toastykitten

Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of those writers where I will read him at any time, anywhere. Like, his writing is just that good - I always know that I can look forward to a deep dive, beautifully crafted sentences, and serious thoughtfulness about whatever the topic is. I pre-ordered the book and it arrived yesterday and I finished it in one sitting. It's not as impressive as it sounds - the book is fairly short and has pretty large print, but it is packed. You could get a lot of material out of it.

It's basically 3 essays addressed to his students about what writing is for, and the purpose of it. He writes about his trips to three specific places - Senegal, South Carolina, and Israel/West Bank. It is this last part that is getting the most attention. He went viral two days ago for this hostile morning show interview with a Zionist who all but accused him of basically being a terrorist sympathizer. Watch it for the rapid-fire hasbara accusations, and for Coates to basically stand his ground, morally, in saying "Apartheid is never justified". He did an interview with Jon Stewart that is better, and worth watching:



And also with Chris Hayes:

 Ok, I have been dropping a lot of money on humble bundles, but that's because they have really good ones!

Chronicle Books Bundle: Start something new - includes stuff like How to Build A Hovercraft, Master the Art of Chinese Cooking, etc.

Home Sweet Home Quarto Books - tons of gardening books, Learn to Weld, Ultimate Slime

Be the Change - Parable of the Sower graphic novel, Black Women in Science, various activist books. 

For anyone interested, The End of Policing is free as an ebook right now. 

Oh hey, I am finishing books these days! Points to the Libby app for helping me do this! 

Dear Girls is formatted as a series of letters from Ali Wong to her daughters, who are currently infants, in which she basically explains her life, and gives advice about how they should live theirs, i.e., don't date DJs, steal everything from the hospital when you deliver, etc. It is hilarious, and is somehow way more explicit and raunchier than her stand-up specials on Netflix. She makes sex sound like the grossest thing ever, and also talks about how her husband looked like "Speed Keanu" when she met him. (Lol I just googled him, he's pretty handsome.) There's some great chapters in here, especially about her time doing study abroad in Vietnam, and of course the chapter about how to find a decent Asian restaurant. That made me laugh because we tried to go for dim sum today, and my sister called the restaurant, and asked if there was a wait, and the woman at the other end of the line said sarcastically, "You should come and see."

The last chapter is written by the husband, and is a sharp tonal shift from Wong's sharp wit and fast pace. Honestly he writes like a sweet hippie who's very supportive of his wife and kids. 

The one thing I wish she had gone into more detail on was the pre-nup her in-laws made her sign before they got married. Honestly really curious about that, but that's just me being nosy. 

 Inhaling Queer Eye media:

Naturally Tan, by Tan France - This is not revealed in Tan's book, but rather in Karamo's book - apparently Tan doesn't go by his given name "Tanveer" because if you see that name in the media, "it's always a terrorist". This is typical for Tan's book - there's so much gossip and surface stuff, but for the really deep stuff you have to go to other sources to actually find out about him. What is there is pretty interesting - he has a chapter on how 9/11 pretty much turned his world upside down, and how he spent a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong, and why everyone seemed to have it out for him after that day. He talks very sweetly about the cowboy he fell in love with, but does not really mention how his parents reacted to it (you have to find out from other interviews that he basically hasn't even introduced him to the rest of his family yet, and it's not even clear if they've even met him). He's very proud of the French tuck; apparently prior to joining Queer Eye he became pretty successful with a modest clothing fashion company. The chapters he devotes to this is pretty interesting if you're into how fashion manufacturing works. He thinks Americans are way too passive aggressive, and thinks that women here are too obsessed with "fit and flare" silhouettes. 

Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope, by Karamo Brown - This was written before he joined Dancing With The Stars and made friends with Sean Spicer. After reading it, I understand why he would try to be friends with Sean Spicer, but I think it's still dumb and misguided of him to do so. He talks about going on The Real World did a total number on him, and how afterwards, he earned money by showing up at different parties. He also talks about having a pretty addictive personality - he would get addicted to a particular drug, and once he realized it was spiraling out of control, he would remove himself from the environment and the people and basically dump all his friends in order to sober up. Anyway, he also talks about how he impregnated a friend, and how that information made its way back to him years later, and he decided to commit to actually being a father. He also talks, very sadly, about no longer having a relationship with his father because of his gayness. Oh, and I didn't know this, but apparently Karamo's parents are immigrants. I wish they had actually talked about this more during the actual show with the various heroes. It kind of reset my perception of him. 

Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, by Queer Eye - This one was the best-written of the books so far, and it's also a lot to absorb. Jonathan details so much self-destructive behavior that it's kind of heartwrenching to read. By the time I got to where he's finally stopped doing stupid things, it was a total relief. I like listening to his podcast Getting Curious sometimes, but I really have to be in the mood for it. It's like his book, fast-paced, and going a million miles a minute, and all over the place. 

Anyway, all of the books are worth a read. 

1. Five of the best living writers

Maxine Hong Kingston
Kiese Laymon
Rebecca Solnit
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Helen Rosner

2. Five formative books

Autobiography of Malcolm X - as told Alex Haley
Matilda - Roald Dahl
Child of the Owl - Lawrence Yep
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
White Boy Shuffle - Paul Beatty


3. Five books you recommend to anyone
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston - honestly feel this is one of those books that's as close to perfect as it gets
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Any James Tiptree, Jr., but especially the short stories
Kindred - Octavia Butler
Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula LeGuin

4. Five books that are overrated
Harry Potter series
Game of Thrones series
Crazy Rich Asians series - these were a fun read, but in no way was it deep or anything and the politics of race relations in it were definitely problematic
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - can't tell you how many times we had to read this for college English classes, and then also read Chinua Achebe's essay, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness (pdf link), only for the prof to inevitably conclude that Achebe had a point, but Conrad wrote so beautifully and also had a point. Both sides! 
Jane Austen - I have tried and failed so many times to get her.


5. Books people expect you to have read based on your background/job/interests

Uh I was an English major - everybody expects me to have read everything. And I do credentialing for my job which is a very dry, boring thing that does not really lend itself to literature.

6. Have you read them?
I have not read a lot of the English/American people I'm supposed to have read, like James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, etc. I've only half-read Wordsworth and Walt Whitman.


7. Books you recommend based on your background/job/interests
Ok, this one does have to do with credentialing: Blind Eye: The Terrifying True Story of a Doctor Who Got Away With Murder - a true crime story about how this serial killer doctor keeps getting away with murder because he kept moving to different states and people never checked his credentials or job history because it wasn't legally required. It's a pretty gripping, terrifying read, and although some of these things have been rectified, if you've been reading the stories about USC, obviously not enough has been. 
Based on being Asian American - anything by Laurence Yep. I think he's really underrated as a very prolific writer, who also doesn't stick to your standard upper/middle class immigrant story. Like Child of the Owl hashes out tensions between the working and professional class Asian Americans and it was way more relatable than a lot of so-called "classic" Asian American literature. 
Currently I'm just in this mindset of reading a lot of self-improvement, and am reading Marie Kondo's Spark Joy, which is the sequel to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It is oddly soothing to read, and it's full of practical advice from her about how to organize and store your things once you've done the stuff in the first book. (Note: I tried to do it buf failed because of life, kids, moving, etc.)


8. Books that have been on your to-read list for years
Been meaning to read a bunch of Ursula Le Guin (esp since I just got myself the illustrated Wizard of Earthsea book - it's gorgeous), would like to read a lot of the new YA that's out now, especially the scifi/fantasy ones.


9. Books you like to have around 
Anne of Green Gables series, all of my children's lit like Roald Dahl, Phantom Tollbooth, etc.

10. Any spicy book takes?
Russian novels are tedious.
George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling, and Tolkien really needed their editors after their first novels. I never finished Harry Potter because I got so bored with it. Martin, I do not need to know every time Tyrion takes a leak. Tolkien, WTF was Tom Bombadil?

The true heroine of Crazy Rich Asians is actually Kitty Pong, who's basically the Asian Becky Sharp.

RIP. I just found a bunch of her books at a used bookstore not too long ago.

Online Fiction, Articles, Poetry

free speculative fiction online

The Day Before The Revolution

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas PDF

2014 National Book Award Speech