Dracula by Bram Stoker

Lynnie

fiction, horror, fantasy

 

I originally read Bram Stoker's Dracula in high school and I remember both enjoying it and being terrified. I generally don't read or watch a lot of horror, and was familiar enough with the story that I thought it wouldn't be too bad - and I was right. I think that Dracula is more suspenseful and psychologically scary than bloody, slasher horror (thank goodness!).

Dracula is an epistolary novel, which means that it is told through a series of diary entries and notes. I learned from a friend that the Dracula Daily substack would be sending out an email each day with that day's events from Dracula, essentially telling the story in real time from May 3 through November 7 and I was instantly eager to join in. Dracula was not a book I would have reread in ordinary circumstances, but breaking it down in this way allowed me to add it to my current reading list while continuing to read other books. I loved the experience!

And I enjoyed experiencing Dracula day by day and thinking about how the characters were going about the time between scenes, building tension. Some days there was only a small diary entry that took five minutes to read, other days there were several entries. But spread out, I definitely took more time to think about the story and the characters in a way I hadn't when I was younger.

I recommend rereading Dracula if it's been a while for you, or reading it for the first time if you haven't. And I definitely recommend checking out Dracula Daily if you want to break up the experience into smaller digestible chunks.

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

Amy   

memoir, young adult

All Boys Aren't Blue is a memoir by 33-year old George M. Johnson which describes their personal experiences growing up as a nonbinary, African American person.

While this book did cover important, memorable experiences specific to growing up as an LGBTQIAP+ black kid in New Jersey, it was mostly just about growing up as a middle-class American kid. I mean, obviously, these were Johnson’s stories which were experienced through the lens of their reality as a member of two marginalized groups. But most of their memories were as mundane as any other person’s. However, the fact that Johnson was strong enough to share their own genuine experiences is noteworthy and commendable. Their stated goal in writing this book was to help someone else who may be struggling with similar issues. Johnson wanted to tell other young LGBTQIAP+ people things that they wish they had known when they were growing up queer.

Johnson shared their sense of internal strife at knowing they were different from a very young age. But they seemed to get through it largely unscathed (at least, externally) thanks to a very level head, a supportive, loving family, and an athletic body. Johnson was a likeable person and had an incredible family who accepted them as they were. Johnson didn’t come out as queer until college and, therefore, denied and deflected some potential hatred that might’ve been directed towards them at a younger age. But it's sad that people have to hide a big part of themselves away in order to feel safe in this world.

The last tenth of the novel was the most vulnerable section where Johnson described losing their virginity in detail. But, again, they were hoping to share this information with the goal of helping others. They bravely shared intimate thoughts and experiences.

I read this book because it was the second most challenged book of 2022. It was challenged based on LGBTQIAP+ content as well as explicit sexual content.  Of course, it’s completely absurd to be banning books based on LGBTQIAP+ content but that is a sadly common reason these days.  Johnson wrote this book specifically because LGBTQIAP+ people need more content which contains people like themselves. They need to be able to see themselves depicted in the real world and to absorb stories about situations which are applicable to them. And as for non-LGBTQIAP+ readers, it is also valuable to help us to understand others, as is the case for any reading material. The point of reading about people who are different from us is to learn empathy, broaden our understanding, and have new experiences—to hear other voices in order to expand our own critical thinking skills. As for the explicit sex, yes, it is there. But it’s not rampant or inappropriate in this book.  I wouldn’t recommend this book for required school reading, but it should be available to everyone who wants to read it.

Johnson narrated the audiobook themself. They spoke clearly and had personality. but they lacked of variety in their tempo.  I’ll give them a break because I like when authors read their own words and it’s tough to narrate non-fiction. And I did love when they sang a few bars of the Double Dutch song. I’ll give them an A-. 

Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron (The Riyria Revelations Series #1-#6) by Michael J. Sullivan

Amy  

fantasy

Royce and Hadrian are thieves for hire in a fantasy world similar to medieval England. They agree to a risky scheme and end up being framed for the king’s murder.  They are then pulled from certain punishment of death into the princess’ private scheme. She believes that they did not kill the king and wants them to kidnap her brother, the new king, to protect him from becoming the murderer’s next victim. A grand adventure ensues. After that story arc completes, the second half of the novel is a new adventure where Royce and Hadrian are pulled into assisting a farm girl because she mentions that the wizard they met in the first half of the novel sent her to find them.

Apparently, Michael J. Sullivan wrote an entire 6-novel series before publishing anything. Later, his publishers chose to group these six books into three novels for publishing. So Theft of Swords was really his first two books. (The titles were originally The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.)

This novel was a wonderful adventure full of fun quests, fantasy, royal intrigue, humor (I laughed out loud a few times!), danger, and a (growing) band of newfound friends. The church was the main “bad guy” and exceled in that role. The fantasy elements were great.

I liked the first half of the novel better. The second half had less action, a slower pace, and more lengthy descriptions, inner thoughts, and back stories. While this allowed the reader to get to know some characters better, my interest wavered. There were several situations that were too convenient and others that were too predictable. By focusing on one set of characters more than seemed necessary, it gave away the “punchline”. But, overall, Theft of Swords was a fun fantasy and I forced myself to look past my complaints for the sake of enjoying the adventures and the terrific characters.

I’ll probably read the next one in the series just so I can see what happens to some of the characters.

Tim Gerard Reynolds, the audiobook narrator, was absolutely amazing!  Easy A+!  His vocal repertoire was humongous (each character had their own unique voice!) and his voice acting was superb. I can’t think of anything that needed improvement. He was very entertaining. BRAVO Mr. Reynolds!!

Amy  


As with the first novel, the first half was better than the second. I continue to enjoy reading about Hadrian and Royce and their adventures but this novel had several slow sections that caused my mind to wander while listening to the audiobook.

Amy   


A very satisfying conclusion to the Riyria Revelations series. As with the others, there were some slow sections and some very action-filled sections. But I loved the characters so much that I enjoyed this series overall.

Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne

 

 

Lynnie

graphic novel

 

Wow! Now that I've completed Eight Billion Genies (I am linking the collected volume, though I read the individual issues and blogged about the first four in April), I have to say that it ranks right up there as one of my all-time favorite comic series. At only eight issues, it packed a punch with an ending that was far more emotional than I was expecting.
 

Charles Soule wrote a really wonderful story and Ryan Browne's visuals really brought it to life. As we learn the real origin of the genies and what they mean for the world ... well it gives you a lot to think about in today's society.

The final issue ties everything up in a way that could have been eye-rollingingly cheesy but instead manages to make you want to smile and cry all at the same time. I was truly moved. I never expected to love the genies as characters as much as I did over the course of the eight issues but, by the end, I was as invested in them as in the human characters.

Eight Billion Genies is a beautiful story. I'm so glad I took the time to read it.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Amy  

historical fiction

The Bluest Eye tells the story of two African American families in Lorain, OH in the late 1930s/early 1940s centering on Pecola’s family, her friend Claudia’s family, and their challenging home lives. The novel begins with a Dick and Jane-based children’s story which describes a happy family. But it quickly becomes evident that Claudia and Pecola aren’t enjoying simple happy lives like Jane. Rather, they are dealing with painful, dark issues--some of which they aren’t able to fully understand due to their young ages, limited experiences, and little education. Pecola feels that if she had blue eyes, she would be prettier, and life would be easier for her.

The story is sometimes told via first person perspective and sometimes in third person. This transition wasn’t smooth within Pecola’s mother’s section where both perspectives were used. Seemingly, the perspective changed from paragraph to paragraph. I’m not sure why that choice was made but I assume there was a reason. This resulted in an impression that Polly was being interviewed, with her own words occasionally peppering the wider narrative, but this didn’t make sense to me. I wonder if this changing perspective would have made more sense if I was reading the book instead of listening to the audiobook.

