This month at WWAC, we’ve sauntered into summer with a collection of fantastic reads, from gripping middle grades fiction, to a new high fantasy from Martha Wells, to a winner of the Booker Prize, to a politically progressive anthology, and points beyond. Read on for a number of ways (the number is eight) to expand your TBR delightfully!
Louis Skye: I can’t believe I hadn’t even heard of Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, but I found it by accident in my library app. I’ve always loved short stories and anthologies and this was just what I was looking for. The book also includes some poetry so it’s quite a complete literary experience. The stories deal with issues around race, sexuality, disability, and most of all, about identity. The stories are hard-hitting and you might find yourself gritting your teeth through them. I certainly did. That speaks to the authenticity that comes with people telling stories from their lived experiences. As with any anthology, you’re going to have favourites. The works are all so well-written and the voices of the characters are so believable but I loved Samira Ahmed’s poem “Are you the good kind of Muslim?” and Darcie Little Badger’s short story “Homecoming” which ends the anthology on such a powerful note. I was thinking about this book for weeks after reading it; highly, highly recommend!
Alenka Figa: It’s been about a year and a half since I wrapped up my time on a work committee which required me to read an absolute fuck-ton of middle grade lit, and it seems I’m finally getting past the resulting burnout! I read what I’m pretty sure is my first middle grade novel since 2021: The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan (Boy Meets Boy, The Lover’s Dictionary). This very tightly written story is told by Aidan’s younger brother, Lucas. Lucas watches as his parents fall apart and his town comes together to try and find his brother after he (mysteriously disappears) during the night. After six days they’ve given up hope — but then Aidan returns or, more accurately, reappears, providing an impossible explanation as to where he was.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) feels like a tense social experiment. Aidan is safe and healthy, but he knows that no one will believe his story. Lucas wants to believe but cannot help dissecting everything Aidan says, trying to find if there is a truth behind what Aidan claims to be truth. The world around them—their parents, the town that supported the family and searched for Aidan, the local authorities and even the press—are all social obstacles to be navigated as Aidan comes to terms with his situation and Lucas comes to terms with how his brother has irreversibly changed. It’s a fascinating story and a quick read; Levithan doesn’t waste a single sentence.
Masha Zhdanova: I read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka on a coworker’s recommendation and loved it! It’s a murder mystery from the perspective of the victim, the ghost of a gay Sri Lankan photographer who has a week to find out how he died and who killed him before he can either pass on or suffer eternal torment. I was impressed with the sense of atmosphere, the hot humid city vibes that permeated every scene. The story feels like a spiral, slowly revealing its center as you keep reading. It’s an intimate family story that affects the whole world around it: there are so many political factions and politicians desperate to find out where the hell this guy went, but his grieving friends and family are no less determined. The writing is really interesting. It’s not laugh out loud funny, but it is fun and enjoyable. I felt genuinely moved by some passages. This novel won the Booker Prize last year so it’s not like it’s totally unrecognized, but I haven’t really seen anyone talk about it much so I wanted to shout it out here.
Nola Pfau: Because I am a parody of myself, I’ve been working my way through Comics: Ideology, Power, and the Critics, by Martin Barker. Barker is primarily known for writing about film, but also published this book of comics analysis through Manchester University Press in 1989. It’s sadly out of print, and copies can go for upwards of a hundred bucks, but you can also do what I did and get it through an interlibrary loan.
It’s fantastic analysis as a whole, but what I really appreciate about it is the focus on critical rigor first, medium second. In this industry we’re so used to championing the medium out of a steadfast sense of devotion, but Barker’s approach is different; he was supervising a student’s writing about Superman, and realized the utter dearth of scholarly work covering comics at the time. So he set about creating it, diving headfirst into reading comics for the first time, as an adult, instructor, and critic. This book is the result.
Emily Lauer: I was thrilled to read Witch King, a new fantasy novel by Martha Wells that came out from Tordotcom on May 30. In Witch King, Kai, an immortal demon awakes in a crypt and must try to recreate how he got there. He collects allies old and new, as he tries to outrun those chasing him and track down the ones responsible. Witch King offers two parallel timelines, and as we read about Kai’s response to waking in the crypt, we also learn the history of his interactions with humans, other demons, Witches, and a group called the “Immortal Blessed.”
