What I’m Listening to now: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
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Review: Ms. Marvel Vols 2-4 by G. Willow Wilson
Ms. Marvel is every fan girl or boy who has ever wrote or read fan-fiction or squeed over their favorite celebrity. She is everyone who has every suffered from self doubt but still fought through it. She is everyone who still sees the good even though she has seen some pretty awful things. Ms. Marvel is a hero. I love her. She is beyond funny. She is smart. She is brave. She is relatable. She is everything you want in in a hero. Why isn’t she in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet?
Since vol. 1, Ms. Marvel has defeated the Inventor. Fought along side Wolverine and Captain Marvel and took down Loki. She’s making a name for herself. She discovered that she is an Inhuman, which I’m not sure what that is. I think it has to do with the Kree, who we met in the Guardians of the Galaxy. I think. I guess somewhere in her families past, they got some Kree blood in their bloodline and when the terrigan gas released that part of her DNA to give her superpowers. This makes them different from Mutants and the X-Men because their powers are just natural part of human evolution. Yeah, that sounds right. Like the X-Men, there are good Inhumans and bad Inhumans and for Ms. Marvel, they may be the most dangerous foes of all. In Crushed, Kamala meets Kamran, the son of an old family friend. He’s perfect. He likes World of Warcraft, he’s Muslim and he is also Inhuman. He kidnaps Kamala to get her to join in him in and off short of Inhumans who feel that their abilities make them superior to other humans and they should rule. When she turns him down and escapes, he then goes after her brother and tries to turn him. He’s not a good guy but do you know who is a good guy? Bruno..Kamala’s best friend and really the closest thing she has to a sidekick. He’s always there when she needs him, no questions ask. I’m totally shipping Kamala and Bruno but I agree with Kamala decision that with everything that is going on. Her powers, her family, high school that she needs to focus on her. She’s only 16. Romance can wait. Now Last Days sort of ended on a hopeful but also the world is ending kinda note, that I need to read the next volume ASAP! Ms. Marvel is truly the best!
Diverse Narrators, Diverse Lives Challenge
Our second challenge of the year will be led by Beth! It is a challenge focused on story tellers and their perspectives. We give you, the Diverse Narrators, Diverse Lives Challenge! There are fifteen books in this challenge and they are all character focused. The books can be either fiction or non-fiction. Beth will be leading this challenge because she tends to read mostly fiction. There are a lot of different character-driven stories out there in the world, and she is great at finding them!
So, if you are looking to read books from many different points of view and you’re interested on exploring some new characters and perspectives, please consider taking this challenge!
Diverse Authors, Diverse Lives Challenge
Our first challenge of the year will be led by me, Kate! It is a challenge focused on content creators. We give you, the Diverse Authors, Diverse Lives Challenge! There are fifteen books in this challenge and they are all author focused. The books can be either fiction or non-fiction. I will be leading this challenge because I tend to read both fiction and non-fiction, so it makes sense for me to focus on authors and not on characters.
So, if you are looking to read books from many different points of view and you’re interested on exploring some new authors this year, please consider taking this challenge!
What I’m Reading Now: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
I’ve been wanting to read one of her books since I saw her speak at Book Riot Live 2015. I’m a little embarrassed it took me this long.
New Year, New Challenge!
Last year, Beth and I started the Diverse Stacks, Diverse Lives Challenge. Our original challenge is made up of three mini challenges containing ten books each. There is an author challenge, a character challenge, and a medium challenge.
It turns out, if you can’t double count things, that this is not the easiest challenge to complete. I, at least, failed to complete it. This year, Beth and I decided to do something a little different. So, we’re going to have two challenges, one that Beth is going to lead and one that I am going to lead. They will be announced this week. We’re both very excited about it. We hope that you will be excited, too, and will join one or both of us on a reading adventure!
