Detransition, Baby

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters is a tour du force novel about womanhood, family and so much more. This is one of the best books I have read this year.

Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?

This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.

Buy this book today. Then read everything else Torrey Peters ever publishes, she is that good a writer and storyteller.

Peters, Torrey. (2021). Detransition, Baby. New York: One World.

Martyr!

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar is a beautifully told story that encompassed enough to be an epic, but personal enough to be intimate. A masterclass in writing along with a moving story.

Cyrus Shams has always been lost. He’s grown up tangled in the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter, and his mother, whose plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober and maybe in love, he’s headed for an encounter that will transform everything he thought he knew. Can a final revelation change the truth of Cyrus's life?

Electrifying, funny, and all-consuming, Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! is a masterpiece. Read this book.

Akbar, Kaveh. (2024). Martyr! New York: Random House.

Skye Falling

Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie is the story of a woman who has built her life around travel, partly as a way to avoid close relationships. 

When she was twenty-six and broke, Skye didn’t think twice before selling her eggs and happily pocketing the cash. Now approaching forty, Skye still moves through life entirely—and unrepentantly—on her own terms, living out of a suitcase and avoiding all manner of serious relationships. Maybe her junior high classmates weren’t wrong when they voted her “Most Likely to Be Single” instead of “Most Ride-or-Die Homie,” but at least she’s always been free to do as she pleases.

Then a twelve-year-old girl tracks Skye down during one of her brief visits to her hometown of Philadelphia and informs Skye that she’s “her egg.” Skye’s life is thrown into sharp relief and she decides that it might be time to actually try to have a meaningful relationship with another human being. Spoiler alert: It’s not easy.

Things get even more complicated when Skye realizes that the woman she tried and failed to pick up the other day is the girl’s aunt, and now it’s awkward. All the while, her brother is trying to get in touch, her mother is being bewilderingly kind, and the West Philly pool halls and hoagie shops of her youth have been replaced by hipster cafés.

With its endearingly prickly narrator and a cast of characters willing to both challenge her and catch her when she falls, this novel is a clever, moving portrait of a woman and the relationships she thought she could live without.

McKenzie has written a smart, fun tale of Skye rethinking her plan to keep running from people, make peace with her past, and maybe building a chosen family. Great views of West Philly and it's past.

McKenzie, Mia. (2021). Skye Falling. New York: Random House.

James: A Novel

James: A Novel by Percival Everett is a masterpiece. It is a retelling of the story of Huck Finn through the eyes of Jim / James, which changes everything about the tale.

The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he flees to nearby Jackson’s Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town.

So begins a dangerous and transcendent journey along the Mississippi River, towards the elusive promise of the free states and beyond. As James and Huck navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise. And together, the unlikely pair embark on the most life-changing odyssey of them all . . .

I first read Percival Everett almost twenty years ago. I still think about his book Wounded. He is one of the best writers of our time and has so much to say. Put one of his books on hold today - or two, as James will likely have a long wait! 

Everett, Percival. (2024). James: A Novel. New York: Penguin.

The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1)

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri is the first book in her Burning Kingdoms series. 

Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
 
The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household and cleaning Malini’s chambers.
 
When Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

Suri has created a great fantasy world filled with magic, political intrigue, and a story of revenge.

Suri, Tasha. (2021). The Jasmine Throne. New York: Orbit.

The Palace of Eros

The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis is the story of the Greek god Eros and their bride.

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eye of every suitor with her beauty – but also, unfortunately, the jealous gaze of the goddess Aphrodite. As punishment, Psyche is tied to a rock to be sacrificed to a ‘monstrous husband’. And yet, no monster arrives: instead, she is spirited away by Aphrodite’s daughter Eros.

Eros, goddess of desire, can change gender at will. And in her hidden palace, she visits her bride under the cloak of darkness: Psyche is forbidden to gaze upon the face of her lover. But as they explore each other’s bodies and discover new pleasures, Psyche is tempted to break her vow… even if it brings down the wrath of the gods.

De Robertis is one of my favorite authors. Buy this book today, then proceed to read everything they ever publish.

De Robertis, Caro. (2024). The Palace of Eros. New York: Atria Books.

Imogen, Obviously

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli is a college visit that leads to a self discovery. 

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.

Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.

Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.

Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: She's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.

Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .

Albertalli is great author of YA literature. Imogen, Obviously is a sweet coming out story.

Albertalli, Becky. (2023). Imogen, Obviously. New York: Balzer + Bray.

Night Owls

Night Owls by A.R. Vishny is the story of two folkloric Jewish monsters, Estries, who run a theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.

Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.

Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.

When Anat vanishes and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.

But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself before her rules break everyone she loves.

Vishny has written an amazing genreblend of mystery, historical folklore, New York history, romance and more. Read this book! 

Vishny, A.R. (2024). Night Owls. New York: Harper. 

The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a spy novel set around the US war in Vietnam. It has won multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.

It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.

Nguyen has written an incredible book exploring a fraught time in both Vietnamese and US history. 

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. (2015). The Sympathizer. New York: Grove Press.

Winter's Orbit

Orbit by Everina Maxwell is a gay space romance between people married as a political contract. 

Prince Kiem is a minor royal of the Empire, the least favorite grandson of the Empress. He is about to be married to Count Jainen, a treaty to keep the outlying planets in line. Their marriage is one of the items to get in line before the Empire renews a Resolution with the alien species that keeps them from being invaded by neighbors.

Neither Prince Kiem nor Coutn Jainen want to be married, but understand it is their duty. To add pressure to a new couple who had never met before, there is a conspiracy and a plot to sabotage the Resolution.

Maxwell's novel is everything you could want in a space opera or in a romance story. A great read!

Maxwell, Everina. (2021) Winter's Orbit. New York: Orbit.

Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1)

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala is the first book in her Tita Rosie's Kitchen culinary cozy mystery series.

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block… [fantastic fiction]

Manansala, Mia P. (2021). Arsenic and Adobo. New York: Berkeley Prime Crime.

The City in the Middle of the Night

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

January is a dying planet - divided between a permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Humanity clings to life, spread across two archaic cities built in the sliver of habitable dusk. 

But life inside the cities is just as dangerous as the wastelands outside. Sophie, a student and reluctant revolutionary, is supposed to be dead, after being exiled into the night. 

Saved only by forming an unusual bond with the enigmatic beasts who roam the ice, Sophie vows to stay hidden from the world, hoping she can heal. But fate has other plans - and 

Sophie's ensuing odyssey and the ragtag family she finds will change the entire world. [from fantastic fiction]

Anders is a talented writer who takes stories places other authors don't even think of. Her science fiction is amazing and will leave you thinking of the characters long after you finish reading. 

Anders, Charlie Jane. (2019). The City in the Middle of the Night. New York: Tor.

Lessons in Chemistry

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is one of the most delightful books I have read this year. 

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. In the early 1960s there are not many women who have braved the gauntlet required to get an advanced degree. Now she works at the Hastings Research Institute. And Hastings is where she meets Calvin Evans - a man who sees her like no one else has. 

Filled with amazing characters and laugh-out-loud scenes, but also containing the realities of the time, the struggle to be taken seriously and one of the best dogs ever written. 

Read this book. I have listened to the audiobook and am now reading it - back to back. 

Garmus, Bonnie. (2022). Lessons in Chemistry. New York: Doubleday. 

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Earth's Past Mass Extinctions

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Earth's Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen tells the history of our planet from the End-Ordovician to the present, exploring the causes of the five mass extinctions that have occurred on Earth.

This book is a fascinating look at the life on our planet from the beginning. With each extinction event, different species developed or sometimes grew exponentially in size. From single celled organisms to life in the oceans and on land, to the dinosaurs to humans, this is a great books. Both filled with information and easy to read. 

If you live on this planet, this book is for you. 

Brannen, Peter. (2017). The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Earth's Past Mass Extinctions. New York: Ecco.

The Thirty Names of Night

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar is a story set in the Syrian American community in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. This is a beautifully told story.

Five years after a suspicious fire killed his ornithologist mother, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one. He has been unable to paint since his mother’s ghost has begun to visit him each evening. As his grandmother’s sole caretaker, he spends his days cooped up in their apartment, avoiding his neighborhood masjid, his estranged sister, and even his best friend (who also happens to be his longtime crush). The only time he feels truly free is when he slips out at night to paint murals on buildings in the once-thriving Manhattan neighborhood known as Little Syria.

One night, he enters the abandoned community house and finds the tattered journal of a Syrian American artist named Laila Z, who dedicated her career to painting the birds of North America. She famously and mysteriously disappeared more than sixty years before, but her journal contains proof that both his mother and Laila Z encountered the same rare bird before their deaths. In fact, Laila Z’s past is intimately tied to his mother’s—and his grandmother’s—in ways he never could have expected. Even more surprising, Laila Z’s story reveals the histories of queer and transgender people within his own community that he never knew. Realizing that he isn’t and has never been alone, he has the courage to officially claim a new name: Nadir, an Arabic name meaning rare.

