Have any of you read Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones? I was going through a bit of a reading slump for a few weeks, but this book helped to pull me out. It’s a hilarious story that manages to be a fairy tale while breaking all the traditions of fairy tales. I love the protagonist, Sophie, who is the eldest of three sisters and is resigned to working at a hat shop because, as the first page says, “it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.” As the book goes on, she is challenged to go find her own adventure and becomes confident in herself as those fairy tale ‘rules’ are proven to be breakable. There are two other books in this series (though they can be read alone), Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways, that y’all should check out if you have read this book.
(I’m now realizing that my book analyses and recommendations all sound like English papers…..I wish I could make them sound more exciting, but it’s a hard habit to break )
For anyone who enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, I recommend The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It has a similar theme of what makes a life fulfilled (for lack of a better word), and while it does have a very sad beginning, the ending is amazingly done. Here’s the book summary from the internet:
Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices … Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
InThe Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
(sorry, I’m awful at descriptions, but I had to share this book)
This may be a short story, but in now way does this story fall short compared to full length novels.
Let me start by saying (writing) that this reads like a personal diary and I have a strict hit or miss with first person narration, either it comes off as too corny or I’m amazed at the connection I feel to the character.
The first person narrator, which remains nameless, is a recent mother that has moved into a lovely mansion with her husband. She claims to be sick, but her husband and brother, who are physicians recommend plenty of rest and food. Out of sight, out of mind is their motto. She is not to speak, write, or even think of her sickness because it might deplete her health. If she gets angry with her husband, John, she is to learn how to control herself and check her “tendencies”. If she is anything but agreeable then the men don’t want to hear it, she’s meant to stay at home and sit pretty.
The amount of eye rolls I did while reading the first few pages should have been recorded. The story made me react, almost instantly, towards the situation at hand. I never wanted to speak to a character so much as I did with this story. Here was a women baring her soul into her writing, into telling us this very important time in her life, and we were in her safest place — her thoughts, which flowed so beautiful it was hard not to highlight every line.
Adding to her deteriorating mental health, She becomes obsessed with the an ugly yellow wallpaper in her room. She stays up to watch her hallucination take shape within the wallpaper, even seeing a women watching her in the wallpaper. While her husband is out one night, she starts frantically ripping the wallpaper. John returns, only to faint as he sees his wife crawling on the floor claiming she got out of the wallpaper.
I’d say. if this was turned into a move it’d be a psychological thriller. I am in love with this work, not only because it managed to grasp at so many concerning topics in such few pages, but also because it was clear and precise in its execution. I come back to this story every couple of months to check if the impact is still the same and I’m never disappointed — I think the yellow wallpaper is absolutely perfect.
A couple of things that are worth discussing.
First — the nameless women. Why leave the only person that addresses the audience names less? Why do we know so much about her life and inner thought, but not her name? Giving her a name wouldn’t lessen the effect of the story, but forgoing a name makes this women an icon; a representation of the gender. Pure genius.
Second — Men telling women what a women should do. John might have loved and cared deeply for our character, but I don’t think anybody wants that type of love and care. He silenced her in any way, shape, and form he could think of. He used his profession as a physician to invalidate, belittle, and dismiss her. He made her feel as if it were her shortcomings that were to blame, as if she was the burden that he had to carry through life. He put her in a box that only he has the key to open and close. The amount of control John had over her resonates and unfortunately it is a gender thing.
Last — The actual yellow wallpaper. I mean I understand her hatred for the wallpaper, I never liked yellow. Women’s history is neither light nor pleasant to go through, but we’ve all somehow manages to get caught up in the wallpaper at one point in our lives or someone else tries to trap us in there. She wasn’t literally trapped in the yellow wallpaper but she might as well have been. When our character writes she’s defying the men around her and when she finally manages to rip apart the wallpaper, until the very end, she thought she was freeing another women, not herself — let this story sink in.
Read this book if…
Reading iconic feminist works have been on your to-do list.
You want a quick reminder of why reading and writing is a super power.
Rate: 5/5
Time: less than an hour
Book-shelf Worthy: I’m telling you it’s a must of short-stories
Quoteworthy
John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage
It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is wise, and because he loves me so.
