#brandon hobson

[shafershouse]

Books Read: 2021

January

The Family Upstairs (Lisa Jewell)

The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt)

February

Daughters of the Lake (Wendy Webb)

The Stillwater Girls (Minka Kent)

The Removed (Brandon Hobson)

March

The Great Pretender (Susannah Cahalan)

The Sun Down Motel (Simone St. James)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab)

April

Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

May

The Sun and Her Flowers (Rupi Kaur)

The Water Dancer (Ta-Nehisi Coates)

June

Libertie (Kaitlyn Greenidge)

The Lost Apothecary (Sarah Penner)

July

Where The Forest Meets The Stars (Glendy Vanderah)

August

September

The Maidens (Alex Michaelides)

October

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think (Brianna Wiest)

Normal People (Sally Rooney)

November

Practical Magic (Alice Hoffman)

The Four Winds (Kristin Hannah)

[witchyfashion]

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST EDITED ANTHOLOGY • BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY • LOCUS AWARD FINALIST A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?” “Never failed to surprise, delight, and shock.” —Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and Little Heaven Featuring stories by: Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce K. Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home. These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

https://amzn.to/4eXLQJP

[pearsandhyacinths]

This Year's Reading List

I have a central reading list of a little over 510 books that I have been adding to and breaking down for almost a decade. Of that wrapping paper scroll of a list, I have randomly selected from a few categories to make my active reading list for the next 18 months. I am always looking to add more, so if you have any similar to the ones below, or just a book you love, don't hesitate to comment them, or you can add some of these to your own reading list if you so choose

TWs: some of these books do discuss some difficult themes such as death, violence, chronic or severe health conditions, various forms of maltreatment (mental, physical, and sexual), racism, and sexism. Please be aware of this before reading the summaries or the books themselves.

Fiction 

Where the Dead Sit Talking- Brandon Hobson 

“Set in rural Oklahoma during the late 1980s, Where the Dead Sit Talking is a startling, authentically voiced, and lyrically written Native American coming-of-age story.

2. To the Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf

“The serene and maternal Mrs. Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr. Ramsay, and their children and assorted guests are on holiday on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse, Woolf constructs a remarkable, moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life and the conflict between men and women. As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph—the human capacity for change."

3. Thérèse Raquin- Émile Zola

“Set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy haberdasher's shop in the passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, this powerful novel tells how the heroine and her lover, Laurent, kill her husband, Camille, but are subsequently haunted by visions of the dead man, and prevented from enjoying the fruits of their crime.”

4. The Well of Loneliness- Radclyffe Hall

“Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parents—a fencer, a horse rider, and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer, and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.”

5.  The Moon is A Harsh Mistress- Robert A. Heinlein 

“It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of a former penal colony on the Moon against its masters on the Earth. It is a tale of a culture whose family structures are based on the presence of two men for every woman, leading to novel forms of marriage and family. It is the story of the disparate people, a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic who become the movement's leaders, and of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to the revolt's inner circle, who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.”

6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo

“Set in Paris during the 15th century. The story centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, his struggles with isolation and the treatment of a tyrannical guardian, Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, and his unrequited love for the beautiful dancer La Esmeralda.”

7.  The Blood of Others- Simone de Beauvoir 

“Jean Blomart, patriot leader against the German forces of occupation, waits throughout an endless night for his lover, Helene, to die. He is the one who sent her on the mission that led to her death, and before morning, he must ultimately decide how many others to send to a similar fate.”

8. The Beach Dogs- Andy Jennings 

“Watership Down with dogs. A dramatic and stirring depiction of a community of dogs living on a beach in Thailand, told from the animals' viewpoint, in alternating chapters.”

