Monthly Archives: May 2022

A new study says that growing plants on the Moon is possible. But it causes a massive amount of stress on the plants. The researchers published their findings in Communications Biology. Its the first study to show success at growing plants in lunar soil returned from the Apollo missions all those years ago.

Because of the level of stress that the plants experience, scientists say farming on the Moon isnt happening anytime soon.

One of NASAs biggest pushes right now is to put humans back on the Moon. The space agency is already working with some companies to create new lunar rovers, and it is already sending a spacecraft around the Moon later this year.

But, if we ever want to progress to the point of living on the Moon, we have to be able to provide for the people who live there.

This is why scientists have spent countless hours, days, and even years trying to grow plants in lunar soil. But now that weve proven that plants can grow on the Moon, we have to tackle another difficult issue. Making that growth easier on the plants.

It might sound silly to worry about how much stress a plant is taking on. But, its actually a very serious issue. Even when talking about potted plants in your home, there are ways you can stress them out. This stress can then lead to weaker growth and other issues with the plant. If were going to use terrestrial life to help generate life support and food on the Moon, we need to get those stress levels down.

Still, even taking this first step is absolutely astounding. The soil on the Moon is nothing like the soil that you can find on Earth. Its sharper, more abrasive, and doesnt contain any organic elements.

Further, there are certain chemical states in lunar soil that you just wont find in our own planets soils. And that doesnt even cover the weak atmosphere and radiation that constantly bombards our Moon.

So yes, while it does seem possible to grow plants on the Moon, theres still a lot of legwork to do before we send our favorite plants to occupy the lunar surface. The researchers say that the plants grew, but they didnt do fantastically well. There were signs of low volume, slow growth, and even some discoloration. All of which are signs that the plant is extremely stressed.

So, before we go planting things on the Moon, were going to need to do more research. Especially if we want to be able to grow plants in locally sourced soils. Otherwise, well need to find ways to move thousands and thousands of pounds of Earths soil to the lunar surface. Which would be costly and time-consuming.

But growing plants on the Moon is a noble idea and one that just makes sense in the grand scheme. Plants provide oxygen, which could be used to help create atmospheres that are breathable within lunar colonies. Further, plants can provide food for astronauts and colonists living on the Moon.

This would help cut down on expenditures of bringing food and oxygen from Earth to those lunar colonies.

Still, were a long way off. This new research is a huge step in the right direction, no doubt. And it will be intriguing to see where scientists take these attempts next. Perhaps, if were lucky enough, theyll find a way to reliably grow plants on the Moon without overstressing the plants sometime in the future. If not, space colonization is going to be a terribly expensive endeavor.

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Researchers found a new roadblock in the quest to inhabit the Moon - BGR

Get ready for your horoscope to change its scope.

For centuries, human beings have searched the stars to help them navigate the earth and understand themselves. Ancient Babylonians were among the first to record the constellations along the ecliptic, the path the sun appears to make through the sky.

These OG astrologers recognized that different constellations would rise from the horizon line at sundown during different times of year.

The Babylonians, who already had a 12 month calendar based on the phases of the moon, assigned a constellation to each month. They applied myths, based on earlier Sumerian beliefs to these constellations and thus the zodiac wheel was born. Scholarship is divisive but it is generally understood that Egyptians refined the zodiac, and the Greeks cast it into the form we recognize today. The Greeks also gave it a proper name, zodiac is derived from the Greek for circle of animals. These oracle heeding, robe loving folk borrowed myths from earlier iterations and added some of their own gods and heroes for good measure. Later, the Romans in their eternal imperialism, replaced the Greek names with Latin.

Astrologers use two primary zodiac systems to divine meaning from the cosmos; sidereal and tropical. In both tropical and sidereal systems, the zodiac wheel is divided into twelve signs. The primary difference between the two systems is where those signs are placed in the sky. The sidereal system is based on the current position of the constellations while the tropical system is based on where the stars were around 0 AD. In essence, the dates of the sidereal zodiac change over time and the dates of the tropical zodiac do not.

