February Reading Wrap Up

 So  February was a bit of a slower reading month for me.  It is of course, also only 28 days long. I feel like given 2-3 more days I might have finished off at least the one ridiculous romance I've been dipping in and out of all month!

Things at work have been super busy, and I was very sick for a week or so, and that did not improve my reading opportunities at all! 

I finished 14 books in February.  One was a 53 page novella,  which maybe should count more as a short story. 

February was a HIGH QUALITY reading month.  Almost everything I picked up was polished and dense and required me to engage a bit more heavily than some of my usual fare. I really enjoyed almost everything I read as well. 

I think if I had to pick a favorite I'd have to put Cat Rambo's  You Sexy Thing  and John Chu's The Subtle Art of Folding Space into a cage fight and see which won. 

Thankfully I'm non-violent and the two can just share a spotlight. 

Oddly with February being Black History Month, I did read a lot of diverse books.  I do try to read diversely all the time, but I was also fortunate in that many of the books I had on hold by diverse authors happened to pop up as available this month. 

So.... 

Books in Translation: 

1/14   or 7% of February's reading. SO LOW!  I read The Plotters by Un-Su Kim  and it was FANTASTIC.  I can see this a a taut little mini-series. 

Books by Diverse Authors: 8/14  - 57%  Over half the books I chose this month were by Diverse authors. 
   This was the month to be reading diversly and I somehow managed to get a lot of books from the library that fit the bill. The number might actually be a bit higher, but some authors don't entirely put all of their specifics out there for the world, and so if I am not totally sure, I just count them in the less diverse pile. 

Non-Fiction: 1  book- 7% 

This is the sole non-fiction book I finished.  TO be fair, I picked up several more and kind of DNF several of them,  Boring... and bland.  One was about physics but the guy just kept making Star Wars jokes and I was over it after a few chapters. 

Books that relate to my Outer Space Theme: 8/14  or 57% 

I really am enjoying this theme.  

March may be jam packed full of reads, mostly because I have several books that I started in February and am slated to finish in the first few days of March, giving me a  bit of a Head Start on things.  I struggled a bit in February with "Overconsumption"  borrowing tons of books from the library only to have them ride around in the car for 3 weeks... unread.  So hopefully I will either be able to read more, or, restrain myself a bit in the library, though I definitely want to find a bit more translated literature to pump up the volume! 

September Reading Wrap Up

September was a month of Bangers from the Back list and some great new reads that I got as Advanced Copies.  There were also some very mid reads, but - you can't win them all. Some of this is just dissociation from the world, but also... Advanced copies. 

 I finished 23 books in September. Incomprehensible.

Admittedly one was a VERY short read: Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson.

 I saw this as an audio book and thought why not?  I had no idea anyone harbored  such strong feelings about fish as villians.  

This took about 15 minutes to consume, so ... when I say I read 23 books... it might not be very impressive. 

Out of this stack of Books...  let's do some statistics! 

Books in Translation:  2/27   this comes out to 7%.   It seems low, but I still think I'm surpassing last year's totals.    I am keeping on in searching these out. 

Books by Diverse Authors: 7/27  which is about 26%   A lower percentage than last month, but a higher book count. 

Favorite read for the Month: Has to be My Name is Emilia del Valle  by Isabel Allende. 

 I loved this one with my whole heart and soul.  So relatable, and yet so different! 

A close second was Marie Lu's Adult Debut  Red City! 

  I enjoyed this one!  It was a wild ride that did generate some reading anxiety but... I appreciated the not very cliff- hanger-y conclusion. 

Last month I noted I had been requesting less Advanced Reader Copies, but honestly... I apparently have 8, so lots of new book reviews coming your way in October!!! 

I usually don't do a Least Favorite, but,  My least Favorite was K/A Knight's  The Wasteland.... not to be confused with T.S Eliot's poem.  The poem has great magnitude.  Knight's book is a RH story about a kick butt bounty hunter type woman, who picks up 3 very attractive male companions.  Both dystopian. I might need to do further comparison.  Knight has written other books that I've enjoyed, this one just didn't hang together very well. 

August Reading Wrap up 2025

  Whew.  August has been kind of miserable for me. 

 I read 16 books.  Most of them on audio or in print with audio assistance. I feel like I had a pretty nice balance between what I'd call "serious reading" and fluff.   The fluff in the end was the most enjoyable as I am currently trying to just escape reality! I did also make a bit more of an effort to find those diverse books again, so hopefully this looks better than June and July! 

This is missing Sargassa, as I surprised myself by finishing it at the gym today! 

Books in Translation:  2/16  or about 12%.   I started a few more and really really - found I had chosen wrongly, and sent those back to the library as DNF.  I learned a lot from both novels (The Empusium, and Celestial Bodies)  but I'm not sure either was a top top read of the month. 

