#‘the reader’ by traci chee
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Want to gift one of my books to a friend or loved one? Here's a quick guide to how much you'll make them cry, on a scale of 💔 to 💔💔💔!
The Reader 💔
The Speaker 💔💔
The Storyteller 💔💔💔
We Are Not Free 💔💔💔
A Thousand Steps into Night ❤️
Kindling 💔💔💔
OK, so Kindling isn't technically out until next year--though preorders ARE available now--but untli then you've got four lovely offerings, from minor heartaches to major tearjerkers. And in case you want to spare your giftees some heartbreak this holiday season, there's always A Thousand Steps into Night! 😈
#blog#traci chee#books#the reader#the speaker#the storyteller#the reader trilogy#sea of ink and gold#we are not free#a thousand steps into night#kindling
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art for the most heartbreaking book I've ever read.
#the reader trilogy#traci chee#look at me writing about something other than good omens#my art#srsly tho#i threw this book across the room in anguish#traditional art#artists of tumblr
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Books poll round 1 #1
#Books of bayern#goose girl#shannon hale#Seventh tower#garth nix#the reader trilogy#sea of ink and gold#traci chee#the reader#five kingdoms#brandon mull#deepfake#sara darer littman#scythe#neil shusterman#the unwanteds#shannon mcmann#rangers apprentice#john flannagan#six crimson cranes#elizabeth lim#a night divided#jennifer a. nielsen#anne frank#diary of a young girl#the hunger games#suzanne collins#the ballad of songbirds and snakes
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Episode 176 - Fantasy
This episode we’re talking about the genre of Fantasy! We discuss whether fantasy needs magic, clam powers, forklore, Tears of the Kingdom, worksonas, It’s Always My First Day at Wizard School, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
Sing, Nightingale by Marie Hélène Poitras, translated by Rhonda Mullins
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune, narrated by Kirt Graves
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
The Chill by Scott Carson
Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Big Machine by Victor LaValle
Other Media We Mentioned
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (Wikipedia)
Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini (Wikipedia)
Read it online free!
Steven Universe (Wikipedia)
Sailor Moon (Wikipedia)
Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Golden Compass / Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Redwall (Wikipedia) Brian Jacques
The Discworld Mapp: Being the Onlie True and Mostlie Accurate Mappe of the Fantastyk and Magical Dyscworlde by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs
Discworld (Wikipedia)
The Chronicles of Narnia (Wikipedia) by C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Wise Child by Monica Furlong
Juniper by Monica Furlong
The Sandman (comic book) (Wikipedia)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wikipedia)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Wikipedia)
Yakuza 0 (Wikipedia)
A Song of Ice and Fire (Wikipedia) by George R. R. Martin
The series of novels on which the television series Game of Thrones is based
The Wheel of Time (Wikipedia) by Robert Jordan
The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games by Lizzie Stark
Links, Articles, and Things
X-Men (Wikipedia)
Scarlet Witch
Magik (Illyana Rasputina) (though her magic powers are separate from her mutation)
Magical girl (Wikipedia)
Alebrije (Wikipedia)
Dungeons & Dragons (Wikipedia)
Independence Day (1996 film) (Wikipedia)
30 Fantasy fiction by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Björkan Sagas by Harold R. Johnson
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Give us feedback!
Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 20th we’re talking about celebrity book clubs and one book reading campaigns!
Then on Tuesday, July 4th we’ll be discussing non-fiction books about UFOs and Aliens!
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Hi! I love your writing and I was wondering what are your inspirations? Like what works do you think formed you and such. And maybe your favorite books, or things you think are written in a similar way??
oh i LOVE this question. and thank you!! i'm glad you enjoy it 🥺
if you found my writing through book fandom then i'm not sure how helpful my answers will be but if you found it through the owl house or leverage then i can certainly point you in the direction of some stuff to read!
first on the list is unsurprisingly the raven cycle and the dreamer trilogy by maggie stiefvater -- i have learned a LOT about metaphor, characterization, relationship arcs, and internal/unreliable narration from her work. it's fabulous. i am so enamored by her craft that i even paid to attend a seminar she taught alongside court stevens many years ago -- it was FULL of info about every part of the process & general tools for getting unstuck & worth every penny.
her writing is very Very good if you want a close POV, dynamic relationships, very spicy and horrible mistakes, and people who are Doing Their Best while being very very very unwell and unequipped for the issues they're facing.
second would be leigh bardugo's work -- i'm most enamored with her adult fiction (which is very Very adult and dark) but she's best known for the six of crows duology, which is also excellent. her writing features similarly close POVs and messy character relationships. also KILLER social commentary, Especially in her ninth house series.
