Feeling conflicted on this and need a second opinion. You probably already know that I have two monthly book clubs. I always share my book picks in an article I write for my community magazine. I live in conservative Texas and so I sometimes get a bit of pushback on my choices, which are often the sort of queer, POC-authored books, or books that center anything-other-than-Christian characters that are often banned here, but last month was the first time that I actually was asked to rewrite my article to pick a different book than the one I’d submitted because the magazine was getting pushback on “appropriateness” and needed me to pick something more “family friendly”.
I considered just quitting but instead I submitted a new article with a different book to spotlight in the magazine….Lula Deans’ Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller. I explained that the book was about a small southern neighborhood where one woman decides to rid the public libraries of all the “inappropriate” books…none of which she’s actually read…and replaces the contested books with her idea of “family-friendly” literature in her Little Free Library. When a young woman secretly fills Lula Dean’s Little Free Library with banned books wrapped in her “wholesome” dust covers (The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette is replaced with The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution…The jacket for Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved) the neighbors who borrow Lula Deans books are changed in unexpected way. A very appropriate read for our times.
I expected that I’d be fired immediately (if you can be fired from someplace that doesn’t pay you) but instead they totally ran it and now I can’t decide if perhaps my replacement article was too subtle, or if possibly the people running the magazine are also a little tired of appropriateness as defined by everyone else. Regardless, I suspect my time there is limited.
Do you want to see my actual pick that was too dangerous for my neighborhood magazine?
It’s In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf.
In a small town in rural Georgia, Appalachian roots and traditions still run deep. Folks paint their houses haint blue to keep the spirits way. Black ferns grow, it’s said, where death will follow. And Weatherly Wilder’s grandmother is a local Granny Witch, relied on for help delivering babies, making herbal remedies, tending to the sick—and sometimes serving up a fatal dose of revenge when she deems it worthy. Weatherly, when called upon, can talk the death out of the dying; only once, never twice. But in her short twenty years on this Earth this gift has taken a toll, rooting her to the small town that only wants her around when they need her and resents her backwater ways when they don’t.
Weatherly’s cousin, Adaire, also has a gift: she’s a Scryer; she can see the future reflected in the dark surface of her scrying pan. Or at least, she could before she was killed. Weatherly, with the help of Adaire’s spirit, sets out to find Adaire’s killer, no matter what it takes.
What makes this book so dangerous? Witches?…I guess? No fucking clue really. But it’s an excellent book that perfectly balances the line between cozy and unsettling and if you aren’t already a member of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club this is the perfect book to join on. COME READ WITH US.
Or if your tastes run a little darker I recommend Nightmares from Nowhere, our horror book club.
This month’s book is one of my absolute favorites and I am still thinking about it. It’s The Eyes are theBest Part by Monika Kim.
It’s a feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective. I’ve never read anything quite like it, although it did remind me a little of My Sister, the Serial Killer. A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, and a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other. If you like horror, don’t miss this one.
And if you need more than one book to get you through the month, here are a few June books I loved.
Bear by Julia Phillips – A mesmerizing novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest Island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor. Short but haunting.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center – A rom-com about a rom-com. It sounds meta but it’s marvelous. (And Katherine is visiting Nowhere Bookshop for a reading and signing this month in our sold-out event.)
Malas by Marcela Fuentes – A story full of passion and revenge, following one family living on the Texas Mexico border and a curse that reverberates across generations. (Marcela is also coming to Nowhere for a signing!)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe – Weird but fun…wrestling, onlyfans, motherhood, growing up…this one’s got a lot going on.
Happy reading and thanks for supporting Nowhere Bookshop!
PS. We have a new shirt available until June 19th and also we’re in the finals for Best Bookshop in San Antonio. Feel free to vote!
This Just In… Jesus Ate Lunch At Popeye’s Today
Posted onApril 7, 2016 by Agent X
Some stories I just don’t tell, and I really struggle with telling this one.