He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me
John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows that there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him
Sometimes I think there’s a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.
With the pandemic still spreading in the U.S., Pride parades may not be feasible. But celebrating by reading novels that center the LGBTQ experience is still safe! Below is a list of books, mostly rounded up from my previous posts, that feature queer main characters. (more…)
Currently enjoying: Moonstruck by Aleksandr Voinov. It’s honestly the first romance book I read where being an author doesn’t feel like a prob. I appreciate that and the way fanfic is handled here. And I like the characters. It was a delightful read.
Currently enjoying: The catch trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Not gonna lie I picked it up because it’s about aerialists. And has a gay romance subplot. But I love all the (family) history in this book. It’s endlessly fascinating. A really good read.
Currently enjoying: This house is haunted by John Boyne. This one is set in 1867 in a mansion and that atmosphere lends itself to romantic creepiness. And there are secrets and a ghost that is trying to kill Eliza. It’s a nicely eerie book.
Currently enjoying: Horns by Joe Hill. This book. This has such a unique premise. I would never want anyone to tell me all their truths and innermost thoughts. That would be scary and uncomfortable as hell. But it’s useful when you’re looking for a murderer.
Currently enjoying: The Ghost of Marlow House by Bobbi Holmes. More haunted houses, but this one is more of a mystery with ghosts than a horror novel. It’s a light, cozy read and it has all the things a good haunted house novel needs: an old mansion, family secrets and murder.
Currently enjoying:Drawing Bloodby Poppy Z. Brite. I’ve reread this one a lot, because I like coming back to Missing Mile. I adore Trevor and Zach and love a good haunted house story, and this one is excellent.
Books read in March 2022 BUSTER UNDERCOVER by Caleb Zane Huett TIGER VS. NIGHTMARE by Emily Tetri THE MUSHROOM AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS by Oliver Burkeman CAMP by Kayla Miller FIBBED by Elizabeth Agyemang SLIP by Marika McCoola and Aatmaja Pandya WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A LIST OF FURTHER POSSIBILITIES by Chen Chen THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL by Sonora Reyes
Haley loves gothic romance novels. Walking home from school, where her teacher has just told her she must review a different kind of book for once, she jumps into a river to save some dude. Then she wakes up in a manor straight from one of her favorite books – it’s complete with a foreboding housekeeper, a ghost no one else can see, and three brothers: Laurence (dark and brooding), Cuthbert (wanton, youngest), and Montague (cute, crabby, the guy who was in the river). Haley hasn’t gone back in time or anything – it’s way more complicated and has to do with different universes. (In fact there’s a pamphlet that explains it all.) In the end it all comes down to protecting our universe from an ultimate evil, which is pretty much an excuse for lots of lighthearted humor and a tiny bit of romance.
Today on NPR’s Book of the Day – it’s football season so it’s a great time to revisit Keyshawn Johnson’s conversation with Morning Edition’s A Martinez about his new book The Forgotten First, all about trailblazing Black football players. (Your faithful editor is D.C. born and raised, so this is a good, but painful read.) Check it out here!
– Petra (who still hasn’t forgiven her mom for throwing out her kid-size Art Monk jersey 35 years ago)
we love a good literary device in the title, don’t you?
prompt #5 in the Spring Mini Reading Challenge calls for a book with an alliterative title - we have two excellent recs for you & as always, a couple more listed below the cut :)
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The Bee, the Sword and the Key. And Ezra somehow inbetween. The Starless Sea tells a story about stories, about storytelling, about fate, time and sometimes about cats that live in a haven for book lovers far beneath the surface of the earth. There is past hurt and future vengeance and timeless searches for the one you lost. And Ezra only wanted to find out why his own memories were written in a book in his university library. (blurb by @upside-down-uni)
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD
In this book Matthew Walker (Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, founder of the Center For Human Sleep Science) explores 20 years of research in an attempt to answer the question of why we sleep. With the help of examples of human subject research as well as other members of the animal kingdom, Walker explains sleep-related topics such as what purpose REM sleep serves, how our sleep patterns change throughout our life and how caffeine and alcohol affect our sleep. All in a very accessible, easy to follow way. (blurb by server member Hannah)
Here’s the promised second part of my book recommendations! This time we have mostly fantasy books! I’ve included a short summary for each book, along with what I liked most and who I think would enjoy a book the most, and of course which kind of representation there is, though I’ve probably forgotten some. And this time there are even covers, because they are gorgeous :) The books are in no particular order. Some of the authors have tumblrs, I’ve added those I know of as well in case you want to follow them. That said, have fun reading!
