#doe's south asian book recs

[hauntedpearl]

bestie… tragedy struck. my libby doesn’t have the jasmin throne!!! can you please rec me some more desi or eastern magical realism/urban fantasy novels? if you already have a list or tag i can search thru then i’d love to see it!!! thank uuuu!!!

the list is too long, and tbh, i haven't read all there is to read when it comes to desi fiction. but I've got a few favourites/famous ones you can check out if you like —

• The Poppy War, R F Kuang (adult fantasy, definitely check out trigger warnings!)

• Hunted by the Sky & Rising Like A Storm, Tanaz Bhathena (YA fantasy, Desi/Persian inspo)

• Empire of Sand & Realm of Ash, Tasha Suri (haven't read this yet, but it's Tasha Suri so i know it's gonna be banger!)

• Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi (YA fantasy, not the biggest fan of Roshani, but her prose is very pretty!)

• The Tiger At Midnight series, Swati Teerdhala (YA fantasy, slightly clunky but super fun overall)

• The Celestial Trilogy, Sangu Mandana (YA SFF, sci-fi retelling of the Mahabharata, INSANELY GOOD ADAPTATION even if the writing in the first one is kinda basic)

• Monsters Born And Made, Tanvi Berwah (YA SFF, this one's not out yet but it's GREAT!)

• She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (adult fantasy, SO GOOD YOU'LL THINK ABOUT IT FOR WEEKS!)

• Queen of Jasmine Country, Sharanya Manivannan (Magical Realism, retelling of the famous tale of Goda Devi/Aandal, Exquisite prose)

• Girls of Paper and Fire, Natasha Ngan (YA Fantasy, only a fan of the first book tbh..the rest of the series is pretty average. definitely look up trigger warnings for this too!)

• Theft of Sunlight, Intisar Khanani (YA fantasy, more Arab culture inspired than not, Thee Most Fun!!!)

• The Dragon Warrior, Katie Zhao (Middlegrade Fantasy, PJo-esque)

• Nghi Vo novellas (Fantasy, SUPER SUPER WARM READS)

that's off the top of my head! But you can find more online!!

[some-weird-queer-writer]

South Asian setting fantasy books recs anyone?

Does anyone have any fantasy books that have settings heavily inspired by South Asia? I'm not sure where to look cause all I've found so far are books with Middle East, East, Southeast Asia inspired settings

Thanks! -Avi

[roobylavender]

second tag meme and also from @ravenkinnie: book recs!

no time to spare / ursula le guin / i've been slowly trying to make my way through her essay collections and this is one i really love so far. i also read words are my matter but that one had some of her more questionable political stances so i enjoyed this one bc it was focused on more generic and personal topics

good intentions / kasim ali / i would honestly highly recommend this to south asians specifically bc i don't think i've seen any other book that holds south asian millennials accountable for their tendency to damn their parents to inflexibility from the outset and then fail to hold themselves accountable for never challenging traditional mindsets. this book specifically deals with anti-blackness within the south asian community and i think it does a fantastic job of it (please wait until the end bc it does end as it deserves to end but for a moment you will get worried towards the middle that it won't go that way lol. trust me)

the king of attolia / megan whalen turner / obv i would rec the queen's thief series in general but this is by and large my favorite of the whole series (well. bar the sixth book which closely ties with it) and much as i am sure everyone loved this series the most when it was from eugenides's perspective i cannot help but think that i never love eugenides more than when i read about him through the perspective of those who love him dearly

each little bird that sings / deborah wiles / this was a pretty formative book in my childhood esp wrt the concept of how children process death. it's actually part of a quartet of companion novels, each of which i love dearly and one of which is actually the inspiration for my current username, but i think this one is executed the best and it also happens to be the most well known installment, definitely for good reason

supreme inequality / adam cohen / i feel like if you're not necessarily into studying the law but want to gain a better, in-depth understanding of why we are where we are right now with american law this is a good book to read. it corrects a lot of misconceptions around the idea that the supreme court was ever consistently progressive (ie severe brevity and breakdown of the social welfare oriented burger era) and discusses the evolution of judicial interpretation of major topics over the course of the last several decades

the f team / rawah arja / this came as a rec in a melina marchetta newsletter and i'm so glad it did! it's a really fun and messy look into life as a lebanese-australian boy and what i think it does well is not shy away from culturally ingrained flaws, rather seek to dissect and understand them and highlight how crucial an emotionally mature and communication-dependent upbringing is for young muslim/arab boys. there are a few jokes here and there that caught the side eye from me bc they felt severely lacking in self-awareness but other than that i really enjoyed it

the piper's son / melina marchetta / my favorite marchetta novel forever and always, and the second installment in the inner west trilogy of companion novels, following saving francesca. what i really adore about this one is the interplay of grief between so many people and this guilt you have to overcome over the impact of the death of a loved one on your life. bc sometimes it utterly tears you apart and other times it brings you together and the emotions of that are so horribly complicated. i also simply adore the continued exploration of the main friend group and how as harsh as the girls are on tom they are so protective and dedicated, too, bc that's how they all are with each other. it's a book that constantly makes me ache

beloved / toni morrison / interestingly i find this book to be highly relevant considering the recent abortion fiasco in the american legal scene and its relation to abusive domestic situations but it's also one of the books i loved reading the most in undergrad particularly bc of its brutal exploration into how oppressed peoples are driven to self-inflicted violence as a last resort. can you blame a woman for killing her child when the only other option was damning that child to a life of slavery? it's a situation that has to be analyzed with so much empathy and compassion and that's exactly what morrison affords it

the secret garden / frances hodgson burnett / one of two other books i loved reading the most in undergrad (with the third one being north and south). i read this for a british literature class that i took at a time i was severely starting to doubt my degree again after having already gone through a really rough depressive period following jonghyun's death so it really opportunely entered my life. i remember reading the magic monologue towards the end and just crying and crying bc it felt so liberating and while the rest of my undergrad journey was not necessarily a total high i do think this helped comfort me a lot

tagging: @briarhips, @lateafternoonsunlight, @senorscotty, @dankovskaya & @infatuate !

[triviareads]

I recently read That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd and I was wondering if you have read books with that kind of dynamic? Like the hero/heroine wanting to paint/draw/sculp the hero/heroine

I love That Scandalous Evening! Art in HR peaked with that book imho; that nude sculpture with only a little fig leaf covering his bits was inspired, but what really put it over the top was the aftermath when Ransom is ENRAGED and HORNY and clearly into Jane's hero worship but he's also being likened to a DOG and he literally presses her hand to his dick and says "note the difference"— all of which I was completely not expecting so that made it even better. Anyway— artist/muse recs:

My Dirty Duke by Joanna Shupe: Violet is a photographer and uses the camera her dad's best friend Ravensthorpe gifted her to photograph him nude (front and back 👏🏼).

Falling Into Bed with a Duke Lorraine Heath: The hero Ashbury likes to photograph legs and when Minerva Dodger propositions him at a sex club, he jumps at the chance to get those leg pics (I also have in my notes him saying "your foot is flawless" and between this and In Want of a Viscount I'm starting to think Lorraine Heath likes to write in a tasteful foot fetish).

