wrote_and_writ | Entries tagged with reading diary

I’ve been caught up by the reading bug for the last few months, so I’m not going to give detailed thoughts here, but this is what I’ve read recently. Titles are linked if you want synopses.

I read the latest volume of Ballad of Sword and Wine. I am so in love with this novel. The world building is A+ (even though I still get a little confused with some of the factions in the imperial drama). Shen Zechuan and Xiao Ce’an are just great. Their relationship is dynamic and interesting. One of my big gripes with Stars of Chaos is that Chang Geng and Gu Yun spent so much of the narrative apart. It was necessary for the story, but I really wanted to see their interactions. BSW balances the plot-relevant separations with more frequent reunions.

Legend of Exorcism wasn’t particularly on my radar. I picked up the first volume after seeing it at Barnes and Noble this winter, and it is awesome! It’s a historical fantasy danmei, with lots of action and humor. This is another one of those series that, if I were a billionaire, I would fund a lavish live-action drama adaptation. I polished off volumes one and two in about a week.

In non-danmei reading, I read all the current English translations of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! I know there are several adaptations of this, including (I think, I can’t be bothered to check rn) a Thai adaptation. It’s a very sweet series. I needed a palate cleanser after the dramatic battles in BSW. I’ll keep up with this series. It also reminds me I need to get back to What Did You Eat Yesterday? because I do love stories about proper adults.

10 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 40 is a single-volume (as far as I can tell) BL manga with a similar plot to Old Fashioned Cupcake. It’s fine. It’s as satisfying as a decent cupcake.

Finally, I read Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man), an absolutely charming and wonderful cozy mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, and follow-up to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers. Vera is a wonderful character who would certainly be besties with Jane Marple. I love how Vera just adopts a gaggle of misfits and makes this wonderful family for herself -- and in the process of the two books, builds a better relationship with her actual son. I cannot recommend these two novels enough.

I have a few other non-danmei books queued up for summer break, but tbh, I’m mostly excited to dive into a bunch of series as they get official English translations. I’m especially enjoying branching out into different genres. When I first started, I thought danmei was basically fantasy because my first exposure to danmei was to MDZS, but that’s not the case at all. My current reading tastes seem to be either danmei or Japanese/Korean slice of life stories set in bookshops and cafes. I also have some non-danmei books on my tbr list, such as the latest Rivers of London novel, The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, some nonfiction books like Ghosts of the British Museum that I’ll pick up at my hometown library. Plus, bestie and I are road-tripping to Oregon this summer, and we’re stopping at Powell’s, so who knows what treasures I’ll find there?

I’ll keep you posted.

Here is a synopsis from the author's website:

Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn’t remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.

With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. The young man is strangely kind and awkward for nobility, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he’ll set her free of her indenture.

But the Duke’s motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he’s not just some country noble: He’s the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.

The Duke needs Xue’s help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war… but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.

This book was a pretty fun read. It’s one of those books that, if I was a billionaire, I would pay for a lavish, 40-episode drama adaptation, with all the best CGI and costumes and actors and music. And I’d release it outside of China to get away from censors (there are some background gay couples, plus all the magic stuff).

I don’t have anything particularly insightful to say about the book. It’s a pretty straightforward fantasy novel steeped in Chinese mythology (although it’s not a direct adaptation of existing stories). I did think it was weird that it was shelved as a YA book, although Xue technically is a young adult -- she goes through her coming of age ceremony towards the beginning of the novel. If I recall correctly, Sue Lynn Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess is shelved in adult fantasy and I would say Xue and Xingyin (protagonist of DotMG) are pretty similar characters. Lin’s previous novels are also sold as YA, so maybe that’s just what her editors have decided is better for marketing. I only bring it up in case you decide to read this and have trouble finding it, or if you don’t like to read YA -- it’s really not YA, at least not as YA is presented. Anyway! It’s fun, the world building is interesting, and I enjoyed reading this.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

Wealthy and handsome, yet mentally unstable—He Yu has returned home from overseas with one goal in mind: to win the heart of Xie Xue, the girl of his dreams. However, in his time away, he has nursed more than unrequited feelings. He must confront his long-held grudge against Xie Xue’s overprotective brother, Xie Qingcheng, who doesn’t think He Yu capable of love.

But history is not easily rewritten. As He Yu’s former doctor, Xie Qingcheng is the only person in the world who truly understands He Yu’s volatile mental illness. When the two are involved in an explosive incident that exposes a dark secret, Xie Qingcheng’s suspicions about He Yu are confirmed. Now, He Yu must confront his own demons…including his dark obsession with Xie Qingcheng.

I don’t know if I particularly like this book. It’s very melodramatic but there are some wild tone shifts as well. Like there’s a pretty horrific incident at a mental institution, and then there are super tropey scenes (there was only one bed!) that are funny and cringey.

