Gender Queer

 Gender Queer: a memoir / Maia Kababe, 239 pgs.

This memoir takes us on a journey with the author who is confused by gender and sexuality.  Why did the "girl" stuff not feel right but neither did the "boy" stuff?  How do you refer to yourself when "she" or "he" doesn't seem correct?  How do you discover truths about your identity when you don't seem to fit in anywhere?  This is a sweet and gentle memoir about self discovery in areas where most of us don't have as many questions.  I was taken by the author's honesty and the struggle for the resolution.

Almost American Girl

 

Almost American Girl /Robin Ha 227 pgs.

Lots of us have troubles in our teen years.  Add to that an unexpected move from Seoul to Huntsville, Alabama where you understand about 20% of what everyone is saying.  Robin Ha had a heck of journey. Her hard working mom was always looking for a better life for them but that is tough for a young girl to see when she is ripped apart from her friends and the only life she knows.  In the end, it all worked out and she became an almost American girl. This is a lovely memoir with a lot of angst.

Shit Cassandra Saw

 

Shit Cassandra Saw / Gwen E. Kirby, read by a cast

This collection of stories covers mythical women from the past as well as the present. Starting with Cassandra who foretold the fall of the Trojans, only to be ignored, now Trojan is best known as a condom. No silently suffering victims here.  These women have agency and waste little time suffering fools. Far out, feminist and funny.

Hogfather

 Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, 433 pages.

This is the twentieth book (by order of publication) in Pratchett's Discworld series, a fantasy setting designed to be close enough to the real world to talk about it and close enough to the archetypal fantasy world to play in that space. In this book The Auditors (who audit reality and aren't very fond of the messiness of life) have hired assassins to kill the Hogfather, who bears a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. With the Hogfather unable to perform his duties, the anthropomorphic personification of death (usually just referred to as Death) must step in and do his job. Also while this is going on, Death's granddaughter catches on to what's going on and goes to try and stop the assassin (and associates) from breaking into the realm of the Tooth Fairy to further the whole killing the Hogfather plot.

If it wasn't obvious from that general description there's a whole lot going on in this book (there's actually a few more small subplots I didn't mention, like a whole college of wizards getting up to shenanigans). It's also a really good Christmas book that occasionally dips into the deeply profound. This mix of fun and sincere really works for me, and despite the fact that I definitely haven't read all twenty books preceding this one I found that it really worked on it's own. It's a little late for Christmas reading now, but I definitely recommend this one anyway.

(Fun Fact: There's also a tv movie from 2006 that is extremely funny and a pretty good adaptation overall)

The Joy Luck Club

 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989) 332 pages

Every good book deserves a rereading, and this is another one I reread recently. Jing-mei "June" Woo's mother died three months ago and the other Chinese-born women with whom her mother played Mah Jong want June to take her mother's place at the table. During the course of the story, we learn about all four of the older women who grew up in China before they immigrated to the US. Some grew up in wealthy families, some were poor. We also learn about their American-born daughters and the interactions between the mothers and daughters. 

June has been unmoored, not knowing what to do with her life at age 36. Clearly this was an issue that caused conflict between her and her mother. Their storyline has an additional twist: during war between China and Japan, her mother tried to get to Chungking to locate her first husband—an army officer—and get to safety. She brought along her twin babies, but had to leave them behind when the going got too difficult. Now June learns from her mother's friends that before her death, her mother was attempting to find out if those babies survived so many years ago.

Maybe it's a fact that mothers and daughters will always have conflicts, even without accounting for the extra stresses these women had. The Chinese mothers resort to what sounds to their daughters like superstition and folklore to explain so much. But in a way, these explanations almost work. A fascinating book.

Anything Is Possible

 

Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout (2017) 254 pages

Anything Is Possible has nine chapters, each one either introducing us to a character, or fleshing out characters that we'd heard of in other chapters. The setting is a rural area in Illinois with a number of small towns that are presumably not too far apart.