In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti: Ashford is Matilda's accidental(?) muse in that her erotic cartoons of dirty profs tying gals up were subliminally inspired by Ashford, but then the publisher took some liberties to make it a more exact likeness, namely adding an ass tat, which is why Ashford hunts down Matilda to "make her pay" or something.

The Marquess Method by Kathleen Ayers: I forget if Theo actually ends up painting a miniature of Haven but she definitely wanted to, so she informs him in the middle of having sex, down to the paint shade she'd use. This is the same woman who painted a miniature of herself with one(?) tit out in order to lure a guy she liked... only to get compromised by Haven.

Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt: The funny thing about this one is that Asa is all "oh Eve is suuuuuch a shrew" but then the second she asks to paint him but clarifies it's not a nude, he's super butthurt and is like "is it because I'm a COMMON LOUT? too ugly to be painted naked??" and if that doesn't inform their dynamic idk what else will. Also, there's this whole subplot of Bridget Crumb being *enthralled* by Val's tasteful nudes in his house.

Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert: As of today I can confirm Orpheus did a series of paintings of Eurydice's vaj but kept them private, even after they broke up. There is also a body painting/edging sex scene.

Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai: Rana kinda stalks Micah but he's aware and very into it and eventually asks her to be his muse for his paintings/fuckbuddy for the duration. It's actually SO HOT and Rana's the kind of crazy heroine I wanna see more South Asian girlies written as.

Captives of the Night by Loretta Chase: Leila is an artist and she either does paint Esmonds or wants to paint him.

[rrxnjun]

from here

Ohh so k-pop does get overwhelming at times like keeping up with all of their comebacks and activities does take a toll on the psyche 🤧 i took a small break of sorts back in 2021 just to get a breather and instead focus my energy on books :') the whole pandemic situation and the lockdown was beginning to get to me + i had to deal with an academic burnout but !! things are definitely better now.

OKAYY so it took me a lot of time to finalise a bias in nct dream and tbt all nct units unghhh i lobe them all but my nct dream bias as of now is renjun. this man has me wrapped around his finger and activates the heart eyes WDYM HE HAS A PRETTY VOICE HES AN ARTIST HE'S PRETTY HE'S SHARP TONGUED AND HE'S A TOTAL SWEETHEART LIKE HE'S SO CARING 100% BFF/BF MATERIAL :( FDIBCFBN GOD HAS HIS FAVOURITES ALRIGHT and oml don't even get me started w the yangyang and renjun interactions im still reeling from when they did this.

In 127 i have a soft spot for the vocal line lol so i usually bias whoever's in the vocal line for a particular song (DO THEY HAVE TO MAKE IT SO HARD TO CHOOSE THO). rn it's jaehyun bc I'm obsessed w his voice (it's his first few lines in good thing <33)

Oof faded in my last song just hits so hard and it hurts so bad the songs so deep. It's one of my favourite nct u songs that and baby don't like it (again. hoe anthems >>>) for 127 it's either heartbreaker (bc it's hyuck's world and we're just living in it) or good thing (bc jaehyun.) Basically love the limitless era. and for dream okayy i can't really choose but reload and boom era were both crazy good. as for wayv it's after midnight and maybee take off. Wbu what are your favourite eras/songs?

Ahh you're a carat ?? I've been trying to get into svt since hoshi's spider came out but it's still a work in progress :') Which all groups do you stan ?? (40k slowburns are segci and it's for Vernon?? sounds v interesting 👀)

and the yangyang fic's going to have angst okay thanks for the warning angst scares me but i find it beautiful (?) as a genre like whoa how do mere scenes and words strung up together in a completely different world make me feel so much. But again that's why i like reading in general. bonus points if i actually find the smth in the fic relatable :')

YUSSUH 5SOS SUPREMACY youngblood was THAT album yk. weird but their music and a few select songs from twenty one pilots and imagine dragons help me concentrate and actually solve calculus ... esp easier and good girls 😭 idk why tho and whahfkfkkg they came to your city ?? Djnffkfm most international artists usually don't come near South Asian countries ie the place where I live 🤧

and yes so i listened to a few more songs by waterparks but I'm obsessed with 21 questions. i can't stop putting it on loop 😭😭 fdhjk pls feel free to send in more song recs

p.s. i enjoy talking to you too to the point where i think i ramble a little too much hrkfjfnf Have a good day/night <3

SORRY FOR REPLYING LATE I SUCK AT HUMAN INTERACTION

kpop does get overwhelming sometimes dfkjlas but also i just kind of got bored for a bit so i didnt feel motivated to check up on it in so long,, but now i just found the excitement again and i feel the same i did when getting into it for the first time its so amazing. i got into kpop just before the pandemic started, so it was something that was keeping me going during the lockdowns and shit :) i am glad you're feeling better now, though!

OUR BIASES MATCH AAAAAAA #besties fdlksaj renjun is literally the love of my life i think us two are similar in a lot of things (our zodiac signs, personalities, interests, anger issues...) so i think loving him so much helped my selflove djfkla this sounds weird but its true to some extent?? AND DONT MENTION THE CAMPING TRIP VIDEO IN FRONT OF ME ITS MY COMFORT VID AAAAA everything abt it is so wholesome,,, their little karaoke sessions, the shopping, the cooking,, them switching languages every now and then,, also yangyang singing i'm gonna love you by d.o. is stuck in my head that moment felt special.

in 127 i tend to gravitate towards mark and hyuck but i cant really count them bc theyre my dream biases as well LMAO but if i exclude them, i'd say i bias doyoung? i have a soft spot for yuta as well haha and recently my head is full of jungwoo but i'm not gonna give that too much weight just yet it might be a phase we'll see

I LOVE HOE ANTHEMS AAAA no one does sexy songs like nct. no one can compare. period. my fav eras would probablyyy be hot sauce/hello future for dream i fucking love that era and i miss it so much it was comfort for me. hot sauce was the first album ive ever bought from my first ever paycheck haha<33 for 127 probably superhuman/kick it/punch era? altho i wasnt a stan back then yet,, so i didnt fully experience it and for wayv turn back time era!!

i AM a carat!! spider is so good oml truly a cultural reset. no one does it like kwon soonyoung. i stan quite a few groups i think?? my ults are definitely nct, seventeen and txt! i keep up w them the most:) and then i stan enhypen, stray kids and p1harmony, although i dont really watch their contents or anything anymore,, im more of a casual stan for them. wbu?

yesyes its an angsty one but its not that bad i think fklf i definitely wrote more traumatic fics than this one. there's actually a yy tiktok i saw that literally represents how i wrote him in this fic it fit so much uh god i'll show it to you if you're interested

SOLVE CALCULUS HDAKL thank god i dont have maths anymore<33 that was a real struggle. i used to have a twenty one pilots phase tbf but im glad its behind me now bc the tyler joseph now is not the tyler joseph i used to stan!:)) and nooo they didn't come to my city! i'm from slovakia and literally no one comes to slovakia so i get your sturggle. they came to krakow and vienna though and that's kind of close to me!

