#maia

15. recommend and review a book. can't believe you'd ask me this when you've already read several books on my recommendation, so i'll have to think about one we haven't spoken about >:O

anyway, i'm going to recommend last night at the telegraph club (2021) by malinda lo (of ash (2009), lesbian retelling of cinderella, fame).

it's about a teenage girl who realises she's a lesbian, and seeks out the lesbian bars of san francisco in the 1950's (hey, here's a historical novel, you can read). it also deals with her home life, as a daughter of chinese immigrants, the education opportunities for girls in the us post-wwii, the main character's first time falling in love and the male impersonators she sees at shows at the bars.

i read it for a discord book club during covid, and i really, really liked it. that's it, that's my review.

19. most disliked popular books? while i try to remember a /popular/ book i've both read and disliked, i'll tell you about the first book i remember disliking:

in 7th or 8th grade i had to read shamran – den som kommer (1985) by bjarne reuter and i fucking hated that book. it read like fantasy by someone who didn't care for the genre AT ALL, and it was so, so stupid. at this point i was 13-14 and read novels in english in my spare time, so maybe i also found it juvenile. have never forgiven my danish teacher for having us read it.

20. what are things you look for in a book? first of all: A SENSE OF HUMOUR. it doesn't have to be a "laugh out loud funny" book but i find that most of my favourite books are witty and play around with language, tropes and expectations, e.g. feature sentences that catch you off guard. terry pratchett and tamsyn muir are good examples of authors who write like this (have a classic quote from guards! guards! (1989): "thunder rolled . . it rolled a six.").

i also look for characters who take active part of the plot, consistent punctuation and romantic subplots that aren't rushed but that get to simmer for a good long while (#slowburn). nothing turns me off a book more than insta-love. OH, and books that make me think! both about concepts/morality/hard decisions, but i also just love a good puzzle that i can try to solve alongside the characters.

Coolin

@_maia