Some of the ties between the characters are blood ties, as in Abel and Dottie Blaine, who grew up so poor they looked in trash cans for food, or Peter, Lucy and Vicky Barton, who were poor and abused by their parents. Some ties are between neighbors and friends, like that of Patty Nicely and Angelina Mumford. Some of these people transcend their poverty and make a good living. Others seem mired in their status. Strout uses a light touch to show us the lives of these very believable people. In spite of the poverty that we often see, there's also hopefulness.

This was just the right book for me at this time.

Player Piano

 Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1952) 320 pages

When one has forgotten a book so completely, especially from an author one has read extensively in the past, it's time to reread the work. In Player Piano, Dr. Paul Proteus is an engineer in charge of a plant in Ilium, New York. In his society, there are specific classes of people: those who test well and become engineers, and those who go into the army or do the drudge work. Machines do the rest. The people who run and fix the machines are being put out of meaningful work as engineers perfect the machines to do the work without needing people. 

Paul is up for a promotion that has his wife quite excited, but he is feeling bored with his life. When Ed Finnerty, an old friend, shows up and announces that he has quit his prestigious job and seems intent on tweaking the authorities, Paul alternates between being annoyed by him and being thrilled. The worst thing a person in this society can be called is a saboteur; the authorities are working to jail those who would damage the machinery. Paul, whose father was instrumental in constructing this society of automation, finds himself in an interesting position where both sides are vying for him to help them.

Fight Night

 Fight Night / Miriam Toews, read by Miriam and Georgia Toews, 251 pgs.

Swiv is 9 years old, living with her pregnant mom and her loving but aged grandma.  Her dad is no where to be found and so she writes him a letter.  That is basically the whole premise.   She is constantly embarrassed by her mom and grandma who seem to be out only to embarrass her. Swiv is quite precocious, actually a little unbelievable in that way but her adventures are epic.  Maybe she has become such an old soul because she needs to be.  A lovely book well narrated by the author and another Toews.

Goldilocks

 Goldilocks by Laura Lam, 340 pages.

Kara has actually written a couple of blog posts about this one, but the one with the plot summary is here. For another, even briefer summary, the blurb on the front describes this book as The Handmaid's Tale meets The Martian and I think that may be the most accurate crossover-style description I've ever read. 

It was also quite good. There were a few bits that were a little tough to buy, but overall it was both exciting and philosophically interesting. A really interesting read, and it was really fun to talk about with the Orcs and Aliens book group.

A Master of Djinn

A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, 392 pages

In a steampunk Cairo, a mysterious man who claims to be a legendary master of djinn has murdered a roomful of influential foreigners. Agent Fatma el-Sha'arawi is assigned to the case, and soon discovers that even if the "master of djinn" is a fraud, he's still stirring up a whole lot of trouble.

For fans of steampunk, this book is a must-read. As someone who doesn't really care for steampunk, I focused on the djinn and mystical parts, and thought it was a good time. As always, Clark created a hopping good story with some amazing worldbuilding.

Alone

 

Alone / Chaboute, 368 pg.

A solitary man in a lighthouse has been alone since his parent's died. A boat stops every week to leave supplies but no one sees the man.  The guy who leaves the supplies hires a new guy who is curious about why he leaves the stuff.  He learns about the hermit and is curious.  He gets a message to him and it brings the hermit to a decision point.  This is a beautifully illustrated masterpiece. 

Goldilocks

Goldilocks by Laura Lam, 340 pages

I read this book about female astronauts stealing a spaceship last year, so I won't rehash the plot here. I read it again for our Orcs & Aliens discussion this past Monday, and I loved it both times. And it was great for discussion!

The Heart Principle

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang, 338 pages

Violinist Anna Sun has been dealing with some serious artistic challenges recently, so much so that she's had to leave her job with an orchestra and delay a tour and record deal. Her longtime boyfriend hasn't really helped matters either, as he decides that they need to date some other people for a bit before settling down. Anna's not OK with that, but in the interest of keeping him happy, she agrees, and takes the opportunity to set up a one-night stand with tattooed biker Quan (who's also dealing with some complicated feelings toward dating since his bout with testicular cancer a few years earlier). Well, when the first attempt at a date fails disastrously, Anna and Quan agree to try again...and fail again. But they're both determined to have a one-night stand one of these attempts.