21 questions>>>>> literally one of the songs that inspired my yy fic. do you use spotify? i'll make you a rec playlist if you really want!

p.s. i really enjoy talking to you hihi i missed your asks hhhh please dont think you ramble too much bc i do too!! it shows that we are comfy w each other xx

[celiabowens]

Book recommendations, Literary Fiction edition(?)

A companion to this post (which should be updated, at some point lol)

Short Story Collections: 

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield: grotesque and disquieting collection about women and their experience in society, how they view and perceive their own body and desires. Pretty strong mythic, magical realism, body horror elements in here.

The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks: fascinating collection in which Sacks reminishes some particularly odd stories of patients who had to cope with bizarre neurological disorders.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: a collection focused on the Chinese millennial experience. Stories about love and loss, family, immigration and the uncertainty of the future. (also there’s an extremely beautiful short story about a pair of Chinese divers that broke me forever!!!)

Bestiary: The Selected Stories by Julio Cortázar: unforgettable selection of short stories that mix surreal elements to everyday life and apparently ordinary events. Would also recommend All Fires the Fire by the same author.

Novels:

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang: one of the biggest debuts of 2020, it follows two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era. An adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration, this is one of my favorites 2020 reads so yeah, I’d really push it in anyone’s hands to be honest.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: historical fiction inspired by the last days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in the 1820s. A quite bleak, but beautiful novel (the prose is stunning).

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: historical fiction novel set in Norway in the 17th century, following the lives of a group of women in a village that recently (barely) survived a storm that killed all of the island’s men. 

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: the 2020 winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist (side note, I’ve been recommended The Underground Railroad by Whitehead as well, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. If you’re looking for something quite peculiar, if a bit less refined when compared to The Nickel Boys, The Intuitionist is a quite odd pulpy noir set in an alternate NY about...elevator inspectors *and racism*). 

The Leavers by Lisa Ko: haunting book about identity and immigration as the main character is apparently abandoned by his own mother (an undocumented Chinese immigrant) during his childhood. Mainly a story about living in between places and constantly feeling out of place. 

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa: when everyone would probably recommend Murakami (not much against Murakami besides his descriptions of women and their boobs), I suggest checking out some of Ogawa’s books. The recently translated The Memory Police, published in Japan in the mid 90s, is an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories slowly disappear. Would also really recommend The Housekeeper and The Professor, a really short novel about a housekeeper hired to clean and cook for a math professor who suffered an injury that causes him to remember new things for only 80 minutes. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, following a son writing a letter to his illiterate mother. The book seems quite polarising due to Vuong’s writing style (his poetry background is really quite clear and the book doesn’t really follow a regular narrative, rather than portrays events and memories in brief flashes), but I loved it and I’d really just recommend going into it without knowing much? It’s a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and more.

Exist West by Mohsin Hamid: this book was fairly popular when it came out (in 2017 I believe) and was often incorrectly marketed as magical realism. Hamid’s book is a brief and quietly brutal journey with a few fantastical elements, following a couple trying to escape their city in the middle of war, as they hear about peculiar doors that can whisk people far away. The doors are, of course, a quite effective metaphor for the immigrant experience and the book does a great job at portraying the main characters’ relationship. 

Family Trust by Kathy Wang: this has a really low rating on goodreads which...wow i hate that. Family Trust is a literary family saga/drama about a Chinese-American family residing in the Silicon Valley. It’s often been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, but I believe it to be more on the literary side and definitely less lighthearted. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: historical family saga (one of my favorites tbh, I’m absolutely biased, but this book deserved more hype) set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century, following four generations of a Korean family. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the prose, the book has really great characterisation and absolutely fascinating characters. (I’d suggest checking out eventual TW first, in this case). 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: another recent read, The Silence of the Girls, while not faultless, is a pretty good retelling of The Iliad, narrated through Briseis’ perspective. The prose can feel a bit too modern at times, but it provides the reader with some really strong quotes and descriptions. 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: and also Little Fires Everywhere by the same author, to be honest. If you’re looking for really really good family dramas, with great explorations of rather complex and nuanced relationships? You should just check out her stuff. Vibrant characters, good writing, and some superb portrayal of longing here. 

Nutshell by Ian McEwan: i’m starting with this one only to grab your attention (if you’ve even reached this part lol, congrats), but McEwan’s one of my favorite authors and I’d recommend almost everything I’ve read by him? Nutshell, specifically, is a really odd and fun retelling of Hamlet...told from the pov of an unborn baby. But really, I’d also recommend Atonement (of course), The Children Act, Amsterdam? All good stuff. 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: I’ve read this book this summer and, while I’m still unsatisfied with the ending, I’d thoroughly recommend this? The novel follows Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A singular novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life. 

Human Acts by Han Kang: from the bestselling author of The Vegetarian (which honestly, I thoroughly despised lol), Human Acts focuses on the South Korean Gwangju uprising. It’s a really odd (and at times grotesque) experimental novel (one chapter is narrated from the pov of one of the bodies if I remember correctly), so one really has to be in the mood for it, but it’s a really unique experience, worth a chance.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: sort of a really chunky historical adventure novel following two artists in 1940s/1950s NY, who create a superhero and use him to wage a one man war on the Nazis. A bit slow in places (the pace can be uneven at times and the book is quite long), but an enjoyable novel that does a pretty good job when it comes to exploring rather classic themes of American contemporary fiction: the American dream and the figure of the artist (I think there’s a particularly interesting focus on how the artists navigates the corporate world and its rules) and their creative process.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: this is a pretty classic rec, the book really got a lot of hype when it came out? It’s a dystopian-ish novel set after civilisation’s collapse, following a post-apocalyptic troupe (of Shakespearean actors). It’s a really odd, but surprisingly quiet book. Not sure if a pandemic is exactly the right time to read it, but I thoroughly recommend it. 

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng: I feel like this book is extremely complex to summarise to be honest. In short, it’s a book set in Malaya at the end of the 1940s, following a woman who, after surviving Japanese wartime camps, spends her life prosecuting war criminals. But truthfully this book is about conflicts and contradictions and in particular about remembering and forgetting. Lovely prose. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: and also The Goldfinch. I’m sure no one really needs me to introduce Donna Tartt?

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton: quite cerebral mystery set in New Zealand in 1866. Honestly you have to be a patient reader who enjoys novels with a pretty complex structure to like this, but if you’re into this sort of challenging read...go for it? It’s a book of interlocking stories (with 10+ pov and main characters) with a really fascinating structure based on astrological charts, which provide insight to the main characters’ traits and personality as the mystery unfolds.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: ok...do not watch the movie first. The Hours is an incredibly difficult novel to describe to be honest: it begins by recalling the last moments of Virginia Woolf’s life, as she’s writing Mrs. Dalloway. The book focuses on three separate narratives, each one following a specific character throughout a single day of their own life. Goes without saying that I’d suggest being familiar with Mrs. Dalloway itself first though.

