Oops, haven’t done one of these in a while. Turns out I have read a lot of books since the last time I did one of these. I mostly just read science fiction and fantasy and don’t have an especially interesting taste in books but maybe you’ll find something new to read? Most of this links Bookshop.org, which gives a small cut of sales to a local indie bookstore of your choice. You can always see what else I’ve read on Storygraph. Books are cool! So are libraries!
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto: A queer sci-fi heist novel. Loved it. The page description mentions Ocean’s 8 as a comparison point but I’ve never seen any of those films but sure, that’s probably a good thing to compare it to? I got it from my library!
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang: Graphic novel about a kid who moves to a new neighborhood and discovers he’s the only Chinese American student at his school. There was a tv show adaptation that I believe got canceled after one season but I still hope to watch because it sounds like an interesting challenge.
Star Sword Nemesis by Christine Love: I’m a fan of her visual novels and it turns out her novel novels are good too!
Junior High by Tegan Quin, Sara Quin, Tillie Walden: Musicians Tegan & Sara wrote a graphic novel for kids. Even as someone who only kinda sorta knows their music but likes what I heard, it’s just a nice story about kids trying to fit in, supported by really good artwork by Tillie Walden.
Age of Empires by Richard Moss: Another entry in the Boss Fight Books series, this one is a history of the development of the game. I enjoy Richard Moss’ writing on games history and so this was an enjoyable read for me too.
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate: I just think it’s fun that my oldest and I both got into Katherine Applegate at the same age, but with different series. I was a big Animorphs fan as a child but The One and Only Ivan series is very good.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki: Very good queer space story. The book description makes it sound a little like a wholesome, good vibes only thing which I suppose can be fine sometimes, but that’s not what this book is and it’s a lot more interesting than how it sounds imo.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary: Read this one to my kids and the first time I read it since the 90s. It’s cute! We all want to be a little mouse riding a motorcycle.
Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley with Cassio Ribeiro: A very sweet WLW romance graphic novel for teens. My local library does a good job highlighting queer reads! Just found out while writing this that it had a sequel this year.
The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Shin’ichirō Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta with Jeffrey Angles (Translator): This was a weird one. I didn’t know until recently that Mothra was first a short story commissioned so it could later be adapted into a film with additional details added. The story itself is fine, the movie is far better, but the second half of this book, which goes into the making of the short story and adaptation of it was interesting.
Piranesi by Susana Clark: I think everyone has at least heard the praise for this book about characters stuck in a dreamlike alternate reality but yeah, it’s great. IIRC it’s shorter than her other works too if you haven’t read anything by her before.
Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by Jon Chad: Just a nice, straightforward history of pinball in graphic novel form!
The Disasters by M.K. England: Queer disasters going on adventures in space! This was highlighted in the teen section of the library and I’m glad I picked it up. I don’t really read much YA stuff but I thought it was fun.
If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Choyeop (Author) and Anton Hur (Translated by): A collection of short stories set in our future, all at different points in time. I thought this one had a lot of really interesting ideas of what the future could be like and the characters were very well developed given how short the stories could be.
As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers: Queer sci-fi romance that switches between two characters. I wasn’t super into how it ended, which is to just setup a cliffhanger for the second book, but otherwise I liked it!
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark: A short fantasy novel about an undead assassin trying to solve a mystery that breaks space and time a bit while avoiding trouble with her guild.
A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo: Book 7 in the Singing Hills Cycle, a fantasy series of novellas I love so much about a cleric traveling a country and going on various adventures. The fun thing about this series is that they’re written so you can read them in any order. I am also a big fan of Nghi Vo’s other books outside of this series.
Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome by Garth Marenghi: Goes on a bit longer than it should and I don’t think I’d like it in print form but it’s silly fun! Recommended if you like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.
Ok, that’s it for now. I’m also rereading Murderbot. Everyone knows Murderbot. I said last time I would do these more often but this time I mean it! Books are good. Go read a book! Also go visit your local library while you are at it. They have books and a lot of other stuff.