The whole secret-agent-for-Jesus-network, started with a blog called The Agent B Files, and always was intended to honor Jesus’ directive in Matthew 6:3-4. It is intended to be a way of sharing God’s work without taking personal credit for it. However, there is no doubt plenty of people know my identity on the one hand, and telling the story is not keeping it secret on the other. Despite measures taken to mute my identity, this ministry is designed to aid God’s people to imagine the world differently and to bear God’s image in it largely through portrayal of caring for the poor.
Without exhausting all of the caveats and concerns, I was soooooooo deeply blessed to eat lunch with Jesus today in the Popeye’s fast-food joint down on 82nd and University, that I feel compelled to tell you about it. I should say that earlier this morning, my wife (Mrs. Agent X) and I made a trip to Walmart up on 82nd and Milwaukee. As we pulled onto the lot, we saw a man holding a “hungry…homeless” sign as we drove by. By the time we parked, I could see a Walmart employee walking out to the far part of the lot toward the beggar. I followed after him to see how this would go.
I will not reveal my part in that exchange at this time, but I will say that it was obvious Walmart did not want that man there, and by the time I returned to Mrs. Agent X, we were both considering the option of taking this man home with us. However, he got away and that did not happen. But a half hour later, I was running a final errand for Mrs. Agent X when I bumped into a second homeless guy – on 82nd Street no less!
His name was *Agent H* and he looked like a cross between Rambo and Charlie Manson – (more Charlie than Rambo). He hobbled, more than walked, and used a walking stick. I saw him as I waited my turn to get an oil change in my wife’s vehicle, and then found him at the 7/11 across the street shortly afterward, just as he was about to dive a dumpster.
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I don’t know his age, but based on things he told me during lunch, I would guess him between 55 and 65, but looking like 75. He was a bent figure, looked very fragile and unsteady. I pulled up by the dumpster and invited him to join me for lunch.
He got in the front seat with great difficulty and mumbled his words so that I could hardly make out a sentence he said. I had a rough one on the line. Very rough. As soon as he got in, I went to plan B – “Would you like me to take you to a doctor?” I asked. He shook off the suggestion. I decided not to force it.
In my experience on the streets, I find that some people cannot eat the same food(s) I would. Bad teeth, you see (not to mention every now and then someone is diabetic or so on) AND sometimes I try to take care not to upset their diet. So I asked where he would like to go. He didn’t care. So we went back across the street to Popeye’s which was very handy.
I should say that I happened to be wearing my neon Fat Beggars shirt with the message “JESUS WAS HOMELESS” emblazoned across the back of it. I showed up like a street minister on parade, and Agent H looked like the picture next to the definition of homeless in the dictionary. I’ll just say:
WE GOT NOTICED!
Yeah. We were on display in that restaurant. Though neither Agent H nor I made mention of it, there was no denying it. We paraded Lubbock’s elephant-in-the-room right into that eating establishment – and did it right during the lunch hour! We were breaking a social taboo, and it was powerful! We did not encounter any resistance from anyone there at all, but after my experience at Walmart less than an hour before, I sensed (and I figure Agent H did too) that my wallet was his ticket to lunch. I mean, Agent H really looked the part! I can easily imagine he might not be welcome in a lot of places even if he had his own money.
I directed Agent H to step up to the counter and order what ever he wanted from the menu, I would pay. He very humbly mumbled inaudibly. I asked him to repeat it. He mumbled some more. Then the lady behind the counter asked him to step closer so she could hear him. Then she began making suggestions that he nodded to, because I don’t think she ever heard him at all.
I on the other hand finally made out the words “Dr. Pepper”! Good Agent H! I hear you!!!
I just have to use my imagination. I don’t know really. Possibly the man is just a con and owns a mansion at the edge of town! If so, I am his chump. And really, WHO CARES??? But I lean more the other way. I bet he really likes Dr. Pepper, and it might have been a while since he was able to get one.
We took a seat. I took off my hat. Agent H took off his hat. He spoke a little, but I really could only make out isolated words here an there. I just could not hear him even across the table. But I studied his features. His unkempt hair and weathered skin. His clothes. His walking stick and bag.
