jennIRL

please to note: these books are not out yet (or for a while, in some cases), get excited at your own risk.

Y, Marie Celona, January 8 2013: i don’t think it’s much of a secret that coming-of-age stories are not my favorite thing. they’re not a pet peeve or anything, i just tend not to love the formula — with exceptions like WE THE ANIMALS which is freaking amazing. add Y to the list of ones i did like; it’s the story of a girl shuttling between foster homes, trying to figure out what makes a family, looking for (and finding) her real parents, and coming to terms with all that shit. in other words, it’s got all your standard ingredients, but the cake that they make is … ok worst metaphor ever, stopping now. it’s a jangly, rough, jagged book, and i read it pretty much in one big gulp.

LET ME CLEAR MY THROAT, Elena Passarello, October 1 2012: the stoic wonderali not only did not hate me for simultaneously reading this, interrupting her reading to tell her things, and then googling (and making her listen to) sounds/songs mentioned in this aaaamaaaaaazing essay collection, but she watched pretty much all of a lengthy Wilhelm Scream video with me. roommate medal of honor goes to! read this with a sound library and/or the internet close to hand, and enjoy.

ALIF THE UNSEEN, G Willow Wilson, July 1 2012: more formal review coming, but suffice to say this book pushes a bunch of my buttons: Arab literature/culture/mysticism, computer programming, oddball characters, political commentary, hijinks, redemption.

LAURA LAMONT’S LIFE IN PICTURES, Emma Straub, September 4 2012: an incredibly satisfying read. from Elsa Emerson to Laura Lamont, Wisconsin girl to silver screen star, the always-entertaining and talented Emma Straub chronicles a woman’s life in Hollywood full of tinsel and glamour and also drugs and people being fucked up, but CLASSY, Y’ALL.

note: these books are not out for a while (see pub dates below), get excited at your own risk

THE YEAR OF THE BEASTS, Cecil Castelluci & Nate Powell, May 22 2012: coming-of-age story told partly in comics, partly in prose. sad and verrrrry well-done; i particularly liked how it’s out of sync until finally, everything comes together.

SORRY PLEASE THANK YOU, Charles Yu, July 24 2012: with some of the same themes as HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE (meta-fiction! more alternate Yu narrators!) and some new, very interesting ones (zombies in the supermarket, emotional outsourcing, narrative-as-flowchart), Yu continues to be a favorite of mine. the more i reflect on it, the more i like it.

THE PECULIAR, Stefan Bachmann, September 1 2012: i don’t know how to talk about the fact that this was written by a teenager, so i won’t. when i started reading it, i was like, HOLY WOW this is a dark and awesome new for-grown-up-people fantasy. and then i checked the back flap and it said it was for children? written by a teenager? broken brain. anyway i’m impressed with it all around. it’s got a mythical-folklorical (shut up that’s a word) heart and is told in a beautifully straightforward style.

THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER, Jasper Fforde, October 2 2012: Jasper Fffffffforde you guyyyyyyys. this book is not long enough, there is So Much More i need to know about this world in which marzipan is a drug (but also government manufactured?) and spells are written in code (ARAMAIC is a coding language?!?) and also can someone please send me a quarkbeast for a pet immediately plz k thx bye. but after i got over mourning that it was Way Too Short For All The Ideas Please I Need More, i enjoyed it thoroughly.

BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel: it’s been years since i read WOLF HALL, so i was prepared for this to take a while to get moving, to have trouble getting into the voice — nope, nope, nope. instantly awesome and utterly captivating. cannot wait for number three.

THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, NK Jemisin: yeah i’m a little obsessed. KILLING MOON was so good! this is the first book in her earlier trilogy; dark, sexy, fun, great female characters. reminds me why i love epic fantasy (especially when it’s not Medieval England epic fantasy)

LIBERATION, Brian Francis Slattery: reread for WORD book group; still freaking awesome. economic apocalypse meets Leverage! what’s not to love?

AURORARAMA, Jean-Christophe Valtat: newly out in paperback, the sequel (LUMINOUS CHAOS) is coming out in October. politics and drugs and drawing rooms in the Arctic, plus a zeppelin full of anarchists. weirdly satisfying.

THE LIKENESS, Tana French: i am late to the Tana French bandwagon, but guys. procedural mysteries that are so much better than that sounds. Ireland! undercover agents! Cassie from IN THE WOODS!

THE KILLING MOON, NK Jemisin: i mentioned already that i was obsessed, right? ninja-priests and dream magic and politics and fascinating cultures and i love this book.

note: i know i owe y’all a couple “read ‘em”s, but for some reason i am blocked on that, so instead you get a snapshot, as it were, of my TBR pile.

RICE BOY, Evan Dahm: found this at Bergen Street Comics (holla!), dude is local and self-published and his graphic novels are STUNNING. was advised that this is the one to start with.

DIAL H, China Mieville: his first comic! holy shit! i am actually going to read something in issues for the first time in my life.

365 SAMURAI AND A FEW BOWLS OF RICE, JP Kalonji: can you tell i spent a lot of time/money at Bergen? i did. this one, the art and sparse text suckered me in.

LAURA LAMONT’S LIFE IN PICTURES, Emma Straub, September 4 2012: Emma is smart and funny and i love her short stories, am going to break into this one as soon as i get my brain back from Jacqueline Carey and NK Jemisin.

BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel: i loved WOLF HALL, cannot wait to see what she does with Anne Boleyn.

i recently recommended a bunch of sf/f to a friend, and the interwebs has asked for the list. your wish is my command, here it is in all its dashed-off glory:

• Jacqueline Carey, SANTA OLIVIA is the one with the boxing but in the militaristic future-setting
• Octavia Butler, FLEDGLING is the first one i read of hers, but they’re all great
• NK Jemisin, THE KILLING MOON is the new one, sort of ancient-Egypt-ish
• Ursula Le Guin (who you maybe have already read? but if not), THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is a masterpiece
• Felix Gilman’s HALF-MADE WORLD is something i regularly recommend to people who like Mieville/Harkaway — and Le Guin blurbed it, which is kind of unheard of
• Brian Francis Slattery (newest book is LOST EVERYTHING, but i think LIBERATION is my favorite) is on my top 10 list as well