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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #322

On The Blog Recently

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• 2022 Reading Statistics
• Best New Book Releases 2023

In My Reading Life

Last week, I finished Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. This is a bizarre book. I loved it, but I'm not sure how to talk about it. It's the kind of story I just want to shove into everybody's hands.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a story about stories. It's a love letter to books and libraries. It shows how stories are passed down through generations and give us the courage to keep moving.

At the center of the novel is an ancient myth called "Cloud Cuckoo Land." Other stories branch off from that myth like spokes. In 1453 Constantinople, a farmer and a seamstress are trapped on opposite sides of the city wall during a war. In 2020 Idaho, an elderly librarian is directing a play when a teenager on a deadly mission walks into his library. Sometime in the future, a young girl is alone on a spaceship and searching for a new home for humanity.

I know that sounds confusing, but the stories actually work together beautifully because the author is great at juggling multiple points-of-view. I was equally invested in each story. It's amazing how real the characters feel. Their kindness and willingness to take risks really shines through.

This book is confusing at first because there are a lot of characters, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Once I got invested in the characters, I couldn't put the book down. I love the way the stories converge at the end. It took a lot of skill to write this novel. I suspect it'll be one of my favorites of the year.

Then I read a memoir called Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet's Journey by Stephen Kuusisto. In the 1990s, the author lost his job as a poetry professor at a university and decided that he needed to get a guide dog and expand his world. He'd been blind since birth, but his parents saw his disability as shameful, so he learned to navigate without a dog or a white cane. It was extremely dangerous and left him confined to the towns he'd memorized.

The author completely transforms his life over the course of this memoir. For him, it was empowering to admit that he needed help and to educate himself about his disability. It takes an astounding amount of energy to pretend you're not blind. I love seeing how much joy and freedom he got from his dog. Even though this memoir touches on difficult topics (such as growing up blind with alcoholic parents), it's never depressing. It left me smiling.

I like the subject of this book, but the writing style is not my thing. I read the first 10 pages and said, "I'm pretty sure this dude graduated from Iowa Writers Workshop." Then he confirmed that he did! It's very easy for me to recognize their brand of insufferably pretentious weirdness. Sometimes the writing style is weird for the sake of weird. Also, the author quotes from a ton of other sources, so half the book is written by other people. It got on my nerves.

Even though I didn't like the writing, I want to find more stories like this one. I want nonfiction books about animals that are not textbooks and not sappy. I think Stephen Kuusisto found the balance between informational and readable. I appreciate that.

Then I read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell. It's the second book in the Simon Snow series. I highly recommend this series because it's hilarious.

Simon Snow is a parody of the fantasy genre that follows a group of friends who have recently graduated (or dropped out) of wizard school. In this book, they decide to go on a road trip across the US because they need a vacation from constantly saving the wizarding world. Of course nothing on the trip goes as planned.

This series is brilliant because of how average the characters are. They're normal people in their early 20s who just happen to be wizards. They mess up their relationships and make impulsive decisions. They're insecure. They're not very good at saving each other from danger. It's a refreshing take on the genre. These characters aren't heroes. They're just kids with magic. And dragon wings.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction announced a book deal. What?!?!?! (That excessive punctuation is totally necessary.) How cool is a book deal? I'm excited to read the book.
2. My TBR shelf overflowed last summer, and I started piling unread books on my bedroom floor, where I promptly tripped over them. I decided to put myself on a book buying ban. As of last week, all the unread books are on the shelf. No more TBR floor. Victory!
3. I read two 5-star books last week. Cloud Cuckoo Land and Wayward Son gave me hours of happiness.
4. I got a new TV because my old one broke. It's way too big for the room, but I can see it on days when my vision is blurry from eyestrain, which is an improvement over the previous TV.
5. I ate potstickers. I love those things and need to eat them more often.

Give Me Attention, Please

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!