A Canadian (she/they) Japanese to English translator based in Tokyo. Previously a speaker of English and French, now a speaker of English and Japanese.
Portfolio & Blog → taylordrew.me/ Manga Tracking → anilist.co/user/mollymay5000/
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Success! Taylor Drew has read 61 of 52 books.
A demon. An angel. A city.
The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city of Azril. She has mothered, …
@sifuCJC I really want to read this book!
Susanna Clarke's Piranesi meets Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler in this …
Life feels like it's been absolutely off the charts lately. Some of that is, of course, because of what's going on globally in politics. But on the other side, is that I've simply been rather unwell since the middle of May. So even though I got the arc for this book from NetGalley many months ago, it's come down to the wire when it comes to actually reading it and getting out my review. But maybe that was actually for the best? Somehow it feels like it was exactly the right time to read this absolutely incredible story by Tashan Mehta.
Mad Sisters of Esi starts by talking about how time and stories are circular rather than linear, and I think that both within the world of the novel and in real life, that this is true. While I do think that the sometimes mundane nature of modern life in …
Life feels like it's been absolutely off the charts lately. Some of that is, of course, because of what's going on globally in politics. But on the other side, is that I've simply been rather unwell since the middle of May. So even though I got the arc for this book from NetGalley many months ago, it's come down to the wire when it comes to actually reading it and getting out my review. But maybe that was actually for the best? Somehow it feels like it was exactly the right time to read this absolutely incredible story by Tashan Mehta.
Mad Sisters of Esi starts by talking about how time and stories are circular rather than linear, and I think that both within the world of the novel and in real life, that this is true. While I do think that the sometimes mundane nature of modern life in a globally connected place space and time may feel linear, it's my view that time is certainly far more circular than most of us have the power to contemplate.
But the fact that we often perceive our time as incredibly linear is what I think lends this story some of its power. We travel through the black sea alongside all of the numerous characters that take shape within the narrative. We are also looking for our sister. We are also looking for the whale of babel. And while we go on that journey together with these characters, much like the characters, time loops around over and over again. We jump forward and backward and sideways in both directions. The reading experience is incredible and I'm not sure that I was expecting to feel this level of catharsis by the time I reached the end.
I love stories that play with character perspective and time in interesting ways, and Mad Sisters of Esi does those things. The author has crafted a situation actually where there isn't even really an end. Because even for us, with the time that we process as linear, death isn't just an end—for some people, it's not an end at all—it's also a beginning.
What an absolutely wonderful novel. I highly recommend it. I am in absolute awe.
Susanna Clarke's Piranesi meets Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler in this stunning meta fantasy about the …
I feel like everything about this book was erratic and unexpected, but nonetheless I find myself very weepy at the end of it all--I'm not even sure what to say.
It's not very often that I get to read a book originally in English where the white man is the enemy in such a clear and articulated way. Yet the enemy is also somehow something or someone else. It's a hard to describe feeling, but it just reminds me that we all need to believe in something and have a little faith. Be gracious to others, regardless of any differences there may be between you, and just do your best with courage. That's all there is.
@reading_recluse@c.im I've been recommended it quite a few times too and I've actually owned the audiobook for nearly a year.
The author of The Light Eaters mentioned the Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book though, so I felt the time must be now 😆
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As …
A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association …
I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author, and it was just so good.
I loved the way the narrative played out as she described her talks with botanists around the world. She covered so much ground and made a potentially difficult topic super fun and engaging.
I really love how she mulled alongside the scientists she interviewed and it made me thing a lot about the plants that are around me and how they may feel in the environment.
Exactly the kind of approachable and fun writing I hope to see from journalists. I wonder what the author will take on next!
