Tag / book

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 20: Not Quite A Glow-Up

Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not consent to this work being summarized or fed to generative AI, and anyone who does so is a big dweeb.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. Today’s story is a 369er, 3 separate but related stories, each using only 69 words.

Solar Ivybell’s phone pinged with the news that she’d been waiting to receive for 33 years: Eris’s Comet to Make Earth Fly-By September 8. Solar had been 16 when it last came to Earth, carrying Eridians that had fed on Earthlings’ memories and implanted false ones. Thankfully, Solar had discovered the magical power to hurl them back into space, as long as she had her beloved, equally magical friends.

Angel Moonwater and Lotus Fallenbloom hadn’t talked to Solar in years. Not since Solar had made a drunken maid of honor speech at their wedding, made the day all about her, and used her sacred magic to literally shine on the dance floor. “Do we really need to team up with her?” Lotus groaned. “Eridians are bad, but she’s a sparkly disaster. I’d almost prefer the Eridians invade instead.”

Angel and Lotus found an Eridian scout before the main force arrived. Angel interrupted its declaration of revenge. “We’re not going to hurt you. Instead, we have a request.” The Eridian snapped its pincers, curious. “Can you eat the memories from our wedding and implant a new one? Something happy.” The Eridian obliged. When Solar texted them about the impeding invasion, they happily reunited to kick some alien butt.

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 18: The Queen and the Seal Lord, Pt. 3

Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not consent to this work being summarized or fed to generative AI, and anyone who does so is a big dweeb.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. This is the final part of “The Queen and the Seal Lord” which was really only supposed to be one story but I got carried away. I also know that the description of Raghnall should have come sooner in the story, but between the first story and this one I decided that selkies have dad bod and I needed to include it.

Part 1
Part 2

Raghnall ducked his head under the waves. He was still trapped in human for, his knees weak, stomach roiling. He trembled, but that had nothing to do with the ocean’s chill. His seal coat was moving further inland, carried by someone with intent to do him harm. And he was forced to rely on Queen Gráinne — the same queen that just slapped him for insubordination — to return it.

A small pod of Raghnall’s trusted companions encircled him. Two were in seal form, swimming around him. The third stood on two legs, holding a net and trident and standing alert.

Réalta should have been among them. Her death was too recent to inspire grief in the selkie pod, only anger. If Raghnall survived this, he would see Réalta’s killers flayed.

Raghnall poked his head out from the water and breathed out a sigh. The shaking in his slightly webbed fingers stopped. Gráinne had his seal coat, and she was bringing it to him.

As soon as the queen arrived on the shore, her mount dark with sweat, she ran towards the sea. The selkies let her pass. Wordlessly, Gráinne held the seal coat out to Raghnall.

He donned it quickly, human feet becoming fins once more. He barked once, then dove into the ocean. The pod followed him.

A week later, Gráinne received a request for an audience. “He’s here now, my queen,” the courier said, almost apologetically. Few would be so bold to just assume the queen had the time or inclination to meet with them.

“Is he dressed?” Gráinne asked.

The courier’s pale cheeks turned pink. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Send him in.”

As a seal, Raghnall was svelte and strong; as a man, the extra blubber from his seal form settled on his limbs and torso. His whiskers had become a Van Dyke mustache and beard, which Gráinne felt rather suited him. He wore black trousers that had been patched multiple times, an open-breasted red shirt that popped against his gray skin, and a long, dark coat. At the collar was a with an embossed elk antler, marking him as a privateer.

“Hardly a suitable wardrobe to meet the queen in, but at least you have one this time,” Gráinne remarked. She stood up from her writing desk to greet him.

Raghnall bowed at the waist. “Was that a joke, Your Majesty?”

“They’ve been known to happen,” Gráinne replied once he’d straightened.

“I’m afraid at our last meeting I wasn’t thinking clearly. But I bring you thanks from Réalta’s family for returning her coat to them.” Raghnall reached into his pocket and produced two pink studs, shined to a polish: coral earrings. “They asked me to give you these.”

“Thank you.” Gráinne gingerly took the earrings from his hand. Most selkies owned few things, but loved what they had fiercely. “Please tell her family I will treasure them.” She replaced her carved bone earrings with the coral. “From what I knew of her, Réalta was clever and strong.”

“I couldn’t have asked for a better first mate.” Raghnall cleared his throat to keep tears from his voice. “I’d like to apologize to you as well, Ma’am.”

The notion of Raghnall apologizing for anything was so unexpected, Gráinne had to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle a burst of laughter. “Raghnall. You’ve sunk my ships. Raided my shores. I nearly hanged you once.”

Raghnall rubbed at his throat. “‘Nearly’ is the operative word.”

“And never once did you apologize for piracy. So what did you do that was so egregious to warrant one now?”

Raghnall looked away from her, and Gráinne realized that he was trying to hide his embarrassment. Until now, she wasn’t sure he’d even been capable of that particular emotion. “You retrieved my coat without hesitation, even after I blatantly disrespected you. Once I had it back, I did not even thank you.”

Gráinne shrugged a shoulder. “You’ve disrespected me for years. I wasn’t going to let you die out of spite.”

“Except for all the times you actually did try to kill me.”

“That’s different.” Gráinne actually smiled. Her royal duties kept her on land now, but Gráinne remembered her days fostered at sea as some of the best of her life. “The one time I did manage to arrest you—”

“And nearly hang me,” Raghnall added, unhelpfully.

“I decided to keep you instead.”

The seal lord blinked his inky eyes several times. “What am I supposed make of that?”

