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Post by Liou on Mar 3, 2019 8:27:00 GMT -5
I wanted to recommend a few books and realised that we didn't seem to have a reading recommendation thread! Well, now we do.
It'll probably overlap with Mini-Reviews in at least some ways, but this is more specifically for works that can be read, and for recommendations. Meaning that we can include some reviewing to entice others to read that thing we like while avoiding spoilers. We can also recommend without any comments. "Just read this. Trust me. When have I ever misled you.
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Post by Liou on Mar 3, 2019 8:35:25 GMT -5
I'm going to start this off with Educated by Tara Westover. Educated is the memoir of a woman who was raised by Mormon survivalists preparing for doomsday in the mountains of Idaho. Her family stayed clear of mainstream healthcare and anything linked to the government. The children were homeschooled when not busy working. Tara Westover then went to college, taught herself to think and read critically, educated herself almost from scratch, studied history that she'd never heard of before, earned scholarships, went to Harvard and Cambridge. Her relationship with her family changed a lot over that time. Her story and her path are incredible, she's an amazing person, and I think this is a very important book. Content warnings physical, psychological and religious abuse, denial of medical care, car crash, electrocution, burns, animal death... probably more The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf. A graphic memoir of four books so far, with at least two more to come. The author tells his childhood with his French mother and his Sunni Syrian father, as they live in Libya, Syria and France in the 70s and 80s. Cultures, political climates, various regimes, news of war, the father's political views and mental health are all depicted through the candid gaze of a child, with fittingly minimalistic art. Bichromatic colour schemes specific to each location add an emotional background to the recollections. I particularly appreciate that the memories are simply laid down and the readers are left to form their own interpretations and opinions. A stack of content warnings bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, propaganda, bullying, animal abuse, lack of sanitation etc. The Bellybuttons, comic by Maryse Dubuc, a guilty pleasure I've been reading since middle school. (I... don't know if you can actually buy it in English >_> but I'm pretty sure it's been translated.) Jenny and Vicky, two high school queen bees and frenemies, try hard to be attractive and popular. Karine is their kind, sensible, insecure gangly foil and victim. Or the protagonist, depending how you see things. The first three volumes are mostly plotless gags, dark comedy - so much dark comedy - sometimes crass and ableist, but it was real and relatable to me because I went to school with those girls. It's mean and offensive, and I wouldn't bother to mention it except that from volume 4, it gets loads better. A third, worse bully pushes Karine further, so low that her character transforms radically and evolves. And this seemingly shallow comic, while keeping its gags, gradually delves into the long-term effects of bullying, manipulation, depression. Jenny and Vicky are also given development as their backgrounds are revealed. (Mild spoilers) Vicky is held to high standards by her aggressive, competitive mother and sister who pressure and fat-shame her. A storm is brewing there and this arc will continue in the next volume. Jenny is a chronic shoplifter who lives in poverty with a neglectful mother and younger siblings. Jenny falls in love with a boy who is sweet and genuinely loves her but - gasp- chubby. She tries to date him in secret, but get this, he refuses, because he knows he's worth better than that. Favourite character right there. Volume 8 has just come out. (In French.) I'm pleased with the progression and how the arcs are being handled and hopeful for the next resolutions. Too many content warnings.
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Post by Thorn on Mar 5, 2019 12:50:03 GMT -5
Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. Book one of the Imperial Radch trilogy, and my favourite book of all time. On a backwater planet, a soldier called Breq continues her quest for revenge. Revenge for what, you may ask? Breq was one just one of the many bodies controlled by a massive warship called Justice of Toren...but something happened, and now she's alone. The series explores Breq's personality, nature and interpersonal relationships in a really powerful, indirect fashion. I picked up the book initially because of the AI-ish protagonist, ace-ish protagonist, and the fact that it's set in a society without any concept of gender ('she' is used for every character, unless they're interacting with people from other cultures in another language.) I always find it really hard to sell people on this book, as so much of what I love about it is a spoiler. You just need to trust me on this one! And then cry with me over the fact we'll never own the beautiful limited edition cover, with Breq and Seivarden being wonderful sob. The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells. The first book in a series of four novellas (and an upcoming novel!) Next to Breq, Murderbot may be my fave protagonist of all time. It's a 'construct' (part machine, part cloned human material) which just wants to be left alone to watch soap operas...but then the humans it's contracted to protect get into danger and UGH. It has to do its job properly! Full of feelz, explosions, intrigue, absolutely amazing characters, and just...general AWESOMENESS, this series ranks very highly on my List of Faves. Lots of LGBTA+ content too! Murderbot itself is totally uninterested in all that stuff ("even if I had the parts for it, I don't think I would be interested"- very ace robbiitt, I love it), and other characters cover the first four letters. I will add more later for sure! But these two series are ones I Very Much A++ Love, so they sprang to mind first.
