Notable books I read this quarter (in the order that I read them):
Shelter by Jung Yun
When this book opens, Kyung Cho and his wife are deeply in debt and are preparing to sell the house that they live in with their young son, when they find out that something traumatic and violent has happened to Kyung's parents. The book follows Kyung and his family in the aftermath of this event and explores how they deal with the trauma, as well as issues of family dynamics, Korean-American identity, and abuse. I worried that this book was going to contain nothing but tragedy after tragedy and completely overwhelm me with sadness, but I didn't feel that way by the end. It is definitely a sad and difficult book (be aware if you're worried about trigger warnings before you read), but it gave me so much to think about. I read in in mid-January (and have read a lot since then) and I still think about it often.
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
This weird and wonderful book focuses on City Coldson, a 14-year-old black boy from Mississippi who becomes a YouTube celebrity after an incident at televised quiz contest. He is given a book called Long Division, which features a main character also named City Coldson, who finds a passage to 2013. From there it gets weirder and more difficult to explain, but Laymon totally pulls it off. What struck me while reading this book, is the narrative voice, City the narrator feels so real and gives such close insight into a life experience that is so different from mine. This is both a feat by Laymon and something that I need to seek out far more in my reading life. I'm not sure if my description is doing it justice, but even if the time travel and universe bending shenanigans don't draw you in then you should read it for the narration.
Heads or Tails by Lilli Carré
This is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. It is actually a collection of graphic short stories and it is phenomenal. Carré changes up the art style, material, or color palette slightly with each story (some are monotone, some are done in pencil, some are more detailed, some are looser), but they are still unified and clearly Carré's. The stories themselves are whimsical and fascinating and compliment the art so well. Usually with graphic novels I tend to clearly prefer the art or the writing, but I love both in Heads or Tails.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson
This is exactly what it sounds like: a comic about a girl who has squirrel powers (including a tail) and is the only undefeated superhero in the Marvel Universe. This series is so delightful, I can't even put it into words. Just believe me. It is truly hilarious and heartwarming. I love it so much that I have the graphic novel, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe (with the best title and cover ever), and I've been saving it to read because I know it will be just the thing to cheer me up if I need it. Get all 4 published trades from your library (or just buy them, it will be worth it) and read them all back to back like I did.
We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrl to Cover Girl, the Buying and Selling of A Political Movement by Andi Zeisler
This book, written by one of the founders of Bitch Media, is all about the commodification and commercialization of feminism. In the first half, Zeisler looks at several different industries (advertising, film, fashion, etc.) and how they have reacted to and co-opted feminism throughout history. The second half focuses on the feminist movement itself and how it has been shaped by these forces. I am incredibly interested in the topic, so I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in just a few days. It is a pretty broad overview, tackling analysis of several decades across many different industries, and I would have read so much more on each chapter (especially in the first part). I took note of tons of passages while reading, both on things I hadn't thought of before and on things that I hadn't been able to put into words, but were perfectly phrased in the book. Read this so we can talk about it, because I'm dying to talk about it with someone.
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
This is the best short story collection I've ever read. No one needs me to explain this, but Gay is such a talented writer. As I was reading it for the first time I was already looking forward to rereading it, because I'm sure that there are so many layers of meaning that I didn't catch on my first read. As the title suggests, all of the stories focus on women and Gay has so much to say on the topic. There are several reoccurring themes, motifs, and details throughout the stories, but they didn't feel repetitive to me, more like something Gay was returning to over and over in order to further examine her interest in them. Many stories definitely deal with dark or difficult subject matter, but it didn't feel overdone to me. Read Difficult Women, I definitely will again.
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared K. Fletcher
I've heard about this from so many different people and I'm so glad that I finally picked it up. I feel like a lot comics have gorgeous covers that draw me in, but then the art inside is a bit of a disappointment, but the art and coloring of Paper Girls is just as good as the cover promises. It is so stunning and I will return to it time and time again for color palette inspiration. The story is also bananas in the best way. Girls on bikes are delivering papers in the 1980s when everything gets super weird and there are monsters and spaceships, etc.. I can't wait to pick up volume 2.
Exit West by Moshin Hamid
There has been lots of hype surrounding this book and it is definitely deserved. Saeed and Nadia fall in love in a country on the brink of civil war and attempt to leave their increasingly dangerous homeland and "exit west". It reads like a fairytale in that Saeed and Nadia are the only named characters, the writing is straightforward but lyrical in a fable-eque way, and there is a touch of magic. It is both incredibly relevant to the present day but also feels timeless. Definitely read this.
