Karen Carries On

Hi, I'm Karen, living in the panhandle of Florida. This will be my third year in Club Read, and I am very grateful to this group because I get the majority of my reading suggestions from you all. I have a husband and two middle-school aged sons, and I work as a speech pathologist for the local school district. Life is busy! I read a mixture of science-y nonfiction, and fiction, which includes a lot of sci-fi, along with a mix of mystery, literary fiction, etc.

January
1. Piranesi

2. Stuff Matters

3. This Is How You Lose the Time War

4. The Farm: A Novel

February
5. The Eighth Detective

6. Cloud Atlas

7. Across the Green Grass Fields

8. The Ministry for the Future

March
9. In an Instant

10. Moonflower Murders

11. The Serpent's Shadow

April
12. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

13. The Vanishing Half

14. Borders of Infinity

May
15. The Code Breaker

16. Shards of Honor

17. Shadow and Bone

18. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

19. Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife

June
20. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

21. The Land Where Lemons Grow

22. Project Hail Mary

July
23. Wilding

24. A Monstrous Regiment of Women

25. A Letter of Mary

26. The Moor

27. The Language of Bees

28. The God of the Hive

29. The Last Flight

August
30. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

31. No One Is Talking About This

32. Hench

33. Qualityland

34. Island of the Mad

September
35. Caliban's War

36. The Power

October
37. The Wife

38. Girl, Woman, Other

November
39. Foundation

40. Skyward

41. Starsight

42. The Eye of the World

43. Cytonic

December
44. A Line to Kill

45. Excellent Women

46. The Hands of the Emperor

47. Bewilderment

Happy new year, Karen!

>2 Dilara86: Thanks, Dilara, here’s to a great year of reading!

Hi, Karen, stopping by to say Happy New Year! and drop off a star. Best wishes for good reading.

Happy new year Karen (a bit belated).

>5 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan!!

1. Piranesi
A week after finishing this fantastical novel, I can still FEEL the world the author created, and I can't find quite the right words to describe it. "Beautiful, haunting, lovely" are some of the words that keep popping up in reviews, but those descriptors don't encompass it. Recommended.

2. Stuff Matters
This is a nonfiction book written by a materials scientist about some of the common substances in our world, such as concrete, chocolate, paper, graphite, porcelain. I am completely amazed that he made this book so interesting and enjoyable while simultaneously deftly explaining complex scientific concepts. This is one of those rare books that takes a topic that usually wouldn't interest me and keeps me absorbed cover to cover.

3. This Is How You Lose the Time War
This novel was also fantastical. Technically it's sci-fi, but it's such lyrical sci-fi. There is a war being waged between two factions over the many, many threads and braids of time, "upthread and down." This was very inventive with beautiful and clever language.

>6 karspeak: This Is How You Lose the Time War was in my top five list for 2020 so I'm glad to see someone else who enjoyed it as much as I did.

>7 rhian_of_oz: I’m pretty sure I heard about it from your thread, so, thanks!

>7 rhian_of_oz: I added This Is How You Lose the Time War to my wishlist.

>6 karspeak: Piranesi again, positive again (especially here). Noting. Your comments on all three of these books are enticing.

>10 dchaikin: I’m feeling fortunate to have started off the year with 3 good reads!

>6 karspeak: Piranesi was my first read of the year as well, and I also loved it. So thought provoking.

>6 karspeak: >7 rhian_of_oz: Oh, I am really looking forward to Time War, but I don't know when I'll have time for it. I need to get some of these books off my bed.

4. The Farm (friend rec)
This novel set in present-day America explores so many issues, including the ease of being a US citizen vs. the insecurity of being an illegal immigrant, the privilege of the rich vs. the powerlessness of the poor, the way a group favors its own members but mentally distances itself from outsiders, and the commoditization of humans. These themes are not new, but this novel pushes the limits so hard on all these issues via the plot that it jars the reader into more viscerally examining them. The author is not suggesting solutions or placing blame but rather exploring the inherent difficulty of these issues. I don't want to spoil the plot, which unfolds through the alternating viewpoints of several different women and involves surrogacy. The symbolism can be very heavy-handed, and I wished for more literary finesse. But, for me, the in-your-face approach was effective.

