Book asks: 2, 3, 4, 16, 25?
Thank you for asking! I’m sorry this is a few days late.
2. Did you reread anything? What?
This month I finished my reread of Wicked by Gregory Maguire! As ever, I love Elphaba so much. The book is my preferred version of the story in a lot of ways, but particularly for the construction of her character: that passion which can sleep but not go away--I love that bit where the narration notes she's furious at hearing about the world because she had wanted to forget the doings of evil men, and retire into a cave, but she just can't stop caring, even as she can't find an explanation for what's going on or how to stop it. She breaks my heart and thrills it.
That said, I do love the musical and am glad it gives her a little personal happiness, along with fulfilling some of the wishes book Elphaba had. I knew someone who said Heathers wasn't really right for a musical because of the particular ways it was a dark and cynical movie, so of course the characters, particularly Veronica and J.D., ended up changed in the adaptation. I wasn't sure I agreed, but Wicked--seeing the movie, and the seeing the show for the first time in sixteen years--made me think of that again, especially once I read the original outline for the show. That version was definitely peppy in its ending; I was intrigued by the ways the final version was actually pretty similar. It already made sense to streamline things by focusing on the Elphaba and Glinda of it all--coalescing all the different voices and Elphaba foils/reflections into Glinda--but I understood it better after seeing how they started out. It helped keep the story a tragedy, while still allowing for that musical happiness.
Before this, I was rereading the Books of Pellinor (The Naming--or The Gift in the original Australian release--The Riddle, The Crow, The Singing) by Alison Croggon. I seem to have loved a lot of Australian fantasy in my life--Trudi Canavan, Garth Nix, Juliet Marillier, and Croggon. My memory of it was that the books had their Tolkienesque vibe, but with a female protagonist; that is true, but they do feel different enough to stand out to me. Maerad is a great protagonist; the baggage from the loss of her mother and their enslavement informs her and the story's development well. The series also has an interesting quality; of the four books, the third is entirely about her brother Hem. This bothered me intensely when I first read it--this is Maerad's story!--and it bothered me this year too, enough to mention. And yet! The world, already expanded in the second book to include the northern circles of the world, is expanded even further, as Hem goes to the south, roughly to the North Africa-inspired sections. This in turn allowed the Saliman character to become more central, and introduced Zelika, a new female character who is central to that book.
The writing is lovely, and the story has that melancholy, that bittersweet joy that I also like in Tolkien, so that particular similarity is a good thing.
There are things that made be like "Oh that. That's a thing you did." I did overall enjoy my reread though, and remembered what I loved about these books over a decade ago.
3. What were your top five books of the year?
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
Finnish science fiction/fantasy, gorgeously written, and I will be going on a bit more about it in the new author question below.
The Broken Earth Trilogy (The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky) by N. K. Jemisin
These had been on my tbr list forever. I devoured them. These books raised my standards for the epic fantasy: the excellence of the worldbuilding, and the way it is integrated into the characters, the plot, and the themes, is just on another level. The characters are so shaped by the tragedies and oppressions visited upon them, in ways that just make sense for each one; Essun and Nassun break my heart. I love the mother-daughter cycles and narrative at the center of this trilogy. I loved reading about the different apocalypses, and the bits of the world's past, how knowledge would be shaped and how people's ability to even envision certain things could be limited or nonexistent. Essun was an incredible protagonist, and I adored her. This is a far-future take on what humans do with the Earth, and the aftermath of its apocalypses makes it stand out within the genre. It's been long enough that I don't know what else to say about them right now, but man. These books are quality adventures.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
I already talked about it above, but I am just going to note again how well the book builds Elphaba's character, and how beautifully it both centers her and uses her to gather up all these themes that blend into the world and paint it, if that makes sense.
4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
Not quite sure whether this counts: I started reading The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta last year in June, but real life reasons led to me stopping for about a year, until this last June. It was absolutely beautiful in prose, story, and theme. A bit slow at first, but that's enjoyable too. The premise is that Lumi, a shaman healer in the near future, is trying to meet with her spouse, but the scientist appears to be involved in an ecoterrorist plot, and they never show up to meet her. You get to know how the Mars colony exploits the Earth, how other satellite colonies exist, how immigration from and to Earth works, what happened to its environment and inhabitants (human, animal, plant). Lumi is a refugee and an immigrant. The book is suffused with loss, grief, memory, and regret. The format isn't letters per se; the letters are more like journal entries written as letters, to be shared when the partners can meet again, and there are other types of texts in there, like communications and excerpts.
It's a wonderful book, and I hope to read the author's other works.
An interesting detail; she wrote this one in Finnish and English at the same time, rather than translating it to English after it was already written.
16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I feel a little guilty, because it's not like I got it based on huge buzz; still, it was apparently a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, and the blurbs on the books made it seem really interesting. I did like the art and the concept, but it didn't feel like the gothic fantasy it was described to be. Not dark enough; the love story was sweet, without real bite to complement that, and the house felt so cozy. It wasn't bad, but it also didn't live up to my expectations.
25. What reading goals do you have for next year?
I was hoping to read Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse; it was originally coming out last year and then came out this year instead! It's the conclusion to the epic fantasy, Between Earth and Sky. But I was already partway through my reread of the Books of Pellinor, another epic fantasy, and wanted to finish the series before getting into another tome with that kind of energy. That finished, the semester started again, so between grad school and a full time job I didn't actually start. Wicked was the only dense book I managed to read these past few months.
So, I hope to read the book not long into the next year! I also want to sink into more of my Puerto Rican books--particularly the Marta Aponte Alsina essays, and some poetry--some Sofia Samatar books, and a few science fiction/fantasy/horror titles that have been waiting. And finish the Sookie Stackhouse books; am already halfway through. Additionally, my non-resident's New York Public Library card expires at the end of February, so I need to take advantage of that while I can, even if it means DNF'ing some books I can't get through for now.
