#most of my favorites were nonfiction

[bangkaching]

I read 52 books this year. I also met my vague goal of "more nonfiction". I read a truly absurd amount of fanfiction (I sadly did not keep track- yes, most of it was transformers). Here are the top 10 reads of 2024:

1. Meet me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange. While this wasn't the best written book, I keep thinking about it months later. The Mall™️ was and is such a unique city space. Reading about malls got me thinking of the city in ways I've never had before. It also exposed so much pettiness in the architecture design world. I'm planning to read more about cities and urbanism this year.

2. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. Was recommended to me as simply "a damn good book", and that review holds true. It's a damn good book.

3. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jannette McCurdy. I missed the iCarly train, but I'll be very interested to see what Jannette McCurdy does in the future. I listened to the audiobook of this.

4. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. Nice novella, and I think I liked it so much due to when in my book year I read it (in between some more boring nonfiction and 2 dropped fantasy books).

5. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This book objectively sucks. But I had so much fun reading it. The thing that makes this book fun is the potential it has to be good (it's not good). Don't read the second book.

6. Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson. Beatrice Sparks is the author behind Go Ask Alice, and this takes a look at who she was as a person (read: a pos). The only gripe I have about this book is the lack of citations (which the author makes a note about in the beginning) but taking this book with a grain of salt (about taking an author's books with a grain of salt), it's a good read.

7. They Promised Me the Gun Wasn't Loaded by James Alan Gardner. I accidentally read the second book first, but I'll be going back for more. (She's from Alberta, and her superhero name and costume is a homage to Wayne Gretzky. You already have me hooked James) This guy doesn't care about the science to superheros. He cares about having fun. I like this version of fun vs Jon Scalzi. Very glad to find another person saying Ontario sucks

8. The Female Man, by Joanna Russ. 70s feminism, with alternate dimensions and five (of maybe the same) women. How are we feminist based on our societies? What does feminism look like? I'm going to have to reread this book in two years and see what I get out of it then.

9. Goldenrod by Maggie Smith. Some of these poems hit me like a sack of bricks. Some of them I cannot relate to, but we're still absolute bangers.

10. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. The thing that saves this book's plot is that it's written interview transcript style. I read the second one, but probably won't read the third. Fun presentation at least!

2025 reading goals:

More comics. I'm probably going to reread MTMTE. And Saga.

Get a dent in the backlog of ebooks Tor used to send out. I have. 25 to read.

Read more about urbanism and cities. I really liked learning about "why this worked in city x and not y" while I read about The Mall™️. I've got one on urban wildlife in my holds already.

If you want the full list of books, it's up on my Goodreads.

[thelastspeecher]

The post about Redwall that I saw on my dash made me want to reread the books, since it's been a VERY long time

And oh my god I forgot about the otter sexism in the book I chose to read first

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Potential November Reads

Moving into the process of wrapping up my reading for the year! I won't hit my optimistic reading goal (let's be real: I've been behind since February) but I have stayed on top of the books I wanted to get to this year. For November and December, I have all of three TBR books I need to read; the rest can be mood reading if I want.

Currently Reading:

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett - a little over 100 pages left

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger - I only got about an hour into this one yesterday

TBR:

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James - 335 pages (my last Alphabet Challenge book! and if this one doesn't work out, I have several other "Q" options)

Other Potential Reads/Rereads:

a reread

a fantasy

a sci-fi

a classic

a sequel

a nonfic

[ms-demeanor]

Maybe this is a silly question to ask about a podcast that 1) isn't fiction and 2) has hundreds of episodes, BUT. Do you have a favorite Knowledge Fight episode? Or maybe, idk, a favorite 'era' or type of episodes? A friend sent me a playlist of all the ones covering the Sandy Hook lawsuits - man those formulaic objections eps are fun! - and I've just finished listening to the last one on the list. So I guess I'm looking for recs on what to listen to next?

The whole formulaic objections series is good, i like the ones where they discuss Alex as a guest on Joe Rogan's Podcast, episode 25 about Dennis Montgomery is a good early example of Dan's research habits (episode 26 has the 4 ways to learn which is, like, foundational knowledge fight lore), Ep 392 about January 24th 2020 gets into a foundational thing for the covid info that will follow ("it's over for humanity, there will only be lone survivors" - they were VERY VERY worried about what they later decided was overblown) the responses to the court cases (602, 714, 715) that aren't formulaic objections are ALSO good, the episode about Bill Ayers (168) on infowars is really good, the episode about chompsky on Infowars is good (should pop up if you search chompsky in their episode list, 404 "Mr. Jones goes to CPAC" is good, and I like all of the multi-episode series about the documentaries. I like the episode when Jordan comes back to the US after the unite the right rally too - one thing I like in most podcasts I listen to is the leadup to and aftermath of big events, so I end up listening to November 2019 - September 2020 pretty intently across podcasts and knowledge fight is no different, they did good coverage of the way people were covering the Many Events of 2020.

I'm on my third full listen through and my podcast app shows that I've spent 4001.2 hours listening so far (I listen to everything at 2-2.5x speed) and I think they really start getting very very good after they kick off the formulaic objections. The early stuff is also good but they're also both excitable and more willing to jump to conclusions (I'm on about episode sixty right now and Dan is willing to make guesses about stuff in his time travel episodes and assert things that I don't think he would these days.)

I really like most of the "chatting with" episodes where they're talking to another person who researches in a similar space and I usually really appreciate Jordan's interviews but sometimes he's just too left for a more center guest and it becomes too awkward for me to listen to (I have to skip the Brian Stelter episode - I understand why Jordan interviews the way that he does and TBH I approve, I just can't listen to it).

If you're looking for another playlist to get started I'd say try episodes 130A-130E, which is the breakdown of the endgame documentary.

If you decide to start listening and you are coming across wacky wednesday episodes and finding yourself bored, just skip them and you won't be missing out.

(it may be a silly question to ask most people but it's not a silly question to ask me because I *DO* have my favorites out of nearly a thousand episodes of a nonfiction podcast about alex jones).

