Shaina Reads

Boy, April, you've been a doozy real life-wise. Between administrative headaches at work and a surprise week-long cold in the middle of the month, you've left me itching for a vacation. Good thing I'll be going to Chicago in May for a wedding (and, hopefully, to meet Julianne!).

Book life-wise, April's been decent. The month brought me a strange mix of 3-star and 5-star reads; I felt like I was either pleased but vaguely underwhelmed or shouting from the rooftops. All things considered, being thrilled by 1/3 of your books ain't too shabby.

Here's what I read:

• Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China, by Yu Hua
• Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt
• Loving Day, by Mat Johnson
• Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, by Per Petterson 
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer
• The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Fun fact: Tell the Wolves I'm Home is the book that finally got me to attend my local book club meeting (you know, the one I've only meant to attend for the last 22 months. Oops). It's also the first book that's made me cry in a very, very long time. I keep meaning to write a review or other post about it, but the words still aren't coming to me. I hope to get around to it soon.

I posted a couple of reviews, including one for Loving Day (due out on May 26!). I also shared a few thoughts about Hausfrau and rounded up some of the most thoughtful writing I found on the novel. It's short, but it packed a devastating punch.

Finally, April was all about the reading challenges! I participated in the #ReadingMyLibrary challenge hosted by Stefani of Caught Read Handed and Amy of Read What I Like. I finished a total of five library books this month and saved $64.42 while doing it! You can check out my weekly updates here, if you're so inclined: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4.

Oh, and Dewey's. We can't forget about Dewey's. This was my first time participating in the readathon since I began blogging. I felt much better prepared for it, and going into it with friends at the ready made it an even more wonderful experience. I can't wait until October to do it all again!

#rahrahreadathon #rahrahreadathon #rahrahreadathon *\o/*

— Shaina (@shainareads) April 25, 2015

In May, I want to focus more on non-fiction. My stack has been full of fantastic stories lately, but I want to get back to my science, history and social justice reads. On the docket so far are In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson and Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. Anything I should add?

After my failure of a Week Three, I'm happy to report that Week Four was a wild success. I ended up finishing three whole library books this week!

Saturday's Readathon gave me an awesome boost; I got a full 5/6 of my reading done during the event.

@shainareads That's awesome!! #ReadingMyLibrary
— Stefani Sloma (@StefaniSloma) April 26, 2015

Here's what I done read:


By checking these out of the library instead of buying them, I saved $36.70 this week! Over the course of the challenge, I've saved a whopping $62.42. I was a regular patron of my library before this challenge started and very rarely bought books (and, when I do, not at sticker-price!), but I'd never thought to try to quantify the dollars I wasn't spending. It's been really satisfying!

This week, Stefani and Amy want to know how often I visit my library. I can be a bit of a sporadic visitor. Occasionally I'll go a couple of weeks without making a trip, but sometimes I'm there multiple times per week, especially when I'm hurting for some peace and quiet. Discovering that two of my libraries have e-book collections on Overdrive has definitely reduced the rate of my visits, but I don't see myself switching over to solely being a virtual library patron anytime soon.

Three more days left in the challenge! I'm hoping I can squeeze in one more library book before the end. Can I do it?! Tune in on Friday!

Happy #Readathon, bookworms!

Memes, Challenges & More

Hour 3.5 — Book #1 Complete!


This was a teeny-tiny collection of short stories about Arvid, a boy coming of age in Norway. Family dysfunction galore! I would say 3.5 to 4 stars.

Hour 7 — Readathon Goes Outside!



The weather was too pretty not to get outside after brunch and coffee. Those are cherry blossoms in the distance!

Hour 9.5-10.5 — Unexpected Readathon Nap

I definitely set an alarm for 20 minutes... and then promptly turned it off. Oh, and right after that, I made a doofus of myself in the Goodreads group. Clearly my finest Readathon hour!

