november media

[latespring]

I've been off twitter more recently, and that's been good for my ability to annoy my congresspeople and read books, if nothing else. Expect quite a few more books than normal below!

Last month was my birthday month, and I'd love if you tossed me a song for my birthday playlist! It's a playlist I make every year with songs other people send me. Birthday theming is optional, it can just be something you liked recently, or something you'd like me to listen to or bring into the new year.

This is also love meme season (an anonymous yearly thread where you can leave some sweet thoughts for other people anonymously). My post on the thread is here if you'd care to leave me something, and I'd love if you linked me yours if you made one!

I picked up so many shifts this month I'm surprised I had time to read all of this, but I suppose the time really stacks up when you're not on twitter for two hours every day.

That's it from me this month, I think!

Movies

The Cat Returns (2002) and Castle in the Sky (1991)
Me and my friend watched some ghibli movies that we hadn't seen before! These were cute, I kept thinking that the themes in Castle in the Sky (re: technology and war) were still relevant to today.

Books

Stiff by Mary Roach (2003)

• why I read it: I had a friend recommend this one I'm pretty sure.


• thoughts: There was this part in the first chapter of the book that made me cry while driving.
  
  "One young woman's tribute describes unwrapping her cadaver's hands and being brought up short by the realization that the nails were painted pink. "The pictures in the anatomy atlas did not show nail polish," she wrote. "Did you choose the color? Did you think that I would see it? I wanted to tell you about the inside of your hands... I want you to know you are always there when I see patients. When I palpate an abdomen, yours are the organs I imagine. When I listen to a heart, I recall holding your heart."
  
  HOWEVER. This was also pretty unnerving in some places. Roach is decidedly interested in turning over every stone possible when researching the topic of dead bodies, she touches on history, biology, and culture in ways that could feel insensitive. (Her section on China felt decidedly gawk-y in a way I wasn't fond of.) Mostly her writing is down to earth and interested in exploring the whys of what happens to the body after death. Overall I found it to be an interesting read if you're not too bothered by discussion of corpses.
  
  Also, side note, I took this book to a Hozier concert and not one but two people recognized it in the bathroom lmao.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (2020)

• why I read it: A booktuber I like reviewed a bunch of dark academia books, and while I'm not sure I really want to read The Secret History, I picked this up off the list.


• thoughts: This does what it intended to really well I think. It's a fast paced deadly magic school plot, with some really interesting worldbuilding. The thing that throws most people off when they're trying to read this is that it's really heavy on the worldbuilding, sometimes to the detriment of the plot. I thought that was a plus! (There was a bit of worldbuilding she included that reinforced racist stereotypes about black hair thread here but she has since apologized and removed it from current editions of the book.)
  
  The enemies to lovers plot was really fun in my opinion! Novik is also astolat (fic writer), one of the founders of ao3, and so this does a little bit read like Harry Potter fanfic in a way (in that it's school-based story that has quite a bit to do about social hierarchy) I thought was fun.

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (2021)

• why I read it: The cliffhanger the last book ended on was evil. I picked this up near immediately.


• thoughts: This is fun! I think it pulled off the sequel vibes really well, and I really enjoyed the action of it. Novik has a really quick paced plot and this keeps attention in the same way as the first book. I liked the character dynamics!

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (2022)

• why I read it: Finished up the trilogy!


• thoughts: This is a really fun conclusion, it has a pretty ambitious scope but I think it pulls it off. I was pretty satisfied with the ending.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (2023)

• why I read it: A BookTuber I like read this, and I think some mutuals have as well? I read it so that I'd be able to parse some of the statement that have been made about it.


• thoughts: As always, R. F. Kuang is deft at bringing you into a character's emotional landscape of desperation. Something that's always stood out to me in her writing is her ability to make a reading experience compelling, even if the story itself has holes. This book is no exception.
  
  Yellowface is the story of June, a white author, who (by no fault of her own) witnesses her Chinese friend, Athena, die, and decides to take the opportunity to steal Athena's manuscript and pass it off as her own. The story is largely a thriller, though it does try to reach for some literary fiction elements towards the end.
  
