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A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

(I think we need something summery and positive. I’d highly recommend Becky Chamber’s Monk & Robot series of books; a solarpunk dream with a healthy mix of philosophical journeys.)

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The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

This is a short story collection set in a world where memories can be monitored, censored, and erased by a government that deems those outside the hegemonic norm a threat that they have dubbed "dirty computers."

I enjoyed this. Monàe has created a complex and interesting dystopia that feels really expansive as a result of following several different stories within the world. They also have done an excellent job in conveying microaggressions and the pervasive, suffocating knowledge that the system that runs the world not only was not designed with you and people like you in mind, but that it actively wants to stamp out your existence, even if you are one of "the good" ones that works to uphold the system. Particularly compelling is that this is not just exemplified when the government of New Dawn perpetuates this harm, but also even within rebellious groups like the Pynk Hotel in which the prejudices of New Dawn still persist within a movement centered on women's protection, but only the women who fit a certain ideal.

The book centers on questions of resistance. Can you effectively fight back from within the system, and if you try to, what ideological sacrifices must you make, and how do they influence you internally? How do we form spaces for marginalized groups to ensure intersectionality is taken into account, and what do we do with the people who hold biases against other members of your group who exist along those intersections? How do we balance resistance with all the other work we have to do just to keep ourselves alive? How do we make choices about helping the whole versus our own community if we can't do both at once? And how does the art we make influence resistance? Each of these questions is the topic of a story and Monàe's blackness, queerness, and artistry bleeds into each answer. It's a beautiful work of queer afrofuturism.

This is a really fascinating book. I will say that "short" story is a bit of a misnomer here, they are all quite sizable, which can make it drag a bit at times. But on the whole, it was a fantastic experience, and apparently, a multi-media one. I don't follow Monàe's work closely, so I was unaware that the world here is further explored both in one of their albums and in short film until that was mentioned in the acknowledgements, so I'll have to check those out. As for the book itself, I give it 4.5⭐️

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Star Trek: Volume 3 by Mike Johnson et al

This is a comic collecting two stories of the Kelvin universe Star Trek crew. The first, a loose retelling of the original series episode Return of the Archons, and the second an original story centering on tribbles.

This was fun! The retellings of classic stories are getting a lot less one to one, so it feels like the series is maturing and finding it's own footing. I am of course, not a fan of Section 31, but I understand the comics are trying to lay the groundwork here for Into Darkness, and it's not the comic book's fault that that movie sucks. That said, I am very skeptical of the implication Sulu is involved in Section 31, but am reserving judgement until this thread resolves itself. It is possible that the comic could be better than the films and use the organization to provide a salient critique of US intelligence organizations. Not likely, but possible.

The real fun to be had here though is in the tribble story. It does of course share some similarities to The Trouble With Tribbles in that it is Kirk and crew's first encounter with tribbles, but it takes that story and makes a unique one with various elements from established lore. It was really fun to see the Klingons partaking in the tribble hunt that Worf references later on, especially since it also gives us another chance for Uhura to save the day with her Klingon language skills. And seeing the tribble homeworld was a delight! They're really taking advantage of the medium and the fact that they can make much more alien flora and fauna than you could in a film or TV show, and it was gorgeous. Also, Rand was here, but in engineering. Rare aos feminism W.

I'm still iffy of the threads left hanging in the Return of the Archons retelling, but this was a significantly better take on tribbles than Short Treks would attempt a few years later, and I had a blast reading it. 4⭐️

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The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb

This is a historical fantasy following Sorel, a young woman who desperately doesn't want to go through with the marriage her father has arranged for her, so she runs away and disguises herself as a man, taking on the name Isser Jacobs. But there's a real Isser Jacobs in the city involved in the criminal underworld and who has gone missing. Now all of Isser's enemies are targeting Sorel and she must solve his disappearance to save herself.

I had a lot of fun with this one. Sorel's a really fun character- she's got the vibe of a poorly socialized dog and now that she's out in the world interacting with others, she's looking for every opportunity to bite. She's also strong and determined and all the other things that make a good character, but how eager she is to be nasty now that she's got the social ability to do so as a man was definitely the most fun part. The story is also deeply steeped in Jewish folklore, which I know very little about, so it all felt really fresh and new.

