redweathered's reviews
25 reviews

My Boyfriend Is a Bear by Pamela Ribon

A story about living a life your friends and family don't understand or appreciate because it's unconventional. There is something deeply beautiful about our protagonist realizing that just because there's no model for her relationship, it doesn't mean it isn't worth pursuing.

Moonglow by Michael Chabon

Dropped it mid-way through.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Read this just so I could have a solid rom-com to recommend to library patrons. It’s outside of my typical fare and I was pleased at its depiction of an extremely healthy relationship, especially as one half recovers from an abusive partnership. Two people who support one another? Without resentment? Amazing. It’s full of rom-com beats, including one so dramatic and contrived it briefly severed my emotional investment. (Without spoilers: it’s the big moment at the book launch followed by a too-familiar rom-com miscommunication. In O’Leary’s defense, she does not draw out the miscommunication/misunderstanding for too long.)

I wish we’d had more of Richie’s sideplot! Our protagonist Leon’s brother has been wrongfully imprisoned and they are fighting for an appeal. He’s such a charismatic character, his friendship with Tiffy is lovely, and the stakes feel realistic.

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Still timely, unsurprisingly. Standout chapter for me on this re-read: “Man child”, Lorde’s essay on parenting her son. She rejects lesbian separatism and exclusionary feminism, and her vision of collaboration across differences of identity and circumstance is compelling as ever.

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

I have a kid at my library who likes three kinds of books: “old-fashioned” historical fiction novels, books with girl protagonists, and animal stories. Boy howdy, did this middle grade book suit her sensibilities perfectly. The latter third of the book was a little repetitive but overall I love that this a story about a young person becoming confident in her skills as a healer and her relationship (and responsibility) to the living creatures around her.

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

I’m a loyal listener to Maintenance Phase but this book stands alone as an introduction to fatphobia and how it shapes our institutions & relationships to one another. Gordon grounds her writing in rigorous research, which she cites, while weaving the thread of her own experience through the work. A good balance between the structural and the personal.

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal

This book does not mine its comedy from expected / obvious sources. It’s so easy to be lazy when making jokes about how women are different from men— this isn’t lazy at all. It is a sweet, absurd, slice-of life story, comparable to Supermutant Magic Academy in tone.

A Fire Story by Brian Fies

It’s hard to wrap your head around a disaster. Fies does a really good job of documenting this devastating wildfire on both micro and macro scales. If you’re looking for art about climate change, this should be on your radar!

Beyond the Fence by Maria Gulemetova

I don't usually record the picture books I read (there's just too many!) but this was unusual in its minimal storytelling. The main character is a pig kept in captivity. We see him in large spaces, looking small & powerless. These images convey an understated emptiness and longing. He befriends a wild boar who encourages him to venture away from the house. He doesn't have to escape, only decide to leave-- again, understated. The final images of the book are the pig and boar heading off together, this time the large space signifies possibility.

Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

This story understands how the internet / media metabolizes violence really well.