9.  Real Life- Brandon Taylor 

“Almost everything about Wallace is at odds with the Midwestern university town where he is working uneasily toward a biochem degree. An introverted young man from Alabama, black and queer, he has left behind his family without escaping the long shadows of his childhood. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends—”

10.  Peau d'Homme- Hubert et Zanzim

“Dans l'Italie de la Renaissance, Bianca, demoiselle de bonne famille, est en âge de se marier. Ses parents lui trouvent un fiancé à leur goût : Giovanni, un riche marchand, jeune et plaisant. Le mariage semble devoir se dérouler sous les meilleurs auspices même si Bianca ne peut cacher sa déception de devoir épouser un homme dont elle ignore tout. Mais c'était sans connaître le secret détenu et légué par les femmes de sa famille depuis des générations : une « peau d'homme » ! En la revêtant, Bianca devient Lorenzo et bénéficie de tous les attributs d'un jeune homme à la beauté stupéfiante.”

"In Renaissance Italy, Bianca, a young lady from a good family, is of marriageable age. Her parents find her a fiancé to their liking: Giovanni, a rich merchant, young and pleasant. The marriage seems to take place under the best auspices, even if Bianca cannot hide her disappointment at having to marry a man about whom she knows nothing. But this was without knowing the secret held and passed down by the women of his family for generations: a man’s skin! By wearing it, Bianca becomes Lorenzo and benefits from all the attributes of a young man of astonishing beauty."

11. Parable of the Sower- Octavia Butler

“In 2024, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future.

Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed, and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.”

12. Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen

“The story's unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry's mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy?”

13. Giovanni's Room- James Baldwin

“Set in the contemporary Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. James Baldwin's brilliant narrative delves into the mystery of loving with a sharp, probing imagination, and he creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the heart.”

14. Code Talker:  A Novel About the Navajo Marines- Joseph Bruchac

After being taught in boarding school that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue.

15. Baise-Moi- Virginie Despentes

“One of the most controversial French novels of recent years, a punk fantasy that takes female rage to its outer limits. Baise-Moi is a searing story of two women on a rampage that is part Thelma and Louise, part Viking conquest. Manu and Nadine have had all they can take.”

16. Il Decameron- Giovanni Boccaccio

“Dieci uomini e donne lasciano Firenze durante la Peste Nera. Rimangono in una villa per dieci giorni, durante i quali condividono un totale di cento storie per passare il tempo.”

Non-fiction 

Women in the Picture: What Culture Does With Female Bodies- Catherine McCormack 

“Art historian Catherine McCormack challenges how culture teaches us to see and value women, their bodies, and their lives. Venus, maiden, wife, mother, monster―women have been bound so long by these restrictive roles, codified by patriarchal culture, that we scarcely see them. Catherine McCormack illuminates the assumptions behind these stereotypes, whether large or subtly hidden.”

2. Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction- Gary Wilson

“When high-speed internet became widely available a few years ago, growing numbers of people began to worry that their porn use was running out of control. Far from preparing them for fulfilling relationships, viewing an endless stream of porn videos led to unexpected symptoms. Gary Wilson has listened to the stories of those who have tried giving up internet porn and related them to an account of how the reward system of the brain interacts with its environment. And now a growing body of research in neuroscience is confirming what these pioneers have discovered for themselves – internet pornography can be seriously addictive and damaging."

3. Women, Race, and Class- Angela Y. Davis

 "A powerful history of the social and political influence of whiteness and elitism in feminism, from abolitionist days to the present, and demonstrates how the racist and classist biases of its leaders inevitably hampered any collective ambitions. Davis shows how the inequalities between Black and white women influence the contemporary issues of SA, reproductive freedom, housework, and child care."

4. Wolf Children and the Problem of Human Nature- Lucien Malson

“Malson carries one step further the assumption of behaviorists, structural functionalists, cultural anthropologists, and evolutionists that "human nature" is a constant. If the content of the analysis made by anthropologists is not affected by a "human nature" that lies outside of history, humanity to all effects and purposes, becomes its history. So-called wolf children are children abandoned at an early age and found leading an isolated existence. They are thus natural examples of complete social deprivation, and Malson explores their history in this study.”

5. Whipping Girl: A Transexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity - Julia Serano

“The powerful story of Julia Serano is that of a transsexual woman whose supremely intelligent writing reflects her diverse background as a lesbian, transgender activist, and professional biologist. Serano shares her experiences and observations—both pre- and post-transition—to reveal the ways in which fear, suspicion, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole. Serano's well-honed arguments stem from her ability to bridge the gap between the often disparate biological and social perspectives on gender. She exposes how deep-rooted the cultural belief is that femininity is frivolous, weak, and passive and how this “feminine” weakness exists only to attract and appease male desire."

6. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government- David K. Johnson 

“In  The Lavender Scare, historian David K. Johnson relates the frightening, untold story of how, during the Cold War, homosexuals were considered as dangerous a threat to national security as Communists. Republican charges that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were havens for homosexuals proved a potent political weapon, sparking a Lavender Scare more vehement and long-lasting than the more well-known Red Scare.”

7. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee- David Treuer

“In The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Treuer melds history with reportage and memoir. Tracing the tribes' distinctive cultures from first contact, he explores how the depredations of each era spawned new modes of survival. The devastating seizures of land gave rise to increasingly sophisticated legal and political maneuvering that put the lie to the myth that Indians don't know or care about property. The forced assimilation of their children at government-run boarding schools incubated a unifying Native identity. Conscription in the US military and the pull of urban life brought Indians into the mainstream and modern times, even as it steered the emerging shape of self-rule and spawned a new generation of resistance.

8. Enduring Creation: Art, Pain, and Fortitude- Nigel Spivey

“Enduring Creation reveals the amazing power of art to console, to warn, to prepare the viewer for the harsher experiences of life, raising intriguing Can pain be beautiful? Do we always pity suffering? Are sainthood and sadomasochism linked? This compelling study concludes with a positive message of hope for the enduring human spirit.”

9.  Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy- Heather Ann Thompson 

“The first definitive account of the infamous 1971 Attica prison uprising, the state’s violent response, and the victims' decades-long quest for justice, including information never released to the public published to coincide with the forty-fifth anniversary of this historic event.”

10.  A Male Grief: Notes and Essays- David Mura

“Through examining the relationship between child abuse, addictive family systems, and the adult male's consumption of pornography, this classic essay argues elegantly that this addiction to pornography is self-destructive, joyless, and unsatisfiable, a symptom of a consumer society rather than a natural urge.”

Biographical and memoirs 

 Until I Meet My Husband- Ryousuke Nanasaki

“Ryousuke Nanasaki married his husband in 2016 in the first religiously recognized same-sex wedding in Japanese history. This collection of essays follows Ryousuke’s search for love on the journey to his extraordinary marriage. From unrequited junior high crushes to awkward dating sites to finally finding a community.”

2.  The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone- Olivia Laing

“What does it mean to be lonely? How do we live if we're not intimately engaged with another human being? How do we connect with other people? Does technology draw us closer together or trap us behind screens?

When Olivia Laing moved to New York City in her mid-thirties, she found herself inhabiting loneliness on a daily basis. Increasingly fascinated by this most shameful of experiences, she began to explore the lonely city by way of art.”

3.  The Last Act of Love- Cathy Rentzenbrink

“With unflinching honesty and raw emotional power, Cathy describes the unimaginable pain of losing her brother and the decision that changed her family's lives forever. As she delves into the past and reclaims memories that have lain buried for many years, Cathy reconnects with the bright, funny, adoring brother she lost and is finally able to see the end of his life as it really was - a last act of love. Powerful, intimate, and intensely moving, this is a personal journey with universal resonance - a story of unconditional love, of grief, survival, and the strength of the ties that bind.”

4. The Book of Disquiet- Fernando Pessoa

“He attributed his prolific writings to a wide range of alternate selves, each of which had a distinct biography, ideology, and horoscope. When he died in 1935, Pessoa left behind a trunk filled with unfinished and unpublished writings, among which were the remarkable pages that make up his posthumous masterpiece, The Book of Disquiet. Published for the first time some fifty years after his death, this unique collection of short, aphoristic paragraphs comprises the "autobiography" of Bernardo Soares, one of Pessoa's alternate selves. Part intimate diary, part prose poetry, part descriptive narrative.”

5. Notes From A Sick Bed- Tessa Brunton

“In 2009, Tessa Brunton experienced the first symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome). She spent much of the next eight years unwell, in a medical holding pattern, housebound, and often alone. In 2017, she found a strategy that helped reduce her symptoms and soon began creating the first installments of a graphic memoir.”

