Love Letter to Libraries and The World of Whimsy

The library is an essential and wonderful resource and haven. Libraries have evolved from just lending books for free to offering programs, hosting author chats, and providing countless of educational resource programs online. It is also a place that can host my favorite social gathering: book clubs.

How do book clubs work? Every book club have a variety of operations but the core is the same: a book is chosen to be read by the group. After certain time, the members meet to discuss the books. Library book clubs operate in the same scope with just one little golden advantage: they’re hosted by librarians.

Librarians are absolute key holders in obscure knowledge and vast databases of literary knowledge. And if they don’t know, they definitely know where to get the credible hook up. For voracious bookworms, librarians are our literary dealers to imagination.

How do you join a book club? Libraries are public institutions and their clubs are open to all and everyone. Information can be located on their website usually under “events” or “book clubs.’ If you’re not sure, never hesitate to ask a librarian. They are always more then ready to help.

Living in Southern California is a book lovers utopia when it comes to the library system. SoCal residents have access to several library systems: The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), Los Angeles County LIbrary, Burbank Public Library, Santa Clarita Public Library, and more.

Santa Clarita Public Library is the most local library to me and I am beyond thrilled. The SCPL is rich with hearty programs for children and adults. My absolute favorite is the World of Whimsy. World of Whimsy is SCPL science fiction and fantasy book club for adults. Every month for the past years, I waltz into the Valencia Public Library, plunk down the book, and release all of the pent up emotions and thoughts from reading the book. Just like an rpg tavern, the club meetings have been a source of warmth and mirth where we all gather to share our thoughts. Sometimes it’s mutual admiration or loathing, sometimes it’s all out chaos. But it’s always fun. Plus, I’ve got to read plenty of books that I would normally have not chosen on my own.

To celebrate the ongoing reading journey, enjoy a look back at the books that have been read and discussed by Worlds of Whimsy.

For those local to Santa Clarita and are interested in joining, please do! Fresh faces and voices are always welcome! Go to https://www.santaclaritalibrary.com/ and look under “Events” for the calendar of events.

January 2021: THE RED PYRAMID by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid

Carter and Sadie haven’t had a close relationship. After their mother passed, Carter went with their Egyptologist father while Sadie stayed with the grandparents.
Hoping to fix the growing rift, their father decides to bring the siblings together for a “research experiment” at the British museum. Except his experiment unleashes the Egyptian god Set and now there’s just general chaos.

The Year of the Rat begins with a YA book of bleh proportions.

The Red Pyramid is the first novel of the The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. I am definitely not the demographic for this series or any Riordan series. I attempted to read The Percy Jackson series to see what the hype was and I gave up. It’s very, very young adult characters and I’m at the age where I really wonder how these kids can survive if luck wasn’t on their side. It’s just full of lucky coincidences.

The premise was very cute, very reminiscent of a good hearty 90’s supernatural sitcom series. Especially with a '"magical” cat (give you three guesses on what makes the cat magical…clue: it’s a God) and a guardian gator. The writing style was definitely geared to a much younger crowd. It’s very simple ut doesn’t really explore much. We barely know these kids and they’re already running from a God within the first few chapters. The fast pace make it a great story for children and teens who just wants things to happen and not really question why. Questions like why the decision to separate the children? Was the fathers income unable to support both? How could he decide which child? Did he not take consideration the emotional damage? By the time I made the decision to give up on the decision, I wanted to scream at the so-called adults in this book. Leave them gods alone!!!!! Stop touching things!!!

During the meeting, the members who enjoyed the novel enthusiastically shared what happened and how it all connected but I’ve already forgotten it all!

Author website: https://rickriordan.com/

February 2021: THE RISE OF KYOSHI by F.C. Yee

The Rise of Kyoshi

Within the **Avatar the Last Airbender** lore, Kyoshi was a legendary figure. She was the longest living Avatar, established the Kyoshi Warriors, and founded the Dai Li.
This first of two stories take you back to her beginnings.

As a fan of Avatar the Last Airbender animated series, I was pretty excited to read this book. I had vague memories of Kyoshi from the show but I definitely knew of the Kyoshi Warriors. This would have also been my first exposure to F.C Yee’s work as I was already interested in checking out the other book The Epic Crush of Genie Lo.

Unfortunately, The Rise of Kyoshi was disappointing. The animated show is so visually bright and full of wonderful details and this was so hard to translate onto a novel. The expectation I had was greatly diminished with the first chapter. . It’s been almost a year that I read this book and I can barely remember what happened. It didn’t really offer much and I remember the sense of blandness and yet extreme annoyance at Kyoshi and all of her decisions. I also remember questioning was she really an Earthbender?!

I do agree with many fans that this should have been a graphic novel.

Author website: http://www.fcyee.com/

March 2021: THE LAST UNICORN THE LOST JOURNEY by Peter S. Beagle

The Last Unicorn The Lost Journey

A unicorn leaves the protection of the forest to see if she’s the last of her kind.

