Lisa Reads - 2017 In Review

Well, it's the end of the year, which means it's time to set aside some time and reflect on the best books I read in 2017.

And I read a lot of books. (Too many, but that's another post...)

I started keeping track of the POC authors I read - which I am going to do again this year - and did a respectable 15. My woman author count was down from the previous year, but still accounted for a lot of books on the list. And I blew my non-fiction goal out of the water. I wanted to read 7 and ended up with 24 non-fiction titles under my belt for the year! Lots of those were tackled via audio book, which I am still enjoying as a great way to pass the time on my commutes and while I exercise.

Lucas & I polished off a bunch of kid's audio books too - which I am going to try and keep track of next year! He is already finished his first book of 2018...Hey! Would anyone be interested in some "Dude Recommends" features here?

I have pulled out some of my faves for the year, but with the sheer volume of books I read, this was a tough one for me. I have some thoughts on that, but you'll have to scroll down for those!

Oh man, this was the year of AMAZING non-fiction! How do I even pick my top 3? I mean, I read 24 non-fiction titles this year, and most of them were pretty awesome.

So I am going to approach this from a recommendation standpoint.

If you are looking to expand on your activism, read Unsettling Canada by Arthur Manuel. Hell, if you are CANADIAN, just do yourself and your indigenous neighbours a favour and read this book.

If you like science and wanna learn something new, read Gulp by Mary Roach.

If you are looking for something inspirational, that will make you feel good, and also give you a kick in the pants to pursue your dreams, read Year of Yes: How To Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rimes.

But ultimately, I really enjoyed most of the non-fiction titles I read this year, and recommend checking out the full list here.

This is the easiest pick for me, because I read my mind-blowing, knock my socks off sci-fi this year.

The Fifth Season trilogy and the Ancillary Justice trilogy were some of the best science fiction books I have ever read. In fact, they were flat out some of the best overall books I have ever read. The worlds were rich, and lush, and the characters were amazing in every way. This series was Ann Leckie's first ever (which just blows my damn mind), so there isn't any back catalogue for me to dive into, but NK Jemisin has been writing for awhile so I am going to try and fill my TBR next year with titles from her.

And finally, the Six of Crows duo by Leigh Bardugo. I enjoyed this one much more than her Grisha trilogy. An impossible heist, an unlikely group of criminal-heroes, double cross, magic! It was really special and exciting!

I thought I had another header...perhaps fave graphic novel or fave YA, but I can't find it...so...moving on!

I guess this is an impossible category too. This is what I get for reading 76 books in a year...can't pick a favourite! Can't even begin to remember the favourites...and that's a big problem for me.

I feel like I read too many books this year, and my brain feels all scattered. That may sound silly, but I am realizing now that my intent isn't to read "all the books", but to read books that interest, teach, and excite me.

I have a different approach to this goal next year, and I am excited to get started with #lisareads2018.

I want to be more focused in my book selection.

I want to keep my library holds under control!

I want to read more titles that relate to my goals, and my 5-year plan.

I want to read more science fiction, fantasy, and other genres that I love!

Lisa Reads 2017 - 52 Books Update

Well, it looks like my third quarter update gets to be my 52 BOOK SUMMARY as well! Cause I'm done guys!! Last year I completed my 52nd book on August 24. I beat that by one day! Ha!

So this post is going to be a little bit "third quarter update" and a little bit "project summary." Let's see what happens!

I only read 3 non-fiction books in the last two months (unlike my "cup runeth over with non-fiction" from the earlier part of the year). And they were all really good! But my favourite has to be Gulp by Mary Roach. I learned so much about our "alimentary canal" aka our mouth to bum system of our bodies. I was spewing (he he) out fun facts left, right, and centre. About farts, and saliva, and our stomachs. Really great, accessible science book.

As this is my favourite genre, I was super pumped to find so many excellent titles these past few months. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are both set in the Grisha universe, introduced in Ms Bardugo's earlier series, of which I am not the biggest fan. These two companion books take a different approach, add some new and fascinating characters, and quickly morph into a heist book with a fantasy background! And the heist was so well done. Double crosses, and side plans, and back up plans, and hidden plans. A daring rescue, an impenetrable fortress, and so many more adventures. "Swashbuckling" is a word I might use to describe this book. The characters are fierce, flawed, and genuine friends. The enemies are many, and you never know who is going to stab the group in the back or become a sudden ally. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed these books. Can't wait to see what else she comes up with!

If there was a trophy for this category it would be one of those huge ones, like as tall as a person, that they give out at cheerleading competitions. And there was no competition this month. I cannot get over the spectacular world that Ann Leckie has built in her Imperial Radch series. Holy shit balls. And it's her first novel! Double holy shit balls.

The Radch have been around for 3000-ish years, and all this time they just keep expanding and "annexing" other planets and their humans. Which just means absorbing them into their civilization and if some (aka alot) of folks die, then that's just the price they had to pay. Radch ships and space stations are all AI, and their consciousness is contained in hundreds to thousands of ancillaries, which are human bodies from those planets they have annexed. The human bodies that wouldn't just sit back and let annexation happen without a fight. We follow one AI ship in particular, Justice of Torren, as one of her lieutenants discovers a split in the Lord of the Radch...who is also made up of 1000s of cloned ancillary bodies. It turns out that the Lord herself is now operating as two separate beings and has been locked in a hidden civil war against herself for hundreds of years. Something happens to Justice of Torren, and It is left with only one ancillary body. It vows to get to expose the civil war to the citizens and force the Lord of the Radch to show her hand to herself, and to take personal revenge against the Lord of the Radch for something that happened in its past. All while spreading some pretty sweet social justice along the way.

