Author Archives: Goddess in the Stacks

TTT – Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside My Comfort Zone

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is, as the title says, Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside My Comfort Zone.

So right off the bat, we have the book I reviewed yesterday, Hollow Kingdom. Joining it, for many of the same reasons, are World War Z and I Am Legend. Though those last two gave me nightmares, and Hollow Kingdom did not. All three are excellent zombie apocalypse books, but Hollow Kingdom has enough eccentricities to make it stand out from the pack. (To begin with, it’s narrated by a crow!)

Also outside my comfort zone, because they brought up things I’d rather forget about my childhood, are Educated, a memoir, and The Book of Essie, which is fiction but felt all-too-familiar.

Tears We Cannot Stop, Eloquent Rage, and This Will Be My Undoing are all about racism in America. I’m not sure “Outside my Comfort Zone” is exactly the right term, but “made me uncomfortable” is. I read them on purpose, knowing they would. It’s hard to read about racism as a white person without being profoundly uncomfortable at what we’ve done in America. It’s some pretty abhorrent stuff. All the more reason to read it.

astroI read An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth as part of the Read Canadian challenge. Commander Hadfield is a Canadian and wrote the book after his stint on the International Space Station. I’m not usually interested in nonfiction about space, but I really enjoyed Hadfield’s voice.

Last on my list is an entire series, actually. I haven’t read a lot of translated books, though I’d like to read more, and I also don’t usually read murder mysteries. So a series of historical murder mysteries originally written in German? Definitely out of my comfort zone. But The Hangman’s Daughter series is one of my favorite series ever. I’ve featured it in a few Top Ten Tuesdays now, because it’s just that good.

This was actually a really hard Top Ten to write, because I don’t consider many subjects “outside of my comfort zone.”  I read so eclectically in general! I’m looking forward to reading what other people post today.

Book Review: Hollow Kingdom

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Hollow KingdomHollow Kingdom
by Kira Jane Buxton
Apocalyptic Fiction
308 pages
Published August 2019

As a rule, I prefer my apocalypse fiction sans zombies. Which is a little odd, given how much I love my lady necromancer books. But something about uncontrolled hordes of zombies gives me nightmares, almost every time.

Hollow Kingdom is a rare exception. In a way, that’s logical; this is NOT your average zombie apocalypse story! For one, it’s told from the viewpoint of a crow. While it’s possible he could be killed by a zombie, he’s not going to get turned into one. As they explain in the book, this is an evolutionary change, not a contagious virus-like change. Which is another way in which it’s different than normal zombies. The book also focuses on S.T. (it’s short for Shit Turd!) and his bloodhound companion, Dennis, trying to survive in the new world, rather than your average survivors-fighting-off-zombies and trying not to get turned themselves.

It also might just be the sardonic humor with which S.T. views the world. He calls humans “MoFos” because that’s what his owner called other humans. Most other animals call them Hollows because they can’t access the Aura – a kind of communication network that animals can tap into to talk to one another.

S.T. is an incredible character, straddling the human and animal worlds and not quite belonging in either. He flits across Seattle, searching for answers to what has befallen the MoFos, hitting various popular landmarks (my Friday 56 addresses his visit to Pike Place Market!) and encountering a huge variety of animals in his journey. Every animal has their own personality; it’s incredibly well done.

The author attempts world-building; there are a couple of seemingly random, very brief chapters detailing the experiences of other animals in wildly different locations, but the book is mostly based in Seattle with S.T. and his friends. It only detracts from the story a very minor amount; the characterization of S.T., Dennis, Kraai, Ghubari, and many others are where the story shines.

I honestly loved this book. I picked it up despite the plotline, because it was told from the viewpoint of a crow, and I love crows. I’m so glad I did, because this is really, really excellent, and there are so few zombie stories I will say that about!

From the cover of Hollow Kingdom:

S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures. He spends his days hanging out with his owner, Big Jim; avoiding the slobbering affection of Big Jim’s loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis; trading insults with Seattle’s wild crows; binge-watching nature documentaries; and binge-eating the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos®.