Much like The Charm Offensive (which I just blogged about before this and LOVED), this book brings a refreshing and compassionate look on neurodiversity, mental health, and self-realization. It's so nice to see these elements popping up in romance novels!

The Charm Offensive

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, 358 pages

For the last six years, Dev has been a producer/handler on the Bachelor-esque dating show, Ever After, helping craft compelling storylines of women finding their "prince" on national TV. This year, the prince is tech millionaire Charlie Winshaw, who is gorgeous and dashing...but awkward as all-get-out. Dev, however, has dealt with enough awkwardness to help Charlie work through his issues, and is soon assigned to be exclusively in charge of the show's male lead, assisting him through the masses of cutthroat women vying for his love. But as the season progresses, both Charlie and Dev start to realize they're falling for each other, which is not at all what Ever After's conservative producer wants to see on TV. Is there any way forward for them?

Oh my goodness, this is a wonderful book. It's sweet and kind and handles the complexities of sexual identity and mental health issues with so much care. It's refreshing and amazing, and I'm going to be recommending this to everyone. It's one of my favorites of the year.

Light From Uncommon Stars

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, 372 pages

Decades ago, violinist Shizuka Satomi made a deal with a demon — instead of giving over her own soul, she'd find and hand over the souls of seven musicians, and in return she'd get to live, though no record of her music would exist. Over the course of an abnormally long life, she's handed over six incredible violinists, and is on the hunt for her seventh. Imagine her surprise when she finds her newest "student" is Katrina Nguyen, a poor trans woman who only feels at home with herself when she plays her violin. Now Satomi has a decision to make: does she keep her deal with the demon and literally damn this young woman who has nothing else, or does she figure something else out to allow Katrina a happy life? Meanwhile, starship captain and intergalactic refugee Lan Tran is trying to lead her crew/family while building a business as a donut shop owner. While it may not seem possible, Los Angeles brings these two storylines together in a wonderful and eye-opening way.

What an amazing book! There's so much about identity, and humanity, and the purpose of art, and the links between art and artist, and the refugee experience, and authenticity... and it's fun to read! An excellent mix of science fiction and fantasy, and I highly recommend it.

We are not like them

 

We are not like them / Christine Pride & Jo Piazza read by Marin Ireland, Shayna Small, Kevin R Free, & Chante McCormick, 315 pgs.

Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten.  Riley is now a successful television journalist and Jen is married to a cop, pregnant and a receptionist.  Despite their different levels of education and income, Riley is black and Jen is white.  Despite a lot of differences, they still have their shared past and are still best friends.  Then Jen's husband is involved in a shooting where a young black boy is killed.  Now the differences are even more pronounced. This story follows each main character from her perspective and gives us insight into the issues each face. The audio is well done by a cast of narrators.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, 125 pages

When a group of horror-obsessed friends arrive at a remote haunted Japanese mansion for a creepy wedding, they're *hoping* something supernatural and scary happens. After all, they love having the wits scared out of them. But no matter how much they say they expect it, they certainly can't handle it when the ghost of a buried-alive bride-to-be manifests and begins wreaking havoc. This is a short and scary book, full of horrific Japanese supernatural beings and division among friends. It's great, and fully worthy of that creeptastic cover.

The Lighthouse Witches

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke, 368 pages

When single mom Liv gets commissioned to paint an odd mural in a remote lighthouse in Scotland, she packs up her three daughters and moves them to a nearby house. However, strange stories of witches and changeling children abound in the village, and before long, two of Liv's three children have disappeared. Twenty-two years later, one of them turns up — but instead of being 29 years old, she's still the 7-year-old she was when she went missing. This is creepy, and haunting, and twists and turns in ways that I truly didn't expect. A lovely atmospheric tale.

Flake

 

Flake / Matthew Dooley, 176 pgs.

