Summer Reading in Review

Unfortunately, my summer has just ended for me with the start of school this past week. I'm hoping to continue reading as much as possible during this semester, in addition to my heavy school reading list, but for now I'm thinking about the books I read this summer. Unsurprisingly, I didn't read everything on my ambitious summer reading list, but I did read 35 books this summer, so I'm pretty pleased. I'd like to think I made a dent in my extensive list of books to read and my piles of books in the rooms at school and at home, but I probably balanced out all progress by just adding more and more books to the list. Getting a library card in the spring has also made me even more of a book hoarder - I constantly have a long list of holds and a stack of library books to tackle. Anyways, I read some excellent books and it was a wonderful three and a half months of reading overall, spent in sunny parks and at the beach, on the subway and lazy days in bed. It was great to get a lot of time to dedicate to reading, as well as to see that my big jump out of a long reading slump in the beginning of the year was not a short-lived return to reading book after book. I did reread a handful of books - finishing my reread of Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle, listening to Stephen Fry's audiobook of the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes by starting with A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, and flying through Ally Carter's Heist series once again - but the rest were new releases and books that had long sat on my to-read list. So here you are - a reading roundup highlighting almost half of the books I read this summer, complete with thoughts and recommendations.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street & The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
Natasha Pulley's writing and plots are truly unique and captivating. I started the summer with her first book, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a novel set in Victorian London that touches on steampunk, stops in Japan, and features a singular kind of ability (unsure of how to describe it!). It unfolds slowly and quietly, with a relationship that builds so subtly, and is a lovely, enigmatic, atmospheric piece of historical yet lightly fantastical fiction. This summer Pulley followed her debut with The Bedlam Stacks, her second novel in the world of Watchmaker, but this time the adventure is through Peru. Although this one doesn't include steampunk - except for an appearance from a previous character - it has the same element of quietly magical, which seems to be a trademark of Pulley's writing. She trades steampunk for magical realism, mythology, and evocations of otherworldiness, expertly building a world complete with religion, culture, and mythology that have shades of magic and the supernatural.

A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Henry Montague sets off from home with his best friend for their Grand Tour on the continent, reluctantly accompanied by his sister and a strict chaperone. He's the opposite of a consummate gentleman; flirtatious, reckless, and rakish, Monty constantly disappoints his father, who expects him to return home after the Tour to be a scandal-free gentleman. Monty's Grand Tour of hedonism, debauchery, and pining after his best friend becomes a wild ride of a chase around Europe, alchemy, and, well, pining after his best friend. This book has so much more than crazy adventures too: tackling bisexuality, disability, race, all three of those elements in the time period, and great character development for Monty! Gentleman's Guide is an utterly delightful read.

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
There are two parallel stories in Good Morning, Midnight, a light sci-fi novel, which slowly approach each other over an astounding distances. Augustine, an old astronomer who refused to leave his research post when others evacuated, is alone on the North Pole, far from a mysterious catastrophic event. Sully, an astronaut aboard a spaceship returning from the first trip to Jupiter, is left with a small crew in open space, far from Earth, when the connection to home suddenly disappears. Both ruminate on their past (families, relationships, sacrifices), present (commitment to studying space, lack of communication, uncertain circumstances), and future (survival, any possibility of human contact, the unknown status of the planet). Brooks-Dalton perfectly captures such a wonder for the universe and conveys Augustine and Sully's fascination with space, combined with the nuances of human interaction and isolation when global communication vanishes.

The Pearl Thief & Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Wein's novel Code Name Verity is one of my favorite books. (Go read it.) It might be an understatement to say I freaked out when I learned that Wein had written another book about Julie, one of the two central characters of that book. A prequel that focuses on Julie at age fifteen and her adventures before the war, The Pearl Thief shows us so much more about Julie and how she became the fierce, brave young woman in Code Name Verity. Instead of a war novel, the prequel is a murder mystery of sorts, with a coming-of-age narrative, the drama of the loss of the family estate, and the Scottish Travellers she befriends (and the prejudices she then comes face to face with for the first time) in the mix. I loved it. I love Code Name Verity. I love Julie. Please give me another book about Julie (and Maddie), Elizabeth Wein. I also read Elizabeth Wein's other book in the Code Name Verity series / world, Rose Under Fire. Maddie, the other central character of Verity, figures prominently into this one, which stars Maddie's friend, an American named Rose. A pilot and poet, Rose ends up in France and then captured by Germans, eventually sent to Ravensbrück, where she tries to survive, stay hopeful, and keep those around her alive too. Although not as strong as Verity, Rose was still extensively researched and full of fascinating stories of women in WWII.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
Yes, another book set in World War II. Cleave's primarily takes place in London, which was part of the draw for me; I was interested in this story of people dealing with life in London at this time. Two of the three central characters are of this group (the third is a young soldier who enlisted). The first, Mary, is a young woman who signs up to aid the war effort and ends up as a teacher, to which she commits with gusto. Tom is an administrator in the education department with whom Mary meets when she is fighting to keep her job and her students in school, despite the circumstances. Their ensuing relationship is complicated by the years of war and the brief return of Alastair, the soldier and Tom's best friend. Everyone Brave is Forgiven focuses largely on the war's effects at home and the lives of those there, waiting for the return of family members and spouses, for the next bombing, for the end.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
To complete what I suppose has loosely become a trio of WWII novels... The Alice Network tells the stories of two women. Charlie St. Clair, young, unmarried, and pregnant, is on a mission to give her controlling, scandalized parents the slip and find her missing French cousin, who disappeared during WWII. Eve Gardiner, an older, traumatized, aggressive, and brash woman, is the one Charlie comes to for help. Unbeknownst to her, Eve had been in France herself during WWI. Unfolding simultaneously with Charlie's narrative, the latter story draws from the real-life Alice Network, including women inspired by real women who worked undercover in France during the first world war. Eve's side of the novel is stronger and more fascinating, both during her time in France as a young spy and her post-WWII years as she isolates herself in grief and trauma. I also haven't read much about WWI, so those details were excellent. Charlie's side is still interesting though - a young woman dealing with pregnancy, a massive scandal then, and her own grief and guilt - and she's full of drive and spunk throughout the development she goes through during her journey.

