Welcome to Whatcha Reading! This is where we talk about what we’ve been reading lately, both the good and the bad.
Shana: Yay! I just finished the last Murderbot book this week. Want moar!
Right now I’m reading Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, and snarky main character has thoroughly sucked me in.
Sarah: Gosh I love both of those.
Currently I am reading Unmasking Autism by Dr. Devon Price and I just inhaled Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. It’s out this fall (I’m sorry) but holy crap it’s got rage, subversion, revenge, travel and location p0rn, a tense plot and it was a freaking ride.
Preorder or request from your library so you get high on the list. It’s So fun
Susan: I missed that you were talking about two books so I had a genuine moment of “Wait, why does a book about autism need location porn?”
No, the rage and revenge was not a clue.
Sarah: LOL sorry!!
I mean, Dr. Price justifiably goes OFF about the ableist history of Autistic diagnosis and the full on eugenics history of the entire Asperger’s diagnosis (Asperger was a eugenicist and Nazi sympathizer) so there is rage and and subversion for sure.
There’s a whole interesting section about how Autistic people self identify (Autistic/people with Autism, etc) when the terminology has changed so much, and the origins of diagnosis come from deeply, deeply shitty human beings.
It’s a really interesting book. Dr. Price is extremely skilled at having strong opinions and refusing to tolerate false or disingenuous narratives, while also having incredible compassion for anyone trying to understand themselves.
This book, btw, is terrific.
There’s a lot of discussion about neurodivergent community overlaps, between Autistic people and people with ADHD, and another overlap with genderqueer and trans people who are one or both – it’s really, really thoughtful and interesting.
Sneezy: I’ve recently restarted the webtoon Her Tale of Shim Chong by seri and biwan. It’s a f/f retelling of a Korean folktale. I really like the art, and totally peeked at the end so I know there’s an HEA!!!!
I think it’s only on Pocket Comic right now, and the platform is only available on Android and iOS.
I’d stopped reading before because I couldn’t handle the feels stabbing then. I’m totally ready now!!!!
Narrator: And that was the last time anyone ever heard from Sneezy.
Shana: This is making me really want to read Unmasking Autism. So, I just finished Hench, loved it to pieces, and why isn’t there more?
Sarah: I did an interview with the author, and asked if there would be more. A sequel wasn’t contracted at that time but I was informed that MANY tabs were open on a nearby browser about how insects have sex.
Shana: OMG. It’s going to be Strange Love all over again. I will just hold that hope close to my chest.
Sarah: I hope so!
What are you reading? Let us know below!
:::runs at top speed in to “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, because I just watched THAT episode of Stranger Things last night and the mind was blown:::
This past few books have been a mixed bag. I started things off with Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz, one of the Orphan X books. This one was as straightforward as Evan ever gets. Someone needed his help, they called the number, he did his thing. What has been nice has been watching him develop relationships with others, including the cute DA next door Mia and my personal favorite, failed Orphan/expert hacker/teenager who loves to troll Evan/clear surrogate daughter Joey, who continues to be an asset as well as comic relief. I read it right after finished House of Sky and Breath, and like that, the last page/sentence had me going “WHAT THE F*&^?!?!?!?”. Then I read Star Witch by Helen Harper, and enjoyed it, mostly. I could have used slightly better pacing, which was a little too lazy in places (much like the protagonist), but any book with a talking cat that fully knows his worth is never a bad thing. I also thought the bad guy could have used some work, but I did like the ending. Which brings us to now, in which I’m reading The Wicked Hour by Alice Blanchard. It’s keeping me going, but this is another one where the pacing could use some work. It’s getting better, and I like the spooky-season vibe of it, but the procedure is getting a bit tedious, and that’s coming from someone that likes procedurals for the most part. But I want to know who seems to be kidnapping and killing violinists, so along I go. So until next time kids, I think we all need to keep running up the hill.
The past few weeks have been fairly rainy and coolish, so lots of time to read, knit, and accumulate yarn for the future knitting projects. Here are some of the books read:
A Lot like Adios (Alexis Daria): Second book in Daria’s Prima series about 3 female cousins who grew up together in the Bronx. First book, You Had Me at Hola, is about Jasmine, a tv actor. Adios is about Michelle, who, disillusioned and burned out, left her position at a prestigious marketing company, to become a self-employed graphic designer. Her work is less stressful, but also less interesting. Still Michelle tells herself that she is content with that trade-off, just like she claims she is content with keeping everyone at arms-length emotionally. But things goes sideways after she is contacted by a partner in a successful LA gym. The gym is planning to open a second location in NYC and the partner, who really admires a marketing campaign that Michelle had created back at her old job, wants Michelle to come up with the marketing campaign for the NYC opening. The only problem is that other partner in the gym is Michelle’s former best friend, Gabe, who left NY at 18 to get away from his overcontrolling parents and who, after he left, never contacted Michelle. To say that these two have some issues to work their way through is a bit of understatement. Even though Gabe was an unmitigated ass by ghosting Michelle for 13 years, I still ended up enjoying this book — in part, I think, because Daria does a nice job of subverting romantic/gender stereotypes. Michelle is the one who is more emotionally independent/closed off and more forceful and direct. Although members of her family can be just as overbearing and overcontrolling as members of Gabe’s family, she has no problem pushing back or setting boundaries. Gabe, a beta hero and people pleaser, tries to avoid conflict and finds it nearly impossible to say no. All too often in his life he has taken the path of least resistance, instead of articulating and advocating for the things that he needs or wants. By the end of the book Michelle is becoming more open with those she loves and ready to again take more challenging and fulfilling work, while Gabe has begun to learn to set boundaries and to advocate for himself and his dreams.
The Kaiju Preservation Society (John Scalzi): Short fun satirical science fiction novel about the opening months of the pandemic, the gig economy, corporate maleficence, the possibility of alternate earths, top-secret science projects, and the importance of hiring people who read books and can lift things. No romance, but bonus points for the CanCon (Canadian content)!
Book Lovers (Emily Henry): Book Lover opens with Nora, the heroine, telling us that as a literary agent and book lover, she is of course, familiar with all sorts of literary conventions and that she tends, as a result, to view herself and others as characters in a story. Unfortunately, in much of her life Nora sees herself not as a main character, but rather as a secondary one – the helpful sister, the supportive agent, and, in romantic relationships, the “other” woman – the ambitious, urbanite who is dumped by the “hero” for the small-town heroine and a more bucolic lifestyle. At several points in the book Nora also mentions some contemporary romance authors’ names – which should have strengthened the sense that Nora is familiar with romance novels and their conventions. Except I’m pretty sure that every romance author mentioned in Book Lover has never written a romance that vilifies the “other woman” simply because she lives in the city and rides a Peloton. Furthermore it turns out that Nora’s only an occasional romance reader – her mother (who died about decade earlier) and her younger sister Libby are the big romance readers in the family. So while the fun opening premise promises that the romance between Nora and Charlie (the hero) will be front and center in Book Lover, the reality is that romance plot is occasional, just like Nora’s romance reading. The romance and, even the hero (sorry Charlie!), could be removed without messing up the actual central story, which is about Nora figuring out how to be the main character in her own life and recalibrating her relationship with Libby. There’s some great banter between Nora and Charlie and some really funny scenes in Book Lover, but it’s not a romance — it’s more like Disney’s Frozen I & II. In fact in Book Lover even book love takes a second place to sister love.