All Adults Here


      Valentine Gloria, a 14-year-old Mexican-American girl living in Odessa, Texas, in the 70s, makes the worst decision of her life and gets in a vehicle with a boy who later rapes her. She escapes across the desert, finds a farmhouse, and comes upon a pregnant Mary Rose and her little girl, begging for their help. First and foremost this is a tale about women and oppression. Nobody listens to Gloria and nobody listens to Mary Rose. You forget that just 50 years ago women still had it pretty shitty. But I’m going to be a bit of a broken record here; I would have liked this book a whole lot more if there weren’t so many damn perspectives and long paragraphs. It does the same POV thing that All Adults Here does but then throws in Mary Rose’s chapters from a first-person point of view. It even waits until the second to last chapter to introduce a new character’s POV, unnecessary to the storyline and told from some weird “we” perspective. And furthermore, this is like the second book in a week that I’ve read that uses ABSOLUTELY NO QUOTATION marks for dialogue. Why? No dashes even to set it off for the most part and often dialogue would just happen in the middle of a paragraph too. Why make the reader’s job harder? I’m all for being innovative with writing and whatever, but Wetmore isn’t James Joyce, and at least Joyce had the decency to use dashes instead.

      Valentine


      P.S. After writing this post, it appears I’m a POV snob. Sorry not sorry.

      P.P.S. All cover art is taken from Goodreads.com.

      P.P.P.S. As always, any discussion is welcome.

      P.P.P.P.S. Please pardon any unsightly typos/grammatical mistakes. 1. WordPress and I are not getting along today. 2. I can’t get Grammarly to work properly right now. I’ve proofread this until I’ve gone cross-eyed and just need to be done with it.

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged book reviews, books, mini book reviews, reading
    • A Little Thing Tale: Little Thing Meets Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

      Posted at 11:01 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on May 16, 2020

      Earlier this year, I decided it was time for Little Thing to finally get her Harry Potter on. I would have introduced her to Hogwarts sooner, but she’s only recently begun showing interest in books that don’t feature kitties. And lacking the motivation to read it herself, I knew I would have to tackle reading book one out loud to my Little Muggle.

      (Even though I am an English teacher, I abhor reading things aloud. I suck it up buttercup and do it for my students occasionally when I can’t find a better, free audio version, and I always read to Little Thing before bedtime, but acccckkkkkkkkkk.)

      And HP aloud poses all kinds of issues:

      1. Have you ever tried to read Hagrid’s brogue out loud? YEEESSSSSHHHHH. So hard. I’d rather wrangle baby Norbert the dragon IRL and have him singe off my-coronavirus-ignored-overly-bushy eyebrows (Holy shit. I have Hermione-Granger-book-one eyebrows right now.) than botch Hagrid’s dialect.
      2. I had to think to myself Quirrell rhymes with squirrel every damn time Quirrel’s name appeared in print.
      3. Was I pronouncing Wingardium Leviosa with enough conviction to make a feather lift off a table? Would it make Hermione Granger proud?
      4. Should I read all the dialogue in a British accent?
      5. HOW AM I GOING TO READ SNAPE WITHOUT GIVING EVERYTHING AWAY? HOW AM I GOING TO READ SNAPE WHEN EVERY TIME I THINK OF SNAPE, I THINK OF ALAN RICKMAN, AND I’M STILL NOT OVER THAT HE’S NO LONGER AMONG US.

      Anyway, Little Thing and I finished last week, and she’s now obsessed, even practicing enchantments with her American Girl dolls.

      I kept track of some of her observations while we read. I only wish I would have kept track from the beginning. Here are her best ones:


      Little Thing:  You know Snape sounds a whole lot like snake.


      Little Thing:  You know what’s fun to say–Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff.

      Me:  What about Gryffindor? Or Slytherin? Aren’t those fun to say too?

      Little Thing:  Nope. Not as fun as Hufflepuff. It satisfies me. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. HUFFLE-PUFFFFFFFFFFF.


      Me: [reading the part where Malfoy steals Neville’s Remembrall and the subsequent Malfoy and Harry broom scene; looks up, and sees Little Thing plugging her ears] What’s wrong? Why are you plugging your ears?

      Little Thing:  Harry’s gonna be in so much trouble. I don’t want to hear it. He might get expelled. [pauses] What’s expelled mean again?


      Me:  [when Harry tells Neville] “You’re worth twelve of Malfoy . . . The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And where’s Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.”

      Little Thing:  Stinking Slytherin! Stinkin Slytherin!

      Little Thing: [ten minutes later] Stinking Slytherin! Stinkin Slytherin!


      Little Thing:  Do you know what I think has been killing the unicorn? A four hundred head dog. He’s got the sharpest claws. And the biggest teeth. And 500 legs.


      Little Thing: I don’t think Fluffy is a bad dog. He might look like a bad dog on the outside, but on the inside he’s a good dog.


      Little Thing:  [in a British accent] Why would anyone want to hurt Harry Potter? He’s famous.


      Me: [reading] “It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead.”

