meitachi | books read: 2021 may-jun

Officially into the second half of the year now and I've continued to read a lot. I've also gotten into, like, half of Olivia Rodrigo's album, sour. I'm sure the rest of it is good as well, but my music habits are weird.

Dear Committe Members by Julie Schumacher - A purposefully unlikeably arrogant male academic and his projection of his personal issues onto his student? It shouldn't be funny or work as a story, yet I enjoyed it, because it was clear the narrative was poking fun at the protagonist. Told epistolary style, which worked as a style though IRL I dearly hope those letters would be unacceptable. Surprisingly managed some character growth and poignant moments through the narrative and had a kinda bittersweet ending.

The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara - (Big Bad Wolf #1) A new series with werewolves and mysteries! I am always nervous with law enforcement protagonists but this one pleasantly surprised me by not going hard into rooting for them as if they never did wrong, and acknowledge the racism and other prejudices inherent in a lot of these institutions. The two main characters had good chemistry and I do appreciate they had to work a bit to trust each other and fall into bed even with instant attraction. There is loads of baggage yet! The mystery itself was fine? I both saw the betrayal coming and thought it fitting, so it worked for me.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge - The author has typically written (amazing) female leads so I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but oh, it is lovely. Amazing worldbuilding and myth creation, as always, so rich and evocative, and some wonderfully drawn characters with intense emotions that are always so stressful because you understand where the character and their feelings are coming from but, god, they deserve better. But it takes time for the plot and the character to get to that point. Everyone is faceted and the world is gorgeous. Love Frances Hardinge so much.

The Wolf at Bay by Charlie Adhara - (Big Bad Wolf #2) Introducing family to an established relationship is a good way to add stress and revel more about different pasts and issues. I liked the complicated family stuff in this, and how sometimes a lot of it is just...about needing time for personal growth, regardless of other people.

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey - I wanted to read another Josephine Tey book! This was far less memorable than Miss Pym Disposes as I can't really remember the plot. Oh I've looked it up and yeah, that was weird and kind of complicated and kind of shitty about some kind of "inherent" criminality in some people -- lower class people, particularly. The classism in these types of books (this one written in the 1950s) is pretty rampant.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - A wonderfully moving memoir about the author and her complicated relationship with her mother, and the loss of her mother, and the connection to her Korean identity through her mom. I always like to read the different stories and lives people experienced as Asian Americans, and in this case complicated by having one non-Asian parent. The trips back to Korea resonated with me even though I had a totally different experience with parental relatives and such. Perhaps it was the familiarity of urban Asian apartments and memories of my own trips to Korea?

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili by P. Djeli Clark - A short story set in the world of A Dead Djinn in Cairo and Master of Djinn. It's fun! And nice to see the world through the eyes of yet another character, one without any relation to the magical law enforcement/bureaucracy. I like the creepy angels.

Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale - (Princess Academy #2) A very different feel from the first book since the setting is now the royal city and there is a revolution underway. Felt like it wrestled with much bigger issues (like the place of monarchy versus revolution, unfair societies, etc.) but the world didn't quite feel built out to support those ideas? And things moved fairly rapidly along, but I suppose it was fitting for a middle grade/young adult novel. I didn't dislike the story but it didn't feel quite as successful with its big themes or its fairly simple resolution. I do still generally enjoy Miri and Peder though.

Braised Pork by An Yu - Magical realism written by a Chinese author but in English; an interesting departure from my usual. But it was kind of nice to see contemporary Beijing and China through the eyes of someone who actually knows it. In a way a feminist tale about an unhappy marriage and a woman trying to find herself afterward, including a trip to Tibet seeking answers. I'm not sure I ever "get" magical realism, but it was an interesting journey.

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells - (Murderbot Diaries #6) A Murderbot murder mystery! Very fun and I love Perseverance and Murderbot's ongoing bafflement with the humans who care for and are invested in their rogue SEC unit. I liked the resolution too! It was fun.

