A few days ago, I headed out to a local park where my brilliant poet friend, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk, was hosting Glowing with the Moon, a summer open mic series that invites poets, musicians, performers, and other creative souls to come out and share their work. It’s one of my favorite open mics, mostly because Lorenz creates such a warm, welcoming, and fun space.
Culture Consumption: July 2023
Hi, lovelies. Here’s my month in books, movies, television, and games.
Books
In Something is Killing the Children, a graphic novel by James Tynion IV (writer), Werther Dell’Edera (illustrator), and Miquel Muerto (colorist), a game of truth and dare leads a group of kids out into the woods — but only one comes back alive. It’s brutal, bloody, and viscerally violent scene, made all the more terrifying with the realization that other kids have gone missing.
When a mysterious young women with intense eyes that have seen too much arrives in town, she promises to hunt down and kill the monsters. But with families desperate for answers and revenge and the town spiraling into paranoia and desperation, events quickly grow out of her control, growing more and more deadly — and leading to a violent an tragic end.
This graphic novel is beautifully illustrated and brutally gory, with the horror being as much about the aftermath of such violence as it is about the monsters themselves. I’m also very interested in this world and the strange society our mysterious hero is a part of. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Algorithmic Shapeshifting is a gorgeous collection of speculative poetry by Bogi Takács. Including poems from the past decade along with previously unpublished work, the collection includes pieces that extend “from the present and past of Jewish life in Hungary and the United States to the far-future, outer-space reaches of the speculative — always with a sense of curiosity and wonder.”
There are many layers of beauty, pain, and compassion in this collection, which are perhaps best expressed through the words of the author themself —
“What do you see of me?
I live sandwiched in between rectangular walls
painted a nondescript gray,
a hundred stories underground
on a planet without an atmosphere.
I crave these little flares
of information and heart,
knowing I can offer precious little
of my lived experience in return.
Why do you love me, I wonder
as I lie back on my cot
and listen to the nighttime sounds
of the dormitory, the sneezes
rustles and coughs.
Our recycled air is always dry.
Why do you need me?
Do you see all the gray?”
— from “A Self-Contained Riot of Lights”
Written by Mary Kenney and paired with beautiful illustrations by Salini Perera, Gamer Girls gives a look into game development history, sharing the stories of many of the women who helped shape the world of board and video games, from the early days of programming to the present day. Each short chapter tells the story of how the designer, artist, songwriter, or storyteller came to video games and the challenges they faced in creating and developing their work and careers. Very inspiring.
Culture Consumption: June 2023
Hi, lovelies. Here’s my month in books, movies, television, and games.
Books
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is one of my favorite reads of the year. The story centers on Sam Masur and Sadie Green, two friends who bonded over playing video games as kids before having a falling out, leading to them not speak to each other for years. When they stumble into each other while at college, they renew their friendship and love for games and enter into a wild adventure — make their own video game, a wild, risky, wonderful challenge. As the novel weaves through their game development and business successes and failures together, the story beautifully explores the nature of creative processes and partnerships and the ups and downs of close friendships, along with love, ego, grief, and so much more.
A lot of the books I love are well written, but it’s not often that I pause while reading a passage and go, woah. Zevin’s writing style is delicious. The omniscient third person perspective (used through most of the book) allows the author to float between the inner worlds of each of the characters, giving insights that they may not even recognize themselves. This is a genuinely gorgeous book, a new favorite read, and one that I will be returning to again and again.
Recently, This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone hit the best seller lists and with good reason. The book — about two assassins on opposite sides of a time war connecting through letters — is a quick read with rich lush language illustrating a variety of pasts and futures along the threads of time. I don’t know if I want to say much more than that. It’s fantastic and you should read it.
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Geometries of Belonging is a collection of short stories and poems from R.B. Lemberg’s Birdverse, a world said to be created by the mysterious god, Bird. The publisher writes, “The intricate Birdverse has at its core a magic based loosely in geometry, from which comes healing, love, and art. It is a complex, culturally diverse world, a realm with LGBTQIA characters and a wide range of family configurations. Lemberg probes the obstacles behind traditional social boundaries of cultures; overseeing this world is the deity Bird and all its incarnations. Each story and poem, exqusitely crafted, will richly reward long-time fans and newcomers alike.” This was a fantastic collection of stories, and I would love to read more in this universe.
