chichai TBR'd a book

Capitalists Must Starve
Park Seolyeon
Post from the Don't Let the Forest In forum
I know this artwork is pretty demented but it's so sick. I'm glad this illustration is included, as nightmarish as it is!
chichai commented on a post
chichai commented on a post
Okay. So we have an ethnicity for Lana Lang (author writes out Chinese American) but not for the three main friends. Am I supposed to assume they are all white? Do all white authors assume our imaginations for characters are white by default?
I know this book has great reviews but this is my biggest pet peeve when reading. Either plainly write out the ethnicities of your characters (especially the main ones?) or don't at all if it doesn't add to the story.
What a reminder why I mainly read from BIPOC authors omg
Post from the Don't Let the Forest In forum
Okay. So we have an ethnicity for Lana Lang (author writes out Chinese American) but not for the three main friends. Am I supposed to assume they are all white? Do all white authors assume our imaginations for characters are white by default?
I know this book has great reviews but this is my biggest pet peeve when reading. Either plainly write out the ethnicities of your characters (especially the main ones?) or don't at all if it doesn't add to the story.
What a reminder why I mainly read from BIPOC authors omg
chichai wrote a review...
I had a lot of fun reading Hemlock and Silver. Healer Anja is entertainingly funny, honest, and clever. It's refreshing to read about an MC who may be socially insecure but can compose herself in confidence in regards to her skills and knowledge.
She also has the BEST tangents.
This felt like an easy read-- one I could revisit. There was enough mystery and action to stay engaged in a fairly calm book. I know Hemlock & Silver deals with poison, violence and some disheveled imagery (aka mirror-gelds)-- some heavy stuff! However, I would still shelve it with other cozy reads.
Shoutout to Anja's guards' sweetness, the surprise feline friend's snarkiness (is he a cat?!) and Snow's tween attitude.
chichai started reading...

Don't Let the Forest In
C.G. Drews
chichai commented on chichai's review of San Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in the Anti-Eviction Movement (Asian American History & Cultu)
This is an essential read for understanding the intersection of multiple social justice facets-- the housing crisis, poverty, the immigrant struggle, the crossfire of political and capital gains, and more.
For those familiar with FIlipino-American history and ethnic studies (especially of ethnic studies history in California) the story of San Francisco's International Hotel is a known one. The I-Hotel served as low-income housing to hundreds of immigrants -- majority from the Philippines-- as well as the center of community for its tenants. The hotel was a home.
The I-Hotel plays a pivotal point in history, representing the cross-generational solidarity that fought to protect the I-Hotel and the elders who lived in it. While I was familiar with all of the above upon reading the book... the storytelling, research, personal recounts, and interviews Dr. Habal provides adds so much more depth and humanity to this history.
This deeper dive into I-Hotel left me:
chichai finished a book

Hemlock & Silver
T. Kingfisher
chichai commented on a post


Hi! Wanted to request "That Which Feeds Us" by Keala Kendall. It came out this year! And definitely has plants as a root to the scary (pun intended)
From the author's website:
"To uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island’s bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields—or risk being consumed by them.
Sharply observed and gorgeously written, That Which Feeds Us explores the true cost of paradise as Lehua must fight to reclaim the land, the stories, and the very souls of her people."
I love the use of horror to touch upon the horrors of colonization but also the overcoming of it. It's been compared to Mexican Gothic and She is a Haunting.
chichai is interested in reading...

It Waits in the Forest
Sarah Dass
chichai TBR'd a book

Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land
Toni Jensen
chichai TBR'd a book

The Lion Women of Tehran
Marjan Kamali
chichai TBR'd a book

Conjure Women
Afia Atakora
chichai TBR'd a book

Punch Me Up to the Gods
Brian Broome
chichai joined a quest
Whispers in the Walls 👻🏚🕸️
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From classic ghostly mansions to modern reimaginings of spooky house horror.
chichai commented on a post
The writing feels very YA so far, while the content is more adult, which is disorienting. I'm hoping the plot is engaging enough that I'll stop noticing that soon... or maybe I should just try to imagine her as a teenage "chosen one" rather than an adult??