One Book, Two Book, Three Book, Four… and Five

I’ve been seeing this fun (and undemanding) meme around the blogosphere, and thought I’d join in.

1. The book I’m currently reading:

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor.  “Spontaneous forests, polygamy, strange insects, Nigerian 419 scammers, really really fast cars, a different kind of Sahara Desert, male beauty contests, the apocalypse, life, death, sword fights, fat chiefs, assassins, this novel is kind of nuts!”says the author.

So…when I find an author I like, I tend to obsess over her backlist.

2. The last book I finished:

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.   “Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. She looks West African, but is so sensitive to the sun that she can’t play soccer during the day. She doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.
Then she learns why.
Her classmate Orlu and his friend Chichi reveal that they have magical abilities- and so does she. Sunny is a “free agent,” overflowing with latent power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.”

3. The next book I want to read:

Who Fears Death by … you know the drill.  This book just won the 2011 World Fantasy Award, and it’s waiting for me at the library. Unlike Okorafor’s previous novels, this one is adult, not YA.

4. The last book I bought:

Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin, for my son.  It’s a picture book featuring identical twins who have very different personalities. One is fidgety, the other calm,  one eats with chopsticks while the other prefers a fork, and so on. It’s very cute!

5. The last book I was given:

A review copy of Marina Endicott’s  The Little Shadows. “The Little Shadows revolves around three sisters in the world of vaudeville before and during the First World War. We follow the lives of all three in turn: Aurora, the eldest and most beautiful, who is sixteen when the book opens; thoughtful Clover, a year younger; and the youngest sister, joyous headstrong sprite Bella, who is thirteen. The girls, overseen by their fond but barely coping Mama, are forced to make their living as a singing act after the untimely death of their father. They begin with little besides youth and hope, but Marina Endicott’s genius is to show how the three girls slowly and steadily evolve into true artists even as they navigate their way to adulthood among a cast of extraordinary characters – some of them charming charlatans, some of them unpredictable eccentrics, and some of them just ordinary-seeming humans with magical gifts.”

Meme Maker: Simon at Stuck in a Book. Join in, why don’t you?