Books I Read in July 2016 (Books 170-196)

(pictured: 5-star reviews for July 2016)

170. Sixty Degrees North: Around the World in Search of Home by Malachy Tallack (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
171. Miss Jane by Brad Watson (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
172. Mystique. A Collection Of Lake Myths by Beatrice Bime (eBook from library; my review)
173. Wanderlust by Roni Loren (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
174. The Patron Saint of Ugly by Marie Manilla (library book; my review)
175. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller (Kindle eBook; my review)
176. História, História: Two Years in the Cape Verde Islands by Eleanor Stanford (Kindle eBook; my review)
177. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
178. Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting (library book; my review)
179. Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle (ARC from publisher; my review)
180. The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
181. Disinformation by Frances Leviston (interlibrary loan; my review)
182. Physical by Andrew McMillan (interlibrary loan; my review)
183. The Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud (purchased book; my review)
184. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (audiobook review copy from publisher; my review)
185. The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Phillippe Blondel (gift from publisher; my review)
186. Unforgettable by Eric James Stone (gift from friend; my review)
187. Walking with Abel: Journeys with the Nomads of the African Savannah by Anna Badkhen (library book; my review)
188. Available Dark (Cass Neary, #2) by Elizabeth Hand (library book; my review)
189. Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2 by Gail Carriger (purchased book; my review)
190. Drowned Worlds edited by Jonathan Strahan (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
191. The Secret Lovers by Charles McCarry (interlibrary loan; my review)
192. A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (library book; my review)
193. The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe by D. G. Compton (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
194. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
195. The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (audiobook review copy from publisher; my review)
196. Apex (Nexus, #3) by Ramez Naam (interlibrary loan; my review)

Books read: 26
eBook:11
audiobook: 2
print: 13
non-fiction: 5
Africa2016: 5
poetry: 2
science fiction/fantasy: 7
review copies: 11
male/female: 13/12 (1 anthology with multiple genders)

Library Books Mid-July 2016

This post is going live a little later than mid-July. I spent just over a week in Oregon and mailed my books back to myself, and since they went media mail they just got home. I put my library books in there since I had finished them, along with the books I bought at (where else) Powells. The newly purchased books will be included in my monthly new books in post at the end of July.

Disinformation by Frances Leviston
Physical by Andrew McMillan
Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting
The Patron Saint of Ugly by Marie Manilla
Apex by Ramez Naam
Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand
Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue
The Tusk that did the Damage by Tania James
My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber
Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Jane Halifax
Kaiseki by Yoshihiro Murata

I heard about the Murata from an eGalley of Super Sushi Ramen Express, so of course I had to read more about this fascinating cuisine.

I wish I could remember where I heard about the Halifax. I requested it immediately from interlibrary loan and devoured it before my trip home. I discuss it further on Episode 063 of the Reading Envy Podcast: Desolation Road.

The Leviston, McMillan, and James are all on my stack because they were finalists for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and I had already read the other two nominees. I figured, why not?

The Whiting and Manilla were total impulse checkouts when I was looking for light reads for my trip, the Taber was recommended by a Litsy friend, and the Enrigue was the July pick for one of my Goodreads groups.

The Hand and Naam are books in series I have started and liked, and want to keep reading. The Naam will finish a trilogy, and I hope to dig into it this weekend if not sooner.

Reading Envy 063: Desolation Road

Jenny does another round of book speed dating to meet her 2016 reading goals, and decides to go with the #scifijuly theme. Then she shares books on grief, death and dying, a theme she has been following through literature lately. Jenny is visited in her office at the very end by a future guest!

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 063: Desolation Road.

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Part 1: Book Speed Dating Project #4 of 2016

Books discussed:

Nekropolis by Maureen F. McHugh
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
The Bug by Ellen Ullman
The Colony by Jillian Weise
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston
Desolation Road by Ian McDonald
The Peripheral by William Gibson
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Other mentions:
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Part 2: Books on Grief

Books discussed:

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times edited by Neil Astley
The Ark by Ed Madden
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Joan Halifax
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
The Holders and The Seers by Julianna Scott (I called her Julianna Holden on the recording)
The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Other mentions:
"How to Lift Him" TED Talk with Ed Madden
Book Riot: "How to Read when the World is Terrible"
"Late Fragment" by Raymond Carter

Stalk us online:
Jenny at GoodReads
Jenny on Twitter

Reading Envy 062: Olfactory Stimuli

David Galloway returns to the Reading Envy pub to discuss more books. He previously appeared on Episode 028: The Room of Requirement and there are some fun connections to our last discussion. You don't need to hear 028 first! This episode is posting a few days early because Jenny is going off the grid for a week or so.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 062: Olfactory Stimuli.

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play
Listen via Stitcher (new!)

