#grace d li

[ijustkindalikebooks]

To tab or not to tab that is the question.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

As the light changed outside his window—fall swirling soft and  golden around him—Will thought, as he always did, of history. It was made in moments like this.

—Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

[living400lbs]

Her parents had lived through the Cultural Revolution, had come to America looking to start anew. Their parents—her grandparents—had died before she was born, to famine or persecution or any of the countless tragedies that happened in a country in upheaval. Without family in China, with all their friends lost to time—Lily had never needed to ask her parents about why they hadn’t taught her Chinese, why there were no summer trips to unknown provinces. Twenty years, and she was used to being asked where she was from, to giving an answer that felt like a lie. She could never be Chinese enough for China. She could never be American enough for here.

From Portrait Of A Thief by Grace D. Li

[vfdinthewild]

“There were, as usual, very few dishes.”

-from Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li, pg. 90.

[thesewildreams]

[novelconcepts]

A vicious tale of friendship, betrayal, magic, and linguistics. This is a book that made me feel a little stupid in places, but in the best way. It’s not AS dark as Kuang’s Poppy War series, but it’s still pretty intense.

On the other end of the spectrum: a sapphic rom-com in which a woman returns home for her stepsister’s wedding and falls for one of said sister’s friends. It’s one of those books where you know exactly what you signed up for, and it delivers.

What book list is complete without a solid heist story? A little bit Leverage, a lotta bit stealing back art belonging rightfully to China. A brilliant ride with a lot to say about the colonization of art.

This whole series is one of my favorites, and I was thrilled to find Nona just as bewildering and brilliant as its predecessors. Every Locked Tomb installment makes me feel like my brain is on fire in the best way.

And finally: the conclusion to the Great Cities duology. N.K. Jemisin never misses, and boy, do I love this series about the human incarnations of cities duking it out with eldritch white supremacy.

Someone asked for my favorite books of the nearly 200 I read in 2022, so, in no particular order:

The story of a girl, a book, and secret doors. The sort of book you lose an entire evening to. Harrow is one of my favorite authors of late.

Police brutality through the lens of mythos. My review for this one was simply “I desperately need to know what comes next.”

This whole trilogy belongs on the list. Magic, family, and politics unspool in a world that leaps off the page. Rarely have I found a series so alive, I forget I’m reading.

A creepy tale of sisterhood. The eerie energy rendered this impossible to put down.

A much sadder tale of sisterhood. There are images in this book that are still haunting me months later.

A sapphic YA mystery with complex characters. Honestly, at this point, I’d read McQuiston’s grocery lists.

No best of list would be complete without Paper Girls. The comic story is much weirder and wilder than the show, but both are excellent at *getting* what it is to be a girl on the cusp of growing up.

Music, magic, and a battle for New Orleans. Fantastical storytelling at its best. I was utterly absorbed.

A mother who subsists on books fights to protect her much more complicated son. It has a dark fairy tale energy I couldn’t get enough of, and a sapphic romance to boot.

Part real-life story of a 1629 shipwreck, part invented tale of a young boy coping with grief in 1989. It’s absolutely brutal on about six different levels, but entrancing.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE DEATH I GAVE HIM by Em X. Liu.

Up next! Hamlet retelling but make it science + a locked-lab mystery (which is, of course, directly up my alley!). Horatio is the lab's resident AI, and I'm so excited to see how this goes.

[claireelizabethsblog]

~May's Books Reviewed~

May saw some highs and lows in my enjoyment of books! I largely was still making my way through some old books I hadn't had the opportunity to read, but I also read a couple of newer ones. I was also on holiday for a week in May which meant that I had a couple of easier books thrown into the mix too. All in all, I've been enjoying my reading, especially as the weather has been nice and I'm able to read outside more!

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

(369 pages)

I actually started this book at the end of April, but I finished it at the start of May so in this post it goes! I really really enjoyed this book! I picked it up at the book shop because I have an unapologetic love for heist films, but had never actually read a proper heist book that I could think of. This fulfilled everything u wanted it to be as a heist book though. It was light and fun and a fairly easy read. It completely held my attention and remained believable (bizarrely!) while being compelling. It brought about the same feelings of investment and fun that I get while watching heist films and I would highly recommend it to people.

