Thoughts & Things

The Best of the Other Stuff I've Read So Far This Year

In my previous entries "The Best Graphic Novels I've Read So Far This Year"  and "The Best Non-Fiction I've Read So Far This Year" , I discussed some of the books I've rated at five stars this year so far. I was going to create another entry for novels, but it occurred to me that most of the great novels I've read this year have been four stars. The other things I have rated at five stars actually offer a little variety. I have a poetry volume, a middle-grade novel, and a classic short story. So here are the remainder of the five star ratings (although I am sure I will have more to say about this year's fiction reads by the end of the year).

George
By Alex Gino
George is a very sweet middle grade novel that focuses on George as she realises that she is really a girl. It deals with trans issues in a way that is easily understood by readers of any age, but it's especially child friendly. It deals with George's struggles of being perceived as a boy when she knows she's a girl, and it is presented in a way that makes her easy to relate to, even if you're not trans. It's an easy read that is touching for all readers, educational for cisgender readers, and vital for transgender children.

October Mourning: A Song For Matthew Shepard
By Lesléa Newman
October Mourning is a poetry volume about Matthew Shepard's violent death in the late nineties. Shepard's death was a brutal hate crime because he was gay, and the poems examine Shepard, his friends, his surroundings. There are poems from the perspective of nearly everyone and everything that had to do with his murder, including everything from the perpetrators to the fence he was left to die on. The poems are absolutely heart-wrenching, and recommended for anyone teenage and up.

The Lottery
By Shirley Jackson
The Lottery is an absolute classic as far as short stories go, and one that I took far too long to get to. Essentially it tells the story of a town that engages in an annual lottery in which the "winner" has some rather unsavoury outcomes. The writing is filled with an ominous tension that works flawlessly with the story. Although it is short, it packs a punch, and the twist end is the exact kind that makes a short story worth reading. The Lottery is a blast and I recommend it for any casual reader, but I also recommend it for those who write short stories.

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Sixty-Six. Seven days of leave taken total.)