books read: 2020 jul-aug

[meitachi]

Another two months of stay-at-home and work-from-home -- though in August we bought and moved into our new house! That was exciting and did keep me from my books for a week or so at the end of the month, but I've been reading pretty steadily earlier. A mix of genres and styles. Let's see how much I can recollect to review.

1. One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus - The sequel to One of Us is Lying about Maeve and the next group of kids. It was still well written and I also enjoyed these kids and their romances (Maeve/Luis was cute and I liked the fleshing out of Luis's character). I solved the mystery pretty early on, but I liked the messy ending.



2. wow, no thank u by Samantha Irby - Her most recent series of essays. Also good, gross, and funny and reflecting a new period of her life, married and in Michigan. I still enjoyed them alone and I can see why the making-friends-as-adult essay was published in The New Yorker.



3. The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho - A short story about the afterlife! Contextualized for me by my reading of Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies compilation a while back with the introductory notes about Confucian ideas of the afterlife. A short femslashy read. Not her strongest short story but I enjoyed it.



4. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - (The Murderbot Diaries #2) Continuing these novellas and they continue to be delightful! This was the introduction of ART and its interaction with Murderbot is just so much fun. I also always love Murderbot slowly getting to know/care about different humans even against its own instincts/preferences.



5. Asian American Dreams by Helen Zia - A wonderful history of Asian American activist stories framed through her own family's Asian American dreams, covering incidents from Vincent Chen's death to the LA riots and more. Though published 20 years ago, still very relevant history to know. I wish there were an update though because this was pre-9/11 and the political landscape for Asian Americans has changed so much since then -- for Muslim Americans, around affirmative action, and now with anti-China sentiments. We are bringing Helen Zia in as a webcast speaker in October and I'm really excited for that, though. Though maybe fewer, there have been Asian Americans advocating for that identity and associated rights for decades and have been underlining the importance cross-racial, cross-cultural work and solidarity.



6. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells - (The Murderbot Diaries #3) Another lovely story and Murderbot makes and loses a friend, a bot named Miki, and helps redefine friendship and personhood to Murderbot. Always gripping action scenes! But it's the humor and utter humanness that threads its way through these stories that I love.



7. Running with Lions by Julian Winters - A fluffy little m/m teen romance story featuring a soccer camp, which made me think it was set in the UK but is somewhere in Ohio? Michigan? I forget exactly but it's definitely in the U.S. It's because both the main character and his love interest had initially met back in the UK I think? Anyway, this is 100% a One Direction Ziam AU lol. Cute and quick and sweet. Ah, summer teen romances.



8. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall - Maybe I had low expectations but this pretend dating story actually ended up more serious than I imagined! I ended up liking both characters pretty well, as they both had their attractive features and very real emotional flaws that kept them fucking up their relationships. The friend group was a bit too romcom-y and meddlesome for my tastes, but the emotional arc of the romance was nice, as was the genuine (good and bad) relationships they had with their families. A happyish, hopeful ending that didn't quite tie up all the emotional loose ends, but I'm okay with believing they make it together.



9. Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez - Gorgeous cover! Fantasy based on Bolivian history and mythology! Unfortunately the premise was more interesting than the execution, and the cover ended up the strongest part of the whole experience. The prose was not particularly lush, descriptive, or evocative, which is a real pity. The characterization as pretty flat for everyone besides the main character and her love interest. The people/siblings she's supposed to feel the most for...barely feel their impact. The mysterious character's identity was obvious from the beginning. But the main issue is that it tried to tackle the idea of no culture having moral righteousness/purity on their side, but want to solve these societal issue by just replacing a bad monarch with a "good" monarch? Hmm.