An Artists of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro: not one of Ishiguro’s most famous works (most start reading his work with Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day), but probably my favorite out of those I’ve read so far. The novel follows  Masuji Ono, an artist who put his work in service of imperialist propaganda throughout WWII. Basically a reflection and an account of the artist’s life as he deals with the culpability of his previous actions. 

Stoner by John Williams: I feel like this is an odd book to recommend, because I don’t think someone can truly get the hype unless they read it themselves. Stoner is a pretty straight-forward book, following the ordinary life of an even more ordinary man. And yet it’s so compelling and never dull in its exploration of the characters’ lives and personalities. Also, I’ve just finished Augustus by the same author, which is an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Really liked it. 

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien: back to integenerational family sagas (because I love those, in case it wasn’t clear lol), Do Not Say We Have Nothing follows a young woman who suddenly rediscovers her family’s fractured past. The novel focuses on two successive generations of a Chinese family through China’s 20th century history. While not every character got the type of development they deserved, the author does a good job when it comes to gradually recreating the family’s complex and nuanced history. 

There’s probably more but I doubt anyone’s going to reach the end or anything so. There’s that lol.

[roseunspindle]

Youtube Channel Recs

Odds are some if not most of these channels are well known and super popular but I’m bored tonight so here is this wonderful list. XD

Overly Sarcastic Productions

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCodbH5mUeF-m_BsNueRDjcw

History/Classics/things that go with these/stuff channel, very fun, Blue and Red are very entertaining and educational at the same time. 

Ask a Mortician

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5iiEyLwSLvlqnMi02u5gQ

Pretty much what the title says, she also covers historical events where dead bodies were important to the proceedings, answer common and uncommon death questions.

Linkara atop the 4th Wall

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCejehlk5eLZlzgGP1rUx8kw

He predominately reviews bad comics, but does skits, and storylines, unboxings, history of power rangers, will occasionally review event comics, and does spooky comic stuff too. Very fun and entertaining, plus a good way to either find good comics or to find out about bad comics and how to avoid them.  

Snake Discovery

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnIrLy19cFV50Eai8Xj-ArA

An awesome channel mostly about snakes, but also videos with their pet stunted rescue alligator Rex, a defeathered blue and gold macaw, and some lizards and geckos, also a venegaroon.

Bernadette Banner

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHtaUm-FjUps090S7crO4Q

A sewing channel, but like, artsy with dark academia, witchy undertones, lots of felling, bonus guinea pig, Edwardian love, well spoken sarcasm. 

Scarfing Scarves

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCojzjwsFaUKoPKho7VqMa1g

lolita news, lolita letters, lolita clothes, unrepentant sarcasm, very fun.

Dominic Noble

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPtiXdv7RoU8IkrJeNY73qw

Book to movie adaptation reviews/romance novel genre reviews (he does legit review them, not just mock them)/misc reviews of things he likes lots of fun, British sarcasm and humor.

Animal Wonders Montana

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Nj4gkoi_n5eCcrKCVOXKA

So many animals, so much squeeing, also videos with basic care how too’s, and just general animal cuteness, with occasional sadness as reality is tragically a thing.

Rachel Maksy

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJI86v9et-IZd1KJSfahN8g

Sewing/vintage fashion/general silliness/a love of Halloween/her dog frodo

Chandler’s Wild Life

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLiU3BzWeBoQjCgeu1kL8Bw

Venomous snakes, really big lizards, alligators, crocodiles...as with many, he is very enthusiastic about his animals, and has a love for venomous snakes especially.

PeruseProject

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6Qlkv2hif7KPtmMmNUGUw

Reading vlogs galore XD, lots of fantasy occasional contemporary or mystery. with a sprinkling of fashion. Adorable pug...

Rachel and Jun’s Adventures

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSzHO_V894KyTDw3UgZS7gg

Vlogs of their life and life in japan in general, also so many kitties.

The Mechanisms

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkTBpRpdi4PMFsPewIgcDJw

great story music, lots of representation.

 Once Upon a Time in Space, Ulysses Dies at Dawn, High Noon Over Camelot, The Bifrost Incident

Jean Bookishthoughts

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmwiWQwe73pgJlv7M3MX2Nw

So many bookhauls, lots of nonfiction content, classics, feminist, did I mention ancient greek classics and retellings, also she has a Scottish accent

Morgan Donner

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXidSGLe42axucCsEigBA-Q

Sewing/ancient hair/ making of interesting things

Roxxsaurus

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBKFH7bU2ebvO68FtuGjyyw

Clothing try-on hauls, trying on weird clothing, dressing like different celebrities for a week, make-up things.

The Lion Whisperer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_NS4MiiHAFo3CYI7fRSLtQ

South African man working with lions at his sanctuary, getting knocked over by his lions, taking his lions on walks, conservation, hyenas, occasional sighting of elephants and giraffes.

Tito the Raccoon

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRXTc9RM3D0j65ZoxNuHDmQ

Also Cheeto and Piper raccoons, a few snooty kitties, some cute ferrets, an enthusiastic puppy... so much pet raccoon content.

Safiya Nygaard

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbAwSkqJ1W_Eg7wr3cp5BUA

I’m sure no one’s heard of this channel. XD, bad make-up science, clothing history/ weird clothing/ bad cake science, giant lipstick, bad bathbomb science, general tomfoolery.

Buzzfeed Unsolved

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqQuSYl9EljppQERLUlsDtR5

Ryan tells Shane about unsolved cases, they sass, they discuss, they solve nothing. XD

Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqSmH4NjDm6lk1YiNUhLCxj4

Ryan and Shane and ghosts and cryptids and demons. Shane doesn’t believe in any of it, Ryan is terrified of all of it. Also Shane might be a demon. Also they stole the goatman’s bridge. Shane considers the annabelle doll weaksauce.

Freddy My Love

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKHiDLbWZQYh9mHJKh55ig

Clothing channel, much, much pink, she has a really nice voice. does “haulweeks” at the beginning of fashion seasons.

Maven of the Eventide

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjZfdrnSOrh4iFL2GCNvWVw

in depth discussion of vampire fiction, (movies/books/comics/manga/video games)

booksandpieces

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXifXYnZ5fVrlhpuhDjZOGg

Sci-fi booktube channel, lots of robots and aliens

Lilly Singh

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfm4y4rHF5HGrSr-qbvOwOg

comedy sketches, focus on anti-racisim, anti-sexism, just general life, 

Lindsay Holiday

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUsJAAPcT5T_hoSXdNfOP4Q

History, she’s planning to cover every female European monarch on her channel, good info, good visuals

Toxic Tears

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR7TmF4nvC1-7beky_gVEig

Gothic clothing hauls, gothic subscription boxes, saying “cute” a lot, makeup tutorials

Strictly Dumpling

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXOKEdfOFxsHO_-Su3K8SHg

Going all over the world to eat delicious food and make all his viewers really hungry

HorrorBabble

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIvp_SM7UrKuFgR3W77fWcg

H.P. Lovecraft readings, other horror short stories reading, occasional forays into other things generally related to h.p. lovecraft.

