Rusty Brown (by Chris Ware)

This was part of my challenge to read 10 physical books this year - this one is a 700-page comic and quite unwieldy so it was taking up a lot of shelf space! 

Ware's comics are beautiful depictions of depressed, toxic masculinity and sad people with circumscribed lives, this time set in small-town Nebraska. Mostly reading this was tiresome and unlike with Building Stories, which I loved, it wore out is welcome with me.  I think my favorite part was the novel-within-a-novel called Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars which, yes, is depressing and about toxic masculinity (and you don't want to know what happens to the dogs) but was inventive.

Sounds like damning with faint praise, doesn't it? I appreciate the achievement of Rusty Brown but it's definitely one that I'm passing along to the next reader, and don't need to keep on my shelf.  (Also this was my 10th physical book of the year! Although only 6 have left my house, so I'll try to read a couple more before the year is out.)  

Silent Parade (by Keigo Higashino)

I should have a tag just for Japanese mysteries at this point, but here we are again. Part of the "Detective Galileo" series that includes The Devotion of Suspect X. 

As usual, kept me turning the pages - and I wondered how Higashino was going to twist the ending, considering that a lot of things are known at the outset.  Is this a whodunit or a howcatchem? I thought to myself more than once. 

I wouldn't go to this as my first Higashino - I think Malice is my favorite so far - but it's another compelling, complex, satisfying mystery.

Iceland Books

I got a bit caught up on my reading goal and finished six books while I was on vacation. As per usual, here they are in vacation roundup format. 

We Solve Murders (by Richard Osman) 

My friend sent me a picture of this book on the recommendation shelf of a local independent bookstore, because it's written by Richard Osman, who has been on Taskmaster UK, a show he introduced me to. This is the moment I realized the Taskmaster Richard Osman is the same Richard Osman who wrote the Thursday Murder Club series! We Solve Murders is the beginning of a new series from him, and thanks to my friend, also meets the criteria of "a staff pick from an indie bookstore" for the Read Harder Challenge. Apart from that, it's a great kickoff to a new series - funny, unpredictable, cozy, with charming characters. If you liked Thursday Murder Club, you'll enoy this one too.

Shampoo Unicorn (by Sawyer Lovett)

The novel is about a queer podcast in rural America, shown from three points of view. I think the exploration of small town homophobia and transphobia will resonate with its audience, but it was not quite successful for me. Of the three point of view characters, one is kind of shoehorned in unsuccessfully, and another is in second person for seemingly no reason. More a book I'm glad exists for today's kids than one which landed with me.

Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says About Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds (by Joseph Laycock)

As the title suggests, this one is pretty academic and definitely reads like someone's published thesis (not that there's anything wrong with that). Read this for the RHC category "a book about a moral panic."  I did find it very interesting, as Laycock talks about how fantasy serves similar functions to religion in society and how that overlap can lead to moral panic. It also talks about how the secret to averting a theocracy is allowing people to explore imaginary worlds and alternative frameworks like art, fantasy, science, and religion (apart from the hegemonic one). A slow read but enjoyable.

Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart (by Eric Geron)

A queer YA, of course. On the plus side: had a real story of self-discovery that felt authentic, and wasn't formulaic.  On the negative side: the tone is confusing, a lot of plot is unresolved (like okay, his dad is a cartoon-like cheater and abuser, but his mom's family takes the dad's side? And that's not ever explained or resolved?), some of the side characters seem more like plot devices than actual people with motivation, and the central romance didn't work for me. So, an author with a ton of potential but a book that didn't quite work. 

A Psalm for the Wild Built (by Becky Chambers)

Sci-fi novella for the category "a queernorm book."  To me, reads like the prologue of an actual book. This is about a discontent "tea monk" named Dex who meets a sentient robot and they become friends and set off on an adventure. It's a classic Becky Chambers cozy sci-fi in a casually queer world but really feels like the story has barely begun. 

The Examiner (by Janice Hallet)

I loved the premise of this one - like The Appeal, a novel told through text messages and emails being reviewed by a third-party - in this case, an examiner (a grade-reviewer) for a master's degree art course populated by some deliciously unlikeable characters.  Also one of them might be dead.  First half of this was terrific, up to the first twist (which I loved) and then the denoument ended up being super long and convoluted, and I didn't quite follow everything that was even going on, what people's motivations were, or what the Maguffin even was. Maybe it was just because I was jetlagged by this point but I saw similar feedback on Goodreads so I didn't feel too alone. 

