Even More Books!

Okay so post number five of the year regarding reading...bear with me. If only I were doing this well on any of my other resolutions. Young adult fantasy has always been a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine, and I absolutely have the tendency to blaze through everything an author has ever written in a week by giving up basically everything else including sleeping and eating when I get into one of these phases. Though I think these were maybe a little more adult than young adult, Sarah J. Maas's books (all seven of them) absolutely fell into this category for me. The first five were of the Throne of Glass series. There were some novellas too, but I'm not really counting those. The story is very strong, fast paced (except the third book, which I have to say was kind of a drag), and keeps you on your toes, not to mention I think this series has one of my all time favorite female fictional characters in it (Manon Blackbeak). Overall, I would highly recommend (most of) this series, especially if you like this genre, though you might consider waiting a year until it's finished because the suspense will kill you.
Next up, was the two books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series that are out so far. I actually though that A Court of Thorns and Roses was really slow, cliche and kind of boring until about the last 50 pages, which made me anticipate something better for book two, and oh boy, A Court of Mist and Fury did. not. disappoint. Again, I think I've added a new all-time favorite character (Rhysand) to my list, and much of the plot (though it progressed a little too quickly in places) and the characters' motivations were truly well written. The book even went so far as to properly explain away some of the plot points in the first book that I was most disappointed with. So, overall, I would highly recommend the second book in this series, and I suppose you'll have to read the first one for context. I am looking forward to the next one in this series more so than in the Throne of Glass series, actually, as the plot really thickened by the end there.

And now I'm at 15 books, with a month to go! :)

More (Audio)Book Reviews

I must say that I am kicking ass at my reading goal this year, though I will be honest some of it has felt a tiny bit like cheating because well...audiobooks. My office does not have parking directly below or around it, so our designated work parking is about 0.5 miles away. This means I have about a 25 minute walk (round trip) every day during which to listen to something and in order to not spend that time with my head buried in my phone, I will sometimes fill it up by listening to a book. And I am of the opinion that listening to books still counts as reading them.
Somehow I managed to get all the way through high school and college without ever having to pick up this book, but I took a public health class this summer for which one fo the final paper topics dealt with this book. Having never read it and feeling a little ambitious, I told myself it would be unfair to select another paper topic without first giving this book a go, so I downloaded an audiobook. As pretty much expected, it turned out to be an interesting read (with a healthy dose of incredibly depressing and totally horrifying on the side). For those who've never read it, The Jungle is about a Lithuanian family who emigrates to the the Stockyards of Chicago in the early 1900s and slowly learns first hand about the horrors of the meatpacking industry of the time, while struggling to make ends meet. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending which was basically a 10-page political plug, but it made sense in the context of the book. Sinclair had actually written the book as a way to highlight the plight of workers in the meat industry and advocate for better rights for those workers, but the uproar around the book's release centered almost solely on the egregious practices of the meat industry and led to some of the first food inspection laws with real teeth behind them. Overall, I would recommend this book, but maybe...pick something fun to do after you read it.
Admittedly, I am somewhat picky about narrators in audiobooks, but I LOVE listening to comedians narrate their own books and this book was no exception. Offerman has excellent delivery and descriptions in this autobiographical tale of his life, experiences, and career. It was a light and easy listen with some really good lessons incorporated throughout the book. There were a couple parts where the writing was a little heavy handed for me, but ignoring those, the book was wonderful! I would recommend this book.
Basically as soon as I had finished Paddle Your Own Canoe I went through the end-of-book withdrawals that every reader experiences upon completing a good book. You know, the ones that kind of feel like you just got broken up with? Well, naturally, I did what any good book lover does and jumped right into the next book by the same author so I could listen to Nick Offerman, my new friend, tell me about Gumption. The concept for this second book of Offerman's was pretty unique to me. Instead of writing about himself, he chose to highlight the concept of gumption, what it means, and who he has found to have exemplified the trait. As such, I got to learn about a variety of incredibly interesting people from James Madison and Teddy Roosevelt to Yoko Ono and Carol Burnett, all while laughing heartily. I thought it was a great concept for a book and Offerman had incredible delivery. I would highly recommend this book.

Book Reviews: Why Not Me? and Catcher in the Rye

In keeping with my resolutions, I recently finished two more books! The first, was Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? which I basically knew I would like before I even started. Full of her usual charm and wit, Mindy Kaling rocked it yet again. I really enjoyed the glimpse into her life and how well the autobiographical and comedic components complemented each other to make this book so enjoyable. Also, reading the whole thing in her voice and with her delivery helped a lot. I would highly recommend this book.

