#24BooksIn24Days #Dec15

Carl de Souza's Kaya Days (transl. by Jeffrey Zuckerman) had been on my reading pile for a while and I finally read it. This Mauritian book follows a girl for a night looking for her brother amidst the uproar after a musician had died in police custody.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec14

Miss Major Speaks, which consists of conversations between Miss Major (a Black trans revolutionary as the subtitle says) and Toshio Meronek, is another great book Verso published this year. We really need all the books by trans elders we can get.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec13

Did continue my way through Jasmine Walls' work and read the first book of DC's Vixen: NYC. I am not a huge DC reader but this was very entertaining (and loved the art). Will pick up more of this series.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec12

Yesterday I read Deborah Levy's The Cost of Living. I didn't love this as much as many seem to do - but I deeply identified with her e-bike enthusiasm 😅

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec11

Monique ("Lesbians are not women.") Wittig's essays (newly published in German translation by Benjamin Dittmann-Bieber and Arabel Summent) written in the 1980s/90s are deeply thought provoking. Yes, there are things I'd criticise but there is a lot to gain here.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec9

Spent today with some queer poetry by Padraig Regan ("Some Integrity").

"[...] the future is as futures often are
just history we haven't memorised
& I cannot say if you survived it."
(from "Poem for Bobby Kendall")

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec8

This year in July Marga Minco died at 103. Her debut Het bittere kruid ("Bitter herbs") from 1957 tells about the occupation of the Netherlands in episodes about a Jewish family. The protagonist is the only one who survives in hiding. The story is very close to Minco's own.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec7

I recently read Jasmine Walls latest graphic novel, Brooms, which I loved so I looked for more of her work. The Last Session is a wonderful comic about a group of queer friends trying to finish a last D&D campaign before after college graduation they won't live close anymore.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec6

Love and Money, Sex and Death by McKenzie Wark is an incredible memoir in letters. In conversation with texts/ thoughts/ art by many other trans people (in particular woman and femmes), McKenzie writes about grief, late(r) transition, political struggles, philosophy. A joy.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec5

Communal Luxury: The Political
Imaginary of the Paris Commune by Kristin Ross might be the first full book I have read on the Paris Commune and while it was really interesting it was also pretty dense and I think, I should have read a different introduction first.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec4

"aufgeschrieben" by H.C. Rosenblatt is a very special German-language book, and a hard one to read. It's about immense violence and its repercussions, about loyalty and parental figures, about disableing systems, dissociation and survival.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec3

The graphic novel Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier and Val Wise is just a cute story (though tackling some hard topics) about friendship, ascerting yourself and kindness. Central is also a love story about two girls (one being trans). Heartwarming read.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec2

Really interesting book by Jodi Dean on why comrade is a helpful concept for political organizing (while, i.e., "ally" is less helpful). A lot of historical background. Dean is pretty Leninist - but even if you aren't there is a lot to think about in this book.

#24BooksIn24Days #Dec1

we are f*****g here! An African Queer Collection on Safer Sex, Sexuality and Gender is a collection of essays, photography etc. This book tackles anything from making your own sex toys (in places where they are often forbidden) to experiences as a queer disabled person.

#24BooksIn24Days

I decided to make my own reading advent calender and put 24 slim(ish) books I already own on a stack and plan to pick one a day and read it. Let's see how this goes. I'll share some thoughts on each book here.

Finally watched Jacqueline Audry's Olivia tonight - and really enjoyed this very queer 1950s film which portrays queer longing so well (even though need to note that its whiteness was further underlined through one racist remark about Africa and students dressing as "other cultures".)

Having been only a passive user on the bird app for a long time now (due to reasons), I fear I might have forgotten how to participate in this kind of social media. But happy to (re)connect here though I'll spent this evening mainly with these three books.