This is a day late because a cold has sidelined me, but it is a long weekend here in the US because Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which is a federal holiday.
Monday is also Inauguration for the U.S. President. So, with that in mind, here are some “American themed” (very broadly speaking) suggestions for your next read.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is the story of Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman living in the US. The narrative moves between the past and the present and is interspersed with blog posts Ifemelu has written about life as a Non-American African in the U.S. This had me hooked immediately. The characters were real and vivid and it gave me so much to think about.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Beth and I both loved this book, a first in the series. It is an alternate history set immediately after the Civil War…but with zombies. It is written from the perspective of a Black woman who has to navigate both the terror of a zombie-filled world and the racism of the time period. Bonus, the audio book is read by one of my favorite narrators, Bahni Turpin.
Since he’s about to be our new vice president, you can take a whack at J.D. Vance’s memoir. The audiobook is read by the author and it is a well-written tale about his life growing up in Appalachia. Drug addiction, incarceration, lack of resources, broken families, grit, and perseverance all make an appearance. Honestly, I was lukewarm about the memoir when I read it first in 2018 and I’m still pretty meh about it now. But maybe you’ll like it better!
Ms. Marvel No Normal by G. Willow Wilson
Kamala Khan is such a wonderful character. I enjoy her so much. She is your typical American teenager, wanting to fit in but also stand out, wanting to make her parents happy but also follow her dreams. When she finds she has super powers, she does the only thing she can think to do, and that is help people. If you don’t know Kamala Khan, I highly recommend you give her comics a try.
In July, one of favorite authors, Rainbow Rowell announced her next project would be writing a new series of Marvel’s Runaways, we were intrigued. True I was hoping she would be releasing a new novel. It’s been over a year since Carry On came out. I wasn’t all that familiar with Runaways. I knew of them from all the years shelving graphic novels while working at Barnes and Noble but never really paid much attention. Well, the Runaways are having a moment. Not only are they being revived by Rowell but next year Hulu is premiering a TV show based on them. I’m a big fan of Rowell’s. I enjoy her writing so for the first time I’m going to read issue by issue instead of waiting for Trades to come out because let’s be honest, even with a star writer and an only cult following there is no guarantee that they will come out in trade. I didn’t even know you could pre-order comic books like you can book books! It’s a whole new world for me people. I’ve decided that even though Rowell’s Runaways is a reboot so I don’t need to be a fan to runaway, I would go ahead and read the previous stories. So far, I’ve made it through the original series by Brian K. Vaughn and artist Adrian Alphona (2003-2004) and they are delightful. I can see why so many people latched on to them. It follows a group of teenagers with seemingly nothing in common except for once a year they are forced together as their parents get together to catch up and fund raise for charities. Alex, Nico, Karolina, Gert, Chase and Molly discover that their parents are not who they think they are. They are in fact super-villains and they call themselves the Pride. They runaway as they try to figure out what to do next. They also discover that some of them have powers of their own. Molly is mutant with super strength. Karolina is actually from another planet and has the ability to fly and glow. Nico is a kind of a sorceress who can cast spells. Gert has a psychic connection to a dinosaur. That’s right a dinosaur! Being a teenager is hard enough but being a teenager on the run from your evil parents while trying to figure out how to use your powers is down right stressful! It’s a full cast of diverse characters with different backgrounds and different personalities. I’m quite enjoying them. Now on to the next series.
If you are like Kate and I then you are horrified about the actions of the current administration. All throughout the campaign, through his transition period, we were told not to take what Trump says seriously. He isn’t going to build a wall. He wasn’t going to ban an entire religion. He has seriously begun one and made steps to do the other. I’m almost afraid to turn on the news or go online. Even if you try to avoid social media, you can’t escape the outside world entirely. Really, for the first time, I truly feel afraid. I have now lived in New York City for almost nine years. I work on the World Trade Center. Everyday I am reminded of the terrible effects of what terrorism does to people, to cities, to nations and to the world. I see the hatred, but I also see what comes after. The love and caring for perfect strangers, the kindness that brings us all together after such horrific events. Since moving to New York, there have been two possible attacks and yet I have never been afraid. I have never been scared of being injured in a terrorist attack until the last couple of days. In one day, he has made us more of a target than we were before. He turned his back on our American ideals. I understand wanting to keep our country safe. I want to keep our country safe and the current Immigration Order will in no way keep us safe.
It’s the universal truth that being an adult sucks. Even though today is my day off, I should be working. I have staff reviews to write, sales data to analyze and what am I doing? Flipping through 
I have to remind myself that the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is not the same as Marvel Comic Universe. The Captain America and Iron Man that we have grown to love in the movies are not exactly the same in the comics. They may share some story lines, traits and beliefs but really they are different characters. As is the story is going to be a different story then the movie. For one thing thing, in the comic the story relies kinda heavily on the involvement of both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, both teams that do not exist in the MCU. So the reasons why the registrations of Superhero’s is necessary had to be changed but the central argument seems to be the same. To have a governing body to oversee superhero activities or continue to have autonomy on their work. I can understand both sides. On one hand, just because you have super human abilities does not mean you are or should be above the law and do what ever you like and then force other people to pay to clean up your mess. On the other hand, you can’t force someone to work for someone without a choice of employers.Not everyone has the same prioritize and they shouldn’t be forced to submit to others. I’m not sure how it’s going to play out in the movie since it doesn’t come out until Friday but I feel like the in the comic they were definitely more Team Captain. Team Iron Man was doing all sorts of shady things. Cloning older superheroes and creating new ones who will follow their directions. Release super villains to track down the rebelling superheroes. Who is supervising them? The more I read the more I felt that people’s anger was misplaced. What started it all was a few Mutants (were they actually X-men?) are filming a reality TV show. They track down other mutants in Stanford, Connecticut. Even though they know they are out matched and they confront them anyway for the sake of better ratings. They end up dying and taking with them a whole bunch of kids from a near by school. Now this is truly a tragedy but why blame all superheroes and not the producers and the network of the show that pushed them to get bigger rantings. I haven’t read all the Civil War collections, as I see their are many, so maybe there are more to this then just that but it seems to me this is blaming all for the actions of few. Say, like blaming the all Muslims for the actions of terrorist even though majority of Muslims live peaceful lives are are just as angry and appalled by the actions of Isis as everyone else. Captain America, The Falcon, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four Spider-Man and so on are not going out looking for trouble they are only responding when there is. That’s a big difference. Maybe regulations should be made but this all of nothing solution that is presented in this is probably not the way. I found this book to be enjoyable. Gave me a lot to think about. Not sure if if really prepared me for what’s to come in the movie since as I said in the beginning these are different beasts but I’m glad I did.
2 Women, So Many Books 