Aside from my confusion about the perspective changes and a couple other structural criticisms which aren’t worth mentioning, Toni Morrison’s writing was truly astonishing. Even when she was describing awful situations, her beautiful wordsmithing and imagery were stellar. Despite the darkness within the pages, Morrison wrote a work of art. I can absolutely see why she is so widely acclaimed as a writer. She has such skill at relaying messages, both obvious and covert. Her word choices were impeccable.

The Bluest Eye described the raw, brutal truths of life for these families, especially for Pecola. These situations included the lack of medical care, cramped housing, alcoholism, physical abuse, prostitution, incest, and pedophilia.

I read this book because I like to read the books that are at the top of the Most Frequently Banned Books. I can see why this book appears on the list of most frequently banned books for schools--there are a lot of intimate sexual scenes including inner thoughts as well as difficult topics that are not sugar-coated.  I can certainly understand why some parents would be concerned about this one. I will concede that this would not necessarily be a suitable choice for required school reading for anyone younger than high school. But I still vehemently disagree with banning the book altogether. I found it to be enlightening, extremely well-written, and sadly realistic. Parents should be helping their children decide whether it’s appropriate for them to read and discussing the issues with them.

The audiobook was narrated by the author herself. Morrison had a bit of a vocal repertoire and was a good voice actor. I love when authors do the narration because I feel I’m getting the real feelings imparted to me. I’m hearing it the way they intended for the message to be received. I’ll give her an A-.

   

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Amy  

fiction

June is an aspiring writer who has maintained a strained friendship with her old college friend, Athena, an extremely popular, successful novelist. Athena has everything June wants. One night, as they are having a drunken pancake eating contest (yes, really), Athena chokes and dies. June takes the publicly unknown manuscript Athena has just completed, makes edits, and sells the novel as her own creation to great acclaim. Since June is white, she faces public scrutiny for writing about WWI Chinese Labor Corps members and is accused of cultural appropriation. She also strenuously denies accusations of stealing the book from Athena.

The only other novel I’d read by R.F. Kuang was an extremely violent fantasy full of terrible things being done to people. So I was interested to read something entirely different by her. However, I can definitely still see the amoral, self-absorbed tendencies in these characters that existed within The Poppy War’s characters. Kuang seems to have an affinity for women who see themselves as wronged and, as a result, feel they have license to do bad things.

It is no wonder why June had no friends and was not even close with her family. Sure, she had experienced some traumas before the events of this novel, but the author never drew a straight line between those events and the unprincipled, dishonest, and misguided person she had become. Her motivations seemed to be greed and seeking attention.

June does bad things and deals with the fallout of those choices. In fact, all of her troubles were caused by her own actions. June wasn’t always the most reliable or forthright narrator and her excuses and attempts to spin the narrative didn’t help me like her. Of course, this was the author’s intent but June was such an unlikeable person that I could never really care how her life turned out. She was insecure, guilty, and self-delusional. The sad thing was that she could be very creative when she had to talk her way out of trouble yet she did not seem to be able to come up with any good ideas for a novel herself.

Yellowface touched on some important contemporary topics and controversies being faced within the writing industry such as general publishing obstacles, cultural exploitation, racism, social media reviews/attention, the author's share of profits, writer’s block, and dealing with fickle celebrity status. But, despite these provoking subjects which interested me, I kept looking to see how much of the novel remained because I was hoping it would end soon. I could not get behind June and there was no one who would come out better or improved within this plot. This novel was basically a detailed train wreck told by someone in whose head I wished I didn’t have to stay for too long. I got and appreciated the messages Kuang was passing to the reader, I just didn’t love the experience of living this lengthy story from June’s perspective.

I don’t know whether I’ll read any more books by Kuang.  I see her talent as a writer but I just don’t like reading about all the tarnished characters.

The audiobook was narrated by Helen Laser.  She did a good job overall. She had some different voices up her sleeve and she did June’s snark really well.  I’ll give her an A-.