Armchair BEA Day 4: Reading Beyond The Borders
Today we are talking about books that helped us read out side of our normal genre borders and perhaps books that took us to a different internal or physical world. Here are some of the books that fit the theme that I’ve really loved:
The Kite Runner
It’s rare for me to read Literary Fiction but I heard so much positive buzz about this book I had to pick it up. This read was a revelation to me. Not only did I learn about the characters life in their home country but also new insights to the immigrant experience. However it is the emotional landscape that Khaled depicts powerfully in this novel that stays with me to this day. These characters wound themselves into my heart and I read the last powerful chapters through a veil of tears. One of the most satisfying books I've read in my life.
Wraeththu
I heard a lot of buzz about this series in Science Fiction magazines before picking up the oversized trade in 1993. From the cover blurb I learned that the story is set in a future earth that is mostly decimated. Very few women are able to give birth and a new breed of life form is rising to prominence. They are Wraeththu. Former human males who have developed miraculous powers and the ability to procreate. This is a wonderful read. Three interconnected stories with characters whose lives intersect throughout. It was very strange for me at first reading stories about men falling in love. It wasn't a genre I ever had any interest in exploring( Insert obligatory “not that there is anything wrong with it” here).
However it did cement what I always have felt. Love is Love. Storm’s gorgeous use of language didn't focus of the physical sex of the characters, but rather the magical alchemy of relationships. How we crave them, fear them, run from them and cant escape them. A gorgeous read.
Patient Zero
So you know how as readers we think we know what we like and don’t like in our reading. I always thought I wasn't the Tom Clancy, military adventure type of girl. However I looove zombies. So when I heard the buzz about this book I picked it up and fell in love with Maberry’s writing style and subsequent books. Patient Zero is an action packed reads with one of the most unique take on zombies I’ve ever read.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
I’ve always been a fan of fairies, every since I saw Peter Pan. But the Faeries in this story are a far cry from Disney’s version. In this story we see an alternate England on the cusp of the Napoleonic wars. In this England magic is real and Faeries wait hungrily beyond the veil to enter the human world and take what they want. Filled with gorgeous illustrations, this is the English Literature lovers Harry Potter. You well get lost for days in the magnificent foot notes alone. I adore this series so much I can’t wait to read it again this summer!
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