[shimonerin]

Secret Santa w/ the Jujutsu High Students

Content: Giving Itadori, Megumi, and Nobara their favorite gifts Tags: fluff Words: 1.7k

a/n: literally my first time writing again after a year or two and also my first time actually putting myself out there and posting lol I apologize if it's messy or lengthy TvT

Itadori Yuji

I feel like Yuuji would ask for a DVD/cassette collection of his favorite movies and TV shows since he really is a “TV child” and grew up watching those. And also because DVDs/cassettes are not really a thing nowadays, it kind of gives him nostalgia to be watching the same movies he used to when he was younger. 

Another thing I think he’d like is a snack basket. Just a basket filled to the brim with sweets and snacks and sodas. Just something he can eat and share with someone while he’s watching his shows.

Yuuji doesn’t ask for much and he’d be completely fine if you only managed to buy one of them or even a completely different gift. I mean, he’s basically going out every weekend in the cinemas and he’s more than capable of buying a few snacks for himself at the store. Everything else is just a bonus.

What he didn’t expect was for you to go out of your way to buy him everything on his wishlist and even gave him a meal voucher to one of the popular ramen restaurants in Japan. You know he likes rice bowls a lot and what’s better than giving him a voucher that’s worth at least three different rice bowls.

“No way! You bought all of this for me?” He exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with stars as he looked over the rack full of DVDs, a large snack basket, and a meal voucher. He could feel the tears well up in his eyes, seeing you make an effort into giving him something special. 

You smiled fondly at him, chuckling softly at his lightly pouting face “I might as well, right?” You tell him so casually, as if you didn’t just crawl your way into this man’s heart with your gifts.

Without a second thought, he threw himself at you, wrapping you in a tight, almost suffocating embrace before burying his face at the crook of your neck “You’re so awesome, you know that? I was secretly hoping you were my secret santa.” He murmured softly, which you find extremely endearing. Nobara and Gojo snickered behind you and you knew you’d find yourself in the middle of another teasing session over the next few days.

As soon as Yuuji let go of you, he grabbed both of your hands, holding it in front of your chest “We should definitely stop by that ramen restaurant later! You’ve only been there once, right?” He suggested as he shook your hands excitedly like a child.

As much as he wanted to hang out with his friends this Christmas, he didn’t want to miss out on some one-on-one time with you. He’s basically begging the universe for it so he wouldn’t trade it for the world or for an extra day of training. That can wait.

Megumi Fushiguro

I feel like Megumi isn’t even interested in joining Secret Santa. Poor boy was just forced by Gojo and Itadori lol. As he’s not interested in receiving any material gifts anyways, at most he’d probably just ask for a book.

He didn’t even give you any specific book he’d want you to buy so you had to ask Gojo “Oh, he’s not really into fantasy books, if that’s what you’re thinking,” He tells you as he leaned back onto the sofa “He’s leaning more towards nonfiction novels. Like the classics, you know?”

Heading straight towards the bookstore after training hours, you decided to go for “In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki, simply because the title reminded you of his cursed technique. Though, the synopsis for the book isn’t too far off from his tastes.

Giving him only the book felt empty so you decided to look for mini figurines for his shikigamis at a nearby pottery shop. You wanted to give him something to symbolize his immense care for these animals, which was one of the things you loved the most about him. In the end, you had bought a total of 10 mini clay figurines. You placed it alongside the book inside a neat box with Japanese wrapping paper and a small bunny origami that resembles one of his shikigami on top to finish it off.

When it was time to give your gift to Megumi, he was quite impressed with the way it was wrapped but kept his reactions to a minimum “Ah, thanks.” He’d say, with a hand behind his neck

Only when he opens his present will you see the visible change in his expression. He pulls out the book and the mini figurines of the Divine Dogs, his gaze darting all over it in subtle fascination.

You purse your lips, tilting your head slightly “Do you like it?” You asked him, albeit a little nervously.

“Hey! Say something, won't you?” Nobara shouted, crossing her arms at the boy “Don't just sit there and stare!”

Megumi lifted his head off your bundle of gifts as he gazed back at your smiling face, a sudden feeling of happiness swelling in his chest but he kept it in.

“It’s…nice. I like it.” He spoke quietly, as if he’s only talking to you, blocking out all of the other sounds around him “You shouldn't have bought so much.”

He wanted to say more than that but his real feelings can't be summed up in a few words and he didn't want to come off so cheesy in front of his friends.

You laughed in response, waving off his words “No, no, I want to! You seem so indifferent with Christmas and I just wanted to give you something to smile about!” You lightly teased him, knowing you would have loved him either way.

At this point, Itadori and Nobara were forcing Megumi to smile for you as a joke, poking and prodding at his cheeks like they always do.

In the middle of the teasing session, you could definitely make out a small genuine smile from his otherwise stoic face, one that's easy to miss if you’re not looking closely enough. 

Later that evening, when you finally got home, you received an unexpected call from Gojo, saying “Hey, just called to tell you Megumi loved what you gave him.” He tells you “In fact, he’s arranging those figurines you bought him at his bedside table.”

Without a second thought, you could hear Gojo put his phone closer to Megumi’s room, as the faint sound of soft clashes of wood on wood fills your ears.

Gojo puts himself back on the call “Oh, and the book that you gave him? Yeah, he started reading it on the way home. Looks like you really got him this time.”

You couldn't help the smile slowly spreading across your face like a child “Really?” You say, trying not to let your voice give out what you're feeling “That’s…that’s great! Tell him to cherish it for me, Gojo-sensei!”

Unbeknownst to you, you were on speaker the whole time.

Kugisaki Nobara

Oh it was anxiety-inducing to think of what to give to Nobara. She’s a girl who knows her worth and knows exactly what she deserves. And while that was an aspect of her personality that you love and admire a lot, there’s only so much that you can do with your allowance.

Her wish list states that she wanted stylish clothing, accessories, or anything that looks good on her, given how much she loves shopping. Of course, she didn’t ask for Balenciaga or Onitsuka Tiger. She’s not that delusional.

But you can’t help as if every gift you’d think of wouldn’t be good enough for her. You only wanted to give her the best things because that’s when you’ll see her smile the brightest. And you’d probably do anything to see it on her all the time.