Hour 12 — Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? Right now I'm switching between The Complete Persepolis and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!
2. How many books have you read so far? Just one—Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes—but I have high hopes for the second half.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm not sure I'll end up starting more than what I've already begun, but I really would love to finish those up!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? No interruptions except those of my own making, which is better than last October—I had to work on Readathon Day! Taking an hour-long nap did put a damper on my reading... tough to do with your eyes shut.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I had grand plans of getting way more reading done this time than I did last, and the Readathon gods are laughing at me! I think I might just be a slow reader.

Hour 13 — #FitReaders Mini-Challenge

Felicia at The Geek Blogger's Book Blog challenged Readathon participants to get up and move between Hours 13 and 17. I was starting to feel pretty sluggish, so I hopped on our elliptical for 25 minutes with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. 

I feel so much better after getting my blood pumping, and I actually think my pages-per-minute rate was the best it's been all day!

EDIT: I won this one! Wahoo!

Hour 14 — Bookish Brews Mini-Challenge

Amanda at Fig and Thistle challenged us to post a picture of our current beverages and reads on our platform of choice. I posted about my delicious Foxon Park ginger ale on Twitter!

Hour 16 — Reading Story Mini-Challenge

The lovely blogger over at Fight Evil, Read Books challenged us to post our Dewey's Readathon story in six words. I tweeted some snark.

Hour 19 — Book #2 Complete!


I finally got a second book read! This one was an epistolary novel about a group of British friends who formed a literary society to weather the atrocities of World War II. Juliet Ashton, an author and columnist, gets in contact with them and soon becomes enamored of the charming, unlikely gaggle.

I really enjoyed this one at first—nothing better than epistolary for a quick-moving story!—but some of the characterization and the ending fell flat for me. This one is only about a 3 or 3.5-star read.

Hour 19.5-23.5 — Zzzzzz...




I think I stayed up for between 20 and 22 hours of the last Readathon, and I felt like such a traitor when I passed out at 2:30 AM. I have to be at work three hours early on Monday, so I forgave myself. Oh, and I met this goal, so it's all good!

Hour 23.5 — Back to Work on Book #3!



A graphic novel memoir of growing up in late twentieth-century Iran. This is GOOD, y'all.

Hour 24 — ALL DONE! Closing Survey

Which hour was most daunting for you? I would say Hour 19, when I really started to get sleepy.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Definitely go short! I don't have any specific books in mind, but keep them compact. I would honestly say under 250 pages is key.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not that I can think of! It was just as fun a romp as last October's. :)

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? All the Twitter interaction! I didn't have a Twitter account last go around, and it worked wonders to keep me motivated and interactive.

How many books did you read? 2.5

What were the names of the books you read? See above! Read as: I'm too lazy to type it out and put links in again.

Which book did you enjoy most? The Complete Persepolis, though I didn't end up finishing it.

Which did you enjoy least? The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I enjoyed it a lot for 3/4 of the book, but toward the end I felt like some of the characters were a bit clichéd/not variable enough, and the ending was rushed and also too clichéd. Cute, but not great.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I was! *\o/* It was just as challenging to balance between cheering/interacting and reading this go-around as it was my first time doing the Readathon, so I would say just know what you're getting yourself into! You definitely won't get as much reading done as a cheerleader, but, honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Engaging with other readers is the best part of the experience for me!

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Read and cheer 'til I die!

Want more of my Readathon updates?

Here's my Twitter feed! Get all the live-streamed goodness you can stand.

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon is finally upon us! This will be my second time participating, and this is how I feel about it.

As some of you might know from my About Me page, Dewey's Readathon is the entire reason I got into the online bookish community. There would be no Shaina Reads without it! (Go ahead and take a moment to think about how much emptier your life would be. I'll wait.)

Had I not participated, I also would never have met some of the loveliest people the internet has to offer, nor would I know that there's a bi-annual holiday that's all about reading. My life would definitely be a lot emptier.

Here's a quick and dirty list of how to prepare for the Readathon, whether you're a total newbie or a seasoned pro. First and definitely most important:

Know that you don't have to prep at all! 