Gráinne thought a moment. “That our discussion about Hy-Brasil and your kin crossing the barrier is not finished, I suppose. And that at our next meeting, I expect you clothed.”

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 17: Trunk Stories

Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not consent to this work being summarized or fed to generative AI, and anyone who does so is a big dweeb.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. 

It started with a composition notebook, black and white splotches on the cover. Gradually, the lined pages filled up with words. Every time the writer closed its cover, it was hidden away: under the bed, in the pillow case, between the mattress and the box spring. The writer knew those words were fragile.

No, not the words. She was fragile, and those words were pieces of her. Their secrets being seen by anyone would be exposing herself to the world.

Time passed. More composition books were filled up. Stories, songs, poems. They remained hidden.

When it was time to leave home, the writer (though she feared anyone discovering that she was a writer), took them with her. First to a dorm room, then an apartment, then a house. Then another house, where a plastic crate of composition books were put in the attic.

More time passsed. The writer died. Soon, her son and granddaughter were cleaning out the house. The granddaughter found the crate.

“Grandma wrote all these?” The granddaughter’s dark eyes went wide.

“Wow,” the son said. “She told me that she wrote her first novel when she was sixteen. She never let me read it. Said it was terrible.”

The granddaughter put her hand on one of the dusty covers. “Grandma started when she was my age.”

“Mm-hmm.” He considered the crate, his daughter, and his mother. “Do you want to keep them?”

“Yeah!” The granddaughter smiled with tears in her eyes. She found the oldest notebook, its spine broken. Her grandmother’s writing filled the pages, and the granddaughter’s mind.

The son let his daughter alone with the books. They were not for him.

They were for his daughter, holding on to a piece of her grandmother that only she got to see.

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 11: B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not consent to this work being summarized or fed to generative AI, and anyone who does so is a big dweeb.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. More notes at the end of the story.

“I think I need a bananaquit.” Randy closed eBird with a sigh.

“Bananaquits are not why we’re here,” Ethel reminded him, and shut her laptop down for the night. They hadn’t come to Guatemala for bird watching, but it traveling with Randy had been more fun than Ethel imagined. She was the veteran reporter; he was the novice who’d gotten lucky when Ethel’s usual photographer had a nasty bout of food poisoning. At first, Randy reminded Ethel of a dog, following too close at her heels and looking for scraps. His hidden talent, though, was knowing every bird that flew by them. Ethel was initially annoyed at how he pointed out every grackle, oriole, and pigeon, but she’d come to like it. He saw things that Ethel had never paid attention to before.

She just couldn’t let him be distracted by them.

“I know. It’s all about the bananas, isn’t it?”

“Not all about the bananas. There’s a human interest story, too.” She yawned.

“Yes, but bananas are the most important part.” He rose from the bed where he had been sitting. “Who are we meeting with at the banana farm tomorrow?”

“Balam Tun. Review your notes on her before you go to sleep. Originally from Los Platanos, university in the United States, mad as all hell at Chiquita,” Ethel told him matter-of-factly.

Randy frowned. “Banana bastards.”

Tun’s farm was more than a two hour drive outside Puerto Barrios. The only reprieve from the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes had been Randy’s sharp eyes. They were too far out from civilization for eBird to work, but he wrote down the names of every bird he saw and heard on the way. Ethel was relieved when the bumpy ride was over, but Randy only said, “no quetzals, no bananaquits.”

Tun was a tall, broad-shouldered woman who greeted them warily, hands propped on her hips. They sat in her kitchen. Tun poured herself a glass of ice water, but didn’t offer any to the reporters. “So, you Americans got bored of your Cavendishes and wanted to see a real tul?”

At the look of confusion on Randy’s face, she said, “Banana. It’s the Q’eqchi’ word for banana.”

“We are interested in bananas, of course,” Ethel said, maintaining her well-honed professional composure. “But we also want to hear about your experience about starting your own farm, and how your hybrid bananas are helping fight against exploitation of Guatemalan people and resources.”

Tun huffed, got up from the table, and grabbed something from the counter. What she brought back was a rosy pink cylinder, fleshy and slightly curved. Randy blinked several times. Tun finally cracked a smile. “Why do you look so surprised? It’s just a banana.”

“I’ve never seen a banana that was pink,” Randy replied.

“Or not banana-shaped,” Ethel added. The fruit was long and thin, with a fat ball at its stem.

“It’s not as sweet as a Cavendish, but it’s resistant to Panama disease. And it’s a banana that only I have a patent on.” Though Tun tried to hid it, the pride was evident in her tone. “And no way in hell are those banana barons every getting their grubby little claws on it.”

Ethel and Randy sampled the fruit, finding it pleasantly firm and sweet, with a faint aftertaste of vanilla. “Would you mind if we toured the banana farm and took a few pictures? Our readers would love to see how everything works around here.”

Tun’s expression became stony. Ethel had seen this before. Tun was obviously protective of her work, and wasn’t going to let any Americans look at it too closely. Ethel would need to find a way to soften her if they were going to get anything of real substance.

While Ethel tried to find the right thing to say, a bird chirped outside the window.

“A bananaquit!” Randy announced. “Right outside!”

A slow smile tugged at the corner of Tun’s lips. “You like bananaquits? They’re all over the groves this time of day.”

“Omigosh, Ethel, did you hear that? Bananaquits! Here!”

Ethel wanted to remind him that he was a professional, not an excitable child, and they were supposed to be doing an interview. But Tun laughed. “Nice to see a fellow bananaquit lover. Sure, let’s go take a look.”

Ethel followed behind them, bewildered. Randy told her about all the birds he’d seen so far, while Tun gave him tips for spotting quetzals.