However, this just doesn't quite live up to Lamb's debut. The mystery fits together a little too cleanly and with a lot of coincidence, which makes the book feel pretty simple. Which, it is YA, so I guess I can't judge it too harshly for that, but it also fails to make the stakes feel emotionally grounded. I know the reason Sorel doesn't just leave the city like she intended to in the beginning is that she wants to protect Adela, she's invested in proving her father's innocence, and she's connected to Isser whether she wants to be or not, but the book never feels the weight of those emotions, so it still feels like she doesn't have a dog in this fight even though she definitely does. The ending was also really abrupt. The mystery and the magical aspects got resolved, but the character arcs didn't. I have no idea how this book leaves Sorel and Adela.

Lamb gave themselves a very hard act to follow with When the Angels Left the Old Country, and while this book does have a lot of the fun elements as that one, on a craft level, it simply pales in comparison. I still had a good time, and still definitely look forward to seeing more from Lamb in the future, but this one didn't quite hit. 3.5⭐️

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Queer Palestinian Books for Pride Month 🍉

Just a reminder: we do exist. ♥️

Please consider sharing this post, whether to show your support for Palestine, to boost awareness of these books (remember, reading is revolutionary), or to show your audience that you offer a safe space. I know it may seem small, but it makes a difference. Trust me. ♥️

Have you read any of these queer Palestinian books? If not, which would you consider reading first? ❓

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Watched the Murderbot show (it's fine, not great, but not terrible) and it's making me want to reread the books, but my TBR is already so full

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also please tell me about the books that you find confusing i added on here or unexpected books that made you cry

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They weren't quite five star reads for me, but I enjoyed Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield (the main characters are stuck in a timeloop and the LI convinces the MC to use the loop to have fun instead of just trying to break out), Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (woman from a family of witches returns to her hometown and reconnects with an old crush while also dealing with the grief over her sister's death which is what made her leave in the first place), and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna* (a witch is hired to give magic lessons to the children of a globe trotting witch that leaves her kids at home and connects with the house's librarian).

I also love This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, but that one gets recommend everywhere, so I assume you already know it. And I also enjoyed Chuck Tingle's Trans Wizard Harriet Porber duology, but those are first and foremost satire, so they have a very different vibe than most romance.

*While I did enjoy the book, the mother is a white woman who makes a habit of adopting children of color and taking them out of their countries and communities, and the narrative never grapples with the colonialist aspects of that

Edit: I noticed you specified adult romances, so note that Time and Time Again is YA, but the rest of these are adult

I really want to find a romance book that I enjoy. So far, I've loved Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson, and decently liked Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole (despite the miscommunication trope being used when there wasn't miscommunication - she didn't even ghost her, the mc just kept insisting she did). A Necessary Chaos sounds soooo good, but it's a several months situation on qll.

I wish getting to my library was more accessible. Fucking suburbs think everyone has a car and has one bus go through only twice a day. The stop is a forty minute walk from my house and doesn't even go near the library.

Anyone know of any (preferably adult) romances that are speculative in nature, but NOT romantasy or cozy fantasy?

If you're not sure what I mean by speculative romance, examples: Instructions for Dancing has the MC get a gift/curse where she sees people kiss and gets a vision of their relationship, the big moments and how it ends. In Yesterday is History, MC gets a liver transplant from someone who was a time traveler and is suddenly able to time travel, but at great risk to said liver.

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Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

This is literary fiction following Paul, a shapeshifting grad student living in 1990s USA and navigating both various queer scenes and his own sense of identity and purpose.

This was pretty good; the historical aspect was handled very well and the book felt very grounded in the queer world of the 90s. The magical realism manifesting Paul's changing sense of self physically was also well done and I loved the exploration of gender identity shifting over time. I also loved the panic and isolation Paul felt when encountering the idea that he may be valued only for/fetishized for what he is rather than who he is- that is something that of course can resonate for many different identities but is most strongly paralleled to the trans experience.

