Summer Reading

 

Hi friends,

June was a lighter month for reading, because it took me quite a while to finish The Shadow Rising¸ the fourth book in the Wheel of Time that I read this month. They’re getting longer… still, I enjoyed it and the other books that I got to this month.

We also got to visit family in Utah in June and had a great time with them. Pics below!

As always, let me know what you think of these books, and if you have suggestions for further reading.

Cheers,

Tonya

 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes!

Review: It feels somewhat ironic and very meta to rate on a five-star scale a book that is a compilation of reviews on a five-star scale. I’ve read all of Green’s previous novels, and his first venture into nonfiction did not disappoint. I also listened to this podcast that this book expands upon, and while I remembered a good deal of the content from there, enough of it was new or different enough that it was definitely worth a read. I’ve always appreciated Green’s poignant prose. For example, he writes speaking of humanity and climate change, “We are at once far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough. We are powerful enough to radically reshape Earth’s climate and biodiversity, but not powerful enough to choose how we reshape them. We are so powerful that we have escaped our planet’s atmosphere. But we are not powerful enough to save those we love from suffering.” For better or worse, the COVID-19 pandemic is traced through many of the essays and experiences in this book, which will probably date it in a few years, but I really enjoyed his thoughts on how the COVID-19 pandemic was extremely precedented. I also really enjoyed this point he makes: “I am highly suspicious of attempts to brightside human suffering, especially suffering that—as in the case of almost all infectious diseases—is unjustly distributed. I’m not here to criticize other people’s hope, but personally, whenever I hear someone waxing poetic about the silver linings to all these clouds, I think about a wonderful poem by Clint Smith called “When people say, ‘we have made it through worse before.’” The poem begins, “all I hear is the wind slapping against the gravestones / of those who did not make it.” As in Ibn Battuta’s Damascus, the only path forward is true solidarity—not only in hope, but also in lamentation.” I’ve heard a lot of people at church and other places who try to put a bright side and find a silver lining in this pandemic, and while I appreciate that this is in some ways a coping mechanism to deal with all the awful that the pandemic has brought, I also want to caution not to be dismissive of suffering and take the time and do the emotional work to help individuals and society work through the trauma that the pandemic has brought. In any case, Green’s essays will help change how you perceive and interact with the world, and I’ve definitely benefited from his perspective.

 

 

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: if you’ve read the first three! Not a stand-alone book

Review: Coming in at over 1000 pages, this book begins to set the Wheel of Time apart from other fantasy works – I’m talking about you Lord of the Rings. I loved learning more about different cultures in this bright and fully realized world that Jordan has created, particularly the Aiel. Of all our main characters though, I have to say that Perrin’s storyline was definitely my favorite. I loved to see him return home to the Two Rivers and have to solve the dual problems of White Cloaks and trollocs. I also enjoyed his relationship with Faile, even though I’ve heard that some fans have strong negative opinions about them. I do wish though that Faile would be developed more as an independent character, instead of just Perrin’s love interest. I can’t complain too much about this though because there are lots of other very well realized female characters that do awesome things. I particularly liked Nynaeve’s climax fight scene at the end of the book. She’s amazing, and, annoying braid-tugging and skirt-smoothing aside, is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. Her and Mat, who is really coming into his element and starting to be an interesting ta’verene in his own right. I’m excited to read the next installment this month!

 

 

 

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes!

Review: Wow. This book was powerful. I think I say this a lot, but I won’t ever know what it would be like to grow up Black in Indiana with an incarcerated father. I’m glad that Ford shared her story because with the USA’s extremely high incarceration rates there are surely other girls who can see themselves in her. Ford’s writing flows beautifully and she’s a vivid storyteller. She tells her own story much better than I could summarize, and I highly recommend reading this short and powerful memoir.

 

 

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those who like her previous work and fantasy

Review: I really enjoyed Novik’s previous novels, Spinning Silver and Uprooted, so I was interested to see what she’d do with the magical school Young Adult genre, and this book did not disappoint. It’s told with a single-point-of-view character named El – short for Galadriel, and yes, that’s a Lord of the Rings reference – and we’re dropped into the middle of her junior year at the Scholomance, a sort-of school for magical kids in Britain. Sound familiar? That’s about where the Harry Potter comparisons end though. The world of Scholomance is more like a live-action version of Dungeons and Dragons with our heroes being almost constantly attacked by monsters. In this world, magical families send their kids to the Scholomance to try to keep them safe from monsters that are attracted to them once they hit puberty and start coming into their powers, and while the school itself is also full of monsters that are constantly attacking the students – the chances of surviving until graduation are about 50-50 – it’s still supposed to be safer for them than not going. Since we’re joining El mid-story there’s a fair bit of explanation that intersperses the plot for the first half of the book or so. I didn’t mind this as I enjoyed learning about the fantastic world that Novik has created, but it did break up the flow of the story a bit. I enjoyed how Novik explored themes of friendship and class, and particularly liked how she turned the whole “destined-to-destroy-the-world villain” and “golden hero” tropes on their heads a bit. I'll definitely read the sequel when it comes out in a few months.

Mommy Corner

Cheetos!!!

We had fun with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson at the children's museum in Utah.

We took a day-trip to Bear Lake and had a great time paddle boarding and playing in the sand. 

We had so much fun at Bear Lake we couldn't even finish our Pirate's Booty in the car ride home. 

On the way to Utah, we stopped in Vernal to check out Dinosaur National Monument. It was awesome! Here we are touching a real dino bone!

Apparently, the city of Vernal has a giant pink dinosaur as their mascot. This pretty lady was on every street sign, and we couldn't help but stop to take a picture. You can't see it in the picture, but the dinosaur's eyes were rolling up and down. What I want to know is who in Vernal city government was like, "I have a great idea! Let's buy a giant, pink dinosaur with rolling eyeballs and set it up on the edge of town!" 

We had fun at the Denver Children's museum as well. Here Chloe is at the top of their adventure forest feature with the Denver skyline and Elitch's in the background. 

Chloe's at the tippy-top of the balloon here.