NO ONE IS DOING IT LIKE ROBIN HOBB. NO ONE! After a disappointing journey up the Rain Wilds River, baby we are BACK! And by back, I mean, back in a fiNO ONE IS DOING IT LIKE ROBIN HOBB. NO ONE! After a disappointing journey up the Rain Wilds River, baby we are BACK! And by back, I mean, back in a first person POV and back with FitzChivalry, one of my literal favorite fictional characters ever. This is the 7th book about his life, and the 14th overall book in this series, so I won't be summarizing it. Let's just say that Fitz found his happy ending (minus a few key soulmates) and then his life kept going. More problems, more politics, more magic, maybe stranger than ever before. A new character introduced in this series swept in and stole my heart. I can't wait to dive into the next book very soon! ...more
This comic blew me away. One of the most beautiful, strange, artistically ambitious and deeply trans books I've read in a while. Aesthetically, its asThis comic blew me away. One of the most beautiful, strange, artistically ambitious and deeply trans books I've read in a while. Aesthetically, its as rich as a stained glass window or illuminated manuscript. Its narrative is psychedelic but emotionally it rings so tender and true. The story opens with Jules, a transman trapped in a nunnery who accepts a deal with a devil who promises to help him live as a man. Possessed and impervious to physical harm, Jules turns to a life of debauchery and crime. Then he meets another trans criminal, the poetic thief and thespian Casper, and they begin to fall for each other. They see each other as no one else ever has, they validate and treasure one another, but Jules' devil is a jealous master. The devil would rather see Jules burn than thrive. This is one of those books that made me want to draw, made me want to write, made me want to be bolder, weirder, freer, wilder in my story telling. An instant favorite, I expect I'll return to this over and over. ...more
Lucian is the son of a minor nobleman and the CEO of the galaxy's biggest AI company, but he's not so rich that he can't get in trouble. After being fLucian is the son of a minor nobleman and the CEO of the galaxy's biggest AI company, but he's not so rich that he can't get in trouble. After being fired as a programmer from Echo Station he joined a startup with a couple friends and is now fishing for funding at an elite tech expo on board an expensive and exclusive space vessel. There he sees someone he thinks he recognizes- Ezra, a grey robot, an fully sentient AI who worked on Echo Station as a researcher and partially cost Lucian his job. So why is Ezra now working on the space vessel as an escort? Unless it's not Ezra, but just a look-alike robot model? These questions drag Lucian into the beginnings of tangled web of intrigue which include kidnapping, AI-hacking, and murder. I've been reading this story online as a webcomic for years; you can still read all of volume one here: https://electricbonescomic.com/index.... But last year I also backed the kickstarter, and just sat down to re-read the whole story in print form, including a sexy little bonus comic. I love these characters, I love the rich colors, the lovely sense of flow and design of the pages. I can't wait for volume two!
Re-read in September: Each time I read this volume I see more in... creepy little hints for the futrue! ...more
What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. TWhat an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do. Re-read it for a second time and got even more out of it on a second pass....more
I hardly even know how to talk about this book because I loved it so much. It's a rich, nuanced, painfully human follow up to the earlier Farseer trilI hardly even know how to talk about this book because I loved it so much. It's a rich, nuanced, painfully human follow up to the earlier Farseer trilogy. I am amazed at how deftly Hobb wove the narratives of her characters across three decades of their lives and counting. There's Fitz, the royal bastard and reluctant assassin, who we first met at age six. Now in his mid-thirties, he is finally exploring his magical talents, teaching, learning, and taking more and more misfit young people under his wing. There's Chade, who we first met at a mysterious and wise teacher- now he's a royal advisor, and his hunger for power and influence might yet take him down a very dark path. There's Kettricken, who as a teenage princess was engaged to a stranger, now grown into a powerful queen bent on changing her kingdom for the better. There's the Fool, whose multiple identities are threatening to collapse as more and more of his prophesies come true. And Burrich, Fitz's adopted father figure, who in his anger and grief disowns a son who reminds him too much of his past. All of these characters feel so deeply rooted in their own histories, traumas, choices; I care so deeply about their lives and see so clearly how the twists of fate led them to where they are now. This is seriously one of the best fantasy series I have ever read, and I highly recommend anyone who loves long form fantasy to go back and pick up book one, Assassin's Apprentice....more
