nonfiction – Page 5 – Krista Beucler

February 28, 2022

February 2022 Books

New Books Read

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
CW: ableism, racism, misogyny
I actually finished this on January 31st but I had already posted the January book blog. I loved almost everything about this book. I loved the parallel story lines and the art history elements and the examination and contrast of women in 1919 and 1966 who were all unique trailblazers in their own way. What I didn’t love about this book is a spoiler so read on at your own risk.

Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

The resolution to the mystery was that Miss Winnie is faking her deafness. I talked about this a bit last month as well, but the stereotype that disabled people are faking their disability to get benefits is so harmful. I was just really disappointed by that solution.

3.5/5 sculptures

The Sandman Act II Radio Drama by Neil Gaiman
CW: (from Audible) “This content is not for kids. It is for mature audiences only. Just like the original graphic novels, this audio adaptation contains explicit language and graphic violence, as well as strong sexual content and themes. Discretion is advised.”
I’ve mentioned on this blog before that Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read all his novels and short story collections, so I’ve been slowly trying to read and listen to the Sandman comics as well. Honestly, I’m not sure it’s my cup of tea. I’ve been trying to like it, but it’s a little too gory and violent for me. There are always a few stories in each volume that I like, but overall I don’t love it. This radio drama covers about Volumes 4-6 (doesn’t cover quite all of 6) of the comics. It’s really well performed and has a lot of big name actors. Kat Dennings as Death is one of my favorites for sure.
3/5 weird families

Lobizona by Romina Garber***
Book Hangover Alert**
Wolves of No World book 1
CW: misogyny, immigration detention, ICE
I loved this so much. It made me super nostalgic for Argentina, reading it felt like coming home (which is also how reading Harry Potter makes me feel). It does have a magic school and witches and magic, but it also has things that would make HP better if it did have them, for example, diversity. Our protagonist is an undocumented Argentine immigrant trying learning how to balance the different parts of her identity. I just can’t even explain how much I loved it. I need the next book. Someone give it to me.
5/5 brujas

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
Book Hangover Alert**
The main character in Lobizona is reading Cien Años de Soledad and she gushes about how much she loves it. This made me want to read it. I don’t have a copy of it but I do have a copy of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Honestly, I was surprised. I didn’t expect to like it and I really did. It was hard to put down and I’m still trying to figure out how Márquez did it. I didn’t feel like I cared or felt bad for Santiago Nasar who dies at the beginning (whose death was foretold), but I couldn’t stop reading. I wanted to read this in Spanish but my reading level isn’t quite that high in Spanish. I liked his style a lot. The most interesting part of this book for me was the sort of bystander effect that pervades the whole community. There’s only one person who actually tries to stop the murder, but as a woman she doesn’t really have any power to stop it. I’m also thinking a lot about the woman whose accusation kills Nasar and how women have to go to extreme lengths to escape unwanted marriages and shame and all the double standards related to the sexual lives of women verses men.
4/5 pig slaughter knives

The Second Rebel by Linden A. Lewis***
Book Hangover Alert**
The First Sister Trilogy book 2 of 3
CW: body dysphoria, sexual slavery, fantasy racism, medical experimentation
I really liked this one, maybe even a little more than the first one. The first one had to do a lot of world building so we knew what was going on, and this time, we just got to enjoy the plot and characters. Again I love the diversity of the characters; we have a few nonbinary characters, an asexual character, some wlw relationships, disabled characters. One thing I love about these books is the portrayal of the resistance fighters against the oppressive governments. Often in novels resistance fighters are unambiguously good guys and I really like how Lewis shows the hard decisions and the gray areas and the ease with which those fighting oppression slip to the level of their oppressors.
4.5/5 bioweapons

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
CW: femicide, serial murder
I really like Ray Bradbury, but this one wasn’t my favorite. It’s billed as a novel but it’s really more like a collection of short stories or vignettes all set in the same town over one summer. Some of them I liked a lot, but it wasn’t super novel-y in my opinion. I don’t think it was as good as Something Wicked This Way Comes or Fahrenheit 451. I really like Bradbury’s writing style and the way he uses descriptive language. My usual complaint for his books is the lack of distinctive female characters that aren’t like “mother” or “wife” tropes. I liked in this book that there actually was a memorable female character in Lavinia. There were a few other female characters, but she was the most interesting.
3/5 happiness machines

The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: the Holocaust, anti-semitism, persecution of LGBTQ+, Sinti and Roma, and disabled individuals
In the wake of all the book banning, particularly of Maus, I thought this was an appropriate read (since I’ve already read Maus), and my best friend highly recommended it. This book was utterly fascinating. I learned so much. I loved the compassionate way the cold case team explored the mystery and how they grappled with how anyone could betray another to the Nazis. It’s so important for us to study history and see the effect that extraordinary circumstances have on ordinary people so that we can understand how so many ostensibly good people went along with the Nazis.
4/5 secret bookcase-doors

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
CW: sexism, murder, suicide
This book is lauded as one of–if not the–best science fiction book of all time. I didn’t love it. It was a bit dry. It was about politics and economics which people seem to think is groundbreaking in a science fiction book…but I guess I don’t usually choose to read science fiction because I want to read about politics and economics? And my tired old complaint: there is only one female character and she’s a nasty, nagging wife. Just felt pretty “eh” about it.
3/5 future plans

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
CW: classism, discrimination
I guess the theme this month is science fiction. I really liked this book. I thought it was really unique. It’s written from the perspective of an AF (Artificial Friend) and the voice and the perspective are really interesting. I liked the way this future world was revealed to us slowly through Klara’s keen observation. I also enjoyed thinking about all the different ethical considerations when dealing with artificial intelligence and gene editing. What rights should androids have?
3.5/5 artificial friends

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: classism, discrimination, poverty
This was BOTM’s Book of the Year last year and it deserved it. It was great. I cried. I laughed. I cheered. I raged. I reveled in the story of two strong, gritty women and the ways they each come into their own. I also learned so much about the Great Depression, which was apparently much worse than I ever knew. I labeled this as a Book for a Social Consciousness. Usually books with that designation will be by authors of color, feature characters of color or different LGBTQ+ identities. This one is by a white woman and about descendants of Italian immigrants who were trying to survive during the Great Depression in Texas and California. It touches on themes of classism, worker’s rights, immigration, and how easy it is to “other” outsiders when times are tough. Somehow, even though it’s about the Great Depression, it’s still super relevant to today.
5/5 Hoovervilles

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
CW: fatphobia, ableism, anti-Native stereotypes
Bill Bryson is one of my favorite travel writers. He’s so funny and has such amusing observations even when he travels to a place, stays one night in a hotel, eats in one restaurant, and complains about how expensive all the attractions in the area are. This is one of his older books, and some of the humor does rely on negative stereotypes about disabled people, fat people, and Native people, which is, of course, not ideal. But overall, it was fun to go with Bryson on his long road trip across small town America.
3/5 perfect small towns

Don’t you hate it when libraries put stickers over the title???

The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: domestic violence, sexual coercion, war, anti-Muslim racism, illegal immigration
I don’t really know what I was expecting from this book but it surprised me every step of the way. I loved the intimate portrayal of different experiences of Muslim immigrants living in the US through events like 9/11 and the Trump presidency . I liked the messy characters and their messy lives and Anvar’s messy family (but not Safwa’s messy family). Very contemplative and nuanced and kind.
4.5/5 bubblegum ice creams

**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! Read Lobizona for a more diverse fantasy experience that grapples with trying to change entrenched cultural norms. Read The Second Rebel to see more diversity in science fiction. Read The Betrayal of Anne Frank to learn more about the Holocaust and the realities for Jews, other marginalized identities, and those who tried to help. Read The Four Winds to learn why Amazon’s company town idea is such a bad one that we really don’t need to repeat. Read The Bad Muslim Discount to learn about different Muslim perspectives.

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.

