Welcome to Litsy!

After writing Apsara Engine, Som started writing this graphic memoir in the form of a comics journal, using the character of Anjali, a cis woman, as a stand-in for herself, a trans woman. On the podcast T4T, Som described this process as a form of therapy which led her to deepened understanding of her own identity. ⬇️
#lammynominee #transcomics #translit #catsoflitsy

I‘ve never recommended a book I‘m bailing on before, but this story is great, and the story behind/within the story is great!!! When Bishakh started writing this she created a female avatar for herself to tell the story, and slowly, over the course of the book‘s creation, writing as that avatar helped her to realize she is a trans woman.👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

This comic is somewhere between a journal comic (which I love) and a graphic memoir. It felt unfocused because of that, but it was also interesting seeing what she wanted to deep-dive into. It was interesting seeing her struggle with her decision to suddenly re-track her life to draw comics. The pretty font style gave me a really hard time because I'm dyslexic, so it took me a while to make things out. #LGBTQ #Comic #GraphicMemoir #JournalComic

My judgy cat frequently sounds like she's saying "wow" after something we say or do, so this made me laugh ? #Comic #Cats

I'm really struggling with this font style. I'm not sure if it's because of dyslexia, or something else, but it's taking a lot of effort to puzzle through! #Comic #LGBTQIA #Memoir #Dyslexia

3.5⭐/5⭐

I headed back into comics last night with Bishakh Som‘s slice-of-life memoir about the time she spent creating her previous book, APSARA ENGINE. There‘s a lot of cooking, a lot of introspection, and an excellent cat named Ampersand. It left me glad I‘ve got her collection in my stack. #gaymay

Bengali American trans femme cartoonist Bishakh Som does an unusual thing in her graphic memoir: she uses a cis woman as a stand-in for herself. It works perfectly. I really enjoyed following her life‘s trajectory, quitting her job as an architect in order to focus on her own art. She‘s mostly alone with her cat, ranting about other people‘s boorish behaviour when she ventures out, but continues looking for a woman to love. #LGBTQ #comics

I talk about the tagged book and several others—plus book clubs and cooking—in my latest Friday Reads video: https://youtu.be/CG3keZU499U
Oh, and my cat Frida makes a guest appearance. 😊

-Are you even listening to me?
-Just Instagramming my bibimbap… keep talkin, babe.

Wouldn‘t it be great to be one of those alien species on Star Trek that are pure energy or light? They don‘t drive Escalades or start wars or eat other light-energy energies. I would be happy as a dolphin too. Or a cat.

Then again, I have all these #LGBTQ #GraphicNovels and #GraphicMemoirs . #LMPBC #Round13

Books Read August: 35
5-star reads:13

Audiobook:3
eBook:17
Print:15

Library: 7
Personal: 11 (subscription: 1)
Review:17

Comics: 2
Memoir: 4
Non-fiction: 5
Poetry: 4
Sci-fi/fantasy: 3
Translated:11

Around the World: 18
Booker or International Booker: 3
Middle East 2020: 5
Read the World:1
Sword and Laser: 1
Tournament of Books: 1
Upstate International Book Club: 1
Women in Translation Month: 1 at very end of July, 8.5 in August