What I've been reading: Books No. 35-36
Jul. 2nd, 2018 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganBook No. 35 was "The Astrologer's Daughter" by Rebecca Lim. Anybody who knows me in real life and knows how put off I am by woo and New Agey stuff might be surprised that I read and thoroughly enjoyed a book where the title character uses astrology to help solve several mysteries, including an old cold case murder and the current disappearance of her mother. I cared about the main character, Avicenna Crowe, immediately, and felt Lim did a phenomenal job of ratcheting up the tension and making you want to find out what would happen next. It opens when Avi is just a few days past her 18th birthday. One day, she says a groggy goodbye from her bed as her mother leaves for the day, and by the end of the day, Avi has reported her mother as missing. Avi's mother, the astrologer, had been asked to do a reading about a murder, and it turns out that the mother's disappearance may be linked to that reading. The police are not asking the right question, so Avi does her own investigating, including using her own skills at reading astrological charts. Her classmate and rival for a scholarship, Simon Thorn, also becomes involved and helps Avi with her search while also trying to keep Avi in school for the literary project they've been paired on. At first, Avi dismisses Simon as a vapid rich boy, but she begins to see he has his own problems and hidden depths. After I finished this, I found a statement by the author saying she wrote the novel in response to an old, unsolved set of murders in Australia in the 1970s, and she wanted to make a point that the lives of women and girls matter. That is a strong theme throughout, but not really in your face. I don't think Lim has plans to turn this into a series (she is probably best known in the YA world for her "Mercy" series), but I would read it if she did, because I really like her writing style and grew fond of Avicenna over the course of the book.
Book No. 36 was "Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities", by Jackson Wright Shultz. I try to read a few books by LGBTQ authors every year, but haven't had as much luck finding good books by transgender folks, so I snapped it up when I saw it on display at my library as part of a Pride Month display. The format was not what I expected. Instead of introducing a person and have each chapter be an essay by that person, the author interviewed 30+ transgender individuals and then grouped their comments by topic, from coming out, to challenges in the workplace, to activism, to intersectionality. I loved that the editor included a wide range of folks from MtF individuals who had full top and bottom surgery to FtM individuals who got top surgery but chose not to do bottom surgery, to nonbinary folks. One person with a particularly interesting story is a transwoman who transitioned while serving on a police force. She was nervous about coming out to her captain but was met with a warm welcome and asked to give sensitivity training to other local police forces. Others, obviously, didn't have stellar coming out experiences, and one transman had to have a personal protective order taken out against his father. There are African American, Latino, and Asian folks represented, as well as poly folks and several fat folks who talk about how those issues intersect with trans issues. I really am happy that the editor chose to include several comments about the intersectionality of fat activism and trans activism in particular. The only thing that didn't ring true for me was the use of "polys" as a term for the partners of poly folks. I don't know ANYBODY poly who uses that term, and I find it puzzling that the editor thinks that's the default. That she included comments about polyamory at all was great, though. The author is super careful to provide a glossary and footnotes for medical terms and LGBT slang, but it also makes the book feel very "Trans 101." I think it might be a great first book to give somebody who wants to be an ally but needs further education.
