FinishedHell’s Princess.I have thoughts.

 Reading

• The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles (1949)
• Bitch Planet vol 1 - DeConnick & Landro (2015)
• Bitch Planet issues 6 & 7 - DeConnick & Landro (2016)
• Paper Girls vol 1 - BKV (2016)
• Black Panther issue 1 - Ta-Nehisi Coates & Brian Stelfreeze (2016)

Television

• X-Files Seasons 3 & 4 - Chris Carter (1995)
• Fortitude - Simon Donald (2015)
• Veep Season 5 Episode 1 -  Armando Ianucci (2016)
• Silicon Valley Season 3 Episode 1 - Mike Judge (2016)

Film

• 10 Cloverfield Lane - Dan Trachtenberg (2016)
• Midnight Special - Jeff Nichols (2016)
• Young Ones - Jake Paltrow (2015)
• The Force Awakens - JJ Abrams (2015)
• Casper - Brad Silberling & Phil Nibbelink (1995)
• Confirmation - Rick Famuyiwa (2016)
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Frank Oz (1988)
• Lemonade - Beyonce & Co (2016)
  

Music

• Bleached - Welcome the Worms (2016)
  
• Twin Peaks - Wild Onion (2014)
• Frankie Cosmos - The Next Thing (2016)
• Beyonce - Lemonade (2016)
• Prince - Purple Rain (1984)
• Prince - Sign O’ The Times (1987)
• Prince - Lovesexy (1988)
• Prince - Controversy (1981)
• Prince - Prince (1979)

Books

• Bassoon King - Rainn Wilson (2015)
  
• The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin (1963)
  
• Sphinx - Anne Garreta (2015)
  
• Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl - Carrie Brownstein (2015)
  
• Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

Television

• Vinyl Episodes 4-6 - Terence Winter (2016)
• House of Cards Season 4 - Netflix (2016)
  
• X-Files Season 1-2 - Chris Carter 1993)
  
• Les Revenants Season 2 - Fabrice Gobert (2015)
• Documentary Now Season 1 - IFC (2015)

Film

• Hail Caesar - Coen Brothers (2016)
  
• Me, Earl and the Dying Girl - Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (2015)
  
• Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof and Charlie Siskel (2013)
  
• Room - Lenny Abrahamson (2015)
  
• Bridge of Spies - Spielberg (2015)
  

Music

• Chastity Belt - Time to Go Home (2015)
  
• Eskimeaux - O.K. (2015)
  
• Bleached - For the Feel (2014)
• Bleached - Ride Your Heart (2013)
• A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991)
• Marian Hill - Down (single 2016) 
• Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered (2016)
  
• LaBelle - Nightbirds (1974)
• Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (2008)
• Jenny Lewis - The Voyager (2014)
• Rilo Kiley - RKives (2013)

April, among ongoing issues for the publishing industry and others, was very quiet for new books.

I really would have liked to be outside reading more, but in between the rain showers this allergy season is absolutely terrible. I need to be making better progress through my backlist books. However, next month I should get to some of both old and new titles I’ve been especially wanting to blog about.

Read for April:

Girls LostbyJessica Schiefauer

Suicide Squad Vol 5 Apokolips Now

Gwen in Green by Hugh Zachary

Cinnamon Gardens by Shyma Selvadurai

Well… I spent the month dealing with a family member hospitalized with COVID. Other family friends to include some with high-risk conditions also sick with COVID and which would require airlifting to better facilities if they took a turn for the worse. And talking to overworked nurses and other healthcare professionals. All in the midst of messages of emerging from the pandemic and restrictions ending and repetition of egregious lies. Which just again leaves me questioning what stream of reality I’m in at this point. 

So maybe it is no wonder past me preordered another danmei novel, this one a post-apocalyptic sci-fi. But really, Little Mushroom by Shisi just had me at the words human doppelganger sentient little mushroom. And Peach Flower House plans on the second (and finale) volume to be out in August 2022.