I am a big fan of Susanna Clark. I've read Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrel two or three times, and will probably read it again someday. I love The LadI am a big fan of Susanna Clark. I've read Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrel two or three times, and will probably read it again someday. I love The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories but I've been waiting to read this one until the time was right. When I saw a half off paperback at my favorite indie bookstore right before the holidays, I knew that was my moment! I associate Clark's work deeply with winter, and love reading her stories by a warm glow around the shortest and darkest days of the year. This one opens in a House of apparently endless size, filled with statues, great vaults, marble floors, and many staircases. The lowest level is full of the sea, with fish, sea creatures, seaweed and seabirds. The upper floors recede into cloud and mist, which rain at regular intervals. In this cold but beautiful world lives a man called Piranesi by the only other living inhabitant. Piranesi journals diligently about his days, his discoveries, his catalogue of the tides and statues. The Other Man arrives at irregular intervals and gives him tasks and the occasional gift. Piranesi is very happy in his world, but soon it is threatened by outside forces: another person, with possibly malicious intent, begins to invade. The peace of the House is broken. What does this say about the bones of 13 dead which Piranesi has found, and the occasional fast food wrappers that regularly blow in one of the vestibules? Some might savor this book, but I instead devoured it in three days and wished for more. ...more
This is an essay collection I know I will return to again and again. Hannah McGregor, host of two of my favorite podcasts, Witch Please and Secret FemThis is an essay collection I know I will return to again and again. Hannah McGregor, host of two of my favorite podcasts, Witch Please and Secret Feminist Agenda, tells the story of her own feminist education through six essays written in the first person, a deliberate act to carry over the voice she developed in podcasts into her writing. The first essay introduces a theme that recurs throughout of the uses and agendas of sentimental literature, especially books about white women caring deeply about things, in a way that can spark equal emotion in the reader, which has the potential to either, or both, stir political action or else prop up white supremacy. One of the major questions of the text is whether reading certain kinds of books, or reading in certain kinds of ways, can make the reader a better person- more empathetic, more motivated to strive for justice and equality. Caring about others is a feminist project, and McGregor questions where this care falls inside institutions like the university, who is able to ask for and receive care, who is able to give it or refuse giving it. McGregor asks these questions as a queer, fat, asexual, white university professor with a tenured position and constantly acknowledges her own position and also where her knowledge comes from. One of my favorite pieces is the many quotes woven through the text, as well as references to longer conversations I experienced in podcast form. I am so grateful for this book, and excited to annotate it on my second pass!...more
What a brilliant and satisfying follow up to A Memory Called Empire. What a pleasure when the second book in a duology is arguable stronger than the What a brilliant and satisfying follow up to A Memory Called Empire. What a pleasure when the second book in a duology is arguable stronger than the first! This book picks up pretty much exactly where the previous one left off, with Mahit back on Lsel Station, Three Seagrass still in Teixcalaan promoted to a high level Information Ministry role under the new Emperor, and war against an unintelligible alien force brewing in the very edge of Teixcalaan space. Nine Hibiscus heads the fleet facing the mysterious enemy and her friendship with Twenty Cicada, her second in command, shines as one of the highlights of the story. This book once against wrestles with the limits of identity ("How wide is your your definition of you?" is a question asked over and over) as well how hard is it to resist soft power/cultural exports of empire, even by a people who desire to maintain an independence government. I highly, highly recommend this series and plan to keep reading anything Arkady Martine publishes! ...more