He Yu has “psychological Ebola” which —what?? I don’t actually care about the potential translation because the core is that He Yu is only one of four people known to have whatever this disorder is, but also he has some comorbidities that seem sci-fi, but I don’t think this is actually sci-fi? Regardless, “psychological Ebola” is a stupid name for the condition, and it yanks me out of the story every time.

He Yu and Xie Qingcheng are awful people (although I feel more sympathetic towards He Yu because he is A) 19, and 19 years olds are often terrible and B) has a disease which explains, though doesn’t excuse why he is an asshole). Xie Xue is obnoxious in the way so many female leads are in c-dramas. She’s whiny and immature and I get why He Yu is into her but also, kiddo. The Xies are terrible. And yeah, so is your family, but maybe instead of wallowing in dysfunction, try to be better and find someone better?

I think this sort of book would appeal to people who like messy reality TV or like this Thai show from a few years ago (TharnType were the characters, I think). I got it because it sort of sounded interesting, but I think ultimately it’s just not for me. HOWEVER I am a tiny bit curious about how badly things will go for them. But I also have a lot of other stuff I want to read. So we’ll see.

So, I wrote the above when I was about halfway through. I put it down and tried to sleep and then couldn’t get my brain to be quiet, so I got up and finished the book. I’m not going to continue with the series because it’s definitely Not For Me. The main HY and XQC are playing some messed up game with each other, and it leaves me baffled that a grown up adult (who definitely has major, unaddressed issues) decides he needs to mess with (as he keeps saying) a literal child, one who was his patient since he was like eight or nine years old. Definitely not my vibes.

I do want to know what happens with the murder subplot, though, so I’ll probably snoop around for that. But I tried something new and learned that this author just isn’t for me.

Update: I got some spoilers, and now I kind of want to keep reading lol. Apparently it goes off the rails (even more) in later volumes. I was sort of suspecting some of the things, not suspecting the others but once spoiled, they make a lot of sense. And they recontextualize a bit of the toxic stuff. I guess I’m more willing to put up with the dark or toxic stuff if they serve the overall engine of the story. I’ve been very distrustful of dark/toxic tropes because too often they have been used simply for shock value in the past. Or they are often used in amateur writing (such as the story I wrote in middle school about -- well, never mind. It was bad.) IDK, I do have a substantial TBR pile, so we’ll see. I’ve gotten a lot better at letting myself quit things over the years. I used to be a Finish Everything Reader (because Dad didn’t raise a quitter, ell oh ell), but not anymore.

So we’ll see how it goes.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

Unwanted by his adoptive parents, Jiang Cheng leaves home to live in a cold, gray city with his deadbeat dad whose only talent is feeding a gambling addiction. Alone save for his suitcase, the rebellious teenage boy arrives at the train station ready to face his miserable new life.

But the moment he steps off the platform, Jiang Cheng meets the peculiar young girl Gu Miao, along with her big brother Gu Fei—a boy his age with a musical staff shaved into his hair. Rumor has it that Gu Fei is bad news with dark secrets of his own, but Jiang Cheng still finds himself pulled toward the withdrawn delinquent thanks to Gu Miao and, perhaps, fate. The unlikely friendship that blossoms between them shows Jiang Cheng the hidden depths of Gu Fei…and the hidden depths of his own feelings.

I really got into this book. Even though it’s danmei, it’s less about the romantic relationship (especially in volume 1) and more about how these boys are navigating life in a rough place. The town is based on declining manufacturing cities in China. In the book, it’s a closed steelworks. The depiction of public school life, especially in a school that is not top-tier, was really interesting to me as a teacher. I know my experiences as a teacher in China are very different from the average teacher’s life, even as I’m now in a bilingual school and not an international school, but I could see some similarities between the teachers in the book and some of my colleagues, and I have a lot more sympathy for what they go through (even as I’m annoyed by a lot of things I have to deal with).

I’m looking forward to the rest of the volumes. I really hope Gu Miao turns out okay. She’s got some rough stuff going on for such a little kid.

Here is a synopsis from Kirkus Reviews:

Even though her boyfriend broke her heart and, in despair, she lost her job, 25-year-old Takako doesn’t want to leave Tokyo. Her uncle Satoru, though, owns a cramped, musty bookstore in Jimbocho, Japan’s famous book town, and he offers her a room in exchange for her assistance. Surveying her temporary abode among the piles of books, Takako says, “If I got even the slightest bit careless, my Towers of Babel would collapse.” Yagisawa’s short and engaging novel is simply structured, following the ordinary events of Takako’s days at the bookstore.

