furyofvissarion | (no subject)

My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon - Edited by P.N. Elrod. Pleasant (mostly) but forgettable. I picked this up because some of the authors I like are in it, but I got real tired of reading het story after het story w/conventional wedding & honeymoon scenarios over & over. Not to mention how many of the stories seemed to rely somewhat on the man protecting the woman. Yawn & barf. I don't know anything about Caitlin Kittredge's background, but her short story read like an American trying really hard to write British: let's toss in "bloody," "oi," "bloke," & "tosser" as often as we can & it'll sound British! Rachel Caine's story, a continuation of the one in the prequel anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, continued also to make me really, really sick of pirates. This anthology actually really showed off a lot of what I can't stand about romance-tinged paranormals (phrasing b/c I know a lot of romance readers only use "romance" to label a book if it follows conventions like HEA--happily ever after--& having there be only one man for one woman, & having the romance be the main point of the story, etc.).

Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora - Martin F. Manalansan IV. First, a quick nitpick: despite the subtitle, the book focuses almost completely on Filipino gay men in the US, specifically New York City. Other than that, though, I enjoyed this book a lot. Manalansan looks at how Filipino gay men, mostly immigrants, construct their identity as gay men, as immigrants, as people of color. He, & they, distinguish between "gay," which they see mostly as a white American male construction (beefy macho guys), & "bakla," which is sometimes translated simply as "homosexual" but in reality usually refers to a very specific way of being a man attracted to men, particularly involving feminine attributes & cross-dressing. Also discussed are the class aspects related to bakla, & swardspeak--the playful, heavily-slang-ridden way of speaking that these men use. All around, very very interesting, & a sharp criticism of the way being "gay" in this country is often constructed in a way that ignores race, class, & immigrant distinctions.

Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs. While I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, this one featured so many things I dislike about paranormal romance-tinged fantasy. Like the whole dominant-male wolf (etc.) thing: I think it's interesting to have characters (especially women) explore the tension between their human mores & customs & what their wolf (etc.) side is insisting happen. I think Carrie Vaughn does this well w/her Kitty books. I hate when writers seem to use biology (this time non-human biology) as an excuse to make women totally joyfully submissive to dominant men. Don't get me wrong, sometimes this situation can be hot. But when it becomes a standard for how women & men in this genre relate to each other? I fucking hate it. It also ties in w/compulsory heterosexuality & compulsory motherhood, blah blah. Anyway--I hate how Mercy seems to have gone down the path of just wanting a nice man to take care of her. And she loves when Adam gets angry, oooooh! And she HAS to choose between Adam & Samuel, b/c otherwise the pack will be torn apart (theoretically she could choose neither, but doesn't consider that; I hate that of course she could never consider having both) & it will be all her fault. Also, a few too many dippy comments about mixed-race exotic beauty. I could go on, but why? The sad thing is, I'll probably pick up the fourth book in hopes that things will get better, but it's definitely not going to be on my priority reading list.

Hum Bows, Not Hot Dogs!: Memoirs of a Savvy Asian American Activist - Bob Santos. Bob Santos has been fighting gentrification in Seattle's International District (where multiple Asian groups reside) for thirty-odd years. He grew up partly in the ID, living in an SRO with his dad, a former boxer gone blind from boxing-related injuries. Bob grew up to help form, & lead, various efforts to nurture the communities in the ID without allowing gentrification to drive them out. The book's title is a rallying cry from protests against a planned nearby stadium (hum bows, we are told, are a type of Chinese bun). The narrative is interesting, if at times a bit jumbled. Also, sometimes events seemed to be glossed over fairly quickly, which is understandable given the scope of the book as compared to its length (a little over 200 pages). Santos does give a good picture of the flavor of life in the ID, the problems of poverty & governmental neglect, & the changes that can be made when local activists have support from both the community & key government officials. Santos can be pretty humorous when he wants to be. I liked seeing other activist Filipinos whose auto/biographies I've read (Philip Vera Cruz, Peter Jamero) pop up too.

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong. Again w/the overbearing men in paranormals protecting weaker women. Arrrgh. I hate this trope, but at the same time, if the characters are appealing enough (& I guess, if the sexism isn't TOO egregious), I can read around it. That said, I did really enjoy this book; it hit my fluffy spot. Hope Adams, who has appeared before in Armstrong's books, is a half-demon who gets a rush out of chaos. She finds this problematic b/c she's not evil, & yet it is extremely arousing when, say, she witnesses someone dying or even just chaotic emotions. She tries to channel this desire into providing services for the interracial council ("good" supernaturals). In this book, the moral boundaries become a little uncomfortably blurry as she has to work for the Cortez Cabal (Cabals being kind of like sorcerer Mafia families) scoping out a supernatural youth gang. In comes overprotective werewolf sometime-boyfriend Karl Marsten to cover her back & hover protectively when she has a chaos-related freakout. It gets pretty annoying at times, but then again, I do like Karl & Hope as a troubled couple. Anyway: fluff, fun, didn't grate my nerves too badly, yay. Also I appreciated seeing a WOC (mixed-race!) protagonist w/o getting annoyed w/references to her exotic beauty or whatever.

The Sum of Our Parts: Mixed Heritage Asian Americans - Edited by Teresa Williams-Leon & Cynthia L. Nakashima. I liked that this anthology wasn't completely US-centric. Possibly the most interesting essay to me was about mixed-race Chinese in the UK during the 1930s. Other topics include the issue of mixed-race contestants in Japanese American beauty pageants; mixed-race queer Asians; multiracial stand-up comedy in Hawaii; and Dutch Eurasians. Lots of stuff I'd never really read about before.

