Mastodawn

Hawksquill Jan 18

2025 Reading Thread

The Sewing Circle: Hollywood's Female Stars Who Loved Other Women

2.75 stars

This was another impulse borrow, but unfortunately a rare miss from Queer Liberation Library. It was published in 1995 and it feels perhaps even more dated than that, with some problematic terminology and sensationalist assumptions.

There isn't really an overarching historical argument, much less a rigorous methodology. The book is just a string of seemingly unrelated anecdotes about women in old Hollywood who were probably queer in some way. A few fun factoids, but not what I'm looking for in my queer nonfiction.

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Book 2 of 2025

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

4.5 stars

I've been in a bit of a reading rut lately, but this grabbed me from the first page. At first glance, it seems like a fairly boilerplate spy novel: an American woman living under an assumed name infiltrates an anarchist commune in France to frame them for anti-industrial agitation. But it very quickly gets more bizarre, with emails from a mysterious primitivist who idolizes Neanderthals and the narrator's anonymous bosses demanding more and more of her.

The prose and philosophical sections were definitely the high points for me. I would have preferred if the narrator's characterization felt a bit more in depth, but it's still very memorable and disorienting, kind of like if Piranesi were a spy thriller. Plus some genuinely insightful and sometimes funny critiques of leftist infighting.

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Hawksquill Feb 17

Book 3 of 2025

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

3 stars

A very trope-y, fluffy sapphic sci fi romance with queer found family as its emotional core. There were parts of this I really loved, and some that fell flat or were too cliche for me. Unfortunately I end up comparing every book in this genre, cozy queer sci fi, with Becky Chambers, unfairly and almost always unfavorably. There was some very meaningful representation for me, though, because one of the protagonists being a bisexual woman who has experienced biphobia because she's been in long-term relationships with men.

I appreciated that Hamilton included an acknowledgment of the copyeditors, designers, and marketing and sales staff who worked on the book. I hope this will become a more common practice.

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Hawksquill Feb 20

Book 4 of 2025

Little, Big by John Crowley (reread)

5 stars

This has been my favorite book for many years now, and I've reread it several times. Yet I still feel a delightful shiver of surprise every time the ending unfolds, as I'm discovering and rediscovering new facets on each reread. Crowley must be my favorite prose stylist ever; so many of his turns of phrase just end up rattling around in my head for days. The sections set in the near future during a more advanced stage of American decay hit especially hard in these current times.

The 40th anniversary edition is stunning and well worth the six year wait. It's hard to believe that Peter Milton's stunning art wasn't designed specifically for the book, since it fits so many of the themes and scenes so perfectly.

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Hawksquill Mar 1

Book 5 of 2025

Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan

5 stars

This is one of the best short story collections I've ever read. Unsettling and tender and double-edged in the best possible way, with climate change and sapphic love always looming large or small in the background. I'm still thinking about several of the stories days later, mulling over the resonances and ambiguities and lovely organic metaphors.

My favorites were "Take Only What Belongs To You," "Fiddler, Fool Pair" and "Endangered Animals."

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Hawksquill Mar 11

Book 6 of 2025

All Fours by Miranda July

3 stars

This is one of the strangest books I've ever read. There were some graphic passages that felt gratuitous - not inherently, I'm not a prude, just that I could tell July was snickering as she wrote it, patting herself on the back for being subversive.

On the other hand, I was utterly engrossed even though I found the characters unlikeable and unrelatable. It's an extremely cleverly constructed novel, very skillfully written. There are some truly beautiful, thought-provoking moments about marriage and motherhood and menopause and the creative process.

It's pretty batshit insane on a fundamental level, and I don't think it really needs to be. So it's a well-earned 3 stars, but a bit of a headscratcher for me.

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Hawksquill Mar 24

Book 7 of 2025

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

4.5 stars

A thoroughly enjoyable Regency mystery romp with a social justice and feminist bent. I love that the leading ladies are genuinely old maids (in their forties) and use their own social invisibility to their advantage. There were some surprisingly moving moments, including a passage which I later learned was taken almost word-for-word from Fanny Burney's letters. The romance featuring some of my favorite tropes is just the cherry on top.

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Hawksquill Apr 9

Book 8 of 2025

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

3.5 stars

A very enjoyable early Discworld! It somehow feels like it was written earlier than Equal Rites, but that could be my faulty memory since it must be over a decade since I read ER. Actually, it felt quite distinct from most of the others because the world and protagonist were permanently altered at the end, not just the usual fun deus ex machina and return to status quo. The chuckle per page ratio is skyhigh, just so many succinct, truthful, and clever observations.

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Hawksquill Apr 23

Book 9 of 2025

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang

3 stars

This was a slightly better version of Babel by R. F. Kuang with more of a focus on intersectionality, but it still wasn't fully satisfying. Despite not being marketed as YA, it felt very YA in terms of prose and romance. A little too Baby's First Anti-Colonialist and Anti-Capitalist Fantasy for my taste (but maybe I've just been spoiled by Ursula K. Le Guin). I picked this up because I read a review that compared it to Le Guin, actually, but I'm afraid there's really no comparison.

The setting is certainly imaginative and it is fairly radical in its politics. Compared to Babel, I think it's an interesting choice to have a protagonist who's an ambitious, white feminist, girl boss-y woman who has never considered her complicity in the colonial project before. But Wang is really hamfisted in the same way Kuang is, with entire chapters devoted to hand-holding passages explaining basic concepts like false allyship, capitalist extraction, and white guilt without much subtlety or anything that makes it feel transformative or insightful.