This novella is just under 150 pages long, and it’s a really nice story. As someone Satoru’s age rather than Takako, I did find myself more interested in his story and wished to know more about him, but I still enjoyed reading the story. When I looked up the synopsis for this book, I saw that a sequel had been published. I don’t know if I’ll read it. It introduces more of the bookshop customers, but I think I’m done dipping into this world. I enjoyed the time I spent there, and I’m ready to move on.

I read a book with a similar premise last year, the Korean novel Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, and I liked it better because we get the POV of multiple characters. Still, this book was an easy read, a nice palate cleanser between doomscrolling the news.

Here is a synopsis from the author's website:

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.

What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?

This book was such a fun read! It’s a bit like Miss Marple in Chinatown. The found family element is really heartwarming, and the reveal about the murder is heartbreaking and interesting. I loved the way the characters come together, and I love Vera.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher:

A rumour surrounds an old house. Send a letter and if it's chosen a mysterious ticket will be delivered to you.

No one is more surprised than Serin when she receives a ticket inviting her to a market that opens once a year when it rains.

Here she's offered to swap her life for another. A better one.

The problem? She has one week to find the perfect life and true happiness, or she'll be trapped inside the market forever.

Accompanied by Isha the cat, Serin searches through bookstores, hair salons and perfumeries before time runs out.

All while a shadow follows quietly behind them .

I saw this book on a list of recommended books of non-American books, and the premise was whimsical, so I decided to give it a try. It was fine. It’s not particularly subtle in its message, but the world building was interesting enough to carry me through reading the book. I read most of it on the metro as I went back and forth downtown this weekend (it’s an hour one way).

I bought a few more of these whimsical shop-themed books. I don’t love them, but they do make a nice break in between the dramatic empire-breaking danmei novels I’ve been reading. And in general, they are quite pleasant, which makes a nice break from reality.

The full title didn’t fit in the subject line; it is Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.

Here is a synopsis from Good Reads:

Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-old racial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.

In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.

Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.

Like millions of others, I learned about Christian Cooper through the spotlight of this racist incident in Central Park. I’d seen the footage he shot passed around social media and in compilations with titles like “Karens Ruin Their Lives!” Which, yeah. But I’m also a novice birder, so that’s what drew me to this memoir.

This book was very easy to read. Cooper has an engaging voice and has led an interesting life. There is less birding than I hoped for. I think I wanted something more like World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a collection of autobiographical essays each centered on a plant or animal. However, since I’ve been “reading” that book for about two years now, it’s probably a good thing Cooper’s book is a more linear, straightforward memoir, or I might have found it too easy to put down and leave.

I recommend this book if you want to read about an interesting life. Cooper seems like a cool guy, and I enjoyed spending time with him through this book.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher:

Shen Zechuan is the eighth son of the traitorous Prince of Jianxing, a man who doomed his cities and people to destruction at the hands of the foreign enemy. As the only surviving member of his reviled line, Shen Zechuan is dragged to the capital in chains. He bears the hatred of the nation, but no one’s hate burns hotter than that of Xiao Chiye, the youngest son of the powerful Prince of Libei.

Xiao Chiye would love nothing more than to see Shen Zechuan dead–but against all odds, he clings to life. Rather than succumb to his family’s disgrace, he becomes a thorn in Xiao Chiye’s side, clawing his way into the cutthroat political world of the capital. Yet as these two bitter enemies beat against the bonds of their fate, they find themselves kindred spirits, unlikely allies…and perhaps something more.

I am branching out in danmei with my first new-to-me story (as in, I haven’t seen an adaptation or read something by the author before), Ballad of Sword and Wine. I finished Stars of Chaos over the winter break and was at Barnes and Noble and bought a few books to try out. This story seems to be a fairly straightforward fantasy novel, with lots of political intrigue — the synopsis quoted above lays it out pretty well. I had a bit of a hard time getting into it at first because i had a hard time keeping track of factions and the provinces (?)/ clans within the Empire, but this is, as the kids say, a skill issue on my part and something I struggle with when I read high fantasy. But I used my good reader skills (and the novel Wiki and map and character lists) and got into the plot.

The main pair is super toxic to start with — this is an enemies-to-lovers story, which isn’t normally something I like, but so far, I feel like the author is putting in strong characterization work to make their relationship development pay off well. From what I’ve read (I have seen a few spoilers as well), Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye become Ride or Die in a sort of Thelma and Louise way (but with a better ending), and I think it will be an enjoyable story to follow.

I’ve gotten more squeamish about violence in fiction as I’ve gotten older, so I was a little nervous going in. I didn’t see anything on content warning lists that really pinged for me, so I decided to go for it and read the book. There are a few YIKES moments as the intrigue unfolds, but they have, so far, been deftly handled and minimally described (or they happen offscreen), similar to the levels in, say, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. There is one instance of animal cruelty in volume one that is awful, but when I realized what was happening, I could skip ahead. It fit the plot but it was also not something I wanted to read the details of.