I also managed to dive into thousands of pages of comics, hours of animation, plus one YA novel to talk about Poison Ivy and how she’s been more reliably depicted as a vegan over the years.

Expect me to write about some stories involving plants and nature next month btw. April is also the start of another reading challenge #TranslatedLitChallenge. Go read the world. (I’m working on it.)

Read for March:

Terminal Boredom by Suzuki Izumi

The Cries and Fury of Women by Angèle Rawiri

Frog and Toad Complete Collection by Arnold Lobel

The River in the Belly by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

February 2022

I was sick for all of February. (Not COVID, but plenty goes around that are not good either.) Still not feeling back to where I was so, my reading is among everything that has not been what it was.

The month also brought another Olympics in a pandemic (sigh), Beijing the host making history along with controversy. (How I Survived a Chinese “Reeducation” Camp: A Uyghur Woman’s Story by Gulbahar Haitiwaji and Rozenn Morgat, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin timely came out this February too.)

I do love figure skating though, and this was a particularly lamentable and triggering occasion for the sport. However, it’s still neat when the sport also interacts with other well-known pop culture.

Among the many competitors in Ice Dance, for Germany Katharina Müeller and Tim Dieck channeled Suicide Squad and Joker/Harley Quinn (sorry bleh for that coupling) to nice effect.

As well from Russia, Olympic Silver Medalist Alexandra Trusova again brought out her Wonder Woman program, which is one of my favourites, for the gala.

Then capping off the month North American publisher Seven Seas addressed growing rumblings regarding errors with one of the bestselling titles they began publishing last year The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by MXTX. Members of the localization team previously expressing also regrets and their dedication. The forthcoming errata webpage is plaster for those who cannot replace their physical copies with later printings. eBooks in those areas when they’re available (eventually) update too. But I’d also be lying to say such incidents don’t have larger fallout. The cause(s) here appear different it seems than only last year when editions from Seven Seas of several Japanese light novels came under the microscope. Reader(s) reaching out and updated editorial policies also leading to plans for re-editingtheBloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka light novels. And again, more often individuals involved with the book(s) were responding first instead of a publisher issued statement. (Not a good position to be in.) All together matters that can shake one’s confidence in a company, their brand(s), new endeavors, or product(s). It still causes one to wonder exactly how any changes at Seven Seas have gone. Immense workloads and crunched timelines are a recipe for… exactly this trouble. So further volume(s) of MDZS pushed back, not just because of industry wide printing complications but, to allow those working on the books more time is a positive. (Novel translations require SO MUCH time. I seriously hope whatever powers that be, and readers truly understand and can support this.)

Personally, I set aside reading my copy of volume 1 (a gift) because the experience quickly came to feel like investigative work. Further in this case if something begets questions, unlike with many other books, I’m not comfortable analyzing the edition against the pertinent original version. (Even when you do know or can judge it is often real thankless work.) Nor do I have any familiarity with the many unofficial translations that circulate(d) or the credentials of those who produced them. (To be clear I don’t endorse unauthorised translations.) What I am acquainted with is the live-action drama adaptation. That alone gave the sense this title is complicated enough without extra factors at play. So, trying to gain context and form the right impressions is an even larger undertaking where valid concerns and critiques arise in these circumstances. If everyone can come together on one thing, it may be wishes that Seven Seas can meet the challenges.

As for next month in March spring is coming in the Northern Hemisphere. I for one hope it does bring with it the need rejuvenation and brightness after this winter.

 Read for February:

Empire of Light by Alex Jay Lore

We Wrote in Symbols: Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers

The Fall of Language in the Age of English by Mizumura Minae

A small month for new books. But Cinder the Fireplace Boy and Other Gayly Grimm Tales by Ana Mardoll brightened things considerably. I’ve been searching for just these sorts of retellings. Do cozy up with this book.

Otherwise 2022 coming in rough. But, I was particularly saddened by news of artist Jean-Claude Mézières passing. Co-creator of Valerian and Laureline, not just beloved in Francophone comics but one of my all-time favourite sci-fi series. Such an immense talent and influence, RIP.   