6. Go Tell It on The Mountain- James Baldwin 

“Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves.”

[gravity-what]

The feeling when you read something with such absolutely beautiful prose and language that you are just so inspired to write.

Anyway, “the Ones Who Killed Us” by Brandon Hobson is a literary masterpiece on visual language. I don’t know if it can be read outside of the Never Whistle At Night anthology but, my god, it was beautiful

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics South Africa roster

Archery

Wian Roux (Pretoria)

Athletics

Adrian Swart (Caledon)

Akani Simbine (Kempton Park)

Phatutshedzo Maswanganyi (Soweto Township)

Benjamin Richardson (Pretoria)

Wayde Van Niekerk (Kraaifontein)

Zakithi Nene (Ladysmith)

Lythe Pillay (Benoni)

Edmund Du Plessis (Pretoria)

Tshepo Tshite (Pretoria)

Ryan Mphahlele (Johannesburg)

Adriaan Wildschutt (Ceres)

Bayanda Walaza (Pretoria)

Bradley Nkoana (Potschefstroom)

Sinesipho Dambile (Dimbaza)

Gardeo Isaacs (Cape Town)

Antonie Nortje (College Station, Texas)

Stephen Mokoka (Mahikeng)

Elroy Gelant (Pacaltsdorp)

Brian Raats (Tshwane)

Jovan Van Vuuren (Bloemfontein)

Cheswill Johnson (Johannesburg)

Kayle Blignaut (Rome, Italy)

Francois Prinsloo (Worcester)

Victor Hogan (Vredenburg)

Cian Oldknow (Johannesburg)

Miranda Coetzee (Phokeng)

Prudence Sekgodiso (Gauteng)

Marioné Fourie (Vanderbijlpark)

Zenéy Geldenhuys (Pretoria)

Rogail Joseph (Worcester)

Irvette Van Zyl (Sandton)

Gerda Steyn (Bothaville)

Miné De Klerk (Welkom)

Jo-Ané Van Dyk (Worcester)

Badminton

Johanita Scholtz (Cape Town)

Canoeing

Hamish Lovemore (Durban)

Andy Birkett (Pretoria)

Tiffany Koch (Cape Town)

Esti Olivier (Bloemfontein)

Climbing

Mel Janse-Van Rensburg (Lephalale)

Josh Bruyns (Pretoria)

Lauren Mukheibir (Bryanston)

Aniya Holder (Gqeberha)

Cycling

Ryan Gibbons (Johannesburg)

Jean Spies (Randburg)

Alan Hatherly (Durban)

Vincent Leygonie (Krugersdorp)

Ashleigh Pasio (Pretoria)

Tiffany Keep (Durban)

Candice Lill (Port Shepstone)

Miyanda Maseti (Johannesburg)

Diving

Julia Vincent (Johannesburg)

Equestrian

Alexander Peternell (Roodepoort)

Fencing

Harry Saner (Johannesburg)

Field hockey

Andrew Hobson (Somerset West)

Mustapha Cassiem (Cape Town)

Abdud Cassiem (Cape Town)

Jacques Van Tonder (Bloemfontein)

Bradley Sherwood (Pietermaritzburg)

Keenan Horne (Cape Town)

Tevin Kok (Kokstad)

Matthew Guise-Brown (London, U.K.)

Ryan Julius (Cape Town)

Daniel Bell (Johannesburg)

Nic Spooner (Hamburg, Germany)

Zenani Kraai (Johannesburg)

Nqobile Ntuli (Durban)

Sam Mvimbi (Plettenberg Bay)

Gowan Jones (Durban)

Calvin Davis (Botha's Hill)

Stephanie Botha (Oudtshoorn)

Anelle Lloyd (Bethal East)

Celia Seerane (Pretoria)

Edith Molikoe (Gqeberha)

Kristen Paton (Cape Town)

Thati Zulu (Pretoria)

Dirkie Chamberlain (Pretoria)

Paris-Gail Isaacs (Bloemfontein)

Taheera Augousti (Bloemfontein)

Erin Christie (Johannesburg)

Ntsopa Mokoena (Bethlehem)