As with Wells’ earlier Books of the Raksura series, her knowledge of anthropology is at the fore, and the world Kai travels through feels both believable and fully realized. And as usual, Wells is adept at making inhuman characters loveable and relatable, and I feel confident referring to Witch King as a cozy found-family revenge epic, a phrase I never thought I’d use.
Kathryn Hemmann: As I set off on an epic quest to explore the many caves and wells of Tears of the Kingdom, I enjoyed reading a YA novel called Tunnels, which follows the adventures of a fourteen-year-old boy named Will Burrows who inadvertently stumbles upon a subterranean civilization after his amateur archaeologist father mysteriously vanishes. Will discovers that a large and thriving community called “the Colony” has lived deep under London since the Victorian era. Their culture has diverged significantly, and it’s a joy to learn about their way of life as Will is treated to local delicacies, dragged along to religious services, and drafted into corvée labor. Although the story begins at a leisurely pace, the plot takes off once Will discovers that there are other civilizations buried even deeper than the Colony.
Tunnels was originally self-published by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams in 2005 before being picked up by British YA publisher Chicken House Books in 2007. The Italian comic artist and game designer Angelise Frank recommended Tunnels to me after I wrote a paean to the ruined underground cities in Elden Ring, and she even posted sketches of some of the characters on Tumblr (here). Like Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom, Tunnels isn’t shy about its fascination with the more horrific elements of subterranean adventures, and I’d recommend it as an excellent source of thrills and chills for anyone feeling nostalgic about lazy summer days spent reading popular British YA fantasy novels from the mid-2000s.
Carrie McClain: Back in the tail end of 2022, I gushed about discovering romance author Kimberly Lemmings in a Bookmarked round-up post. Lemmings is an indie darling who built up a fanbase with her brand of romance in the fantasy genre with a nod to magical creatures of all kinds like orcs, dragons, werewolves and a whole lot of ridiculous. Filled to the brim and then some with humor, I read the latest book in her Mead Mishaps series, titled That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human. This novel features the romancing of Dante, the dragon shifter and ally to Cinnamon, Fallon, and all the heroes and heroines readers are acquainted with from the earlier books in the series.
Also, @KimberlyLemming creates her own amazing covers… pic.twitter.com/dELgxUzbCh
— Jo Fletcher Books (@JoFletcherBooks) April 13, 2023
Dante, powerful and wise, is ready to see the world as it is now, seeking out his own adventure and hoping to have his own shot at love. I was excited to see this particular supporting character step out of the background and be a quite dashing male lead. I was NOT disappointed and loved the reveal of who his match would be: a female character no fan of the series would be unhappy to see. (I won’t spoil who she is, please just read, you’ll thank me later!) Look. I read this novel in one day and two sittings—I had to stop to eat and take my meds—and it is a magical, chaotic road trip, if you will. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human is that same brand of ‘Hallmark meets bloodshed’ rom-com goodness that Lemmings is known to bring.
This newer heroine in the Mead Mishaps series is one who refuses to be a damsel in distress, refuses to be ‘fridged’ and will even go head to head with a dragon on its home turf to save a life. This book is full of flirting, great admiration for the arts (especially sculptures), hilarious moments and a narrative about moving past grief and choosing accountability. Again, I recommend this to romance novel lovers who want it all: liberation, bloodshed, allies you can count on and romance that can only come out of a fantasy setting.
Rosie Knight: I’m currently rereading Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree and it’s so delightful and comforting I just want everyone to get to enjoy it. The story follows Viv, a warrior orc who is attempting to begin a new life in the city of Thune. With a little help from a lucky artifact Viv sets to work transforming an old Livery into a bustling Coffee Shop. Sure, no one knows what coffee is and she’s never run a business before, but what could go wrong? Luckily, in Baldree’s charming fantasy world the answer is “not much.” This is a low stakes, high fantasy story that delivers gorgeous world building, loveable characters, and cozy settings. If you love fantasy—or have always wanted to love it—then this is a must read. There’s no battles or bloodshed, just friendship, kindness, and enough of the fantastical to keep you hooked. It’s wonderful!
