books read: 2024 august

[meitachi]

August seemed to fly by: more time on the job, meeting people and being social, getting out a little bit in the Rochester area (plus we visited Buffalo). We need to do more outdoor parks/beaches and more one-day drives. So many cute things within an hour or two!

Did read a bit! F1 had summer break, then came back. We're traveling one weekend in September, to NYC, so hopefully that is a fun trip.

1. Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj - Stories about an interconnected Palestinian American community in Baltimore, as told through different short stories from different characters' perspectives. I enjoyed this a lot! Some of the stories were about trauma, identity, intergenerational familial relationships, but there were also very personal portraits and ugly parts of any community. Ends on a fitting note, with a return to Palestine itself.



2. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue - A workplace satire, and the character happens to be Iranian American. Yes, the narrator is ignorant of how she sucks at first! Yes, there is character and relationship growth! If you can overlook some of the secondhand embarrassment behaviors at the beginning and the skepticism of whether this tech or HR would actually work this way...it's a mostly sweet and heartwarming story of the importance of human connection. Even in a deadening workplace.



3. A Man and His Cat Vol. 8 by Umi Sakurai - As this becomes more about the human relationships and drama (OTT on purpose), and less about the cats, the less interest I have. I should just go back to reading Chi's Sweet Home!



4. The Carrying: Poems by Ada Limón - I really enjoy her poetry! Short, nature and people-focused, evocative; almost a narrative of life moments via poetry.



5. Magic Knight Rayearth: Part One, Book 1 by CLAMP - I now want to reread the full manga, which I'm not sure I ever did in the original release (I think I saw parts of the anime). Anyhow, CLAMP classics, I am full of nostalgia. I forgot Mokona originated in this series!



6. The Master of Samar by Melissa Scott - Standalone fantasy world based off Venice (canals! guilds and shit!) but with magic. Established m/m romance set in the background with the main plot around suspicious deaths in the family and other political shenanigans including a fake marriage. Overall quite fun, with some mundane everyday action that leads into a nicely based epic final battle.



7. Tripas: Poems by Brandon Som - An interesting use of language (from his heritage: Chinese and Mexican) in his poetry, exploring a lot of his grandparents' identities and life journeys. Some but less personal focus; rather than memoir, more of a historical accounting interspersed with literary references, academic references, and language play.



8. The Fox's Tower and Other Tales by Yoon Ha Lee - Short story collection that were even more like flash fiction. Fairy tales through the lens of scifi and updated fantasy. Fast read, though nothing really sticks out in my memory. Some LGBTQ+ characters and relationships featured in these updated stories!



9. The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt - A breezy novella and absolutely one of my favorite reads this year. A tongue-in-cheek satire about a rich 17-year-old who was raised in Morocco and Paris and has now had her world upended as her parents aren't who she thinks they are. The story pokes fun at celebrity and journalism, at wealth and etiquette, through a delightful narrator!



10. Run Away With Me, Girl Vols 1-3 by Battan - A complete f/f manga about two high school sweethearts who went their separate ways because they wanted different things, then run into each other as adults and have to navigate who they are now (and the feelings that remain). A small look into coming out in contemporary Japan, wrestling with identity and being "normal" versus being happy. Aching in parts, for many good reasons, but a happy and hopeful ending.



11. Meddling and Murder by Ovidia Yu - (Singaporean Mystery #4) The latest and last so far of this mystery series. I enjoy Aunty Lee so I continue them, plus the Singapore setting makes me fond and nostalgic for a place I barely knew. The food though! And the complexities of race and class and prejudice there are so present but so different from in the West; fascinating. As always, incredibly written unlikeable characters.



12. Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay - Oh I struggled with this one; some of these poems are gorgeous and lyrical; I really do enjoy poems about nature and longing, predictably. But there were a lot packed densely with multiple poems often sharing the same page. I would have liked more room for each to breathe and for me to pause and process them. It became a chore to flip through the book rather than a pleasant discovery. Perhaps I need to revisit her poetry in a different format or collection.

The library system here frustrates and confounds me, but it serves its baseline purpose. :') Plus I need to work through the books I own...