Eclectic Is My Bookcase Theme

Twelve Months. (Well, closer to 10 for me, but it's my own fault for procrastinating about signing up.) Twelve Books. Twelve categories. That is the theme of the Eclectic Challenges, which is proudly in its fifth year: the 2016 Eclectic Reader Challenge, hosted by Book'd Out.

This year she has kindly provided some links to goodreads suggestions for the categories, some of which look a bit daunting to me.

Categories:

1. A book about books (fiction or nonfiction): 100 Best Books for Children, Anita Silvey 2/20/16 
2.  Serial killer thriller: Airtight, David Rosenfelt 4/2/16
3.  Paranormal romance: Pillars of the World, Anne Bishop 4/2/16
4.  A novel set on an island: Not Always a Saint, Mary Jo Putney 3/18/16 (are the British Islands cheating?
5. Investigative journalism (non fiction): The Spies of Mississippi, Rick Bowers 3/12/16
6. Disaster fiction: An Inheritance of Ashes, Leah Bobet 4/17/16
7. Steampunk sci fi:  Radiance, Catherynne Valente 3/10/16
8. Any book shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize: A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler 4/30/16
9. Psychology (non fiction): Quiet, Susan Cain, 5/1/16
10. Immigrant Experience fiction: Listen, Slowly, Trannha Lai 7/16/16, Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas 7/25/16
11. YA historical fiction: Bride's Story 6, Kaoru Mori 2/21/16
12. A debut author in 2016: Hour of the Bees, Lindsay Eager 8/16/16

12/12

Book about books? That's my jam. I'm reading one right now, so I'll count that.  Likewise for YA, paranormal, and debut authors. Serial killer, steampunk, island and immigrants are a little off my beaten path. The nonfictions will be fun, and the Man Booker might slay me. So wish me luck!

Working Vacation: Unfamiliar Fishes

I stumbled across Sarah Vowell through Nick Hornby's reading journal, as he complained about her stylish prose and witty writing. And so far I've been enjoying her books, especially as she writes nonfiction in a energetic, opinionated and interesting manner that amuses me even as it deepens my knowledge about some event.

In Unfamiliar Fishes, she combines chances to visit the lovely Hawaiian islands with the excuse of researching its modern history. She tells about the people she spoke with and the places she went as she learned about the people and events in Hawaii from its unification through its annexation as an American territory. I knew the general outlines of this story (probably mostly from Michiner's Hawaii, which I read a few decades ago), but Vowell's account shows the good and bad intentions of the players in memorable detail. She's willing to accept the self-professed motives of people from Hawaiian kings to ambitious plantation owners, but she also skewers their greed and duplicity.

I found the meandering path of the narrative a bit confusing, as she skips back and forth among several generations of Hawaiian royalty, following various stories as they interest her rather than chronologically, and I admit that I didn't need quite so much of her nephew Owen's opinions, but overall it was a worthwhile few hours. I've been to Hawaii once, and her descriptions remind me that I'd really like to go back again.

Kids in Space: Orbital Resonance

Jo Walton on tor.com recommended Orbital Resonance; in fact she recommended most of John Barnes's work, although she warned that much of it doesn't make for pleasant reading.  As I'm now digging up my TBR list I'm actually following through on many of her picks, and she's a good match for me.  This book fits in the genre slot as some of Heinlein juveniles and the response books to him, such as Alexei Panshin's Rite of Passage -- kids in space grow up and show us their society, especially the bits that haven't firmed up yet.

Orbital Resonance takes place in a world gone seriously wrong -- plagues and environmental destruction have left the remnants of humanity huddled on a few domed cities, while hastily built giant asteroid space ships orbit between Earth and Mars providing the only hope of enough resources to keep humanity alive.  The adults all grew up in the collapsing societies of Earth, but our narrator, Melpomene, grew up in the ship and finds all the news stories about dire conditions on Earth remote and boring.  She's more concerned with her school work, which involves lots of cooperative grading and consensus building, the social ramifications of the new kid's arrival, and her brother's performance in the prestigious ship-surface races.

I like the mix of story and world building - as Walton points out, it's hard to notice the grim truth of the society since Melpomene's acceptance and approval of it resounds through the narrative.  All the children have been raised to value service to the ship and each other; competition is valued as a way to improve performance but trying to rise by pushing down other people is abhorred.  The adults in fact deliberately set out to create children steeped in these values, but they don't really understand what a society formed by the kids would look like.  Orbital Resonance catches this society as it emerges, and gives readers a chance to judge the parents who set it up.

Eclectic Challenge

No, of course I don't have enough book challenges going on.  Besides, this one should happen automatically; it's not like I'm going to be sitting around on New Years Eve frantically reading books.  Couldn't happen!

I'm joining the Book'd Out's Eclectic Reader 2012 Challenge, where the goal is to read books from twelve different genres. All the ones listed are subjects I've enjoyed before, so this should just be a chance to make sure I'm having fun all over the library. Since this doesn't look that hard, I'm going to try to fill it out with books I haven't read yet, although if December rolls about and I've got some gaping holes I reserve the right to go back and see if any of my January reads qualify.

The categories are:

1. Literary Fiction: The Girl Giant, Kristen Den Hartog
2. Crime/Mystery Fiction: Perry Mason and the Case of the Horrified Heirs
3. Romantic Fiction: Christmas Angel
4. Historical Fiction: (A Star in the Storm, Joan Harlow)
5. Young Adult: Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys
6. Fantasy: Echoes of Betrayal, Elizabeth Moon.
7. Science Fiction: Orbital Resonance
8. Non Fiction: Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell
9. Horror: The President's Vampire, Christopher Farnsworth
10. Thriller / Suspense: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
11. Classic: Tales From Silver Lands, First Men in the Moon
12. Your favorite (probably kidlit): Breadcrumbs

7/12