This Book Will Not Cure Your Climate Anxiety | The Light Pirate by Lily Dalton-Brooks [REVIEW]

December 4, 2022November 28, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Release date: December 6, 2022

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker; his pregnant wife, Frida; and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds to search for them. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.

This smart novel is a terrifying look into what our future on this planet could be. It scared me. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so thoroughly scared by a novel. Lily Brooks-Dalton does an incredible job of creating this reality that I can so easily picture us running into. I found myself wondering while reading how she was able to so thoroughly explore the details of losing an entire state to the climate crisis. The abandonment, the deaths, the loneliness–Brooks-Dalton embedded these into the writing so seamlessly.

So no, this one won’t cure your climate anxiety, but she still leaves the reader with a little bit of hope. The theme of adaptability in humans was so beautifully interwoven into this tale of despair. Seeing Wanda’s story grow and change with the climate and the rising sea was both dark and hopeful.

It was also one of the things that was most intriguing to me–how Brooks-Dalton shows the passing of time. The story spans generations, and Brooks-Dalton uses her writing to show the evolution of the human mind as it ages and in the context of the surroundings. I’ve never read a novel that captures the beauty and devastation of human life in such a gorgeous way.

I was speechless after finishing this one, and I can’t say much more other than to laud the emotion and depth Brooks-Dalton put into this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing, who sent an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads | Bookshop | IndieBound

Books I Read in November | November Wrap-Up

December 1, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Happy December, everyone! November was a pretty good reading month for me compared to what the months before were like. It’s also the month I cam back to book blogging after a little hiatus.

I read five books! Which is about average for me. I saw someone post their wrap-up saying they were upset they only read six books last month–like, girl, that’s a great month for me! Just goes to show that everyone’s reading habits are different. Don’t compare your reading to someone else’s! We all have different lives and different capacities for free time. That said, I think the most important thing I have continued to work on is making that time for reading. There are lots of times when I will be on TikTok when I could be relaxing with a book. I’m not saying TikTok time isn’t also important, but sometimes it’s good to go offline. And if I’m finding that I’m not getting much reading done, it’s because I get stuck on social media for two hours and forget about my books. ANYWAY, let’s get to the books!

What was most surprising for me this month was the number of YA contemporaries and really great NetGalley ARCS I finished. I don’t normally read YA contemporary–usually I just can’t connect like I once was able to. Everything is so dramatic when you’re a teen, and that really translates in YA contemporaries. These two–In the Wild Light and Everything Sad is Untrue–were so beautiful, though. I also typically have really bad luck with NetGalleys. For some reason, I just find it hard to get into a lot of the eARCs I’m approved for. I realized I need to stay away from romance and YA fantasy ARCs because they can be so hit or miss. Winterland and The Light Pirate were so, so stunning. I highly recommend them.

This was a really good reading month for me. Going into December, I’m really in the mood for some wintery fairytale stories. If you have any recommendations that fit this description, leave them below!

What was the best book you read this month?

The Book That Sent Me Down a Wikipedia Rabbit-Hole on Soviet Gymnasts at 1am | Winterland by Rae Meadows [REVIEW]

November 27, 2022November 22, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

CW: ED, Child Abuse, SA

In the Soviet Union in 1973, there is perhaps no greater honor for a young girl than to be chosen to be part of the famed USSR gymnastics program. So when eight-year-old Anya is tapped, her family is thrilled. What is left of her family, that is. Years ago, her mother disappeared. Anya’s only confidant is her neighbor, an older woman who survived unspeakable horrors during her ten years in a Gulag camp—and who, unbeknownst to Anya, was also her mother’s confidant and might hold the key to her disappearance. As Anya moves up the ranks of competitive gymnastics, and as other girls move down, Anya soon comes to realize that there is very little margin of error for anyone.

Release date: Nov. 29, 2022

Never has a novel made me feel disgust, hope, overjoyed, fear, sadness–all of these emotions. What a stunningly gorgeous novel from Rae Meadows.

This one really reminded me of Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, the writing and the story, which I also loved. So it was no surprise that this was a success for me.

This book felt so, so cold. I don’t just mean this because it takes place inside the Arctic Circle, the feeling I felt while reading, Anya’s and her family and friends’ lives–they were so cold, so painful to read.

Meadows just does such a wonderful job of capturing the pressure all these characters are under, from themselves and the world around them. I felt so deeply for Anya who suffered a great amount of abuse from those who should have been watching out for her. She’s not real, but she felt real, and she represents so many children who are exploited for political or financial gain all over the world still.

What I loved most about this novel is how Meadows shows change with the passing of time. To the reader and to the protagonist, this portion of their life seems to go on forever. When we see the time pass, though, and how much has changed, this time as a child seems so far away. It was so incredibly true to real life. How often do we miss the passing of time until everything has changed in our lives?

