This is a look at the books I’m planning to read in the month of
February. I already finished one. So good start. I’m also finishing Jane Eyre
and the Book of Negroes, hopefully.
This is about a young couple from Nigeria. It’s about Ifemelu and Obinze,
who as teenagers fall in love. Nigeria is a military dictatorship and people
are leaving as soon as they can. Ifemelu and Obinze are planning to leave too.
Ifemelu goes to America to study, Obinze wants to join her, but after 9/11 it’s
very hard to get in for him, so he goes to London as an undocumented immigrant.
And it’s about how they meet again in Nigeria, and there are rave reviews and I
am extremely excited.
This is the second book in a Norwegian YA fantasy trilogy. It’s set in
this sort of parallel world where humans are the monsters, or the “aliens” and
they’re called Odinsbarn, or the children of Odin. It’s sort of based on Norse
mythology, which I love. And the main character is named Hirka, and she’s about
17, I think. And in the first book we get to meet her and learn about her. The
people in this world have tails, and Hirka was born without a tail. She grew up
thinking hers was raked off by a wolf, but she is actually a human. In the end
of the first book she is sort of cast out, because people realize she doesn’t
belong in their world, so she goes through to the world she’s actually from,
and that’s where this book is set. So I’m excited. I really love mythology, and
this is a fascinating take on Norse mythology, and it’s amazing fantasy. I
don’t know if I’ll review this in English and Norwegian, but I’ll figure it
out.
This was one of my favorite books growing up. I really loved Roald Dahl
in general, I loved him. I still do, but I haven’t read anything by him lately.
Then my sister gave me two Roald Dahl books for Christmas, I guess I did ask
for them, and now I’ll read ‘em. That was boring, let’s get past it. I love
Matilda. I think it’s amazing, and I’ve never read it in English before. It’s about
a young lady named Matilda, I think she’s about seven or something when the
book starts, and she’s an intellectual prodigy. Her parents completely ignore
her and she teaches herself to read and she teaches herself to do math. When
she finally goes to school she is clearly too smart to be in the first grade,
but her psychotic Head Mistress won’t let her be moved to a higher class. And
I’m excited to read this again.
This is the Book of the Month in one of the groups I’m in on Goodreads.
Also it’s black history month in America. I’m not American, but who cares? Not
me. So this is Toni Morrison’s first novel, and it’s about an 11-year-old
African American girl in 1941 in Ohio. She really wants to be a white, blond,
blue eyed girl basically. And it’s supposed to be amazing, and tragic, so
that’ll be fun. I don’t have that much to say about it, but I’m excited.
The Drowned Cities is the last book in a duology, or it’s a companion
novel, I’m not sure. It’s connected to the Ship Breaker anyway. I don’t really
remember much of the other book, but I don’t think it’s a problem really. It’s
a dystopian novel about two kids, Mahlia and Mouse, and they are on the run in
this future, war-torn world. And they stumble across this bioengineered man,
named Tool, who I think is in the first book. I remember really liking the
first one, so I’m excited about this one.
I’ve had this on my shelf for an eternity. And I’ve tried reading it
once, but I never got anywhere really. But I will try again. It’s translated
from Russian I think, and it’s set in the metro system of Moscow. Basically
it’s 20 years since a nuclear war, and after the war the surviving population
of Moscow relocated to the metro to survive. And they’ve lived there for a
while, in sort of relative peace and quiet, and now there is some sort of
creepy, dangerous creature attacking people. And the novel focuses on a young
man who is forced to go on this dangerous journey.
Americanah by Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Bluest Eye by Tony Morrison
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi