IQ

Book 12 of 2018 is IQ by Joe Ide.

Reading about the trials of African Americans makes me cringe on the best of days but I can't live here and pretend it isn't happening. So this year, I am reading as much as I can bear.

This book was absolutely brilliant. Very Sherlock Holmes mixed with Spike Lee mixed with Quincy Jones. I want to stay in Isaiah's life and watch everything be solved through observation.

Great writing lets you live the story without fighting the words. Even with a dialect I don't read naturally and references that I have to take in context, this was easy and enjoyable to read.

Do read this.

5 inductive reasonings out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. Read it. It's that good.
What did I learn? The geek shall inherit the Earth. Or at least those of us who were picked last for sporting teams. :)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Book 12 of 2017 is The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.

This was such an odd book about magic but I loved every single second of it.

I have nothing to really compare it to except maybe Night Circus for the phantasmagorical storyline.

5 stolen babies out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. Absolutely, yes.
What did I learn? Your magic is only a curse when at first you don't know how to control it.

The Master Magician

Book 12 of 2016 is The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.

This is the third book in The Paper Magician series.

If I had stopped at the first book, I would have missed the quality of books two and three. This series improved exponentially in time.

There are much better feminist protagonists but placing this in a historical setting helps justify her behaviour. Thing is, Jane Austin would have slapped her silly.

The second book is the peak of this series and I'm not stoked with how this went but it was ok.

Three teenage girls in love with their teachers out of five.

Should I read this? Only if like me, you have Kindle Unlimited. I'd not have read this series if it wasn't free to me, thanks to a Prime subscription.
What did I learn? Women can undermine themselves far too easily by dating colleagues. In all eloquence, I stick with the idea that you shouldn't shit where you eat.

A Happy Death

Book 12 of 2014 appears a month after the last book I read. Yes, I have been slack and not actually finishing anything I start.

In this case, A Happy Death is the last of  Camus' books for me to read. That is both saddening and a prompt to re-read those ones I love and that changed my life.

As usual, I'm left with too much to think about after finishing one of his books. There are so many lines that fit perfectly in to what is happening in my life and my own search for happiness in life, while I am unable to feel the connection of love that others so readily feel.

"He discovered the cruel paradox by which we always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love - first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage"

When I started this book, it felt too much like my favourite of his, The Outsider. However, it took a different path. Maybe one that was a lot more acceptable to readers when Camus was younger. The Outsider is still a better book but a different one.

The in-depth exploration of suicide (assisted or not) and self-imposed exile is something I connected to deeply. A need to rebel against everything you should do by destroying yourself is a hard subject to discuss and not scare people away with. Although he writes in a scattered way, the way Camus wields words will always make me listen and not allow me to put down his books.

You have to read something of his. This may not be the book but it is an insight in to the man, 100 years after his birth. Although, I adore everything he has ever written... I do worry what people may think of me for that :)

This may not be the Camus book you should start with but certainly one to read on your Algerian existentialist absurdism journey. At least it is on mine.

If that is too much for you, start by watching the Big Lebowski. At least you'll understand why I always sigh and say "obviously, you're not a golfer."

Should I read this? Yeah, it is short, perspicacious and beautiful. Like me.
What did I learn? “Yes, I'm happy, in human terms.”