Recent Media: Lots of Books
Sep. 22nd, 2019 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryMiss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid episodes 1 and 2 This was recomened to me as slice of life with queer moms. So far that seems mostly actuarate. There’s also quite a bit of dragons trying to figure out how to human -- which leads to a good amount of Alien Baffled by a Cat, a trope I very much enjoy. I also like the pretty watercolors in the background. There one of the characters got drunk and behaved badly and didn’t get called on it, and theres a bit more focus on the characters breasts than I like, but mostly this seems really cute.
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 2 by Yuhki Kamatani - This manga about gay boy finding queer community continues to be good. As well as enjoying the the main plot it like that its set in specific and very cool looking place. Looking forward to the next volume!
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang -- a couple of my friends really love this so I was excited to try it. Anyways it was cute, especially the bits with Micheal’s family, but I didn’t love it. (conent note: sex work, sexual harsment )
She-Ra: and the Princesses of Power, season 3 Discussed elsewhere
Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts by Joanna Russ I liked this one a lot more that To Write Like a Woman, probably because it was more personal. It was a strange mix of things that were really relatable, like when Russ discusses women being trained to feel guilty for not doing enough, and things that were not like my personal experience at all like the dynamics of the femisit groups Russ was part of. A lot of the dynamics around porn in the femisit movement reminded me of the Purity Discourse in transformative fandom. This collection contains "Pornography by Women for Women, with Love" aka Russ’ essay on early Trek slash, which found really fasinating. I enjoy Russ’s glee at the existence of slash, and the glimpse at pre-internet fandom. I really want to read some more recent articles about slash and gender though. (Content note: assumptions that everyone has sexual feelings, sexual harassment, discustion of children in sexual situations)
Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan I nearly stopped reading this after the introductory history section started with “In 1868, Japan advanced from the Feudal Shogunate of the Edo Period to the imperial rule of the Meiji Period” I mean I don’t know that much about Japanse history but I know that a problematic oversimplification. But I kept reading because I enjoy pretty pictures of food. And the art in this book is really nice.
I didn’t actually try any of the recipes in this book. Quite a few of the recipes here seem pretty straightforward. To the tune of chop a bunch things and put them in a pot, and or fry them. Some of them are definitely projects though like making ramen noodles at home. Many of these recipes are pork based, but there are also chicken based and veggie options. I enjoyed learning more about the flavors and textures of ramen, but I will probably not make it at home since I live in a place where ramen is not that hard to get.
Nirvana in Fire eps 32- 44 many mind games. I think I’m getting better at following this show as things go on. It helps to have R watching with me so we can clear up each others confusion. I’m still confused sometimes though. I was looking over what I’d writen about this drama so far and I haven’t said how much I love concubine Jing. So I just need to take a moment to mention that she’s really great. She’s one of the moms I mentioned, but she’s very kind and clear and feeds people deserts. We have about ten more episodes of this but R is going to be traveling next week so who knows how long it will take to finish it.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone -- I wanted to love this but it didn’t quite gel for me. The prose is very beautiful but I never quite understood how the time war worked or cared who won it. I also couldn’t quite get a handle on who the characters where which made it hard for me to be invested in their romance.
Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - This is a sequel to The Memoirs of Lady Trent, featuring the granddaughter of the protagnus of those books. The story is readable on it own, but contains spoilers for the earlier books. I thought this was really good, and especially enjoyed the epistolary nature of this book. However antagonists are bigots and I found that pretty stressful so it took me a long time to actually get through the book.
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 2 by Yuhki Kamatani - This manga about gay boy finding queer community continues to be good. As well as enjoying the the main plot it like that its set in specific and very cool looking place. Looking forward to the next volume!
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang -- a couple of my friends really love this so I was excited to try it. Anyways it was cute, especially the bits with Micheal’s family, but I didn’t love it. (conent note: sex work, sexual harsment )
She-Ra: and the Princesses of Power, season 3 Discussed elsewhere
Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts by Joanna Russ I liked this one a lot more that To Write Like a Woman, probably because it was more personal. It was a strange mix of things that were really relatable, like when Russ discusses women being trained to feel guilty for not doing enough, and things that were not like my personal experience at all like the dynamics of the femisit groups Russ was part of. A lot of the dynamics around porn in the femisit movement reminded me of the Purity Discourse in transformative fandom. This collection contains "Pornography by Women for Women, with Love" aka Russ’ essay on early Trek slash, which found really fasinating. I enjoy Russ’s glee at the existence of slash, and the glimpse at pre-internet fandom. I really want to read some more recent articles about slash and gender though. (Content note: assumptions that everyone has sexual feelings, sexual harassment, discustion of children in sexual situations)
Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan I nearly stopped reading this after the introductory history section started with “In 1868, Japan advanced from the Feudal Shogunate of the Edo Period to the imperial rule of the Meiji Period” I mean I don’t know that much about Japanse history but I know that a problematic oversimplification. But I kept reading because I enjoy pretty pictures of food. And the art in this book is really nice.
I didn’t actually try any of the recipes in this book. Quite a few of the recipes here seem pretty straightforward. To the tune of chop a bunch things and put them in a pot, and or fry them. Some of them are definitely projects though like making ramen noodles at home. Many of these recipes are pork based, but there are also chicken based and veggie options. I enjoyed learning more about the flavors and textures of ramen, but I will probably not make it at home since I live in a place where ramen is not that hard to get.
Nirvana in Fire eps 32- 44 many mind games. I think I’m getting better at following this show as things go on. It helps to have R watching with me so we can clear up each others confusion. I’m still confused sometimes though. I was looking over what I’d writen about this drama so far and I haven’t said how much I love concubine Jing. So I just need to take a moment to mention that she’s really great. She’s one of the moms I mentioned, but she’s very kind and clear and feeds people deserts. We have about ten more episodes of this but R is going to be traveling next week so who knows how long it will take to finish it.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone -- I wanted to love this but it didn’t quite gel for me. The prose is very beautiful but I never quite understood how the time war worked or cared who won it. I also couldn’t quite get a handle on who the characters where which made it hard for me to be invested in their romance.
Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - This is a sequel to The Memoirs of Lady Trent, featuring the granddaughter of the protagnus of those books. The story is readable on it own, but contains spoilers for the earlier books. I thought this was really good, and especially enjoyed the epistolary nature of this book. However antagonists are bigots and I found that pretty stressful so it took me a long time to actually get through the book.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-22 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-28 09:12 pm (UTC)I agree re: purity discourse and "The Sex Wars" in 2nd wave feminism. It's alluring to draw a clean shining line separating good/bad, us/them. Sorting everyone becomes a predictable response to the anger and frustration of living in this timeline.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-29 12:20 am (UTC)