I don’t like unicorns. At all.

So the book club members were amused by my most vehement vitriol these horned creatures. Disney’s Onward had the right idea.

Author website: https://www.beagleverse.com/

April 2021:" THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANENT by Becky Chambers

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet

A young female human named Rosemary Harper takes on an administrative role upon a ship called the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer is an old but reliable ship with a great AI named Lovey, captained by another human named Ashby. Harper quickly finds out that her job is way more than an administrative job as she and the crew get in some interesting and very dangerous situation. The skills of the crew combined with Harpers knowledge helps navigate the tricky intricacies in space.

This is my number one favorite book club pick of the year! The Wayfarer series is one of the most coziest and comfortable science fiction reads. Even with all of adventures and tension points, it was just a warm read. Chambers world is a colorful landscape of alien species with deep cultural backgrounds. Each setting offers a new alien culture to learn and admire. It is as extensive and rich as Scalzi’s world building in Old Man’s War series. Most of the joy in reading the book is learning about these cultures. Like realizing that a creature that has scales would have the need to molt. How would a molting process on a ship?

This book could have easily fit into the world of Farscape with a Firefly type of crew. Even though the Wayfarer crew members comprise of different alien species, their dynamic is completely recognizable if you’ve watched those science fiction shows. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has a familiar foundation but goes to new places in exploring these difference among them can work within a ship and on other planets.

It’s kind of hard recalling this novel from last year because I’ve moved on to the next book in the series recently and I’m still mentally basking in the enjoyment of that one.

Author website: https://www.otherscribbles.com/

May 2021: STARDUST by Neil Gaiman

Stardust

A king is dying but he has more than one son who can inherit the kingdom. With his dying breath, he takes off his magical necklace and let it fly off to the sky. Whoever can find the necklace, will inherit the kingdom.
The necklace did hit a star before it fell back to earth. Now that star has human form. And now the witches are after her heart. And now a young man named Tristan is out for the star to seal a proposal deal.

This one was a little bit of a cheat for me. I’ve already read and loved the book long before the meeting. Plus the movie adaptation is one of my favorite movies.

I would recommend reading the novel first with the beautiful illustrations and then watch the movie. Why? No reason. It’s just a baseless recommendation for a story that I genuinely love.

Author website: https://www.neilgaiman.com/

August 2021: SISTERS OF THE VAST BLACK by Lina Rather

Sisters of the Vast Black

In this time, the mission to spread the faith has extended beyond the planetary boundaries of Earth. Sisters of the cloth have taken their duties upon sentient ships and travel to far distances. For humans have long left the now broken and messed up Earth to live on other planets. Even on other planets, weddings still need to be ordained, blessings need to be given, and more.
The Sisters of the Saint Rita have been traveling a long time and have not been back to Earth. Their focus is less on spreading the faith and more on spreading compassion and medical care. That is until a representative of Earth comes calling.

This was the surprise second favorite. The concept of nuns in space was pretty intriguing but I was wary. How much into religion would this book get into? Would it be a philosphiocal take or a doom warning that people should not abandon their faith? Happily, it was neither.

Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are a convent of nuns that are more like a traveling group of skilled professionals than nuns. Their mode of transport within a living creature so constant care is needed. Zoology, viology, botany are just some of the skills that these nuns have. As they answer the calls of the people from different planets, they use these skills and the faith that they believe in to help. Just like The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet, I got to enjoy a story of rich world building. It also brought up some great points on how religion would be maintained on distant planets. No matter the distance, whether it’s separated by seas or lightyears, people will have the need to maintain and connect with their faith.

The other absolute draw to the novel was the race against time to fight a bloody virus. Which made for some great tension amidst the slice of space life for the traveling nuns.

Author website: https://linarather.com/

September 2021: BINTI by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti

Math saves the world in this African-science fiction trilogy. Binti is the first of her Himba tribe to be offered a place at Oomza University. On route, a warring race called the Meduse attack the transport ship leaving Binti the lone survivor. With her phenomenal treeing abilities, she is able to survive and becomes intrinsically connected to the Meduse. So begins her legacy within the galaxy.

To get a full appreciation of Binti, you must read the complete trilogy. Binti was the third surprise hit for me with the book club. Interestingly, this was my second attempt at reading it. During Binti’s struggle to survive and handle the traumatic experience of death around her, it jogged a familiar feeling of reading this before. It must have been trying to understand the “treeing” skill that I struggled with continuing on.

“Imagine the most complex equation and then split it in half and then in half again and again. When you do math fractals long enough, you kick yourself into treeing just enough to get lost in the shallows of the mathematical sea.” - Binti

Treeing is a form of math that locks my brain into error code but I generalized it as a way of using fracturals to slip into a trance state. Sort of like falling into a rhythm while playing on your calculator by doing something repetitive like squaring numbers over and over. As Binti slips into this math trance, she’s able to see patterns and solve problems. Her treeing ability is operating at genius level and is what saves her and the world over and over.