Over the weekend, you made a plan to go to Shibuya, going straight to the popular fashion mall, Shibuya 109. Entering one of the more affordable clothing chains in the establishment, you purchased a cute, oversized graphic tee for her. You also decided to buy her a box set of accessories like hairpins, bracelets, chains, and scrunchies.

Buying one last thing for her with the money that you have, you go to a local chocolatier and order a box of macaroons. Nobara has always been a fan of sweets, after all.

On Christmas Day, when it was your turn to give your gifts, you glanced towards Nobara who was sitting beside you before handing her a beautifully wrapped gift with a ribbon on top.

“Merry Christmas, Nobara. You’re gonna love this.” You’d sweetly say as she widened her eyes, delicately loosening the ribbon string.

As soon as her eyes landed on the top you bought for her, chic accessories, and the box of macaroons, she couldn't simply contain her excitement.

Her eyes were basically stars as she immediately tried on the shirt, twisting and turning to see how it looked “(Y/N), this is gorgeous!” She exclaimed 

Opening the box of accessories next, she quickly tried on the hairclips and wore the bracelets, hurriedly trying them on all at once “Where did you buy all this? It honestly looks so good.” She asked you, a wide smile plastered on her face

You scratched the back of your head and grinned “I…I honestly went to Shibuya this Saturday. I thought I might find you something different from the shops there.”

She immediately dropped everything she was holding and perked up in interest “And you didn't bring me with you? That would have been the best Christmas gift you could give me!” She says, her warm hands immediately wrapping around yours “Then maybe you shouldn't have spent all your money on me. I heard some stores there are so expensive.”

Your grip on her hand tightened into a gentle squeeze “You don't need to worry. I got my money's worth so it’s okay, really.” You reassured her.

You could see the tears forming on her eyes, only for her to wipe it off as she pouted “Well, at least let me share my macarons with you!” She tells you before picking one from the box and feeding you a strawberry cream-filled flavor macaron.

Nobara made a promise to be the one to take you to Shibuya next time and even go as far as to spoil you, even when you told her not to. 

How could she not? She’s so picky with everything but you’re the only one who seems to pinpoint her tastes so well. She’s never met anyone who could match her as good as you do so she’ll make sure to return the favor.

Happy holidays x

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

2024 tuesdaypost retrospective

it's hard not to make this all about my nearly full 365 days of unemployment. i have cut a great deal from this wrapup. thank you all for your love and support (often financial!) this year :') it has never been scarier to have no familial safety net and i really, really appreciate all of you relative strangers (i have met very few of you in person!)

jobs applied to: my best estimate is 4500 given my daily target balanced with periods of more acute despair and physical illness

interviews: 2

calls to the massachusetts unemployment agency: 73

cats spayed and/or neutered: 3 (phil, orange boy, ruby)

eclipses seen: 1

hurricanes: 1

completely fallow weeks: 5

i have GOT to be more specific about writing out loud what worked and what didn't work instead of resorting to "vibes were off". i also have to remember to be better about saying where i found things and saying the premise/genre of the film. i try to draft these on sunday nights so i can kind of mull things over for a bit, but that rarely happened this year.

highlights of the year: a tomato plant in a five gallon bucket, hotvintagepoll, the eclipse, my new zebrawood desk, throwing my own birthday party (NOT passive aggressive it was very comforting to be in full control), ren faire, the modern zelda games, genshin impact, heist films, naomi novik's temeriare series, Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard, the Popping Tins newsletter about tinned fish products, new joywave and beyonce and charli xcx and kesha albums, and an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding smart characterization and fun interaction between good friends.

questions? comments? concerns? something about the structure/critique of these posts or a work i talked about really click or really not work for you? i would love to know!

listening

all the tuesdaysongs are in one spotify playlist below. if i recced a whole album (only did that this year with The Offline’s La couleur de la mer and Toshiyuke Honda's SONGS OF THE MILKY WAY ) i put the song i thought most representative of the album.

special shoutouts to the Well There's Your Problem engineering disasters podcast, the Sangfielle season of Friends at the Table, The 404 Media Podcast news/tech/culture podcast, and the Whale Hunting podcast about financial crimes.

i would like to find music through other avenues than the spotify weekly recs playlists, especially since the platform has noticeably nosedived after their last round of firing people. unforch i have yet to find a music influencer/blog/tastemaker/podcast whose tastes jive with my own.

-

reading

the sort of three broad categories of stuff i talk about in the reading section are articles, comics, and actual books. fairly pleased with my RSS feed, which is filling the twitter hole and also has a separate Real US News tab i can look at in a more controlled manner. people seem to have liked the article/book combo bc reading a book a week is usually kind of a heavy lift for people who are employed. as long as i do either an article or a book i feel like this category is checked off in my brain. i would like to do both more weeks and figure out how to do more concise book reports. i am pleased that people seem to like the couple weeks of giant DNF lists where i briefly state why i did not finish a specific older scifi paperback.

shoutout to @rae-being-naughty for introducing me to one of my favorite new authors, t kingfisher! what a delectable niche. those books go down SO easy. shoutouts also to the temeraire books, Trouble And Her Friends by Melissa Scott (what if neuromancer was good?), Dark Wire by Joseph Cox (nonfiction about the encrypted phone company the FBI shadow-ran) and Witch Hat Atelier.

the OPPOSITE of a shoutout to the most frustrating books i did not finish this year, a fragile enchantment by allison saft (the very weird fantasy meghan/harry fantasy au????) and jennifer dugan's the ride of her life, a cowgirl wlw romance that had some kid pop up in the second chapter and yell about how they shipped the leads and were making a tiktok about it. hello??????? huh????? i had that book on hold for SIX MONTHS. what the fuck did people see in that book???

reading and holding and interacting with a physical hard copy book is so much better for my shattered attention span, and i have giant bookcases full of physical books i desperately want to read, but i read ebooks so much faster. a dilemma that will for sure continue into the new year.