      Little Thing:  NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


      Me: [tucks her in, and says with a British accent] Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow!

      Little Thing:  Is that from Harry Potter? [in her own British accent]

      Me: No. It’s from Romeo and Juliet.

      Little Thing: Then WHY did you make it sound like it was from Harry Potter??????

      Me:  [considers all of the possible explanations but my brain is about to explode because it’s the end of the day, coronavirus, distance learning, end of the school year, etc., and settles on] Nevermind.


      Me:  [reading when Quirrel says] “All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular . . . and what a waste of time, when after all that I’m going to kill you tonight.”

      Little Thing:  [gasps then pauses] I wish Harry had a never-die potion. [pauses] I wish my family had a never-die potion. I wish the whole world had a never-die potion.

      Me: [gets misty-eyed]


       

      woman in white cap sleeved shirt blowing dust

      Photo by Jakob on Pexels.com

      Posted in books, kids, parenting, reading, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged books, harry potter, reading
    • Mini Book Reviews March 2020

      Posted at 9:28 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on April 4, 2020
      follow me
      dear edward
      fix her up
      invisible women

      Y’all. How’s quarantine going? I’m coping by baking things I can’t eat, soaking up the sunshine, and reading in long stretches. (Particularly soaking up the sunshine while reading in long stretches–if you figure out a way for me to effectively soak up the sunshine while baking things I can’t eat, holla at your girl.)

      I finally have some 2020 reads under my belt, and I’m pretty sure that I’ve read this year’s IT book already.


      • Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett–published 2019–contemporary fiction–three stars: I freaking love this title and cover, but the book disappointed me. Jessa-Lynn, a Floridian taxidermist, spends the book drunk, self-wallowing after her father’s death, and terribly dressed in dirty clothes. While the writing at times jumps off the page, in places it’s too purple and harps on plot events already established.

      Mostly Dead Things

      • Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden–published 2018–middle-grade horror/fantasy–three stars: I loved Arden’s Winternight trilogy. I picked up this middle-grade read expecting to get the heebie-jeebies from this book à la Neil Gaiman Coraline style, but the scary factor tanked.

      Small Spaces (Small Spaces, #1)

      • Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano–published 2020–contemporary fiction–five stars: A boy named Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash. The story weaves together his tale of recovery and the story of the victims’  lives in the hours before impact. While I’m normally not a huge fan of third-person omniscient narration because it’s executed so poorly so often, Napolitano is a master of the skill. Y’all. I heart this novel hard. It’s the best straight-up fiction read I’ve had since The Great Alone.  It’s for sure making my top three for the year. Get ready for this book to break your damn heart.

      Dear Edward

      • Followers by Megan Angelo–published 2020–dystopian/post-apocalyptic/contemporary fiction–four stars:  I love that over-reliance on smartphones and influencer scrutiny has started to make its way into contemporary fiction. There are two different stories here. The first is the story of two present-day influencers in the time leading up to a smartphone apocalypse. The second chronicles Marlow, a reality TV star who has a 24/7 following while she lives in a Truman Show-esque situation, in the future. The stories eventually come together, highlighting the shallowness of an overly-reliant digital world. 

      Followers

      • Things in Jars by Jess Kidd–published 2020–historical fiction/magical realism–three stars: There’s a ghost in love with a human, a mermaid-like child with weird teeth, and a mystery to be solved. Ummm it wasn’t terrible? But it could have been so much better.

      Things in Jars

      • Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars: This has a pretty good rating on Goodreads, but I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Was it compelling? Yes, but 1) things came together too cleanly at the end and 2) the protagonist’s entire premise, she’s jailed wrongly for a DUI that she didn’t commit but gets released from jail early to restore a painting, is just absurd.

      Big Lies in a Small Town

      • The Education of an Idealist:  A Memoir by Samantha Power–published 2019–memoir–three stars: At first, I was totally engrossed by Power’s memoir. She tells of growing up in Ireland, her alcoholic father, her move to the US, and her work as a war zone reporter in the Balkans. But when she starts discussing foreign policy and her work for Obama, it gets a little thick with a whole bunch of people and places, making for cumbersome, technical reading. If you’re super into foreign policy, this read is for you. Oh, it’s about 100 pages too long as well.

      The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

      • Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor–published 2017–YA fantasy–four stars: Strange, yes that’s his last name, is a dreamer. He dreams of a lost city, and his dreams, well, I don’t want to ruin the book. I don’t know if I’ll continue to read this series. While disorienting at first, I regained ground as the story went on, but I hated its ending.

      Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)

      • Follow Me by Kathleen Barber–published 2020–thriller–three stars: Let’s face it. I keep reading thrillers even though they’re one of my least favorite genres. A social influencer named Audrey leaves New York City to start a new job in Washington DC. She reconnects with her BFF from college and a former boyfriend, both of whom live in the city. She posts her entire life online and one of her followers is following Audrey around for real in the city. I liked this novel better than Barber’s debut Are You Sleeping (now renamed as Truth Be Told) because the writing is more contemporary and interesting.  I disliked that every male in Audrey’s vicinity fell in love with her. I wasn’t a fan of the minor twist at the end. But . . . it was still a solid read–for a thriller.

