Every language seems to have a word for it:
So so
comme ci comme ça
έτσι κι έτσι
(étsi ki étsi)
así así
så som så
马马虎虎
(Mǎmǎhǔhǔ)
まずまずで
(Mazumazude)
mar sin-sin
I’m sharing this because many times I read a book and think it’s pretty good, so so, worth the time to read. And every once in a while something knocks my socks off. This week, I read two books for the HUB Reading Challenge
and one really knocked my socks off and I highly recommend that you read it.
The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence was an Alex Award winner. Here is the Goodreads summary:
A rare meteorite struck Alex Woods when he was ten years old, leaving scars and marking him for an extraordinary future. The son of a fortune teller, bookish, and an easy target for bullies, Alex hasn’t had the easiest childhood.
But when he meets curmudgeonly widower Mr. Peterson, he finds an unlikely friend. Someone who teaches him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make it count.
So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the front seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he’s fairly sure he’s done the right thing …
Introducing a bright young voice destined to charm the world, The Universe Versus Alex Woods is a celebration of curious incidents, astronomy and astrology, the works of Kurt Vonnegut and the unexpected connections that form our world.
That doesn’t really do it justice. It’s about Kurt Vonnegut, friendship, ethical and existential questions.I highly encourage you to read it. I will admit that I’ve never read any Kurt Vonnegut, but I’m thinking now that maybe I should.
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I haven’t read Alex Woods yet. I’ll have to add it to my list. I have read Feakboy and I really liked it, but I like most books written in verse. Honestly, I think it’s partly because I can finish them faster. (Yes, I know how shallow that sounds). I appreciate the craft of telling a powerful story in fewer words.
I also really like novels in verse, for pretty much the same reasons. I was just so much more taken with Alex Woods that I just wanted to gush about it. Then I down;t know what to say, so I turned to Goodreads.
Freak Boy was also very good. I liked the different voices in the story and the questions that they raised.