Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: A Graphic Interpretation   
by Paul Peart-Smith (2024)

read: 31 December 2024
rating: [0]

This is an adaptation of a longer book. As you might expect it’s an absolutely harrowing read. Incredibly well-illustrated. I learned a few things from reading it, but maybe thanks to having gotten a good education and having done some decently self-educating, I did know a good deal about this ugly part of history. As a graphic novel, there’s a lot of telling not showing. I think the author wanted to use a lot of Dunbar-Ortiz’s words. The illustrations are amazing but it’s mainly text boxes down the sides telling you what’s happening, with a LOT of all-caps for emphasis which led to uneven reading. Definitely made me want to read the original text.

There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job   
by Kikuko Tsumura (2020)

read: 30 December 2024
rating: [+]

This was a story about a middle aged woman who burns out of a job and goes to an employment agency and takes a string of odd jobs: bus ad writer, poster hanger, Cracker package copywriter, surveillance footage reviewer, park hut space-filler. It’s quirky and goes places you wouldn’t expect. It’s translated from Japanese into British English which took me a few pages to get used to, but overall it was a good relatable read.

Lonely Planet Hidden Libraries   
by D. C. Helmuth (2024)

read: 28 December 2024
rating: [+]

This book should have been SO up my street but instead it was a collection of “interesting book rooms” many of which operate(d) with little human intervention with a few subtle jabs at existing public library stereotypes which I didn’t appreciate (things like “no one will shush you here” or “this place has no overdue fines” which, come on....). Many gorgeous (stock) photos and only a few original interviews, the rest gleaned from blogs, news and YouTube which, if you’re a real bibliophile, you’ve probably already read. Lovely, not much new in here.

Loka   
by S. B. Divya (2024)

read: 25 December 2024
rating: [+]

A sequel to a book I’d already read. It’s an “epic journey” story involving two teens who decide to circumnavigate the globe for an Anthro Challenge. The catch: one has sickle cell and has never been on Earth before, having been raised on a massive space station. It also takes place in a future time where the earth is primarily (I think?) inhabited by post-human “alloys” which can transfer their consciousness into various bodies. Felt a bit too YA for me in that they encountered a heap of obstacles many of which were predictable by someone older/wiser, but definitely worth reading.

I’d Rather Be Reading   
by Anne Bogel (2018)

read: 21 December 2024
rating: [+]

This was a fine short collection of essays by a woman who likes to read and also just likes to immerse herself in the possibilities of books. As a person who reads a lot of these sorts of books, there wasn’t a lot that was new for me here, but I always appreciate someone’s fresh enthusiasms. Apparently the woman has a popular book blog which is well liked though I had never heard of it. A nice gift-y sort of book.

The Future   
by Naomi Alderman (2023)

read: 18 December 2024
rating: [+]

A story about some overly-powerful billionaires, the potential end of the world, and a possible way around it. Hard to tell more without giving away some story arcs. It was a bit tough to hang with some parts of this because there are both truly awful people as well as some lengthy reddit-type-posts-as-exposition which would not have been my choice. But! The way it all “works out” is fun and ingenious and kept me happily reading.

Transitions   
by Elodie Durand (2021)

read: 14 December 2024
rating: [+]

A graphic novel translated from the French mostly about a mother trying to come to terms with her 19 year old son who has come out to her as trans. She gets there, but it takes her a long time. This book may not be for everyone because there’s a lot of using the wrong pronouns/names and “...but what about MY feelings...?” but I think it’s also honest and real and may resonate with some people who are less far along in their acceptance journey. Beautifully drawn.

The Noble Hustle   
by Colson Whitehead (2014)

read: 14 December 2024
rating: [+]

I picked this up thinking (somehow) that it was fiction by Whitehead. It’s actually about the time he got staked to play in the World Series of Poker. It’s interesting in that it talks about poker culture. It wasn’t interesting in that I don’t entirely know how to play poker and the book claims it tells you how to play but doesn’t really so I was confused a little when the game mechanics were being described. I also liked getting to know more about Whitehead (just out of a relationship at the time, and in his feels about that and other things) because I’ve liked a lot of his other books

The Naturalist Society   
by Carrie Vaughan (2024)

read: 14 December 2024
rating: [+]

This book goes a bunch of unexpected places. Nominally about a woman whose husband dies, the man who has been promoting himself as a great naturalist when she does all the work (and the only way she can get her work out there). He has some “friends” (one in the more-than-friends sense) who become her friends. There’s a background of Arctic exploration and old New York City. And wonderful birds, many of them, and a small bit of magic. Memorable, miss it already.

The Deep Dark   
by Molly Knox Ostertag (2024)

read: 14 December 2024
rating: [+]

A mildly supernatural story about growing up and figuring out that the boundaries which you make for yourself don’t have to be the ones which other people made for you in the past. Gorgeously drawn with a lot of queer characters just being themselves but the metaphor about figuring out what you want is told in another way entirely. I really enjoyed being immersed in this story and even though it was 500 pages long, it went by so quickly.

Milk! A 10,000 Year Food Fracas.   
by Mark Kurlansky (2018)

read: 1 December 2024
rating: [+]

Kurlansky writes nice predictable books on broad topics, full of trivia that is interesting and not too judgey. That can be tricky to do with a topic like milk which has a history which is full of drama! He goes to places where they make artisanal cheeses, talks to people who are raw milk enthusiasts, talks about the history of “swill milk” (did you know about this? I did not) and includes a lot of hand-drawn pictures of cows.

Absolution   
by Jeff VanderMeer (2024)

read: 1 December 2024
rating: [0]

I enjoyed VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy ten years ago and was excited for this. Unfortunately, it did not work for me. I wasn’t sure if this was because I didn’t remember the original books well (who are these people), or if he needed an editor, or if it was the fact that the narrator (and the story, mostly) takes a dramatic shift 60% through the book (who does that) and the 2nd narrator is significantly less fun to listen to. What was this? Long, was what it was. It’s still got the same interesting and creepy horror elements in it which is great, but just... yeah. The second narrator was really strange and it wasn’t great getting to see the stuff through his eyes.

Lucy Undying   
by Kiersten White (2024)

read: 23 November 2024
rating: [+]

As someone who used to live in Transylvania, I am abashed that I don’t know more about the original Dracula story. I still loved this story which postulates “Hey what if his first victim... lived?” It’s a sapphic vampire tale of female empowerment (unlike the original) which takes place both through journals at or about the time of her original death and then a more modern day story. The stories converge in sometimes expected and other times unexpected ways.

The Cemetery of Untold Stories   
by Julia Alvarez (2024)

read: 16 November 2024
rating: [+]

An author from the Dominican Republic retires from her job teaching writing in Vermont and decides to go back to her homeland and say goodbye to all of her unfinished projects by building a cemetery for them. But the stories sometimes demand to be told. A tinge of magical realism enhances this look at the history of the Dominican Republic and the people who stayed, and left.

Whale Fall   
by Elizabeth O’Connor (2024)

read: 13 November 2024
rating: [+]

No actual whale fall, one star! More seriously... this is a very good mood piece about an island in the UK which is five miles off of the mainland and has a dwindling population which is now around 50 people. A few ethnographers come to the island. It’s told first person through the eyes of an eighteen year old girl who has a dawning realization of they chasm between her life and the lives of more mainstream people. There is a whale, but it is beached. Very good.