Year in Review

Overall, 66 is the smallest number of books I have in any year since I started blogging books 14 years ago. Blame it on 2020. In fact I read a decent number of novels but hardly reviewed any picture books. And I didn't read much of anything else except kids' novels. I mean, the library was close for a lot of it. 

I actually read way more books than this, but I only review ones I haven't reviewed before, and I ended up rereading a bunch of things in my own collection, along with reading a bunch of books I've been carrying around for years and never read (like the VALIS trilogy, which I bought when I was 15 because someone told me it was a book that smart people read. Me of 1990 couldn't make heads or tails of the first chapter and gave up, but 2020 me, with 30 years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom, got it just fine) and it only took a pandemic to get me there.  

Dragon's Library Year in Review, 2020

Picture books:            3 

Middle grade/YA:     25 

Nonfiction:                 2 

Graphic Novels:        16 

Memoir:                     4 

Novels:                      14 

Plays:                         1 

Poetry:                       1 

Total:                         66

Grand Theft Horse

Written by: Corban Wilkin 

First line: I can't believe I'm about to do this. 

Why you should read this book: I adored this deep but endearing nonfiction graphic novel about the author's cousin, the first person to be charged with "Grand Theft Horse" in a hundred fifty years. Gail Ruffu, who has devoted her life to the love of horses, defies a group of powerful and unscrupulous lawyers to save a racehorse called Urgent Envoy, but she sacrifices everything else in the process. Just a tremendously enjoyable story about a remarkable person demonstrating tenacious devotion in pursuit of doing the right thing. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would kill to commit insurance fraud.

Ciel

Written by: Sophie Labelle 

First line: You might not believe me if I tell you, but I have a special power. 

Why you should read this book: Ciel, a non-binary trans teen, is comfortable with who they are, but starting high school is stressful enough for gender conforming kids, and now that Ciel's boyfriend, Eiríkur has moved to Iceland, and their best friend, Stephie, decides that she doesn't want to be out as a trans kid in high school, Ciel isn't always sure where to turn. Stephie has an entirely new set of fun, cis friends, Ciel has a new crush that develops in Eiríkur's absence (it doesn't help that Eiríkur is a terrible penpal), and when they accidentally make a viral video about the difficulties of being non-binary, they find themselves targeted by bigots and online bullying. Ciel has to decide how to ask for the treatment they want, and how to present themselves to a world that isn't always careful with a young teen's delicate sense of self. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: While the story it tells is a good and important one, the voice (or possible the translation—I think this book was originally written in French?) feels amateur and the writing is overloaded with unnecessary and distracting exposition that doesn't advance the story or the characterization.

Children of Blood and Bone

Written by: Tomi Adeyemi 

First line: I try not to think of her. 

Why you should read this book: It's been over a decade since magic was eradicated from Orisha, over a decade since the powerful maji like Zélie's mother were brutally, publicly murdered, and young maji like Zélie, whose powers had not yet manifest, were branded "maggots" by the royal government and persecuted with unpayable taxes, indentured servitude, and death. A seemingly chance meeting binds Zélie and the princess Amari together as they embark on an dangerous and seemingly impossible mission to collect three powerful artifacts and return magic to Orisha with the help of Zélie's brother, Tzain. Meanwhile, Amari's brother, Prince Inan is hot on their trail, intent on winning his father's love by killing Zélie, and anyone who comes between and his goal, even his own sister. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: This is a young adult novel; as an older adult, I found myself shaking my head and screaming helplessly at the characters' obvious bad decisions.

The Altered History of Willow Sparks

Written by: Tara O'Connor 

First line: Samuel? What are you...? 

Why you should read this book: When Willow Sparks stumbles upon a secret library housed within the public library, she is astonished to learn that everyone in town has a novel of their life shelved in alphabetical order, and that she can change the particulars of her life by writing revisions into the book. Suddenly, her skin is clear, her wardrobe is cool, she doesn't suck at dodgeball, the hot guy wants to walk her home, and the mean girls aren't quite so mean. But, of course, there are side effects to such potent magic, including the fact that Willow's best friend Georgia can't follow where Willow's headed, and in pursuing popularity, she could lose Georgia for Good. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: There's not a ton at stake and it's not exactly a brand new conceit for a fantasy story.

The Undertaking of Lily Chen

Written by: Danica Novgorodoff 

First line: Get the hell out of here— 

Why you should read this book: Deshi's older brother Wei suffers an accidental death while the two young men are fighting, so their parents blame Deshi for the loss of their golden child and direct him to obtain a woman's corpse before Wei's funeral in order to conduct a ghost marriage and ensure their boy has pleasant companionship in the afterlife. Unfortunately, while Deshi's parent's beliefs have their foundations in ancient traditions, they live in a modern world, and obtaining the appropriate body proves nearly impossible. Enter Lily Chen, young, beautiful, headstrong, curious, talkative and very much alive, but that situation could change quickly, and Deshi is under a lot of familial pressure to succeed in his mission. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Almost everything that happens before the last few pages is kind of bleak.

You Brought Me the Ocean

Written by: Alex Sanchez and Deron Bennett

First line: For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of another world.

Why you should read this book: I guess we're at the point where it's cliché and meaningless to say this is "a different kind of superhero origin story," because all the superhero origin stories being written these days are a different kind, but this touching book about a boy named Jake Hyde coming to terms with who he is and where he came from and where he's going doesn't really read like a superhero story, despite being firmly entrenched in the DC Universe (Superman makes a brief cameo, faster than a speeding bullet, on page fifteen). Jake doesn't even learn he has powers until well into the story, by which time we know that his real dilemmas are about acknowledging his own sexuality and lying to his best friend, Maria Mendez about his plans for after high school. This coming-of-age story explores the trouble with, and the rewards of complete honesty, even when the truth is hard to swallow or might hurt someone else. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Fear of drowning.

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Written by: Karen Lord

First line: He always set aside twelve days of his annual retreat to finish reports and studies, and that left twelve more for everything else.

Why you should read this book: This provocative far-future speculative fiction novel sees a low-level civil servant scientist, Grace Delarua, thrust onto a deeply meaningful year-long diplomatic mission to help displaced people, including the reserved, always-appropriate Dllenahkh, survey the human resources of their new home. Following the destruction of their own planet, where most Sadiri women lived, the survivors settle on Cygnus Beta, and must determine how best to preserve their genetic and cultural heritage; specifically they need to start getting married to non-Sadiris and popping out the babies before they get testosterone poisoning and stop behaving appropriately, but since they're basically Vulcans, this is easier said than done. Meanwhile, Grace, Dllenahkh, and their team are about to come face to face with numerous hidden truths about Cygnus Beta, the nature of reality, and the meaning of love. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: There's so much world building and so many characters and so many plot points that I couldn't always keep score, and it seemed to me that not every question was answered by the end of the book.

Giant Days Extra Credit Volume One

Written by: John Allison 

First line: At the very edge of the boundless sweep of space is where you will find me, Day-zee. 

Why you should read this book: I saw a couple panels of Giant Days on somebody's social media and thought it would be a nice series to read straight through, so I looked online and reserved this book at the public library, thinking it was the first in the series. In fact, it is a bonus book intended to be read after you've read the entire series, beginning with a "what if" story depicting a world in which the first book never happened, and is probably much more meaningful and enjoyable if you were already vested in that world, rather than beginning in the alternate one. I still enjoyed these little one-off comics about an unlikely group of girls attending their freshman year of college in the UK. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It is definitely not the first one in the series.