      Follow Me

      • The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black–published 2013–YA vampire/urban fantasy–two stars: Okay, so, I think I’m going to stop reading any YAL that hasn’t been published in the past five years. This was pretty bad and disappointing considering how freaking awesome Holly Black’s more recent The Folk of the Air series is.

      The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

      • Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler–published 2007–memoir/humor–three stars: Funny in places, but dicey in others.

      Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

      • Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine–published 2015–YA fantasy–three stars: A decent read for YA, and I might recommend it to students, but it is a bit forgettable.

      Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1)

      • Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey–published 2019–romance–four stars:  Yowza. Cute. Funny. And. Ahem. Steamy. I haven’t had this much fun reading a romance novel since The Hating Game.

      Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered, #1)

      • Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson–published 2018–YA mystery–three stars:  So many of my students want to read good, contemporary mystery novels that are YA, but I haven’t found many. If you know of any (besides We Were Liars, One of Us Is Lying, and the Pretty Little Liars series), let me know. In this mystery, Stevie loves mysteries. She’s a true crime junkie. She applies to a prestigious school and gets in, hoping to solve a decades-old crime that happened there. Then. Gasp. Another murder happens, and she tries to solve it and manages to get oh so close, but the book ends essentially in the middle of the story, and you’ve got to pick up the next one to figure out what happens. This bounced around too much for me.

      Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)

      • Invisible Women:  Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez–published 2019–nonfiction/feminist literature/political literature–five stars: Hey, ladies and gentlemen. Read this book. It’s mindblowing. It will make you angry, but it’s utterly fascinating. It’s about how the world is designed for men (hence the title). Ever wonder why your smartphone is hard to work one-handed ladies? It’s because it’s designed for men. Ladies, ever wonder why you take medicine and it doesn’t work or experience side effects that aren’t listed? It’s because being female isn’t taken into account when doing most medical studies. Oh and that car you’re driving . . . don’t get me started. If you read only one nonfiction book this year, read this one.
      • Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men  

      As always, any discussion is welcome! And if you’ve read something fantastic recently, please tell me about it!

      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.)

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 0 Comments | Tagged ann napolitano, are you there vodka it's me chelsea, big lies in a small town, blogs, book reviews, books, carolini criado perez, chelsea handler, dear edward, Diane chamberlain, fiction, fix her up, follow me, followers, holly black, ink and bone, invisible women, jess kid, katherine arden, kathleen barber, kristen arnett, laini taylor, maureen johnson, megan angelo, memoirs, mini book reviews, mostly dead things, nonfiction, rachel caine, reading, romance novels, samantha power, small spaces, strange the dreamer, tessa bailey, the coldest girl in cold town, the education of an idealist, things in jars, truly devious, writing
    • My Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Reads

      Posted at 9:12 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on March 14, 2020

      Are you stuck at home in an effort to flatten COVID-19’s curve?

      Do you need a break from Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus?

      If you’re anything like me and like to make some reading choices based on current events, then you might be desperate for a good post-apocalyptic read to further terrify yourself while you’re social distancing.

      Here are my favorites, ranked. There are zombies. Viruses. Technology plagues. Aliens. There’s a little bit of everything on this list. And some of them don’t quite fit the genre, but they’re close enough for me.

      1. The Stand by Stephen King. Five stars. One of my favorite books of all time.

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      2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Five stars. Chilling and haunting.

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      3. Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Four stars. The sequel comes out this year! Can’t wait.

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      4. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Four stars. A very funny end of the world read.

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      5. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Four stars. A traveling band of Shakespeare performers? Yes, please!

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      6. Followers by Megan Angelo. Four stars. Technology gone wrong. Timely. Also, this is totally a guilty pleasure read.

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      7. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. Four stars. I reviewed this book last month. Check it out here.

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      8. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Four stars. Classic!

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      9. The Passage by Justin Cronin. Three stars. I was totally into this book, but it is really long. Some of you might really enjoy this read though.

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      10. The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. Three stars. I didn’t like Carey’s writing style, but this is a good zombie story.

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      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.)

      Any ones I missed that I need to add to my TBR?

      As always, any discussion is welcome!

      Posted in books, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged apocalypse, apocalyptic, apocalyptic books, bird box, blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, cormac mccarthy, emily st john mandel, fiction, followers, good omens, hg wells, josh malerman, justin cronin, karen thompson walker, megan angelo, mr carey, neil gaiman, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, post apocalyptic books, reading, station eleven, stephen king, terry pratchett, the dreamers, the girl with all the gifts, the passage, the road, the stand, the war of the worlds
    • Mini Book Reviews February 2020

      Posted at 10:13 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 29, 2020

      This slideshow requires JavaScript.


      Even though February is a short month, I crammed in thirteen books. While I’ve yet to read any books published in 2020 (due to my library not having any), I read some fantastic backlist books this month. Here are my mini book reviews.