5. The Eighth Detective
This is a fun and clever meta-mystery, but its tone was also a little cold.

6. Cloud Atlas
I so enjoyed this novel, with its structure going forward then back through time. I look forward to trying some of David Mitchell's other novels.

7. Across the Green Grass Fields
This is the 6th and most recent book in the Wayward Children series. This didn't feel as unique as some other books in the series.

8. The Ministry for the Future
This environmental sci-fi begins in the present day and extends 30 or so years into the future. The author presents a possible scenario where the population of the earth actually does take the needed steps to address climate change and its attendant problems. Of course, this is not an easy or smooth process, and many, many factors come into play. This book is extremely wide-ranging. One chapter might be talking about geo-engineering to tackle ocean warming or glacier sliding, the next about quantitative easing for oil companies and petro-states, the next about wildlife corridors, the next about refugee camps, the next about deadly heatwaves, and so on. But I especially liked that it tackled the particularly difficult issues of how banks and capitalistic systems might actually change in order to make decisions which go against their very natures, and how the majority of people might actually change their thinking to admit and then embrace the need to focus on our planet. It didn't just talk about the scientific problems of climate change, but it also talked about the real obstacle--us. This was so much work to read, because it often involved wading through treatises on banking theory, or glacier slide, or sociology, etc, but for me it was definitely worth the effort.

>17 karspeak: "This book is extremely wide-ranging." and "This was so much work to read, because it often involved wading through treatises on banking theory, or glacier slide, or sociology, etc,"

That is KSR's style in a nutshell - he tends to go on tangent because he is covering all the bases. ;) You either love it or hate it (or eventually tolerate it...) :) Out of curiosity - had you read any of his earlier novels?

>18 AnnieMod: I haven’t read anything else by him. I think I had looked at his Mars trilogy a while ago, but I’m not very interested in the settling of Mars. Anything else by him you might recommend?

>19 karspeak: The only reason I had not read all of his books is that I keep them for rainy days. 2312 is good - not perfect but good. The Mars books may be about Mars in theory but they can be moved to pretty much any other world and still work (with minor changes) - they are more concerned with the social changes than with the physical ones - they are the first of his I read and they made me fall in love with his writing. I haven't read a bad book by him so if you like the style, just pick something that appeals as a topic. :)

>20 AnnieMod: Thanks for the explanation and suggestion!

>17 karspeak: I have this in the queue because of a recent podcast interview (https://www.vox.com/2020/11/30/21726563/kim-stanley-robinson-the-ezra-klein-show-climate-change), but haven't yet read it.

>22 qebo: I’m glad I read it. I am on the waitlist for Bill Gates’ new book on climate change. I’m curious to hear if he has anything new (to me) to say.

>17 karspeak: This sounds very interesting. I often wonder what other consequences there will be to trying to control our environment.

>24 janemarieprice: Indeed! I continue to be amazed at the complexity of the science involved in all the different aspects of climate change.

9. In an Instant (book club selection)
This is currently the #1 bestseller on Amazon's Literary Fiction charts (whatever that means). It was, by turns, gripping and cheesy.

10. Moonflower Murders
This was a very enjoyable mystery, recommended. It's the sequel to Magpie Murders, which was also very good. Each book is a mystery within a mystery, which is fun.

11. The Serpent's Shadow
A cute, light read.

>27 karspeak: Is that the one from The Elemental Masters series? I've been enjoying those.

>28 sallypursell: Yes, it is, my sister recommended them to me.

12. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
I have read a lot of books on climate change, since it is a particular concern/interest of mine. I thought Bill Gates' book might be yet another book warning about climate change, trying to convince people of its truth and dire importance. And there are already so many of those floating around. Thankfully this was worth the read for me. Gates very clearly and logically looks at how to tackle climate change from a very pragmatic perspective. He doesn't bother with pie-in-the-sky ideas that will never happen, or bemoan how little is being done. The book Drawdown had done something similar, but Gates' approach is much more practicable, perhaps because of his strong business background and his experience with dealing with various leaders from various countries. It was nice to finish a climate change book and not feel depressed by the doom and gloom. The focus on what needs to be done and how it could be done, rather than all the ways we are screwing up, was refreshing.

BTW, could someone please visit my garden LT thread below to let me know if my photos are viewable? There should be 6 photos, from post #5-post #10. Thanks!!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/330375#n7482290

I can see six photos

>39 karspeak: I see them and they are gorgeous.

>31 RBeffa: >32 dianeham: Thanks!!

I can see them and they're beautiful! I'm just getting my garden started, so they're inspiring me.

>34 lisapeet: Ooh, fun! Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home encouraged me to include more native plants in my gardening, so that has been a really high learning curve.

13. The Vanishing Half
I forgot I had finished this awhile ago. This novel is about identity in American society--racial identity in the 1960s onward and transsexual identity more recently. This was a just-okay read for me.

14. Borders of Infinity
This was a fun, although occasionally ridiculous, entry in the Vorkosigan (space opera) series. Great audiobook for a long car ride.

15. The Code Breaker
This was excellent. It is a nonfiction account of Jennifer Doudna, who won the Nobel Prize for her role in the discovery of CRISPR. I learned so much and now have a better rough idea of the significance and usefulness of gene editing.

16. Shards of Honor
Another fun entry in the Vorkosigan space opera series.

17. Shadow and Bone
This fantasy novel has been turned into a popular TV series on Netflix, and I wanted to read it before I saw the show. It was engaging, but after a while it seemed quite overwrought.

>37 karspeak: Shadow and Bone was Leigh Bardugo's first novel, and she definitely gets better with each book. I haven't read any of that trilogy yet, but I loved her later duology, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, and I noticed improvement in her writing from one to the other as well.

They are all YA though, so YMMV. She's now put out her first adult novel, and that might be more to your liking, if you're interested in trying another of her books.

>38 Julie_in_the_Library: Oh, that's good info, thanks!

>38 Julie_in_the_Library: What's YMMV? It sounds worth knowing, although I read a lot of YA, and I enjoy it a lot.

>40 sallypursell: Your Mileage May Vary - not in the literal car sense of the term, but in the sense of 'how much you like this may vary depending on your personal preferences, etc' It gets shortened to an acronym online a lot because it's a lot to type, otherwise.

>41 Julie_in_the_Library: Oh, I see. Thank you. I understand the use of that statement in that context, I just hadn't seen the acronym.

>42 sallypursell: I had to look it up the first time, myself. I'd heard the expression, but never seen it written in acronym form before. Out loud, people just say all the words.

>38 Julie_in_the_Library: Just jumping in to say I really liked Six of Crows too. Useful info about Shadow and Bone - will avoid!

18. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
A fun re-read. My middle schooler is reading it this month, so I wanted to refresh my memory to discuss it with him.

19. Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife
Excellent. This could have been one of those forgettable "plant-this-not-that" books, but instead the author teaches the reader how to think for herself about which plants would best support wildlife, within the limits of local climate, etc. The book focuses on shrubs and trees, leaving other books to discuss wildflowers and specific plants for supporting butterflies. Some of the things I learned include the following: most songbirds can eat only smaller berries; trees and shrubs with weaker branches can't support nests well; trees and shrubs with a very open form don't provide good cover or nesting; shrubs with thorns provide the safest cover for birds; most birds need caterpillars to feed their nestlings, so host plants for butterflies and moths must also be incorporated; birds will not feel comfortable flying to a tree with seeds/berries/insects if it doesn't have surrounding cover; birds can have very clear preferences for certain foods, just like humans do; rough bark can harbor more insects than smooth bark; if you know what the local habitat was prior to development (mine is pine flatwoods), you should try to recreate that habitat when possible, which in my case includes clearing out some of the understory to mimic fire activity that would have suppressed the growth of shrubby bushes and allowed native grasses and wildflowers to grow; and berries should be available for as many months as possible. The author also did a very good job of discussing which plants work in which areas of Florida, which is no easy task. To sum up, native plants are NOT created equal, at least when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck, so to speak, in supporting local wildlife.

