The Kingdom of Copper
By: SA Chakraborty
Wow. The last quarter of the book is teeeeeeense. And there is no resolution. It ends in the middle of a huge cliff. Thankfully, I was able to go right on to the next one. As middle books in a trilogy goes, this was well done. Enough happened to feel like the action warranted dividing into three parts - this is being written from the perspective of having also finished the third book just a few weeks later. I’ll expand my review of the series in that break-down.
Tales of Beatrix Potter
By: Beatrix Potter
I find it a little off-putting to anthropomorphize animals and then to have them eating each other. For that reason these stories never really sit well with me. It feels like low-key cannibalism. For such well-beloved children’s stories I found them really rather grotesque. Just me? Vor seemed to enjoy them. Maybe there just weren’t that many books/children’s books back in the day and that is how this book gained such reknown but I didn’t find them endearing or loveable or really at all valuable in terms of teaching lessons even. Pass.
Note: The works in this book are presented in a lot of other books with similar names. This is the exact version I read.
Goodbye, Things
By: Fumio Sasaki
I really loved it. I’ve been minimal for years yet I still found this book both inspiring and useful. An ironic note, the list of tips for going minimal is NOT a minimal list.
The Goose Girl
By: Shannon Hale
I started listening to this with Vor and it was clear there was an impending dark turn. He wasn’t fully into the story anyway, so we paused and I finished on my own. My intuition was correct, there is a dark turn. It was not as insidious as I had feared, however. In the end this has a big character arc for the heroine and feels like a good read for the tween group. There are sequels. I probably will end up reading them eventually.
Peter Pan
By: JM Barrie
This was an Audible Original adaptation. It was very engaging for Vor but a far cry from staying true to canon. I feel like the title is misleading and should have been billed as being “based-on.” You know the story of Peter Pan. No need to elaborate.
Coyote America
By: Dan Flores
An unexpectedly interesting book. There was a depth and nuance to the information offered so that I never felt bored despite the deep dive into a specific subject matter. Narrative works well as a literary device to help the reader/listener stay invested in the overall arc of the book. Another free offering for Audible subscribers.
For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too
By Christopher Emdin
Damn. This book delivered. I think one of the biggest pitfalls of the social justice genre is that they are essentially self-help books for white people. It gets pretty repetitive. Especially, if you have read Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, etc etc to whom newcomers writing in this genre often can’t hold a candle. Their contributions are welcome but often come off as basic for people who have been invested in “doing the work,” for a long time. This however, phew. Is it narrative? Yes. Is it pointed? Yes. Is it also broadly applicable? Yup! Not only is this a critique of and solutions for white teachers entering into POC spaces, it is a brutal commentary on the epic failings of our education system. BUT! The thing is solutions exist. They are also deftly laid out in this book. Highly recommend.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
By: Haruki Murakami
How does he do it? How did he write a book about a hobby/sport I have next to no interest/involvement in and make it interesting? He has a way about examining the minutae that gives his writing a perpetually fresh, familiar feeling. I just finished another Murakami book and it was no less detailed about no less mundane things yet it was still engrossing. This book is not quite so standard in the author’s style in that, there is always some central crux-point for his narrative works. And around that point Murakami weaves exquisite insights into mundanity/the human experience. Here its just - running. Running and life. Life and Running. A beautiful meander through the mind of a truly gifted writer and apparent multi-sport athlete. I Stan.
Midsummer’s Mayhem
By: Rajani LaRocca
The woman POC author I was looking for when I was duped by SA Chakraborty. JK, kinda. This was GREAT! I chose this book as a Mama-Vor book and it didn’t disappoint. The constant calls to A Midsummer Night’s Dream are of course lost on a 5-year-old but as I was hoping, the story was alive and substantive without any Shakespearian background. There’s magic, fae and BAKING! The author clearly knows her stuff. I think I can safely say, if you enjoy The Great British Baking Show you will enjoy this book. There are even recipes at the end! I enjoyed every bit of this scrumptious story (read it to get the inside joke).
Who We Are and How We Got Here
By: David Reich
A book about genetics. I found the first part of this book SOOOO boring. There was a lot of science info unanchored by meaningful real-world discussion or narrative. I think that was its failing. I was not in the right mindset to take it all in. Its one of those books I wish I had a hard copy of and would read slowly making annotations on the side. But in all honesty, I doubt I would have had the patience to make it to the last third. The last third of this book was great. It was everything it promised to be and didn’t deliver on in the first 2/3. The last bit of the book really dives into the current sociological and philosophical war that is going on in the field of genetics. I will let the author speak for himself on this as I found his writing to be profound.
“It is now undeniable that there are non-trivial average genetic differences across populations in multiple traits and the “race” vocabulary is too ill defined and too loaded with historical baggage to be helpful. If we continue to use it, we will not be able to escape the current debate which is mired in an argument between two indefensible positions. On the one side, there are beliefs about the nature of the differences that are grounded in bigotry and have little basis in reality. On the other side, there is the idea that any biological differences between populations are so modest that, as a matter of social policy, they can be ignored and papered over. It is time to move on from this paralyzing false dichotomy and to figure out what the genome is actually telling us.”
I’m impressed with Reich’s boldness and willingness to put himself in an unwinnable position. He is making friends on neither side of the aisle here and instead seems to really hold his idealistic ground. I find that admirable and impressive. Aside from the style/pacing of the book, my other critique is that author somewhat minces words on the topic of male genetic dominance. when one society takes over another men sexually assault and rape women, a fact that is never stated forthcomingly. I found that he was being realistic but way too kind in the way he was painting the picture.
The Empire of Gold
By: SA Chakraborty
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Ok, now that is out of the way. This is your last chance. I’m going in and I’m not holding back. You were warned.
GAAAAH. They did Dara so dirty!!! There is a little redemption for him at the end but the whole time I was just gritting my teeth at Ali and Nahri’s hypocrisy. Did Ali grow on me? Yes. Did I overall really like Nahri? Yes. But they still both pissed me TF off. Dara is hands down a tragic figure for the ages. By the way, I’m not structuring my thoughts on this trilogy because most of it is just me emoting and there’s no reason behind it.
Jamshid and Muntadir! Love. Would have really liked to have more Zaynb in the series. She was amazing. Queen Hatset also amazing. Sobek - such a cool concept. End of the day I want so much more from this world. I want to follow Dara to the ends of the Earth. I want to circle back to Ali and Nahri’s descendants and see how they interface with Dara and the slave rings. I want to know more about the Peri. There’s endless material here.
Surprises that made me happy: Nahri’s grandpa. I straight up did not see that coming. It was a great way to end on a positive note where so much else was tinged with sadness. Speaking of - Dara riding off into the sunset to gather slave rings and free the enslaved Djinn. It was the mature thing to do and so I begrudging accept it. Did I want he and Nahri to end up together? 100,000%. But in all honesty, they are both damaged goods and their love, though real, was also a tangle of trauma bonds. And he needed to go heal and she didn’t need to save him. Its a RuPaul moment. If Dara can’t love himself…
Final thoughts. Still angry the author is white. It means some POC writer somewhere who also could have written and published this story was displaced. I’m obsessed with this world and excited to see it come to screen on Netflix. There is SOOOO much room to cast this with actors who cover a wide range of skin tones and ethnicities. I’m am hoping desperately that they don’t white-wash everyone. Ugh. pleeeeease let them get it right!! I want more books. I would love to see Chakraborty team up with an actual author of color to flesh out some of the stories that are begging to be told. Overall I fell in love with this trilogy. And was happy to spend the 60+ hours of listening to see it through to the end.