December continues with another week now in the books. This week, I got through two books that both reminded me what a privilege literacy is. The first served as an example of the importance of representation in literature. The second was a close examination of how a type of literature was once suppressed through both active and passive means.

@halliday.nelson

feeling privileged to be literate this week. #inthebooks #reading #recap #booktok #december #books #theblackgirlsurvivesinthisone #thediscourseonfoxesandghosts #horror #shortstories #thesis #nonfiction

♬ original sound – Halliday Nelson

1. The Black Girl Survives in This One – Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell

CW: Racism, Zombie Violence, Implied Threat of SA

I had started this book already at the end of last week, and gave my initial impressions then. I’m happy to say that I continued to enjoy it all the way through. As will happen with any collection of stories from multiple writers, there were some that grabbed me more than others. A few of the stories raised the fear factor from where the first couple had left me. I would still consider it appropriate for a teenage kid, but it’s a fun read for an older audience as well.

I really enjoyed how vivid the characters were. It was clear that was an aspect the editors were carefully selecting for. In each story, there were unique and stunningly realistic identities jumping off the page. It was a breath of fresh air to see such varied representation after encountering so many of the same stereotypes over and over in literature. Of course there are a lot more authors these days writing well-developed black characters. It was nice getting to encounter so many like rapid-fire in this collection.

2. The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts – Leo Tak-hung Chan

CW: SA

This is my first non-fiction title of December. It’s actually been a few weeks since I’ve gotten to any non-fiction. Funny enough, this one is non-fiction about fiction. I picked this one up a while back because I am an absolute story nerd. This was actually the author’s dissertation. It wasn’t primarily written with the general public in mind; the focus was on his thesis requirements. Because it’s a scholarly text, it is a bit dry, but I found the content extremely interesting.

The subject is a specific genre of Chinese literature during the 18th century known as zhiguai. It’s a type of fiction that deals with the supernatural and unexplainable, including fox spirits and ghosts. While I have very deep pockets of knowledge concerning that time frame, I’m much more familiar with the history of my region than I am with events and culture in China during the same era. Although this has been in my TBR pile for a while now, The Fox Wife that I was so enthralled by when I read it a few weeks ago called on some of these literary traditions. As a lifelong fanatic of fiction, fantasy, mythology, spirituality, and folklore alike, I liked learning more.

It also dealt with the effect that censorship has on the historians of future generations. There were factions at the time who considered zhiguai immoral. Chan includes within the text reproductions of actual records from those who chose at the time whether or not to copy down existing works for posterity along with their reasoning. This happens passively everywhere in the world, causing works to be lost to time. It may be much less extreme than intentional destruction of works, the end result is the same. When both of these things happen in a targeted way, we’re left with a gaping hole in the historical record.

That made me think long and hard about current efforts to ban books. I definitely want to be buying more copies of controversial titles.

December Continues and So Does My TBR List

This month is absolutely flying by. Let’s hope that December continues to grant me bits of reading time amidst all the holiday chaos. Since I started counting down on the #TenBeforeTheEnd challenge, I’ve completed eight books. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to finish two more before the year is over. I’ve got a nice big TBR pile on my dresser and a title on hold waiting for me at the library.

As always, I want to hear from you! What have you been reading lately? Are you having fun with it? Have you read any of these titles, and if so, what did you think of them? Tell me everything, and follow along for more!