I’m Cranky

Sorry this one doesn’t have a nice header. The SquareSpace app is being a bitch.

Which made me even more cranky than I was when I started these reviews.

It’s true. I’m cranky. I don’t know if that’s make me a more harsh judge of the books I’m reading or if it’s making me more specific about what I want to be reading but I’m in one of those spots where I’m DNFing more than usual and it’s stuff that, from descriptions, I thought I was really going to enjoy. Of course, there are always books that turn out to be different than the impression the few sentences in the blurb give you and that can be a good thing, a bad thing, or a thing that is completely neutral given individual proclivities, neuroplasticities, and aforementioned moods. At the moment, I’m going to go with a resounding “meh.”

There is a certain freedom in not finishing a book that isn’t resonating with you, especially if, like me, you’re someone who used to think it was your sworn duty to finish any book you opened which, quite frankly, I’ve realized is a waste of time I don’t have. Some books aren’t for me; that doesn’t mean they’re bad, it means they’re not for me and that’s fine. There are a lot of people in the world and someone else on this marble is going to find it and love it and that makes me happy. Very, very rarely a book is, in fact, bad. It happens. Those books are for no one. So be it.

Despite being cranky, there are several things that have floated my sulky boat since last we came together. Let’s see if we can turn things around by talking about those:

Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Random House Audio)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780593317334

When this audiobook ended, I actually yelled, “The fuck,” because damn, I did not see that coming and then… that was it. Brutal as the act itself, the story was over and there was no more and I almost started it over again immediately because the fuck? It’s a sixteen hour book and there were times I wanted to listen and didn’t because when I did, I was that much closer to running out and then I ran out and didn’t know what to do with myself, and the hangover was real with this one, my friends.

A stunning indictment of the American prison system, but told within the framework of a compelling story by characters about whom the reader couldn’t help but care, and some with whom she couldn’t help falling in love. Distinct voices that were more than willing to acknowledge their faults while also showing their scars, revealing their very, very serious wrongs while somehow, maintaining their humanity. The complexity and subtlety of every aspect of this narrative is deft and brilliant and human it’s impossible to forget that even the worst of us are, like the best of us, struggling souls trying to survive a world that wants to see us all dead in the end, that while we may never forgive or forget, while they may never deserve either, they are still among our number, and we still bear responsibility for their fate along with our own.

My brain changed in a fundamental way while listening to this book. Give yours a chance to do the same.

Send Them a Farewell Gift for The Last Time by Cocomi (Tokyo Pop/LoveLove)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781427875242

Naruse left Toui because the novelist wasn’t giving his boyfriend what Naruse needed in a relationship and yet Naruse finds himself back in his old apartment, and with his ex, time and again, running into each other at favorite hangouts, falling into old routines, and even spending the night. What he still can’t get Toui to do, is talk to him about why he pays so little attention to the things that are important to Naruse and why it’s so easy for him to disengage from their livtogether when Toui seems to fall apart without his other half.

I know a lot of you think the BL manga/manhua is just about the sex - it usually isn’t, even Dick Fight Island (https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781974726554) had an actual story line that wasn’t about the dick fighting - and while Send Them a Farewell Gift does have some explicit bits, at it’s core, it’s a story about the importance of communication. The more serious storyline shouldn’t be surprising given that Cocomi, is also the author/illustrator of Restart After Coming Back Home (https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781648276767) which is a very sweet book about a big city guy losing his job and (shocker) returning to the small town where he grew up only to find himself in (somewhat confusing and definitely unexpected) love with an old friend. I particularly liked Send Them a Farewell Gift, however, because part of what it takes Naruse time to vocalize, and Toui even longer to understand, is something so many people never understand: sometimes, one does things that are important to their partner because that thing is important to their partner. That person could care less and often, the task is as simple as moving trash bags from the kitchen to the dumpster or making sure the dishes are done before bed. It’s understanding that someone else’s priorities may not match yours but that the little things do count and so, because you love your partner, you make them important to you. You make sure your partner feels heard, feels important. Because in a selfish world, that’s what really counts.

