Hello once again, to part 2 of my favorite books of 2022! Happy New Year and let's get into my top favorite 8 (or 11) books I read last year! As always, the summaries are from goodreads.
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
Paama's husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents' home in the village of Makendha, now he's disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones – the djombi – who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, not all the djombi are happy about this gift: the Indigo Lord believes this power should be his and his alone, and he sets about trying to persuade Paama to return the Chaos Stick.
The magical realism of this book is wonderful, the prose is beautiful, and it made me feel all the emotions. The narrator’s voice is so strong, and I knew this was going to be a five star read from the opening line. It made me laugh, cry, and question the nature of redemption and forgiveness. It was very comforting, and a gentle book. A fantastic book I couldn’t recommend more!
My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland
This book resonated deeply with me, and my own experiences trying to find queer women within the archive, and the struggles and limits of that within academia. It feels deeply personal and makes me confront that personal approach and question it. It is a perfect blend of academic subjects, and a personal approach that questions the traditional cishet academic approach of finding queer people in literature and history.
Crush by Richard Siken
AHHHHHHHHH. Richard Siken knows how to craft absolutely beautiful lines, and then proceed to call back to them, and incorporate them into the rest of the collection. Absolute perfection.
The next five books are tied for first place, so woot woot! They have a few similarities such as all being queer, and four of the entries being wuxia/ xianxia, which is a genre I really enjoyed this year. Also, all of them deal with very heavy subjects, and depict pretty violent/ gory scenes. A blanket warning for all of them, and I will include more specific content warnings for some of them, but if that is not your jam, these books are not for you.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth
Curse you HarperCollins! I’m not going to go in depth on this book, only that I loved it, its horror so beware of that, and all the characters are unlikeable so if you don’t enjoy that you should avoid this book.
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Vol 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat)
“Massacring his way to the top to become emperor of the cultivation world, Mo Ran’s cruel reign left him with little satisfaction. Now, upon suffering his greatest loss, he takes his own life… To his surprise, Mo Ran awakens in his own body at age sixteen, years before he ever began his bloody conquests. Now, as a novice disciple at the cultivation sect known as Sisheng Peak, Mo Ran has a second chance at life. This time, he vows that he will attain the gratification that eluded him in his last life: the overly righteous shall fall, and none will dare treat him like a dog ever again! His furious ion burns most fiercely for his shizun, Chu Wanning, the beautiful yet cold cultivation teacher who maintains a cat-like aloofness in his presence. Yet despite Mo Ran’s shameless pursuit of his own goals, he begins to question his previously held beliefs, and wonders if there could be more to his teacher–and his own feelings–than he ever realized.”
I originally read part of this through the Google doc translations, and being able to read it physically was wonderful! The illustrations are gorgeous, I love the humor, and it made my heart ache in a good way. The characters deal with insecurities and emotional issues in ugly and interesting ways. When I’m going through emotional wringer in real life, books that stab me in the heart and traumatize me really hits the spot. On a side note, there is also a fictional author description at the end, which was absolutely hilarious and I loved every moment of it.
Also, if you’re thinking about picking this book up, READ THE FULL CONTENT WARNINGS! I’m kind of disappointed the publisher of this book removed the content warnings in the official translation, but there are several places to find it online. The CW’s for just this first book are suicide, child abuse, mentioned sexual assault, gore, torture, murder, and corpeal punishment. It’s an intense book/series, so stay safe and don’t read it if you think it might harm you.
The Scum Villain's Self Saving System Volumes 1-4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
“Half-demon Luo Binghe rose from humble beginnings and a tortured past to become unrivaled in strength and beauty. With his harem of over three hundred wives, and dominion over both the human and demonic realms, he is truly the most powerful protagonist—in a trashy web novel series! At least, that's what Shen Yuan, online alias "Peerless Cucumber," believes as he finishes reading the final chapter in Proud Immortal Demon Way. But when a combination of rage and a poor meal choice leads to his death, Shen Yuan finds himself reborn into the world of the web novel, in the body of Shen Qingqiu—the beautiful but cruel teacher to a young Luo Binghe. Although as Shen Qingqiu, he now has incredible power and abilities as a cultivator, he’s destined to be horrifically punished for crimes against the protagonist, so this new Shen Qingqiu has only one course of action: get into Luo Binghe’s good graces before the young man’s rise to power. That’s the only way he’ll escape the awful fate of a true scum villain!”
Ahhhhhhh. I can’t recommend this book if you're not already into wuxia and xianxia, but it's a personal favorite. I just love the humor, trope subversions, the romance, and elements of body horror. The situational and over the top humor really worked for me. It had me laughing and crying within the span of a few pages, which really works for an engaging emotional story. It’s hard to explain but it's one of the few books that I was actively anticipating every single release date for each of the books, I haven’t loved something this much in years. You can also see a lot of elements within this that are further developed in the author’s later work.
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
[I] “Wei Wuxian was once one of the most powerful men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek more power through demonic cultivation, the world's respect for his abilities turned to fear, and his death was celebrated throughout the land. Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he'll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.”
I’m kind of embarrassed that I only read the first book in this series, but I am so excited!!! This is great for incorporating the past/present timelines, and I love being able to watch both storylines unfold.All the characters are so entertaining to learn more about, the mystery is compelling, and hits me in all the right feelings. Once again, the humor is spot on and has me giggling, and the romance has me squealing. A perfect book to end 2022 with!
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to . The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for ing the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.
This. Was. So. Freaking. Good! I loved all of the characters, the perspectives, their motivations, and how far they were willing to go for their goals. The magic was cool without being overbearing, the action was incredibly exciting, the romance elements were compelling, and I never felt bored. The elements of queerness were beautifully created and explored, and it definitely helped me understand gender in a new way that was incredibly insightful. The prose was perfect in every way. Zhu and Ouyang also work as perfect narrative foils for one another, where it has me frothing at the mouth. When the author lists their inspiration, I totally see it within their work, and understand why their work appeals so much to me. This is a book I can not stop thinking about, and enjoyed every moment of reading it!
Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it! This was a fantastic reading year, and I’m so grateful and happy I got to read so many wonderful books this year!
Comments (2)
Erha had me crying ngl
Yeah with that one, there were several scenes where I was an emotional wreck