Got a book you've been meaning to finish? Read that! Got a packed Saturday schedule and only a few minutes here or there to open a book? Do that!

Here's a short list of things the Readathon is not meant to be:

1. stressful 
2. a contest 
3. something you can fail at

Ultimately, the Readathon is meant to connect you with other book lovers and provide a great excuse to dive into some tasty, tasty reading. Here are two posts by Maree and Ellie that perfectly sum up the point that the Readathon is all about having a good time.

However, if you're one for more elaborate productions...

Make your stack! 

Readathon is the very best excuse for checking out far too many books from the library. When you're planning to read for 24 hours, know that the book that looks best at the start of the day might have you snoring by Hour 20. This definitely isn't the time for Les Mis (or, in my case, any chunksters at all).

Variety is great here, in form and genre. Grab some novellas, some short story collections, maybe even a graphic novel or two. I've heard the latter is great for when your eyes get tired. Also, don't be afraid to ditch your stack entirely. It happens!

From top to bottom: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

This is my current stack. Note the absence of my Kindle, which is currently juicing up and housing at least twenty other options.

Make some snacks!

What would spending all day reading be without some delicious munchies at your fingertips?

Last time, I went with homemade guacamole, Chinese take-out and some store-bought gelato. This time, I'm reprising the guac but decided to go homemade with my frozen treats. These fudge popsicles are currently firming up in the freezer and I couldn't be more excited.

Don't feel like cooking yourself? The grocery store and GrubHub are your friends.

Pick out your reading spot! 

It's going to be sunny and 60 degrees out on Readathon Day, so I know I'll be spending at least part of my time reading outside in the park near my apartment.

The bed, the couch, and the comfy chair in my reading nook are also strong contenders. I might try out some reading position yoga, too.

That's all, folks!

I'll probably update things here with some stats (or some mini-challenges, if I'm feeling saucy), but the best place to find me will be on Twitter. (EDIT: I'll also be helping to moderate the Goodreads group. Come hang out!)

The Readathon starts in 16 hours, wherever you are in the world.

#rahrahreadathon, y'all.

I had no idea what to expect from Loving Day when I requested it from NetGalley. The site describes Mat Johnson's fourth novel as "a brilliant and biting ghost story about family, real estate, race, and the dream of utopia." I'm not sure a person could fit more loaded terms into a vaguer blurb, but I was on the hunt for another work of fiction that tackled racial identity head-on after having such a good experience with Dwight Ritter's Growin' Up White. 

The book opens by immediately thrusting the reader into the largely disappointing life of Warren Duffy. Coming off a bitter divorce and an equally bitter failure to break into the comic book world, he moves back to his hometown of Philadelphia after his father bequeaths him a dilapidated mansion in the city. In the span of one afternoon at a comic book convention, he meets two people who will completely change the course of his life.

That's about as much of the plot as I can give you without spoiling some major parts of the story (doesn't the vagueness of the blurb suddenly make much more sense?), so let's talk about the over-arching theme here. Warren is biracial—the son of a black mother and an Irish father—and this is a central part of his existence. Although he can pass as white, Warren strongly identifies with black culture and seems to solely gravitate toward the black community. He's in constant fear of how little control he has over how others categorize him:

"I am a racial optical illusion. I am as visually duplicitous as the illustration of the young beauty that's also the illustration of the old hag. ... The people who see me as white always will, and will think it's madness that anyone else could come to any other conclusion, holding to this falsehood regardless of learning my true identity. The people who see me as black cannot imagine how a sane, intelligent person could be so blind not to understand this, despite my pale-skinned presence. The only influence I have over this perception, if any, is in the initial encounter. Here is my chance to be categorized as black, with an asterisk. The asterisk is my whole body." (Loc 292)

His white exterior and black identity earn him the moniker of "sunflower"—basically, the inverse of "Oreo"—which explains the book's cover art. (Another cover mystery that gets resolved: the origin of the novel's title. Loving Day refers to the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States. The more you know!)

