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battyaboutbooksreviews · 2 months

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🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in February 2024

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

❤️ We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson 🧡 The Paper Boys by D.P. Clarence 💛 Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada 💚 Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine 💙 A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair 💜 Clarion Call by Cayla Fay ❤️ Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories edited by Sandra Proudman 🧡 The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton 💛 Truthfully, Yours by Caden Armstrong 💙 Outsider by Jade du Preez 💜 Cross My Candy Heart by A.C. Thomas 🌈 The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

❤️ An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson 🧡 The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Ann Older 💛 Never a Bridesmaid by Spencer Greene 💚 The Rewind by Nicole Stiling 💙 Good Christian Girls by Elizabeth Bradshaw 💜 The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha ❤️ The Terrible by Tessa Crowley 🧡 Blood Rage by Ileandra Young 💛 Call of the Sea by Emily B. Rose 💙 Sign Me Up by C.H. Williams 💜 Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts 🌈 Peaceful in the Dark by A.A. Fairview

❤️ We Are Only Ghosts by Jeffrey L. Richards 🧡 Dead Ringer by Robyn Nyx 💛 Somacultural Liberation by Dr. Roger Kuhn 💚 Stormbringer by Erinn Harper 💙 A Saga of Shields & Shadows by A.J. Shirley 💜 Ghost Town by R.E. Ward ❤️ I Heard Her Call My Name by Lucy Sante 🧡 The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor 💛 Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr 💙 Bloom by N.R. Walker 💜 Entwined by Alex Alberto 🌈 Queer Newark edited by Whitney Strub

❤️ Tristan by Jesse Roman 🧡 How to Live Free in a Dangerous World by Shayla Lawson 💛 Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos 💚 Of Socialites & Prizefights by Arden Powell 💙 Lost Harbor by Kimberly Cooper Griffin 💜 Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee ❤️ Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid by Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert 🧡 How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly 💛 Blackmailer’s Delight by David Lawrence 💙 Tile M for Murder by Felicia Carparelli 💜 Impulse Buy by Jae 🌈 Live for You, Die With You by Kalob Dàniel

❤️ Fairest of All by A.D. Ellis 🧡 Goddess of the Sea by Britney Jackson 💛 A Taste of Earth by Nico Silver 💚 The Moorings of Mackerel Sky by M.Z. Emily Zack 💙 How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith 💜 V is for Valentine by Thomas Grant Bruso ❤️ Crushed Ice by Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James 🧡 When Tomorrow Comes by D. Jackson Leigh 💛 Bugsy & Other Stories by Rafael Frumkin 💙 The White and Blue Between Us by Kiyuhiko 💜 Guide Us Home by CF Frizzell & Jesse J. Thoma 🌈 The Friendship Study by Ruby Barrett

❤️ Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender 🧡 Heart2Heart edited by Annabeth Albert 💛 No Time Like Now by Naz Kutub 💚 Bless the Blood by Walela Nehanda 💙 Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter 💜 Who We Are in Real Life by Victoria Koops ❤️ Prove It by Stephanie Hoyt 🧡 Mewing by Chloe Spencer 💛 Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault 💙 Born of Scourge by S. Jean 💜 Disciples of Chaos by M.K. Lobb 🌈 To Cage a God by Elizabeth May

❤️ Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly 🧡 What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher 💛 You Had Me at Merlot by Melissa Brayden 💚 Turning Point by Cathy Dunnell 💙 For the Stolen Fates by Gwendolyn Clare 💜 Season of Eclipse by Terry Wolverton ❤️ These Haunted Hills by Jana Denardo 🧡 Samson & Domingo by Gume Laurel III 💛 Lies that Bind by Rae Knowles & April Yates 💙 We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller 💜 The Diablo's Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa 🌈 Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

❤️ Out There by Iris Eliot 🧡 At Her Service by Amy Spalding 💛 Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

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mariacallous · 1 year

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This week, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law—an important step toward advancing protections for same-sex marriages. But the legislation comes near the end of a year in which hundreds of anti-L.G.B.T.Q. bills were proposed across the country, queer literature was the target of bans in schools, protests and violence against drag shows rose, a queer night club in Colorado Springs was attacked, and at least thirty-four trans people were killed. As Bryan Washington writes in a new essay, in this “ghoulish year for queer folks,” spaces for gathering have become more essential than ever, serving as “focal points of connection and as portals for sharing information.” Reflecting on his time at gay bars everywhere from Houston to Bangkok throughout 2022, Washington offers snapshots of the connection, support, sadness, joy, and visibility he found in them. “And perhaps this is one function of queer spaces,” Washington writes. “To give what is deemed unworthy—by white supremacy, by stigma, by capitalism—its brightness, even if only for a few hours.” The essay is a wonderful reminder of the gift of having companions to help you process a year’s worth of heartbreaking lows and euphoric highs.