Rachel and Jun

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4yqcgz49APdbgj0OMv7jpA

More “at home” stuff, and of course, more kitties

priorattire

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrR0r23WBVav42inmqWa6_A

historical fashion/dressing up 

Sam’s Nonsense

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUfP0El1vakyfkkXbyJwy0Q

mostly fantasy (lots of robin hobb) some sci-fi, loves Christmas, occasional dogs

Contrapoints

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNvsIonJdJ5E4EXMa65VYpA

philosophy, transgender, politics, mood lighting, potential nihilism

Storied

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO6nDCimkF79NZRRb8YiDcA

Books, monsters, interesting things of learning

Tier Zoo

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHsRtomD4twRf5WVHHk-cMw

The world, but like it’s a video came, such as he refers to continents, and citites and what not as “servers” the world is called “the game” discusses different animals and adaptaions as “builds” and such, very nerdy, very fun

Tiktus Color Art

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeAvBShy5a2_vTFflQG_zWg

acrylic pour art

NASA

NASA’s youtube channel, launches, plans, landings, all sorts of space stuff

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ

A Chick Called Albert

Large, but gentle man rescues birds, moslty domestic fowl but really any bird (and occasional small horse)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBjh-uGy5RcclATnFpQBobw

Bondi Vet

Vet’s in Australia, typically close-ish to Bondi Beach

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnSnAq44St3dzNdgPpfChA

Jenny Nicholson

Whackadoodle channel about bad media (that often makes you enjoy it?) and theme parks, and large stuffed animals

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7-E5xhZBZdW-8d7V80mzfg

Let Me Explain Studios

animation channel, just funny stories from creators life

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6v4AdYxVH5fhfq9mi5llA

Lindsay Ellis

Film/Books/The Phantom of the Opera/being cancelled

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG1h-Wqjtwz7uUANw6gazRw

Nazranaa Diaries

Say Yes to the Dress Sari edition

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCojWWxmazRznwpqJPPT7uyw

Ocean Conservation Namibia

rescuing cape fur seals at Pelican Point and a few other areas in Namibia from entanglements (also rescued a Jackal and a whale once)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg8VTeeN4BglqmI1_CBlABg

Philosophy Tube

learning about philosophy and other stuff, I alwasy feel smarter afterwards at least ^_^’

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2PA-AKmVpU6NKCGtZq_rKQ

SnappyDragon

more historical sewing

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTIcttrGKvoyZuPc8Xb_lbg

Some More News

sarcasm, anger, and not liking government parties

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvlj0IzjSnNoduQF0l3VGng

Xiran Jay Zhao

looking at asian or asian inspired content and seeing how it holds up and what not

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSz_KlrE8_IDht7tWsQ-RA

[spaceshipkat]

Hey Kat, do you know of any blogs that would be open for questions about writing a Muslim-coded character? In my fantasy WIP I'm thinking about coding a South Asian character as Muslim, and I wanted help given that it’s not the real world, so she’d be a follower of a fantasy religion similar to Islam. (I also wanted to know if basing a fantasy religion off of a real one was rude? I also include a Christian coded religion but I’m Christian so I felt ok w/ that) Doyou know of anyone that can help?

i don't know of any blogs, no. does anyone?

as for basing fictional religions on real-world religions, i think everyone is going to have a different take on this (hence why some people create pantheons or singular goddesses, while others have a singular God--such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series), but i think the best thing someone can do is not base a fictional religion off of a religion they themselves are not part of (so in this case, i'd advise against basing a religion on Islam unless you're a Muslim). i have a friend who's a niqabi and writes fantasy based on her background, but she doesn't include Islam or an Islam-like religion in her books bc it personally doesn't feel comfortable/respectful to her. so i think your mention of you writing a Christian-based religion bc you're a Christian is okay, if you're going to use real-world religions as your basis, but do be aware that there are some people who will likely be angry with this (just as there will be people who are fine with it). my fantasy religions differ depending on the book. for instance, in my witchling WIP (as it's tagged on here) the religion is centered around a coven of Witches (upper case, yes) since the cast is all witchlings (though they're merely one species, and humans do exist on the planet that story takes place in, but they don't feature in the WIP so i don't really bother doing much world-building there--at least, not yet, since it's not really relevant).

anyway, this was a ramble, but hopefully it helped? and if anyone has any recs for anon, please do share! in the meantime, anon, i think the best thing you can do is research

[winetae]

with AAPI heritage month drawing to a close, i think it’s important now more than ever to speak up against the deep-rooted racism that exists within our community. while i cannot speak for every asian american, i believe that we cannot celebrate our heritage in good conscious when many of us have been inspired by, shaped by and profited off Black culture without experiencing their hardships and grief. we must not forget that we have benifited from various social justice movements led and supported by the Black community.

anti-Blackness is not just perpetuated by whites; we must also realize we are part of the problem and that just because we also face racial discrimination does not mean we can, or ever will, understand the pain and horrors the Black community has suffered.

we are privileged - and with this privilege comes responsibility. the responsibility to educate ourselves, learn our history, unearth our learned anti-Blackness, confront our racist family members, and LISTEN to Black people (without expecting them to teach us how to not be racist) - so that we can recognize inequality and injustice, speak up against it, and provoke a change. this is the least we can do in our fight to dismantle white supremacy.

consider reading the following :

articles.

30+ Ways Asians Perpetuate Anti-Black Racism Everyday by Michelle Kim

Nail Salon Brawls & Boycotts: Unpacking The Black-Asian Conflict In America by Tiffany Diane Tso

6 Ways Asian Americans Can Tackle Anti-Black Racism in Their Families by Kim Tran

Awkwafina and the Trend of Asian American Creatives Using Anti-Blackness to Enter Hollywood by Harley Wong

South Asians in the US must support #BlackLivesMatter, but first undo your own anti-Blackness by Deepa Iyer

books. (a selective reading list that has personally helped me, but feel free to send me more recs)

The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century **

Are Prisons Obsolete?

Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought

The Impact of Malcolm X on Asian American Politics and Activism

BLACK AND ASIAN-AMERICAN FEMINIST SOLIDARITIES: A READING LIST

[starstuffandalotofcoffee]

You mentioned earlier that you'd be willing to give book recs? If you still are, what would you recommend for fantasy/sci-fi not about straight white guys? Got a lot of recs for those already.

while I take umbrage with your url, I have many recommendations! In fact, most of the sci fi and fantasy books I have read as of late feature nonwhite and/or LGBT characters and many are not written by straight white guys either, which tends to help. Here’s an incomplete list thereof. Other people looking for recs, this is a pretty broad list ranging from fairly classic fantasy to modern urban fantasy to a couple different forms of sci fi, so you can probably start here.

