#BookChat – Books I’ve read so far this year, Books I’m currently reading, and Books I DNF

Reading is essential for me. I like blogging about books too – a natural extension of the fact that I like talking about books I’ve read. I don’t count books so much as enjoy the experience of reading – which is why the reviews matter to me more than the number, 19 (or 28 depending on how you’re counting) so far this year. I thought I’d share everything I’ve read so far for 2019, linking to the reviews in case you wanted to check them out. If you’ve read the book reviewed, leave your own thoughts. Oh, and as this post talks about books I’m currently reading (today: Wartime at Woolworths), recently finished reading (yesterday: Dreamland Barbuda), what do you think you’ll read next (no clue), I’m linking up to the WWW Wednesday post at Taking on a World of Words.

Novels/Books finished

Dreamland Barbuda by Asha Frank (see also #BookChat #Unscripted 09.10.19)


The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Children of the Spider by Imam Baksh
London Rocks by Brenda Lee Browne
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (audio book)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (audio book)
Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker
The Black Rose by Tananarive Due
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin  (audio book)
Inner City Girl by Colleen Smith-Dennis
Evolution: Weaving in and out of Consciousness while the Truth is Somewhere in the Middle by Felene M. Cayetano
On this Island The Natives… by Dale Butler with illustrator Lindsey George
The Masquerade Dance by Carol Ottley-Mitchell w/illustrator Daniel J. O’Brien

Non-novels/Books finished

13 Strategies to elevate Your Career by Janice Sutherland
Ororo: Before the Storm ( 3 issue limited comic book series) by Mark Sumerak with illustrator Carlo Barberi
X-Women One Shot (comic)
Giant Size X-Men – Stan Lee Presents the Uncanny X-Men – Second Genesis (comic) by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum w/Glynis Wein and John Costanza
Storm: Prelude to the Wedding of the Century (comic limited series) by by Eric Jerome Dickey w/David Yardin, Jay Leisten, and Matt Milla
The Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books Volume 11 Number 1 Summer 2018 (ed. Paget Henry)
Some other stories read during this period can be found in Reading Room and Gallery 35 at the Wadadli Pen blog – just added, The Golden Bough by Salman Rushdie

Books/Novels currently in my active reading pile

Wartime at Woolworths by Elaine Everest – honestly I could’ve finished this long ago with more dedicated reading time but I don’t have more dedicated reading time (so)
New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby – and including works by more than 200 women of African descent from around the world – I’m more than 200 pages in and not even halfway through; it’s good reading though
Greyborn Rising by Derry Sandy – this action filled work of Caribbean speculative fiction is probably my favourite thing I’m reading right now; curious to see how it turns out
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – been itching to read this one for a while now so I gave up I think and just decided to try the audio book; still struggle with this format but the book itself is off to a rousing start
The Secret – it was a gift, I’m trying
Another Mother by Ross Kenneth Urken – an ARC from the author, just started
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James – I had to start this over once because it’s not the kind of book that does well with being put down and picked up as I have to but when I get in to it, it’s good
Wastelands (Dark Tower 3) by Stephen King – love this series so decided to give the audio book a go; have a vague feeling that I read it already but we’ll see
Beneath Lion’s Wings by Marie Ohanesian Nardin – I’m having a sense that this may not be my cup of tea but I’m still sipping
Inferno by Dan Brown – when I’m reading it, it goes by; problem is I’m not reading it a lot
Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman – still trying to get through the audio book and wishing I had the actual book
Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal – I actually had a hand in editing this book, and, in addition to my payment and some public plaudits on the author’s online platforms, I received all the earlier books in the (Glamourist) series, which I read:   Shades of Milk and Honey,  Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, and Valour and Vanity

(non-books/novels currently in the active reading pile btw include an old New Yorker article on Barbuda, an unpublished thesis about the history of Barbuda, another unpublished – I think – history this time of social changes in Antigua-Barbuda through education in the late 19th and early 20th century – picking up lots of new information, How to Write and Get Paid – interesting case studies from other freelancers, a play about Black West Indians in one of the great wars of the 20th century sent to me by the author, The Caribbean Writer Volume 32 and Pen America Journal #18 In Transit- both of which I am in, The Antigua  and Barbuda Review of Books Volume 12 Number 1, Simply Antigua Barbuda, Callaloo Volume 35 Number 1, and The Boy who loved Ice Cream by Olive Senior)

I know, I know, too many damn books at once (and that’s not counting my TBR plus the book’s I keep adding to my wish list)  but I’m not stressing it. I just grab one and try to read a little every day because reading is my happy place (and heaven is an unlimited supply of books, time to read them, a bottomless cooler of cold Wadadli, sunset with no san’flies, and eyes that don’t conk out on me).

About those DNFs

Storm and Illyana Magik-Little Girl Lost (1-3 of 4 issue limited comic book series) by Chris Claremont w/illustrators Brent Anderson, John Buscema, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema – didn’t finish book 4 due to technical issues – but I’m mostly okay with that as I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I expected to considering the Storm in the title.
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff – life is too short
Caribbean Social Studies 1 – read what I wanted (primary the profiles of Caribbean personalities then passed it on to a child I felt could make fuller use of it)
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin – I want to read it-read it
For more re my several other DNFs (because I may be reading too many books at once but I’m also learning to let go the of the books I’m not feeling), scroll to the bottom of this post.

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