Some Books I Loved

 **A fantastic journey told with a unique voice.  If you don't know Karen Lord, you should** I've always liked the narrative structure I call a "road trip" novel.  There's probably a technical term for it, feel free to let me know.  But it's a narrative structure in which basically the only consistent feature is the main character or characters.  Characters are introduced in one part of the novel and then left behind, never to be seen again.  Chekhov's gun remains comfortably on the wall.  Each scene or episode is a new one, and yet (when this type of structure is done well) the main characters change and grow.  It doesn't necessarily have to be an actual "road trip", but that's certainly the simplest way to accomplish this The classic examples on opposite sides of the world are "The Journey to the West" and "The Odyssey", and to some degree any "road trip" novel written in one of those literary traditions is...

 **A fantastic collection by, and great introduction to, simply put one of the greatest to ever put pen to paper** So, to start with.  Octavia Butler is a true master.  Not just of science fiction (and in general, she seems to have made the jump from the "SciFi/Fantasy shelves to the "Literature" shelves in a lot of stores), but of writing in general.  Her insight into the nature of humanity and human society is incredible, she pairs it with razor-sharp prose . . . like I said, she's a master Although I've not written about Ursula K. Le Guin on this blog yet (saving it for a special occasion!), she's one of my all-time favorite authors.  I consider Butler to be her closest successor, the heir to her throne.  While some authors of science fiction like to speculate about what kind of technology we can invent . . . Le Guin, Butler and a select few others choose instead to use the medium to speculate on what kind of people we can become.  And for me, wow, ...

Ok first of all, is it really 2026?  That . . . that doesn't seem right.  That seems weird.  I'll look into that and get back to you But just in case my calendar is correct and it is indeed 2026, it's time for Black History Month in February.  As always, I like to put together a reading list.  This should be a good one Before that, though, here are some books that I can recommend for anyone else who'd like to get in on some speculative fiction by Black and African authors.  There's a ton out there, here are some I've loved: * * * "Ring Shout, or, Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times" by P. Djèlí Clark (novella; 2020) **1920s-era sword and sorcery, in which a trio of Black American heroines fight against white, pointy-headed "Ku Klux" demons.  Yeah, exactly, it's great** "Chain Gang All-Stars" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (2023) **A discussion of America's prison-industrialism complex and our near-fetishization of carceral solut...

 **One of my favorite 'balancing the real world and an online world' stories, told with fun and respect for the subject** Some of you might recognize the name Sakurazaka Hiroshi.  He's most well-known for having written "All You Need is Kill", which was adapted to the movie "Edge of Tomorrow" (also apparently just got an anime adaptation?  I should watch that) For those that don't know, "All You Need is Kill" is a story about a soldier in a future war against alien invaders, who discovers that every time he dies, he wakes back up that same morning.  He uses that time loop to become a better soldier, make new contacts, and try to win the war.  The movie was actually a decent adaptation of the first two-thirds of the movie--although the setting changed from Japan to Europe, the general structure of the idea was pretty close (and then they completely changed the ending, which changed the entire story, and I'm grumpy about it, but that'...

Hi everyone!  Sorry the blog has been on hiatus while I'm traveling.  But at the very least, let me get this up.  It's been a fantastic year of reading for me, I hope for you all as well Not a ranking, not even a comprehensive list of my favorite books.  I like reading, I like writing, I like writing about reading, and I love being able to share.  Just what it says at the top:  Some books I loved this year * * * "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) I always feel like I have to put out a weird explanation of, "I don't only  read speculative fiction.  Just mostly," whenever I want to talk about a book that's more "serious" literature.  But yes, although not in line with much of what I read, "Americanah" was not only one of the best books I read this year, it's the one of the best books I can recommend, period.  It is without question a masterpiece This book is a portrait of the immigrant experience, from Nigeria to bo...

 **Modern, feminist stories inspired by traditional Japanese folk tales, kabuki plays, and general myths and legends.  Yeah, it's fantastic** "Updated fairy tales" has actually been a pretty robust genre, which I enjoy (I'll probably get around to reviewing Naomi Novik's forays at some point).  It's pretty easy to understand how delightful it can be to have the stories we know by heart, the ones that formed us as children, the ones that have stood the test of centuries, and then try to bring them to "literature" or whatever.  Pretty clear rationale behind that trend So how does Matsuda set this collection apart?  So many ways.  But I'd say the best part is rather simple:  If you want to tell fairy tale stories in the modern world, sure you need to understand the fairy tales, but that's not the hard part--the hard part is understanding and portraying our modern world.  And that's something that Matsuda does perfectly Rather than being the ...