I didn't like Warren as a person—again, no spoilers, but he's no saint—but that doesn't mean I wasn't invested in watching him learn to reconcile the two parts of his identity. At the start of the novel, Warren is adamantly against acknowledging the white half of his ancestry.  He heavily resents the fact that there are biracial people who have no trouble moving within the "white world":

"There are mulattoes in America who look white and also socialize as white. ... Those mulattoes whose white appearance matches up with the white world they inhabit, those mulattoes aren't coming to Mulattopia. The world already fits well enough for them." (Loc 1242)

Through his experiences with a biracial community group (the aforementioned "Mulattopia"), Warren changes heart, even arguing with one of his closest black friends that "[h]aving people acknowledge all of their ethnic heritage doesn't mean they're abandoning social justice" (Loc 3676).

It was only when I looked Johnson up that I realized just how much of Loving Day is autobiographical. Johnson is of black and Irish descent, and he even wrote a comic book of the same name as Warren's one claim to illustration fame. As someone who knows very little about the lived experience of mixed-race individuals (I'm part-Cuban, but it isn't a huge part of my life as an otherwise white-as-hell Jewess), seeing how closely Johnson's experiences paralleled those of Warren's lent a lot of authenticity to his character.

The #ReadingMyLibrary Challenge is run by Stefani of Caught Read Handed and Amy of Read What I Like. Sign-ups closed on April 15, so you'll just have to enjoy my posts about it instead. Speaking of those, here are my updates from Week 1 and Week 2.

Based on my last post, it probably goes without saying that I have not read any new library books since my Week 2 update. Adding insult to injury, I had to return every single one of my physical library books yesterday. Damn you librarians and your three-renewal-maximum! (Just kidding, I love you. Please don't take away my free books.) It all comes down to Week 4. More library books will be read, guys, especially if you help me out by participating in my poll at the end of the post!

Source: epl.org

This week, Stephanie and Amy want to know why I love libraries or being a librarian. I like to pretend I'm a librarian, but I don't think that's the question here.

I got my start in libraries early, when my grandmother used to take me to a local branch on the weekend. I was young, easily between preschool and mid-elementary school. I still remember the lobby of that library being enormous, though it was most likely a perspective issue (everything's big when you're tiny!). I broke up with libraries briefly in middle and high school when Barnes & Noble became my jam, but the love was rekindled when I discovered the Evanston Public Library, just a couple of blocks away from my college campus. It was huge and beautiful, and it had an amazing hanging art piece in its grand stairway (see left). EPL was one of my favorite havens from the stress of school, and I spent hours in the children's section more than once, hogging all the bean bags as I read. Let's not think about how gross those bean bags probably were. Fast forward to today,  and you all know how much I love my local library.

As an anxious person, nothing calms me down more effectively than setting aside a few minutes to peruse the new books section or wander among the fiction stacks. Not only is nearly any book at my beck and call, but it's an entire place dedicated to both a love for books and a love for the community that books (and sharing them) can provide. Book stores are similar, but I think the point about community is unique to libraries, as you don't have to return to a book store once you've made your purchase.

It isn't uncommon to hear someone ask what the "point" of a physical library is in the digital age. I've got a handful of answers: libraries offer tranquility to the stressed; they offer safe spaces for those with nowhere else to go; they offer resources, whether you're trying to write a paper for a class, update your résumé for a job application, or something else entirely; and, finally, they offer worlds upon worlds of information, adventures, and ideas that they can't wait to share, all at the cost of having a library card. These are the reasons I love libraries.

BONUS READATHON POLL

I'm in the process of building my stack for my second-ever Dewey's readathon, and I'm doing pretty well so far. (Our Endless Numbered Days is right at the tippy-top.) I'm hoping to make a pilgrimage to my library to round out my final list, but I'm at a loss for what to get. Here's where you come in!

Make your suggestions in the box below—all I ask is that they be 1. somewhat short (300 pages or less is ideal) and 2. not brand-new, so I have hope of finding them in the library!