There was a time when the two systems aligned but they diverged around the year 285 AD; coincidentally, this was also the year that the Roman empire split into two factions and began its fated decline. From that point, due to conquest and colonization, and as well explore a bit later, aversion to math, tropical astrology became the predominant system in the Western world. Sidereal meanwhile remained, and remains the governing system of Vedic astrology. Read more about Vedic astrology here.

We can thank the mathematician Ptolemy for the static positioning of the tropical zodiac. He suggested that the vernal equinox, and thus the start of the zodiac be set at 0 degrees ofthe Aries constellation each year to ensure continuity between zodiac signs and the progression of seasons in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sidereal astrology, by comparison, is a touch more technical. Just as time marches on, children age and cities fall, so to do stars shift. Sidereal astrology recognizes that the earth sits on a skewed axis that contributes to the ever changing distances between earth and the constellations above, a movement know as the procession of the equinoxes which sounds like but is in fact not, the title of a George R.R. Martin book.

To account for this procession, sidereal employs a corrective system of equations or ayanamsas to more precisely determine the current position of each zodiac sign. Part of the reason the tropical system is predominant is because humans are lazy and math is hard. The most widely used of these equations is the Lahiri ayanamsa. Under this corrective, the Sidereal Zodiac recognizes an apparent backward movement of fixed stars of about 1 degree every 72 years. Meaning there is a 24 degree gap between the tropical and sidereal systems, making them roughly an entire zodiac sign apart.

Given the degree of discrepancy between tropical and sidereal systems, an individuals birth chart will vary according to which system is applied. While the dates of the respective zodiac signs are differ between systems, their qualities and influence are much the same. You can find your sidereal sign and birth chart using an online sidereal calculator like this.

Another important discrepancy between tropical and sidereal astrology is planetary rulership and influence. Unlike tropical astrology, sidereal astrology does not acknowledge the influence of Uranus, Neptune or Pluto on the individual or the individuals birth chart.These outer planets are not visible to the naked eye and their distance from earth lessens their effect of life on it.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars

The validity of sidereal versus tropical is a subject of hot debate and as with all things, a matter of preference and resonance. The tropical system is not a true reflection of the present sky and its allegiance to seasons is fraught because they are inverted between the Northern and Southern hemisphere. In terms of sidereal astrology, even with calculated adjustments, the constellations do not line up exactly with their corresponding signs and thus the starting point of the zodiac is itself matter of constant contention.

At its most essential astrology is about observation, recognizing patterns and seeking understanding. As Morris Jastow writes of the Babylonians, The theory upon which astrology rests is the assumption of a coordination between occurrences on earth and phenomena observed in the heavens Astrology makes no attempt to turn the gods away from their purpose, but merely to determine a little in advance what they propose, so as to be prepared for coming events. Whether you believe in one god or many or bow simply to the god that you are, astrology offers yet another reason to stare up and look ever forward.

AstrologerReda Wigleresearches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a girls guide to strip clubs and the weirdest foods available abroad.

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What is sidereal astrology: everything to know about the alternative zodiac - New York Post

Professor Everett Carl Dolman of the US Air Forces Air Command and Staff College extended Halford Mackinders classic Heartland Theory of 1904 to space in Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age (Routledge, 2001). He claims that space is a rich vision of gravitational mountains and valleys, oceans and rivers of resources and energy, rather than being featureless.

Dolman divided space into four territories: (1) Terra, which encompassed the entire earth and extended up to the limit of a spacecrafts ability to orbit without being powered, (2) Earth Space, which included the GEO, (3) Lunar Space, which included the lunar orbit, and (4) Unlimited Solar Space, which included everything beyond the lunar orbit.

In Mackinders Theory, Heartland was a region around the then Russian Empire. Mackinder postulated that whoever controls East Europe controls the Heartland and whoever controls the Heartland controls the world. Dolmans version was that whoever controls LEO controls the near-Earth space; whoever controls the near-Earth space controls the Terra and whoever dominates Terra determines the destiny of mankind.

Realism, one of the oldest theories of international relations, believes that in the international system, states aim to increase their own power, especially in military terms, in relation to their rivals.