It wasn’t all about the bananas after all.

No, I have not lost my mind.

Thanks to fellow FFM author Damon Wakes, bananas have become an important part of FFM every year. But this year everyone was invited to join in. Today was a challenge day!

Element 1: Oh dear, we seem to have picked up too many flashback prompts for today’s challenge. Your story must include TWO of them. (They do not necessarily have to be word-for-word. Please just be sure Hydra can perceive their delightful presence.)

OR

Element 1: Every sentence of dialogue must include the word “banana”. If you choose this option, you must include a good amount of dialogue. Don’t be un-delightful.

OPTIONAL ELEMENT: Can you do both? You need to ask? The answer, of course, is: delightful! Doing both options is also a valid, if entirely optional, option.

I did both. 😱 I think it should count if I use “banana” in another language! The prompts I used were:

  • I think I need a bananaquit. – by WindySilver 
  • bananas are the most important part – by FlashFicMonth
  • “Why do you look so surprised? It’s just a banana.” – by bookcrusher

This challenge would have been a lot harder, except I’ve been reading Waste Wars by Alexander Clapper. I’m not far into it yet, but the first chapter is all about the United Fruit Company (which later became Chiquita) and Guatemala. Combined with Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino (easily in my top 10 favorite nonfiction books), we had a story. Also: birbs.

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 9: Speaking Ill of the Dead

Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not consent to this work being summarized or fed to generative AI, and anyone who does so is a big dweeb.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. This is more of a companion piece to the mess that was FFM Day 3: Once There Were, but you don’t need to read it to understand it. In fact, I insist that you don’t. Hoping to get the second part of Gráinne and Raghnall’s story up tomorrow.

Samasita failed. You are allowed to be angry at her for that.

But do not forget how she tried.

She befriended Copper and Brass when unicorns were beginning to shy away from humans. We did not know it then, but they felt the magic that sustained them fading away. They were right to mistrust us. We didn’t hunt unicorns, we never meant to harm them. But we kept shaping the world to what we wanted, and couldn’t see how these primal beings could be hurt by that.

All the magic that was draining away fed the great beast. It was a creature of absence, sustaining itself from magic leaking in the gaps in the world.

Samasita saw what the rest of us did not. She saw a world-devourer, and she saw Copper and Brass suffering. Copper and Brass took her deep below the crust of the earth, and allowed her to reach into the mantle, and bring the world’s glow back to the surface. Only this could banish the great beast. She placed it in her lantern, then she and Copper and Brass rode towards the great beast.

But Copper and Brass were getting smaller. The closer they got to the great beast, the more they shrank. Samasita asked them to turn around. She pleaded. She begged. Each time, they refused.

By the time Samasita reached the maw of the great beast, Copper and Brass were only to her knees. But Samasita did not cower, nor did her friends. Lantern-keeper and unicorns ran into the beast’s maw.

The great beast did not melt away. It did not disperse back to the cracks and gaps of the world. It devoured Samasita, Copper, and Brass.

But it did not devour the lantern, and the golden treasure kept within.

The great beast stopped growing after that, and we have the lantern still to hold it at bay.

I am sorry, too, that unicorns are now found only in dew drops and motes floating in sunbeams. I am angry, too, how we still live in fear of darkness.

But Samasita was the only one among us who was brave enough to face the great beast, and we are still here because of her.

Mourn. Rage. Curse her name all that you need to.

Then, be grateful for all she has spared for you.

by booksoverlookedblog

Dusty List: Grim by Sara B. Elfgren

I like reading novels that have been translated into English. It’s a good way to see different perspectives, and the stories don’t always follow the same narrative conventions that I’m used to.

Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way. Which meant that Grim by Sara B. Elfgren, and translated by Judith Kiros has been sitting on library shelves for too long without being checked out. It ended up on the dreaded Dusty list: a list of books that haven’t been checked out within the last 1-2 years. That made Grim a prime target to be discarded.

But the problem was that I still wanted to read the book. So, instead of discarding it, I checked it out.

Grim by Sara B. Elfgren is a Swedish death metal horror novel, and if you don’t like any of those words, we shouldn’t hang out.

Our story starts with Kasper getting a job at the amusement park Gröna Lund. Kasper is a nineteen-year-old who’s coming out of a deep depression, but quickly finds friends among the staff at the House of Demons, the haunted house he works at. He first connects with Iris over her favorite death metal band, Dark Cruelty. Dark Cruelty was one of the first Swedish death metal bands, and is still legendary in metal circles. But Kasper’s love for Dark Cruelty goes beyond fandom: his dad, Håkan, was the founder and bassist for Dark Cruelty. Dark Cruelty broke up after the unexplained death of the lead vocalist, Grim. Though Grim died before Kasper was born, there’s a strange connection between them. It can’t be coincidence that Kasper keeps having vivid dreams about Grim. Something powerful is pulling them together, and Kasper is desperate to understand what it is.

The book alternates between Kasper in the modern day, and Håkan in the 80s, at the start of the Swedish death metal scene. Håkan’s chapters show us the rise and fall of Dark Cruelty, starting with the band’s founding. When Grim joins, he changes everything.

I had a hard time classifying this book as any one particular genre. I described it to others as a horror or mystery, and it has elements of both. I think a modern Gothic describes it best.

There are several elements that make Gothic novels, well, Gothic. These elements might change based on who you’re asking, but there’s a few that are generally agreed upon: a spooky setting, like a castle or mansion; supernatural occurrences; passionate relationships; a Byronic hero; and an overall pervading atmosphere of gloom. I want to break these elements down here, because they’re what made the book feel so fresh for me and scarily personal.

