The Mysterious Benedict Society (re-read, audiobook) by Trenton Lee Stewart
Alt Press Issue #386.1 (September 2020)
The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (re-read, audiobook) by Trenton Lee Stewart
That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story (old ARC) by Huda Fahmy
Yes, I’m Hot in This: The Hilarious Truth about Life in a Hijab by Huda Fahmy
How Do You Live? (ARC) by Genzaburō Yoshino
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma (re-read, audiobook) by Trenton Lee Stewart
Pop Science: Serious Answers to Deep Questions Posed in Songs by James Ball
An Abundance of Katherines (re-read) by John Green
Brown Girl Ghosted by Mintie Das
Songbook by Nick Hornby
Friends, it’s been a wild couple of weeks for me. The only thing that’s relevant, though, is that this blog post is late because my laptop randomly decided to quit on me. But now I have my new laptop (which I’ve named Pierre) and I can tell you all about the books I read in January!
My parents’ new puppy, Charlie! He’s part of the craziness that I enjoyed.
The new year started out with me going back in time instead of forward with a re-read of The Mysterious Benedict Society, another one of my favorite series from grade school. I began to sense a common theme between this series and A Series of Unfortunate Events—smart kids that can overcome incredible circumstances. The main difference is that, in The Mysterious Benedict Society series, their intelligence is taken seriously by the adults in their lives and they are treated as full human beings. Anyway, this series has so many fun puzzles and interesting twists and intriguing characters. To be honest, I was surprised at how well this series holds up and would definitely still recommend it to grade school students. Next on my list of middle grade series to re-read is The Secret Series, which I’ve requested that my library get in audiobook form, so I can hopefully get to them soon!
The other middle grade I read this month was How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino. I picked up this ARC because the back boasted that it was Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite book as a kid. First published in 1937, it’s considered a Japanese classic, but it was just translated into English. Unfortunately, the translation is a bit awkward, which makes the descriptions less impactful. The detours into random histories (of Napoleon or Buddha statues, among others) were interesting but also, as I already noted, so random that I was jarred when the story of Copper and his uncle jutted back in. There’s not much of a plot because this is basically a philosophy book for kids. I have a feeling that only a small audience of middle graders will actually enjoy this book because go its abstract themes and topics. This is a special and intriguing book that had a less than smooth translation. It didn’t meet my high expectations, but do I still hope that Miyazaki will make a film out of it? Yes!
The Cybernetic Tea Shop, a very cute sci-fi novella, takes a closer look at AI and how we define personhood. I love books that use AI to explore our ideas of what constitutes true “human” intelligence. This book is also a love story between a human-like robot and a robot repairwoman. There’s ace and wlw rep. In order for me to care more about their relationship, the story would have had to be longer and the world more fleshed out. I would have liked more detail regarding the inner workings of the AI that Clara (the repairwoman) worked on as well as the seemingly post-apocalyptic world that is very anti-humanoid robot. The only glimpses besides the anti-robotism were subtle mentions of an earthquake and comments about Clara’s nomadic family. Despite these scarcities, this was really enjoyable, if simply written, and has perfect cold-day-hot-tea-and-reading vibes.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I travelled to Paris this month! Well… not actually, but I sort of did. My sister’s gift to me at Christmas consisted of three books, some activities, and movies/shows that combined to create “trips” to three different places. This month, I decided to “go to Paris,” hence reading The Phantom of the Opera. The first time I read Phantom, the translation was horrible (much like the awkwardness of How Do You Live?). This time, however, was much better! I’ve been really into stories with ghosts (or people posing as ghosts, in this case), so this was a perfect book to pick up.
Phantom is my favorite live musical, so I also watched the movie version (and pondered the ever-perplexing question of why Gerard Butler was cast as the Phantom…) as well as Anastasia, another awesome musical. I “toured” the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower on Google and enjoyed some bubbly! This was so much fun, and I highly recommend the Google tours if you’re feeling trapped inside.
My sister also has to do with three more of the books I read this month. Apparently, it was an Alisha month… The two books of comics by Huda Fahmy are based on her Instagram, Yes, I’m Hot in This, which my sister introduced me to. Fahmy’s hilarious! She illustrates her life as a Muslim trying to meet a husband and just daily life as a hijabi. Her sense of humor is sarcastic and honest; she shows the harsh and funny realities of living as a visibly Muslim woman in the Western world. I recommend her Instagram, too, because she dispels stereotypes and makes you laugh even if you have none of the same experiences.