Throughout history, certain specific geographical features of the world have been arenas for intense competition between rival states because of their inherent commercial, military and political advantages.

According to the modern version of realism, or neorealism, the international system is anarchical, implying that there is no central authority. While cooperation between states is unlikely, an alliance or coalition between states is a possibility which in turn may trigger the formation of counter-alliances in order to balance the power of other entities in the system. Dolman believes that the state that dominates space is specifically chosen by the rigours of competition as the politically and morally superior nation, culture, and economy, obviously meaning the USA.

The 19th century American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahans concept of oceanic chokepoints which are crucial to the maritime trade routes are examples of such features ~ and such chokepoints like Gibraltar, Malacca, Bab-el-Mandeb, Suez etc. remain as crucial today to maritime powers as they were in Mahans time.

Drawing upon Mahans analogy, Dolman also characterised space as offering orbits, regions and launch points of geo-strategic significance, suggest- ing that similar space choke- points or traffic corridors will develop in space due to the efficiency costs of rocket propulsion to earth orbits leveraging the gravity of the earth. Just like the establishment of naval bases on earth to facilitate control of maritime trade, Dolman advocates the creation of space bases for stock-piling of fuel and life-support supplies for further exploration and commercial exploitation of space. A state that succeeds in gaining control of the space chokepoints and such way-stations on space routes can expect to gain significant advantages over other states; a state that controls such corridors can ensure for itself domination of space commerce and, ultimately, terrestrial politics.

As Tim Marshal corroborates in his book, in the previous centuries, dominance on earth was decided by controlling the sea routes. Airpower was added in the last century and in this century, it would likely be space power, for which the ability to place military assets in space ~, especially in the LEO ~ will become the determining factor. LEO is also the area where any spacecraft travelling to the Moon and beyond can be refuelled and resupplied, and refuelling will be a necessity if distant planets like Mars or asteroidsare to be explored for energy and mineral resources. Hence whoever controls this corridor will become a gatekeeper to the outer space beyond and can prevent a rival from refuelling within it. It is just like what is happening currently on earth in the Ukraine War ~ Turkey, a Nato member which is the gatekeeper to the Black Sea, has restricted Russian warships to sail from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea through the Bosphorus Strait.

LEO also assumes significance, as Marshal points out, for commercial considerations. A technology to deflect solar energy upon the earth for power generation using a vast array of solar reflectors will likely be placed on the LEO. Given this is also where spaceships would need refuelling, a gatekeeper can easily charge a fee to allow any space- ship to travel beyond for mining or exploration purposes. Just like on earth, space also can become an arena for intense competition. Five points denoted as L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5, known as the Lagranges Points, surround the earth where the gravitational forces of the sun and the earth cancel each other out, giving stability to a spacecraft placed therein while requiring minimal energy to keep it there.

Two of these points allow commanding views of the belts containing satellites and one in particular, L2, where the giant James Webb Space Telescope was positioned last year, is directly behind the earth in the line joining the sun and the earth. This is also where China has placed a satellite recently, allowing it to view the dark side of the moon where it is also contemplating establishing a military base. All these points will become objects of intense competition for the strategic advantages they confer. All the past efforts for disarmament of space through international consensus have so far met with failure. In 2008, China and Russia had together submitted a draft treaty called the Prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space and of the threat or use of force against outer space objects (PPWT) to the Conference on Disarmament, but the USA rejected it, as it did again in 2014 when a revised draft of the PPWT was submitted by Russia and China, on the pretext that since there was no arms race in space at the moment, there was no need for an arms control treaty. Since the USA possesses space technology superior to other nations, it will be unlikely to agree to any similar treaty. In any case, the issue is far too complex to be addressed through treaties.

Only a global governance system ~ akin to what the world is trying to achieve for climate ~ entrusted and empowered with the mandate of restoring and preserving space as a global common can provide a sustainable model for making and keeping space weapons-free, because, just like the environment, how a nation uses space affects all other nations on earth. In Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity (Oxford, 2020), American political scientist Daniel Deudney examined the effects of humanitys space expansionism for colonization, military and planetary security purposes.

