sarahmichigan | What I've been reading

"The House of Hades" (Book #4 in the Heroes of Olympus series) by Rick Riordan. The Heroes of Olympus series is a little more grown-up than the first Percy Jackson series, but retains all the things I loved about the first series - great plotting, good character development, fun updates to ancient mythology, and big heaps of humor to lighten the mood when things get bleak. This book is definitely one of the bleaker books in all of Riordan's Olympian books so far, as you would expect from one named after the god of the underworld.I was so thrilled that a queer character has been introduced, too! Considering how casually same-sex love is treated in Greek and Roman traditions, this seems appropriate.LOVE THIS SERIES. Can't wait for the last one, and yet i don't want it to end. Thank you, Rick Riordan, for all the pleasure I've gotten from this series! One caveat: I listened to this on audiobook, and they changed readers part-way through the series. I don't hate the new reader (Nick Chamian), but I did like the old one (Joshua Swanson) better.

and

"Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books" by Azar Nafisi. Nafisi is a teacher of western literature in Iran, and this book tells of how she became disenchanted with teaching in a repressive university atmosphere and instead started a small literature course for young women taught from her home. Each section is named after a famous classic author or book -- Lolita, Gatsby, James, Austen -- and the themes of that author or book are matched up with the life themes she explores with her students. It's a love-letter to books and imagination coupled with an eloquent denunciation of tyranny. I loved this book and will pass it on to someone else who also loves literature. Highly recommended.

My full comments on both books here.