      A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum–contemporary fiction–published 2019–three stars: This novel follows three Arab women from the same family but of different generations as they live in Brooklyn. I desperately want to love this book, but I teach middle schoolers who have better narrative techniques than I saw demonstrated here.

      a woman

      Refugee by Alan Gratz–middle-grade historical fiction–published 2017–four stars:  Three different children in three different parts of the world in three different time periods share their refugee experiences. The tales are grounded in real historical events, but the main characters, sensationalized and contrived, detract from the stories. This is still an excellent middle-grade read.

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      Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate–YAL fantasy–published 2009–one star: Terrible. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. I can’t even try to summarize it for you because I don’t want to relive one word from it. Books like this give YAL a bad name.

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      Skyward (Skyward #1) by Brandon Sanderson–YAL sci-fi–published 2018–four stars:  Who wouldn’t want to read a sci-fi version of Top Gun but with a female protagonist, spaceships, and a mushroom-obsessed AI? It’s pretty funny in places, too. The writing isn’t out of this world, but the plot is a galaxy worth of fun.

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      A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) by Brigid Kemmerer–YAL fantasy–published 2019–four stars:  If you need a modern-day retelling (which is normally not my Ram Jam) of Beauty and the Beast, stop what you are doing and pick up this book.

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      The Coddling of the American Mind:  How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff–nonfiction/current events–published 2018–four stars:  You’ve probably heard about this book (originally a shorter piece published in The Atlantic a few years ago) if you keep up with politics and current events. Lukianoff and Haidt discuss how the way we raise our children, the emphasis of feeling over logic, and shifting free speech norms on college campuses are stifling rhetoric in a place that’s supposed to value it. I don’t agree with everything they have to say (They come at this with a male perspective and are a bit insensitive about rape, rape culture, and feminism. They also minimize intersectionality and microaggressions.), but they make some interesting points. And isn’t the whole point of this book to be able to make an argument, back it up, and have conversations about it–like adults–whether you agree with them or not?

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      The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker–science fiction–published 2019–four stars:  Call The Mamas & the Papas because there is some “California Dreamin'” going on in this book. Seriously. A small California town gets inflicted with a viral sleeping disease and goes under quarantine. Or maybe I should sing  “wake up kids/ we’ve got the dreamer’s disease”? New Radicals anyone? Anyway, ’twas a good read for me.

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      Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino–romance–published 2016–two stars:  I thought to myself, it’s the day before Valentine’s Day. I should read a love story. So I did, and I wasn’t impressed. Emiline, a writer, reads a much-buzzed-about novel only to discover it’s her personal coming of age story told by the ex-love of her life. You get to read a mediocre novel within a very mediocre novel if you decide to read this book.

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      The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson–fantasy–published 2010–five stars:  All hail to the kings! I’m in love with this high fantasy tome; it clocks in around 1,000 pages. It’s got just enough magic, world-building, and storyline for fantasy lover perfection. The writing itself isn’t spectacular, but its other elements more than makeup for some narrative holes. For example, I had a hard time picturing how the bridge runners placed the bridges across the Shattered Plains’ plateaus. Also, Sanderson overuses the words “carapace” and “pupate.”

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      Deep Work:  Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport–productivity/nonfiction–published 2016–three stars:  I think I would have liked this read more if I hadn’t already read Newport’s Digital Minimalism. He argues that in order to get deep, meaningful work done, you need to go offline, be unreachable, and dedicate uninterrupted chunks of time. He criticizes open work areas (I wholeheartedly agree with this.), multi-tasking, email mindset, and several other habits that infiltrate the modern workday. I got aggravated with this book for three main reasons. 1. I will never get deep work done at work because of the way my public school day is structured. I further feel like students can’t get deep work done because of habitual classroom distractions.  2. Again, just like The Coddling of the American Mind, this is a very male-oriented book. He talks about how he was able to get all of this work done while he had a young child. Well, Cal, what was your wife doing? Was she getting any deep work done? In the book, there are several examples of successful men who get deep work done while the only female example that I can remember is J.K. Rowling. 3. This is a book of privilege. I’m sure there are plenty of non-middle and non-upper class workers out there busting their asses who would like to perform deep work but don’t have the time, money, or help to do so.

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      Teach Like a Pirate:  Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess–education/nonfiction–published 2012–three stars:  I already knew everything presented to me in this book, and the information is dated at this point. Burgess is inspiring though.

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      Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson–YAL sci-fi–published 2019–three stars: Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll continue this series. The beginning is rushed and confusing. Lackluster writing permeates the pages. The cliffhanger doesn’t compel me to read on. Overall, this was a disappointment. Guess which words make several appearances again? (If you guessed “carapace” and “pupate,” then you are correct.)

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      The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1) by Jasper Fforde–fantasy–published 2003–three stars:  In this bizarro England, Thursday Next, a member of a special task force in charge of crimes against literature, seeks a villain who’s kidnapping major characters from literary masterpieces and finds herself read into Jane Eyre. At times, this novel can be hard to follow because if you’re not hardcore into British literature, allusions will go over your head.

