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redgoldsparks · 5 months ago

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May Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by CJ Hauser

This essay collection focuses on human relationships, many of them romantic, but also with grandparents, parents, sisters, best friends, COVID-isolation pods, and with the children of romantic partners from previous relationships. The title essay interweaves the experience of a broken engagement with a scientific expedition to study the dwindling population of whooping cranes in the Gulf Coast of Texas to devastating effect. Another experience, covering the DARPA Robotics Challenge trails, in which teams test out potential robotic first responders, speaks to the author's own desire to both save others and be saved by a string of problematic men. The author dated a lot of men and a few women in their twenties and processes them through the lens of media (the film The Philadelphia Story, the TV show The X-Files,the novels Don Quixote, Rebecca, We Have Always Lived in the Castle) and the perspective gained with time. I really loved this whole collection, but the piece that keeps rolling around in my mind is "The Fox Farm", about trying to recreate an archetype of a child's fantasy house (full of animals, friends, gardens, infinite rooms) in real life as an adult. I left this book wanting to know more- when did the author start using nonbinary pronouns? Have they resolved their feelings about their tits? Is that guest room in their big upstate New York house still available for visiting artists, and if so, how do I apply for the position of resident writer/new friend?

American Teenager: How Trans Kids are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era by Nico Lang

Queer journalist and author Nico Lang traveled around the US to meet 11 families of trans teens and see how anti-trans legislation is impacting their daily lives. Each family has different circumstances; one teen fears his top surgery will be indefinitely delayed, while another had surgery already and has joined the boys swim team at his high school. Some teens are moved to become activists while others want to just live their normal, low-profile lives. With humor and compassion, Lang shows trans teenagers as they really are: kids trying their best, day by day, to grow into their truest selves and fullest potential. The various chapters are by turns deep, silly, introspective, sweet, and smart, just like teens themselves. I was able to read an advanced copy of this book- pre-order it now, or look for it on shelves in October 2024!

Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb read by Elliot Hill

NO ONE IS DOING IT LIKE ROBIN HOBB. NO ONE! After a disappointing journey up the Rain Wilds River, baby we are BACK! And by back, I mean, back in a first person POV and back with FitzChivalry, one of my literal favorite fictional characters ever. This is the 7th book about his life, and the 14th overall book in this series, so I won't be summarizing it. Let's just say that Fitz found his happy ending (minus a few key soulmates) and then his life kept going. More problems, more politics, more magic, maybe stranger than ever before. A new character introduced in this series swept in and stole my heart. I can't wait to dive into the next book very soon!

Rose/House by Arkady Martine read by Raquel Beattie

A brief murder mystery set in an fully conscious AI house in the southwest desert. This story feels in conversation with Ray Bradbury's story The Veldt and has many elements I enjoy, but a somewhat unresolved and slightly unsatisfying ending. I'm honestly still simmering on my thoughts, but looking forward to discussing this in book club soon! Edit post book club: a discussion helped me clarify what I thought was working in this book (tone, setting, themes) and what was not working (too many red herrings for such a short book, and an ending twist that seemed to undercut the book's main premise). I still think it's worth a read for Arkady Marine fans, but it is not as strong as her full length books.

Dances of Time and Tenderness by Julian Carter

In 2016 Julian Carter, a queer author and long-time participant in San Francisco's dungeon kink scene, received an invitation to be part of an archival matchmaking project. The project paired artists, activists, and scholars with specific issues of OUT/LOOK: The National Lesbian and Gay Quarterly. The assignment was to use the issue as a jumping off point to think about queer history and make something "new and provocative." Carter's assigned issue was from Winter 1991, the year the CDC announced 1 million American were HIV positive and AIDS was the 3rd leading cause of death in people aged 25-44 years. One of the many who died in 1991 due to AIDS related complications was Lou Sullivan, one of the first trans men to publicly identify as gay. From this starting point, this book traces paths of queer lineage, both proclaimed and obscured, traveling through history, memory, and poetry. Carter is linked, through friendship or scholarship, to Susan Stryker, pioneer of transgender history, to Zach Ozma, who edited Lou Sullivan's diaries for publication, and to Lou himself. Casting a transgender eye back on a queer history divided sharply into gay and lesbian, Carter allows himself to claim as ancestors sailors, skeletons, writers, lovers, and reaches forward in time towards students, readers, and artists. Including me. I was fortunate enough to be gifted an early copy by the author, and read it back in February back in one delicious rush. I already want to read it again, and more slowly, this time underlining and annotating it. This is a book to savor, but is easy to devour instead. It's sensual and surprising, formally precise, and made me want to dig around in a mess of queer historical papers and also contribute my own to the pile. It's out on June 4, 2024; give it a pre-order or look for it on shelves soon!

49 Days by Agnes Lee

Kit, a young Korean American woman, wakes up on a beach with a map and a watch telling her she's already late. For days, she clambers over rocks and up trails, reaching for an undefined goal. Slowly, the book begins to flash back to Kit's childhood and family, the people she loved and left behind after her accidental death. In Buddhist tradition a soul travels for 49 days before rebirth, and this book follows one version of that path, the grief and slow healing that follow a loss. Drawn in a very simple yet evocative style, the spare ink lines and limited color fill this journey with meaning.