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Post by Thorn on Jul 5, 2019 21:10:59 GMT -5
UPDATING months later with some more books I love! =D Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell
(Fantasy, young adult, LGBT+) (cover in the first spoiler box because it might be one of my fave covers of anything ever. So lovely and colorful!) You know the story- there's a school for wizards, and a Chosen One who must save all of wizardkind! Only...Simon Snow isn't very good at being the Chosen One. He has trouble controlling his magic- when it even works- and he's constantly fighting with his most-probably-definitely-a-vampire roommate, Basil. Thankfully Simon's best friend Penny and his girlfriend Agatha are always there to encourage and support him! This book has a few cool twists (and a few predictable ones), but overall it was a mega enjoyable read, and possibly my fave YA book ever. I fully intend on flinging my copy at my younger sister when I actually purchase it (I'm waiting until I can buy this and the sequel at the same time.)
One character is gay and the book briefly goes into the tension this causes with his father, and later in the book another character starts to explore the possibility that he may be bi, so there's even a nice tiny bit of LGBT representation here. =) And the sequel comes out in just a few months- Wayward Son. But don't look up the cover for that one just yet, tharr be spoilers! xP Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw(Urban fantasy, humour, mystery, LGBT+ rep in sequels.) Just a genuinely delightful read! Dr. Greta Helsing is a doctor for the undead. From her practice in London she addresses health problems in a variety of supernatural beings such as ghouls, vampires, mummies and...whatever her father's old friend Fass is (Greta's never been quite sure.)
There's a gay character and an ace character. Neither is very apparent in the first book, but the former is clearer in the second and when I met the author she said the latter will be made explicit in the third. In the second book there's also a wlw couple.
The third book comes out soon and the cover for that one is SO LOVELY, I'm excited. I'm also waiting on a couple cool books in the mail which I have high hopes for, and hopefully can recommend those as well!
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Post by Allison on Jul 6, 2019 21:26:09 GMT -5
So uh... would ASKING for recommendations also be okay? Like... "I like these books. I don't want [undesirable characteristics such as violence, triggers, etc.] What should I read next?"
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Post by Thorn on Jul 6, 2019 21:33:41 GMT -5
So uh... would ASKING for recommendations also be okay? Like... "I like these books. I don't want [undesirable characteristics such as violence, triggers, etc.] What should I read next?" I don't see why not! This thread doesn't get a lot of use anyway, so it would be cool to give it a bit of an activity boost, and I personally love recommending stuffs! =D
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Post by Thorn on Jul 21, 2019 3:05:25 GMT -5
The Afterward, by E.K. Johnston (Medieval fantasy, feminist, lesbian protagonist, bisexual/pansexual protagonist, transgender secondary character. Uhh. And lots of knights and cool magic!!!!) As soon as I heard about this novel, I was super excited for it. An almost all-lady adventuring party, with a romance between a beautiful noble knight and a scruffy thief? It just sounded so wonderful, and it didn't disappoint.
In terms of technical brilliance (language choice, writing style, plot, flow, etc), this book is good, but not excellent. What made me love it was the little details of the characters, the magic system, and just seeing myself in a cool medieval fantasy almost for the first time. I hadn't realised before but mostly when I read books in this vein, there's a lady in the main crowd, maybe two. In this book all but two of the major characters are women, and the random background characters- guards, magistrates, farmers, etc- are almost always ladies as well. I hadn't realised before but they're usually guys in other books I read, so this was a cool moment as well! It felt like a nice medieval fantasy for Me, that I could imagine myself in if I wanted, and that was lovely.