-

watching

logged almost 169 things on letterboxd this year so far (almost nice). the giant spike is when i watched a a dozen individually loggable betty boop shorts. tasty tasty stats.

saw one entire film (howl's moving castle) in theaters and i do not think i will be doing that again bc (while fun) it was a very anxiety inducing experience.

more tv and shorts and tv comprised entirely of shorts than i expected to watch this year!

watching highlights of the year:

-

playing

the gaming rig i bought in 2020 is really staring to show its age and only very light-resource pc games are feasible rn. very many thanks to both @sybilius and @pasta-pardner who both bought me games i will one day play!

spent most of the year with big open world exploration/puzzle/action games, as is traditional. barely touched a fallout this year, which is less traditional.

by hours, the ranking is probably

genshin impact

breath of the wild

tears of the kingdom

STUFF SORT on my phone

stardew valley

powerwash simulator

what are people interested in seeing in this section?

the trouble with this section is that has been a thorn in my side basically since i started this series, but games are such a part of my life it feels weird NOT talking about them? but talking about video games is difficult bc none of them are very good. i find myself Still a little burned out on them even after almost three years on from the video games job. finding something fun and free on itch or steam is very time-consuming. every time i talk about genshin i feel like i have to caveat it with one million Don't Play Gacha Games warning stickers like the ones that come on cigarettes. and i don't feel like a screenshot of whatever achievement i hunted on genshin in a specific week is very interesting to people.

maybe the solution is to cut this section for a while and have a special bonus add on section every once in a while??? i dunno. would love to know people's thoughts here on how to make talking about/telling stories about the games i play more interesting.

-

making

the tuesdayposts as a whole have been both very good and very bad for my mental health, bc i really needed a project to work on to break up the soul crushing monotony of writing cover letters. however writing the tuesdaypost every week was often a very anxiety inducing expereince bc i felt like i didn't do much. or did stuff very unevenly. the "point" of the tuesdayposts is to remind myself every week that absorbing a lot of different things helps me stay on a more even keel. esp in times of great unrest. unfortunately, a year of unemployment.

i saw my siblings twice, managed to actually write and post christmas cards, framed a bunch of shit, discovered a new favorite soup, and did some indifferent gardening and cross stitch.

the making section this year tended to be more lifestyle blogging/what i cleaned. a lot of weeks i did not have Anything in the tank except basic vacuuming and halfhearted wiping counters down.

however??? i managed to post three fics??? two were previously written but at least they are no longer languishing on my harddrive??

this goofy little NFT genderswap blondeyes has the craziest hits to kudos ratio on anything ive ever written.

i really do intend on finishing this cait/fahrenheit 5+1. the stars have not been aligned.

this very brief crossover has gotten some of the loveliest comments!!! when i am done directing and choreographing the big prisoner/arcade argument in my brain i am excited to actually write that.

im genuinely for real afraid to ask or expect anything of 2025, but here it comes anyway!

[moregraceful]

Saw an old picture of Cooch playing wordle with the sharks equipment manager and I have got to ask. Is he a word games guy. Was he pulled into it or do you think he instigated. Does he have a NYT games account.

There is no reason you should know but I feel like your augury will be closer than anyone else I can think of (or at least more fun)

WELL. He had a book club during the pandemic so canonically he can read and loves to share literacy. And Wordle is a good game not just because it works your brain but also bc you have a limited number of chances before you legally have to go to idiot jail, which for a man as chronically depressed as Cooch, it does feel like he would enjoy the challenge. I bet he has an NYT game account. I bet bro loves the honey comb one.

This is giving me a perfect excuse to talk about one of my favorite articles from Corey Masisak's tenure with the Sharks: the Sharkies' lil nerd ass bookclub. You may have read this already bc you've been in these trenches but here are my favorite excerpts. There's a lot of Reimer in the article and while I don't care for the man or his politics, he does have some fascinating insight into why the Sharks are cringe nerds (so much travel time)

He likes to share books with guys on the team!! He's the team librarian!! Drop your book talk Cooch I wanna see something. It actually tracks because every librarian I've ever worked with was deeply and chronically mentally ill. This is why we need more mundane workplace aus that aren't coffeeshop aus.

in my sexiest imagine, Logan is an extremo depressed burnt out librarian and Thomas Bordeleau is the guy who has to do community service due to getting arrested for idk stealing a doctor's prescription pad and starting a black market estrogen prescription economy. And now he has to just, teach Bordy how to read so Bordy can pull holds. And its not making Logan less depressed.

Logan Couture 🤝 Bryce Harper: reading pulp novels so they can get away from the horrors of being an athlete. Wait let me cook. What if I was an athlete who read copaganda novels and you were an athlete who read hockey romance novels...and we never even met

The thing about John Grisham, Jimmy Pat, and Lee Child is that the people who checked out those books the most ofte at my library were like 80 year old women, who would read approximately 7-10 books a week. From this we can conclude Cooch is an old woman. Do you think he does the kinds of fiber arts crafts you have to learn from a book and not a Tiktok

This excerpt isn't about Cooch but I feel its critical knowledge: Pickles hasn't read a book in at least 3-4 years

The real bomb we're throwing here is if Pickles doesn't read books but does do the NYT crossword puzzle every day and has a streak. I mean maybe he's doing like, my first crossword puzzle for kids, but EYE like thinking about him seriously working on the Sunday crossword for an entire flight. I would say he completes it perfectly but he made fun of Nick Bonino's ereader and made Nick got mad as hell and EXPOSED him

Words are still words you're SO right king. It's not about the format or the length or the type of book you read. It's about reading . Because to read, to use your words, to engage in the action of imagination, education, storytelling and build, is to live. And I include nonfiction in that. And also audiobooks.

Also thank you for your kind words about my augury, that really made me smile 💙💙🦈🦈

[whilereadingandwalking]

This year I read a lot of great books…but five blew me away. My top five of the year are:

✨There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

✨Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia by Kate Manne

✨The City in Glass by Nghi Vo

✨The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion by Diana Greene Foster

✨Golem Girl: A Memoir by Riva Lehrer

I was most surprised that four of five of my favorites were nonfiction! I don’t know if I was biased towards nonfiction this year or if that’s just what wowed me this year, but these really are the five books I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Honorable Mention list:

The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart

Road to Ruin by Hana Lee

Blueback by Tim Winton

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (2025)

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidya Hartman

Sailor Moon vol. 5 by Naoko Takeuchi tr. Alethea and Athena Nibley

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

Never a City So Real by Alex Kotlowitz

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Small Rain by Garth Greenwell

Jewel Box: Stories by E. Lily Yu

Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future by Danielle Clode

Granada by Radwa Ashour

[disasterarea-podcast]

So given the writer’s strike, some people are concerned about their shows and movies being postponed or canceled, and aside from the fact networks have already BEEN canceling shows for no reason for years (I still maintain a healthy anger about what Netflix did to Sense8), I thought I would suggest some books on disasters you might want to read if you’re into that sort of history. Which you are if you’re here, I imagine.

