#bookspo: Science Fiction Edition

I stumbled on these images from the British Library, and it made me want to read more H.P. Lovecraft, George Orwell, and Jules Verne (it may be time to re-read Douglas Adams too). Thankfully, the BBC has lots of sci-fi radio dramas available online. Happy reading! (or listening!)

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Cecilia Gray Sketches a Good Character in ‘Drawn’

The saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” must have been first said by a book reviewer. Since I’ve started to review advanced copies of books, I’ve been surprised more often than not that the story I thought I was going to read is quite a bit different than the story actually is. I’m still in the process of learning that lesson, though. ;)

The official description of Drawn is this:

Take a journey into the gritty world of political espionage through the eyes – and lies – of one extraordinary girl. A wholly original tale of friendship and betrayal.

Sasha has a secret – that she can make you spill your secret with nothing more than a question. Her strange gift makes her a burden to her foster family and a total freak of nature. Not that Sasha cares. Why should she when no one cares about her?

Then the CIA knocks on her door. They want to give Sasha a new identity and drop her into a foreign country to infiltrate a ring of zealous graffiti terrorists. They want to give Sasha something to care about.

To survive a world where no one is who they seem, Sasha needs to make people trust her. But when that trust blossoms into love, Sasha is forced to decide between duty and friendship, between her mind and her heart, and whether to tell the truth or keep her secrets.

I wouldn't have guessed that based on this cover! It is about friendship, lies and partial truths, the CIA, a Banksy-type character named Kid Aert, and a girl with a mutant ability to make people tell the truth if they hear her voice. Drawn is about all of this.

But to summarize it as only those things misses the mark. The authoress, Cecilia Gray, dug much deeper to address what is in the psyche of a person who has been abandoned by parental figures multiple times at such critical points in life--when her brain is forming relational patterns--and how that affects her relationships with everyone.

Sasha constantly blames others for giving up on her. Her voice is difficult to be around because it makes people say exactly what is on their mind (and those are generally less than flattering things), so people naturally gravitate away from her. Rather than risking being rejected again, she pushes potential friends away.

Though her voice is bad for keeping relationships, it is useful for obtaining information for the CIA. Sasha has been working for the government since her gift was discovered as a young child. She has worked as a tool of the government her whole life, and her relationship with adults is based solely on her value as a tool. She places her entire worth as a human in her ability to do her job for the government. Because she feels used, she justifies using others. And she manipulates her friends into helping her accomplish her job.

Sasha is a pretty well-developed character and has legitimate inner-conflicts. The author did a great job thinking through the effects that treating people as less than human will have. She shows a lot of patterns that a girl who has been trafficked, abused, or abandoned would have. Plot-wise, however, it was a little too farfetched for me. No matter what fictional world is created, all worlds have to abide by the law of Allowed Amount of Coincidences. I wouldn’t recommend this book because it breaks the law.

Note: I received a free e-copy of this for review, but that didn't affect my honest opinion here.

New on the Stack || January Edition

The Deliberate Reader is hosting a link-up to share what you've added to your book pile in the past month. Such a fun idea, and I'm planning to continue it. I've added a few books, but I've mostly mourned the fact that I won't be reading as fast as I usually do because I'm reading in a second language - Portuguese!


Bíblia Vida Melhor Jovem
How I got it: I bought it at Cultura Livraria (a giant bookstore here in São Paulo)
Why I got it: Even though it's easy to get a Portuguese Bible for my phone or ipad, you retain more if you read on paper. I'm reading the book of John in Portuguese, one chapter per day, writing down all the new words in a notebook, and I'm already seeing a huge improvement in my vocabulary.

O Bicho-da-Seda (The Silkworm) by Robert Galbraith
How I got it: I bought it at Cultura Livraria.
Why I got it: I wanted to buy a book that was a little bit above my current reading level in Portuguese, something that wasn't too "literature-y", and I have been wanting to keep up with JK Rowling's career.

Jane Austen Cover to Cover by Margaret C. Sullivan
How I got it: My boyfriend, Silas gave it to me as a Christmas present.
Why I got it: He knows I love book design and Jane Austen.

Piteco: Ingá by Shiko
How I got it: borrowed it from Silas
Why I got it: Graphic novels are easier to read than normal novels, for me, because I understand most words used in dialogues, but not in descriptions. The descriptions are drawn! Also, this book is part of a series of homages paid to one of Brazil's most famous illustrators, Mauricio de Sousa, and I want to understand more about why his characters are so beloved.

Bidu: Caminhos by Eduardo Damasceno and Luís Felipe Garrocho
How I got it: borrowed it from Silas
Why I got it: Another in the series paying homage to Mauricio de Sousa.

Astronauta: Singularidade by Danilo Beyrouth
How I got it: borrowed it from Silas
Why I got it: Another in the series paying homage to Mauricio de Sousa.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
How I got it: My bestie Qadria gave me the audio broadcast as a travel gift (audio books are awesome going-away gifts, btw)
Why I got it: I like sci-fi, and I was moving across the world, so Qadria knew that I would like something entertaining and small.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft
How I got it: My bestie Qadria gave me the audio version.
Why I got it: Sci-fi, mystery, entertainment, and the only space it takes is a few megabytes on my phone.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
How I got it: Again, Qadria is to blame!
Why I got it: Because Agatha Christie.

Linkylicious 001

I don't have enough IRL booknerd friends to appreciate these links. Help me give them their due honor.

• Shot down in the library - rofl that girl is surely Hermione. Makes my heart happy.
• "He said he used to crank out book after book, never stopped drawing, did all the right things they tell you to do. But, he had no life. He suffered anxiety, depression. He was miserable, exhausted. He could do it, but he was driving himself to sickness. Finally, one day, he just said, screw it. He made time for himself. He picked up a day job. He went out with friends, he took care of himself. He said that the best art in the world was not worth his life or his mind. And he told us the same thing. Work on taking care of yourself, even if it costs art." -  Go read the whole damn thing.
• You have an overdue book - Laughed a little harder than I should have.
• Holy Moses, Oh Jeez! Parsing the Erotic Vocabulary of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ - As if I didn't already judge FSG fans hard enough already. You know when you look at the same word over and over, the word loses its meaning? Surely that happens to more people than just me. So be prepared for "holy" to temporarily lose its value. BTW, my boo is sooo getting a valentine with a giant frankenstein quote from this.
• In Defense of Fan Art - Super short. You'll laugh. 
• Bookish Recommendations Based on Your Sign - I'm a virgo, just FYI.

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First Sentence Friday and a Mini-update

First Sentence Friday: The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H.P. Lovecraft

(image from: The Half Hour Library of Travel, Nature and Science for young readers, 1896)

Forgive me! I moved to São Paulo last month and haven't finished a book since Christmas! I've been studying Portuguese like crazy, but I need to not feel guilty about keeping up with my hobbies as well. Unfortunately, I will probably read less books this year than I have in the previous few years, simply because studying Portuguese is a huge necessity, and learning all about my new city and culture is important and takes time too. The price of adventure, though!