Returning from my trip to the Philippines made the start of the month slow, but acquiring a membership to Libro.FM meant I far exceeded my usual monthly reading. Let’s get right to it.

Books Read

• Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo (print)
• Karaoke Queen by Dominic Lim (audiobook)
• The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (audiobook)
• James by Percival Everett (audiobook)
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (non-fiction, audiobook)
• The Lost Cats of Maginhawa: Poetry from Filipino Suburbia by Arvin Abejo Mangohig (poetry, print)
• Audition by Katie Kitamura (audiobook)
• Insect Hag by Yvette Tan (short stories, print)

This color denotes either a Filipino or Filipino-American author.

What I Recommend

James by Percival Everett

The audiobook for this one is phenomenal and gives you an immersive experience of a retold classic that’s biting, poignant, and really truly funny. I think anyone familiar with the original story needs to savor this one.

Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo

This one was our book club pick for June and it was a seriously fun beach read. A near-future sci-fi, it feels prescient and all-too-accurate in its portrayal of how space travel — and colonization — is likely to unfold. It’s got all the comeuppance you can possibly want.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

This book will hopefully challenge perceptions of current events and the stances that seem radical but in reality are simply moral.

Misc. Other Media

Enjoyed the first half of Iron Heart on Disney Plus and really thoroughly enjoyed the fourth season of The Bear as a show that understands catharsis and growth and is unafraid of digging into its characters in all their messy glory.

Watched A Nice Indian Boy, which made me smile and cry. Also watched The Materialists, which made me do neither.

That’s all for this month! Onwards and Upwards.