January 30, 2022January 30, 2022

January 2022 Books

Books Reread

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
I just recently rewatched the Hobbit movies and realized I didn’t really remember what was in the book and what was added for the movie. It turns out that the movies are actually very accurate, only adding a smattering of orcs and extra action sequences, and one minor love subplot. This is definitely the most accessible Tolkein book if you’re trying to get into Lord of the Rings. Definitely one of my favorite fantasy novels.
4/5 dwarves

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Book Hangover Alert**
This is one of my favorite books. It was on my list of favorite stand alone novels, which I suppose isn’t entirely accurate as it does have a companion novel. But anyway, I stand by my review that it’s the perfect princess book. The girls of Mount Eskel are chosen to attend the Princess Academy and at the end of their studies, the prince of Danland will choose his bride from among them. I love this feminist fairytale that appears to be about girls competing for the hand of a prince, but is really about girls learning to love and support one another and their community. I love to see how Miri grows throughout the novel. I also love the full cast audiobook recording.
5/5 linder hawks

New Books Read

The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All by Josh Ritter
I adored the voice of this novel; it’s so distinct and evocative. The novel is an American tall tale about lumberjacks in the 1920s and 30s. I haven’t enjoyed reading about an annoyed old man this much since A Man Called Ove. Ritter brings such lyricism to his writing–as well he should since he’s also a singer-songwriter. And the book comes with a playlist so that’s always nice.
4/5 heirloom axes

Princess in Love by Meg Cabot
Princess Diaries book 3 of 11
I know I keep saying this, but I still love Cabot’s super readable and relatable voice. She really keeps the pages turning and readers rooting for Princess Mia. I know freshman girls don’t see dating a senior boy as weird, but now that I’m an adult and past those days, I do feel like Mia’s and Micheal’s relationship is a little weird. Eighteen and fifteen really are pretty different.
3.5/5 secret love notes

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Dickens was paid by the word and it shows. Did this book need to be over 800 pages? Probably not, but I still enjoyed it enough to read the whole thing. If you follow the blog, you know Dickens is one of my favorite Classics authors. I love how he’s constantly critiquing his society. I felt this novel was kinder and more nuanced in its approach to the disabled characters than, for example, A Christmas Carol, which holds up Tiny Tim solely as an object of pity and purity. The characters of Miss. Mowcher and Mr. Dick are much more thoughtfully realized and David revises his first opinion of both of them when he gets to know them and begins to understand the hardships they face moving through the world with their respective disabilities. I listened to the audio book and I thought Richard Armitage gave a great performance. One thing I didn’t love was Dora. She was so annoying and spoiled and childish, and I couldn’t believe how long it took David to realize Agnes was clearly the girl he should marry.
3.5/5 workhouses

I didn’t realize this book has eyes until I was outside photographing it.

Gilded by Marissa Meyer
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: death, gore, death of children
I do love a fairytale retelling. And I love a book by Marissa Meyer. Meyer’s latest novel is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and I really enjoyed it’s dark glimmer. Everything about the world was lush and fantastical, but there was an edge of darkness and danger underneath all of it. I like the way the story unfolded with Serilda telling her made-up tales and discovering more about the mysterious Erlking and her magical friend who can spin straw into gold. One of my favorite novels is Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and as they’re both Rumpelstiltskin retellings, it’s hard not to compare the two. I definitely enjoyed Gilded, but I think I liked Spinning Silver just a little bit more.
3.5/5 spinning wheels

A Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: war, refugees, trauma
Stunning. Gorgeous. Heartbreaking. Haunting. Hopeful. Poignant. Joukhadar’s book The Thirty Names of Night was one of the best books I read last year, and even though it’s only January, I expect this book will be on my best books list for this year. A story of Syrian refugees told parallel to a historical fairytale. I just loved it. I love Joukhadar’s beautiful writing style.
5/5 eagle eyes

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal***
The Sands of Arawiya Duology book 1 of 2
CW: torture, child abuse, trauma, death of family members, misogyny, mind control, slavery, child trafficking
Sometimes I think Booktok overhypes books. I was led to believe this would be the best fantasy book I would have read in a while, but it was not. Whenever I disagree with Booktok I somehow always feel like something is wrong with me. Did I miss something about the book that, had I gotten it, would have made it amazing? I liked the world–it was cool to see a world inspired by the Middle East and North Africa–and the concept (although we have seen the concept before of “protagonist must bring back magic to the world”–see Children of Blood and Bone and the first several Throne of Glass books), but I thought the prose was a bit clunky and confusing in places. I often had to reread sections to figure out what was going on and there were a lot of pronoun/antecedent problems. I thought the characters were a bit underdeveloped as well, and I didn’t always understand each character’s motivation. I have another thought but it contains spoilers so read at your own risk.

Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

Was it just me or was there a lot of unresolved homoerotic tension??? I felt Zafira had unacknowledged feelings for Yasmine, and it seemed like Altair and Nasir flirted through like the first half of the book. Which was then weird when they turned out to be BROTHERS.

3/5 evil ifrit

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
CW: domestic abuse, torture, murder
This was my December Book of the Month and I couldn’t put it down. There were a lot of things I didn’t get done because I was reading this book instead. It started off like a fairly standard missing person mystery, but spiraled into an ethereal, magical realism dream and I just HAD to know what was going to happen. One thing I do want to talk about though, is stereotypes, and this is going to contain a spoiler.

Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

Throughout most of the book, Bee is blind. Literature has a long history of the trope of the “blind seer” or someone who is physically blind but can see “beyond,” whether that be seeing the future, knowing things about people, or even just having really acute senses apart from sight. While this is not necessarily a negative stereotype, it reminds me of the autistic savant stereotypes in that people expect all autistics to be savants or all blind people to have other special powers, which can still be damaging. The other thing I want to mention is that at the end of the book we find out that Bee isn’t actually blind. She was hypnotized into thinking she was. I feel like this feeds into both the stereotype that blind people, or disabled people in general, are faking their disability in order to get special treatment, as well as the stereotype that simply mental effort, or “believing you can overcome” can get rid of a disability. Those are negative and harmful stereotypes, and I expect the author was not trying to buy into them, but our implicit biases can do a lot to continue the cycle of oppression.

3.5/5 silver book charms

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong***
CW: each essay comes with it’s own content warnings
I think everyone should read this book. I learned so much from each and every one of these wonderful essays from amazing disabled advocates. Some of them I had heard of (I read Haben Girma’s memoir in 2020) but many of them I had not heard of, and I’m so glad I now know a bit more about the work they’re doing. I liked all the essays but a few of my favorites were “If You Can’t Fast, Give” by Maysoon Zayid, “There’s a Mathematical Equation That Proves I’m Ugly – or So I Learned in My Seventh-Grade Art Class” by Ariel Henley, “The Erasure of Indigenous People in Chronic Illness” by Jen Deerinwater, “The Isolation of Being Deaf in Prison” by Jeremy Woody, “Radical Visibility: A Disabled Queer Clothing Reform Movement Manifesto” by Sky Cubacub, and honestly so many more. The true strength of the book is its intersectionality. So many of us have a one dimensional idea of disability, but as the largest minority group, disabled people are so diverse and it’s important to understand how various marginalized identities work together.
5/5 inclusive clothing brands

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao***
Book Hangover Alert**
Iron Widow book 1 of more than one
CW provided by the author: “Please be aware that this book contains scenes of violence and abuse, suicide ideation, discussion and references to sexual assault (though no on-page depictions), alcohol addiction, and torture.” I would also like to add foot binding, misogyny, and femicide
I think this was a BookTok book too, but it was so great. Someone please get me the sequel immediately. I loved the originality and the immersive world. I loved the complex characters that weren’t always good people, but always someone the reader could root for. I mentioned in my review of Keeper of the Night that I thought the characters were just unlikable, and even in We Hunt the Flame, I didn’t didn’t feel like the characters’ complexities were fleshed out enough for me to really care about them. But in Iron Widow, even though Shimin and Zeitan are not perfect, or even particularly nice, they’re relatable and I wanted them to succeed.
4/5 chrysalises

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse***
Between Earth and Sky book 1 of 3
CW: body horror, sexual abuse and trafficking, suicide, graphic violence
This epic fantasy is set in a world inspired by the ancient civilizations from the Americas and there is a lot to admire here. It was kind of a slow build and it took me a little while to get into the story, but I was fascinated by Roanhorse’s world building and the different societies and cities she created. I also loved that we got to see some LGBTQ+ representation, as we know many native societies in the Americas were far more accepting of diverse gender and sexual identities–one of many things lost to colonization and often not taught in history. Older fantasy is very white, straight, and set in magical England, so I love that we are starting to see more diverse fantasy worlds. I also want to lift up Roanhorse’s blind character. We talked above about blind characters in A History of Wild Places (if you read the spoiler) and I want to say I think Roanhorse did a much better job with her blind character. He is a blind priest, sort of going with the trope of the blind seer, but he’s also very human, and his abilities with spacial perception are explained through his training and the magic he uses to borrow sight from crows. Reading the author’s note, I know Roanhorse did a lot of research and even consulted with Elsa Sjunneson, who has an essay in Disability Visibility that I highly recommend.
3.5/5 crows