I gave this book 4.5 stars ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

The MouseTrap (70th anniversary edition) by Agatha Christie (arranged and introduced by Sophie Hannah)

(245 pages)

This is a bit of an odd one to include, however I saw the play (finally!) and absolutely loved it so felt I had to locate the book now that I was part of the secret! Obviously seeing it was indescribably better, however it is still a fun story and I enjoyed all the behind the scenes bits and history that this book went in to. I cannot recommend going to see the play enough and would in fact not recommend reading this until after you already know the story so that you can enjoy the plot twists and mystery in real time with the rest of the audience.

I gave this book 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗 (but as a play it was 5!)

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

(546 pages - this was a hardback)

I had owned this book for several years, having got it when it first came out with every intention of reading it, only to never get around to it! I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy when I was younger which is why I was really wanting to read another book from the same universe. That being said, while I enjoyed this book, it did not quite live up to the original trilogy (at least not in my memory). This was probably mostly due to a lack of nostalgia and attachment to the characters considering it is set like a prequel to the original books. The world and the writing remains incredible so I would highly recommend all Philip Pullman books, including this one to anyone who is perhaps a younger reader and wanting to get into a good fantasy world.

I gave this book 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarré

(367 pages)

So I read this primarily for its reputation as this incredible espionage book.... I have to admit, I do not get the hype. I honestly could not tell you anything that happened in this book, it kept my interest that little that I have already forgotten genuinely everything. I found that there were too many characters and the plot and language was long winded, meandering and unnecessarily complex. It's supposedly a classic, but unfortunately I'm still not sure what I even actually read. I therefore did not exactly enjoy it. It's definitely not the worst book I've ever read, but I doubt I'll find myself reaching for any more LeCarré.

I gave this book 2 stars ⭐️⭐️

The Help by Kathryn Stochett

(451 pages)

Very different from the other books that I rated this highly, but no less enjoyable. It took me a surprisingly long time to read for the number of pages it is, but this was in no correlation to the writing, which was simple and effective, but rather down to the content I think. The book deals with a lot of heavy themes around racism in particular, especially as it aims to by historically accurate and so it would have felt disrespectful almost to have read it much quicker. The writing and story were addictive and despite the heavy themes, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book and at no point felt weighed down by the responsibility of it. I would really recommend this book.

I gave this book 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

(434 pages)

This was the start of my holiday reading and it was indeed a total "airport book", ironically enough about an airport book author! I did strangely enjoy this book and was definitely desperate to finish it and find out what was going on the whole time. Although, that being said, the ending was a little anticlimactic and sudden in my opinion which did drag the rating down a little. I would also say that there does need to be a bit of a content warning here for eating disorders and very casual references and descriptions of them at that. It is set at a wellness retreat so a lot of the characters internal monologue does end up focusing a fair amount on body image and dieting.

I gave this book 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

(461 pages)

The second of my holiday books! I mean.... it's been read before, and it holds up as being exactly what it says on the tin - a classic teen coming of age book that while horribly cringy at points is still generally enjoyable. I loved this book when I first read it (almost 10 years ago!!) and I still loved it this time through, even if it was no longer quite as relatable! I have not much else to say about this one other than I would recommend it, but know that this is not the highbrow literature but simply fun and light and easy.

I gave this book 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Icebreaker by R.L. Graziadei

(314 pages)

The last of my holiday reads. My kindle recommended this one to me based off other books I have read I suppose and I have to admit that unfortunately I was a little disappointed, especially by the end.it felt like it was just beginning to pick up and get interesting, only for all the resolutions etc to happen and feel kinda rushed and kinda unrealistically unsatisfactory. That being said, it was still a mindless holiday read and I really did enjoy the representation, both of multiple sexualities and relationship types; and more so perhaps of various mental health struggles.