As unprecedented numbers of birds are mysteriously drawn to the New York City skies, Nadir enlists the help of his family and friends to unravel what happened to Laila Z and the rare bird his mother died trying to save. Following his mother’s ghost, he uncovers the silences kept in the name of survival by his own community, his own family, and within himself, and discovers the family that was there all along. [from Fantastic Fiction]

Joukhadar, Zeyn. (2020). The Thirty Names of Night. New York: Atria Books.

The Safekeep

 

The Safekeep by Yael Van der Woulden is an historical fiction novel that packs a punch. 

1961, Dutch province of Overijssel. 

Isabel lives by herself in her mother's house. She spends her time maintaining the house and garden, and managing the maid who comes in the daytime. By all accounts she is lonely and closed off.

When she is coaxed to have dinner with her two brothers in the city, her brother Louis arrives with his latest girlfriend. Eva is the opposite of Isabel, and Isabel dislikes her on sight. 

A few weeks later, when Louis have to travel for work, he show up at the house (which he technically owns) with Eva in tow. Eva is to stay with Isabel for a few weeks. 

What follows is a rough push and pull as they get to know more about each other. Using flashbacks, Van der Wouden explores what happened to each of their families in the war - an how they are tied together.

The Safekeep is on the long list for the 2024 Man Booker Prize, quite deservedly. If the only book you have read about the Dutch in WWII is the Diary of Anne Frank, this will be a surprise! Read it today.

Van der Wouden, Yael. (2024). The Safekeep. New York: Avid Reader Press.

Julian is a Mermaid

Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love is a beautiful picture book. 

This book about a boy and his grandmother is the tale of letting someone grow and shine in their own way. About seeing people for who they are. 

Read this beautiful book or buy it for a small loved one in your life. 

Love, Jessica. (2018). Julian is a Mermaid. New York: Candlewick Press.

The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth Trilogy #2)

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemison is the second book in her Broken Earth trilogy. This second book takes place moments after the first ends.

Essun is in Castrima, a comm built in an underground geode - a place most people would never go given the instability of the Earth. But times change when a Season is upon them. The only goal is to survive.

Nassun is with her father. His plan is to find a rumor place where orogenes can be fixed. They are headed to the Arctics.

Essun is learing that there is something she can do using the obelisks in a chain or gate to affect the moon. What the moon is, she is not sure. No one has seen it for generations - since it was flung away from the Earth, making the Earth mad at humans and beginning the war.

Jemison is an amazing writer and storyteller. Each of the three books in this series won the Hugo Award. The Broken Earth trilogy rivals any fantasy written. I will be reading everything she writes in her career!

Jemison, NK. (2016). The Obelisk Gate. New York: Orbit.

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1)

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison is the first book in the Broken Earth fantasy trilogy. 

Damaya has been locked in the barn by her parents. She has shown signs of orogeny - a magical-like power to manipulate earth, including the ability to cause shakes. She will remain in the barn until a Guardian - who can negate orogeny - collects her and takes her to the Fulcrum for training.

Essun is the mother of two who has been hiding her orogeny for years. Now her husband has noticed the power in one of their children. 

Syenite is a Fulcrum trained orogene. She is being assigned to a higher-level orogene to travel across the land and fix a harbor. 

But the world is about to enter a Fifth Season - on top of the usual yearly seasons, a fifth season is when the land splits and blocks out the sky. People will need to do all they can to survive until the sun comes back and they can rebuild.

Jemison is an amazing, creative writer. This ecological fanstay series is quickly becoming one of my favortie series!

Jemison, N.K. (2015). The Fifth Season. New York: Orbit.

Gender Queer: A Memoir

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe is a beautiful book - both visually and in the story.

Written about eir path to identifying as nonbinary and experiences about gender and sexuality through childhood. Maia wrote this book both as a master's project for eir MFA in Graphic Novels and as a way to explain nonbinary to parents and extended family. 

This is a beautiful memoir. One that will fill a hole in the stories about people with different experiences. It will give young people who may be genderqueer the gift of seeing themselves in a book - an experience that is much needed for everyone. 

There is no book quite like it. E does not shy away from any of the often difficult things that led em to identify as eir true self today. 

For a much more eloquent post about why this book is so amazing and important, click here. In the meantime, please make sure your local library owns a copy, both for people trying to understand a family member and those trying to communicate themselves to others. Thank you Maia for this gift.

Kobabe, Maia. (2019), Gender Queer: A Memoir. Portland: Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group.