How I read in 2019 (with pie charts!)

As we wrap up the last few days of 2019, here is a summing up of my reading of the year.

I’ve done these year-end summaries for a few years now, you can check out what I was up to in 2018201720162015, 2014, and 2013.

2019 total: 244

2018 total: 226
2017’s total: 216
2016’s total: 234
2015’s total: 286
2014’s total: 217
2013’s total: 223
2012’s total: 227
2011’s total: 171 

The shortest book I read was 60 pages long (Likely Stories), the longest book I read was 980 pages long (A Breath of Snow and Ashes) with The Fiery Cross a close second at 979 pages! Boy does Gabaldon like to write long books or what.

My reading has taken me around the world: Alaska, Amsterdam, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, Sweden, Singapore, Tahiti, Taiwan, the UK, Uruguay, and of course, many states in the US, and many made-up settings.

Material types

I was a bit surprised by this as I thought there would be a greater majority of ebooks! I have been trying to borrow more physical books from the library though!

Diversity

I like how this percentage of POC authors read is slowly increasing. Last year, I was at 39%.

New-to-me authors

I always think it’s amazing that there can still be so many new-to-me authors out there.

Gender

By ‘both’, this usually refers to the team working on the comics. I am glad I am reading a majority of books by women!

Translated books

I read 19 translated books, of which 7 were comics/manga/graphic novels.

They were translated from the following languages:

Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian

I’m hoping to read more translated books in 2020.

Publication date

The oldest book (by publication date) I read was published in 1857 (The Professor by Charlotte Brontë).

1800s: 5 books

1900s: 8 books

2000- 2009: 23 books

2010-2014: 22 books

2015: 17 books

2016: 23 books

2017: 30 books

2018: 60 books

2019: 56 books

READING GOALS FOR 2020

  • read more books in translation
  • continue to read more books by women and writers of colour
  • try to read more backlist books!
  • continue to borrow more books from the library but also read more from my own shelves
  • more nonfiction!

How was your 2019 reading? What are your goals for 2020?

The Made It All edition #amonthoffaves

amonthoffaves

A Month of Faves is hosted by Tanya and Tamara

 

#AMonthofFaves The Cook It, Bake It, Drink It or Eat It Edition – share with us this year’s favorite foods, drinks, restaurants or recipes. Or just snap a picture of something you recently enjoyed. Not into Food? Then share your (or family members) Christmas Wishlist.

 

I had some awesome meals in 2019. Some in Singapore (where we spent three weeks in July and August)  as well as plenty that we’ve had locally in Northern California, like on our recent road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway and also a few days in summer spent in Los Angeles and Universal Studios. 

But today, I’m focusing on goodies I’ve made myself!

So here it is, the homemade edition

 

I’ll be talking more about these Christmas cookies in my post tomorrow. So stay tuned!

 

For the past few years, I’ve been making my family’s birthday cakes.

And for my husband, it’s Black Forest. It’s a cake he’s loved since he was a kid, so it was a daunting one to take on at first. And I had to try a variety of recipes before I decided on the one. The cake part needs to be chocolatey but not too rich or fudgey. It needs to be a light-ish cake. So this one, just the cake layers part, from this Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe is perfect.  I talked about it more in a post here last year.

 

 

All the sprinkles!

Both boys wanted funfetti cakes this year. One was to be in chocolate frosting, the other in a vanilla. And they were both very pleased with the cakes.

 

Freeze!

This was the year of ice-cream making. I’ve always wanted to try making ice-cream but wasn’t sure if I wanted a standalone ice-cream maker. We happened to be at Target and saw that the ice-cream attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer was at a really good price. So ta-da! Ice-cream attachment. And it was super easy to use. Just, as with more simple (and cheaper) ice-cream machines, the bowl must be frozen for at least 12 hours (I keep my bowl in the freezer after I’ve washed it).