Two Weeks, Six Books

I went on back-to-back work trips to New York and Austin, and in the process, finished six books that were across the board pretty good! And two of them covered Read Harder Challenge categories: queer mystery and standalone fantasy.  Here are the books:

Murder in the Dressing Room (by Holly Stars) 

A fun cozy mystery about drag culture. I was convinced I knew the murderer the whole way through the book, to the 99% point, but turns out I didn't! The murderer wasn't really the point though, more an endearing story about a cute, nonbinary main character and an exploration of the world of drag. This is the only book on the list that didn't get a + next to it on my list, but it was cute!

Magic for Liars (by Sarah Gailey)

I was dreading the fantasy category until I found this, detective fiction set in a magic school! (I could call this "genre blending" too I suppose, but it's going to be harder to get standalone fantasy out of the way so I'm sticking with that one.) This is so well done. A woman whose twin sister is a mage - but who isn't magical herself - investigates a murder at a magic school. I loved the main character (in spite of her unlikeability) and really enjoyed all the characters, the treatment of magic, and the way it all played out.  

Lorne (by Susan Morrison)

It was fun to be reading this while I was in New York, and especially since I finally got to see Studio 8H on this visit! I knew many of the stories from being an SNL fan over the years but certainly didn't know all of them - and overall was a fascinating insight to the show and Lorne Michaels as a person.  Highly recommended for fans of Saturday Night Live. 

Newcomer (by Keigo Higashino)

Inventive! It's not only a murder mystery but functions as a set of linked short stories - Detective Kaga is a newcomer to this part of town, as is the murder victim, and as you explore different characters you see their connections to each other and to the victim. Often, the vignettes explore a storyline of a person in the neghborhood, as their secrets are revealed and characters loop in and out of the story. Another great offering from Higashino!

Lover Birds (by Leon Egan)

A queer retelling of Pride & Prejudice, wherein a posh London girl moves to Liverpool and meets Lou Byrne and her four best friends.  There are echoes of P&P everywhere (guess who the four best friends are intended to be) but the conflict between the characters ends up feeling organic, and the main character's struggles to manage her ADHD are really well done. Great chemistry between our main couple also! Just overall loved it. 

When the Moon Hits Your Eye (by John Scalzi) 

Last but not least, my pal John Scalzi's latest! I wasn't hugely into Kaiju Preservation Society but this one I really enjoyed. The high concept premise - the moon turns to cheese - becomes an exploration of shared humanity and how we find meaning in our lives.  It's often clever and funny (classic Scalzi) but also surprisingly meditative and profound at points too. Honestly exceeded my expectations! 

Two Black Stallions (by Walter Farley)

One of the categories of this year's Read Harder Challenge was to re-read a childhood favorite book. The Black Stallion's Filly was the only Black Stallion book I read as a child, and I re-read it so many times; I think I still have it, all beaten up, on a shelf somewhere.  Everything I know about horse racing and the Kentucky Derby is from that book, and I loved the main character, the horse Black Minx.

I don't know how I stumbled across it, but I found a review of the book that said The Black Stallion’s Courage also features Black Minx, so I checked that one out as well. And it's almost a direct sequel! It's very strange to read about so many of the same people and horses 40 years later.  But here's my review of each:

The Black Stallion’s Filly (by Walter Farley) 

Read this through the haze of nostalgia. I know more about horse racing these days than I did in the 80s, and I can see more flaws in the writing. (In particular, Farley does that thing where the "dialogue" contains sentences nobody would actually say aloud.) Also while growing up I skimmed right past the part about Alec spending time in the "breeding shed" and certainly didn't have the internet to look up exactly what thoroughbred breeding is all about, and it turns out it's crazy.  But I remember so many moments about this book and it was just a comforting read all around.

The Black Stallion’s Courage (by Walter Farley) 

In this one, I noticed the uneven writing a bit more (there are perspective shifts mid-chapter sometimes that are a bit weird, and suddenly all the horses from the last book have nicknames?) but Black Minx falls in love with another horse, which is pretty hilarious. The main plot is the Black Stallion (who, was basically not in Filly so I have no attachment to him at all) racing in various handicap races, which entails different horses being given different weights so the race comes out even. (I never knew what a handicap race was. Again for 40 years I basically only knew what was in The Black Stallion’s Filly.) The plot is thin - they have to raise $100,000 to rebuild a barn that burned down and $20,000 to buy Black Minx her horse boyfriend. But my inner child was thrilled by the whole experience.