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      Women Talking by Miriam Toews–contemporary fiction–published 2019–three stars:  For years in a Mennonite community, supposed demons raped women of all ages while they slept. When it’s discovered that a group of men are responsible for the violent crimes, the women must decide to stay or leave their settlement. (This is based on a true story.) I liked the way this was written, but I found it boring.

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      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.com) 


      As always, any discussion is welcome!

       

      Posted in books, Uncategorized, writing | 3 Comments | Tagged a curse so dark and lonely, a woman is no man, alan gratz, backlist books, blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, brandon sanderson, brigid kemmerer, cal newport, cursebreakers, dave burgess, deep work, etaf rum, fallen, fantasy, fantasy reads, fiction, greg lukianoff, historical fiction, jasper fforde, jonathan haidt, karen thompson walker, lauren kate, middle grade, mini book reviews, miriam toews, nonfiction, reading, refugee, renee carlino, sci fi, science fiction, skyward, starsight, swear on this life, teach like a pirate, the coddling of the american mind, the dreamers, the eyre affair, the stormlight archive, the way of kings, thursday next, women talking, writing, YAL
    • Why I Love and Hate Teaching Romeo and Juliet

      Posted at 3:34 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 22, 2020

      Psssttt. Here’s a secret. This English teacher hates Romeo and Juliet more than the Montagues and Capulets loathe each other. (I know. Gasp. Shocked emoji face. Call Karen in HR and fire me right now.) And because it’s entrenched in the freshman canon, I will never escape its overtly romantical clutches as long as I am teaching English I. 

      Why do I hate Romeo and Juliet and teaching it?

      1. Romeo, a whiny lover boy ruled by his teenage emotions, is my least favorite Shakespeare character. I spend the entire time wanting to smack him and talk some logic into him. 
      2. Benvolio sucks too. Whenever something big happens on stage, Benvolio summarizes the just-happened events for new-to-the-scene characters. 
      3. The way Romeo and Juliet talk to one another makes me gag. Love stories aren’t my Ram Jam. 
      4. The students harp on the fact that Juliet is 13 and never recover from it. They also debate Romeo’s age endlessly (The text never gives it.). They talk about this the ENTIRE time we’re reading. 
      5. It’s full of sexual innuendo, and I teach middle school. Need I say more? 
      6. I’d much rather tackle The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Othello, or Macbeth. 

      And while I do lather on the Romeo and Juliet hate thick, I love teaching it for almost the same reasons I despise teaching it.

      1. I take my hate and shout it from the desktops from the beginning. It’s simple really. I let the kids know I hate Romeo and Benvolio. I don’t tell the students why. I string them along and build interest to hook them, revealing tidbits here and there why I hate Romeo and Benvolio as the acts unfold. I use my Romeo hate to teach characterization. I use my Benvolio hate to teach summarizing. I make my hate passionate, fun, and refreshing instead of letting it bring my lessons down. Frequently, the kids hate Romeo too, and we bond through our mutual dislike. 
      2. Even though it’s a love story and the ooey-gooey language makes me cringe, I appreciate the poetry. We analyze the heck out of the figurative language and poetic structure of Romeo and Juliet’s dialogue. For example, when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time, they actually start rhyming together in their religious imagery-filled banter and wind up creating a shared mini sonnet, which is pretty freaking cool from a structural standpoint. 
      3. The kids relate to the teenage emotions running rampant throughout the text even though they pretend that all of the kissing mortifies them. We discuss why it’s important to not be ruled by emotions and how to consider situations logically. 
      4. The kids have zero knowledge of Elizabethan theater and England before they start reading and are fascinated by what they learn. The fact that it was illegal for women to act so men played all the parts blows their minds. They’re horrified and enthralled when they discover women could get married at twelve years old and were sometimes married to much older men. They have no concept that modern medicine did not apply back then, women often died in childbirth, and child death rates were high. They’re floored when they realize Nurse was Juliet’s wet nurse and that the word nurse etymologically stems from a Latin word meaning “to nourish.” 
      5. On the day we start Act I Scene 1, I tell them Shakespeare is a dirty old white guy to prepare them for the puns and hook them into the play. You might find this method a little shocking, but have you read this play? It’s full of inappropriate jokes, and while it might have gone over your head when you were in high school, my kids understand what they’re reading. If I didn’t prepare them for the dirty jokes, my lesson could crash and burn in a million different ways. They appreciate being treated like adults. When I handle it this way, it minimizes the puns, and we’re able to focus on the storyline and the structure. 
      6. Even though Romeo and Juliet isn’t my favorite play, I love Shakespeare and theater. I’m able to channel that love into a play I hate (My only love sprung from my only hate! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.). I’m in my element when I’ve got the bard and a script in front of me, and the students see the best me when this unit rolls around each year. 

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      What are some texts you hate but you have to teach? I’d love to hear! I’d also love to know why and what you do to combat your hate to make interesting lessons. 

       

      (Also, another shocker, I’m not a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird—but that’s a whole other blog post.)

