Wednesday Reading Meme!

[frayadjacent]

My first one in ages!

What I just finished reading

The Terracotta Bride, by Zen Cho. A short story, purchased individually as an ebook so I didn't realise how short it was. That was the only disappointment. Set in the Chinese afterlife, the main character is a second wife in hell whose husband takes on a third wife. Who is made of clay, built like a warrior, and a perfect wife for a patriarch. A love story with a surprising twist ensues.

What I'm reading now

The Golem and the Djinni, by Helene Wecker. A novel, one of whose protagonists bears a remarkable (if superficial) resemblance to the terracotta bride. I have only read two stories featuring a woman made of clay, whose origins are warrior but is made specifically to be a wife. And yet I read them both in the same week.

I'm only two chapters in, but I like it a lot so far. The golem character in particular is working really well for me -- I'm fascinated by her point of view and want more of it. And it didn't hurt that the first chapter had one of my favourite plot twists (the prince/patriarch dies and she must strike out on her own!).

What I'll likely read next

Probably The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson. One of my resolutions for 2017 is to at least try every fiction/nonfiction book I own before buying any more in the respective category (books in a series I've already started don't count). I own this book and saw a booktuber  praise it in a way that got me excited to read it.

Anything else book related

Today I subscribed to a handful of Booktubers (previously I only subscribed to Claire Rousseau); hopefully it will help me find more cool books and authors who I will actually read instead of just providing another youtube time suck! I watched a bunch of "best books in 2016" videos and have already have substantially lengthened my to-read list.

Comments

[isis]

Yay reading meme! One of my favorite types of posts to see on my flist.

I need to read "The Terracotta Bride" - I generally like Zen Cho's work. I loved The Golem and the Jinni (and wrote a story for it for Yuletide this year!) but I hated (and did not finish) The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

[frayadjacent]

I'm glad you liked The Golem and the (D)jinni (UK vs US spelling, I've realised) -- I'm a couple more chapters in and still enjoying it a lot. I look forward to reading your fic!

The Terracotta Bride was the second thing by Cho that I've read, the first being Sorcerer to the Crown, which I loved. So she's two for two for me!

[dolorosa_12]

I strongly recommend 'The Terracotta Bride' — if you like Cho's other work, you'll probably like this, as it has all the features you'd expect in a story of hers: humour, practical, clever female protagonist, warmth, and humanity.

[rahirah]

I have meant to read The Golem and the Djinni for some time, having heard good thing about it.

[frayadjacent]

I recommend it so far!

[hannah]

I can't wait to hear what you think of The Golem and the Jinni after you've finished it.

[frayadjacent]

I'll definitely post about it -- I am resolved to keep up with Wednesday (or at least weekly) reading posts.

[violace]

If you're not subscribed to them already, I highly recommend youtubers Rosianna and Sanne! I don't follow them for the booktubing but I've known them for almost 10 years now through Harry Potter fandom and they are delightful people who always have interesting things to say. Sanne works in publishing as well, which adds a perspective I don't often get to hear about :)

[frayadjacent]

Ooooohhh, thank you! I just subscribed to both. :D

[dolorosa_12]

Hooray for more Zen Cho books/short stories! If you hadn't planned to do so already, I really recommend her collection of short stories, Spirits Abroad, and her novella The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo. I find her writing to be really warm, hopeful and just deeply human in a way that I find difficult to describe. She's also fabulous about describing food, so I strongly recommend reading her work when you're not hungry! It probably helps to know going in that The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is not SFF — I was expecting it to be fantasy, just because all her other fiction is, so for a while I kept expecting fantasy elements to show up, before I realised they weren't going to.

The Golem and the Djinni is great too, for similar reasons — very warm and human and hopeful, with a great sense of little quirky moments of history, the disorienting experience of being an immigrant (Zen Cho's stories are frequently about Malaysian immigrants to the UK, as she herself is), and the city of New York being almost like a character in its own right. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

[frayadjacent]

I love this comment -- you put into words exactly why I loved Sorcerer to the Crown and The Terracotta Bride and why I'm loving The Golem and the Djinni.

I'm glad you also liked Cho's other work -- I'll definitely put them high on my to-read list. I think she's going to be one of those authors where I devour everything I can find by them! I too had assumed that The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo was fantasy, so good to know ahead of time that it isn't.