I was going to wait to start volume 2 until I’d read a few more of the books I bought over break, but I am really interested to see where the characters go, so I got the ebook version to read on my phone when I’m like on the metro or something.

Update (even though I haven’t yet posted as I write this): I zipped through volumes 2 and 3 and now I have to wait until May for volume 4 (and there are 8 volumes in total, I think) — I have played myself.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. I saw some commentary on Tumblr that posited Shen Zechuan is what Meng Yao could have been if he’d been acknowledged from the start and if he’d had some real support. I can kind of see it. Shen Zechuan is illegitimate but raised in his father’s household until he is seven (although he is definitely neglected and abused by the maids who actually raise him and by his older brothers). When he’s seven, all the illegitimate sons are sent to other places to be actually raised. Shen Zechuan is sent to the Ji family, who actually takes care of him. He has about eight years of a stable, loving upbringing, and then the tragedy that starts the story happens. From fifteen to twenty, he’s a prisoner in the capital, but he’s fortunate that he gets a teacher and that his shifu, Ji Gang, survived the massacre at the beginning of the book, so he’s turned into the weapon he becomes, which fuels a lot of tragedy. Shen Zechuan becomes completely ruthless, and he kills a LOT of people. BUT he still has support throughout, especially once Xiao Chiye shifts from enemy to lover.

And that shift from enemies to lovers is so interesting. There’s a lot of lust at the root, but once they actually start to get to know each other, they see how much their goals — well, they don’t necessarily align but they also don’t conflict each other, because I think Xiao Chiye would have fought Shen Zechuan if he truly decided to get in his way. As it is, their conflict becomes their foreplay, but at a really crucial point in the narrative, they are truly (literally) ride or die.

And now I have to wait to see how the story plays out.

I have finished Sha Po Lang! *dies*

I really, really enjoyed this novel. I'm so glad I stuck with it when I had trouble getting into volume one. The world building is interesting, the political intrigue is intriguing enough to keep me interested but not so heavy that it bogged down the narrative, and the relationship between Chang Geng and Gu Yun was a lot of fun to follow.

Volume five clocks in at 436 pages, and only about half is spent wrapping up the main story. Most of the rest is extra stories that give us glimpses of the characters' lives in the decades after the main story. They are a bit of a mixed bag, as you might expect, but some give a bit of back story, some give glimpses into a happy future. (I'll admit, I skimmed the one about Liao Ran because he's kind of a drip.)

At the end, there is an author afterword, however, that really warms me down to my toes.

THIS STORY İs a fairytale written for kidults.

It often seems that, in life, loneliness is more inevitable than death. To young readers, perhaps death is far off, something to be considered only in the distant future. If one can find meaning in life and death during one's time on this earth, then perhaps the prospect of leaving it might even become, to some, something romantic.

The same cannot be said of loneliness. Loneliness grows in the cracks in our bones and lingers in the spaces between our breaths. The extroverted reach out to their peers in every way they can, hoping to establish a flash of connection and forget their solitude. Meanwhile, the introverted turn to their own souls for comfort in a futile attempt to bury their loneliness beneath a veneer of calm.

During Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang's initial serialization on JJWXC, many readers, yet to finish the novel, left their pessimistic predictions under each chapter. Some believed the protagonists' intense feelings for each other would be tainted by power, while others presumed the chaos of war would force them to part forever, in life and death. Everyone knows the world is as changeable as the tide, human emotions are as thin as paper, and regardless of whether one is a saint, sage, deity, or demon, everyone is bound by their own circumstances.

But I did not allow this story to develop that way. Instead, I did my best to turn this novel into a dreamy reverie— a puff of cotton candy that might be sold by Disney. To that end, I constructed an intricate plot with many details to give the semblance of realism. This way, in the handful of hours during which readers immersed themselves in this story, they could forget the trials and tribulations of life and find some small measure of solace.

This is the kind of author I am. I do not wish to touch the truths of the world, nor do I wish to interrogate any one's soul. I only wish to comfort you, my readers.

Good night.

priest

Written on the night of January 14, 2024, in Beijing, China.

I love this, especially since being so overtly comforting is often a mark against a story, and that is just silly. And I also love that all the Seven Seas danmei titles have illustrations throughout. I think all books should have illustrations.

Anyway, if you were waiting for all the English novels to be published, they're out now. I'm looking forward to the publication of Mo Du/Silent Reading, which, from what I've gleaned so far, seems to make a liar out of the priest who wrote Sha Po Lang's afterword, but I really like priest's works, so I'm going to give it a shot.

