Mastodawn

Bogi Takács Feb 19, 2023

Need to make a thread for recent reviews. They'll go up on my website too, but are on Goodreads for now because I am having two technical issues.

So. ⭐ Thread for recent reviews ⭐

how the first sparks became visible by Simone Atangana Bekono -

Absolutely stunning chapbook translated from Dutch.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5142332214

#Poetry #BlackAuthors #BlackPoets #DutchAuthors #Translation #Chapbooks #Bookstodon #WomenAuthors #BogiReads

Bogi Takács's review of How the first sparks became visible

A poetry chapbook with one single lengthy and wide-ranging poem, by a Dutch Black woman author. This was awesome and I ended up reading it twice in a row to see how it all fit together - there are earlier parts that reference later parts. I really appreciated it both on a structural level and on an Individual Awesome Sentences!!!! level. Some poetry has one but not the other; this chapbook had both. And also feeling, which can sometimes get lost with structure, but here it doesn't. Would recommend especially to those who like Sofia Samatar's poetry; but to everyone really. I haven't read ...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Feb 19, 2023

Amateur: A True Story of What Makes a Man by Thomas Page McBee -

Trans memoir about boxing; I had misgivings, but overall interesting.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5344180955

#Bookstodon #Memoir #BogiReads #Boxing #SportsBooks #TransAuthors #TransMen #transmasc #Nonfiction #Gender #TransLit

Bogi Takács's review of Amateur

A short volume of nonfiction about the author's experience learning to box, in order to participate in a charity match - while being a trans man. I had no idea about charity matches, and the whole scene of upper-class people boxing because it's fashionable or "against cancer" - so this was interesting and new to me. I also liked the fight descriptions. I do know the basics of boxing, which I learned in an inner-city gym in Budapest a long time ago, so my boxing experience was different. I used to do full-contact combat sports both with men and with women, and neither was quite right - but ...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Feb 19, 2023

Invisible Companions: Encounters with Imaginary Friends, Gods, Ancestors, and Angels by J. Bradley Wigger.

Developmental psych & religious studies combo, cross-cultural mixed methods study investigating how children think about imaginary friends, spiritual beings & deities. Impulse borrow!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5344095593

#Nonfiction #ReligiousStudies #Bookstodon @Religidons #Psych #DevelPsych #MixedMethods #Academia #Reviews #BogiReads

(+ #plurality relevant, but not exactly the same focus)

Bogi Takács's review of Invisible Companions

Impulse borrow from the new shelf of my university library. An interesting hybrid work, from a religious studies scholar who performed both qualitative and quantitative (!) cross-cultural (!!) investigations of children's imaginary friends. (He does talk about how "imaginary" is kind of stigmatizing, and he learned to avoid this terminology in interviews - but it is the usual term in the literature, so I suppose that is why it is in the subtitle.) The book reads very conversational, rather unlike an academic volume, but this makes it a good read for anyone interested in the topic and not j...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Feb 20, 2023

Love Me For Who I Am vol. 1 by Kata Konayama, translated by Amber Tamosaitis.

Manga; working at a crossdressing café while nonbinary is an uneasy experience!

Impulse library borrow and it turned out quite different from what I'd expected.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5358056135

#reviews #BogiReads #manga #bookstodon #translations #comics #Nonbinary #QUILTBAG #LGBT #Trans #Crossdressing #Otokonoko #Femboy

Bogi Takács's review of Love Me for Who I Am, Vol. 1 (Love Me for Who I Am, #1)

Impulse borrow from the library new teen comics shelf. This is a manga about a maid café where the servers are supposed to be crossdressing boys / otokonoko (somewhat like femboys in the West). The protagonist Mogumo gets recruited to the café, but Mogumo doesn't consider themself either a boy or a girl, so it's really an uncomfortable situation for them to say things like 'I'm a boy dressed as a girl' to the guests. I thought this would be really bad and cis-gaze-y, and it is kind of cis-gaze-y, but surprisingly subtle, and interesting to read. E.g., there is a discussion where one of the...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Feb 26, 2023

Starwater by Denise Low.

Poetry primarily about the Kaw River & environs; one of her early out-of-print collections. Really liked it, pick it up if you can find a copy -

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3329919416

#reviews #BogiReads #poetry #litodon #Bookstodon #IndigenousAuthors #Kansas #Lawrence #LFK #KawRiver #PoetryCommunity

Bogi Takács's review of Starwater

Some of Denise Low's early work is hard to find, I came across this one tucked away in Lawrence Antique Mall. But it was so good!! If you come across this book, I recommend you pick it up right away. Many of the poems are focused on river water, a lot of them inspired by the Kaw River & environs. The blurbs say that this is a Kansas must-have, and I agree with that, but I'd also just say it's a poetry must-have, in general. You don't need to be a Kansan to find it relatable, though of course it's even more special if you happen to be. Also makes me want to reread The Turtle's Beating Heart...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Feb 26, 2023

Undertorah: An Earth-Based Kabbalah of Dreams by Jill Hammer.

A book about dreams that gets across the *feeling* of dreams - less technical than some of her other work, but still an interesting read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5373909918

#reviews #Mazeldon #nonfiction #Jewish #BogiReads #Kabbalah #dreams #mysticism #JewishRenewal #Bookstodon

Bogi Takács's review of Undertorah

I feel like I've read endless amounts of books about dreams, but most of them don't actually get across what dreams *feel* like - this one does. I always enjoy Jill Hammer's writing and this one was no exception. The book had an emphasis on healing, and I was wondering if that could've been expressed in the title (I might have read it even sooner). It took me a few chapters to see that was where the book was going. I felt the Jewish connections were a bit more understated in this book than in some of her other work; I think I expected more 'technical' Kabbalah after having read her book o...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Mar 12, 2023

Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor.

