@bookstodon As we approach the end of 2023, I would love to know about the very best books you read this year. (They don't have to have been published in 2023 for your "best of" list.)
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon totally agree! I found some really good stuff, especially after not reading much fiction for many years. That was silly, so I’m correcting my mistake :-)
@bookstodon December 12, 2023 is not a big standalone book release day in the U.S. for some reason. I did find these titles which look promising:
Tali Girls, Siamak Herawi. [The difficult experiences of oppressed women and girls under the Taliban.]
The Lace Widow, Mollie Ann Cox. [In this wildly spun tale, Alexander Hamilton may have been involved in a vast murder conspiracy. The MC joins a network of widow lacemakers to discover the secrets they share.]
@bookstodon Just out of curiosity, how close are you to your reading goal for the year? I need to read 12 more books to meet the goal I set for myself. 📚📚📚📚
Not everyone works the same way, of course. We've discussed before that reading goals are counterproductive for many. Having a goal really helps me, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just like reading for pleasure and reading to write a review are very different processes.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon Totally agree, I don’t set a goal and have only been writing down what I read for 3 years but this year Ive read 15 more books than last year so I’m very happy with that
@bookstodon New and notable books in the U.S. for December 5, 2023.
Dazzling, Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ. [West African mythology collides with modern Nigeria, in this tale centered on two girls who struggle to bend magic to their wills.]
After World, Debbie Urbanski. [AI, one last human on Earth, the recovery of the climate, and the surprising connections that arise.]
A River of Golden Bones, A.K. Mulford. [Sleeping Beauty retelling with queer rep AND Werewolves.]
Five Bad Deeds, Caz Frear. [Perhaps we are all badly-behaved, esp. society's privileged suburban set. This story is suspenseful, vengeful, and super twisty.]
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. [A thoughtful look at ourselves. If we could observe our planet from great remove, how would it change our perspective, our focus, even our priorities?]
Airplane Mode, Shanaz Habib. [Through the lens of travel, the author has a lot to say about our history of racism and ethnocentrism, and about our post-colonial world. Witty, funny, and incisive. Long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence.]
The End of The World is a Cul-de-sac, Louise Kennedy. [Smartly written short stories. Crisp, wry, clarion, and contemporary.]
The Folly, Gemma Amor. [Give me your secluded creepy Gothic mystery!]
Yours For The Taking, Gabrielle Korn. [Climate fiction future. Progress has a dark side.]
@bookstodon I thought this was a good idea: mystery gift bags of books with proceeds going to the library. I'm thinking of buying one just to see how many books each bag includes.
@bookstodon Happy December! November reads round-up: what was/were the best book(s) you read in November?
One of my fave November reads:
Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust, Neal Shusterman, Andres Vera Martinez. [Graphic novel of aspirational stories, giving power to characters against the Nazis.]
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon I liked "Arboreality" by Rebecca Campbell. Ticked several of my boxes like music, plants, trees, climate etc. Reminded me a bit of James Bradleys amazing "Clade", but original enough to stand on its own.
@bookstodon Alix E. Harrow has some thoughts about reading as an active, rather than passive, pursuit:
"it's work to approach a book as a collusion of intentional aesthetic decisions, rather than a consumable product engineered solely to please you; to ask why, from what angle, to what end, for who, against what; to keep your disbelief generously suspended and your arms uncrossed; to indulge--knowingly, but not condescendingly--in the conceits of the genre; to resist the paranoid, destructive reading that reduces every work to a moral positive or negative; to let yourself be surprised by the twist; to worry less about what your reactions to a book say about you and more about what the book is saying to you; to listen, to feel, to think, to empathize, to find your way in--idk. it's work, to fall in love."
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the U.S. for November 28, 2023:
The Story Collector (originally titled The Voice Collector),Iris Costello. [Dual Timeline WWII and present day. Historical fiction from three POV. Tenderly written, about the secrets we protect and keep for the sake of others.]
Secret Sparrow, Jackie French. [Based on true events, this is the story of a woman who played a vital technical role in WWI and got no credit for it.]
Godly Heathens, H.E. Edgmon.[Contemporary YA fantasy starring an Indigenous enby and a trans friend, who both discover that they're so much more powerful than they thought.]
The Old Gays Guide to The Good Life, Mick Peterson, Bill Myers, et al. [Charming and funny, instructive and celebratory, these stories capture a mood, a time, and a culture.]
The Kingdom of Sweets, Erika Johansen. [Dark and twisted retelling of The Nutcracker. A fresh take in this popular genre.]