Currently I’m reading the Foundryside series by Robert Jackson Bennet (I read book 1, I’m mostly through book 2, I don’t think book 3 is out yet) which is best described as cyberpunk, but in an otherwise low-tech fantasy world. The plot and themes are great, the characters are great, the exposition in the first book is a bit heavy-handed like dude we get it you program but the second book is much tighter. Most of the characters are described as being nonwhite, and the main character of the first book (who’s still a major character in the second; it’s just more of an ensemble) is a wlw. Note: I  think these are the only books on this list written by a white guy, so again, look for women and LGBT and nonwhite authors and often they will make characters who are like them.

N. K. Jemisin is a good author not only to read but to follow in that as one of if not the most prominent black sci fi/fantasy authors she makes recommendations of other authors and pushes for recognition (basically, her point is that she did not come in to take Octavia Butler’s seat and you can have more than one black woman writing sci fi). The City We Became is based on a phenomenal short story that she wrote, about the city of New York coming to life through various human avatars; almost all are nonwhite and several are gay, bi, or lesbian (there’s a minor supporting trans character who I hope gets a larger role in the next of the series but the first book just came out). The Broken Earth trilogy is maybe one of my favorite series I’ve read in the last few years; most of the characters are black and a decent number are LGBT.

Speaking of Octavia Butler, most of her characters are black and she’s also just a modern classic sci fi writer for a reason. I’ve only really read short stories (the Bloodchild collection), the Patternist series, and Kindred. She does dip into horror themes at times and I respect if people aren’t into that, but she was a brilliant author. Most of her characters are black and The Patternist series includes shapeshifter characters who have romances with people of various genders.

I was frustrated by the pacing in The Priory of the Orange Tree, but not the characters. The worldbuilding could also stand to be a little better in that it’s clearly like, Europe and Asia of our world circa 1600-ish but with different names for things and also some magic. Plenty of nonwhite characters, some lesbian romance. (Author is Samantha Shannon).

You have probably seen stuff for Gideon The Ninth on Tumblr and for good reason; it’s very good. The tagline on Tumblr is often Lesbian Space Necromancers which is true but also it’s just incredibly funny and dark and well-written. (Author is Tamsyn Muir).

You may have also seen things for the Shades of Magic series on Tumblr; it’s a really cool conceit, one of the two main characters is a woman, and there is significant gay romance among the supporting characters. It’s got epic battle vs. evil for the soul of the universe stuff as well as interdimensional portals but also pirates and the elemental magic olympics, somehow. I do feel sort of ambivalent about the author saying one character is likely genderfluid but doesn’t know that it’s an option because on the one hand I do not like the author saying things and it counting as representation, but on the other said character comes from early 1800s London and this would not be an unreasonable way for them to feel. (Author is V. E. Schwab)

The Raven Tower is super interesting and I only read it because my mother had it out of the library when I was home for Thanksgiving and she said ‘here you might like this’. It’s sort of a retelling of Hamlet, it’s got weird deity lore (which I happen to love in fantasy), and the main character is trans. (Author is Ann Leckie).

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is sci fi and while there are challenges and real plot involved it’s just like...kind of a fun adventure book? I just remember finding it fun, despite the seriousness of elements of the plot, and I say this as someone who often does like a good epic good vs. evil plot but it’s kind of nice to read a book where the hardships are like, needing to fuel your spaceship in a weird place. Some of the human characters are nonwhite (I’m of the opinion that aliens don’t really count as representation), and several characters are not straight. (Author is Becky Chambers).

The Golem and the Jinni is about the early 1900s immigrant experience in lower Manhattan, but through the eyes of a golem woman living in the Jewish community and a jinni in the Syrian community who become friends due to being displaced magical beings. (Author is Helene Wecker).

Alif The Unseen is by G. Willow Wilson of Ms. Marvel fame and is a technological fantasy novel that takes place in an unspecified Middle Eastern country in roughly the modern day. It came out in 2012 and was clearly (and thoughtfully) influenced by the Arab Spring of 2011; most characters are Middle-Eastern or South Asian Muslims.

Finally on this list, though not of the many books one could read, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is by Samuel R. Delany, a gay black man, and while it’s been a couple years since I read it it was so brilliantly written and different than a lot of space sci fi that I’ve read and it hit me in such a way that I keep meaning to reread it. The main characters are also black gay men.

[hauntedpearl]

on the topic of other things that are not supernatural : I finally managed to finish the jasmine throne by tasha suri, and it is one of the most amazing fantasies i've read in a hot minute. i still haven't fully processed it, but daaaaamn. i've said this before, and i'll say it again - let south asian women tell their stories, they're so fucking good at it!!!

[hyrulesmilf]

does anyone have any good recs of books about racism against asian americans that include south asian, se asian, and west asian experiences

[monstress]

any korean variety show recs?

alright so saddle up because this is long

 for new watchers who know next to nothing about the korean entertainmentindustry, wants to learn more abt culture:

abnormal summit, esp s1. group of semi-diverse expat panel discussculture/issues and how it pertains/compares to south korea and their owncountries. also ngl some of the panels are hot so shoutout to sam oykere anddaniel from australia.

first time in korea. changing guest of long-time expats bring their friendsover to south korea to experience the culture for the first time. you getrambunctious friend shenanigans and crash course of interesting places to visit+ eat.

korean food table. long-ass running, well-beloved food show. im hungry.

for new watchers who want to get into it because of the hallyu wave:

x-man. the start of it all. fixed members and guests play games and try tofigure out who is the spy among them. the precursor to running man. it endedyears ago but it’s LEGENDARY. i can’t tell u how many clips from some eps thatare still being played on other shows today. see your favorite stars at theirmost humble of beginnings. introduction to the dominating MCs of today: yoojaesuk and kang hodong.

happy together s3 (the sauna version). the only talk show of its kind withequal number of male and female mcs (sad ik). funny as hell, even withnon-celebs guests. way back when even jun hyun moo, the MC with the most showson his belt right now, was a nobody and made his bread and butter dancing toshinee’s Lucifer. great talking segments which i’m sad they got rid off in thelater iterations.

strong heart. a talk show where celebs share interesting stories from theirlives. if you can manage through kang hodong’s overly boisterous MC style,there are some absolute gems from this show but imo just watch based on theguests. also lee seunggi!

knowing brothers. popular talk show with a school-like setting. imo watch it based on the guests, again if you can manage through kang hodong lmao

i can see your voice. celebrity guests try to guess if a person is a good singer or tonedeaf.already multiple versions in asian countries. honestly surprised americansdon’t get in on this.

masked singer. a panel try to guess who the voice from an unknown, masked singer belongsto. i don’t know why they made an american version since the formula is onlythrilling with a tight-knit industry but ok!

weekly idol. if you’re into kpop, surely you’ve seen random dancing segmentsby now. watch it based on who you stan i guess.

doesn’t care about idols, just want to have fun:

new journey to the west. cast travels to a country and needs to win gamesfor food/sleeping place/dragon balls. fuckinnnn??? hilarious?? established cast and production team chemistry (from their previous show, 1night2days) so even the pilot doesn’t have new cast awkwardness. stellar editingand ingeniously entertaining yet simple games. they’re not afraid to rip eachother apart (some of the members’ have some…interesting past which is fun tobring up).

