Reading Wednesday
Dec. 23rd, 2015 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhSo, this is actually two weeks' worth of 'Reading Wednesday', since I missed last week due to bears, both Yuletide-related and otherwise. And actually, the Yuletide bears continue, but I'm procrastinating on that for a moment.
What did you just finish?
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. Part fairy-tale, part satire, part retelling of Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven, and part critique of the US's immigration issues, this is an amazing book. Nayeli is a teenage girl in a small town in southern Mexico. One day she realizes that there are no men left in town – they've all moved to the US to find jobs. She teams up with her two best friends and the one guy left (Tacho, a gay man) to travel to the US, cross the border, and start a reverse-migration movement. Partly to protect the town, and also kind of because they want boyfriends.
This book isn't a particularly serious take on the issue – though there are occasional undertones of darker themes – but is full of quirky characters, goofy anecdotes, and madcap shenanigans. There's the long-running rivalry in the town over who is the greatest actor of all time, Yul Brynner or Steve McQueen; Nayeli's aunt, the international bowling champion, and her long-lost, beloved bowling guru; Atómico, who lives in the Tijuana garbage dump and has dedicated himself to being a samurai; and Missionary Matt, local well-meaning white boy who all the girls have crushes on. There's a lot of Spanish dialogue and slang, but I don't speak any Spanish at all and still found it easy enough to follow. It's a fun, light-hearted book that I really enjoyed.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. A collection of short funny essays, mostly about her life and personal experiences. It's quite similar to Kaling's first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), so if you liked that one, you'll probably like this one too. None of Kaling's writing is particularly memorable or life-changing, but I find her deeply enjoyable and often hilarious, so if you need to spend a pleasant few hours, I highly recommend this book.
What are you currently reading?
The Land Shall Be Deluged In Blood by Patrick H. Breen. A non-fiction book from NetGalley. A new history of the Nat Turner rebellion.
What did you just finish?
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. Part fairy-tale, part satire, part retelling of Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven, and part critique of the US's immigration issues, this is an amazing book. Nayeli is a teenage girl in a small town in southern Mexico. One day she realizes that there are no men left in town – they've all moved to the US to find jobs. She teams up with her two best friends and the one guy left (Tacho, a gay man) to travel to the US, cross the border, and start a reverse-migration movement. Partly to protect the town, and also kind of because they want boyfriends.
This book isn't a particularly serious take on the issue – though there are occasional undertones of darker themes – but is full of quirky characters, goofy anecdotes, and madcap shenanigans. There's the long-running rivalry in the town over who is the greatest actor of all time, Yul Brynner or Steve McQueen; Nayeli's aunt, the international bowling champion, and her long-lost, beloved bowling guru; Atómico, who lives in the Tijuana garbage dump and has dedicated himself to being a samurai; and Missionary Matt, local well-meaning white boy who all the girls have crushes on. There's a lot of Spanish dialogue and slang, but I don't speak any Spanish at all and still found it easy enough to follow. It's a fun, light-hearted book that I really enjoyed.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. A collection of short funny essays, mostly about her life and personal experiences. It's quite similar to Kaling's first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), so if you liked that one, you'll probably like this one too. None of Kaling's writing is particularly memorable or life-changing, but I find her deeply enjoyable and often hilarious, so if you need to spend a pleasant few hours, I highly recommend this book.
What are you currently reading?
The Land Shall Be Deluged In Blood by Patrick H. Breen. A non-fiction book from NetGalley. A new history of the Nat Turner rebellion.
