Reading along with #RiotRead

It's no secret that I love Bookriot.com: it's basically an online community of diverse and awesome readers that posts great content daily. They have everything from book recommendation podcasts, to think pieces to givaways. It's basically a treasure trove for book nerds! There's a little bit for everyone, no matter your reading taste, but it also has broadened my reading horizons by introducing me to new material I never knew was missing from my life, in short BookRiot always has your back when you are in search of new books to discover.

So when they announced that they were starting a read-along I knew that I had to join in! Their first pick for October/November is Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho!

Sorcerer to the Crown is basically:  Austenesque comedy of manners + magic and sorcery + kick ass commentary on race and gender + awesome characters. Basically its everything in my wheelhouse <3

I am about a third of the  way through and I am loving it! Book riot has also release content related to the read-along if you have already finished the book including further reading and an interview with the author.

Let know if you are planning to participate too!
   

Book of the Month Subscription!

When the internet meets the bookish community interesting things happen. One of those things are a wide variety of book related online content and subscription services. I've decided to try one out and review it for you! I am so excited to say that I will be subscribing to and trying out the Book of the Month subscription service of three months!

Book of the Month is an online subscription service that offers you a choice of 5 new release hard-cover books that have been curated by a panel of literary figures each month. You can choose one book for around $10.00 (depending on the length of your subscription plan) and you can add additional books for $9.99 each. You also have the option of skipping a month and keeping the credit for another month if none of the titles appeal to you. Essentially this offers, new hard-cover releases at much lower prices than full-retail price.

I have chosen the 3 month subscription book without sponsorship or prompting by Book of the Month and have undertaking this with my own funds and out of my own curiosity.

I will provide updates when I choose and receive my first box in November but here are some preliminary thoughts before I embark on this bookish adventure!

Pros

Access. Although I recognize the trade-off between large internet providers *cough* Amazon *cough* and I tend to lean towards good old-fashioned brick and mortar stores, I also recognize that I am quite privileged to live in NYC where these are readily available. This service could provide access to new-releases at great prices to people who do not have access to physical book store and allows an alternative to Amazon as an online book retailer.

Prices. Anyone who has every bought a new hardcover release know that it costs an arm and a leg (well, around the realm of ~$35) You can always wait several months for the paperback release or hope that your local library will stock it, but reading books hot off the press can certainly be cost-prohibitive. This can be a lower-price alternative.

Cons

Selection. Each month you have a choice of 1+ books of a total of 5. These five are curated by guest panelists that rotate every month. The downside of course is that the choices are depended on their tastes which might not necessarily align with yours. The ability to opt out of a month and save your credit for another month buffers this downside.

Readalong! @MaidensofMurder #queenofcrimereadalong

Maidens of Murder are an instagram bookclub dedicated to reading the Agatha Christie canon. They basically combine two of my favorite things: bookstagram and Agatha Christie's books. They are a group of diverse bookstagrammers all with their own accounts but they also run the Maidens of Murder Instagram account collectively where they post gorgeous pictures of their latest Christie read and hold engaging discussions and debates about the text. If you have an instagram account you should definitely check out their page!

For the month of October they are hosting the  #queenofcrimereadalong ! All you have to do to participate is read one or more Agatha Christie books this month. Posting cute pictures of your TBR or commenting/writing a book review is completely optional!

Here is my TBR for the  #queenofcrimereadalong. I will be posting a collective review of these at the end of the month.

A Man Named Ove by Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch

Title: A Man Named Ove

Author:  Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication Year: 2014 (English translation) (2012 Swedish Original)

Pages: 337

Genre:Literary fiction/slice of life

@nycbookowl on Instagram

Synopsis

Ove is a grumpy curmudgeon with an uncompromising routine and values finds his world flipped up-side-down when a loud family comprising of a pregnant wife, a klutzy husband and 2 young girls move in next door and run over his mailbox in the process. What ensues is a bittersweet set of events that lead to unexpected friendships, hilarious hi-jinks, the adoption of a broken cat, and many trips to the hospital which reveal that there might be more to Ove than what his neighbors though...

Thoughts 

This book was recommended to me by a friend and proved to be a refreshing change of pace with it's slow, character-driven, slice of life narrativeafter binging several crime thrillers. The story will appeals to fans of Pixar's UP and is ultimately about getting past first impressions. The story is told in two times periods, the present day, and flash backs which slowly reveal Ove's life history and give context for what is occurring in the present. 

The story also explores different ideas such as modernization, tradition, community and different types of love (romantic, friendship, family...) in ways that are both humorous and at times bittersweet. (I definitely blubbered several times while reading this on the subway...) Particularly interesting is Ove's recurring struggles against the "white-shirts" an embodiment of faceless, heartless bureaucracy.

This is an overall adorable, easy/fast book with hidden depth that makes you feel the feels and I would highly recommend it. There's also a movie (in Swedish!) which I can't wait to check out!

Rating: 5/5 

Tips for Bookish New Yorkers from the Dear Book Nerd Podcast!

As I mentioned in a previous post, listening to bookish podcasts during my commute is one of my favorite ways to pass the time. One of my favorite podcasts is "Dear Book Nerd" from Book Riot which answers questions about "Life, Love, and Literature" and is hosted by librarian and brooklynite Rita Meade who dishes out bookish wisdom is a soothing cadence.

As a fellow New Yorker I thought she would be the perfect person to ask for recommendations for bookish things to do in NYC so I submitted my question, and a couple of weeks ago she answered!