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: abortion, alcohol use, colonialism, racism, domestic abuse, car accident (hit and run)
This is a retelling of The Great Gatsby, which is a classic that I like, but honestly, I think I liked this version more. Everything I loved about the original was there–the decadence, the languid prose, the delicious tension building, the careless characters. This version follows Jordan Baker instead of Nick Carraway, which is of course an improvement because Jordan is inarguably the best character. But this Jordan is Vietnamese, dealing with racism and colonialism and being brought up by white American socialites far from her cultural heritage. And did I mention it’s a fantasy? And LGBTQ+? Demons, the damned, ghosts, living paper, LGBTQ+ relationships–and none of it seems out of place in Fitzgerald’s story. I already mentioned the tension building and the prose, but I’m going to mention them again because they were great. The tone and style of the prose mimics Fitzgerald’s original, giving you the feeling that you are reading The Great Gatsby, while at the same time managing to feel fresh and new. And the tension building throughout is masterful. I loved it.
5/5 cut paper dragons

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read A Map of Salt and Stars to grow your empathy for Syrian refugees. Read We Hunt the Flame to experience a fantasy set in a world inspired by the Middle East and North Africa. Read Disability Visibility to learn so much about disability and how it intersects with other marginalized identities. Read Iron Widow to enjoy LGBTQ+ sci-fi in a world inspired by ancient China. Read Black Sun to discover a fantasy world inspired by ancient civilizations of the Americas that also celebrates LGBTQ+ identities and deals with disability. Read The Chosen and the Beautiful if you thought Fitzgerald’s version was a little too white and a little too straight.

October 31, 2021November 12, 2021

October 2021 Books

I read a lot in October. Do I need another hobby???

Books Reread

Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
A Discworld novel
This book was also in my list of favorite stand alone novels. Pratchett is always hilarious but I just love the absurdity of a talking cat and talking rats running a scam of the Pied Piper. So many fun characters and hilarious circumstances. This is probably my single favorite Pratchett book, even though all of his are so good.
5/5 tap-dancing rats

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
His Dark Materials book 2 of 3
I just watched the second season of the His Dark Materials HBO show. It’s great, but as I was watching I realized I didn’t remember the second and third books very well. So I thought I’d read them again. I love to listen to the audiobooks in this series because Pullman reads them himself with a full cast and it’s amazing. If you were wondering, the second season of His Dark Materials follows The Subtle Knife pretty much exactly. When I read it when I was young I didn’t understand that it was an anti-Christian allegory. Just like how I didn’t understand the Narnia books were a pro-Christian allegory. But I love both of these series and I didn’t end up religious, so I guess I don’t really understand writing proselytizing children’s books if children aren’t going to even understand the allegory until they reread it as an adult. Or maybe other children are more perceptive than I was? Anyway I love this series. The first book is my favorite but I love them all.
4/5 spectres

Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
Sandman Volume 3 of 12
CW: rape, sexual slavery
Just like Volume 2, I don’t know whether to put this in Books Reread or New Books Read. All of the stories in this volume were familiar from the Audible Sandman radio play, but I enjoyed revisiting them and enjoying the artwork. Death is still my favorite character. I really love the Midsummer Night’s Dream segment of this volume. I also really appreciate Dave McKean’s Art.
3/5 face masks

New Books Read

Untamed by Glennon Doyle***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: eating disorders, addiction and alcoholism, homophobia, infidelity, police brutality (mentioned), sexism, suicide, gang rape, school shootings
I don’t even have words for how much I liked this book. I laughed, I cried. Nothing will ever be as cute as Glennon and Abby’s love story. Not only was it interesting and insightful, it felt like it was making me a better, more mindful person. I also think it was incredibly brave of Glennon, not only to make the choices she made in her life, but to write a book about them. She had already written two memoirs about her life coming out of addiction and bulimia, her faith, and salvaging her marriage after her husband’s infidelity. But despite putting her life back together and being a good mom and wife, she was still denying herself truth and happiness. Untamed is about her journey toward her truest and most beautiful self and life. I feel like it sounds hokey when I say it, but it was so powerful. I’m tearing up thinking about it.
11/10 cheetahs

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The King Killer Chronicle book 1 of 3
CW: mass murder, some gore, drugs
My coworker lent me this book, as it’s his favorite book. Usually when people recommend a book to me, they just mention it and that’s the end, but he actually brought the book to me and has been excited to lend me the second one now that I’ve finished the first one. The Name of the Wind is a classic high fantasy novel. It’s good, I really enjoyed it, although it does kind of feel like a lot of backstory/lead up to the main event, which is the mysterious Chandrian. It’s the first in the series and honestly there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the main conflict/bad guy which I guess we won’t really deal with until books 2 and 3. I did think there were about 150 pages in the middle that didn’t need to be there, and I thought the female characters were pretty lacking. You don’t even get one until 250 pages in and then she’s the love interest and she’s “not like other girls” (*insert eye roll*). There were 3 other girls in the novel, one of which existed only to be saved by the main character, and the other 2 were, I think, supposed to be mysterious, but ended up being boring because we knew almost nothing about them (the love interest was also supposed to be mysterious, which ends up seeming a lot less mysterious when they all are mysterious). Anyway, I know this book was written in the early 2000s and it’s not like canonical fantasy has ever been particularly feminist (see Tolkien who had no female characters at all in the Hobbit). I’d also like to point out that the last book in the series isn’t even out. After 13 years. I know it sounds like I didn’t like it, but I did overall.
3/5 powerful names

Size Matters Not by Warwick Davis***
CW: ableism
If you’re someone who likes movie trivia or are into sci-fi, fantasy, or cult horror movies, I would recommend this book. It’s the autobiography of Warwick Davis, little person and actor. Even if the name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve probably seen one of his movies. His first role was the Ewok Wicket in the Return of the Jedi. Since then, George Lucas has cast him as various characters in every subsequent Star Wars film. His other really famous one is Professor Flitwick and Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter. But he was also in Labyrinth, Willow, the Leprechaun films, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, various Narnia adaptions, and so much more. His book was funny and charming and full of interesting stories.
3.5/5 ewoks

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
The Princess Diaries series book 1 of 11
This book is my manager’s favorite series. I love the movies so I thought I would read the first book. Which was a mistake, because now I have to read the whole series. Meg Cabot’s books are so readable. At first I thought Mia was a little annoying, but really, she was just a realistic 14 year old. She was flawed but definitely grew on you. It was different than the movie, but still super fun, so I’m interested in reading the rest.
3/5 Italian hairdressers

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: gaslighting, abuse, kidnapping, madness
I bought this book as a birthday gift to myself and I am well pleased. I adored Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Clarke’s other novel that is about 5 times as long as this one. She meticulously crafts her worlds, and the whole mystery and point of view are so fascinating. I felt this strange nostalgia and longing for this other world Piranesi lives in, even though 1) I’ve never been there, and 2) it sounded kinda terrible actually.
4.5/5 mysterious halls

The Institute by Stephen King
CW: institutionalization, torture and abuse (physical and emotional), murder and attempted murder of children, suicide, anxiety, depression, PTSD, disability and racial slurs
This was a month of book recommendations. My best friend recommended this one to me. She doesn’t read a ton but she knows me super well. I don’t usually read horror so I haven’t read much Stephen King, but this one is more of a supernatural thriller. King really knows how to write a page turner. I listened to the audiobook and I couldn’t turn it off. I was interested in the ethical implications of the book, though I won’t say more (spoilers).
3.5/5 dots

Sisters in Arms by Kaia Anderson***
CW: anti-Black racism, n-word, misogyny, racially and sexually motivated assault
This was my Book of the Month for July (yep, still behind). I always like learning about the hidden figures from history. This historical fiction novel centered on the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (subsequently the Women’s Army Corps) and the first class of women officers, specifically the Black women officers. They were segregated into their own corps but still excelled and aided the war effort. I was also really interested in the author’s note at the end which talked about which characters were real people or inspired by real people and which events really happened. I also love a story about female friendship.
3.5/5 mislabeled letters