This is just a brief roundup of things I’ve read that I really liked. I’m not going to do the normal link and synopsis thing because I don’t have the energy. I trust that if any of these pique your interest, you’ll look them up.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera — I picked this up on a whim at the Shanghai Foreign Language Bookstore. It’s a middle-grade science fiction novel about a girl, Petra, whose family is chosen to be part of a group of humans leaving Earth to start a new life. A massive comet is headed towards Earth, so these people represent the hope that humanity will live on. The settlers are meant to live in stasis until they reach their new home, which had been found by previous explorers. As Petra and her family are boarding their ship, they hear explosions. A group intent on stopping the mission has attacked. Petra and her family get into stasis and out into space. However, Petra wakes up early to learn that a group called The Collective has taken over the ship and killed all the adults. They’ve kept the children as fodder for exploration. I won’t say more (partly because it’s been a few months since I read it), but this is an absolutely gripping novel. It’s quite dark, and I think more kids books need that darkness. It does have a hopeful ending. Honestly, I think you all should just read it. I tried to read Higuera’s novel Alebrjias earlier this year, but I didn’t have time to finish it before I left for China. As it turns out, that novel is something of a sequel to TLC, so I’ll definitely go back to it.

Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos, vol 4 by Priest — I’m so glad I kept going with this story when things were rough with volume one. I love the world building and the character relationships (not just the main romance). Chang Geng is such a dork, I love him. I’m sad that the series will be over as the final volume is due out in January, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the Empire fares.

Winter’s Gift by Ben Aaronovitch — this is a novella in the Rivers of London universe, featuring Agent Kimberley Reynolds, the American FBI agent who paired up with Peter Grant in a previous novel. It was fine. It features some Native American myths and creatures, and I thought it was handled more or less respectfully by the white British author (but I’m a white American, so there may be things that others would ping that I missed). As a novella, the plot does feel a bit thin. I read most of it while on the metro, trekking back and forth from my home to downtown. It’s a nice kind of book for a commute. I didn’t love Kimberley as a character the way I like Peter, but it was fine overall.

I’ve been working through some of the manga I’ve acquired. I read My Dearest Patrolman by Niyama. The author mentioned they wrote this with some specific tropes they love (size difference, age gap), and to be honest, I don’t really love those tropes, but the first two volumes were cute enough. The age gap is between someone in his late twenties and someone in his late thirties (although they did meet when the younger man was in his teens, but nothing happened between them until they were well into adulthood, which I prefer in an age gap story). I like to read some of these BL manga to get ideas for AUs for my fics. Overall, fluffy and easy to read while I was home sick.

I finished reading Guardian a few days ago, and to be honest, it was a bit of a let down. Not because the series is over, but because the ending left me underwhelmed. It felt rushed. It was really plot heavy, and the SID crew split up in a way that left me with far too little time with each group. I didn't really get to feel the peril.

Of course, I couldn't help but compare the novel to the drama (I saw the drama first), and I did enjoy seeing the pieces that the drama crew took from the novel and put in the show. I also had a newfound appreciation for Ye Zun. Ghost Face in the novel did not have the same emotional impact as Ye Zun did for me (helped, no doubt, by Zhu Yilong's incredible acting).

Regardless, I am very grateful that I got to buy an official English translation in my little hands, and I'm really grateful for the many fan translators who laid the groundwork for its place in English-speaking/Western fandom. And I did like the extras, especially the cheeky little ChuGuo.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

1426, Joseon, Korea. Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. Years later, Detective Min - Hwani's father - learns that 13 girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate . . . only to vanish as well.

Determined to find her father, Hwani travels home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village - and reconnects with her now-estranged sister - Hwani comes to realize that the answer lies within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.

Suspenseful and richly atmospheric, June Hur's The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting historical mystery sure to keep readers guessing.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I generally liked it. If I giving it a star rating, I'd give it 3 stars. The plot was really interesting. I was invested in the mystery and wated to know what happened to Hwani's father. As I listened, I found myself getting annoyed with Hwani. She is super impulsive and ... immature isn't quite the right word, especially given her relatively sheltered upbringing. Hwani says several times how her father or other men in her world said that she's smart and good at puzzles. However in the pursuit of her father's case, she ignores safety and established police protocol and plunges headlong into danger in ways that annoyed me.

I don't think this is a fault of the narrative, per se. I think if I'd read this as a teen (this is a YA novel), I wouldn't have been bothered. Regardless, I enjoyed the story overall. I enjoyed learning about the world through the narrative. In an afterword, Hur talks about the historical research that inspired this story. I have another of her novels, A Crane Among Wolves, on my Kindle, so I'll probably read it.

Here is a synopsis from Goodreads:

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire.

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

Boy howdy, is this book a doozy! It pulls no punches as it lays out the violence inherent in colonialism and the way that capitalism both fuels it and consumes itself and those that are colonized. It also lays out the ways in which class solidarity can challenge the systems of power.

