essays – Krista Beucler

December 1, 2023December 1, 2023

November 2023 Books

Books Reread

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 5 of 5
**Book Hangover Alert
The thrilling conclusion! These books were so good. I am so excited for the new TV show.
5/5 pegasi

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare*
Yes, I read it again even though I read it last month. I listened to the BBC radio play version this time. Still stellar.
4/5 love flowers

New Books Read

Ways of Seeing by John Berger
It’s Nonfiction November apparently. I read this book in preparation for a class I’m going to teach in the spring about the connection between image and text, or art and writing. It was fabulous. It’s quite old, but still relevant.
4/5 visual essays

Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens
This was the big library book club book, so they had unlimited e-copies for people to borrow. So obviously I got it and read it too. Artie is a teen struggling with all the regular teen things with her single mom when she discovers she’s a werewolf just like her mom. Suddenly, she has to deal with school and friendships and also learning to use her powers and staying safe from vampires. It’s a graphic novel so it’s a pretty light easy read. It was enjoyable. I don’t have a ton to say about it. I’m not in the target audience of young queer black girls, who I think will really love this book. For me I thought the author could have gone farther in developing the theme of community and its importance in African American society.
3/5 werewolves

That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
This was fun. At a weeklong summer camp for adults, Garland must heal from the hurt of her divorce in order to discover the truth about herself and open herself to new queer love. It’s pretty simple and predictable, but I guess that’s what people want with romance books. I don’t read a ton of romance books unless they’re queer.
3/5 camp t-shirts

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel by Lisa Cron
I read this for a fiction class I’m taking for my MFA program. I usually hate books like this. I don’t really believe that anyone can teach you how to write. They can teach you how they write, but you have to figure out what strategies work for you. I thought Cron had some useful things to say about story and your main character’s driving misbelief and how the inner story (the change the main character goes through) drives the plot. When she gets to the parts about outlining all the scenes, I experience my regular frustration at these books, though. I hate writing really in depth outlines because it makes me not excited to actually write the book because I already know everything about the story. I like writing to discover the story, not figuring everything out before I start. Maybe this isn’t as efficient as Cron’s system and I don’t have a book deal to prove my way works, so I could be wrong. But I don’t think I’ll be adopting all of Cron’s strategies.
2.5/5 scene cards

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd***
I read this hoping to learn more about queer London in the nineteenth century. Ackroyd’s history spans London’s queer history from the Romans until the 2010s. It was actually almost overwhelming how much information was in this book. I had planned to just read the section on the nineteenth century, but it was so fun, I read the whole thing. The main takeaway I think from Ackroyd’s book is that there have always been queer people, in London and elsewhere, and even if they would not define themselves with the words and categories we use today, these feelings and preferences aren’t new. It does make me quite sad though how much queer history is suppressed.
3.5/5 dancing boys

Palestine by Joe Sacco***
If you’re one of the many people right now trying to educate yourself on the Israel/Palestine conflict, this is a great primer. Sacco, a Maltese American, is a graphic journalist who visited Palestine in late 1991 and early 1992, trying to himself understand the conflict. What I like about Sacco is his honesty. He has no illusions about what he’s there to do. He’s looking for a story, for anything good for the comic. He’s suspicious and questions everything. He tries to unravel the complicated history and current situation by sharing the stories of many Palestinians, and even a few Israelis.
3.5/5 olive trees

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: eating disorders
This book was stunning and gorgeous. The ten lyrical personal essays each explore a different sea creature and through that creature, one facet of Imbler’s life. The metaphors aren’t gimmicky or trite, but are truly insightful and thought provoking. I read this because someone had recommended one of the essays as something I could use in my class that I’m designing, but it was so good that I had to read the whole book. I aspire to write essays like these.
4.5/5 salps

The Curse of the Specter Queen byJenny Elder Moke*
Book 1 of 2 Samantha Knox Series
This book was so fun. Definitely one of my lighter reads this month. Samantha Knox works in an antique bookstore repairing old books in the 1920s. When a mysterious package arrives followed by some sinister men that burn down her shop looking for the package, Sam is catapulted into an adventure trying to solve an archeological mystery and stop those who want to bring about the Curse of the Specter Queen. Full of Gaelic and Celtic folklore and a sparkling cast of characters, this book gave me the escape I needed. My only quibble is that Bennet was kind of a stuffed shirt.
4/5 antique books

