I've been reading so many good things!!!
May. 4th, 2020 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chocochipbiscuitIt's been a busy few weeks for me, but I have this week off for staycation and I've been reading lots of excellent fiction lately!
Short Stories (available online)
Replacement by Isa Prospero - A young man exchanges his heart for something more precious. This is a sad story, but one I keep thinking about in quiet moments.
A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone - A monster that learned to be a man, struggling with his growing distance from his wife and trying to help his son with school. It's warm and surprisingly sweet, though CW for violence and predatory stalking.
And Yet by A.T. Greenblatt - “Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet.” A theoretical physicist revisits the haunted house of their childhood, including guilt, an abusive family, and maybe getting a chance to save their kid brother this time around.
The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander - Light-hearted and firmly tongue-in-cheek story about exactly what it says on the tin. A dimwitted prince tricks a clever velociraptor into following him to his castle, and the beautiful raptors must rescue their sister. With the aid of a princess who is also a witch.
The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer - A researcher cataloguing ghost stories is, in turn, haunted by the ghost of her mother. It’s lovely and achey and entangled in memory and complicated family relationships.
The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher - Goofy and delightful fairy tale twist! Because for all the songs and stories about human maidens who are seduced and pine away for their faerie lovers, there is one human maiden who is pined for instead.
Books
Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray: It’s an utterly charming, sweet M/M take on Beauty and the Beast, set during WW2. An English parson takes refuge in a seemingly abandoned yet immaculately kept country house, and...well, you know the rest. I love how gentle it is, especially as the parson talks his beast through overcoming his internalized homophobia.
What Kind of Day by Mina V. Esguerra: A contemporary F/M romance when a former speechwriter for a Philippine senator accidentally joins a shuttle tour on the worst day of his life. He falls for the tour guide, and it’s really sweet to see them falling in love while also discovering (and rediscovering) the things and places that make them feel passionate about life.
Nerve Endings edited by Tobi Hill-Meyer: An anthology of trans writers, with short stories featuring sexuality. All of it deals with sexuality and sensuality of some form, though I don't think I would classify every story as erotic. A wonderful sampler, especially because I enjoy how the different writers explore people's relationships to their bodies.
Surrender to Sin by Nicola Davidson: Delicious sexy F/M Regency ridiculousness. A sheltered widow is being forced to marry a man she detests, so is desperate to create a scandal to get out of it! And the perfect scandal co-conspirator is also a man she glimpsed once in the park and had frantic yearnings for? And he runs an infamous sex club? And oh no her would-be fiancee decides that all the ‘rumors’ about her reputation are only proof that he needs to take her well in hand and accelerate the marriage? Therefore, she stages herself at the center of a pirate-themed orgy where the scandal would be inescapable?! It is an utterly ridiculous and delightful confection of a book.
Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau: Contemporary F/M romance. A workaholic CEO is forced to take some time off as his meddlesome family wants him to learn to relax and stop having 14-hour work days! A researcher struggling with depression just had to cancel a vacation with her sister because they were short on funds, but still takes the time to enjoy the small things in life...like her gingerbread latte. The hotshot offers her five grand to teach him how to relax, and the rest is comedy romance. It’s silly, tongue-in-cheek, and while the headhopping first person POV still isn’t my cuppa, it’s really refreshing for me to see mental illness and depression discussed so bluntly in a novel. Much less something that’s still romance, and recognizes that just falling in love doesn’t ‘fix’ brain chemistry. I also fully admit a lot of the reason I enjoy this book so much is just recognizing tidbits of the Chinese diaspora experience, like beating the scrambled eggs with chopsticks or Po Po making jook as a nourishing comfort food.
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole: Historical F/M romance. Elle is a spy posing as a slave in Civil War Virginia, and ends up entangled with another Union spy posing as a Confederate soldier. It is so good it gives me chills!!! Top notch adventure and thrills, though some content warnings considering the time period. Period-typical racism, including the threat of sexual assault. Alyssa Cole’s just got this deft touch with characterization and historical details that make the period come alive.
The Half of It (Film)
The Half of It is one of my new favorite movies and it’s on Netflix!!!
Nutshell summary: Ellie Chu is the only Chinese kid at her highschool, and helps pay her family bills by writing other students’ essays. When her classmate (Paul) asks her to write a love letter to a popular girl (Aster), Ellie intends it to be a one and done deal, especially because she already has a crush of her own on Aster. Love and friendship turns out to be a lot messier though.
This is not a romance, the movie makes this quite clear from the beginning, but it’s sweet and messy and about love and complicated emotions and it made me laugh and cry. There are just small scenes like Ellie having to call the utility company because the people on the line don't understand her father's accent, or Paul nosing around their cabinets and asking about five spice powder, or the fact that the closest Asian grocery store is three hours away by bike. 'Representation matters' feels like a repetitive mantra at this point but it does matter. Alice Wu, who directed this film, also directed Saving Face, a Chinese-American lesbian romcom that just meant so much to me when I was younger. And having something like The Half of It on Netflix, relatively mainstream and easily accessible? Oh my god, I would have killed for this.
