WRAP UP: June & July 2020

- Meg

I can’t believe how fast the summer is flying by! I’m glad to have read as much as I have though, and I’m working on incorporating more works by non-white writers and am really excited to read some of the titles I bought in June and July. I have been struggling a little bit with my place on the internet and what I want to do with my blog/Instagram, and a lot of this came from the allegations coming to light in the SFF community. I had promoted some of those writers and now feel weird about having done so without being more aware. And then there was the whole terrible hosting of this years’ Hugos that reinforced our need to move forward and do better as a community. I know nobody is perfect, and no piece of writing is free from bias, but I know we can do better as writers and readers to promote a healthy perception that allows for growth and change.

Now onto the reading!

In June, I read:

  • Normal People, by Sally Rooney
  • The Glass Magician, by Caroline Stevermer
  • Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
  • Midnight Robber, by Nalo Hopkinson
  • Where Dreams Descend, by Janella Angeles
  • Head Over Heels, by Hannah Orenstein
  • Witchmark, by C.L. Polk
  • Little Weirds, by Jenny Slate
  • Romancing the Duke, by Tessa Dare
  • Medieval English Lyrics, ed. Thomas G. Duncan

In July, I read:

  • How to Be an Antiracist,by Ibram X. Kendi
  • A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas
  • Branwell, by Douglas A. Martin
  • The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, ed. Jay Rubin
  • The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
  • On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong
  • Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, vol. 1, by Naoko Takeuchi
  • March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women, by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado, and Jane Smiley
  • What Cats Want, by Dr. Yuki Hattori
  • The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey

Some of my favorite reads were Mexican Gothic, The Fire Next Time, Little Weirds, and Witchmark. I can’t stop thinking about Mexican Gothic and I’m going to be recommending this for a long time. I’m looking forward to reading Moreno-Garcia’s other/future work, and I have Gods of Jade and Shadow and Certain Dark Things on my kindle already! I haven’t really read anything from my personal challenges, and I’m looking at the calendar thinking there are only a few months left of the year, so I need to get on those!

What have you read in the last month that really stuck out with you?