Bookcentric

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is, in her own words, “a horror story about loneliness in a fiercely competitive industry.” It follows the story of June Hayward, a white author, who is #frenemies with an Asian-American author Athena Liu. Kuang, in her first literary fiction novel, introduces both characters and the story takes off when Athena Liu chokes to death in June’s presence. Immediately after, June finds Athena’s unpublished manuscript and steals it, only to later publish it as her own. The rest of the book navigates the journey of June’s climb to stardom and her manipulation of the readers, and critics of her claim to fame, getting manipulated in the process. The book has been described as a satirical account of the workings of the publishing industry. What I found most riveting was the characters’ audacity and their shamelessness. As I went through the events that transpired, I found my jaw drop and sometimes had to stop short while my mind went “Is she for real?”! While June blatantly does what she has to, so that her lie is established as the truth, Kuang brings to the fore, many of the other ills in the competitive publishing industry that make you wonder who is to blame for whatever transpires in the story. What I found most refreshing, was the characterization of Athena Liu. Even though you want to dislike June for what she does and sympathize with Athena, Kuang makes sure that you also keep in mind that there is no black and white, and that Athena had her own demons that made her do things that would not be considered ethical by any standard. In a podcast with Mia Messer, @kuangrf also discusses the very relevant subject of cultural appropriation that she has tackled in this book. Kuang mentions how “staying in your own lane... being authentic...more often than not gets twisted around and used to marginalize writers or to pigeon hole marginalized writers more than it does to open up opportunities for them”. She discusses this at length in many ways in the book, and talks about the pressures marginalized writers face from publishers. #PouredOver The podcast can be found on YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6bOjbBmZY ) Cont. in the comments

Absolutely agree with everything in this article! Do give it a read!

“I am also never going to malign the reading of romance books or think of them in demeaning terms such as 'chick lit' or 'women's fiction'. Aside from the obvious profit made by these books written by women for women, disrespecting women's reading choices is a form of minimising women's experiences and labelling them as invalid and one should have no time for that.”

“….reading hyper-fictionalised accounts of dreamy-unhealthy romantic heroes is great as long as we're aware of the limitations of that portrayal. Such portrayals can propagate violence and reduce love to a mere act of possession.”

Are you what you read? Few experiences in life can prepare us to be more sensitive, more inclusive, and generally kinder human beings than reading.

True that!

(Source: )

“Hoover continues to capitalise on what she calls "telling the reality of abuse", which I would much rather like to call "glorification of trauma" at best.”

The author of this article pretty much sums up my thoughts on CoHo books, and her plots and characters.

The world of Colleen Hoover does not warrant celebration Depiction of such problematic forms of ‘romance’ and relationships surely distort the judgement of readers regarding love and romance.

For all the mighty girls and boys!

Happy World Read Aloud Day! For many children and their parents, there's no activity more cherished than snuggling together with a good book -- and there's no reason such read-aloud sessions need to end once children have moved beyond picture books! Not only does reading together with older children provide wonderful bonding time, but as the content of books grows increasingly complex, it provides excellent opportunities for discussing any number of topics with your children. And, of course, there’s no better way to relive a beloved story from your childhood than reading it together with your own children!

At A Mighty Girl, we strongly embrace the value of reading aloud for all of its practical merits, but just as importantly for introducing high-quality Mighty Girl literature into the lives of children everywhere. With that in mind, we've expanded our Read Aloud Collection to include 212 high-quality books all starring smart, confident, and courageous Mighty Girl characters. The featured stories are perfect for reading aloud with older elementary-aged children or as independent reading for kids.

You can find specific age recommendations on our site for each individual title (simply click on the featured book), although reading aloud with a parent often allows children to enjoy books intended for slightly older readers. From adventure stories to mysteries to realistic fiction set in modern times, you're sure to find a tale to delight every young reader!

To browse our special feature on “212 Read Aloud Books Starring Mighty Girls,” visit https://www.amightygirl.com/mighty-girl-picks/top-read-alouds

If you have younger children, you can discover hundreds of girl-empowering picture books in our "Picture Book Collection" at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/fiction/picture-books

Of course, the books featured in these special collections are just a small sample of the over 4,000 Mighty Girl books for children and teens featured on our website. To start exploring our full book selection - which is sortable by theme and reader age using the filters on the left menu - visit https://www.amightygirl.com/books

As always, if you purchase books or other items that you discover on A Mighty Girl via the "Buy from Amazon" and other links found on every product page and blog post, we receive a small commission at no cost to you, which allows us to maintain the site and continue providing girl-empowering resources like this page. We appreciate your support!

The power and magic of reading! ❤️

A TikTok star who was functionally illiterate finds a community on BookTok Oliver James is a TikTok star who pledged to read 100 books this year. He has had a lot of difficulty with reading since he was a child and is now teaching himself at age 34.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JCB PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2021

"There were no longer any signs of the house we stayed in, no doorway with its low entrance, no weeping willow or cryptomeria tree from which the caterpillars fell. The ramshackle cottage that housed my earliest friends and shaped my memories lay bare and forgotten. Only the flying termites remained, fluttering below the street lights outside the property."

In this novella, Daribha Lyndem gently lifts the curtain on the coming of age of a young Khasi woman and the politically charged city of Shillong in which she lives. Like the beloved school game from which it takes its name, the book meanders through ages, lives and places. The interconnected stories build on each other to cover the breadth of a childhood, and move into the precarious awareness of adulthood.

A shining debut, Name Place Animal Thing is an elegant examination of the porous boundaries between the adult world and that of a child’s.

Daribha Lyndem is a writer and civil servant from Shillong. Name Place Animal Thing is her first book. She currently works with the Indian Revenue Service and a Deputy Commissioner of Customs. Daribha now lives with two cats and a husband in Mumbai.

About the Author:
Daribha Lyndem is a writer and civil servant from Shillong, India. She currently works with the Indian Revenue Service and is a Deputy Commissioner of Customs. She lives with two cats and a husband in Mumbai. Name Place Animal Thing is her first book.

“Tomb of Sand (originally titled Ret Samadhi, Hindi: रेत समाधि) is a 2018 Hindi-language novel by Indian author Geetanjali Shree. It was translated into English by U.S. translator Daisy Rockwell. In 2022, the book became the first novel translated from an Indian language to win the International Booker Prize.

The book traces the transformative journey of 80-year-old Ma, who becomes depressed after the death of her husband. She then decides to travel to Pakistan, confronting trauma that had remained unresolved since she was a teenager who survived the Partition riots. The story is fictional.”

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Books by women that every man should read: chosen by Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Richard Curtis and more Studies show men avoid female authors. Ahead of the Women’s prize for fiction, chair of judges Mary Ann Sieghart finds out why – and we ask male authors to redress the balance

Bookcentric is taking a little break from all services from the 22nd of May until the 4th of June, 2022. We will resume our services from the 5th of June, 2022.

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