Shaina Reads

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.