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Then they called our number. I went to retrieve the food.
When I returned, Agent H asked if we could pray and thank God for the meal! I agreed and bowed my head. Agent H blessed the lunch. Then we began eating. I listened to him mumble and could barely make out a word here and there.
After a few minutes, I saw a drip form on the tip of his nose. I thought he might be sick, and I feared his nose drippings might manage to get into his food – AND THEN I WORRIED IF IT MIGHT GET ACROSS THE TABLE INTO MINE! I kept watching it closely to beware of it. And then I saw more clearly, the man mumbling softly – so softly that I could not understand him – was weeping. And then suddenly a clear coherent sentence presented itself to my ears and to my eyes.
He said: THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH!!!
Suddenly I recognized that I was in the presence of a real prophet! Jesus was eating lunch with me. I could have taken my shoes off in that restaurant! I was on Holy Ground! This man was praising God and thanking him for his blessing all through lunch!
We spent more than half an hour there. I really did not want lunch to end. His speech cleared up little by little as we ate. He preached at least two sermons for me that I could make out – and one of them was particularly good.
“We are spiritual,” he said. “Adam and Eve in the garden were created spiritual and if they had chosen to live as spiritual creation, this world would be a different kind of place!”
Amen! Agent H! Preach it, brutha!!!
I was getting more and more into his sermon(s), trying hard to listen. I leaned in close. I concentrated, and for a few minutes, I don’t think we were really in Popeye’s restaurant. I think we entered a whole other dimension of reality. We slipped through the veil for a minute, and I only got back to Popeye’s when a fellow patron and his friend got up to leave. The friend was dumping the trash when his partner approached us and laid a $10 bill on the table in front of Agent H and said, “I think you need this more than I do.”
Thank you! sir – who ever you are!!! I praise God for your kind generosity! If you find this blog and this post, I hope you will say hi to us – anonymously of course! You really blessed us, and everyone in that restaurant who witnessed it! Agent H thanks you. So does Jesus.
I could go on and tell a hundred other observations and so forth, but this post would get too long. So I will jump to the end of it.
When Agent H decided he was ready to leave, and after much weeping and preaching and praising, I noticed his speech was greatly improved, his posture improved, and he walked a lot stronger too. I should note that he never complained. He never lamented. He did confess sin at one point, but he mostly praised God and cried a lot while he ate. And so as we said our goodbyes on the parking lot, I hugged him, and I noticed that he did not stink at all! And I asked him to remember me when we get to the Judgment because Jesus will ask him about me. And he assured me that we would meet again there!
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Just before he disappeared, I snapped a photo of him on the curb from a distance.
I think if you look carefully and concentrate, you see Jesus in this picture.
Agent H aka Jesus/the least of these…
Agent H aka Jesus/the least of these…
Funny. It almost seemed like I was there feeding a bum in that restaurant. Almost. For just a moment… almost. But really, he fed me.
Thank You, Jesus!
(What? ~ Jenny)
Why not both?
Um, can we please please please read what you wrote????
There’s nothing better than standing up for knowledge, and judging not, lest you be judged.
I love a banned book, because if somebody doesn’t want me to read it, it’s got to have something in it that is rocking their world view and making them afraid of expanding their minds to accept a different view from their own.
I bet Jesus would have written a lot of banned books, and he was banned, harassed and tortured for saying and practicing kindness and acceptance and love.
And that homeless man or woman is exactly the kind of person that Jesus would have given whatever help he could to, while berating those who would make sleeping in public outdoors a crime, simply because the unhoused can’t find a home they can afford.
I think your alternate suggestion was inspired.
I agree – can we read what you wrote? Also, I’m disappointed that the editors didn’t have your back. You’re picking the books you review – this isn’t 7th grade where the teacher has an assigned reading list and you pick the book you review from their curated list.
You are brilliant, Jenny.
Keep on being subversive.
Well, I’ll be reading both books. Thanks for making me aware of them! I’m just curious… if a book is banned in TX, can you still sell it in your bookstore?
