Recent Reads (April 2019 edition)

penny on May 23, 2019

When life is good — I have my nose in a book. When life is chaotic — I have my nose in a book. It took me extra time to write this post because — I had my nose in a book. I know it’s late May already, but here’s the list of what I read last month.

April’s Reading List

  1. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color★ by Nisi Shawl (editor)
  2. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
  3. The Mortal Word (The Invisible Library #5) by Genevieve Cogman
  4. How to Fracture a Fairy Tale★ by Jane Yolen
  5. The Step-by-Step Guide to 200 Crochet Stitches★ by Tracey Todhunter
  6. The Gospel of Loki (Loki #1) by Joanne M. Harris
  7. An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1) by Sabaa Tahir
  8. A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2) by Sabaa Tahir
  9. The machine knitter’s design book : a practical guide to creating beautiful knitwear by Hazel Pope
  10. Creative machine knitting by Sally-Anne Elliott
  11. Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi
  12. A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3) by Sabaa Tahir
  13. Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
  14. The Kingdom of Gods (Inheritance, #3) by N.K. Jemisin
  15. The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut, #2) by Mary Robinette Kowal
  16. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  17. On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety★ by Andrea Petersen
  18. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

List of Book Covers for titles read in April 2019

Recommendations

Netgalley reviews

A ★ indicates I received the title through Netgalley, the FTC wants you to know.

  1. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color★ by Nisi Shawl (editor)
    This is a beautiful collection of stories!
    Read my full review at netgalley. »
  2. How to Fracture a Fairy Tale★ by Jane Yolen
    Do you love fairy tales? Do you love remixed tales? This collection of Yolen’s short form work is a masterpiece.
    Read my full review at netgalley. »
  3. The Step-by-Step Guide to 200 Crochet Stitches★ by Tracey Todhunter
    This is a beautiful and clear guide to crochet stitches! It is useful for both beginner and experienced crocheter alike. This is the book I wish I had access to years ago. It is published in the UK by Search Press Ltd as 200 More Crochet Stitches.
    Read my full review at netgalley. »
  4. On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety★ by Andrea Petersen
    During my childhood, anxiety wasn’t discussed. If one exhibited signs, they were labelled as “unable to handle stress” and steered toward quiet pursuits and easy coursework. Mental health was spoken about in hushed and unflattering tones. The narrative is changing and no longer will people need to spend their life having anxiety manage them. I am thankful for the time and gift Petersen provides in this memoir.
    Read my full review at netgalley. »
Further recommendations
  1. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
    I believe Deep Work is a stronger book, but if you haven’t read it yet and feel the need to keep on everysocial media channel, this is a good starting point.
  2. The Gospel of Loki (Loki #1) by Joanne M. Harris
    If you enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and want to read more, pick up this title and help support female authors!
  3. An Ember in the Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir
    If you haven’t yet read this series, I recommend it. Inspired by Ancient Rome, you follow the intertwined lives of the Scholars, Masks, Tribes, Resistance, and Augurs. Told as alternating points-of-view between main characters, this is a fun young-adult series.
  4. Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi
    I want to own my own copy of this title. I borrowed it from the library, even if you don’t want to hand manipulate stitches I found it to be the most comprehensive book about machine knitting book I’ve read to-date.
  5. Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
    I was handed a copy of this title by the author’s father and was surprised that I enjoyed it. While I TA’d a game programming course way back a very long time ago (fun fact — was taught by Naomi Novik), I’ve never really played games. Sure I loved Contra (↑! ↑! ↓! ↓! ←! →! ←! →! B! A!), attempted Zork, and enjoyed hours of first person shooters, unless someone invited me, gaming isn’t something I initiate on my own. Schreier discusses several popular games and the stories behind them in a way that made the entire book enjoyable. I read it, in part, as a project management book and loved to see the similarities across different games and what can cause wrecks or create a success. If you’re curious about what goes on behind the scenes you may find this book interesting.
  6. If you haven’t yet read N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy yet, why not? I really need to buy my own copy so I can reread it easier next time.
  7. Congratulations to Mary Robinette Kowal on her Nebula for The Calculating Stars! After you read it, you can immediately pick up The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut, #2) .
  8. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    Much to process. More to read. More to learn. More to do.

May’s reads

The series titles this month make me giggle because I didn’t purposely search them out! Sometimes book 1 of what I want to read isn’t available at the library and I just keep looking until I find something that’s available, seems interesting, and unless I’m in the mood I haven’t read yet. I’m on a Seanan McGuire streak and I also started to read J D Robb’s In Deathseries.

I read The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffmann, please go pre-order this book. I’m still trying to find the right words to finish my review and hope to do so before the book is out in September (thank you Netgalley for my review copy, the FTC wants you to know).

What are you reading this month?