james_davis_nicoll

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If I'm honest with you, I'm probably much too close to this book to have a fair opinion of it. On the other hand, it's a gorgeous, loving, clear-eyed and critical portrait of the world in which I live. In a week that felt hopeless, this book gave me a beautiful and hopeful place to be, and I adored it without reservation.

Powell’s Books beckoned to us in red, black, and white, like a flag for a new America. One that’s educated, homegrown, and all about sustaining local book culture.

Libraries are where nerds like me go to refuel. They are safe-havens where the polluted noise of the outside world, with all the bullies and bro-dudes and anti-feminist rhetoric, is shut out. Libraries have zero tolerance for bullshit. Their walls protect us and keep us safe from all the bastards that have never read a book for fun.

Juliet is a fat 19yo Puerto Rican lesbian writer from the Bronx, spending her summer in Portland, Oregon, interning with Harlowe Brisbane, the white feminist author of Raging Flower: Empowering your Pussy by Empowering your Mind. Shenanigans ensue, and they are gloriously, heartbreakingly real: a science fiction writing workshop honoring Octavia Butler; a reading at Powell's that goes horribly wrong; a queer POC party in Miami.

Rivera is brilliant on the rollercoaster that is growing up one or more kinds of "other" and trying to be true to your authentic self before you have quite figured out what that is.

You are your own person, Juliet. If it’s a phase, so what? If it’s your whole life, who cares? You’re destined to evolve and understand yourself in ways you never imagined before.

She is also extremely acute on the specific failures of white feminism. At a moment in history when our alliances may or may not save the world, it's on white women to understand how our thoughtlessness can inflict deep injuries on our best allies. And it's on white women to stop that shit.

This is a first novel and unpolished, but it's a huge shiny diamond full of light and color and my favorite thing I've read in the challenge so far.

yatima posting in

50books_poc

Ian McEwan's acclaimed novels On Chesil Beach and Saturday both take place over the course of a single day, in an improbably lily-white version of England. Race-bending this formula is the fundamentally good idea beneath Black Bread White Beer. When we meet Amal and his white wife Claud, they have just lost a pregnancy in the first trimester, but they go ahead and visit Claud's parents in East Sussex as planned.

The novel is at its sharpest and funniest when Amal is reporting his Pakistani parents' reactions to his horrible in-laws:

‘What she means is, we wish you all the luck in the world, Amal, but you must watch your back. Her people look like a bunch of backstabbers. Never trust them for an instant.’

There are also some moving passages where Amal imagines what he and Claud would be like as parents:

Theirs would not be paraded about like Sussex show ponies. There were plenty of cool, funky children they could take as their template.

or what their lives would be like child-free:

They could buy a holiday home abroad. Two. One on each hemisphere if that is what would make her happy. He racks his mind to think of the childless couples they know – not the kids from the office; guys their age and older – but cannot dredge any up. In their immediate circle, there are no trailblazers, only conformists. No matter. They are taste makers, she and him. They can set the precedent.

As with McEwan, though, I found these characters difficult to warm to. Amal and Claud both struck me as joyless corporate drones, preoccupied with status, their world devoid of beauty and pleasure. A technically adroit book, but not for me.

yatima posting in

50books_poc

I loved Aziz Ansari in Parks and Recreation and I revere his own series, Master of None. The "Thanksgiving" episode of Master of None is one of the best things I have ever seen on television. So I picked up Modern Romance with some enthusiasm.

In a classic Tom Haverford move, rather than just write the obligatory you-have-succeeded-as-a-comedian-on-TV book (Bossypants, Girl Walks Into a Bar, I'm Just a Person, Paddle Your Own Canoe, Self-Inflicted Wounds, The Bedwetter, Yes Please... yeah, it's a genre), Ansari teamed up with Stanford sociologist Eric Klinenberg to figure out both why technologically-mediated dating is such an unrelieved horror show and, reading between the lines, why Ansari was finding it difficult to meet a nice woman.

The resulting book reminded me a bit of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything in that it's as curious and interesting as it is funny. Ansari's quizzical sweetness shines especially in his reporting on the specific dating scenes in Buenos Aires, Doha, Paris and Tokyo.

In Japan, posting any pictures of yourself, especially selfie-style photos, comes off as really douchey. Kana, an attractive, single twenty-nine-year-old, remarked: “All the foreign people who use selfies on their profile pic? The Japanese feel like that’s so narcissistic.” In her experience, pictures on dating sites would generally include more than two people. Sometimes the person wouldn’t be in the photo at all. I asked what they would post instead.

“A lot of Japanese use their cats,” she said.