Books by Diverse Authors: 6/16  or about 38%.  This is about the same as June and July. I generally start off a month picking multiple diverse authors and then, somehow devolve into reading certain fluffy romances.  This past month, however, two of the fluffy romances were written by authors of a diverse background. In addition, a few authors don't have any sort of indication on websites about their background, so a few of these could be falling into the diverse category. 

Favorite of the Month? 

it has to be Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis.

This one was so oddly relatable, and eye-opening at the same time. I loved everything about it.  Just amazing. 

This was followed in a very close second by Tim Chawaga's Salvagia. 

 
I fell in love with this one for the Florida theme, the "third way" alluded to throughout the book, the diving, and the general concept. I LOVED this.  

 I'll be diplomatic and not name my least favorite, because I did really loathe that one.  

I've been requesting less ARC's lately, so we shall see how September goes! 

What was your favorite read for August? 

Book Review Oromay By Baalu Girma 5/5 Stars

 First Published in Amharic in 1983, (and then banned rapidly after publication) Oromay has now been translated into English in it's entirety.  And as a BONUS - it is now out in a very listenable audio-book as well! 

  I would like to thank both Penguin Random House and Highbridge Audio and of course Net Galley for the Advanced Listener copy.It was an honor to read/listen to this important novel. 

 I  loved this cover, and was so excited to dive into this one.  I had very few expectations, though I admit I did have some, given my personal experiences with Eritrea. 

No Spoiler Summary (because spoilers are just the WORST) - Oromay ( an Eritrean word adapted from the Italian oromai  meaning pointless or finished) tells the story of a fictional journalist's experiences embarking on the Red Star campaign in Eritrea. Set in Asmara, the reader is embedded into all the wild nights, political intrigue and exploits and front line action in what was a long, bitter conflict occurring over decades. Girma was a journalist and it seems this very personal novel is a fictionalized account of the actual Red Star Campaign and true events.  (For those unaware, the Red Star Campaign was a large effort on the part of the Ethiopian Government to eliminate the Eritrean insurgency.) To call this a "historical fiction" novel somehow, seems incorrect, however. It has a much different feel to it, and- overall, I'm not sure what to call it.  It's being sold as a Spy/Thiller, but that somehow doesn't quite capture the essence of this novel.  This is more like autobiographical fiction, rather than historical fiction- and it's autobiographical fiction that the author may have paid for with his life.   It's hard to tell though, what is fact, and what's fiction so, likely best to enjoy as fiction. Oromay surprised me with a compelling narrative of revolution, love and betrayal.  This book was banned (In Ethiopia) very soon after it was published, and Girma himself, vanished soon after, which solidified interest in both the author and the novel itself.  

 I consumed the novel like a sweet delicious coffee. There's treachery, intrigue, gruesome battles, romance, and a dramatic ending that leaves the reader thinking about the nature of life and death for a long time to come. 

The narration was performed by Beru Tessema and it was perfection.  For many English readers- the amount of unfamiliar names with unusual spellings will be daunting. With Beru Tessema,  these all rolled off the tongue naturally and kept the story moving forward.  Some readers may find the way the story unfolds to feel a little slow- but I'm going to encourage readers to stick with it. The sort of slow measured feel seems to reflect how the campaign itself rolled out over Asmara. The novel pulls the reader in deeper and deeper, just as the Red Star officials were pulled into Asmara and Eritrea, not all at once, but slowly over a period of weeks. One warm evening at a time. 

Did I find myself rooting for one character in particular?  Not really- this isn't that sort of novel where a hero emerges out of rubble.  instead, as a reader I found that my understanding of life and death and the choices made in difficult times broadened with each unfurling chapter - making this a rather remarkable piece of fiction.  It is a book in translation - David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu are the translators, and I did have to check a few times to be sure it was a translation. I can't speak to the accuracy, but I can say that it was very readable. 

  For me this novel is as much of a love song to Eritrea, as it is a an anti-war statement.   Oddly, Eritrea was the first place I worked in Africa - kicking off multiple trips across the continent to provide medical education and care over decades. My experiences in Asmara were full of adventure, drama and joy. I was very young and had an incomplete understanding of the politics of the region. (which may be part of the reason I enjoyed my time there so much.) Girma's descriptions of Asmara took me back to the city. His descriptions of night life within Asmara brought back a lot of memories of a city that has strongly held on to some Italian influence. Indeed, I experienced some chills and surprise as I realized the hospital he described was the very same hospital I have worked at- decades later. As is noted in the novel, Asmara is a small place, and to know I'd been in literally the same places gave the novel a bit more meaning as I devoured it.  