Architecture is a notable feature of Gothic novels, like gloomy castles and spooky mansions. There are no castles or mansions in Grim, but Kasper works in a labyrinthine haunted house where several frightening incidents occur, including the book’s climax. In the 80s timeline, Dark Cruelty uses a dilapidated building as the setting for their album’s photoshoot. Grim is also an urban explorer, and takes Håkan to abandoned train tunnels and a subterranean lake. These settings a major role in the story, and continue to haunt Håkan in the present day.

Another hallmark of Gothic writing is supernatural elements. Most of the supernatural events in Grim take place in the present-day timeline. Kasper has strange, vivid dreams about Grim, an eerie injury that won’t heal, and witnesses…something in the haunted house. Kasper’s connection to the late singer keeps getting stronger, and it’s threatening to undo him.

There are some supernatural elements in the 80s timeline as well. Grim and Malte, Dark Cruelty’s guitar player, attempt magic rituals to summon demons or gain powers. Skeptical Håkan wants nothing to do with them, but he still takes part in one to please Grim.

Then, we have a Byronic hero. The Byronic hero is proud, troubled, secretly sensitive, mysterious, and passionate. But our Byronic hero isn’t Kasper, or even Håkan. It’s Grim.

By the time Kasper is born, Grim has become a legend in death metal circles. A talented vocalist who died young (or maybe he was murdered?) under mysterious circumstances. The truth of who the real Grim was is known only to his inner circle. Even Håkan admits that most of Grim’s life before the band is unknown to him. And Grim has passion for so many things: magick, death metal, and especially the band. Dark Cruelty is more than a band to Grim. Even though he wasn’t a founding member, Dark Cruelty is his life’s work. His passion is what draws people to him.

But he’s troubled as well. Grim is plagued by his own mental health. He could be read as having bipolar disorder or depression, or may just be a victim of a toxic relationship.

Another characteristic of Gothic fiction is passionate relationships. Typically, this would be between our handsome, brooding hero and a pale, beautiful woman. But in Grim, these relationships aren’t romantic. They’re friendships and rivalries, and this was one of the elements of the book that resonated with me so strongly. Håkan’s found a kindred spirit in Grim. They’re best friends, and even though Håkan doesn’t believe in demons and magick the way Grim does, he likes the way Grim sees the world. But as time goes on, their relationship starts to deteriorate. This coincides with Malte joining the band, whose dark presence will loom over Kasper. Grim begins to spend more time with Malte, a toxic friendship that leads to Grim’s downward spiral.

What resonated so strongly with me was Håkan’s reaction to Grim and Malte’s friendship. He’s jealous. Jealous that Grim is spending so much time with Malte, and jealous that they’re forming something that just the two of them belong to. There’s no room for Håkan in the world of magick that Grim and Malte are building.

I’m in my thirties. I don’t do high school drama anymore. But two years ago, this was something I felt so keenly, as a grown adult. I felt foolish and immature. How old was I, to be jealous of a friend paying less attention to me? But it still hurt. It turns out age doesn’t matter when it comes to things like that.

The good thing about being in my thirties was that I had the insight to talk to my friend about my feelings, and we repaired the friendship. (I’ll just state for the record – this was not all her fault. I had to step back and work on myself too.)

But Håkan and Grim aren’t adults. They’re teenagers. Håkan wants to reach Grim when he sees his friend spiraling into depression, but he doesn’t know how. It’s painful to read, especially if you’ve ever seen someone you care about going through something similar.

This aspect of the novel really stands out to me. While there are some YA novels about friendship, you’re far more likely to see a romantic relationship take center stage. Most of those YAs about friendship usually star girls as well. Of those few friendship-based novels about boys, I don’t think I’ve ever read one which covered jealousy like this.

The last thing a Gothic novel needs is a pervasive gloomy atmosphere. Which Grim did, but not in the way that you might expect. There’s a spectre hanging over Kasper, and it’s not just Grim. It’s depression.

When the book starts, Kasper is coming out of a deep and dangerous depression. Starting a job at the haunted house and making new friends is a huge leap forward for him. But every time he feels happy and comfortable, he starts doubting himself. He tells himself he doesn’t deserve this and fears losing everything. His depression lies, saying things like he only got his job because of his step-brother. His friend Iris only likes him because she’s a Dark Cruelty fan. His dad helped start Sweden’s death metal scene when he was younger than Kasper is now – and what has Kasper done with his life?

It wasn’t just that I felt for Kasper in these moments. I’ve been Kasper. So many of us have been Kasper. And it just makes me ache. I wish I could reach through the pages of the book and hug him (and spoil the ending, to save him a lot of trouble).

In one scene, Kasper opens up to Iris about his mental health struggles, and Iris shares her own with him. For me, this was the most powerful scene in the book. It really stayed with me. I even printed out a page from the ebook and made blackout poetry from it.

There are plenty of creepy moments that add to the gloomy atmosphere – a party that Kasper is definitely not supposed to be at is a stand-out – but for me, the shadow of depression lingering over him is the most haunting part of the book.

I’m really glad that I picked Grim off the shelf. I can’t think of another book I’ve read that’s quite like this. Atmospheric horror and supernatural elements combined to make something so real and haunting. If this Gothic sounds interesting to you, check it out.