i live alone. a clip show of an average day of celebs who live alone. while it does haverotating celeb guests, the major draw of the show is the permanent panelmembers established in 2017, esp park narae (who is a legitimately talentedentertainer and tbh deserves better! you’ll get what i mean when u watch theshow!!).

omniscient interfering interview. clips of daily lives of celebs and their managers (who in the industry arealways in the shadows but now it’s their time to shine). wildly popular thateven most of their managers have shot for commercials. watch for the fooddescriptions from lee youngja which was a career-defining talent for her thatshe won the channel’s top entertainment award. the first woman to have everdone so across all three major channels.

infinite challenge. this show has a LOT of episodes but imo watch these specials: the ballroom dance eps, the summer music festivals, bobsleigh challenge, calender model challenge, extreme part-time job, history x hip-hop, the jack black eps, saturday saturday i am a singer, and the (very incredible, very powerful) express delivery special. iconique.

running man. i’m amazed that this show is still airing. the choi minsoo eps and sherlockeps are one of the show’s stand-out. again, if you’re into the cast chemistry,check this out.

2 days 1 night (s1, skip to s4). where the new journey to the west’s cast chemistry and production team isfortified! season 1 was very popular but it ended because the director wantedto pursue his studies. season 2 and season 3 tried to capture its magic with new casts and directors but it just wasn’t the same. when season 4 came ploddingalong, people thought it’ll be canceled soon enough. the newest director was amentee of the original director though and with great luck in the new cast, season 4was herald as the show’s comeback. the ‘no smoking’ episode was brilliant. edit post chatroom scandal: from the bottom of my heart, don’t watch s4 because of one member who is an honest-to-god piece of shit.

what on earth??. an underrated show! a limited series of four men who embarks in a dangerouscross country trip. the first few eps was set in a Qatar desert, the next inthe wetlands of Scotland. educational, good chemistry btwn the members, sharpediting. also not gonna lie part of the reason i did watch this was for ji jinhee. sue me i was in a jtbc misty withdrawal! shares the same director as 2d1n season 4!

sister’s slam dunk. a rare show with an all-female cast with the premise of fulfilling eachmember’s dream with the help of the other members. honestly just watch seasonone for min hyorin’s dream of debuting as an idol (hence dragging in the othermembers too, much to the chagrin of the older members). if you like thechemistry between members enough, stick around! the cast is funny andcharismatic and it’s just (sniffs) i love women! i still bop to the songs onthe regular too.

doesn’t care about guests, just want to relax (my fave kind):

lee hyori’s bed and breakfast. popstar lee hyori and husband opens up their home as a bread and breakfast. depression? cured! streamit on netflix!

little house in the forest. this show is glacial…in the best waypossible. it’s like an ingmar bergman film. honestly best to watch when you’rein bed ready to sleep

youn’s kitchen. legendary actress youn yeo jung opens a restaurant in a foreigncountry with season one in indonesia, season two in italy. idyllic af.

hodong’s kitchen. a spinoff show with the cast from new journey to thewest (they won a bet that if they win a game, their wish is to shoot a showlike youn’s kitchen since they share the same director). if you like the njttwcast and want to see them run a small restaurant, here’s your show!

blind date cafe. what it says on the can. blind dates are done in a cafe withwaitservice that consist of musician lee juck, actress yoo inna,comedian yang sehyung and sf9 member rowoon. it’s very…cishet lmao buti love yoo inna and will watch her wait for paint to dry. some of the couplesare EXTREMELY valid tho (if anything, watch for the webtoon artist andchildrens horror book author! i STAN their love!)

coffee friends. actors set up a cafe. fulfill your coffee shop au daydreamwith yoo yoon seok here!

may food bless you. a team of close female friends that consist of actress hwayeong and comedian lee youngja, song euni, and kim sook gives advice and suggest food to aid for submitted concerns while having a meal. a great show to watch while having dinner.

note: these shows…aren’t perfect. lemme be upfront that there can be elements of casual -isms in them (the relaxing shows are generally okay tho) and i’m just gonna leave it at that.

[triviareads]

This month was all about contemporary romances for me. I got some excellent ARCs like Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma (which pleasantly surprised me; review forthcoming) and Tessa Bailey's Unfortunately Yours (here's my review). I read a rather entertaining novella called Hard Wood that put me in my lumberjack era for a hot second. There was another book that tried to sell me on a hero named "Martin" (tbh his cardinal sin was eating mangos off her vaj, which is only topped off in terribleness by eating tiramisu off someone's vagina— Enzo you monster, cages are not where I draw the line, but the tiramisu is). Also read Dana Islay's Rules We Break which had me pondering why it's so hard to find dommes in romance novels (and rarer still to find well-written ones). All in all, a good month, and here are my favorites:

Looking by Katrina Jackson

This was recommended to me by @monarchies-history after I was asked for a list of diverse contemporary romance recs. Darren and Nadia are a married couple with twins. They want to open their marriage and arrange to meet with Jourdan (sidenote: all the mcs are Black; Katrina really does the most for diverse romances), who is very into both of them right off the bat, and the feeling is mutual (there is a park trail sex scene lolol). What I loved most about Looking is that it's such a joyful book. The dialogue is funny and clever, the sex is very hot in all its configurations (Darren and Nadia get to know Jourdan separately before they all get together— it's actually kinda "slowburn" in that sense; each of them gets their own POV section), and the three of them are just so happy to be together, you can't help but smile.

Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai

@jeanvanjer was trying to get me to read Glutton for Pleasure for the longest time (which I did, and it was good; another throuple book), but I latched onto Serving Pleasure more, not only because I enjoyed the way the sex was written more, but also because the emotions REALLY got to me. It's also a pretty unhinged premise: The hero Micah is a recluse and an artist, and Rana lives across the street from him and like... constantly watches him, and even follows (stalks?) him at some point. Lucky for her he's very into it, even jerking off purposely at his window (out of spite, but then he stops midway out of guilt lolol). He asks her to pose for him and they began a no strings-attached fling.

Also, I really liked Rana's characterization: she's perceived as a "party girl" with no serious ambition compared to her sisters so she has to grapple with her self-perception vs. what outsides see, which was really quite novel for me to read in a South Asian heroine.

Compromised in Paradise by Samanthe Beck

This book is fun, light, and quite literally a beach read since it's set in a resort in Hawaii. Arden is a stressed-out heiress looking for a fling, but when the hero Nick catches her faking her orgasm, he decides to give her orgasm lessons. Like, what a saint amirite? With a premise like this, it can go a lot of ways but I appreciate Nick's dedication to centering their sex lessons around her and her orgasm, and then it took an unexpected but welcomed turn towards the end with the rare contemporary romance anal sex.

This book also made me read like three of Samanthe's other books on one shot, and they're all full of great banter and solid dirty talk. Would absolutely recommend this book, this series (called "Compromise Me" which should totally be the name of an HR series), and this author overall.