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Post by Thorn on Jan 1, 2020 22:00:24 GMT -5
Wayward Son, by Rainbow Rowell(modern fantasy, young adult, LGBT+ (mlm protagonists.)) The sequel to Carry On. As with the former, I'm sharing the cover of this book here because it's just so pretty. <3 If you haven't read Carry On, there's a spoiler on the cover! Ye have been warned. This book is just so lovely and warm. I had some issues with how the female characters were treated in the first book (though I love it very much in spite of that), but this all gets fixed, and becomes so much better, and everything, in this sequel. I can't wait for the third book! <3 Read if you like magic and wizards, road trips, sweet relationship stuff (also plenty of angsty relationship stuff!), and just...nice warm...very good stories. The chapters are short and the writing style is lovely and clear, so it's not a difficult series to engage with.
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Post by Liou on Jan 21, 2020 11:46:30 GMT -5
The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith. Gorgeous art, lovely use of space and of colour. (I'd include images but it's best if taken in all at once I think) The tale of a fox who searches for a lost friend and finds even more.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 21, 2020 13:26:56 GMT -5
Let's rec some famous sci-fi which I nevertheless loved and think everyone should at least read. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin A book published in 1969 which still handles asexuality, genderfluidity and non-binary identity better than most media today (although everyone gets referred to as "he" but I put that down to the time period it was written). It is set on a planet on which humans, cut off for a long time, have evolved to be asexual and agender except for a certain period in their reproductive cycle, during which they can be male or female. The novel fully explores the society and cultures that would come from that, but the focus is not even on the gender. It's narrator is the only Earth person as we know them who has come to the planet to persuade them to join an intergalactic society of planets (called the Ecumen). He travels through this planet, giving up a look at its society and culture, which is masterfully worldbuilt. On top of that, it is a tight story of political intrigue, and contains one of the most emotional unrealised ambiguously romantic (but definitely not sexual) relationships I've ever read. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller jr. This one is from 1959. It focuses on a Catholic order of monks (of the titular Saint Leibowitz) who work to preserve the science and knowledge of the world that was wiped out by nuclear war. The characters are very good and my heart ached for them all and their quests to preserve what they thought was important. One thing that I love seeing portrayed in media that is so rare to see is how religion serves as a catalyst for preservation and progress. It also explores the cycles of violence, of brutality and kindness. how humanity ends up repeating the same historical, mistakes it made previously, but how there are still good people trying to do their best with what they have to make things better. Extra Credits did an episode on it, if I have not convinced you. And just a short while after I posted this, they did one on Left Hand of Darkness. Oh, and the prose of both is gorgeous as all heck. ;_;
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Post by Thorn on Jan 21, 2020 15:57:02 GMT -5
Let's rec some famous sci-fi which I nevertheless loved and think everyone should at least read. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin A book published in 1969 which still handles asexuality, genderfluidity and non-binary identity better than most media today (although everyone gets referred to as "he" but I put that down to the time period it was written). It is set on a planet on which humans, cut off for a long time, have evolved to be asexual and agender except for a certain period in their reproductive cycle, during which they can be male or female. The novel fully explores the society and cultures that would come from that, but the focus is not even on the gender. It's narrator is the only Earth person as we know them who has come to the planet to persuade them to join an intergalactic society of planets (called the Ecumen). He travels through this planet, giving up a look at its society and culture, which is masterfully worldbuilt. On top of that, it is a tight story of political intrigue, and contains one of the most emotional unrealised ambiguously romantic (but definitely not sexual) relationships I've ever read. Still need to read this eek. Got Gideon the Ninth to finish and then Grave Importance, but maybe after! In high school I was told about the book but they just told us like, a gloomy quote. They didn't tell us about all the interesting gender stuff it does. Plus Ancillary Justice is my favourite book in the world, ever, and it's often compared to this one. So I should probably give it a shot.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 21, 2020 17:43:47 GMT -5
Let's rec some famous sci-fi which I nevertheless loved and think everyone should at least read. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin A book published in 1969 which still handles asexuality, genderfluidity and non-binary identity better than most media today (although everyone gets referred to as "he" but I put that down to the time period it was written). It is set on a planet on which humans, cut off for a long time, have evolved to be asexual and agender except for a certain period in their reproductive cycle, during which they can be male or female. The novel fully explores the society and cultures that would come from that, but the focus is not even on the gender. It's narrator is the only Earth person as we know them who has come to the planet to persuade them to join an intergalactic society of planets (called the Ecumen). He travels through this planet, giving up a look at its society and culture, which is masterfully worldbuilt. On top of that, it is a tight story of political intrigue, and contains one of the most emotional unrealised ambiguously romantic (but definitely not sexual) relationships I've ever read. Still need to read this eek. Got Gideon the Ninth to finish and then Grave Importance, but maybe after! In high school I was told about the book but they just told us like, a gloomy quote. They didn't tell us about all the interesting gender stuff it does. Plus Ancillary Justice is my favourite book in the world, ever, and it's often compared to this one. So I should probably give it a shot. Having read the two practically back to back, while they are not identical, they certainly have a lot of similar themes. I would honestly not be surprised if Ancillary Justice drew from it (and come to think of it, Ancillary Justice begins with a trek across ice, which is a key sequence in Left Hand of Darkness) Give it a go! It may be a bit oblique in places but your high school did not do it justice if all they gave was a gloomy quote.