Hannah Pearce (Johannesburg)

Ongeziwe Mali (Gqeberha)

Marié Louw (Bloemfontein)

Kayla De Waal (Clermont)

Quanita Bobbs (Cape Town)

Kayla Swarts (Bloemfontein)

Golf

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Johannesburg)

Frederik Van Rooyen (Johannesburg)

Ashleigh Buhai (Johannesburg)

Paula Reto (Cape Town)

Gymnastics

Cait Rooskrantz (Johannesburg)

Judo

Geronay Whitebooi (Gqeberha)

Rowing

Christopher Baxter (Johannesburg)

John Smith (Germiston)

Paige Badenhorst (Benoni)

Rugby

Chris Grobbelaar (Durban)

Ryan Oosthuizen (Stellenbosch)

Impi Visser (Pongola)

Mogamat Davids (Cape Town)

Quewin Nortje (Pretoria)

Tiaan Pretorius (Stellenbosch)

Tristan Leyds (Somerset West)

Selvyn Davids (Jeffrey's Bay)

Shaun Williams (Mooinooi)

Rosko Specman (Makhanda)

Siviwe Soyizwapi (Nqanqarhu)

Shilton Van Wyk (Bloemfontein)

Ronald Brown (Pretoria)

Mathrin Simmers (Somerset West)

Zintle Mpupha (Xesi)

Sizophila Solontsi (Durban)

Veroeshka Grain (Stellenbosch)

Kemisetso Baloyi (Soshanguve)

Nadine Roos (Cape Town)

Liske Lategan (Groblersdal)

Byrhandré Dolf (Bloemfontein)

Ayanda Malinga (Pretoria)

Libbie Janse-Van Rensburg (Lephalale)

Marlize De Bruin (Johannesburg)

Maria Tshiremba (Johannesburg)

Skateboarding

Dallas Oberholzer (Durban)

Brandon Valjalo (Johannesburg)

Boipelo Awuah (Kimberley)

Surfing

Jordy Smith (Cape Town)

Matt McGillivray (Jeffery's Bay)

Sarah Baum (Durban)

Swimming

Pieter Coetze (Pretoria)

Chad Le Clos (Durban)

Matt Sates (Pietermaritzburg)

Tatjana Smith (Johannesburg)

Kaylene Corbett (Bloemfontein)

Erin Gallagher (Durban)

Aimee Canny (Knysna)

Rebecca Meder (Cape Town)

Triathlon

Henri Schoeman (Vereeniging)

Jamie Riddle (Stellenbosch)

Vicky Van Der Merwe (Cape Town)

Wrestling

Nicolaas De Lange (Bloemfontein)

[rockislandadultreads]

Native American Heritage Month: More Fiction Recommendations

Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Nineteen-year-old Cowney Sequoyah yearns to escape his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. When a summer job at Asheville's luxurious Grove Park Inn and Resort brings him one step closer to escaping the hills that both cradle and suffocate him, he sees it as an opportunity. The experience introduces him to the beautiful and enigmatic Essie Stamper - a young Cherokee woman who is also working at the inn and dreaming of a better life.

With World War II raging in Europe, the resort is the temporary home of Axis diplomats and their families, who are being held as prisoners of war. A secret room becomes a place where Cowney and Essie can escape the white world of the inn and imagine their futures free of the shadows of their families' pasts. Outside of this refuge, however, racism and prejudice are never far behind, and when the daughter of one of the residents goes missing, Cowney finds himself accused of abduction and murder.

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage the onset of Alzheimer's in her husband, Ernest. Their adult daughter, Sonja, leads a life of solitude, punctuated only by spells of dizzying romantic obsession. And their son, Edgar, fled home long ago, turning to drugs to mute his feelings of alienation. With the family's annual bonfire approaching - an occasion marking both the Cherokee National Holiday and Ray-Ray's death, and a rare moment in which they openly talk about his memory - Maria attempts to call the family together from their physical and emotional distances once more. But as the bonfire draws near, each of them feels a strange blurring of the boundary between normal life and the spirit world. 

There There by Tommy Orange

As we learn the reasons that each person is attending the Big Oakland Powwow - some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent - momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will perform in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss.

