I do really have to come up with another title for a post about books?

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Any by Indian, we mean native american. This book is a YA novel of the story of a teenage boy growing up on a reservation in Washington. He sees a life with no opportunities on the reservation. His parents drink too much, his adult sister lives in the basement, everyone is poor, and no one ever leaves the reservation. So he decides to leave the reservation. Sort of. He enrolls in the nearest white high school where they have better teachers and the students have better prospects, and in so doing, he becomes a “Part-Time” Indian. The kids at his new school don’t like him, and his friends and relatives on the reservation really don’t like him, because they believe that he feels that he’s too good for them. Some of these situations improve, some don’t. It’s a YA coming of age novel. (With some language and sexual content, so don’t give this to your 11 year-olds.)

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Sometimes when I don’t have anything to read, and I don’t have any suggestions for what I want to read, Shannon starts grabbing random books for me at the library. I don’t really understand her methods, but if I don’t have any suggestions, I can’t hardly complain, can I? And so, Olive Kitteridge arrived in my reading pile. This is a collection of short stories that take place in a small town in Maine, which are tied together by the character of Olive, a retired middle school math teacher who speaks her mind. In some stories, she’s the main character, in others she only passes through briefly. The stories focus around the daily lives of the characters; marriages, depression, arguments, grandkids, death, affairs, devotion and patience – the things that make up regular lives. It’s a bit like getting the gossip of the entire town.

Earth Afire by Aaron Johnston and Orson Scott Card

Earth Awakens by Aaron Johnston and Orson Scott Card

Last year I read the first of the Ender prequel novels, Earth Unaware, and I finally got around to finishing out the trilogy. In the first book a family of minors at the edge of the solar system get the first glimpse of the Formics and one of them, Victor rushes back to Earth to warn humanity. In books 2 and 3 the Formics arrive and invade earth. The action bounces back and forth between Victor and friends trying to attack the mothership, and Mazer and friends dealing with the invasion on the ground, and for some reason we continue to follow Victor’s family. I read these books out of devotion to Ender, I guess. (I suppose I’ll have to read the next trilogy about the second invasion, too.) They’re alright, though they fall into the classic sci-fi trap of conveniently having the same three characters showing up at every major event.