Honestly, I don’t know why they would want you to change that. Witchcraft is a good guess. Undermining religion? Not sure, but the word “subvert” is in the definition of “subversion”, so I’m not sure you can do one without doing the other.
I feel like your message came across crystal clear. I also feel like the person who ran your substitute article is smiling and cheering you on.
Wow, Jenny.
I just ordered _Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books_. Well done finding a way to push back. Keep up subverting the system!
If you aren’t upsetting the narrow right, you are not actually thinking reading speaking acting gesturing being defending advocating for yourself … You go girl!
I mean the Federalist came for Dolly Parton this week so I fully condone whatever acts of subversion in literature you can throw out there!!! DOLLY WOULD BE PROUD!!!!!
I’m sort of two minds on this. Personally, the idea of banned books is extremely yucky. That said, sometimes things are what they are. If they aren’t going to run your “iffy” book selection then it is indeed a loss. But not just for you. What about people who need the encouragement to read anything at all? And there are good books out there that aren’t controversial (not that I think your original choice should’ve been). I guess I’m just saying that by not doing it, people miss out. And by doing it, people miss out. Ugh… sometimes things just suck.
Ban Ignorance, not Books! I’ll be buying In The Hour of Crows.
Another 2 books for my reading list (not just because nobody tells me what not to read – they both sound interesting). I’m guessing it’s the witchcraft angle, ‘Christian’s’ can be very closed minded about that. A ‘Christian’ once commented about me having witch hazel in my house – you can’t be rational with crazies who hang on to the bits that mean they can judge others while ignoring the bits that would make them look inward. Keep religion in churches/temples/mosques and out of public life. Also WTF with post 1? TLDR got bored after first sentence, nobody wants to have to scroll that much on a comment.
This post is pure gold. And the irony of the first comment 😂
I think the little library book is much more subversive & an excellent choice! 👏🏼 The crow book sounds interesting & maybe a little creepy, but why were they against it? Scratching my head.
I’m getting a little worried about you down there , Jenny. Lot o’ stuff going on in Texas
Yep, _In the Hour of Crows_ no doubt set off the alarms because of witchcraft, which a lot of people also mentally tie to Satanism. <> It sounds really interesting.
I think you have a friend at the magazine.
I like to poke the Texas Political Bear with walker banners (so little, I know, but I’ve gotten appreciative comments when we go to doctors’ appointments) and banned books were featured on my mom’s October banner: https://cbottsprojects.blogspot.com/2023/10/october-banner.html
Keep fighting the good fight!
Hmm. I completely support your selections and the reasons you picked them. But at the same time, maybe now is the right opportunity to admit that I decided to end my book club membership during the second year, because the selections seemed to be falling into a rather narrow range of interest. I consider myself open-minded but had hoped for a broader scope of ‘strangeness’ and unique variety. That said, I totally understand that your selections are filling an important need for many and cheer you on!
I deleted this part from my first reply, then went to the T-shirt store (at which I literally LOLed). Her June banner: https://cbottsprojects.blogspot.com/2023/06/june-so-far.html
While I read your post I suddenly had a flash back to my teenage years (when I watched Empire Records way too many times to count). What set off said memory was when I read the bit about why they rejected your first article submission.
“Damn the man. Save the Empire!”
When you submitted that second article that was punk rock to say the least. Personally I’d love to read both articles.
Thanks for the recommendation of In the Hour of Crows! It’s now on my TBR list. I support you all the way.
#1 starts this comment section right off the bat with copy-paste weirdness. WTF?
If a book is banned, it is worth reading to find out why. Those people who scream the loudest wanting free speech, are the first to jump on the “let’s ban this books because….” bandwagon. Usually without never having read it.
Keep up the good work, Jenny.
Well I now have TWO new books in my “must read soon” list, so thank you for that! I love that kind of passive aggressive jab back at the community magazine with your second book selection, too, the world needs more minds like yours!
I’m all for the “ban ignorance, not books” stance, the world has lost its damn mind over what they want to ban. I recently re-read Fahrenheit 451 and it was so eery that a book written that long ago would not be a stretch of the imagination to the reality of the times we currently find ourselves in.