Close to Death (by Anthony Horowitz)

The fifth book in Horowitz's metafictional Hawthorne mystery series; in this one, he writes about a Hawthorne cold case, Agatha Christie style, and also about the experience of trying to write about the cold case when Hawthorne won't tell him the ending. (Although it's just a google search away...)

I love a Christie-style mystery (Horowitz always fools me), and a postmodernist twist. I love that Horowitz has no problem making his fictional self so annoying. And the central mystery is very satisfying, in that it makes perfect sense but also I never saw it coming. 

The Final Season (by Andrew Gillsmith)

This was the most difficult RHC category for me this year, and still not sure if I nailed it, but I read this for a book that went under the radar in 2023." The question of course is what radar? Whose radar? Recommendations in the Goodreads group included a bunch of novels from the Tournament of Books short and longlist. They do find a lot of relatively niche books, but they are by definition on the ToB radar, so they're on the radar, so then they don't count! 

Someone suggested looking for books with a small number of reviews and ratings, and I think a random rec list had this book on it. Not only is it low on reviews and ratings, it isn't carried by any of my libraries, so I bought it. And as a humorous sci-fi book, I would fully expect it to show up on The Big Idea series on Scalzi's Whatever blog, which definitely counts as "the radar" for sci-fi, but it hasn't. (Dear Andrew Gillsmith: Scalzi readers would be so into this, you should get on The Big Idea when you publish the next one in the series.) 

Anyway, the book itself! It's a Douglas Adams-style book about a reality series that's been watching a doomed planet for 10,000 years. The planet's apocalypse is about to happen, and the showrunner has the opportunity to save the planet's inhabitants. But will she? A fun, funny read and really I do think it would be a hit with fans of Agent to the Stars or Hitchhiker's Guide.

What I Read On My Summer Vacation

Spoiler alert: it was 17 books, so buckle up. I'll include the tags in the little blurbs below so you don't have to wade through the one zillion tags I'm about to slap on this bad boy.

The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom (by Allison L. Bitz) young adult, romcom

Loved the character growth and focus more on being a better person than the romance elements. Felt organic, theater kids are the worst and the best. I loved how everyone was casually bisexual, with sexuality not even mentioned. Very Big Reveal-esque in its boarding school setting. One of my favorite of these 17 reads.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute (by Talia Hibbert) young adult, romcom

Super great chemistry, rich characters and ADORABLE. My only two critiques: Katharine Breakspeare is a dumb/fake name, and this random dude Nick showed up as a winner at the end when it could have been any of a handful of other characters we actually knew.) But loved this read and hope Hibbert writes more YA!

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears (by Michael Schulman) nonfiction

Juicy and detailed, got more interesting (for me) as it moved into Oscars I remember watching. I'm a faithful Oscar viewer still ,although I don't make the effort to watch all the nominees that I used to. Ends kind of abruptly but look forward to an expanded edition in five or 10 years!

The Helpline by Katherine Collette women's contemporary, litficL

Like a lighter Eleanor Olifant which is always an absolute delight. I love reading about rigid, literal characters who find happiness with a ragtag group of people who don't give up on them. Germaine is so loveable! Definitely worth reading if you enjoyed Eleanor.

Darkhearts (by James L. Sutter) young adult

I'm a sucker for "turns out I'm gay for YOU" stories but this had a couple of issues.  The best friend was clearly a girl written by a dude (she was unrealistically crude, and in general the book was fairly crude with a lot of poop humor when I would prefer zero poop humor). The character development for our MC (who needed a LOT of it) was too abrupt and the ending really didn't work. But did I keep reading until the end? You bet I did.

The Smitten Kitchen (by Deb Perlman) nonfiction, rhc 2023, cookbook if I had a cookbook tag which I don't because why would I ever do this to myself again

The only reason I read this was for the Read Harder category "read a cookbook from cover to cover" and I kind of hated this challenge. I don't really cook, reading lists of ingredients is boring, and even though her writing is very good, she uses the word "dollop" 38 times, which is probably fine if you're dipping in and out of the cookbook like a normal person but got annoying for me. Just felt very pointless. I always love her recipes though!

Evelina (by Fanny Burney) classics, rhc 2023

The category was "read one of your favorite author's favorite books" and since part of my vacation was a Jane Austen pilgrimage, I decided to read one of Austen's favorites. It was actually a page turner, with some very horrible characters that are overly mean to our poor heroine, but I was glad in the third volume when that subsided and the plot got exciting. Reading about the London season and imagining all the ways Burney influenced Austen made this really fun to read. As opposed to the cookbook thing, I was really glad this challenge was on the list.