In January, near the queer bars lining Houston’s Montrose Boulevard, some white guy stood with a bullhorn. Wearing a button-down shirt under a tidy jacket, he screamed at foot traffic for hours. Sodomites wrought the end of civilization! We were all going to hell! Vaping on a patio across the street, I asked a buddy whether this was strange, and he confirmed that it was, before we flopped into Crocker to the tune of Toni Braxton.

A week later, around the same spot, a gaggle of folks stood with more microphones. They wore matching T-shirts, blasting fire-and-damnation into the humidity. From time to time, they’d flag down passersby to remind us of our pending eternity in flames. A handful of folks engaged with the homophobes while walking along the busted concrete, but few offered more than a brief, tired Girl.

At Ripcord, a bartender—a bearish ginger draped in leather—told me that the agitators had been more visible lately.

They’re feeling themselves, he said. But it’s fucking gross out there? They should drink some water instead.

Some porn played on the screen behind us. Patti LaBelle sang from the speakers. This was a perfect space, and I ordered more drinks to take to my friends on the patio.

All in all, 2022 has been a ghoulish year for queer folks in the United States. Lawmakers have proposed more than two hundred and fifty anti-L.G.B.T.Q. bills, more than a hundred and eighty of them directed at trans folks. Nearly half of book bannings this year have focussed on queer content. There have been more than a hundred and twenty threats, protests, and attacks against drag shows. At least thirty-four trans folks have been killed, and states across the country have revelled in targeting trans kids.

But queer spaces have been more essential than ever. They’ve served as focal points of connection and as portals for sharing information. Yet another year into the pandemic, they’ve been places to just enjoy others for a fucking minute. Or maybe play bingo. Or catch a drag show, or catch up with friends, or spin the wheel on a date. They’ve offered a way to spend time with people whom you can wear a little less armor around, who might actually be invested in your feeling O.K.

In February, I flew to Los Angeles to pretend to finish a novel, but mostly I ended up drowning myself in seolleongtang. The majority of the queer bars I haunted stood in Silver Lake, sporting a little less sheen than the WeHo circuit farther down Santa Monica Boulevard. One night, I passed through the Eagle, where a Latinx guy working at the hotel I’d been staying in flagged me down by the pool table.

He, too, was from Texas, but he’d recently relocated. He asked how things were back home, and I told him that they were suboptimal.

It’s sad, he said. Because there’s so much potential, you know? The numbers are there. My people are there. But what can you even do? Kids can’t even pull up the fucking Trevor Project at school, he added, referring to a district policy that prevents queer students from accessing resources including the suicide-prevention hotline.

We ordered another round of vodka sodas. A group of gays across the bar began to cheer for their friend, who had either just gotten married or divorced. Eventually, we joined in, too.

I thought of my new friend, in September, when a church just outside Houston hosted a drag bingo night as a fund-raiser for young trans folks, only to be descended upon by a group of neo-Nazis and Proud Boys. Protesters and counter-protesters clashed along a road leading to the house of worship. Local police formed a line on the median. Afterward, despite everything, a pastor at the church deemed the event a success.

At a queer bar that weekend, about thirty miles away, my boyfriend, L, and I watched the usual assortment of karaoke singers cross a stage. Spectating was our tiny ritual. (I can confidently sing only songs by BLACKPINK.) Some familiar faces were perched in their corners. We smiled and nodded and touched one another’s elbows and shoulders. Eventually, a straight couple took the stage. They announced that they’d just gotten engaged, and dedicated their performance to the queer folks in attendance, swearing that “it gets better” before immediately launching into Selena’s mournful “No Me Queda Más.”

Behind us, someone asked, What the fuck?

Back in L.A. a few weeks later, I was sitting with two friends on the curb of Akbar, a gay cocktail bar, when a car swerved toward our intersection. A white guy leaned out of his window, yelling, Go get fucked, faggots.

The car honked as it passed us, nearly running the light. The three of us continued to tap at our phones. Then one friend looked up, sighed, and said, Babe, I wish.

The next month, after the fabulous collapse of a years-long project, I was feeling a little frantic, and L suggested that we take advantage of remote work. We ended up in Bangkok for a month. Our hotel, in the Silom area, sat a short walk from the subway line. A slightly longer walk brought us to a strip of queer bars tucked down an alleyway, beside an all-night American-style diner whose tuna salad made me see God.

