New Year, New Books
I mean, there are always new books, but I had to think of a title, so there you go. New to the world, new to me, new to you. There are all kinds of new. Which is great because there wouldn’t be much point in me doing this if we all had the same books beamed into our heads at the same time. If the world were like that, well… fair bet none of the books I’ve read so far in 2024 would be on the automatic down load list. And that would be a damn shame.
Speaking of, do you know they still make eight graders read Flowers for Algernon? It was outdated when I read it in 1992, I can’t believe someone is torturing my son with it in 2024. Honestly. At least give them the choice to read something in genre that was written in the last twenty-five years (that would be published in or after 1998, if you were wondering). Honestly.
Anyway. On to stuff I do recommend.
Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa (MacMillian CHildren’s, 1/16)
I am a brat about retelling and remixes, especially Pride and Prejudice because I really do love the original. No other Austen has ever come close with the exception of Northanger Abby, which was published posthumously and may or may not have been dicked around with.
That said, I loved Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh, a queer retelling of P&P that came out last year (I may have been a little biased as a local but it really was a wonderful book) so I figured that was my IP quota filled for the next decade or so. I was wrong, however, and very glad to have been mistaken, because while a very different sort of queer remix, Most Ardently is very much the sort of story trans kids need right now (and I say this is the mother of a non-binary trans kid).
Oliver, the transmasc protagonist of the story, reminds us that there have always been trans people, there will always be trans people, and that trans joy isn’t something that should need to be earned: it’s a basic right granted by birth to every human being and no other human, no matter what beliefs they hold, has the right to interfere with the pursuit of that joy. This has always been true and it will always be true and if we, any of us, see an attack upon that pursuit of joy, it is our duty to step in and defend it. Parent, friend, sister, lover, it doesn’t matter who you are or what your relationship to that joyful person is. It doesn’t matter if you’re a complete stranger. If you deserve to be happy, then so does the trans person who has worked so hard to make a place for themself in a world that has mocked them and denied them and told them over and over again what they are not.
This is one of my favorite stories made an essential story, one of the great romances made even greater as a reminder that history is not as cis and het as novels of various times would have us believe. The world has changed, at least a little, but human life and human love haven’t; we’re only just now privileged to see it, once in a while, in its full glory.
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (MacMillian, 2/13)
Yansze Choo has been one of my absolute favorite authors since The Ghost Bride so I was, obviously, ecstatic when NetGalley alerted me she had a new book available for early review. I was even more excited when I saw that the author herself had narrated the audio book.
I was not disappointed.
Part murder mystery, part folklore, part romance, and many other things besides, The Fox Wife weaves together parallel tales of immortal spirits, everyday folk, and long-lost friends to construct, as Choo./lk always does so deftly, a world that lives just outside our peripheral vision, just beyond touch, a hue barely outside the ability of our rods and cones. The book is funny, snarky, angry, desperately sad, and absurd, sometimes all at once, something special and so unique while also steeped in emotions with which anyone who’s lived on this spinning marble for a few years can identify. It embraces humanity’s worst fears and most wonderful surprises, embodying them not only in people, but in fox spirits who both hate us and want to be us, whom we hate but also desperately want to be.
We are reminded that we are our own saviors and our own worst enemies.
We are reminded that life is for living and what comes after is a mystery we can never know so we might as well live it.
The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang (Tor)
I am not sure how this one got by me given my penchant for wuxia stuff, queer stuff, and outlaw stuff but it did and that annoys me because I could have read The Water Outlaws months ago and I didn’t. But, I’ve read it now and, listen, if you read my reviews with any sort of regularity, I can pretty much guarantee you it’s in your wheelhouse too.
World: Imperial-China adjacent? More progressive in that women can serve in the military and have some public facing jobs in science, alchemy, and the arts.
First of all: actual adult, lady protagonist as a main character. She is a martial arts instructor at the Imperial Guard Academy who teachers women’s self-defense on the side. She is grumpy and annoyed and why are these fucking incompetent men? A thing happens and she ends up joining up with some bandits.
The bandits: are mostly queer, mostly women, are led by women, and have exactly zero fear of the patriarchy. Fuck those guys. Maybe not the Emperor. But maybe the Emperor too, they’ll have to see how it goes. Power? Lol. Those boys wouldn’t even know power if it bit them in the ass and it’s about to, watch this.
That guy: That guy has no idea what’s coming for him and neither does his boss.
Can you tell I loved this book? I loved this book. There’s no virgin/whore bullshit, no one really gives a shit about what’s proper or improper once they’re outside the court, women, non-binary, agender, and gender-fluid people are cultivating to heights the men couldn’t reach with fifty foot poles and their flying swords… Everyone’s messy, everyone screws up, people grow and change and backslide and change again, they apologize to each other when they screw up, they ask for help when there’s something they don’t know…
What sorcery is this?
Are the heroes all good? No. There isn’t a person in the world who’s all good. Are the bad guys all bad? Mmmm. Yes, mostly but it’s a decision they make. Everyone in The Water Outlaws comes by themselves honestly, both their assets and their foibles. They’re complicate and fascinating and real.
Which is why you should read this book now.
Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass (Penguin)
Can a book be a fun serial killer bop? On one level, this was a fun serial killer bop. I listened to in in maybe four days because I literally could not stop due to sheer enjoyment.
That said, it does have something to say about queer loneliness and how isolating both coming our and remaining closeted can be depending on circumstances. And while Your Lonely Nights Are Over slots onto a YA shelf, that isolation doesn’t go away simply because a person outgrows an arbitrary demographic. Being LGBTQIA+ can add not only an additional hesitancy to those looking for any sort of companionship, be it platonic or romantic, but a layer of fear: coming out to the wrong person or being discovered can mean not only a friendship but your life.
We need and deserve safe spaces and so do our kids. The kids in Your Lonely Nights Are Over thought they had one and didn’t. Lets make sure our kids, and we, do.
Let’s all look out for eachother.
Kaiju No. 8 Vol. 9 by Nagoya Matsumoto (Viz)
You can all stand down, my son Reno survived his first mission in his No. 6 suit. I was worried there for a minute, never do that to me again, child. Vice-Captain Hoshina (who we found out this week will be the star of at least the first issue of a spin-off B-Sides series *screams in bowl-cut*) makes his first foray in No. 10 which goes… about how you would expect if you met No. 10 in the tank. Kafka Hibino get some messages from his hold squad which does not go as expected; at least not the way he expected.
And there you have it. All the words about what other people saw fit to print. Back soon!