What a delight to find this book by Kate Carroll de Gutes. While I wait for her book Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, which won the 2016What a delight to find this book by Kate Carroll de Gutes. While I wait for her book Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, which won the 2016 Oregon Book Award for creative nonfiction and the Lambda Literary Award for memoir, I saw that this was available immediately via Hoopla and I devoured it in one night - a memoir that is so resonant in its attempt to relate honestly via a month-long Facebook challenge, turned book of essays, about grief, panic, and figuring out how to be human and make your way through this world, fantastic bowtie and all.
From a review on Two Sylvia's Press, "In 2012, Kate Carroll de Gutes found herself at a rest stop “ruined with anxiety. And when I say ruined, I mean in a car, in hundred-degree weather, with all the windows rolled up, sobbing and crouched in the passenger’s seat rocking and waiting for the Ativan to take effect. I posted on Facebook, ‘Hello, Redding. Dear gods yer hot.’ A funny post that let my family and friends know where I was, but not how I was.” " Thank goodness that prompted Kate to share so much more about how she *really* was....more
Sometimes I choose not to rate books - especially memoirs where I am so so so glad that they exist and that there are more voices being heard but wherSometimes I choose not to rate books - especially memoirs where I am so so so glad that they exist and that there are more voices being heard but where the writing/editing/flow itself was lacking enough that I can't really give it a very high rating. Such is the case here. SO grateful for more books that create space for intersex folks to see themselves and for others to learn from intersex activists like Alicia....more
Maybe a 5 star read, actually. I keep going back and forth. Worth reading either way, this is a novel full of beauty, brilliance, and brutality. ThankMaybe a 5 star read, actually. I keep going back and forth. Worth reading either way, this is a novel full of beauty, brilliance, and brutality. Thank you to Roxane Gay Books, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, for the last two beautiful books that I have read....more
This is the kind of book that I often make myself slow down and savor. As soon as I opened this part memoir, part scientific writing fusion, all the wThis is the kind of book that I often make myself slow down and savor. As soon as I opened this part memoir, part scientific writing fusion, all the way queer incandescence, I knew that it was bound to be one of my favorite books this year and I wanted it to L A S T. I only read one chapter per day for the first few and then I decided that I needed the rest all in one sitting, snuggled under a blanket on the couch, exclaiming aloud to my loves at times about the brilliant writing and the ways that the author makes gorgeous comparisons between life in the sea and life as a queer human. LOVE IT. 'Pure Life' and 'My Mother and the Starving Octopus' were my two favorites, though I loved every one of the sections. From 'Pure Life', an examination of how communities form and nourish each other in interconnected ways despite the harshest of circumstances, I give you these two quotes to whet your appetite and hopefully make you seek out anything that Imbler writes- now or in the future,
"Hydrothermal vents revolutionized many of science's core ideas about life, how and where it could exist. It is only logical that scientists assumed the strange creatures living on the seafloor would survive on the flecks of fish that died nearer the surface, the scraps of sun-touched society. But these animals eked out an alternative way of life. I prefer to think of it not as a last resort but as a radical act of choosing what nourishes you. As queer people, we get to choose our families. Vent bacteria, tube worms, and yeti crabs just take it one step further. They choose what nourishes them. They turn away from the sun and toward something more elemental, the inner heat and chemistry of Earth."
and
"When Alvin returned to the once-teeming Rose Garden in 2002 only to confront a cataclysm preserved in cooled lava, the scientists were crushed. But surveys nearby revealed a miniature garden in its own right: tiny tube worms and walnut sized mussels. They realized life here probably took root in the wake of the lava flow that had quenched Rose Garden. They named the site Rosebud. In 2005, Woods Hole researchers returned to Rosebud to find the communities flourishing - mature creatures shimmering in the chemical warmth. The Rosebud site, scientists wrote, highlighted the dynamic nature of deep-sea sites. Oases here, where so few things are certain, inevitably blink on and off. But life always finds a place to begin anew, and communities in need will always find one another and invent new ways to glitter, together, in the dark."
Thanks E + N for this amazing birthday gift. Being known so well is a gift as well!...more
My rating is primarily based on "Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc" , the first story in the collection by S J Sindu. If you have followed my reMy rating is primarily based on "Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc" , the first story in the collection by S J Sindu. If you have followed my reviews this last few years, you will know that Sindu is one of my favorite new authors and both "Blue Skinned Gods" and "Marriage of a Thousand Lies" are books I recommend to everyone. This collection of short stories felt like a very different project for the author, and the first story is the most successful in my opinion. "Wild Ale" had a similar feeling and it was definitely 2nd runner up for me. I will continue to read every single thing this author writes! I join the Chicago Review of Books in that, apparently.