On our first night out, we met a bespectacled guy at a drag bar. He was a local engineer, and he’d recently come out. A month beforehand, Bangkok had celebrated its first Pride march in years—which was also his first Pride march ever. So we bought him a drink to celebrate, and when I asked how he liked the city’s queer scene he grinned. If you were just looking to cruise, he said, waving at some older white guys ogling a pair of twinks wrapped in Gucci, then the bars were great. But the pandemic hadn’t been kind to many of the city’s queer establishments.

A lot of folks just hang out at home, he said. Tourist life and local queerness are different.

Another club I frequented underlined this dynamic. Tucked away on the upper floor of a nearby shopping mall, it was basically a local bear bar. The vibe felt worlds away from the evening strip’s sheen. Its clientele lounged in beach chairs. The occasional expat sipped beer from a straw. A dubbed version of the third “Transformers” movie played on a tiny television by a Jacuzzi.

One guy I met came from Indonesia. He asked whether I was Thai-Muslim (I’m not), and, when I told him I lived in the States, he asked how many of them I’d visited. He’d spent the last two years in Jakarta by himself. But he wasn’t out to his family. Indonesia was a tough place to be queer, and Bangkok was a reprieve.

I can let my guard down, he said. I can’t even tell you what that’s like.

By the time we returned to Houston, mpox—the disease often called by the harmful name “monkeypox”—had been declared a global health emergency. The epidemic had spread throughout the country, while testing remained virtually impossible. One buddy picked it up from a hookup. Another’s partner had a brush with it after an orgy. The vaccine requirements were constantly shifting: you could possibly, maybe receive one, but only if you were deemed sufficiently high-risk, and then only if you were “a man who had sex with men,” a wildly inadequate qualifier. The most accurate information I received came not from the government but by way of gay bars, sex clubs, and other queer-forward spaces hastily fortifying informal networks.

L and I spent a long Tuesday on the phone, flailing for an available shot. Two weeks later, pulling up for our appointments, we found that we were the only non-white folks in line at a predominantly Black neighborhood’s community center in South Houston. As it turned out, the government had sat on hundreds of thousands of doses. In the following month, supply strains would exacerbate racial disparities in vaccine access and medical disenfranchisement among queer folks of color.

But, at the end of July, Beyoncé released “Renaissance.” I started the album in my car the morning after its release and simply never stopped playing it. That same weekend, ducking through Houston’s queer circuit, I heard a d.j. in a packed bar start one song from the record (“Heated”) before slipping into another (“Virgo’s Groove”) and then a third (“Pure/Honey”) as the room worked itself into a pulsing huff of steam. When I finally stepped outside for air, I was enfolded into a group of folks still running through the lyrics, clapping each other on our shoulders and backs, nearly tearful, deeply euphoric.

In August, realizing that I’d either have to finish my novel or simply walk into the Gulf of Mexico, I holed up in a Vancouver studio overlooking the downtown skyline. Most mornings, I ambled down to the Vietnamese diner stationed by the building’s garage, until the matron started heading instinctively toward the coffee machine whenever I squeezed through the door. One evening, I passed through a restaurant for katsu curry and noticed that an Indian guy was the only other person eating alone. We exchanged polite smiles. A few hours later, nursing a drink at a queer bar, I spotted the same guy.

He was visiting with his family. He’d been hoping for a fun vacation, but mpox had him wary. He said that he’d just graduated university. I congratulated him, and he asked whether he could have a hug. When I gave him one, I could feel his entire body relax. He said that he’d only recently started going to the bars by himself, because he wasn’t entirely out. I told him it wasn’t a race, and he laughed.

That’s what everyone keeps saying, he added. But first there was COVID? It feels like a raw deal, like it’s all one risk after another.

A few weeks later, back in the Bay Area, I stood vaping with some folks outside a queer bar when a gray S.U.V. settled beside us. Its driver unrolled the window, unstrapped himself from a seatbelt, and yelled that he was fine with a queer bar in his neighborhood, but that we needed to keep our fag shit in the building.

He asked whether we understood. Four other smokers and I blinked at one another. None of us said anything. There were too many uncertain variables. Finally, the oldest person standing among us, a bearded Filipino guy, said, Sure, honey, and the car rolled away.

We stood in silence for another beat, puffing away, a little rattled. Then another person, a Black individual in overalls, the smallest one among us, said, He looked like his breath fucking stank.

In November, sleepwalking toward a manuscript deadline, I visited Amsterdam. The city unfurled in a moody way, guided by canals and folks meandering on bikes along brick-laden roads. Every few streets, a rain-worn building sported the Progress Pride flag.

As far as I know there’s only one gay sauna in Amsterdam. On a weekday, it was hardly populated. I ended up sitting in a hot tub between two guys, one of whom said that he was from Spain, and in the way of queers everywhere we started in on our recent grievances. The Spanish guy said that he was living in London for work. This was the first trip he’d taken since relocating. He grew up in a small town, and adolescence had been tough on him. London had been an education, and now he was furthering it.