Quick Review: Crystal Storm by Morgan Rhodes
There are so many times you can do the whole “I thought you were dead” thing before you know it loses it’s dramatic punch. The first couple of times it worked because this is a series that has not been afraid to kill of characters. True so far all those killed have been mostly secondary characters but still this series has really high body count but you wouldn’t expect anything less from the “Game of Thrones” of YA now would you? Crystal Storm is book for in the Falling Kingdoms series and like George R.R. Martin, Morgan Rhodes’ pen is deadly. (Thankfully she writes faster then George does) It’s full on fantasy with a huge cast of characters in a warring set of nations. The main characters of Cleo, Magnus, Lucia and Jonas have been through a lot. They have lost and won, made alliances and broken them, cheated death (for some more then once) and of course fallen in love and out of love and back in love. You know how it goes. Kyan the fire god had a temporary set back when Lucia destroyed his corporeal form but he’s not going to go down easy. Neither is the King of Blood who should have died and yet isn’t. He married Amara, who is now Empress because she killed the rest of her family, so they are surrounded by enemies and facing a enemy with extraordinary powers. Like the previous books there are as many twists and turns as there are pages, keeping the reader on their toes. I’m not sure I agree with all the drama but it is a YA novel so there has to be some teen age angst. I just hope that in future books characters either die or live. No more of this, “I thought you were dead” thing.
Happy New Years from Stacks Exceed Life Expectancy!
Here’s hoping that 2017 brings you luck, love and lots of new books!
Thank you to Caught Read Handed for the pic.
What I’m Reading Now: Ms. Marvel Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson
I just finished my 70th book of 2016 so it’s now time to start the book count for 2017. I feel no better way then getting back to the adventures of Ms. Marvel.
Top Eight for 2016!
Well, Ladles and Jelly Spoons, today is the 31st of December, 2016. That last day of this year is finally here and I am finally getting around to my faves of this year. (Beth, of course, has been on the ball all year and has already gotten this done.)
I set my goal for reading this year intentionally low at 35 and then changed it to 30 when it appeared I wasn’t going to make it that far. Then, I only made that because I drove to my parents house for Christmas and they live 13 hours away from my house. Just. Under.The.Wire. But, I’m thrilled to pieces that I did. So, without further ado, I give you my top eight.
- The Martian by Andy Weir
Y’all, I know I was behind the times with this one, but it is so good. You owe it to yourself to listen to this on audio. The book was so good and R.C. Bray really brought it to life. - Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
This book made Shonda Rhimes my hero. She is so inspirtational.
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Will Patton does a knock-out job of reading this book. And, you may have noticed, but Beth and I both have a big ole crush on Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. - Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
This is maybe the most interesting vampire novel I have probably ever read. Plus, the presentation of race and gender going back in forth between modern times and the antebellum South was amazing. - The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
I’m still working on how to use everything I learned from this book. Alexander lays out a persuasive argument and backs it up with well-presented research. - Bitch Planet by Kelly sue DeConnick
In this dystopian future, the world is full of interesting and awesome women who are treated like garbage and shipped off to a prison planet. God, I hope this isn’t prescient. - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie
Achidie has her finger on the pulse of race relations in America and the story she spins is full of humor, tenderness and amazing characters. I loved this book so much. - Emperor of Sound by Timbaland from childhood to sought after producer, this memoir tells the tale of Timbaland. I really enjoyed this walk through ’90s and -’00s music.
- The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
The Hogfather, the Santa figure in Discworld, has gone missing on his most important night of the year. It is up to Death, his assistant and his granddaughter to save the day. This book is funny, clever and such a good read (or, listen, as the case may have been.) - Call my by my Other Name by Valerie Wetlaufer
This is a story told in poems. The story, based on two historical figures, is about two nineteenth century women living as husband and wife told by a modern narrator. Wetlaufer spins an amazing story of love and heartache. She does a great job not putting twenty-first century categories on these historical characters. I loved the distinct voices of these poems. This is such a good book.
This has been a fun year of reading. I started a bunch of books in 2016 that I haven’t yet finished, so look for all of those reviews (Between the World and Me by Coates, Whipping Girl by Serano, Princess Diarist by Fisher, The Federalist Papers) in 2017!
2 Women, So Many Books 