Last of 2015: flash book reviews

Cry of the Peacock by V.R. Christensen. Mid November
This was a Kindle book I got for free. It's a historical fiction story set in Victorian England about a girl being pressured to marry for what she'll inherit upon her marriage. The dialogue felt too modern, as were some of the characters' opinions on things, and some of the characters were cartoonishly evil. For the two main characters to get together, something has to be done about the people they're actually with, so the spares are magically paired off to each other in the end even though it makes no sense for them to be attracted to each other (well, the girl, anyway. She's so nice and the guy is such a douchey jerk that it's hard to see why she'd be secretly in love with him the whole time). This was otherwise good. 3.9/5 ***BREAKING: as of today, 1/8/16, the ebook is free on Amazon!***

I have this app (Appsgonefree) that tells me about the apps that are free that day, and one a while back was an ebook app of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It had interesting animations made from the illustrations, but the "page" background had that burnt/antiquated look that made it hard to read the black text sometimes. I would have been annoyed had I spent money on it, but for free it's fine. 3.9/5

Sorcery and Cecilia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Late November
I LOVED THIS. I had read an excerpt a long time ago but never got around to getting this book until the ebook version (I think Nook from Barnes & Noble) went free, and I pounced on it. It's historical fantasy set in Regency England, like if Jane Austen were more lighthearted and could do magic. Way more bubbly and fun than Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but along those lines (nothing about fairies tho). The two authors are because it's an epistolary novel: two cousins write letters to each other about a magical plot, cute annoying gentlemen, the Season, London, parties, fashion, and getting around their strict aunts. I highly recommend this. 4/5

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. Mid December
This is an excellent book to read if you want to be immersed in grief because you cannot be best friends with Mindy Kaling IRL. It's a book of essays like her last book, so if you liked that/other "essays by famous people/comedians" books, you'll like this too. 4/5

Meaty: Essays by Samantha Irby

I was probably pointed to bitches gotta eat by The Toast or maybe Jezebel. It is a hilarious, TMI work of art, blog-wise. I was thinking of buying Samantha Irby's book because I wanted to help her pay for her dental care (detailed in excruciating, horrifying fashion on b.g.e.), but then I came across it at what I'm assuming was the publisher's booth at ALA Annual. I grabbed it and gasped all 'OMG I WAS TOTALLY THINKING OF BUYING THIS!!!' and the nice chatty girl staffing the booth let me have it for free if I would promise to review the book on social media. So here is my review, such as it is.

Meaty is basically bitches gotta eat in book form. If you enjoy her blog and her style of writing (sadly no different colored fonts in the book tho, but plenty of all caps and bolding), then you'll enjoy this book. If you are easily horrified by extremely candid descriptions of bathroom issues and ~personal relationships~, ifyouknowwhatImean, then this book is not for you. The chapters about her parents are heartbreaking. A lot of the stuff about being disgusted with dudes and dating and wanting to forgo all that and just eat snacks while watching TV in a Snuggie really resonated with me (being a social hermit, holla). Here is what I wrote on LibraryThing:

Hilarious and heartbreaking (but mostly hilarious). Profane, gross, TMI, an excellent way to spend the afternoon. If you've read and like her blog than you'll enjoy this book too. I loved the chance to get inside Samantha Irby's head and see how she thinks about things and some of the experiences that made her who she is.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:
"I'm tired of dicking around with stunted adolescents. There can only be one of those in my life and that is me, homie."

4/5 stars

End of Gaiman kick

After American Gods and Anansi Boys I read Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, which turned out to be a collection of short stories (which I expected) and some poems (which I did not). Gaiman's poems are lovely and creepy, like his fiction. Some pieces were interesting (like the one about an author trying to negotiate with Hollywood people wanting to make his book into a movie and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired pieces about the coming of Cthulhu and a werewolf) and some were too disturbing or confusing for me. I'd give it an average of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Next I read Neverwhere, which was just great. I wish I'd read it first of all the other Gaiman books; the other books seemed to be competing with it in my mind...? idk. It's a very familiar story: the hapless ordinary guy who get sucked into a fantasy alternate world he didn't even know existed because of a girl he helps (or wants to bang. Luckily it's the former in this book) and then finds out What He's Made Of and proves himself a hero or whatever. Neil Gaiman made it original and wonderful, though. The tone was slightly closer to Anansi Boys'. I believe I mentioned the style reminded me of Terry Pratchett? I think I meant Douglas Adams (A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books), but whatever, I love all of them. Great stuff. I'd give it 4/5.