And let me know if you do, because I need to talk to someone about that ending.

by booksoverlookedblog

Revisiting Tahir: All My Rage

Several years ago, I read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I had many problems with it: the characters, the plot holes, and the pervasive threats of sexual violence against the female characters. One thing I had no complaints about, however, was the writing itself. While there was so much to dislike about An Ember in the Ashes, the prose was actually good. I just didn’t like the story it was telling. After I was finished with the book, I happily returned it to the library and thought that would be the end of my dealings with Ms. Tahir.

I was wrong. 

When I started my job as a public librarian, there were five copies of All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir on the shelf. I walked past them every day, wondering why we needed so many. One day, I decided to find out. All My Rage received the 2022 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The following year, it received the Michael J. Printz Award. Now I was intrigued. I’ve read a few Printz Award winners over the years and liked them all. I had to know for myself if it was worth the hype. 

All My Rage is told from the perspective of three different characters: Muslim teens Salahudin (Sal) and Noor, and Sal’s mother, Misbah. In the small, mostly-White town of Juniper, CA, Sal and Noor dream of changing their lives. Sal’s family owns the struggling Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel. Misbah’s health is failing, and his alcoholic father is no help for either the hotel or his wife. Sal struggles to run the hotel, take care of his parents, and finish his senior year of high school. Things might have been easier if he could talk to his best friend Noor, but she’s been avoiding him since the Fight. 

Noor misses her best friend. She hasn’t talked to Sal since the Fight, which means she also hasn’t spoken to Misbah in months. Noor was orphaned at a young age, and Misbah was like a mother to her. Noor lives with her cruel uncle, who resents her for intruding on his life. She is desperate to go to college and escape Juniper, but her uncle forbids her from even applying to school. 

Finally, Misbah tells the story of her life between Sal’s and Noor’s chapters. She starts with her arranged marriage to Salahudin’s father, Toufiq, and continues with her life in America and raising Salahudin. Her sections are beautifully written, and reveal more of the family’s history. 

All My Rage isn’t just a coming-of-age story. It’s a problem novel. In fact, it’s the problem novel. 

The definition of a problem novel is simple: a teenager has to deal with some kind of societal problem. Some famous problem novels you might have heard of are Speak by Lauire Halse Anderson, Crank by Ellen Hopkins, and Go Ask Alice by “Anonymous” (really, Beatrice Sparks). These books center around social ostracization, sexual assault, and drug use. 

All My Rage deals with physical, emotional and sexual abuse, drug and alcohol dependency, Islamaphobia, parental death, chronic illness, poverty, teen parenthood, racism, bullying, and bias in law enforcement.

To be honest, it felt a little unbelievable at first that Salahudin and Noor could have so many terrible things going on in their life. I had to remind myself that there are real teenagers in the world who deal with all these problems. However, there’s just so many problems packed into the novel there were times when it edged into “misery lit” territory. Fortunately, Tahir’s elegant prose elevates All My Rage and keeps it from feeling like trauma porn.

I think that the various social issues that Sal and Noor have to deal with are handled well, for the most part. For example, Toufiq’s alcoholism is portrayed realistically. Salahudin tries to keep it a family secret, and Toufiq quits and relapses more than once. There were a couple things that I think could have been done a bit better. The racist bullying that Noor finds herself on the end of, for example. It starts out realistically, with subtle things, like the mean girl refusing to pronounce her name correctly. But it gets worse, with no real reason for the bully to be so horrible to her, and ends with a racist tirade the whole school learns about. Most bullying that stems from racism is a lot more subtle, and people who are blatantly racist like the bully typically aren’t that popular.

I also had some misgivings when I realized the novel was also going to tackle the issue of sexual abuse. One of my biggest complaints about An Ember in the Ashes was the excessive and pervasive rape threats in the book, and I wasn’t sure if Tahir would be able to write about this delicate issue well. Thankfully, sexual abuse is handled much better in All My Rage. The novel shows the long-term negative effects on the survivor, even years after the abuse occurred. The survivor is portrayed sympathetically, wounded but not destroyed. Overall, it’s a pretty good depiction of the aftermath of assault. I didn’t love the resolution of this sub-plot, however. I felt like it was just added on at the end, which made me feel like it was only included in the book to increase the character’s suffering.

At the same time I started All My Rage, I was reading another novel as well, that I’ll call Everything Bad Happens to Jimmy in lieu of its actual title. This is another heavy book, which starts with bad things happening to Jimmy. It gets worse from there, gets slightly better, and then gets worse again. Over halfway through the novel, another terrible thing happened to Jimmy, and I was just so tired of it. I put the book down and never picked it up again.

But I finished All My Rage, even though there were times I put the book down for several days because it just got too sad. So, why did All My Rage succeed where Jimmy failed? 

Let’s start with the opening. Jimmy opens in media res with our hero already in a crisis. It’s an attention-grabbing scene, and we feel for Jimmy because he’s a vulnerable person who’s been put in a dangerous situation through no fault of his own. But we don’t really know who Jimmy is before this traumatic event happens to him. As more and more bad things happen to Jimmy, we don’t see much of who he is beyond his rage and pain. The things he’s gone through aren’t just part of who he is – they become almost all the reader sees of him. 

All My Rage gives us time to get to know the main characters before the bad stuff in their lives happens. We get a look at who Saluhdin and Noor are: their struggles, their wants, their family lives, and their relationship with each other. We learn about who they are before everything goes pear-shaped, and that lets us get attached to the main characters. We want them to succeed because we like them and relate to their struggles. It took me a long time to finish this book, but I read the whole thing because I cared about Salahudin and Noor and wanted to see them (hopefully) earn a happy ending. 

