Lovely Books and Things - 6.29.19

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Grooving to Varona tunes (details) at the Milk Bar

2. Volunteer usher duties for Frameline43 - LGBTQ Film Festival - Happy Pride Month!

3. Monthly chocolate happy hour at Fog City News!

I attended this one with the kid. Could not resist and got 3 bars this time around. They are paired with a book, Made for Love from this year's summer reading pile.

June picks:
chocolate - Letterpress based in Los Angeles, California

Bachelor's Hall, Jamaica 70% Dark
Tasting notes: Star fruit, mocha, spice
Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter
Kosher Information: Parve

Ghana, Ashanti 70% Dark
Tasting notes: brownie crust, graham cracker
Ingredients: Cacao, Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter
Kosher Information: Parve

Ucayali, Peru 70% Dark
Tasting Notes: Star Anise, Mocha, Pepper, Cedar
Ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter
Kosher Information: Parve


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Bought: thrift store finds

Paris
by Edward Rutherford
-Historical, France, Paris | Goodreads
PERFECT find at the thrift shop as I am gearing up for a Paris reading binge in July.

The Unwalled City
by Xu Xi
-Contemporary, Hong Kong | Goodreads
WAS drawn to reading another story with Hong Kong after reading Maurene Goo's Somewhere Only We Know.

The People In The Trees
by Hanya Yanagihara
-Historical, Magical Realism | Goodreads
HAVE wanted to read more from Hanya after A Little Life


Library:

The Kiss Quotient
by Helen Hoang
-Romance, Asian American, Vietnam | Goodreads

The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang
-Romance, Asian American, Vietnam | Goodreads
PICKED up these two in the Kiss Quotient series.


AND watched: in theatre for Frameline43 - LGBTQ Film Festival (here)

Razor Tongue & the T
-Episodes, LGBTQ
Razor Tongue
Director: Natalie Heltzel, Sarah Poynter, Puppett, & Kalena Ranoa (2019) USA | 39m
With a sharp comedic touch and real emotional bite, Razor Tongue explores the complexities of manifesting self-love in a world filled with misogyny and discrimination. Creator Rain Valdez, Sterling Jones, and Alexandra Grey star in this fantastic, no-bullshit web series.

the T
Director: Deven Casey, Bea Cordelia, & Daniel Kyri (2018) USA | 43m
Told through small moments and life-changing ones, two characters' stories—a trans woman and a queer Black man in Chicago—feel wonderfully authentic and intimate. After the first two episodes proved to be an audience favorite at Frameline42, we're pleased to showcase the entire first season of the T at the Festival this year.

Queering the Script (2019)
Director: Gabrielle Zilkha
-Documentary, LGBTQ | imdb | my rating: 5
Q&A panel discussion with some filmmakers and actors.

Queer nerd alert! Frameline alum Gabrielle Zilkha (Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny, Frameline38) takes us into the cosplay-wearing, fanfic-writing underbelly of queer fandoms. At conventions like ClexaCon, the largest multi-fandom LGBTQ+ event, fans geek out while connecting with like-minded folks. Queer fandoms are undeniably passionate when it comes to LGBTQ+ characters in film and television, but it doesn’t stop there. Queering the Script explores the influence they have in the slow but steady rise of LGBTQ+ characters in the media.

Engrossing interviews with figureheads from Autostraddle and GLAAD Media contextualize the history of queer women in popular media, while Pose actress Angelica Ross, The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken, and Xena: Warrior Princess herself, Lucy Lawless, share their experiences with fans and how they’ve helped to reshape narratives to be queer inclusive. Queering the Script takes a fun and forthright look at the importance of queer representation in mass media and the undeniable influence of LGBTQ+ fandoms on the shows we watch. — DOMINIQUE ONEIL

FASCINATING research on queer fandoms and its history.

No Box for Me. An Intersex Story (2018)
Ni d'Ève ni d'Adam. Une histoire intersexe
Director: Floriane Devigne
-Documentary, LGBTQ, France, Switzerland | details | my rating: 5
Often intersex is still dealt with as a pathology that must be treated and repaired. The film reflects on the way intersex people seek to reappropriate their bodies and construct their identities. It questions what our societies are ready to do in the name of social norms and what it means to be a man, a woman or a little of both...

