meitachi | books read: 2023 oct-dec

Happy 2024! Thoughts on the books I read from the last three months of 2023.

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat - (Captive Prince #2) Probably my favorite book of the series. Just so much fun as Damen and Laurent develop their relationship and reluctantly learn to trust each other (kind of), plus undercover adventures and politics.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Ha - A novel about four young modern Korean women in Seoul and their varying personal desires and challenges, from career to relationships, and how their lives intersect. A very interesting read after finishing Flawless by Elise Hu, with the commentary on how looks impact the way Korean women achieve success, feel about themselves, etc. From the nonfiction economic and cultural lens to a narrative exploration through four characters, they were well-paired.

Monster of the Week by F.T. Lukens - (The Rules #2) Sequel, set in senior year of high school. Less relationship and friendship drama, more family and magic-focused, and overall a cute read that wasn't terribly memorable. An unflattering female "villain" character, kind of cheesy, but fitting enough for the story it was trying to tell.

Curious, If True: Strange Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell - I forget how I cam about this book but a set of short stories that are kind of creepy/scary stories, not full out horror. The oldest book I read this year, written in 1861! So a glimpse into the types of scary stories we told in the past.

Villains are Destined to Die #1 by Gwon Gyeoeul - Loaned to me from a friend, it is a webtoon published in graphic novel format. The art is full color and beautiful and the story is very silly but fun, and surprised me by having a very likeable heroine who faces being thrown into this game world as the villain with appropriate amounts of "um wtf" but also doing her best to go along with it. And of course many beautiful male love interests!

But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"? by Chicago Manual of Style - Just a nerdy compendium of questions asked by users of the Chicago Manual of Style and their responses. I still find grammar, style, and usage interesting.

My Love Mix-Up! #1 by Wataru Hinekure - A cute manga loaned to me by a friend, about a (shocker!) love mix-up where a group of four high school students are confused about who has a crush on whom. M/F and M/M. The male MC ends up starting to fall for the guy his crush has a crush on...

My Love Mix-Up! #2 by Wataru Hinekure - Volume 2 of above. While cute, I had no interest in going further. Very slice-of-life, very low stakes, and unfortunately I just don't care about regular high school love drama!

Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo - (Singing Hills Cycle #4) One of my favorites from the series and definitely stronger than the last novella. Beautiful writing about loss and grief, and lore and current stakes interwoven throughout the story. I love the idea of war mammoths! And the imagery of the neixin's nests is stunning.

Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat - (Captive Prince #3) I hadn't reread this since the book was first released and only had a vague memory of how everything went down. So many things that I remember people arguing about that seemed so obvious in the early two books — and vindication! About the Regent, about Laurent. The ending was fitting, but maybe too fitting? I can't remember if I was actually let down by it or if it was other people's reactions that made me feel that way. On the whole, I still really love and enjoy the series.

Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi - A little cheeky fairy tale retelling/twist about what happens after one of the happily ever afters, and how the prince and princess never really knew each other as people, or what they valued, and have to rediscover that and fall back in love. Cute but in comparison to some of the other fairy tale retellings I've read this year, didn't feel as transformative or remarkable.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson - A fun novel about a rich family in NYC and their rich people problems. The three siblings all have their career/relationship problems and they were all somewhat sympathetic and also unbearable at the same time. Yes, I know rich people have real feelings too, but you're all so annoying! That said, still a fun read to see the characters bounce off each other.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim - Discovered through Project Gutenberg, I think. An early novel about a couple working class women in England who are sick of their lives and the dreary weather and dream of a blissful escape to sunny romantic Italy. They rent a castle and find a couple other folks to split the cost, and go on their dream holiday. A cute, low-stakes, domestic romp, but also a reflection of the interior dreams of women and a very relatable yearning to just run away from regular life, even for a little while.

Villains are Destined to Die #2 by Gwon Gyeoeul - Continues to be delightful. Now we meet the Crown Prince! He is beautiful and cruel and I love him.

