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Mar/Apr - Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom
Can’t wait to read this one !! Super excited ❤️ Great choice :)
That sounds like yet another amazing selection and I can't wait to read it. Thank you so much everyone!
Looking to catch up with Our Shared Shelf so will start here and work my way through the other picks! This sounds like a great choice, can’t wait to receive my copy.
Emma Watson: you are a good person. A girl always needs love. A trans girl too. I love trans people. Only love and respect can heal this world. I believe in God, I believe in a God of love. Continue loving, Emma Watson. You already found the way. The way is love. Love is the way against racism. Love is the way against intolerance. Love is the way against sexism.
Question everyone:unceded territory of whom?
The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada
Just ordered it from the publisher. The book sounds very interesting and you’re right, Emma, the cover does make me more curious. Look forward to reading it.
Really interesting choice !! I need to educate myself about trans people. Can't wait to read this book ! Happy for this choice^^
hey, I´m new and I´m from Austria. I just wanted to say that I´m really greatful to finally be part of this awesome group and I cant wait to read as many interesting, inspiring and great books as possible
Clarissa wrote: "The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada"True, but there are 60 Indigenous languages spoken in the territory that Canada claims and even more First Nations.
Many more Nations than just "Indigenous people"
EDIT: You wouldn't say London is on the territory of the European people, you'd say English or British people...
The same goes for Turtle Island, as the people whose territory Toronto is on call it.
Leonie wrote: "hey, I´m new and I´m from Austria. I just wanted to say that I´m really greatful to finally be part of this awesome group and I cant wait to read as many interesting, inspiring and great books as p..."Hiya there, fellow Austrian!
MeerderWörter wrote: "Clarissa wrote: "The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada"True, but there are 60 Indigenous..."
It's the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.
You have piqued my interest. I’m looking forward to diving in and seeing what conversation ensues. 💕
Smash wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Clarissa wrote: "The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada"True, but t..."
Yup.
Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to read this! I love the idea, that the main character is a pathological liar. I had a real problem with lying, when I was younger. In retrospect I see I had a need to mold the reality around me. These days I thankfully get my share from theatre and acting. Very excited for this book!
Smash wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Clarissa wrote: "The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada"True, but t..."
Actually it's unceded territory of Ojibwa and Anishnabe
I've been wanting to read this. The cover is the most glorious thing I've ever seen.
Sounds so interesting!! Toronto represent!
Super excited to read this - thank you for the inspiration, Emma X
Look forward to read this one. First one for me.
Sounds amazing, need to keep up with OSS reads. Read one of the books from Novemeber/December. Definitely picking this one up! ❤️
Sounds great and exciting !!!thank you emma for always opening our mind to something new, can't wait to read this book!!!!
So excited for this! Who else is to tell us our own truth?
It sounds like someone’s putting to bed old ghosts ... looking forward to this pick.
I'm a big fan of some of Kai Cheng Thom's other work (A Place Called No Homeland and From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea are both really excellent), so I look forward to this one as I haven't read it yet. My library doesn't have a copy (which is why I haven't read it), so I've requested that they purchase one.
I’m so excited to read this one. Through shared shelf I found my favourite book and author, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood. Thank you for this opportunity and you are my ultimate role model! Keep up the great work you’re doing Emma, and you’re the best.
another inspired and fascinating selection. have it on order now - its going fast.
Sounds amazing, can't wait to dive into this one!
Have been looking forward to the next book and it looks great! The cover and description really make me want to start right away! I love how OSS often pick books that I would be unaware of otherwise!
An interesting choice! I couldn't find this book at any of the libraries in my town and the neighboring towns. Its strange! I think I will order this one on amazon. Thank you for bringing this book into my radar.
Gah! I can't find this book in the library!
Mod
Hi Megan, check this thread, see if it helps any :) https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you, Emma. You and the entire OSS staff always make the best, most thought-provoking and mind-altering books. As someone that appreciates stories which defy the "norm," I'm very excited about this one.
Damn. Should have read this sooner. Now it's sold out everywhere, and it's not available as e-book or kindle.
Ragne wrote: "Damn. Should have read this sooner. Now it's sold out everywhere, and it's not available as e-book or kindle."I am sure it will be restocked. Otherwise you can always try bying it from the publisher directly.