To make it even more interesting, the Radch don't recognize gender, so everyone is "she". Their religion is super ritualistic, with a varied pantheon, and they have some interesting thoughts on purity and sex. It is a complex, amaze balls series, and I highly recommend it for the science fiction lovers out there.

Dark Life by Kat Falls > A dystopian fiction about a future where land is scarce, so people have moved below the water. They are called "Pioneers" and their children have a special gift: they can see in the dark!

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World by Steven Johnson > You can tell it's a non-fiction by its behemoth title! Supposedly a "thrilling" historical account of the worst cholera outbreak in Victorian London. So far, they are just telling me about poop. Which I still find fascinating! Listening to this one on my Overdrive app. LOVE that app!

I am on a roll this year for good books! There have been a few duds - as expected - but a lot of them aren't even recorded on my list because I'm pretty good at determining early on when I am not "into" a book - and won't get into it - and then moving on. Life is too short to read bad books!

I'm not sure I have any clever summaries or insights for this year's goal. I'm still just looking for books I like reading, women and POC authors, and great science fiction.

And I'm still on the lookout for recommendations for the next four months. You've seen what I've like so far, and I'm up for more of the same or something completely different!



For slightly more in depth book reviews and synopses of the books I'm finishing, as I finish them, please follow me on Instagram. I'm @sonotladylike over there. While I was looking up some details for this post, I came across a bunch of book review videos on You Tube. Yes, I live in a You Tube blackout zone and forget that there is a whole other world of rabbit holes out there for me to fall into! In fact, it has inspired me to maybe do my own video book reviews! Way easier than typing all these damnable words out.

xo

Lisa Reads 2017 - First Quarter Update!

Lisa Reads 2017 is going strong, and I am excited to do more updates and recaps throughout the year. Something I learned about myself last year was that I struggle with "Book Reviews" but I also enjoy thinking about and remembering books I have read. So I am looking at this as a "stretching" exercise...stretching my mind and my writing skills in this area. Because I can't get better at something if I don't practice it!

I really saw a slow down in my reading toward the end of March and into April. So much so, that every time I got another "hold notification email" from the library I groaned. WHO AM I?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

But I am back on track, and have read a lot of winners in the last few weeks! I still groan when a hold notification email comes in, but I just learned that my holds list is EMPTY! Which means I guess I need to start filling it back up or something...

Holy shit guys! Holy. Shit. I just noticed that 50% of the books I read since January were non-fiction! Last year I read 13 non-fiction books in total! Whoop whoop!

These three definitely topped my list of best/most memorable. A Year of Yes was just so dang positive and optimistic. Sex Object: A Memoir was a fascinating look into the life of a [controversial?] journalist and public figure. And feminist. And Better Than Before gave me some much needed insight into habits, despite her sometimes aggressive, "Type A" way of looking at the world!

Looks like my faves for this quarter were all genre books...horror genre to be specific!

Revival is a stellar graphic novel about zombies, but not quite the ones you expect. And The Borden Dispatches portray an older, wiser, spinster Lizzie Borden and her sister, examining an alternate - fantastical - story behind their parent's gruesome deaths. i.e. there be monsters here.

Well, I currently have SIX books out from the library because I am a sucker for punishment, apparently. And while the header up there reads "Currently Reading", it's more like "Haven't Started Yet, But I'm Hoping To At Least Crack a Spine Before The Due Dates", with one lone exception!

1) Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less and Achieve More Than you Ever Imagined by Scott Sonenshein (this is the only book on this list I have started reading!)
2) Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives by David Eagleman (for book club)
3) Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Daniel Kindlon
4) Difficult Women by Roxanne Gay
5) The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
6) Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo

xo

My complete Book List 2017 can be found here.
Leave your book and audio book recommendations in the Comments! Thanks!

Lisa Reads 2017 - A Book To Set The Tone For The Year

I firmly believe that the first book or two I read in a year, really sets the tone not only for my reading list for the remainder of the year, but for where I put my energy and my focus in my daily life.

And this year was no different. In fact, I've got TWO books on the go right now that are setting my tone and my intentions for the year.

Thanks to Happy City, I want to actively seek out other books that remind me of this one. And that continue my exploration into sustainable, efficient, and future-thinking city planning. I can already feel that this topic is going to be a big deal for me this year.

"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody." - Jane Jacobs

"Everyone of us has the power to alter our city." - Charles Montgomery

I already decided that I wanted to read more books by POC in 2017, so I am glad I am starting the year off with an amazing science fiction black lady author! Octavia Butler was a game changer in her time, winning science fiction awards that usually only white dudes had won before. Her books combine science fiction & fantasy with themes of race/racism, sexuality/sexism, and other heavy modern tropes. I've only read two of her titles, but I'm (mentally) putting her entire back catalogue on my TBR list.

"Most of us don't have to worry about being shot if we poke our noses outside. So we are comfortable, but the people I'm writing about are definitely not comfortable, and being shot while they're still inside is a good possibility."

"I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining."

TBR Pile:
The Option of Urbanism by Christopher Leinberger
Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones
Cities for People by Jan Gehl
Naked City by Sharon Zukin
Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes ed. Adrew Blauvelt
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Note: Most of the books I could find about urbanism, sustainable cities, etc. were written by old white guys, and as I am trying to limit their presence on my book list for 2017, I will continue to search for titles by minorities. And thanks to events happening in the US today (ugh shudder he-who-shall-not-be-named), I have already started adding titles to my TBR that involve resistance, feminism, civil rights history & activism and more.

xo