queerbrujas

[queerbrujas]

having a stupid fucking argument with my boyfriend and my friends shit-talking something I love and my bff ignoring my texts and guilt over having ignored people for the entire past month and me wanting to just fucking disappear

[queerbrujas]

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing [what would happen between earth and the moon if the earth stopped spinning as illustrated by xkcd randall munroe]

[queerbrujas]

2 + 24 for the book asks <3

thank you pearl!! <3

2. Did you reread anything? What?

i actually did! i reread shirley jackson's the haunting of hill house, which i read for the first time about ten years ago? i was watching the tv show earlier this year and it made me want to pick it up again. i've been considering a couple other rereads (i really want to read the locked tomb series again but i'm making myself wait until there's at least news on the fourth book) but that was the only one for this year

i answered 24 here so i'll answer 25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

i have several! i'm keeping my overall 50-book goal for the year because it worked out really well this time, but on top of that i also want to read more nonfiction, so i'm giving myself a goal of 10 nonfiction books. and then more generally, i want to continue with my exploration of classic sci-fi and maybe some more literary fiction?

[queerbrujas]

10, 11, and 21 for the reading asks!! <3

alright i'm coming back to answer these! ty erin <3

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

i only read a handful of new releases this year so by far it's, yet again, the haunting of alejandra! i think i saw it on a goodreads 'releasing soon' email (i still get goodreads emails even though i never actively used it to track reading) and that's how it got on my radar? i've talked about it a bunch both in these asks and otherwise but it really was just a fantastic book.

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

at risk of just repeating my top 5 over and over, i mean, it's gotta be kindred by octavia e. butler. it honestly blows me away that it's a 40+ year old book because if you told me it had been written this year i would believe you. it was incredibly poignant and it made me really interested to read more of butler's work.

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

fhdsjkf so i do watch a lot of booktube but for the most part it's book recs or reading vlogs, i'm not super informed about all the drama. i do see it pass by sometimes though, i know there's Big Drama currently going on bc of a debut author who started making fake goodreads accounts to shit on other authors and lost all her contracts as a result?? also earlier this year it came out that a different author had faked her death and then resurfaced? idk i get glimpses and they seem like A Lot lmao

[queerbrujas]

how about 4, 17, and 24 for the book asks!! 🥰🤩

thank you cait beloved!! 🥰

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

ava reid!! i read juniper & thorn and a study in drowning and both were really good, i'm definitely looking forward to their lady macbeth retelling (and i still have to read the wolf and the woodsman)

most of the books i read this year were from authors new to me and i want to read more from a bunch of them though, v. castro and simon jimenez just to name a couple

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

i feel like in general i'm pretty good at estimating how much i'm going to like a book when i pick it up? so i can't think of any massive surprises. that said, the haunting of alejandra did hit in a way i very much wasn't expecting it to, like i knew it would be a good literary horror but the themes of motherhood and the approach it took to those themes were mindblowing, especially because those are themes i find particularly hard to connect with.

i think another surprise was the elements of cadence duology by rebecca ross, because i was expecting just romance and vibes but i ended up caring a lot about the plot and the worldbuilding!

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

i'm very bad at dnf'ing in general, but i dnf'ed two books this year! one was the twyford code by janice hallett, which i mentioned here, simply because i did not care about the mystery or the characters or anything in it, and i had just read another book by the same author that i enjoyed far more.

the other one was meanwhile, elsewhere: science fiction and fantasy from transgender writers, a short story anthology; i was very hyped about it but unfortunately the quality of the stories was just all over the place and i ended up dropping it (i feel bad dropping an anthology like that because you might still miss a really good story further on, but here i just feel like the editors could've chosen a bit better)

[queerbrujas]

Hey there! For those book asks, 3, 5, and 12?

hey hey, thank youuu! <3

3. What were your top five books of the year?

i answered this here but i want to add some honorable mentions as well: the vanished birds by simon jimenez (beautifully written space opera) and a desolation called peace by arkady martine (the second book in the teixcalaan duology, this one was written For Me specifically with its approach to language and cultural imperialism)