Vonceil is the youngest of five siblings, but she's always related most to her oldest brother, Elber; but when he comes back from the trenches of WWI Vonceil is the youngest of five siblings, but she's always related most to her oldest brother, Elber; but when he comes back from the trenches of WWI he has changed. He isn't willing to play with Vonceil the way he did before- he immediately proposes to and marries a young woman Vonceil finds deeply boring. She wanted her brother to stay in Europe, where she might eventually join him; she doesn't understand his rush to settle down. Then, a woman in white arrives in their small Oklahoma town. She and Elber were lovers in the war, and when she finds him married she puts a curse on his family. Vonceil decides it is her job to break it. This comic is magical, beautiful, whimsical, and emotional in the mold of a Ghibli film. I was knocked over by the level of comics craft. The pacing, the page layouts, the color palettes, the expressive cartooning and character designs! This one became an instant favorite and I am extremely likely to purchase it sometime in the future so I can pour over the pages. ...more
A dense, rich, satisfying sci-fi with so many elements I loved! This book opens with Mahit Dzmare, a newly appointed ambassador from the small space sA dense, rich, satisfying sci-fi with so many elements I loved! This book opens with Mahit Dzmare, a newly appointed ambassador from the small space station of Lsel, arriving at the heart and homeworld of the Teixcalaan empire. Mahit has studied the Teixcalaan language, culture, history and poetry for years and she also carries in her head an imago-machine: the digitally recorded memories and personality of the previous ambassador to help guide her in this new, dangerous world. But she goes to her new position unsure if her predecessor is alive or dead, disgraced or thriving, and what uncomfortable legacy he might have left behind. Mahit has been tasked with diplomatically maintaining Lsel's independence but the appetite of the empire is endless, and war threatens eternally on the horizon. This book is the first of a duology, but it also contains a complete story full of political intrigue, mystery, and queer desire. I highly recommend it and I will be diving into the sequel soon! ...more
This book deals with a heavy subject, an abusive lesbian relationship, and its aftermath. I had been intimated by its contents and unsure if I would rThis book deals with a heavy subject, an abusive lesbian relationship, and its aftermath. I had been intimated by its contents and unsure if I would read it. But I loved Machado's short story collection, and when I picked this book up I was surprised by how small it was, just under 250 pages. I was also surprised and delighted to discover that it is written as a series of essays with footnotes. I am easily drawn in by the whimsy of footnotes, and the structure intrigued me. Then the book sucked me under its spell and I read the whole thing in under two days. The writing is extraordinary, shifting tenses, shifting format from memoir to literary analysis to history to fairy tale. It is amazing that a book about a claustrophobic, fear-laden relationship should be so easy and enjoyable to read. It called to mind another book that I waited a long time to start and then ultimately loved, Know My Name by Chanel Miller. Both of these illuminate a terrible experience and pull back the layers of shame and secrecy to present it as it was in the clearest, most concise form. So there will be a record; so that others who experienced similar will know they are not alone; to open up space for conversation and understanding. But in many ways In the Dream House is nothing like Know My Name because its formatting is so central and its many references so interwoven with the memoir passages. These pieces reminded me of These Are Loved Letters by Ames Hawkins and Dead Collections by Isaac Fellmen, two book which mix ephemera and epistolary portions into the body of the prose text. What I am trying to say is that In the Dream House is a fascinating, captivating, and at times heartbreaking book which I will be thinking about for a long time.
Some quotes that stuck out to me: "Memoir is, at its core, an act of resurrection. Memoirists re-create the past, reconstruct dialogue. They summon meaning from events that have long been dormant. They brain the clay of memory and essay and fact and perception together, smash them into a ball, roll them flat. They manipulate time; resuscitate the dead. They put themselves, and others, into necessary context."