The other book I read recently was J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Somehow I managed to make it through the entirety of my primary education without ever having to read this book, but I'd heard a lot about it, namely that the characters get more and more annoying the older you get. I can't really speak to what high-school-me would have thought about Holden Caulfield, but adult-me definitely found him a little over dramatic and judgy. That being said, I didn't have any trouble at all getting through this book and found the story pretty interesting overall. I've notcied that when I read books I had to read for school over again, I like them A LOT more than when I struggle to read a chapter a day and identify themes and symbolism and whatnot, so for those of you who didn't like this book much as a student, it might be worth another try. I'm not sure I would choose to read this again, but overall, I would recommend this book, especially as a one-time adult, re-read.

In other news, IT'S FINALLY WARM OUTSIDE. I'm pretty sure my mood has improved like 1000% since March.

Review: The Ghost Map

Second post this month?!? I bet you thought you were going crazy. But, I just couldn't wait to share a little bit about this book I finished over the weekend. N understands my profound love of all things infectious diseases and epidemiology and very astutely Googled "best epidemiology books" while looking for a gift for me last year. The one that had the best reviews was The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, which I later opened up, complete with nerdy squealing, as a Christmas gift. N wins all the Christmas present points for this one.

The Ghost Map tells the tale of one of the worst Cholera epidemics to ever hit Britain, and the story of how, eventually due to this outbreak, it was discovered that cholera was transmitted by drinking contaminated water. It seems like common sense now, but Johnson talks at length about how the leading theories at the time were basically that all disease was transmitted through air, and the way you knew this was the case was how bad it smelled. Now, we're talking pre-running water Victorian England here where people were chucking their waste out the front window down onto the street, so with a little imagination, I'm sure you can guess just how bad it probably smelled everywhere in London. If smell were truly a representation of disease, surely...everyone would have been dead or heading there. And then it talks about Dr. John Snow, now known as the father of modern epidemiology, who had just that thought and put it to action. In the end, with a little help from a local reverend, Snow not only managed to prove the waterborne theory, but discovered the source of the outbreak, how the water had gotten contaminated and by whom. Finally, Snow truly revolutionized the way we understand disease spread by mapping the span of the outbreak in a way that hadn't ever been done before. Overall, I would highly recommend this book. Even if you're not a public health person, it's an incredibly fast-paced and addicting read and not that this makes any difference, but you'd probably win a bunch of points in my book!

And happy spring, friends! Hope it's starting to warm up where you are!

Book Reviews: The Silkworm and Modern Romance

So far so good on making good of this particular resolution. For a little while, I'd been wanting to read The Silkworm but hadn't worked in any time to actually start it. The book follows detective Cormoran Strike and his red-headed secretary, Robin, on another mystery, in which they are tasked with finding a missing author, whose last manuscript grotesquely depicted real-life friends, family, and other acquaintances who had slighted the man. There were some parts where I found myself annoyed at how obviously the reader was kept from knowing what the main characters knew, but I definitely made it to the end with my suspicions thrown for a loop and the story was fast paced and enjoyable. If you read my review of The Cuckoo's Calling, I would place this at about the same level, though I think Galbraith has truly hit his stride with the main characters by now, who are both very well written. Overall, I would recommend this book. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to starting the next Strike book, Career of Evil.

This next one was a fall 2015 read, so I can't count it among the New Years resolution books, but I have to say this may have hit my favorite books of all time list. Modern Romance is definitely one of the most unique endeavors by a comedian I have seen and I cannot say enough good things about it. If you haven't heard about this book yet, it centers around the findings of actor/comedian Aziz Ansari and social science researcher, Eric Klinenberg, as they try to understand how technology has affected romance and relationships in the U.S. and around the world. He really has a way of explaining social science research in way that's accessible, but with classic Aziz comedic insertions. While I think the audiobook is probably excellent, I would suggest the print version first, as otherwise, you'd be missing out on some excellent graphs and pictures. Aziz hits on many of the themes in the book in his new show Master of None as well. I would highly recommend this book, even if you are, like me, usually a fiction aficionado. Side TV plug: I would highly recommend the show too.

What are you reading/watching these days?

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Did any of you read these books when you were younger? A Series of Unfortunate Events used to be one of my favorite series, but sadly before I could get to the end (pun definitely intended), too much time had passed between the releases and I found that I had lost interest just enough that I didn't finish them.

