Thursday Thoughts: Reviews revisited (July – December 2020)

I've noticed I often say in reviews how great a book is...and then totally forget it exists a few months later. So I've decided to start a series of posts within my Thursday Thoughts series called Reviews Revisited, in which I will go back through the books I've read a while ago and see if they are as memorable now as I thought they would be then!

A quick note: I'm covering 6 months of books at a time, but these are NOT the books I've reviewed in the past 6 months. Rather, these are the books I reviewed starting exactly one year ago, in July 2020, and ending in December 2020. (Partially, that's so I could cram in more ranting about The Magic Fish, and partially, it's so the most recent books wouldn't have literally been from last week—those will probably be pretty memorable!) The books from January to June 2021 will (if I remember) be featured in a post like this in January 2022. With all that said, let's dive right in!

July 2020

When Stars Are Scattered

I don't know that I actively think about this book that much, but it has definitely stuck with me! I remember the sense of desolation from the refugee camp, Dadaab, and I have a pretty solid sense of Omar and Hassan as characters still. I remember some of the childhood play and attempts to learn in school, and I remember being horrified by CERTAIN THINGS that happen to Maryam. So this gorgeous, painful book has been pretty memorable overall!

Parachutes

Again, this isn't one I actively think about much, and it was so chock-full of details that it's hard to retain most of them. But I definitely remember some of the more impactful (i.e. horrifying) scenes, both involving Claire and Dani, and I remember some of the wonderful scenes toward the end involving Dani's debate competition. I also remember that honestly, I didn't really like Zach. At all. In terms of sticking with me, this isn't too bad overall!

Zenobia July

This book did not stay with me as much as I would have hoped—actively thinking about it now, I can recall a surprising amount of it, including Zenobia and her aunts and Arli and the hacking and the makeup scene and all sorts of stuff. But I haven't thought about it much since I read it, with the exception that Zenobia still comes to mind as an "actual" individual who would be affected by some of the anti-transgender legislation going on now. I think most people find it difficult to care about prejudice if they don't know individuals who it affects, but between Zenobia and actual people I know in real life, I can safely say that I am INFURIATED by the aforementioned legislation.

Tash Hearts Tolstoy

I still remember this book, because I basically eviscerated it in my review, and who could forget that? That's all I'll say here—take a look at the review if you want to.

August 2020

Over the Moon

I didn't love this book when I read it, and I haven't thought about it much at all. I remember some bits of the plot, like Mallie and the horses and the coal mines and the canaries with a name I cannot remember anymore. But I don't remember much of a moral message or anything—it wasn't terribly impactful in the first place, unfortunately.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen

I remember SO MUCH DELICIOUS FOOD from this book, goodness gracious! I recall Lucy as being a pretty fun and adventurous "protagonist" for this memoir, and there's a few chapters from this book that were so entertaining that I still think of them from time to time. But no big moral message or life-changing info stands out to me.

The Key to Extraordinary

I don't often think about this book, but I do look at it on my shelf and wish I could re-read it again, and I think that's pretty good! The food, the dancing, the flowers, the friendships and family, the ghosts, the emphasis on finding joy even amidst grief—it's pretty hard to forget a book that makes you feel as happy as this one does!

Faith: Taking Flight

I wouldn't say this book had any messages I hadn't seen in Julie Murphy's other spectacular books before, but I will say that I know it was definitely a fun read, and with all of the intense action and shocking revelations toward the end, I know I definitely want to pick up a copy of the sequel and fly (get it? because she can fly?) back into this world!

On the Horizon

I almost never think about this book, honestly—I remember it being vaguely impactful at the time, but I just don't think the writing was good enough that it really stayed with me.

September 2020

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

I remember that I wish I could remember more of this book! I remember totally loving it, and I recall things like Freddy's emails taking the place of narration, or the stuffed animals, or the titular toxic relationship being very nuanced, or the immense amount of LGBTQ+ representation and culture packed in here. If I had any time at all (which I don't, unfortunately), I would love to pick this back up for a re-read!

Displacement

One of the things I remember most about this book was the art style—between the choice of colors and the clean lines, I was quite smitten with it! (Though it's possible that I saw some sample pages a few months ago, and that's also why the art style feels memorable.) I remember the ending moral being a bit too similar to that of White Bird, but I recall the story generally being well-executed and quite impactful!

Bloom

I was frustrated with aspects of this book when I read it, but the romance in this graphic novel is still surprisingly memorable today! Ari and Hector had a lot of chemistry in this story—they brought out good things in each other— and even though I found Ari somewhat aggravating at times, I did like both characters individually. I will say that there were things I wish had been done differently, but I'll still pick up a copy of this book's sequel when it comes out in a few years!

All Together Now

I remember this being barely memorable when I read it then (to the point where I don't recommend it at all), and it's barely memorable now, except for the awesome mauve-monochrome art. I remember loving the first book in the series, All Summer Long, so hopefully the upcoming third book is a fitting conclusion!

