My November and December 2017 Reading

My extremely belated November 2017 reading is introduced to you by Evvi!

Ника Водвуд «Пёся» (Nika Vodvud “Pyosya”) [Russia]

Emmi Itäranta “Kudottujen kujien kaupunki” [Finland]

Лена Климова “Дети-404. ЛГБТ-подростки: в стенах молчания” [Russia]

Maria Turtschaninoff “Maresi” (The Red Abbey Chronicles #1) (translated by Annie Prime) [Finland]

Salla Simukka “Jäljellä” [Finland]

Short stories:

Alex Wells “Angel of the Blockade” [USA]

Rebecca Roanhorse “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” [USA]

Пёся

“"Пёся" - сборник комиксов Ники Водвуд, также известной как nixelpixel, о добром жёлтом пёсике, который не боится ничего, кроме грозы и пакетиков, и его друзьях. Внутри - истории про феминизм, бодипозитив, взаимоуважение и борьбу с гендерными стереотипами, рецепты вкусных штук, а также ответы на важные вопросы от Ёжика, Котика и, конечно, Пёси!”

This was so cute but too short! Pyosya is a collection of feminist comics with cute animal characters and vegan recipes by nixelpixel. I especially liked that one of the characters was genderqueer! ^u^

The genderqueer character, Kotik! ^o^

Kudottujen kujien kaupunki (The Weaver/The City of Woven Streets)

“The tapestry of life may be more fragile than it seems: pull one thread, and all will unravel.

In the City of Woven Streets, human life has little value. You practice a craft to keep you alive, or you are an outcast, unwanted and tainted. Eliana is a young weaver in the House of Webs, but secretly knows she doesn’t really belong there. She is hiding a shameful birth defect that would, if anyone knew about it, land her in the House of the Tainted, a prison for those whose very existence is considered a curse.

When an unknown woman with her tongue cut off and Eliana’s name tattooed on her skin arrives at the House of Webs, Eliana discovers an invisible network of power behind the city’s facade. All the while, the sea is clawing the shores and the streets are slowly drowning.”

A very beautiful and dark Finnish fantasy novel. It was pretty challenging for my level of Finnish, and it would have been easier to read it after I'd become more fluent in Finnish, but on the other hand how do you level up if you never push yourself? : 3 It's a story about fighting against oppression, which is something I really like reading about. The novel is a bit slow-paced and heavy sometimes. I enjoyed reading about the romantic relationship between the two young heroines and their fight for freedom. Sometimes I felt I was reading a dream where some things were hard to grasp – quite an interesting, immersive experience!

Дети-404. ЛГБТ-подростки: в стенах молчания

“В интернете порой встречается сообщение об ошибке «404 – Page Not Found». Так же и наше общество полагает, что гомосексуальных подростков не существует в природе, будто бы геи, лесбиянки, бисексуалы и трансгендеры прилетают с Марса уже взрослыми. А между тем в каждой 20-й российской семье растёт ребёнок-ЛГБТ – это невидимые обществу дети-404.

Ненависть гомофобного окружения превращает жизнь подростков в ад, калечит психику и порой просто убивает.

Гомосексуальные подростки – самые уязвимые невидимые жертвы гомофобии.

Книга будет интересна любым подросткам, любым родителям, педагогам, психологам и вообще всем, кто интересуется темой сексуальной ориентации и гендерной идентичности. Читается легко, поскольку рассчитана на любого читателя, даже (и особенно) того, кто совершенно не разбирается в теме.

Автор никоим образом не претендует на истинность в последней инстанции. Тему ЛГБТ-подростков в первую очередь должны изучать психологи и социологи. Все, о чем говорится в книге, – плод личных наблюдений, разговоров со специалистами, чтения литературы, бесед и переписки с подростками.”

A book about LGBT children and teens in (mostly) Russia. There's educational information for anyone wishing to understand queer issues, and letters from queer kids telling their stories. It was so hard to read. Many of the stories were about parents abusing their own children. :'( Homophobia is widespread in Russia, and being queer is dangerous there. And when you're a kid and your parents disown you, what can you do? Hopefully this book will help some people understand that there's nothing wrong or unnatural with being queer, it's just how some people are. I do wish they'd discuss other queer identities too, such as asexual and aromantic orientations or nonbinary genders.

