NUMBER OF BOOKS READ: 11 (although one is technically a novella)
NUMBER OF FEMALE AUTHORS VS MALE AUTHORS: 9 authors total; 5 men, 4 women.
NUMBER OF DIVERSE (non-American) SETTINGS: 2 set in a fantasy world, 1 set in a ghost world, 1 in Sweden, and 1 in Ethiopia. So, kind of diverse?
RATINGS SPREAD: Four 5-star books; Two 4-star books; Five 5-star books. At least no clunkers!
WHAT I READ: Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders)
WHY I READ IT: Well-reviewed book that popped up on my radar.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Mostly meh, an over-the-top creative writing exercise.
WHAT I READ: Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)
WHY I READ IT: I decided to reread a book by one of my favorite authors that I had read in 2013 and didn’t really love then.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Turns out, I didn’t really love this book now, but I love Maas enough to keep pushing through to the next book in the series!
WHAT I READ: And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (Fredrik Backman)
WHY I READ IT: Backman wrote one of my all-time favorites, A Man Called Ove, and my pledge is to read every other thing he’s written. This is a short novella about a young man losing his grandfather to dementia.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Backman makes all of my emotions come out of my eyes, even in a novella I’m able to read in half an hour.
WHAT I READ: All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation (Rebecca Traister)
WHY I READ IT: It was one of my bookish resolutions to read more nonfiction!
WHAT I THOUGHT: I would have liked a tad more qualitative research and anecdotes from women and a tad less in the numbers department, but it was an incredibly detailed look at the status of women in American history and where we stand now.
WHAT I READ: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Sáenz)
WHY I READ IT: I was literally shamed in book club for not having read it and immediately purchased a copy to remedy.
WHAT I THOUGHT: The hype is real, guys. Absolutely incredible coming-of-age story, beautiful writing.
WHAT I READ: More Happy Than Not (Adam Silvera)
WHY I READ IT: I’m not sure how this ended up on my list, but I read a book by this author a few months ago and really enjoyed it.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Another LGBT coming-of-age story, but totally insane twists I did not expect (and I’m glad I didn’t read the synopsis too closely so I could be surprised).
WHAT I READ: Crown of Midnight (Sarah Maas)
WHY I READ IT: The next book in the Throne of Glass series.
WHAT I THOUGHT: SO much better than the first. Excellent character development, stakes, and set-up for the next book.
WHAT I READ: Black Dove, White Raven (Elizabeth Wein)
WHY I READ IT: May book club book!
WHAT I THOUGHT: Considering the book love for Wein’s previous works (Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire) – and how much I particularly loved the latter – this one fell flat for me. Uneven first and second half, not enough character development, and while it was interesting to read about this time period in Ethiopia, it was dull at times.
WHAT I READ: American War (Omar Al Akkad)
WHY I READ IT: It’s the hottest new book out now.
WHAT I THOUGHT: 5 stars for concept, 3 stars for execution. The story idea of a Second American Civil War is really interesting (and scary), but this book ebbed and flowed from interesting to dull. So much potential that I’m not sure it quite reached. I feel this book will be lauded because of its sexy concept, but the bones don’t quite match.
WHAT I READ: The Upside of Unrequited (Becky Albertalli)
WHY I READ IT: I loved the author’s last book, Simon vs. The Homo Sapien Agenda
WHAT I THOUGHT: Finished in one day, this book was slightly less interesting than her previous work but still a delight to read and wonderful in its intersectional exploration of teenage life. I particularly love how the author let the protagonist have anxiety and be taking medication (without making a huge deal out of it); it’s so important to normalize it in culture, just like someone having to take medication for something like diabetes or a heart problem.
WHAT I READ: The Inexplicable Logic of my Life (Benjamin Alire Sáenz)
WHY I READ IT: This is the author of Aristotle and Dante.
WHAT I THOUGHT: A wonderful and beautiful read (someone might have teared up on the stationary bike at the gym while reading this, y’all), but ultimately a bit thin compared to his last novel.
And that’s April!
The Cutthroat Reader 