Just before the holidays, however, I found out that a work friend had the complete set, and couldn't pass up the chance to re-read and finally finish this beloved series. There are definitely some aspects of the style that I find mildly annoying as an adult and the font size seems comically large, but more or less, re-reading them has been as charming and pleasant as I remembered; overall, a wonderful experience (contrary to what the author tells you at the beginning of each book). And hey, now, even if I don't read another book all year, I can still truthfully say I read ten books this year!

Do you have books you go back and revisit?

Now for a Brief Interruption

Confession: I haven't been reading lately.

I can barely make it through a Buzzfeed quiz some days, let alone a book.

In the time that my weird book-funk has been going on, I've started thinking of it as an illness, trying to self-diagnose with explanatory but wholly unhelpful articles and carrying a book around wherever I go with the hope that I will suddenly regain my capacity to read properly. But the fact seems to just be that I can't get into anything I've tried right now, because I can't pay attention for more than five minutes and I'm having a hard time prioritizing reading in any capacity.

I'm yearning for something not-depressing. The news, which is most of what I've been reading lately, is generally so frustrating that any little escape sounds like a paradise. Any suggestions?

The Cuckoo's Calling Review

I will be the first to admit I haven't blogged because I haven't really been feeling like it. It's been a busy time of catching up and spending time with family and lazing around reading books. I'll hopefully pick back up once school picks back up, but in the meantime, I read The Cuckoo's Calling and just had to share my review on it.
The Cuckoo's Calling, as you might have read or heard about from your resident Harry Potter fan (there's one in every group, you know there is), was revealed a few weeks ago to have been written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. So naturally, I had to read it immediately. My biggest worry was that this book would start off incredibly slow and excruciating, which has sadly been my experience with The Casual Vacancy thus far (read: oh god, I can't even bring myself to finish it). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book not only started off quickly, but had a different writing style (that I liked better), a much more interesting plot, and characters that were actually likeable.
Without spoiling, I want to give you some highlights. The book is a murder mystery novel and it kept me guessing right up until the last second, as any good mystery should! Usually, I find myself annoyed with detective characters who are often flat and impersonal, but Rowling really gave the main character, Cormoran Strike, a lot of depth, which explained many of his actions that might have otherwise been kooky. Additionally, Robin, the main supporting character, reminded me a bit of a graceful Donna Noble (from Doctor Who) and was also a very pleasant character to read. The story is fast paced without getting predictable, and is a pretty easy read. Overall, I'd highly recommend
this book, especially if you're into mysteries!

The Book Thief

You have to read this book. No, seriously, read it. Without giving too much away, it's a beautifully narrated tale about an adopted German girl in World War II. The coolest thing about this story, I thought, was the unique and interesting way the narrative is set up. The story is narrated third-person by Death, as an observer of Liesel (the main character) Hubermann's life, and the straight narrative is sprinkled with little excerpts from relevant books, facts, quotes, etc. that "illustrate" the story and make it truly endearing. Also, I love books about books and words and the power of words (ex. The Phantom Tollbooth, Fahrenheit 451, etc.) so that made this read all the more enjoyable. Honestly, I think this is making my favorite books of all time, but I'll decide in a couple more readings. On to The Once and Future King!

It's October 3rd

Today is an important day.
So, to be honest, this post isn't about Mean Girls. I know, I know, I would stop reading too. Though, coincidentally, it is about reading! At the beginning of the year I said I wanted to keep track of what I'd been reading for the whole year, so that is what I'm doing. Today's reviews: A Game of Thrones and Will Grayson, Will Grayson!
It's a little shameful how long it's actually taken me to read this book, but I loved it. The only problem I had reading it was that, sometimes it got very...dense. There were an insane number of characters and I never really felt like I got them all straight by the end of the book. On the other hand, the story is fast paced, there's lots of politicking, and the main characters are awesome. I wanted to start watching the TV show after, but it's close enough to the book that I ended up getting sort of bored...oops. Maybe I'll give it another shot later. Definitely recommend.
As far as John Green books go, this one was not my favorite. True to form, it was funny, quick-witted, and charming, but I never really liked any of the characters and the story moved a bit slowly. That being said, it's not anything I wouldn't read again because I'm a huge sucker for anything and everything that comes out of John Green's brain.

 I've got a couple more books lined up to read, one of which I'm really excited about (JKR's The Casual Vacancy!!), but please recommend me something and I'll add it to the list!