Note: I’m suggesting these books because most books on disasters don’t get a huge audience, and so I recommend them because this sort of writing can be hard on the writer and requires a bunch of research. We throw so much money at true crime, we can spare a few bucks for the stories of people who died in disasters.

Also, please check with these with your local small bookstore or library. Amazon can be great, but let’s lend a hand to those who need us more.

Recommended books:

“The Circus Fire,” by Stewart O’Nan - This is one my favorite books on a disaster, because the whole thing creates a very vivid image of the circus prior to the fire in Hartford in July of 1944. There’s one specific line in the book which always makes me pause because it’s so affecting, about how everyone who escaped being able to hear the sounds of the animals screaming as they died - except all of the animals were out of the tent by then.

“The Only Plane in the Sky,” by Garrett Graff - This, I highly recommend you get on audiobook. It’s an oral history of the events of 9/11 with a full cast, and it’s incredibly affecting to listen to.

“Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic,” by Jennifer Niven - Ada Blackjack was a badass: flawed and weak at times, but hardy and steady when necessary. Half of her story is how she survived, but half is how she was exploited following her rescue. Both stories need to be known.

“Alive,” by Piers Paul Read - If you’re watching “Yellowjackets,” this should be required reading. If you’ve seen the movie adaptation from the 90s, there is WAY more you don’t know. The story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 is a tough read, but a worthy one.

“A Night to Remember,” by Walter Lord - This is to disaster nonfiction what “In Cold Blood” is to true crime. It’s not a long read, but it’s a great one. Lord had the advantage of writing the book while many of the Titanic survivors were still alive and could give a very good description of what they went through.

“Dying to Cross,” by Jorge Ramos - I recommend this not just because it is good, but because it is timely. Nineteen people died in an un-air-conditioned truck as they were attempting to make their way into the states from over the Mexican border. It’s a horrific story, and one that humanizes an issue for whom some people need to be faced with the humans involved and what they go through.

“Bath Massacre: America’s First School Bombing,” by Arnie Bernstein - Harold Schecter also wrote a very good book on the Bath school massacre called “Maniac,” but I have a preference for this version. It’s a good reminder that schools in the U.S. didn’t just become targets in the last twenty years or so.

“Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer - I feel like this is a gimme, but it’s a fantastic book from someone who was actually on Mount Everest during the 1996 disaster and knew those involved very well. I happen to like Krakauer’s work anyway - I even like “Into the Wild” despite my feelings about McCandless and his legacy - but it’s understandably my favorite.

“And the Band Played On,” by Randy Shilts - The one thing I will say is that Shilts’ treatment of Gaetan Dugas is *rough* to say the least and outright wrong on some points, God knows. But it’s still an amazing book, and if you come out of it not wanting to dig up Reagan and punch him a bunch I’m impressed at your restraint.

“Triangle: The Fire That Changed America,” by David von Drehle - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is one of the disasters I am most interested in, and I would argue this is the definitive book on the subject. Also, if this book introduces you to both Clara Lemlich and Frances Perkins … I mean, talk about badass women.

“The Radium Girls,” by Kate Moore - Look, I’ll say this. If you know of the Radium Girls, this is a great book on their story. If you don’t know, go in blind and prepared to be horrified.

“Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,” by Anne Applebaum - Ukraine has always been a target. During the Holodomor, they were victims of one of the worst genocides in history.

“Midnight in Chernobyl,” by Adam Higginbotham - Like the miniseries? This is a great source for more information for what happened at Chernobyl and all of the ass-covering involved.

"Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy," by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge - If you’re interested in the Boston marathon bombing, I really thought this book did a good job of connecting the stories of the victims, the authorities searching for the killers, and the killers themselves.

“Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Tower,” by Peter Apps - As I understand it, Apps did a lot of covering the Grenfell Tower fire for the British press, and it shows. He provides a mountain of information, and you will come out of reading this book absolutely LIVID about what authorities allowed to happen in Grenfell and so many other council estates in the UK.

“Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919,” by Stephen Puleo - I feel as though the molasses flood gets treated like a joke a lot of the time, but y’all, twenty people died. That area of Boston was *wrecked*. The photos of the devastation are terrifying. Puleo treats all of this with the proper respect it deserves.

“In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,” by Nathaniel Philbrick - Forget the movie. Read the book.

“The Great Influenza,” by John M. Barry - Want to read about the 1918 flu epidemic? Want to be mad that a hundred years later we didn’t learn a damn thing?

Now, that’s just a start. If anyone wants, I can always post photos of my disaster book collection on Kindle and next to my recording desk. Or if there’s a specific disaster you’re interested in, I may know of a good book about it you can read.

But just remember if SAG and the directors’ guild joins the strike too - there is so much out there to occupy your time until they come back. Entertainment work is work, and it deserves to be supported financially and fairly as such. Rock on, WGA. ✊

[crystaloregarden]

made a visual bingo sheet for doing @batmanisagatewaydrug 's 2025 book bingo since my memory is a lot better with images + I'm not a person who remembers or pays a lot of mind to genres so I'd just forget anyhow B)

also, a few of my friends and i are doing this book bingo together in my server, if any of my moots want to join in!

book titles & my reason for choosing them under the cut:

Literary Fiction: If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (blind pick from storygraph)

Short Story Collection: The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl - Roald Dahl (roald dahl is on this list already so i figured i'd read some of his other stuff, too!)

Sequel: Two Hearts & The Way Home - Peter S. Beagle (sequels-ish to the last unicorn which is one of my top fav pieces of media of all time I NEEEED THESE)

Reread a childhood favorite: Matilda - Roald Dahl (LOVE THIS BOOK & MOVIE SO MUCH!!!)

