Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time. Here’s what I read on the bus in January:
The Wall by John Lanchester. Due to climate change an island nation has built a wall to keep out the Others – those adrift. Each citizen is assigned wall duty for two years. The most recent defender is Joseph Kavanagh and we join him on his journey. One of the biggest worries on the wall is if the Others do attack and get through, a defender gets sent out to sea in their place. So, so good!
Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett. Just an all around good story of a family after loss – coming to terms with grief and how it manifests in all of us. Jessa has taken over the family’s taxidermy business after her father commits suicide. The business however is struggling and so is everyone else in the family. Trying to hold everything together is taking its toll and the family will have to come to terms with a multitude of losses and failures to find themselves again. I loved how the author delves into the brokenness of the characters, but also how they all fit together, and, honestly, of how great a team they are when they finally start to breathe again. This one is definitely on my favorites list.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Angie has done it again!! This time we meet Bri struggling to find herself while being a student, a daughter, and a rapper…and get out of the Garden one day. Everyone has an idea of who she should be – like her brother who was a successful college student, like her dad, a successful rapper lost too soon, like her mom who went though a bout of addiction. But Bri is just Bri, and in the balancing act she shows them all, but most importantly herself, that to achieve your dreams you just have to stay true to you. Love that it takes place in the Garden universe, but it is it’s own story. With Angie I feel like I’m reading about my friends and my neighborhood and how we grew up, especially with The Hate U Give. I think the last book I read before Angie that even came close was Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Working in the library, we need diverse books, we need representation…her works just reinforce how very little YA speaks to diverse communities. Didn’t know I personally was even craving that. Keep writing Angie, ’cause you are needed!
What are you reading on your commute? Tag your reads on social media #splbusreads
~posted by Kara P.
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