redgoldsparks:May Reading and Reviews by Maia KobabeShrillby Lindy WestA fast and highly enjoyable r

redgoldsparks:May Reading and Reviews by Maia KobabeShrillby Lindy WestA fast and highly enjoyable read. I imagine this book gets shelved along side Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist”, with which it pairs well. Like that collection, West’s book contains sections which can stand alone as individual essays, but which also build on each other to tell a partial story of the author’s life. I was a little less interested in the first four chapters about her life before college, which felt less fully realized than the later pieces. But from page 50 onward I was absolutely hooked and I read nearly the whole rest of the book in one sitting. West is a hell of a writer, and she has had some experiences which would have scarred me for life. Just reading about them made my hair stand on end. I left the book with a feeling of deep admiration, and I plan to read more of her work in the future. Why Art?By Eleanor DavisReading this book is like experiencing a beautiful, strange dream that happens to also be an essay on the power and meaning of art. Eleanor Davis has an amazing mind. I’ve loved every book of hers that I’ve read; this is no exception.TheWitch Boy by Molly OstertagI’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time and I was not disappointed! It’s a fantastical and emotional story of a family born with specific types of magic. Aster, one of 12 grandchildren who live in a large rambling house on a rural property, is supposed to grow up into a shape-shifter like his male cousins, his father and his uncles. His sister is training to be a witch like their mother, aunts, and grandmother- the formidable ruler of their clan. But Aster is more interested in the girl’s magic, and what’s more he seems to have a knack for it. Unfortunately it is forbidden. When he starts trying to learn witchcraft in secret, he learns the terrible fate of someone who tried the same thing in the past. Will he be able to heal a horrible family wound? Will he be able to live as his true self? Ostertag has beautifully woven queer themes into this all-ages fantasy tale.Ship Itby Britta Lundin aka @brittalundinThis book kept me up until 2am reading and made my toes curl in delight. The story weaves between two narrators. Claire is a student in Pine Bluff, Idaho, who escapes from the boredom and loneliness of high school by immersing herself in online fandom for her favorite show, Demon Heart (aka Supernatural mixed with Buffy). Forest Reed is one of the actors on Demon Heart and plays Smokey, one half of the popular m/m ship, SmokeyHeart. Demon Heart is just wrapping up it’s first season, and Forest and his co-star Rico Quiroz are scheduled for a promotional convention tour. When Claire reads that Forest and Rico will be at a con in Boise, she talks her mom into driving down for the weekend. NO ONE is a bigger Demon Heart fan than Claire, so when circumstances lead to her shouting at her favs during the Q&A at their panel, she is almost as surprised as everyone else. When she coincidentally “wins” an all expenses paid trip to accompany the cast and crew to their next two conventions Claire is deeply suspicious- but not about to give up her access to insider information. Or her chance to see more of Tess, an intriguing and attractive fellow fan, who is also road-tripping to follow the Demon Heart tour. An A+ look into the world of fandom and the process of showrunning from a writer who is very familiar with both. BePrepared by Vera BrosgolVera’s family moved to the US from Russian when she was five, and at nine she is still struggling to make friends and fit in with her American classmates. One thing that all of them do which she’s never been able to take part in is summer camps. Until, that is, she learns of ORRA- the Organization of Russian Razvedchiki (Scouts) in America. She begs her mom to send her, thinking that there at last she will make friends, roast smores, and have the summer of her life. When Vera and her little brother arrive, things are immediately not as she expected. She’s in a tent with two teenagers (both named Sasha) who have no interested in hanging out with her. She doesn’t know any of the songs, any of the jokes, or any of the traditions. And the bathrooms? Too scary to be described. Though she can speak Russian fluently she has difficulty reading it and struggles in the nature and history classes. Pretty soon Vera is writing to her mom, begging to be taken back home. This story, a mix of memoir and fiction, perfectly captures the experience of being young and lonely in the woods. But Vera is smart and resourceful, and she thinks up several different schemes (both foolish and wise) to improve her situation. By the end of the summer Vera has grown up a lot, and is (hopefully) better prepared for whatever life with throw at her next. Beautifully drawn and very engaging.TheInvention of Nature by Andrea WulfA thoroughly researched and easily readable biography of the Prussian scientist Alexander Von Humboldt, whose ideas have become so widely accepted that the man behind them is nearly forgotten. Born in 1769, Humboldt was one of the most famous men in the world by the time of his death at 89 years old in 1859. He traveled expensively through South America, Europe and Russia studying every facet of the natural world: geology, botany, zoology, agriculture, indigenous culture, history, and how politics are impacted by the environment. He wrote books that for the first time connected diverse forces such as weather to landmass, human activity to ecological damage, vegetation zones to altitude. His work heavily influenced his contemporaries Charles Darwin, Johann Wolfgang von Geothe, Thomas