A History of my Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt***
Another book of essays, Belcourt examines the unique experience of being First Nations and queer in Canada. His essays are not only personal essays, but bring in theory and his deep reflections. Belcourt is also a poet and his style is interesting, both lyrical and academic as he tries to puzzle out how to live in this world.
3.5/5 queer bodies

Palestinian Walks: Forays Into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh***
Another good one for those trying to learn more about Palestine. Shehadeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, takes readers on six walks through the hills of Palestine from 1978 to 2006. He reflects on the changing landscape, noticing new Israeli settlements and roads and new laws that prevent him from walking where he once did. Though his walks have become increasingly dangerous, it is so clear that Shehadeh is deeply connected to the land, and I feel his love for it as a reader. Reading about the destroyed ecosystems and now inaccessible walking routes, I feel great sadness for Shehadeh’s land. The policies the Israeli government used to take Palestinian land are eerily similar to the way American settlers took Native American land, claiming that no one was using or cultivating the land, when that was not true, and then mismanaging the land and causing its degradation. Shehadeh is from Ramullah in the West Bank, whereas Sacco focused on Gaza, so it was nice to read both to understand the two different areas and the way people live in each. The West Bank is a patchwork of ever increasing Israeli settlements, interspersed with Palestinian villages. Gaza is a concentration camp.
4/5 walks

*This book only includes straight, white, cis people.

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! First a caveat: I have decided that simply having queer people and/or people of color in a book is not enough to qualify it for the Books for a Social Conscience distinction. That sets the bar too low. So while in the past I would have included Artie and the Wolf Moon and That Summer Feeling, I will not be including them in the new system. We love representation! Don’t get me wrong, but honestly at this point if you don’t have queer people and/or people of color in your book, like what are you doing? I will now be including a new designation: *This book only includes straight, white, cis people.

Anyway, read Queer City to learn about how queerness has always existed and been part of history. Read Palestine to learn more about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Read How Far the Light Reaches to discover more queer, non-white perspectives. Read A History of My Brief Body to understand how Canada’s colonialism still affects Native populations, especially queer Natives. Read Palestinian Walks to learn more about the Israel/Palestine conflict, specifically in how it relates to the land.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.

July 4, 2023August 6, 2023

June 2023 Books

Books Reread

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians book 3 of 5
Last month I read Riordan’s new book about Nico so it was nice to reread this one to remember how it all began. Baby Nico is so cute! In this installment of the Percy Jackson series, Percy and Grover must team up with the Hunters of Artemis to save both Annabeth and Artemis herself in a cross-country adventure full of monsters, gods, good friends, and bad jokes.
4/5 dam store t-shirts

New Books Read

Indian No More by Traci Sorell and Charlene Willing McManis***
CW: racism
Regina and her family are moving off the Umpqua rez and 10-year-old Regina isn’t sure why. Her mom says the government doesn’t recognize them as Indians anymore. Her dad says it will be a great opportunity for them to move to the city and become real Americans with better opportunities. Regina has to balance fitting in in her new home with holding onto her history and identity that her grandmother passes down to her in the form of stories. This is a great middle grade read for anyone looking to learn more about Native Americans, particularly the Indian termination policy of the 1950s.
3.5/5 neighborhood kids

Dry by Jarrod Shusterman and Neal Shusterman
CW: climate change, natural disaster, attempted rape
This book was frighteningly plausible. In a near future climate crisis, the water in Los Angeles is shut off as the Colorado River is diverted from flowing into California. All the nearby lakes, rivers, and reservoirs have already dried up. The book follows four teens and one child as they try to navigate an increasingly desperate situation. I really liked this book; I think everyone should probably read it. I liked the way the authors gave the reader several archetypes of the kind of people who emerge in natural disasters like these: the kind of end-of-the-world preparer type, who of course will never really be prepared enough, the opportunistic capitalist who knows they can make a few dollars off everyone else’s desperation, the one who is just trying to survive, the one who keeps their humanity and wants to help others, and the sort of everyman, who is trying to balance being a leader who can keep their group alive with difficult decisions they might not be able to live with. I thought it created a really interesting dynamic in the group.
3.5/5 water bottles