Check, Please! (by Ngozi Ukazu) comic, graphic novel, rhc 2023

For the category "read a completed webcomic." This is a webcomic about a college hockey player, with a very sweet grumpy-sunshine romance. Kind of missing conflict and comics will never be my favorite, but quite adorable and joyful. 

Cupid Calling (by Viano Oniomoh) romance, rhc 2023, world literature

Category is: "read an independently published book by a BIPOC author." This is a self-published M/M romance about two contestants on a Bachelorette-like show who meet and fall for each other in a slow-burn romance.  It's very high-quality considering it's self-published, would not have guessed that. Loved the characters, who are both British-Nigerian and have different, complex relationships with their cultures. Definitely includes some fanfic-like sex scenes at the end that are very explicit. But they were well done and fit the characters, so it was fine. My only quibble is that it's supposed to be a reality show made by an Ava Duverney type director but it's got the same format as basically every dating reality show, so talking about how this would be "different" kind of fell flat.

The Aosawa Murders (by Riku Onda) mystery, world literature, translated

This one is all about the atmosphere! Really enjoyed the structure of multiple points of view, and the mood overall.  And the ambiguity - except that it was a shade too ambiguous! I would have liked a little more (though not perfect) resolution at the end. Still, it's eerie and gothic in a specifically Japanese way and I enjoyed it a lot.

Northanger Abbey (by Jane Austen) classic, reread, on paper

I hadn't read Northanger Abbey since I was a teenager, so when I found an adorable pocket copy at the Jane Austen House, I had to get it! really loved having my solo meals in England while accompanied by some chapters from this delightful Austen novel. Oh, and I had apparently forgotten like 80% of the plot because I haven't seen any adaptations either! I'm clearly falling down on the job.

It Goes Like This (by Miel Moreland) young adult

About a fictional "girl band" called Moonlight Overthrow that has broken up and gets back together for a reunion show. Very well written, liked the complexity of the ending, but I did think that everyone treated Eva extremely poorly and did not do enough penance at the end of the book to make their rapprochement satisfying. Gina in particular was underdeveloped, which is especially unfortunate since she is the one Black character. Enjoyable, not amazing. And I strongly suspect this is a gender-swapped rewrite of some former One Direction fanfic.

Plus One (by Kelsey Rodkey) young adult, romcom

Has a main character that somehow gets less and less sympathetic as the book goes along, culminating in so much awfulness that I almost couldn't really get back on her side anymore by the end.  All very well written and I love a confidently plus-size main character. The supporting cast was absolutely fabulous. But oof, once again not enough penance at the end, and that makes it especially hard when it's the character you're supposed to be rooting for. 

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl (by Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum) young adult, romcom

Love the concept and the characters (which gave me Amelia Westlake vibes, one of my favorite sapphic ya romcoms ever) but the viewpoints of the two point of view characters were both not differentiated enough in the writing style (surprisingly, since there were two authors) and not cohesive enough in the characterization (Margo's character in particular.) Disappointing execution, ultimately.

A Line to Kill (by Anthony Horowitz) mystery, series

This is the third book in the Hawthorne series, which starts with The Sentence Is Death. I saw an ad for the fourth installment in the Tube and realized I had missed #3 so checked them both out! This was really good as always, I love Horowitz's metafictional and self deprecating take on Sherlock and Watson and it was a really good mystery. 

Going Bicoastal (by Dahlia Adler) young adult, romcom

One that I saved for the plane because I knew it would be good! Sliding Doors-esque, bisexual, and absolutely charming. Loved the cleverness of the structure and shoutouts to other YAs... including It Goes Like This! Dahlia Adler is as always, really great.

A Twist of the Knife (by Anthony Horowitz) mystery, series

The aforementioned fourth book in the Hawthorne series. I finished this on the train home, half-asleep due to jetlag, so my notes just say "breezy! not as tight as #3 but enjoyable mise en scène." Not even convinced I used mise en scène correctly but there you have it. 

Phew! There you have it, the 17 books I read on my six-week vacation.

