ottsatwork

4. No One Can Pronounce My Name by #RakeshSatyal.

What a premise! Every night, Harit dresses up and pretends to be his dead sister, Swati, to console their blind mother. Then there’s Ranjana, who writes paranormal romance while worrying that her husband is cheating on her. They somehow become friends while the author explores the Indian immigrant experience in America.

I wanted more though: it’s one of those books where I wished the author focused more over here vs. over there. It kinda drags too, but we do get some great payoffs by the end. And I feel a great tenderness towards these characters and the way they find and support each other. Plus the cover!

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3. Every Body: An Honest and Open Look at Sex from Every Angle by #JuliaRothman and #ShainaFeinberg.

I love the cover. The authors set up a series of real life and virtual convos and surveys (mainly in NY and the east coast?) and collected what they heard here. Accompanied by great illustrations from a few artists I recognized. It was tamer than I’m used to—our alt-weekly paper in Seattle, The Stranger, is way spicier, transgressive, and fun with its annual sex survey. But there’s not enough out there on women’s health, sexuality, and pleasure so I’m not mad. But I do thank the gay gods that I’m not trapped in the gender hell of straight people.

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2. The Teller of Small Fortunes by #JulieLeong.

A first novel that reads like one. This doesn’t mean it’s bad! Quite refreshing in that Leong builds a fantasy world with Chinese people, or Shinns, in it. And tells a perfectly fine story along the way. The genre needs more books like this.

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