10. You Don't Know Jack by M.C. Lee - (The Center #1) A wild premise with undercover teen spies, but actually pretty well written within that premise! E.g., the teen spy infiltrates high schools to make friends with other teens, usually on the periphery of the larger mission. My library had the whole series except #3, ugh. Of course. Anyway, very fun and quick reads and so iddy: Jack is lovely and such a woobie with how he's treated at this mysterious center. The series is about him falling in love with a mark and developing that relationship along with slowly figuring out his own past and identity. Love Jack's very real flaws, insecurities, and impulsiveness, but also how his instincts are never to hurt others. What a gut punch of an ending for him!



11. All About Lust by Kim Gong Lyong - A fun Korean m/m webtoon where one guy confesses his completely shoujo romance PG-rated feelings/fantasies to his sunbae, who also likes him but in very NC-17 ways. And navigating those different expectations and perspectives as they explore their different desires and wants and needs! Set in a design university, I think. The side characters/B relationship take up the second half of the arc, but for a change I actually just really loved the first relationship the most. The second one was a little more enemies/antagonists-to-lovers. Also cute but a little too much drama.



12. If You Knew Jack by M.C. Lee - (The Center #2) Angsty resentment for being forced to work with the guy who broke your heart! While still being jealous of him getting close to others! And while we're in Jack's POV, the author does a great job showing us that Leo is totally into him even if Jack doesn't quite get it or see it. The story here was not my favorite, especially involving a pair of siblings who are mostly fucked over, but I love how Jack cares about them as he always cares about innocent people getting hurt.



13. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - (The Murderbot Diaries #4) Bringing Murderbot back with Dr. Mensah and the original Preservation crew! Love it. The mortification of being known, but making the choice to save These Humans. Because they're important.



14. Like I Know Jack by M.C. Lee - (The Center #3) Jack/Leo is just so good. As is Jack's continued woobieness and my intense uncertainty about how I'm supposed to feel about the way he's treated by the Center (versus how Leo is treated). I did like that the lead agent on the mission is also a jerk, but sometimes sympathetic, and basically it's fairly clear that there's no black and white lines about good guys versus bad guys. Or at least it's more complicated than a teen like Jack might now, especially with the limited information he has about the world.



15. Talk to Me by Eunbyul - A very explicit but also strangely sweet m/f webtoon with a popular, pretty girl who loves her image as a "good" girl but secretly full of wild horny sex fantasies. And how she's finally encouraged to start asking them of her boyfriend, and how they work through their experimentation together. It's so great! Not all the kinks work for them! But some of them really work for her or him! And they are building real trust by being vulnerable and sharing this with each other, and they're just so cute and so gross as a couple. The secondary couple was hot in theory but way too slap-slap-kiss-kiss for me. They both crossed a lot of lines with each other that I just...didn't feel that great about, even if canon kept telling me they were a perfect fit for each other (because who else could put up with them)? But the main couple story arc was lovely.



16. To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters - A Regency romance! A quick marriage when they tumbled into first love, but then a falling out and cold war for a few years where they both refuse to acknowledge that they could have an honest conversation/fight...now leading to antics and shenanigans! It's hard to pair the lighthearted plot with earnest characters and motivations, but I think the author walked that fine line here. That said, I didn't love either protagonist because they were both clearly making very stupid decisions (which the narrative did acknowledge at least). The falling out is pretty legitimate due to their flaws, but I think the groveling at the end of the book was disproportionately allocated. I definitely bought the hero and heroine's chemistry but maybe not their mental/emotional compatibility...



17. The Shadow Operation by M.C. Lee - (The Center #4) Deliciously learning more about Jack's parents and past... but really the best parts of this are still the lovely Jack/Leo relationship. I'm glad to see Jack's improving relationship with Inspector Colson though! I just want Jack to have more information so he can have the agency to make more informed decisions. So much of that has been denied his whole life despite all the other skills and information the Center has imbued him with for his missions. But he's always missing key parts of the bigger picture and that sucks for him. Love how Leo is so, so into him.



18. Bait and Switch by M.C. Lee - (The Center #5) Powered through the end of the series here! Really left in an uncomfortable place with how the adults in Jack's life basically overlooked child abuse, despite having his back in other ways and being his very real emotional support... Finally, Jack learns the truth about his past and his parents, and it's ostensibly a happy ending, but, man. I want Jack to turn 18 and choose to get the fuck out of there (with Leo). I'm going to envision that happy future.



19. Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Team Manna - A short m/m webtoon about a movie star and his new manager, except somehow there's a curse no one can explain and the slow burn relationship basically...never catches fire? There's barely a kiss. The friendship they built seems nice but honestly there's more chemistry between both MCs and the antagonist/villain character. Who also didn't have very good reason for being the antagonist besides kinda being a dick? IDK. Cute art though! Unsatisfying story.



20. BJ Alex by Mingha - Oh this webtoon, where do I begin lol. M/m explicit sex but a fucked up dynamic from the beginning because it's a popular sex streamer and his devoted fan who realizes who the streamer is in person, a fellow student, and then the narrative decides he is "owed" the streamer's love because he's been so devoted and in love. But the streamer is just using him for sex (i.e., pushing right past that kid's boundaries and basically raping him), and rejects feelings, until suddenly the fan decides to move on and then the streamer realizes what he's missing and magically develops feelings in return? It's possible I hated every single character in this. Two, three, four wrongs don't make a right! Stop it! You're all fucking creeps! Slavish devotion doesn't mean the object of your affection owes you their love or attention! But also don't rape people WTF. The secondary couple was also meh; Viewfinder did it better.



21. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer - Published in 1997 about the 1996 Everest disaster, where 5 people died climbing. I know nothing about professional mountain climbing, but this was such a fascinating, compelling read! Very well written and informative about the sport, its history, the specific journey on hand without being too dense or opaque. I've concluded that all these people are fuckin' nuts, but still so interesting to read what drives them and how everything went down. Clearly the author was working through his trauma and guilt, but considering they are all actively losing brain cells above certain elevations and also being exposed to hypothermic conditions... how much can you hold them accountable? Nothing was done maliciously, but could better decisions have been made before ending up in that situation? I guess that's what the guilt that plagues the author will always ask.



22. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - Lauded as a fantastic psychological thriller, but another one of those books where I literally did not enjoy the narrator, his voice, or any of the characters in the story. That said, it was pretty well-written and kept me flipping through the whole book in one session. Pretty clever, but in my opinion not groundbreaking or even good. Also not sure about the depiction of therapy throughout.



23. Network Effect by Martha Wells - (The Murderbot Diaries #6) Skipped #5, which is not published yet, but takes place before this book -- a full-length book instead of just a novella. And this! Was! Great! I love Murderbot and its interactions with Dr. Mensah and the rest of the crew, loveloveloved ART being full on Asshole, and how everything comes together to being a strangely hopeful, human story of people helping each other out to overcome impossible odds. Really fun and feelgood, especially when the rest of the world makes me despair of humanity -- nice to have a little optimism here.



24. Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman - A quick fun kids' read with illustrations about a dad who went out to get the milk...and was abducted by aliens and traveled through time, etc., and a bunch of other adventures. Whimsical and lighthearted but surprisingly does have a narrative arc and climax of the story that relies on prior setup.

Lots of interesting books lined up through the library! And I have a growing list of books I want to buy from my local bookstore too, but maybe I should just wait those out until they're available at the library too?

Long weekend, so hoping to get lots of reading done, but also having a lot of reconnecting with friends -- Michelle over Zoom on Friday, Manar visiting last night, and a law school check-in via Zoom today.

Comments

[meitachi]

Boyfriend Material was the first Alexis Hall book I read! So I have no idea what his other works are like, but this was very tropey but also took the relationship more seriously than I might have guessed going in.

I love my library, but there are some things they don't have and some things where I want to buy to support the author...

[merit]

He's mostly written in the m/m romance genre including D/s. My library /does/ actually have some of his more niche m/m work so perhaps one day. The Sherlock Holmes satire was very trope-y and almost Lovecraftian as well, so someone with a strong SFF background as well.

Quite, which is why I have purchased 20+ books since lockdown.