Instructions for Dancing (by Nicola Yoon)

I feel like this was either a Jen recommendation or on the "realistic YA novel about Black youth" list for the Read Harder Challenge. Either way: a delightful young adult romance by an incredibly talented Black author with a Black main character. 

The conceit here is that Evie (who is having a hard time after the divorce of her parents due to an affair) suddenly finds herself able to see the beginning, middle, and end of relationships. This leads to a meditation on whether, even knowing that it will end, falling in love is still worthwhile.  At the same time she starts taking ballroom dancing lessons and meets Xavier, who she starts falling for in spite of herself. Of course me being me, I cried at the end of this. Beautifully wrapped up.  

Apparently she has other books which for some reason I haven't read? I will need to get on that.

Detransition, Baby (by Torrey Peters)

My second Camp ToB read.  I loved No One Is Talking About This, but the commentariat seems to have...  not loved it.  I somewhat suspect the opposite will happen with Detransition, Baby, which is incredibly well regarded and reviewed, but which I disliked.  

Reese is a deliberately flawed character but I found her too horrible to sympathize with.  Which would be fine, except the novel seems to want you to sympathize anyway. Katrina is completely implausible in her behaviors and reactions. (Why would she want to share a baby with Reese who, again, is awful to her.) Ames seems masochistically entwined with her too, but I can understand the solidarity and love that is between them.  As a character, Ames is the best of the three, but also not particularly coherent.

As I sifted through Goodreads to find some reviews that might agree with me, the ones I did find complained about the ending (which I actually liked a lot) and the writing (which I was fine with).  So maybe I am just not on this book's wavelength. I did learn a lot from this book: the origin of the term transgender, the complexities of detransitioning, and much about genital dysphoria and sex in the trans world.  So ultimately I'm glad I read it but in the end, and maybe because I am a cis woman, this book was Not For Me. Which is okay.

Waikiki Reads

I read four books while on vacation, definitely a nice cross-section of my reading tastes (just missing the YA). And here now are those four books.

Golden Girls Forever (by Jim Colucci) 

I found out this book existed right before the trip, and serendipitous the library had it available.  A nonfiction book about The Golden Girls: what better book to read on my first airplane ride since 2019? It's full of great information and tidbits about the show, and I accompanied the book with many YouTube searches for particular scenes and moments. The closest this gets to drama is that Bea Arthur wasn't super friendly or warm to a lot of people. I still love the hell out of her though. 

Project Hail Mary (by Andy Weir)

I adore The Martian and after Artemis I thought it was the one and only truly magical book Andy Weir would ever write. But this goes back to the "lone dude in outer space doing hard science" well and thus scratches the identical itch as The Martian. Again the lead is basically Mark Watney (except he doesn't curse) but Weir adds in a first contact storyline that is both inventive and plausible. Absolutely loved this!

One Last Stop (by Casey McQuiston)

Oh, my heart. A romcom from the author of Red, White, and Royal Blue and it's perfection. The lead character is curvy and bisexual. (Some of the best bisexual representation I've ever read.)  The love interest is a hot butch woman. There's a sci fi twist. There's a ragtag group of friends. I cried at the end. And McQuiston is non-binary so this qualifies as "a romance by a trans or nonbinary author." A delightful book!

No One Is Talking About This (by Patricia Lockwood) 

Read for Camp ToB. This is a book in two parts: the first is an exploration of the internet (called "the portal") and full of true moments about what it's like to be "extremely online" in the era of Trump (called "the dictator"). The book then takes a turn in the second half and grapples with the intrusion of real life (and the heartbreaking impact of draconian "pro-life" politics) in an incredibly moving way.  This isn't an easy read, in the end, but it is an astonishing and remarkably subtle work. 

All four of these books were terrific, several being among my favorite reads of the year.