Contrary to the widely-held belief that space expansion is necessary for the survival of humanity from mega-disasters on earth and to meet the demands for far higher energy in future, Deudney warned against the risk of space expansion, stressing rather upon cooperative space ventures which alone can bring far-reaching security benefits by defusing conflict situations and providing safeguards against the degeneration of international relations. He cited the examples of such cooperation in respect of projects such as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and the International Space Station (ISS). In fact, activities in space to ensure a better future for the earth will necessarily call for cooperation between space powers, whether for building large-scale orbital infrastructures, or for developing capabilities to monitor the movements of, and if necessary to deflect or destroy, asteroids, or for establishing lunar or planetary bases for manned missions to Mars or other planets in future, as a single nation will always be constrained by the demands for enormous resources and capacity necessary of such endeavours.

But for such cooperation to materialise, mutually restraining arms control in space will be a prerequisite, like restraints on testing and deployment of ASATs, creating international organisations with treaty-verification capacities and test bans in space to restrict weapons innovation. Deudney also believes that space weaponization will lead to a hierarchical world order that may ultimately degenerate into totalitarian oppression, the possibility of which cannot be ruled out given the potential for extensive surveillance capabilities likely to be developed when states compete for supremacy on earth through space-based monitoring and surveillance systems.

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space based weapons - BollyInside

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! You know what that means: an AAPIHM reading list. (NB: These are books that should be read/savored/returned to all year long.) I have asked a few trusty independent booksellers to recommend their favorite books by AAPI writers. They did not disappoint. Big love for the good people at Yu & Me Books (NY), Book Club Bar (NY), Loyalty (MD and DC), Wild Geese Bookshop (IN), Green Apple Books (CA), and Books Are Magic (NY) for this stellar reading list that spans time, continent, genre, and language of origin.

Although the past few years have not been easyparticularly for our communityits heartening to see the incredible work that folks are churning out. In some ways, this list is a testament to our resilience.

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Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know

This continues to be my favorite book of the year. The prose, laughter, honesty, and research it took to write this beautiful memoir has continued to stick with me long after I finished the book. I will sometimes take the subway or walk around and randomly think of passages I read. It has helped me gain a better understanding with the women in my family throughout the generations and has given me the space to accept myself. Its an incredible non-linear and realistic way to showcase grief, loss, and self love. It will continue to be one of my favorite books of all time!

Lucy Yu, Yu & Me Books

Daphne Palasi Andreades, Brown Girls

In her debut novel, Brown Girls, Daphne Palasi Andreades delivers a series of blue-flame vignettes told by the daughters of Queens immigrants who sing the borough electric. From the opening sentence, Andreades masterfully utilizes the inclusive, first-person plural form we, a distinct ensemble of voices that create an intimate portrait of the girls households and classrooms, their friendships and relationships, their hopes and dreams.

Most impressive is how vividly Andreades depicts the overwhelming pressures (and excitement) of girlhoodbrown girlhood, that is. As the characters come of age, they take the reader on an exhilarating ride through the dregs of Queens, where they are bound together via an endless patchwork of diverse backgrounds, stories and senses-rich experiences. A native of Queens and child of Filipino parents myself, Andreades beautifully underscores the nuances of first-generation immigrant life. Not only is Brown Girls a book that is rare and special: its urgent.

Alessandro Romero, Book Club Bar

Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn, A Fish Growing Lungs

Can you feel like you still know your true self after seven years of taking a pharmacopeias worth of pills for a condition you never even had? Alysia Li Ying Sawchyns readable collection of essays, A Fish Growing Lungs, synthesizes how we think about medicine, addiction, therapy, and judgmental bookstore shoppers. In Sawchyns hands, the heavy subject matter never veers bleak (often due to the playful formatting and arrangement of the essays themselves).

Grounded like hopeful seedlings, Sawchyn details her surroundings nimbly: her sections devoted to Florida fully capture the schismatic reality of living somewhere at once so idyllic and purgatorial, and her reverence for Tampas only gay/goth/industrial/medieval nightclub will have you yearning for release on the dance floor. Brave, brief, and singular in its honesty, Sawchyns A Fish Growing Lungs is an optimistic exploration on the search for authenticity in unlikely circumstances and unexpected places.

