Bloganuary writing prompt: What books do you want to read?

This year, I’m making a point to go through my To-Read list of over 300 books. Some are recent, but most have been around for quite some time, and some may be pruned as I lost interest over the years. Additionally, excuse any preliminary typos for my Bloganurary posts. I refuse to give myself the luxury of sitting on these entries for months with revisions and hand-wringing (it’s January, after all), but I’ll do my best to edit in post (in-post?). But onward. I promise, this will be a short list!

Around the Way Girl, by Taraji P. Henson

Look, she was the only reason I stuck with Empire to the end (okay, the first reason; the second reason is that I love mess and Empire’s storyline was Mess Squared, ending with someone getting bludgeoned with a prosthetic leg). But I love her in just about everything she’s in. Hell, she’s the reason I sat through one of Tyler Perry’s awful movies, and even her acting couldn’t save that thing. Since quoting Mean Girls is so hot right now, you can say I have a BIG LESBIAN CRUSH on her too (her as Shug Avery? SWOON, I tell you). Admittedly I have a surface-level knowledge of most celebrities and actors, and unfortunately Henson is no different. So I want to read her book and know more about her. I can’t wait to pick this up!

Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, by Rosalind Wiseman

Since I mentioned Mean Girls earlier I figure I’m obligated to add this. Based on the movie that gave us Boo, you whore, this is actually nonfiction! I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am– this isn’t the first time the film deviated from the book its based on, and it won’t be the last. I’m morbidly curious and a little afraid– and I feel like I could’ve used this book.

Now I’ll Tell You Everything, Volume 25, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

This is what I call a Nostalgia Read. I grew up along with Alice as she experienced loss, befriended friends, and tried to find out what the hell a pomegranate was and why breasts were compared to it. And of course, the series slipped my mind until it was announced that this would be THE LAST ONE. So now I’m getting around to it. Finally. I feel like I should find a synopsis or summaries of all the previous books in the series; it doesn’t feel right just diving in after years of neglect. That’s the only reason why I haven’t gone further than the first chapter.

Small Steps, by Louis Sachar

It’s the sequel to the much-beloved Holes. Enough said.

So Let Them Burn, by Kamilah Cole

Cole was one of the authors affected by the terrible business of that Goodreads Review Controversy, which is… a lot. Here’s a comprehensive video by With Cindy and another from Reads with Rachel for good measure), for they both explain WTF happened and highlight other authors that were unfairly targeted. They aren’t the only writer I plan to check out, but I feel the strongest pull toward this book. A fantasy story based on Jamaican culture, I feel this is an absolute breath of fresh air from the vast majority of European culture-based ones (at least, when I was growing up; y’all kids got it much better these days!).

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Frankly, I’ve been sleeping on this author and I’m forever Late to the Party. (And FYI, she was also instrumental in helping piece together the bigger picture re: Goodreads Review Controversy.) I knew her first from her analysis of Chinese culture and representation in media. I want to check out all of her work. > Iron Widow is a YA sci-fi retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. The series follows an 18-year-old re-imagining of her as she avenges her sister’s murder by an intensely patriarchal military system that pairs boys and girls up to pilot giant magical mecha based on creatures from East Asian myth (Nine-Tailed Fox, Moon Rabbit, etc.), but in which boy pilots are treated like celebrities, while girl pilots must serve as their concubines. https://xiranjayzhao.com/index.php/books/

Now tell me that doesn’t sound rad. I dare you.

Winter Without End, by Casimir Laski

The author is also Cardinal West on Youtube, who I began watching for their in-depth video essays of xenofiction. When they announced and released their debut novel, I was pretty hyped! Their essays are so informative, illustrative, and thorough— suffice to say they know their stuff, and I have very high expectations about this tale of an uneasy post-pandemic alliance between dog and wolf. Yes, I love Watership Down, why do you ask? But seriously: in case you’re wondering what xenofiction even is, look no further than one of his videos.

Alecto the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

No book cover as of this post, so have this. #IYKYKOh. No reason. No reason at all. It’s only the fourth book in an amazing series full of sci-fi, bone mischief, necromancers, lesbians, a certain red-headed badass (that’s also a lesbian), memes (that’s not as bad as it sounds, honest), monsters, ghosts probably, and bizarre magic (in addition to the bone mischief). MY EMOTIONS Y’ALL

Honorable Mention: something by Connie Willis

I could not finish one of her more recent works, Crosstalk. It stressed me out with its hectic farce-y pace. The constant need for the protag to dodge gossipy coworkers and meddling family was incredibly draining, especially for an introvert like me. My DNF Explanation

She is a big name in Science Fiction circles but I haven’t ran into her books until now– probably because she writes romantic ‘screwball’ comedy in the manner of 1940s Hollywood movies (Kathryn Cramer); romances are typically not my forte. So despite the lack of fun I had with Crosstalk (and, I admit, my allergy for romance in general), I want to check out some of her older work to give her stuff a fair shake.