Reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville VERY SLOWLY.
What it's about:
Okay, so, I’m in the middle of reading it, so I can only tell you a basic summary. Uhm…okay, so there are two main characters. One is a human scientist man named Isaac Gremnebulin, I think it was. The other is his sculptor lover khepri named Lin. Yes, there are khepris in this world. She’s got red skin, a woman’s body, and a bug for a head. She uses sign language with her human hands.
Isaac is like a science maniac and he’s into studies about energy and I think close to magical energy. There are some creatures in this world that can kind of sort of use magic, I guess? 
Lin is an outsider who has left the part of the city that houses her race the most. Her relationship with Isaac is a secret.
One day a giant bird species comes to Isaac for help to fly again because he had to sheer his wings off for punishment. Meanwhile, Lin is offered a high-paying secretive sculpting job for a mysterious client. The story is basically Isaac doing research to find out how to make the bird creature fly again while Lin is secretively working on her project, while, there’s some upset in the city and rebels are around. Isaac and Lin are friends with some of the rebels.
Isaac’s research to make the bird creature fly soon turns deadly. Idk what’s going on with Lin.
My thoughts so far about the book:
This book slogs in some parts because of the info-dump, but finally at the halfway point, as most books are like, the long-awaited incident has occurred (deadly research). I knew it would in some way. I didn’t anticipate it would in this way.
Things are turning a wacky again. There’s a hotel? where each room is a portal to another part of the world? and one goes to hell with a demon talking in echoes and riddles? what is going on? 
…not sure what to think of this.
The author’s foreshadowing is easy to catch for me. So, when I see it, I remember it and then when it comes around again, it’s like, “I see you. I see you. I know what you’re up to.”
But we’ll see. Maybe Mieville has some extra surprises up his sleeve, who knows?
The last book I read was, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Easy five star. The EASIEST all year. What an awesome author.
What it's about and what I thought:
It’s about the hardships that these two women, Miriam and Laila, go through in Afghanistan from 1959 to the 1980s around the war with the Soviet Union and the rise of the Taliban.
Two POVs in third person. First is a young woman, Miriam, who loses her mother and is forced into marriage with this abusive older man. Second is a much younger woman, Laila, who lives in the same town and when tragedy strikes her family, she has no choice but to become the second wife of the first woman’s abusive husband.
The POVs begin from childhood, so you’re really following along these two lives. You really realize how a change of POV really switches everything up. Miriam’s POV paints Laila’s family as happy and good, but it’s not all sunshine there, either.
It’s so good. It’s heavy obviously, because it’s a war story with lots of depictions of DV and depression, even suicide and suicidal thoughts, so definitely not for those who find that triggering. But I gave it a five star and the easiest one all year. Beautiful book about the reality of hardship with characters you cannot help but cheer on. But it’s not like they’re perfect. They have flaws. Even the kindest characters have flaws. It’s so real.
I was coming to the end of the book and thinking, yes, this book is a five star, no doubt.
Nope. I’m a mood reader. If I do make a goal, I will promptly ignore it I guess one goal though is to finish Perdido. Hopefully by the end, but we’ll see.
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