Mathuson Anthony, Book Club Bar

Monique Truong, The Book of Salt

Monique Truongs The Book of Salt is one of those novels Ive been selling since long before I became a booksellerit is perfect for readers of historical fiction, for foodies, for fans of Paris and the Lost Generation, for those interested in queer narratives and post-colonial immigrant stories alike. The novel is narrated by Bnh, a Vietnamese emigre to Paris who works as a live-in cook to Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas at their famed house on 27 rue de Fleurus. (Though the pair did have a Vietnamese cook for a time, little is known about him, and Truong brings the mystery of who he might have been fully to life with achingly beautiful prose.)

We meet Bnh in 1934, as he accompanies Stein and Toklas to the ship that will return the pair to America, and the entire storyfrom Bnhs history as the shy youngest son of a devout Catholic Vietnamese family, disgraced and cast out after his love affair with another man is discovered, to his time as a cook abroad freighter ships, to his work in various kitchens across Paris before finding a permanent position, and a kind of home, with Stein and Toklasunfolds during this journey. Truong is a genius at crafting precise sensory detail, and The Book of Salt is evocative and visceral and heart-breaking in all the best ways.

Liv Stratman, Book Club Bar

Kim Fu, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Kim Fus Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is a delightfully weird and wonderful short story collection. With elements of sci-fi, horror, and magical realism, these stories exist in that state of lucid dreaming, where the distinction between fantasy and reality doesnt quite make sense. Or, as the narrator in Liddy, First to Fly says, The realm of pretend had only just closed its doors to us, and light still leaked through around the edges. Unsettling, haunting, and strangely seductive, you will not be able to look away from Fus precise yet lyrical writing. Fans of Black Mirror, Aimee Benders The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, or Samantha Schweblins Fever Dream will love this memorable and utterly unique collection.

Christine Bollow, Loyalty

Christina Soontornvat, A Wish in the Dark

As a musical theater nerd, I was instantly hooked on the premise of A Wish in the Darka twist on the Les Misrables story set in a fantasy world inspired by Thai culture; whats not to like about that? Absolutely nothing, as it turns outI love this book with my whole heart. This captivating middle grade novel takes place in a richly imagined magical world, yet its laced with real world issues like inequality, poverty, and juvenile incarceration without ever feeling like its Teaching a Lesson.

Impassioned protagonists Pong and Nok bear resemblance to familiar Les Miz characters, but have backstories, personalities, and charm thats entirely their own. Readers of any age will find themselves gripped by Soontornvats world-building, storytelling, and clear, lovely prose, and I promise youll join me in standing up and cheering for these plucky youngsters as they risk everything in a brave attempt to rectify injustice in their society.

Amy Andrews, Loyalty

C. Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills is Gold

Children of immigrants will feel seen in How Much of These Hills is Gold. Zhangs powerful storytellingwith raw and graphic imagerydetails the struggles of the Gold Rush. Through the adventures of two siblings in the wild west, Zhang layers on themes of colonization and land ownership, tension between dreamers and pragmatics, and identity and the limits of shaping your own fate. On the surface, How Much of These Hills is Gold is an immigrant story of survival, belonging, and grappling with family history and secrets. At its core, this magical story is about resistance and defiance against white normativity and dominance in an unrelenting world.

Jaclyn Dean, Loyalty

Lesley Chow, Youre History

Prolific film critic Lesley Chow turns her astute ear and eye to pop music in this staggering collection of music criticism. Choosing to examine pop music and some of the women in pop who strike her as strange, Chow completely turns music criticisms historic disdain for pop music on its head by illuminating, layer by layer, the genius of artists such as Janet Jackson, Kate Bush, and TLC to name a few. Written in clear, beautiful language, Chows Youre History is a must-read for any fan of music.

