i am truly cutting it close here when it comes to preorder and event stuff, as The Weavers of Alamaxa releases tomorrow (a fact that snuck up on me rather sneakily; i kept thinking release day was on a thursday for some reason, but it is in fact not).
there is still a chance to preorder from riverbend bookshop for a signed and personalized copy as well as a link to an exclusive virtual event with me. but if that’s not your thing, then a preorder from your favorite bookshop is great too.
also, if you’re in the new york city area, i’m having an in-person event with the lovely chelsea abdullah, a fellow arab-american author, as the world’s borough bookshop in queens.
you can rsvp to the event and get either a free seat or a seat with a book (which is 15% off).
other weavers updates is that i got some very lovely starred reviews from kirkus, library journal, and booklist. the full reviews are linked on my website if you’re interested. i love that booklist highlighted the battle scenes especially, because they were extremely difficult to write. i don’t tend towards battle scenes naturally as a writer or a reader.
what i’ve been watching (tv/film):
i finally watched THE ALIENIST season 2 and, though not without missteps, i still find this show criminally underrated, especially re: dakota fanning’s character, who is just such a fascinating and compelling construction of a 19th-century woman. she breaks gender boundaries without seeming like a 21-st century transplant, and she’s just so fascinating to watch. dakota fanning is superb in the role. her character’s dynamics with the two other male main character’s are incredibly well done. highly recommend if you’re at all into historical crime dramas.
binged all of BEEF in one sitting. what a fantastic show, easily capable of pulling you into its characters petty dramas and making seemingly trivial issues feel catastrophic. great performances by steven yeun and ali wong and just kind of a devastating but inevitable buildup.
finally, i watched STAY CLOSE, yet another harlan coben adaptation, and it was…fine. decent twist at the end but i saw it coming.
started watching JUJUTSU KAISEN and unfortunately i think the formulaic shonen-ness of it all is wearing me down. i did also watch JUJUTSU KAISEN 0, the movie, and i liked it more but that’s perhaps because it was so condensed. it’s a shame because i really love the animation and the idea behind it, but i’m finding the handwavey magic system frustrating.
i watched CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY, for which my expectations were low becausae it is a lena dunham film, but i was very delighted by this??? this was actually super charming and earnest without being too twee. i think it did sometimes lean too much on #feminism by way of the 21-st century (one particular scene at the end specifically, a scene pointedly not in the book this movie is based on), but overall i thought this was a really moving coming-of-age story about accepting one's place in the world. it was really touching and bittersweet and had a stellar cast all around.
as an AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER fan, i of course attempted the live action adaptation. my immediate reaction was extreme disappointment. then i decided to give it another go with some friends, thinking the group viewing experience might make it better. it did, for a couple of episodes, but then it kinda started to bum us out (partly because episode quality varies so much, but partly because watching so many episodes in a row was just too much, as the series is somehow both rushed and condensed at the same time) so we just switched to watching the original animated series, and at this point i’m not sure i have it in me to finish the live-action. on the bright side, i’m not on season three of the original, and wow, it is still so good!!! i truly do not understand so many of the changes made in the live action, esp: regarding katara’s character (i.e. transforming her into a complete nonentity!)
what i’ve been reading:
i’ve finally read PALADIN’S GRACE by t. kingfisher, and it is as charming and fun as everyone always said it was. i was more into the worldbuilding than the romance, but that’s par for the course for me.
i started reading the BERSERK manga because everyone and their mother said to do that before attempting any adaptations. i’m currently about seven volumes in, and boy, is it dark! it gives game of thrones, particularly with its generically european medieval fantasy setting, and i…think i’m liking it so far? mainly i think what’s pushing me forward is the promise of a supposedly infamous villain arc, because otherwise i’m finding that the battle scenes and sequences are a little too drawn out for me.
and that’s all for now!