#Books #Reading #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #BlackTwitter The last book was one I mentioned two weeks ago: ALCHEMISED by SenLin Yu. I do not recommend this book to anyone who is a survivor of any kind of violence. It includes very violent images of torture and abuse throughout the entire book. It's a shame really because the story of a society where functions are determined by your alchemy skills could have stood on its own without all of that. 6/6

#Books #Reading #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #BlackTwitter Of course I love Martha Wells but came to her work late, only after reading the Murderbot Diaries. Witch King and Demon Queen which I read earlier this year made me go back and read her very first two novels which are now out in one volume: The BOOK OF ILE-RIEN. Same country with different characters 100 years apart. Was fun to compare her early writing with what she does now. If you like sorcerers, magic and treason, its a must read. 5/

#Books #Reading #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #BlackTwitter
I am sometimes a fan of Louise Erdrich. Her work runs hot and cold with me. This go round I read THE MIGHTY RED, the story of what happens when the rich kid in town decides to fall in love with a less affluent Native American teen. His family is desperate for her to save him and hers is desperate to get her away from him. Slow in the character development and point of the story, but gets there in the end. 4/

#Books #Reading #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #BlackTwitter In our indie bookstore these small books of Japanese stories are everywhere. My three were DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFE, TOKYO UENO STATION and GOODNIGHT TOKYO. All different authors. The stories were in bites too small for me to really enjoy, but of the three I found DAYS AT TORUNKA CAFE the most interesting, All three explore experiences of people who pass through a common environment. 3/

#Books #Reading #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #BlackTwitter
On the other end of the spectrum was the small book THE RIVER HAS ROOTS which someone mentioned last week. A very lyrical story of unusual people trying to find their way when they bump into each other at the edge of a transition between a regular environment and a more "magical" one. The author is Amal El-Mohtar. I like her work but you do have to trust the story to make its way. 2/