"Putting language to something for which you have no language is no easy feat."...more
What a powerful story of a woman coming into her own power, making her own choices, and rejecting the toxic family and society she was born into! CircWhat a powerful story of a woman coming into her own power, making her own choices, and rejecting the toxic family and society she was born into! Circe is the daughter of a Titan and a nymph, the oldest but least loved of four siblings. She has immortality, but seemingly none of the power, beauty or grace of other gods and goddesses. Until she realizes that she can use plants, both earthly and divine, in potions to work some of her will upon the world. She irrevocably changes a mortal into a lesser god, and a nymph into a monster, confesses her actions, and is banished to a remote island for the rest of eternity. Here, where some stories might end, Circe's begins. Her life touches on so many other myths: King Minos and the Minotaur, Jason and Medea, and of course Odysseus. I was completely drawn in by the prose which is lyrical and rich without being distracting, and by the glimpses here and there of the Olympian gods who studied, drew, and daydreamed about as a child. I can see why this book gets so much attention; it deserves it. ...more
A short, powerful essay written in the form of a letter to the author's six year old daughter. Following in the footsteps of James Baldwin and Ta-NehiA short, powerful essay written in the form of a letter to the author's six year old daughter. Following in the footsteps of James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Julietta Singh writes to a young person of color growing up in America, with all of its racist and colonial history. This book weaves Singh's memories of a painful childhood injury into thoughts on body trauma and recovery, harassment by TSA into surviving political and ecological disasters, attending protests in her home city of Richmond, Virginia with an anti-racist counter-education for her child. Singh lives her feminist politics every day in a queer family experimenting with communal living, folding ethics into pedagogy, building human connection under extractive capitalism. I loved this book. Reading it expanded my thoughts in a similar way as some of my favorite podcasts Secret Feminist Agenda and Witch, Please. It made me think about how I'd like to live in relation to others in the future, it gave me hope, it confronted me with new ideas and underlined others I had already encountered. I soaked in the 150 pages in just two days and was left wanting more....more
Welcome to the book I will be shouting about all year!! I read this book in two days and I loved it! The main character, Sol Katz, is trans, and JewisWelcome to the book I will be shouting about all year!! I read this book in two days and I loved it! The main character, Sol Katz, is trans, and Jewish, and works in archives. He also happens to be a vampire. In this book, vampirism is like a chronic illness, and indeed, Sol didn't become a vampire via a bite but via a medial intervention when he was dying of tetanus. Throughout the story he has to regularly visit a blood clinic to get transfusions, and it is as underfunded and grim as any part of the US healthcare system. Sol is also a fan; he was an active member of the fandom for a 90s sci-fi TV show called Feet of Clay, a kind of X-Files/Star Trek/Twilight Zone mix. When the lesbian showrunner of Feet of Clay passes away her widow donates all of her papers to the historical society where Sol works. He is very excited get to read drafts of an unfinished novel included among them. He also has an immediate spark of attraction with the widow and they develop a deeply trans and queer relationship that is so satisfying. It hits so hard. And also... the papers might be haunted? I don't want to say anything else about the plot because this is quite a short book actually, with TV scripts, email threads, and text messages mixed in with the prose making it read even faster. I can't recommend it more highly. Everyone go read it! ...more
A beautiful young adult comic which starts out light and then snuck up on me with a rising tide of emotions. Tiến is a first generation American son oA beautiful young adult comic which starts out light and then snuck up on me with a rising tide of emotions. Tiến is a first generation American son of Vietnamese immigrants, who wants to come out to his parents as gay, but isn't sure how to say it. He bonds with his mother through their shared love of fairy tales- throughout the book they read several stories to each other which wind through their own family narrative. The narratives of Tatterhood, the Little Mermaid and a Vietnamese version of Cinderella are beautiful illustrated and woven powerfully into the main storyline. Highly recommend. ...more
An absolutely stunning collection of memoir essays. Gem after gem after gem. I was very engaged with all of the different ways Chee wrote about writinAn absolutely stunning collection of memoir essays. Gem after gem after gem. I was very engaged with all of the different ways Chee wrote about writing itself. In one of my favorite essays, "The Writing Life", Chee talks about taking a class from Annie Dillard at Wesleyan in 1989. I loved the specific pieces of advice and exercises he recounted- "never quote dialogue you can summarize" stuck out to me particularly strongly as a very good reminder for prose, but literally the opposite of what I feel makes a good comic script. He also describes an exercise of taking a pair of scissors to an essay, cutting out and saving only the best lines, watching the others fall to the floor. I think about this all the time- paring down my drafts to the bare minimum. I also loved all of the essays that centered around Chee's time living in San Francisco, during which he was a member of ACT UP. Further pieces include mediations on family and inheritance, gender, queerness, rose gardens, tarot cards, sexual assault and memory. I'm very curious now to go back and read some of his fiction work. I may also buy a copy of this book at some point so I can underline in it. Highly recommend....more