It really made my day to hear the question answer by one of my favorite bookish podcasters :)
and she gave some really great advice so I thought I'd share the link for anyone who is interested in checking  it out!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Publisher: Doubleday, UK

Publication Year: 2015

Pages: 320

Genre: Thriller

I first heard about The Girl on the Train when I saw my mother-in-law (an always-reliable weather vane for anything mystery/thriller) reading it last summer. Soon it began to pop up across bookstores, retail stores and airports. Given its title (one of now a slew of 'girl' books) and it’s proximity to the release of the Gone Girl movie, the comparisons were inevitable as well as the squabbles over which one was better.

My curiosity was piqued especially since I had loved Gone Girl and of course, since everyone was raving about it, but I have this strange aversion about reading books at the peak of their buzz and will normally wait to read them later once they are available in paperback (does anyone else does this? I’m still trying to figure out if this is me gagging at the thought of forking over $35 dollars for a hardcover or a fear of collective exuberance clouding my reading experience) so I didn’t run out to get it right away and somehow I've managed to stay spoiler-free this whole time.

Months later, now that the movie will come out soon I figure it’s time to read the book! Here are my thoughts:

Overall I greatly enjoyed the book. It really satisfied my craving for  an introspective, character driven thriller.

The story itself builds tension slowly through atmospheric observations and narrative.The first couple of chapters especially can feel a bit slow for anyone expecting a fast-paced thriller, but stick with it, it’s worth it!

The story is narrated by three main characters, all women who are connected in ways that the reader slowly discovers. All three are flawed and elicit varying degrees of frustration and/or exasperation from the reader at times. The central character is Rachel, a lonely  alcoholic and the eponymous “girl on the train”  who commutes to London everyday and starts to romanticize a couple that she sees everyday through the window of the train as the perfect couple reminiscent of herself and her ex-husband before their divorce. One day, she witnesses something from the train and the next day the woman from the ‘perfect couple’ vanishes and Rachel becomes convinced that what she witnessed is related to the disappearance.

Although this book is what one might classify as a ‘domestic thriller’ I think that it differentiates itself from Gone Girl and stands quite well on it’s own. The Girl on the Train explores issues such as addiction, abuse, misogyny, relationship dynamics (both marital and non-marital) and alcoholism in a unique and thought provoking way. While the book is not overly violent or explicit by any means it does leave your stomach churning especially watching Rachel struggle through depression, addiction and compulsive behaviour as she attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance . You root for her, feel sorry for her, feel frustrated at her relapses and gasp with her as she pieces the parts together.

The only reason I did not give this a higher rating was of my own fault. I read a review of the book before I had finished it myself (Thanks NYT) which lead me to believe that the ending was monumental and shocking beyond belief and while the reveal was certainly heart pounding it felt less important than the review made it out to be. For me the real strength of this book was in it it’s character development, ability to generate empathy for deeply flawed and unlikable characters, and its raw depictions of alcoholism and mental health issues.

Rating: 3.75/5

Can we talk about the Tokyo Zodiac Murders?

Omiomiomiomigod!I don’t know why I didn't pick this up sooner. To be fair I only learned about it recently when I was listening to the backlist of the All The Books  podcast from Book Riot (such a treasure trove of great book findings!). It sounded so intriguing that I wrote down the title and picked it up at the bookstore as soon as I could.

Summary

The premise is thus: In 1936, a deranged artist haunted by demons by the name of Heikichi Umezawa writes in his last will and testament a detailed and gruesome account of how he would murder his daughters and nieces to create the ultimate goddess. Soon after, he is found murdered himself, locked in his studio. Shortly after, the six women are found murdered in the exact way as described by the artist. The case stumped the Japanese police and has remained unsolved all this time. Fast forward forty years and friends Kazumi Ishioka and Kiyoshi Mitarai (a nod by the author to Holmes and Watson) are provided a fresh clue and decided to try their hand at the mystery.

This will be less of a review (because this book is brilliant) than a stream of consciousness inner monologue as I read this book. This Book is unputdownable and the only negative thing to say is that it made my brain feel like a pretzel.

~ Page 120

I can’t believe this is a debut novel. How can someone be so genius on their FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK?

Hehe the narrator is also a mystery book addict? I understand you bro!

Also why haven’t more of his works been translated into English? (Thank you Puskin Vertigo!)

Seriously this man is known in Japan as the “God of Mystery” and his other works haven’t been translated?

This is what happens when SAW and Sherlock Holmes have a baby.

Mutilation, murder and rape...oh this is not your grandma’s cozy mystery.

This book has lots of floor plans, family trees and diagrams: this is a nice nod to golden aged crime books, something I didn’t realized I wanted more of in my crime books.

Ew

Oh gross

EWWW

~ page 200

Oh great, now you took on a bet that you could solve this mystery in a week???

You know it’s been unsolved for 40 years right? 40 YEARS.

I have absolutely no idea who could have done it, unless it was the artist who said he was going to do it, but he was dead so he couldn’t have done it. OR WAS HE? What if it’s a hoax, what if its not real? What if nothing is real??? WHAT IS REAL?

Oh really? I should be able to solve the mystery by now? I have all the clues? THANKS Shimada for making me feel completely incompetent

ANOTHER note from the author? Now he’s just gloating, I still have no idea…

That is probably the best a-ha moment I have ready in a book in a long time. Cray cray good.

Aaaaand he’s still not revealing how he figured it out….aaaand he stalling….come on, quit the tease, we want to know!!

Ok, well I certainly not expecting that….

My brain…

It’s so simple, but wow…

What is life….

Rating ☆☆☆☆☆

Go pick this up!

  

You can find the book here