This book is proof that there can be drama everywhere.  Howard has a simple life, selling ice cream from a truck in his "area" that he inherited from his father.  He is a man who likes a routine.  But then his sales go down.  Come to find out there is another truck driving in his area.  He has to confront this...and ends up going to the boss who is also his half brother.  Next a story comes out that a person who ate Howard's ice cream got food poisoning.  Sales go from bad to none.  Howard is depressed.  He considers ending things.  But then his friends rally around him.  He makes some changes and invents something new.  A lovely story of how making a change can lead to improvements.

Run: book one

 

Run: book one / John Lewis and Andrew Aydin ; art by L. Fury with Nate Powell, 152 pgs.

The first in a new series that follows the award winning "March," John Lewis continues telling his story in this graphic memoir. This volume takes the next time period of the civil rights movement in the 1960's after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.  This book shows there was the inevitable and natural conflict in the various groups and between the groups who were fighting for equality.  There is much history here and fabulous artwork. Powerful and recommended for anyone who enjoyed the previous series.

The innovation delusion

 

The Innovation Delusion: How our obsession with the new has disrupted the work that matters most / Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell, 260 pgs.

This books starts with an example of a series of explosions that rocked St. John, a Canadian town.  The culprit was a gas leak that had filled area buildings with vapor.  The buildings were badly damaged but one remained standing with no damage. How?  Well, seems like someone in that building did regular maintenance.  Pouring water in the basement drain regularly and not letting it dry out, meant the gas vapor was blocked and thus there was no build up to eventually explode.  With a lead up like that, you get what you expect...a book all about the real work that gets done by maintainers.  Sure, everyone wants to build and invent but nothing lasts or works well without maintenance.  So lets give the maintainers their due. The authors have done a lot of research and make a case for why innovation is not the key to everything. It is hard not to agree after looking around and seeing the state of our infrastructure.  

A calling for Charlie Barnes

 

A calling for Charlie Barnes / Joshua Ferris, read by Nick Offerman, 342 pgs.

Charlie Barns is a flawed man.  He has been married and divorced several times.  He is looking for a way to hit the big time with an invention or service...which mostly means he has no money.  He may stretch the truth from time to time.  However, he, at his base is a good man who loves his kids.  At least this is the story we hear from his son...and who better to believe?  His son Jake adores him yet sees his flaws. When Charlie has a bad health scare, Jake is there, along with Charlie's current wife Barbara, to nurse him back to health.  Things really turn around then and Charlie builds his life back better.  Jake reports it all.  But how reliable is Jake?  His siblings have some different ideas. In the end, things take a bit of a twist.  I loved every minute of this book.  Nick Offerman does an absolutely fabulous job with the audio. 

Kent State: four dead in Ohio

 

Kent State: four dead in Ohio / Derf Backderf, 279 pgs.

Totally aware of the basics about this event, I learned a lot from this dense graphic novel that covers the events leading up to the deadly shootings at Kent State.  It is difficult to read and not wonder how this ended up happening...but as you read you get different perspectives.  It all kind of comes together as a situation where many things spiraled out of control.  If you make decisions about others without communicating or having any ability to see their perspective, it is easier to see how tragedy can result.  The author is not super forgiving towards the leaders but also gives us a lot of background on them.  How do we prevent this type of thing?  Based on things happening today, it seems like we have not learned many lessons since Kent State.

Ghosts

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton, 303 pages

Nina has a successful career as a writer and she's finally living in an apartment she bought by herself in London, but as one of few single women in her friend group, she's seen as a sad lonely woman who must find a spouse to participate in all of the couple- and family-focused activities her friends now do. When she meets Max on a dating app, it seems like she's finally found someone who will help her move to that next stage of life. But just when things get serious, he ghosts her. This book is about the ways that Max and Nina's relationship changes her, and the way that his inexplicable sudden absence forces her to face the challenges of her relationships with her closest friends and parents. It's funny, it's full of heart, and it's pretty darn awesome. Highly recommended.

The Sentence

 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, 387 pages.