More Perfect by Temi Oh (Saga Press)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781982142834s

I finished More Perfect on the same day Musk Melon announced that his company had successful implanted a neural thingy into some poor schmoe and wow, was that a thing that happened because when I closed this book I was ready to dump all of my technology down a damn sewer. I will say, “No thank you evil,” until the day I die to someone implanting anything that can receive a wireless signal into my brain which has already had quite enough of everyone’s garbage, thank you and no, I don’t want any trackers or ability to make and receive calls or any of that kind of bullshit either.

Like Adjei-Brenyah above, Temi Oh suffused her retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice with the politics of connectivity and individuality in such a way as to make one realize that while we can’t avoid, nor should we necessarily want to, our shrinking and ever more closely knitted human community, we can’t have it without allowing for increased surveillance nor without compromising, to at least some extent, our freedoms. Where then, do we draw the line? What are we willing to give up to have instant communication with friends and family across the world? To know that our children are safe in an emergency? That there hasn’t been a recall on any of the food in our refrigerator? Our names and addresses? Our social security numbers? Our current locations? Our banking information? If we want an AI to select our wardrobe for us, are we just giving it our measurements and preferences or are we giving it the tools to extrapolate more about us from a delivery address and pricing requests and our credit card balance? Is love real if our minds are synched with those of others and we share our thoughts or is the intimacy artificial? Can we truly known anyone if we know everyone? Can such a society be ethical if the implants are mandatory?

We’re on the same pivot point that society has just tipped in More Perfect. And we could very easily go the same way (no, I’m not telling you which way, ready the book). It all sounds, well… perfect. But a lot of things do. Until they’re not.

Captain Laserhawk: Blood Dragon Remix by Ben Kahn and Bayou Kun (TokyoPop/LoveLove)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781427874047

Hahahaha. This book is bananas and you’ll love it. Just read it and also watch the six episode show on Netflix.

Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice: A Thai Comic Book Cookbook by Christina De Witte and Mallika Kauppinen (Ten Speed Press, 5/4)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781984861603

Comic cookbooks started popping up a few years ago and in my humble opinion, there should be a lot more of them.

Because here’s the thing about food photography: it’s fake.

Those photos you see in cookbooks? They’re not really even food anymore. They’re sprayed and painted and substituted and shined up and they’ve been touched so much even if you could eat them, you probably wouldn’t want to. Also, cookbooks very rarely show you the in between stages of a recipe for the exact reason that they aren’t pretty. Raw eggs? Gross. Raw chicken? Even more gross. Do you know how many times I’ve have to redo cream sauce because the first one breaks on me? Have you seen broken cream sauce? Blech. Also, those flashy, glossy pictures? They’re expensive and they make the books giant, which both increases the prices and cuts down on publisher revenue.

The solution?

Comic book cookbooks.

Because here’s the thing people always forget about comics: they’re a medium, not a genre. Which means you can do anything as a comic, including show the various stages of a recipe. It won’t even look nasty. In fact, it will look pretty cool. People will be able to get a visual on all the in between steps to go along with the written directions, know what their tools are supposed to look like and how to handle them, get a basic idea of volumes of ingredients, and have a representation of a final recipe, with fewer words, no need for fancy paper, and thus a reasonable price for both buyer and publisher.

I particularly like Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice because it has graphics for all the steps of each recipe, a great ingredients list that uses both words and little emoji-type graphics, and shows proper prep steps for every ingredient in a given recipe. It even uses a digital clock face to explain how long each step of a given recipe should take, one that is large enough to read easily and can be read by kids who want to help. It also gives a little history lesson in each chapter, which is is important - at least in my family where I try to make sure my kids know where their food comes from and what goes into preparing it. And last, well, it’s just plan cute.

We’ll definitely be using this one a lot in my house.

Minecraft: The Crafter’s Kitchen For Young Chefs and Their Families (Random House Worlds, 3/19)

https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780593579923

We haven’t made a ton of recipes from this book yet but I can tell you that what we have made has been delicious and my kids really love it because at 11 and 14, they can make most of what’s in here by themselves with me standing by for occasional assistance and to make sure no one catches a dish towel on fire or etc.

We got some squealing when they first flipped through it and saw that it was divided into the terrains of the game and that there were recipes in each section that they were excited to make. There are quite a few sticky notes in it that they plan to get to over the next few weeks. I can tell you that the potato-chili quesadillas are to die for. Like, literally, I would roll a brick or whatever at a Steve to get him out of the way for one. So good.

See? Not all bad.

Now I want noodles though.