into the stacks: june 2016, part 1

I always read more in the summer, so I’ll break up the reading from those months into a couple posts, because no one has the patience to read my thoughts on nine books in one go. (Or, more accurately, I don’t have the patience to post them all at once.)

So here are the first couple books I read during June (it was supposed to be four, but I’ve been stuck on the latter two for a month now, so it’s time to just get something up):

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, by Vaseem Khan

On the day Inspector Chopra retires from the Mumbai police force, he discovers his favorite uncle has died, leaving him the titular bequest, which turns out to be a baby elephant. But before we can get to the pachyderm (which is going to be a problem since he and his wife live in a middle-class high-rise with a rather ornery woman heading up the condo board), we must first deal with the workplace farewell. Middle-aged Inspector Chopra loves his job. He’s very good at his job. He doesn’t want to leave his job. But he’s had some heart trouble, and between pressures from his wife and the Indian bureaucracy, he’s been forced to leave the force early. He has instructions his final day is meant to be strictly a formality; his jurisdiction as head of his station has already passed onto another, who’ll arrive the following day. But when a young man from a lower-class section of town dies and his mother comes in to complain that it’s been dismissed as suicide when her son couldn’t possibly have been suicidal, Chopra doesn’t have the heart to show her the door. He quietly orders some extra tests to be conducted on the body, with the plan he’ll return later in the week to pass on the information to his successor. But when that man turns out to be a drunk and when the autopsy turns up some abnormalities and when sitting around the apartment with his wife and mother-in-law turns out not to be any fun, Chopra decides to split his time between unofficially investigating the young man’s death and figuring out what to do with a baby elephant who is literally wasting away while chained up on the common lawn of his building. He’ll spend his time consulting vets and zookeepers and low-lifes alike while trying to keep all his activities from his loving wife.

Written by an Englishman who spent ten years working in India, the story is a little slower than I would have liked, but still ultimately was an enjoyable tale. Chopra and his wife (from whose perspective we get about a third of the story) are good characters, and the end of the book suggests this could become an ongoing series. If you like Tarquin Hall’s Vish Puri detective series, I’d suggest giving this a try, as well. If anyone has any recommendations for contemporary Indian detective series written by actual Indians, I’d be eager to check them out.

Pages: 314. Library copy.

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Baba Yaga’s Assistant, by Marika McCoola with illustrations by Emily Carroll

In this graphic novel, a motherless teenager whose father is getting remarried to a woman with an obnoxious little girl of her own decides to answer the help wanted ad Baba Yaga places in the newspaper seeking a new assistant. Having grown up on her grandmother’s detailed stories about Baba Yaga and how the witch could be outsmarted, Masha is prepared to move to the woods and use her wits to gain access to the witch’s walking home. But when one of Baba Yaga’s instructions involves cooking and children and one of those kids turns out to be her new step-sister, well, Masha is going to have to get even more creative.

I wanted to like this book more, although I can’t pinpoint where, exactly, it fell flat for me. Aimed at a middle-grade audience, it’ll likely appeal to anyone with an interest in Russian/Slavic lore.

Pages: 132. Library copy.

Stay tuned for the next installment of June’s reads, hopefully coming soon to a blog near you!

top ten tuesday: recent tbr list additions

I started this last night, so I’m finishing it up tonight. The political situation is not looking good…

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic asks bloggers about books they’ve recently added to their to-be-read list. Please note this is not my to-be read pile of books on-hand, except where detailed, but a lot of books that have shown up on the year-end best-of lists that have started appearing:

1. Dust Bowl Girls: A Team’s Quest for Basketball Glory, by Lydia Reeder

I’m hoping for something like the basketball version of A League of Their Own.

2. Fever at Dawn, by Péter Gárdos

I feel bad about not having read any Hungarian books in preparation for our trip there two years ago. Plus, I saw a copy at the library (although I didn’t add it to the books I was checking out).

3. Bittersweet, by Susan Wittig Albert

This one actually did come home. I was looking for a book with a Thanksgiving setting and found a mystery by an author with whom I was familiar.

4. The Smell of Other People’s Houses, by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Enthusiastically recommended by the Unshelved comics reader crew.

5. Your Presidential Fantasy Dream Team, by Daniel O’Brien

Also recommended by Unshelved. Plus, in their categories from which to choose your presidents, they have a Roosevelt category.

6. They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement, by Wesley Lowery

Because I have hopes that the attention being played to the #BlackLivesMatter movement will help bring about meaningful change.