Submit your responses here, book-pushers. Multiple suggestions highly encouraged.

Last week started with weird digestive issues that morphed into less-weird-but-more-debilitating respiratory issues by Wednesday. Almost a week later, I still feel an awful lot like this pup, but I'm on the mend.

On top of being a walking biohazard, I've been busy! I went to New York City last Friday to celebrate the birthdays of two of my good friends from college. I don't think they read this, but just in case—hi, Jordyn and Julie! My boyfriend and I went to their party that evening, stayed overnight and got to spend some quality time with them on Saturday. Quality time included delicious Mexican brunch, long walks in the sunshine and giant waffle cones full of vanilla soft serve and rainbow sprinkles. It basically made up for being a mucus factory.

I spent the rest of the weekend chilling, and by chilling I mean throwing myself into Coursera assignments. A sub-goal of Shaina's "what the heck do I want to do with my life?" project is the "where the heck do I want to go to grad school, and what for?" project. I've been brushing up on my statistics skills and learning how to code in the stats programming language R. Learning to code is unlike most other things I've done—you have no choice but to start from square one, and it can be frustrating as hell—but I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying the challenge.

Anyway, all this is to say that books and blogging have taken a backseat this past week, but I'm still reading, I swear! Dewey's cannot be coming at a better time.

In addition to finishing Tell the Wolves I'm Home last week, I also wrapped up an ARC I'd been plodding through called Loving Day by Mat Johnson. I think I liked it, but I want more time to sit with it and sift through my notes before getting my review up. Thankfully, I read ahead of publication (it doesn't come out 'til late May), so I have that luxury!

I'm continuing to make slow but steady progress in Bill Bryson's The Short History of Nearly Everything. The friend from whom I borrowed it moves away at the end of next month, so I'm kind of on a deadline. It's not that it's bad—it's just unbelievably dense. You'd probably have to pause every few paragraphs if you actually wanted to absorb everything. Naturally, I'm learning a lot of fantastic factoids from this one, and I'll definitely share my favorites here once I'm done.

The #ReadingMyLibrary challenge is hosted by Stefani of Caught Read Handed and Amy of Read What I Like. The goal? Read at least one book from your local library in the month of April. Sign-ups are still open for another two days—what are you waiting for?! If you need more #RML goodness, check out my week one update here (spoiler alert: I got nothing done).

But, this week, I have real progress to report! I finished Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China early last week and Tell the Wolves I'm Home just forty tearful minutes ago. I hope to get reviews up for both of these babies soon, particularly the latter. Books don't usually make me cry, but Carol Rifka Brunt's debut is a brand-new exception. Pardon me while I go pick up the shattered remains of my soul.


According to Amazon, I've saved $25.72 by checking these out from the library instead of buying the paperbacks, and about $20 if I'd gone for the e-books. Not too shabby!

The topic posed to us by Stefani and Amy this week is "Books you would like to suggest to your library." Funnily enough, I sent in a request for two just a week ago.


The first because, seriously, have you seen all the glowing reviews? If not, here's one, and another. Besides, who can resist a good Socratic Salon discussion (and Twitter chat)? I requested the second because social justice nerd alert. I since bought Our Endless Numbered Days for my Kindle because I have no patience, but I still think they'd make great additions to the fiction and non-fiction sections, respectively.

Here we are in week three. I'm still chipping away at a couple of ARCs and the Bill Bryson my friend lent me, and, as I mentioned above, I caved and bought Our Endless Numbered Days. It's very possible I'll forsake everything else and dig into that instead. Never fear—I do foresee an extended library trip in the near future, for Dewey's approaches! Stayed tuned.

I've been sitting on this post idea for a couple of weeks, and now feels like the right time to share it.