Austin Books

Another trip and another set of books: only two this time, though:

Under the Lights (by Dahlia Adler) 

This is the second book in a series I haven't read, but I gathered it's a standalone (it is) and it's got a Sapphic romance and is set in Hollywood, which made it impossible to resist! The point of view alternates between Josh and Vanessa. Josh is a misogynistic asshole who becomes marginally less of one by the end of the book, and that is not a journey I am very interested in. What held my interest was Vanessa, an American actress of Korean descent who falls in love with her manager's assistant (or something), a woman named Brianna.  The romance is well done and kept me reading, in spite of some over-focusing on Josh as well as a side character who is friends with both of them.

All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire (by Rebecca Woolf) 

Rebecca Woolf is a "mommyblogger" from back in the day, but I never followed her. I picked up the book on the endorsement of my friend Evany, who knows Rebecca.  This is a brutally honest memoir about the death of her husband from cancer right after they had decided to divorce. She doesn't shy away from talking about either her infidelity or his abuse, and the toxicity of their marriage. The first half of the book, recounting his illness and death and the aftermath on herself and their four children, is incredibly compelling. The second half, where she renounces patriarchy and monogamy, reads more like a string of blog entries than a compelling narrative, and possibly could have used more structure. But it's a good read and a unique memoir, for sure.

Boston Books

As usual, I did some of my favorite reading in airports and on planes, and finished six books on my trip to and from Boston.  Here they are:

The Boleyn Inheritance (by Philippa Gregory) 

A fun page-turner that had the songs from Six stuck in my head the entire time. It's well-researched but repetitive (the phrase"Boleyn inheritance" is in this book 23 times) and not particularly literary in its execution (lol, execution).  But I enjoyed the story, told from the alternating perspectives of Katherine Howard, Anna of Cleves, and Jane Boleyn.  Anna's story gets somewhat less interesting once she leaves court, but I did enjoy the interpretation that as long as Henry was alive and chopping heads off, she lived in fear. Pulpy and fun if you enjoy the time period.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers (by Adam Sass)

Could not have been more adorable, and maybe my favorite book on this list. Messy and complex, which I always enjoy as it feels more real than a romcom hitting all the expected beats. Loved the cast, the setting, the queer rep, the plus-sized rep.  The best YA I've read in a while, I think! Adorbs.

Broken (by Jenny Lawson) 

Funny and real, albeit in a "these are blog posts clumped together in book form" format. It works anyway, though, because Jenny Lawson is a great writer! She isn't afraid to explore her own challenges with depression and anxiety and also runs it through with humor, ala Allie Brosh.

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker (by Derick Lugo) 

Read for "an adventure story by a BIPOC author."  I struggled with this category (we are down to the "categories Mo struggled with" portion of the year). I can think of some perfect books I've read in the past, like The Good Lord Bird, Washington Black, or Underground Railroad that I would consider to be "adventure stories" but I've read all of those. Book Riot recommended a lot of fantasy adventure, and fantasy isn't my favorite. So instead I went for the nonfiction adventure, the story of a Black man who thru-hikes the Appalachian Trail.  Derick (better known on the trail as Mr. Fabulous) has a distinct voice and a great sense of humor; this felt like reading his diary, in a good way.  I wished for pictures since he often talked about taking pictures on the trail! But a fun read and unique perspective, so I'm glad I picked it. 

The Stench of Honolulu (by Jack Handey) 

This is an extremely silly book by Jack Handey, of Deep Thoughts fame. It was recommended by the blended family whose wedding was the reason for my trip to Boston, as apparently it is quoted a lot in their household.  Very funny, clever and amusing as you might expect! 

The Bullet that Missed (by Richard Oseman) 

This was the book I saved especially for this trip, the third in the Thursday Murder Club series and maybe my favorite one so far! Absolutely delightful, and this series is a must for mystery fans. It's very funny and charming, and the protagonists are all in a retirement community so it showcases vibrant people gracefully dealing with aging while also solving crimes.  

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (by Lori Gottleib)

Sneaking one more in here since I read most of it on the plane. It's by a therapist who has to go to therapy herself to deal with a traumatic breakup.  I am surprised I was so compelled by this one, downloaded it from the library on a whim and somehow ended up finishing the whole thing! I am dying to know who "John" is (some elements almost have to be true, like the TV show having a therapist, which seems like it would make it possible to deduce...) but regardless, an interesting view of both sides of therapy, and I enjoyed it!

A Study in Honor (by Claire O'Dell)

This is a gender-swapped Sherlock Holmes homage, read for the category "a political thriller by a marginalized author (BIPOC, or LGBTQIA+)" in the Read Harder Challenge.

