Rachel Manija Brown's Blog, page 58
March 28, 2022
Want Reviews?
I have been reading a lot but reviewing little. Want to help me change that?
Note: I deliberately put off reviewing Revelator and the Planetfall series because I loved them but a lot of what I loved is hugely spoilery, and I wanted to discuss them with people who've read them. So if anyone is likely to read them in the very near future or has already read them, please tell me.
Revelator is brilliant historical folk horror on two time tracks with a bootlegger heroine and generations of girls and women who commune with the God in the Mountain. It has a very compelling, morally gray, sometimes very likable set of characters, a fantastic narrative voice, and one of the best monsters I've ever encountered. Not particularly gory but contains complicated, world-specific, well-handled issues of child abuse, cults, and consent.
Planetfall has fantastic, extremely detailed and believable worldbuilding in the classic sense of "how this technology impacts the world," very compelling narratives, and complex main characters. It's very dark and the world is AWFUL in ways with upsetting resonances to multiple current events, but not without hope. I loved it but literally all the trigger warnings.
View Poll: Book Review Poll
Has anyone read any of these? What did you think?
comments
Note: I deliberately put off reviewing Revelator and the Planetfall series because I loved them but a lot of what I loved is hugely spoilery, and I wanted to discuss them with people who've read them. So if anyone is likely to read them in the very near future or has already read them, please tell me.
Revelator is brilliant historical folk horror on two time tracks with a bootlegger heroine and generations of girls and women who commune with the God in the Mountain. It has a very compelling, morally gray, sometimes very likable set of characters, a fantastic narrative voice, and one of the best monsters I've ever encountered. Not particularly gory but contains complicated, world-specific, well-handled issues of child abuse, cults, and consent.
Planetfall has fantastic, extremely detailed and believable worldbuilding in the classic sense of "how this technology impacts the world," very compelling narratives, and complex main characters. It's very dark and the world is AWFUL in ways with upsetting resonances to multiple current events, but not without hope. I loved it but literally all the trigger warnings.
View Poll: Book Review Poll
Has anyone read any of these? What did you think?
comments
March 21, 2022
Low-Cost, Bilingual Therapist Recommendation
I would like to recommend a therapist who is bilingual (English & Russian), low-cost , LGBTQ-friendly, and works internationally over Zoom. She charges 50 Euros per session, which is currently about $55 US dollars. For time zone purposes, she lives in Varna, Bulgaria. Here is her website
Alina is someone I know personally and highly recommend. She would be particularly good right now for anyone who is a first or second-generation Russian or Ukrainian immigrant, Russian-speaking, and/or connected to the Ukrainian or Russian communities, as she understands the political/cultural situation.
She is also an excellent therapist in general and I recommend her to anyone in search of lower-cost therapy, especially LGBTQ-affirmative.
Alina works with trauma, especially developmental trauma, self-esteem and self-image issues, loss, grief, emigration trauma, and with general existential dread. This is long-term, trauma-informed, client-centered therapy.
Please feel free to share this link anywhere.
comments
Alina is someone I know personally and highly recommend. She would be particularly good right now for anyone who is a first or second-generation Russian or Ukrainian immigrant, Russian-speaking, and/or connected to the Ukrainian or Russian communities, as she understands the political/cultural situation.
She is also an excellent therapist in general and I recommend her to anyone in search of lower-cost therapy, especially LGBTQ-affirmative.
Alina works with trauma, especially developmental trauma, self-esteem and self-image issues, loss, grief, emigration trauma, and with general existential dread. This is long-term, trauma-informed, client-centered therapy.
Please feel free to share this link anywhere.
comments
March 15, 2022
Identify my weeds!
I've ID'd the bottom row as chickweed and Lunaria (moneyplant). What is the plant in the top row? It's small, fairly flat to the ground, and had elongated spade-shaped (as in a playing card spade)/teardrop shaped leaves on long stems. The stems radiate out from a central point. The entire plant looks slightly spider-like. The chickens eat it. It feels slightly succulent.
ID my mystery plant!
I've tried plant-ID apps but so far they all say it's one of ten different plants, and which ten varies with the angle and lighting. Google is also useless.
comments
ID my mystery plant!
