It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do to buy your freedom?
Would you go on an impossible heist?
Who would you choose to go with you?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

       

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
DNF @ 10% || Goodreads
I’ve heard such good things about Sing, Unburied, Sing that I wanted to try Ward’s first book, but … nope. This one wasn’t it, thanks lol. I was so grossed out right from the start that I just didn’t see any reason to continue. Okay, so, I’ve presided over the birth of many an animal in real life, right? But I just could not handle the in-depth descriptions of it in this book (which felt really unnecessary from the start). I’m also not a fan of reading about 14-year-olds having sex. It’s just not my thing and feels squicky for me. I support their choice to have sex, but at no point should I be a part of it. Aside from all that, I wasn’t a huge fan of Ward’s writing. I thought she captured to slang and voice really well, but the writing itself was so flowery and over-saturated with metaphors and similes and all kinds of figurative language. The protagonist, Esch, also is undereducated but simultaneously loves reading classics, especially Greek literature, and often compares her life to the Greek epics she’s read, so … that was weird? All in all, this one just didn’t work for me, personally. I mean, it’s won some really big awards and has a good Goodreads ranking, so this seems more like an “it’s not you, it’s me” problem, and I do still intend to give her second book a try.

My Song for Him Who Never Sang to Me by Merrit Malloy
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
I stumbled across Epitaph being shared around Twitter, and I thought the poem was absolutely gorgeous. Took a little tracing back, but I finally found the author and book it was from, and I instantly bought it. What a poetry collection! Some of the poems are really personal, which is always hard for me. I’ve talked about it before, but I feel like I’m an eavesdropper or interloper when it comes to personal poems, rather than being invited in to experience the poem. Plenty of them were open enough to connect to on a personal level, and they were so beautiful and poignant. There were some lines or stanzas that just really hit me hard in the feels. The book’s a little sparse, it feels, and I’ll warn that there’s some nudity in the photographs, which was … odd? To me, anyway. But I did enjoy this book just the same, and it’s definitely worth a spot on my bookshelf for Epitaph alone.

The Boy with the Butterfly Mind by Victoria Williamson
★★★★★ || Goodreads
These mid-grade books have been hitting home runs recently, and I’m all sorts of suspicious about this. I read this in one day, so it was super quick, but OMG YOU GUYS, I FEEL SO SEEN. The protagonist in this book has ADHD, which is actually the reason I picked this up. As far as the spectrum goes, my ADHD isn’t as severe as Jamie’s, so it was both experiencing new things (though, things I recognize in my family members with ADHD) and relating sooo much to things. Even Elin, who was so easy to hate, felt so familiar. The little girl who feels like she needs to be perfect in order to fix her broken family. Really, what this book is about is twofold: broken families and broken people. Both Jamie and Elin have broken families. For Elin, that means trying to fix her family, and for Jamie, it means looking for a family he belongs with. More than that, though, they both regard themselves as broken. Elin blames herself for her parents’ divorce and thinks if she’s just perfect enough, her father will come back. Jamie has behavior problems because of his ADHD, and while he tries so hard, he knows how difficult it is for the people around him, and he just wants to be normal. Ultimately, this book is about found family and learning to embrace who you are. It was such a beautiful read, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Even more interesting: 20% of the author proceeds for this book will be going to charity.

Reviews Posted This Week

Change is the Only Constant by Ben Orlin
Status: pg 88/287

Click For Goodreads Summary

Change is the Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin’s sly humor and memorably bad drawings. By spinning 28 engaging mathematical tales, Orlin shows us that calculus is simply another language to express the very things we humans grapple with every day — love, risk, time, and most importantly, change. Divided into two parts, “Moments” and “Eternities,” and drawing on everyone from Sherlock Holmes to Mark Twain to David Foster Wallace, Change is the Only Constant unearths connections between calculus, art, literature, and a beloved dog named Elvis. This is not just math for math’s sake; it’s math for the sake of becoming a wiser and more thoughtful human.

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I’d intended to be farther on this than I am, but … I keep forgetting to bring it with me when I go places. I’m so used to taking my Kindle at this point. Oops? So far, I’m really enjoying it! There have been some really funny anecdotes that have made me laugh out loud. Orlin has a nice tongue-in-cheek humor and an easy way of explaining things that makes this math almost accessible. There are still parts that definitely go over my head or make my eyes glaze over, but not as many as I’d expected. He also has these cute little pictures, almost like a novice artist’s rendition of comics, which are charming and add a nice touch to the mathy stuff.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Status: pg 103/462

Click For Goodreads Summary

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court (a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage (who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward (and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

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This is finally happening, guys! My first Leigh Bardugo, and a super popular series that I’ve heard so many good things about, to boot. This is a lot slower going for me than I thought it would be. I’m not sure why. I guess I haven’t been sucked into it as much as I’d hoped I’d be, and I have a hard time following the world. I feel like if I’m the least bit distracted when I read it, I miss too much and have to keep re-reading, so I can only read it when I have absolute quiet (and with a house full of animals, a husband, offspring, and now brother-in-law … what are the odds of that?!). So I’m working on it. I think it’ll pick up when the heist actually, you know, starts. I do so very much love Kaz, though. He keeps me going.

       

Crooked Kingdom still has a place on this list, because obviously, the whole point is to read this duology together, like you do.

I’m hoping to pick up The Family Upstairs, because I really need a Kindle read. You know, since I’m bad at remembering to grab my physical books when I’m reading away from home. I’m also ridiculously behind on ARC reads, so, you know, two birds with one stone. I actually haven’t read a Lisa Jewell book before, so I’m excited to try this, since I’ve heard good things about her, and this book sounds fabulous.

Then, keeping with the theme of Nonfiction November, I plan on throwing at least one more nonfiction in this week. I had a hard time choosing, but ultimately, I think I really want something funny for a change, so it’s time to break out How to Become a Federal Criminal. If I love this book as much as I think I will, you can keep an eye out for a top 10 post of the best ridiculous ways to become a criminal, for those who are trying. 😉

Chat With Me

What are you reading this week? Anything you’d recommend? Link to your WWW posts below so I can visit you!