Yellowface | 
#camplitsy bookmail! I reckon I'm going to have read the bandit queens section for the weekend and have already read Birnham Wood so am feeling pretty confident in my participation this year!
pickThis exploration of entitlement, race, misogyny, jealousy, and the not-so-pleasant aspects of the publishing industry had me cringing throughout. The characters are complex and messy and predictable enough to be realistic. It got me thinking about all of the things that stand in the way of living with authenticity (or even being able to identify authenticity in ourselves or anyone else), which doesn't really leave me feeling optimistic.
May wrap-up! I finished 11 books including 2 Pride & Prejudice retellings, one classic, and one BOTM pick.
🥇Yellowface
🥈Letters to a Young Poet
🥉Divine Rivals
#MayMontage Day 31: An ironic #NatlSmileDay with the missing mouth in this fascinating cover of RF Kuang‘s book. Bound to be my 5th Kuang novel for this year. Thrilled to finally get my hands on this one.
So interesting! I had forgotten I pre-ordered this from Blackwells and I bought it at my local US shop and now I get to look at the subtle differences between the printings.
UK is slightly (just a hair) taller, the hard cover also has the eyes stamped under the cover, and I love their cover more without the NYT& Times commentary the UK version is almost $9 less!!
pickWhat I loved most about this novel was the descent into justification that June goes on. The guilt is eating her away, but she finds ways to tell herself that what she did was completely fine. The "tick tick tick" of social media posts about her were like a modern day "Tell Tale Heart", perfectly capturing the road June was going down. This is a book you will not want to put down as we enter into peak summer reading.
pickThis book gave me a stomachache in the most viciously brilliant way! Yellowface is an absolutely relentless send-up and take-down of racism in publishing, a razor sharp literary thriller you won‘t be able to put down, narrated by an unreliable and utterly unlikeable lead—and you won‘t be able to tear yourself away from reading every rotten word she says. If you love a train wreck AND books that push you to think more critically, pick this one up!
Fabulous night listening to Rebecca Kuang, a very impressive woman. It‘s a love story next 😱 she said surely her mum knows she knows what sex is now….
Making some good progress on #20in4 ! I finished Yellowface, which was SO GOOD, and I've gotten over halfway through Imogen, Obviously, which I'm loving. And I'm almost done with Grim and Bear It, which is ok. Definitely hit 10 hours.
Finished in time for tonight!! Not reviewing yet - going to listen with interest later 😁
I know it‘s early for #camplitsy23 but I wanted to read some before seeing her talk tonight!
UK Littens in need of Yellowface for #CampLitsy might want to check their nearest Sainsbury's! £9!!!
LOOK WHAT LIBRARY HOLD CAME IN TODAY! 😱💛💛💛 I'm so excited to start this!
Joining in for #20in4 this weekend! There are a few books I'd like to finish before the end of May and/or get a head start on my June tbr. #readathon @Andrew65
pickCatching up on reviews - my 2nd 5 ⭐ of the year
I was enthralled. I was gasping. I love how many of the chapters start a straight forward sentence about what is going to happen - "The night I watched Athena Liu die, we were celebrating..." Amazing it kept me hooked and up reading way too late.
The characters are not super lovable, so if you need that this is not for you all of them are flawed and painfully real.
Looking forward to reading this one! Reckon I can squeeze in Babel before camp begins? 🤔
I've got quite a few on the go at the moment..
Ready for camp (I know this one isn't up first, but it's so pretty I had to post) #camplitsy23 @BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain
pickThis book is described as a satirical tale of the publishing industry. Where the social justice warriors are concerned, there wasn't much exaggeration. It is an uncomfortable look at society in general and humanity specifically, told very well.
Just finished this. Won't review it until I've had some time to let it stew.
#CampLitsy23
@BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain
pickOh my. This book had me hooked from the start. I love books where chapters start off telling you things are going to get worse ?. The opening line in the book is "The night I watched Athena Liu die, we're celebrating..."
This book is about racism, white lady liberalism, the publishing industry, and the cost of fame. It is both funny, horrifying (how terrible people can be), and fascinating.