7. A Warrior of the People: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s First Indian Doctor, by Joe Starita

I was a women’s studies minor in college, so I have a special place in my heart for books like this.

8. The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz
   I enjoyed his A Tale Dark and Grim, and thought its comparison to The Canterbury Tales seemed promising.

9. Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness, by Nathanael Johnson

I live in a city, but hadn’t heard about this book until I saw it was nominated for a Goodreads award.

10. Fields Where They Lay, by Timothy Hallinan

I haven’t read any of the Junior Bender mysteries, and they may prove to be too violent for me, but this one is Christmas-themed, which is hard for me to resist at least trying.

How about you? What books have you recently added to your TBR list?

early november yarn along

This photo is misleading. I mean, sure, this shawl lives next to the couch for ease of tv knitting. And, yes, this book has been in my bag every day the past two weeks. And sometimes I pick up one or t’other. But I’m tired of both of them and want them both to be done so I can focus my attention on other, more fun ways to spend my time.

Andrea’s Shawl has been on the needles since July. I’ve done 20 sets of stripes thus far, and there still remain a bunch of stitches on my needles. Since I need to get it down to 7 (or so), I’ll just keep going. It has to end sooner or later, right?

It’s more obvious to me that Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World is creeping toward the end. I’ve got a mere 50 pages to go, which I could take care of in two hours, if I just cared enough to finish. But … it’s dragging. I keep losing track of what Middle Eastern country she’s talking about in each chapter, and I’m easily distracted by what seem to be the bunch of articles she adapted into a book, rather than a firm narrative illustrated by anecdotes. The book is two weeks overdue (our fines don’t kick in until a book is a month late) to the library, and as such I’m loathe to put the book down and pick up another print book. Instead, I’ve downloaded the second audiobook in the Fox and O’Hare series, The Heist, by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg. It’s a ridiculous caper series (he’s a world-famous thief, she’s the FBI agent who caught him; together they now travel the world recovering riches from bad people in an undercover government op), with eye-rollingly bad sex talk. Think To Catch a Thief and dial the cheesiness up by a factor of five. It’s probably really not helped by being read by a guy who reads with a wink-wink-nudge intonation. And, yet, it’s fun and it’s mindless and is exactly what I need right now, with less than a week to go until an election that’s still mind-blowingly close. I’m sure I’ll get back to the important reading any day now, but in the meantime, I’ll be following Kate and Nick’s adventures while I wash the dishes.

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Yarning along with Ginny.

fall ninja book swap

As you probably know, I love taking part in book/yarn swaps, but have scaled back my participation in them somewhat after being burned a couple of times by sending out packages and getting nothing in return. So I’m picky about what I’ll join and have to feel confident that the organizer knows what they’re doing. I’m really pleased to say that the Ninja Book Swap, run by Bex, is one of those.

At the end of last week, a box arrived at my apartment, just in time to mark the end of the workweek. It came from my awesome partner Laura, who blogs at Buttontapper Press. Check out all the goodies she sent me.

You know someone has it together when they create their own Halloween wrapping:

Opening a swap box is not unlike Christmas morning. You curl up on the sofa, often in your pj’s, and open fun package after fun package.

Check out all the books Laura sent me!

The three books along the top were on my “wish list,” and The Extraordinary Life of Buffy the Cat was one Laura picked out, thinking I’d enjoy it. I’m not sure what gave her that idea.

Posey said she was not going to model for me, but added that she thinks Laura is still pretty awesome for sending her this great box in which to hang out.

I have to agree. In addition to sending me four awesome looking books (Not Your Sidekick is going to be the first one I read, although I’ve already dipped into Buffy), Laura also sent me a mini clipboard, two journals (one of which is now covered with all of the Halloween stickers from the wrapping), stickers (I love holiday stickers!), and some chocolate!

Thank you once again, Laura, for a really lovely Ninja Book Swap box. I’m utterly delighted with what you sent!

And if you like sending and receiving bookish packages, keep an eye on the swap blog in early January, when the next one will be gearing up.

coffeeneuring and yarning along

I thought I’d share some recent bike rides, part of the annual Coffeeneuring Challenge, along with the reading and knitting (none of which is complete to date) I was doing for each one as today’s Yarning Along post:

Coffeeneuring #1: Baked and Wired (1052 Thomas Jefferson St., N.W., Georgetown)

Saturday, Oct. 15; 3 miles
Chaider and ginger pumpkin bread
Baked and Wired used to be a great under-the-radar place, with Georgetown Cupcake scooping up the crowds. Alas, that hasn’t been the case for more than a year, with long lines to be found outside most of the day. However, locals know you can usually sneak inside to the right of the door and order drinks and quick bread at the coffee counter, rather than waiting in line. This visit, though, was slow-moving even in the drinks line. I left my bike locked to a street sign (Georgetown is notoriously bad for bike parking) while inside, and then rode down to the Georgetown Waterfront Park to sit in the waning daylight.