I've only read this book and Yellowface, and oof, Kuang's stories are NOT comfortable reading, but both have been well worth reading. Babel in particular wormed into my brain because I'm in China now, as an English teacher, a job which is a direct result of the violence perptrated in the 19th century by English colonizers and corporations. I'm in a school that is a Chinese-British school. Obviously we can't go back to the separation of cultures and countries. Reading books like Babel makes me think about how I should act in these situations.

But really, this book is incredible and worth reading.

Edit to add: I realize my post about this is very thin, but trust me -- this book is going to sit with me for a long, long time.

I'm in Shanghai! I'll try to post properly once things get settled. I've put a deposit down on an apartment and will sign the lease Monday (due to banking shenanigans and then the landlord having a thing), which is good because I'm checking out of my hotel on Monday. I'm in a weird limbo of stressed and not stressed because there are some things I have to do that I can't yet, things I want to do but can't (because money mostly), and it's also HOT as Fuck right now. Like highs of 100+/feels like 120 with humidity. I've mostly been taking little jaunts to Starbucks and then watching the Olympics in my air-conditioned hotel room.

I did finish two books. Mom and I listed to The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie on the drive to the airport (she listened to the rest of it, then I finished it after she returned it to Libby). I had seen a TV adaptation of it but didn't remember the twist. The murder is actually quite a downer. I mean, murder SHOULD be a downer, but this one was just sad, and contrasted with one of the character's determination to "enjoy" the murder/excitement, I am sure that's kind of the point. Murder isn't exciting. People have died, someone has killed them, it's extremely a bummer!

I also finished volume 3 of Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos, and I am LIVING for it. I mentioned on bsky that I liked the world building, and I do, but I think what I like more is the intricacy of the political intrigue. I couldn't keep that sort of thing straight in my head as a write, so I admire Priest's skill. I also get kind of a kick out of Gu Yun and his reaction to Chang Geng's affections and advances. Chang Geng is a kinky little shit, and Gu Yun does not get it, but he's discovered he loves Chang Geng back, so he kind of goes with it. I'm with Gu Yun on this. I was thrilled that they finally hooked up, but truly, I am more interested in seeing how the Empire fares (and how CG/GY and their friends get through it all. I've got about a month til volume 4 comes out, and only a week or so til Guardian vol 3 wraps up. Plus a million other things to read.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi. I hope you are all doing well.

Library Graphic Novel Round-Up

My local public library is part of a consortium of Southern Idaho libraries, which means that I can check out books with my home library card from any of the consortium libraries, and if I’m not in, say, Boise, I can simply put a hold on the book and it will be sent to my home library. It’s interlibrary loans without the special paperwork. I love how easy it is for me as a patron, and I also love that I can get books from libraries with more … progressive collections. (No shade to my hometown library, but we’re in a very conservative area, as well as having a smaller library, so sometimes queer books are hard to find just on the shelves.)

Here’s a round-up of the books I got from the library in the last few weeks.

Pardalita by Joana Estrela, translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann:

16-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Her parents are divorced and she’s just been suspended for cursing out a school aide asking about her father’s new marriage. She has two best friends, Luísa and Fred, but wants something more. Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita, a senior and a gifted artist who’s moving to Lisbon to study in the fall. The two girls get to know each other while working on a play. And Raquel falls in love.

Using a gorgeous blend of prose poems, illustrations, and graphic novel format, author and artist Joana Estrela captures the feeling of being a teenager in a way that feels gentle, joyful, and real.

This brief story dips into Raquel’s life during one year in high school. The story is sweet and very light. There’s minimal angst, and it has a hopeful ending.

Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall:

It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills...it's there to be found.

Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They’re determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.

Cheng-Kwan – doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect “son” to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.

Mattie and Emma – Choctaw and Black – the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.

And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She’ll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.

Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel.

This book was fun and super queer! The full color illustrations were lovely and interesting. Despite the dangers the characters face, ultimately they escape the worst possible outcomes. IIRC, the authors wanted to portray period-realistic racism and issues to honor the real struggles queer and non-white people faced in the US in the 1930’s but also write a fun story with magic! I enjoyed dipping into this world.

49 Days by Agnes Lee:

Day 1

Gotta get up. Gotta keep moving. This map – it says I have to cross over here. Wait, what’s that…?

And so begins a graphic novel story unlike any other: 49 Days. In Buddhist tradition, a person must travel for forty-nine days after they die, before they can fully cross over. Here in this book, readers travel with one Korean American girl, Kit, on her journey, while also spending time with her family and friends left behind.

Agnes Lee has captivated readers across the world for years with her illustrations for the New York Times Metropolitan Diary. Her debut graphic novel is an unforgettable story of death, grief, love, and how we keep moving forward.

This book made me cry in a Starbucks. Very lovely and moving.