Ragne wrote: "Damn. Should have read this sooner. Now it's sold out everywhere, and it's not available as e-book or kindle.":((
Ragne wrote: "Damn. Should have read this sooner. Now it's sold out everywhere, and it's not available as e-book or kindle."
Pdf version is available in the publisher's webiste.
Pdf version is available in the publisher's webiste.
Mod
Thanks for your patience,
Helen
Well, seeing as how OSS made me aware of this phenomenal sounding book, I simply had to share this great review.😊 It's spoiler-free, too!Please feel free to share.
http://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/fi...
Florian wrote: "Ragne wrote: "Damn. Should have read this sooner. Now it's sold out everywhere, and it's not available as e-book or kindle."Pdf version is available in the publisher's webiste."
Thanks! Might wait until it's restocked, as pdf isn't the best way to read a book. I'll see how impatient I get.
Helen wrote: "If you don't want to buy the pdf from the publisher, more copies are on their way to Europe/UK. Should be restocked by end of this week or early next week, we hear. Thanks for your patience,
Helen"
Thank you! I'll check dayly to be sure I'll get one.
If anybody has read Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom and would like to pass it on then I would love to read it :)
Can't wait to get a hold of a copy and dive into this one! It looks really interesting and outside of anything I've read so far.
Ashley wrote: "Can't wait to get a hold of a copy and dive into this one! It looks really interesting and outside of anything I've read so far."To me, this book sounds unlike else out there.😊
This book looks so original! Can't wait to read this one!
Our Shared Shelf
Books mentioned in this topic
The Human Species: An Introduction To Biological Anthropology (other topics)The Origins of Native Americans: Evidence from Anthropological Genetics (other topics)
As if that isn't enough to make you curious… It's the book cover of her first novel, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir that draws you in. It just LOOKS like a fun adventure. And indeed, it walks the tightrope between contradictions - serious and fun, fantasy and reality, poetry and prose, memoir and fiction, delicate and violent.
Set in the Street of Miracles, our protagonist (who happens to be a kung-fu expert and pathological liar) joins a gang of glamorous warrior femmes. It’s a story of broken hearts and healing sisterhoods. Thom says:
"The basic idea for Fierce Femmes was to create a loving homage
and critical re-imagining of the transgender memoir genre. For many
generations, trans writers have been pigeonholed into writing memoirs
that are intended to educate cis people about the reality of trans life.
They were denied opportunities to publish in more creative and
fantastical ways. Fierce Femmes is a response to all that, and a
role reversal of the stereotypically, tragic portrayal of trans women
characters - rather than simply experiencing the violence of a
transphobic world passively, my characters dare to fight back,
even when it takes them down some morally questionable paths."
Kai Cheng Thom weaves a story complete with mermaids, killer bees, kingdoms, ghosts and battles! Fairy tales like King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table captured my imagination as a child…the aliveness of Ovid’s Metamorphoses stories still resonate for me. I love that Thom uses both the otherworldly and the story archetypes of mysticism and transformation we know so well to tell us something new.
Many of us have been encouraged to see gender as binary. In some languages even inanimate objects are gendered! But you wouldn’t try and gender a unicorn, would you? It’s just a unicorn. I love that this book makes us transcend the ordinary and therefore transcend the usual dogma and boundaries our past makes us hold on to.
Naming the protagonist a notorious liar makes me think about the unreliable or mythical narrator…if the past is a tactile thing, we have the power to shape our stories, not just to others, but to ourselves. If we can reimagine our past, we can re-mold it; decide which truths we digest and interpret as being ours and which ones we can disregard. We can use metaphors, shapes and symbols to make our pain less of an unknown entity…less slippery. Does this give us more agency? I love the idea that not telling the story accurately or by rote might hold more of the truth of the experience in it for us.
With Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, you really get the sense of creativity and invention that comes from becoming your own woman - an artist of your own identity. It may be a natural inclination to be nervous of what we do not know. Here is an author who builds us another world, expanding our view. This is a privilege. This is writing at its best. Enjoy being touched by the sparkle, warmth, community, violence and fierceness of the world Kai Cheng Thom has created.
Love,
EmmaXX