I've tried plant-ID apps but so far they all say it's one of ten different plants, and which ten varies with the angle and lighting. Google is also useless.
comments
March 14, 2022
Wonderland, by Jennifer Hillier
After her husband's suicide (or was it???), single mom Vanessa Castro gets a new job as deputy chief of police in a small town completely dominated by an amusement park, Wonderland. The night before her first day at work, 1) she has a random one-night stand with a guy who turns out to be in Wonderland management, which causes complications when 2) a mutilated corpse appears beneath the Ferris wheel, 3) a Wonderland employee vanishes after posting a photo of himself free-climbing the Ferris wheel. Happy first day on the job!
I found this book via a "female horror authors of color" book list, but it's actually a basic detective suspense novel, not horror. I think I'd have been more into it if the horror aspects had been played up. Or maybe not.
The best part of the book is the incongruously cheery Wonderland employee memos. Otherwise, it's trashy and batshit, but not quite batshit enough to be really memorable. Also, waaaaay too much random abusive/predatory/ill-advised sex for my taste. I could have done without the only gay characters being child abusers or the messed-up adult victims of child abusers.
( Spoilers, sort of. The ending was not very clear. )
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comments
I found this book via a "female horror authors of color" book list, but it's actually a basic detective suspense novel, not horror. I think I'd have been more into it if the horror aspects had been played up. Or maybe not.
The best part of the book is the incongruously cheery Wonderland employee memos. Otherwise, it's trashy and batshit, but not quite batshit enough to be really memorable. Also, waaaaay too much random abusive/predatory/ill-advised sex for my taste. I could have done without the only gay characters being child abusers or the messed-up adult victims of child abusers.
( Spoilers, sort of. The ending was not very clear. )
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comments
March 13, 2022
Thank You, Gift-Giving Folk!
Thank you to the very kind people who sent me books off my wishlist!
I shall try to do reviews of them as a thank-you, insofar as one can review books that aren't meant to be read cover-to-cover.
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Meanwhile, spring has sprung. The cats go berserk on an hourly basis, the chickens are laying so much that I am mentally running through people who might want eggs, and I have three yellow crocuses. Photos to come.
comments
I shall try to do reviews of them as a thank-you, insofar as one can review books that aren't meant to be read cover-to-cover.
[image error]
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Meanwhile, spring has sprung. The cats go berserk on an hourly basis, the chickens are laying so much that I am mentally running through people who might want eggs, and I have three yellow crocuses. Photos to come.
comments
March 8, 2022
Fade, by Robert Cormier
Fade begins with the first person narration of a 13-year-old boy named Paul in a small rural town, who learns that he has the genetic power to fade (become invisible.) This power is passed down from uncle to nephew, and does not do any good for the bearers of it.
I first read this book when I was in high school. What I remembered about it was that it had an questionably reliable narrator, some surprise twists, and that it was about a family that had the power of invisibility. (Or did they?)
What I did not remember:
( Read more... )
Fade is a pretty dark take on invisibility, based on the idea that all you can really do with it is spy on people and commit crimes. Conveniently to make this point, every time the narrator spies on someone, he sees something horrendous and generally sexual happening. (Oh! I forgot to mention the underage prostitution. There's underage prostitution.) If someone invisibly spied on me, they would be bored out of their gourd.
I also forgot that the book is historical, beginning in the 1930s, set in the French-Canadian community, and also involves the Ku Klux Klan. There is a lot going on in this book.
I don't want to spoil the twists because there's some good ones, but if you like unreliable narrators, spooky takes on psychic powers, and some interesting writing choices (in a good way - I'm not talking about the sex stuff), and are okay with the weird sex or willing to skim at or block it from your memory entirely, I do recommend this book.
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comments
I first read this book when I was in high school. What I remembered about it was that it had an questionably reliable narrator, some surprise twists, and that it was about a family that had the power of invisibility. (Or did they?)
What I did not remember:
( Read more... )
Fade is a pretty dark take on invisibility, based on the idea that all you can really do with it is spy on people and commit crimes. Conveniently to make this point, every time the narrator spies on someone, he sees something horrendous and generally sexual happening. (Oh! I forgot to mention the underage prostitution. There's underage prostitution.) If someone invisibly spied on me, they would be bored out of their gourd.