Malik Thompson, Loyalty

Stacey Lee, Outrun the Moon

My three children are hapa, so Im always looking for more representation of Chinese and Asian characters in YA. Stacey Lee is one of the best historical fiction writers in YA, and Outrun the Moon is a devastatingly beautiful novel. Set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the story follows the fierce and fabulous Mercy Wong, who poses as a Chinese heiress for a spot at an elite private school for girlsand then must step up to help her privileged classmates when the earthquake leaves them homeless and traumatized. Mercy is enough reason to read the book, but the story also boasts well-researched historical and cultural details about San Francisco, particularly its Chinatown, funny and kind supporting characters, and a lovely romance. A must-read for any historical fiction fan.

Sandie Angulo Chen, Loyalty

Urvashi Bahuguna, No Straight Thing Was Ever Made

No Straight Thing Was Ever Made by Urvashi Bahuguna is a heartbreakingly honest depiction of how mental health can consume any given moment or experience. For those of us who struggle, it is painfully relatable, but for those who love someone with mental illness, these essays can give invaluable perspective. The authors account of her eternal battle and how it presents to those around her is as beautifully written as it is painful to watch unfold. The ups and downs of mental illness are hard to explain to someone who doesnt relate and never simple or the same from person to person, but Bahuguna has put it on paper in a way that made me shout Yes! Thats exactly it! every few pages.

Amani Jackson, Loyalty

Belinda Huijuan Tang,A Map for the Missing

A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang (Penguin Press) releases on August 9th and is definitely one to go ahead and pre-order. It is one of the best novels I have read in a long time about leaving and returning home, the mysteries of our families and how to reconcile what we choose and what we dont when our desires are contradictory. It is a powerful, yet quietly told story. I was very surprised this is the authors first novel.

Tiffany Phillips, Wild Geese Bookshop

Kyle Lucia Wu, Win Me Something

This smart debut throbs with the ache of feeling like one doesnt belongabout a biracial woman who works as a nanny, Wus sharp and clear prose explores what it means to be part of a family.

Emma, Books Are Magic

E.J. Koh, The Magical Language of Others

Fifteen year old Eun Jis world is turned upside down when her parents leave her and her brother to live in California while they return to Korea for work. Her mother begins writing letters in Korean, which Eun Ji only really begins to understand years later as she tries to translate them in an attempt to better understand her mother, her family, and why her parents decided to leave their children on the opposite side of the world. This is a powerful story of familial love, heartache, and forgiveness, that acknowledges how feeble language can be when trying to articulate the depths of our emotions, yet blooms in the understanding that we try anyway.

Colleen, Books Are Magic

Yanyi, Dream of the Divided Field

In the way that bright lights hurt tired eyes, these poems carve from their raw material an aching tenderness of similarly piercing quality. They occupy the dreamlike space where memories dwell, where hopes and reveries reside as well. Dealing in the duality, and often cyclicality, of death and (re)birth, past and future, visibility and invisibilityand all the beauty and violence that falls in between these two moving pointsYanyi, with his razor-sharp lyricism, sculpts skin-like truths within the marble of the page.

Serena, Books Are Magic

Elaine Hsieh Chou, Disorientation

This novel is biting, hilarious, a little sad, and truly wild from start to finish. It has twist after twist and I found it truly hard to put down! Ingrid is an unlikely and flawed hero who you cant help but root for, and this books exploration of being Asian American (and an academic) is so wonderfully honest. Come for the incredible cover, stay for the fantastic content.

Jacs, Books Are Magic

Matt Ortile, The Groom Will Keep His Name

The Groom Will Keep His Name is absolutely THE BOOKas in, the book I want all of my friends to read ASAP, and quite possibly my favorite essay collection! Matt Ortiles writing is full of brilliant and witty and sensual commentary on being gay, being Filipino, being an immigrant, the city of New York as aspirational, the process of decolonizing identity and the American Dream, and navigating a multitude of identities in various spaces. There are essays here that feel especially relevant in this specific cultural moment, particularly the one about how we relate to history by rewriting and sanitizing it, but every essay touched me. This is a collection of essays but also a wildly smart and sharp manifesto. I cannot more highly recommend!