Jefferson, and Simon Bolivar as well as the following generation of scientists and nature writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Ernst Haeckel and John Muir. All my life I have known of Humboldt county, Humboldt Bay, and Humboldt University; I am very glad to finally learn about the man who they were named for.A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor TowelsCount Alexander Rostov, recipient of the Order of St Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt, was the heir to his family’s estate, Idlehour, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian. But no longer. After the revolution and a brief court appearance before the Emergency Committee of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the Count becomes a permanent resident of the Hotel Metropol in Moscow. At at age 30, in 1922, he begins the second stage of his life there under house arrest. If he so much as steps into the street, he will be shot. So begins a masterful work of historical fiction, one of the best books I have read in a long time, and the best work I have ever read about this turbulent period of Russian history (1922- 1954). The Count is confined, but in a spot where much of the world can come to him. The Hotel Metropol has six floors, two restaurants, an American style cocktail bar off the lobby, a barbershop, a flower shop, a tailor shop, a ballroom and many basements. It is regularly visited by members of the Party, trade union meetings, and- when they are finally allowed back into the country- foreign ambassadors, journalists, and tourists. Even so, after just a week of confinement the Count is wondering if he will go insane from boredom… until he meets Nina, a 9 year old girl who also calls the hotel home. So begins a friendship which will change the course of both of their lives forever. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.Lumberjanes: The Moon is Up by Mariko Tamaki illustrated by BrooklynAllenThe previous Lumberjanes novel by Mariko Tamaki ended on a cliff hanger scene… Jo glimpsed from the window of the Roanoke cabin a round glowing craft like a tiny moon descending in the forest and a small figure slipping out into the night. Shortly after, cheese begins to go missing from the Lumberjanes kitchens. But Jo has a lot of other things on her mind: the first annual Galaxy Wars- four days of space-themed contests and activities- is about to kick off in camp. And the Jo receives a letter, forwarded from home: an invitation to The Center for Scientific Advancement and Research’s Summer Theory and Advanced Astronomical Research summer program. It’s a dream offer except for one catch. She would have to leave the Lumberjanes behind.Turtles All the Way Down by John Green read by Kate RuddWhen Aza was eight years old, she met a boy named Davis at a camp for kids who had experienced grief- she had just lost her father, and he his mother. By high school, the two have drifted apart, though they still live very near to each other in Indianapolis. Now sixteen, Aza tries her best to get through day after day of school while plagued by frequent intrusive thoughts about the terrifying possibilities of infection and disease which are constantly present. Daisy, Aza’s best friend, hears that Davis’s father- the enormously wealthy owner of construction company- has gone missing. What’s more, there is a $100,000 reward for anyone who can deliver information that leads to his recovery. Daisy decides it’s time for Aza to rekindle her childhood friendship with the missing billionaire’s son. All three teens have the weight of too much on their shoulders, and their steps and missteps at caring for each other and themselves felt gratifyingly true. The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill A very sweet and quiet story about friendship and craft. Greta, a young apprentice blacksmith, finds a small lost dragon in the marketplace. When she learns that it belongs to a couple who live nearby she returns it at once. They invite her to learn more about the creature, a tea dragon. Greta begins to cultivate a friendship with them and their shy ward, Minette. Gorgeously drawn and woven through with plants and colors of the four seasons.Enough Space for Everybody Else edited by J. N. MonkA really excellent collection of space-themed short comics from Bedside Press which I backed on kickstarter a very long time ago. One of the stories, “Transplant” by Megan Rosalarian Gedris, was nominated for an Eisner award in 2018. Other standouts included “Turtles” by Jon Inaki, “Art Pirates” by Tod Wills, “Stargazer Jr” by Z Akhmetova, “Habitus” by Ver and “A Pilgrim’s Progress” by Sarah Winifred Searle. I appreciated the diversity of the authors included, with contributors of many nationalities represented as well as queer, nonbinary, and indigenous writers.B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton read by Mary PfeifferA solid second entry in this well known and well loved mystery series! Only a few weeks after the dramatic ending of the first novel, private detective Kinsey Millhone is hired by a rich and self-absorbed LA woman to find her sister, Elaine Boldt, who hasn’t been in touch for about six months. The sisters aren’t close but the Los Angelian, Beverly, needs Elaine’s signature on some paperwork. Kinsey dutifully starts looking into things, and quickly into a bunch of strange circumstances: the missing woman usually visits a vacation house this time of year, but it’s occupied by a sub-letter. She also owned a cat, which is missing as well. And a house across the street burned down after a murder a few weeks prior. How are these pieces connected? Once again Kinsey’s case looks almost cold- up until it completely explodes in her face.  -- source link

More pics about