I also forgot that the book is historical, beginning in the 1930s, set in the French-Canadian community, and also involves the Ku Klux Klan. There is a lot going on in this book.
I don't want to spoil the twists because there's some good ones, but if you like unreliable narrators, spooky takes on psychic powers, and some interesting writing choices (in a good way - I'm not talking about the sex stuff), and are okay with the weird sex or willing to skim at or block it from your memory entirely, I do recommend this book.
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comments
March 3, 2022
Roses and Rot, by Kat Howard
Two sisters, Imogen and Maris, lived with their abusive mother and supported each other as best they could. Imogen, the older sister, fled first, leaving Maris behind. For seven years, they had no contact with each other. Then, as adults, they're both accepted to an elite, year-long artists' retreat, Imogen as a writer and Maris as a dancer. As they rebuild their relationship and try to grow as artists, they slowly notice that the campus has some extremely odd things going on...
Unusually for a Tam Lin story, it's primarily about the relationship between the sisters and secondarily about the relationships between roommates. There are heterosexual romantic relationships as well, but they're more of plot than emotional importance.
This fantasy from 2016 is straight outta 1980s urban fantasy, in the tradition of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, to which it bears a great deal of resemblance down to also being a Tam Lin retelling. It's "in the tradition," not a rip-off, but if you like Pamela Dean and Emma Bull you will probably like this. It's very beautifully written, has tons of gorgeous details of landscape and fae and food and art, and is generally an excellent example of what it is.
Content notes: flashbacks to abusive mom being physically and emotionally abusive, not particularly graphic or lengthy.
Roses and Rot
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comments
Unusually for a Tam Lin story, it's primarily about the relationship between the sisters and secondarily about the relationships between roommates. There are heterosexual romantic relationships as well, but they're more of plot than emotional importance.
This fantasy from 2016 is straight outta 1980s urban fantasy, in the tradition of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, to which it bears a great deal of resemblance down to also being a Tam Lin retelling. It's "in the tradition," not a rip-off, but if you like Pamela Dean and Emma Bull you will probably like this. It's very beautifully written, has tons of gorgeous details of landscape and fae and food and art, and is generally an excellent example of what it is.
Content notes: flashbacks to abusive mom being physically and emotionally abusive, not particularly graphic or lengthy.
Roses and Rot
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comments
March 2, 2022
I have a life coaching website!
Here is my life-coaching website.
Feel free to link it to anyone you think might benefit from my work. I can see anyone in any state or country.
I work with individuals, 13 years old and up. I do not require parental permission to work with teenagers. I do not work with families or couples. I don't accept insurance, but I do have reduced rates based on what people can afford. All sessions are over video.
From the site:
I believe that you are the expert on your own life. I'm here to help you find the life you want, not the life that your family or society or community says you ought to have.
I love working with problems that have been weighing you down for years. My specialty is helping you find hope and joy when you thought that was absolutely impossible.
I specialize in working with people in the LGBTIAQ communities, abuse and trauma survivors, people who don't fit into mainstream society, and anyone who just feels different.
comments
Feel free to link it to anyone you think might benefit from my work. I can see anyone in any state or country.
I work with individuals, 13 years old and up. I do not require parental permission to work with teenagers. I do not work with families or couples. I don't accept insurance, but I do have reduced rates based on what people can afford. All sessions are over video.
From the site:
I believe that you are the expert on your own life. I'm here to help you find the life you want, not the life that your family or society or community says you ought to have.
I love working with problems that have been weighing you down for years. My specialty is helping you find hope and joy when you thought that was absolutely impossible.
I specialize in working with people in the LGBTIAQ communities, abuse and trauma survivors, people who don't fit into mainstream society, and anyone who just feels different.
comments
February 26, 2022
The Clairvoyant Countess, by Dorothy Gilman
A book of interconnected short stories about, unsurprisingly, a clairvoyant Countess.
After falling upon hard times, the psychic Madame Karitska is now living in genteel poverty in New York City. But being psychic gives you an edge in finding a new apartment, and also telling you when to start a business. The book follows Madam Karitska’s psychic practice, where she encounters a number of people who are the victims of odd crimes. Because of this she meets a police officer, Detective Pruden. After that the book relies less on crime victims coming to her and more on Pruden, who is a skeptic who gets mostly converted, bringing crimes to her. In between she rescues a young man from shoplifting, meets interesting people while reading Tarot at parties, and so forth.
