October went by quickly. I had the opportunity to go to Sirens Conference where I was on a panel about nonbinary representation in science fiction and fantasy. I also had a hard time reading this month, which was unfortunate, but I did enjoy the books, ARCs, and manga I did manage to read.
I also did three excellent blog interviews:
- Caitlin Starling told me a bit about putting together the gothic glory that is The Death of Jane Lawrence
- Elsa Sjunneson shared some of the process of crafting a memoir and what’s coming next.
- Emmie Mears talked about the sources of inspiration for the city of Sanmarian and the publishing journey for a novel getting a second chance
ARCs
- Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson (2021, adult, memoir, queer)
- Award-winning author Elsa Sjunneson tells her story while also integrating media criticism and social history
- An invitation to examine the ableism prevalent in the world around us
- Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross (2021, young adult, fantasy)
- Listened to this one as an audio-ARC
- World in which nightmares walk at night and Wardens keep them at bay
- Curses, enemies-to-lovers, and a few elements that didn’t really come together for me
- Look to the Sun by Emmie Mears (2021, adult, fantasy, queer)
- A harrowing exploration of a city where the fascist regime escalates its agenda
- It has a tender love story at its core and a very earned hopeful ending
- Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (2021, adult, horror, queer)
- Haunted house book in which a destination wedding goes horribly wrong
- Atmospheric as f*ck with fun meta commentary
Audiobooks
- Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry (2021, adult, horror)
- A Sleepy Hollow retelling focusing on descendants of the van Brunts and the van Tassels
- The past way too more interesting than the present
- A dubious attempt at making the “not like other girls” character trans
- Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton (2021, adult, historical non-fiction)
- It’s clear how much fun Michael Palin had retracing the steps of this unique ship
- From Antarctica all the way to the Arctic Circle
- Fun in its production quality
Kindle Copies
- Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (2018, adult, literary thriller)
- An Anishinaabe community discovers they can no longer contact the city south of them
- Scary in that way that uncertainty and isolation can be
- An exploration of tradition in the face of modern, but familiar adversity
Manga
- Happiness Vol. 1 to 10 by Shūzō Oshimi (2015-2019, shonen horror)
- Vampire tale similar in tone to Let the Right One In
- I read this almost in one session
- Beautiful art used to enhance character and emotional development
Until next month,
Jo
Jo Writes Fantasy 
I got really curious about Nothing but Blackened Teeth and Madhouse at the End of the Earth. Great post! 🙂
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Thank you!! Hope you enjoy them (I sure did)
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