I owe a lot of my ice-cream making education to David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. I love his vanilla ice-cream (can never have a store-bought vanilla ice-cream again!), chocolate ice-cream, Vietnamese coffee ice-cream. But I didn’t really think his black sesame was really what I was looking for. So I came up with my own recipe! I also made a Gula Melaka (palm sugar) coconut milk ice-cream which was so luscious and irresistible from that deep dark palm sugar flavour and the rich coconut milk. I also sprinkled coconut chips (from Trader Joe’s – so yummy!) before serving. Heavenly!

I can’t wait for the temps to warm up again (ok not really, I hate being hot) to try out more ice-cream recipes.

 

 

Other new recipes I tried out this year included Chocolate Financiers

Dorayaki, a Japanese red bean pancake, inspired by my reading of the book Sweet Bean Paste

Condensed Milk Bread or Pai Bao, a Hong Kong-style sweet bread

My go-to is usually walnut bread and I also make a lot of Tangzhong-style bread (if you’ve not heard of Tangzhong bread, it uses a kind of roux for a soft bread that us Asians love).

Hope you enjoyed the post (and are not too hungry!)

#amonthoffaves awesome TV and audiobooks

amonthoffaves

A Month of Faves is hosted by Tanya and Tamara

 On the Screen or in Your Ear: What did you watch this year that you absolutely loved and did you see any movies inspired by books you’ve read – what did you think. Or, what are some of your favorite podcasts, audiobooks or songs / albums that you listened to and have on repeat.

 

 

TV series

The Mandalorian

Yes, that one with the Baby Yoda. But Baby Yoda aside, I’m loving this whole space western series that is on Disney+

Terrace House

I LOVE this Japanese reality series. I’m not much of a viewer of reality series like this in which the aim is to find romance but I’ve seen some of the Bachelor before so I guess I’m comparing it to American-type reality shows.  I love that Terrace House has hosts (the three women and three men above) who discuss the contestants and what’s going on. It’s often very funny and provides a different insight into Japanese culture.

 

Audiobooks

I listened to 18 audiobooks so far this year and these are my favourites.

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

I had such a blast with this one! This was just great banter back and forth between Mullally and Offerman. I’ve not seen the physical book but apparently the Barnes and Noble exclusive came with a jigsaw cover?!

Beastie Boys Book

I am not really a Beastie Boys fan but this was some audiobook! I loved that they had so many guests narrating the different chapters, not just musicians like Kim Gordon and Nas and Elvis Costello but also actors and comedians like Will Ferrell and Rosie Perez. One of my favourite parts was listening to Jarvis Cocker read.

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

This is THE LIGHT BRIGADE by KAMERON HURLEY.

A book I hadn’t heard of before going over the Tor.com reviewers’ best books of 2019.

Some years ago, if you’d have said “military sci-fi” my answer would have been, what? no!

But this was fascinating! Mars and Earth are at war and Dietz has signed up to fight. He’s part of a team that is turned into particles of light and then beamed at lightspeed to wherever they’re ordered, sometimes Mars. But something keeps going wrong with his drops, he seems to be joining his team at different times and situations. And soon he learns the truth behind it all.

It is an intense read. So much happens and the reader is trying to puzzle it out along with Dietz. I’ve seen a few reviews since that talked about this book being a new take on Starship Troopers, which I don’t know about as I’ve not seen the movie or read the book. So I’ve come into this as a reader who doesn’t really know much about more classic SF or military novels.

But what I really liked about this book is the way she constructed her future world. Where there are no nations, just corporations. Where you are either citizens or not. And if not, you have no rights and privileges. You are a “ghoul”. Dietz is a one of these “ghouls”, once an inhabitant of São Paulo which has been wiped out by the Martians.

What a read this is. It is brutal and bloody. It discusses politics and capitalism that, while set in a future society, rings so relevant and true to our current one. Loved it.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

For a long time I had Atwood on a pedestal. I mean she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale!

