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Ugh. New worksite means that I am back to spending 2+ hours in the car each day. If this were Japan I could make that commute in 15 minutes on the bullet train. While drinking a beer. But it's not, so I can't. (America! Fuck yeah.)
At least I've been reading a bunch of good books.
What I Finished Reading This Week
All Boys Aren't Blue — George M. Johnson
A very fast read, but one that covers multiple heavy topics—race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, family relationships, mental health, sickness and death—honestly and genuinely. This holds true even when Johnson's perceptions don't necessarily align with reality (for instance, he seems to think that early sexual experiences are a cakewalk for folks with ancestries and sexual orientations that differ from his, and that's...very much not the case for anyone I've ever discussed this stuff with). But while this isn't the factual truth, it is Johnson's emotional truth, and there's absolutely value in articulating emotional truths, both for their own sake and because there's also value in learning that other people's experiences aren't so different from yours. (I have also unfortunately met people operating under the assumption that Black folks or queer folks live in some sort of reality where sex is an Edenic cakewalk compared to "normal" people's experiences of it, and, uh, no. They would benefit greatly from reading this book.)
TL;DR—this was gripping and powerful and absolutely deserves the hype.
Elder Race — Adrian Tchaikovsky
I really enjoyed this, although I wish it had been a full-length novel—there's so much intriguing worldbuilding and so many intriguing characters, and we just get glimpses of them in Elder Race's scant 190-odd pages. Still, I understand why this book was recommended to me based on my love of Leckie and Katherine Addison: there's a lot going on here with culture, and language, and the passage of time, and how all of these things interact with people's abilities to understand and communicate with each other. The "I am an offworld scientist/anthropologist/explorer/whatever and therefore can only observe the local population, no matter how badly my principles of noninterference pain me" is an easy (and played out) plot device and the Big Bad was basically a MotW, but so much other stuff was great. I love that Nyr's homeworld never reestablishes contact with him (let alone in the nick of time). I love that Tchaikovsky subverts another standard trope by not having Nyr pair off with Lyn (either through some form of dubcon or an "OMG we love each other" revelation). The chapter in which Nyr explains his history and Lyn et al. interpret it through the lens of their culture and understanding of history and reality was excellent. This was an enjoyable read.
Something Is Killing the Children vol. 4 — James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'edera, & Miquel Muerto
This volume follows Erica's introduction to the House of Slaughter. It's an exemplar of how to introduce complicated worldbuilding and backstory into a serialized comic. Really great stuff.
What I'm Currently Reading
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherworlds — Heather Fawcette
Really enjoyable, but for whatever reason I'm in more of a mood for space opera than fantasy at the moment, and so this one keeps taking a back seat to other volumes.
Ancillary Justice — Ann Leckie
I'm speeding through this one again.
Provenance — Ann Leckie
Still very enjoyable, but also still the hardest of Leckie's Radch books for me to get into.
The Wolf Age — Tore Skie
I, uh, really need to get this one back to the library. Four chapters to go.
Something Is Killing the Children vol. 5 — James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'edera, & Miquel Muerto
Continuing our look into the Making of Erica.
What I'm Reading Next
This week I picked up copies of Zen Cho's Black Water Sister and there is a package waiting for me that I very much hope is Melissa Albert's The Bad Ones.
これで以上です。
At least I've been reading a bunch of good books.
What I Finished Reading This Week
All Boys Aren't Blue — George M. Johnson
A very fast read, but one that covers multiple heavy topics—race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, family relationships, mental health, sickness and death—honestly and genuinely. This holds true even when Johnson's perceptions don't necessarily align with reality (for instance, he seems to think that early sexual experiences are a cakewalk for folks with ancestries and sexual orientations that differ from his, and that's...very much not the case for anyone I've ever discussed this stuff with). But while this isn't the factual truth, it is Johnson's emotional truth, and there's absolutely value in articulating emotional truths, both for their own sake and because there's also value in learning that other people's experiences aren't so different from yours. (I have also unfortunately met people operating under the assumption that Black folks or queer folks live in some sort of reality where sex is an Edenic cakewalk compared to "normal" people's experiences of it, and, uh, no. They would benefit greatly from reading this book.)
TL;DR—this was gripping and powerful and absolutely deserves the hype.
Elder Race — Adrian Tchaikovsky
I really enjoyed this, although I wish it had been a full-length novel—there's so much intriguing worldbuilding and so many intriguing characters, and we just get glimpses of them in Elder Race's scant 190-odd pages. Still, I understand why this book was recommended to me based on my love of Leckie and Katherine Addison: there's a lot going on here with culture, and language, and the passage of time, and how all of these things interact with people's abilities to understand and communicate with each other. The "I am an offworld scientist/anthropologist/explorer/whatever and therefore can only observe the local population, no matter how badly my principles of noninterference pain me" is an easy (and played out) plot device and the Big Bad was basically a MotW, but so much other stuff was great. I love that Nyr's homeworld never reestablishes contact with him (let alone in the nick of time). I love that Tchaikovsky subverts another standard trope by not having Nyr pair off with Lyn (either through some form of dubcon or an "OMG we love each other" revelation). The chapter in which Nyr explains his history and Lyn et al. interpret it through the lens of their culture and understanding of history and reality was excellent. This was an enjoyable read.
Something Is Killing the Children vol. 4 — James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'edera, & Miquel Muerto
This volume follows Erica's introduction to the House of Slaughter. It's an exemplar of how to introduce complicated worldbuilding and backstory into a serialized comic. Really great stuff.
What I'm Currently Reading
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherworlds — Heather Fawcette
Really enjoyable, but for whatever reason I'm in more of a mood for space opera than fantasy at the moment, and so this one keeps taking a back seat to other volumes.
Ancillary Justice — Ann Leckie
I'm speeding through this one again.
Provenance — Ann Leckie
Still very enjoyable, but also still the hardest of Leckie's Radch books for me to get into.
The Wolf Age — Tore Skie
I, uh, really need to get this one back to the library. Four chapters to go.
Something Is Killing the Children vol. 5 — James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'edera, & Miquel Muerto
Continuing our look into the Making of Erica.
What I'm Reading Next
This week I picked up copies of Zen Cho's Black Water Sister and there is a package waiting for me that I very much hope is Melissa Albert's The Bad Ones.
これで以上です。
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