5. What genre did you read the most of?

also answered here! but like i mentioned there, horror also took a big big spot and even though i read more sci-fi overall, it kinda feels like horror was the Big breakthrough genre this year

12. Any books that disappointed you?

a couple! the refrigerator monologues by catherynne m. valente was like, Fine but i enjoyed the concept more than the execution, which was doubly disappointing because i'm a massive fan of valente's writing in general. dead silence by s.a. barnes was also pretty disappointing in that it's a perfectly okay book but it went in a direction i didn't click with and i just never recovered from that.

oh oh oh! and the twyford code by janice hallett, which i started reading because i really enjoyed the appeal but then i found it SO dull and uninteresting i ended up dnf'ing

[queerbrujas]

3, 5, 13 for the book asks? 🖤

thank you dani!! <3

3. What were your top five books of the year?

i read a lot of good books this year but these were Definitely the standouts, in no particular order because i can't choose:

the haunting of alejandra by v. castro

kindred by octavia e. butler

harrow the ninth by tamsyn muir

into the drowning deep by mira grant

distancia de rescate (en: fever dream) by samanta schweblin

i'm noticing there's lots of.. horror and horror-adjacent stuff here, which makes sense because horror has absolutely become one of my favorite genres recently!

5. What genre did you read the most of?

science fiction according to storygraph! fantasy and horror aren't far behind, but this was definitely a sci-fi heavy year for me, especially at the beginning i think? this year i also started my personal challenge of tackling more classic sci-fi so that definitely added some more books to that

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

la ruta del hielo y la sal (en: the route of ice and salt) by josé luis zárate was just. incredibly dull and overwritten to me, i only didn't dnf it because it was so short i ended up pushing through. that was the only one this year i actively disliked though, i read some others that were incredibly meh but not as bad

[queerbrujas]

end-of-year book ask

How many books did you read this year?

Did you reread anything? What?

What were your top five books of the year?

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

What genre did you read the most of?

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Did you get into any new genres?

What was your favorite new release of the year?

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Any books that disappointed you?

What were your least favorite books of the year?

What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

How many books did you buy?

Did you use your library?

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

What’s the longest book you read?

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Did you DNF anything? Why?

What reading goals do you have for next year?

[queerbrujas]

art tips

don't call what you create "content". regardless of what it is. that's the devil talking. call it art, call it writing, call it music, call it analysis, call it editing, literally just call it what it is

I was going to put other things but oh my god please just don't call yourself a "content creator". you are a person you are making art / writing / music / etc you are an artist an author a musician

you are not an Image Generator For Clicks And Views. please. allow yourself to connect with your work by naming it properly and acknowledging yourself in kind

[queerbrujas]

[queerbrujas]

[queerbrujas]

Hey sorry I didn't talk to you for over a week time keeps moving too fast

[queerbrujas]

Dendrobium bellatulum is an orchid from low to moderate altitude mountain forests in southern Asia. It is an epiphyte with cane pseudobulbs and the flowers which emerge from leaf nodes on leafless stems are known to be fragrant.

[queerbrujas]

if you aren't best friends with your lover and a little bit in love with all your friends than what's the fucking point

[queerbrujas]

Meowrimos

These tiny mossball kitties come from the same ponds and streams as koi dogs, and are often found rolling around with baby guppies. They may be small, but each one packs a big personality!

Most of these meowrimos are sold, but there are a few available (along with several koi dogs and guppies!) on my website at myarmcanfly dot net!

[queerbrujas]

Star Shower ⭐✨ 🌟

It's finally raining in California! Time to draw all the rain 🌧️ ☔

HD images and video process are found on my Patreon

[queerbrujas]

that said, now i feel less bad that it's been so long since i last wrote anything, because i think i really did need to let my brain just marinate in other people's writing for a bit

it's all part of the Process