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob. As Luz navigates 1930s Denver, she begins to have visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory. Luz recollects her ancestors’ origins, how her family flourished, and how they were threatened. She bears witness to the sinister forces that have devastated her people and their homelands for generations. In the end, it is up to Luz to save her family stories from disappearing into oblivion.

[angryrdpanda]

Banned Native-Authored Children's Books (because of MAGA zealots)

Firekeeper's Daughter written by Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army written by Art Coulson (Cherokee); illustrated by Nick Hardcastle (not Native)

Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! written by Art Coulson (Cherokee), illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Fishing on Thin Ice written by Art Coulson (Cherokee)

Lure of the Lake written by Art Coulson (Cherokee)

Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk); illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Wasauksing)

We Still Belong by Christine Day (Upper Skagit); cover art by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Metis Nation of Ontario)

Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian member); illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson (Cherokee)

We Are Water Protectors by Michaela Goade (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe); illustrated by Michaela Goade (Tlingit)

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache)

Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis (Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde); cover art by Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee)

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Maillard (Seminole); illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (not Native)

The People Shall Continue written by Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), illustrated by Sharol Graves (Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma).

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, for Young People by Debbie Reese (Nambé Owingeh) and Jean Mendoza (not Native), adapted from the original edition written by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz (not Native)

Fatty Legs written by Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialiut)

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker written by Robbie Robertson (Mohawk), illustrated by David Shannon (not Native)

Mary and the Trail of Tears by Andrea Rogers (Cherokee)

You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith (Cree), illustrated by Danielle Daniel

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Mvskoke), illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright (not Native) and Ying-Hwa Hu (not Native).

Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Mvskoke), cover illustration by Floyd Cooper (Mvskoke)

Thunderous written by M. L. Smoker (Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Montana's Fort Peck Reservation) and Natalie Peeterse (not Native); illustrated by Dale Ray DeForest (Diné)

We Are Grateful written by by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by Frane Lessac (not Native)

At the Mountains Base written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva, Cahuilla, Chumash, Spanish & Scottish)

"The Way of the Anigiduwagi" written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by MaryBeth Timothy (Cherokee) in The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love and Truth edited by Cheryl and Wade Hudson

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee); illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Metis)

Powwow Day written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee); illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Kapaemahu written by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Kanaka Maoli), Dean Hamer (not Native), and Joe Wilson (not Native); illustrated by Daniel Sousa

[Full List by Debbie Reese]

[andreasettimo]

Believer Magazine

Ishtar

AD Sunra Thompson

Illutration for the series “Resurrector,” in which writers reexamine works that were rebuked by the critics of their day. In this issue Brandon Hobson writes about the film Ishtar.

[sistahscifi]

We loved this episode of Life Writing Podcast featuring Shane Hawk discussing Never Whistle At Night!!

CONTRIBUTORS: Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce K. Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller

Credit to @tananarivedue Ep 107: Guest @shane.hawk, horror author and co-editor of NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT, a bestselling Indigenous #horror anthology with an introduction from @stephengrahamjones.

On Hawk's incredible journey from being a non-reader to a new writer to a community builder.

www.lifewritingpodcast.com - LINK IN BIO

@vintageanchorbooks

@dr.littlebadger

@rebeccaroanhorse

@dh.trujillo

#tommyorange

#TananariveDue

#sistahscifi

##NeverWhistleAtNight

[smithlibrary]

Indigenous Americans A book by a Native American author

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Fiction)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown (Non-Fiction)

Never Whistle at Night by Shane Hawk (Horror)

A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power (eaudiobook)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexi (YA Fiction)

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz (Non-Fiction)

The River of Kings by Taylor Brown (Fiction)

Code Talker by Chester Nez (Bio)

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina (Horror)

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Fiction)

The Removed by Brandon Hobson (ebook)

The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers (Non-Fiction)

The Sentence by Louise Eldrich (Fiction)

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Non-Fiction)

White Horse by Erika T. Worth (Horror)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Fiction)

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer (Non-Fiction)

There, There by Tommy Orange (Fiction)