Early Riser by Jasper Fforde read by Thomas Hunt

What a bizarre and delightful novel. It's set in an alternate history in which ice-age level cold spells cause the majority of humans to hibernate every winter, which has ripple effects on the development of technology, societal rules, culture, and family structures. Charlie Worthing was born in a "pool" in the independent nation of Wales, or a group home in which nuns dedicated to reproduction birth and raise dozens of children, in returns for credits from those who can't or don't want to have their own kids. Charlie has very few job prospects, especially ones that will give him access to morphanox, a drug which helps most people survive their months-long winter sleeps. The drug also turns about 1 in 3000 into a brain-dead zombie, but this risk is considered better odds than sleeping without it. So Charlie volunteers for the Winter Consuls, the law-keepers and problem-solvers who stay up all winter to safe guard the majority. There he has to face the three well documented dangers of winter- Vacants (zombies), Villains (the British) and Winter Volk (fairies, whose reality is debated), as well as rumors of a viral dream. The humor in this book is a close cousin to Terry Pratchett's work, in which absurdity and invention mask some pretty biting social commentary and anti-capitalist motives. I did think some of the twists at the end didn't quite pay off, however, I had such a good time with the ride this book took me on that I'd still recommend it.

Blue Flag vol 2 by Kaito

This vol has already taken a kind of melancholy, bittersweet narrative tone which might put me off the series. I still really like the characters and overall think the writing is very effective, out I wish the humor and sweetness of book 1 would last farther into the series!

Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Jester Lavorre by Sam Maggs, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, Hunter Severn Bonyun, Cathy Le, Ariana Maher

Short and sweet, this prequel comic shows Jester's first meeting with The Traveler, the prank that caused her need to flee from Nicodranas, and a window into Jester's relationship with her mother. It's a slight story but I loved the artwork, especially the outfits and the beautiful city views.

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

Kelly Link, one of my favorite short story authors, debuted a novel 650 pages long. I bought this the day of release but it took me a few months to actually crack it open. I'd seen it described as slow, but I think I'd say leisurely. It opens with an intriguing premise- four teenagers come back from the dead, not knowing how they died or why they were brought back 11 months later- and have to solve a magical problem if they want to keep living. But the book is less a mystery than a close examination of the teens lives in a small New England town in December. The teens include Danial, oldest of many step-siblings, who rejects his new magical powers and just wants to live a small and ordinary life. There's Mo, who lost his parents young, and was being raised by his grandmother, a famous Black romance novelist- who herself died during the 11 months he spent in an underworld. There's Laura, a musically ambitious teen, who comes back to her single mom and sister Susannah, who seems somehow entangled with the magical ritual that killed and might save her friends. And then there's a fourth person who none of the others know, who snuck out of death on their coat tails and has no name and few memories. The book rotates POVs every chapter, with more than 15 different POVs, some of whom only appear once in the whole volume. I love Link's writing style so this worked for me, but I can see how this choice to linger over details not directly related to the plot might not work for some readers. I really enjoyed this but it did take me 3 weeks to read it and I suggest other readers pick it up when ready for a slow burn of a book.

Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

This original fairytale opens with teenage Jane mourning the recent death of her parents, after she already lost her younger brother to the sea as a child. Because there's no male heir, Jane's horrible cousin will be kicking her out of the house in a week. The only option she can see is marrying within the week so that she can access her dowry. So Jane walks down to the fishing village below her manor and proposes to a beautiful but shallow fisherman's son. He accepts- then is immediately lured under the waves by a mermaid. Jane runs into the town asking for help but only an old woman with witchy vibes is willing to aid her. The crone gives Jane a potion so she can breathe underwater, a stone which will allow her to walk on the bottom of the ocean, and a shawl to keep her warm in the depths. So armed, Jane walks into the sea after the boy who feels like her only hope. Under the waves she encounters allies and enemies, learns the true power of her own will, and realizes she might have more choices than she's realized.

Blue Flag vol 3 by Kaito

Well, I started another book because the last one ended on a massive cliff hanger, but I think I'm setting the series down after this one. I still think it's very well written, but the main character has such low self-esteem that he shouts at other characters that he sucks, he's a jerk, he doesn't deserve their friendship and they should leave him alone. I bet the arc of this series will be building this character up to where he believes he deserves their love and friendship, but I just don't feel like dwelling in this character's self-pity at the moment. I would have eaten this shit up as a teen though! Especially with the queer characters.

The Free People’s Village by Sim Kern

Set in an alternate timeline in which Al Gore won the 2000 election and declared the War on Climate Change instead of the War on Terror, this novel is an interesting mix of hopeful and dystopian elements. The main character is Maddie Ryan, a white high school English teacher working in a primarily Black neighborhood in Houston, TX. The novel is Maddie's written account of a tumultuous year in which the grungy music warehouse where her punk band practices and performs is threatened by a proposed high way and oil line which will rip up not only their art space but also a historically Black neighborhood. Maddie starts attending activist meetings which quickly morph into a full blown protest encampment surrounding the warehouse. Dubbed the Free People Village, this protest movement goes viral and is met with the exact same kind of violent police response as the current student encampments protesting for Palestine on college campuses. Woven through this depressingly accurate political forecast are multiple queer love stories, interracial friendships, a 101 crash course in anarchist philosophy and bracing look at what long-term activism takes. Folks with more of an organizing or activist background than I might find some of this book a bit basic; but I was completely drawn in by the relationships and conflicts of Maddie, Red, Gestas, Angel, and Shayna. This book feels almost painfully timely, and I hope a lot of people read it and gain both courage and perspective.

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