Stopping in to say hello and looking over the titles popping up. The Code Breaker caught my attention. And enjoyed the info in your review of Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife.

>46 dchaikin: Hi, Dan!

20. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (LT rec)
This was fun, absorbing, and well done. Below are three industry reviews lifted from Amazon, which give a good sense of the book. Apparently there is a sequel set in Japan, which I plan to read.
“A clever detective story, a thrilling steampunk adventure and a poignant examination of the consequences of class warfare and English, Irish and Japanese nationalism in the 19th century.”―Bookpage
“A unique blend of historical fiction and magical realism about the inextricable relationships between three people, a watch with magical powers and a clockwork octopus. This is ideal escapist holiday reading, your imagination will run riot.”―Irish Tatler
"...The Watchmaker of Filigree Street might be compared to one of Mori’s clockwork birds: intricate, charming and altogether surprising." ―The New York Times Book Review

21. The Land Where Lemons Grow (LT rec)
This is an excellent, lovely, and informative nonfiction book about citrus in Italy. The author skillfully accomplishes several things at once: we get a tantalizing peek inside hidden corners of Italy rarely glimpsed by tourists; the history of Italy's citrus crops is used to explore Italy's cultural history, such as the birth and rise of the Mafia in Sicily; and we gain an account of the author's years-long search for this knowledge. The author's love for Italy and for its botanical and cultural history shines through, along with her excellent writing.

22. Project Hail Mary
Hmm, I had a friend strongly suggest this, and she liked it even more than The Martian (by the same author). I didn't care for it nearly as much, although it did keep me turning pages to find out what happens. I read a fair amount of sci-fi, so I wonder if that is partly why it didn't impress me as much, since many of the ideas used in the plot were old hat to me.

23. Wilding
I so enjoyed this account of a British farm that decided to restore its land, as much as possible, to its natural state prior to humans arriving in Britain. Their efforts succeeded far beyond what anyone expected, with various endangered butterflies, birds, and other species appearing there over the past twenty years. Definitely recommended if you have an interest in nature writing, ecosystems, or wildlife preservation.

24. A Monstrous Regiment of Women
This is the second book in the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series. Quite fun, and a good audiobook for a long drive. I had read the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, years ago, but I hadn't realized it's a series until my sister suggested it.

25. A Letter of Mary
The third book in the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series and also enjoyable.

>49 karspeak:
Oh, that looks interesting!

>50 qebo: Absolutely up your alley.

>49 karspeak: I am a bit of a fan of Mary Russell but have fallen a bit behind in the series. Looking at the series on LT the number of copies drops off quite a bit with Pirate King (which I didn't love) which is a shame because the later books (that I've read anyway) return more to the style of the earlier books.

Now I'm off to order the books I don't yet have :-).

>52 rhian_of_oz: Pirate King has the worst reviews of any in the series, with several reviewers mentioning it was their least favorite of the whole series. I plan to skip that one and then save the rest of the series for audiobooks on road trips. The audiobook versions are really well done. I also plan to skip #5, O Jerusalem, since I've already read plenty on the history of Jerusalem, and #8, Locked Rooms, since that is about Mary recovering her memories from childhood, etc, and I don't want to read about her "struggling with her psyche," as one reviewer put it. But overall I have found the series to be so well written and quite entertaining, with unexpected depth and flashes of perception from time to time.