Realness And Revelations
-Shorts, LGBTQ
Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.

Gentleman Spa
Director: Yu Jhi-han (2019) Taiwan | 18m
For Hao, a heavy-set janitor at a gay spa, romantic relationships feel like an unreachable dream. But when he gets the opportunity to massage a handsome stranger, an exciting—but bumpy—ride ensues.

Gamers
Director: Searit Huluf (2019) USA | 10m
A lesbian gamer gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to try out for a pro league team, but crippling self-doubt tests her ambitions.

The Bony Lady
Director: Adriana Barbosa & Thiago Zanato (2018) Brazil, USA, Mexico | 20m
In this captivating documentary-fiction hybrid, transgender Death Cult leader Arely Vazquez attempts to fulfill a promise she made to her saint years after a life-threatening episode.

Wildfire
Director: Bretten Hannam (2019) Canada | 12m
Stalked by his abusive white father, a rebellious Mi’kmaw runaway meets a Two-Spirit teenager drawn to his journey. As he learns the Mi’kmaw language and culture from his new companion, a deeper bond begins to take shape.

MC Jess
Director: Carla Villa-Lobos (2018) Brazil | 20m
Jessica, a lesbian Black woman, goes through bouts of doubt and loneliness, thanks to daily forms of prejudice. But in poetry, she unearths a powerful means of expression that allows her to finally overcome deeply ingrained insecurities.

Transtastic
-Shorts, LGBTQ
Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.

Rani
Director: Hammad Rizvi (2018) | Pakistan, USA | 15m
A poor and socially outcast transgender woman from Pakistan sets out to take care of an abandoned baby in this award-winning short film.

Desperately Seeking Shavers
Director: Emmett Aldred (2018) | Australia | 6m
This insightful documentary shines a light on gender and identity through its candid look at the way trans and gender-diverse people express and actualize their identity through facial hair.

Prisoner of Society
Director: Rati Tsiteladze (2018) Georgia | 15m
Within the strict and repressive atmosphere of Georgian society, we meet a young transgender woman trapped between her personal desire for freedom and the traditional expectations imposed upon her by family.

Tell-By Date
Director: Sarah Ball (2019) USA, UK | 14m
Ryan has something important to tell his seven-year-old son, but an unexpected revelation about his own father forces him to confront his past before he can move forward.

Here with You
Director: Nona Schamus | 2019 | USA | 7m
May meets a boy at a party who piques her interest. She invites him over to hang only to realize that they have more in common than she thought. This film was produced with an entirely trans cast and crew and offers a look at a healthy romantic relationship between two trans individuals.

Homosafe
Director: Lorin Murphy | 2018 | USA | 4m
This fabulous music video for the song “Homosafe” by The Homobiles is shot in and around The Stud and features queer hero Lynnee Breedlove.

Skin
Director: Audrey Rosenberg | 2019 | USA | 22m
A queer teenager (Rhys Fehrenbacher of They, Frameline42) struggling with the onset of puberty discovers a living cave that presents them with a new skin and a chance to explore their identity.

Transfinite (2019)
Director/Writer: Neelu Bhuman
Writer: Ryka Aoki, D'Lo, Stefano Gonzalez
Cody L. Makil, Davia Spain, Lida N. Vala
-Shorts, LGBTQ | imdb | my rating: 4
Transfinite is a sci-fi omnibus feature film composed of seven standalone short stories where supernatural trans and queer people from various cultures use their powers to protect, love, teach, fight and thrive.

Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.

Memories of My Body (2018)
Kucumbu tubuh indahku (original title)
Director: Garin Nugroho
Stars: Muhammad Khan, Raditya Evandra, Rianto
-Drama, LGBTQ, Indonesia | imdb | my rating: 5
In Center Java Juno, a pre-teen abandoned by his father, joins a Lengger dance centre where men assume feminine appearances but the political and social upheaval in Indonesia forces him on the road, meeting remarkable people on his journey.

LOVED learning about the culture and the snippets of dance performances.

