Outbox September 29, 2017

Inbox/Outbox September 29, 2017 Inbox (Books Acquired) This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins Jerkins is a powerful voice on my Twitter feed, so I leapt at the chance to download a review copy of this collection of interlinked essays. I cant wait to read what happens when Jerkins uses that form (not to mention her critical eye and writerly talents) to examine life in contemporary America. Dont Call Us Dead by Danez Smith If youve ever spent any time in the #blacklivesmatter hashtag on Twitter, youve probably read one of Smiths poems (like alternative names for black boys) that grapple with police brutality and the state-sanctioned murder of black people in America.  Dont Call Us Dead, Smiths second collection, promises to be just as cutting and even more capacious. Bearly A Lady by Cassandra Khaw This one stars a plus-sized werebear with a vampire roommate and a multi-gender, multi-species stable of love interests. Buying it was a no-brainer. Outbox (Books Finished) Binary System by Eric Brown Last year, I read and enjoyed Adrian Tchaikovskys Children of Time,  and this one hits similar notes (if in a less epic and less weird fashion). Sentient, cruel locust creatures, bright blue monkeys, and giant spider crabs are locked in a millennia-long struggle when a human survivor lands on their planet and gets caught up in their struggles. Its pretty classic sci-fi, without some of the genres more obnoxious obsessions (e.g. a relentless focus on technology). Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire I downed this one immediately after finishing Every Heart a Doorway, the first Wayward Children book, which recently won a Hugo. Theyre a little short for my taste (leaving not much time for rich, immersive world-building), but both books are clever delights. In the Queue (What Im Reading Next) The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang As I write this post, Im biding my time until September 26, when I can pounce on JY Yangs Tensorate Series. This pair of twin novellas (The Red Threads of Fortune  and  The Black Tides of Heaven), released simultaneously in a brilliant-if-anxiety-inducing move, sound so fascinating that Im reading them as soon as humanly possible. Now I just have to decide which to read first…