26. The Moor
Number four in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Entertaining.

27. The Language of Bees
I skipped #5-8 and read this one next, #9 in the Russell-Holmes series. The plot continues into #10 below, The God of the Hive. As you can see, I am definitely not a completist.

28. The God of the Hive
Number 10 in the Russell-Holmes series. Still good pacing, writing, and plot, but one thing about the ending annoyed the heck out of me. Plus it feels like either Russell or Holmes is always struggling with some heavy psychological issue, which doesn't appeal to me. Once in a while is fine, since that is just part of life, but I don't care for it as a consistent theme in the series.

29. The Last Flight (book club selection)
Ugh. This is a thriller about two women escaping their former lives, etc, etc. This was so not good. Along with other factors, I think I'm done with that book club.

>53 karspeak: I think Locked Rooms is worth reading. My memory of it (keeping in mind I read it over a decade ago) is that it was more of a mystery than simply an examination of psyche.

>54 rhian_of_oz: Good to know, thanks!

I've put Wilding on my list - sounds interesting!

>56 japaul22: I think you’ll enjoy it!

30. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
A well-done NF book about a woman's personal experience going through counseling. She is also a psychotherapist herself, so she has a very informed perspective on her experiences. It was too wordy at times, but it was still overall a good read.

31. No One Is Talking About This (LT rec)
Whoa. This highly unorthodox, partially autobiographical novel begins as a rather poetic/stream-of-consciousness account of the pull and experience of the online world. But then the book takes a turn and the main character has a dramatic real-life experience occur that changes her perspective on her heavily online existence. The author is a poet, and it really shows. This is the best description of the social pull of the internet that I have ever read. This is longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.

32. Hench (LT rec)
This is a fun story about superheroes and villains written from the perspective of a minor henchwoman. She sees superheroes as worse than the villains and works to undermine them to decrease all of the human and monetary collateral damage that superheroes cause. Entertaining and well written.

>58 karspeak: good to hear about No One is Talking About This. I should get to it next year.

Two of my favourites read this year! No One Is Talking About This and Hench.

>60 Yells: I got both recs from your thread about a week ago, so thank you!!

D’oh! Glad to be of service :)

33. Qualityland (LT rec)
Oooh, this was a fun satire of Amazon/Google etc, and their use of algorithms, our personal data, etc. Fun and clever! The humor might not be for everyone, since it is very sarcastic. But it is so relevant to our current world.

34. Island of the Mad
Another in the Russell-Holmes series. I thought the mystery aspect in this one petered out.

35. Caliban's War
The second in the Expanse sci-fi series. Entertaining.

36. The Power (book discussion group)
I had read this when it first came out and wasn't crazy about it. This time around I got what the author was trying to do, so I could appreciate it. In this speculative fiction novel, the author sets up a huge shift in the world when women become more powerful than men because of a new ability to control electricity that is emitted from their bodies. So the world is turned on its head, and we see a triumph of feminism, so to speak. But what will the world look like with women in charge? Will it be better? This book did a good job forcing the reader to see the many ways, both big and small, obvious and subtle, that women can be discriminated against or "put in a corner." It's a well-set-up thought experiment. Her exploration of the the effects of having power over others, and of humanity's flaws in general, weren't as successful. This should make for a great discussion.

37. The Wife
This novel explores a wife's feelings toward her husband, based on their life together over the years. The writing was excellent, with particularly good and original turns of phrase scattered throughout. But the plot itself was just okay. And since part of her anger at her husband was really the result of her own actions, it was hard to feel too sorry for her.

38. Girl, Woman, Other (book club)
This novel, along with Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, won the 2019 Booker Prize. It contains the stories of 12 British women of color, many of which intertwine with each other in some way or other. It doesn't have a plot in the way a traditional novel would. Instead, the reader gets to know these women intimately, and each woman's story is its own novel, in a way. I like that the author didn't use any plot gimmicks, such as trying to make each story connect concretely to the others. The author's skill was apparent in that she made each woman fully unique and believable. I also appreciated that many of the characters had a wry sense of humor that kept things "real." In spite of all these positives, I didn't love this, for some reason. I think perhaps I missed the structure of a more traditional novel, or I missed having a main plot arc.