Kissing Walls (2019)
Season 2
Director: Zak Payne
Stars: Zak Payne, Nathaniel Tenenbaum
-Comedy, Black/African American, LGBTQ, Chicago | details | my rating: 5
Set in the rapidly gentrifying gayborhood of Chicago, two misfit roommates struggle in the local dating scene as they search for happiness. Despite his best efforts, commitment-phobic Cameron finds himself falling for one half of a couple he’s been sleeping with. James, on the other hand, is anxiously trying to convince people to come see his nightclub act after weathering a bad breakup. When a chance encounter with a florist sparks romantic interest, James has to decide if he’s ready for a new relationship.

Through it all, James and Cameron have each other’s back as they navigate the indignities of everyday life.

Q&A with director, Zac Payne and actor, Nathaniel Tenenbaum.

LOVED the fusion of romance, jazzy music and Chicago.

A Dog Barking at the Moon (2019)
Director/Writer: Lisa Zi Xiang
Stars: Renhua Na, Gaowa Siqin, Zhang Yinyue
-Drama, LGBTQ, China | imdb | my rating: 4
A Chinese family saga, told in different periods of time, commencing with the wife's discovery of her husband's homosexuality. When her adult daughter comes to visit, other secrets slowly come to light.

STORYTELLING included theatre enactments pieced in with past and present scenes which did not gel so much for me.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Habit of a Foreign Sky by Xu Xi

Habit of a Foreign Sky
by Xu Xi

Published: October 2010
Genre: Chinese, Coming of Age
Paperback: 288 pages
Rating: 5

Description from the amazon:
Somewhere between Hong Kong and New York, life does an abrupt shift for Gail Szeto, when her mother, her last family member, is killed in an accident.

For Gail, a mixed-race, single mother who had buried her young son less than two years prior, all she has left is a hard-won career at a global investment bank.

Life rapidly goes into free fall for this woman with a complicated past, who was once so sure of her direction in life, who can now see no clear future path.

Shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, this novel offers a an international cast of characters in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Quotes to note:
Entering her mother's room, she confronted the hoarding of a life.
- page 61, chapter 5

But families were complicated these days, neither happy nor unhappy, and as unpredictable and mercurial as human resources.
- page 251, chapter 26

My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): Fa-Loong
I call this a coming-of-age story although it is not YA. It is more like a coming-of-age during a later stage in life in which the protagonist undergoes major growth.

This tale kept me interested and curious to the very end.

--/=/=-- Book Giveaway courtesy of PR by the Book --=\=\=-
signup for giveaway

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* review copy courtesy of PR by the Book

~*~ Women's Tales schedule ~*~

Women's Tales: Xu Xi

After exploring author (for a giveaway entry), Xu Xi's site, fellow bloggers asked Xi a question in regards to something they found of interest at her site.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Xu Xi
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Here are Xi's responses to some of the questions...

Audra said...
Ooh, this book looks crazy good! I'm curious -- Vermont and Iowa are a far cry from Hong Kong. Do you enjoy living any place less urban than Hong Kong? And what made you decide to commit wholly to writing?

To Audra: I LOVE living rural and my home in the North Country of NY State is in a village with a post office where everyone knows my name. It's my version of Eudora Welty's living at the PO (her famous short story which I read when I first came to America: "Why I Live at the PO") I love the anonymity of urban life and always will but the countryside is magical. You can swoon over the blue in a forget me not or the sound of a hummingbird. Now that's what it really is to be alive.


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debbie said...
I would like to ask, what do think of what is happening to the nobel peace prize winner, Liu Xiaobo?

To Debbie: The situation for Liu Xiaobo is one that makes me very, very sad to be Chinese. I have admired him since he first initiated Charter 08 -- if you've never read the original document you should because it is beautiful in its expression and intent. He is inspirational, offering us a model for a new China. Which is why I'm sad that the Party has chosen to shut him out of the debate, to silence him so mercilessly. It's just wrong, and it's the antithesis of the spirit of the Chinese people.


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Antonia said...
What is left of your life in marketing in your life as a writer?

To Antonia: What remains of our past lives? A few people, including my favorite drinking friend who is a sort of Muse for me (Jenny -- she appears in some of my essays); a facility for spreadsheets which I use for plotting and tracking novels (and some stories); developing an interest in economics later in life, a subject I never formally studied but years of reading business journals and the like got me interested and now I find it continually fascinating; the ability to talk to anyone about anything, which is what you do in corporate life -- there's actually a greater culture of tolerance in corporate life than in most literary and artistic circles because writers and artists are opinionated, hot headed and have strong convictions whereas in corporate life it's all about being a good team player. Best of all, my business background killed any fear of finance and for the first few years after I stopped working full time for a good salary, I lived off my stock and future trades, something I would never have imagined myself doing back when I was reading all of Shakespeare's plays and Milton's poetry.