I’m definitely reading both books and it looks like most of us feel the same way – it’s not either/or, it’s both/and. The second one sounds far more dangerous and subversive, but you can never tell what the ignorant will object to. You just keep doing you and the rest of us will have your back. You can’t pander to the pack.
Keep fighting the good fight, Jenny! I’ve fought book bans in my local school district for over two years. It is hard and frustrating and heartbreaking, and it’s the right thing to do.
They do realize your book club is named, “FANTASTIC STRANGELINGS, right? The publication subverted your original article, but your new article is subversive in the BEST possible way! 😜
I need to live forever; I must read ALL the (banned, recommended, sci-fi, fantasy, mild horror, etc.) books! Why am I wasting time on the internet?!? Oh, yeah – I read here, too!
Much love to you Jenny, our tribe leader. You really should put both of these discussed articles here on the blog, or at least link them. Many thanks for being you!
I was raised by conservative-ish Catholic immigrant parents (2 women) in-the-closet-to-anyone-but-our-niche-immigrant lesbian/bisexual community. I remember having to “come out” to my friends in that I had to “hide” my parents for most of my life. They didn’t come to any event, not a single track meet I ran or tennis match my sister played, not an awards night or parent event. We grew up thinking our parents didn’t give a crap about what we did outside of class as long we didn’t get in trouble and got straight A’s and went to a good college. My senior year, my best friend and favorite teacher were both gay but in the closet to most people (only my gay best friend knew my parents) and when my parents finally attended a school event (senior awards night) and went to dinner at a nearby restaurant, I was excited to introduce them to my friends and teachers also eating there. My mom pulled me aside and asked that I didn’t. I said “I don’t care. It doesn’t embarass me, and she replied “but it embarasses your Tita _” (which is what I called my mom’s lesbian parter who presented very masculine and couldn’t “pass” as straight as easily). It was then that I realized my parents were in the closet and ashamed of themselves and that’s why they never participated in any school event the entirety of our schooling.
Luckily, I now live in San Francisco, CA, am a writer and educator and (though I’m bisexual) am married to a cis-gender white man. I have 2 kids in school and they’re asked their pronouns and taught terms about gender expression without anyone batting an eye. Books about all kinds of families can be found in their libraries and no one thinks it at all all “weird if they have 2 daddies or mommies or parents who are nonbinary. They pretend to marry their girl and boy classmates and don’t see anything “weird” about that. They have a lesbian aunt and gay uncles, bisexual lola (grandmother) and lesbian lola and see nothing weird about any of this. We celebrate Pride every June and we join the trans march because I want my kids to meet more trans people since they don’t know any currently and I want them to see them as people and not some label or caricature some media shows them.
I’ve taught at schools with GSA’s (Gay-Straight Alliance) and had to tell the girl-girl and girl-boy and boy-boy etc couples to stop trying to mess around when I’d show movies in class because English class isn’t the place for hooking up.
I am so grateful to live in this city where being queer is normal (because it IS normal). The point is, mentions of the LGBTQ community in books for children and adults is just as appropriate as talking about mommies and daddies because it’s not about sex, it’s about family. And what’s inappropriate is making any child feel like shit about their family or about themselves.
I’m honestly afraid to go to red states because I’m so “spoiled” here and as a LGBTQ person of color with mixed race possibly LGBTQ kids, I feel uncomfortable and sometimes downright scared for myself and my children because I see the hate that can be out there, but then there’s awesome people like you in Texas and it reminds me to check my own biases at the door.
Keep doing what you’re doing. I love both recommendations and the fact you write about it. You’ve done so much to lessen the stigma of so many things. Thank you.
Dear Jenny, I can’t believe that your comments got trolled by the very faction that you wrote about!! “Agent X” needs to go back to his own world and leave us be.
I voted for you and then and went and voted for Elsewhere.