In a review, they say, "To follow SJ Sindu’s work over the past few years is to admire diversity of form. From novels (Marriage of a Thousand Lies, Blue-Skinned Gods) to children’s literature (Shakti) to chapbooks (Dominant Genes) to short stories, Sindu proves there are so many ways interpret modern life—through fairy tale tropes, literary parallels, and tightly framed narratives. In The Goth House Experiment, Sindu understands each concept they take on and follows them from beginning to end, never shying away from emotional detail.
The first story, “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc,” borders on cringe-inducing with its temporality. It is always challenging to read about present-day technology, and Sindu exploits this discomfort in excruciating detail. Our narrator, a middle-aged professor in a newly open marriage, is thrust into the world of TikTok trends and viral infamy. As the boundaries between her private and social life dissolve, she cries out for nuance from an audience incapable of it. While the unrealistic pace of Sindu’s narrator’s descent is comical, stretched to horror proportions that don’t resonate until the end, the story sheds light on what it means to exist on and offline, and how such choices are not always in our hands. "
And the author provides a bit more context in a recent interview, sharing, "I’m also really interested in this sense of isolation we feel as we get increasingly connected to each other. It’s really fascinating to me that the more globally connected we get and the more connected we get on social media, the more isolated and lonely people have felt. It’s really interesting because, ostensibly, we go to social media for community. But instead of finding a loving community, often we find the opposite, and we find community that polices us or that is toxic in some ways or that gossips or that attacks us. I’m also really interested in the ways there’s infighting within communities." The author also shares in the interview that writing the first story “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc” pulls a lot of its material from real life - things that Sindu has actually experienced. It makes sense then, that this story feels the most complete, the most real, and the one that I felt able to connect with on a visceral level. Identity politics, biological essentialism, polyamory, cancel culture, and the incredibly dangerous lure of TikTok (HOW does five hours go by in a blink?! I had to delete the app because I could not figure out how to be moderate either.) combine to make this a really compelling take on this moment in time.
This was a terrific short read - a YA graphic novel that I adored and can't wait to gift the kiddos in my life! It's a story of a middle-schooler who This was a terrific short read - a YA graphic novel that I adored and can't wait to gift the kiddos in my life! It's a story of a middle-schooler who has had to move with her queer moms AGAIN and finds herself in a school that is run by three bullies, who just happen to use magic to stay popular. They don't count on the main character, Shakti, having her OWN Hindu-specific magic and matrilineal witchcraft practice to bring to the party. The ways that Shakti and her best friend Xi navigate this is the crux of the book and the story arc allows for a beautiful sharing of information about Durga Ma and Kali Ma within the story of Shakti's own family and friends taking on the bullies at the center of the story.
I would expect nothing less from SJ Sindu, whose adult novels are among my favorites of the last years (go read them if you haven't yet - Blue-Skinned Gods and Marriage of a Thousand Lies - and thank me later). This beautiful story is exactly the book I would have hoped for, with two moms who just ARE and whose queerness is not even a plot point, a racially diverse set of schoolmates, and lots of Hindu-specific culture! Check out a portion of an interview with them below to hear more about why this book was the book that needed to be written.
"Question - Your book ties in with themes in your other works – it’s a story that centers the lived experiences of those within the Tamil diaspora and that touches on LGBTQIA+ identities. Tell us more about those themes and why you want to reach middle-grade readers.
Answer - I think I’m just trying to go back in time and give myself the stories I needed. And that’s been a perpetual theme in my work and obsession in my work for a long time. I grew up really without any mirrors around me. Not that mirrors are the end-all be-all – visual representation is not the end-all be-all of having an inclusive and diverse society. But at the same time, when you’re really young and you’re watching and consuming a lot of Disney and children’s media, when that representation doesn’t exist, it really does make you feel like an outsider. And that’s something I write about a lot is outsiders in various different ways – loners and artists, outsiders because of different identities that people might have.
I think there’s been a lot of representation lately in the adult literary space with South Asian narratives. A lot of big awards have been given to South Asian novels. The New York Times has covered South Asian literary novels, but I still don’t see a lot of that in the middle-grade and YA space. We definitely don’t see it on TV or in the movies, especially with children’s media. So I think putting my efforts into YA and middle-grade has been a recent interest of mine because it doesn’t seem to quite exist in the same way. And if it does, the representation in the children’s space seems really reductive and very simple and does not reflect the kind of diversity that even South Asian identities have.