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling***
CW: rape, rape of children, slavery
This book is stunningly unique and thought provoking. In an imagined history of one of the most celebrated Native American women in history, Earling fills in the gaps of what history knows about Sacajewea. Everything we know about her comes from accounts of white men: Lewis, Clark, Sacajewea’s “husband” Charbonneau (who let’s not forget purchased her as a 13-year-old, forced her into a nonconsensual marriage and raped her). So Earling’s book takes the reader on a journey of what it may have been like to be Sacajewea. The most arresting part of Earling’s narrative is the style in which she writes. She uses rhythm and sound and repetition in a way that makes the whole narrative almost an epic prose poem. It’s challenging but also visceral and immediate. Earling doesn’t shy away from the horrifying parts of Sacajewea’s story–in fact the history we learn of Sacajewea is almost devoid of horror, despite the known facts of her kidnap, slavery, and rape as a child, so Earling’s narrative reminds readers that Sacajewea was a human and however great her contributions to history, geography, science, and this nation, she was a child who was wronged.
4/5 horses

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama***
Every year former president Barak Obama shares a list of the best books he read. This book topped his list in 2022—though he may be a little biased. Following her gorgeous memoir Becoming, The Light We Carry walks the line between a memoir and a self-help book. Obama shares fresh stories from her life and uses them to impart wisdom and insight on living through increasingly uncertain times. Since her first book, the world has faced a global pandemic, political turmoil, economic and climate insecurity. Obama offers practical advice on understanding and using fear, caring for relationships with friends, partners, and children, and what it truly means to “go high.” Compassionate, compelling, and inspiring, Obama’s book oozes with sincerity and conviction. Obama also reads her own audiobook which I highly recommend.
3.5/5

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia***
CW: forced marriage, murder, infanticide
I rescued this book, along with Dry and Indian No More from the trash room at my apartment complex. They deserved a better home. I really liked this book. Noémi, a young socialite in Mexico City, receives a concerning letter from her cousin, married to an Englishman in a remote part of Mexico. Noémi travels to the dilapidated manor where her cousin and the Englishman’s family live in the ruins of their wealth from a now closed mine. It doesn’t take long for Noémi to realize something odd is going on. Is the house haunted? Is it driving her cousin mad? Is it driving her mad? Is her cousin being poisoned? And worst of all, will the house let her leave? I very much enjoyed this. It was dark, it was mysterious. Noémi was plucky and smart. It was a treat for anyone who loves a good old Victorian gothic novel.
4/5 mushrooms

Solitaire by Alice Oseman
CW: depression, eating disorders, homophobia
This book follows one of my favorite characters from the Heartstopper series: Tori Spring, Charlie’s older sister. Tori Spring is just trying to figure out how to survive high school; she doesn’t have the time to figure out how to be happy. Two new boys join her year: Lucas, who was a childhood friend, and Micheal, whose reputation as a prankster precedes him. At the same time, a mysterious individual or organization named Solitaire begins to prank the school. Tori isn’t really interested in finding out who’s behind the pranks…though they all seem to be connected to her. I really enjoyed this book. I read a review that compared it to Catcher in the Rye and I do see the similarities, but Tori Spring is just so much more likable than Holden Caulfield. It’s a timeless exploration of coming of age, friendship, and finding happiness and purpose as a teenager.
3.5/5

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee***
CW: AIDS epidemic, rape, sexual harassment, trauma, death of a parent
Undoubtedly one of America’s best writers, Chee constructs intimate windows into his life in the form of personal essays. Each essay stands alone, but taken together in this book, the essays become a mosaic of a queer writer’s life. Chee writes about his mixed-race identity, the particular challenges of being a writer in the industry, the experience of being a gay man during the AIDS epidemic, the long shadow of trauma, and much more. My favorite essays included “The Querent,” about how to believe in or trust what isn’t visible or easily explained, and “Rosary,” an essay about growing a rose garden, but also an essay about creating something out of barren ground, about being shaped in turn by this thing you’ve created. Chee writes with searing honesty about extremely personal subjects, and yet the universality of his essays is apparent. They are relatable and resonant, contemplative and insightful, and I can’t recommend them enough.
4/5 roses