Then, on a beautiful summer evening, Big Jim’s eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn’t quite right. When his tried-and-true remedies – from beak-delivered beer to an inventive cocktail of stolen pharmacy drugs – fail to bring Big Jim back to health, S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out with his trusty steed, Dennis, to find a cure.

Outside the safety of his home, the city of Seattle is a wild and frightening new world. Big Jim’s neighbors, victims of the same mysterious malady, are now devouring everything warm-blooded in their path, and the once orderly suburbs have become feral jungles. Meanwhile, local wildlife is abuzz with cryptic rumors, which the cowardly S.T. has no choice but to follow if he wants to rescue the only world he knows from certain destruction.

Brimming with hope and heart, this irrepressible debut introduces humanity’s improbable hero in the form of a foulmouthed crow with a moderate-to-severe junk food addiction, who believes that – despite all its flaws – the world is worth saving.

Survival Sunday

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So I’ve talked about this project in passing a few times, but I thought I’d go a little more in depth on what I’m doing with my Survival Library. (So when you see it mentioned, you’ll know what I mean. I’ll probably link back to this post in the future.) Today is going to be quite the departure from my usual fantasy, young adult, and minority-driven reading, so – hold on to your hats!

hold onto your hat

I’ve got some very low-grade general anxiety. Like most millennials, I suppose. I worry about the future. Between climate change, economic uncertainty, political stupidity, and my own chronic health issues (that necessitate a certain diet and medications) – the future is bleak.

end is near

My friends and I often spend time speculating what we’ll do if society collapses. We have some friends with a large house and a few acres, who is next door to 30-some vacant acres of farmland; we’ve mostly decided we’ll all be flocking to their house and setting up a co-op. So then we start cataloging all the skills of our friends. We have leatherworkers, potters, weavers – we know one person who knows how to take wool from “sheep to shirt” AND has a lot of canning and food preserving knowledge, so we’ll be nabbing him immediately! My husband can brew, distill, shoot, cook, bake, as well as just be an able-bodied person.

So what do I bring to the table? I’m a chronically ill introvert who reads a lot.

i have no skills

We’ve decided that’s my role. I’m the librarian and keeper of knowledge. Because if society collapses, we have to assume the internet does too. Books will be important.

books best weapons

To bring all these bits together, planning and collecting a “Survival Library” of books about useful skills keeps my general anxiety in check so I don’t wind up with three pallets of MREs in my basement. I’ve made some book lists, though I’m still adding to them, and I’ve decided buying one book a month for the survival library will build it up fairly quickly but also cheaply. I have the lists on both Goodreads and Riffle – but Riffle lets me add notes about the books right in the list, so that will probably be where I’ll have the most information about them. As I pick up books, I’ll write a few sentences about each book and why it’s on the list. (Riffle also currently has my Polyamory Book List, my Activism/Civil Rights list, and my LGBTQIA+ list) It’s a big project, but it’s a simple way to keep my mental health up, and it could someday be useful.

maybe someday

So when I say Survival Library, that’s what I mean! I have several categories.

  • Homemaking involves things like making soap and candles and home goods, sewing, and pottery.
  • Gardening is the obvious, plus some aquaponics.
  • Construction includes building things from fences to sheds to houses to kilns.
  • Utilities are books on clean water, electricity from sources like windmills and solar, heat, refrigeration, and plumbing.
  • Cooking Skills and Recipes is what it says, plus canning, preserving, brewing, distilling, and foraging.
  • Animal Husbandry is the obvious. Mostly normal farm animals, but also books on dogs and cats, since I’m sure there will be pets too. Also beekeeping.
  • Medical Books are just that. If society collapses, we can’t just go see a doctor. We’ll need some medical knowledge, and we don’t actually have any doctors, veterinarians, or dentists in our immediate friend circle. That’s one big skill we’re lacking. It’s also not a very big list yet, because I don’t know what would be good books for it!
  • General Books are books that cover such a wide range of topics they’re hard to otherwise categorize.
  • Background skills are books on big topics. Biology. Geology. Meteorology. Geography. I have a lot of local interest books in this category as well. History of the area will help to know what to expect in the future.