Meadows was inspired by the story of Olympic Soviet Gymnast Elena Mukhina who was paralyzed after being pressured to perform a dangerous trick she was not ready for. That is how I ended up spending my precious sleeping time on Wikipedia, reading about Soviet gymnasts. The story of how these children were taken advantage of is tragic. Seeing Anya’s and Elena’s story through felt like creating a little bit of justice. Rae Meadows did a beautiful job of this.

Thaank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co. for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Find Winterland at an Indie Bookstore near you

If A Young Patron Comes in to the Library Looking for a Humor Book That Can Also Make Them Cry… | Everything Sad is Untrue [REVIEW]

November 26, 2022November 25, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls “Daniel”) stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.

But Khosrou’s stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment he, his mother, and sister fled Iran in the middle of the night, stretching all the way back to family tales set in the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan, the palaces of semi-ancient kings, and even the land of stories.

We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs, to the heroines and heroes of Kosrou’s family’s past, who ate pastries that made them weep, and touched carpets woven with precious gems.

Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, author Daniel Nayeri weaves a tale of Khosrou trying to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story) [From Goodreads].

If you listen, I’ll tell you a story. We can know and be known to each other, and then we’re not enemies anymore.

One thing I hear from a lot of Youth Services librarians is that they are looking for more humor books to recommend. There are lots of YA books, but most of them, at least in my experience, are very serious or romances or something else. But, I have finally found THE book. The book I would recommend if a young person came into the library looking for something funny to read. Somehow, Nayeri manages to juggle humor and sensitivity in a way that only makes sense for a story about a middle-school-aged Persian boy living in Oklahoma.

I think I was laughing and tearing up within five minutes of each other while listening to this audiobook. Khosrou’s story is so heartbreaking yet hopeful and light at the same time. i think the quote above really sums up the experience of reading this book. As is mentioned in the synopsis, this is a series of true stories based on the author’s life. This story is so important for everyone to consume, young and old, about the immigrant experience in this country.

I want this book to be in every school’s curricula, on every library’s recommended reads display. I’m grateful the cover of this one is so beautiful, otherwise I might not have picked it up originally (I saw it from afar while eating brunch at our local BookBar and looked it up later).

I don’t have much else to say about this one other than it is a hilarious and inspiring read I need everyone to recommend to the young people in their lives.

Recent, Current, and Future Reads | WWW Wednesday [11.23.22]

November 23, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 1 Comment

This is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words that asks us to answer the three Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Happy Wednesday before Thanksgiving! I’m going to my cousin’s for lunch tomorrow and then my partner and I are seeing the holiday Festival of Lights. I don’t love what the holiday represents, but I do love to spend time with my family! What are your Thanksgiving plans (if you live in the US)?

I just started both Gilded (audiobook) and The Light Pirate (eARC). I’m a little iffy on the writing style of The Light Pirate, but it’s still very early on. I have hope. Gilded is a lot of fun already. I’m still slowly working through my physical copy of The Whispering Dark. I’m hoping to do some reading in the car tomorrow over to my cousin’s.

I finished two the other day: Winterland (eARC) and Everything Sad is Untrue (audiobook). Both were beautiful and I loved every second of them. Reviews to come, but I highly recommend.

I just picked up One Dark Window at Barnes & Noble the other day. The description sounded so good, and someone on my Instagram also recommended it. So, I think that one is calling to me.

What are you reading today?

Five Books I’m Thankful For | Top Ten Tuesday [11.22.22]

November 22, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 1 Comment

Happy Tuesday! This is the first Top Ten Tuesday I’ve done since the summer, and it’s a fun one for me. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) is a Thankful Freebie, so I’m going with the top five books I’m thankful for (I do not have the energy to do ten, I apologize). These can be books that were very influential in my formative years, books I read at a really important moment in my life, things like that. Let’s get to it!

TWILIGHT by STEPHENIE MEYER

I mean, could I start the list any other way? Twilight was the book that got me, and I’m sure many of you, into YA. Twilight has so many problems, so many concerning and problematic elements, but I’m so thankful for this series. I could get emotional about this one.

THE GIVER by LOIS LOWRY

This one is very similar to Twilight for me. This is the first book I ever read in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Now, I know it’s a fairly short book, but I was in the fifth grade, and this had never happened to me before. A couple semesters ago, my professor tried to tell me that this book was some kind of propaganda–I have no idea. All I know is that I read this and discovered books could capture my attention so well that I sit on 300-year-old hardwood floors for three hours to finish it.