third would be the webcomic homestuck, which has most definitely been the most formative on how i write dialogue and general humor. YMMV on whether reading homestuck is an enjoyable experience; some people adore it and hyperfixate on it for a full decade (me) and some people would Literally Rather Die.
fourth is probably gillian flynn's work. gone girl is her best known and most Fun novel but i personally love sharp objects the most. that book is very dark and adult and features lots of poor decision making, self harm, drug use, parental abuse, etc. truly the whole nine. the television adaptation is also very good and book-accurate! gillian flynn does psychological horror in a way i Adore which is lovely because it is my favorite overall genre while also being a genre that Fucking Sucks. (lots of generically "crazy" villains and ableist edge for the sake of edge in the average psychological horror novel.)
i'm blanking on other books that have meant worlds to me even though there are a lot. one MUST READ though is the sea of ink and gold trilogy by traci chee, the first book is "the reader." it's a fantasy series that's so well-written and compelling and full of earnest characters and love and grief and hope and tragedy that it took my BREATH away. it's been a while since i reread it but i should soon because ohh my goddd it is So Fucking Good.
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Nine People Tag/Get to know me
thank you for the tag @myhusbandsasemni :) i hope you dont mind me posting this on my sideblog (i don't really use my main blog)
tags: @whumpcloud, @pigeonwhumps, @i-eat-worlds, @squishablesunbeam, @quietly-by-myself, @distinctlywhumpthing, and anyone else who sees this and wants to participate. also feel free to ignore this <3
three ships
i don't really ship characters often but i think i can find three pairings. let's see:
definitely fitzsimmons (leo fitz/jemma simmons) from agents of shield
sefia and archer from the Reader trilogy by traci chee
jude/cardan from The Cruel Prince
currently listening
youtube
this is once again one of my favourite summer tracks :)
last movie
gone girl! i watched it last friday with a friend and we enjoyed it a lot
currently reading
finally got around to reading Good Omens!! i'm trying to fulfill my reading goal this year
currently watching
not to be super boring but i don't actually (usually) watch any series. but! i've started to watch all of the old videos of my favourite youtuber from my childhood for nostalgia
currently craving
since it's about 30°C rn where i live (it's a lot for us in the north), i am MAJORLY craving a smoothie and also a cold wind please and thank you
current obsession
basically every blorbo-talk i have with polly (whumpcloud) !!! specifically vincent and also a crossover i can't name yet because we decided to make it canon (so it would be a spoiler) :D
#these are so fun to do :D#honey talks#nine people tag#get to know me tag#tag game#tagging game#whump community#Youtube
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A Few Recommendations from the Past Two Years
Each of the Rich in Color bloggers reviews one book or even more every month, but we aren't able to review everything that we read and enjoy. Today I'd like to share some of the books that shouldn't be missed even though we haven't had a chance to review or feature them yet.
Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise, though, she's turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese people aren't allowed into America.
But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there's not much a trained acrobat like Val can't overcome when she puts her mind to it.
As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.
Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val's dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (Aristotle and Dante #2) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.
Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.
The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.
Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy
Dial Books
Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. In her old town, Huda knew exactly who she was: She was the hijabi girl. But in Dearborn, everyone is the hijabi girl.
Huda is lost in a sea of hijabis, and she can't rely on her hijab to define her anymore. She has to define herself. So she tries on a bunch of cliques, but she isn't a hijabi fashionista or a hijabi athlete or a hijabi gamer. She's not the one who knows everything about her religion or the one all the guys like. She's miscellaneous, which makes her feel like no one at all. Until she realizes that it'll take finding out who she isn't to figure out who she is.
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
HMH Books for Young Readers
We Are Not Free, is the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.
Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.
Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.
Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.
In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.
Love is a Revolution by Renée Watson
Bloomsbury YA
When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani's birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He's perfect, except . . . Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up. As Nala falls deeper into keeping up her lies and into love, she'll learn all the ways love is hard, and how self-love is revolutionary.
In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful and get the attention of the hot guys, the popular girl clique is not shallow but has strong convictions and substance, and the ultimate love story is not only about romance but about how to show radical love to the people in your life, including to yourself.
Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna Marie-McLemore
HarperTeen
There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.
Witty and heartfelt with characters that leap off the page, Miss Meteor is acclaimed authors Anna-Marie McLemore and Tehlor Kay Mejia’s first book together.
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
First Second
Gene understands stories—comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the hero always wins.
But Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick” and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it's all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships.
Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he’s seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’s lives, but his own life as well.
Are there books that you'd like us to review? We may not be able to get to every book that's published, but we could make an effort if there is something people would like to know more about in the future.
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April Reading Wrap-Up
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favorite Read of the Month:
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (series)
Back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.
This is the prequel to Samantha Shannon's smash hit The Priory of the Orange Tree where we return to the same world, except 500 years into the past, where we learn what truly happened during that time referenced in Priory when the servants of the Nameless One had awoken. This is a phenomenal series, and Samantha Shannon knows her craft, and these books truly show it. Personally, while this is the prequel, I think you should read Priory first, as it is more action-packed and personally I think it gives an easier time for readers to understand the worldbuilding. Just like in Priory, Fallen incorporates 4 simultaneous storylines until we can finally see how they all interconnect and work together. I think reading Priory first enhances reading Fallen, as there are many things referenced or people present that you know from Priory.
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Other Five Star Reads:
A Thousand Steps Into the Night by Traci Chee
In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter. But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life.
Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuller
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba. When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy but Duncan's court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, eventually forcing her to flee for her safety. Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfill her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson (GR review)
Explore America’s history and legacy of racism in this YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom in this retelling of Carrie.
Sign Here by Claudia Lux
Peyote Trip has a pretty good gig in the deals department on the fifth floor of Hell. Sure, none of the pens work, the coffee machine has been out of order for a century, and the only drink on offer is Jägermeister, but Pey has a plan—and all he needs is one last member of the Harrison family to sell their soul.
The Stranger Times, This Charming Man, Love Will Tear Us Apart by C.K. McDonnell (series)
A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered, and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor... well, that job is a revolving door--and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.
If you like urban fantasy - you NEED to read this series. It's hilarious, it's heartfelt, and I read all of these books in a row because I could not stop.
Rest of Books Read Under the Cut:
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi (GR review)
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World.
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
A haunting Southern Gothic that explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.
The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola
Rome, 1938. As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife. On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante's young daughter.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Confessions by Kanae Minato
After an engagement that ended in tragedy, all Yuko Moriguchi had to live for was her four-year-old child, Manami. Now, after a heartbreaking accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.
But first, she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that will upend everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.
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Rating: ⭐⭐
Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (GR review)
“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories — she's come home, back to the home of a serial killer, the house that he built, her home. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.
Rivers of London by Been Aaronovitch (GR review)
Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost.
You know how I asked if you liked urban fantasy when I suggested you read The Stranger Times? Yeah, read that instead. In this urban fantasy novel the author somehow made a story that would have been less sexist and misogynistic if there were no women in the book. I'm serious. If there were no women in this novel it would have made me less uncomfortable. Every single women in this book is described as sexy, with big boobs, and we get a WHOLE INTERNAL MONOLOGUE about how hard it makes the main dude's dick - and even when he's called out on it it's played off as "oh isn't he silly! He can't talk to any woman, including his coworker, without thinking about having sex with her and being a fucking creep!" Fuck off.
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Books read so far this year: 47
How I rate books.
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We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Category: Walter Award
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
“We are not free. But we are not alone.”
― Traci Chee, We Are Not Free
We are Not Free by Traci Chee is a book told in glimpses. It is the short interconnected stories of fourteen Japanese American teenagers experiencing World War II and the Japanese internment camps in the United States. The stories show different experiences and perspectives throughout the war from a young soldier, prisoner, aspiring starlet, female baseball player, and many more. The teens grew up together in Japantown, San Francisco but were moved to a relocation camp during the war eventually beginning to evolve and change all going in different directions throughout the story but staying connected through their identity and unique experiences.
I picked this book to review because it's one I've seen everywhere lately! This book is a Printz Award Nominee and a Walter Award Nominee and has been nominated for quite a few young adult literature awards. This book is a great addition to a young adult literature collection in a high school and would be a wonderful addition to the curriculum as well. This book is historical fiction which allows for discussions around the experiences of Japanese Americans in World War II and about an aspect of history that isn't discussed quite as much in the history books. Books like We Are Not Free can be a great introduction to the historical fiction genre and a starting point for valuable classroom discussions.