I gave this book 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

(382 pages)

I really really enjoyed this book, was definitely a high to finish the month on! I found it highly engaging as I was so desperate to find out what had happened through out. The protagonist/speaker was incredibly unique and well written, with her trauma and experiences clearly affecting her thought patterns. This made it really interesting and cool to be reading from such a clearly unreliable narrators perspective, but also to watch with front row view as she herself slowly unpacks what has happened to her and come to terms with what other people see and how she could be living her life. The ending was perhaps a tiny bit too abrupt for my liking, but I really would recommend this book to people.

I gave this book 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[whatcharlottereads]

... sometimes she wondered if he knew how hard other people had to work for the love that came to him so easily.

Grace D. Li - Portrait of a Thief

[desdasiwrites]

For all that people in power claim to care about looting, it doesn't seem to matter when it's museums doing it.

– Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief

[thoughtfulfangirling]

77% through Portrait of a Thief and my favorite character is Irene (she reminds me of Doc's Michiru Kaioh) so it's no surprise I'm on her side in regards to her conflict with Will. Given how everyone who knows Irene describes her, part of Will bringing her on board was 1000% part having her there to catch him if/when he falls. He didn't say it out loud. Her presence let him be a coward about facing the impossibility of his goal. As long as Irene is taking care of the practical, he gets to be whimsical and believe! Maybe she should have talked to him first and given him a chance to face the reality himself, but I don't think he would. He would bank on Irene doing exactly what she thinks was needed regardless of what he wanted in order to protect those she cares about even if it meant incurring their wrath.

Alex gets to blame her imo and only Alex. Lol BUT! Alex was there for it. She didn't find out after Irene pulled the plug. Alex might not have been happy about it, but she was pulling the plug with her.

[katieroo28]

I read a book that had pretty much this premise called “Portrait of a Thief” by Grace D. Li

It’s REALLY good and I definitely recommend it if you haven’t read it already.

✨️Joana Indi and the Queen of Egypt ✨️

[theartofangirling]

part 3 of the 2023 version of this post: adult books!

part 1: middle grade books | part 2: young adult books

this is a very incomplete list, as these are only books I've read and enjoyed. not all books are going to be for all readers, so I'd recommend looking up synopses and content warnings. feel free to message me with any questions about specific representation!

