Reading Diversity: welcome to outside the box

Jule, 26, INTJ, Germany. Slytherin. Former Literature Student (I still feel that in my bones). I read "Clarissa" twice (just thought I would mention that). Understatement of the century: I like reading. This is a blog for international books or such discussing diverse topics and issues.

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JOMP Book Photo Challenge

April 27: Diverse Characters

[novelknight]

↞  novelknight book reviews  •  instagram  ↠

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queer / feminist time travel

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just let me read

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Today I'm five. ...... Then we go out the door.

first and last sentences of “Room” by Emma Donoghue

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JOMP BPC - February 10th: #ownvoices

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There are so many #ownvoices authors on my shelves right now, some more obvious than others. I don’t think I could take a picture of all of them so I picked a small group of disability ownvoices.

Six of Crows - chronic pain (osteonecrosis)

Bone Houses - chronic pain

Eliza and Her Monsters - anxiety disorder

Turtles all the Way Down - OCD

Darius the Great is Not Okay - depression

It’s Kind of a Funny Story - depression

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Challenge Check-In February

February was little better stress-wise, but work is still exhausting, so there were many evenings where I did not get to read at all. Still, I am happy with my reading progress.

Let's put it into numbers:

out of my goal of 133 books on goodreads, I finished 27, which is 6 books ahead of schedule

I have read one bestseller (goal is 15 / year)

as my non-fiction of the month, I read "Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race" by Reni Eddo-Lodge

from the prompts to reduce my tbr, I have finished four (total: 7 / 52): - "same title as a song" - "Let's Talk About Love" - "black & white cover" - "God Help the Child" - "by an author with my zodiac sign [cancer]" - "Kindred" by Octavia Butler - "everyone but me has read it" - "Storm Front" / "The Dresden Files" - three more I am currently reading - and three more I’ve gotten from the library already

and from our #sisterlyreading prompt bingo with @wonderbundle, I have read one (total: 3 / 25): - "by Lahiri / Roy / Rushdie" - "The Lowland" by Jhumpa Lahiri - three more I already have here on my physical tbr

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All to be released on March 2nd: "The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner, a feminist historical fiction about an apothecary providing poison to women wanting to liberate themselves from men. "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro, an observation about humanity from the point of view of an artificial intelligence. "The Conductors" by Nicole Glover is a modern fantasy historical fiction about a magician and former conductor of the underground railroad solving crimes in the post-civil-war era. "Sparks Like Stars" by Nadia Hashimi is the story of an Afghan-American woman returning to her childhood home of Kabul to learn about a pivotal tragedy in her life.

To be released on March 9th, "How Beautiful We Were" by Imbolo Mbue about the battle between an African village and an American oil company. Coming out on March 16th, "Silence Is a Sense" by Layla Alammar tells the story of a refugee and healing trauma through community. "Hot Stew" by Fiona Mozley, being published on March 18th, is a novel about class and fighting against gentrification. "Body of Stars" by Laura Maylene Walter is also published on March 18th; it is a sci-fi story in which a woman's future can be seen on her body in markings and scars, a tale of rape culture and objectifying. And lastly, coming on March 30th, "Of Women and Salt" by Gabriela Garcia is the generation-spanning tale of women between Cuba and the US.

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A squat grey building of only thirty-four storeys. ...... South-south-west, south-south-east, east ...

first and last sentences of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley

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The Things I Find in Library Books - part 30

[part 1-29]

A little cheat-sheet summarizing plot points from the opposite page. 

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My father was a king and the son of kings.  ...... Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood, like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.

first and last sentences of “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller

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Marsh is not swamp. ...... Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing.

first and last sentences of “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

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Two Mini-Reviews: Brain and Lies and Subjectivity, oh my

“The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder” by J. W. Ironmonger

Can a person write down everything they know, making a perfect record of the content of their brain? What starts as a question between friends at a party ("How many movies do you know?") quickly spirals out of control. Complications begin with that first question (what is "know"? does one have to have seen the movie or does it count to have heard of it only? what if you saw it, but don't remember it? what of classics that you have never actually seen yourself, but you still know the plot in broad strokes?), but quickly takes on absurd qualities when the protagonist actually secludes himself determined to write down any and all memories, portraits of all the people he met, recounting all school and university knowledge, repeating the content of all culture consumed, etc.

The novel seems to want to send two messages: the obvious being "live your life rather than wasting it trying to record it in detail". The other one comes out towards the end of the story: "it is the small details of everyday life that are important next to the big moments of history. so record those in diaries and letters and also read up on them later." Both the basic premise as well as those messages were interesting. What I did not fully understand were the flashbacks to seemingly random moments of the protagonist's life before his experiment. I did not see their connection to the main plot clearly at all times, therefore they bored me a bit.

“The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly” by Stephanie Oakes

This novel explores both faith as well as inner strength and growth in a duality of hard situations. In alternating chapters, it tells the story of Minnow, growing up in a strict cult that she rebels against and eventually escapes - only to have to go prison for attacking someone on the run. And the question of who burned down the cult's compound, and thus accidentally (or purposefully and actively?) killed the leader is still open, as well, with authorities wanting to get the truth out of Minnow. Through its bottleneck character of confined spaces and limited cast of characters, the novel can really focus inward - first on a teenage rebellion, then a calming down and unlearning, returning to a stable normal. It deals with this, from anger to grief to love to confusion, very well and in an interesting manner.

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The Things I Find in Library Books - part 29

[part 1-28]

Was surprised by this at the exact right moment. The universe - or the library! - are sending me a message. 

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The taxi's radio was tuned to a classical FM broadcast. ...... Until it was nothing more than a gray paper moon, hanging in the sky.

first and last sentences of “1Q84″ by Haruki Murakami

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Review: “The Mirage” by Matt Ruff

I really liked this alternative universe in which the positions of the US and the Arabic world were flipped. 9/11 becomes 11/9 and an attack on Bagdad, the war consequently one fought on the east coast of the United States. The Arabic world was united in one country, the US divided into multiple factions and nations at war over minute difference in their Christian faith. Like many parables, the novel used this mirror image to criticize US foreign policy after 9/11, as well as racism and prejudice.

The characters and plot lines were interesting and showed a broad spectrum of life in this alternative, though not too far removed, world. The "wikipedia" entries were a good way to introduce backstory and exposition without unnaturally forcing all of that into dialogue. They also always went hand in hand with the chapter that followed them, serving as an introduction and giving exactely the piece of information that was needed. What I did not like was the ending. It seemed far-fetched and dampened the critical voice a little. Why introduce fantasy / magical realism here when presenting the alternate reality as fact could have been a more powerful punch?