I won't bury the lede: As much as I love Sherlock stories, and love that this one stars two Black women, I had a lot of problems with it.  First of all, we don't even meet Holmes until a third of the way through the book, with the mystery not getting started until well past the halfway mark, this thing is agonizingly slowly paced and then just ends with an abrupt info dump.  This is the first book of a series so I figured it's just a first-book info dump and future books will be structured better. (Based on Goodreads reviews, the pacing of the second one is somehow even worse.)

Second problem: Sara Holmes makes no deductions. Zero. None. No deductions. She sometimes looks people up on some spy device she has and says things about them she's Googled or whatever. HOW IS THIS CHARACTER IN ANY WAY SHERLOCK, THE DEDUCTIONS ARE THE ENTIRE POINT. At one point Janet Watson says "is this another one of your deductions?"  What deductions!  They are completely nonexistent deductions!

More problems: Sara is too ordinary a name for a Sherlock analogue character.  Sara drugging Janet was not charming or cute, although fairly Sherlocky, I will grant you. Sara calling Janet "my love" was weird. Was this suppose to be a romance? As much as I adore a Sapphic romance, it did not work for me. Janet somehow is the first person narrator but is also, separately, keeping a journal that we read excerpts of? The whole thing is her journal. So, what?!

Okay one more thing I found this on Book Riot's rec list for this category  and it wasn't until I got to the end that I realized, even though the two main characters are both Black, the author is white.  She fits the challenge because she is a lesbian author.  But she wrote from the point of view of Janet, a Black character, and Sara is also Black. I leave it to non-white readers to decide how well she pulled it off, and there was enough subtlety there to make me think she was thoughtful about it, but... still kind of didn't sit well with me?

Things I liked: god, this thing was promising. The backdrop is a new American Civil War, basically a very near future alternate history.  Janet is a really good character, her PTSD is handled well, and her device (she has a robotic arm) is incorporated well. There is some fun tech here, like self-destroying paper.  I enjoyed Hudson Realty and the fancy apartment.  I read to the end, really hoping these were first installment kinks that would be worked out in future installments but... maybe not. 

Weekend Reads and Deep Thoughts

I think I got all the tags for this diverse assortment of reads, which I finished over the weekend. 

Happily Ever Island (by Crystal Cestari) 

Okay, this would have been an instant-DNF if not for the Disney angle; the writing is very tell, don't show and reads extremely young for a romance between alleged college-age adults. The chemistry of the romance pairings isn't amazing (the two leads could have fallen in love, making for a better developed romance, but instead they each have their own underdeveloped love interest).  The suspension of disbelief required for this magical Disney island is off the charts (none of it makes any sense, this review by Abigail on Goodreads nails it). The book is produced by Disney and is straight-up propaganda. But did I finish the whole thing and enjoy all the Disneyness of it all? I absolutely did. But this is for Disney mega-fans only.

Husband Material (by Alexis Hall) 

The sequel to Boyfriend Material and has the same Bridget Jones type of vibe. It shamelessly borrows the structure of Four Weddings and a Funeral, although the throughline isn't as well-established. But still laugh-out-loud funny and an enjoyable read.  

Sad Cypress (by Agatha Christie) 

A Christie that is very good, not mind-blowing, but extremely solid. The characters are compelling, the solution is satisfying.  The racism, while unfortunately present as it is in most of Christie's books, is at least minimal.  (Can they do a "cut back on the racism" edit of these books already?) Recommended for Christie fans.

70. Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction (editor Joshua Whitehead) 

A Read Harder pick for "an anthology featuring diverse voices."  I bought this from the publisher on paper to support the editor and authors. My favorite parts were actually the editor's note at the beginning and the final two stories! The editor's note from Joshua Whitehead has been in my head since I read it, for two reasons.  

Firstly, he interrogates the typical notion of post-apocalyptic fiction by asserting that for indigenous people, we have already been living in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. And I was like oh my god, of course we have. I realized how deeply my colonialist mindset had been embedded. Of course this is the dystopia. And not just in the "post-Trump-era" way that white people think of it, but in the post-colonial, post-slavery, post-indiginous genocide, post-smallpox and Columbus way. We've been in the dystopia all along. (Whitehead focuses the stories in this anthology on post-apocalyptic hope for native communities, and this is why.)