list of books under the cut ⬇️

yerba buena by nina lacour

if we were villains by m.l. rio

everyone in this room will someday be dead by emily r. austin

i want to be a wall by honami shirono

portrait of a thief by grace d. li

the thirty names of night by zeyn joukhadar

on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong

love & other disasters by anita kelly

take a hint, dani brown by talia hibbert

boyfriend material by alexis hall

almost like being in love by steve kluger

the charm offensive by alison cochrun

something wild & wonderful by anita kelly

red, white & royal blue by casey mcquiston

something to talk about by meryl wilsner

honey girl by morgan rogers

one last stop by casey mcquiston

once ghosted, twice shy by alyssa cole

kiss her once for me by alison cochrun

a spindle splintered by alix e. harrow

finna by nino cipri

every heart a dooryway by seanan mcguire

the starless sea by erin morgenstern

under the whispering door by tj klune

space opera by catherynne m. valente

light from uncommon stars by ryka aoki

dead collections by isaac fellman

the city we became by n.k. jemisin

light carries on by ray nadine

an absolutely remarkable thing by hank green

feed them silence by lee mandelo

summer sons by lee mandelo

upright women wanted by sarah gailey

lavender house by lev a.c. rosen

fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe by fannie flagg

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

a master of djinn by p. djeli clark

witchmark by c.l. polk

a marvellous light by freya marske

a restless truth by freya marske

when women were dragons by kelly barnhill

plain bad heroines by emily m. danforth

a lady for a duke by alexis hall

infamous by lex croucher

passing strange by ellen klages

even though i knew the end by c.l. polk

the chosen and the beautiful by nghi vo

whiskey when we're dry by john larison

wake of vultures by lila bowen

silver in the wood by emily tesh

the once and future witches by alix e. harrow

the kingdoms by natasha pulley

a tip for the hangman by allison epstein

she who became the sun by shelley parker-chan

the song of achilles by madeline miller

spear by nicola griffith

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir

some desperate glory by emily tesh

all systems red by martha wells

a psalm for the wild built by becky chambers

the mimicking of known successes by malka older

winter's orbit by everina maxwell

fireheart tiger by aliette de bodard

empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo

legends and lattes by travis baldree

the house in the cerulean sea by tj klune

other ever afters by melanie gillman

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

a day of fallen night by samantha shannon

a strange and stubborn endurance by foz meadows

the unbroken by c.l. clark

real queer america by samantha allen

fun home by alison bechdel

in the dream house by carmen maria machado

better living through birding by christian cooper

why fish don't exist by lulu miller

[somethingthing]

Head Scratches

Dean Winchester x fem!reader

Warnings: slight sexual indications, tiny bit of angst if you squint, other than that, FLUFF

Word Count: ~900

A/N: I’ve literally forgotten how to write but I wanna start again so i apologize for any mistakes and feedback is always welcome!!

Hope you enjoy!

It was a quiet evening, in fact the whole day had been quiet. Your last hunt had drained all of you, making you come to the decision to not go looking for your next.

Dean had protested at first. Not wanting to waste anytime in finding the yellow-eyed demon, yet here he was. Laying with his head in your lap on the dusty sofa in the corner of the even dustier motel room you´d all taken into for the night.

"You know, one of these days we have to splurge just a little bit. Get a proper hotel room, or at least a room that doesn't make me sneeze every five minutes." you said mindlessly as one of your hands ran through his short hair. When you didn´t get an answer you stopped for a second and looked down at him. His eyes were shut. "You´re not falling asleep on me, are you? Sam will be back with some food soon" you stated.

Dean gave out a small huff "Why´d you stop?" One of his hands reached up behind his head, fumbling to find yours, he took it and firmly tangled your fingers back into his hair again "Please do continue sweetheart" eyes still closed.

You smiled softly, not being able to deny how much you enjoyed the nickname "For someone who was so determined to not take a quiet day in, you seem to be enjoying it an awful lot" you giggled out.

"How couldn´t I?" he slowly opened his eyes to look at you, letting a sly grin grace his lips "I´m in company of an very hot woman who continues to stroke my head when i tell her too" he wiggled his eyebrows at you, flashing an even bigger grin.

You rolled your eyes at him "Ha ha very funny" you slapped his chest gently "I´m staring to wonder if this head," tapping your fingers against his forehead "actually does any thinking, and not just the other one" you let your eyes dart to the lower half of his body.

"Not when you´re around sweetheart" he closed his eyes again with a content sight "The not so little, little man down there is perfectly capable of thinking on his own" he said, a bit too proud of himself.

"Jerk" was all you got out, trying keep the heat on your face from rising. You and Dean were something, a thing as Sam would call it, and yeah, maybe you were, but nothing ever really happened.

He´d flirt, you´d respond with something equally as flirty or do your best to try and sound grossed out. Other than that, nothing happened. You didn’t really know what you felt, you liked him, really liked him, but then what? Both your lives where chaos, always on the move, putting your lives on the line almost daily.

Too deep in thought you hadn´t noticed Dean staring at you, nudging you slightly "Hey," snapped out of it you looked down at him "what´s up? That wasn´t too far was it?" he looked at you, slightly concerned.

Still slightly out of it you shook your head "What?" his words slowly coming into your mind "No... no it´s..." you didn´t know how to phrase it, so you just blurred it out "What are we?" Dean opened his mouth and closed it again, you held your breath, anxious for his answer.

At last, he sat up and turned around to face you, cornering you at the edge of the couch, between him and the armrest "Can´t say i haven't thought about it, with my brain, mind you" you couldn´t help but to giggle a bit, letting go of some of the anxiety gnawing at you "I´ve never lied to you, every little flirty comment have been true, i really do like you" your eyes darted to his lips for a second.

"I- I like you too" you felt like a teenager with a crush, all warm and giddy, confused what to do with yourself "I really, really do, but our lives, not knowing what happens next, not-" you were cut off.