The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish by Joanna Chambers - Related to her other short story Regency universe that I barely remember, I confess. This was a sweet story between a himbo lord and a more flamboyant artist who is out but nervous about committing to someone who isn't. I always have a hard time feeling the chemistry in short stories because it fees like a lot of telling instead of showing. "They're super attracted to each other, believe me!"

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho - Oh I loved this. I did not love Sorcerer to the Crown and didn't read the sequel, but this book captured all of my favorite parts of Zen Cho's writing -- particularly the complicated family relationships, the visceral feel of a Southeast Asian setting, the weaving in of ancestry and local mythology -- and made it a full length novel. Lots of fun to see modern Malaysia, imo, including the nuanced immigrant-returning-to-the-motherland family dynamics. (The MC happens to be gay and is hiding it from her family, but the f/f relationship is not a big feature; it is far more character and family driven than a romance of any kind.)

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers - Supposedly her funniest book of the Lord Peter Wimsey series and I did enjoy the ridiculousness of the advertising company shenanigans. The collection of characters and their petty likes/dislikes and relationships were fun. The mystery was pretty creative! I think I had sorted most of it out near the end before the big reveal.

Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark - A full length novel in this universe was a lot of fun! It is a creative steampunk Egypt with some advanced bureaucracy and tech, lots of magic and religion, and is very interesting. While I overall enjoyed it I do think it perhaps tried to pack too much into one novel, and the last third or quarter of the book felt like it had too much one big thing after te next and there wasn't time to really feel the impact of each event. That said, the f/f relationship here is more developed/central to the character and very cute. I also liked Fatima's relationship with her assigned work partner and overcoming assumptions and the staunch need to work independently.

Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America by Julie DiCaro - Sports is endlessly frustrating as a pit of misogyny, especially with so much sports fandom and journalism moving online, where trolls and bots run rampant and people feel so much freer to express vitriol and death threats easily, where they wouldn't in person. But some Type of Sports Fan has always been like that. Julie DiCaro has really dealt with such an unfair amount of misogyny and fatphobia and more, and it's infuriating to read about. It also reminded me how much I hated how Chicago dealt with the Patrick Kane stuff. (That said, I still refuse to read the new Deadspin. It is more commentary than reporting/journalism, but I like the original commentariat who moved to Defector.)

Thrown to the Wolves by Charlie Adhara - (Big Bad Wolf #3) Now family drama from Oliver's family! Lots of satisfying angst and insecurity that comes from partners of different backgrounds/needs -- not just the werewolf and human aspect, but the different classes and expectations. Delicious feelings of not being good enough/what he needs, but not any super frustrating dumb misunderstandings either. Definitely people withholding some pertinent info they probably should've been more upfront about, but they do work through it.

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells - (Murderbot Diaries short story) A short story from a non-Murderbot point of view! So interesting to see how Mensah views the world/life/her rogue SEC Unit, while also in the aftermath of everything she dealt with in being held hostage and such. Sometimes relying on those who love us is hard... This was a nice little glimpse into the humans around Murderbot.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik - A frustrating read where I genuinely did not like or care about the main character or most of the other characters. The Scholomance, and most of the story, felt like a lot of infodump to the extreme with very little actual action nor emotion that was felt versus...relayed/told to the reader. The resentment of Orion Lake also felt very forced; it's part of the premise of the main character that I frankly didn't understand and wasn't very sympathetic to. She seemed mean for no real justifiable reason. Also her supposedly desi heritage never lived on the page besides a few mystical references to her father's family she has no connection to. She felt default "white" as a lot of YA protagonists did in the books I read growing up, while other characters were sort of boxed into their stereotypes of "ethnic diversity" at the school. Anyway, I sped read through it and do not plan on reading the sequel.