October 2020

On the Come Up

It is possibly alarming that the thing that comes to mind from this book is the Mario Kart scene, and not the super-deep and super-nuanced explorations of countless real-world topics, but apparently that's just where I'm at as a person right now. I do recall some powerful depictions of what it is like to struggle financially (such as the pain and indignity of having to visit a food bank), and I recall a general sense of Bri being in a lose-lose-lose-lose-lose-lose-... situation with the song she released—they really did find every possible way to make her life harder.

The Deep & Dark Blue

I have actively thought about this book recently, for a few reasons. One is that it's the only book I can recall reading with a transgender protagonist besides Zenobia July—that's alarming, so I need to get some books with transgender characters read ASAP! (I do have copies of Pet and May the Best Man Win, so I look forward to reading those soon.) I recall liking the protagonists of this book, Grayce and Hawke, and I recall the magic and intrigue being quite impressive! But I do wish that the story's gender roles weren't so entrenched—part of what made Grayce's transition important is that it let her fit into the Communion of Blue, which was for women only, and I found it a little archaic to have important groups in a story for only one of countless gender identities. But I will say that it made Grayce's journey impactful overall!

The Magic Fish

This book is SO MEMORABLE, OH MY GOODNESS. I designated this book as my second-favorite of all time immediately after re-reading it, and it called to me so much that I re-read it this past February during a time of crisis in my life—I needed something that I was guaranteed to love! It's possibly just because I re-read it, but I remember so much of what I love about this book—the gorgeous art, the incredible representation, the fairy tales, the way that the fairy tales intertwine with and mirror the main plotlines, etc. If you take just one thing away from this post, it should be to READ The Magic Fish!!!

The Fire Never Goes Out

This was largely un-memorable, I suspect because of its strange format of individual comics that Stevenson made throughout their life—it wasn't a narrative so much as a scrapbook, in a way. But this book did affect me profoundly in one way—Stevenson is a creator I have followed to some extent before this book (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, anyone?), but I never realized that their prolific bibliography/filmography at such a young age was in part due to their own mental health condition (which seemed to involve some kind of manic episodes). So now I definitely wonder, when I see a young and prolific creator of any kind of media, if their mental health might be somewhat involved in how they've managed to write/sing/draw/etc. so much.

First Light

I didn't love this book when I read it, and I haven't thought about it much at all—I'd rather spend my time going on and on and on and on and on about Rebecca Stead's many other great books, like Goodbye Stranger!

November 2020

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

I thought this book was good when I read it, but I didn't expect it would be super-memorable, and it wasn't, honestly. So there!

This One Summer

This wasn't quite as memorable as I thought it would be, but I remember it talking about some mature topics, and I remember it generally being a very impactful read—I just can't totally remember why anymore! I do remember the art, which was gorgeous.

Becoming RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Journey to Justice

This graphic novel wasn't super-memorable, but I am very glad to have read it—when Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, I think it was a valuable experience to have learned more about her through this graphic novel. And I was taking a class in government at the time too and actually reading Supreme Court opinions by RBG, so I think all of these things combined gave me a better understanding of RBG and the Supreme Court. Not bad!

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

This is another book that I remember just enough that I wish I could remember more of it! I remember the delightful cast of characters—Xan, Luna, Glerk, Fyrian, Antain, the madwoman—the gorgeous writing, the excellent plotting, and the powerful message about acknowledging your feelings. I remember there being so much packed into this Newbery winner that I could re-read it and still be surprised.

December 2020

Witchlight

This book had some problematic parts with regards to race, and I definitely remember that. I remember enjoying the story overall, but you can't make much of an excuse for the kinds of problems in here. I sold my copy to the used bookstore, so I don't believe I'll ever remember much else!

Measuring Up

I remember being surprised by how much I totally loved this graphic novel! Cici was such a delightful protagonist, there was so much delicious food packed in here, the somewhat-antagonistic Miranda was surprisingly complex, and there was some real nuance in here about being an immigrant, relating to multiple cultures, and having experiences and values different from those of any one culture. And I remember it was all in a kid-accessible package—with great art too! This was a great read.

Pashmina

I remember bits and pieces of this graphic novel, but I didn't like it then, so it doesn't really matter, honestly. But I pre-ordered a copy of Nidhi Chanani's next graphic novel, Jukebox, and I am looking forward to giving her work another shot!

Once Upon an Eid

This book was actually quite memorable—I was flipping through it recently and recalling all of the short stories in it that I loved! A few weeks ago, I was trying to read another anthology of short stories by different authors, and I had to give up on it because only one of the seven I had read so far were any good. So I was thinking about this book then and recalling just how lucky I was to stumble upon an anthology where virtually every story was a good one, and at least six or seven were utterly great!

And that's all I have! (And thank goodness—it took so long just to add the book covers in order, and make them small, and justify them to the left, and add the book titles in bold and italics, and add the links, and then actually write the post!) I hope this post helped you gauge which of my past recommended books are ones you may want to buy, and I'm glad to have given some of these books one more moment in the spotlight!

Any books you read a while back that were quite memorable—or not at all? If you can even remember their titles, let me know in the comments below! And stay tuned for Monday's review and the next Thursday Thoughts post!