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emevergreen · 3 years

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ok wait I just wanna say, if you actually care about supporting writers of color and their writing then buy their books.

one of the best parts of contemporary literature is being able to follow an author who is creating books actively. You can see their growth across each consecutive work. Buying their book is a great way to support their work, and the money goes to a living author!

if you want contemporary fiction recs as a place to start, look under the cut

Here are some books by writers that I enjoyed reading last year:

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

-- I’ll never shut up about this book. Space opera that really just. blew my mind. The writing is impeccable, the characters are compelling. Morally grey characters done very well in my opinion! The ending arc was my only critique, as it kind of petered off but! the experience of reading this for the first time was so so good, cannot recommend it enough. (cw: abuse, grief, family member death, major character deaths, uh I hope I’m not blanking on more but that’s all I can remember rn.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

-- I still think about her writing style to this day. The writing is complex and filled with detail and implications. Also such a well-researched exploration of the social attitudes surrounding wealth and privilege. And it does a great job of critiquing the white liberal ally as a person who harms more than helps (and only engages in antiracism for the social credit of doing so). It’s a great read, very worth it. (cw: racism, there is a tense scene that almost verges on police brutality near the beginning)

The Silence of Bones by June Hur

-- This one hit me hard, especially near the end. It’s a well-paced mystery thriller set in Joseon era Korea. The way it slowly unravels the mystery is so well done, all while keeping the pace pretty quick. Once the action picked up I was hooked. I also love Seol as a main character, she was very compelling to me. This is YA technically but I think it’s more New YA with how mature and intense it is. (cw: family death, abuse, murder, mutilation of the face; I read this a bit ago so I might be blanking on some)

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

-- here’s the concept from its summary: “The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping.” assume a lot of trigger warnings going in, however. It’s very well-written, but it does not flinch away from the pain of the experience it seeks to depict. (cw: slavery, racism, murder, suicidal thoughts, self-destructive behavior, self-harm, implied rape, I think I got them all but? I might have missed something, I read this a while ago).

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

-- bought this one in print so I could revisit the writing because it is incredible. Talks about a black graduate student in a white-dominated graduate program. REALLY GOOD. I read this as a burnt out graduate student and I cannot express accurately how much it resonated with me. (cw: sexual assault, family member death, grief)

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

-- Incredible science fiction blended with fantasy. The world feels like its own thing, it’s very unique in my opinion. Also the way that Jemisin writes about institutionalized oppression and prejudice is so compelling. The characterization, the plot twists, and the development of each storyline is just *chef’s kiss*. I haven’t read the other two books in the trilogy yet but I really want to! I have heard great things. Oh, also another one with a lot of triggering content. (cw: prejudice/institutionalized oppression, eugenics, death in general (including of children), gore, abuse, I might be forgetting some but those are the big ones)

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

--historical fiction, exploration of colorism and the effects of internalized racism across an inter-generational cast. The narrative voices across the different perspectives and generation are really well done. Also canon trans man, who is characterized very well in my opinion. (cw: racism, sexual assault, domestic abuse, lynching)

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

-- weird visceral horror with social commentary. It was a little hard for me to follow (I think because I read the audiobook) but super worth the read. I love Stephen Graham Jones’s flavor of horror so much. (cw: racism, murder and gore, sibling death, grief, major character deaths)

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

--it’s a YA novel but it dives into issues of morality, good/evil in the setting of a utopia and the writing is stellar. Simple but powerful. Also a short read. The main character is a trans girl and the plot has nothing to do with that (she has an adventure about something unrelated). (cw: abuse, mentions of war/revolution, injury descriptions)

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

-- This book addresses issues of race, privilege, and social decorum in small-town Ohio. It also explores what it means to be a mother, and to raise a child. It’s an entertaining story that cuts to the heart of the issues it seeks to interrogate with a careful edge. The book is nuanced in how it handles these issues. The show is not LMAO, I couldn’t finish it because the changes they made from the book were so annoying but. The book is really worth reading imo. (some ppl did not like the characterization, like they are a bit stereotypical in some cases but! still worth reading in my opinion).

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

-- Memoir, it’s a reflection on domestic abuse in a sapphic relationship. Written by a bisexual woman, this story is told across genre. Each snippet breaks down her experience, one facet at a time. Incredible, the writing is just so memorable and visceral and it really connects, in my opinion. (cw: domestic abuse, descriptive passages of verbal and domestic abuse, self-worth issues, fatphobia, biphobia, I think that’s most of them)

The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

-- Memoir, a reflection on the author’s experience growing up separated from her mother and father, who lived in South Korea while she and her brother lived in the U.S. After a separation that lasted years, she reviews that part of her life by looking back over the letters her mother sent her during that period of isolation. The writing is so strong in this work, it says a lot with a few words and I appreciate how well it conveys meaning. (cw: suicide attempt, mental health issues, infidelity, neglectful parents, racism, death, war)

if you want more detailed trigger warnings for any of these (because some do have some intense stuff) lmk, I can write up more if needed.

Also here’s some books I have not yet read (so I cannot wholeheartedly recommend) that I’m excited to read soon:

- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Lu

- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

and also please listen to people of color who are reviewing and boosting these works. Own voices reviews are very important to gauge a work and its exploration of a certain experience. If you are interested in a book, make sure you keep in mind who the reviewer is and how that might inform their review of the book.

#long post #laurel reads

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