I may create more categories in the future, or separate out lists into micro-categories if they get too big, but this is what I have so far. I only own about twenty of these books so far, and those are mostly in the gardening and cooking categories, which is why the lists are currently in just list mode, with no notes. Once I have enough knowledge about the individual books, I’ll go through and add notes about them. I’m sure I will be adding books, too!

more books

This is basically a giant expansion of my Homesteading Book List. I’m not sure if I’ll incorporate these book lists into the blog itself eventually or if I’ll keep them externally hosted, but Riffle is definitely their main home for now.

Does anyone else discuss with their friends what they’ll do when society collapses, whether that be from climate change, politics, or zombies? (Hope it’s not the last one – I’m too slow!) Have any suggestions or feedback for my lists?

Book Review: Well Met

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well metWell Met
by Jen DeLuca
Contemporary Romance
319 pages
Publishing September 3, 2019

I received Well Met through Book of the Month, so I was able to read it before the general release date. I actually read it on the second day of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, while my husband was out working at a friend’s booth. That turned out to be a bad idea, as the book perfectly captures the feeling of Fair and made me miss my husband and friends at Fair even more! I’m looking forward to Monday, when we’ll both be working the booth on Labor Day!

BUT THIS BOOK.

Well Met is an adorable, hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance. Emily has dropped her entire life (which wasn’t much, after her boyfriend dumped her and kicked her out of the apartment) to move to Willow Creek and help her sister, who was recently in a severe car accident. When she takes her niece to sign up as a volunteer for the local Ren Faire, she discovers minors can only volunteer if they have an adult volunteering with them. Given that her sister is in no shape to leave the house, let alone be at a Ren Faire, she volunteers so her niece can participate. Which brings us to Simon.

Simon is the head of the Faire. It was started by his brother, but the responsibility has fallen to him, and he takes it…a little too seriously. Through a series of misunderstandings (because that’s always the case in romances!) the two butt heads, argue, and generally think each other unpleasant, but everything changes when the costumes go on and Faire begins.

I adored Emily. I thought Simon was a little obtuse, and both of them a little too stubborn, and everything moved a little too fast, but when everything needs to be crammed into 300 pages, that’s going to happen. The book perfectly captures the spirit of Faire; from the jubilation, fun, and adrenaline at the start of a Faire day to the utter exhaustion at the end of the day and the relief of washing the Faire dirt off.

I was greatly amused to see MY home Fair mentioned, while discussing the size of the Willow Creek Fair:

“It’s a fund-raiser, sure, but it’s grown over the years into a pretty big event. We have talent coming from all over the country to perform. It’s not one of the big Faires by any means – we certainly have nothing on the Maryland Renaissance Festival.”

Aside from the romance feeling a little rushed (which may just be my demisexuality coming through) this book was an absolute delight, from start to finish. If you enjoy Ren Faires and Shakespeare, you should pick this up when it comes out. It’s great. (And if you’re local, come out to the Maryland Renaissance Festival!)

From the cover of Well Met:

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy debut where a little flirtation between sworn enemies proves that all is faire in love and war.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, to help her sister, but who could have anticipated getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance faire? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The Faire is Simon’s family legacy, and he makes it clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the Faire grounds he  becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only supposed to be a pit stop for Emily, but now she can’t shake the fantasy of calling Willow Creek – and Simon – home.

Friday 56 – Hollow Kingdom

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Hollow KingdomThe Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. The rules are simple – turn to page 56 in your current read (or 56% in your e-reader) and post a few non-spoilery sentences.

This week’s quote is from an incredibly unique book. Hollow Kingdom is the story of the zombie apocalypse, as told from the perspective of a pet crow. (He calls humans MoFos because that’s what his owner, Big Jim, taught him!)

