February is Black History Month! To close out the month here are five of Books and Sensibility’s favorite memoirs about African-Americans who are making history today.
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The Disasters by M.K. England
8 hrs. 33 min. | Science-Fiction | Harper Audio | Release Date: 12/18/2018
Nasir “Nax” Hall dream of becoming a pilot and moving to one of Earth’s space colonies is quickly dashed when he washes out of flight school on the first day and is sent packing with three other failed students. But instead of going back to Earth, this unlikely group of strangers find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy and on a high flying journey around the galaxy to save the universe.
I don’t always think you should give a book extra points just for diversity but I’m honestly not sure a book like this would have existed pre-WNDB. It’s a space adventure story with teens of color across the LGBTQ spectrum that is not a struggle narrative. I think this book is perfect for those looking for that representation. England creates a set of characters who we meet are at their lowest points and shows them grow beyond their “failed student”label. On a character level, this book is really interesting.
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Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
I don’t always read nonfiction, but when I do it’s for the tea.
On the surface, Bad Blood is the sensational story of Elizabeth Holmes, a young ambitious college-dropout turned CEO who used her access to wealth, power, privilege and influence to cause the downfall of Theranos, a billion dollar company.
As someone who has worked in a lot of offices and seen tons of office politics gone awry, there is something fascinating about hearing someone else’s workplace gossip, drama and scandals; all while knowing those in power are eventually held accountable. I mean it’s maddening some of the things the employees of Theranos had to live with in silence.
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Bird Box by Josh Malerman
9 hrs. 8 min. | Horror | Harper Audio | Release Date: 5/13/14
From To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before to Crazy Rich Asians 2018 was the year more book adaptations skyrocketed into the pop culture zeitgeist. Bird Box came on the scene at the end of the year with the popular Netflix film that spawned its own memes and challenges.
Bird Box is a 20 Minutes Into The Future post-apocalypse story where people see something outside that makes them murderous. The book begins with Malorie and two 4-year-olds leaving an empty house and getting into a boat to head down the river blindfolded. Flashbacks from four years earlier are interspersed, showing how the panic started and how Malorie got to the house.
The tension builds as we learn how Malorie and her housemates have to suddenly navigate a world blindfolded. I liked the survivalist aspects of this book, I’ve kind of gotten into books that make me wonder how long I could survive on the canned food in my house.
What was missing for me was character development. It’s revealed early on there were once other people in the house where meet Malorie but they all felt like blank slates, I couldn’t tell any of them apart or what their purpose was. I don’t read much horror so I don’t know if plot over character is a convention of the genre or that is just this book.
The audiobook was done by Cassandra Campbell, I’ve enjoyed her in the past but this wasn’t my favorite performance of hers. It felt muted and didn’t fully bring me into the story.
I have watched some of the Netflix movie and I enjoyed it so much better than the book. Sandra Bullock is great and the movie fleshes out the motivations and creates connections between the characters in a way the book never did.
The guy who wrote Bird Box’s Netflix adaptation is also writing the Leigh Bardugo Netflix series and I can’t wait to see what he does with it. He seems to have the ability to capture the spirit of a book without making it literal.
End of The Year/Christmas Book Haul
It’s been a while since I’ve done a book haul so here are the newest books decking my shelves !
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Books and Sensibility By The Numbers 2018 !
It’s that time of the year again! All year long we track our reading and reviewing habits so we can crunch the numbers and pull some stats.
Here are some additional breakdowns:
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