39. Foundation
This is considered one of the great sci-fi classics, so I decided to read it. I appreciated the ideas in it, while at the same time guffawing at the lack of characterization and the lack of female scientists/leaders/etc. Apparently Asimov was influenced by the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire when he wrote it, and I did appreciate his sweeping plot arc across multiple generations.

40. Skyward
This was a fun and action-packed YA sci-fi novel. It's not heavily YA, though. This is the first in a quartet. As usual, the author, Brandon Sanderson, excels at three things: action scenes, world building, and plotting. In this particular series, there are a lot of Top Gun-like aerial dogfights.

41. Starsight
The second in the Skyward series. Also entertaining. The plot is stretched a bit thin in this one, but hopefully Sanderson will tighten things in the next book, which will be released November 23.

>65 karspeak: you’re not alone with GWO. I wanted to like it more, and enjoyed the last section a lot, but overall I just didn’t take to it. I’m kind of grateful to read a similar response.

>66 dchaikin: I’m glad I’m not the only one, too!

42. The Eye of the World
This is a widely-read fantasy book that I hadn't read before, and it is also being adapted and released as a TV series. It was entertaining enough, but not enough for me to read the remaining 13 books in the series.

43. Cytonic
This is the third in the Skyward series, just released yesterday. It was okay, not great. The author Brandon Sanderson has said he is about 40% done writing the fourth and final book in the series.

44. A Line to Kill
This is the third in the Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery series. I did enjoy the mystery, but the relationship between the two main characters seemed stale and annoying. There needs to be some development in their relationship or their individual characters to keep the series fresh.

45. Excellent Women
I got the idea for this re-read from Jennifer/japaul22’s thread. I so enjoyed reading this again, and I might have to make it an annual thing. Pym’s subtle, sardonic humor is wonderful, and it’s even more affecting since she is taken for granted or overlooked by nearly everyone.

46. The Hands of the Emperor (LT rec)
This fantasy book focuses on the relationship between the emperor and his chief secretary, and the relationships between the chief secretary and his friends and family who live very far away in his hometown. There are many poignant moments throughout the book. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book, but the last third seemed to drag on and become very repetitive. But overall I still enjoyed it and found its tone to be unusual for its sentimentality and focus on the love between friends and familial love.

This year I read 22 speculative fiction books (sci-fi/fantasy), 9 mysteries, and 8 general fiction. I read 7 non-fiction, 5 of which were scientific in focus.
Most atmospheric: Piranesi
Favorite nonfiction: Wilding
Most enjoyable literary fiction: Excellent Women
Best satire: Qualityland

>71 karspeak: I think I'll need to add Qualityland to a wishlist, sounds perfect.

>68 karspeak: Did you like season one? I got my family to watch a they enjoyed. I picked up Eye of the World and read a bit and remembered how slow it goes…and set back down. But the show has me interested in picking it back up.

>72 stretch: I second the recommendation for Qualityland - so bitey.

I’m glad you enjoyed rereading Excellent Women! I still have Wilding on my list from when you reviewed it. Hopefully I’ll get to it in 2022!

47. Bewilderment (read for book discussion with a friend)
This was my second book by Powers, so I knew to expect various layers of meaning in this novel. With climate change upon us, is it normal to be happy and adjusted in one's life, or should this knowledge cause us to be a little unhinged, and rightfully so? Take that theme and various subtle variations on it, and mix in a boy on the autism spectrum and a grieving husband. It was not a happy read, but it should make for a good discussion.

My new thread is finally up here.

>72 stretch: >74 rhian_of_oz: "Bitey"--ha!
>73 dchaikin: I haven't watched the show, and I don't think I will since I know what happens now!
>75 japaul22: I found it encouraging, besides being very good.

>76 karspeak: That's on my February plan :) But I haven't read Powers before.