mixed habitat & densely vegetated hiding places

This is part three of my book club notes on A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. [Part one, part two.]

Something I learned in this meeting that I did not previously realize is that a number of the authors in the collection are best known for YA. This does explain why it was shelved under YA in the library, which I have to admit I did not see as significant given that I also had to visit the YA section to find Dracula (because their copy is part of a series of "classic canon" repubs marketed to teens). I had noticed that some of the entries certainly are YA, which I don't consider a bad thing in itself, but in this batch of stories we did experience a disconnect between the marketed-to audience and ourselves.


"Nothing Into All" by Renée Ahdieh

( An embittered brother and a doormat sister run across goblins that can turn anything into gold. )


"Spear Carrier" by Naomi Kanakia

[Note: This book was published before Kanakia came out as trans, so it lists this story under her former name Rahul Kanakia.]

( A look at the Mahabharata from the POV of one of the five million soldiers in the climactic battle. )


"Code of Honor" by Melissa de la Cruz

( A Filipina vampire seeks belonging in New York City. )


"Bullet, Butterfly" by Elsie Chapman

( In a war-torn country, a boy disguises himself as a girl to infiltrate a munitions factory. )

After taking the summer off from book club, I am rejoining for this collection of Asian folktale retellings by Asian authors. It was nice to see everybody again plus a couple of new faces!

Apparently nobody liked the book they read while I was gone, so I guess I dodged a bullet. Everyone seemed excited for the new one and liked that we finally found one with author's notes.


"Forbidden Fruit" by Roshani Chokshi

( The spirit of a mountain falls in love with a mortal. )


"Olivia's Table" by Alyssa Wong

( A second-generation 'exorcist' comes to a haunted town in Arizona to cook for the Hungry Ghost Festival. )


"Steel Skin" by Lori M. Lee

( After an android uprising, a girl believes her father is an android in disguise. )


"Still Star-Crossed" by Sona Charaipotra

( A young woman is stalked by the reincarnation of her mom's dead boyfriend. )