Ace Books 3: Tokyo Drift (even more books with ace rep!)

Yes, yes, it’s already more than halfway through March, but I am just now getting around to my annual recap of all the ace books I read last year. I ended up only getting to eight in 2022 (not counting rereads, one book that I tabled because I wasn’t in the mood for it, or one book that didn’t actually have ace rep as promised), but a few of them ended up being truly fantastic, so I think I’m mostly okay with that? As always, this list is meant to be somewhat more thorough in its explanations of (a) what type of representation there is, (b) how explicit the representation is, and (c) my personal opinion of the quality of the representation. Where applicable, I have linked my full reviews of these titles; I only have a few reviews, unfortunately, because last year was a really busy time for me. Law school is a crazy time.

As always, please remember that ace identities are not a monolith, and people may always differ in their assessments of the quality of representation. I try to be relatively objective when possible, but please take my opinions with a grain of salt.

If you haven’t already, be sure to also check out my first and second posts in this series!

STEM Girl Reads for Your Nerdy Heart Needs

What’s this? A post that isn’t a review? Yes, friends, I’m finally getting back on my blogging game, and thought I’d kick things off with a post that’s been lingering half-finished in my “drafts” folder for a while.

Like many others, I’ve read and really enjoyed some of Ali Hazelwood’s books. The Love Hypothesis was great; Love on the Brain was okay; and while I didn’t love Below Zero, the popularity of the STEMinist novellas further speaks to the budding popularity of Science Girl stories. Women in STEM don’t get nearly enough credit or page time in books–especially not in fictional stories where they’re defined by more than just their academic careers. To that end, I’ve put together a list here of a few stories starring STEM women. They span quite a few genres, and while some are quite popular, at least a couple are (hopefully) a little off the beaten path, and/or not advertised as starring women in science. Enjoy!

Ace Reads 2: Electric Boogaloo (10 more books with asexual representation!)

Hello, friends! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything on here that is actually from me, as opposed to a review or tour. But with 2022 officially underway, I wanted to do a brief recap of some of my 2021 reading. Apparently, my list of all the ace books I’ve read so far got super popular near the end of last year (if anyone knows how/why it took off, please let me know, because I’m as surprised as you). This past year, I read ten more books with asexual representation, and so, staying true to the format of that old post, I wanted to share those with you as well!

Obligatory disclaimer: while I am ace (and somewhere on the aromantic spectrum–labels are confusing, man), and therefore am an OwnVoices reviewer for this type of content, the ace experience is not a monolith. I try to keep my assessments of these books as objective as possible, but in my final “notes” on each of them (especially on the quality of representation), I’m purely expressing my own opinion. If you felt differently about any of them, feel free to comment and let me know!

On a related note, part of my reading goal for 2022 is to read at least 15 books with ace representation (for any and all ace spectrum identities, including demi, gray-ace, and so on). If you have any I haven’t read yet and want to suggest some for me, I’m always looking for more.

[Edit: for part 3 of this series, featuring all the ace books I read in 2022, click here!]

Great books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors

In light of recent events in the US–namely, the shootings in Atlanta last week that resulted in the deaths of eight people, including six Asian American women–I want to make it unequivocally clear that I support the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. There are many ways to show support, from monetary donations to attending marches, but for those of us who are readers, I wanted to also give some titles of books by Asian and Asian American authors, across a wide range of genres. The publishing industry has a history of failing authors of color, and that includes authors of Asian descent. Buying and reading their books sends a message to publishers that readers value these stories, and that these stories are important to tell. Of course, we should be reading diversely all the time, but if you find that Asian authors are not well-represented in your reading…well, this is a great place to start.

I’m breaking this post out by listing a book for each genre, along with its author’s racial/ethnic identity. This list is by no means comprehensive, and I’ll admit, there are some great titles that I left off mostly for space purposes–but each title on this list is one that I have read and wholeheartedly recommend. Also, the authors’ identities I have listed are what I could find from their website bios; if any of my information is inaccurate, please let me know so I can correct it.