       

      Posted in books, poetry, reading, teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 5 Comments | Tagged benvolio, blogging, blogs, drama, english teacher, i hate romeo and juliet, juliet, plays, poetry, reading, romeo, romeo and juliet, shakespeare, teaching, teaching shakespeare, writing
    • Mini Book Reviews January 2020

      Posted at 12:27 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 1, 2020

      Even though January lasts eons, I look forward to reading in January each year. In December, I peruse the best-of-the-year book lists that permeate book lovers’ blogs and throw their favorites on my January TBR. I end up reading a few fantastic books at the beginning of every year.


      Wilder Girls by Rory Power –YAL horror–published 2019–two stars:  Under quarantine because of a slow-moving, fatal disease called the “Tox,” an all-girls school battles with the fallout. Even though the premise is fresh, Power failed to create a single likable character. Because of plot holes, the characters starved for no plausible reason. However, the cover is badass. I still can’t stop looking at it.

      wilder girls

      Because Internet:  Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch–nonfiction–published 2019–five stars:  This. Book. Is. Fascinating. As a self-proclaimed word nerd who loves learning about etymology, I couldn’t put this book down. Who wouldn’t want to examine the history of how the internet has influenced the English language’s evolution? Who wouldn’t want to learn about text tone of voice, the history of emojis, and the Unicode Consortium? Plus, McCulloch’s comedic word-nerd voice radiates throughout. Take away? Stop judging informal writing as if it were formal. Texting and social media writing will never follow standard English.

      because internet

      The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw–YAL fantasy–published 2018–two stars:  Three sisters, killed for their supposed witchery 200 hundred years ago, come back every summer to haunt the seaside town responsible for their demises. They drown unsuspecting teenage boys to take their revenge. Disclaimer–the adult supervision in this town is nonexistent. The parents allow the teenagers to throw a massive beach party on the night of the witches’ reappearance even though there are drowning deaths every summer? Come. On. A girl goes missing during this time, and the teenagers hold her hostage. The adults neglect to search for the missing girl. Ugh. Now, I admit, I missed a plot twist, but I’ll blame that on the muscle relaxer I took the night I read the book.

      the wicked deep

      The Chain by Adrian McKinty–crime/thriller–published 2019–three stars:  A divorcée and breast cancer survivor named Rachel is finally getting her life back on track when two people kidnap her daughter Kylie from the school bus stop. This is no normal kidnapping. Rachel gets a phone call demanding ransom and that she must kidnap and hold another child hostage to get her own daughter released. The people who kidnapped her daughter received the same phone call and instructions, and this process goes back years like a chain letter. Forced into a terrible position, Rachel and her family face death if they break “the chain.” The plot is inconceivable. Have everyday Joes become mastermind kidnappers at the drop of hat and not get caught nor go to the police? No chance. I found parts of the prose contrived. For example towards the novel’s end, McKinty explains the metaphor of the chain. Mind blown emoji. Don’t explain the metaphor McKinty! You know better. I guess I’m just in desperate need of a good thriller because this genre consistently fails in impressing me.

      the chain

      Night (The Night Trilogy, #1) by Elie Wiesel–memoir–published 1956–five stars:  Considering my aversion to World War II historical fiction and nonfiction, it shouldn’t be surprising that I’ve eschewed reading this memoir for years. However, Wiesel’s austere prose gutted me.

      night

      Normal People by Sally Rooney–contemporary fiction–published 2019–four stars:  Connell and Marianne, high schoolers who come from different backgrounds, fall for each other, hiding their relationship from their friends and their families. Their toxic relationship follows them to college. I disliked Connell and Marianne but liked this novel.

      normal people

      The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow–YAL fantasy–published 2019–four stars:  January, raised by a rich armchair archeologist, pines for a grand adventure. One day she discovers a door, walks through it, and finds herself in another world. Her guardian then destroys the door. Once she discovers there are more doors leading to millions of other worlds, her hero’s journey begins. The magical, wistful, and carefully chosen words shine on the page, creating a glorious fairy tale.

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      Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah–contemporary fiction–published 2019–five stars: Trying to resume her ornithology research after a health setback,  Joanna rents a cabin in Southern Illinois to conduct her studies and to help her heal. One night, a little girl appears, and Joanna enlists her reclusive neighbor to help solve the mystery of the scared, intelligent girl. I. Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down. If you enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love this book; it’s better than Crawdads. It has more humor and more heart while being less dense.

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      The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern–fantasy–published 2019–five stars:  I held off on picking up this book for two reasons. 1. It’s lengthy. 2. I reread Morgenstern’s Night Circus last year, and to my horror, couldn’t explain why I thought it phenomenal upon first reading. As a result, I thought this book would waste my time. A few book reviewers who I respect critically panned this book while others loud capped their approval. Morgenstern’s sophomore novel is more concrete, vivid, and literary than her first. Much like the above-reviewed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, the plot focuses on doors leading to other worlds and the doors’ widespread destruction.

      the starless sea

      Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert–romance–published 2019–three stars:  The titular protagonist faces chronic pain, moving from her family home to prove her independence. As soon as she unpacks her flat, she gets the hots for her building’s super hot super. Against her better judgment, she asks him to help her cross off items from her “get a life” list. Chloe has fibromyalgia, the same disease I suffer from. Brown does a decent job describing its symptoms and the day-to-day difficulties those symptoms create, but that does not outweigh this romance novel’s mediocrity.