That day, I had my Andrea’s Shawl with me. I’d meant to alter the shape of the shawl, but forgot to when I started the stripes. I’ve seen some reports that the weird shape blocks out, so I’m hopeful it’ll still turn out okay. I should really just finish that up this coming weekend. At the time, I was reading Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion. I enjoyed it, as I do all her books, but found it less uproarious than her novels usually are.

On the ride home, I enjoyed the rising Super Moon in all its massive glory. (It was not actually this dark, but I had to dim the ambient street light to get any contrast on the moon.)

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Coffeeneuring #2: Teaism (2009 R St., N.W., Dupont Circle)

Sunday, Sunday, Oct. 16; 13 miles
Chai and a pecan-chocolate chip salty oat cookie

So, this wasn’t supposed to be where I went. I played volleyball at Malcolm X Park, biked home, then over to Capitol Hill, where I dropped off some cider with Sarah, before heading to the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital. I was there to see a Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy film I’d theretofore never seen, Keeper of the Flame. However, I was supposed to arrive with enough time to pick up a drink and beignets at the adjacent Bayou Bakery. Alas, I arrived a few minutes late, and they close at 4, so I watched the film and then planned to stop someplace on the Hill on my way back. But I was tired (that’s a long ride for me) and I just wanted to get home, so I biked back to Dupont and then stopped at Teaism, which is a block from my house. This is another spot where there’s inadequate bike parking, so I tethered to a sign and then watched as a van nearly backed into the bike (which was wholly, but just, on the sidewalk) while I was sitting outside.

It’s a little dark, but you can see I was just starting the second sock of the vanilla pair currently in my purse. I’m still reading Kathering Zoepf’s Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World, but only have a couple chapters to finish up, which is good, since it’s overdue to the library.

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Coffeeneuring #3: The Coffee Bar (1201 S St., N.W., Shaw)

Saturday, Oct. 22; 2.6 miles
London Fog and Peach raspberry muffin

I spent the afternoon cleaning and really needed to spend an hour outside, so biked over to The Coffee Bar for their last hour of operation for the day. They have their own bike racks, which had empty sides to them, and empty tables at the patio, which made me happy.

I decided to finally get around to reading Magic in Manhattan, by Sarah Mlynowski, in time for Halloween. That’s the first two books, Bras and Broomsticks and Frogs and French Kisses, of that witchy YA series packaged together. I’m not loving it so far, but I’m hopeful it’ll pick up. I’ve started a pair of stripy pink and purple socks for me & love how the yarn coordinates with the book’s cover.

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Coffeeneuring #4: Bourbon Coffee (621 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., Capitol Hill)

Sunday, Oct. 23; 12 miles
Maple cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie

Another volleyball practice, followed by a trip to Capitol Hill once more, but this time in pursuit of a book for my Ninja Book Swap. Again, I just missed Bayou Bakery, but I knew I’d find something else in this neck of the woods. I wandered through Eastern Market and visited Labyrinth Games’ expansion and East City Bookshop, before settling down on Bourbon’s back patio.

That’s the second of this year’s Sock Madness socks and Meg Cabot’s Size 12 and Ready to Rock, the fourth book in her adult mystery series. (I hadn’t realized it was the fourth book until I finished last night and kept being surprised as I was reading when they referenced previous murders.)

When the coffeehouse was ready to close, I biked back across town, watered the garden, and headed home for the night.

early-october yarning along

I’m in a bit of a knitting and reading funk, which means I’m working on lots of things, but not getting far fast on any of them. This is Andrea’s Shawl, which was my Tour de France project, but there are some socks and some other things in progress, too.

I’m about halfway through each of the books shown, Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, and Elizabeth Strout’s My Name Is Lucy Barton. I’m enjoying the first two, but not so much the latter. However, it’s short, and I haven’t read anything by this much-touted author before, so I want to give her a fair shake before dismissing her from my should-read list. I’m also a third of the way through listening to David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy, which is fine so far, but not as good as some of his other works. That said, though, I can see how it’s a foundation piece for Two Boys Kissing, which I loved.

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Yarning along with Ginny from Small Things.