My January reading was also almost nonexistent. Looking to February I hope I can get back on track. We shall see.

Read for January

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

December, as some of the last year, was not exactly merry.

Bringing the joy however, and hopefully found under your tree too, was one (or all) of the first volumes of the English edition danmei novels by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù from publisher Seven Seas. At the start of the pandemic, I got into the live-action adaptation The Untamed. So as we go into year three, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) is still a series providing a bright spot. Other publishers such as Peach Flower House and Via Lactea are also releasing official English translations of works by more Chinese authors. This popular genre is poised to continue reaching greater heights thru new audiences.

Speaking of new audiences, from Japan the animatedadaptation of BL series The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window finished up mid-month. (The live action film adaptation has also been doing some film festivals.) So I further dived into a list of comics available in English by Yamashita Tomoko. 

It may not have been a merry month but, many male characters involved romantically with other male characters were to be found at least.

Wishing you and yours a healthy, safe, and book-filled 2022!

November 2021

The new Codename Sailor V Eternal Editions are after many delays out. Like the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Editions one can bask in the oversized beauty and needed fresh translation courtesy of the Nibley sisters, Lys Blakeslee on lettering. I should go over these for comparisons like I did with Sailor Moon. If I do it will be a while though.

I also wrapped up another reading challenge I was participating in the #QueerBookFun2021. (To cap it off I’m sure I said way too much about Dorian Gray.) This challenge was particularly enjoyable. I finally read (and revisited a couple) books I’ve been meaning to. I may not have personally loved every title in the end. But there is a wonderful variety of queer books out there these days that’s worth celebrating in and of itself.

Looking to December winter is fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere so I may do a little posting to wrap up the year. Or I may just enjoy my favourite season since 2021 has still been something.

Regardless of the season best to all of you. And may there always be books for a quiet moment and escape amongst the hustle and bustle!

Read for November:

Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi

All This I Will Give to You by Dolores Redondo

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

October and in similar fashion to last year the call is out to do your bookish holiday shopping early. Support your local bookstores and avoid disappoint while about everything to do with getting books among other consumer goods in your hands is quite simply ******. Pre-orders as always important too.

Also being spooky season, I wrote a post on Yamashita Tomoko’s The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window. Know this is likely all I’m going to say on this title. While I could absolutely engage more or make a unique pitch on it now that it’s getting more attention thanks to adaptations, Tricornered Window is one of those titles that is a challenge to write about even though I’ve done so over the years. But more than that I’ve got scars from my time in the English-speaking anime/manga community. So, I’ve tried my best to move on. Though I still hold my love for some titles like this series.

And another book series getting better treatment and one I’ve loved even longer is DUNE. The new movie is also finally out after all the pandemic delays. So at least there is entertainment as the days darken.

Read for October:

Don’t Whisper Too Much and Portrait of a Young Artiste from Bona Mbella by Frieda Ekotto

Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin

Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology

Forgotten Monster by J. Emery

Arcadiaby Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam

Bright spot in the month of September was the English edition of Lil’ Leo by Hagio Moto, translated by Ajani Oloye. A cute cat book, probably my most anticipated Japanese comic license of the year and a dream come true for publisher Denpa as well. Bravo. And Denpa also have a new edition of Hagio’s sci-fi classic They were 11! coming in 2022.

Back here in 2021 though, when it came to the rest of the month as expected my reading is down. As well as little in the way of blogging. Over the past 18 months I’ve been having to not just change what I read but how. Blogging and using social media in general also presenting challenges. The reasons aren’t going away anytime soon, in fact some are likely lasting. So kindly bear with me.

Read for September

Even Silence Has an End by Ingrid Betancourt

Thérèse and Isabelle by Violette Leduc

A little vintage book haul from ThriftBooks. A lot of Orwell. A lot of colors.

did some journaling after a while and wrote down the books I’ve read in May so far ✨

pls do not repost • my insta @ beloved.apollo