This zine summarized parts of the history of these books and research that has been done to identify where they were from despite poor documentation. This is interspersed with a few stories from people directly impacted by this sort of looting. It was easy to read, informative, impactful, and included a number of resources to continue learning. 

Very neat! These subversive queer fairy tales are simple but well-done. 

This focuses on Bug, a kid whose Uncle dies at the beginning of the summer before middle school. While there is a lot about grief and friendship, there is also a lot about self-discovery. The descriptions of gender dysphoria and social discomfort hit so close to home for me. 

I did feel like some of the mystery part felt more obvious to me, but perhaps it would be different for its intended audience

(but to be fair, I'm thinking about the bit after they get the Oji board message. And while it's onvious from the outside what the message was, him being clueless is 100% realistic. I, too, have overlooked clues about my gender that are painfully obvious) While the end where everything goes super smoothly coming out at home and school isn't realistic per se, it is really wonderful and so vital to see stories without queer trauma

Really the only big issue I had was the lack of care with the Oija board. Always say goodbye and don't do it alone, kids!

Beautifully shows joy and pain but above all, the divine. It's a celebration of ancestors and community, while also sharing in grief and getting at what causes the pain, calling people in as well. A wonderful call back to the original text but a sacred text all on its own. 

A bit of a mixed bag, as I find a lot of short story collections. The writing itself was strong, and a lot of the characters were strong, especially considering they are short stories. These are definitely stories to sit with and look back on a few times to really see all the pieces of. I would be very interested in seeing a full novel by this author.

I really like her sort of philosophy and attitude around rituals. I've read the chapter bits (though obviously not ALL the recipes - that's just not how recipe books are to be read). Used it a bit as reference some of this year, looking forward to incorporating some of the things from this more next year.

I've used this for probably a year and a half or more at this point as a reference when I use tarot cards. So I haven't read it cover to cover, but I've read most if not all of it. I love what it adds when I use it in my readings.

Part memoir, part essay. This more heavily explores death, on top of continuing themes of sexuality and gender from volume 1. This was very hit-or-miss (parts were quite good, other parts were not so much). This also felt more disjointed than the previous volume

This was a combination of memoir and educational bits. They discuss sexuality and gender in Japanese culture as well as other topics like menstruation and gender dysphoria, while also yelling their story of romance, friendships, and coming to their own. It was interesting and I liked seeing some of the development that the author goes through when it comes to the importance of finding a partner. 

 I did find the memoir component stronger than the educational component. I think the setup of some previously serialized manga memoirs is disjointed to me, which is more of a personal preference (for instance I recall feeling the same way about My Solo Exchange Diary, though I really love some other volumes in that series).

Over all, this series might be good if you like more action and the like. I didn't think there was much to the characters and thought some how how the plot came together was disjointed. But the art is neat and creepy.