Noor and Sal’s ending is earned, rather than just something they stumble into. This is another area where All My Rage succeeded while Jimmy did not: the choices the characters make. Jimmy doesn’t make deliberate choices so much as he reacts to the situations he’s in. The current problem or solution is almost never caused by anything Jimmy chooses. Things just sort of happen to him, with an increasing amount of horribleness. 

Salahudin and Noor are put in difficult situations and make deliberate choices based on what they think will help improve their circumstances. They make mistakes, and then must deal with the consequences of their actions. They are actively involved in the course the story takes, and aren’t just being pushed around by events that are out of their control. They drive the plot, rather than the plot driving them.


But finally – and maybe most importantly – All My Rage delivers on the promise of the premise. 

“The promise of the premise” is a phrase that originates from Save the Cat! By Blake Snyder. When you read a book or watch a movie, you usually have an idea of what you’re getting into. That’s the premise. The premise of The Hunger Games, for example, would be “teens compete in a fight to the death.” Harry Potter would be, “wizard boy battles against evil in a magical world.”

The premise of Everything Bad Happens to Jimmy was “an urban fantasy set during a historical conflict.” The book did not live up to that premise. The historical conflict was a big part of the book, and there were some fantasy elements, but not nearly enough. Mostly, it was terrible things happening to Jimmy, with magical elements few and far between. The book I was reading was not the book that I had signed up for. In short, this novel did not deliver on the promise of the premise. When that happens, sometimes I can adjust my expectations and enjoy the story the author actually wrote, but with the book’s other aforementioned problems, I gave up.

For All My Rage, it would be, “two Muslim teens struggle to overcome difficult circumstances in a small town.” That’s what I expected from this book, and that’s what I got. Tahir fulfilled the promise of the premise. 

As difficult as All My Rage could be to read, I kept going. The novel works because I sympathize with Salahudin and Noor. I care about these characters and I was invested in their lives. When they make mistakes, I don’t hate them for it. I feel for them, two kids struggling to keep their heads above the water when everything around them threatens to pull them under. The beautiful prose also helps with some of the darkness in this book and takes away some of the sting, as do the Misbah intervals. 

All My Rage isn’t my favorite book. It’s hard to get through, and it falls a little flat when it comes to some of the supporting characters. That said, I think it’s worth the read. I’ve talked about representation in media a bit before, and All My Rage offers readers a look into the life of two Muslim teenagers. Their faith plays a role in who they are, but it’s not their defining characteristic. Salahudin and Noor are complex characters that offer “windows and mirrors” to the novel’s readers. They can give readers a look into their lives as Middle Eastern-Americans, Muslims, and as struggling teens. Other readers who are Middle Eastern, or Muslim, or a teen going through a tough time can see themselves reflected back in the pages of this book. 

The writing itself was beautiful, and essential to the book. With so many topics being tackled, All My Rage could have become a clunky problem novel. Instead, Tahir has woven a multi-layered coming-of-age story that’s worthy of praise. If you like emotional, character-driven books, give this one a try. Just keep the tissues handy. 

by booksoverlookedblog

Dec. 2025 Book Recs: Just Books I Liked


Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited.

Quick announcement before we begin: I’ve decided that I will not be doing book recommendation lists in 2026. Making these lists has been a great experience, and I’ve read a lot of excellent books that I might not have picked up otherwise. They’ve really helped me diversify my book shelves and read outside my comfort zone, and I hope they’ve done the same for you too. 

It’s also a lot of work. I don’t just read two books a month – I “sample” several, which usually means reading at least 100 pages. Most of the reading I’ve done for the past two years has been just for these recommendation lists, and it’s time to take a break and read…well, whatever I want. Maybe I’ll finally get around to Sunrise on the Reaping. This doesn’t mean that the blog is finished, though. I’ll still be doing “books I didn’t pick” and “dusty” titles, and hopefully more. I’d really love to do something about literature and theatre, and Shakespeare adaptations. (But have you ever read Shakespeare? It’s hard.) 

Let’s get into the final book recommendation list: Just Stuff I Liked. These are books that are worthy of sharing, but never made it onto a list before. Here are some of my favorite books in the last few years that never made it to the blog.

Nonfiction

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

First published in 2001, Nickel and Dimed has remained scarily relevant for over twenty years. Between 1998 and 2000, writer Barbara Ehrenreich voluntarily joined the ranks of the working poor. She worked as a maid, nursing home aid, waitress, and Wal-Mart associate to understand the lived realities of millions of Americans below the poverty line. This book documents her experiences and struggles, such as working through pain and finding housing within her budget. The experiment ended when Ehrenreich faced homelessness, or, as she put it, she could no longer afford to work at Wal-Mart. Along with issues with housing, she also looks at food insecurity, the impact of manual labor on employees’ health, and hiring practices that veer into discriminatory. While the numbers have changed since this book was published, the facts have not. Nickel and Dimed remains a revelatory must-read for Americans today. 

Her Space, Her Time: How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded the Hidden Universe by Shohini Ghose

Women have long been involved in scientific fields, but have rarely gotten acknowledged for their work until recent history. Her Space, Her Time finally gives some of these brilliant women their much overdue credit. In the late 19th Century, astronomer Annie Jump Cannon helped create Harvard’s Classification Scheme, which is still used today, while being paid less than her male counterparts. Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch published the first paper on nuclear fission. Meitner’s longtime collaborator Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery, and Meitner was left in obscurity. We all know Marie Curie, but what about Harriet Brooks or Bibha Chowdhuri? Each chapter focuses on a different scientific top, such as astronomy, physics, or chemistry, and the women who helped revolutionize their fields of study. Ghose explains complex scientific concepts in an understandable way, perfect for science lovers who chickened out of taking physics in high school (read: me). I learned so much from this book, not only about science, but also about the phenomenal women who helped shape our understanding of the universe, from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the Big Bang.