This would be an excellent bookclub book.
Met Rebecca last night! She‘s a complete genius. Beautiful talk about books, publishing, social media, and hopes and dreams. ✨
Good profile in the NYT: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/18/sue-lani-madsen-neighborhood-commu... Looking forward to this read.
pickLOVED this!!! Although I usually don‘t like satire this blistering look at the inner workings of literary publishing covers lots of hot button topics. Ownership, cancel culture, appropriation, Twitter trolls and making it big. When an opportunity arises for a struggling writer she seizes the chance which alters her life in ways she never imagined. I‘m now 💯 OBSESSED with author R F Kuang. #CampLitsy23 FANTASTIC narration 💛
Saw R.F. Kuang and Soman Chainani author of School of Good & Evil tonight. Picked up signed copy of Yellowface and looking forward to reading it. My son and husband accompanied me and we will be doing a read along soon
pickThis blistering, compulsively readable satire of the publishing industry—from the people who write, edit, market, & publish books to those who consume them—is a love it/hate it book. There is no in between. In telling the story of author Juniper Song, who steals & then passes off as her own the unpublished work of a more successful friend who died suddenly, Kuang does not shy away from calling out a range of issues in this meta piece of fiction.
Tonight‘s reading…and if this blistering takedown of the publishing industry holds up, it‘ll be the second book, following Nettle & Bone, to make its way to my Top Ten of the Year list.
Oh my! This first chapter 🔥
If this doesn't pull me out of my reading slump nothing will.
I am so mad at myself for sitting on this arc!
so-soThis is a modern day satire about an author willing to do anything to make it big. While I found many passages interesting, some even laugh out loud worthy, most was a very slow burn, which didn't always work for my mood. Some very current debate subjects, though, if you enjoy that kind of thing.
Thanks to Harper Collins Canada for this free ARC!
pickThis was an entertaining and thought provoking read and I curiously sympathised with the woman who had stolen a manuscript which is unusual for me, but that is due to great writing. The plot reminded me a little of “The Plot“ and the stolen book reminded me of “The Porcelain Moon“, all while the dealing somewhat with the controversy stirred up by the book “American Dirt “. It reads as a thriller and would be a great choice for book clubs. 4/5
Went for a walk with the family and came home with some new books. Horror, satire, and fairytales on tap for me. Husband came home with a Cory Doctorow book, daughter with historical fiction. (Son stayed home lazing in bed as one sometimes does on the weekend.)
#ThisIsHowWeWeekend #Bookhaul
pickRebecca F. Kuang has accomplished a masterpiece, exploring language and creativity. Yellowface offers an incredible depiction of what it means to create something, even, who has the right to claim work or ideas as their own. This seems pertinent due to contemporary issues of ownership, free speech, racism, plagiarism, identity, appropriation, cancel culture and the creative life. It leaves the reader questioning so much of what they believe ⬇
Hello campers! I‘m your main discussion leader for July. We‘ll start the month with the overall top vote-getter, Yellowface, and finish it with our first nonfiction title, the memoir Hijab Butch Blues. Very excited! 😁🏕️ #CampLitsy23
Important housekeeping note‼️‼️ We will be taking the first weekend off (July 1-2). July has 5 weekends, and many Americans travel then for the national holiday later that week.
#MayMontage Day 3: This book is #PublishedInMay and was featured quite prominently during the London Book Fair while we were there (see huge poster behind us). Perfect timing as I am about to finish The Burning God and I have a hankering for more RF Kuang.
Nominations for #camplitsy23
I‘ll try not to read in the next few days…..
pickSci-fi/fantasy author departs from the genre to pen a biting commentary on the publishing industry. After the death of her colleague, a struggling white writer steals her late friend's Asian manuscript and passes it off as her own. What happens next is a a shocking display of fraud, cultural appropriation, and publishing complicitness. A nod to the antics of such writers such as James Frey and Jeanine Cummins.
What's on your new fiction list?
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/entertainment/g42244281/best-new-fictio...