A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by RUTH OZEKI

I think this was the first adult fiction novel I really connected with. Before then, I just kinda thought all adult fiction was too serious (which I still kinda believe). I had never really seen a novel accurately depict what depression and loneliness felt like. For me, at the age of 15 (16?), knowing someone else knew how I felt, made me feel so much less alone. Ruth Ozeki is actually an alumna from my alma mater, and she taught a creative writing class while I was there which was incredible. I’m thankful for this book and her writing and her mind.

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN

I don’t have any memories of my life while reading this book. This book was meaningful for just how beautiful the writing was. I’m thankful for this book for the writing alone and the wonderful story they tell. That’s all.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by JANE AUSTEN

I need to end this list with the original enemies-to-lovers story. I love this story with all my heart. To be honest, I watched the movie long before I read the book. But, without the book, there would be no movie, so it still counts. I’m sure there were enemies-to-lovers stories before this one, but this is the first one I can remember consuming. I was considering a lot of books for this, many of them romances, but I had to go with the original here.

What books are you thnakful for?

Appalachian Grief and Beauty in a YA Novel | In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner [REVIEW]

November 21, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

CW: SA, Addiction, Overdose

Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He’s been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.

But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind [From Goodreads].

I found this book while searching for titles for a Collection Development course project. It was on YALSA’s list of best teen fiction. I haven’t been reading too much YA recently, but the Appalachian setting is one I don’t see very often, and had to pick this one up. I listened to the audiobook of this one which I highly enjoyed.

This novel was such a beautiful representation of growing up in Appalachia. Zentner does a really great job of capturing the wonder of the setting’s nature along with the more tragic side. The first part of the novel might have been my favorite with all the scenery descriptions of the region.

Delaney’s and Cash’s characters were so wonderfully written with little quirks and insecurities. They felt so real to what my experience of teendom was. The way Cash’s grief in dealing with losing a grandparent really spoke to me, too. It was so accurate and so well done.

The only thing I took issue with [minor spoiler ahead] was the presence of SA to further Cash’s development in the story. I think it was mostly there to deal with Cash’s gross roommate, but I think it could have been handled in a different way. I just don’t really like the use of SA of a girl as a plot device, especially when written by men.

Aside from that, I really loved this story and was just overyjoyed by the setting, the characters, everything. Also, anything with girls in STEM is a win for me.

Highly recommend if you’re looking for a YA contemporary novel with so much heart.

Recent, Current, and Future Reads | WWW Wednesday [11.16.22]

November 16, 2022November 16, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words that asks us to answer the three Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Let’s all pretend I haven’t been gone for 3 months, and this isn’t the first time I’m posting since then. Nope, let’s ignore that. Work and school have been so busy. We got a new head for our library. She’s been great, but so so different than our old Head. Now that fall break is next week, I have a bit more time to read and to write. So, here goes!

Currently reading: I’ve been listening to the audio version of Jeff Zentner’s In the Wild Light. I found this one while doing a Collection Development assignment and am so glad I picked it up. I really love that Appalachian setting. Please let me know if you have any recs with this setting!! I also just started an eARC I have of Winterland by Rae Meadows. I’m not very far at all since I just started it last night, but I’m really enjoying the writing. As for my physical read, I’ve been in the middle of The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew. I love the disability rep, but it’s been a bit confusing so far. I really need to push through to see where it goes.

Recently finished: The last book I read was Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of Butterflies. Wow. What a beautiful book. Cannot recommend this one enough.

Reading next: I saw the cover for Everything Sad is Untrue at the bookstore this weekend, but I’m on a hardcover buying ban and left without it. The cover really grabbed my attention, so I immediately looked for it on Libby. I plan on borrowing the audiobook next because there are some really good reviews for it on Goodreads.

What are you reading this week?

Recent, Current, and Future Reads | WWW Wednesday [8.24.22]

August 24, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 1 Comment

This is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words that asks us to answer the three Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I am going to very honest today. I did not want to make this post. I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression for the past few weeks, and I barely have the motivation to do the work I’m actually payed for.😂 HOWEVER, I know that if I leave my blog for too long I will never come back to it, so here I am! Powering through!

Currently reading: I ran out to Barnes & Noble yesterday to pick up Love on the Brain, and of course I’m already loving it. Ali Hazelwood is absolutely one of my favorite authors now. I want to take this one slow though because I’ll be devastated when I finish and have none of her novels left to read.

Recently finished: I JUST finished my audiobook of The Last Olympian today because it was the last day of my library loan. I love this series to death. It’s not listed here, but I plan to go onto the Heroes of Olympus series next.

Reading next: I have a review copy of A Dreadful Splendor to read. I think this has some romance in it which is what I’m really in the mood for, so hopefully that goes well. I’ll get started on this one this weekend when I’m on my flight to visit some friends.

What are you reading this week?