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Explorating Into the Wonder of Consciousness  by Sy Montgomery


The intelligence and physiology of octopuses1 make them among the most fascinating animals on the planet. Naturalist Sy Montgomery was intrigued by octopus consciousness before she had the chance to meet one in person. At her casual visits to the aquarium, she felt that they were watching her as much as she was watching them. Montgomery first met the Pacific Octopus Athena, who eagerly latched on to Montgomery’s arm. Athena was strong enough to pull Montgomery into her icy tank, but instead was playful and curious. Thus began a series of octopus friends that Montgomery got to observe from their youth to death: Octavia, Kali, and Karma. Octopuses are highly intelligent animals that require toys and stimulation to keep them occupied; a bored octopus can be dangerous to itself and its handlers. They also have distinct personalities (Montgomery notes that Kali was aptly named) and strong emotions. Soul of an Octopus offers a compelling look at octopus consciousness both like and unlike our own. 

Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny

This story of Alexei Navalny’s life begins when he nearly died. While flying from Tomsk, Siberia to Moscow, he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. He spent 18 days in a coma, and spent several months recovering in Berlin. Navalny knew who his would-be assassin was: Vladimir Putin. Navalny has been an outspoken critic of Putin’s regime and leader of the opposition party, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. He began writing his memoir while recovering from the poisoning, and ended it in prison. First is Navalny’s biography, where he recounts growing up before and after the fall of the Soviet Union and his education and early years as a lawyer. He writes about how he became the Russian opposition leader, and the dangerous and life-altering consequences for him and his family. One chilling chapter details Navalny returning to Russia after his poisoning, despite knowing that he will likely be arrested once he returns. The second half of the book is Navalny’s prison diaries and social media posts. He shares his experience in prison, including a hunger strike when he was denied medical care. The entries become sparser as his punishments in prison worsen, and Navalny would be killed in a prison above the Arctic Circle. Despite bleak circumstances, his writing never veers into self-pity or nihilism. Instead, he writes passionately about his work and condemns the invasion. Navalny also never loses his sharp sense of humor, adding some surprising moments of levity. While not an easy read, it is a powerful memorial and a stark reminder of how important it is to stand against authoritarianism. 

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks

Ah, music! Who doesn’t love a great song that you can sing along to? Well, if you have amusia, a symphony may sound like pots and pans banging together. Musical hallucinations are real, too, and can cause a great deal of distress. But many of us love music, and our brains do, too. Oliver Sacks, best known for his work The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, takes a look into the good, the bad, and the utterly strange ways that music affects our brains. The book opens with the case of Tony Cicoria, a man who never had more than a casual interest in music. Then he was struck by lightning. Cicoria survived, but was struck by another passion: classical music. Within three months of his recovery, he was spending almost all of his time playing piano and composing music. His new obsession lasted decades. This is only one of the stories about the mysterious relationship between music and the human brain. Others include a man with amnesia whose memory lasts only seconds, but can still read and play music, a musician with severe Tourette’s whose tics diminish greatly only when he performs, among others. The therapeutic effects of music on people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is shown as well. Sacks never turns these narratives into freak shows, but writes compassionately about the power of music and the mysteries of the human brain. 

Fiction

Gravity by Sarah Deming

Gravity Delgado is a force to be reckoned with. This young woman is a fierce, undefeated boxer, preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She’s been training since she was twelve, but her biggest challengers are the ones that she faces outside the ring. Her alcoholic mother, responsibilities for her younger brother, and a heady romance all threaten Gravity’s rising star. She still has her supportive aunt and cousin, as well as her found family at the gym in her corner. Still, Gravity’s biggest obstacle might be herself. The boxing matches are exciting to read, and include both the physical and mental aspects of a bout. Gravity makes mistakes and occasionally stumbles, but you’ll be cheering for her in and out of the ring. A novel that pulls no punches in the best way. 

The Truth About Everything by Bridget Farr

Fifteen-year-old Lark knows how to drive, fix an engine, and catch her own food, but she can barely read. She and her parents know the end is coming, and they’ll be the only ones left standing after the inevitable downfall of America. Raised by two doomsday preppers, Lark has never questioned the conspiracy theories that she was raised on. Then Lark gets her period for the first time. She thinks that she’s miscarrying, something that has happened to her mother many times before, but doesn’t know how she could have gotten pregnant in the first place. After her mother explains what her period is, Lark starts to wonder what else her parents haven’t told her? Lark secretly enrolls herself in high school, where new knowledge conflicts with everything she’s been taught at home. She’s hungry to learn, even when it means uncovering painful truths. But soon, Lark finds herself at a crossroads. What is the real truth? And what will Lark have to sacrifice for it? Pairs well with Educated by Tara Westover. 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Once every ten years, the Dragon takes a village girl into his tower in the corrupt Wood. When she leaves a decade later, with jewels and finery, she is irrevocably changed and leaves the village forever. But the Dragon isn’t a scaly creature that breathes fire. He is a seemingly ageless, enigmatic wizard. Agnieszka has no fear of being taken. The Dragon only takes the most remarkable young ladies, and she’s nothing special. Though no one says it, everyone believes that Kasia, Agnieszka’s best friend, will be the one he picks. Yet it is Agnieszka the Dragon, reluctantly on his part. She is a witch, and her newly-found powers could be devastating if the corruption of the Wood reaches her. Agnieszka and the Dragon have a rocky start, but their mutual dislike of each other must be put aside when the Wood threatens her home. The well-developed characters, rich, Eastern European-inspired setting, and fantastic storytelling will leave you spellbound. 