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty***
CW: death, dead bodies, some gore
If you watch the Ask a Mortician YouTube Channel (which I highly recommend) you’ll be familiar with Caitlin Doughty. In this nonfiction book, Doughty recounts her travels around the world to witness different death rituals, practices, and the industries and infrastructures for death. Doughty is respectful, thoughtful, and funny, and the book brings insight into mortality and our relationship with death as humans.
3/5 composted bodies

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
This is my October Book of the Month and I feel bad that I still haven’t read August or September’s BOTM but I felt like I needed a witchy, Halloweeny read. If you remember, I read A Discovery of Witches last month, but if you’re going for a book about a witch who doesn’t really use her powers and works in human (i.e. non-magic) history at a university and falls in love with a somewhat dangerous man, then definitely go for this one over A Discovery of Witches. The Ex Hex was fun, flirty, sexy, witchy, and, best of all, feminist. The banter was fabulous and I loved that Rhys and Vivi were always asking for consent even though they were clearly both into each other.
3.5/5 chattering plastic skulls

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
CW: death, drugs, alcohol, cannibalism (with scientific twist)
I really loved The Martian, Weir’s first book. And I was really disappointed by Artemis, Weir’s second book. But I decided to give his third a try anyway. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as The Martian, but I did still really enjoy it. I don’t know a ton about science, so I feel like I didn’t really understand much of what Grace was talking about whenever he was solving a problem, but that also means that nothing really seemed that far-fetched to me (except maybe the amnesia). I do think it’s odd (or maybe just amateurish?) that none of Weir’s main characters ever have any families or friends. It’s certainly easier from an author’s standpoint to not have to make up a whole childhood, a best friend or friends, parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, lovers for your characters, but it’s also not as believable. Grace’s only friends are his coworkers from Project Hail Mary? Really? He has no family members? And no reason not to have either of these things? Grace is basically the same dude as Mark Watney from The Martian, except a chemical biologist and teacher instead of a botanist. Actually the main reason I didn’t like Artemis that much was because I thought the main character Jazz wasn’t believable. Weir is good at science and good at plot, but I do think he could work on character. Anyway I did really enjoy this book. It was a fun interstellar mission to save multiple planets. There were aliens, many near death experiences, and also friendship.
3.5/5 alien lifeforms

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
CW: slavery, gore, fantasy racism, attempted suicide, drugs and substance abuse, slut-shaming, PTSD, discrimination, misogyny, violence, war, murder
While we’re on the subject of character, I hate to say it but Bryce and Hunt are basically the characters as same as Aelin and Rowan from Maas’s Throne of Glass Series. She’s a half-human, half-fae princess with lot’s of magic power who is great at fighting, smart and snarky, and getting over traumas including but not limited to her boyfriend and best friend being brutally murdered. He’s a full blooded, centuries old immortal with great magic power who is being forced against his will to serve an ancient and evil overlord after losing his immortal lover. They start off hating each other but have to work together and eventually fall in love. (Spoiler! Skip next sentence) She frees him from his servitude. (End of spoiler) Now. All that being said, I really liked it. Luckily I really like the characters, even though they were the same as Aelin and Rowan, and I was still rooting for them and happy about them falling in love. I was interested in all 800 pages of the mystery, and Maas really knows how to keep a story moving. I was interested in the magical/technological city that Maas created and the different magical creatures that populated it. I’ll definitely still read the rest of the series.
3.5/5 Starswords

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Untamed really just to become a better person. Read Size Matters Not to learn about ableism in the film industry and the world at large (no pun intended). Read Sisters in Arms to learn about the hidden figures in United States military history. Read From Here to Eternity to grow your empathy for the way other cultures handle death and learn not to say “that’s gross” or “that’s so weird” of others’ customs.
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.

July 31, 2021November 12, 2021

July 2021 Books

Books Reread

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Book Hangover Alert** (Gaiman’s books always give me a book hangover)
CW: suicidal ideation, violence, stalking, child death
As I’ve mentioned before Neil Gaiman is one of my favorites. I love this book. It makes me miss London a lot. But it’s also nice to read it whenever I move somewhere new because it’s about knowing and loving a place, learning its secrets, and finding belonging. This time I read the version illustrated by Chris Riddell who has to be one of my favorite illustrators. I loved see his interpretations of characters I know so well.
5/5 gap monsters

How the Marquis Got his Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
Companion novella to Neverwhere
I’d read this when it first came out and I hadn’t read Neverwhere recently when that happened. This time I read them back to back, and while I still enjoyed it, I did notice that Dunnikin, the Sewer Folk man, speaks in this story. In Neverwhere he uses a kind of sign language when he talks to Old Bailey and it’s implied that the Sewer Folk don’t speak. Aside from that I like the story. I love the Marquis de Carabas so it’s nice to get to spend more time with him, and I enjoy his brother very much.
3.5/5 fabulous coats

New Books Read

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children book 5 of 5
CW: body dysmorphia , child abuse (mentioned), grooming
The last Wayward Children book! I enjoyed all of these, though I still think book 4 was my favorite. It was nice to visit Jack and Jill again who featured in books 1 and 2. There’s just something so magical about a door into another world. I didn’t list the books in this series as Books for a Social Consciousness books, but I would like to applaud the inclusion of trans, gay, and neurodivergent characters.
3.5/5 skeleton horses

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon***
CW: Alcoholism, death (including parental and loved ones), depression, grief, infertility, miscarriage, plague, suicide (mentioned), suicidal ideation, war (some based on religion)
Dragons, witches, magic, pirates, it seems like it’s a combination that can’t fail. This book was hyped a lot and I felt bad that I wasn’t crazy about it. The world building was really intricate and we love to see diversity in fantasy. But I thought the characters were kinda boring and I felt like every time Shannon killed one of them off she was trying to make me feel something, which didn’t work because I did not care about them. Tané was my favorite character but it seemed like she had less page time than other characters like Niclays Roos, who I literally could not have cared less about. Also this book was supposedly about dragons and there weren’t nearly enough dragons. And it was too long.
3/5 magical oranges

Do All Indians Live in Tipis? by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian***
CW: racism, alcoholism, gambling, genocide
The short answer is “No.” I worked as an intern at NMAI in college and this book was a gift given to me at the end of my internship. It’s a really great primer for those looking to learn more about Native Americans and their culture. It has answers to many of the questions you’ve probably had about Native Americans, but didn’t want to ask a Native person to spend emotional labor educating you. The one downfall of the book is probably the same one the museum has, which is that it tries to cover the native peoples of the entire American continent and Hawaii, which is a tall order. Many of the questions have some variation of “different tribes do different things.”
3.5/5 tipis

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan***
Book Hangover Alert**
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard book 3 of 3
The thrilling conclusion! I really enjoyed this series. Specifically in this book I was glad we got to learn more about Magnus’s floor 19 hall-mates because although they’ve been in all 3 books, we haven’t had much backstory for them. I say this every time, but I love the representation in this series. Loved the ending, but I won’t say more about that.
4/5 pottery to the death classes

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW from the author’s website: On-page: Drinking, light drug use (weed), semi-public sex, exploration of depression and anxiety, memory loss and cognitive issues, familial estrangement, familial death, grief, missing persons, implied PTSD. Off-page, past, and alluded to: Homophobic violence and hate speech, police violence, the AIDS crisis, racism, childhood neglect, arson, historic hate crime resulting in loss of life
This might be the best book I’ve read this year. I read McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue in January, and it was fabulous. This one might be better. It has all the swoony LGBTQ+ romance of Red, White & Royal Blue but with mystery, magic, LGBTQ+ history, and a unique New Yorkness. I love McQuiston’s writing style. Their characters are so interesting and well developed. I also loved that every relationship in the book was queer. We love to see it.
7/5 subway trains

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Do All Indians Live in Tipis? To answer many of your questions about Native Americans. Read The Ship of the Dead to see positive disability and gender fluid representation in fantasy. Read The Priory of the Orange Tree to see more BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation in fantasy. Read One Last stop for LGBTQ+ representation and history.
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.

