What I've been reading: Books 45 & 46
Sep. 15th, 2018 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganBook No. 45 was "Black Lotus: A Woman's Search for Racial Identity" by Sil Lai Abrams. This memoir is about, as the title suggests, the long process of coming to identify as black and what that means for her and her family. She grew up with a white father and Chinese-American mother but looked much darker than anyone else in the family. She suspected from an early age that the man who raised her was not her biological father, and she finds out as a young, rebellious teen, that she is right. She remains in denial for a few more years, but eventually begins to identify as black after moving to New York, getting into fashion modeling, and meeting black celebrities, including Eddie Murphy, who takes her out on a date. Later, she begins to look into the Chinese side of her family, briefly reconciling with the mother who abandoned her when she was young. The lies, secrecy, and whitewashing of the family take a toll the author, who ends up with a drinking problem, as well as on on Sil Lai's sister May Lai, who descends into drug addiction. Sil Lai is also unlucky in love. The father of her first child breaks up with her while she's still pregnant and fights for several years in court to deny that the child is his. She has a second child with an abuser. She ends the book having moved on from her painful path to being an inspirational speaker who helps other abused women and running a nonprofit that looks to improve the image of women of color in the media. She also tries to give her two kids the best life she can and make them feel proud to be black. I found this book very moving. I like that Abrams didn't try to wrap everything up in a bow neatly but let the ragged edges and unsolved issues remain. Highly recommended.
Book No. 46 was "The Child Garden - or a Low Comedy" by Geoff Ryman. I read this book of Ryman's in my early 20s and was very affected by it. I wanted to re-read it this year because, while I still remember admiring it, I only remembered a handful of images from the first time I'd read it. It knocked my socks off a second time. The language is beautiful, and there's some startling image or sentence on practically every page. In future London, society is short on material resources, but everyone has been programmed with viruses that prevent cancer but, in a terrible side effect, about halve everybody's lifespan. Children are taught by the viruses and act like adults well before their 10th birthdays. Milena, though, is mostly immune to the viruses, including the ones that "correct" homosexual attraction, making her feel like an outsider. Then she meets Rolfa, a genetically-engineered woman of the variety sometimes referred to as Polar Bears because they are covered in fur to protect them from the cold of Antarctica where they mine metal for the rest of the world. Meeting Rolfa chances the course of Milena's life, and she goes on to change the course of the future for the entire globe. It's hard to go into more detail without spoiling the plot. It's gorgeous and inventive, and ugly and weird and sad. I've read three of Ryman's novel now and am seeing repeat themes. He is gay, and there's always a gay character or two in his novels, or at least someone who is a sexual outlaw. Strange birthing experiences often pop up in his stories as well. I'm glad I re-read this book. I think I'll remember big chunks of it a lot better this time around. Highly recommended to sci-fi lovers and people who like well-rounded LGBTQ characters in their fiction.
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
35. The Astrologer's Daughter [fiction]- Rebecca Lim
36. Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities [nonfiction]- Jackson Wright Shultz
37. The Dew Breaker [fiction]- Edwidge Danticat
38. Blameless in Abaddon [fiction]- James Morrow
39. Wonder [fictoin]- RJ Palacio (unabridged audiobook)
40. The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky, Unexpurgated [nonfiction/memoir]-ed. Joan Acocella, transl. Kyril Fitzlyon
41. WARP: The Reluctant Assassin [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
42. Don Quixote [fiction]- Miguel Cervantes, transl. Edith Grossman
43. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir [nonfiction/memoir]- Haruki Murakami
44. Lysistrata [fiction/drama]- Aristophanes (transl. Sarah Ruden)
Book No. 46 was "The Child Garden - or a Low Comedy" by Geoff Ryman. I read this book of Ryman's in my early 20s and was very affected by it. I wanted to re-read it this year because, while I still remember admiring it, I only remembered a handful of images from the first time I'd read it. It knocked my socks off a second time. The language is beautiful, and there's some startling image or sentence on practically every page. In future London, society is short on material resources, but everyone has been programmed with viruses that prevent cancer but, in a terrible side effect, about halve everybody's lifespan. Children are taught by the viruses and act like adults well before their 10th birthdays. Milena, though, is mostly immune to the viruses, including the ones that "correct" homosexual attraction, making her feel like an outsider. Then she meets Rolfa, a genetically-engineered woman of the variety sometimes referred to as Polar Bears because they are covered in fur to protect them from the cold of Antarctica where they mine metal for the rest of the world. Meeting Rolfa chances the course of Milena's life, and she goes on to change the course of the future for the entire globe. It's hard to go into more detail without spoiling the plot. It's gorgeous and inventive, and ugly and weird and sad. I've read three of Ryman's novel now and am seeing repeat themes. He is gay, and there's always a gay character or two in his novels, or at least someone who is a sexual outlaw. Strange birthing experiences often pop up in his stories as well. I'm glad I re-read this book. I think I'll remember big chunks of it a lot better this time around. Highly recommended to sci-fi lovers and people who like well-rounded LGBTQ characters in their fiction.
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
35. The Astrologer's Daughter [fiction]- Rebecca Lim
36. Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities [nonfiction]- Jackson Wright Shultz
37. The Dew Breaker [fiction]- Edwidge Danticat
38. Blameless in Abaddon [fiction]- James Morrow
39. Wonder [fictoin]- RJ Palacio (unabridged audiobook)
40. The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky, Unexpurgated [nonfiction/memoir]-ed. Joan Acocella, transl. Kyril Fitzlyon
41. WARP: The Reluctant Assassin [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
42. Don Quixote [fiction]- Miguel Cervantes, transl. Edith Grossman
43. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir [nonfiction/memoir]- Haruki Murakami
44. Lysistrata [fiction/drama]- Aristophanes (transl. Sarah Ruden)