Despite a traumatic beginnning, Binti’s relationship with the Meduse deepens and eventually becomes a motivator in the politcal mess that surrounds them. There is not just the Meduse against everyone else in the galaxy, it’s the warring factions amongst her own people. She’s right in the middle doing the best she can. And still dealing with just growing up as a person juggling between honoring the customs of her people and the customs of those outside of her culture. This struggle is reflected in the care of her hair.

There has been an ongoing discussion regarding black and their identity through their hair. Black women’s hair is distinct in their texture and their cultural significance.. A good start to navigating this discussion is to check out articles like this one: https://odelebeauty.com/blogs/the-rinse/black-hair-history-facts. In the novel, Binto uses the clay from the Earth to coat her hair in the Himba way. During one of the interactions with the Meduse, Binti is physically altered when her hair becomes a mimic of the Meduse’s tentacles. This becomes an ongoing source of stress for Binti as it is a direct hit to her identity. It’s a fascinating part of her character arc and a great discussion opener for African identiy.

As you can expect for someone whose journey centers around a University, this opens up a way to discover other alien cultures. The novel offered another way to analyze how different alien types and species can physically co-exist and learn.

Author website: https://nnedi.com/

October 2021: BEASTS OF BURDEN: ANIMAL RITES by Jill Thompson & Evan Dorkin

Beasts of Burden

The pets of Burden Hill are more than just loyal companions to their humans. They are also dedicated paranormal investigators.
Well, some of them may not be so dedicated but if they want to live, they gotta.

This was one of the few graphic novels that Worlds of Whimsy featured. It was created by Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother). Both creators were new to everyone in the group, so we all got to experience this paranormal adventure.

Wow, did it create some hot discussion! Mainly due to somber, dark points of the novel. One particular issue was upsetting due to it’s deeply traumatizing story. It gets a revengeful end but the art was seared heavily upon our hearts. Thompson’s art alone is just so rich with emption. The pets are distinct in their breed features but so cartoon-like in expressions. This is all countered with the dark, forboding atmosphere around them. These pets could have starred in their own Scooby-Doo like show!

Despite the heavy stories, each issue in the graphic novel was engrossing and entertaining. The unpredicatble and dangerous plots just keeps you wondering will these pets survive another adventure?

Website: https://digital.darkhorse.com/series/15/beasts-of-burden

November 2021: SANTA OLIVIA by Jacqueline Carey

Santa Olivia

Santa Olivia is an isolated town cut off from the US. A town right in the middle of the DMZ buffer between Texas and Mexico. Still, a mysterious stranger still arrives in town and meets a woman in a diner.
Loup Garron was borne. Thanks her genetically modified father, she also came with a set of special inhuman abilities.

This book divided the group unevenly. A lot of focus and squabbling was centered around the somewhat ending of the book.

Truthfully, I would never have chosen this book on my own. I had attempted to read Carey’re previous work, KUSHIEL’S DART. I didn’t make it past chapter 3. I found it pretty dull. The book was a huge hit with many readers but it missed the mark on me (ba-dum-chuuuuh).

And I don’t like boxing. I appreciate the sportsmanship but am completely adverse to the brutal nature of it all.

Yet, this book was an experience to read. Reading from start to finish, it held an atmosphere almost similar to the vampire movie “From Dusk Till Dawn”. Except it’s not vampires, it’s werewolves. It’s barely even werewolves. Loup’s supernatural ability is just a pinprick of an advantage. Reading her journey from training and to the matches is absolutely inspiriting. It almost, almost made me want to watch a boxing match. The book was that good at depicting the boxing world

Overall, it was a different sense of urban fantasy. I appreciated the grit and humanity of it all.

Author website: https://www.jacquelinecarey.com/

December 2021: TERRIER by Tamora Pierce

TERRIER

This is a fantasy world meet police procedural type of story.
The “police” in this story are the Provost’s Guard. They are the ones who keep the order and collect the fees.
Beka Cooper is part of the new rookie class- Puppies. She shadows the veterans through the realm’s toughest place: The Lower City.

How did the group feel about the book? Meh. It was an equal mixture of those who enjoyed reading it and those who did not.

Those who enjoyed reading it appreciated the unique world system of this fantasy police force and magic. The police is organized by rank and tier. Rookies are puppies and the veterans are dogs. The rookies are paired up with veterans to train and use their skills in the real world. Beka has the bonus skill of hearing voices of ghosts that ride on pigeons or magical air currents. Plus,her companion is a magical purple cat. This all sounds like wonderful series to get into it. Especially the part about the magical purple cat.

Except. It’s all written in diary form. This was the biggest factor for those who did not enjoy the book. Projecting a story through a diary format is tricky and often times does not translate well. These formats start off with the resemblance of someone writing a diary entry but then it just becomes a very detailed and skewed first person accounting.

Author website: http://www.tamora-pierce.net/