Weekly Reading Recap

 

So that's the first week of December done, time for a recap!

Toward the end of last month I finally took a good look at the state of my reading this year and it was a bit of a let-down because whatever I've been doing with my time... it wasn't reading. Thus my ambitious plan to win, or at least get close to winning, my Goodreads challenge. Just 18 14 more books to go, no problem at all😅 But I definitely want to spend much more time reading and dipping into different books now that I've resubscribed to Scribd. The plan is to read lot's of short books and finish some of the books I started throughout the year.

And I've actually been reading a minimum of 30 minutes a day, my attention span is reluctantly shifting huzzah! I enjoy so many different styles and genres and Scribd's huge catalogue has definitely delivered:

Dyke (geology) by Sabrina Imbler is a very short collection of queer literary nonfiction. I've been eyeing Imbler's newer work How Far the Light Reaches and decided to give this one a try first to get a sense of their style. And it turned out to be one of my favorite books read this year so far. I loved the interweaving of science and especially volcanoes with Chinese-American dyke identity, it works so well and I'm keen to read more in this vein now. I think there was even more potential, it could've been a full 5 star read, but I'm excited to read their newer work to see how their writing developed. Highly recommended: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.🌟

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum is weird, very weird. It's a short novella about a man who is slowly dying of a mysterious illness, while his devoted wife is caring for him. The whole thing is written in this very litfic style and gives this amazing atmosphere of calmness and quiet horror with a side of gothic feel, all the while featuring the grossest body horror. I wish we'd gotten more out of the wife's perspective beyond obsession, but on the whole a really cool story and very out there ending. I'm excited to try Ruthnum's other works. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Gift for a Ghost by Borja Gonzales is a graphic novel about two intersecting story featuring young teen girls, young aristocrat Teresa with her fascination with horror poetry in 1856 and the girls of the talentless punk band Black Holes in 2016. I hadn't heard of this one before, but the cover art drew me in immediately and the whole comics features gorgeous art with stark colors and contrasts and Gonzales isn't scared to let the illustrations speak more than the text. You'll enjoy this if you're into weird poetry, misfit teen girl perspectives and the Brontes. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I Grow Up I Want to Be A List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen is the author's first poetry collection from 2017, I think, and the title is of course the most amazing thing and drew me in immediately. I found the audiobook read by the authors and listened to the whole thing in a weekend. While I didn't really connect with much of this collection (because it is so specifically about the gay Chinese-American experience), there were plenty of powerful poems that make me want to check out Chen's newer work. I think this collection reads very millenial in tone and often the metaphors were just too out there for me. But I loved the second half of the book much more and I also appreciate the tone of much of this collection, that is the moments of frivolity and wit. ⭐⭐⭐.🌟

*****