Epistolary novella about two art dealers and the rise of Nazism in Germany. Reads as fresh and unexpected even today (despite the very familiar subject matter). A surprise!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5407309655

#reviews #BogiReads #ShabbosReads #Mazeldon #Jewish #Novellas #Historical #Nazism #Germany #Epistolary #Bookstodon

Bogi Takács's review of Address Unknown

This is an epistolary novella about Nazism, originally published in 1938 and taking place in 1932-1934. (It's on the shorter side of novella, so I'm not sure why the cover says it's a novel.) Two American art dealers are business partners in a gallery; one is Jewish and the other is German American. The German American man decides to take his family back to Germany, and rapidly progresses from milquetoast liberalism to becoming a fan of Hitler. It only gets worse from there. Without spoilers: I thought that this would be a straightforward narrative that is mostly of interest today because...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Mar 12, 2023

Muneera and the Moon: Stories Inspired by Palestinian Folklore by @SoniaSulaiman

Debut short story collection! Mostly fantasy with a fabulistic / mythic tone, some science fiction elements. Cohesive, gentle, resonant.

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5407358236

#SFF #ShortStories #PalestinianAuthors #Palestine #FreePalestine #Folklore #Fantasy #ScienceFiction #Asexual #LGBTQIA @bookstodon @shortsff @shortstory #BogiReads #Reviews

Bogi Takács's review of Muneera and the Moon

Sonia Sulaiman's debut short story collection, with stories inspired by Palestinian folklore - mostly fantasy / fabulistic kinds of stories, with some science fiction elements. Asexuality is also a theme. I read quite a few of these pieces in magazines earlier (Tatreez, The Mandrake Loves the Olive, etc.), and also recommended them previously, so those recommendations still stand :) But I also enjoyed the rest; I think a bit more than half are previously unpublished. I really liked the gentle, welcoming tone that at the same time didn't shy away from discussing injustice. One of my favori...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Mar 12, 2023

Infinite Constellations: An Anthology of Identity, Culture, and Speculative Conjunctions; edited by Khadijah Queen and K. Ibura.

Fascinating new anthology focusing on authors of color (mostly diasporic) - easy to miss because it was published by an academic press, but you don't want to miss it because it's really good.

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5317493608

#SFF #Fantasy #ScienceFiction #SpeculativeFiction #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #AuthorsOfColor #BogiReads
@bookstodon @shortsff @shortstory

Bogi Takács's review of Infinite Constellations

A brand new anthology of mostly-speculative work by mostly-speculative authors (not exclusively!), edited by Khadijah Queen and K. Ibura. I feel like it's gone under the radar so far because it was published by a university press, who might not promote it through the usual SFF channels. But please don't miss this, it was so good. The focus is on authors of color engaging with identity and culture using the toolset of the speculative. There is plenty of fiction and poetry, also some creative nonfiction. When I read Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint's memoir about her family last year, it struck me how...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Apr 2, 2023

Thunderbird volume 1 by Sonia Nimr, translated by M. Lynx Qualey.

Middle grade time travel fantasy from a Palestinian author, set in Palestine.

An interesting, fast-paced adventure that shows a lot in a short book, but be aware it ends on a cliffhanger! Looking forward to book 2.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5458669524

@bookstodon #BogiReads #MiddleGrade #Palestine #PalestinianAuthors #Fantasy #TimeTravel #Historical #Firebird #Bookstodon

Bogi Takács's review of Thunderbird

Middle grade time travel fantasy from a Palestinian author. I previously read and enjoyed her Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands (both translated by M. Lynx Qualey). This is a short volume and it ends on a cliffhanger - book 2 just came out, so I'll have to pick that one up too. After Noor's archeologist parents die in a plane crash, she is raised by her relatives, but she has a lot of conflict with them - especially after her grandmother, her one staunch ally passes away. The family also blame Noor for the unexpected fires that crop up around her, even though she's sure she's not setting ...

Show thread

Bogi Takács Apr 2, 2023

Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman.

Very recent postapocalyptic novella where rainwater causes amnesia.

Enjoyed some aspects of it, but others I found frustrating -

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5458719283

#BogiReads #Novella #SFF #Postapocalyptic #ScienceFiction #FrenchAuthors #Bookstodon #Reviews @bookstodon

Bogi Takács's review of Nothing but the Rain

Sparse novella written in a diary format, with a postapocalyptic setting where there is something in the rainwater that causes amnesia. I really enjoyed this at first, and also thought the amnesia concept was approached from multiple standpoints by the characters, which was interesting to see. I liked that the protagonist did experiments. Also, it was intriguing to have such a COVID story with no appearance of COVID. But eventually it started to seem to me that this was one of those books where the protagonist is a Black woman, but the (AFAIK) non-Black author doesn't necessarily think th...

Bogi Takács's review of How the first sparks became visible

Bogi Takács's review of Amateur

Bogi Takács's review of Invisible Companions

Bogi Takács's review of Love Me for Who I Am, Vol. 1 (Love Me for Who I Am, #1)

Bogi Takács's review of Starwater

Bogi Takács's review of Undertorah

Bogi Takács's review of Address Unknown

Bogi Takács's review of Muneera and the Moon

Bogi Takács's review of Infinite Constellations

Bogi Takács's review of Thunderbird

Bogi Takács's review of Nothing but the Rain

Bogi Takács's review of A Man and His Cat, Vol. 4 (A Man and His Cat, #4)

Book reviews: Urasawa, Elias, Boum & Berber | Bogi Takács on Patreon