fiction – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] Hijab Butch Blues, by Lamya H

Mel's hand props up a Kindle displaying the black and white cover of Hijab Butch Blues, which depicts a slim hijabi in baggy trousers and shirt facing away over an abstract line art landscape. The Kindle rests against a delicious dish of couscous and braised beef in a wide painted ceramic dish.

(Buy this book at Bookshop, please.) Read time: 3 minutes If it weren’t for religious devotion–specifically, deep study of the Quran while growing up South Asian in an Arab country and later being a hijabi immigrant in post-9/11 New York–Lamya H might never have fully realized her own queerness. Through careful examination of the SurahContinue reading “[REVIEW] Hijab Butch Blues, by Lamya H”

[REVIEW] Successful Failure, by Kevin Fredericks

The Kindle cover of Successful Failure, depicting comedian Kevin Fredericks power posing in a tux, lays against a flowered wallet on a dining table. Behind it are a dish of salad and a glass of white wine.

(This book is available at the Equal Opportunity Bookshop) Read time: 3 minutes They don’t all have to be deep, but sometimes they unexpectedly are. If “just keep going” was a person, it would look a lot like Kevin Fredericks, aka KevOnStage. I remember seeing his Scandal recap videos years ago and debating with friendsContinue reading “[REVIEW] Successful Failure, by Kevin Fredericks”

[REVIEW] A Plagued Sea, by Bo Young Kim, translated by Sophie Bowman

The very boring Kindle ARC cover of A Plagued Sea, displaying only the plain text title and author's name, is held up in front of an incoming wave on sunny Santa Monica Beach

(Lovecraft enthusiasts can buy this book here.) Read time: 3 minutes Mu-Young plans a relaxing beach town getaway with her niece Hyun. At first it’s a welcome respite from her controlling sister and the stresses of her job as a bodyguard, but the earthquake that hits the coast as soon as they arrive changes everything.Continue reading “[REVIEW] A Plagued Sea, by Bo Young Kim, translated by Sophie Bowman”

[REVIEW] Another Appalachia: Growing Up Queer and Indian In a Mountain Place, by Neema Avashia

The paperback of Anofher Appalachia rests against a potted plant. The cover depicts an Indian family sitting in front of a clapboard house.

(You can purchase this book ethically here.) 2 minutes read time In the 1970s, a handful of Indian scientists signed contracts for good jobs at West Virginian chemical plants. As people do, they settled down and had children, including Neema Avashia. Like many children of immigrants, Neema’s identity ia a bit fractal. For every all-AmericanContinue reading “[REVIEW] Another Appalachia: Growing Up Queer and Indian In a Mountain Place, by Neema Avashia”

[REVIEW]Once Upon A Marquess, by Courtney Milan

The Kindle cover of Once Upon A Marquess depicts a young white woman in a Victorian dress sitting in a grassy field. The Kindle lies on a speckled ceramic table, nest to a saucer with a blue ceramic cup of milky coffee and a half-eaten scone on it.

(Buy this book here!) Read time: 2 minutes After her father’s death and her brother’s disgraced exile, Judith Worth is tasked with caring for her three younger siblings and keeping the family name in good, if socially lowered, standing. When a challenge to her hard won domesticity arises, there’s only one person she can turnContinue reading “[REVIEW]Once Upon A Marquess, by Courtney Milan”

[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny, a small tan academic paperback folio, lies face up on a shelf clogged with other books. Someone has written "Gird Your Loins" on the cover with a sharpie.

(Buy this book here.) This book has been everywhere since last year’s election in the US–indie shops, TikTok diatribes, little free libraries and coffee shop share shelves with snarky messages inked on the cover. Something about the idea of a little book of twenty short lessons on how to stem the tide of tyranny, basedContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder”

[Last While In Books] Short Fiction, Actually

Black and white photograph of a tiny light skinned boy with short dark hair standing between the open pages of a thick book.

Read time: 3 minutes Fellow readers! I had a short story published this week over at Strange Horizons. It’s called Palimpsest, and it’s a look at the silences that cause strain in close relationships and the hidden injustice of women not being deeply known by their own families. There’s also some climate change, (poorly understood)Continue reading “[Last While In Books] Short Fiction, Actually”

[REVIEW]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke

The black and white Kindle cover of Several People are Typing leans against a laptop screen displaying an empty Slack chat. The cover depicts a series of Slack chat bubbles with odd emojis of wolves, weather, and death symbols interspersed throughout.

(Buy this book here.) Read time: 2 minutes Gerald is trapped in his work Slack chat. Literally. While his body sits dormant in his New York apartment, his consciousness has been fully uploaded to the worst thing about every remote job in America. If he doesn’t find a way out, he’ll be in danger ofContinue reading “[REVIEW]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke”

[REVIEW] Gaysians, by Mike Curato

(Buy this book here.) AJ arrives in Seattle, fresh out of the closet and dreaming of art school and self-discovery. On his first venture into a gay bar, he spills a drink on drag queen K, who introduces him to John and Steven. The four of them (and a few others) become a found familyContinue reading “[REVIEW] Gaysians, by Mike Curato”

[REVIEW]Finding American: Stories of Immigration From All 50 States, by Colin Boyd Shafer

A hardback copy of Finding American sits on the knees of the author. The cover phot is a young, ethnically ambiguous woman standing in the middle of an empty American road.

[Buy this book.] I’m sitting here trying to remember the first time I thought of someone I knew as an immigrant and I can’t. Maybe it was my great-aunt Una, who came to New York from Panama just after WWII, from what I’ve been told. Maybe my godmother, a French Canadian who eventually repatriated andContinue reading “[REVIEW]Finding American: Stories of Immigration From All 50 States, by Colin Boyd Shafer”