Pines and Palmettos

Show Us Your Books Link-Up THIRD ANNIVERSARY: October 2017

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

You guys!!!

It is the third anniversary of Show Us Your Books! That's so amazing. This link-up is by far my favorite bloggy day of the month.

Thank you to all participants, and our wonderful hosts Steph & Jana, for creating such a fun and welcoming and bookish community. You guys make me happy every second Tuesday of the month.

via GIPHY

Now, on to the books!

★★★★★

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Did I mention this series is about ASSASSIN NUNS WHO WORK FOR DEATH and OMG WHY AREN'T YOU READING IT ALREADY IT'S SO AMAZING. And there's some love and political intrigue and in this one in particular some deeply disturbing incest but still READ THESE BOOKS.

★★★★

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

Third book in the trilogy, you learn more about the various gods and their followers which is cool...and also see above aka READ THIS SERIES IT'S AMAZING.

★★★★

Lock In by John Scalzi

This book was a really interesting look at disability and what makes a human a human and "us versus them" and personal responsibility and all that happens within the context of a standard but still interesting police thriller.

★★★★★

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

If you have ever wondered what the term "rape culture" means, read this book. It's the best illustration of it ever. Yes, the book is a bit of a beast and it took me a while to get into it. But it's so. damn. worth. it. Seriously. Just read it. It looks at friendship and sex and family and personal responsibility and mentors and sports and small towns and loyalty and right and wrong and gray areas and it gave me all the feels. I will say it may be closer to a 4.75 because 1) those parents have been through a fuck of a lot and while tragedy does not gaurd against tragedy, it seems awful; and 2) that girl handled everything like a MF'ing champ. And while I respect that and appreciate that she wasn't broken...she had a right to be affected more than she was.

ETA:

★★
The Girls by Emma Cline
Y'all, I had to write this blog post twice because instead of hitting "Publish" I hit delete.
Both times, I forgot to include this book. It seemed to have really divisive reviews and I went in expecting...something. I literally got nothing. I wasn't shocked or disgusted or moved or anything...if it's not the first time a book has done nothing, it's the first time in a loooooooong time. I did skip over the description of the actual murders, because...reasons. But since we knew about them from the start...it just never clicked. I was never given a reason to care. There was no motive, there was no disgust...it just all felt distant and pointless. I can't recommend.

What have you been reading this month?

Link-up & let us know!

Books as Memories

Thursday, October 5, 2017

It's a well-known phenomena that hearing certain songs can take you back to a certain place, or situation.

I think I have this with books.

The Twilight series got me through my husband's deployment (judge, IDGAF).

Books 1-21 of the Stephanie Plum series got me through what turned out to be basically a super stressful friend-breakup, within about a 2.5 week time period.

The Hunger Games got me through my last years of undergrad.

And the His Fair Assassin series just got me through my first test of grad school.

When I hear about these books, I don't just think of the characters and plot. I think about where I was emotionally when I read them. I think about every detail that lined up and made those stories exactly what I needed at that moment in time.

Memories and emotions are strange, double-edged creatures. Our memories are almost never as trustworthy as we typically believe.

If I read Twilight today, I might be a hater. There are certainly people out there who trash it. But it will always have value to me, despite it's problems. I don't pretend there aren't problems, I just know how it was useful to me despite them.

Is it good for every person in every situation?

Probably not.

But that could probably be said for all books, in the end.

So often the snooty literary folks will pretend a book is good solely because of the specific words in the specific order on the page. But that's sooo not true.

It's about the culture the story was written in, and it's about the reader. That's what makes being a reader so amazing and magical. You get to personally connect with a story- sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. But like everything in life, the personal background of a reader absolutely shapes the lens in which we view the story.

There was a Christian book I had heard a lot of hype about and was excited to try. Pretty much as soon as I started it (via audiobook) I could tell me and this author just didn't jive. He ended up saying what was- to me- an incredibly sexist statement and I flat out DNF'd. When I mentioned this too someone else who read the book, they said that sentence never even registered- they didn't remember it being in the book at all, and walked away feeling like it was a great book. Think she actually had some kind of personal connection to the author, and therefore probably went in predisposed to think highly of what he had done or even just with a better idea of the heart behind the statement*.

*because saying something out of ignorance and saying something out of hate are very different, and I do believe if we want to change the world for the better we must be ready to stop being angry at people for being ignorant and work with them to educate...although this is a much longer thought subject for a different post

Anyway, it happens. It doesn't make her a bad person or bad reader. Pretty much all of those series I listed have gotten tons of flack for various reasons. And I'm sure at least one person would say I can't be a feminist and enjoy Twilight. But...I definitely consider myself a feminist- and I still stand by the appeal of that series!

Do you link books and memories?

If so, what are some of your connections?

Reading Q&A

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

I'm taking this from Teh Megan, who took it from someone else...blogging is all about connection, right?

If you came up with this & want credit, let me know & I will be happy to link your blog/etc!

How many hours a week do you spend reading?
This really really varies due to about a million factors.
Anywhere from 1-10, let's say. More if an audio-book is involved.

I like Megan's answer:
"I don't count the hours of things I enjoy."

via GIPHY

Do you prefer digital or print books?
All of the above.
Nothing is as cozy or relaxing as cuddling up on the couch with a
blanket and a physical book. It's also easier on my eyes.