Villains are Destined to Die #3 by Gwon Gyeoeul - The volumes all blend together but the art is beautiful, the male characters are infuriating, and I love the MC Penelope.

Villains are Destined to Die #4 by Gwon Gyeoeul - Continuing to be fun! After finishing this last book, I went online to find the webtoon and continued to read through various story arcs. The translations definitely aren't as good, though, and I am not fully caught up. Maybe I will take this slow through the published books? (Nah, I'll probably catch up online. WIPs, my eternal enemies.)

The Animal Orchestra Plays Tchaikovsky by Sam Taplin - A sweet children's board book I picked up at the Texas Book Festival, showing an animal orchestra and which plays live bits of Tchaikovsky's famous pieces! Teaching kids classical music at an early age. Part of a larger series of the animal orchestra playing different conductors/music.

Selena Didn't Know Spanish Either: Poems by Marisa Tirado - A chapbook of poetry published by a local Texas university press. I enjoyed it! Very Mexican-American. And to the title: Selena didn't know Spanish at first, but learned it.

Ning and the Spirit Light by Adriena Fong - A beautifully illustrated children's picture book, for a quieter soul in a child who is learning to make friends and help people not judge (spirits by their) appearances. Gifted to a friend whose kid just turned 1, though it will be more relevant of the future!

Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks - Written after All About Love and more targeted toward women. Very thought-provoking! I spent a lot of time evaluating the book and its essays while reading it; some of it I felt like I disagreed with her about, but some things she was very right about. Not all women are inherently loving/caring/whatever. Some women have subscribed to internalized misogyny and sexism even if that's no the exact terminology she uses. But I also disagree with some of her assertions. But it has been a long time since I've read something that made me push back and engage as deeply.

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link - A delightful collection of short stories written before White Cat, Black Dog, which explicitly retells fairy tales. The short stories feel more like a modern version of fairy tales, with strange happenings, vague morals, odd characters and happenings that are accepted as par for the course. Really loved it, probably more than White Cate, Black Dog, honestly.

Byrony and Roses by T. Kingfisher - Another fairy tale retelling, this one of Beauty and the Beast. Lovely, funny, slightly creepy, and just enjoyable all around. Byrony, a true gardener. Cannot relate.

Blue Horses: Poems by Mary Oliver - Decided to get into Mary Oliver and her appreciation of nature. Need to revisit the poems more slowly. Need to acquire other volumes of her poetry! I want to be reminded to slow down and look at the trees, the sky, the animals.

Rattle His Bones by Carola Dunn - (Daisy Dalrymple #8) Set in a natural history museum and full of petty academic rivalries and people, this was my least favorite of this series. No thank you!.

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske - (The Last Binding #3) I enjoyed the couple and the story in this one! I still like the rhythm of the second book best, because this, being the finale of the trilogy, inevitably felt like it had to be about More and Bigger things. But the pacing and sense of scale varied for me. Idk! I will say the sex scenes were varied and well-negotiated without feeling like modern ideas or jargon were being inserted to pull me out of the story. Deftly done there.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann - Translated from German! This is the same author who wrote the sheep detectives story, Three Bags Full, which I enjoyed. This is another take on a cozy mystery, featuring a household of elderly folks living together in an English village house. It's a funny premise (their neighbor is murdered the same day one of their own is killed, and they are trying to direct the police investigation to find a 'serial' killer when in fact the death of one of their own was a choice). It is a sobering look on getting older, loneliness, and agency, along with solving the background of their neighbor's mysterious death. A little clumsy or heavy-handed at times, but overall I liked it a lot.

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell - Oh, Jenny Odell, how much I loved the first half of this book and its critical philosophical examination of time and the systemic way we approach it as linear, finite, something to be exploited for maximum productivity. She examines the impact of capitalism on work, whether "leisure time" can truly exist, and it's all very interesting! The second part of the book, where we are being challenged to think about time differently and how to genuinely let it impact how we live, felt meandering and confused and far weaker. Her ideas are strong, but the delivery fell short for me.

