The Water Outlaws | 
pickWhen arms instructor Lin Chong is wrongfully accused of treason, she is rescued and taken to the mountain sanctuary of Liangshan where she joins bandits who fight for the good of the Empire.
Bad ass women being bad ass while taking down corrupt politicians. Shes, Theys, and (maybe??) Gays unite!
Also, magic (that isn‘t magic).
I enjoyed this book so much!
Great adventure fantasy. I like that it is mostly a band of women and non binary folks as protagonist bandits, but really, this I s a darker Asian version of the kind of tale the three musketeers are👍
pickThis queer, feminist retelling of a Chinese classic follows a master arms instructor whose life is destroyed by a corrupt official. But when a band of outlaws save her, she discovers a new way of living she's never let herself imagine before. If you love martial arts movies/ books, this is definitely for you.v
Enjoying this one so far. About halfway through and the story has really picked up after a slightly slower start.
Finishing up an audiovook and hoping to start one of the new short story collections I got at the bookstore today #WeekendReads
pickIn a word, excellent. A queer retelling of the 14th century book Water Margin, a Chinese classic, this book is a brutal, unflinching story filled with political machinations, battles, alchemy, battles, women fighting for agency, battles, betrayal, batt—probably don‘t need to keep repeating that, you get the idea. Excellent, if occasionally slow, this is a fantastically entertaining book. Totally get why it was on so many “best of” lists last year.
Kitchen isn‘t handling the deep freeze so well… 🥶 even though we just finished a renovation that was supposed to—wait for it—fix the issues with keeping the kitchen warm in winter. It‘s actually worse now which is frustrating. Sigh. Back to the drawing board we go. Meanwhile, yay for the sun and space heaters—we‘ve gotten it up into the 40s so it‘s a bit warmer. Fortunately, I‘ve got a great book to curl up with on the couch. Loving this one.
pickI‘m not really a fan of martial arts action/adventure, but this gender-swapped retelling of a 14th-c Chinese classic hooked me for its depiction of kickass outlaw women who banded together to right the injustices of their corrupt & patriarchal society. Song dynasty era plus magic and alchemy. Warning: violence, cannibalism and torture. I had to fast forward through the gruesome torture scenes. Audiobook read by Emily Woo Zeller #LGBTQ