This book blew me away, and I will be thinking about it for a long time. I am so grateful to the friend who lent it to me, because I'm not sure if I wThis book blew me away, and I will be thinking about it for a long time. I am so grateful to the friend who lent it to me, because I'm not sure if I would have picked it up on my own and I'd hate to have missed out on it. Chanel Miller is a writer, activist, artist in multiple medias including comics, and an occasional standup comedian. In January 2015 she was raped on the Stanford college campus in her hometown of Palo Alto. She decided to press charges and got dragged into a court case which lasted for years and was highly publicized in California. The name of the rapist, Brock Turner, was released, but she was known as Emily Doe in the press. In June 2016 the Victim's Impact statement which Miller read at the sentencing was published on Buzzfeed and went viral. I remember reading it, sitting at my desk, at work on a different college campus about an hour from Stanford. I remember the pure unflinching honesty of the piece, the kind of diamond hard truth that cuts through bullshit like a sword. And yet, despite Brock Turner being found guilty of three felonies by a unanimous jury, he was sentenced to only three months jail time, and the appeals process dragged out for six further months. Despite the heavy subject this book is a pleasure to read, funny, enraging, moving and meditative by turns. I am in love with Miller's writing. I really hope she publishes more books in the future, as I will pick up anything she writes, fiction or nonfiction. For now I will enjoy the short work she posts on instagram and recommend this book to everyone. ...more
Schrieve's debut novel uses literal monstrosity as a metaphor for queerness to great effect. Z, a nonbinary teen, dies in the same car crash that killSchrieve's debut novel uses literal monstrosity as a metaphor for queerness to great effect. Z, a nonbinary teen, dies in the same car crash that kills the rest of their family, then wakes up undead. They are now legally a non-person, needing an adult guardian to sign on to the responsibility to incinerate their body when they begin to decompose and lose their sense of self. That is a terrifying eventuality, but in Z's immediate future is another problem: their only living relative hates monsters, and constantly calls Z by their deadname and uses she/her pronouns for them. Luckily, Z is able to escape to the care of their godmother, the widowed lesbian owner of Salem, Oregon's queer and pro-monster independent bookstore. At school Z slowly befriends Aysel, a Turkish-American lesbian werewolf, and Tommy, who everyone at school calls a fairy (as in, a descendant of the fey). After a local murder is attributed to unregistered werewolves the police begin to crack down harder on all magical people, brutalizing and destroying monster communities just trying to survive on the edge of homelessness. There's so much to love in this book- that experience of discovering that every single person in your friend group is queer, the anguished teenage feeling of being different in a way no one will understand, the willingness of the young to commit to life-altering magical/emotional oaths. If the claustrophobia and dysphoria of the opening scene make you wince, keep reading, I promise the book only gets richer and more surprising as you read. ...more
I got to read this book early to give it a back cover blurb! I really liked the book, I had already read portions of on insta but the new material reaI got to read this book early to give it a back cover blurb! I really liked the book, I had already read portions of on insta but the new material really fleshes out the story and brings it all together. The lives of ten characters in the same city intertwine as each grapples with living in an otherized body. Their physical differences are fetishized, marketed to, discriminated against, and misunderstood, as bodies are in our own world. What to do when people see your single eye but not yourself? Rage about it, laugh about it, make art about it and work to change the world for the better. Dhaliwal is such a deft and clever storyteller! This book made me giggle and made me think, and it fueled my own determination to continue pushing for real social change. ...more
I absolutely loved this brightly colored, charming Halloween-themed story! Beetle in a teen goblin who's being home schooled by her Gran in magic, butI absolutely loved this brightly colored, charming Halloween-themed story! Beetle in a teen goblin who's being home schooled by her Gran in magic, but spends most of her free time hanging out at the mall with her new friend Blob Ghost. Then Beetle's old best friend, Kat Hollowbone, comes back from magic boarding school. She's earned her sorcery stone and has over 2,000 followers on Swarm! They used to write fanfiction together, but how can Beetle possibly talk to her now? Then it turns out Kat's bitchy rich aunt is planning to buy the mall and knock it down. Can Beetle reconnect with her old friend and save her new one? Every single page in this book is a delight, full of fun spooky character designs (lots of cobwebs, pumpkins, bats) and also lively, loose line art. Every time someone's eyes filled with anime sparkles my heart swelled. ...more
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