Books discussed:



The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008)
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1955)
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress (1993)
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand (2007)
The Mussorgsky Riddle by Darin Kennedy (2015)
The Country of Marriage: Poems by Wendell Berry (1971)

Game Night, first and last, from Jenny's viewpoint, circa 2008

Other mentions:

Settlers of Catan (board game)
Ticket to Ride (board game)
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Newberry Award
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (in audio)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Martian (film)
Bridge to Terabithia by Kathleen Paterson
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Nightmare Before Christmas (film)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Gattaca (film)
Ramez Naam on the Sword and Laser podcast
More than Human by Ramez Naam
Dragon*Con
Modest Mussorgsky
How to be a Poet by Wendell Berry
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend

Related episodes:

Episode 028 - The Room of Requirement with guest David Galloway

Stalk us online:

Jenny at GoodReads
David on his blog
Jenny on Twitter
David on Twitter

Mid-Year Reading Goal Check-In

A lot of readers in Litsy have been reporting on their goals, picking best reads for the year, etc. I started to get curious about the progress I have made on my reading goals, and decided to both investigate and share it with you. If you want to go back and listen to me discuss more behind the initial intent behind the goals, check out Episode 048 of the podcast.

Goal 1: Read a book from the countries left in Africa (from my ongoing "read a book from every country" project)

I'm encountering a minor version to what happened last year, when I got stuck reading books from New Guinea for four months - instead of reading one book in every country, I have read several books for many of the countries I aim to read. So while I've read 20 books for this challenge, I have only covered 11 countries. 31 to go if I'm going to read all the countries I've never read from. Five a month? I'm not sure that's going to happen, but here is what has:

Algeria

The Stranger by Albert Camus (February 2016)

The Meursault Investigation (April 2016)

Ghana

Wife of the Gods (June 2016)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (June 2016)

Kenya
The Book of Secrets by M.J. Vassanji (February 2016)

Mali

The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles To Timbuktu by Kira Salak (March 2016)

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer (March 2016)

Mozambique

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane (April 2016)

Nigeria
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (January 2016)

Rwanda

Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga (February 2016)

Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga (June 2016)

South Sudan

Beyond the River Yei (January 2016)

There is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan (January 2016)

Sudan

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (March 2016)

Swaziland

When Hoopoes Go to Heaven by Gaile Parkin (May 2016)

Uganda
Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji (February 2016)

All Our Names by Dinew Mengestu (January 2016)

The Gravity of Sunlight by Rosa Shand (January 2016)

Thirty Girls by Susan Minot (January 2016)

Multi

New-Generation African Poets ed. By Kwame Dawes (April 2016)

Goal 2: Read some of my shelf of anthologies (perhaps develop strategies for this)

FAIL. I have made it through one anthology, and that was one I purchased after making these reading goals. Sigh.

Goal 3: Don't be a hoarder - complete six more book speed dating projects to make decisions about books I'm not sure about

I haven't been so great about not adding more books, but to be fair (to me) that wasn't the goal. I have done one speed dating project every two months, so for 2016, I have done three. I will work on another one sometime in July.

I recorded about each of them, so you can hear my thoughts:

Speed Dating 2016 #1
Speed Dating 2016 #2
Speed Dating 2016 #3

Goal 4: Reflective reading - experiment with journaling, video reviews, etc.

I definitely worked a lot with this although most of it is not something I can show. I absolutely prefer to record my thoughts in audio over video.

Goal 5: Read genres I usually ignore - crime and romance, maybe others
Heck yeah. I have read more romance this year than any other time in my life. That discussion is in the same episode as speed date #2, "The Wall of Romance." When I gave my students this project, I picked up a sportsing book.  I have read a few more crime novels this year, although I'm not sure if it's more than normal, and it is likely not the titles I had in mind when I made the goal.

Books I Read in June 2016

(Pictured: 5-star reads for June)

144. Upstairs at the Strand: Writers in Conversation at the Legendary Bookstore (library; my review)
145. Marrow Island by Alexis M. Smith, read by Emily Rankin (audiobook review copy; my review)
146. Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey (own; my review)
147. My Last Continent by Midge Raymond (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
148. Some Day by Shemi Zarhin (interlibrary loan; my review)
149. Light Boxes by Shane Jones (own; my review)
150. The Joys of Love by Madeleine L'Engle (own; my review)
151. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West, read by Lindy West (audiobook; my review)
152. Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, performed by Moira Quirk (audiobook; my review)
153. Super Sushi Ramen Express by Michael Booth (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
154. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (own; my review)
155. Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (library; my review)
156. Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett (interlibrary loan and eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
157. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
158. Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand (library; my review)
159. Siracusa by Delia Ephron (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
160. How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
161. I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
162. Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton (galley from publisher; my review)
163. The Butch and the Beautiful by Kris Ripper (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
164. Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger, performed by Moira Quirk (audiobook; my review)
165. Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller (library; my review)
166. Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
167. Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend (own; my review)
168. Leaving the Fold by Marlene Winell (own; my review)
169. Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Joan Halifax (interlibrary loan; my review)

Total Books Read in June: 25
Review copies: 11
Audiobook: 4
eBook: 8
Print: 13
Fiction: 19
Non-fiction: 6