Earlier this month, I shared a little challenge I made for myself in which I wanted to see how many of the books I bought in 2018 left on my shelves I could read in two months. There were 18 to begin with, and after reading a few in this post and unhauling a whole bunch in this post, I’m down to 9.
Storming the Gates of Paradise by Rebecca Solnit
I knew I would have to admit defeat soon or later, and this was the book right here. Basically, this is going back onto my shelves unread. I don’t want to unhaul it because I really enjoyed the book I read by Solnit, The Faraway Nearby. But I also think I need to read some more of her work before trying to tackle this one again. She has a very complex way of writing and it takes a little bit of getting used to. I have a few of her other books that seem like they might be a lot more accessible than this one. I still might end up unhauling this one day, but for now it’s staying on the shelf.
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
I actually tried reading this one at the end of 2018. It took me two weeks to get through like 100 pages and it was a real struggle. I didn’t want to unhaul it or DNF it because it really felt like it was just me. And it turns out it was. I read this last week as part of The Reading Rush and managed to get through it in two days this time. It is incredibly slow to start and it was knowing that it would pick up later that kept me going at first. This time it felt so much easier to follow and much more engaging. The world-building in here is really incredible. I struggled a little with the characters, but I think that has a lot to do with the way the story is framed. It’s hard to read about characters in this situation, and I’m really interested to see how they grow and develop in the rest of the series.
The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos
After a lot of back and forth, I finally decided to unhaul this one. I just finally admitted to myself that I really have no interest in reading this. I originally got given this as an ARC from a publishing roadhouse event I went to. I wasn’t super interested in it then but held onto it out of a sense of duty, I guess. I was working at a bookshop at the time and we were told this was a big release we were going to be expected to hand-sell to customers. I don’t think we ever even got a single copy in. Anyway, it’s WWII which is something I usually love to read about, but the last couple I’ve picked up have been disappointing and I’m just feeling uninterested in them right now.
The Storm Runner by J.C Cervantes
This makes me really sad to have to DNF this. I was so incredibly excited about this book, especially because it has disability + poc rep and mythology. Those are some of my all-time favourite things to read about, and all in a middle-grade novel? It felt like this book was made for me. It turns out, it wasn’t.
I always try to reiterate when I DNF books that it doesn’t mean their bad. I really think that’s true of this one. It seems like for most people this really works, but just not me. I’ve tried reading this three different times so I really, really tried. I can’t speak onto whether this changes later in the book or not, but as someone with a similar physical disability to the main character, there were different parts that made me feel really uncomfortable in that way it was discussed. Again, can’t say whether that changes as the character develops and grows more confident in himself and the world around him, so I can only mention how what I read made me feel.
So at the end of this update, I’m officially down to six. I’ve got about ten days left of this project, and I’m hoping to knock down another two. But I’ll update you all early next month!
Earl Grey Books 