Then I read Angel Catbird and it was a bit sad and embarrassing (please don’t read it). So it has been a while since I’ve read anything by Atwood (not counting the brilliant graphic novel adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale).

I was however curious about The Testaments.

Please note I will attempt to make sure there are no spoilers in this review and as such, I won’t talk much about plot (here’s the the Goodreads synopsis) but the storyline takes place 15 years after the first book.

First of all, if this were written by a YA author as her version of what happened to Gilead I probably would have applauded it.

But this is Margaret Atwood we are talking about, and so I had high expectations.

I don’t mean to say I didn’t enjoy it. I did. I liked (or liked despising) the fact that we were back in Gilead and hearing from Aunt Lydia. Lydia was a great character and it was especially interesting hearing from her perspective.

The story was fast-paced, very plot-driven, and it ended up being a quick read despite its 400 pages. But I felt that her young teenaged character in the non-Gilead world wasn’t convincing. Some of what she said sounded odd. And really, I was disappointed that we don’t hear from Offred.

After I read the book, I saw a review that remarked that The Testaments picks up plot elements from the TV series and I wondered, what have I missed out on since I haven’t seen the TV show? And to be honest, after learning about that, I was a bit pissed off. Is this a sequel of a book or of a book and a TV show? Did I need to get a Hulu subscription in order to learn what I was missing?

So after it all I feel that this book, while readable and entertaining, was, for me, not very satisfying. It brought me back into a familiar world with hopes of answers but I wasn’t wowed by it.

Sudden Traveler by Sarah Hall

 

 

“We are, all of us, sudden travelers in the world, blind, passing each other, reaching out, missing, sometimes taking hold.”

Reviewing a collection of short stories isn’t an easy task. With a few exceptions, short story collections tend to feel like they need to be read over a longer time than it takes to read a book. For example, read one story, take a break and go read something else. Then come back to another story after that breather.

And in a collection such as this slim volume by Sarah Hall, a lot of breaks are needed, as the stories take on such varied settings, some weird and otherworldly and a bit experimental, some more rooted in the every day. Is that why the title is such? That as we read the stories, we are, too, “sudden travelers”, having to switch our perspectives completely?

For these stories are set in Turkish forests, Cumbrian villages, some that seem more like dreamscapes with weird transformations.

There is no doubt that Hall is a great writer. The stories are full of beautiful writing. For myself, as I am not much of a reader of more experimental turns, I was more drawn to her more ‘real’ stories like Orton and, especially the penultimate story, Sudden Traveler. And her writing pulled me in deep to those stories, tears falling, even, for one of them.

So while I stumbled during a couple of stories, unsure of where these pieces were leading me, the end result was worth it.

 

 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and

publisher Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book.

Check out the rest of the tour stops here

Grab a copy of this book: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
 
Find out more about Sarah Hall: Website and Facebook

 

 

X-23 and Abbott – 2 comics for #ripxiv

X-23 Vol 1: Family Album by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Juann Cabal

Abbott Vol 1 by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Sami Kivelä

I loved this X-23 series! If you’ve not heard of X-23 (Laura) she’s a clone of Wolverine and she has her own clone, a young girl named Gabby. What I know about X-Men I learnt from that cartoon series that aired in the 90s (I think) and from the movies. X-Men comics have never really attracted me much but I did read the previous X-23 series a few years ago and I always thought her character was kinda overlooked – although I’ve since realized that she became the All-New Wolverine. (Side note: how does one keep up with all these different comic series??)

Anyway in this volume, Laura and Gabby have great interaction (I especially liked that short story set in a high school). And the Stepford Cuckoos! This is the first time I’ve come across the multiples and they are fascinating – they have a telepathic hive mind and erm, well, some of the sisters are dead.

Very suitable for #ripxiv I reckon.