We Are Not Free was the book I was the most excited to read on this list because it was the book I had heard the most about but knew the least about in terms of the plot. Because the story follows fourteen different teenagers the fourteen voices are extremely distinct. One character writes purely in poetry, another communicates his experiences as a soldier, one is optimistic and hopeful, while another is pessimistic and scared. The characters range in age, family dynamics, and sexual orientation. I listened to the audiobook and read the physical book at the same time. The audiobook mirrored the physical book by having a full cast, and different narrators voiced different characters and it changed the dynamic drastically. I found myself connecting to each story in different ways. There were little tidbits that pulled me into each story making its themes universally accessible to readers of all experiences and ages. I will fully admit going into this that I didn't have a ton of knowledge about the Japanese internment camps in America. I knew they existed but I didn't know much about how they worked or the day-to-day experiences. This book created a vivid picture and understanding in my mind leading me to seek out more information about this part of American history. There is mature language and mature themes in this book but they are necessary to understanding the reality of what these teenagers were going through. I highly encourage anyone interested in reading this book to read it and go in with an open mind.
Chee, T. (2020). We are not free. HMH Books For Young Readers.
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We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Told from the perspective of multiple Japanese American teenagers, this anthology-esque novel takes readers through World War II from the passing of EO 9066 to life in an internment camp to the battlefields of WWII. Drawn from Chee's own family history and many others, this powerful novel provides peer-to-peer, engaging perspectives of WWII for teens from the perspective of a tight-knit group of Nissei (2nd generation Japanese-Americans) coming together to survive and find belonging.
Sometimes, there is something so beautiful like a Dillon Brooks block to win the game that you cannot truly describe how much you appreciate it. This book is one of those things. It has stayed with me and impacted me in ways I never imagined.
“Gaman. The ability to hold your pain and bitterness inside you and not let them destroy you. To make something beautiful through your anger, or with your anger, and neither erase it nor let it define you. To suffer. And to rage. And to persevere.”
#Traci Chee#aapi#ww2#history#japanese american#middle school#high school#chapter book#internment camps
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🔥 FIRST LINE 🔥
First lines have to do a lot of work, from setting a scene to drawing in readers, but as an author whose books tend to be dramatically different in tone, I also think a lot about the way first lines also establish expectations for who is telling the story and who they're telling it to.
WE ARE NOT FREE had 13 first-person narrators (one of them plural) telling their stories from their own perspectives. 1000 STEPS had one third-person narrator telling Miuko's story, and layered on top of that was the idea that the manuscript had been ""found"" by some hermetic scholar of Awaran folktales, who added their own explanatory footnotes to the text.
And now KINDLING is written from a second-person perspective that roams from character to character (seven of them, of course). I've loved this point of view for years, and I usually jump at the excuse to use it (like in Keiko's chapter of WE ARE NOT FREE), but I dreaded the idea of taking it on for KINDLING. I mean, a whole novel? A multi-POV novel? Written in second person? How could I ever keep that up over 400 pages? How could that possibly be sustainable? And, let me tell you, I tried to resist. I tried to write it in third. And then first. And then third again. But the story refused to go anywhere (I couldn't even get past the first few pages) until I embraced the *you* of it all.
For a glimpse of those early POV experiments, make sure you're signed up for my Substack, where this month I'll be sharing some thoughts on perspective, voice, and the importance of identifying your narrator. ✍️
[Video description: A quote from Traci Chee’s book Kindling appearing in white text on a charcoal gray and red gradient background with red fire in the corners. Quote reads, “The war took you many places on the Kindar Peninsula (and in the years since the war ended, you’ve pretty much seen the rest), but you’ve never been to the northlands until now.” Final image is of the Book Kindling by Traci Chee with the text below, “March 5, 2024 Available for Pre-order Now”]
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book quote of the day:
"Love what's in front of you, right now," she said, "because now is all you have."
-The Storyteller, book three of the Reader Trilogy, Traci Chee
#haley reads#book quotes#quote of the day#traci chee#the reader trilogy#the storyteller#this book is making me cry but yahhhh
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7th book!
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee! One of my favorite authors because of her reader series but this book is historical fiction, not fantasy. It's about Japanese internment in ww2 and follows a handful of characters. The writing is moving and beautiful and I definitely cried. Would recommend!
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30 Fantasy fiction by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Björkan Sagas by Harold R. Johnson
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
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The Reader series by Traci Chee is SEVERELY underrated
#it's sooo good#gonna get the final book in the trilogy sokn#can't believe it took so long to pick up
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I refuse to believe that my favourite people, my favourite moments and comfort places are fictional. I refuse.
#bookworm#book books bookstagram bookworm booklover bookish booknerd bookaddict bookme bookshelf bookaholic booklove booknow bookphotography booking#books & libraries#book series#reader problems#daydreaming#reality sucks#dark academia#six of crows#percy jackson and the olympians#caraval#the cruel prince#traci chee#coffee
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