Welcome to my first monthly reading wrap-up! In these posts, I’ll share quick thoughts about all the books I read in a given month. I post all of these to Instagram (@taylorrama) and some of them to Goodreads.
For Alison by Andy Parker
This is a difficult book, not because it’s bad (it’s not) but because the subject matter is one of the most harrowing epidemics in American society. You might remember the shooting where journalist Alison Parker was murdered on live TV. Her father has since become an activist and has written this book, not only about Alison’s murder, but about the media storm, the nature of gun discourse, the politics, the non-profit turf wars, and the poison from Internet trolls. I felt angry, sad, and hopeful at various times while reading, but it’s definitely a one chapter at a time read, especially the beginning.
I have some personal connection to the book, too. I am about 80% certain that I watched the video of Alison’s murder shortly after it happened and had a minor panic attack. Yeah, it was on a screen but it wasn’t at all like watching a movie or TV show. Now I know better.
But there’s more. Andy Parker came to speak at my church last October, which is actually where I got the book. I even joined the group lunch we treated him to on the second day of his event. At the time, he was touring around the world to hold community forums about gun legislation and gun violence, and my pastor (who provided clergy services in the fallout of the Virginia Tech shooting) made arrangements for him to come speak at our church. We filled the churchyard with pinwheels bearing the names of everyone who, up to that point in 2019, had been a victim of gun violence in our city. It was over 300.
The only “criticism” I really have is that Parker discusses so many people that I lost track of who most of them were and why they were important. Part of this is because it took me 6 months to read this book and the other part is that him becoming such a public face really did involve a flurry of interacting with a thousand people all the time.
So this book is a heavy read, but necessary. Parker does not mince his words. You will not feel coddled or edified. You will be disturbed and challenged. Parker even told members of my church that this book is like Schindler’s List–you only need to read it once and that’s it. That’s how raw and harrowing it is.
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
The Paper Magician follows Ceony, a young magician who becomes an apprentice in the art of paper folding, which she resents at first because it’s the least exciting type of magic. But after spending a few months with her teacher, Emery Thane, she starts to find it useful. Then, Thane is attacked by an Excisioner, the most dangerous type of magician (they deal in body parts) and Ceony has to race through Thane’s heart in order to save him.
I DNF’d this book at 68%. The premise is interesting and paper magic is really cool, but Ceony becomes a bystander in a massive flashback of Thane’s life. What’s supposed to be a tense race to save him drags and due to personal reasons, I can’t step into the place of this flat main character who is in love with her much older male teacher. If she won’t have a personality, I at least have to relate with what she’s obsessed with and I don’t. 🤷🏻♀️ She also keeps resenting paper magic well after she’s seen the cool things it can do and in general she feels like a 12-year-old yet she’s 19. But if historical fantasy and notice-me-sensei are your jams, this book offers an interesting take on paper magic. Not nearly as cool as Read or Die but still cool.
Also, awkward side note that when I posted this mini-review on Instagram, the author liked it. Authors can choose to engage with their reviewers as much or as little as they’d like to, but being on the other end of it feels weird to me probably because I have different boundaries between me and my reviewers.
Percy Jackson Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
A solid continuation of a solid series. The kids are 14 now so we’re getting a touch darker, a touch angstier. Percy and Annabeth journey through a maze on a new quest to stop Luke and the Titan army from invading Camp Halfblood, but plenty of distractions and teenage feelings make everything complicated. Gods and demigods die. Others are reformed (maybe) and other creatures find that destiny isn’t quite how they thought it’d be. . .
I mean, it’s the second to last book of this first series. My description has to be vague lol. This book is great but for some reason I didn’t have as many giddy feelings about it as the previous book. Even so, my girl Annabeth is an emotional mess and she needs some Lego to process her feelings. Percy is a big mood with his whole “the girl I like kissed me and I don’t realize that I like her but does she like me???” thing. Also, Rachel 👏🏻 Elizabeth 👏🏻 Dare 👏🏻.
At several points during this book, I thought of Thrice’s song “Daedalus.”
The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater
Depending on how I start this review, it’s about me coming to the conclusion that Stiefvater pulled off the whole giving the prophecy at the beginning of book 1 and making the rest of the series satisfying. The things that really needed resolution got resolution. Everything happens as we’re promised it does and it’s all wrapped in beautiful prose. While I can’t fully wrap my head around the weird magic in this series, the reason why I think it’s good is because, as I’ve said before, the characters and their relationships. The technicalities of the magic, the search for Glendower–those are secondary to the actual story about a group of kids who become family over a weird obsession and would do anything for each other. If that element wasn’t so strong, nothing else in the book would work.
I’m glad I read this series. It’s a great, strange story if you can buy into very weird yet very normal events. Can’t say much else without spoilers, but this series is worth your time and I personally have taken many mental notes about how Stiefvater does narration cause damn is it *chef kiss.*
I will say that I think Adam x Ronan came out of (almost) nowhere. While I saw enough hints of Ronan being some type of not-straight, I didn’t at all pick up on Adam having feelings for anyone besides Blue.
Permanent Jet Lag by A.N. Casey
Lucas is emotionally numb and would rather take the easy way out, escaping from his small town, his friend who’s been in a coma for a year, and other difficult relationships. But summer means he’s home from college and not only is he forced to face it all again, but he also falls in love with a boy whose lease on life is greater than Lucas could ever hope to have. But when you’re 19, things aren’t always easily repaired and the bad things in life still happen. Lucas can choose to keep running away, or he can allow himself to risk happiness and vulnerability.
This is a solid romance with all the bitter sweetness of your favorite Netflix coming of age film where not everything works out but it’s kind of okay. Lucas is in a very relatable mental state and all of the characters are interesting, memorable people. I connected with many of their emotional and relationship struggles, and overall thought the story was well-told.
So if you’re looking for some contemporary, sad(ish) hours mlm romance, this book will creep slowly into your feels.
And that’s what I’ve read this month! Let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of these books and whether you liked them!