If you're new around here, I care about things, and I want to read about the things I care about, no matter how difficult:

"I tend to gravitate toward heavy books—for example, nearly 30% of last year's reading dealt directly with tough topics: racism, sexism, abortion, FGM. To me, that percentage should be even higher. A large part of why I read is to learn more about the world around me, particularly the parts we'd rather minimize or ignore altogether. If there's nothing else I can do (and I certainly hope to do more, in my career and personal life), I at least want to bear witness." - shainareads.com, 01/07/2015

I care about a lot of different things, but right now I've got racism and police brutality on the brain. It's on my mind a lot, actually. As a multi-ethnic white woman, I'll never experience racism and more than likely never experience police brutality, but I refuse to close my eyes against it.

This list won't do anything to change the state of the world today—I'm not under any illusions—but these four books helped me to see just how much work is left to be done. Maybe they'll help someone else see that, too.



All images are clickable and lead to the title's Goodreads page (all images from GR). Check out my own review of Just Mercy here. If you're hungry for more books about hard topics, this is a pretty good list.

Look at this pretty!

Hausfrau. You all know the book, that gorgeous, shiny blue business over on the right. It's the one that's been making waves in the blogosphere since the ARC was released in late 2014. It's the story of Anna Benz, a depressed, unfulfilled housewife in Zürich. She sees a Jungian psychoanalyst, takes German lessons, and has several steamy affairs, but these only serve to momentarily help her forget her emotionally vacant marriage and desperate yearning for a more purposeful existence. It's short, it's devastating, and there were moments I related to all too much:

"'All self-knowledge begins in the shadow's black rooms. Enter those rooms, Anna. Address the shadow face-to-face. Ask your questions. Listen to the answers. Respect the answers. The shadow will tell you everything. Why it is you hate. Who it is you love. How to heal. How to sit with sadness. How to grieve. How to live. How to die.'"

I thought this was a very solid book—I'd put myself squarely between Andi's resounding "meh" and Monika's breathless amazement. In lieu of more fleshed-out review from me, I'm going to share a few blog posts that summarize my thoughts and feelings about this book much more eloquently than I can.

• Leah @ Books Speak Volumes wonders if an ill-chosen comparison to a classic novel (on the dust jacket, no less!) might wreck the Hausfrau experience for some readers. I'd had the relevant plot point spoiled for me before I read, but I do wonder if I'd have been surprised had I gone in blind.


• April @ The Steadfast Reader reflects on the novel's portrayal of depression and its lack of an "easy fix." As you might guess from the quotation I chose above, this resonated with me as well.


• Shannon @ River City Reading thinks that lovers of Hausfrau might dig Showtime's The Affair. The trailer she included might have had me fanning myself. Heeeey, McNulty, you're looking good these days.


• Amanda @ Gun in Act One really didn't like Anna but found her story compelling anyway. Anna certainly had her unsavory traits, but I think unlikable characters bother me the most when they also seem unrealistic. Anna felt very real to me.

Still itching for more thoughts on this one? Check out the extensive, spoiler-filled discussion over at The Socratic Salon!

Did I tell y'all that I'm doing the #ReadingMyLibrary challenge, hosted by Stefani of Caught Read Handed and Amy of Read What I Like? I made an announcement, but it was in tweet-form. See all the awesomeness you miss out on when you aren't following me on Twitter?

Anyway, sign-ups are still open! The overall thrust of the challenge is to get people to go to their libraries—all you have to do to participate is read at least one book from your local library during the month of April. Check out this post for more information and other rules. You should totally join. There's going to be a scavenger hunt and everything!

I mostly failed the first week of this challenge by reading books that came from anywhere but the library: I chipped away at a purchased copy of Cloud Atlas for the #CloudAtlasAlong, made a small dent in a friend's copy of A Short History of Nearly Everything and made a more substantial dent in Loving Day, an ARC from Random House (thank you!). Like I said, anywhere but the library.

It was only yesterday that I finally picked up a library book, Yu Hua's Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China. The good news is I've already read half of it, so I've nearly met the minimum challenge goal! Also also, today I picked up a library copy of Tell the Wolves I'm Home, April's pick for a local book club I've thus far failed to joined. Like Julianne, I'm hoping to change that. Hooray for using a library book to do so!

