Do Better: SFF without Sexual Violence discussion

Welcome to our February recap chat! This gives us chance to get together and share our previous month's reads with each other, in and around the same time. Our Recommend Books thread remains open 365 days a year.

Note: Our new goal is for moderators to research/validate all members suggestions for the group bookshelf database within 30 days, at the latest.


📘📘 YOUR RECENT READS: 📘📘

1) What did you read in February?

2) Which are you recommending for the DB bookshelf-database (if any)?

3) For any books you are recommending, are there any common content warnings we add shelf tags for? Here is our current list: (view spoiler)[

Animal abuse
Animal Death
Body Image - (fat shaming, eating disorders)
Bullying
Child Abuse
Child Death
Child Neglect
Graphic Violence
Homophobia (that is acknowledged)
Low female rep
Oppression
Racism (that is acknowledged)
Self harm
Sexism (that is acknowledged)
Slavery
Transphobia (that is acknowledged)
Enbyphobia (that is acknowledged)
(hide spoiler)]

4) Are there are aspects of the books you aren't recommending that you'd like to discuss with us?

This is my DB bookish February:



I've read 6 books (going on 7: I started Nicky Drayden's Temper yesterday but that isn't DB material either) in February and none of them is eligible to be added in our shelf with the exception of the excellent P. Djèlí Clark's The Black God's Drums, which is already there, and

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, which is the one I'm submitting to the group for evaluation.

I'll leave the list of my non-DB reads of the month here - if anyone is curious to know why a certain title isn't eligible for DB don't hesitate to ask 😉

Not DB material:

The Vegetarian
Winter's Orbit
Buffalo Soldier
David Mogo, Godhunter

Due to an on and off reading slump, I only read a few novellas in Feburary, all 3 were already in our Do Better Bookshelf-Database and I can vouch for them again.

We read these 3 together as Book of the Month over at our sister groups: Worlds Beyond the Margins and Women of the Future. Join us sometime! We try to include detailed CW in all of our group reads, so you can decide if they're right for you.


Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh ★★★★
Beautiful prose seeped in nature. Recommended for those looking for something more gently paced

Finna by Nino Cipri - ★★★
Heartbreak, retail satire, friendship, non-binary rep. I will definitely check out the sequel

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore - ★★★
A really cool concept, if you like CW Network TV shows you'll probably enjoy this too.


I read some great short stories too! Here are a few of them, without SV. A couple of them were Short Stories of the Week over at Worlds Beyond the Margins...

The Shape of My Name also by Nino Cipri - ★★★★ ¾
I much prefered this to Finna. It was a fantastic exploration of Trans identity, family and time travel

You Perfect, Broken Thing by C.L. Clark - ★★★★½
A sharp look at a dystopian future. I loved the style of the writing

As Good as New by Charlie Jane Anders - ★★★½
A very imaginative post apocalyptic genie in a bottle

Laughter Among the Trees by Suzan Palumbo - ★★★★⅓
An eerie dark story (low on the scare factor, high on the creep) that brings Caribbean folklore to the Canadian wilderness.

P.S. All of these stories are available to read in SFF Magazines online for free/pwyc

Elena C. wrote: "This is my DB bookish February:
..."

I love bookish recaps. Thanks for sharing! Even if there isn't much for DB.

I'm very tempted to join you for Temper 😉 Drayden's The Prey of Gods was one of my favs from last year. So far, is it much darker in tone?

And I had heard Hench was pretty bleak, I got the impression it was a sarcastic grimdark take on a superhero story? Glad to hear you didn't find any SV, I look forward to researching this one.

I had a pretty good month

DB books
Ancestral Night no SV but CW (view spoiler)[ child and emotional abuse (hide spoiler)]
Animal Wife speculative short story collection no SV but (view spoiler)[ speaks to much of women's oppression (hide spoiler)]
This is an odd short story collection A Bug Collection some were fun and others a bit too reliant on knowing other works of literature. but no SV CW (view spoiler)[ domestic abuse, body shaming, animal death (hide spoiler)]
Current on all the Wayward children and all are SV free but I sure these are already on the shelf.

The Bees qualifies, I think. And that's all I got.

I read mostly short fictions for February and read only one novel and two novellas. I want to recommend War Girls but need other opinions as I might miss it. Some (lots of?) content warnings on violence, genocide, bullying, child abuse, oppression, etc).

Also seconding Silver in the Wood and Finna.

@ Jo: Your short story summary made me regret deeply not having joined the Short Story Reading Club over at WBtM in February - those picks sounds incredible! I'll catch up with you all soon 😉

Temper is absolutely phenomenal, Jo!!! It is dark, yes: but Drayden's characters always have such a charming, humorous voice that the tone of the book isn't overly bleak. I really enjoyed The Prey of Gods too but this... this, I'm utterly in love with: highly recommended!

@Mary: Animal Life looks super-intriguing. You always share the most interesting small / independent press titles Mary, thank you: added to my tbr!

@Silvana: focusing on short stories might have saved me from my reading slump, smart move Silvana!