Getting in Ttouch with Your Cat: A New & Gentle Way to Harmony, Behavior, & Well-Being - Linda Tellington-Jones. Some cat folks rave about Ttouch, a method of massage that, when used on animals, can be really beneficial for both health problems & behavioral issues, including making a cat be more affectionate, or at least, more willing to be handled by humans. I figured I'd check out this book from the library, because everything else I've seen about even learning about TTouch generally involves some sort of paid course. Anyway, as a book, this is a little oddly structured (it tells you in what situations you should use which TTouch in the first half; the second half tells you how to actually do the touches). If the anecdotes about its effectiveness in the book are true, then it's a v. impressive technique. Who knows, really? But if nothing else, I have learned a little bit about how to massage my kitties, in ways that will probably be pleasant to them even if they end up not being miracle cures, & that's not a bad thing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know anything about Caitlin Kittredge's background, but her short story read like an American trying really hard to write British: let's toss in "bloody," "oi," "bloke," & "tosser" as often as we can & it'll sound British!

A) She's an American

B) Her journal read like that as well. It made me unhappily wary about one of her upcoming books, which is supposed to be set in London.

RE: Iron Kissed

Do you read

buymeaclue's journal? She did a review of IK which generated a lot of discussion on the points you raised.

Also I am so very with you on the screwed-up gender issues masquerading as "biology" in the Kitty books. I've heard some people say they like them as adding complexity to the 'werewolf' dynamic, but for me it seemed... well, unbelievable and exploitative.

Oh dear, re: Kittredge. I'm American, but I studied in the UK for 2 years... but then I thought, oh, maybe it was b/c I was in the north & if I'd spent more time in London I'd see that people really do sound like that! And then I thought, hm, maybe not.

I should go check out that review you mentioned. Seems like no one was happy w/Iron Kissed!

Actually, er, I think the Kitty books handle the biology thing better than a lot of supernatural stuff I've read! I liked that Kitty ditched her stupid abusive pack, for one.

And then I thought, hm, maybe not.

As someone who studied in London and often goes there for family: no, not.

Maybe she's grown out of it, though. She was really young as a debut writer; it's possible she's become more certain in her voice.

I liked that Kitty ditched her stupid abusive pack, for one.

Oh, I liked that, too. I guess I just have a hard time getting over the whole "I'm being raped, but hey, he's the dominant" scene from the first book. That one got under my skin.

RE: Iron Kissed, you might find the review and subsequent discussion amusing. Not only were people unhappy with the book, there were a lot of rumblings about unsavory trends in the whole genre.

I just have a hard time getting over the whole "I'm being raped, but hey, he's the dominant" scene from the first book. That one got under my skin.

Fair enough! That's from her crappy ex-pack leader, right? Not the rape that turns her into a werewolf? I am fuzzy on the details--I haven't read it recently. If the former, then at least she bucks the whole pack mentality thing (well--except she forms herself a little pack later, of course, but doesn't seem to truck w/the same kinds of garbage).

Hm, I should take a look at Hum Bows, Not Hot Dogs, for local interest.

By the way, Seattle's Japanese Americans have been in the local headlines: UW to give honorary degrees to those whose studies were cut off when they were sent to internment camps. (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004391397_uwjapanesemain04m.html) A bit too late, but... well. To the right direction.

Yeah, the honorary degrees thing is kinda... eh, I dunno. The same sorta thing like w/the Filipino vets being denied their benefits--you wait much longer, & there won't be anyone left alive to give degrees or benefits to. :/

Interesting (and somewhat disappointing but not altogether surprising) r/e Iron Kissed. I read the first two in that series and enjoyed them, but found the dominant/submissive thing getting increasingly eyebrow-raising (and gendered). I was given the book, so I'll probably still read it...on the other hand, if I don't get to it before I move, it doesn't really sound like something I'll feel like carting to MD with me.

I don't think I've read a review online where someone LIKED Iron Kissed. Sigh.

The dominant/submissive thing would be less annoying if it wasn't so gendered, like you said. I mean, it would probably still irk me eventually, but @ least it wouldn't be quite so gross.

For some reason I never really noticed the whole gotta-have-a-baby trend in the paranormals, perhaps because as someone who was never interested in procreating and was overwhemlingly sick of hearing people tell me "you'll change your mind when you get older" (NOT true!), I got really good at blocking out and skimming over baby discussions. Real life, books, whatever.

But once you brought it up, I started paying more attention, and ye gads, what is with these people? Especially since the paranormal books are always filled with "we're about to die" scenarios...not exactly when a sane person would think "oh, hey, let's create a helpless infant now..."

I've read a couple new-to-me authors in the past couple weeks, and they sort of buck the trend, but not entirely. There's Keri Arthur, totally into the soulmate-eventually thing, but in the meantime it is part of the werewolf culture to actively play the field. Of course towards the end of the series (that is out so far) she tames that down a bit, so maybe it is supporting the trend more than bucking it. And then there is Ilona Andrews (magic bites, and magic burns), but of course she's not only not interested in having kids, she's not having sex of any sort. And there's the whole alpha male thing going on, but she's mostly not falling for it (yet?). And then Rachel Caine, with this "weather warden" thing.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of these if you've read them! Or maybe I should search your blog to see if you've posted on them earlier! ;)

-Deb

Hi Deb! Yeah, you have a good point about the dangerous moments being the ones in which the women are suddenly raring to have kids!!

Keri Arthur cracks me up b/c she had that scene in her first book where the protagonist (forgot her name) was locked up & in heat & her brother & ~~Love~~ Sex Interest #1 comes in to free her & her brother basically says to the other guy, "There's no choice! You'll have to fuck her!" Which cracked me up. Hehehe.

I really liked the first Ilona Andrews book--I have been meaning to see if my library has the second in yet! And yeah, I love the Weather Warden series too. :)