Culture Consumption: May 2023
Hi, lovelies. Here’s my month in books, movies, and television.
Books
In Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman, a small town is isolated from the rest of the world after it’s discovered that coming into contact with water begins to erase a person’s memories. By keeping a journal and tracking her actions, Laverne struggles to hold onto herself and survive in a world in which overexposure to water can wash away a person’s ability to even function and feed themselves.
This is a melancholy read, focusing on solitude in the wake of a quiet apocalypse, questioning whether it’s better to sit back and accept the fate or struggle forward into a new future (and what that might cost).
Melanie Gillman’s Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales is a lovely collection of graphic stories, in which mermaids, princesses, knights, barmaids, and old women take center stage. These tales come from a place of kindness and compassion, showing alternative means of ways to get to a happily every after.
In addition, the stories are presented with pastel infused artwork that brings an extra layer of beauty and softness to the tales. I really enjoyed this collection.
Culture Consumption: April 2023
Hi, lovelies. Here’s my month in books, movies, television, and games.
Books
T. Kingfisher never fails to craft books with darkly beautiful concepts that terrifying me, while simultaneously making me love the characters and feel for their journey. Her new book, A House with Good Bones, is no exception.
After her archeological dig site temporarily closes down, Sam returns to her family home while she waits for work to start up again. Her mom greets her with warmth and joy, but there’s something off. Her mom has repainted the house to bland neutral colors that she normally hates, refuses to curse, and is generally acting anxious and cagey — to such a degree that she begins to worry about her mental health.
But there are signs of other kinds of strangeness — vultures keeping watch, ladybugs swarming the house, among other things — signs that hint at something else, something ghostly and sinister going on in the background.
Like her other works, this book offers wonderfully wrought characters with solid, supporting relationships — along with a terrifying supernatural threat. It makes for a fast-paced and fun read.
M Archive: After the End of the World by Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a stunning collection of poetry. Inspired by M. Jacqui Alexander’s Pedagogies of Crossing: Meditations on Feminism, Sexual Politics, Memory, and the Sacred, a transnational black feminist text, Gumbs envisions humanity at the end of the world. While there is struggle, this is not the typical depiction of humanity as viciously and violently struggling for survival, but a vision of humanity as transformational. As the environment and world shifts (due to human causes), humanity takes to the dirt, sky, fire, and sea, creating new communities and ways of being. It’s a beautiful, compelling and hopeful depiction.
“most of us got there naked, burnt, raw with rashes, scarred. we had put down everything that didn’t hold blood and some parts of us that did. we had brushed agains the jagged histories that forced us to travel our different ways out.”
— from “Archive of Sky” p. 78
“there was never rain. but she waited for lighting to find her. the mercury of her veins aligning with the shock of being here after everything and before whatever. her heart was accelerated coal, growing deep dark and sharp. she kept on breathing, prostrate, burning, knowing soon it would be clear and unbreakable. her beautiful blackening heart.”
— from “Archive of Fire” p. 91
“she had a self sharpening spirit. that’s how she would describe it afterward. everything that happened rubbed against her right in the middle until you could see her glint when she smiled.”
— from “Memory Drive” p. 188
If you’re looking to put a little magic into your days, Lisa Marie Basile’s City Witchery is an excellent read. Cities are often seen as sleek, bustling, overstimulating, and soulless, not a place to find connection with the earth or magic — but Basile’s book offers a different perspective. Her words encourage readers to find ways to tap into the unique energy of a city by wandering its streets and crossroads, connecting with its history, art, and culture. In addition, she offering ideas for bringing ritual and sacred into your life, especially when dealing with tight spaces, like apartments, or limited privacy, like roommate situations. Whether you are witchy or not, Basile’s book is a wonderful read. Continue reading “Culture Consumption: April 2023”