Busy Week
And by busy week, I mean I was busy reading. I did other stuff too: adjusted my novel manuscript to the 30k I had made it to before I realized the plot needed to be tightened up, worked on my non-profit business plan, finished a painting and started and almost finished another… why yes, I am trying to escape reality in between my periodic check-ins, thanks for asking. And while I did start an absolutely ridiculous k-dramadey to help with that, the majority of my “free” time this week went to words entering my eyeholes and earholes.
I guess what I’m saying is, yes, some people do read four plus books in a week. Some people read four books in a year. And by read I mean consume in which ever medium you care to consume them. Are you reading? Provided your material doesn’t harm or exclude anyone else, great. You’re a reader. Welcome to the big beautiful club. Let’s party.
Red Rabbit Ghost by Jen Julian (Run For It, 7/22)
They say you can never go home again. Unfortunately for Jesse Calloway, whoever they are, they’re wrong, especially since returning to the tiny town of Blacknot, North Carolina means not only facing old prejudices and falling back into old, self-destructive habits, but also confronting the mystery of his mother’s strange death.
I mentioned last week summer 2025 was going to be a good one for horror and I stand by that with Red Rabbit Ghost’s release slated for the end of July. This novel, despite being from the same publisher as My Ex, The Antichrist, uses a more of a creeping sort of terror to weave its web, the kind that raises the hairs on the back of your neck and has you checking over your shoulder only to find nothing there until there is. It is, as I so often describe my favorite sort of horror, in the model of Shirley Jackson; no matter how monstrous the supernatural, it can never outstrip the cruelty of humanity, wherein what what we once loved proves so much more cruel than anything we, or the Devil, can conjure.
Red Rabbit Ghost is also my favorite kind of haunted house story: one in which the house is character with its own history, its own memoir, its own consciousness and intentions. The Night House frightens the town because it has power, but only those who have truly seen it know what that power is, know what it can reveal, the truths it can tell and the secrets it can reveal. Only they know why the denizens of Blacknot really want to destroy the house and what will happen when they do. The Night House as character adds a level of unpredictability to the story, its not being what the characters, or the reader, expect makes room for an unexpected ending in a genre that usually follows a very specific formula, making Red Rabbit Ghost an even more exciting addition to the horror section and to your TBR.
Red Rabbit Ghost: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780316580564
My Ex, The Antichrist: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780316578189
Always Be My Bibi by Priyanka Taslim (Salaam Reads)
Yes, I am a grown up, and yes, sometimes I read YA. My kids are almost 13 and 15 and while they have, for the most, part moved into adult books (I do pre-screen and while I very rarely say no, we do have discussions about sensitive topics before they read and I remind them throughout to come to me with questions and concerns, which they’re both very responsible about doing), I do like to know what’s out there for them and what their friends might be reading and recommending. I also think it’s important for me to know what’s going on in the YA world as a reader/reviewer. Last, but not least, YA is an age range, not a measure of quality, and I have read some YA that blows a lot of adult literature out of the water.
On one level, Always Be My Bibi is a very cute, YA romance with the twist of Bengali-American girl meets Bengali boy from a traditional family her sister is marrying into, expectations ensue. Growing up Jewish American and not dating anyone Jewish until I started dating my now-husband, I can relate (and I could talk for days about marrying a Jewish man in a secular ceremony, but I won’t). Love is love and family is family but when they crash into each other… damn. And that’s something a lot of teenagers don’t understand; we’ve become used to sharing and appreciating one another’s cultures, eating one another’s food, learning multiple languages, studying art and fashion from different countries. But bringing two families together, even when they share a heritage is always going to come with some bumps, if not outright brawls and not everyone is willing to go no-contact. You’re going to have to learn how to negotiate kids, and this is how you do it.