The other guy was white and younger than both of us. We’d taken him for a local. But when we asked where he was from, he said Kyiv, and the reality of his situation—the war across the continent—sent a chill through the water.

Holy fuck, we said.

It’s all right, the guy replied. I’d never been to a gay bar. I’ve never been to a place like this, he said. I’m trying new things— hoping for the best, you know?

We nodded. But how could we possibly know?

The week before Thanksgiving, L and I lounged on the patio of our local leather spot, because I’d just finished copy edits on my novel and it was time to celebrate. Then, starting at one end of Montrose, we careened from bar to bar. I managed to stay afloat until two in the morning. A crisp chill hung over the patios. Folks huddled together as they passed, cheering on strangers, imploring them to stay safe. A few hours later, we woke up to news of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. A shooter had killed five people in the queer nightclub and wounded at least nineteen more.

It all felt like—and it all is—entirely too much. A country that prides itself on queer progressiveness on an international stage refuses to provide safety and human rights for its residents. This month, the Respect for Marriage Act has become law, but what is the privilege of marriage to communities without the baseline necessities, who face regular violence in their attempts to secure them?

On Thanksgiving evening, after making the rounds of our assorted found families, we made our way back to the queer bars, settling into JR.’s. The atmosphere was muted. Looks of recognition passed from patron to patron. But, as the evening progressed, the room turned more crowded—never packed, but lively—until it felt like being present for each other was a gift in itself.

On the karaoke stage, a drag queen lamented the shootings. She said that things were taking a turn for the worse. But then she asked whether anyone in the room had something for us to champion. One woman noted that she’d just left a ten-year marriage. Another guy spoke about his new gig. A couple announced that they’d opened up their relationship, drawing a scattering of cheers, because this, too, was touching: to see things normally rendered invisible allowed visibility within this shared space.

And perhaps this is one function of queer spaces: to give what is deemed unworthy—by white supremacy, by stigma, by capitalism—its brightness, even if only for a few hours. Flirting at the bar is holy. Biding time on a hookup app by the pool table is holy. A sleepy evening sipping lukewarm beer with found family is holy. Chatting with the muscle-cub bartender is holy. A midnight drag show on a week night is holy. Sucking dick in a dark room is holy, and so is waiting until you’ve gotten home, and so is opting out of the meat market entirely for a lazy pecan waffle with eggs at the all-you-can-eat diner once the bars have closed. Coming out incessantly is holy. Coming together is holy. A hastily organized orgy is holy. And mundanity is holy—perhaps even the holiest, because it is worth everything to insure that the most disenfranchised among us receive the same ordinary benefit of the doubt.

With the queen’s interlude over, karaoke began again. An older Black dude sang Luther Vandross. Some Latinx folks followed with Selena Gomez. A Black woman sang Jill Scott with her white friend. And then an Asian guy took the stage for an astoundingly beautiful rendition of “Rocket Man,” which felt like the appropriate note to depart on. We finished our beers and slipped out into the rain, taking care not to trip on the concrete. ♦

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rockislandadultreads · 7 months

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Libby Spotlight: eAudiobook Fiction Picks for Hispanic Heritage Month

L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón (read by Frankie Corzo)

L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and all Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants is a little rain. He’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their three daughters—Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers—are blindsided and left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.

With quick wit and humor, Maria Amparo Escandón follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton (read by Kyla Garcia)

After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity--and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...

Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...

Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.

Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.

This is the first volume of "The Perez Family" series.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González (read by Almarie Guerra)

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can't seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets...

Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (read by Sandra Cisneros)

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.

Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

#hispanic heritage month #audiobooks #fiction #libby app #reading recommendations #book recommendations #reading recs #book recs #library resources #tbr pile #tbr #to read #booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog #readers advisory

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sailoryooons · 1 year

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As soon as Yoongi plays Tony Montana on tour I need everyone to let the Latinxs in the crowd to the front that one is for us

#just hali things

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pattytasm · 2 years

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Raúl Esparza is Tired of Being Told He's Not Latino Enough – Token Theatre Friends

#raul esparza #rafael barba #theatre #interview #pattytasm

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jynjackets · 8 months

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people will write pages and pages defending that show, meanwhile the criticism they're defending it against is like "uh why is this so white especially for a show about a latino lead in a rebellion?" "why are all the black characters killed?" we heard cassian is getting a show, and went yay more latinx people in star wars! but it was only him and adria. also cassian's younger sister who is apparently a consensual s3x w0rker at best and kidnapped into it at worst. add to this adria, a latina, getting the "first s3x scene in star wars" while cassian was a stereotypical indigenous person (played by a white latino) because his accent needed to "be explained"... yeah this show is actually extremely racist. every time I think about kenari it takes my breath away how racist that portrayal was but tony gilroy can do no wrong, right?