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Hawksquill Apr 25

Book 10 of 2025

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (reread)

5 stars

This book has lived in my head rent-free since I first read it, and over the years I've looked up quotes from it to help me through many an anxiety spiral. Now was definitely the right time for a reread given the current state of my mental health and the world at large.

In addition to being comforting, it's strange and full of loveable characters and so wonderfully constructed. I'm such a sucker for well-executed metafiction. Also I should probably actually get around to studying Zen Buddhism more seriously. It seems to speak to my soul in a way nothing else does.

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Hawksquill Apr 29

Book 11 of 2025

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

I had no idea Susanna Clarke had a new story out (though I later learned it was originally a radio broadcast). Piranesi is one of my favorite books, so I was absolutely delighted when I spotted this in a local bookstore.

It's as delightfully strange and lovingly crafted as Clarke's other books. Victoria Sawdon's illustrations are stunning and complement the text very well. The plot itself is good but too short to have truly compelling characters. I found Clarke's afterword about her unintentional influences and themes almost more interesting than the story itself.

Also, I agree with her that there should be more pigs in fiction. Apple the pig was the standout star for me. 🐷

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Hawksquill May 8

Book 12 of 2025

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

4.5 stars

I was excited to read an alternative retelling of Cortés's first meeting with Moctezuma, and it ended up being completely different from what I expected in the best way. Well-researched and immersive like traditional historical fiction, but modern in prose and postmodern in construction. What surprised me most was how funny it was. In some ways it felt more like a 21st century dark satirical comedy film than a book set in the 16th century. (I couldn't get The Death of Stalin out of my head as I was reading).

It wasn't what I expected, but it was a psychedelic delight from start to finish. The prose is so unique and the jokes are so subtle that I'd love to test out my Spanish skills by reading Enrigue's original text. Maybe a goal to work up to.

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Hawksquill May 11

Book 13 of 2025

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

4 stars

A lushly written, thought-provoking meditation on life and humanity from the perspective of astronauts who orbit the earth 16 times in a single 24 hour period.

I really enjoyed this, though the last couple chapters dragged for me. Being unmoored from time, gravity, and breathable atmosphere prompted some really lovely passages about what it means to be alive, to be human, to be of the Earth even when you're away from it.

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Hawksquill May 11

Book 14 of 2025

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin (graphic novel adapted by Fred Fordham)

4.75 stars

Earthsea is such a masterpiece that means so much to me, so I was skeptical at first. But it was an immediate green flag that Le Guin's son initially reached out to Fordham because he loved his work and wanted to see his mother's works adapted as a graphic novel.

This is so gorgeous, absolutely stunning illustrations with soft, cinematic lighting and sparse text. It's basically long sequences of evocative, painterly images with an occasional direct quotation lifted from the original book. I loved it so much more than I thought I would.

It genuinely made me view and love this story in a new way. I really hope Fordham keeps adapting the rest of the Earthsea books, because I want to keep returning to his version of Le Guin's world.

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Hawksquill 2d ago

Book 15 of 2025

Always Coming Home by Ursula K Le Guin

5 stars

How to describe this book? An ethnography of a society that doesn't yet exist in post-climate collapse northern California. A collection of imagined cultural artifacts shaped by the long shadow of our current polluting, wasteful, extractive capitalist hellscape. A total rejection of the plot-driven narrative structure and the ideologies underpinning it. Instead, a meandering spiral of related stories that give the reader the tools to imagine a deindustrialized, anarchic future. I agree with Shruti Swamy (who wrote the introduction) that Le Guin is essentially making the case that humans need to reindigenize, devolve into smaller communities, and mindfully scale down our industry and environmental impact in order to weather the coming years of climate change.

This took me months to read and I'll still be digesting it for a long time. I'll definitely be revisiting this eventually, likely in hard copy so I can flip back and forth to the appendices and glossary. As a first time reader I chose to read completely linearly on my ereader app, and there was so much illuminating context at the back of the book once I got there.

This book is truly just a kaleidescope of genius, it's incredible. I can see myself living with one foot in this world for years.

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Daniela Quirke May 8

@hawksquill @bookstodon This looks fantastic. Adding to my 'want to read' list.

plutonian 2.0 🪲May 8

@hawksquill so excited, i'm next in line for this one at my library!

Hawksquill May 8

@plut0nian ahhh enjoy!!!

Vernal Pool Apr 29

I just read this and I loved the atmosphere of it.

Rebecca Nordquist Apr 26

@hawksquill @bookstodon I came to Mastodon looking for book reccomendations through #Bookstodon and am not dissappointed :) This looks really good, and this looks excellent to take along for the travel I have planned. Many thanks!

Xenophon Apr 23

@hawksquill I was looking forward to this one, unfortunate that it is only a slight step above Babel. That one annoyed me.

💜tahoe Mar 11

@hawksquill @bookstodon ten pages in I thought I really love this book. By page 50 I was done, didn’t have any desire to continue reading

Mitzi Szereto Mar 11

@tahoegirl @hawksquill @bookstodon Glad it isn't one of my books lol.

handmade ghost Feb 20

@hawksquill One of my absolute favorite books.

Hawksquill Feb 20

@handmade_ghost somehow it doesn't surprise me at all that we have such similar tastes! 😂

handmade ghost Feb 20

@hawksquill 🤓💚