Also extremely in the #ripxiv mood is Abbott, a new series by Saladin Ahmed. I wasn’t expecting the supernatural aspect of this series though! But it adds a different element that has me wanting more. It’s set in 1970s Detroit with a black female reporter as its main character. The artwork has a gorgeous vintage feel and Ahmed deftly weaves in issues like racism and sexism into the storyline. I’d love to read more!

Library Loot (September 18 to 24)

badge-4Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

 

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

How has your week been going? We are slowly getting to the weekend so hang in there!

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up another lot of books for Readers Imbibing in Peril XIV (see my post here)

 

A Fierce and Subtle Poison – Samantha Mabry

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl–Isabel, the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers–and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

 

The Three – Sarah Lotz

Four simultaneous plane crashes. Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he’s right?

The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage. Dubbed ‘The Three’ by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children’s behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival.

 

The Hunger – Alma Katsu

Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere.

Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone–or something–is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck–the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.

While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions–searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand–evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves “What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased…and very hungry?”

 

And also, my hold for this one came in!

 

The Bride Test – Helen Hoang

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

 

Have you read any of these books before?

 

 

The kids’ loot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What did you get from your library this week?

 

This post contains affiliate links from Book Depository.  If you buy via these links it means I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). 

Readers Imbibing in Peril 14 #ripxiv

 

 

 

RIP season always sneaks up on me, probably because California weather always seems to go for the extra strong hot hot heat boost just as summer is ending.

And I realized I never actually posted a TBR list on the blog! I’m so behind on blogging! So here it finally is, many days already into the challenge.

If you’re new to this challenge, check out the original post here.

But the gist of it is:

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

And my plan is to go for
Peril the First:

Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.

 

Here are some books I’ve downloaded or borrowed from the library just for this challenge!

 

Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Sami Kivelä

A Beautiful Place to Die – Malla Nunn

The Frangipani Tree Mystery – Ovidia Yu

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery – Ovidia Yu

Dead Beat – Val McDermid

Moon Called – Patricia Briggs

Monstress volumes 1 to 3 – Marjorie M Liu and Sana Takeda

X-23 – Mariko Tamaki

 

The Three – Sarah Lotz

A Fierce and Subtle Poison – Samantha Mabry

The Hunger – Alma Katsu

The Chocolate Maker’s Wife by Karen Brooks #tlcbooktours

I love chocolate.

And perhaps that may be the only reason I joined this book tour.

I hadn’t heard of Karen Brooks before, although she is an author of quite a few other books. But the title had “chocolate” in it and here I am.

This chocolate of 17th century London though isn’t exactly the chocolate we are used to today.

It is a drinking chocolate and before our main character Rosamund gets involved, it doesn’t exactly sound very palatable. But we are getting ahead of ourselves…

Rosamund’s story is a bit of a fairy tale one. She works in a small inn in a small village and is abused by her stepfather and stepbrothers. And one day when she is fleeing her stepbrothers, she quite literally falls in the path of the wealthy Sir Everard Blithman who happens to be traveling through the area. Sir Everard is so taken with her, mostly because she resembles his late daughter, and pretty much buys her hand in marriage. Sir Everard is going to open a chocolate house and Rosamund becomes an important part of the business and it is booming. However, this is a family full of secrets, which Rosamund, to her horror, gradually uncovers.

I loved all the history that is brought into the book – the plague, the great fire of London, as well as the beginnings of the chocolate that we love today. Brooks brings in all the sights, sounds and smells of 17th century London, and it is rank and vile for most of it. But luckily, there is the chocolate house and its spices and flavours.

Rosamund was, for me, a bit too perfect and sweet. And as I prefer to take my main characters with a pinch of saltiness and flaws, it was hard for me to fall for her unlike all the rest of the characters in the book who are so taken with her.

But it was an enjoyable read, best with a stash of chocolate nearby to dip into whenever the craving hits.

 

 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and

publisher Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book.

  
 
Grab a copy of the book: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
 
Find out more about Karen Brooks: WebsiteFacebook, and Twitter.