However, I am learning that literary fiction is not a genre I am overly fond of. Despite knowing that the point of the genre is an emphasis on character and themes over plot, I still spend every book I read waiting for it to feel like anything is really happening and wind up disappointed. Which is not a failing of this book, it is simply me not being in the target audience. Nonetheless, it certainly wouldn't be honest to my reading experience to rate it 5 stars, but it is well written and I did enjoy the previously mentioned elements, so I am going to give it 4⭐️

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saw someone genuinely ask how old was too old to be still reading books about high schoolers and college students bc they were concerned about their aunt reading a YA book. we are so cooked

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Elatsoe - Darcie Little Badger

Magical realism murder mystery

In an alternate America with vampires, fairy circles, and supernatural monsters, Ellie has a special skill: like her Lipan Apache ancestors before her, she has a knack for summoning animal ghosts — like her beloved dog, Kirby, just as loyal in death as he was in life. Perhaps that's why the spirit of her cousin reaches out to her in his last moments, telling her who killed him and begging for justice.

Finding the man in question is easy. Proving his guilt is a lot more complicated, considering he's an affluent and influential doctor given to charity work, very well-known and well-liked in his small Texas town. But there's definitely something off about him — about the whole situation — and Ellie, her family, and her best friend are determined to get to the truth before her restless cousin returns to exact vengeance himself ... and human ghosts, unlike animals, are always a dangerous thing.

It's an exciting mystery and a beautiful story about grief, justice, connecting with history, and outwitting monsters!

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The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood

This is a graphic novel following Billie, an artist who has just been awarded ten slots in a gallery for new paintings when she is injured, leading to a detached retina that will blind her over the course of the next two weeks, so she sets out to find ten interesting people to paint while she still can.

I really liked this one! It does touch on some cliche tropes regarding blindness, but it is able to include them without the narrative itself feeling ableist- at least to me. My opinion on this does of course come with a grain of salt as a sighted person, but while Billie does despair the loss of her sight and feels that she has no reason to live without it, the main theme of the book is learning her value outside of her sight and of what she can produce, and the fact that she will still be capable of meaningful art without her sight, it will just be different, because she will be different.

It also has a compassionate look on homelessness and the systems that lead to it. Billie's acceptable into a shelter does feel way too easy to me, which in turn feeds into the narrative of homeless people just not taking the support that is offered them. I do admit that I don't know anything about homelessness in the UK though, so maybe it is that easy to get a place to sleep. The timeline also feels off; I didn't count the days passing, but it felt like much more than two weeks.

Billie is a great character struggling with a major change, and her world is populated with characters just as complex and interesting as she is. I loved going on her journey with her and look forward to reading the author's next book as well. 4.5⭐️

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Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham

This is a supernatural romance graphic novel following Tony, a track star desperate for his dad's attention, and Eli, a shy loner with a chronic condition that keeps him from fully participating in school, as they deal with werewolves, ghosts, and their growing feelings for one another.

Mixed feelings on this one. Paralleling chronic conditions with lycanthropy is a fun trope, and I enjoy the emphasis on support networks and how even if dealing with your disability itself doesn't necessarily get any easier, having support while dealing with it will improve the overall situation. The art was also very well done.

Unfortunately, there's not much else positive to say about it. For such a long graphic novel, very little happens, making it feel simultaneously rushed and like things are dragging. I also think some of the characters fall flat, especially since several would be character arcs wind up unresolved by the end. And stealing medical equipment from someone who needs it because you're angry with them is such a horrible thing to do, and I don't think this book takes the weight of that seriously enough, especially for a book that deals so heavily with disability.

I can't say I had a bad time reading it, and the story was compelling, but it's also kind of a mess and left me pretty unsatisfied. 2.5⭐️

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Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

This is another Discworld novel; in this one, alchemists have invented an approximation of film, and the essence of the holy wood brings people from all over to get involved with it, including a wizarding student and a young woman with strange dreams who discover together that the spirit of holy wood is more powerful than it seems.