April 1, 2021December 29, 2021

March 2021 Books

New Books Read

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas***
CW: unintended pregnancy, gang violence, drugs, and gun violence
I love that Angie Thomas’s books all take place in the same neighborhood. This book focused on Maverick Carter, Starr’s father from The Hate U Give. (If you haven’t already read that book, seriously, what are you waiting for?) Thomas is a master at creating characters and distinctive voices. This book was hard to put down, the tension building masterfully. I loved the way this book examined toxic masculinity, particularly in the Black community, and teenaged fatherhood. I feel like there are a lot of books about teenaged mothers, but not as many that address what it’s like to be a teenaged father. This book also breaks the stereotype of the absent Black father and invites us to examine the systemic barriers and racism that can lead to a father being absent. I liked it a lot, though probably not quite as much as Thomas’s first two books; I am really fond of Starr and Bri.
4/5 new babies

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
CW: abusive relationship, alcohol abuse, assault (physical and sexual), death, depression, drugs, prostitution, sexism, suicide (attempted), war
I read another book last year about an immortal and I was so disappointed that a character who had been alive for 400 years could be so boring. I did not have that problem with this book. I really liked Addie as a character, in fact I liked all the characters. It’s also always nice to see casual LGBTQ+ characters that are secure, even when that’s not the main focus of the story. I liked Schwab’s writing style and the way the story wove forward and back through time. The only thing I wasn’t really sold on was the ending. I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Have you read it? What did you think? Also, one more thing. Schwab has a character who is getting her PhD in art history and she misidentifies Girl with a Pearl Earring as a Rembrandt. It’s a Vermeer. Editors??? You just missed that one???
3.5/5 forgotten faces

Feiwel and Friends. I had a whole photoshoot at the cemetery planned and then I remembered I read the e-book on Libby and I didn’t have a physical book to photograph.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas***
CW: transphobia, character abuse (off-page), deadnaming of a trans character, death (parental), gender dysphoria, homophobia, misgendering of a trans character
This book was hyped a lot on Book Tok and Bookstagram and I was so ready to love it…and then I didn’t. I really wanted to love it. I thought the concept and cultural context was super cool, but I was not into the writing style. The language was repetitive and cliched. I found the character of Julian kind of obnoxious, which the protagonist, Yadriel, finds endearing, but I didn’t find it that endearing. I thought the pacing was off; there’s a big mystery to solve and Yadriel is still going to school and coming home on time for curfew? I know Yadriel was pretty straitlaced, but he was willing to skip school to make out with Julian, so it seems like he should be willing to skip school to find the murderer. I feel like I figured out the mystery long before Yadriel did, like he didn’t even try that hard. NOW, that being said, somewhere there’s a Latinx trans kid (or many) who is reading this book and feeling seen and validated for the first time in their life and I am so happy for them.
3/5 human sacrifices

Infinite Country by Patrica Engel ***
CW: assault (sexual and physical), sexual harassment, racism, alcohol abuse
This was my February Book of the Month and I read it straight through during the big snowstorm in Colorado. This book was gorgeous. The writing was absolutely beautiful and achingly sad. It is a story of a family separated across borders between the US and Colombia and examines themes of family, illegal immigration, justice, and loss. The characters were so human and the story of illegal immigration so universal and yet still personal. This is a great book to read to grow your empathy for immigrants and understand why so many are trying to come to the United States, even when our country is arguably not much better than theirs in terms of safety and opportunity. While it can seem like many immigrants come to the US and “why don’t they just come here legally?” it’s so important to remember how difficult it is to come here legally and it’s important to remember the role the US government has played in destabilizing Latin American governments and backing military dictators. Infinite Country is a searing portrait of a Colombian family trying to achieve their American Dream.
4.5/5 correctional girls schools

The Desolations of Devil’s Acre by Ransom Riggs
Peculiar Children book 6 of 6
The final book in the series! This whole series was pretty solid. I enjoyed reading every book. I like Riggs’s style and character development. It’s hard to have a lot of characters and make each of them distinct, but I think he does a good job. He also writes good dialogue, and I liked how the dialogue reflected well if the characters were older or from England or the US. Often it can seem that a writer is really forcing old fashioned or dialect dialogue from a place that isn’t where the author lives. Not to give away any spoilers, I was happy with the ending, though I do think it’s a bit tiresome that Miss Peregrine is always telling the children (some of whom are like a hundred years old) to stay home because saving the world is too dangerous. Like hasn’t she figured out yet that, 1) they won’t listen to her, and 2) she can’t save the world without them? I also think it’s a little annoying that Jacob is always sneaking off to save the world himself so as not to endanger his friends. They are all as willing to die to save the world as he is, and they’re more likely to save the world if they work together.
3.5/5 peculiar abilities

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger***
CW: racism, classism, death of a family member, grief
Surprisingly and entirely coincidentally, this book was a little like Cemetery Boys in that it’s about young people who can raise ghosts and and a mysterious murder. I did like the writing style more than Cemetery Boys though. I also loved reading about Lipan Apache characters and the way storytelling was woven into the narrative. I was intrigued by the world in Elatsoe, but I also feel like I could’ve done with a little more information/explanation about it. I also appreciated that Ellie, the protagonist, and Jay were working hard to solve the mystery (as I didn’t feel Yadriel in Cemetery Boys was), and I only solved a few pieces of the mystery before Ellie. My only critique is that Ellie was a 17-year-old character that read to me more like a 12-year-old. I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I haven’t figured out why she came across that way to me. I also think it’s important to point out that a lot of YA has 17-year-old protagonists who act like adults, which is not how real 17-year-olds act, so maybe media has created a bias?
3.5/5 ghost dogs

Books read for the Community Cats Podcast

My book reviews CCP blog post can be found here.

Catland: The Soft Power of Cat Culture in Japan by Sarah Archer
I first heard about this book on Episode 377 of the Community Cats Podcast. If you’ve listened to the episode (which I highly recommend), you’ll know all about Archer’s book Catland: The Soft Power of Cat Culture in Japan, which, since I first heard about, I’ve been super excited to read. Archer is a writer, curator, and design and material culture historian, and in Catland, she examines Japan’s fascination with cats through the ages. The book is filled with gorgeous color images of life with cats in Japan and it is truly a joy to look through. Archer explores Japan’s rich history of cats, including in woodblock prints from the Edo period and the proliferation of the maneki neko, or beckoning cat as a symbol of welcome and luck, the concept of Nekonomics, or the net economic benefit that cats or cat imagery bring to a community in Japan, and the arts and crafts industries that cater to cats and cat lovers. The book is full of charming locations like shrines full of resident cats, cat cafes, bathhouses and train stations with cat mascots, cat pop culture icons like Hello Kitty and Doraemon, and kawaii (cute) products and characters. Archer definitely convinced me that Japan should be the next location on my travel wishlist (as soon as we can travel again!).
Rating: 5/5 Hello Kitty keychains

$5 for a Cat Head by Linda Chitwood
Linda Chitwood, founder of the Homeless Animals Relief Project, shares stories from her 25 years of animal rescue. The Homeless Animals Relief Project provides spay/neuter surgery for low-income pet owners living in rural Mississippi and 100% of the proceeds from this book go back to supporting their mission. I enjoyed reading the stories of animal rescues, both successful and heartbreaking that Chitwood shares. She also includes hands-on tips and lessons learned for others involved in animal rescue. Though at times a bit preachy and heavy handed, the stories are engaging and there is a lot to be learned from Chitwood’s experiences.
Rating: 2.5/5 rescued road-side animals

The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals by Katja M. Guenther***
CW: descriptions of neglected, abused, and euthanized animals
Probably everyone who works in the animal welfare industry should read this book. Dr. Guenther is an Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, and she brings an anthropologist’s eye to the inner workings of one of the large animal shelters in Los Angeles. She explores how race, gender, class, and species intersect in the complex hierarchy of the shelter system. I learned so much from Dr. Guenther’s book and her keen observations made me rethink my assumptions and biases. Though I am a cat person and Dr. Guenther tended to focus on dogs, I was fascinated by her analysis of pit bulls and the ways in which racial perceptions impact them and affect their chances of being euthanized rather than adopted. Dr. Guenther also takes on what she calls “the myth of the irresponsible owner,” where pet owners from lower income, non-white areas tend to be blamed for the various systemic barriers that result in their needing to surrender animals to the shelter. Overall, I felt Dr. Guenther’s book is an extremely important work that encourages us to be more compassionate and reminds us that the oppressive systems at work in society at large are also at work in the microcosm of the shelter. The book invites us to rethink the entire sheltering system to make it more equitable and humane.
5/5 misunderstood pitbulls

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Concrete Rose to understand more about Blackness in America, including Black fatherhood and Black masculinity. Read Cemetery Boys to learn more about the trans experience, particularly in the Latinx community. Read Infinite Country to learn more about undocumented immigrants and the problems in Colombia (and much of Latin America) that were caused by American interventionism. Read Elatsoe to learn more about the Lipan Apache and more about Indigenous experience in general. Read The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals to learn more about systemic racism and how race, gender, class, and species interact to create inequality and cruelty.
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.

