I don't have a theme this month -- just some titles I've been enjoying and meaning to share. Please accept this list of excellent books you should absolutely read.
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Nimona by ND Stevenson
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.
But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.
Why you should read it: You know how sometimes you put off reading something for a really long time because you know you're going to have very intense feelings about it? Nimona was one of those titles for me. I knew I needed to read it. I knew I was going to love it when I finally did. But I kept putting it off until a friend put it in my hands and told me to stop dicking around. And I did love it. And you will too. Please read the hell out of this gorgeous fantasy graphic novel with all its quirky heart.
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Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time. The accumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.
Why you should read it: I'm not usually a big reader of poetry, but I absolutely inhaled this. Beautiful and honest and painful and SO GOOD. There isn't a whole lot I feel equipped to say about this book, but I recommend it with my entire heart.
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Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
James Sommers returned from the war with his nerves in tatters. All he wants is to retreat to the quiet village of his childhood and enjoy the boring, predictable life of a country doctor. The last thing in the world he needs is a handsome stranger who seems to be mixed up with the first violent death the village has seen in years. It certainly doesn’t help that this stranger is the first person James has wanted to touch since before the war.
The war may be over for the rest of the world, but Leo Page is still busy doing the dirty work for one of the more disreputable branches of the intelligence service. When his boss orders him to cover up a murder, Leo isn’t expecting to be sent to a sleepy village. After a week of helping old ladies wind balls of yarn and flirting with a handsome doctor, Leo is in danger of forgetting what he really is and why he’s there. He’s in danger of feeling things he has no business feeling. A person who burns his identity after every job can’t set down roots.
As he starts to untangle the mess of secrets and lies that lurk behind the lace curtains of even the most peaceful-seeming of villages, Leo realizes that the truths he’s about to uncover will affect his future and those of the man he’s growing to care about.
Why you should read it: Speaking of genres that are usually outside my wheelhouse, this book is more cozy mystery than romance (though there is plenty of romance to be found within its pages if, like me, you are mostly here for the romantical feels). Beautifully written with a vivid setting and compelling cast. I very much enjoyed this.
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Nimona by ND Stevenson
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.
But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.
Why you should read it: You know how sometimes you put off reading something for a really long time because you know you're going to have very intense feelings about it? Nimona was one of those titles for me. I knew I needed to read it. I knew I was going to love it when I finally did. But I kept putting it off until a friend put it in my hands and told me to stop dicking around. And I did love it. And you will too. Please read the hell out of this gorgeous fantasy graphic novel with all its quirky heart.
- — - — - — - — -
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time. The accumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.
Why you should read it: I'm not usually a big reader of poetry, but I absolutely inhaled this. Beautiful and honest and painful and SO GOOD. There isn't a whole lot I feel equipped to say about this book, but I recommend it with my entire heart.
- — - — - — - — -
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
James Sommers returned from the war with his nerves in tatters. All he wants is to retreat to the quiet village of his childhood and enjoy the boring, predictable life of a country doctor. The last thing in the world he needs is a handsome stranger who seems to be mixed up with the first violent death the village has seen in years. It certainly doesn’t help that this stranger is the first person James has wanted to touch since before the war.
The war may be over for the rest of the world, but Leo Page is still busy doing the dirty work for one of the more disreputable branches of the intelligence service. When his boss orders him to cover up a murder, Leo isn’t expecting to be sent to a sleepy village. After a week of helping old ladies wind balls of yarn and flirting with a handsome doctor, Leo is in danger of forgetting what he really is and why he’s there. He’s in danger of feeling things he has no business feeling. A person who burns his identity after every job can’t set down roots.
As he starts to untangle the mess of secrets and lies that lurk behind the lace curtains of even the most peaceful-seeming of villages, Leo realizes that the truths he’s about to uncover will affect his future and those of the man he’s growing to care about.
Why you should read it: Speaking of genres that are usually outside my wheelhouse, this book is more cozy mystery than romance (though there is plenty of romance to be found within its pages if, like me, you are mostly here for the romantical feels). Beautifully written with a vivid setting and compelling cast. I very much enjoyed this.
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