Ellesee's "Persistence Counts" Challenge 2018

I'm giving it another go this year. Perhaps, I'll get closer that last year...

1: The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President compiled by Bandy Lee, M.D., M.Div.

Happy New Year
Happy New Group here
This place is full of friends
I hope it never ends
Its brew of erudition and good cheer.

Welcome back! I hope you have a great reading year!

Hiya, Ellesee, good to see you back. Been wondering how/where you were.

Winter holidays were bad. Death in the family and emergency surgery all within the same week. Been slow to get back on track. However, I sense winter is giving way to spring, so things are looking up. ;^)

1: The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President edited by Bandy X. Lee

2: From the land of green ghosts : a Burmese odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe

Horrible week, it sounds like. My sympathies. Glad that things are looking up for you, now.

3: The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron (YAL)
10: The Knowing by Sharon Cameron (YAL) (sequel) Although "wrapped" up at the end, there was still room for another installment. Interesting storyline--more original than most YAL scifi coming out these days.

4: Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari

5: Here by Richard McGuire (graphic novel). Beautiful drawings, amazing concept. Imagine being in a time capsule made of glass and you could go to anywhere in time but only to this one place. You can watch it shift from century to century, eon to eon. It's a very surreal experience, yet surprisingly settling as well--there's a strong sense of continuity throughout, that life goes on.

6: Saga (1) by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (adult graphic novel). Emphasis on "adult." Lots of gratuitous sex scenes. Story arc and artwork superb, but definitely NOT for school libraries--even high school IMHO.

16: Saga (2) by Brian K. Vaughan. Forgot to add this one. Left on a cliffhanger of sorts. Looking forward to book 3. Painfully intriguing.

7: Your Black Friend by Ben Passmore (short graphic novel)

8: We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson

You know, the writer of "The Lottery." I love her darkness--and the exposure of the darkness in society and people.

9: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

I'm reading three of her recent books. While her message is clear, and indeed I see myself as one of the "negative Nellies" she admonishes, I find her style a bit too crunchy granola-ish a bit New Age preachy. I can see her point that always focusing on the gloomier side of things can ultimately lead to a kind of paralysis--but maybe that California dreamin' thing is what pushes my buttons a bit in a bad direction. It was good, however, to see the accomplishments that have been hard won for progressive activists everywhere, and she juxtaposed these well with the recognition that there is still much more to do.

Of course, this book was written and updated prior to Trump's election, so there is room for change. The current book I'm reading, Men Explain Things To Me, is not quite as "cheery".

11: Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

I think people misinterpret the title--some are turned off by what they think is sarcasm (maybe it is, but hear me out). They inadvertently put a comma after "Men" so it sounds like "Men, (Pause) explain things to me." As if she is asking for men or a man to explain THINGS to her as if she's stupid, etc. Whereas, if the pause is left out, "Men explain things," is the primary action--they are doing the explaining. To whom? To me. There is also a hint of snarkiness in this as well, but I take it more as an observation in this sense than a sarcastic challenge in the former case. Well, all title interpretation aside, it was a much more solid read than the previous one I read, "Hope in the Dark." The focus was on feminism, sexism and patriarchy. It was not a diatribe against men (which always seems to make some people anxious)--it was, in my view, a fairly clear statement about how patriarchy manifests in our culture, and that we cannot compartmentalize the daily slights against women (such as "mansplaining" or dismissing a woman's experiences) as being different from outright violence against women. They are on the same spectrum and one (the former) gives rise to the latter. While most men do not condone or actively rape women, rape culture is an end result to patriarchy unchecked. This is nothing new when you think about it. Of course, things are changing, and that is a good thing. Yet, the conversations still need having--and there will always be elements who resist progress. Solnit uses one of my favorite quotes. "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." (Cheris Kamarae and Paula Treichler, although Solnit attributes the quote to another person, the two names here are provided from multiple sites.)

21: The Mother of All Questions: Further Reports from the Feminist Revolutions by Rebecca Solnit

I appreciated this more recent series of essays by far more than the others--perhaps a bit more tempered but also more concurrent to recent issues. I like that Solnit challenges my thinking--but that I don't feel like I must agree with her. She leaves room for various opinions and only seems to be asking that her reader listen to her as she might listen to us. At least that is my hope.

12: Dune by Frank Herbert
13: Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
14: Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
18: God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert--By far my favorite of the first four. Every time I read it I get something new from it.

15: She rides shotgun by Jordan Harper

17: Malagash by Joey Comeau

19: All Systems Red: The Murderbot diaries by Martha Wells--A quick read and pretty decent. I can see this made into a scifi mystery thriller. It's got all the elements, including various "machines are people too" themes.

20: Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. And, just so you know, it has been picked up by 20th Century Fox to become a film. Hopefully, Wilson will produce a sequel before the film. I'm hooked.

22: Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

23: In the Shadow of the Sun (YAL) by Anne Sibley O'Brien

24: Dear Martin (YAL) by Nic Stone

25: The Wood (YAL) by Chelsea Bobulski

26: How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt

27: Incognegro by Mat Johnson (graphic novel) Amazing work! Subject treated realistically and respectfully without sanitizing or white-washing. A book that will generate discussion and make some feel uncomfortable.

28: Black Prophetic Fire interviews with Cornel West
29: Julia Vanishes (YAL) by Catherine Egan (re-read from 2016)
30: Julia Defiant (YAL) by Catherine Egan
31: Julia Unbound (YAL) by Catherine Egan (end of trilogy)

32: LifeL1K3 by Jay Kristoff: Kristoff is co-author of the much acclaimed "Illuminae" trilogy (YAL). It appears to be on the leading edge of the new wave of robot/android dystopian novels trending in YAL, and perhaps adult fiction. It's a fast-paced, high action read with plenty of explosions, chases and fight scenes--and a bit of sex to keep everything Hollywood. It's sure to be slated as a film in the future. And, of course, left wide-open for a sequel, if not more.

33: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (YAL)

Finished right before midnight on 12/31/2018. *Sigh* Need to really stop playing WoW.