20th century speculative fiction: The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin (i've been trying and failing to read Wizard of Earthsea due to lack of time + its juvenile tone so hoping i can find something i like in this book instead!)

Fantasy: Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao (been on my TBR forever and finally have an excuse to prioritize it)

Published before 1950: The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux (ALSO been on my TBR forever, attempted to read it once via audiobook but the audiobook reader was so bad at reading that i had to put it down. hopefully my library has a print copy!!)

Indie Publisher: Those We Do Not See - Angie Gallion (looked on the list that the tumblr post recommended, ended up at red adept publishing and blind picked)

Graphic Novel/Comic Book/Manga: Dragon Quest - Adventure of Dai (recommended to me by luca! he first recommended dragonball to me and i had to decline because that's is SO many chapters FHSJDFKL)

Animal on the Cover: The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World - Robin Wall Kimmerer (obsessed with all of kimmerer's works and need to read them all NOOOWWWWWW)

Set in a Country You Have Never Visited: The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo (this was recommended to me right before i left kansas by the person who did my hair so it's only been on my TBR a short while, but i'm always super eager to read books that were personally recommended to me!!)

Science Fiction: Time Shards - David Fitzgerald, Dana Fredsti (was on my TBR in storygraph, i don't remember adding this so it might as well be a blind pick FHKSJDHF)

2025 Debut Author: The Woman In The Wallpaper - Lora Jones (blind pick!)

Memoir: Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy - Charles Busch (recommended to me by my coworker at my old job who was an elderly gay man who spent his life in theatre, extra excited to read this one!!)

Essay Collection: Fanged Noumena: Collected Writings 1987-2007 - Nick Land (on my storygraph TBR, i think i saw some quotes from a tumblr post and added it?? i THINK)

2024 Award Winner: Dance with Me - Georgia Beers (blind picked from the Lambda Literary Awards since they focus on LGBT+ works!)

Nonfiction: Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair - Sarah Schulman (recommendation from a tumblr account i follow for book recs on activism and mental health)

Activism/SJ: Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights - Molly Smith, Juno Mac (same as above!)

Romance Novel: Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (was on my storygraph TBR)

Horror: Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer (i am vaguely aware that the movie version of this book is dogshit and i've heard the book is LEAGUES better so i want to take a peek for myself)

Published in 2000-2009: Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them - Francine Prose (ohhh i added this to my tbr recently-ish but i don't remember where i found it, i am SUPER interested in this though as both a writer and an avid reader!)

Historical Fiction: Babel - R.F. Kuang (blind pic, partially influenced by the fact that luca brings up the tower of babel so often that we have a spiritual "mentioning tower of babel" jar in place)

all i need now is the library rec (i'll be moving in walking distance from a library in a couple weeks), the read & make a zine (i'll poke around archive.org to find some interesting ones & potentially want to make one myself about my old cat who passed) and read & make a recipe (i cook at home rather than eat out most of the time so this is gonna happen prolly within like a week of 2025 anyways)

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: june 2024

before I get started on June, I have to issue a correction from May: I forgot to include a book!

last year I backed Iron Circus Comics' erotic anthology My Monster Girlfriend, edited by Andrea Purcell and Amanda Lafrenais, and it finally arrived just ahead of pride. My Monster Girlfriend contains 15 stories by all by different artists, and features protagonists who get it on with everything from the classic ghosts, werewolves, and vampires to a reality-warping angel (?) who contains infinite dimensions, a sleep paralysis demon, and an all-consuming flesh monster hivemind.

while I would have liked to see a little more variety in the freakishness of the actual sex, the anthology is a lot of fun and shows off a great diversity of art styles and scenarios in which one might get down to clown with a monster girlfriend. my personal favorites were Feather by Kanesha C. Bryant, in which an intrepid pervert boldly attempts to locate their girlfriend's genitalia; MonsterHER Under the Bed by Bont and Wes Brooke, which puts a cute, sexy little spin on the monster under the bed; Forest Wedding by Otava Heikkilä, which reads like an old timey fable except it ends in a giant forest woman getting crazy fisted by her new trans husband; and Girl Fiend by InnKeeperWorm, which is infinitely jackoffable even though, frankly, the hellhound should have stayed in her more monstrous canine form to fuck.

okay, now onto the June reading! I found myself reaching the end of the month surprised that I had added so few books to my 2024 spreadsheet, and then I realized: it's fucking PRIDE MONTH and I'm a career queer. I spent most of June either busting ass working various events or in a coma recovering from said events; no wonder I didn't read as much as I thought I would. I also gave up on one novel after sinking close to 200 pages in it, which means the list is even shorter, but trust me: the DNF was the right decision.

so, who made the cut for pride?

The Monsters We Defy (Leslye Penelope, 2022) - this book was a romp! it's fun! it's a hoot, dare I say! this is a historical urban fantasy that takes place in the Black society of 1920s Washington, DC. protagonist Clara and her band of ragtag magical misfits have a heist to pull off against one of the most powerful Black women in DC, with their own curses and powers at stake. it's a fun story with a neat magic system and lots of words that are capitalized so you know they're Magical and Important, and it's a read that goes down real easy. strong recommendation if you find yourself in a slump!

Just for the Cameras (Viano Oniomoh, 2023) - my first foray into independently published romance! and it was... fine. the plot's a little patchy, sure, but it's definitely not the worst romance I've ever read, and at least a throuple made for a nice change of pace. AND nobody's seething with jealousy or insecurity about multiple partners? you love to see it. this book was apparently originally intended to be a novelette and it definitely could have stayed that way, but if bisexual Black hotties sucking and fucking is what you seek then you're going to have a great time. TW: 2/3 main characters are British.

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs (Ina Park, 2021) - to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, this is one of my very favorite nonfiction reads of the year so far. I cannot emphasize this enough: if you like the way that I talk about STIs and sex ed on this blog then I think you'll really like this book, because having read this book I desperately want to be her friend. she brings so much passion and energy to her work that it bursts right off the page and is - pardon this awful pun - absolutely infectious.