The other book that has to do with my sister is An Abundance of Katherines. This was the first John Green book I ever read, and he has since become one of my favorite authors. We both remembered it being our least favorite of his books, and while that perspective hasn’t changed, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it being. My sister didn’t feel the same, but she still rated it three stars on Goodreads, so it wasn’t horrible! However, it is still somewhat problematic with its pervasive binary thinking and teen boy stupidity. On the other hand, there is a fat and Muslim character who is not treated as a stereotype, or just there for the sake of “diversity.” John Green is unable to write anything horribly, no matter how boring the story, so it was impossible for me not to enjoy it overall. Plus, I love when fiction stories use footnotes as a part of the storytelling. (This is a narrative device that The Secret Series uses, too.)
The book Pop Science didn’t have much depth but it was hilarious! The author takes the selected pop songs’ questions way too seriously, citing research and interpreting them literally. It will definitely change how I listen to some of the songs, giving me a chuckle that will make no sense to anyone else.
Okay, so Brown Girl Ghosted was an unexpected delight. It was a pretty average book overall, but in a way that subverts the typical Western ghost story. The story uses Indian ghost mythology to tell the story of Violet, a descendant of women warriors, who is trying to solve the murder of the head cheerleader while also staying under the radar in her small, mostly white town. Naomi (the cheerleader) shows up as a bhoot (described as a spirit that has lost its soul) and the ghosts of Violet’s ancestors insist that she solve the murder. The dialogue was clunky, the emotional stakes weren’t very high, and the characters were pretty one dimensional, BUT it’s still a fun, somewhat nuanced ghost story full of death and YA tropes and a brooding hot guy (who’s not a love interest, by the way…). The ending was also a perfect conclusion to this story. I can’t wait to delve into more ghost stories, especially ones where the ghosts are actual characters in the story rather than just a spooky phenomenon.
(Peep Amber Ruffin’s book… gonna be in February’s post!)
The last book I finished in January is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a while: Songbook by Nick Hornby. For some reason, I love Nick Hornby’s writing. He just has a way of using phrases and metaphors that are both unique and irrefutably true. This book of song reviews (well, more like commentary) is witty and honest. The fact that I wasn’t familiar with much of the music he reviews didn’t take away from the experience, and I didn’t even have to listen to all of them to enjoy the commentary. It’s like a little time capsule from 2003, with both the good (the music) and the bad (subtle prejudice) of the early 2000s. I was a bit disappointed at how mediocre I found this book, because Hornby’s The Polysyllabic Spree (basically the same thing but about books) is one of my favorite books about books and, in fact, is actually why I add those lists at the beginning of my posts!
Here’s to hoping that 2021 brings us good music, good books, and the ability to finally hug our loved ones. Cheers!
As Cool As Mint Ice Cream 
January 2021: How I started off the new year by reading about ghosts, music, and intelligent kids
What I Got:
What I Read:
Friends, it’s been a wild couple of weeks for me. The only thing that’s relevant, though, is that this blog post is late because my laptop randomly decided to quit on me. But now I have my new laptop (which I’ve named Pierre) and I can tell you all about the books I read in January!
The new year started out with me going back in time instead of forward with a re-read of The Mysterious Benedict Society, another one of my favorite series from grade school. I began to sense a common theme between this series and A Series of Unfortunate Events—smart kids that can overcome incredible circumstances. The main difference is that, in The Mysterious Benedict Society series, their intelligence is taken seriously by the adults in their lives and they are treated as full human beings. Anyway, this series has so many fun puzzles and interesting twists and intriguing characters. To be honest, I was surprised at how well this series holds up and would definitely still recommend it to grade school students. Next on my list of middle grade series to re-read is The Secret Series, which I’ve requested that my library get in audiobook form, so I can hopefully get to them soon!
The other middle grade I read this month was How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino. I picked up this ARC because the back boasted that it was Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite book as a kid. First published in 1937, it’s considered a Japanese classic, but it was just translated into English. Unfortunately, the translation is a bit awkward, which makes the descriptions less impactful. The detours into random histories (of Napoleon or Buddha statues, among others) were interesting but also, as I already noted, so random that I was jarred when the story of Copper and his uncle jutted back in. There’s not much of a plot because this is basically a philosophy book for kids. I have a feeling that only a small audience of middle graders will actually enjoy this book because go its abstract themes and topics. This is a special and intriguing book that had a less than smooth translation. It didn’t meet my high expectations, but do I still hope that Miyazaki will make a film out of it? Yes!
