Books

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (Spoiler Alert #1)

Identity porn ensues when April goes on a date with actor Marcus… who is also the fanfic author she’s been falling in love with.

I laughed so fucking hard. If you’re in fandom, especially fanfic, do not miss this. She includes actual ao3 tags in it and aslkfj;ask

Captured on Film by forthright (Songs of the Amaranthine #6)

The Amaranthine series as a whole is a comfort read for me.

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

Fake dating for the sake of a food competition.

Heron’s second romance novel establishes her as an insta-buy author for me. IDK why she hasn’t gotten more buzz and acclaim – if you like Talia Hibbert, Alisha Rai, or Alyssa Cole’s contemporaries, do not miss this. Heron writes humor, memorable families, and I am impressed by her ability to write explicitly kinky characters even with fade-to-black sex scenes.

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

I couldn’t stop reading; the stories of various women throughout the book made this bingeable.

Honorable Mention:

K.B. Wagers’ Out Past The Stars (The Farian War #3)

I’ve been following the Hail Bristol books (The Indranan War trilogy and the Farian War trilogy) for at least three years, so I gotta note this final book in the series. It’s not my favorite in the series, and I think the romance with Mia could’ve used more development, but I love Hail and am sad to say goodbye to her. Wagers’ Patreon here.

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Music

Animal Kingdom by Talibah Safiya

Waiting For by rum.gold ft. Jamila Woods

magic by Wrabel

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Misc.

RAWdance’s Concept series, digital edition #2 (dance)

Faves: Claire Deane (A-Y/dancers) “ClaireFIT” (the twist at the end, hilarious!) and Katerina Wong’s “Slipping Sands” (I felt something). Donation link here.

Monstrous Agonies (podcast)

Short (~15 min) podcast. Think Dear Abby but for the Creature Community.

I listen to it while getting ready for bed. Nemesis episode, wonderful. Patreon here.

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Articles

Misogynoir Nearly Killed Meghan Markle by Moya Bailey

The person who coined the term misogynoir weighs in. “What makes Meghan’s near-death by suicide a particularly damning case of misogynoir is the degree of privilege she has as a light-skinned, class-privileged Black woman. In response to my tweet calling out the misogynoir she experienced, some people countered that it wasn’t misogynoir because Meghan has self-identified as mixed race and as a “woman of color.” I emphatically disagree. Whether Meghan calls herself a Black woman is irrelevant, as the animus she experiences has everything to do with her being read as a Black woman.”

The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report from The Ripped Bodice

The Ripped Bodice (romance bookstore) compiles a list of how many romance authors of color are published yearly. Here’re the 2020 results. 😦

My Son Is Bullying His Asian Classmate About the Pandemic by Nicole Chung

“It sounds like maybe you assumed he would know better just because you never personally encouraged him to be suspicious of or hateful toward Asians. But he clearly needs more than merely the absence of conscious, stated racism—he needs you and others to have real conversations with him about this, to challenge him on his lack of compassion for his classmate as well as his biased thinking, to point out how today’s pandemic scapegoating and attacks are part of this country’s long history of anti-Asian prejudice (which, in turn, can’t be considered without confronting anti-Blackness and the violence and harm done to other communities). You can make it clear that behavior like his could feed hatred and incite violence, that that is the legacy he’s part of when he targets his Asian classmate and gets others to join in.”

Why Cornel West’s Tenure Fight Matters by Robin D.G. Kelley

This was news to me. Who wouldn’t tenure Cornel West?? (Spoiler: Harvard.)

8 Totally Achievable Ways to Show Up for Racial Justice… When You’re White and Own an Asian Restaurant! by Irene Li

A tongue-in-cheek article with tangible things white restaurant owners can do. Check out the graph at the very least for the graph, that calls out all the white chefs who’ve won James Beard Awards selling Asian food and are silent right now.

Racism and the Chinese American Experience by Malinda Lo

Short and informative. Leave a tip for Lo here.

I’ve cooked on TV for a decade. It’s time to take body-shaming off the menu. by Alejandra Ramos

I am intimately familiar with this.

“While body-shaming is certainly not unique to people of color or marginalized backgrounds, we live in a society that devalues bodies that are darker, bigger, curvier or otherwise “different” than the dominant culture. Black, brown and Asian bodies are often objectified and fetishized. Styles, outfits and body shapes that are praised and celebrated on white bodies are judged differently on people of color.”

Unmasking Yellow Peril by Turner William and Jason Chang

Great 101 primer on racism against (mostly but not always) East Asians. There’s a zine of the same topic too; I think it’s the same content?