I reviewed this book for Under the Sun. You can read the full review here.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes***
CW: rape, victim blaming
I will never not be obsessed with feminist retellings of Greek myths. A retelling of the myths of Medusa and Andromeda, Haynes conducts the reader through the myth from only female perspectives, changing a story we thought we all knew–how Perseus slew the evil gorgon Medusa and then used her severed head to kill the monster that was menacing the Princess Andromeda–and showing us that we never really knew it at all. Haynes gives us an arsenal of complex and interesting female characters and writes with an intimate and casual tone, evoking a bedtime story told by a grandmother. I was a big fan.
4.5/5 stones

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Indian No More to learn about Native American history and how Native identities were erased by this policy. Read The Lost Journals of Sacajewea to finally hear about the great journey of Lewis and Clark from Sacajewea’s perspective–even if it must necessarily be speculative. Read The Light We Carry to become a better person. Read Mexican Gothic for a diverse and anti-colonial take on the Victorian gothic horror genre. Read How to Write and Autobiographical Novel to learn more about a gay man’s experience living through the AIDS epidemic, and about navigating the world as a mixed race child of immigrants. Read Stone Blind for Greek myths but make it feminist.

June 30, 2022August 6, 2023

June 2022 Books

New Books Read

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel***
Book Hangover Alert**
Reading two books back to back with ace protagonists? Is this what representation feels like? Amazing. I adored Kaikeyi. It’s a reimagining of the classic tale of the Ramayana told from the perspective of Kaikeyi, one of Rama’s mothers (not his birth mother, but the third wife of his father). I loved the lushness of this story. I loved the exploration of Kaikeyi’s relationships, particularly with other women, and how each of the female characters was fleshed out (something I hear is missing from previous versions of the Ramayana). I recommend reading the Author’s Note, but saving it for after you’ve read the book if you’re not very familiar with the Ramayana.
4.5/5 strong bonds

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski
CW: sexual assault
People on the internet were excited about this book because it’s a reimagining of Peter Pan where “Peter is the villain!” They said it like it was a very novel idea, but if you paid attention when you read Barrie’s original, you know Peter’s always sort of been a villain. But I digress. I found this version refreshing; I liked the way the world of Neverland bled into present day. I liked the exploration of parenting shown by Holly who is always trying to protect and save both her children but doesn’t always do the right thing. One criticism: some of the flashbacks were in past tense and some were in present tense and the main action of the story was also in present tense. It bothered me that the flashbacks weren’t consistent in one tense or the other. Overall I did enjoy this book and I read it in like 2 days. The rest of this review has spoilers.

Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

I thought it was an interesting choice by Michalski to give the final confrontation with Peter to Holly’s mother, and have Holly not even present. It struck me as a little anticlimactic. I guess I was also expecting to get a little more explanation of the Christopher Cooke/Hook and Nan characters. I don’t feel like we ever really figured out if they were from Neverland or what.

3.5/5 tinkling lights

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
CW: substance abuse
I listened to this audiobook, which I definitely recommend as the format works really well for audio and I loved the full cast interpretation. I found this book really intriguing because I had never read a book formatted like this, like a series of oral interviews. I thought it worked really well because each member of the band got to give their own perspective and memories which were often very different or disagreed entirely with other characters’.
3.5/5 album covers

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
CW: ableism
I’ve been meaning to read this since I went to Jamaica Inn in Cornwall in 2016. I finally did read it and it was okay. I like the way DuMaurier writes, and I enjoyed the mystery of what’s going on in the Inn, but I was disappointed by the ending. If you want to know why, you can continue reading, though there will be spoilers.

Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

It’s common in Classics and even in more contemporary work that someone with a visible difference or disability is the villain. And here DuMaurier buys into that stereotype, making the main mastermind villain an albino vicar. Disability or physical difference and disfigurement in literature are often shorthand for moral corruption and evil. And I’m very tired of reading about that. The other thing I didn’t love about the ending was Mary ending up with Jem Merlyn. The whole book she’s like “I know Jem is bad news and I can see how he could become like his brother (the other main villain in the story), and besides I’ve decided to be single forever and own my own farm.” And then she just doesn’t? She just chooses to go with Jem?