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
15. First three volumes of the "Bitch Planet" comic series [graphic fiction]- Kelly Sue DeConnick, ill. Valentine DeLandro
16. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal [nonfiction]- Mary Roach (unabridged audiobook)
17. Bad Monkeys [fiction]- Matt Ruff
18. The Book of Negroes [fiction]- Lawrence Hill
19. The Rules of Attraction [fiction]- Bret Easton Ellis
20. How to Grow Up [nonfiction/memoir]- Michelle Tea
21. The Book of Genesis [fiction/mythology]- ill. R. Crumb
22. The Terranauts [fiction]- T.C. Boyle (unabridged audiobook)
23. The Galaxy Game [fiction]- Karen Lord
24. The Chapel of Ease - a Tufa novel [fiction]- Alex Bledsoe
25. Aha! Gotcha: Paradoxes to Puzzle and Delight [nonfiction]- by Martin Gardner
26. Born on the Fourth of July [nonfiction/memoir]- Ron Kovic
27. My Friend Dahmer [graphic nonfiction]- Derf Backderf
28. The Return of the King [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
29. The Bishop's Daughter [nonfiction/memoir]- Honor Moore
30. The Red Parts [nonfiction/memoir]- Maggie Nelson
31. Bury Your Dead [fiction]- Louise Penny
32. Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements [fiction & essays]- ed. Walidah Imarisha & adrienne maree brown
33. On the Move: A Life [nonfiction/memoir]- Oliver Sacks (unabridged audiobook)
34. What Happened to You? Writing by Disabled Women [nonfiction/fiction/poetry]- ed. Lois Keith
Book No. 36 was "Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities", by Jackson Wright Shultz. I try to read a few books by LGBTQ authors every year, but haven't had as much luck finding good books by transgender folks, so I snapped it up when I saw it on display at my library as part of a Pride Month display. The format was not what I expected. Instead of introducing a person and have each chapter be an essay by that person, the author interviewed 30+ transgender individuals and then grouped their comments by topic, from coming out, to challenges in the workplace, to activism, to intersectionality. I loved that the editor included a wide range of folks from MtF individuals who had full top and bottom surgery to FtM individuals who got top surgery but chose not to do bottom surgery, to nonbinary folks. One person with a particularly interesting story is a transwoman who transitioned while serving on a police force. She was nervous about coming out to her captain but was met with a warm welcome and asked to give sensitivity training to other local police forces. Others, obviously, didn't have stellar coming out experiences, and one transman had to have a personal protective order taken out against his father. There are African American, Latino, and Asian folks represented, as well as poly folks and several fat folks who talk about how those issues intersect with trans issues. I really am happy that the editor chose to include several comments about the intersectionality of fat activism and trans activism in particular. The only thing that didn't ring true for me was the use of "polys" as a term for the partners of poly folks. I don't know ANYBODY poly who uses that term, and I find it puzzling that the editor thinks that's the default. That she included comments about polyamory at all was great, though. The author is super careful to provide a glossary and footnotes for medical terms and LGBT slang, but it also makes the book feel very "Trans 101." I think it might be a great first book to give somebody who wants to be an ally but needs further education.
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
15. First three volumes of the "Bitch Planet" comic series [graphic fiction]- Kelly Sue DeConnick, ill. Valentine DeLandro
16. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal [nonfiction]- Mary Roach (unabridged audiobook)
17. Bad Monkeys [fiction]- Matt Ruff
18. The Book of Negroes [fiction]- Lawrence Hill
19. The Rules of Attraction [fiction]- Bret Easton Ellis
20. How to Grow Up [nonfiction/memoir]- Michelle Tea
21. The Book of Genesis [fiction/mythology]- ill. R. Crumb
22. The Terranauts [fiction]- T.C. Boyle (unabridged audiobook)
23. The Galaxy Game [fiction]- Karen Lord
24. The Chapel of Ease - a Tufa novel [fiction]- Alex Bledsoe
25. Aha! Gotcha: Paradoxes to Puzzle and Delight [nonfiction]- by Martin Gardner
26. Born on the Fourth of July [nonfiction/memoir]- Ron Kovic
27. My Friend Dahmer [graphic nonfiction]- Derf Backderf
28. The Return of the King [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
29. The Bishop's Daughter [nonfiction/memoir]- Honor Moore
30. The Red Parts [nonfiction/memoir]- Maggie Nelson
31. Bury Your Dead [fiction]- Louise Penny
32. Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements [fiction & essays]- ed. Walidah Imarisha & adrienne maree brown
33. On the Move: A Life [nonfiction/memoir]- Oliver Sacks (unabridged audiobook)
34. What Happened to You? Writing by Disabled Women [nonfiction/fiction/poetry]- ed. Lois Keith