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Horror)

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (YA Fiction)

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (YA Fantasy)

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice (YA SFF)

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones (Horror)

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (SFF)

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Fiction)

[sporadiceagleheart]

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, six-year-old Bebe King, Saffie-Rose Brenda Roussos, Lily Peters, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Elizabeth Shelley, Sara Sharif, Charlotte Figi, Jersey Dianne Bridgeman, Sidra Hassouna, Sloan Mattingly, Audrii Cunningham, Lucy Morgan, Star Hobson, Ava Jordan Wood, Leiliana Wright, Aubreigh Paige Wyatt, Tristyn Bailey, Paula Golik, Lily Rose Diaz, Colby Curtin, Layla Salazar, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, Makenna Lee Elrod, Eliahna Torres, Nevaeh Bravo, Rylie Nicholls, Riley Faith Steep, Kenzlee Marie Cook, Norah Lee Howard, Mercedes Losoya, Judith Barsi and Heather O'Rourke, Roselind Nadine Earles, Maria Agnes Virovacz Barsi, Evelyn Ann Lea, Mary DeLourdes Lea, Charles Russell “Russ” Lea, Evelyn Russe Lea, William Henry Russe, Clara B. Northway Russe, Charles Russell Lea Sr., Gloria Alice Killilea Lea, Marie Joan Lyons Killilea, Kathryn Marie “Kay” Lyons Monroe, James Hines “Jimmy” Killilea, Catherine Ellen Noe, Arthur Joseph Noe, Richard Allen Noe, Elizabeth Mary Noe, Marie Noe, Arthur Allen “Art” Noe, Brandon David Jackson, Michael Daniel Smith, Joseph “Joe” Jackson, Simuel Joseph “Sam” Jackson, Israel Nero Jackson Sr., Emeline “Emmie” Williams Jackson, Dr Israel Sigmond Joseph “Gordon” Williams Sr., Harvest Lee Williams Sr., Maggie Eunice “Maggie U” Williams, Verlener “Big Momma” Williams Hines, Pauline “Polly” Hines Bell, Flores Ann “Willie Ann” harris Martin, Felix Harvest Williams Sr., Shack Warren Williams, Bull “Night Crow” Williams, Mose Moses Williams, Amanda Jean “Mandy Jean” Williams Tobias, Sanders Allen “Richard” Williams Sr., Crystal Lee King Jackson, Elizabeth Ann “Liza Ann” Jackson Harding, James “Jim” Jackson, Gena Jackson Anderson, Janie Beatrice Jackson Hall, Samuel Malone Jackson Sr., Lula Mae Jackson, TSGT Lawrence Chester “Larry” Jackson, Mary A. “Angie” Jackson, Martin Luther James Jackson Sr., Michael Jackson, Bella Marie “Bells” Rzucek, Nico Lee Rzucek, Celeste Cathryn “CeCe” Rzucek, Shan'ann Cathryn Rzucek, Bella Nevaeh Amoroso Bond, Isabella Grace “Bella” Muntean, Bella Thomson, Juanita Horton, Bessie Barker, Louis XVII, Lois Janes, Sharon Lee Gallegos, Mary Crocker, Betty LouAnn McInnes, Jackie Cazares, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Brandon Lee Jackson, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley, Benjamin Storm Presley “Ben” Keough, Jesse Garon Presley, Octavia Luvenia “Doll” Mansell Smith, Retha Smith Loyd Riley, Gladys Love Smith Presley, Minnie Mae Hood Presley, Vernon Elvis Presley, Eunice C Cloman Jackson, Josephine Jackson, Ruth Marie Noe Hulet,

[aelitalove]

" Our missing women emerged from the shadows, one by one, while the general lay unconscious and drunk on the ground ... the rest of us were mere observers as one of the missing women placed little fires around the general so that he would be trapped to burn in his drunkenness and then stepped on until his flesh and bones become ashes."

-Brandon Hobson, "The Ones Who Killed Us"

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

Compiled and edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Last Jr.