“They’re not in the photo with the cat?” I asked.

“Nope. Just the cat. Or their rice cooker.”

“I once saw a guy posted a funny street sign,” volunteered Rinko, thirty-three. “I felt like I could tell a lot about the guy from looking at it.”

This kind of made sense to me. If you post a photo of something interesting, maybe it gives some sense of your personality? I showed a photo of a bowl of ramen I had taken earlier in the day and asked what she thought of that as a profile picture. She just shook her head. OH, I GUESS I CAN’T HOLD A CANDLE TO THAT STREET SIGN DUDE, HUH?

For me, the most engaging part of the book was seeing insights that later ended up as jokes in Master of None. I endorse and seek to emulate this kind of creative reuse! As for meeting a nice woman, the gossip rags tell me that Ansari was in a relationship with pastrychef Courtney McBloom for a while, but they parted amicably last year. So it goes.

tvfission posting in

2017revival

Name: Alicia Joan or AJ
Age: 25
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Describe yourself in five sentences or less: I am an acquired taste but overall very easy to get along with! A friendly, bisexual, karaoke-fiend that loves to write/roleplay, draw, and watch disturbing videos willingly at night. I'm a sucker for being creeped out. Have I mentioned I'm a weirdo? But a weirdo who loves to make friends!

Top 5 fandoms: To be quite honest, it's really only American Horror Story, Preacher, annddd The Office. I am constantly watching The Office. I realize it's been over for quite a while but that means nothing! Nothing, I say!

I mostly post about: My personal life and what-have-you. If not that: an article, new music I've discovered, maybe a selfie here or there, and pix of my pups! I just recently registered on the site so I have very few posts up right now.

I rarely post about: Politics, only because I use FB primarily for that. But I am not opposed to following folks that do, as I like to engage in discussion sometimes - especially if you're looking for one!

My three last posts were about: My loneliness and lack of friends, haha. I promise that will change and is not a constant. I was simply amusing myself. ;)

How often do you post? I will probably start out posting often but it may slow down as I have adult things that need my attention more. I'm taking care of my dad at the moment and that's where most of my focus is at when not here or other social platforms!

How about commenting? I will likely comment more than post. But that's so I keep in touch with everyone. My life doesn't provide a great deal of interesting things to talk about right now, so! I'm also trying this new thing where I don't dwell on negative crap like I used to. It's working out nicely!

(This doesn't describe my day, but the kid's face cracks me up and I have a similar distaste for vodka myself, haha.)

Current Mood: calm

james_davis_nicoll posting in

50books_poc

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, book 3) N. K. Jemisin

(I hope this is OK. Not sure of local etiquette)

wild_irises posting in

50books_poc

yatima has been carrying all the water around here, and shouldn't have to.

Earlier this week, I finished Alaya Dawn Johnson's The Summer Prince. I have had this book by my bed for months and months and months. I would pick it up, read some, like it, and then get distracted. Finally, I decided it was too good for that kind of treatment and got serious about moving through it.

It is an excellent and fascinating book, even though it never really grabbed me. The worldbuilding is awesome and the depiction of the inner lives of teenagers, affected by the different world they live in and nonetheless completely recognizable as the teenagers of our times, is especially well done. The The prose is beautiful and the evocation of the city is outstanding. The setting is a post-apocalyptic Brazil and effectively everyone is (from our perspective) PoC; Johnson explores class divisions and to some extent national divisions, but the key cultural rift she explores is age.

I can't quite figure out why it didn't have momentum for me, and I expect that will be different for other people. I found it well worth the comparatively slow going, and will probably re-read it at some point.

yatima posting in

50books_poc

Australians of my generation have a particular reason to be fond of Journey to the West and it is the gloriously daft Japanese adaptation that was replayed endlessly on after-school TV. (For many queer Australians of my generation, myself included, Masako Natsume, the woman who played Tripitaka, is a pivotal figure in our secret lives.) The Monkey King resurfaces in Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese, one of the books that taught my younger kid to read. (I was especially touched when in Yang's book, the three wise men who attended the birth of Jesus turned out to be Monkey and his friends Sandy and Pigsy. I'm a sucker for good crossover fanfic.)