2.5/5 smugglers

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: attempted genocide
This is the last book from my haul from the Bay Area Book Fest and it did not disappoint. It just won a Newberry medal and it deserved it. I actually read this book twice this month because I read it on my own and then I listened to it with my family driving from California to Colorado. I loved the incorporation of Mexican culture and folklore in a sci-fi story, especially since that genre has been so white for so long. I love when middle-grade authors grapple with important questions.
4/5 bioloaf cubes

Anxious People by Frederik Backman
CW: suicide, suicidal ideation
This book has the same charm, humor, and humanity of all of Backman’s works. It explores heavy and difficult topics with levity and sensitivity. It’s full of twists and turns and the way the story unfolds keeps you guessing. I love the way everything comes together at the end.
4/5 boxes of Christmas lights that aren’t bombs

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files book 7 of 17
I liked this one better than the last one, but really these books are pretty consistent. They’re enjoyable and don’t take a lot of extra brainpower, which is exactly what you need sometimes. I enjoyed the character of Butters and I hope we get to see him again.
3.5/5 zombies

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: lynching, anti-Black racism, n-word, sexism, sexual assault, trauma
I said above that I’d never read a book formatted like Daisy Jones and the Six. Well, this book is also formatted like that, which did at first make it seem a little less exciting and fresh. But I really liked that this book engaged more with the current events that were happening in the 1970s. It shows the collision of rock and roll and the Civil Rights Movement. I also loved how it explores the difficulties Black women still face and how white silence can be just as insidious as loud, aggressive, in your face white racism.
4/5 platform shoes

The Girl Wakes by Carmen Lau
I got this book because sometimes when you submit stories to certain presses, they ask you to pay money or get a copy of one of the books they’ve published. So this was the one I picked. It’s a collection of short stories that echo or retell dark fairytales. It does remind me of the work of Angela Carter in its darkness and subversiveness. It was enjoyable, fresh, imaginative, and the prose was clean.
3/5 gingerbread houses

Execute the Office by Colin Rafferty
A disclaimer: Colin Rafferty was one of my professors at the University of Mary Washington, so obviously I think he’s great. This is a book of creative nonfiction essays, each one addressing a different president. I loved that I learned something new about each president, but the essays weren’t purely informative; they balanced information, personal connection, and the effort to reconcile how inarguably great men also did terrible things. I love Rafferty’s lyrical style and thoughtful explorations of each of the presidents (even the somewhat unremarkable ones).
3.5/5 presidential first dances

I reviewed this book for Under the Sun. The review can be read here.

Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
Sandman Vol 4
CW: gore
I have listened to the latest Audible Sandman collection, which does cover Season of Mists, but this was my first time reading it. This volume is mostly concerned with who will inherit Hell after Lucifer decides to leave, which was interesting but I do think I liked some of the other episodes better from previous volumes. One thing I really like about the comics that I haven’t mentioned yet is that I really like the way the artist changes the way Dream looks depending on who he’s speaking to.
3/5 keys to Hell

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
CW: racism
I always love a story about doors to other worlds. I really liked The Once and Future Witches by Harrow, but I’m not sure I liked this one quite as much. It had a little slower build up and it took me longer to get hooked. But I did still enjoy it. I really like Harrow’s writing style. I do feel like I need a spin-off series about Jane and the Leopard Women.
3.5/5 loyal dogs

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine***
CW: racism, police brutality, misogyny
As a Coloradan, I really liked seeing Denver from a historical and not whitewashed perspective. I also really liked the generational aspect of this book. I liked the focus on the female characters, however I also felt I could have had more Diego and his snakes in the book. I didn’t understand what Luz saw in David; I thought he was awful. I’m also not sure all my questions were answered by the end.
3.5/5 snakes

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience. Read Kaikeyi for a feminist perspective in a classic and for ace representation. Read The Last Cuentista for Latinx representation in sci-fi. Read The Final Revival of Opal and Nev to learn about the Civil Rights Movement and racism in rock and roll. Read Woman of Light for a non-whitewashed look at the history of the west.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQ+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.