What We’re Reading | 2

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Our hold list at the library has been full of fairy tales, fantasy, and science fiction lately. Which although unplanned has been nice, since reality in these parts has been pretty barfy. Literally. So much barf. I’ve done SO MUCH laundry lately. I’m still not sure if our rug is salvageable. And will someone explain to me why small children don’t know you should sit up when you vomit? They turn into disgusting little couch volcanoes and heaven help you if you’re in the extreme risk zone.

See also: lessons I’ve learned the hard way.

But you’re not here for a recap of VomFest 2016; you want to know about the books we’re reading when not dealing with sickness. Here’s the rundown.

Picture Books:

The Legend of the Golden Snail by Graeme Base was undoubtedly the biggest hit of our most recent library trip. I always love his illustrations, and David likes that it has a solid plot and is less tongue-twistery than some of his other works.

We’ve been reading through quite a few reimagined fairy tales as well, including a version of Cinderella with Russian chickens, a pig princess and the pea, and an African ugly duckling. It’s so fun to find familiar stories set in cultures other than our own.

Nonfiction:

I picked up 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam (you may remember I read All the Money in the World last month) but haven’t touched it yet. To be honest, I don’t really want to be reminded that I have plenty of time to do all the things I want/need to do. Sometimes it’s nice to let those things go for a bit. Plus I’m on a bit of a fiction kick…

Fiction:

I read the first book in Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series but haven’t yet gotten to books two and three yet. It’s such an interesting premise…reminiscent of X-Men but gentler somehow. I’m excited to see how the series plays out. I didn’t realize it was a series at first, so I read book one and started reading some other books while I waited for the library to pull copies of the others for me.

Which brings me to Ava Lavender. Oh, this book. “Strange and beautiful” is spot on. It’s the kind of book that makes you so happy you read it and so sad that you could never ever write anything that gorgeously heartbreaking so you should just give up now. It’s a multi-generational story full of magical realism, which reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works, except not annoying. (One Hundred Years of Solitude is my literary nemesis, and I literally threw Love in the Time of Cholera across the room and never finished it.) It took me a few days to process it before I could start reading another book.

…which was then disappointing. I know the Discworld books are kind of a phenomenon, and Terry Pratchett is great, but The Color of Magic didn’t really do it for me. Maybe I should try another one? I need you Discworld fans to guide me. Or convince me it gets better. Something. Because I don’t get the appeal.

And finally, The Windup Girl is set in a dystopia unlike any other I’ve encountered, and I find I’m having to pay much closer attention to it than I anticipated. I’m only a couple chapters in and still getting my bearings, but I dig it so far. I like a book that makes me think. Plus: genetically engineered cheshire cats and giant elephants. Good times.

What about you? What books are on your nightstand these days?

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