This is the kind of book that when I reach the end I have a hard time going back and describing what it was about, but here's an approximate. Tookie works at a small bookstore in Minneapolis (trivia, it's a real life bookstore actually owned by the author of this book, who is a fairly minor character) and over the course of a year she is haunted there by the ghost of one of their most persistent customers. The year this book covers is All Souls Day 2019-2020, which means in addition to dealing with the haunting and a number of personal issues, Tookie is also surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and the political upheaval after George Floyd is murdered in her city. 

This book feels almost super-real, it transports you to somewhere else.  The blurb for the book says it "asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book." which isn't inaccurate, but also doesn't feel like the full story. This is a think-y book, often full of sadness and righteous outrage, but it never feels dense. It simply is. As usual, reading Louise Erdrich is a treat, and if I can't describe this book properly you'll have to read it yourself to find out. 

Velvet Was the Night

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 284 pages

Maite has a pretty boring life, working as a secretary and spending every moment she can reading Secret Romance comic books and listening to records at her apartment. But when her beautiful neighbor Leonora asks her to cat-sit and then disappears, Maite begins searching for her, becoming embroiled in a conflict between student protestors and the pseudo-military thugs that have been hired to spy on them and beat them down.

This book wonderfully captures life in 1970s Mexico City, and marries Maite's hum-drum life with the dangerous escapades of Leonora's world. Fascinating and revealing.

Steel Fear

Steel Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Mann, 446 pages

Navy SEAL sniper Finn is being sent home from the Middle East after a botched mission he can't quite remember. But instead of throwing him on a plane to get him stateside fast, Finn is placed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier with 6,000 crew members on board. And, unfortunately, one of them is a murderer who has chosen Finn's arrival as a prime opportunity to start a killing spree. Suddenly, Finn and the ship's leadership are determined to sift through the thousands of possible suspects before the murders escalate and lead to a panicked crew.

This is not at all my type of book, though I'll admit that those who enjoy military thrillers would probably enjoy this debut novel quite a bit. Finn is certainly a character with lots of development potential in future books (of which I'm sure there will be plenty). 

Pack Up the Moon

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins, 448 pages

Josh and Lauren had it all until Lauren was diagnosed with a rare terminal respiratory condition just after they got married. She managed to hang on for three years before dying, leaving Josh in depths of grief that he couldn't imagine. However, since she lost her beloved father when she was in college, Lauren was able to imagine what Josh might go through after her death. So she wrote him a series of letters to be given to him monthly for the first year after she died. Each letter has a task, some of which are a little questionable, but Lauren's sure that each will help Josh work through his grief.

If you're looking for a good cry, this book will deliver. There were some things that I found a bit dubious about Lauren's letters, but dang it, I had tears streaming down my face for a good half of the book. So if you want to cry, grab a box of tissues and this book. If you'd rather not burst into tears every five pages, well, best avoid this one.

Grave Mistake

 Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh (1978) 256 pages

Twice-widowed Sybil Foster meets a handsome doctor and goes to stay at a spa where he works. Meanwhile, her first husband's son, Claude, has arrived on scene asking for money and appears to be involved in dubious activities, perhaps drugs and blackmail. Sybil's daughter, Prunella, becomes engaged to a very wealthy man's son, Gideon, which upsets Sybil because she wants Prunella to marry someone else. When Sybil is found dead in the spa, it's first assumed to be suicide,  which doesn't make sense to anyone who knows her. When it is revealed that her will was recently changed to benefit her doctor and her gardener, more investigation is needed. 

Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn arrives on the scene with his trusty crew to find out what really happened to Sybil. It's a fun read, with everyone looking, in turn, both innocent and guilty. 

The missing treasures of Amy Ashton

 

The missing treasures of Amy Ashton / Elanor Ray, 305 pgs.

Amy Ashton has had a tough 11 years or so.  Her boyfriend ran off with her best friend and she has not recovered.  In fact, she sank into a funk so deep, she became a bit of a hoarder and gave up on anything she enjoyed doing.  Now, some new neighbors have moved in and Amy is engaging in new social activities.  She finds something that might be a clue to the disappearance and is in touch again with the police and old friends who knew the situation.  Where will this lead?  Will she get closure?  Will she change her lifestyle?  Read and find out.