Secondly, there are a lot of queer stories here, and Whitehead brings up Annie on My Mind as the first queer YA with a happy ending. It was published in 1985, when I was 10 years old. I probably discovered it when I was 13 or so.  And in every other book I read, the protagonists were white and straight and cis.  No wonder I devour queer YA now.  No wonder it took me so long to realize I was bisexual, as I had absolutely no framework to think about it before that. And my child at age 10-13 will be growing up with a world of representation that we didn't have a generation ago. It's really amazing to me.

Anyway, that one paragraph in the introduction made the book worth it, but the stories are also enjoyable all the way through, and I recommend checking it out!

Two Series Installments

The Man Who Died Twice (by Richard Osman) 

Second book in the Thursday Murder Club series; another charming and delightful installment.  I finished this a while back so my memory of this book is that I enjoyed the mystery more than in the first one, and overall I continued to adore the characters and the general cozy vibe of the story.  Will definitely stick with this series.

Openly Straight (by Bill Konigsberg)

Spoilers below; if you're on desktop you can highlight to read!

I'm looking forward to Destination Unknown and decided to try another of Konigsberg's books in the meantime.  Rafe, our main character, is a gay kid who transfers to an all-boys school and decides to don't ask, don't tell his sexuality. This is complicated when, of course, he falls in love.

This is part of a series and when the ending was unresolved, I did a little investigating into the subsequent books. I decided not to keep going with the series because of at least one scene of extremely dubious consent that made it impossible to forgive the main character. Rafe sleeps with someone under these circumstances: 1) the guy is drunk, and Rafe is sober. 2) the guy does not know Rafe is gay and thinks they are on the same page as questioning guys experimenting. This is unethical AT BEST and it is not presented as such in the novel.  Like, the character can maybe make this horrible mistake but the author needs to know it's like, unforgiveably awful.  The fact that in subsequent books 1) there is a happy ending for these characters, and 2) bisexuality IS APPARENTLY COMPLETELY ERASED IN THE PROCESS makes this all a non-starter for me. 

All that said, I am still going to read Destination Unknown and hope in the past decade, Konigsberg has learned bisexual people exist and that, like, consent is important? I will report back.

New York Reads

A little bit of everything, read on my travel days to and from New York. I finished the first two in June (traveling to NYC) and the second in July (traveling home).  I do so love an airplane read.

Finna (by Nate Marshall) 

First up, a Read Harder Challenge book for the category "a book of poetry." I learned about Marshall because he joined the creative writing staff at UW Madison and a writer friend of mine runs the program.  Loved his exploration of language and the juxtaposition of AAVE with more "literary" flourishes.  Some very powerful pieces here and I am betting listening to him read his poems is even better than reading the poems myself on a plane.

Our Year of Maybe (by Rachel Lynn Solomon) 

The first book by Solomon that I've read and haven't really cared for.  Not bad of course (I finished it happily) but I kind of hated the characters? I thought Peter sleeping with Sophie while not telling her he was bisexual or into another guy was pretty unforgiveable, even though Sophie was also toxic and codependent. Not for me.

The Thursday Murder Club (by Richard Oseman)

The start of a series.  Not perfect (too many red herrings for me) but overall very charming and entertaining. Loved the focus on the elderly residents of a retirement community (who are fully rounded characters, not just "cute old people").  I have obviously downloaded the sequel (thanks, libraries) so will keep you posted as the series progresses.

The Jaws Log (by Carl Gottleib)

I love Jaws, so I enjoyed reading this nonfiction account of the making of the film, written by one of the writers who also played Harry Meadows (and wrote himself out of the script as he went along). I think this is the expanded 30th anniversary edition from 2012, but Gottleib's notes seem to be from the original 30th anniversary edition from 2005. It's a fun time capsule. The original text references Waldenbooks for instance, then the footnotes bemoan that now bookstores have been absorbed into big conglomerates like Borders. There are a lot of references to the "men" who make movies. A lot. A lot.  So yes, it's dated, but it's of its time the footnotes, at least, are a little better about it than the original text.  The one thing I really wanted was more information about the various plotlines they scrapped and changed for the movie. I have read the book so many times (it's trashy but fun) and since Gottleib was one of the writers of the film, I was hoping he'd got into more detail.  Why does Hooper live in one version and die in another, for instance? He never explains. But otherwise, this was an entertaining read about a great film.

 

 

Dare Mighty Things (by Heather Kaczynski)

This is part of a series of two books; I didn't know that when I started reading it, but it was abundantly clear at the end (and really the last chapters when we realized we weren't going to get to the space part in this book).