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      Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans–nonfiction–published 2017–three stars:  Believe me, Harold Evans, a well-respected British editor, would judge my writing. While I found a few of his insights valuable–particularly the importance of writing a clear sentence, he’s a self-described language purist and abhors English language evolution. Parts of this book are simply old-school grammar textbook lists of things like common word usage mistakes. He also t-charts poorly written passages of a wide variety of genres with his commentary of its weaknesses. These parts made me feel like I was trying to wade through terribly constructed student work, resulting in my head wanting to explode. Read a different book if you want writing tips.

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      The Cactus by Sarah Haywood–contemporary fiction–published 2018–three stars: Even though Reese Witherspoon is a national treasure, her book club picks are literary trash. I”ve yet to read one I’ve rated higher than a three. The Cactus is a lesser Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The plot twist exposed itself within the books’ first quarter.

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      Ava and Pip (Ava and Pip #1) by Carol Weston–middle grade–published 2014–four stars:  Ava, a writing loving elementary schooler, tries to help her painfully shy older sister Pip find her voice. Little Thing and I enjoyed this read.

      ava and pip


      What did you read in January, friends?

      As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books if you’ve read them!

      (All cover art is taken from Goodreads.com)

       

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 0 Comments | Tagged adrian mckinty, alix e harrow, ava and pip, because internet, blogging, blogs, book reviews, book reviews january, books, carol weston, do i make myself clear, elie wiesel, erin morgenstern, fiction, geta life chloe brown, glendy vanderah, gretchen mcculoch, harold evans, middle grade, mini book reviews, night, nonfiction, normal people, reading, rory power, sally rooney, sarah haywood, shea ernshaw, talia hibbert, the cactus, the chain, the starless sea, the ten thousand doors of january, the wicked deep, where the forest meets the stars, wilder girls, writing, YAL
    • Top Twenty Books 2019

      Posted at 2:15 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on January 2, 2020

      (featured photo credit)

      Sorry for my unannounced extended hiatus . . . but life happens (e.g. two teaching preps, new curriculum, remodeling the kitchen, traveling for the holidays, and obsessively listening to Taylor Swift’s Red and Lover albums whilst procrastinating). But I’M BAAAAACCCCKKKK on the 2020 blogging train with one of my favorite yearly posts–my favorite reads of 2019.

      And choosing my favorite reads this year proved more difficult than it was the previous year. I’m #sorrynotsorry for the lack of book reviews for my faves, but trying to decide which of the 153 books I read deserved to be ranked sucked my time for this post dry. Quite frankly, there are nearly 40 more books that I’d recommend; if you want to see a full list of my 2019 reads and how I rated them, check out my 2019 book challenge on Goodreads.

      Anyway, drumroll please . . . here are my favorite books read in 2019:

      1. Not That Bad:  Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay–nonfiction essays–five stars–published 2018not that bad
      2. Recursion by Black Crouch–science fiction–five stars–published 2019recursion
      3. Arc of a Scythe series (Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll) by Neal Shusterman–dystopian YAL–five stars–published 2016-2019scythe
      4. A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza–contemporary fiction–five stars–published 2019a place for us
      5. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid–historical/contemporary fiction–five stars–published 2019reid_9781524798628_jkt_all_r1.indd
      6. Dopesick:  Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy–political nonfiction–five stars–published 2018dopesick
      7. The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander–political nonfiction–five stars–published 2010the new jim crow
      8. The Library Book by Susan Orlean–historical nonfiction–five stars–published 2018the library book
      9. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill–middle grade fantasy–five stars–published 2016the girl who drank the moon
      10. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate–middle grade–five stars–published 2012the one and only ivan
      11. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman–chick lit/books about books–five stars–published 2019the bookish life
      12. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai–middle grade poetry/historical fiction–five stars–published 2011inside out
      13. The Common Good by Robert B. Reich–political nonfiction–five stars–published 2018the common good
      14. The Trouble with Poetry – And Other Poems by Billy Collins–poetry–five stars–published 2007the trouble with poetry
      15. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid–historical/contemporary fiction–four stars–published 2017the seven husbands
      16. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone:  A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb–autobiographical nonfiction–four stars–published 2019maybe you should talk to someone
      17. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong–fiction/poetry–four stars–published 2019on earth we're briefly gorgeous
      18. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane–contemporary fiction–four stars–published 2019ask again yes
      19. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead–historical fiction–four stars–published 2019the nickel boys
      20. Bad Blood:  Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou–business nonfiction–four stars–published 2018bad blood

      There you have it! I’ll be back next week with my New Year’s resolutions post.