Displacement: a travelogue

 

Displacement: a travelogue / Lucy Knisley, 156 pgs.

Despite being in their 90's with lots of health issues, the author's grandparents want to take one last cruise.  She decides to make this possible by joining them and here is her memoir of the trip.  There are many events that make this sound like the worst idea ever but also some triumphs that make it worthwhile.  Interspersed with excerpts from her grandfather's memoir of his WWII involvement, you get a bigger picture of who her grandparents are and why this cruise is important.  The drawings are beautiful and evoke the sea and scenes around them.

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts

 Wake by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez, 208 pages.

This work of graphic non-fiction follows both Dr. Hall as she does historical research on the titular women-led slave revolts and speculative versions of the revolts themselves. It is the generally accepted wisdom that women had only a secondary role in slave revolts, and that they certainly didn't lead them. Hall digs deep into the historical record to challenge this belief. 

This was an interesting account, although it definitely left me wanting more. When Hall says hidden, she isn't kidding. The fact that this is non-fiction means that everything isn't always wrapped up neatly, and it feels like even by the end of the book there are more research dead ends than actual history, making much of what is set in the past more like hints and reasonable conjecture. However, the switching between the past and the modern day made for some very powerful visuals about the ways that the past is still influencing the present. 

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

 World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, 165 pages.

This book, by poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil, is described as a series of essays about the natural world and the things we can learn from it. The fact that the author is a poet rather than any sort of naturalist or biologist probably should have been my first hint that this probably wasn't the book that I thought it would be. I had expected a book a little like Braiding Sweetgrass, which I loved. What I got instead was more like a memoir that used various plants and animals as metaphors for things in the authors life, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but the final product was a little too disjointed to be a great memoir either. 

Note: The illustrations by Fumi Nakamura are very cool.

A Spindle Splintered

 A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow, 128 pages.

This book, described as "Spiderversing the Sleeping Beauty story" is exactly that and so much more. Zinnia Gray has a genetic disorder caused by an industrial accident that means she won't live past 21. Today is her 21st birthday and her best (and only) friend has thrown her a surprise Sleeping Beauty themed birthday party at the top of an abandoned tower. When Zinnia pricks her finger on the antique spinning wheel spindle that her friend Charm found for her she finds herself falling into a different world, where a different Sleeping Beauty is being taken by her curse. If she can't save herself, maybe she can save this girl with a story that so echoes her own.

This is a fun fairy tale romp, but it's also a somber meditation on death and dying, and a really interesting look at how we construct the narratives of our own lives. It's honestly really hard to believe that this book is just over 100 pages, because thinking about it now it feels like so much more. I would recommend this to anyone (it's so short, it's hardly a huge investment), but especially to fans of Seanan McGuire's Indexing series or The Mechanists "Once Upon a Time (In Space)" album.

Black Water Sister

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho, 370 pages

Just before she and her parents move back to Malaysia after 20 years in the U.S., Jess begins hearing a voice inside her head, speaking to her in Hokkien. Once they make the journey, the voice only gets more insistent and nosy, which makes sense when Jess figures out that it's her late grandmother's spirit using her as an unwitting medium. Ah Ma's spirit is restless because a new condominium development is threatening a temple that is home to a vengeful goddess for which Ah Ma was a medium herself, and now it's Jess's turn to take up the fight, whether she wants to or not.

Full of Malaysian culture, religion, and food, this modern fantasy novel weaves together ancestral pain, the Malaysian mafia, and the awkwardness of being an unemployed college graduate still living with your parents. And it does it with plenty of humor and compassion. This is a fantastic book, and I look forward to reading more Zen Cho books in the future.

November totals!

Christa  13/3314

Jan  4/1158

Kara  26/8980

Regan  11/3770

TOTAL:  54/17,222

Reminder of this year's wild card categories:

• Books with train rides (any kind of train, for any period of time in the book. It doesn't have to be a major part!)
• Author's with a middle initial on the cover/title page
• New bloggers (apply some peer pressure to your colleagues and help us win that gorgeous trophy once more!)