Erratic Charmer ROOTs once again

Third consecutive year of ROOTs for me :) This group has been a terrific motivator in curbing my book hoarding habits and helping me to appreciate books that I already have. It's also taught me some painful lessons with regard to books that languish on my shelves for ages - if I don't read a book within the first few months of acquiring it, I'll often lose interest and not be motivated to finish it once I do start! This year I hope to finish nearly all of the books that I've bought and borrowed but not yet read. It's around 50-60 altogether, but I've set a relatively modest goal of 30 in the hopes that I can meet and exceed my goal even if life gets busy.

Welcome back, Valerie! So good to see you back for some more ROOTing.

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Welcome back, and happy ROOTing!

Welcome back and Happy ROOTing!

Thanks everyone :)

First ROOT for January finished: Toxic Nursery by Carlie Martece.




‘Honeysuckle laughs, a hyper-feminine giggle that’s both grating and baiting. “If you’re not an attention-seeking bint with too much time on her hands, then what are you?” she asks the angry one, looking back over her shoulder with the flash of a salacious smile.
“I’m your goddamn spine, bitch,” retorts Alicia, as she kicks her in the back, leaving a dusty boot print on the thin fabric of her hopeful dress.’


Toxic Nursery is a creative autobiography by a writer with a dissociative identity disorder. It relates the author’s early childhood, tumultuous adolescence, and young adulthood, describing the breaking off of various aspects of the personality and their less-than-harmonious interactions inside Martece’s mind along with the resulting chaos in the writer’s life. By the end of the book we see how Martece begins to literally pull herself together and get all of the separate selves cooperating….more or less!

This is really enjoyable reading, well-paced and well-phrased. The subject matter is often dark but Martece’s tone is sardonic and genuinely humourous, poking fun at themselves and treating the grimmest of events with the same light touch as the hilarious social dramas of the Goth scene. The role of DID in Martece’s life is discussed frankly without being used as an excuse. It’s an invitation not to pity the author, but to relate to them.

Recommended for readers with an interest in plural selves, dissociative identity disorder, and/or dark humour, those who are or have been on the Goth/emo scene, and anyone who finds that their internal monologue sometimes sounds more like a knock-down, drag-out brawl.

Second ROOT for January: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson



I'm not a reader who has to finish every book that I start - if a book isn't holding my attention, I won't bother reading until the last page. The fact that this book of 1200+ pages kept me hooked right until the end is a strong recommendation. It's epic fantasy, with lots of sword and sorcery, and has an excellent balance between world-building and action. I also thought that the characters were portrayed with a realistic mix of both admirable characteristics and flaws. Sanderson sets up a lot of questions that aren't answered by the end of the first volume, so I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Third ROOT: Nextwave vol.2 by Warren Ellis





Pure silliness with added explosions: Nextwave is a group of superheroes put together by the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort (H.A.T.E.), except they've discovered that H.A.T.E. actually *is* a terrorist organisation and now they're fighting against it. And that, gentle reader, is about as much explanation as you're going to get from this comic series before it dives straight into over-the-top fight scenes, snarky dialogue, and lots of visual gags. Fun spoof on the superhero genre and a great light read for comics fans.

Fourth ROOT: Crossplay by Niki Smith



Adult content!

This is an erotic comic about the social and sexual adventures of a group of anime convention attendees. The cast of characters (and the sex scenes) are very diverse and the artwork is both cute and sexy. The book itself is beautiful, high-quality printing on thick paper with an unusual colour palette of greyscale + pale to bright pink. I thought the visuals were lovely and the characters were charming - my only wish would be for more backstory so that we could get to know the them a bit better.

Fifth ROOT: Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin



Li Cunxin was born into desperate poverty, the sixth of seven sons in a Chinese peasant family in Mao's China in the 1960s. At age 11 he was selected to attend Madame Mao's dance academy in Beijing. This autobiography describes the circumstances of his growing up in Qingdao, the harsh training at the dance academy, his eventual international recognition achieved through his determination and growing love of ballet, and his escape to America in the early 1980s. Li's life story is an amazing one, highlighted by both luck and tremendous hard work. The pacing of the book is a little slow at times but the almost-unbelievable twists and turns of fate combined with Li's naivete, humility, good humour, and great love for his family and teachers make it well worth reading.

Ticker updated to reflect ROOTs that I didn't finish reading but which are still off of my shelves - four added for a total of nine last month.

>7 Erratic_Charmer: And written by one of my favorite authors!

It was pretty good! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, once I've hit my ROOT goal for the year :)

First ROOT for February: Rewriting the Rules: An Integrative Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships by Meg Barker. Review to follow.

Second ROOT for February: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

Third ROOT for February: Godblind by Anna Stephens



This book started off with a strong premise: the Red Gods of blood and pain have been banished, along with their followers, for nearly a thousand years, but are preparing to come crashing back with a vengeance. Treachery and torture ensue. Strong points: political intrigue, crossing and double-crossing, gore. Weaknesses: short chapters with constantly changing points of view that don’t allow enough time for character development and leave the reader feeling as if chunks of story have been left out. The baddies in particular are very two-dimensional, which is unfortunate for a book in which lawful evil features so prominently. I read the first half of the book eagerly to see how the plot would unfold but lost interest by the last quarter or so.

First ROOT for March: The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson

Second ROOT for March: The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes

Third ROOT for March: Kim & Kim by Magdalene Visaggio et al

Fourth ROOT for March: Purple Prose: Bisexuality in Britain ed by Kate Harrad

You are doing great, Valerie!

Thank you connie :) I've read SO many library books in the last six weeks or so, I feel like my ROOTs have slowed right down!

First ROOT for April: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R R Martin

Second ROOT for April: Three Japanese Short Stories by Akutagawa et al

Hi Valerie, I had to visit your thread and see if you made progress with your ROOTs.

First ROOT for May: The Three Most Important Lessons You've Never Been Taught, Martin Lewis

Second ROOT for May: Lady Killer

Third ROOT for May: The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House by Audre Lorde

Fourth ROOT for May: Extremity Volume 1 by Daniel Warren Johnson

First ROOT for June: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

First ROOT for July: Dawn by Octavia Butler

Second ROOT for July: Set Me Free by Hina Belitz

Only 10 more ROOTS to go, Valerie!

First ROOT for August: The Gigolo by Francoise Sagan

Second ROOT for August: Good Girls Don't Make History by Jan Stradling

First and only ROOT for September (but it is a humdinger): The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

Target long since reached but I would like to squeeze in a few more before the end of the year.

First ROOT for November: Everyday Life in Traditional Japan by Charles Dunn

Nice job, Valerie. Congrats on reaching your goal!

Thanks very much! :)

First ROOT for December: Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan by Dr Junichi Saga

Second ROOT for December: The First Home Air After Absence by Annie Stenzel

Third ROOT for December, final ROOT for the year, and a comment on the year itself: Poems for a World Gone to Sh*t