  This novel is perfect for book clubs, students, readers of John Lecarre, and Phillip Kerr.  I wish I'd had the opportunity to read it prior to jetting off to Asmara myself, as the conflict there is nuanced and a bit difficult for outsiders to fully grasp. If you're looking for a book in translation, or a book to diversify your shelf- I recommend this as an option!

  

STATS

First Published  February 2025

Pages: 416

Available as an Audio Book : Yes

Trigger Warnings: war, violence, grief, infidelity, body horror, body injury

(this is not a full list, read responsibly) 

April Reading wrap up!

 April was a great month for reading, for me! I finished 23 books!  Almost all of them were on audio, so that is also a record for me.  Lately I have been wanting to read actual physical copies of books, but, the audiobooks are so very convenient and have now a lot of amazing narration as well. Still, sometimes, seeing the words in print and being able to go at one's own pace is really nice. 

  I haven't really tallied things up - but I feel like I may have read a little less diversly this month, which is NOT my goal at all. I have been enraptured with what is available on NetGalley lately  and that seems to have taken over. So I've been making friends with books.  A lot of friends.  And also, if you've read a good book by a diverse author, please drop the rec in the comments. Bonus if it is available at many libraries. 

Make friends with books November 13-19 , book week. , 1949. [United States: publisher not identified] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2015646092/.

Let's get into it! 

Statistics!

Books in Translation: 1/23  I do not have a particular goal of reading a lot of works in translation, but I do find it interesting when I read them, as the story is affected by both the author, the translator and the reader.  This month  I read Not a River by Selva Almada.  I am unsure if it fell flat somewhere in the translation, or if it just wasn't for me, but it did fall into my water theme nicely and I had never read anything by Almada, so now I have. 

Books by Diverse Authors: 19% of my reads were by diverse authors. Definitely a drop from February 57% . Al ot of this was that I was offered books that I wanted to read that weren't by diverse authors. Hopefully in May I will up that a  bit, I am really slipping.  So I've got 5-6 that I'm already starting in May which are by diverse authors, we will see.  I do kind of do a lot of DNF. 

TOP Read for April?  So hard. April was full of amazing reads, some very unusual for me  (Upon a Starlit Tide) and others that were kind of expected, like A Sorceress comes to Call). 

In the end, I'm  going with 

The River Has Roots By Amal Al-Mohtar

The writing was what clinched it.  The story itself was fine, but the musicality of the book really leant itself to reading aloud and thinking about things and overall the entire reading experience was wonderful.   I liked it so much I even made an entire video about it.

I'd recommend this to pretty much anyone. It's one I'd recommend for aspiring writers, just to look at how the author uses words throughout. 

A close second would be  If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga  

This short novel was quite a surprise for me, I read it and found it to be a little bit on the nose, and sort of off putting in some ways and then boom, the ending was chaotic and wonderful.  I will look for more from this writer. 

Hugo Awards: I made progress on my goal to read the Hugo award wining novels, and finished off Fahrenheit 451  by Bradbury.  This one was a winner especially after The demolished man, which was NOT a winner.  It took me a long time to acquire the next one - apparently another weak one- The Forever Game-  in which a feminine appearing robot is named "Bossy"  so hopefully, I finish that in May. 

Buddy Reads: 

  I finished off  Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings  with my Book Buddy and we both thought it was really fun.  Eddings writes a well paced romance with tension, diverse characters and a lot of relatable and funny moments! 

This one was overall just an enjoyable read (Thank you NetGalley and SMP!) 

Book Club Reads:  This is a bit shameful for me to admit, but even though I lead the Stabby and Smoochy Bookclub... I DNF the last two books!  We choose books by vote and I was outvoted. Since I had so many books from the library and Netgalley, those two just had to go- to me they weren't that great, and I had Noor Naga and Amal El Mohtar competing, as well as the great Ruby Dixon. 

I did read some Ruby Dixon this past month-  Bad Guy  Where readers continue in the Risdaverse, and meet who we think is Crueldon the Ruiner  and Mina, another brave human female. YES... it was as always fantastic, and Narrated by Mason Lloyd, I've audiobooked so much by Mason that the Dog recognizes his voice. 

I recommend Ruby if you are looking for a little Monster Romance. Everyone is always surprised at the quality of  her work.  

What else made up the bulk of this month's reading?

    Looking back I seem to have indulged a bit too much into the romance genre, as well as some Science Fiction- as I'm moving through the Hugo Nominees.  Can't say I recommend that path as "Hitched to the Gunslinger" was OK, but...I think it may have rotted my brain.  I like romance, but I need it to be... better? 

 So.  Let's see if I can do better in May! 

I want more Diverse authors for myself, "better" romance, and I dunno, maybe not to get swayed by every single thing on offer with Net Galley!