New Releases: Amanda Gorman’s Poetry, Historical Korea, and a Nerdy Romance

This is an interesting look at Korea during the Japanese occupation. It follows the lives of an unfortunate girl whose parents sold her to a brothel, and the poor son of a hunter, showing how their fates are intertwined. Jade, now living in a brothel, befriends JungHo, who is the leader of a group of homeless orphaned boys. As she matures, she comes into her own as a celebrated courtesan and curries favor with a man of noble birth. Her and some of the other girls she grew up with fall in and out of love with men from different social standings, as this novel takes us through mid-century Korean life.

Rejoice! For Amanda Gorman has released her poetry collection debut! We all know Gorman from the presidential inauguration, but here we can get to know her more through poems that tackle our current social issues without giving way to despair. She covers everything from the effects of environmental neglect from past generations, to the consequences of devaluing Black lives, to social isolation. She even mixes up the structure of how some poems are presented as some appear as whales, text bubbles, and other shapes on the page.

This is a collection of slice-of-life stories set in a small Japanese town with fabulist elements. The language is fittingly spare, managing a certain amount of unease as we’re taken through the town’s many oddities. There’s an elderly man who farms chickens and might go to chicken hell (lol), a bossy child who moves in with a woman that finds her under a white cloth, a schoolgirl who keeps doll brains in a drawer, and many other weird goings-on. The stories are odd and dark at times, but the collection overall still somehow manages to also be charming.

Here’s an excellent fake-dating trope for the holidays! Kenya — an anime, cosplaying, and gaming queen— enters into a cosplaying reality show competition. She’s made it to the last round, but hits a snag as it’s a couples challenge, and she’s… single as can be (it’s hard out here, sis!). She enlists the help of her bestie and roommate, Cam, who has secretly had a crush on here since forever. You know where this is going, and you know it’ll be fun to get there. Bonus points for a Black and fat main character who relishes in many nerdy fandoms. 💜