pickAdd another to my list of books proving that my personal one-author-short-story-collection-is-superior-to-most-multiple-author-anthologies hypothesis is sound.
As the majority of these stories take place in the Philippines, with an appreciable sprinkling of words I've never heard of, I can't say how much of the legends/creatures featured are of the author's invention versus adaptations of existing mythologies/traditional storytelling. 1/?
Sure, rip my heart out and stomp on it in one paragraph of a five page story, why not?! 🥺
“This was their task: find a new way to survive. Hope was what kept you putting one foot in front of the other. Hope was what kept you laying down your head at night and rising from your cot the next morning.”
Starting this one soon.
#Nurse #CharacterCharm
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#JulyJazz Day 25: Last year I visited the Philippine booth which proudly showcases the Philippine #Flag during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Husband drove us for 90 minutes (one way) so I can get the book gifted to me by a Filipina American novelist (Ninotchka Rosca) whose books were featured during the fair.
Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #johnirving #avenueofmysteries #bookbeast #bookbuds #bookclub #letsread
pickAn absolute joy to read. Exactly what you hope to find in non-fiction by someone with a poetry background.
Such a warm appreciation for food, connecting to remembrances shared with family and friends, of travel, of being the child of immigrants, of discovering the cultures and places of your family tree. 1/?
He 👏🏻just 👏🏻steps 👏🏻up. Bare minimum is showing you care, taking note of the details, “ignore prescribed gender caretaking roles“, but it's still good to see.
While the deep blue cover is a good indication of tone, there is a thread of melancholy and darkness in each story, repeated themes of loss, there are also positive, even happy representations of queerness, a couple stories that suggest demisexual characters, a couple stories that suggest gender nonconforming characters. 4d
Wasn't a fan of the few stories that leaned horror, with one exception.
Below are the ones I loved (which make up most of the collection).
A Cup of Salt Tears
Grief, connection with a monster?, darker fairy tale, somewhat sensual 4d
Future of bioengineering, food security; what is lost, denying the environmental crisis, nostalgia for youth, home, cultural traditions, celebrations
A Spell for Foolish Hearts
Queer love story -witch and magical being - classic misunderstanding but definitely HFN if not guaranteed HEA
4d
Good old-fashioned school girl ghost story playing on the kind of variants that happen when stories are told by many over time - quality chills
Syringe
An impactful five pages, shortest of the bunch. Illness of loved ones a recurring theme, sci fi elements, grief for love lost but also for futures eliminated by introduction of robots in various health care roles 4d
A different version of the underworld and its inhabitants than I'm familiar with, justice more than forgiveness, a focus on what it means to do the right thing 4d
Haven't actually ever watched/read Sailor Moon, but I think that's where the 'magical girl transformation' thing came from? Anyways this is 'what if sailor moon type group were ambushed by a monster on th eve of one their member's marriage/bachelorette party, which sounds like a blast but it's definitely darker, slightly more reflections of traumatized veterans than bad ass women action montage 4d
Dealing with corrupt or ineffectual systems of justice, class system, where only some feel protected, and it's not by the law but their power, vengeance, curses and healers, cycles of violence? Also, there are bugs, *shudders* 😖
How to Swallow the Moon
Possibly my favourite, don't want to give too much away, queer love story with strong fantasy elements ♥️ 4d
⚠️SA, child death, suicide attempt, body horror, child abuse, paedophilia, internalized misogyny 4d