  This is an exploration of racism in the publishing industry (specifically anti-asian racism), and for a book that's primarily about one topic, it manages to feel surprisingly surface level. A majority of the book is wrapped up in the main character's white guilt, which leaves less room to explore a themes (I do recognize that the MCs self rationalization taking up the majority of the book and pushing out other types of insight into the publishing world is thematically appropriate, but I think it would be a stronger book with less focus on twitter discourse and more analysis). The book mostly says: hey look this bad thing exists.
  
  Several people have compared this book to Kuang writing an open letter to the publishing industry, and I can see that definitely. I think its strongest point was the relationship between June and Athena, and how much June defined herself against Athena while not really knowing anything about her at all. It was the one compelling relationship in the book, and one character was dead.
  
  It feels like a screenplay, or something more suited to the screen, than a book necessarily. Kuang as always is not a subtle writer, for good or ill. This wasn't the book for me but I feel like it'll be more groundbreaking for people who are not already aware of racism in the publishing industry.


• quotes: "But the living are burdened with bodies. They make shadows, footprints. I would prefer that Athena were alive and stalking me, because then she would leave traces-public spottings, narrative inconsistencies, breadcrumbs of proof. The living can't appear and disappear at will. The living can't haunt you at every turn.

The Autistic Trans Guide to Life by Yenn Purkis, Wenn Lawson, Emma Goodall (2021)

• why I read it: This is the intersection of coping strategies I'd be interested in learning more about.


• thoughts: While broadly informative and affirming as an introductory text this lacks the depth and nuance I think a more in depth edit would have given. Much of it relies on anecdotal experience, where background and history might have been more effective. Overall this was a disappointment, it's more of a 101 course to recognizing you might be trans (when you're autistic) than a guide to life.

Some Things I Still Can't Tell You: Poems by Misha Collins (2021)

• why I read it: Misha Collins is one of the actors in hit series Supernatural, and despite having never seen an episode of Supernatural, I know him. I didn't know he wrote poetry! So when I saw this at a library I was visiting, I picked it up and read it.


• thoughts: This was ultimately disappointing. I hope Collins gets some personal peace writing; ultimately the collection doesn't say much. Perhaps there's still too many things he can't tell us.

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (2022)

• why I read it: I can't remember where I saw this book originally, but I know I picked it up because the things it covers (transmasc vampire, archives, fic and fandom, hauntings) are exactly up my alley.


• thoughts: I liked this a lot!!! I'm not sure I have a whole lot to say about it; it's a really specific story, in that I think its target audience is kinda small. The format is kind of rambling and weird in places (pacing is not the book's strong suit). I definitely really enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone.

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady (2023)

• why I read it: I saw this in some recommendation list that I can't quite remember anymore.


• thoughts: This is a solid memoir about Brady's life and experiences coming to terms with her autism. I thought it was well written and engaging. (cw for sexual assault, institutionalization, self harm, abuse (parental and from a romantic partner), and violence)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (2019)

• why I read it: I've had several friends read this, and the idea seemed exactly up my alley. It took me more than one try to get into it though; eventually when one of my other friends picked it up for the first time, I read it to understand what they were talking about and got sucked in.


• thoughts: I want to say this book has a slow start, but I don't think it does really. What it did have was a slow start for me to get invested in the characters. It took me a while to really like Gideon lol.
  
  (Side note: one of my friends said Tamsyn Muir used to write homestuck fic, in my opinion you can tell—I had asked if she read homestuck before I knew that. This is a value-neutral observation! I read a little of homestuck when it was popular but I never had strong opinions either way. The tone of the book is definitely strongly influenced by homestuck though.)
  
  The back half of the book is where it really gets going though, and I tore through the ending. I've picked up the next one this month!

TV

Our Flag Means Death S2 (2023)
I watched this with a friend; it's really good! I think they really nail the emotional arc they were going for, and I really enjoyed watching it. I love pirates!

MISC

태민(TAEMIN)의 킬링보이스를 라이브로! – Guilty, MOVE, Criminal, 괴도, 2 KIDS, Rise, 사랑인 것 같아, 최면, 눈꽃 | 딩고뮤직
Taemin on Killing Voice! He's great!