Survivor (Octavia E. Butler, 1978) - for those you not in the know, this book is kind of a get. it's the only book of Butler's that was never reprinted, so now you can only read it if you get ahold of a super expensive original edition OR if you, hypothetically, find a PDF online and print off the entire thing on your work printer. and I'm so glad I did the latter, because holy shit this book whips ass. the book was apparently disavowed for its lack of connection to the rest of the Patternist series, which is true but oh my god, the story is SOOOO cool anyway. we've got a human woman named Alanna who grew up feral on Earth only to be adopted by a Christian cult who are GOING INTO SPACE to preserve the human race, but it turns out there are already intelligent people on the new planet and they have Feelings about what the future of these human missionaries is going to be. it's on Alanna to navigate the clashing cultures and tension between the humans and two warring groups of aliens, and it is fucking URGENT. I don't say this lightly but I think this has ascended to be in my top three Butler novels.

No Name in the Street (James Baldwin, 1972) - ooooooh my god you guys!! oh my god!!! I've never read any of Baldwin's long form nonfiction, but within pages I knew that this was going to pretty permanently change my brain. this memoir-ish book delves into, among other things, Baldwin's witnessing of the American civil rights movement, including the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. woven around that is the alienating experience of being a Black man with exactly enough cultural cache and social clout to sometimes isolate him from the people he grew up with but not nearly enough to buy acceptance or safety in a white society, emphasized by Baldwin's unfinished struggle to free a friend from prison after a wrongful murder charge. and somehow that's barely doing the book justice! it's so vast and incisive and weary and impassioned and it did, truly, have me jotting down the names of everything Baldwin ever wrote to make sure I can read it all. as much as I bemoan my habit of impulse reserving books from the library, I really am indebted to the Stacks podcast for getting this on my radar.

[scintillating-scales]

The Last Unicorn (1982) and Tales From Earthsea (2006) are foundational nonhuman movies to me, and I want to talk about them, because they mean a lot to me.

The entire story of The Last Unicorn's unicorn being turned human by Schmendrick, and feeling so much grief for her true form, while also slowly losing who she was and becoming someone entirely different, is so profound to me, and I don't see people talk much about it. That to me is nonhuman media, straight up. It's become more profound as I've aged and picked up on the themes better, though it was still one of my favorite movies as a child. I relate now to the unicorn's sense of duty to her forest, as well as her sortof lesser divine nature. Not a god really. More a spirit; something powerful and special, borne from and tied to the Earth to watch over some of its other creations. Like her, I am something powerful, with an air of something just beyond full human understanding, but not unearthly.

Tales From Earthsea is very different from the books it's based on, which is why a lot of people disliked it, but I thought the detail of people whose spirits were truly free becoming dragons was a fantastic addition. It's my favorite part of the movie. It gave me hope as a child, and speaks to me deeply now. I felt when I was younger that if I wanted for it enough, and believed it to be possible, that I may one day wake up as a dragon, and fly off to find a place I could call my own.

I also really loved werewolf media. I read a lot, and many werewolf movies are horror (which meant I wasn't allowed to watch them until I was older), so most of the werewolf stuff I liked took that form. Wereworld, Wolven, a few Goosebumps books, plus some nonfictional books about the history of werewolves were all things I enjoyed. I wanted to be a werewolf for a while, so much so that I believed I could become one. Though I think a lot of that was the deep wishing that I could transform into something nonhuman. I don't connect well with canines nowadays.

I think I have transformed in a way. I've shifted from wanting to be a dragon, to internally being fully draconic. My soul itself, if such a thing exists, is fully a dragon. And yet it's crammed into this human body. I've transformed, my body just hasn't caught up.

Anyway. Do y'all have media you think captures your nonhumanity closely? And, are there any nonhumans who'd want recommendations for media representing their species identity? I've seen and read a lot over the years (lots of werewolves, some cats, couple mermaids/sirens, various birds, fairies, dragons, horses, robots/AI, etc), so I may be able to give decent suggestions.

[caluski]

It made me wonder what do people mean when they say, so often, how they've read fics that are better than books. Like specifically. Because while I'm not negating the skill you need to write good fanfiction - it's still writing obviously - but like I've never seen people bring up any examples. Is it about shipping fanfiction being better than published romance? I've never been very interested in fanfics, so I don't have much experience reading it, and I'm absolutely not saying this in bad faith - just genuinely curious. What do people mean when they say they've read fanfiction better than books?

Read fanfiction for the first Time in 8 years last night while waiting for my fever to go down and I have a lot of thoughts about it.

[shark-myths]

do you have any book recs for books about girls that feel like girl out boy. i want to read about girls but i don't want to read about fall out boy yk

I love this question! I am constantly seeking for books that feel like Girl Out Boy because I want to live in that muggy girlspace at all times. These cut a wide swath of genres and probably only 2 of them are genuine read-alikes in tone; the rest share a headspace or ethos or were otherwise important in shaping that world. I would love to collect other peoples’ recommendations on this question, so please chime in!

Nonfiction:

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Any book by Melissa Febos

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper

The Riot Grrrl Collection ed. by Lisa Darms

Fiction:

The Scapegracers series by H.A. / August Clarke—the most GOB thing I have ever read in my life!

Supper Club by Lara Williams

Anything Resembling Love by S. Qiouyi Lu

We Were Witches by Ariel Gore

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

You Know I’m No Good by Jessie Ann Foley

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

Comics:

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Man-Eaters by Chelsea Cain

Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughn

Girl Town by Casey Nowak

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

Okay, I'm stopping myself now, because this is clearly just becoming a "Book About Women Sharks Want You To Read". And I could go on, and on, and on. Please let me know if you read and like any! Reading and talking about reading are my favorite things in the world.

Go forth and read about girls!

[apollohears]

Care to share some facts about the ROs?

without spoiling much here are some other silly things that could go along with the romance character bios I've already posted!

Pavlos:

✸ character inspo song: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — Elton John. ✸ he refuses to learn how to read written music and, having taught himself how to play the lute when he was younger, has perfect pitch, which makes it simple for him to perform music entirely by ear. ✸ adores satin and lace shirts, especially those with a cute ruffled cuff hem and a silk robe with an eye-catching pattern. His mother's closet serves as his sole source of fashion inspiration; he won't part with any of her items and finds comfort in dressing in the same robes he remembers her wearing as a child. ✸ cannot even save himself by throwing a punch or fighting without somehow hitting or harming himself in some way.