The Boy From Clearwater, Books 1 and 2 by Yu Pei-Yun, illustrated by Zhou Jian-Xin, translated by Lin King:

Book 1

Taiwan, 1930s.

Tsai Kun-lin, an ordinary boy, was born in Qingshui. He grew up happily sneaking into the sugar cane fields reciting nursery rhymes he couldn’t understand, despite Japanese occupation looming over him. As war emerges, Tsai’s memories shift to military parades, air raids, and watching others face conscription into the army. After the war comes a new era under the rule of the Chinese National Party, and the book-loving teenager tries hard to learn Mandarin and be a good son. He believes he is finally stepping towards a comfortable future, but little does he know, a dark cloud awaits him ahead.

Taiwan, 1950s.

In his second year at Taichung First Senior High School, Tsai had attended a book club hosted by his teacher. This comes back to haunt him when he is consequently arrested on a charge of taking part in an “illegal” assembly. After being tortured into a false confession, he is sentenced to ten years in prison and eventually sent to Green Island for “reformation.” Lasting until his release in September 1960, Tsai, a victim of the White Terror era, spent ten years of his youth in prison, experiencing unspeakable horrors as well as unimaginable kindnesses. But he is now ready to embrace freedom.

For fans of Persepolis and March comes an incredible true story that lays bare the tortured and triumphant history of Taiwan, an island claimed and fought over by many countries, through the life story of a man who lived through its most turbulent times.

Book 2

After his imprisonment in Green Island, Kun-lin struggles to pick up where he left off ten years earlier. He reconnects with his childhood crush Kimiko and finds work as an editor, jumping from publisher to publisher until finally settling at an advertising company. But when manhua publishing becomes victim to censorship, and many of his friends lose their jobs, Kun-lin takes matters into his own hands. He starts a children’s magazine, Prince, for a group of unemployed artists and his old inmates who cannot find work anywhere else. Kun-lin’s life finally seems to be looking up... but how long will this last?

Forty years later, Kun-lin serves as a volunteer at the White Terror Memorial Park, promoting human rights education. There, he meets Yu Pei-Yun, a young college professor who provides him with an opportunity to reminisce on his past and how he picked himself up after grappling with bankruptcy and depression. With the end of martial law, Kun-lin and other former New-Lifers felt compelled to mobilize to rehabilitate fellow White Terror victims, forcing him to face his past head-on. While navigating his changing homeland, he must conciliate all parts of himself – the victim and the savior, the patriot and the rebel, a father to the future generation and a son to the old Taiwan – before he can bury the ghosts of his past.

These books were my favorite from the bunch. They are a biography of Tsai Kun-lin, a survivor of the White Terror period in Taiwan. I’m somewhat ashamed to say that despite living in Taiwan for two years, I still don’t know much about this period of Taiwan’s history. In all my trips to Taipei, I never visited the White Terror Memorial Park. I did go to the 228 Peace Memorial Park quite often, but mostly I went because it was a nice park.

I think these books should be required reading in Taiwanese schools. I wish I’d had them for my classroom. They don’t look away from the horrors that Tsai experienced, but they are depicted with a relatively light touch, appropriate for younger audiences. I knew that these horrible things happened in very recent history -- martial law only ended in 1987 -- my lifetime, and the lifetimes of the parents and grandparents of my students! I’m amazed at how progressive Taiwan has been able to become in less than 40 years, despite almost no official international support or recognition. Like all countries, it has room to improve, but seeing where Taiwan came from, through Tsai’s life, I’m astonished by the changes brought about in the country, and I hope, for the sake of all who live there now and for the sacrifices so many made in the last century, that Taiwan can avoid a wrench to the right and to authoritarianism that so many countries have taken.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason customers stop by . . .

The father-daughter duo are ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

I picked this up after reading

forestofglory's brief write up. I've been in the mood for cozy, and this is definitely a cozy book. Now, even though I read the synopsis before I got the book, I somehow got it into my head that this was about a father-daughter restaurant duo who solves real crimes on the side. It is not that. A person comes to the diner run by Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa, describes a meal they wish to recreate, and the Kamogawas do their best to make it happen.

This book is very slender, only 207 pages long, with six short chapters focusing on various customers (I think -- I don't have the book with me right now).

While I'm glad I read this book, I don't think I'll read the sequel, which is due out in October. I think this style of book just isn't for me. It's been compared to the book Before the Coffee Gets Cold, which I tried to read a few years ago and gave up on, and I think the comparison is apt. While I did like the descriptions of the meals, which sent me to look up all the dishes because I had no idea what most of the dishes or ingredients were, in general, this book left me feeling ironically empty. I like the slice-of-life style but I want to spend a little more time with characters and see the larger world a bit more. The details we do get are akin to high quality ingredients in a sample platter of a book. I did find it annoying that the premise is repeated at the beginning of every chapter. It makes sense for the characters, but because the book is so small, it gets repetitive for the reader.