This is a cute fantasy heist/detective book about a thief, Claire, (who is also the baker Claude by day) and a detective, Adèle having to work together to find and save the city’s magical people who are used as a power source by a scrupulous company. Friendship and found family are important themes in this book, and it has a French-inspired setting which I found refreshing! Read this if you like baking puns and want to read a queerplatonic spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope!
Rep: Claire is allo aro and genderfluid, Adèle biromantic demisexual. Claire is also fat, and it’s treated respectfully and positively. Other rep includes non-English neopronouns, disabled characters and a queerplatonic relationship!
Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad) by C.B. Lee ( @authorcblee) (YA fantasy)
This is the first book in a YA series about a group of teens living in a (somewhat dystopian) town where superheroes are a part of daily life. This one is mainly about Jess, the daughter of two superheroes, who accidentally starts an internship at her parents’ nemesis company- though she also gets to work with her crush, Abby, there. And she soon discovers that there is more to the superhero and supervillain system than she thought. The following books are also really good! Read this if you like teenage superheros having adventures!
Rep: Jess is bi, Vietnamese and Chinese, and her friends include a Black trans boy and a latina a-spec girl. They are the main characters of the following books.
This book takes place in the city of Parole, whose inhabitants have a wide variety of superpowers. It is cut off from the outside world, burning and falling apart, and also under constant surveillance. I don’t usually like books with dystopian/grim settings, so I put off reading this for a long time, even though I heard a lot of praise for it. But despite the setting it’s actually really hopeful and uplifting. The plot centers around how the characters are resisting, not giving up and most importantly sticking together. They are all super interesting, diverse and often very relatable. Read this if you want to read a really well written, character focused book!
There’s a second book set around a group of characters outside Parole (but with connections to the characters in book one) where we learn more about what’s going on in the rest of the world. There’s also a bunch of short stories!
Also: All books by RoAnna Sylver are currently (June 2021) free on their itch.io!
Rep: Lots! Polyamory and QPRs, ace, aro, sapphic, gay, bi, transfem, transmasc and nonbinary characters, and also several disabled characters. Notably, one of the MCs has anxiety and panic attacks and it’s incredibly realistically written.
Stake Sauce Arc 1: The Secret Ingredient Is Love. No, Really by RoAnna Sylver (Urban fantasy)
This is a paranormal fantasy- we follow a group of former firefighters who try to live their life five years after a traumatic work accident killed one of their friends/one character’s fiancé and nearly killed and left one of them, Jude, disabled. But Jude is convinced that it wasn’t just an unlucky accident, he knows he saw a vampire attack and kill their friend. And he is determined to never let anything like that happen again, and tries to be a vampire hunter. Tries, because he still hasn’t found any vampires. But things get complicated when he meets Pixie- a young, cute vampire who doesn’t want to bite anyone and is nothing like the monsters Jude is hunting. I love this book, and the second one a lot! The way the characters deal with grief and trauma, how they can strain relationships even with people who are very close is written very sensitive and realistic while still being optimistically written. Read this if you want friendship and found family as major themes!
There’s also a second book and a short story collection which is usually patreon-exclusive but is currently free on itch.io!
Rep: Jude is an autistic, grey aroace trans man, has PTSD and is an amputee. various flavours of queer (nonbinary, wlw, mlm, some polyamory, a-spec) and neurodivergent.
The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate) by J.Y. Yang (Fantasy)
This is a Asian-inspired Fantasy revolving around Akeha and Mokoya, the twin children of the Protector, the ruler of their country and their struggle to find and keep their agency while their mother wants to use them in her political schemes- especially Mokoya, who has prophetic powers. The worldbuilding here is fantastic, though most things are only hinted at and not described extensively (it’s a fairly short book). Gender identity is one important topic- children in this world don’t have a gender assigned at birth but get to choose their gender when they grow up, something Akeha struggles with a lot. Other important themes are familial relationships, especially between siblings and different ways of rebellion against an absolutist ruler. Read this if you like magical siblings!