Miss Tonks Turns to Crime by M.C. Beaton - (Poor Relations #2) For some reason my library has this book, which is second in the series, but no other part of the series. Set in the Regency era, it's about some genteel folk with rich relatives who are themselves poor -- so they gather together and form a hotel, but constantly have to commit (genteel?) crime to keep it funded. It is a silly premise and this was a silly book, but overall good fun, with mixed up identities and romances.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu - A really interesting concept and format for the story, entirely in script form, but which sort of leans into "Asians playing their stereotypical role in life" that gets blurred with reality. I really did not grow up in California or New York Chinatowns/Asiatowns, so in a lot of ways it's a foreign experience for me reading about Asian experiences in those places, and how those community existed and played off each other in the larger American society. It felt unsurprisingly (not sure if in a good or bad way) that the thing that finally "wakes up" the protagonist is becoming a father, and having to reevaluate in his role in life in relation to his daughter and what he wants to give her.

Yotsuba&! vol 2 by Kiyohiko Azuma - The sweetest slice of life story. I love Yotsuba and her neighbors. Daily life adventures!

Miss Manners Minds Your Business by Judith Martin - An interesting etiquette guide to work! I was mentally comparing a lot of advice to Ask a Manager -- it always does feel pretty white collar, doesn't it? As usual, mostly just entertaining and many circumstances will need to rely on individuals and specifics. A general point is that you are not obligated to be friends with your coworkers nor treat them that way (but I have made some actual friends at work and that is always nice).

The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale - (Princess Academy #3) Final book of the trilogy and more backstory/intrigue. Again, kind of broad strokes of the wider world and a potential war looming in the background, but the more narrow story on Miri was good. I liked the developing relationships with the sisters she had to go train and Miri's own growth throughout. It is another kind of "easy" resolution at the end but overall the story was satisfying.

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong - A collection of essays about "minor feelings" and the experience of being Asian in America. Again, always interesting to me how similar/dissimilar the experiences can be. The art and poetry stuff is so different from me, with no real background or passion in it. The more general human experiences of college friends who support you, who fuck you up, was relatable. Much of her other stories aren't. That's okay! As for where Asians and our model minority myth fits into America's broader history and society, well, that's eternally complex. How you translate a personal experience into a reflection of those broader themes and issues, well, some people will find it incisive and eye-opening and others will not. I've done the same reflection on my own life at times but I guess I don't know in the end who I think the audience is besides myself.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Charlie Adhara - (Big Bad Wolf #4) Undercover at a couple's resort! Except they're already a couple. Some nice tension and good mystery here, but boy, there sure were a lot of people who ended up dead that we kinda just skated past in search of the final big bad and all that. I did enjoy the kinda gratuitous power play scene with "whose pack has more consequence and commands more respect" -- obvs the one the main character is dating.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages by Trenton Lee Stewart - (The Mysterious Benedict Society #4) A late addition to the series, years on, and similarly the characters are also a few years older. It was sweet! The big plot and shenanigans are as chaotic and unrealistic as ever, but still fun, and it remains the characters and their relationships that drive this series. Everyone is casually bi, btw, which I thought was a nice fact to drop in the background without comment. Really loved seeing Constance older and still grumpy. The child character is probably too unbelievably chill and adorable, but hey, we're not here for realistic depictions of super genius children saving the world. I hope they eventually do go on and go out in the world, secure in their relationships, but for now it's sweet they chose each other for a little longer.

Currently reading Empire of Pain about Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family and, jeez, it is a tome. Keefe is good at making nonfiction very readable though, so here's hoping to get through it fairly rapidly (since it is in demand at the library).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I did like The True Queen more than Sorcerer to the Crown though so far have enjoyed Cho's short fiction and novellas more. Black Water Sister is on my owned-TBR list and I will... tackle it one day!!

The risk when reading Golden Age mystery writers is always the... attitudes of the era. Though, then I get surprised at the idea of post being deliver at 9PM and how it was acceptable, for certain classes, to drop by at 9PM for a glass or two of sherry.

books read: 2021 may-jun

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