South Asia is a large space, and mostly it’s dominated by Indian and Pakistani narratives, especially North Indian and Pakistani narratives. And people from places like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh – we’re not represented very well, especially with Tamil identity. Tamil identity is a very specific thing, and linguistically, ethnically, culturally, religiously sometimes, it’s a very unique space. And I wanted to bring that to the middle-grade and YA space because I don’t really see it there."
Totally enjoyed this. His 'stages of winter' list had me laughing out loud in public. This was my first experience of this author and I look forward tTotally enjoyed this. His 'stages of winter' list had me laughing out loud in public. This was my first experience of this author and I look forward to more....more
I will always read a banned book. Banned books are the ones that often hold the stories that more conservative folks don't want told - and those are tI will always read a banned book. Banned books are the ones that often hold the stories that more conservative folks don't want told - and those are the exact stories I want to read and to make sure are around for others to read. This is absolutely one of those books. The author says, “I realised that the more I hold back, the more harm happens to the next generation who needs this information. Which weighs more: the weight of me having to be a little more vulnerable or the weight that I’d feel if I kept something back, and have to watch someone be harmed because I said nothing?”. And so they tell so many of their truths - about violence and sexual assault, about being raised in a loving family and still worrying about coming out, about sex and desire and being honest with yourself, about being Black and gay in a culture that targets you for either of those identities.
While I thought that the book could have used more editing, I loved the honesty and the voice that shone through. I found this great interview with the author at https://www.npr.org/2022/10/25/113043... and totally recommend taking a listen. As they put it, "The book is about growing up Black and queer, and always feeling different but not having the words to express it. Over the past couple of years, at least 29 school districts have banned the book because of its LGBTQ content and for being sexually explicit." MORE memoirs like this, please. ...more
The NYTimes review has a title that really encapsulates what was so engaging about this book.
"In the Deep South, a Search for Queer Identity - Casey PThe NYTimes review has a title that really encapsulates what was so engaging about this book.
"In the Deep South, a Search for Queer Identity - Casey Parks’s “Diary of a Misfit” pieces together the elusive history of a Louisiana musician who spent all his life in a community that misgendered him." ...more
I really enjoyed this book. It's the 2nd of her books that I have picked up and finished quickly this month and this one was my favorite, by far. A boI really enjoyed this book. It's the 2nd of her books that I have picked up and finished quickly this month and this one was my favorite, by far. A book that was full of a sense of place in every story line, and with lots of beautiful and descriptive language and characters that grew on me with every page of the book. ...more
I pre-ordered and received this book in the fall of 2023 and it went into my giant TBR pile and only just yesterday got picked up. And then not put doI pre-ordered and received this book in the fall of 2023 and it went into my giant TBR pile and only just yesterday got picked up. And then not put down again until it was fully read - and thoroughly enjoyed. I realized as I read that because I am a huge Roxane Gay fan from her earliest days, that I had already read most of the essays gathered here. That did not make it one bit less joyful for me, rather I loved reading them in chronological order - essentially bingeing an entire season of a show rather than having to wait a week for the next episode to be released. The book has a new preface, and even those few new pages of her wisdom and voice made me so grateful again to be living in the world at the same time as Roxane Gay.
“Every day, I try to make the best decisions possible about what I create, what I consume, and who I collaborate with - but living in the world, participating in capitalism, requires moral compromise. I am not looking for purity; it doesn't exist. Instead, I'm trying to do the best I can, and take a stand when I think I can have an impact.”
“Understanding when to speak on an issue and when to listen and learn is an invaluable skill I continue to hone. At times, people treat me like an opinion vending machine, asking me what I think about their favorite television show or a politician running for office or a recent calamity, as if opinion writing is merely emotional utterance rather than a practice that requires care and consideration.”...more
“This better world — that is the world I’m fighting for […] A world that is kinder, more generous, more just. A world that4.5 and I leave this here...
“This better world — that is the world I’m fighting for […] A world that is kinder, more generous, more just. A world that takes care of the marginalized, the poor, the sick. Where wealth and resources are redistributed, where reparations are made for the harms of history, where stolen land is given back. Where the environment is cared for and respected, and all species are cared for and respected. Where conflicts are dealt with in gentleness. Where people take care of each other and feel empowered to be their truest selves. Where anger is allowed and joy is allowed and fun is allowed and quietness is allowed and loudness is allowed and being wrong is allowed and everything, everything, everything is rooted in love. […] I’m not naїve to think we’ll reach this utopia in my lifetime or possibly ever, but I’m also not faithless enough to think that the direction in which I strive doesn’t matter, that these smaller versions of the world aren’t leading us there.”...more
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