Wednesday, January 27, 2016

What I Read Wednesday

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist
I was a senior in high school when the WTO protests happened in Seattle. As such, I don't recall much about them, but I do remember going to college and seeing a lot of anti-WTO information at my university. I never much understood it, so I was pretty grateful for this for giving me a chance to learn about something new. The real WTO protests in Seattle were among the largest the US had ever seen and very well organized. The police were overwhelmed, meetings were canceled and antiglobalization became a somewhat understood thing after the battle in Seattle.
This book chronicles that day, from shifting points-of-view. Victor, a 19 year old who ran away from home three years prior intends on selling drugs to protestors to make enough money to leave Seattle forever; however, he quickly learns that these aren't the type of protestors who are interested in drugs. Victor's father also happens to be the police chief of Seattle and we see his perspective, as well as two other police officers and a representative from Sri Lanka, who is hopeful that his meeting with President Clinton will bring good things to his small nation. As the day unfolds, it becomes clear that no one is having the day they imagined. Chief Bishop is unable to handle the crowd peacefully and with each decision he makes, he is pushed closer and closer to discovering his son amongst the protestors.
I was enthralled by this book. It was real and emotional and I was absolutely on edge through most of it.

American Housewife: Stories
This book was delightfully twisted. The housewives in this story are certainly not Stepford Wives. They are vengeful, crazed, murderous, reality stars and more. I loved each short story. They were just macabre enough to enjoy and find darkly humorous. Loved the premise and the different viewpoints offered within these stories.

Tremor (Pulse)
This is the second book in the Pulse series which sets forth a dystopian world in which one twisted man has given people powers that involve telekinesis, among other things. As always, these powers are not always used for good and it becomes a battle between two opposing sides. I've been trading these with my students and I am looking forward to reading the conclusion!

Glass (Crank Trilogy)
This is the second book in the Crank trilogy. I think it was very difficult to read, but also so important--especially as someone who lives in a state with a ridiculous meth problem. While I can't pretend to understand why anyone would want to do meth, this book has helped me understand the unbelievable pull meth has on its users--done in part by presenting the drug almost as a character. This book picks up a year after the last, where Kristina is now raising a mostly healthy son. He cries a little more than she thinks he should, but otherwise, he seems unaffected by her drug use. Kristina, unfortunately, is still affected and is constantly fighting the pull of meth--a battle she loses. Kristina is not likable at all. As a mom, it's hard to watch her choose drugs and men over her son, but it's realistic. Although there are some heavy adult themes in here, I still think this is a worthwhile book for teens.

What are you reading?

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

What I Read Wednesday

I am slowly cranking through books on this mostly tired back to work schedule of mine. Is it summer yet?

The Wrath and the Dawn
This is based on A Thousand and One Nights, which is not something I'm inherently familiar with, so I did a brief scan of the synopsis before reading this. I feel like it deepened my appreciation for this book. Khalid, the 18 year old boy king, is a harsh and unforgiving ruler. As daybreaks, his new bride is found strangled to death and by night, he has a new bride doomed to a death sentence. This is what makes Shahrzad's offer to marry Khalid so stunning, but Shahrzad has a plan to stay alive and extract revenge on Khalid for killing her best friend. As dawn breaks, Shahrzad's storytelling has so captivating Khalid that she will live to see another day. As time and Shahrzad's stories go on, she discovers that the boy king is not the cruel monster she thought and she finds herself falling in love with him. I loved this, and I can't wait to read the sequel... which my library, sadly, does not yet have!

Crank
The author based this book on her own daughter's drug addiction, so that made it that much more powerful to me. It took me awhile to get into this book because it was written in prose, but I loved the story of Kristina who on a summer visit to her father became Bree, a crank addicted girl who is willing to lose everything she once knew for her addiction. This is, I believe, a great book for teens. It doesn't gloss over the never-ending hold that an addiction will have on you.

What are you reading?

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

What I Read Wednesday

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories
This is a collection of Stephen King short stories that were never officially published in a book, though some of them have been out for awhile. Before each story, he gives a forward and dedicates it to another author. While I'd read some of the stories before, others were unfamiliar. Mostly, it was a collection of macabre--some supernatural, some human. I loved it!

The Infinite Sea: The Second Book of the 5th Wave
The second book in the 5th Wave trilogy. This continues with Cassie Sullivan and her friends, trying to survive an alien race intent on wiping out humanity in various waves. As far as sci-fi dystopia, this is pretty engaging.

What are you reading?

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

What I Read Wednesday

I only read one book this week. Back to work exhaustion, plus I'm in the middle of by The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King, which is great.. but really long and has also caused some bad dreams as the title mentions, so I'm taking it slow.

Nod
The premise of the book is that one night, none of the world sleeps--save children and a few adults, about 1 out of 10,000. Everyone brushes it off as maybe a weird fluke or some sort of disturbance in the radio waves until it happens again. And again. Scientists and doctors discuss how long one can reasonably live with no sleep, but by this time, humanity has started to crumble. The non-sleepers mistrust the sleepers. Everyone mistrusts the children. It's ugly and manic and exactly what I feel would happen if I stopped sleeping. The honest thought of this made my skin crawl, the frustration of wanting to sleep but being unable? Night after night? No thanks. I quit.
I felt a little let down by the ending of this book, but I mostly enjoyed it.

What are you reading?