I’m a public school history teacher in Central Texas so I feel like I have a decent sense of the weird culture wars here and I’ve also just read In the Hour of Crows for my podcast and it genuinely feels like such a weird book for them to push back on? The knee jerk response against witchcraft feels much more 2000s than the current anti-woke panic. Although thinking more, I guess it was maybe the role Christianity plays in the magic system and the characters’ relationships with Christianity in particular? Otherwise, I can’t really think of anything. The critiques of the criminal justice system are pretty mild, as are the sexual themes. Of course probably no one had read the book and might assume there was more of that stuff than there ended up being. And it may be more a reflection on your earlier picks than on In the Hour of Crows itself. (Or it may be that the author’s first book is a sapphic YA romance?)
That said, I think staying in these spaces and putting internal pressure on them when possible is the best way to go. Things are continuing to get more challenging in this state and while we all have to make choices that prioritize our own mental health and the wellbeing of our families, I’m skeptical of ceding ground for the sake of refusing to compromise, as long as the work you’re still able to do is something you believe in. My guess is that at least some of the people at the magazine are also tired of the appropriateness game (although I of course can’t say for sure). In my experience making any kind of change often calms a lot of folks even if the changes made aren’t actually more in line with their purported values (in part I think because folks are often coming from such a reactive, ignorant place where they just want to feel in control). But yeah at this point in making these decisions I have two questions for myself 1. Can I do this in a way that is sustainable for me? and 2. Is the changed/adapted version still in line with my values? and if the answer to both is yes (or mostly yes) I stay put. Imperfect for sure, but the way I’m coming at things in our current climate.
Also In the Hour of Crows is so good and people should definitely check it out.
lol
Brilliant 🤘🙌
Both. Why not both?
(You can be anything you want as long as it isn’t subservient, like the people who asked you to change the book for YOUR club’s article. 😉)
Apologies if this is an impertinent and/or inappropriately-placed question, but can you recommend some good horror short stories that offer respectful depictions of characters with neurodivergence or other mental health disorders?
(I liked CAMP DAMASCUS by Chuck Tingle. The main character is a queer autist girl who I loved. ~ Jenny)
Jenny, you totally rock! Offering a subversively perfect book as a replacement for the one they complained about is just perfect. Thank you (from California) for helping to keep some semblance of sanity amid the craziness.
Hi Jenny, I admit that this is a head scratcher for me. Are the books supposed to be all ages??
I’m assuming the objections was witches plus and intimation of horror.
I think your response was brilliant. I might read it myself after I get myself out of my can’t finish anything rut.
The original recommendation made me wonder if you’d read any of the Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett. The first one is the weirdest thing he ever wrote.
(The horror books are definitely for adults but the Fantastic Strangelings pics are usually for young-adults to adults. I LOVE the Tiffany Aching books and IN THE HOUR OF CROWS totally reminded me of it. ~ Jenny)
Fuck Texas. (Sorry it’s your home and therefore makes you what you are.)
I was wondering if maybe the article that actually inspired the request for more “appropriate” books was about a previous book in the series of articles, maybe the witch book was not really the one that “bothered” them. Or bothered some censor type person that complained to them. I love the Little Library switch up story, Will have to get it soon.
I dunno what a “fmaily friendly
book is. My dad said when he was a kid, the city of Boston banned some books and teh dicese bnned some books, and he and his friend would wait for those list to be published and then get hold of the banned books — “We’d know what was worth reading!” I don’t know if that’s appocryphal or not, but it certainly makes a kind of sense. unless your family is bound up in gauze, chaces are good that good for one is not good for all. One brother and I are still haunted b being readthe original (not Disney) Grimm’s Fairy Tales. And we won’t go into bible stories…
I’m so sorry to hear about the censorship attempts on your book recommendations. It’s frustrating and disappointing to see such a narrow-minded approach to literature.
Your decision to highlight In the Hour of Crows is a great one. It’s a fantastic book that deserves more attention. I’m also intrigued by The Eyes are the Best Part. It sounds like a thought-provoking and disturbing read.
Keep fighting the good fight and promoting great literature. Your passion for books is inspiring!
khalidelarbi
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