Pike Place Market, its iconic red sign unlit, was teeming with MoFos and my heart beat its wings in delight. Hallelujah! Praise IHOP! They’d all come here! They’d all travelled down I-5 South and taken refuge in the market, among the beautiful flower displays, waterfront views, and specialty teas that cost the same as a kidney! I lowered, preparing to let out a caw of jubilation, and then my stomach fizzed into boiling acid. The MoFos were shoulder to shoulder, loping in a writhing mass, spewing from the underground of the market and through its souvenir-lined corridors, bumping into one another, trailing their fingers, and bobbing their snapping-turtle necks. Every single one of them had what Big Jim had. I can only technically count to nine, but it seemed like millions. No growling cars, just the remnants of long-rotten fruit, rotten fish, rotten MoFos, and onesies with the Space Needle painted on them. I gagged. How could this have happened? How could so many MoFos be sick?

Book Review: Love from A to Z

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love from a to zLove from A to Z
by S. K. Ali
Young Adult / Romance
342 pages
Published April 2019

I read S. K. Ali’s first book, Saints and Misfits, and quite enjoyed it, so I knew I’d be picking this one up eventually. I finally did – and this just solidifies S. K. Ali as a MUST READ author for me. Because this was excellent.

I complained in my last review that while the book was good, it was fluffy contemporary fiction, which is not where my current tastes lie. THIS is a much better book for me. While it’s still contemporary fiction, it has a heavier romance line, and it deals with issues of racism, islamophobia, chronic illness, and casualties of war.

It’s written in journal form, alternating between the journals of Adam and Zayneb. (The A to Z of the title!) Both of them were inspired to keep journals of “Marvels” and “Oddities,” individually, when they ran across The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence, an ancient manuscript in an Islamic museum. Adam sees Zayneb’s journal when they’re sitting near each other in an airport, which is what prompts their first meeting.

I really loved this book, and I adore Zayneb. She’s passionate and angry about injustice. Her ongoing feud with an islamophobic teacher drives her and her friends to take action, and I loved how her aunt encouraged her, but also encouraged her to be smart about it.

Zayneb wears a hijab, and the book actually goes into some detail on her feelings about it – who’s allowed to see her without it, what she does to make a makeshift hijab if she needs one unexpectedly, her daydreams about the special man who will get to see her hair. It was pretty special to get an inside look at hijab wearing; it’s such a personal thing.

Adam has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the disease that killed his mother, so there’s a lot of struggling to come to terms with that and what it means for his long-term health.

Some things, like hijab-wearing, get explained to the reader, but other things, like the three bits of Arabic script, the greetings, and a passage where Zayneb “takes a deep breath and says bismallah” are not. This is where I’m glad my husband was an Arabic linguist in the military, because they taught him a lot of the culture, as well. So now I know the Arabic script, repeated a few times in the book, all basically says “God Willing,” a standard Arabic phrase. I knew the greetings, but it was the bismallah that stumped me, so I asked him about it.

“Saying bismallah” is saying the name of God. It’s used as a beginning for many things, whether those are nice things, or difficult things, so in this case Zayneb was saying it before she started a difficult conversation with her mother. The book doesn’t explain it; it doesn’t need to, to understand the narrative, but I always enjoy learning the cultural underpinnings of things like this.

The afterword of the book is worth reading, as well. Ali explains that all of the discriminatory acts in the book were taken from real experiences; even the islamophobic teacher was taken from an incident three years ago in Toronto. Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me at all.

Final verdict – this book is great. It’s going on my Best of 2019 list. It covers all kinds of important topics and holds a wealth of diversity, all wrapped around a sweet romance. I’ll be watching for more books by S. K. Ali, because she is wildly talented.

From the cover of Love from A to Z:

A Marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes – because they make french fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.

An Oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.

When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break. Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her.

Then her path crosses with Adam’s.

Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam has stopped going to classes, intent instead on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister. 

Adam is also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.

Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals. 

Until a marvel and an oddity occurs . . . .

Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.