January 1, 2021January 13, 2022

December 2020 Books and End of Year Round-up

End of Year round-up

Number of new books read this year: 81

Number of books reread this year: 9 (from June -December)

Number of books by women and nonbinary people read this year (only including new books read): 49

Number of books by BIPOC read this year (only including new books read): 22

Breakdown by genre:
–Fiction: 63
(Fantasy: 21; literary fiction: 16; science and speculative fiction: 11; historical fiction: 8; fairytales: 2; mythology: 2; children’s literature: 1; mystery: 1; supernatural: 1)
–Nonfiction: 12
(Science: 3; biography: 2; memoir: 2; anthropology: 1; history: 1; how-to: 1; essays: 1; travel and humor: 1)
–Graphic novel: 3
(fantasy: 2; memoir: 1)
–Short story collection: 2
(literary fiction; 1; science fiction: 1)
–Poetry: 1

First book of the year: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Last book of the year: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Best books of the year (because I can’t chose one):
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Worst books of the year
The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian

December Books reread

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I really cannot convey how much I love this book. Sometimes classics are classics for a reason. I never get tired of the story and delight in forcing my family to watch every movie adaption, including a filmed stage musical that I was in (I played the first spirit). This year I made everyone listen to Tim Curry’s audio book of it. Delightful. Dickens is definitely at his best in this book.
10/10 bad lobsters in a dark cellar

New Books Read

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Book Hangover Alert**
Throne of Glass series book 5 of 7
I’ve been making my way through this series extremely slowly, not because it isn’t good, but because when I finish it, it will be over. Unfortunately, I did wait a little too long between reading book four and reading this one. It took me a minute to remember where we’d left off. But this installment did not disappoint. I don’t think it was my favorite of the series, but we got lots of quality Aelin and Rowan time, which I appreciated.
3.5/5 extremely attractive Fae males

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: racism, xenophobia
SO GOOD. It’s an urban fantasy/sci-fi that reminded me a bit of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, except about New York instead of London. This book was about the personification of New York City and multi-dimensional alien threats. Even though I don’t live in New York, I do love the city and I felt the way Jemisin represented each of the boroughs of New York was (*chef’s kiss*) spot on. Her characters were so real and so vibrant and even though there was a lot of the characters standing around and talking, trying to decide what to do, I didn’t mind because I loved the characters. I would have read more of them just chatting to each other honestly. I don’t know if there will be another book, but I really hope so.
5/5 city avatars

Wilder Girls by Rory Power***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW (provided by Rory Power’s website): graphic violence and body horror, gore, on the page character death, parental death, and animal death (the animals are not pets), behavior and descriptive language akin to self harm, and references to such, food scarcity and starvation, emesis, a scene depicting chemical gassing, suicide and suicidal ideation, non-consensual medical treatment.
This isn’t in the content warning, but I also want to acknowledge that this book is about a mysterious and deadly disease and a lockdown, so if that’s not something you want to think about when you’re reading during COVID times, I totally get it. That being said, this book was great. I read it because I saw it on Book Tok and the Tik Tok reviewer said “it’s gay and it slaps.” Reader, she was correct. I loved the style; the characterization was really strong. The prose was spare and still very expressive. I’m definitely ready for book two, so hopefully that’s a thing that’s coming. I also liked the themes of environmentalism and disability that threaded through the novel.
4/5 mutant deer

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
CW: anti-semitism, n-word
I always feel like reading Dickens in the winter, but I usually just read one of his Christmas books. This year I thought I’d give Oliver Twist a try. I really liked it. I love the way Dickens critiques the classism and social welfare of his day, and how he does it such an amusing way. The characters are vibrant and I love how neatly all the characters and threads of the story get tied up at the end. Now, that being said, holy anti-semitism, Batman. The character of Fagin is super problematic. I recently watched a Tik Tok video about how anti-semitism is a different kind of oppression because it assumes that Jews are both superior and inferior to white people. There are stereotypes that Jews are misers that control everything, the banks, etc. (superior), and that they’re rat-like parasites who feed off white people (inferior). Fagin perfectly embodies this caricature of the Jew; his hands are described as rat-like claws, his large nose is referenced many times, he is a robber who steals (from white people) to live, but he also controls this whole network of petty thieves that reports to him and he keeps all the best things to sell himself. Dickens, like many writers of this time, also equates physical beauty to goodness and virtue, which I also don’t love; but he does subvert society in other ways, critiquing the church and institutions like workhouses, both of which were supposed to help the poor and didn’t really, and critiquing the classism that kept people from marrying for love, instead choosing status or worrying what other people would think if they didn’t.
3/5 virtuous orphans

Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr. ***
It’s important to note that this book is a little old, published in 1969. It discusses the state of Indian Affairs, so it’s important to remember its context is the 1960s, however, I’m sure many of the issues covered in the book are not as solved as we would hope 50 years later. This books is a good one to read to learn more about how the government has treated Native Americans from first contact to contemporary times. Though policy is very important, it’s not always the most exciting thing to read about. My favorite chapter was the one on Indian Humor; since Native Americans are usually portrayed as stoic and serious, it’s nice to read about how humor is actually integral to the Native experience.
3/5 anthropologists

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
My aunt lent this to me in like March, but I’ve finally finished it. What I liked most about Harari’s book was that it was accessible. I’m not someone who knows a lot about science, but the way he writes and explains things made it easy to understand what he was talking about. The premise of the book is kind of a projection of the future and the goals of humans might be after we’ve solved the problems of war, famine, and plague. (LOL the book was written in 2016 and published in 2017; it’s pretty clear we haven’t solved problems like plague yet!) It was really interesting and also a bit scary (thinking about the future often is). Harari makes a strong argument and as someone who doesn’t read a ton of contemporary science and philosophy, most of his points seem sound to me. So I’d recommend also reading this New York Times review, which adds a few grains of salt with which to take Harari’s work.
3/5 micro robots

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files book 4 of 17
Still trucking slowly through these. No spoilers, because this is book four, but Harry Dresden is still alive. I appreciated that in this book we got to meet some more wizards. I also appreciated that, for a book written in 2002, the White Council is pretty diverse. Now, that being said a lot of the representations are pretty stereotypical, but I’d like to think Butcher got better at it as he went along. Most straight, cis, white men aren’t going to get it right on the first try. So hopefully he’s doing better now, or we have a problem.
3.5/5 malicious faerie queens

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The City We Became to learn more about the diversity that makes up New York and America as a whole. Read Wilder Girls to see more queer people represented in YA and to consider environmental and disability issues. Read Custer Died for Your Sins to learn more about Indian Affairs, and Native issues and history.
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.

October 1, 2020November 12, 2021

September 2020 Books

Books Reread

The Sandman Radio Drama by Neil Gaiman
CW: for mature audiences
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors (another features later in the post). I’ve read the Sandman comics, but Audible has just put out this radio drama that covers #1-20, or the first 3 collected volumes, Preludes and Nocturnes, A Doll’s House, and Dream Country. Though I love the art from the comics, and that aspect of the Sandman story should not be missed, I really loved the radio play as well. James McAvoy played a wonderful Dream, and Kat Dennings was superb as Death. Gaiman himself plays the narrator.
3.5/5 dreaming cats (cats are something of a theme this month)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is one of my absolute favorites. Whenever someone asks me that question “What literary character do you most relate to?” I always say Jo March, like practically every other young, independent feminist. “Timeless classic” is a cliche but this book really is one. I love the feminine-centric story, the love between the sisters, the sweet, funny, and moving trials each sister faces. I also love basically every adaptation of the story. The 1994 movie? Fabulous. The 2018 miniseries? Delightful. The Broadway musical? Perfection. The 2020 movie? Masterpiece. This time I listened to the Audible original version read by Laura Dern and a full cast. It’s not verbatim the original text, but it’s still wonderful.
5/5 sensational stories by Jo March for the Weekly Volcano Press

New Books Read

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children book 4 of 5
This may have been my favorite book yet from McGuire’s Wayward Children series. The Goblin Market is my favorite of the worlds we’ve been able to explore through McGuire’s infinite doors. In this installment we learn the backstory of Lundy, a character from Every Heart a Doorway, the first book in the series. The story is at once beautifully imaginative, heartbreakingly sad, and absolutely fair.
4/5 fruit pies

