What I've been reading: Books No. 15-16
Mar. 20th, 2018 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganBook No. 15 was really 3 volumes, the first three from the "Bitch Planet" comic series, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrations by Valentine DeLandro. The first two ("Extraordinary Machine" & "President Bitch") contain a long-arc story about the dystopian future where women who are "noncompliant" are shipped to a prison planet, and the third is an anthology of short stories set in the same universe with guest writers and illustrators. I LOVED this series and will be watching as more are published. It's strongly and unapologetically feminist, featuring many main characters who are black, Asian and Latinx, with my favorite being the very large black prisoner named Penny. I was SO happy that a story line in the second volume was strongly supportive of trans women and pointed out that attempts to turn cis-women against trans women are a way of dividing and conquering. I also liked the spoof ads in each issue that exhort women to buy the products to make their vaginas and personalities more acceptable to men. I don't want to give too many spoilers away, but if the idea of a feminist comic with sly humor and centered strongly on the experience of WOC appeals to you, get yourself a copy now!
Book No. 16 was "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" by Mary Roach, as an audiobook. If you've read two of Roach's previous books, you know the formula. She picks a science topic and each chapter is a long-form essay on a sub-topic, chock full of lots of research plus Mary's unique gross-out humor. I've read three others by her, "Stiff" (about death), "Bonk" (about the science of sex) and "Packing for Mars" (about the technology we'd need for long-term space travel). Gulp was pretty fun and included Roach's usual gleeful puns. You'll learn way more than you needed to know about saliva, chewing patterns, gastric acids, the makeup of farts, and how constipation can kill you. I really enjoyed this and can recommend pretty much anything by the author as a fun and interesting read.
1. The Two Towers [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
2. The Argonautika [epic poetry/fiction]- Apollonios Rhodios, transl. Peter Green
3. To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care [nonfiction]- Cris Beam
4. The Jazz [fiction]- Melissa Scott
5. Live from Golgotha [fiction]- Gore Vidal
6. Stones for Ibarra [fiction]- Harriet Doerr
7. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot [nonfiction/memoir]- John Callahan
8. The Tresspasser [fiction]- Tana French (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Decameron [fiction]- Giovanni Boccaccio
10. March: Book 2 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
11. Ordinary Light [nonfiction/memoir]- Tracy K. Smith
12. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal [nonfiction]- Jonathan Mooney
13. March: Book 3 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
14. The Vegetarian [fiction]- Han Kang
Book No. 16 was "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" by Mary Roach, as an audiobook. If you've read two of Roach's previous books, you know the formula. She picks a science topic and each chapter is a long-form essay on a sub-topic, chock full of lots of research plus Mary's unique gross-out humor. I've read three others by her, "Stiff" (about death), "Bonk" (about the science of sex) and "Packing for Mars" (about the technology we'd need for long-term space travel). Gulp was pretty fun and included Roach's usual gleeful puns. You'll learn way more than you needed to know about saliva, chewing patterns, gastric acids, the makeup of farts, and how constipation can kill you. I really enjoyed this and can recommend pretty much anything by the author as a fun and interesting read.
1. The Two Towers [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
2. The Argonautika [epic poetry/fiction]- Apollonios Rhodios, transl. Peter Green
3. To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care [nonfiction]- Cris Beam
4. The Jazz [fiction]- Melissa Scott
5. Live from Golgotha [fiction]- Gore Vidal
6. Stones for Ibarra [fiction]- Harriet Doerr
7. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot [nonfiction/memoir]- John Callahan
8. The Tresspasser [fiction]- Tana French (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Decameron [fiction]- Giovanni Boccaccio
10. March: Book 2 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
11. Ordinary Light [nonfiction/memoir]- Tracy K. Smith
12. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal [nonfiction]- Jonathan Mooney
13. March: Book 3 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
14. The Vegetarian [fiction]- Han Kang