Each mystery is effectively an individual story, but there is a through line involving her relationships with the various people she meets along the way, and also some previous mysteries have later repercussions. It's a very fun book, with her psychic powers being the equivalent of Sherlock Holmes' deductive abilities. They gave her an intuitive edge, which she uses to solve the mystery, but she still has to do the leg work and figure some things out for herself.
The book falls on the line between dated and period piece, but for the most part on the positive side. You can tell that Gilman was very interested in different ways of seeing the world and reality, both personally and culturally. I'm sure that some of her depictions of other cultures are not perfectly sensitive or accurate, but she takes everyone seriously, is genuinely interested in trying to see things from other perspectives, and most importantly believes that all perspectives have equal value.
It's not as good as my favorite Dorothy Gilman books (The Tightrope Walker, A Nun in the Closet,, and the first few Mrs. Pollifax books) but I liked it as much or more as my medium favorite Mrs Pollifax books. It's got a very vivid New York City milieu, and Madame Karitska is a great character.
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comments
After falling upon hard times, the psychic Madame Karitska is now living in genteel poverty in New York City. But being psychic gives you an edge in finding a new apartment, and also telling you when to start a business. The book follows Madam Karitska’s psychic practice, where she encounters a number of people who are the victims of odd crimes. Because of this she meets a police officer, Detective Pruden. After that the book relies less on crime victims coming to her and more on Pruden, who is a skeptic who gets mostly converted, bringing crimes to her. In between she rescues a young man from shoplifting, meets interesting people while reading Tarot at parties, and so forth.
Each mystery is effectively an individual story, but there is a through line involving her relationships with the various people she meets along the way, and also some previous mysteries have later repercussions. It's a very fun book, with her psychic powers being the equivalent of Sherlock Holmes' deductive abilities. They gave her an intuitive edge, which she uses to solve the mystery, but she still has to do the leg work and figure some things out for herself.
The book falls on the line between dated and period piece, but for the most part on the positive side. You can tell that Gilman was very interested in different ways of seeing the world and reality, both personally and culturally. I'm sure that some of her depictions of other cultures are not perfectly sensitive or accurate, but she takes everyone seriously, is genuinely interested in trying to see things from other perspectives, and most importantly believes that all perspectives have equal value.
It's not as good as my favorite Dorothy Gilman books (The Tightrope Walker, A Nun in the Closet,, and the first few Mrs. Pollifax books) but I liked it as much or more as my medium favorite Mrs Pollifax books. It's got a very vivid New York City milieu, and Madame Karitska is a great character.
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comments
February 25, 2022
If you want to contact elected officials in the US...
You can use Resistbot to text them.
Text the word RESIST to 50409.
In case anyone's thinking along similar lines, this is what I just sent to Biden & Congress:
Support Ukraine! Freeze or seize the bank accounts and assets of Putin and Russian oligarchs. Hit them where it hurts - in the pocketbook.
I doubt any truly serious effort of the sort will happen because anything attacking the one percent's money will scare the one percent, and everyone powerful in the US is in the one percent. The Russian oligarchs and US politicians have a hell of a lot more common interests than either of them have with ordinary people in either country. (Certain exceptions excluded, but, well, exceptions.) Still, maybe they'll make some efforts that they think won't endanger their own dirty money and offshore accounts, and maybe that will be helpful.
comments
Text the word RESIST to 50409.
In case anyone's thinking along similar lines, this is what I just sent to Biden & Congress:
Support Ukraine! Freeze or seize the bank accounts and assets of Putin and Russian oligarchs. Hit them where it hurts - in the pocketbook.
I doubt any truly serious effort of the sort will happen because anything attacking the one percent's money will scare the one percent, and everyone powerful in the US is in the one percent. The Russian oligarchs and US politicians have a hell of a lot more common interests than either of them have with ordinary people in either country. (Certain exceptions excluded, but, well, exceptions.) Still, maybe they'll make some efforts that they think won't endanger their own dirty money and offshore accounts, and maybe that will be helpful.
comments