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
Book Hangover Alert**
I absolutely adore David Mitchell’s work. I’ve read all his books and have been eagerly awaiting this one since 2015. My favorite thing about his books is that they all exist in the same universe and the characters of one story may waltz through another if you’re paying attention. All across time his stories intersect and interlock. Though you don’t have to have read any of his previous works to understand and enjoy this book, I would recommend reading The Bone Clocks and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet as companions for maximum mind-bogglingness. Mitchell’s stories all have an element of the fantastical but the writing, characterization, and world-building is such that you could comfortably live in the house he has created with his words and not realize the walls were made of paper. Utopia Avenue tells the story of a folk-rock band born in London’s fertile 1960s music scene. Not only do characters from Mitchell’s other works make cameos, but real classic rock and folk icons from the 60s jam their way through the novel. The book was so good I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished it and I now feel like I have to go back and reread all his books again. Best of all, the book comes with a Spotify playlist for maximum reading and listening pleasure.
6/5 chart-topping singles

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson***
CW: anti-Black racism, murder
A gritty historical-fiction/supernatural tale of mobsters and crooked cops set in New York City in the 1940s, Johnson’s novel examines race and thorny issues of morality. The novel follows Pea, an assassin with blessed hands. Some people of color are blessed with special abilities by saint-blessed hands. Naturally, white people want anything that people of color have that they don’t, so what follows is a twisted, dark tale that, like a throwing knife thrown high into the air, you won’t be able to look away from.
4/5 tarot cards

Books read for the Community Cats Podcast

I read the following* books for a book review post on the Community Cats Podcast blog. You’ll be able to read it here when it’s posted.

The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker
Honestly, I was pretty disappointed by this book. I did not enjoy it. Tucker tries to tease out the mystery of how cats have found a place in our hearts and taken over our homes and lives, even though we didn’t domesticate them like dogs or other animals, and they supposedly don’t contribute anything to our lives. Unfortunately, the book reads like a laundry list of reasons why we shouldn’t like cats–including but not limited to their status as an invasive species, their possible link to schizophrenia through an invasive parasite they can give their owners, and studies that show no real health benefits to owning a cat as well as some health risks. Apart from all the science and history she piles up that make cats seem like the worst human-animal alliance in history, she also makes cat lovers sound insane, from breeding and cat fanciers to Jackson Galaxy and the pet product industry, from TNR advocates to Instagram-famous cat owners. Though much of the science and history was interesting, I felt Tucker failed to discover the true nuance of the human-cat bond. Perhaps the benefits I receive from having my cat in my life are not quantifiable by science, or studies, or terms that can be qualified as “useful to humanity,” but I certainly believe my life is better for having my cat in it.
2/5 toxoplasma gondii parasites

How to Take Awesome Photos of Cats by Andrew Marttila
I’ve read the book, but I’m obviously still working on this one (see above photos). Marttila’s book was a great and very accessible guide to getting better photos of your cat. The book covered basic photography skills, tips for working with feline subjects, specific guides for using smart phones for photography as well as dedicated cameras, basic editing suggestions, and how to use the great photos you’ve taken. Marttila’s tone is casual and easygoing and not at all overwhelming, as some other photography guides can be–full of technical jargon that you feel dumb for not knowing. I’m excited to give his suggestions a try, especially those about editing as I’ve never really known much about that.
3.5/5 cats on catnip

My Life in a Cat House by Gwen Cooper
Author of Homer’s Odyssey, Gwen Cooper writes this time about all the cats she has shared her home with over the years. The memoir is structured into short stories focusing on each of the unique feline’s she has known. I hadn’t read Homer’s Odyssey but I was drawn in to Cooper’s world by her writing style and her keen observation of her feline family. The memoir was a joy for any cat lover, who will recognize the idiosyncrasies and the charm of sharing your home with a cat. At times funny and touching, Cooper fully characterizes each of the five cats she has shared her life with.
3.5/5 unique felines

Our Symphony with Animals by Aysha Akhtar M. D.***
CW: sexual abuse of children, animal abuse, trauma, PTSD, violent crime, drug abuse, discussion of serial murder and abuse of women
I thought this book, based on its title and cover, was going to be hokey and eye-rollingly sentimental. Boy, was I wrong. This book provided me with everything I felt I was missing from The Lion in the Living Room. Dr. Akhtar’s book explores the deep bond of empathy humans share with all animals and how that bond can be incredibly healing. This, I felt, was what Tucker failed to talk about in her quest to understand why people love cats. Dr. Akhtar also discusses the idea that a lack of empathy toward animals could translate to a lack of empathy toward humans. She visits prisons, animal rescues, poultry farms, the New York Police Department, among others, and speaks with veterans living with PTSD, a serial killer, detectives investigating animal cruelty cases, a former mobster, an ex-rancher, and more. She also cites a wealth of studies and scientific evidence that support the anecdotes and interviews that fill her book. She succeeded in convincing me that a strong empathetic bond between humans and animals is both natural and necessary to a healthy way of living. It’s even convinced me it’s time to be a vegetarian (something I’ve been thinking about a long time).
4.5/5 vegetarians

*Included in my Community Cats Podcast blog post but not here is New Choices in Natural Healing for Cats and Dogs: Herbs, Acupressure, Massage, Homeopathy, Flower Essences, Natural Diets, Healing Energy, 2017 by Amy Shojai, because I didn’t read the whole thing, which is generally a requirement for this blog (it’s a medical handbook, you aren’t supposed to read it cover to cover). I did read the introduction and methodology, which I summarize in the CCP blog.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Trouble the Saints to learn more about anti-Black racism, passing, and corruption in the police and how, although set in the 1940s, those issues are still relevant today. Read Our Symphony with Animals to learn more about empathy for animals, how cruelty to animals can lead to cruelty to humans, and the paradox of protecting some animals (companion animals, endangered animals) and hurting others (animal agriculture farms, scientific testing).

July 31, 2020November 12, 2021

July 2020 Books

Books Reread

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
CW: some outdated language related to disability, and weak female characters
I reread Cary Elwes’s memoir about the making of The Princess Bride movie last month so I thought I’d reread the book this month. It’s still pretty weird (in a good way). If you haven’t read it, a large part of the story is the framing narrative where Goldman tells you about his father reading this story to him as a boy and editing out all the boring parts as he read aloud, which causes Goldman to want to publish an abridged version of The Princess Bride, which he claims is a historical novel by S. Morgenstern from Florin. Goldman is constantly popping up in italics throughout the book to tell you what he cut out of the ‘original,’ or about what he or his son thought about the book at a particular point. The first time I read it I simply skipped all the italics and read only the parts about Westley and Buttercup. I still love the book in all its quirkiness, oddness, and hilarity, but the character of Buttercup really does leave something to be desired. In the movie she’s dignified and helps to balance the humor playing against the ridiculousness of the other characters (even though she does absolutely nothing to help Westley with that R. O. U. S.), but in the book she’s just kind of dumb. For a guy that claims to have written the book for his two daughters, Goldman could certainly have written a stronger female lead. The book came out in 1973, which was a while before the ADA, but reading the book today, now that I know something about ableism makes me a little uncomfortable in some places. I don’t love how Fezzik is treated, even by Inigo, often called an idiot and berated for not remembering things or not doing something right. As far as Vizzini (who has a physical deformity in the book) and the Albino, it seems like they’re only evil because they are not physically ‘normal.’ All that being said, I firmly believe you can love something and still be critical of it.
3.5/5 King Bats

New Books Read

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files book 2 of 17
I read the first Dresden Files book absolutely ages ago and while I enjoyed it, reading the rest of the series got put off and this poor book languished on my To Read Shelf for years. I finally read it and Harry Dresden is as fun as ever. The quote on the cover of the book from SF Site says “Butcher keeps the thrills coming,” which is absolutely the right way of describing the book. Every chapter Dresden gets in more trouble as he tries to identify the lupine killer that runs wild every full moon. I also really appreciate his talking skull, Bob, and the strong female characters that help Harry get the job done.
3.5/5 Hexenwulfen