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Post by Thorn on Jan 21, 2020 18:16:38 GMT -5
Still need to read this eek. Got Gideon the Ninth to finish and then Grave Importance, but maybe after! In high school I was told about the book but they just told us like, a gloomy quote. They didn't tell us about all the interesting gender stuff it does. Plus Ancillary Justice is my favourite book in the world, ever, and it's often compared to this one. So I should probably give it a shot. Having read the two practically back to back, while they are not identical, they certainly have a lot of similar themes. I would honestly not be surprised if Ancillary Justice drew from it (and come to think of it, Ancillary Justice begins with a trek across ice, which is a key sequence in Left Hand of Darkness) Give it a go! It may be a bit oblique in places but your high school did not do it justice if all they gave was a gloomy quote. I'll let you know if and when I do! I'm a horribly, horribly slow reader; but it does sound like the kind of book I would enjoy. While it would take a pretty dang awesome book to dethrone the Imperial Radch trilogy in my heart, I am pretty sure I'll be able to appreciate the impact Tlhod had on feminist and LGBT literature! (yeah I read a few reviews/critical responses and things, found a couple spoilers but don't think they're enough to subtract from my enjoyment of the novel.) (plus as has been previously discussed, the fact that I totally coincidentally incorporated some similar elements into EuroAtlantis worldbuilding probably means I should look at how stronger worldbuilders than I have done this in the past. xD) But before all that, I need to finish reading this book about lesbian necromancers IN SPACE!, and that third-in-a-trilogy book featuring an asexual demon and the assurance from its author that this will be Properly Canon rather than just word of god in this one!
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Post by Thorn on Jan 31, 2020 20:49:49 GMT -5
Hi this book delighted, astounded and ultimately destroyed me. Please read it. Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir(described on the cover as: "lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!") Content warnings for: gory violence (described briefly but with some details I found hard to read), suicide (mentioned but not shown 'onscreen' so to speak, and only in backstory.) Gideon is a wonderful protagonist. She's in turns amazingly-dorky and just amazingly-amazing, and she fights with a GIANT! SWORD! or sometimes a rapier as shown on the cover. Both are super cool. and we are informed she has incredible biceps so yeah I was sold pretty quickly. While it took longer for me to warm up to Harrow, her necromancer companion; as I started to learn more about her the latter grew on me to the degree that I now love her just as much as Gideon. Those of you who follow me on tumblr: I apologise for the large amount of GtN fanart I will undoubtedly reblog over the next week or more. Also, this is the super amazing cover! Yes, she is wearing skull paint but also sunglasses. Because she's excellent like that.
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Post by Thorn on Feb 6, 2020 18:07:54 GMT -5
Having just finished The Left Hand of Darkness, I wholeheartedly second Celes' rec! It's a short read (I read it in five days at about four chapters a day), and so beautiful, with the end chapters in particular containing some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read in anything ever.
Should probably give you guys a content warning for mention of incestuous relationships, but there is nothing explicit about this book. It's mentioned, and the relationship in question is definitely significant (and entirely consensual, I should be clear), but as with the suicide mentioned in Gideon it's all in a 'this was Past Stuff' sense.
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