Julia, Books Are Magic

Mieko Kawakami, tr. Sam Bett and David Boyd, Breasts and Eggs

By luck, I was given a copy because it was damaged and couldnt be sold at the store. It was one of those reads that immediately absorbed me; in the end I self-declared it a feminist masterpiece. Originally it was published as a novella, then adapted to a novel because of the immense recognition it received in Japan. What I love about it, and from what I gather from other readers too, is that it so painstakingly encompasses womanhood.

Breasts and Eggs takes three related women who are each transfixed or even obsessed with a different part of their own womanhood: fertility, body image, and puberty. What Kawakami does so well is have an unbiased opinion throughout her storytelling. She doesnt judge a woman for wanting breast implants or unconventionally seeking out artificial pregnancy. If we could integrate Kawakamis thinking on women into our daily lives, the world would be a better place.

Jacque, Books Are Magic

Angela Mi Young Hur, Folklorn

For fans of Yaa Gyasis Transcendent Kingdom or Min Jin Lees Pachinko, Folklorn joins the ranks of contemporary classics re-shaping the canon of family saga and immigrant narratives. Excavating the illness and pain brought by generational trauma, Hur incorporates Korean folklore, parables, and reimagined myths into modern-day science, history and research, creating a dazzling experience rooted in the search for understanding and healing.

Colleen, Books Are Magic

Paul Tran, All the Flowers Kneeling

My purpose is precision. / Even when Im unclear Im deliberate. / When Im deliberate Im liberated.

Its hard for me to believe that this is a debut, given how skillful, expansive, and yes, deliberate Paul Trans writing is. What works so beautifully here is the way each piece plays with volumesome feel quiet, and others build into a piercing crescendo, all without saying a word aloud. Confronting themes of violence, survival, love, and more, All the Flowers Kneeling is an incredibly rich text. Gorgeous, evocative, and deeply affecting.

Julia, Books Are Magic

YZ Chin,Edge Case

I could not stop thinking about YZ ChinsEdgeCase.It follows Edwina, a young Malaysian woman working in tech in New York City who comes home one day after work, takeout sushi in hand, to discover that her husband has left her. The story floats between the present, as she desperately searches for where he is, the story of how they met and how their relationship began to crumble. Their immigration status is tentative, shes stuck in an awful tech job that oozes sexual harassment, racism, and classic tech-world toxicityand Edwina is convinced that the only way to get out of this awful situation is to find her husband again and convince him to stay. Chins writing is unflinching and sharp and will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

Eileen McCormick, Green Apple Books

Truong Tran, Book of the Other: Small in Comparison

Truong TransBook of the Otheris a searing and powerful look into the way institutional racism pervades communities, classrooms, and everyday life. This book peels back layer after layer until we discover our selves at its centeroften beautiful, often ugly, often both. This book takes to task, among many things, wokeness-as-social-currency, violent legacies of silence, and it reminds us that every one of us creates the world, both in our actions, as well as our inactions, for better or for worse. It reminds us that every single moment is a new one and with it comes a choice to change and grow and become better humans to one another. Its painful and intense and heartbreakingly urgent. Its fierce and beautiful and funny and sincere. Its filled with defeat and its filled with hope. Its difficult as the world. Do yourself a favor and please read this book.

Maxwell Shanley, Green Apple Books on the Park

Muriel Leung, Imagine Us, The Swarm

Sometimes collections extend outside of themselves, sometimes they spin and redirect back again into the reader, like light refracting off of all our hidden parts. Imagine Us, The Swarm was a collection I saw ricochet between the hearts of really great readers. Outside of having language that felt geologic, old, time-grown and witnessedthe collection also felt that it walked into the newer version of the world (one weve all have tried to grow accustomed to over the last few years).

I dont know if any of us can talk about what grief is without looking into the well of our memories, into our own histories of reaching pains and domesticated brutalities. This book is in the undercurrent. I couldnt put the book down, it is special. Leung offers us great work, from a great press. I think if you love poetry, you should read this book.

n.cuzzi, Green Apple Books

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The Art of the Hand-Sell: It's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! - Literary Hub