Rune:

✸ character inspiration song: Abbey — Mitski ✸ has a very bad staring problem, it doesn't help while their always wearing that damn helmet. ✸ they appear to have an odd and profound fascination with nurturing outside wildlife and bugs, for whatever reason. ✸ their stance is so rigid and firm that it appears as though they were born with the heavy, bulky metal armor on.

Annette:

✸ character inspo song: When Will My Life Begin (reprise) — Mandy Moore. ✸ her favorite genre besides poetry and fantasy to read is nonfiction biographies written by mad men since she lives for a good conspiracy theory. Her second favorite genre is horror, especially horror stories about creatures and supernatural sightings. Her favorite thing to do before bed is light a candle and read tucked away in her pillow fort. ✸ her collection of knives and daggers is derived from antique weapons that she would conceal from her brother's belongings. Nestled amidst her heaps of vintage writing journals is a small trunk that houses a great assortment of more than twelve. She developed an obsession/hobby when she was younger after reading a tale about a female knight. She also secretly trains herself in swordplay and knife skills by observing her brothers in action during their training. ✸ she detests it when her maids are told to do anything with her hair. Her mother believes that her hair is embarrassing, even though Annette simply loves to have her curls out and feels most beautiful when she isn't wearing her mother's tight, pulled-back styles.

Silas/Sophia:

✸ character inspo song: Gilded Lily — Cults. ✸ just might be a sadist with how many times they get into fights with complete random people, doesn't help that they have a very cocky mouth. Insulting someone like it's almost like second nature, they refuse to have a filter. Their favorite word being "fuck" with how many times they say it in a sentence. ✸ almost every creation and weapon they have ever made has a name and a personality, and they expect you to be familiar with them all as well. ✸ has an issue with overworking themselves to the bone, pulling all-nighters, and refusing to give up on projects since they like to sit down and get everything done in one sitting. will be hyper-fixed on everything, revolving around whatever they are working on until they move onto the next thing and start the cycle again.

[obsessioncollector]

haiiiii peyton ^_^ what were your favorite books this year?

Hiiii Lane!! 🤗💝 I hope you're having a lovely holiday or just a lovely day if you're not celebrating! I am so indecisive when it comes to picking faves so enjoy my non-answer 😊 I'm also going to tag you celia @symptomofloves bc you said you want to see my faves! ❤️

I would say the overarching theme of the year has been longing, desire, eroticism, and obsession, in many manifestations. So I'm going to list a cluster of excellent and often insanity-inducing (compliment!) books that fall into that category, in the order of when I read them (so unranked):

Dennis Cooper — George Miles cycle: THE obsessioncollector saga... Definitely not for everyone bc it's very graphic and upsetting, but he captures the desire for understanding and connection so well. I read it at the beginning of the year so it really set the tone for the year to come.

Mary Gaitskill — Bad Behavior: A story collection! She is one of those writers who articulates things I never realized I feel—reading her is such a revelation!

D.H. Lawrence — The Rainbow; Women in Love: Would transitioning have saved her? I'm kidding but truly he captures the experience of being a teen girl and young woman so well. (These two books are a diptych so I get to lump them together.)

Kathy Acker — In Memoriam to Identity: Read this so you can enjoy the sadly defunct @kathyack-blog-blog 😊 Like Mary Gaitskill in that she captures elements of myself I never knew existed.

Angela Carter — Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories and The Magic Toyshop: Her most famous work is the story collection The Bloody Chamber, so I also recommend starting there if you want something less daunting than the complete stories. I love Angela Carter! I think I reblogged a gifset of her talking about her work being self-indulgent but she is self-indulgent in the same ways as me! Gothic and elegant and she is such a master of the fairytale/folklore retelling, which I think is so often done in boring and predictable ways.

Edmund White — A Boy's Own Story: All bangers from the very first few pages! Such an eloquent examination of a self-conscious adolescent painfully dedicated to trying to understand himself and others. Reminiscient of that Mishima quote about how he thought he was more mature than the other boys but it was just because he thought about himself more bc he was so insecure </3

And then here are a handful of ones that don't fit into that theme but were nonetheless highlights:

Scholastique Mukasonga — Our Lady of the Nile: Celia is also a Mukasonga fan so you know she has to be good! 😊 This is a collection of interlinked short stories, all set at a Rwandan boarding school. Masterfully combines the more mundane tensions of adolescence with the leadup to the genocide.

Maya Binyam — Hangman: A 2023 release! I don't read many recent releases bc I find it difficult to sift through the hype but I'm so glad I read this one. A treasure and also quite distinctive in terms of the style and structure.

Mae M. Ngai — The Chinese Question: This was my only 5 star nonfiction of the year! Ngai is probably better known for her book about undocumented immigrants in US history, but I read this one bc it was available at my library and it's excellent. It focuses on restrictions on Chinese immigration, both in the US and also South Africa and Australia, around the time of the Gold Rush. Ties into contemporary issues, both in terms of immigration (unsurprisingly) but also in terms of questions of diaspora and cultural identity.

Jhumpa Lahiri — Interpreter of Maladies: I should have read this years ago but I think I unconsciously avoid contemporary writers from bourgeois New England backgrounds bc that's literally me 😭😭😭 Pretty much the platonic idea of a story collection though. All the characters seem so fully realized, in such a small amount of time!

Thomas Mann — Death in Venice and Other Tales: Sometimes people talk about reading to see themselves reflected but Mann is a writer to read if you want to see yourself reflected in the most unflattering light possible 😭 Another writer I'd been putting off for way too long.

Isabella Hammad — Enter Ghost: As I said wrt Angela Carter, I can be wary of anything marketed as a retelling or too intertextual/meta bc I think they're often done poorly, but this is an exception! To be clear, it's not a retelling, but it's centered on a British Palestinian theatre actress who impulsively joins a Palestinian production of Hamlet while visiting her sister. Very intriguing examination of the protagonist trying to understand her own Palestinian identity while also negotiating how to present herself to her family + friends and the world and resists simple dichotomies.