Fear-mongering, transformation, and awakening

Much like when I read The Historian, I was unable to decide if what I was reading was fiction or nonfiction. (Of course, there were no vampires in this book so maybe this isn't the best comparison except for the way they both made me feel.) I couldn't put down Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien despite how much I sometimes wanted to in order to spare myself further heartbreak. This is the story of those who lived through China's Cultural Revolution and their successors a world away in Canada...at least a tiny little slice. Our main characters rotate between Sparrow, Kai, and Zhuli who lived during Mao Zedong's reign of terror, Ai-Ming who took part in the demonstrations of Tiananmen Square, and Marie who wants to piece everything together in present day Canada. This is also about music and its power to lift the soul or to mire it in secrets. A lot of sensitive topics are touched on in this book including but not limited to torture, public humiliation, and sexual assault. This is not just a work of historical fiction but also a mystery about people, events, and a book that keeps resurfacing. Intricately woven with details which seem to make the story come to life in vivid color right before your eyes this book is one that I think everyone should experience. This is the hallmark of excellent historical fiction. 10/10

For a nearly complete list of the classical music mentioned in the book: Spotify.

Source: Goodreads

What's Up Next: A Veil of Shadows by Michael W. Garza

What I'm Currently Reading: Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Self-deprecation at its best

I first heard about Scaachi Koul's One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter several months ago on BookTube (I will continue to sing its praises) and added it to my TRL as I felt the need to read more Canadian authors. This book is a collection of essays about Scaachi's life growing up as a child of Indian immigrants in Canada. There's a focus on body positivity, feminism, and the endemic racism she and other people of color face in that country. She discusses her family and how she is the direct product of two disparate parenting philosophies. (Each chapter begins with an email conversation between herself and her father. He's quite possibly the funniest man on planet earth.) She's deeply afraid of going outside of her comfort zone and yet she's in a relationship with a man who seems to do nothing but push her to do just that. (I thought I had travel anxiety until I read about her experiences flying.) It's a look into a family as different and yet somehow the same as mine or yours. There's always going to be some neuroses in any family. It's about self-discovery, self-love, and ultimately self-acceptance. It was a lot of fun but judging from the fact that I had to refresh my memory by looking up the blurb it isn't the most memorable book I've had the pleasure of reading this year. So I'm gonna give it a 6/10.

A/N: I really need to start making detailed notes about the books I've read immediately after reading them because my backlog of book reviews is getting more and more lengthy. Stay tuned for a special post on Tuesday by the way. ;-)

Source: Amazon

What's Up Next: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

What I'm Currently Reading: Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures by Ben Mezrich

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

I will never look at camping the same way again...

When I started The Troop, I wasn't entirely sure what kind of a horror story it would be. There was mention in the blurb that it was a bit Stephen King-ish (which I must admit is what drew me to it as I'm a huge fan of his). However, what kind of horrendous event could occur to a Boy Scouts troop on an island cut off from the mainland? O_O Let me first say that this is NOT a book for children...unless you want them to have nightmares for the foreseeable future (and you're okay with adult content like coarse language and mild sexual themes). I can't get into a lot of detail about what kind of bioengineered sickness the infectious man who happens on the island has but let me just say that it isn't one I would have ever dreamed up and it was plenty scary. I've been talking about this book all week and every time I mentioned the newest development I got varying degrees of shock and disgust. I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you like horror of the gory kind with a mix of the psychological thriller then you'll enjoy this one.



Next up is a young adult title that I had started a few weeks back but put to the side so I wasn't trying to read two books at once (something I frequently have to stop myself from doing when I get overexcited about a topic). The book is called All Our Yesterdays which was written by Cristin Terrill. Imagine a world where a time machine exists. A working time machine not just some movie prop that you wish worked but is really just a blue box the size of a tiny closet. What kind of havoc would be caused if this machine actually existed? Well, in this story the world is basically destroyed because of this invention and two people travel back to before it was invented with only one goal in mind: kill the guy that did the inventing. However, there's a snag: He's just a teenager. Not only is he just a teenager but he's a teenager with a crush on a girl who likes him back. And it's the like like kind too. ;-) Basically, the story seems to be about one girl's desire to kill who she envisions is the evil villain of her life while another girl just wants to keep the young love of her life safe. I'm up to chapter 5 and so far I'm feeling pretty good about it (not about the murder but you know the arc of the story).



I hope you're all enjoying the lovely fall weather (unless you're somewhere that doesn't have fall then I hope you're enjoying your weather whatever it may be)!!