Salt in the Wound by Sierra Simone

Sierra Simone is back at it, y'all. Salt in the Wound is the (free!) prequel to Salt Kiss, which is coming out this fall. It's set in the same universe as the New Camelot series and Sierra's criminally underrated Sherwood (ft. female!Robin Hood/Maid Marian/Sheriff of Nottingham with a side of a hushed mention of bogeyman Mark Trevena). It centers around how Isolde gets engaged to Mark Trevena, former assassin, current BDSM club owner, and Man Who Never Stops Telling You He's A Bad Bad Man. Isolde wants to be a nun (she also learns martial arts at a nun dojo), but is put in a position where she needs to learn how to fake being Mark's sub in public. Cue kink lessons, and as it turns out she's very into it, and Mark is SHOOK (the way he flees at the end because he can't handle Feelings and masks it with a show of "I'm sooooo Bad you should have expected me to be a bitch about this"..... bravo. Couldn't have set up Salt Kiss better).

My favorite thing about Sierra's characters is just the level of zeal they have... for religion, for sex, for power, and this short story is no different. I am eagerly awaiting the Lyonesse Trilogy.

You Can Follow Me by Jo Brenner

This book was shilled in both Sierra Simone and Mila Finelli's newsletters in a span of a week so I knew I had to give it a shot. Another wild premise: Kara hooked up separately with three SEALs who were actually lovers (two of the three did *not* happen upon her by accident...) and now Circumstances lead to them kidnapping her and holding her captive. Listen, I fully admit I came here for the sex (fun sex, angry sex, manipulative sex, spite-because-she-won't-sleep-with-you-so-you-fuck-your-bros-in-front-of-her sex... you get the picture) but I stayed for the *journey* ok. Specifically how Kara deals with this insane loss of freedom even as she wants to jump all of their bones, and starts to catch Feelings.

Scorching to the Touch by Ofelia Martinez

Another excellent recommendation by Sierra Simone, this one is a somewhat toxic (until it isn't!) romance between a telenovela star (and she's plus sized) and a rockstar. Listen, sometimes all you want to do is read a romance with two hot people who know they're hot shit and also deeply messy individuals. Revenge oral 4% of the way into the book? Check. Stalking Tracking each other long after they've broken up? Check. Breaking up each other's engagements? Check. Him crying on his knees because he bruised her during sex even if it's probably him overreacting? Check. Obsession-induced erectile dysfunction? Check. It's fabulous. Would recommend.

Forbidden Harmony by Elizabeth Kelly

I feel like this post sums up the plot of this one excellently; In addition, I know Elizabeth is writing a series with exclusively older couples which I might try soon.

[soysauceharry]

does anyone have any book recs by south asian/other minority authors?

[womeninfilms]

Q&A - books

Since I received so many questions that it would be too long for one post, I’m splitting them into three parts: [movies/TV shows] [books] [other questions].

1. WLW book recs:

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson (2012): it’s a sort of gothic novel about witches, the WLW part is just a small part of the story and that story and the book both don’t have a happy ending, but it’s a really gripping novel, also Jeanette Winterson is a lesbian

Pages for You/Pages for Her by Sylvia Brownrigg (2002/2017): it’s a two-part book series about a college girl (later author), who falls in love with her tutor (later college professor), they break up at the end of the first book, but meet again during the second and it’s left open to interpretation if they start dating again or not, and Sylvia Brownrigg is bisexual

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985): it’s a semi-biographical novel about Jeanette Winterson’s upbringing in a very religious family, even though there are some difficult scenes in it (she has to undergo an exorcism, for example), it’s quite funny to read and it has a happy ending

The Price of Salt/Carol by Patricia Highsmith (1952): it’s the book Carol is based on, it’s nicely written, some parts are different from the movie, of course, but that doesn’t matter, has a happy ending, and Patricia Highsmith was a lesbian

Anything by Sarah Waters (ranked from my least favourite to my favourite – excluding The Little Stranger because there aren’t any WLW in it):

Fingersmith (2002): set in the 19th century, it’s about a thief who is involved in a plot to trick a rich woman into marrying one of her thief-friends, however, she falls in love with the woman herself, has a happy ending

Affinity (1999): set in the 19th century, about a woman who pays frequent visits to a female prisoner and is tricked by her into helping her escape, doesn’t have a happy ending

Tipping the Velvet (1998): set in the 19th century, about a woman who falls in love with a woman who dresses up as a man to perform on stage and who follows her to London to be with her, has a happy ending

The Night Watch (2006): set during WWII, about different women and their stories, told anti-chronologically, very depressing, doesn’t really have a happy ending

The Paying Guests (2014): set during the 1920s, about a woman and her mother who sublet part of her house to a young couple, the daughter and the woman fall in love, the first part is very wholesome but the second part is very depressing, does have a happy ending though

Anything by Stefanie Zesewitz (but her books are only available in German):

Der Duft von Seide (The Scent of Silk) (2012): set during the 19th century, about a woman who is unhappily married and falls in love with a woman who has her own silk empire, rather suspenseful, but has a happy ending

Wie ein Versprechen (Like a Promise) (2013): set during WWII, about a young photographer who falls in love with a woman she meets at the studio she works at, the main character survives the book, but the other woman dies

Donaunebel (Danubian Fog) (2015): set during WWI, it’s about an Austrian woman and a Russian woman, I’m still in the middle of reading it though, so I can’t say anything more about it

Other books with happy endings that I’ve read: Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule (1964), Far from the World We Know by Harper Bliss (2016), Across the Pond by Cheri Crystal (2015), Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (2006)

2. Books with WOC:

Unfortunately, I haven’t read any books with WOC yet, but I wanted to do a PhD on this topic, so I can recommend a couple (which are all written by WOC as well), but I have no idea how they end, if there is homophobia in them and so on

The Colour Purple by Alice Walker (1982): about the life of black women in the South during the 1930s

I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim Sarif (2008): it’s the book the movie of the same name is based on

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (2016): about a Puerto Rican woman moving from the Bronx to Portland, Oregon

Life is Wonderful, People are Terrific by Meliza Bañales (2015): about a Chicana woman who leaves her home to go to college in Santa Cruz

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley (1974): is considered the first novel with lesbian themes about an African-American woman

The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr (1997): about a Japanese-American girl who is raised in a mostly African-American community in L.A., is also concerned with the tensions between the Asian and the African-American communities

Under the Emerald Sky by Olukemi Amala (2011): about a woman with Nigerian ancestors who lives in the UK

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (2015): set in Nigeria during the civil war, about two girls who meet as fugitives and fall in love

The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif (2008): it’s the book the movie of the same name is based on

3. WLW book recs that deal with coming out:

I don’t think I’ve read books that deal specifically with coming out, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson and Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel sort of deal with that topic though. However, I did a quick Google search and I found a couple of books:

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden (1982): it’s set in the 80s and it’s about two high school girls who fall in love and even get a happy ending (which was unusual for that time)

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen (2014): it’s about a girl in high school who falls for her best friend

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973): it’s about a girl who grows up in the South and realises she’s a lesbian and how she deals with that discovery