books read: 2025 february

[meitachi]

Just need to get to Spring Break...one more day! Spring semester flying by. I have no thoughts to share about my life, just a book recap dump. (I'm journaling daily irl!)

1. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton - (Hollow Kingdom #1) A post-zombie apocalypse Seattle told through the eyes of animals and specifically human pets, and in particular a pet crow, as humans descend into madness and animals must band together to form community. Unfortunately, apocalyptic stories are really not my thing, even if they are trying to reaffirm the general sense of nature-human interdependency and community. Also, I don't care about Seattle!


Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan - An introvert's challenge of saying yes to things she didn't want to say yes to all year. It was interesting and funny and relatable! Definitely exploring the assumptions society has about what it means to be an 'introvert' and how that can really just mean 'incredibly shy or socially awkward'. There is nothing inherently wrong with being an introvert unless it, as an identity label, starts inhibiting your own growth or ability to form connections with others, which we all need. It was a fun journey to ride along with the author, as she talks to strangers and joins a stand-up class and a bunch of other things, some of which I'd consider and others I wouldn't enjoy. The point is to be uncomfortable and discover that some things aren't as bad as you think. I definitely have gone through my own journey of becoming a much more sociable and extroverted introvert. It is rewarding to have those connections, for sure. Sometimes the small talk is nice, inane, but pleasant; and sometimes I still just want to get through a grocery line without chatting with the cashier. Thank you and bye.

Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime by Leonie Swann - (Miss Sharp Investigates #2) A collection of odd elderly folks house-sharing together in the UK. Everyone has quirks. It should be charming, but the problem is the writing doesn't really show these characters actually liking each other, or spending much time together in a meaningful way. They simply exist together on page. Anyway, the resort was beautifully described. I just didn't care about the mystery or the characters. The author also really likes to insert random scenes from the POV of an animal, except I'm not sure to what purpose...

Dick Fight Island Vols 1 and 2 by Reibun Ike - Extremely silly premise (in Japanese, the title was 'The Eight Warriors' apparently), but taken seriously in universe. This Pacific island is full of clans who, once a year, send a representative to fight to determine who will be the next leader of all 8 clans. You win by making the other guy ejaculate. Somehow, a clan rep sent someone off to university abroad in the UK where he fell in love and also was finally introduced to the prostate, his new secret weapon in the clan battle. There are random ships. It is all very silly but funny regardless. Battle complete in volume 1; volume 2 is all romance backstories and epilogues. This is the very funny review that convinced me to read the series.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch - A reread! I love this book: it is about internet fandom and language and grammar, but also about how language is a tool for forming and expressing community and our desire as people to be connected to each other. Love to see so many parts of my own internet life represented and explained, with generous view toward online communities.

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian - (Midcentury NYC #2) I enjoyed the first in this series more than I expected, and I loved this second one. Eddie is just absolutely a sweetheart and I loved him so much. I love a good sports suffering without turning someone bitter. The conflict was nothing more than the struggle to be queer in NYC in the 1950s and 1960s, and what it means to be authentic and true to yourself while not putting yourself at risk. Are you out? How much? Things are messy and painful and uncertain, but you can also find friendships and fall in love and overcome sports curses. I am describing it terribly, but I loved this strangers to friends to more.

The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan - A fun little mystery about finding buried pirate's treasure in Nova Scotia, about the history of this little town and the families who populated it and their descendants. Three fun characters and POVs, a lot about what family means, and it means to pass things down to the next generation. Nothing groundbreaking but fun enough, twisty enough. I was thinking about visiting Nova Scotia later this summer but going to PEI instead!

19 Days by Old Xian - A reread as I remembered the characters but not the plot. It started off so much about Jian Yi and Zhan Zheng Xi, best friends who slowly become more (or one party develops feelings and the other grappling with what that means while still considering him his most important person). He Tian was so much the annoying third wheel at first, which I loved. But then we really ran straight into He Tian x Mo Guan Shan rapid feelings and relationship development, while Jian Yi and Zhang Zheng Xi live in purgatory and become basically relegated to the secondary couple in what was originally their own story. Well, characters evolve. Also I think they start this as junior high students (like 15ish), but there are various time skips that are hard to keep track of. The artist does a great job making the actual adult characters look so much more adult though. I'm all about older brother He Cheng and Brother Qiu now. Hot. These kids are all so traumatized and fucked up, but also so dumb and sweet and funny. Whate even is plot?

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede - (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1) I wanted to do more rereads this year of the books I own! So this series was definitely on the list, and this first book continues to be basically perfect. Love Cimorene, love Kazul, and love the practical attitude toward annoying knights and snooping wizards.

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede - (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles #2) I've reread Dealing with Dragons over the years but it's been so long since rereading the rest of the series it felt new. This book introduced Mendanbar, King of the Enchanted Forest! His POV was all right, though I do really love Cimorene most. He has the good taste to fall in love with her, obviously. Oh the magician Telemain was also introduced; he was kind of annoying but is a useful character.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - How does she consistently pack such a punch in such short stories? How does she make you empathize with these ordinary people in their ordinary lives, but comment on society or humanity at large in the choices we make? Or don't make. Genuinely so impressed. Her endings too -- nothing tidy about them, open-ended in some ways, but with very specific direction that leave you thinking. Or reeling, feeling, contemplating, in my case.

Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy - This was on my to read list for a while but was always just...not as interesting as the other things I could be reading. Someone finally mentioned wanting to listen to the audiobook and that was like a light bulb going off for me. I can't do audiobooks for fiction, but a nonfiction history audiobook is essentially a long podcast! I can do that! And so I did. This was mostly familiar territory in terms of the AAPI history it introduced: probably new to many, but over the past 5-6 years I've been more intentional about learning more about Filipino American history, Asian Black solidarity, etc. Still did learn some new things, especially around transnational adoption trends. This came out amid COVID and post-Atlanta spa shootings, so a lot of discussion on anti-Asian hate. I felt like queer history was a big gap here.

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe - An absolute charmer, unexpectedly so. The whole schtick is its premise: daughter of a Hooters waitress and ex-pro wrestler who gets knocked up by her English professor at junior college then abandoned, and while facing eviction looks for a way to make money -- and discovers OnlyFans. But it is genuinely lovely, funny, and sympathetic while not shying away from the messiness and ugliness of complicated family relationships, new motherhood, and the way society views and treats women broadly but also women who have sex and perform sex work specifically. It does interesting things with prose and narration, and I just liked Margo so much. I was always rooting for her! The book had extremely good points about how society treats young women we deem as "good" or "bad", but never felt preachy about it.