yeah…

#the worst parts of this show written by Tony Gilroy #the best and nominated parts including vel and cinta were Beau Willimon #so we can actually k!ll Tony without affecting the show #see where I’m going with this #jk not really #andor talks

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crystal-library · 1 year

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As I mentioned in this post, I'm changing up how I do my TBR this year! I'm doing four bingo cards with 25 books each, with the plan to read them over three months. I'm still working on recovering from a reading slump, so I don't want to overwhelm myself right off the bat.

I'm super excited to try this method, and I had a lot of fun putting together my TBR for this first quarter!

I also have a few library loans I want to finish this month:

Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast (for a project)

How to Succeed at Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

Here's a full list of the books on my TBR and the prompts they fill for my 2023 Bingo Challenge!

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Wait for Night by Stephen Graham Jones (Shortest book you own)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (Disability Rep)

Skyhunter by Marie Lu (On your TBR for over a year)

Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar (Trans author)

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed edited by Saraciea J. Fennell (Latinx author)

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds (Banned book)

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé

Jackpot by Nic Stone

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno Garcia

The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin

Rouge Princess by B.R. Meyers

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

The Martian by Andy Weir

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

#booknerd #bookish #bookworm #book blog #bookblr #tbr bingo #tbrlist #tbrpost #book tbr #january tbr #to be read #book tag #reading community

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literaticat · 2 years

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When agents ask for magical realism is that in the general meaning (magical things happening in the real world) or the traditional meaning (magical things happening in the real world rooted in Latinx stories/mythology/post-colonialism)?

I think it could really go either way. Some agents certainly use the term to broadly mean "basically real world but with some fantastical / magical / folkloric thread."

Some agents would probably be (quite) annoyed by that broad use, and say that only works from Latin America and rooted in that tradition can be so characterized, such as works in the vein of Jorge Luis Borges / Gabriel García Marquez.

This is a topic of some debate in the field of literary criticism and scholarship. Hell, even the Wikipedia article can't decide. And basically every article I looked up for this cites Toni Morrison's BELOVED and Salman Rushdie's MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN as works of magical realism... So... I am sure that agents fall all over the spectrum of What They Mean By That.

PERSONALLY (and this is just me!!!) -- I avoid it by trying never to say those two words together unless I am talking literature that has been designated as such specifically by like, people that are not myself. If I were giving a talk about 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE, for example, I'd refer to it as Magical Realism. (Spoiler: I would never give a talk about that book, I haven't read it since high school! But like, IF I WAS! FOR SOME REASON!)

For usage in the broad sense I'd probably say something like "real world, but with a magical twist!" or "Contemporary laced with magic!" or some such. (This is because I used to use it in the broad sense and one time somebody yelled at me about it, and fair enough but like, I am not passionate or smart enough on the topic to want to have that kinda debate.) (Case in point: I could barely parse the Wikipedia article!)

TL;DR - I don't know, I'm sorry there is no one right answer here.

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theyoungturks · 1 year

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youtube

David Shuster hosts. CA-29 Congressional Candidate Angélica Dueñas talks about her priorities as a progressive alternative to "corporate Democrat" Tony Cárdenas. Deputy Communications Director of United We Dream José Muñoz talks about dis/misinformation attacks on the Hispanic and Latinx communities. 221026__TC by The Young Turks

#IFTTT #YouTube

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cto10121 · 2 years

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R&J (+ WSS, Oh God) Clown Takes Round ♾ + Part 8

Featuring a shiny new clown take of the Balcony Scene as a comedy skit and a truly terrible article on WSS that sounds like it was written by a high schooler who read a book on literary criticism, like, once. Spoilers of course

Infamous Balcony Scene

Two teens having crushes on each other and saying nice things to each other? Inherently triggering!!!! Something something heteronormative whiteness something something outdated gender roles. #GetWoke

Also…infamous. Infamous. Samuel Pepys, is that you?

Three interesting notes about this clown take.

1- Technically, yes, there is no mention of a balcony in the text, just “Juliet’s window.” But also, no one cares. Seriously, no one. It’s 200+-year-old fanon that has existed before you and I were even a twinkle in our great-grandparents’ eye. Shakespeare himself would probably give up and include it as elevated canon in his ShakespeareMore website. I won’t censure you if you call it anything else, but c’mon. C’mon.

