kotomi li, solo dance: a lot of original english-language literary fiction has not done it for me lately. something about the prevailing voice there doesn’t quite land with my preferred style as a reader. this, though (translated from the japanese), presumably by virtue of originating in a different publishing market with different trends, really worked for me! it’s a strange and somewhat melancholic book about a death-obsessed taiwanese lesbian who moves to tokyo after a traumatic incident. it seems like it might end tragically but (spoilers) ultimately does not
viano oniomoh, cupid calling: self-published contemporary romance about two men on a bachelorette-style reality show who end up falling for each other instead of the woman at the centre of things. i do think it could have benefited from a hair more editing and it did fall victim to a couple of those conversations about identity that read like cliffs notes from wikipedia and/or an instagram infographic (in this case re: demisexuality), but overall it was a really sweet (and hot!) low-conflict love story. both leads had interesting & strong familial relationships and past romantic hardships that felt pretty real. i’ll probably keep an eye out for more work by oniomoh.
melissa adler, cruising the library: perversities in the organization of knowledge: in a completely different vein from the other two, this was a short but hard-hitting nonfiction work in critical archives studies. i adored it and have already found ways to reference it in multiple classes for my library & information technician program. really great look at how libraries and archives (particularly the library of congress) don’t just facilitate access to information, but actively regulate and discipline it through classification methods as well as actual spatial organization. basically as soon as i finished my library copy i ordered one for myself because i know i’ll want to reference it in future and, likely, go find some of the other work it references