Here are the Gaiman books I read (I bought them for $1 each at a yard sale benefiting the school where I went to kindergarten. Did I mention that?), in the order of first to least favorite:

1. American Gods (I can't help it; it's so haunting and just stays with you. It pushed too many of my buttons. Shame about the explicit stuff)
2. Neverwhere (yay alternate London! and history! and stuff)
3. Anansi Boys (more funny than anything else. Slightly less awe but still great)
4. Smoke and Mirrors (I cannot write or read or even think of the title without getting this song stuck in my head)

With the addition of the other Gaiman books I've read (most to least favorite, again):

1. American Gods
2. The Graveyard Book (slightly more original than Neverwhere's premise. Also, the only book to date that has made me feel sorry for a vampire. And in the whole book the word vampire is never used! Gaiman respects our intelligence and knows we can figure it out on our own! I love him.)
3. Neverwhere
4. Instructions (Gaiman reads it here in the book trailer)
5. Anansi Boys, Stardust (It's been a while since I've read Stardust. I may like it slightly more or less than AB; I'm not sure)
6. Blueberry Girl (sweet book trailer here)
7. Smoke and Mirrors

Basically I need to read everything else by him. Coraline looks too creepy for me, though.

I finished American Gods and it was so good. Horrifying and sad and violent and amazing. The title is a bit misleading because it's actually about all the gods brought over to America from the old countries, as well as (glancingly) the ones created here (the Internet god, the Railroad god, etc. We hardly hear about/from them but then I suppose we don't need to because we deal with them on a daily basis. Sort of). There was a lot going on in this book, tons of different plotlines that would have faltered in a less capable writer's hands, but Gaiman is golden. 4/5 stars
I followed it up with Anansi Boys. It's not a sequel but I would recommend you read American Gods before you read this one, just to get a good feel on Anansi. Its title is also slightly inaccurate. I wouldn't call Fat Charlie and Spider boys; they're grown men. This book was not as shocking or horrifying, more of a caper, and it actually reminded me more than once of a Terry Prachett book. It unsettled me less, but I'm not sure whether that's a good thing. For the most part it was, but there was less of that feeling one gets in the presence of things divine/not human. Still, there's 100% less god, uh, relations. 4/5 stars

So holidayish, my reading. I guess 2011 is the year I didn't read any of my traditional seasonal reads (The Penderwicks in the summer, Christmas with Anne [she of the Green Gables] Treasury, not even A Christmas Carol). I just didn't feel like it. Oh well.

I've been majorly neglecting this blog. I told myself I'd blog on winter break when I had free time, but now that I am/do I don't feel like it. And that's that I have this whole list of things I wanted to write about. I guess I only feel like blogging when I have schoolwork to do.
This last quarter has been the most difficult. I'm glad it's over. So far I've been able to do most of the things I wanted to do on winter break, such as hang out with friends, read books for fun, waste the day on the internet, etc. Good stuff.

Books I've read so far:
-Jane Eyre (4.5/5 stars. If you know me, even just a tiny bit, I don't even have to explain why I love this book so much. It's basically the favorite book of every shy, introverted quiet bookworm girl. I'd actually been reading this slowly throughout the quarter on my Nook.)
-Inheritance, the 4th book in the so-called Eragon Cycle by Christopher Paolini (3/5 stars. I knew I was in for a ride when as early as the second sentence of the preface I wanted to roll my eyes. This wasn't Twilight-horrible, just derivative like the previous ones. You're better off reading the originals [aka LOTR and such].)
-Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (3.5/5 stars. Rather enjoyable if you're the sort of person who likes style guides [I am]. Tim's voice is great in this but I get the feeling that he and his cowriter don't really get what it's like to be normal people who don't shop at Neiman Marcus.)
-The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop (3.5/5 stars. I remember loving this one when I read it at age nine or so. It was much shorter and basic than I remembered. The selfishness of the protagonist annoyed me.)

Currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Gahhh it is so good.