Calvin and Hobbes

There was nothing so exciting about Sunday mornings growing up as my dad walking in the door with the newspaper in hand. Sunday's was the "fat paper," as my brother and I called it, and it had the coveted 4-page comic section that the week's papers lacked. These Sunday papers first got me into Calvin and Hobbes, and soon, I was begging for the books so I could always have the two little miscreants at my disposal. Having barely begun to read at that age, I didn't much understand the significance behind most of those comics, but as I've gotten older, I've begun to appreciate them in new and fantastic ways. And their innocent cleverness never fails to put me in the best mood, even to this day.

Also, it is my personal desire that Calvin and Hobbes be The Doctor's next companions, because they would be perfect for each other.

Earth Democracy

Since CGIU, I've been making an effort to read more non-fiction. It even pained me a little to say that because seriously, I don't think I have read a non-fiction book for fun since I went through an Audrey Hepburn biography phase in middle school. The speakers at CGIU were just so engaging and committed and amazing, though, that I couldn't not learn more about them and their work. Ergo, to add to my book list for this year, I want to tell you about Earth Democracy, by Vandana Shiva.

She is an environmental activist, an ecofeminist, and has done a whole lot of amazing work on affecting change with regard to corporate biopiracy and agricultural inefficiency. Earth Democracy is an idea and movement surrounding the idea that we are all connected by compassion and nature, and not greed and profit. She talks about how we can change the current agricultural system so as to conserve resources and benefit more people. Reminded me a lot of the Circle of Life, to be honest. One of the things I loved about this book was the number of examples and case studies she used to illustrate her points, because they really helped me understand an otherwise dense topic that was fairly out of my little biology-comfort-zone. The book was eye-opening, but be warned if you give it a try, she is unrelenting. It definitely wasn't impartial on the subject. Next up, Bill Clinton!

A Clockwork Orange

As you know, I read a lot and it's been a resolution of mine to actually keep track of what I've read this year. I've been trying to read more of "the classics" lately, and paired with my current obsession with dystopia, this was the obvious choice. Funnily enough, it turns out that most of "the classics" are actually really good, and I was just a douchebag, self-righteous teenager in high school when I thought they were dry and boring. But that being said, I've recently started reading non-fiction, so perhaps I am getting dry and boring. Kidding.

The book was a thrill. Certainly, it took a couple chapters to get used to the made-up Nasdat language, but I think it helps to just plow through rather than use the glossaries most books provide. Context clues are enough. It can get a bit graphic and some of the violence made me uneasy, but at the same time, there's an underlying humanity to Alex, the main character, that makes his journey very compelling to read. I found it amazing how much Burgess tells you about the kind of dystopia this is set in without point-blankly describing it as many books in the genre tend to do. I want to say more without giving anything away, but I also don't want this to be an essay of a review. Definitely 4/4 stars, though. Go forth and read.

Beast Mode

Somehow, though I don't seem to have time to eat regular meals or finish that painting or play the guitar right now, I seem to be finding a LOT of time to read. In the last 2 weeks I've read four books!! Okay, I'll admit, one was a re-read. Still, this is usual for on-vacation Mugdha, but very very not for balancing-a-bazillion-volunteer-activities-and-job-hunting-and-working-on-grad-school-apps Mugdha (phew, that was long). I certainly hope this trend continues throughout the year. I want to keep tabs on what I read this year, because I always seem to forget when people ask for recommendations!


Had to re-read it because the sequel came out. Set in the 1800s, it's YA urban fantasy with kind of a steampunk tilt to it, and damn is it good. I really liked all the characters, which is odd, since I usually can't stand the main girls in these stories.


Sigh. Will Herondale is such a tortured soul, man. This book was just as fast-paced as the first, but other than Will and Charlotte I grew to dislike most of the main characters. Also, the romance got sort of...drawn out for me. I like a little well-done romance, but this kind of distracted from the plot.


I have had this book recommended to me by at least 10 bloggers and like 4 other people in real life, so I had really high expectations. Unfortunately, it just didn't meet them. I think a lot of it was just that I didn't really like the prose-style it was written in and that I didn't like the main character. The setting was really interesting, though. I LOVE dystopias, so that part was great!


Perhaps you've been hiding under a rock and haven't heard of John Green, but all I have to say is GO READ THIS. NOW. And then go find the rest of his books and read them all too. You will absolutely not regret it. I promise.

Happy reading!

Lust List Monday: A Little Lit

I loveee reading. In fact, I generally find myself unable to walk out of a bookstore without purchasing something. My collection of books has been steadily growing (at a rate totally disproportional to how fast I can read them), but as always, I. Want. More.