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid - A new m/m hockey outside of her Gamechangers universe. I fell in love with sweet himbo Casey — it is always a gamble whether a character like that comes off well or offputting, but he very much reminded me of golden retriever Mitch Marner. The character dynamics were great, the family issues were well-navigated with enough seriousness but never overwhelming drama, and I think they are cute and will be happy together!

Cardcaptor Sakura Collector's Edition #9 by CLAMP - The Collector's Edition just means they are full A4 sized and hardcover, apparently! The manga pages themselves are still black and white, though the larger size means I can really enjoy CLAMP's art. This is the last book of the original CCS series, which ends with Eriol's defeat and Syaoran and Sakura realizing their feelings. My best girl and her best boy, I love them dearly.

Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin - I am always wary of self-help books but saw this included in the Texas Book Festival and decided to give it a shot. Written by a South Asian psychiatrist who has and continues to go through it, she gave an honest accounting of her own journey, which felt if not relatable than at least credible to her position of giving advice. In any case, I thought the way she broke down the self-help industry (via capitalism) was clarifying and offering best practices that could be useful (also cautioning that she only offers guidelines for practice, not easy solutions). A lot of emphasis on true self-care not being self-soothing items or acts (nouns) but rather living life guided by values and principles (verb).

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman - (Thursday Murder Club #4) This one may be my favorite, but that may just be how it works with sequential books where I've gotten to know and love the characters more because I've been on the journey with them. I like this little group, I liked this mystery, and I liked the difficult grappling with end-of-life and letting go, etc. It made me tear up a bit. I'm glad Osman's taking a little break though, because this feels like a nice place for a pause.

The Halcyon Fairy Book by T. Kingfisher - One of my favorite reads; the first half of this book is a collection of fairy tales in the public domain along with the author's meta commentary. How poorly these tales fare when examined through a lens of logic or feminism! But it is not too snarky, and it helps when the commentary comes from a source that loves the genre. The second half of this book is T. Kingfisher's own original fairy tales, titled Toad Words (the eponymous story is about the sister who dropped diamonds when she spoke and the sister who dropped frogs and toads when she spoke, from the perspective of the latter). I loved them a lot. Acquiring her other tale of original fairy tales to read soon, Jackalope Wives and Other Stories.

No Time to Spare: Thinking about what Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin - A collection of blog posts and ruminations from Ursula K. Le Guin's blog and her life in Oregon; thoughts on aging, on writing, and on the world more broadly. I think it was while reading this that I finally realized I was conflating Ursula Vernon (T. Kingfisher) and Ursula K. Le Guin. Oops. I should add some of Le Guin's classics to my to-read list.

The Employees by Olga Ravn - A spur of the moment borrow from the library after seeing it on a book list somewhere. A strange, almost poetic sci-fi story about work and what it means to be human, set in the future, and supposedly somewhat satirical in its deployment of corporate jargon on this futuristic spaceship. The longing for connection is palpable; is that what makes us human? (Would AI someday want to be human?)

Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu - A Christmas gift! Collection of short stories by a queer Indonesian author, translated from Indonesian. I'm always excited to read more books in translation from countries I haven't read much of (but Asian countries especially). These definitely follow a broad theme, but I really liked the intro to a contemporary Indonesia I don't know as much about.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day - A middle grade nonfiction book that combines the true history of the Mona Lisa theft in 1911 with the history of its creation by Leonardo da Vinci (and a little bit about the subject herself). Super interesting, and told in a very engaging narrative way, with suspense and drama, so it reads really quickly. I learned about French policing, and contemporary newspapers, and many other things!

At some point soon I'll have my full 2023 books in review post.

books read: 2023 oct-dec

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