All this to say that The Epic Crush of Genie Lo is yet another delightful take on Journey to the West, this time set in the hyper-competitive high schools of the Bay Area. Monkey is now Quentin, a handsome, short, brilliant and very annoying teenager who kept reminding me of Miles Vorkosigan, in a good way. Genie herself has a surprising connection with him, but is a three-dimensional character in her own right, with a sense of honor and complicated relationships with her parents and friends. Her efforts to balance college applications with supernatural obligations had a Buffy-ish resonance, and the various Gods and demons showing up in modern America will please Neil Gaiman fans. I found this a quick and enjoyable read.

yatima posting in

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"Welcome to the Middle-Aged Orphans Club," writes Sherman Alexie, and as a middle-aged orphan myself, I did feel welcome, and seen, and understood. In July, Alexie cancelled part of his book tour because of complicated grief and being haunted by his late mother: "I don’t believe in ghosts," he writes. "But I see them all the time." Me too, brother.

Like Bad Indians, this is an intricate quilt of a book, part memoir, part poem, part dream. It's hard to imagine how it could be otherwise. The loss of a parent is a loss of meaning. For indigenous people, this is doubly true. Lillian Alexie was one of the last fluent speakers of Salish. Her death robs her son, and the world, of an entire universe.

This book, like Hawking radiation, is an almost-undetectable glow of meaning escaping from a black hole. If you haven't lost a parent yet it might be too much to bear, but if you have, it might feel like joining a group of survivors around a campfire after a catastrophe.

IN AUGUST 2015, as a huge forest fire burned on my reservation, as it burned within feet of the abandoned uranium mine, the United States government sent a representative to conduct a town hall to address the growing concerns and fears. My sister texted me the play-by-play of the meeting. “OMG!” she texted. “The government guy just said the USA doesn’t believe the forest fire presents a serious danger to the Spokane Indian community, even if the fire burns right through the uranium mine.”

...“Is the air okay?” I texted. “It hurts a little to breathe,” my sister texted back. “But we’re okay.” Jesus, I thought, is there a better and more succinct definition of grief than It hurts a little to breathe, but we’re okay?

helloladies posting in

ladybusiness

We won a Hugo Award for Best Fanzine!

Ira and Susan on stage giving a speech with text overlaid reading This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS

Ira and Susan on stage giving a speech with text overlaid reading This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS

Ira and Susan attended Worldcon 75 on our behalf (we can't even with our jealousy over Ira getting to meet Daveed Diggs). We're so grateful to everyone who nominated and voted for us this year. Thanks also to our fellow finalists, too. It was lovely being a part of a robust ballot featuring commentary and criticism from a wide range of voices. The full list of finalists and winners can be read at thehugoawards.org.

We're still reeling a bit, but we wanted to at least reach out and say THANK YOU and OMG and WHAT and THANK YOU OMG, etc. We are super honored and so excited! Congrats to US, congrats to the other winners, and thanks for liking our work! ♥ You can find the text of our speech below.

Thanks so much for this amazing award. We accept on behalf of ourselves and the four Lady Business editors who couldn't be here tonight: Clare, Jodie, KJ, and Renay.

We also want to thank everyone who has supported Lady Business throughout the years in ways large and small, including our readers, commenters, and guest columnists. Special thanks go out to John Scalzi, whose work welcomed Renay back to science fiction. Without his books Renay wouldn't have been in the SF community to start this project with our co-founders, Ana and Jodie. Thanks to Ana Grilo of The Book Smugglers for consistent support and writing opportunities, Kate Elliott and Justin Landon for believing in our work and being the best cheerleaders, and Zachariah Carlson for being our personal Shadow Broker all these years.

When Lady Business was founded, the goal was to create a safer space for discussions in a community that was still struggling to recognize white women, much less any other marginalized identities. There's still work to be done, and change has been slow, but we are thrilled our project has been a voice within this cultural shift. We are incredibly honored that the Hugo voters find our intersectional feminist work valuable, and we will keep working to remain worthy of your recognition as we move forward.

We dedicate this award to Jodie Baker and Ana Silva. Thank you very much.

helloladies posting in

ladybusiness

Sidetracks Template

Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag. For more links and commentary you can follow us on Twitter, Tumblr. You can also support us on Patreon.

( Read more... )

helloladies posting in

ladybusiness

We're thrilled to share the first post in the Short & Sweet column written by forestofglory. Short & Sweet is an ongoing short fiction column full of recs and short fiction goodness, and forestofglory will drop in each quarter to share what she's been reading and what short fiction she's excited about. We're so happy to have her; please give her a warm welcome (and read her recs!).

Animal Brides

Here are six stories featuring animal brides, a trope about animals who turn into women and marry humans. Sometimes they have choice about this and sometimes the human forces them. This trope can take a lot different forms and the worlds in these stories are varied. Animal brides allow authors to explore ways women are viewed and desired. The trope lets the authors examine a variety of animals and animal archetypes.These stories deal with entitlement and freedom. They frequently draw on fairy tales and myths. This collection hits a lot different themes and moods from cute to creepy. Overall this list a bit darker then what I really generally rec but I love all of these stories.

