Cry Blasphemy; Other Sky; Great Krupnik Hunger; Empty Sister Stars; Dancing Frost Theses

[maribou]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred G. Taylor
Another successful rescue from the "books I didn't like when I was a kid" pile. This was brilliant! (When I was a kid, I didn't have much tolerance for systematic suffering in books.)
(64)

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories, by Sherman Alexie
Delicious. It was fun revisiting some stories I hadn't read in a decade or more, and the new-to-me ones were even better.
(65)

In Other Worlds, by Margaret Atwood
I often don't agree with Margaret Atwood, but I always enjoy reading her. Having recently MET her, I also heard most of this in her inimitable voice, which was a nice bonus.
(66)

Small Beneath the Sky, by Lorna Crozier
This was beautiful. Many of the sections were like short prose poems, andbut it held together as a complete memoir very well.
(67)

Anastasia Krupnik, by Lois Lowry (unabridged audiobook)(reread)
I found this flatter and less endearing than I remembered the Anastasia books being, and so I will be rereading the others myself, rather than having them read to me. We shall see.
(68)

Into Great Silence, by Eva Saulitis (e-ARC)
I was elated to discover this book, since it's about biology fieldwork on orcas. I didn't realize until well in that it is about biology fieldwork on orcas, mostly during the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez spill. So, it was a lot more heartbreaking than I anticipated. Still, a beautifully written, thoughtful book, melding personal and scientific, poetic and prosaic, very effectively.
(69, A3)

The Hunger Moon, by Marge Piercy
I adore Marge Piercy, but I tend to like short volumes of poems better than collecteds, and this was no exception. However, several of the poems, taken one-by-one, were among the best things of hers I've ever read.
(70)

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Every way I can come up with of describing this book sounds EXACTLY like the descriptions of it that kept me from reading it for ages, despite my friends' repeated urgings to the contrary. Oh, except maybe this one: it is funny and sad and profound and wicked, and, HELLO, it's John Green!
(71)

Sister Mine, by Nalo Hopkinson
This book contained one of my biggest ick factors (incest, fyi - it's explained out by the world-building but I Still Find It Upsetting) and yet it was SO damn good that I could not put it down. Incredibly eager to read more of her work.
(72)

Man in the Empty Boat, by Mark Salzman (e-ARC, then regular book)
And this book was so good that when my e-ARC expired, I went and bought a copy of the book so I could finish it. It's rather unassuming on the surface - a memoir of anxiety, family, and writer's block - and yet it's every bit as good as Salzman's other, less personal works.
(73, A4)

Not-yet-published theses, by undergraduate friends (bis)
As transparent as this pseudonym is, I somehow don't feel like naming these. Or even saying much about them :D. But they were very, very good.
(74, 75)

Frost Burned, by Patricia Briggs
Oh man. This is hands-down my favorite urban fantasy series. HANDS-DOWN. This one was a bit geekier than the last couple, too - Blake references and like that - which is an unalloyed benefit as far as I'm concerned.
(76)

Dancing Queen, by Lisa Carver
Bawdy and frank, as promised. A fun book; not a great book, but not trying to be.
(77)