Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan CainMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
If I hadn't already read "Caring For Your Introvert" then Quiet might have been more groundbreaking for me. As it was, I too often found myself nodding my head saying "I already knew this, and I agree. Now let's move on."
However, there is so much value in this book, even if it made me sad sometimes that its message was basically, "the world functions in a way that favors extroverts; here's how you can deal with it enough to not be rendered totally sidelined and underappreciated." Jeremy and I both mentioned how it was depressing to realize, as pointed out by this book, how much the workplace and the social scene and church and cultural norms (in the US, at least) stifle the natural way of the introvert. Basically, introverts are operating in hostile conditions almost all the time.
I appreciated the sections about Self-Monitoring - that really helped me understand the mystery of how I am able to function so well as a pseudo-extrovert when I want/need to. I also loved her idea of a Fair Trait Agreement. If only, if only...
I think Quiet will have the most value for someone who suspects, but doesn't know, that they are an introvert. To them, this book will be a revelation. I think extroverts will also enjoy learning about the "other side." For extroverts with introvert children, there is a whole chapter devoted to your situation (though I could have used a chapter for introvert parents with extrovert children. Poor Magdalena).
A Night to Remember by Walter LordMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Second reading.
I haven't read this book since I was a kid. What I was doing reading A Night to Remember as a kid...I have no idea. Just one slightly age-inappropriate choice of reading material, among many, from my childhood. (See also: Gone with the Wind and Not Without My Daughter.)
I liked it more this time around. I'm amazed at how well this book has aged. Whenever it referred to "these days," I had to remind myself that the author was talking about the 1950s. He did such a good job of giving a coherent retelling of the sinking of the Titanic, imparting just the right amount of information. A great read.
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren SumaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
FREA. KY. It might have helped to know this is a bit of a ghost story BEFORE I started reading. So let me do you a favor: this is a bit of a ghost story. Well, not a ghost story, but a supernatural story. Or a thriller. Or something. And it is super creepy in that awesome slow chill way.
However: maybe you get tired of hearing this from me, but I wish the author had let her characters steer clear of drugs and alcohol. There wasn't anything major in the book but I felt like it was always going on in the background and it bothered me. It would have been so much creepier without those references. In fact, I think I could have loved this book if the people in it hadn't been so moored to the worldly habits of high schoolers. It jarred me out of the otherwise spooky tone of the book.
Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell ZuckoffMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not fabulously engrossing, but a pretty straight-forwardly interesting read. I liked that the author wasn't afraid of some of the more humorous elements of the very serious rescue mission, like how the military air-dropped crates and crates full of Kotex pads to the female survivor of the plane crash while never getting around to sending her a single pair of underwear that she repeatedly asked for. I found that so funny. I also liked the female survivor's comment about how if the entire human race could be reborn, it should be as Filipinos since they are so dang efficient at anything they do. This is not your normal WWII survival story but it is a very entertaining one.
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas HardyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another solid Hardy book. Sometimes I like to think of all the Wessex characters inhabiting each other's worlds, like maybe Elfride is watching for Smith's ship at the same time that Bathsheba is running off to marry Troy and Tess is working as a milkmaid. It's fun.
Enclave by Ann AguirreMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Meh. Divergent + The Maze Runner = Enclave, but it's not half as fun. Also, this book has some weird ideas about rape. Namely (highlight to reveal SPOILER): there is a pack of young men living on their own in dystopian New York, and sometimes they kidnap girls who are living on their own, and then rape them in order to produce offspring to carry on their tribe. Or something. It's all referred to very obliquely in the book, but I'm pretty sure that's what was going on. Anyway, the leader of this gang is in charge of the whole operation, obviously, including the raping. And yet, within the course of the book, which I think spans only a couple of months, he is suddenly turned into a viable love interest for the heroine. What. THE HECK. Oh, also, one of the girls who was repeatedly raped by his minions is expected to hike around with this guy and not complain about it, at all. Just weird. I listened to this as an audiobook and you should have seen my face when the part where dude kisses the heroine happened. I was driving home from Abu Dhabi and I practically swerved off the road in surprised disgust and I'm pretty sure my face looked like I was tasting throwup in my mouth. Because maybe I was. END SPOILER.
Pandemonium by Lauren OliverMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pandemonium was marginally better than Delirium. Look, it's not this book, it's me. I can't get over these books where the heroes are so mystical and serious and the heroines are so eager and earnest and over-thinky that I can't keep myself from rolling my eyes. That's what I get for reading YA lit, I suppose.
You already heard my feelings about Anne of Green Gables, etc.