Haben: The Deafblind Woman who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma***
CW: ableism, racism, discrimination against individuals with disabilities
If you don’t know who Haben Girma is, you need to get on that. She’s so cool. I learned so much from this memoir. Haben is a Deafblind, Eritrean-American who is a disability rights advocate. Her memoir follows her journey navigating the world with her disability from a young age through college and eventually at Harvard Law and beyond.
3.5/5 braille keyboards

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
CW: institutionalization and torture of an individual with disabilities
This was a delightful little fantasy full of charming characters. The novel is a new take on the fable of the witch who abducts children in the forest. I enjoyed the way the story lines of various characters all wound together and tied off neatly. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed narrator Christina Moore’s performance, especially her voice for Fyrian the Perfectly Tiny Dragon. I feel like because of the content warning and the fact that this is a children’s book, I have to tell you that it has a happy ending.
3/5 tiny dragons

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami***
CW: mention of sexual abuse of a child
This is Japanese author Mieko Kawakami’s first work to be translated into English and let me say I’m excited for more of her writing to make its way over here. Breasts and Eggs explores femininity, sexuality, feminism, and asexuality, many of which are somewhat taboo subjects in Japan. The novel is beautifully written and full of that wonderful dreamlike quality that seems to permeate Japanese literature. It focuses on female characters who are brightly depicted. I found the book because of this lovely New York Times article. A synopsis and other recent translations of female Japanese writers can be found here.
4.5/5 sperm donors

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo ***
Book Hangover Alert**
I adored this book. I’ve been picking it up every time I’ve gone into a book store for like the last year because the cover is gorgeous. I finally checked it out of the library. Do yourself a favor and just buy yourself a copy. The novel follows a young Philadelphia native with African American and Puerto Rican roots named Emoni. Emoni is a teen mom with a love of culinary arts. I tend to avoid books about teen moms because they’re usually very depressing and read like a cautionary tale, but Acevedo captures the nuance of Emoni’s life, the good and the bad, and characterizes her with such depth. I loved the strong and memorable voice and how the story was full of hope. I definitely cried and had a Book Hangover when it was over.
5/5 cinnamon sticks

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Book 3 of 5 of the Wayward Children Series
The Wayward Children series continues with some old friends from the first book, Every Heart a Doorway, and leads us into several more of the plethora of magical worlds tethered to this one. As someone who has always longed to go to Narnia, the Wizarding World, Middle Earth, and Neverland, these books feed my hunger go home through a door picked just for me.
3/5 cupcakes

1st ed. cover art by Larry Schwinger;
Doubleday Publishers

Kindred by Octavia Butler ***
CW: slavery, rape, abuse, manipulation, violence in the form of slave beatings, suicide, n-word
This book is considered to be the first science fiction by a Black woman. It is so good. Dana, a Black woman living in the 1970s, is unceremoniously sent back in time to save a white child. Whenever he is in danger, Dana is pulled through time to the early 1800s to help him. Dana discovers that the little boy will grow up to be one of her ancestors, so to make sure she is still born, she has to protect him. Modeled on slave narratives, this book is gritty and painful and deals with the complexity of slavery and its legacy. Full of well developed characters, this book helps those of us who have studied slavery to understand more fully why slaves didn’t all “just run away,” or “rise-up,” or “just kill themselves.” Certainly many did those things, but the novel helps to show what kind of power structures were at work that supported the institution of slavery. I urge anyone who thinks Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings were in love to read this book.
4.5/5 near death experiences

Books I didn’t finish

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
CW: incest, rape, abuse, gang rape, forced abortion, ableism
It’s rare for me to not finish reading a book. Usually if I start I force myself to suffer through it. I was really excited to read this book. It has won a bunch of awards and I’d heard good things about it. I love both dark fantasies and fairytale retellings. Also I love bears. I thought it sounded right up my ally. But I really hated it. The writing style when following the character of Dought was awful. It was choppy and hard to follow. I think it was meant to sound old fashioned but it just left me confused. I also hated the character of Dought. I did not care about him and couldn’t figure out why we weren’t following Liga and her children anymore (maybe I would have found out if kept reading, but I was tired of suffering). I cared about Liga and her children. That said, the first two chapters just absolutely torture Liga. I’m not against making your characters suffer, but Liga never finds empowerment in her survival.
I made it five chapters before I gave up. I read a few reviews of the book, trying to figure out why anyone would read it. The vast majority were positive. I read one that talked about how many layers are in the novel, how they were sure that this book would be taught in literature classes. Now, I was an English major. I love books with layers. I’m disappointed I didn’t have the same reading experience as this reviewer.
Have you read Tender Morsels? What did you think?
0/5 bears (also because I didn’t manage to read to the part where there were bears.)

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Haben to learn about the DeafBlind community and ableism. Read Breasts and Eggs to learn more about women’s experience in Japan as they navigate sexuality with and without men. Read With the Fire on High to learn about identity, hierarchies within Blackness, and classism. Read Kindred to learn more about slavery and unpack what it means to be descended from both slaves and their masters.
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.

July 19, 2020November 12, 2021

June 2020 Books

Keep up with what I’m reading! Let me know if you’ve read any of these books or if you have recommendations for what I should read next!

Books Reread

As You Wish by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden
This memoir is delightful. It describes behind the scenes stories from the filming of my favorite movie The Princess Bride. It was just as delightful the second time reading it. I highly recommend the audiobook because it is read by Cary (Westley) himself and includes little sound bites from most of the major cast members as well as director Rob Reiner and producer Andy Scheinman. But, I also highly recommend reading the physical book because it includes behind the scenes photos, so you really can’t go wrong.
Rating: 5/5 Rodents of Unusual Size

New Books Read

2am at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
Bertino’s sweet and hilarious book tells the story of 9-year-old aspiring jazz singer Madeleine trying to get her big break, while still inwardly grieving the death of her mother. The story takes place on Christmas Eve, leading up to 2am on Christmas morning. I loved the lyrical writing style and spare prose. It was unique and refreshing and funny.
Rating: 4/5 caramel apples

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Discworld book 6 of 40; the Witches book 2 of 6
I always adore Terry Pratchett’s work and this time was no different. You don’t really have to read the Discworld books in any particular order, but I am planning to read the Witches series (within the Discworld series) in order. This book features the unflappable Granny Weatherwax, the hilarious Nanny Ogg, and brand new witch Magrat. It features witches’ covens, ghosts, a conniving duke and his murderous wife, a troupe of traveling actors, and one prolific tomcat.
Rating: 3.5/5 pointy black witches’ hats

The Door into Summer by Robert Heinlein
Heinlein is a classic of sci-fi, particularly championing hard science fiction (or accurate science). This is a tale of time travel, suspended animation, and shady business dealings. While an enjoyable read, older sci-fi is usually pretty disappointingly white and male. My main problem with the story (SPOILERS AHEAD) is that the main character Danny ends up married to his former best friend’s daughter after some tricky time traveling and ‘cold sleep’ to make them the same age. I don’t know I just thought it was a little creepy. Also none of the female characters had much personality at all except these: Belle was evil, conniving but ultimately doomed; Ricky was sweet, pure and took very little convincing to marry a dude who basically acted as her uncle during her childhood; and Jenny was almost a non-character, only important for her relationship to her lawyer husband who helps out Danny.
Rating: 3/5 cats

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ***
CW: gang rape, war, violence
Honestly I can’t recommend Adichie enough. If you’re trying to decolonize your bookshelf and bring in some new voices and authors of color, Adichie is a great choice. Half of a Yellow Sun takes place in Nigeria in the 1960s, during the civil war for Biafran independence. With themes of post-colonialism, race, and gender, the story is thoughtful, engaging, and heartbreaking. It helped me to understand the consequences of British Imperialism in Nigeria and reminded me that “Africa” and even individual countries within Africa are never monolithic but filled with individual cultures, religions, and traditions. Adichie is a gifted story teller, her writing is beautiful, and her characters are rich and complex.
Rating: 4.5/5 platters of jollof rice

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children series book 2 of 5
I’ve been really enjoying dark fantasy lately and McGuire’s Wayward Children books are wonderfully dark and bloody. They’re bite sized, short and easy to read with a unique voice. Book 2 follows the story of Jack and Jill, twins whom we met in book 1, Every Heart a Doorway, and the magical world they stumble into in a trunk in their grandmother’s old bedroom. If you’ve ever dreamed of finding a secret doorway to a magical world, these books are for you.
Rating: 3.5/5 mysterious doors

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read this if you’re looking to expand your knowledge of colonialism in Africa, race, and Nigerian history. 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.