Maresi

“Maresi came to the Red Abbey when she was thirteen, in the Hunger Winter. Before then, she had only heard rumours of its existence in secret folk tales. In a world where girls aren't allowed to learn or do as they please, an island inhabited solely by women sounded like a fantasy. But now Maresi is here, and she knows it is real. She is safe.

Then one day Jai tangled fair hair, clothes stiff with dirt, scars on her back arrives on a ship. She has fled to the island to escape terrible danger and unimaginable cruelty. And the men who hurt her will stop at nothing to find her.

Now the women and girls of the Red Abbey must use all their powers and ancient knowledge to combat the forces that wish to destroy them. And Maresi, haunted by her own nightmares, must confront her very deepest, darkest fears.

A story of friendship and survival, magic and wonder, beauty and terror, Maresi will grip you and hold you spellbound.”

This was awesome! A rather short, nicely paced story; it has just the right amount of everything a good novel needs. I loved the large cast of women and learning about their lives in the abbey. I wish I could visit that place, it seems so beautiful! The writing was very pretty too, I'm definitely going to read more by Maria Turtschaninoff.

Jäljellä

“Oletko koskaan toivonut, että kaikki muut ihmiset vain katoaisivat? Kannattaa varoa, mitä toivoo.

Emmi Aalto on 15-vuotias tyttö, joka kokee, ettei hän ole mitään. Koulussa hän ei ole löytänyt omaa lahjakkuusaluettaan, vaan on yhäkin pelkkä Potentiaali. Kotona perhe ei tunnu huomaavan häntä. Ystäviä hänellä ei ole koskaan ollutkaan. Emmi päättää karata, jotta hänestä tulisi edes tyttö, joka katosi. Mutta kun hän palaa karkumatkaltaan, kotona ei ole ketään. Eikä naapuritaloissa. Eikä koko kaupungissa. Kaikki ihmiset ovat kadonneet, vai ovatko?”

Emmi wakes up and finds herself the only human left in her city. Where did everyone go? Well, I finished the book and got no closer to the answer! I knew it was part of a duology, so I expected that not everything would be explained here, but to get absolutely no answers, only more questions, was weird. I did like that there were queer characters, so at least there was that.

My December reading is introduced to you by Poro-in-a-Hat!

Sherman Alexie, Ellen Forney (Illustrator) “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” [USA]

Karuho Shiina “Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 14-18” (translated by Ari Yasuda) [Japan]

Karen Lord “The Best of All Possible Worlds” [Barbados]

Short stories:

Rebecca Fraimow “Further Arguments in Support of Yudah Cohen’s Proposal to Bluma Zilberman” [USA]

RoAnna Sylver "Runtime" [USA]

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

“Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.”

The author is a sexual harasser, but I only heard about it months after finishing his book. (If I had heard about it sooner, I wouldn't have read this book. I'm glad I've decided to read fewer men a few years ago, because there are way too many male writers who are total [censored]). There were so many ableist slurs thrown at MC by bullies in this book… There was also a lot of racism, some homophobia, sudden deaths, alcoholism, poverty. It was a heavier read than I expected. No plot, the book just ends abruptly when the school year ends. I cringed at boys' humour about farts and masturbation… =D

What I liked was that the main character Arnold draws comics, and I really enjoyed them in the book! The illustrations were drawn by Ellen Forney.

Kimi ni Todoke

“A school trip to tropical Okinawa heats up the student body, and with Ayane distracted by a new boyfriend and Chizu suddenly jealous of Ryu, Sawako and Kazehaya find themselves alone. Can they handle taking their relationship to the next level with a kiss?”

The story of Sawako and her friends continues with their Okinawa trip and Ryu's and Chizu's childhood memories, very touching and cute and a little sad. One of the volumes comes with bonus stories made by other artists, including a story by Takako Shimura whose Wandering Son series I absolutely adore! It was lovely! Like a fanfic tribute, but in manga form. ^u^

Without arranging it intentionally, I read the Christmas volume on Christmas. =D

The Best of All Possible Worlds

“A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever.

Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies . . . and a force that transcends all.”

An interesting science fiction novel from Barbados. It's low on plot, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We get to visit many cool places on the planet which is something I especially like in speculative fiction – exploring other worlds, fantasy or sci-fi. Another thing I liked was telepathic abilities that some characters have. And there was a nonbinary character! ^u^

***

In 2017 I read stories from following countries:

Mexico, Canada, Finland, Botswana, Russia, Czech Republic, USA, UK, Syria, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Jamaica, Australia, Cuba, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Hungary, India, New Zealand, France, China, Barbados.