I hope you've all been consuming some quality media! Share any recent faves? :D
Short Stories (available online)
Replacement by Isa Prospero - A young man exchanges his heart for something more precious. This is a sad story, but one I keep thinking about in quiet moments.
A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone - A monster that learned to be a man, struggling with his growing distance from his wife and trying to help his son with school. It's warm and surprisingly sweet, though CW for violence and predatory stalking.
And Yet by A.T. Greenblatt - “Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet.” A theoretical physicist revisits the haunted house of their childhood, including guilt, an abusive family, and maybe getting a chance to save their kid brother this time around.
The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander - Light-hearted and firmly tongue-in-cheek story about exactly what it says on the tin. A dimwitted prince tricks a clever velociraptor into following him to his castle, and the beautiful raptors must rescue their sister. With the aid of a princess who is also a witch.
The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer - A researcher cataloguing ghost stories is, in turn, haunted by the ghost of her mother. It’s lovely and achey and entangled in memory and complicated family relationships.
The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher - Goofy and delightful fairy tale twist! Because for all the songs and stories about human maidens who are seduced and pine away for their faerie lovers, there is one human maiden who is pined for instead.
Books
Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray: It’s an utterly charming, sweet M/M take on Beauty and the Beast, set during WW2. An English parson takes refuge in a seemingly abandoned yet immaculately kept country house, and...well, you know the rest. I love how gentle it is, especially as the parson talks his beast through overcoming his internalized homophobia.
What Kind of Day by Mina V. Esguerra: A contemporary F/M romance when a former speechwriter for a Philippine senator accidentally joins a shuttle tour on the worst day of his life. He falls for the tour guide, and it’s really sweet to see them falling in love while also discovering (and rediscovering) the things and places that make them feel passionate about life.
Nerve Endings edited by Tobi Hill-Meyer: An anthology of trans writers, with short stories featuring sexuality. All of it deals with sexuality and sensuality of some form, though I don't think I would classify every story as erotic. A wonderful sampler, especially because I enjoy how the different writers explore people's relationships to their bodies.
Surrender to Sin by Nicola Davidson: Delicious sexy F/M Regency ridiculousness. A sheltered widow is being forced to marry a man she detests, so is desperate to create a scandal to get out of it! And the perfect scandal co-conspirator is also a man she glimpsed once in the park and had frantic yearnings for? And he runs an infamous sex club? And oh no her would-be fiancee decides that all the ‘rumors’ about her reputation are only proof that he needs to take her well in hand and accelerate the marriage? Therefore, she stages herself at the center of a pirate-themed orgy where the scandal would be inescapable?! It is an utterly ridiculous and delightful confection of a book.
Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau: Contemporary F/M romance. A workaholic CEO is forced to take some time off as his meddlesome family wants him to learn to relax and stop having 14-hour work days! A researcher struggling with depression just had to cancel a vacation with her sister because they were short on funds, but still takes the time to enjoy the small things in life...like her gingerbread latte. The hotshot offers her five grand to teach him how to relax, and the rest is comedy romance. It’s silly, tongue-in-cheek, and while the headhopping first person POV still isn’t my cuppa, it’s really refreshing for me to see mental illness and depression discussed so bluntly in a novel. Much less something that’s still romance, and recognizes that just falling in love doesn’t ‘fix’ brain chemistry. I also fully admit a lot of the reason I enjoy this book so much is just recognizing tidbits of the Chinese diaspora experience, like beating the scrambled eggs with chopsticks or Po Po making jook as a nourishing comfort food.
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole: Historical F/M romance. Elle is a spy posing as a slave in Civil War Virginia, and ends up entangled with another Union spy posing as a Confederate soldier. It is so good it gives me chills!!! Top notch adventure and thrills, though some content warnings considering the time period. Period-typical racism, including the threat of sexual assault. Alyssa Cole’s just got this deft touch with characterization and historical details that make the period come alive.
The Half of It (Film)
The Half of It is one of my new favorite movies and it’s on Netflix!!!
Nutshell summary: Ellie Chu is the only Chinese kid at her highschool, and helps pay her family bills by writing other students’ essays. When her classmate (Paul) asks her to write a love letter to a popular girl (Aster), Ellie intends it to be a one and done deal, especially because she already has a crush of her own on Aster. Love and friendship turns out to be a lot messier though.
This is not a romance, the movie makes this quite clear from the beginning, but it’s sweet and messy and about love and complicated emotions and it made me laugh and cry. There are just small scenes like Ellie having to call the utility company because the people on the line don't understand her father's accent, or Paul nosing around their cabinets and asking about five spice powder, or the fact that the closest Asian grocery store is three hours away by bike. 'Representation matters' feels like a repetitive mantra at this point but it does matter. Alice Wu, who directed this film, also directed Saving Face, a Chinese-American lesbian romcom that just meant so much to me when I was younger. And having something like The Half of It on Netflix, relatively mainstream and easily accessible? Oh my god, I would have killed for this.
I hope you've all been consuming some quality media! Share any recent faves? :D