The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr
Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer-winning All the Light We Cannot See is a favorite of mine, so I was excited to pick up his short story collection, The Shell Collection. I read it during an afternoon at the beach, an unintentionally on the nose choice, and flew through these stunning stories united by the lure and beauty of nature.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
I love Pride and Prejudice. I adore the book, the film is one of the movies I rewatch most, and I jump at the chance to watch any adaptation. Naturally, I was eager to read Curtis Sittenfeld's modern retelling of Jane Austen's classic, complete with journalist Liz Bennet, yoga instructor Jane, paleo and crossfit-obsessed Kitty and Lydia, and doctor Darcy. Plus, Charles Bingley becomes Chip, a doctor who had previously appeared on Eligible - aka The Bachelor. This version can be a tad ridiculous at times, but the book's adult take was a nice shift as well. I especially loved finding the many fitting or entertaining ways that Sittenfeld translated the 1813 novel to 2016.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman & Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
I read a pair of books about teenagers and fandom, perfectly fit to 2017 and the world of fan communities. Radio Silence follows a fan of a popular webcomic who creates fanart and obsesses like any other intense fan... which gets her noticed by the creator of the comic. Oseman covers friendship, family dynamics, and pressure from school and society to follow a certain path, all within a story about being a fan, being a creative, and being a person on the internet. Tash Hearts Tolstoy focuses on Tash, the creator of a low-budget webseries adaptation of Anna Karenina that suddenly goes viral, a big audience building while adding pressure amongst Tash and her team and introducing her to fame in internet communities and other Youtubers. Tash is lighter fare - funny, bright, entertaining - but naturally drama works its way in. Ormsbee also focuses on asexuality and Tash's struggle with explaining it to people and reconciling that with the relationship she wants. Although maybe a little too heavy on the feeling of directly explaining to the readers, it didn't really bother me; it was too interesting and exciting to see this kind of story.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
My third Gaiman book and audiobook this year - I'm still working on making my way through all of his books. THe audiobook is wonderful; Gaiman is one of the narrators, which I had loved with Norse Mythology and his recent book of essays, but the audiobook has a cast of actors to perform the book. It perfectly fit these stories of a boy who grows up in a graveyard, alive and yet part of the world of the dead, a cast of entertaining and mysterious characters who make up the graveyard. Whimsical, mysterious, fantastical, vaguely creepy, still wonderfully human - typical Gaiman fare, in the best way.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
An incredibly emotional, heartbreaking, inspiring novel about art and creativity, love and family, grief and triumph - big topics that Nelson tackles with ease and beauty and lyricism. Nelson depicts Noah and Jude, teenaged twins, at two pivotal times. Noah tells the story at age 13, when he and sister are young and close, and Jude picks up at age 16, when the twins are no longer speaking and have gone through some life-changing events. Her writing style and the ways her characters see the world and express their passions, joys, and tragedies are beautiful and unique. It was so compelling that I opened the book to begin and actually did not close it until I had read the last page.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
A touching, intensely emotional novel that I read in one sitting, finding myself near tears for a long time and then crying by the end. Marin's experiences of love, friendship, family, and grief are revealed through a few days over winter break when her best friend comes to visit and the flashbacks to their pre-college life that reveal what motivated Marin to run far away. Marin constantly came to the edge of a deep emotional pit and would hold herself back, tense and tight and scared, until she couldn't anymore.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
This was not a summer read, but it was close enough and read after my previous post. Simon is a sweet, happy, funny, and utterly adorable LGBT young adult novel that nails high school. It also makes space for a happy LGBT story as you see Simon keep up email correspondence with an anonymous boy, another gay teenager at his school, while balancing family and friends, and the fact that he is not out to them yet.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
I read Sepetys' Salt to the Sea, a novel about an untold WWII tragedy, last summer; I enjoyed it enough, I suppose, but this summer I picked up her previous novel, Out of the Easy, and loved it (sat in the afternoon sun in Bryant Park and read it in one sitting!). This one is set in New Orleans, the French Quarter in 1950, following Josie Moraine, the daughter of a prostitute. She dreams of escaping to college in the northeast, but a death in her neighborhood hits close to home and keeps Josie in a complicated position between herself, her mother, the madam of the brothel who watches over her, her handful of friends, and her college dreams.


Honorary mentions for the books not mentioned but also read and enjoyed: Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab, Suspended Sentences by Patrick Modiano, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco, The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan, and The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.