Stefani and Amy will post a new topic for discussion each week during the challenge. In keeping with this week's topic ("Tell us a little about your library [include a picture if you can!]."), I popped by the public library on the way to work. It's just a fifteen-minute walk from my house, and less than a five-minute one from my lab. Needless to say, I'm here a lot. It allegedly has three whole floors, though I only frequent the ground and lower levels (fiction and non-fiction, respectively). I only took three pictures that weren't super ugly—enjoy!

This building is over 100 years old. I looked it up.

A super windy marble staircase in the lobby I've never seen anyone use. Possibly leads to the alleged second and third levels.

The beautiful fiction stacks. Gotta love that overhead lighting.

Source: nhfpl.org

While I was away at my conference two weeks ago, I realized that my stressed-out traveling brain just isn't great for appreciating certain types of books. (Ahem.) Too many things going on? Nope, too relevant to my present state. Too philosophical? Nah, no attention span for that, and it might be all I need to pass out on the train. Too sad/serious/otherwise distressing? Once again, really not what I need while I'm fumbling with my luggage and wishing Google Maps would get its act together already.

Enter The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. This unassuming little book had been sitting on my Kindle since I got it over the holidays, but I'd never cracked it open (or, you know, clicked on it), despite my love for curmudgeonly characters and book-themed books. (For a great list of those, check out M's at Backlist Books.) A.J. Fikry is super cranky and owns a bookstore. Why did I wait so long to read this one?!


In fact, I probably waited just the right amount of time, because I think this book was best read while I needed a respite from the madness around me. Here's why:

1. It's short, but not too short. The whole story clocks in at 260 pages and took me just two days to read while I was on my business trip. I think anything too far over the 300-page threshold would require just a smidge more attention than I have to offer during travels, and it might bleed over into reading time once I'm back home. With something A.J. Fikry-length, I was able to enjoy myself for a couple of days and feel the accomplishment of finishing a whole book.

2. The writing was light. This isn't to say the book was entirely fluffy—there are actually a surprising number of particularly devastating moments for a novel so short—but the story trots along at an easy, engaging pace and caught me off guard with its humor more than a few times:

"Re: their date. For a time, the novelty of the circus had distracted from the fact that they had nothing in common. By the end of dinner, the greater truth of their incompatibility had been revealed. Perhaps it should have been obvious from their inability to reach consensus on an appetizer or from his main course admission that he disliked "old things"—antiques, houses, dogs, people. Still, Amelia had not allowed herself to be certain until dessert, when she'd asked him about the book that had had the greatest influence on his life, and he'd replied Principles of Accounting, Part II." - pg. 6

3. It wasn't full of big ideas. At its core, this is the story of a prickly man, beaten down by the world, who allows the twists and turns of life to melt his heart. Not exactly original. In fact, if I'd been reading it during a quieter moment in my life, I might have dismissed its overall simplicity and its less likely moments and enjoyed it far less. Combined with the chaos of my trip, however, this story was just the familiar comfort I wanted to bask in at the end of a stressful day or the middle of a long train ride.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys romance, clever literary references, or needs a quick, easy read when life becomes just a little too hectic.

On the subject of travel reads, here are a couple of other books (one I've read, one I haven't) that I think would be excellent for throwing in your carry-on the next time you go away, for business or otherwise:

• Where'd You Go, Bernadette—I read this one over the winter holidays and loved it for a lot of the reasons I enjoyed A.J. Fikry. Check out my review here! As a bonus, Trish of Love, Laughter and Touch of Insanity recently listened to this as an audiobook and absolutely loved it. Perfect for if your travels include some driving!


• A Man Called Ove—I haven't read this one myself, but Amanda over at Gun in Act One really enjoyed it. It's possible I'm just including this one here to fit the curmudgeon theme, but from Amanda's description, it sounds like this would be another funny, charming story to lose yourself in when real life gets crazy.