Eight books because HOLY COW I'm behind ...

I knew I was behind on my book reviews, but until I counted today, I didn’t realize I was eight books behind! It all started when three of my library holds came in at the same time, and the rest is history. For that reason, I will be limiting my reviews to no more than five or six sentences—which is a shame, since a lot of these books deserve far better treatment.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

I heard lots of great things about this science fantasy novel, and I’m happy to report that all those great things are 100% correct. The way Jemisin braids Essun, Damaya, and Syenite’s stories together in not only different places but different timelines is inspired. It’s the most fun I’ve had reading a book in quite some time. You really ought to pick it up.

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

A few months ago I went to see Nicole Chung speak about her memoir at the American Writers Museum, and I had every intention of buying the book there—but they sold out. Her talk was moving, and so was the book—though the language itself was dryer than I expected. But her story more than made up for it. It’s (almost) hard to believe that there aren’t more adoption stories out there from the perspective of adoptees. It challenged a lot of my assumptions about adoption, even though I didn’t realize I hadcertain assumptions.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

My dear friend Leta adores this book, so I wanted to love it more than I did. I think there may have been a few outside factors coloring my experience: Valente’s extravagant sentences jarred against the plain language of Nicole Chung’s book, and I was also trying to speed read it before my library loan was due. I think I’ll give it another try someday; it’s very much in the style of Douglas Adams, which I normally like, and it’s about glam rock in outer space, which I also like. You should read Leta’s more detailed, more loving review. My favorite part was the brief appearance of a familiar anthropomorphic character from word processing systems past.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang

This was my latest pick for our all-female-authors book club—and I get the impression that I liked it more than the rest of my book club? Maybe it’s because I’ve been following Wang on Twitter for ages—I feel like I know her better, even if we’ve never met in person. These essays are a startling view into Wang’s life with schizoaffective disorder. Some are more academic and less personal that a reader might expect, but I don’t necessarily think that makes the collection less interesting to read.

Hole in the Middle by Kendra Fortmeyer

I LOVED this YA novel! So much could go wrong with a story about a young woman with a genetic disorder that leaves a hole in her abdomen, and a young man with a similar genetic disorder that leaves a congruent lump on his abdomen—but Fortmeyer handles the whole thing with aplomb. From the fitness guru mother to the glass-half-full BFF, the novel is funny, sweet, and touching. I highly recommend it.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

This was our next book club pick, and while I’m always happy to read something by America’s greatest living writer, this wasn’t my favorite of her books. That said, it’s still better than most books I’ve read in my entire life. It’s also her first novel, which she wrote while raising two children alone. I’ve never felt more unaccomplished. This story of a young black girl, perpetually abused, who wishes only for blue eyes to make her “pretty,” is utterly heartbreaking.

Wet Land by Lucas de Lima

Lucas de Lima came to my MFA program all those years ago, and I read a few of his poems there, but I hadn’t read the entire collection until now. The book deals with the death of his friend Ana Maria, who was killed by an alligator, and focuses also on his queerness. Some of the poems had incredible imagery, but he focused so closely on so few themes that they often felt repetitive—although I suspect that was intentional. I know the all-caps text was intentional, but it made the poems harder for me to read—the words all blended in together. It wasn’t my favorite, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be yours. It was a trip, at the very least.

Wild Life by Kathy Fish

I was excited to finally read this collection by the undisputed master of flash fiction, and I wasn’t disappointed. Fish has an amazing talent for packing the emotional depth of a novel into just a few sentences. I found myself dog-earing story after story—yes, I know, I dog-ear books, sorry-not-sorry. If you haven’t read a lot of flash fiction, I’d recommend starting here, with the one woman who’s done more with the genre than anyone else. (You should also take her online class, if you’re interested! It was wonderfully generative.)