      (All book art taken from Goodreads.com)

       

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 4 Comments | Tagged blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, books in 2019, read, reading, top twenty, top twenty books, writing, yoga
    • September 2019 Mini Book Reviews

      Posted at 7:41 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on October 4, 2019

       

      1. Waiting for Tom Hanks (Waiting for Tom Hanks, #1) by Kerry Winfrey–romance/chick lit–three stars–Speaking of waiting, I waited for this digital borrow for weeks before laying my hands on it. Annie, a wannabe screenwriter obsessed with Tom Hanks rom-coms, lands a gig as a director’s assistant when a, insert loud gasp here, romantic comedy starts shooting in her small Ohio town. In a glaringly obvious plot twist, she falls hard for the who-she-perceives-to-be-playboy-jackass lead. It’s a decent read, but you’d be better off snuggling up to a Nora Ephron book or movie instead.tom hanks
      2. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman–middle grade/fantasy–three stars–If I remember correctly, I attempted reading this book years ago but had a hard time getting started and gave up on it. I sludged through this time, but dammmmnnnnnnnn. I know this is an unpopular opinion because nostalgia and shit; however, the beginning is  hard to sift through and much better middle grade fantasy literature has been written since this book first came out.golden compass
      3. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead–historical fiction–four stars–Not as fantastic as Whitehead’s Pulitzer winning The Underground Railroad, but it’s still a great read about a real-life inspired reform school in Jim Crow Florida.nickel boys
      4. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan–historical fiction–four starswashington black
      5. Meet Cute by Helena Hunting–romance/chick lit–three stars–Read Waiting for Tom Hanks instead. Also, I hate the term “meet cute.” Ugh. Can we just strike it from chick lit vernacular?meet cute
      6. The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1) by Jeanne DuPrau–middle grade/dystopian–four starscity of ember
      7. Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) by Kristin Cashore–YAL/fantasy–two stars– Who needs this series when Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series exists? Nobody. graceling
      8. After (After, #1) by Anna Todd–romance–two stars–I first heard about this book while watching a segment on the Today show about Wattpad, an online platform where self-publishing writers can get real-time feedback from fellow users about what they’re writing. After is a Wattpad sensation, and I had to see what all the fuss was about. While it was compulsively readable, it also managed to hit every romance novel cliche on the head. A poor, academically-gifted freshman in college falls in love with a tatted-up bad boy with a serious jealously problem who screws her over countless times.  Apparently, Wattpad users like verbal abuse because this book is rife with it and made me really uncomfortable, but it didn’t negate the fact that it was compulsively readable.after
      9. Her Royal Highness (Royals, #2) by Rachel Hawkins–YAL–two stars–A disappointment after the first book in the series.her royal highness
      10. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Simani–thriller–four stars—Because we know it’s a thriller, we know the nanny is the antithesis of a perfect one, but while the title and its cover is predictable for the genre, the storyline is anything but. This translated from French novel is succinct and haunting, hitting all the right thriller buttons. the perfect nanny
      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 1 Comment | Tagged blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, read, reading, writing
    • A Mrs. Ram’s Jams Teaching Tale: Reading Comprehension Fails in The Odyssey

      Posted at 12:23 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on September 15, 2019

      Currently, I am teaching The Odyssey for the first time in my career (I think. I might have blocked out teaching it like a bad memory; it’s not my favorite text.) As per my curriculum’s instructions, I’ve been working on summarizing, characterization, and conflict with the kids while reading Book One, and this week I assessed those skills using a passage they hadn’t read before. 

      And while most students rocked the summarizing skill portion of the task, some epically misunderstood these lines from the text: 

      But all of the suitors broke into uproar through the shadowed halls,
      all of them lifting prayers to lie beside [Penelope], share her bed,
      until discreet Telemachus took command:

      (A little context might be helpful as well:  Odysseus, the king of Ithaka, is taking an eternity to get home from the Trojan War and people fear him dead. His wife Penelope, a snack, is bedeviled by suitors who have taken up residence in her own home.) 

      Now think like an 8th grader. How would you interpret this with your nearly teenage brain? Let’s look at some student responses. 

      1. “Penelope dies, which leaves the suitors devastated.”
      2. “Penelope’s suitors hope to follow her into her room, but Telemachus does not allow it.”
      3. “The suitors are outraged that Penelope has gone back to her room without them.”
      4. “The suitors are entering Penelope’s room as Telemachus yells at them for destroying his house.”
      5. “The suitors come to ask Penelope if they can sleep next to her . . .”
      6. “The suitors try to get into Penelope’s bed and cause an uproar, but Telemachus stops them.”
      7. “The suitors bombarded Telemachus’s mom by going beside her in her own bed.”

      Y’all. I giggled uncontrollably while grading. Handling questions about why students missed points for these interpretations is going to be brutal. I don’t think a comment like Well, Kayla, you insinuate salacious behavior occurred instead of explaining that individually the suitors wish to marry Penelope will go over well. So please think happy thoughts for me and my sanity when I hand these assignments back. 

      Posted in teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 1 Comment | Tagged blogging, blogs, funny, humor, reading, reading comprehension, students, teaching, writing
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