First up: THIS weekend, on Saturday, Jan. 22nd, I’ll be doing a pop-up at Milk SF, 302 Valencia St. starting at 2:00 PM until close. I will be hanging out with the Milk SF crew, slingin’ all my favorites so come by and grab lunch and check out the selection. I have a good amount of leftover inventory from the holidays – including what I’m reviewing here today.
Update: We’re a couple weeks into the new year and I’m very excited to announce that I am on track to sign a lease for the first of February (or thereabouts) for a beautiful little storefront right in the heart of the Mission-Dolores neighborhood. I will post lots of pictures when I sign the lease and get the keys. There will be a lot to do but the spot is move-in ready which is great! No major renovations are needed, whew. Please stay tuned for the scheduling of workshops, hours of operation, etc.
Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
This book is such a treasure, and I am so grateful for the very raw telling of the author’s most painful time- losing her mother to terminal cancer. There were moments of joy and laughter, and of course many somber moments reflecting on the cycle of life. This book is a beautiful, poignant expression of grief and remembering all of the best parts of lost loved ones. This book feels like a very personal and intimate blueprint of coping with the loss of a loved one. The writing and illustrations are so perfect for the author’s tone and overall personality. This is an underrated gem, and I would definitely recommend it.
Girl Crushed by Katie Heaney
This book is a great YA fiction slice-of-life gay high school story that is just super cute and fun and makes me so happy to read because it’s not sad or tragic, it’s not a coming out story, it simply just is a little romance story. I really wish that I had more stories like this when I was in high school because I feel that it would have normalized a lot of the feelings that I was having and didn’t have anyone to talk to about.
Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu
So I picked this one up from Mission Comics (Thanks Leef and Luis!) because Ingram has been sold out of a couple new Junji Ito titles I’ve been waiting for and I was SO glad to see them on the shelves at MC. This has got to be one of my new favorites (do I say that too often? TOO BAD!) There are a few reasons for this, 1.) I love cats 2.) I love comedy and humor 3.) I love Junji Ito’s particularly weird brand of humor. This was wildly funny and if you have a cat you will appreciate this.
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop
Ehhhh. Honestly not so sure about these. I may pick up the trades of these if they’re ever released but I was not particularly inspired by it. Couple reasons: 1.) I think I decided that Marvel is kind of overwhelming in terms of characters/storylines/crossovers and underwhelming in depth of said characters (don’t @ me because obviously that’s a broad generalization) 2.) Kate Bishop is drawn exactly like all the same female characters in superhero stories that gave me eating disorders and body dysmorphia when I was a kid. So like, the combination of what I view as kind of lazy writing and character development and the fact that she is just soooo stock female superhero body type made this a pass from me.
BONUS: San Francisco’s Street Sheet 2022 Poetry Edition
If you’re in the city, I really recommend picking up Street Sheet whenever you can, but especially the poetry edition which is every year, at the beginning of the year. They can be purchased from vendors around the city. All of the vendors keep 100% of what you give them, and the recommended donation is $2 but this edition is worth more than that. (A five at least!) Street Sheet is a really great newspaper which highlights the struggles and humanity of the homeless population in the city and the vendors are usually experiencing homelessness or insecure housing themselves. Articles, poetry and other contributions in the paper are from those experiencing houselessness, often at the intersections of disability, LGBTQ+ status, and marginalized races and ethnicities. I love the poetry edition and have gotten it every year since moving here. There is a lot of beautiful poetry in this year’s edition, and I’m including a few photos below. Please enjoy and, like I said, pick yourself up a copy.