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neil

Half-human, half-goblin Greta is an apprentice blacksmith in a world where the old crafts are fading. Greta helps a lost tea dragon – a small dragon that grows tea leaves – find its caretakers, and she is introduced to the Tea Dragon Society. Like blacksmithing, the care and cultivation of tea dragons is a dying art. The Tea Dragon Society is made up now only of Hesekiel, his partner Erik, and a shy girl named Minette. As a year passes, Greta learns to care for the dragons alongside Minette, assuring Hesekiel that the Tea Dragon Society will go on. I’ve enjoyed O’Neil’s other graphic novels, and The Tea Dragon Society embodies so much of what I love about their work. The artwork is soft, with no heavy outlines, adding to the whimsical feel of the world. It features a diverse cast in a simple but visually beautiful story. The Tea Dragon Society is the graphic novel equivalent of sliding into a warm bubble bath…maybe with a nice cup of tea. 

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Will’s older brother, Shawn, has just been murdered. Will knows the rules of his neighborhood: don’t cry, don’t snitch, always get revenge. Will takes Shawn’s gun, and take the elevator from his eighth-floor apartment down to the first floor. The doors open on the seventh floor, and Shawn’s friend Buck gets on. Except Buck shouldn’t be here – he was already shot to death. On each floor, another ghost gets on. All of them played a role in Will’s life, and all of them were victims of gun violence. Each tells Will their stories, challenging his resolve. Can he kill his brother’s killer? Should he? This is a short, intense novel in verse that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.  

  1. Yes, that is the correct pluralization. Octopodes is acceptable, octopi is right out.  ↩︎

by booksoverlookedblog

Sep. 2025 Book Recs.: Hispanic Heritage Month

Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

And we’re back! Thank you to everyone who read my work for Flash Fiction Month.

September marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month! Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the achievement, culture, and traditions of Latinx Americans of Mexican, Central American, South American, Caribbean, and Spanish ancestry.

Hispanic Heritage Month officially begins on September 15, and goes until October 15. The mid-month start date is because many Hispanic countries declared their independence from Spain in September. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all declared independence on September 15, 1821. Mexico declared its independence on September 16, 1810, and Chile did so on September 18, 1810. Over 150 years later, years later, Belize would declare independence from Great Britain on September 21, 1981.

Nonfiction: Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latin Identity by Paola Ramos

What does it mean to be Latinx? For journalist Paola Ramos, “Latinx” covers who she is: Latina, Cuban, Mexican, and American. But who are the millions of Americans who identify as Latinx? Ramos traveled across the United States to find out. She met with farmworkers in California, old friends in Miami, and Indigenous Maya communities in the Southern United States. She shares an iftar meal with Latinx Muslims in Washington, D.C. and cheers on an undocumented drag queen competing in the Miss Gay America pageant in Missouri. Ramos even sits down with Enrique Tarrio to try to understand what drove this Afro-Latinx man to the White supremacist group, The Proud Boys. (Note: Tarrio’s role in the Jan. 6 attacks is not mentioned. This book was published in 2020, and this chapter was likely written prior to the event.) Ramos gives readers a snapshot of the rich diversity of Latinx people in the United States, from the every day to the extraordinary. 

Fiction: The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

Orquídea Montoya’s living descendants receive a mysterious message from the matriarch of the family: I am dying. Come and collect your inheritance. When the family gathers at the homestead in Four Rivers, but instead of dying, Orquídea transforms into a ceiba tree. Two of Orquídea’s grandchildren, Rey and Marimar, are left with flowers growing out of their bodies, as is Orquídea’s great-granddaughter, Rhiannon. The family is left with more questions than answers, with Marimar pondering Orquídea’s parting words: protect your magic. When a mysterious force begins tearing through the Montoyas, the family travels to Ecuador, Orquídea’s birthplace, searching for answers. Orquídea’s history unfolds in alternating chapters, with her story dovetailing beautifully with her descendents’ during the climax. This is an intergenerational story of magic, monsters, and family secrets coming to light. And if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll see it has something rare: an omniscient narrator that I actually liked. 

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 14: She stays away from Cabin 7

Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. More notes at the end of the story.

There’s always a stir when a new camper arrives, and for a long time Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke’s grand entrance to Camp Half-Blood was the most exciting thing to ever happen. Then this Percy Jackson kid showed up. 

New arrivals are always exciting, and there was a lot of speculation about who Percy really was. He settled in the Hermes cabin with the rest of us for a while, but we would gossip about him whenever he was out of sight. 

“Did you see what he did to the bathrooms? He’s probably Posedien’s son,” I said. 

My friend Dani scoffed. “Come on. You know the Big Three can’t have kids anymore.” 

Then, when he, Annabeth, and Grover all went off on their quest for the stolen Master Bolt, I had a hunch they were going in the wrong direction. Hermes was the god of thieves, after all. It would make sense that he had some hand in this. “What if it was someone from our cabin?” I suggested. “I like Luke, but he’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s crafty enough to do it.” 

“Gods,” Dani sighed. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Cassandra.”

IYKYK.

For those who don’t know: In Greek mythology, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo to give true prophecies, but no one would believe her. I’ve since been converted to a Percy Jackson fan, and thought it would be funny to have Cassandra as a camper. I thought about doing a vignette for each book in the first series, but it would all be kind of the same: “I bet that at least part of the Great Prophecy is about Luke.”
“Oh my gods, Cassandra, you’re such a liar.”