On a deeper level, though, this is a story about immigration, integration, history, cultural change, the importance of family, and learning that love isn’t an all or nothing proposition. It’s about doing your best as a parent and knowing you’re going to fall short, knowing you won’t be able to protect your children from everything and that there are things they’re going to have to learn on their own, even if it means they’ll be hurt along the way. It’s about realizing that what you wanted for them may not be best and learning to listen to what they’ve learned about themselves and supporting their decisions. That keeping your family is more important than keeping your ideal version of a family. That the world changes and you’ll have to make room for the generation that understands those changes. That love means constant negotiation and not just listening but hearing, learning, growing, making space for the other person to become who they were meant to be and loving that person as well.
Life is big and scary and it’s okay to get lost. It’s okay to screw up. It’s even okay to run away for a little while. If you love yourself and have people who love you, then you’ll find your way back and they’ll love who you are then too.
Always Be My Bibi: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781665901130
Walk Like a Girl: A Memoir by Prabal Gurung (Viking)
Walk Like a Girl does a fine job of speaking for itself, especially right now. This is an immigration story. A work your-asss-off to become an American story. A fight racism and homophobia until you’re exhausted and keep going because you have no other choice story. You should read it. And you should read it knowing that on June 5th, the government revoked temporary protected status for 7000 Nepali immigrants.
Walk Like a Girl: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780593493274
I Wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase (Ink Pop/Random House Kids, 7/1)
Hime’s best friend Akira has always been a girl - she just didn’t know it until they were twelve. Hime’s spent a lot of time since explaining this to people, sometimes with her fists but no one is going to hurt Akira on her watch, especially not the kids at their new high school.
When Akira starts getting attention from boys and girl alike, however, Hime realizes something; she likes Akira. And that means asking herself questions she isn’t sure she’s ready to answer.
This is a great manga not only for the teens it’s written for but for the parents of those teens as well. It’s open, honest, and it discusses different ways of being an ally while always pointing back to having direct discourse with the person to whom you’re trying to be an ally and following their lead. It works from the perspective that kids are smart and that they understand themselves and their peer dynamics pretty damn well; that in many cases, if we give them the space to work out the kinks, they do just fine. Should we be ready to assist when called upon? Absolutely; but only when called upon.
I Wanna Be Your Girl gives Hime room to make mistakes, to get feedback from new friends, and to decide how she’s going to act on that feedback; her friends are kind and generous with their support and they’re willing to take Hime’s feedback in return so that the whole group is better for coming together. I think that’s a great model for middle schoolers and teens to see and build for themselves (and parents too). It also gives her room to ask herself questions about who she is, who she might be, and what that means about her sexuality; that’s a normal process for kids and making it part of Hime’s growing process is a fantastic example of what that process looks like and how it can lead to conversations with peers, and ultimately conversations with trusted adults. Knowing this comes up can help parents prepare to be open to the idea and learn to really listen when it does, providing a welcoming, honest, and safe environment in which kids can explore themselves and ultimately, discover what it is that truly makes them happy.
Very excited there will be more of this story.
I Wanna Be Your Girl: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780593902929
I Hear The Sunspot: Four Seasons Vol. 3 by Yuki Fumino (One Peace Books)
My one Pride purchase this year with the special edition of this book and I’m not sorry, it’s gorgeous.
I Hear the Sunspot continues to have really excellent disability rep with Kohei’s hearing loss being particularly meaningful to me; for those of you who don’t know, I have hearing damage from a TBI that’s worse when I have a migraine but is also getting progressively worse. Right now, it’s most prevalent when there’s a lot of background noise but I’m also an artist with sound-color synesthesia (I paint music) so you can imagine I have some anxiety about losing my hearing. Watching Kohei adapt to his new workplace and start standing up for himself has actually been really helpful to me: I used to get super embarrassed when I had to ask someone to repeat themselves more than twice and they got annoyed but now, after that, I say, “I have hearing damage and I’m having a hard time, can you please speak up,” and have decided being annoyed is their problem.
Additionally, Kohei and Taichi continue to be adorable.
I Hear The Sunspot: Four Seasons Vol 3: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781642734454
I also listened to Craig DeLouie’s The Children of Red Peak (https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780316428132) and Kaiju No. 8 Vol. 13 (https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781974755127). This tankoban ended at issue 103 and rumored has it 129 will be the last. I am the sad, though I also believe in ending while the material is still good, so…
Back next week with more!