Don't Panic: A reading update

Since someone who shall remained unnamed complained that my blog posts are too long for them to read the whole thing, here's a quick summary: I read a bunch of books. Some of them were good, some not so much. If you only read one book off this list, make it either Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah, or Outlaw Platoon, by Sean Parnell, which were both excellent. And for the love of all that's good in this world, do not waste your time on The Alchemist; run far, far away if anyone ever recommends it to you.

Okay, now for the longer version...

The KidLit challenge for May was any nonfiction book, which fit nicely with my goal of reading more nonfiction this year. The challenge for June was a bit more complicated, and involved reading a children's book you'd never read that was written by an author whose other books you loved. I ended up with books by Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, and Scott O'Dell, who all wrote at least one book that I loved as a kid.

This post also includes the second of May's Keeping It Real books (on asteroids, from the 500s in the Dewey Decimal system), and both of June's books (the DDC was 900-999, and my list of books I wanted to read was at least ten times as long as the number I could reasonably get through in a month). I ended up returning a lot of unread books to the library from both May and June's KIR challenges, but I added them all to my TBR list so I can come back to them later.

And because five reading challenges wasn't enough for me, I also joined a Read the World challenge on Habitica. Reading my way around the world has been something I've wanted to do for a while now, and I'm finally starting to buckle down and actually do it. For this challenge, the rules are pretty loose - any book set in, written about, or by an author from the countries on the monthly list counts - but for my own purposes, the book has to be written by an author from a specified country in order to count. May's challenge was a book from an African country, and June's challenge was a book from any of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). I ended up reading books from South Africa (for May) and Brazil and India (for June), so I've crossed three more countries off my list.

31. Turning Points, by Mark A. Noll

(Read for the Mount TBR challenge.) The adult Sunday School class at our church worked through this book back in the fall, as part of a celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. I bought the book, then promptly had back-to-back colds and missed almost all the classes, so I decided to work my way through it this year. It was a good overview of some of the major developments in the history of Christianity (and not just Reformed Protestant Christianity), and I appreciated how readable it was on the whole, even if it was a little dry at times. I do wish there'd been more about the history of Christianity outside of the Western world, but for a quick survey of the history of the church, it was quite decent.   My rating: 7/10

32. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

(Read for the Read the World challenge.) A few thoughts... First, I realized just how little I know about South Africa in general, and about apartheid specifically. Second, I loved the writing style - Trevor Noah's blend of humor and seriousness and the manner in which he relates events worked perfectly for me. Third, I really want to listen to the audiobook version, now that I've read the book and thus won't be confused when I lose bits and pieces of the story since processing audio is not my forte.   My rating: 9/10

33. Outlaw Platoon, by Sean Parnell

(Read for the Mount TBR challenge.) There are books where you finish and you're not really sure how you're supposed to condense your thoughts and reactions into coherent sentences. This was one of those, so I'm just going to say this: go read it yourself; you won't regret it. It was both hard to read and hard to put down, and it's well worth your time. Hands down the best book of its kind that I've come across so far. (Also, it seems very fitting that I finished this book on Memorial Day, even though that wasn't planned.)   My rating: 10/10

34. Asteroid Hunters, by Carrie Nugent

(Read for the Keeping It Real challenge.) This book was a fun overview of the science and history of asteroid detection, a quick read that covers a lot of interesting topics. And yes, when I think of asteroids I invariably think of Empire Strikes Back and Deep Impact (both of which get referenced in this book) - there's a thrill level associated with asteroids in those movies that makes them particularly memorable. Maybe it's just the nerd in me, but I found the actual information about asteroid hunting to be seriously cool as well, mostly because it's the real deal, and really fascinating stuff. (Ok, yes, it's definitely the nerd in me - not ashamed at all of that.)   My rating: 8/10

35. Tasting the Sky, by Ibtisam Barakat

(Read for the KidLit challenge.) Yet another book that forced me to realize how little I know about the history of countries other than my own. I liked the style of the writing for the most part - it flowed nicely and worked well to convey the feeling of the events described, even thought it's more an adult's reflection on childhood memories than a child's perspective. It was a interesting read, and another positive experience in my attempts to read more non-fiction this year.   My rating: 8/10

36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

(Read for the Read It Again, Sam challenge.) I've read this book many times, but this was my first time listening to the audiobook version. A friend recommended it to me a couple years ago, and I listened to half of it on plane trips that summer, but then left it untouched until I started over again this spring. Stephen Fry is an excellent narrator, whose style works well for this brilliantly absurd story, and I greatly enjoyed listening to it on my daily walks. I've always found that Douglas Adams' work is best when read aloud, so it really is pretty much the perfect book for this particular format.   My rating: 10/10

37. Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett

The beginning of this book was good, but it slumped a bit in the middle before recovering nicely towards the end. I hadn't read any of the Witches books before, so I was quite happy with the perspective this book added to my understanding of the Discworld. Which is basically a highfalutin way of saying that I really liked Granny Weatherwax, and watching her interact with the wizards at Unseen University was definitely the highlight of this book for me.   My rating: 8/10

38. Black Star, Bright Dawn, by Scott O'Dell

(Read for the KidLit and Birth Year challenges.) If I'd read this twenty years ago when I was going through my childhood sled dog obsession phase, I probably would have rated it higher. As it was, I felt like it had a lot of potential, and a good story, as well as some interesting characters, but never quite capitalized on those aspects. I understand that it's a middle grade book, but it could have been a bit longer, incorporated a bit more character development, and been an excellent book instead of just an okay one. I'm now curious as to whether the other Scott O'Dell books I really liked as a kid would hold up if I reread them now.   My rating: 6/10

39. The Epic City, by Kushanava Choudhury

(Read for the Keeping It Real and Read the World challenges.) This book paints a vivid picture of Calcutta, anchored in a young man's journey to understand himself and his city. It reads like a series of snapshots of life in Calcutta, and I found it to be quite fascinating, especially as this is a part of the world I will likely never be able to visit. The author is Bengali, but spent about half of his life in the US and half in Calcutta, so he has an interesting perspective on the city and its culture, and carries a unique awareness of its history into his writing.   My rating: 8/10

40. Boy: Tales of Childhood, by Roald Dahl

(Read for the KidLit challenge.) I really should have read this before I read Going Solo, because there was no way that Dahl's childhood experiences (as well-told as they are) could be as fun to listen to as all the crazy adventures he had in Africa and during WWII. That being said, Dahl's storytelling (and Dan Stevens' narration) was as excellent as ever, even if the stories themselves weren't quite as exciting. It was also fun to see how various people and events from his childhood served as inspiration for the stories he would go on to write.   My rating: 7/10

41. Every Thing On It, by Shel Silverstein

(Read for the KidLit challenge.) I grew up on A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Falling Up, so this book had a lot to live up to. It didn't quite succeed. His poems ranged from funny to absurd to surprisingly perceptive, capturing a bit of truth in a few short lines - my favorites here were Lizard, Investigating, and Underface. However, I felt like there were more duds in this book than in his earlier ones.   My rating: 7/10

42. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

(Read for the Read the World and Birth Year challenges.) I didn't quit in the middle, even though it became clear very early on that this book was never going to redeem itself. I'm a little annoyed, to be honest, because I was hoping for something like The Little Prince and instead I got this self-centered drivel. Coelho takes bits and pieces from various religions, throws in a few Big Ideas (which are capitalized so that you can't possibly miss the point), and turns them into a parable about following your heart no matter what the cost to yourself and those around you. There are so many problems with his philosophy and worldview that I don't even know where to start, so I'll settle for simply warning off anyone hoping to glean anything useful from this load of garbage. (Unless you're looking to have all your selfish ambitions affirmed; then this is totally the book for you.)   My rating: 2/10

43. The Black Count, by Tom Reiss

(Read for the Keeping It Real challenge.) I've always loved The Count of Monte Cristo, so getting to learn more about the historical events that partially inspired it was great. I also learned a lot about the history of France and its Caribbean colonies in the 1700s, and about the French Revolution itself, which was quite fascinating. I had no idea the French spread their revolutionary ideals so far outside France in the 1790s, and it was interesting to learn about things other than the guillotine in connection with the French Revolution. I would have been interested to read more from Alex Dumas himself, since it seems that a lot of his letters survived, but even without that, I still enjoyed this book.   My rating: 8/10

44. Nora & Kettle, by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

(Read for the Mount TBR challenge.) I appreciated the way this book dealt frankly with some horrible realities, and I liked the main characters a lot, especially for their resilience when life had beaten them down. Like many YA books, I thought it would have actually been better without the romance aspect, since the characters were interesting enough individually that I didn't need a romantic subplot to hold my attention. Switching back and forth between characters worked well to build the story, although the anachronistic language negated a lot of the possible impact of the setting. Overall, this was a good book that could have been really excellent with some more editing, but I got it for free so I'm not complaining.   My rating: 6/10

45. Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones

The beginning of this book was a bit slow, but once things got rolling I quite enjoyed it, even though I wasn't sure for the longest time where the story was going. I honestly appreciated that, though - it's not often that you find a book for younger readers that throws you into a world with very little explanation and expects you to figure things out as you go along. My only real complaint about this book is that none of the characters were particularly likable, which made it somewhat difficult to stay invested in the story before the plot really took off.   My rating: 7/10