2- Playwrights in the Elizabethan Era did not use Act or Scene markers/divisions in their scripts nor in performance, and neither did Shakespeare. That only began in the Jacobean era ~1600s when indoor theaters rose to prominence and candles were employed. As they needed time to re-light the candles after an hour, a curtain call was instituted. Shakespeare’s later plays in the Jacobean era thus had act and scene divisions. I wouldn’t put it past the Victorian editors to censor Shakespeare in this way out of prudishness, but it’s clownish to imply that Shakespeare meant for Mercutio’s scene and the Balcony scene to be one scene. He quite literally wrote plays as one whole scene. As for the choice in labeling the balcony scene Scene 2, it makes logical sense—after Mercutio and Benvolio both leave, the scene radically changes tone and subject.

3- Tag yourself, I’m “dominatrix date night dinner theater.” Seriously, what’s with this fanon of Juliet being aggressive???? She’s not! First Greer, then this one! Yes, she leads the balcony scene—as is typical, since she’s the one to decide to continue the flirtation and its development or stop it in its tracks. That is actually the traditional role of gender in romance—the woman is the gatekeeper, guarding her virtue and makes all the decisions while the man is usually the supplicant/suitor/wooer. On the other hand, Juliet is also in a very vulnerable position and clearly understands herself as such—hence her long monologue and anxiety as to Romeo’s intentions. This vacillation doesn’t even read as comic—it’s more about the *insert snapping fingers meme* tension, if you know what I mean.

“nO sUch tHING as A timEless classic!!1!”

THE WHITE ETHNIC CHARACTERS ARE ALSO GANG MEMBERS. That is literally the premise!!! Hell, the Jets are more characterized as a gang than the Sharks. Not only that, but the story has a basis in real life—literally ripped from the headlines. Puerto Rican gangs were definitely a thing!

As for hypersexual spitfires, that’s Anita. That is literally just Anita. And as she is a direct analogue of the bawdy Nurse from R&J, it’s straightforward adaptational mapping. Nothing to do with Latino stereotypes.

As for the Latinos who think WSS is racist…I’m willing to bet cold, hard cash only white (millennial) liberals think WSS is racist, period. Except, of course, for the ~Latinxers and Chicanos whose whole personality/shtick is that kind of shallow identity politics masquerading as actual criticism. It’s a hustle, after all. No judgment, but still.

This writer has never even heard the phrase “West Side Story was based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet” and it shows. Or that it even had the classical double-suicide (sort of) as its ending. The musical makes it painstakingly clear that Tony and Maria’s romance isn’t doomed because miscegenation bad—it’s doomed because of gang violence is bad (“Now I have hate!”). This reads like a high schooler who thinks tragic ending in play=they had it comin’.

Tfw your critique of homophobia is homophobic, ngl.

Considering that the original musical almost had the two sides be Catholic and Jewish gangs, the Shark side being the Puerto Rican means jack shit. Robbins et al. just rotated through various ethnic groups before finally settling on PRs and white ethnics in New York. They were certainly not salivating for a chance to have hot (non) Puerto Ricans on stage. Nor are Tony and Maria analogues to queer desire—at least, you’ll have to really twist canon a lot to come to that conclusion. But go ahead and fall into the trope of the predatory gay gaze, OP.

Also, it must be said that for their musical adaptation (really inspiration) of R&J, the gay and bi creators of WSS consistently shied away from the eroticism of Shakespeare’s original play, both at the musical and the dramatic level. They were much more concerned with the politics of inner-city fighting and critiquing American societal racism than the forbidden love story, which Sondheim bluntly stated they didn’t care for and marginalized almost to irrelevancy. WSS just doesn’t say anything about the nature of desire of any kind except the most basic—young love is powerful, love can trump ethnic division, etc.

You have never even heard of Shakespeare, classical music, ballet, or the words “You’re fine” from a doctor, OP. And it shows.

#west side story #cristina metas #romeo and juliet #rj meta #r&j meta #this is what happens when you let the identity politics people write about art #a whole lot of nonsense and prejudice #rj clown takes #wss clown takes #that article was seriously skin-crawling #ew ew ew

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crookedtable · 1 year

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'In the Heights' (feat. The Lady-Wan from Screen Run)

Way back in 2020, a few hardcore Hamilfans -- including this episode's guest -- united for the first-ever Crooked Roundtable to talk up the Disney+ release of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical Hamilton. Now, at last, loyal listeners get the long-awaited spiritual sequel to that discussion.

On this episode, Close Watch continues its year-long analysis of movie musicals as The Lady-Wan of Screen Run joins us to talk 2021's In the Heights. Based on Miranda's other Tony-winning musical, the film follows a group of largely Latinx characters in New York's Washington Heights.