Cassandra Gupta is recruited for a secret NASA program where she competes with 25 other young people for a spot on a secret mission. This book covers the training and testing they do on the candidates, and Cassandra's journey in trying to outlast the others and be the one selected in the end.

I enjoy speculative fiction grounded in science, so I enjoyed the milieu of the book, as well as the characters. I read this for the "book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character" and honestly her asexuality was barely addressed and not really relevant. I'm going to count it anyway but I'll still try to find a book where this is more central to the plot. 

The cliffhanger ending didn't work for me and I'm still deciding if I enjoyed it enough to read the next one.  I think I did?

All the Feels (by Olivia Dade)

As I was creating a new book spreadsheet for 2022, I saw that the first book I read in 2021 was Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade. By sheer coincidence, the first book I read this year was All the Feels, its sequel. (I know this is, at best, mildly interesting. But still pleasing to me.) 

This book takes two side characters and makes them the focus of their own romance, taking place at roughly the same time as the events of Spoiler Alert.

I enjoyed it although had some quibbles. The "conflict" that leads to our characters separating is patently absurd and there's something off about the chemistry, although I did really like our lead characters, their banter, and their flaws.  Not as good as Spoiler Alert but I will probably keep reading the series. I'm not a huge romance fan but I do enjoy Dade's unapologetic plus-size heroines!

Their Troublesome Crush (by Xan West)

I'm so sorry to read that Xan West has passed away. This is #ownvoices rep like never before! The main characters are metamours (meaning they are both polyamorous, in a relationship with the same third person) and I have to pull all the representation from the description or I'll miss something: Ernest is a Jewish autistic demiromantic queer fat trans man submissive, and Nora is a Jewish disabled queer fat femme cis woman switch.  

Mostly this is like a geeky queer kink scene come to life, complete with Ernest singing showtunes. Xan West was an autistic queer fat Jewish genderqueer writer, so represented themselves in lots of dimensions. I would have loved to continue reading the series if it had continued.  Sorry to those of you who knew Xan; may their memory (and their writings) be a blessing.

Two More YA Books

Chaos on CatNet (by Naomi Kritzer) 

So excited to learn there was a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet! The original book in the series is an absolute gem. This has the same sparkling characters and fun speculative fiction elements, handling all its queer teenagers (and its poly adults) in an affectionate way.  The plot isn't quite as gripping to me as the plot of Catfishing on CatNet but that book is near-perfect so I can't really complain.  I hope the fact that this is "CatNet #2" means there will be a CatNet #3! (Disclaimer: I tagged this "I know this person" because although we've never met, Naomi and I are friends on Facebook.)

Here the Whole Time (by Vitor Martins) 

This is translated from the Portuguese and set in Brazil, so qualifies as "a realistic YA book not set in the U.S., UK, or Canada."  I tagged it novella because it's very short. I looked down thinking I was maybe halfway in and I was almost done! This is about a fat, gay teen in Brazil whose handsome neighbor comes to stay with him for two weeks. Although he is dealing with profound own body image issues and they are handled sensitively and movingly, the book really lacks conflict.  I definitely was hoping for more out of this one.

Fugitive Telemetry (by Martha Wells)

Part of the Murderbot Diaries series, which obviously I have written about a lot (since this is book 6) and you probably already know if this is for you. This is another novella, and I love the scope of this one (basically Murderbot solves a murder).  It is, as always, clever and very funny. Murderbot is, as always, an incredible character. The worldbuilding is delightful. Really, a gem of a series.

Martha Wells is nominated for a Best Series Hugo and despite the fact that my friend John Scalzi's excellent Interdependency series is also nominated, I can't imagine anything winning other than Murderbot! (Sorry, John. Love you, John.)

The Lightning Thief (by Rick Riordan)

This is the beginning of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which Mina has been really enjoying and begged me to read. Overall I had fun reading this book; I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology and this take on it is extremely clever. However, the novel is very fatphobic and it bummed me out.  Here are some examples of how three characters, all villains, are described:

“Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift store clothes.” 

“[Clarisse] wore a size XXXL” “She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her…” “Her ugly pig eyes glared” 

“We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady… she looked like a blue jean blimp”

I found this blog post, which talks about problems with race in the series too (spoilers at that link) and indeed it is also a very white world. I want to read more of the series because of how much Mina likes it, but now I'm too depressed to do it. 

If someone knows Rick Riordan can you tell him that fat people are not, like, grotesque creatures? And also maybe diversify your world and hire a sensitivity reader next time. Thanks.