@reading_recluse@c.im I spent so much time wondering what the editor was doing lol
LGBTに関する議論から取りこぼされてきたものがある。 それが「アセクシュアル」「アロマンティック」などのセクシュアリティだ。 アセクシュアルとは「他者に性的に惹かれない」という指向で、アロマンティックとは「他者に恋愛的に惹かれない」指向をいう。 私たちは「誰しも他者を恋愛的な意味で『好き』になったり、性的な関係を持ちたいと思ったりするはずだ」という前提で日々を過ごしがちだが、そういった思い込みは彼らの存在を否定することになる。 本書ではアセクシュアルやアロマンティックの人々の経験や置かれている状況、歴史、そして関連する用語や概念を詳細に解説する。
This book was incredibly frustrating from start to finish. I actually kind of regret that I spent time reading the whole thing.
The author repeats themselves constantly without really saying anything of substance, they tried to pack five bajillion topics into what is supposed to be an introductory book, and at the end of the book they openedly admit that one of their key goals of the book was to list what research still needed to be done--very clearly not something for somebody learning about the topic for the first time at all. The author actually recommends completely different book as an introduction to the topic at the end of the book.
And that doesn't even get into how many times the author tried to explain Japanese terms with English words...to the presumably Japanese reading audience.
I didn't read this book to learn about the topic to begin with, so …
This book was incredibly frustrating from start to finish. I actually kind of regret that I spent time reading the whole thing.
The author repeats themselves constantly without really saying anything of substance, they tried to pack five bajillion topics into what is supposed to be an introductory book, and at the end of the book they openedly admit that one of their key goals of the book was to list what research still needed to be done--very clearly not something for somebody learning about the topic for the first time at all. The author actually recommends completely different book as an introduction to the topic at the end of the book.
And that doesn't even get into how many times the author tried to explain Japanese terms with English words...to the presumably Japanese reading audience.
I didn't read this book to learn about the topic to begin with, so that's fine on my end, but the fact that there's going to be somebody who picks up this book to try to learn about being asexual or being aromantic and that they're going to just get a bunch of English jargon and research from North American and European scholars with an author telling them that there just needs to be more research done, is upsetting.
I have a hard time even recommending this book for the use that I had for it, which was simply to learn more about terminology in Japanese. Bleck.
Blue Sisters tells the story of three exceptional - and exceptionally different - sisters as they return to their family …
Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a …
I was a bit caught off guard at first by the difference in style between this book and the first one--I think this is mostly down to a difference in translator though. Both are constructed of short stories, but there is an ongoing narrative happening behind the scenes. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure that I was actually expecting for both books to be as connected as they were and I'm glad that the recommended reading order has been changed from the order that these two books originally published.
Anyway, I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as the first one, but then the last two stories absolutely blew my mind. Not only that, but pro-choice in a high fantasy book that was originally published in the '90s? I will take that forever!
Read this book! It's awesome! I've already prepared the first book in the saga …
I was a bit caught off guard at first by the difference in style between this book and the first one--I think this is mostly down to a difference in translator though. Both are constructed of short stories, but there is an ongoing narrative happening behind the scenes. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure that I was actually expecting for both books to be as connected as they were and I'm glad that the recommended reading order has been changed from the order that these two books originally published.
Anyway, I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as the first one, but then the last two stories absolutely blew my mind. Not only that, but pro-choice in a high fantasy book that was originally published in the '90s? I will take that forever!
Read this book! It's awesome! I've already prepared the first book in the saga to read!
A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner …
LGBTに関する議論から取りこぼされてきたものがある。 それが「アセクシュアル」「アロマンティック」などのセクシュアリティだ。 アセクシュアルとは「他者に性的に惹かれない」という指向で、アロマンティックとは「他者に恋愛的に惹かれない」指向をいう。 私たちは「誰しも他者を恋愛的な意味で『好き』になったり、性的な関係を持ちたいと思ったりするはずだ」という前提で日々を過ごしがちだが、そういった思い込みは彼らの存在を否定することになる。 本書ではアセクシュアルやアロマンティックの人々の経験や置かれている状況、歴史、そして関連する用語や概念を詳細に解説する。
Oh yes, a Japanese language book telling its Japanese language readers that looking at a word in English will help them understand a concept with ease...
I don't even know what to say. This can't be how you effectively help people learn about an unfamiliar topic that for the most part shouldn't require a knowledge of English at all if the book is doing its job well though.