This collection of twenty-six short stories provides an interesting and different look at some issues I have never thought about. In reading through reviews of this work I found that some reviewers  were able to relate to more of the stories than other readers and some readers were unable to relate much at all. Most went into reading believing the stories would be scary, horror stories, or put them on edge – some did, and some didn’t, in my opinion.

The stories that had the biggest impact on me were:

* KASHTUKA by Mathilda Zeller in which a young woman is pushed by her mother to go with someone she doesn’t want to be with to cook and help with a party. A ghost/scary story is told briefly and seems to allow a Kashtuka to materialize and kill a few people – the twist at the end was a grabber indeed.

* WHITE HILLS by Rebecca Roanhorse looks at what a woman might do to maintain a better quality of life than she was raised in. I hated Marissa’s mother-in-law and husband and really questioned the decision she made at the end of the story.

* SNAKES ARE REBORN IN THE DARK by D.H. Trujillo’s story brought in a bit of magic and touch of horror while talking about respecting and honoring ancient wall/cave paintings.

* BEFORE I GO by Norris Black dealt with grief and loss and made me hope I never run into Mother Night.

* DEAD OWLS by Mona Susan Power is a cold story with ghostly encounters that I hope to never experience myself.

* NAVAJOS DON’T WEAR ELK TEETH by Conley Lyons was dark and disturbing with a main character I wanted to shake and tell to spend time with someone else…someone safer, less abusive, and better for him…that had a darker ending too.

* WINGLESS by Marcie R. Rendon dealt with two boys in a foster care situation no child should find themselves in. I cringe thinking about that story and hoped at the end they both found a brighter future somewhere somehow.

There were a LOT of stories and though I couldn’t relate to all of them, the stories above were the ones that stood out the most to me and will linger longer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC – this is my honest review.

4 Stars

BLURB

A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?” Featuring stories by: Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce Young Wolf • Mathilda ZellerMany Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home. These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

[ichigotia]

2024 reading list !

— [♡]; i read 52 books in 2023, and my goal is this year is 115 books, a little more than double what i read last year ! since i can get pretty overwhelmed with my very long tbr, here are some books i'm planning on reading early on in the year !

lonely castle in the mirror (mizuki tsujimura) tia's note: i've heard such good things about this book, and i'm convinced that i need to read it as soon as possible

love, theoretically (ali hazelwood) tia's note: i'm not too big on romance but the guy on the cover looks like nanami so i need to get my grubby hands on it

grotesque (natsuo kirino)

as nature made him: the boy who was raised as a girl (john colapinto)

where the dead sit talking (brandon hobson)

confessions (kanae minato)

ms ice sandwich/breasts & eggs (mieko kawakami) tia's note: her book "all the lovers in the night" is one of my favorite books of all time, so i've made it a goal to read all of her english translated works since i can't read kanji..

i hope whoever stumbles on this post has a great start to the new year, there are so many good books to be read, and i hope everyone finds a great book this year. happy reading ! :-)

[its-suanneschafer-author]

BOOK REVIEW: Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson

Like Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse, Where the Dead Sit Talking is a complex story simply told. Hobson’s prose isn’t quite as elegant as that of Wagamese but close. Both are chronicles of children growing up in the worst possible conditions, but where Indian Horse is concerned with traumas endured in Canadian Indian residential schools, Where the Dead Sit Talking tells the story of…

[saturdaynightmatinee]

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 6 / 10

Título Original: Ghosts of the Ozarks

Año: 2022

Duración: 107 min

País: Estados Unidos

Dirección: Matt Glass, Jordan Wayne Long

Guion: Sean Anthony Davis, Jordan Wayne Long, Tara Perry

Música: Matt Glass

Fotografía:   Jason Goodell  

Reparto: Thomas Hobson, Phil Morris, Tara Perry, Tim Blake Nelson, Angela Bettis, David Arquette, David Aaron Baker, Joseph Ruud, Neva Howell, Brandon Gibson, Scott Dean, Graham Gordy, Ed Lowry, Skylar Olivia Flanagan, Aaron Preusch, Taylor Alden, Corbin Pitts, Skyler Elyse Philpot, Tommy Terry Pantera Wageman

Productora: HCT Media

Género: Thriller; Horror; Mistery

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11186952/

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