He scooched closer, propping his arm up on the back rest of the couch, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear "We´ll never know what´s gonna happen next, even in a normal life we wouldn´t" now it was his turn, letting his eyes rest of your lips for a moment "Question is, what do you want to happen next?" his eyes met yours again.

You didn´t even think about it "This" was all you said before your lips found his. It was slow, almost shy, until Dean cupped your face in his hands and deepened the kiss. It was still soft but more passionate, urgent.

The qlick of the lock on the door made you break away, sucking in air sharply. You shifted slightly just in time for Sam to open the door "Food delive-" he stopped in his tracks, giving you and Dean a funny look "Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes!" "No!" Dean and you exclaimed. Sam looked between the two of you and shook his head "I´ll just, uhm, I´ll just set the food up" he spun around awkwardly.

You looked at Dean, feeling like a deer in headlights "What now?" you whispered anxiously.

He looked at you for a moment, leaned forward and gave you one last kiss, letting his face stay close to yours "We table this for later`" he gave you a smirk and a wink as he licked his lips "All this touchy feely has made me starving" he joked and stood up, reaching his hand out the pull you up.

He pulled you up faster then you had expected, making you come crashing into his chest "But take out isn´t really what I´m hungry for" he smirked before turning a round, dragging you to the dinner table with a heat rising on you face and traveling elsewhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Am I back?? Who knows? Might disappear for a year again hah. But thank you for reading and I really do hope I get my writing motivation back cause it’s was fun<333

[jewish-microwave-laser]

And here is the most devastating fact of Frank's posthumous success, which leaves her real experience forever hidden: we know what she would have said, because other people have said it, and we don't want to hear it.

The line most often quoted from Frank's diary are her famous words, "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." These words are "inspiring," by which we mean that they flatter us. They make us feel forgiven for those lapses of our civilization that allow for piles of murdered girls—and if those words came from a murdered girl, well, then, we must be absolved, because they must be true. That gift of grace and absolution from a murdered Jew (exactly the gift that lies at the heart of Christianity) is what millions of people are so eager to find in Frank's hiding place, in her writings, in her "legacy." It is far more gratifying to believe that an innocent dead girl has offered us grace than to recognize the obvious: Frank wrote about people being "truly good at heart" before meeting people who weren't. Three weeks after writing those words, she met people who weren't.

Here's how much some people dislike living Jews: they murdered 6 million of them. This fact bears repeating, as it does not come up at all in Anne Frank's writings. Readers of her diary are aware that the author was murdered in a genocide, but this does not mean that her diary is a work about genocide. If it were, it is unlikely that it would have been anywhere near as universally embraced.

We know this, because there is no shortage of writings from victims and survivors who chronicled this fact in vivid detail, and none of those documents have achieved anything like Frank's diary's fame. Those that have come close have only done so by observing those same rules of hiding, the ones that insist on polite victims who don't insult their persecutors The work that came closest to achieving Frank's international fame might be Elie Wiesel's Night, a memoir that could be thought of as a continuation of Frank's diary, recounting the tortures of a fifteen-year-old imprisoned in Auschwitz. As the scholar Naomi Seidman has discussed, Wiesel first published his memoir in Yiddish, under the title And the World Was Silent. The Yiddish book told the same story told in Night, but it exploded with rage against his family's murderers and, as the title implies, the entire world whose indifference (or active hatred) made those murders possible. With the help of the French Catholic Nobel laureate François Mauriac, Wiesel later published a French version under the new title La Nuit—a work that repositioned the young survivor's rage into theological angst. After all, what reader would want to hear about how this society had failed, how he was guilty? Better to blame G[-]d. This approach earned Wiesel a Nobel Peace Prize, as well as, years later, selection for Oprah's Book Club, the American epitome of grace. It did not, however, make teenage girls read his book in Japan, the way they read Frank's. For that he would have had to hide much, much more.

from "Everyone's (Second) Favorite Dead Jew" in People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn, pp 9–10