Reading Wednesday

[cinaed]

 Recently Finished

Still chipping away at my pile of library books, though I’ve been distracted writing like three fics for Red vs Blue Rare Pairs Week, so I only got through The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang, a really fascinating novella set in an Asian-influenced fantasy world that does some really interesting things with worldbuilding, gender, and magic. My only complaint is that it felt very rushed. I think the story would have been better served as a novel rather than a novella. But I am still looking forward to reading the sequel, and requested that through Overdrive!  

Currently Reading

Right now I’m about halfway through How Long 'Til Black Future Month? which is a short-story collection by N. K. Jemisin. I have always admired Jemisin as a writer even as I often bounced off her books for being too bleak for my personal tastes, but I am loving her short stories. They’re amazing, and I’ve enjoyed every single one so far and cannot wait to read the rest of the stories. Definitely recommending this to everyone who enjoys queer fantasy and N.K. Jemisin’s works in general.

What's Next

At this point I'm still going with books that are due back at the library with holds on them, which means next up is Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World, a collection by Kathleen Ragan and then A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. I have a three day weekend with my only plans being a D&D session, going through a few boxes of books for donation, and then maybe trying to write some more RvB rare pairs, so I think I’ll get them both read this weekend! 

 

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

The Jemisin short story about the grumpy Italian chef and the Mysterious Ingredient Man is one of my favorite short stories, period :) I'm glad you're liking it so much!

[cinaed]

I LOVED that one! My other favorite so far was the lady spy seducing the lady scientist story.

[hokuton_punch]

Good luck with the rare pairs fics! I'm super looking forward to them. :D

[anneapocalypse]

Sounds like interesting reads all around! Jemisin is still on my list to pick up at some point. Maybe her short stories are a good place to start.

[ailelie]

Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World is a fantastic collection of stories with a nice range of heroines. The commentary on each story isn't bad either. One weakness, though, is that she limited herself to stories in English. So you get one version or, in the case of the Native American stories, one amalgamation from an English speaker. The collection as a whole, however, is still very worthwhile, imo.

I hope you enjoy reading the stories.

[cinaed]

Ooh, yeah, just finished the collection and I see what you mean! I did really like the variety (though I did laugh with two stories in a row with a crossdressing woman and the guy trying to figure it out and testing her 'manliness') and a lot of the stories were fascinating. I also just really loved the one story's imagery, where the Phoenix transforms herself into a city to protect her people.