We'll discuss why In the Heights underperformed at the box office, how it thematically matches up with Hamilton, and why director Jon M. Chu's film deserved better. Plus, we'll count down our favorite In the Heights songs in a brand-new edition of Let's Talk About SIX!

Connect with Crooked Table Productions on social media:

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Check out this episode!

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battyaboutbooksreviews · 2 months

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February 2024 Young Adult Book Releases

🦇 Good afternoon, my bookish bats. I hope you're bundled up with a fur baby, hot bev, and good book as you ward off this (lovely) chilly weather. No TBR is complete without a few young adult novels, and plenty were released in January! Here are a few YA releases to consider adding to your shelves.

🩷 February 6 🩷 ✨ All This Twisted Glory by Taherah Mafi ✨ ASAP by Axie Oh ✨ I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang ✨ No Time Like Now by Naz Kutub ✨ Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn ✨ Who We Are in Real Life by Victoria Koops ✨ How The Boogeyman Became A Poet by Tony Keith Jr. ✨ Dead Girls Don't Say Sorry by Abby Elenko ✨ Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender ✨ Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada ✨ Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories by Various ✨ The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton ✨ Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos ✨ King Cheer by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green ✨ Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo ✨ These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang ✨ The Cursed Rose by Leslie Vedder ✨ Clarion Call by Cayla Fay ✨ Out of Body by Nia Davenport

🩷 February 13 🩷 ✨ The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna ✨ A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai ✨ This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill ✨ With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer ✨ Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid by Ngozi Ukazu, Mad Rupert ✨ The Boyfriend Wish by Swati Teerdhala ✨ Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley ✨ The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha

🩷 February 20 🩷 ✨ A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal ✨ The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert ✨ Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli ✨ The Diablo's Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa ✨ We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller ✨ The Someday Daughter by Ellen O'Clover ✨ Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle ✨ My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

🩷 February 27 🩷 ✨ Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard ✨ Illusions of Fire by Nisha Sharma ✨ Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury ✨ Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana ✨ Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye ✨ Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

#ya books #young adult romance #young adult books #young adult fiction #young adult #books #book releases #book release #book reader #book reading #batty about books #battyaboutbooks #booklr #book blog #book lovers

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heygutlcss · 1 year

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Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion

@angelsweeps ASKED: 🔥 wss ships bc i’m curious

I don’t think Riff x Anita should have gotten as much hate as it did. Especially since Bernardo x Riff is a ship that exists without the same amount of both Anon and direct hate. I personally don’t ship either of them, but I can respect other people’s ships and i don’t mind going along for the ride. The fanficiton Fight or Flight on AO3 was Riffnita and I really enjoyed it. Still not my go to ship though.

West Side Story is a story about love overcoming hate and starting an ongoing conversation about the nature of hate. The problem is if you gate keep Tony x Maria but reject any other noncanon ship because of racial issues, then you shouldn’t ship Tony x Maria.

Tony and Maria are a very safe ship. Sure, we have a clash of cultures and by the context of the times Maria is a person of color, but that’s only because America rejected the white/black conflict that was going on in Latinx and spanish communities. Racism isn’t exclusive to America. white privilege exists down there too.

To top all of that off, Maria has almost always been played by a non-latinx white woman. So to say “ i love west side story because its so daring in its exploration in love overcoming hate and its open discussion of racists and racisim in America” but send hate and death threats to other online users who say they ship other characters who are of color, or want to put them in an interracial relationship because one part might be a racist and racists are “nonredeemable characters”... doesn’t that gate keeping then make you a racist, because the canon ship is essentially a white ship?

I think i need someone to explain it to me, because the most common argument i’ve seen is that having an afro-latinx person be in a ship with a white person ( which is to say ethnic non-white by the story’s time frame and social status compared to how the police treat them within the narrative) would hurt afro-latinx people because their sole purpose is to fix the racist. Isn’t that whats going on with Tony and Maria? because Tony is a racist, too. He canonically started the jets, in both versions he is a vicious fighter( tho his himbo-ness doesn’t help convey that) and in the new version, we know he is in jail for gang warfare with people of color ( I still have beef with them using the egyptian kings as a plot point but that’s another story). So if the biggest complaint is that in this story shipping an interracial ship ( which would be the current story) shouldn’t happen. but Tony and Maria is okay. So does Maria not fix him? Is she not a person of color? I’m so confused as to why one is okay, but the other is not. Is it because we are told all these things about tony but don’t actually see them? i mean in the new version we see a tony that simply doesn’t care about anybody and the girl he sees dancing in the gym sure a hell looks like the jets around her.