This was fine; a perfectly average Discworld book. I did like the commentary on the way capitalism and sponsorships worm their way into art and make them worse, and I can see the beginnings of the power of stories theme here that would later be better built upon in Hogfather, but nothing that really blew me away. I'm still not overly fond of the wizards and while I know Pratchett is capable of occasionally writing fantasy racism well, he doesn't here- the discussion of stereotypes and racist tropes is largely treated as whinging over nothing. I'm also not well versed enough in old Hollywood to get a lot of the jokes- I understand enough to get by, but not enough to have a great time.

I do think my reading experience was worsened by the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook over the same course of time that I physically read The Color of Magic; I may be a bit too overloaded on Discworld and may have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read in conjunction with one I disliked, but oh well. A pretty average outing for Pratchett; not poorly written by any means, but still nothing amazing. 2.5⭐️

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Us by Sara Soler translated by Silvia Perea Labayen

This is an autobiographical graphic novel following Soler's experience with her partner Diana's transition.

This is fine, I guess, if it's your first introduction to trans people. It's definitely made with a cis audience in mind. I suppose it is worthwhile to have a cis ally write a book explaining to cis audiences why they shouldn't be shitty to trans people, but it really holds the hands of that audience while doing next to nothing for trans readers. Like I'm sure cis people with trans people in their lives found Soler freaking out after Diana came out to her relatable, but as a trans person, it was incredibly isolating and upsetting to read how someone who reportedly loves you would have a meltdown about you being who you are. And while she does come around, she feels way too gleeful about being the Good Girlfriend Who Is Showing You How To Be A WomanTM. The comments she makes in response to catcalling and clothing sizes not making sense of "Welcome to womanhood!" feels so condescending, and not the least bit helpful in an already stressful situation.

Soler says she made this comic to help trans people and their loved ones feel less alone, but it really feels like she wanted to be the main character in Diana's transition. I'm gonna give it 2⭐️ instead of 1 because, like I said, I'm sure it is helpful for cis people, but I don't at all recommend this if you're trans yourself.

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The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

This is the first Discworld book. It revolves around a failed wizard named Rincewind who has been tasked, under threat of death, with showing a tourist from a richer and more powerful country around Ankh-Morpork safely and make sure he has a good time, a near impossible task given everything about Ankh-Morpork.

One of the first things you hear about Discworld is that you shouldn't start at the beginning- the series took a few books to really get going, and with the format of the series, you don't have to read in chronological order anyway. And for one brief, shining moment when I saw the way tourism was being parodied, I thought that maybe it was also because this book was going to offer substantial critique of the exploitative nature of tourism economies. That it's recommended to wait to read about Twoflower treating Ankh-Morpork citizens as sights to oggle and play with while knowing that he could treat them like any way he wanted and get away with it because of the backing of the empire he's from, because reading that would inherently hit harder if you the reader feel at home in Ankh-Morpork the way you do after reading 20 books set there.

But tragically, that's not what happened. At all. The book does make fun of tourists, yes, but in a pretty gentle way, and it also mocks the citizens of Ankh-Morpork just as much, if not more. The tourism parody isn't super coherent, but that's because none of themes are. The reason people recommend you don't start with this one is in fact just because it's not very good. It's just a series of events happening to Rincewind with his own actions having little to no impact on the plot. It's fun to take a tour of the Disc, but it's really just four snapshots of different stories that could be told, but that this book doesn't meaningfully engage with. I can see hints here of stories that Pratchett would later revist in some of my favorite Discworld books when he does actually delve into the ideas he's presenting, but he doesn't do that here. The four subsections also don't flow very well. The first two are fine and the jump from the second to third one is a little clunky but works, but the transition from the third section to the last one is unbelievably jarring. Maybe it's meant to be parody, but it reads like bad writing.

And those are just the big problems; there's lots of little ones too, like Pratchett seeming to forget halfway through that Twoflower needs a translator, or Death having a stronger off page character arc than Rincewind, or the fact that there's not a real ending. The last point, I'm more forgiving on for now because I have to assume it will be picked up on in the next Rincewind book, but that still doesn't fix the fact that nothing is properly wrapped up in this book. As always, Pratchett has really fun and interesting ideas, but jesus, they were not executed well here. 1.5⭐️