Tootfinder

Day 18: Mark Oshiro
Having just learned that Oshiro is nonbinary, they're an instant include on this list. In veering extremely heavily towards YA, and losing a spot that would have gone to an absolutely legendary mangaka, anime writer, or feminist philosopher, but "Anger is A Gift" and "Each of us a Desert" are just that good, and I'm trying to steer a bit towards towards lesser-known authors I respect.
I already mentioned "Anger is a Gift" above, but to recap, it's a painful, vivid, and beautifully honest story of queer love, loss, and protest against an oppressive system. CW for racist police murder, intergenerational trauma, and police brutality against highschool students. It's a book a lot of Americans could benefit from reading right now, and while it's fiction, it's not fantasy or sci-fi. Besides the themes and politics, the writing is just really solid, with delicate characterization and tight-plotted developments that are beautifully paced.
To me "Each of us a Desert" is maybe even more beautiful, and Oshiro leaps into a magnificent fantasy world that's richly original in its desolation, dark history, lonely characters, and mythical magic. Particularly the clearly-not-just-superscription but ambiguously-important/powerful magical elements of Oshiro's worldbuilding are a rare contrast to the usual magic-is-real-here's-how-it-works fare, and pulling that off a all as they do is a testament to their craft. The prose is wonderful, probably especially so if you speak Spanish, but I enjoyed it immensely despite only knowing a few words here and there. The rich interiority of the characters, their conflicts both with each other and within themselves, and the juxtaposition of all that against origins in cult-like ignorance allows for the delivery of a lot of wisdom and complex truths.
Between these two books, so different and yet each so powerful, Oshiro has demonstrated incredible craft and also a wide range of styles, so I'm definitely excited to read more of their work and to recommend them to others.
I'm also glad to have finally put a nonbinary author on this list; the others I had in mind won't make it at this point because there's too much genre overlap, although I'll include them in my didn't-make-it list at the end. I've now got just 2 slots left and have counted up 14 more authors that absolutely need to be mentioned, so we'll see what happens.
#20AuthorsNoMen

I was lucky to get invited on a tour of the University of Coimbra (Portugal) on a recent trip - apparently the 14th oldest university in Europe (1290), and the highlight was definitely the Joanine Library (Biblioteca Joanina). Photography is not permitted in the main library but we were allowed to take snaps in the 19th century vault. A truly remarkable piece of design combining function with beautiful decoration.

Day 12: Laura Zimmerman
We're back to a YA author here, and Zimmerman has been floating in my list of people to include since the start. I've read "My Eyes are Up Here" about dealing with misogyny and just general logistics while having very large breasts in high school. It's both engaging & educational, but also very well written in terms of the pacing, comedic moments, and turns of phrase. That led me to check out "Just Do This One Thing For Me" which is extremely dark, *incredibly hilarious*, and so thick with dramatic irony it had me constantly amused. It's also really touching at times, and a beautiful ode to the bonds of siblinghood that made me cry as well as laugh. I won't spoil the plot at all, but it's one of the best YA books I've ever read.
#20AuthorsNoMen