Book one of the Tensorate series follows mostly Akeha, while book two follows Mokoya. Books three and four follow other characters and have an unusual writing style, being written as a journal and an extended monologue respectively.
Rep: All children are presumed nonbinary, and choosing a gender that doesn’t fit your birth sex and transitioning are treated as completely normal, so while there are characters that would be trans in our world, it’s qiite different in this world. There are all kinds of queer relationships, including some polyamory!
The Queen of Cups by Ren Basel ( @renniequeer) (Fantasy)
This is a short fantasy novellette about Theo, a young captain who goes to the mysterious Oracle, an ageless woman living on the beach, to have their fortune told and to get a blessing for their ship before their first voyage and the adventure of this first voyage. The story is short enough that writing more about the plot would spoil too much, so I’ll leave it at that. Even though it’s really short, this story has interesting worldbuilding and is beautifully written. Read this if you want a heartwarming and exciting little story!
Rep: Theo is nonbinary and autistic (with synesthesia!) and is in a QPR with a trans woman. There are lots of queer minor characters.
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie ( @annleckie) (Fantasy)
This book follows two storylines- the first one is about a troubled kingdom whose patron god is weakening as the throne has been taken by an usurper. Eolo, a young trans man is trying to help the true ruler reclaim his kingdom and discovers an important secret. This storyline has lots of political intrigue, drama and suspense. The second storyline begins in the far past, and recounts the life of an ancient rock deity who is also the narrator. This storyline deals more with concepts, like religion and mythology, language and imagination, with some very interesting ideas. I liked how the gods aren’t just superpowered humans, but powerful, truly inhuman beings (there’s a god who is a swarm of mosquitos!). Read this if you like nonhuman narrators and lots of flashbacks!
Rep: Eolo is a trans man, and I think most characters are POC.
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg (Fantasy)
This fantasy novella is set in the Birdverse and centers around two trans elders- Uiziya, a trans woman who transitioned years ago and has always been accepted by her people, and a nameless trans man who only transitioned very recently and struggles a lot with the rigid gender roles of his people. Together they go on a journey to seek out Uiziya’s aunt, so she can teach Uiziya how to weave from death, something Uiziya has waited for for decades. The language here is very lyrical and evocative, and the story is mystical and deep. And while it is quite dark at times, overall it’s still a hopeful book. The desert setting is also really cool! I especially loved the perspective of the nameless man, who could finally transition and now struggles both with the people who still see him as a woman, and the people who accept him but expect him to now fit in with the other men- which he doesn’t. I think this perspective is something that’s sorely lacking in most other books with trans narratives. Read this if you want interesting magic with older trans people!
There are also a bunch of short stories in the Birdverse, so check them out if you want to read something shorter by the same author!
Rep: Uiziya is also fat and dark skinned, there’s also some polyamory, sapphic characters and a nonbinary autistic child.
Lifelode by Jo Walton (Fantasy)
Lifelode is a pastoral fantasy, set in a small village where polyamory is the norm (families are usually two women and two men and all their children). The central story is mostly about the daily life of one family, while the larger plot is only in the background. This book also has really interesting worldbuilding- time passes differently in different places, and one character can see people’s past and future. The beginning of the book can be a bit difficult to understand because of this but it’s really worth it to stick with it! Read this if you like cottage core and polyamory!
Rep: Polyamory, and one minor f/f relationship.
The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Bogi Takács (Fantasy/Sci-Fi)
This is a short story collection, and the title accurately shows how weird and queer these stories are. They have widely varying topics, both fantasy and science fiction- sentient octopuses, resistance against alien invasion, a failing memory archive… Frequent themes are nonsexual kink, Jewish faith, community, disability and, well, all forms of queerness. Read this if you want unconventional queer short stories!
If you enjoy weird queer poetry, Bogi has also published a collection of eir poems, called Algorithmic Shapshifting
Rep: too much to list, but nonbinary and Jewish people the most.