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Joana Dias said...
How do you think you will be remembered in 100 years, as a writer?

To Joana Dias: In a hundred years, I'll just be happy if I'm remembered at all. I suppose how I'll be remembered will depend on how Hong Kong will fare in history, because so much of my literary identity is tied up with my birth city. Years ago, I wrote my first novel which was an apocalyptic vision of Hong Kong, a city that disappears like Atlantis (the book was never published and when I did my MFA I revised it completely and gave it a less melodramatic end but that version was also never published). So if I was right in my prophecy, I won't be remembered at all unless some archeologist finds a scrap of my book somewhere in the lost city of Hong Kong.


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Elise said...
Of all your awards for your work, which one are you most proud of??

To Elise: When I was about 13, I took second place in a writing contest. This was run by a bookstore in Hong Kong and contestants were supposed to choose a book they wanted to own and say why. I chose "Questions about Sex." The winner chose some picture book about the sea (yes, that was lame). I was a little peeved not to win, because the winning essay was pretty but rather meaningless, whereas I felt mine really said something about what it felt like to be a teenage girl with questions about sex. After the awards ceremony, one of the judges, a woman, pulled me aside and told me she thought I should have won because I wrote honestly and well from the heart. That judge's encouragement was the best award in the world, because she made me see that it wasn't about winning, but about writing well. I'm prouder of that second place award than any of the other more professional accolades I've received over the years because that one was when I discovered the most important thing about myself as a writer, that I should never compromise my work in order to win awards.


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Catarina said...
What great women have inspired you?

To Catarina: WOMAN inspires me in all her myriad forms, as Mother Earth, Goddess, Witch, Mary, Guan Yin, mother, sister, wife, daughter. Over the years a lot of women in many fields, including writers of course, have been inspirational. But then so have many men. IN the end humanity is just this amazing reality of which I am a part, and this is something that gets me up and out of bed most days.


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vampireprincess said...
Which of your works did you like writing the best?

To vampireprincess: I don't know the answer to that. Right now, the novel I'm writing and hopefully am almost finished with is the one I've liked writing best, but that could change with the next thing I write. It's easier to say what work I liked writing least, which was my novel Hong Kong Rose. It has been and remains one of my best selling books, but writing it was a bitch. I hated Rose Kho for the longest time which was what made it so hard to write. Only when I could finally make peace with her character could I let her go and finish the book. But you know something, I still don't like her and probably never well. I even like Gail Szeto better, the protagonist of my latest novel, and she isn't exactly the easiest person to love.

~end


~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Xu Xi
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

Thanks to Xi for joining in the Women's Tales event!

--/=/=-- Book Giveaway courtesy of PR by the Book --=\=\=-

signup for giveaway

~*~ Women's Tales schedule ~*~

Women's Tales next month

Women's Tales
a virtual book event
January 13-20, 2010

stories by and about women
SAVE the DATE for this virtual book event: January 13-20

One of the guest authors for the event is Xu Xi who has written...

Habit of a Foreign Sky
by Xu Xi
Description from the amazon:
Somewhere between Hong Kong and New York, life does an abrupt shift for Gail Szeto, when her mother, her last family member, is killed in an accident.

For Gail, a mixed-race, single mother who had buried her young son less than two years prior, all she has left is a hard-won career at a global investment bank.

Life rapidly goes into free fall for this woman with a complicated past, who was once so sure of her direction in life, who can now see no clear future path.

Shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, this novel offers a an international cast of characters in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

--/=/=-- Book Giveaway courtesy of PR --=\=\=-
Open to all.

Offer ends: January 30, 2011

TO DO:

Explore Xu Xi's site.

1. Ask author, Xi, a question in regards to something you found of interest at her site in comments along with your email.

2. Come back during the Women's Tales event next month to read Xi's response.

--- questions are closed ---

RESPONSES are here.

INSTEAD, tell me something of interest you learned from Xu Xi's site.

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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* image source

~*~ Women's Tales schedule ~*~