Yaoizine 2
This is a half-serious half-joke zine some people (I'm not personally acquainted with any of them) put together on the topic of yaoi, formatted kind of like a JSTOR-style journal lmao. I found the first few essays interesting and engaging. The essay on "girl yaoi" rubbed me the wrong way though, and I haven't continued reading, though I do mean to finish it.


D20: Burrow's End
Who wants to cry over some stoats!!!

I really loved this season of D20, it has an incredibleeee cast (Aabria DMing, with Brennan, Izzy, Erika, Siobhan, Rashawn Nadine Scott (D20 debut), and Jasper William Cartwright (also D20 debut I'm pretty sure)). They have an incredible chemistry, and I love love love Aabria's DMing style (her work on Fey and Flowers was what originally got me into D20!).

Technically this finished in December but since this wrap up is late and the majority of this season came out in November, I'm throwing this in this month. The season really sticks the emotional beats of the ending, and Brennan made me tear up in the car with one of his Tula monologues, it was great.


Worlds Beyond Number
Worlds Beyond Number is back baybee! The start of this new arc is a little slower but I'm really interested to see where this exploration of the Citadel goes.

In Progress

I'm still trying to read The Archive Undying lmao. I'm also reading some nonfiction (a book by Jewish Voices for Peace, and one by Edward Said) I'd like to finish this month. I also have a variety of fiction books that are due to the library so I've gotta get on that! And I've picked up Harrow the Ninth, so I'm excited to see what's up with my favorite wet cat (Harrow).

Poetry

Part of reading poetry, for me, is accepting that I'm not going to be into a good half of anything I read, and that's fine. This month was one of those months!

Galleria Ode by Patrick Phillips

Hoof by Donna Spruijt-Metz

I love you. I miss you. Please get out of my house. by Donika Kelly

The Bluebird by Alexander Posey

Faith by SM Stubbs

A Massive Aquarium Holding 1,500 Tropical Fish Bursts by Sarah Audsley

Far Away by Matt W. Miller

Without Reparations by Lupita Eyde-Tucker

The Last Orgasm by Tobias Wray

The Mountains by D’Arcy McNickle

East of Wyoming, I Remember Matthew Shepherd by Ruben Quesada

Nostalgia by Matthew Minicucci

Corsair by Cyrus Cassells, Brian Turner

Funeral for Unreturned Ashes by Travis Chi Wing Lau

Music

SCROBBLES: 3062

SCROBBLES PER DAY: 98

Wrapped playlists came out this month! If you're up for it, I'd love if you linked me yours; they're such a nice treat to listen to.

Teni released a great album. The Boyz released music that felt extremely tailored to me, the album was so fun! Joy Oladokun's album has been out for a while, but I enjoyed it more this month. I was introduced to Prince this month and really loved him! Technically Taemin's comeback was Oct 30th but I listened to the album the most this month. I think it's really solid! Don't look too hard at the number of times I played Wait for Me (Reprise) lol.

Artists:

1. ATEEZ - 316
2. MUNA - 191
3. THE BOYZ - 121
4. Hozier - 106
5. Stray Kids - 105
6. TAEMIN - 100
7. Vienna Teng - 90
8. Joy Oladokun - 62
9. My Chemical Romance - 61
10. SEVENTEEN - 51

Albums:

1. Unreal Unearth by Hozier - 81
2. MUNA by MUNA - 69
3. THE BOYZ 2ND ALBUM [PHANTASY] Pt.2 Sixth Sense by THE BOYZ - 68
4. THE WORLD EP.2 : OUTLAW by ATEEZ - 65
5. Proof of Life by Joy Oladokun - 58
6. GUILTY - The 4th Mini Album by TAEMIN - 57
7. ROCK-STAR by Stray Kids - 49
8. THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT by ATEEZ - 47
9. THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL by ATEEZ - 46
10. About U by MUNA - 46

Songs:

1. Wait for Me (Reprise) by André De Shields - 41
2. LALALALA by Stray Kids - 30
3. Don't Call Me Pretty by Archana - 24
4. Porumai by PRI - 23
5. Blue by TAEMIN - 20
6. WATCH IT by THE BOYZ - 20
7. End by Cacophony - 19
8. Baby I'm a Star by Prince - 19
9. Night Away by TAEMIN - 19
10. Taking Things for Granted by Joy Oladokun - 18