City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Shogun - James Clavell

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

A Glamorously Unglamorous Life - Julia Albain

Aasfkljf. Need more free time.

The Truth About Forever

I hate not having time to read, so when I was sick (and not attending classes), I made the most of that time by reading two books in three days. One of them was a re-read (The Hunger Games), but let's face it, that book is just really damn good, and it'd been a whole year since I'd read it.

The other one was The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. SWEATshirtDRESSshirt had done a post on the book a while back, and since having discovered that one of my roommates had it, I'd been wanting to read it. It wasn't a particularly difficult book to read*, but like 90% of my reading is floofy reading anyway. The main character, Macy struck me as similar to main characters in a lot of other "what is life about?" coming-of-age type stories (ex. An Abundance of Katherines, Prep, etc.) that sometimes I find myself annoyed with. Even in first person, I like mystery in the main character, and while Macy was certainly no Bella, I just didn't like her that much.
That being said, it was an enjoyable read, rife with pithy aphorisms (that I really liked), and full of well-developed characters that all brought a unique charm to the story. The storyline itself is simple enough to be relate-able, yet just out there enough that you don't feel Mary-Sued by it. Overall, I would totally recommend it as a light read.

*Side-note: I learned recently that people with ADD often read books that are significantly below their reading level and capabilities.

Literary Oddities

My internet situation at home is abysmal. As in, the wireless is broken and somehow, amongst the 5 million wires in our office closet, there only seems to be one ethernet cable. So now we're all fighting for net time, which has put me absurdly behind on reading blogs and doing my own posts. Apologies.

Since I once again, have about 4 minutes left of internet time, I will just share this fun little website that Doctor Grumpy shared a while ago that I may have spent all the time I should otherwise have been reading blogs, perusing. Some of these books would make hilarious White Elephant gifts!


Bar Mitzvah Disco and
All These Other Awesome Titles

***

Ups and Downs

|The Absolute Value of -1| by Steve Brezenoff
I spent the day reading this book. Yes, I had class, but several things have me on edge, and when I'm on edge, I read. Escapism, for the win. Anyway, first, I woke up abysmally early today to finish a report, so I ended up leaving the house in a crazy printing/dressing frenzy in which I forgot completely to put on eyeliner. A travesty, considering my near dependence on the stuff. I also chugged two cups of coffee. Bad choice. Second, today is my first day of work at my new job, and I'm sort of nervous. Yeah, it's a second part-time job, but it's the first time I've worked anywhere I have to talk to customers, so the jitters are building. The eyeliner thing really didn't help that whole deal either, obviously. Third, I am legitimately worried about my future.

The book helped. It's a somewhat-depressing, somewhat-messed-up story about three teenagers whose lives are terrible, but then they go and screw them up more in hopes of making them better, and in the end none of them end up getting what they want. Cheery, right? Right. Very well written though, in my extremely judgmental opinion. Regardless, it gave me something to do for 5 hours and convinced me that my life could be significantly worse and that I should look on the bright side. So, here it is! Bright side: I didn't have to go to class all day and now I get to go home and put on eyeliner! Also, it rained and my feet have been dry in my boots all day! Yay!

Lust List Monday: Kate Spade Book Clutch

So, I've been having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad couple of days because my seasonal cold has decided to come early this year. I can't stand being sick, mainly because my immune system is usually pretty good, and I can usually catch the one seasonal cold I always get before it even starts and get over it in a day or two. This one's been awful though, so I'm going to spend the day resting on the couch with I Love Lucy DVDs and hot tea. But, then as I was checking my email, I discovered these gems from Kate Spade and I felt like I had to share them. Yes, today's Lust List is one item, but trust me, it's worth it.


They have Great Expectations and others too!

I almost had an aneurysm at the sight of these. They're so cute and functional, and I would love to have one of those at my side for the night! Then I almost had another aneurysm when I looked at the price tag. Well, Lucy calls! Enjoy your days!

***

Lost in Fictional Pages

I will be the first to admit that I've not been the most motivated this last week about posting, but let me tell you, it was not without good reason. I was in the middle of reading two very wonderful books. For those unfamiliar with the way I am with books, I tend to find good books and read them in one or two very very long sittings, during which I become a blind, deaf, and dumb recluse to all those around me. This has been me for the past week. Class, what?


I love the feeling of being whisked off to different places and times and experiencing personalities different from mine and those I know; to experience the thrill of adventures in which I could never partake. It's always a sad day, though, when I finish a really good book (or two!) and realize that the next books I should read for a while really should be textbooks. Or MCAT prep books.