As an additional note: if you are planning to purchase any of these titles, please consider buying them from an Asian American-owned bookstore. For a list of options, check out this LIST from Libro.fm.

Top Ten Tuesday 2/9 – Love Is All You Need

Hello, lovelies! It’s been ages since I’ve written one of these (I think close to a year actually?), but getting back on my blogging game–I’ve only missed one day so far this month–means that I get to start joining in more of the fun-filled weekly memes, including the delightful Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Valentine’s Day/”Love Freebie,” so I figured I would get back to basics and just list 10 of my favorite fictional couples. Yes, I know, I’m ace, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love reading about the emotions of fictional characters, okay?

This list is by no means definitive–it is a mix of old favorites and then some I really liked from books I’ve read in the past year or so. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch. Please don’t be too harsh on me; I’m still getting back into the swing of things.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

All About That Ace: books with great asexual representation!

This is a post I’ve been thinking about writing for a while now–I get asked on a semi-regular basis what my favorite books with asexual representation are. As someone who identifies as ace, I like being able to see characters whose experiences more closely reflect my own, but I’ve quickly found what so many others have seen as well: there just isn’t a lot of ace rep out there. Thus, I figured it might be a good idea to compile all the ace books I’ve read so far, along with some thoughts on each one, to help readers out there who are in the same boat as me!

[UPDATE – Find Part 2 of this list, with all the ace books I read in 2021, HERE, and part 3, with my 2022 ace reads, HERE!]

So, for all the aces out there–and anyone else who wants to see more asexual characters–here’s a list of books I’ve read in the past couple years with solid ace rep, in the form of main characters or side characters, along with notes on how the rep is portrayed and any relevant warnings. When I have a review on my blog (or Bookstagram) for the book, I also have included a link to that!

Christmas gifts for bookworms (that aren’t books!) – Part 1

Let’s face it: sometimes, it’s hard to know what to get for the book-lover in your life. The seemingly-obvious answer–“Just buy them books!”–is often less-than-helpful. If you don’t know their taste that well, how can you be sure that you’re getting them something they’ll actually like? If you don’t read much yourself (and just want to make your bookdragon buddy feel appreciated), how do you start selecting titles? What if they’ve already read it? Or–perhaps worse?–what if they already own it but haven’t read it yet?

Fear not! There are so many other options for gifts that will warm the cockles of your bibliophile pal’s heart, acknowledging their fanatical obsession love of reading without running the risk of getting them something they won’t appreciate. In fact, I’ve come up with so many that I’ve split them across two posts. Here are a few:

Top Ten Tuesday 3/3 – One-Word Wonders

After a fairly long time away from the blog (thanks, law school stress and other things), I’m glad to be getting back to you all with more bookish content! Today’s Tuesday, and you know what that means: time for a Top Ten Tuesday post! TTT is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and it always provides some fun listicle content. This week’s prompt is “Books with Single-Word Titles.” In a world where the whole [Blank] of [Blank] and [Blank] title format is painfully overused, there is something very refreshing about titles that pack a one-word punch. Here are a few of my favorites (and some big disappointments):

Top Ten Tuesday 2/4 – predicted perfection

It’s ya girl, back at it with another Top Ten Tuesday! TTT is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s prompt is “Books On My TBR I Predict Will Be 5-Star Reads.” Honestly, I could have made a list of 20 (or more) titles for this list, because my TBR is crazy-long and I have quite a few books that I’m certain I would love, if I just had the time to enjoy them! To that end, this list is just a sample, but hopefully the point still comes across.

Side note: I do realize most of these are fantasy titles. Those just happened to be the ones that first came to mind as I was working on this.

Top Ten Tuesday 1/21 – new books new books new books

Boy howdy, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! Between my heart surgery and the holidays and just generally not being overly fond of some prompts, it’s been about a month with no Top Ten Tuesday, but finally, here’s one I can actually do. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed post hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s theme is “The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.” If we’re being honest, this is still kind of tricky for me–I don’t buy a ton of books, and it’s not like I regularly receive ARCs or gifts of books either–but between the various places I get books from, I have cobbled together this list, sorted by source. Enjoy!