What I've Been Reading Lately: May 2018

May is National Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, so I choose to read books that featured Asian characters and/or dealt with mental illnesses in some way. There were a few books that didn't fit into this reading theme (I'm not great at sticking to strict reading plans, plus when a library hold comes in, you gotta read what you gotta read before due dates and stuff), but here's what my reading looked like in May!

1. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. 

This was a quick, short read. And the ending ultimately threw me. It's about a rich family who spends every summer on their private island. Until one summer, something happens. The second half of the book follows the main character trying to heal from the trauma of whatever happened, as well as try to figure out what happened.  She's an unreliable narrator, and so the ending definitely was unexpected and the twist kind of crushed me. 

2. Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu. 

Caroline's autistic brother is taken from their small Texas town. When he is found, so is another boy named Ethan, who was kidnapped six years earlier. Since Caroline's brother can't say what happened to him, she seeks out Ethan to get some answers. The two form what starts as a fragile friendship, but eventually grows to be the most important for them both. What I loved about this book were the sessions between Ethan and his therapist. It was a difficult book, dealing with difficult issues, but I thought it was handled so well. 

3. I Feel Bad About My Neck and other thoughts and being a woman by Nora Ephron.

I love When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle. They are some of my favorite rom-coms, and so I thought I'd love Nora Ephron's writing. But... meh. I think I'm not an essay person. Or something. This was on a list of funniest books, and I barely laughed. Only two essays really stood out to be... one called "Blind as a Bat" (it was about reading). 

4. The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae.

The first chapter, I loved. I related to Issa Rae's experiences a lot. I would also categorize myself as an Awkward Black Girl, who also wouldn't have known who 2Pac was. However, something about the chapters felt disjointed, and it wasn't especially well-written to me. But then again, I've yet to enjoy any celebrity memoir I've ever read--Tina Fey's, both of Mindy Kahlings, even Lauren Graham's. Parts of them are winsome and wonderful, but as a whole... meh. I think I'll take a break from celebrity memoirs for a while. 

5. Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed. 

Maya Aziz is a Muslim teen in a small town outside of Chicago. Her family is the only Indian, and only Muslim family in town. The story starts with her missing a school dance because she has to go to a wedding. Her parents hope to arrange a marriage for her. They want her to stay go to college near home. They want her to be a good, Muslim, Indian daughter. And for the most part, Maya is. Except... she wants to go to school at NYU, and study film, and she likes a white boy. Things only get more complicated when there is an attack on a government building, and the primary suspect is another Muslim... with the same last name as Maya's family. 

This was a lovely book about the tension between wanting to honor your family/heritage/culture and wanting to honor your dreams, and about Islamphobia, and the struggles of trying to fit in when everyone else is focused on your differences. 

6. Afro: The Girl With the Magical Hair by Okechukwu Ofili.

This was a cute little story that I bought while I was in Nigeria. It's basically the Rapunzel story. Except with a deep hole in the forest, instead of a tall tower. And instead of long, golden locks of hair, our heroine has an afro. 

7. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins. 

Three teens attempt suicide, but all fail. So they all end up at some sort of rehab center to work out their issues. It's written in verse. And told in the voices of all three teens. It was interesting. A little weird at times. I was very concerned with how bad the facility they were in was--I couldn't not imagine this type of "treatment" would work on anyone. And there were love triangles. And just other weird things. I definitely kept reading because I was curious about how it would end (which was both expected and unexpected), but I could see how this could be a problematic book when it comes the way depression, etc is depicted and treated. 

8. The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato.

This book was interesting. A girl is checking e-mail (for some reason the whole family shares one e-mail account) when she reads one meant for her dad... from a woman he went on a date with while he was out of town. And then begins a series of back and forth e-mails as she tries to destroy her dad's budding relationship. A lot of lying and general spiraling out of control ensues, although it eventually ends sweetly enough. And I learned a lot about naked mole rats. 

9. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

This was potentially my favorite book of the month. When Leigh's mother commits suicide, she discovers that she has turned into a bird. This bird leads her to Taiwan, where she meets her mother's parents for the first time and experiences the memories of her family to learn about her mother's history. 

It's sad, and funny, and honest, and beautiful. I normally don't like magical realism, but I really enjoyed this book. Grief is a tricky thing, and I think Pan did a beautiful job with this book.

10.  Solo by Kwame Alexander.

Novel in verse. Son of a famous musician is about to graduate. Washed out rockstar dad ruins his graduation. And then some crazy news is dropped into his life sending him on a trip to Ghana to find himself. 

I liked how between chapters there was a poem that was written in tribute to a famous rock song. And I liked seeing West Africa described. 

11. Sparrow by Sarah Moon

Also potentially my favorite from the month. Sparrow is found on the roof, and everyone thinks she was trying to commit suicide. But that's not what she was doing at all... she simply wanted to get closer to the birds. But even though she wasn't trying to kill herself, Sparrow does need help. She suffers from crippling anxiety that keeps her from interacting with others and knowing how to deal with real life. 

I fell in love with sweet Sparrow, and wanted to hold and hug her through every chapter. 

12. From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

I did not like this one was much as I loved Menon's first book, When Dimple Met Rishi, but this was a fun read overall. I like how the story was mostly told through letters Twinkle writes to female directors (she wants to be a director one day herself). 

Ultimately, this book was worth the read because of something Menon said in a Goodreads interview:

"I'm an ardent supporter of the idea that marginalized populations deserve as much breadth in storytelling as non-marginalized populations routinely get. I want to see not just issue books about the struggle of being a minority, but also romantic comedies, science fiction, graphic novels, and sweeping family sagas that simply feature diverse characters as the heroes and heroines of their own tales." -- Sandhya Menon

So while this wasn't so deep issues book, or anything groundbreaking... it was a good, fun, light-hearted YA novel that featured diverse characters. Not every minority book has to be about the struggle, you know?

13. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Squeezed this in on the last day of the month. Also deals with anxiety disorder. Overall it was cute. I liked the romance story. I could have done without the excerpts from the Harry Potter-esque book that Cath writes her fanficion off of (Sorry, I will not be reading Carry On). 

Now it's back to knocking out more books for June!

Happy Reading, 

B :-)