I’ve noticed in my research kickback against suggestions from both the puerto Rican community as well as avid american broadway fans against casting an afro-latinx person as maria for much of the same reasons. it just doesn’t make any sense to me.

I mean I know WSS is part of the racial discussion triad which includes Show Boat and South Pacific, but we face much of the same problems. In Show Boat Julie, a biracial character, is left by Steve by the end of the show, her white husband. In South Pacific, Joseph Cable, a white GI, dies in action leaving Liat, the Tonkinese(northern Vietnamese) girl alone in the world. Sure Nellie , the white nurse, decides to marry Emilie, the rich french man, but the show never has her touch his biracial children, and she never has more than a polite conversation with them, they get passed off to the nanny.

We can’t have progressive musicals be progressive without being willing to address the fact that people can grow and can change. Maybe not overnight, but gatekeeping people from shipping something like Riff and Anita based on the canon white ship, despite it being considered interracial just seems ludicrous to me. Ship what you want! Push characters out of their comfort zone and into personal growth, that’s how we better mankind!

#ˢᵉᶰᵈ ᵃ ʳᵃᵛᵉᶰ ║ ASKS #angelsweeps #tw; racism

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pulsdmedia · 1 year

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The Week Ahead 1/15-1/21

Celebrities. Open bars. Cocktails. Free workouts. Clay Shooting. Why not do it all, and without spending too much dough? We’re all about living your best NYC life, and with all this inflation happening, we still want you to have fun in The Big Apple, minus breaking the bank...

50% Off Tickets To A New York Times Critic's Pick Interactive Comedy Show

"Drink sir, is a great provoker." So is the famed line from Macbeth, and the perfect way to sum up a night at Drunk Shakespeare! Dubbed by Time Out as a “live-action Drunk History,” Drunk Shakespeare always starts the same way: classically-trained actors perform the classics with upgraded style, while one cast member downs shots of whiskey - what's next will be a complete surprise. The stage is set at The Garden New York, a hidden Victorian drawing room with a splendid collection of paintings to take you back to Shakespearean times. This intimate setup will have you right in the middle of all the action! As the drinks flow, both on stage and in the audience, the revelry is only heightened. Prepare to laugh until your cheeks hurt, get swept up in the rowdiness, and cheers to a wildly unforgettable evening...

Kristin Chenoweth Book Talk

Join Barnes & Noble - Union Square as they welcome Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and New York Times bestselling author Kristin Chenoweth to celebrate the release of I'm No Philosopher But I've Got Thoughts. This inspiring high-design, colorful book features philosophical-ish musings on connection, creativity, loss, love, faith, and closure.

$19 VIP 2 Hour Open Bar Tickets: Open Bar Disco Fever Fridays Party

Give in to indulgence, forget your inhibitions, and surround yourself with glitter, sequins, and the music of the 70s at Copacabana's Disco Fever Fridays - a groovy spectacular that harkens to the Studio 54 heyday at the iconic nightlife hotspot, complete with unlimited drinks, DJ sounds, and vibes aplenty. Enjoy a 2 hour open bar as you get lost in a fully immersive disco wonderland, following the Disco Ball to the dance floor and boogying down to all the best Disco hits by the funky sounds of legendary Disco DJs. While you're at it, snap selfies with your pals, learn to Hustle, manifest your inner disco queen or king, and drink until you feel like you can rock your best moves all night long. Let go of your worries and shake it 'til the break of dawn...

Cocktails & Culture: Latinx Flavors

Enjoy Museum of the City of New York's first Cocktails & Culture event of the New Year! Soak in live music by acclaimed bandola performer Mafer Bandola; enjoy specialty Venezuelan Guarapita cocktails and mocktails; and taste delicious bites from their Empanada Mama pop-up café.

30% Off A Clay Shooting Experience & 3 Course Lunch For 2-4 People

Featured in Travel + Liesure, Orvis Sandanona is a place where you can channel major Downton Abbey vibes while discovering the exhilarating fun that comes with clay shooting while surrounded by beautiful, expansive greenery upstate. Surrounded by lush fields, forests, hills, and creeks, this otherworldly tranquility is also easily accessible at just 90 minutes outside Manhattan. Your outing includes an hour-long lesson with a professional shooting instructor covering skeet shooting (precision, repeat target shooting of clay pigeons), sporting clays (shooting in different conditions over a course, also sometimes called “golf with a gun”), shooting games, & more, plus a 3 course lunch to reward all that excitement!

Free AARMY Full Body Bootcamp

AARMY's signature music based Bootcamps focus on building strength and empowering people to tap into a higher standard of authenticity, energy, and excellence, to unlock their inner athlete. AARMY trains both your body and your mind based on a philosophy of constant progress. Don't miss this opportunity to give it a try!

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