"The Contemporary Foxwife" by Yoon Ha Lee (4,763 words) — So this is probably one of my favorite stories ever, it's so cute and sweet. It's a bit of an outlier here being the happiest story and also the only story to feature a male animal bride, and the only story with science fictional elements – it’s set on a space station.

"The Animal Women" by Alix E. Harrow (8,534 words) — Content note: race in America, violence, attempted sexual assault. I got really sucked into this story set in the US south about how women’s voices are repressed. It is pretty dark in places but had an ending I found hopeful. While the women in this story aren’t brides, their animal affinities are important, and the story shares many themes with other animal bride stories.

"The Fox Bride" by Mari Ness (1,308 words) — This one really plays on the animal nature of the animal bride and also the way stories have of taking over reality. It's extremely unromantic about animals and what they are like.

"Dragon Brides" by Nghi Vo (3,620 words) — Rather than a story about dragons who marry men, this a story about women who marry dragons. Or rather about a princess who was once captured by a dragon. But it feels thematically of a piece with the rest.

"Jackalope Wives" by Ursula Vernon (5,000 words) — I love how the author uses the desert myths and legends here. Between that and her depiction of desert fauna and flora she really brings the desert to life. I also really enjoy Grandma Harken–it’s nice to see an old woman be the hero of a story and I enjoy her no nonsense attitude.

"Foxwife" by Hiromi Goto in The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm ed. Ellen Datlow and Terrie Windling — This story gives us a glimpse of such an interesting world I always wish the author would write something else set there. I also really like how Goto uses aspects of Japanese myths.

These stories are about many types of animals and multiple genders, but they've all stuck with me, and changed how I think about women and desire. Looking at women and marriage through the lens of animals let me understand some of the ways women are objectified and treated as less than human. Particularity the way the fox (and the prince) are treated in Mari Ness' story where they aren't given a choice about their marriage. Though other stories have aspects of this too: for example, the careless way Grandma Harken's grandson treats the Jackalope wife. But the trope can also explore the ways women have power even in situations where they seem powerless. "Animal women" makes this point especially well. Ultimately, animal brides is a varied trope which is why there are so many great, but very different, stories featuring them. I hope you will take time to read some of these.

londonskies posting in

2017revival

Name: Katie
Age: 36
Location: Central Coast California

Describe yourself in five sentences or less: I work full time in a doctors office in medical records. I'm in the process of writing the second draft of a book. I love to hike and exercise as it helps with my depression. I love to travel, read, go to concerts and hang out with friends. I also help with the local film festival every year.

Top 5 Fandoms: LOST, Twin Peaks, Harry Potter

I mostly post about: Work, depression and trying to keep it balanced, my writing, hiking, my niece and nephew, travel, books, music, and throw in a touch of sarcasm.

I rarely post about: Politics (It's okay if you do. I probably will ignore that part of your entry.), When my depression hits, I try to talk about the positive and not the negative side of it.

My last three posts were about: My friends page. I am just getting started into journaling again. I was big on Greatestjournal and Insane Journal. These days my IJ friends page never moves. I miss the connecting.

How often do you post? As often as I feel like writing. It could be 5 times a week more or less.

How about commenting? I will comment if I have something to say in the post.

renay posting in

ladybusiness

I love it when I pick up exactly the right book at exactly the right time.

Hawkeye: Kate Bishop — Anchor Points was 100% the comic I needed to read. It was everything I wanted after the nightmare of U.S. Senate Funhouse — Encroaching Death Week: a fun, woman-led adventure that pokes fun at pop culture, critiques toxic masculinity, centers female friendships and mentorships, and ties realistic struggles that women face into supernatural shenanigans in non-didactic ways. Kate is adorable, confident, competent, and she gets the best sidekicks. If you're looking for a fun romp with a former Avenger-turned-private investigator, this will be your jam. ( Read more... )

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James Nicoll Reviews

August 2017

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More Words, Deeper Hole

Reading

Gabby Rivera, Juliet Takes a Breath, 2016

Niven Govinden, Black Bread White Beer, 2012

Aziz Ansari, Modern Romance, 2015

uh, ciao!

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, book 3) N. K. Jemisin

The Summer Prince

F. C. Yee, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, 2017

Sherman Alexie, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, 2017

Admin Post: Holy moly, Hugo Awards!

Sidetracks - August 10, 2017

Short & Sweet: Animal Brides in SFF Short Fiction

Animal Brides

Good Evening.

Let's Get Literate! Hawkeye: Kate Bishop — Anchor Points

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August 2017

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