The Cybernetic Tea Shop, a very cute sci-fi novella, takes a closer look at AI and how we define personhood. I love books that use AI to explore our ideas of what constitutes true “human” intelligence. This book is also a love story between a human-like robot and a robot repairwoman. There’s ace and wlw rep. In order for me to care more about their relationship, the story would have had to be longer and the world more fleshed out. I would have liked more detail regarding the inner workings of the AI that Clara (the repairwoman) worked on as well as the seemingly post-apocalyptic world that is very anti-humanoid robot. The only glimpses besides the anti-robotism were subtle mentions of an earthquake and comments about Clara’s nomadic family. Despite these scarcities, this was really enjoyable, if simply written, and has perfect cold-day-hot-tea-and-reading vibes.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I travelled to Paris this month! Well… not actually, but I sort of did. My sister’s gift to me at Christmas consisted of three books, some activities, and movies/shows that combined to create “trips” to three different places. This month, I decided to “go to Paris,” hence reading The Phantom of the Opera. The first time I read Phantom, the translation was horrible (much like the awkwardness of How Do You Live?). This time, however, was much better! I’ve been really into stories with ghosts (or people posing as ghosts, in this case), so this was a perfect book to pick up.
Phantom is my favorite live musical, so I also watched the movie version (and pondered the ever-perplexing question of why Gerard Butler was cast as the Phantom…) as well as Anastasia, another awesome musical. I “toured” the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower on Google and enjoyed some bubbly! This was so much fun, and I highly recommend the Google tours if you’re feeling trapped inside.
My sister also has to do with three more of the books I read this month. Apparently, it was an Alisha month… The two books of comics by Huda Fahmy are based on her Instagram, Yes, I’m Hot in This, which my sister introduced me to. Fahmy’s hilarious! She illustrates her life as a Muslim trying to meet a husband and just daily life as a hijabi. Her sense of humor is sarcastic and honest; she shows the harsh and funny realities of living as a visibly Muslim woman in the Western world. I recommend her Instagram, too, because she dispels stereotypes and makes you laugh even if you have none of the same experiences.
The other book that has to do with my sister is An Abundance of Katherines. This was the first John Green book I ever read, and he has since become one of my favorite authors. We both remembered it being our least favorite of his books, and while that perspective hasn’t changed, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it being. My sister didn’t feel the same, but she still rated it three stars on Goodreads, so it wasn’t horrible! However, it is still somewhat problematic with its pervasive binary thinking and teen boy stupidity. On the other hand, there is a fat and Muslim character who is not treated as a stereotype, or just there for the sake of “diversity.” John Green is unable to write anything horribly, no matter how boring the story, so it was impossible for me not to enjoy it overall. Plus, I love when fiction stories use footnotes as a part of the storytelling. (This is a narrative device that The Secret Series uses, too.)
The book Pop Science didn’t have much depth but it was hilarious! The author takes the selected pop songs’ questions way too seriously, citing research and interpreting them literally. It will definitely change how I listen to some of the songs, giving me a chuckle that will make no sense to anyone else.
Okay, so Brown Girl Ghosted was an unexpected delight. It was a pretty average book overall, but in a way that subverts the typical Western ghost story. The story uses Indian ghost mythology to tell the story of Violet, a descendant of women warriors, who is trying to solve the murder of the head cheerleader while also staying under the radar in her small, mostly white town. Naomi (the cheerleader) shows up as a bhoot (described as a spirit that has lost its soul) and the ghosts of Violet’s ancestors insist that she solve the murder. The dialogue was clunky, the emotional stakes weren’t very high, and the characters were pretty one dimensional, BUT it’s still a fun, somewhat nuanced ghost story full of death and YA tropes and a brooding hot guy (who’s not a love interest, by the way…). The ending was also a perfect conclusion to this story. I can’t wait to delve into more ghost stories, especially ones where the ghosts are actual characters in the story rather than just a spooky phenomenon.
The last book I finished in January is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a while: Songbook by Nick Hornby. For some reason, I love Nick Hornby’s writing. He just has a way of using phrases and metaphors that are both unique and irrefutably true. This book of song reviews (well, more like commentary) is witty and honest. The fact that I wasn’t familiar with much of the music he reviews didn’t take away from the experience, and I didn’t even have to listen to all of them to enjoy the commentary. It’s like a little time capsule from 2003, with both the good (the music) and the bad (subtle prejudice) of the early 2000s. I was a bit disappointed at how mediocre I found this book, because Hornby’s The Polysyllabic Spree (basically the same thing but about books) is one of my favorite books about books and, in fact, is actually why I add those lists at the beginning of my posts!
Here’s to hoping that 2021 brings us good music, good books, and the ability to finally hug our loved ones. Cheers!
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