We Must Not Think of Ourselves, Lauren Goldstein. [Based on the actual archives on the Warsaw Ghetto, this is a novel of resilience, fortitude, sacrifice, and most of all: defiant determination not to be erased from history. We need their stories.]
Here are some that have impressed me. Add your own recently published LGBTQIA+ favorites.
Prokaryote Season, Leo Fox. Strikingly drawn and the best use of black and white I've seen of late, about identity and loving your complicated messy self. Nonbinary lead characters.
Washington's Gay General, Josh Trujillo. About Baron von Stueben, very informative and fascinating.
The Chromatic Fantasy, by H.A. This one might need a CW for some, due to erotic content, but this fantastically well-illustrated story should not be missed. The trans-masc stars of this story embark on a quest to live abundant, exuberant, authentic lives. It's lively, trippy, and even purposefully anachronistic. I've never seen anything like it.
@bookstodon We should put up book stickers on our front windows, to indicate safe spaces for those whose families are driving them nuts on #Thanksgiving.
Relax. You can hide out here and read. I even have extra pie.
@bookstodon Notable* new fiction and nonfiction book releases in the U.S. for November 21, 2023:
Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games, Carmen Maria Machado, ed. [Anthology of essays on this popular tech, and its specific effects on gamer culture, particularly for gamers who are also writers.]
Sailing the Graveyard Sea, Richard Snow. [The only mutiny in the history of the U.S. Navy, a story with plenty of surprises.]
Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, Elizabeth Varon. [When you can't make up your mind, everyone pegs you as a traitor.]
The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird, Louisa Morgan. [When you get tired of ghosts, the thing to do is find an island of nuns and cows, and maybe a solitary soul who needs your help.]
Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration, Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggets. [I am told that these stories of deep testimony will make you weep.]
A Long Day in a Short Life, Albert Maltz. [Perfect timing for this re-release about incarceration, injustice, racism, classism, and most of all, what we need to do to have a stronger more equitable democracy.]
(Technically published on November 16th) A Thousand Golden Cities: 2500 Years of Writing From Afghanistan and its People, Justin Marozzi. [A veritable encyclopedia of Afghan literature at a hefty 836 pages, full of undiscovered treasures, esp. for Western readers.]
A True Account, Katherine Howe. [Dual timeline narrative of a woman who breaks free by becoming a pirate, and the researcher two centuries later who would also like to escape her confined role in society.]
Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, K.J. Parker. [Book Two of the Corax trilogy. Plucky, unconventional leader of a salvage team needs to save his crew.]
*There are also boatloads of new manga and quite a few book series releases.
@bookstodon New and notable book releases in the U.S. for November 14, 2023
So Late in The Day, Claire Keegan. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Three short, but impactful, stories about relationships between men and women, particularly focusing on agency and autonomy. Strong voice and sense of place.]
The Book of Ayn, Lexi Freiman. [Razor-sharp satire targeting contemporary politics and culture, and the people who think they're above it all.]
Good Girls Don't Die, Christina Henry. [What if you woke up trapped inside your favorite book genre trope, and your familiarity with that type of story is the only way you'll get out alive?]
Other Minds and Other Stories, Bennett Sims. [Strange, eerie, weird, sometimes humorous, but also edging toward horror. Clever stories that slip into that liminal space between fear and anxiety.]
Pritty, Keith F. Miller, Jr. [Family loyalties, gay identity, and an unsolved murder, are all points of tension affecting the relationship between two young Black men in the entrenched culture of Savannah.]
Kinfolk, Sean Dietrich. [Feelgood story of found family and second chances in the Deep South.]
The Great Gimmelmans, David Matthew Goldberg. [Hilarious adventure-chase story of a family on the run in an RV. They must face more than the Feds as they tackle greed, family loyalty, religious traditions, and what it takes to create close bonds.]
A New Race of Men From Heaven, Chaitali Sen. [These short stories feature those who are searching, the wanderers, those who migrate in both a literal and a figurative sense.]
Blood Orange, Yaffa. [Reflective, sensory, liberation poetry, written by a Trans, Muslim, Palestinian author, a myriad self to excavate and transcend.]
Leizar, David Gelernter. November 15th. [The harrowing experiences of generations of a Polish Jewish family who survive in spite of pogroms and every kind of antisemitism.]
Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar. Graphic Nonfiction. [When we don't try to repress our tears, we find ourselves healthier and, perhaps counterintuitively, happier. Various perspectives on the cleansing power of crying.]
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are, Tariq Trotter. Nonfiction [Beautifully and poetically examination of how we develop not just our art, but also a deep sense of self.]
Sleep is Now a Foreign Country: Encounters With the Uncanny, Mike Barnes. Nonfiction [Mesmerizing fever dream memoir of madness.]