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(group member since Jun 26, 2020)
Cat’s
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from the Book to the Future! group.
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2022 kicks off with Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May! It is the first in a queer space opera duology, following seven different resistance fighters. RSVP to the event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/january-...
Buy the book! https://www.oldtownbooks.com/item/deH...
Some content warnings, provided from the author's website (link below):
Content Notes:
We wanted to provide potential trigger warnings for those who many need them. Remember that there is no shame in wanting to know what lies between pages. Likewise, it’s fine to think you’ll be all right, then realise you need to put the book down for a time or for good.
Seven Devils is a violent and bloody book about revolution and resistance. The Tholosian empire is misogynist, classicist, racist/xenophobic (mostly against the Evoli, a human civilisation and longterm enemy–this is due to fear of their empathic abilities, not the colour of their skin. Both Tholosians and Evoli have varied skin tones), homophobic, and transphobic. We have characters that are assassins, soldiers, sex workers, or have had to defend themselves with violence to survive. There is reference to various types abuse at the hands of the empire. There are off page allusions to sex work. We have deliberately avoided on-page sexual violence. Our goal is to portray the reality of living under such an oppressive regime honestly but not gratuitously.
A list: Abuse, drugs, manipulative relationships, violence against women, gun violence, some gore, child abuse (emotional), murder, physical assault, kidnapping, injuries (including dismemberment–a leg, a tongue, an eye), brain hacking and neurosurgery, death, body disposal, stabbing, explosions, arson, off-page allusions to sexual violence.
http://www.lauralam.co.uk/book/seven-...
Our May pick for buddy reads is The Witch's Heart, a recent release. Angrboda's story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.
With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she's foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.
We will be discussing Gods of Jade and Shadow on April 4. The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.
Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.
In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.
Hey everyone,If you are interested in voting/suggesting books for future buddy reads, you can check out our group on BookClubz.
https://bookclubz.com/clubs/29246/joi...
This June, we're reading The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart. This book came out in 2020 and the paperback is currently available at Old Town Books.The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is the last book in the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. Each book has its own cast of characters and some references to other characters in previous books, but each is independent of the other and can be read in any order. (The first book--A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet--was a buddy read early in quarantine.)With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop.
At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.
When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, with nothing to do but wait, the trio—an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes—are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they are, or could be, to each other.
Our April book is We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen! This is our first foray into the superhero subgenre of speculative fiction, so interested in seeing how everyone likes it.Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
What time for Sunday?
Finally going to read this. It was on my list for 2020, but I never got around to it.
We'll be kicking off 2021 with a return to space operas! Our illustrious leader and organizer Kim has selected Escaping Exodus for our January 2021 book. Meeting date TBD!You can pick this up at Old Town Books here!
Escaping Exodus is a story of a young woman named Seske Kaleigh, heir to the command of a biological, city-size starship carved up from the insides of a spacefaring beast. Her clan has just now culled their latest ship and the workers are busy stripping down the bonework for building materials, rerouting the circulatory system for mass transit, and preparing the cavernous creature for the onslaught of the general populous still in stasis. It’s all a part of the cycle her clan had instituted centuries ago—excavate the new beast, expand into its barely-living carcass, extinguish its resources over the course of a decade, then escape in a highly coordinated exodus back into stasis until they cull the next beast from the diminishing herd.
And of course there wouldn’t be much of a story if things didn’t go terribly, terribly wrong.
Trigger Warnings: (view spoiler)
Just finished my reread. Love it still. Still stupid eager to read the sequel.
Doug wrote: "A really interesting article on Rebecca Roanhorse, her ethnic/tribal background and whether her writing about Diné/Navajo deities is cultural appropriation as her tribal heritage is Pueblo. I hav..."
I've followed bits and pieces about the criticism of Roanhorse's writing of Diné culture, and it's a heavy topic. As someone who is also mixed and was denied a lot of their heritage/culture for various reasons, reading the criticism can be really hard. Roanhorse has commented before that she's treated as "not Native enough," which I can empathize with. I don't think there's a "right" answer in this case. But I'll be interested to see if this ties in to Black Sun. I actually wonder if receiving so much criticism for "daring" to engage with a tribal culture that isn't her own is part of the reason she wrote this one.
We've got Cemetery Boys coming up this month for #spookyseason. A trans boy determined to prove he's a brujo to his Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas's paranormal YA debut.
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him.
Bestowed by the ancient goddess of death, Yadriel and the gifted members of his Latinx community can see spirits: women have the power to heal bodies and souls, while men can release lost spirits to the afterlife. But Yadriel, a trans boy, has never been able to perform the tasks of the brujas - because he is a brujo.
When his cousin suddenly dies, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is not his cousin. It's Julian Diaz, the resident bad boy of his high school, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves.
Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
I finally finishedddddd. Also, it's ELDRIDGE, and I spent the entire audiobook thinking they were saying "ELDRITCH" and thought that was a completely new layer...but apparently not.
Harini wrote: "I'm new to this group, how does this work? Would the discussion be a live audio chat? Or would it be like a whatsapp chat where we can text our thoughts?"Hey Harini, welcome to the group! You can post thoughts about the books we're reading for buddy reads or even book club picks in the associated thread.
Book club picks are books picked for the monthly meeting, and that information is available at Old Town Books, the book club sponsor/host! Upcoming books are Cemetery Boys for October, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue for November, and Black Sun for December. They each have their own associated thread.
Once a month, OTB hosts a Zoom call where we can get together to discuss the book club pick! Buddy reads were started because quarantine is boring and some of us wanted to read other books that have been out for a bit, or new reads, separate from book club. We pick a new book for each month, though I believe we are taking a break for November/December because of the holidays.
If you have any other questions, let us know! I think I covered most of it, but don't hesitate to reach out.
Not planned, no. But feel free to post here with your thoughts! We MIGHT be able to do another buddy read discussion, but schedules are pretty busy.
Bit of a change of plans! We will be having another discussion of Gideon this Sunday. The discussion of Harrow is pushed back to next weekend (9/20).
I've started this on audiobook!
Rabiah wrote: "Y'all, I posted on the IG chat but here is the link for sunday: https://meet.google.com/nzf-ajxb-thsI can repost on sunday again. feel free to email me: biachild13@gmail.com for a direct invite"
I am actually REALLY looking forward to testing out the Google Meet thing????
And I am HAPPY to talk about BOTH necromancer lesbians AND time traveling spy lesbians tomorrow. :D
Oh man thank you for that warning, Rabiah