I didn't read a lot in February either, but I did have a couple that might qualify (although my brain right now is super bad at details, so it's totally possible I missed something):
-The Four Profound Weaves - no SV but CW for (view spoiler)[sexism, transphobia, non-sexual torture (hide spoiler)]
-Black Sun - no SV but CW for (view spoiler)[child abuse, animal abuse (hide spoiler)]

For me, I wouldn't put War Girls on our shelves because (view spoiler)[there is discussion of girls being kidnapped and forced to marry men on the other side of the war, and that threat hangs over one of the characters when she is taken, even if it doesn't actually happen to her (hide spoiler)]

Elena C. wrote: "Jo!!! It is dark, yes: but Drayden's characters always have such a charming, humorous voice that the tone of the book isn't overly bleak..."

Oh that sounds fab! I might try and sneak it in before Goldilocks 😉 Thank you!

Mary wrote: "DB books
Ancestral Night no SV but CW [spoilers removed]
Animal Wife speculative short story collection no SV..."

Thanks, Mary!!! I'm with Elena, Animal Wife does look very intruiging. I look forward to researching that along with your other suggestions 😁

@ Cheryl - Yes, we have The Bees on our bookshelf already. Always happy to get a second opinion though, so thank you so much!!!

@ Silvana - Thanks for seconding Finna and Silver In The Wood. I always find myself second guessing, even though I've just read them 😁

Kaa wrote: "although my brain right now is super bad at details, so it's totally possible I missed something..."

Thanks, Kaa!! Two 4 stars reads from you 😉 I just noticed The Four Profound Weaves is a novella, so I'm adding it to my TBR.

And please don't worry, both books have enough GR reviews we should be able to find anything your brain overlooked.

And also thanks for your thoughts on War Girls!

Kaa wrote: "For me, I wouldn't put War Girls on our shelves because [spoilers removed]"

Ah thanks for the reminder, somehow my brain still relates SV with rape/rape threat/molestation but fails to connect with forced marriage.

I can second The Four Profound Weaves, I read that last month too, for some reason I thought it was already on the bookshelf.

I read When the Tiger Came Down the MountainThe A.I. Who Loved Me, and Patternmaster. The first two can be added to the group shelves!

Kristenelle wrote: "I read When the Tiger Came Down the MountainThe A.I. Who Loved Me, and Patternmaster. The first two can be added to the group shelves!"

Hey, good to see you! Thanks for these. I'm adding them to our March research list.

Question for When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. We excluded the first in the series due to (view spoiler)[forced sterilization (hide spoiler)] which would normally exclude all others in the series. However, Silvana felt this sequel worked as a standalone, do you agree that is the case and an exception to our guidelines should be made for this?

And I don't normally listen to audio, but I see your rec for The A.I. Who Loved Me is performed by Regina Hall and Mindy Kaling 💚

Thanks everyone for their suggestions this month!!!!! Slowly, but surely, our bookshelf-database grows 🤗 Here are the results of our validation/research of GR reviews. Please let us know if you have any further comments or questions.


Elena:
Hench ✔️ No issues found. Added to bookshelf database with CW for (view spoiler)[Graphic Violence, sexism acknowledged (hide spoiler)]


Mary:
A Bug Collection - 🔄 Added to pending due to insufficient reviews for validation

Animal Wife - 🔄 Added to pending, insufficient reviews

Every Heart a Doorway - ✔️ Added to bookshelf-database with CW (view spoiler)[ death of child (hide spoiler)]
Note: Though it is YA, it was only nominated for adult awards, so it's an easy exception to make 😁

Ancestral Night - ✔️ Added to bookshelf-database with a CW (view spoiler)[ memory manipulation (hide spoiler)]
Note on Elizabeth Bear & Controversies : (view spoiler)[ we acknowledge that Bear has been involved in a number of controversies, but the mods are not clear on whether her behaviour breaks our group rules for exclusion HERE. The mods don't have the bandwidth to research and judge each author for exclusion. However, we welcome other member's research for Bear (or any other author) for our excluded author list (hide spoiler)]


Cheryl:
The Bees - ✔️ Already on DB shelf, thanks for seconding!


Kaa:
The Four Profound Weaves - ✔️ Added to bookshelf-database with CW (view spoiler)[ Graphic violence, Transphobia-acknowledged, sexism-acknowledged (hide spoiler)]

Black Sun - ✖️ Excluded - We did find a few reviews that highlighted a brief mention (view spoiler)[ of parents selling children to pleasure houses (hide spoiler)]. We've added it to our exclusion list under the minor mentions header


Kristenelle:
The A.I. Who Loved Me - ✔️ Added to bookshelf-database

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain - ❓TBD - Kristenelle, please see my question above in comment #18


♥Xeni♥
The Steerswoman - 🔄 Added to pending, 1 outlier review for (view spoiler)[ brief threat of rape (hide spoiler)]

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry - ✔️ Added to bookshelf-database with CW (view spoiler)[ suicide, child neglect, animal death, racism-acknowledged (hide spoiler)]


Rosie
Wolfsong - ✖️ Excluded - a number of GR reviews mention a (view spoiler)[ mention/threat of rape (hide spoiler)]

A good bounty, I'd say ✌