Ultimately, I think this just reinforces that this type of fiction is Not For Me. I thought it was well written, and I found the translation to be pretty smooth, so if you like a little candy box of a book, then I think you will like this book. I'll go back to my Defend the Realm fantasy. 😁

After I got the synopsis for Sheine Lende from the publisher's website, I scrolled through to see what other books they have. The publisher, Levine Querido, is an independent publisher of children's and YA books that was founding in 2019. In an interview at the World Kid Lit blog, editor Nick Thomas says the goals for LQ are to publish books by underrepresented voices and books in translation. They have lots of LGBTQ books, but they also have books by indigenous American authors, such as Darcie Little Badger. They also published When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, which is one of the best books I read last year, and indeed, in a long time. I saw that they are publishing Lamb's next book in October, so I gotta pre-order that!

Anyway, I hopped on my library website to see if they had some other LQ books. My hometown library didn't have many on the shelf, but we're part of a larger network in Southern Idaho which shares books, so I simply placed holds on a bunch of books which will soon be shipped to me! Well, to my hometown library.

Holds

The Boy From Clearwater, vol 1/2 by You Peiyun (graphic novels about a boy growing up in Taiwan in the 1930's-1940's)

49 Days by Agnes Lee (a graphic novel about a Korean American girl who must travel for 49 days after her death until she can cross over)

Brooms by Jasmine Walls (graphic novel set in a 1930's Mississippi where magic is controlled and only allowed to be used by certain people)

The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay by Dale Walls (contemporary YA fiction)

Pardalita by Joana Estrela, translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann (contemporary YA fiction set in Portugal)

Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera (middle grade speculative fiction)

I also bought The Days of Bluegrass Love by Edward van de Vendel (translated by Emma Rault), a book originally published in the Netherlands in 1999. It was on sale for $1.99 on Kindle, so I decided to snap it up.

I'm really looking forward to zipping through these books in my last month at home. Hopefully, they will keep me from being too anxious about packing and moving. 😬

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.

Then Shane’s mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent – who isn’t to be trusted – set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world – or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and gulped it down in two days. It's a prequel to Little Badger's first novel Elatsoe. Little Badger's works are built on Lipan Apache history and knowledge and set in a world where magic is real, including the European-style fairy magic, which drives part of the plot of this novel. However, the real focus is Lipan magic and the world Below and dealing with ghosts and monsters.

Little Badger is fast becoming one of those authors who I want to follow and read all their works -- with the possible exception of spooky stories. Despite having ghosts, neither Elatsoe nor Sheine Lende are particularly spooky, although she said on Bluesky (I think, it's been awhile) that she's working on a middle grade horror novel. I think that's super. I think middle grade and YA readers need horror in their level. Alas, I an a TOTAL wimp and still have nightmares about ghost stories I read in elementary school. I did like Little Badger's short story Those Hitchhiking Kids, which is a ghost story and a little spooky (to me), but it's mostly bittersweet.

Anyway, I highly recommend Little Badger's novels. Sheine Lende is a technically a prequel to Elatsoe, but I'd read it second so you get acquainted with the world she's built. Her novel A Snake Falls to Earth is also an amazing book. It's a standalone novel but it's steeped in the Lipan storytelling world as well.

Here is a synopsis from the author's website:

It is the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity’s last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course. Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect.

Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left.

With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again.

It probably wasn't the best idea to read this book as I prepare for another move, or as the world is Like This because this book made me so anxious! Not just because I was caught up in the mystery and wondering if the crew of the Phoenix would survive, but because the "dystopian" aspects really aren't that fictional -- environmental collapse? China-US war? 😬

Still, the book was well written. From a craft perspective, I admired how Kitasei fleshed out technical sci-fi aspects. She carefully does not give any dates or really specific numbers that would pull a reader out of the story. I've seen a Tumblr post a few times that includes this writing tip, that if you include specific things like dates or other real-world numbers, it will break that suspension of disbelief. As a person who doesn't read (or usually love) this sort of "hard" sci-fi/space story, I appreciated that there was enough technical details to get me grounded in the world, but the focus was on the characters.

While I'm glad that I read this book, I don't necessarily recommend it because I know who reads this blog -- y'all are way to anxious about the world in general, and this will only add to your fears. And those anxieties are totally justified, both for us and within the story! Kudos to Kitasei for really nailing the vibe because I definitely think the anxiety is crucial to the story. And without spoiling things, I felt that the story ended on something of a hopeful note for a story about a group of people who are on a one-way ticket away from home. If this sort of story is your jam, then I felt it was well-written and interesting, and I'd be happy to hear what you think about it. You can read the first two chapters here. For myself, I'm going to read a cozy mystery next!