#June 2023 wrapup

[lizziethereader]

June 2023 wrapup

I was incredibly busy this month and felt like I didn't get a lot of reading in. Turns out I read more than I thought! Unfortunately, most books were not quite as good as I was hoping for them to be.

favorites of the month: Legendborn and Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

nonfiction of the month (3): Night Falls Fast by Kay Redfiled Jamison, Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, My Hygge Home by Meik Wiking

classics (1): A Laodicean by Thomas Hardy

poetry (1): A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

graphic novel (1): How Mirka Got Her Sword (Hereville #1) by Barry Deutsch

[ravelijenn]

Happy end of 2023! This has been a great year for me despite all the things happening in the world. I graduated with my bachelor's and got into my first choice master's program and I am having a swell time there right now. Got my first job -job, finished a thesis, spent more time with my family. I started writing fanfic - will be linking it on this blog- and finished NaNoWriMo, all while getting mostly 7 hours of sleep a night. It had been a good year for art too, even though I've had less time on it this year due to everything else that is going on.

Here is to 2024 continuing to be great!

[sealwithfeels]

June 2023 Book Wrap-Up

Aside from The Blacktongue Thief, which was a carry-over from last month, I made it my goal to read books with prominent LGBT+ themes this month.

'The Blacktongue Thief' by Christopher Buehlman - 5/5 - the audiobook is narrated by the author and was a great experience! While the plot itself is a relatively straightforward old fashioned quest, the journey and the way it's told is what sets it apart. The world feels vibrant and lived-in, with the slang and dialogue helping here, and it doesnt pull its punches to establish the horrific aspects of the setting. The characters are bunch of loveable rogues, the protagonist Kinch being especially memorable as a fine example of a wet rat gremlin man we love to see.

'Some Desperate Glory' by Emily Tesh - 4.5/5 - felt it was too strong to just leave as 4*, but it didn't quite grab me as much as some others this month. But still, I did love it, and it's take on the 'what if humans were seen as space orcs', the portrayal of a fascist war cult, and the deprogramming of the protagonist was great. It was also really funn to read and packed a lot of emotional punches.

'In The Lives Of Puppets' by TJ Klune - 4/5 - a bit on the weaker side of a 4*, and didn't love it like I did Cerulean Sea, but still pretty fun. It's more of a straightforward adventure/coming of age tale, nothing too different from the usual, goes heavy on the robot tropes. Felt it needed a little something more to really work, but it's still sweet and fun and heartwarming. Klune dials up the crass humour here, so that could be a problem for some.

'The Raven Tower' by Ann Leckie - 3/5 - what a disappointment, especially from the author who gave us Ancillary Justice. To be clear, I did really like Strength And Patience's half of the story, and the gods and how they worked was fascinating. But Eolo's side of the story was a snorefest, made worse by Eolo himself being a cipher of a character with no interesting personality traits or interiority to latch onto, not helped by the second-person narration here. The second-person narration was an interesting experiment, but ultimately nothing worthwhile came of it, and if anything it was a hindrance.

'A Marvellous Light' and 'A Restless Truth' by Freya Marske - 4/5 - solidly enjoyable series that somehow combines 'historical fantasy' with 'gay romance' and makes it work well. It's got the 'new couple to focus on getting together each book' of romance novels, but also got a solid mystery, worldbuilding and ongoing plot. I think I enjoyed A Restless Truth a bit more, mostly due to vibing more with the couple there, and the supporting characters and the ship environment were fun.

'The Seep' by Chana Porter - 5/5 - This book hurt me, but in the best way. Powerful, raw and reflective, this one really resonated with me. It had the kind of interpersonal conflicts I love, where no one is really in the wrong but their different viewpoints cannot be reconciled. The world it paints is arguably a genuine utopia, albeit an alien one, but the dilemmas that still emerge despite that and the feeling of not belonging in such a world are portrayed so well.

'Princess Floralinda And The Forty-Flight Tower' by Tamsyn Muir - 5/5 - Pretty much confirms I will read and love anything Tamsyn Muir writes. Smart, charming and darkly hilarious, with excellent pacing that matches the tone and point of the story, and a perfect ending. Technically a fairytale parody, but also a kind of corruption arc and 'enclosed environment survival and problem-solving with limited resources' kind of story. The characters are memorable and kind of horrible but in a good way. Moira Quirk does a great job as the audiobook narrator. I just wish it was available as a physical copy for a reasonable price.

'Pet' by Akwaeke Emezi - 3/5 - I wanted to love this one, I really did and thought I would given the good reviews, and I think it is good at doing what it set our to do. The problem is it is an 'English Classroom Book', and so is very didactic and about a Very Important Topic. The prose is accessible and pleasant, the setting and message of positivity and uplifting of marginalised groups is lovely. But it's just so didactic and everything else comes second to that. This is more of a me thing than a fault of the book.

'Carry On' - Rainbow Rowell - 4/5 - late to the party here, but it certainly was a fun one. The characters are loveable and interesting takes on what they're based on, and honestly it was great to see the meta-commentary on HP and chosen ones. Perhaps felt a bit too small-scale and reliant on knowledge of HP for me to fully enjoy, but a lot of these stylistic choices felt like a commentary on fanfic.

[sunskate]

i watched CBC's commentary from Worlds 2024 and Brenda Irving mentioned that CPom didn't take a single week off in the summer of 2023? i don't know if she was exaggerating but it's interesting to me (and it paid off because we saw their improvements)

maybe it’s not better to work with no breaks, and it’s not some kind of valor to work more if your mind, body and spirit need a rest? a quick look at their IG says Christina went on a family vacation to Turks & Caicos end of May, and Anthony was on vacation from June 5 for a week when he went to Montreal and then Cabo, and his end of summer wrapup includes the Bellagio fountains in Vegas

[mermaidsirennikita]

Caro's June 2023 Book Wrapup

This has been an interesting reading month, probably because I've been kind of severely depressed and therefore spend a lot of time reading and less time sleeping. C'est la vie!

You know what's not depressing? How much I've been enjoying Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners series. It's definitely erotica; it may be erotic romance as well; it's for sure one of my favorite love stories I've read in a long time. Think lots of religious imagery, lots of Stuff and Thangs, lots of Father? Father. Two "heroes" (of a sort) who somehow hit every possible button I could ever have between the both of them? Check your triggers with that series, but uh..... I'm loving it.

But that's only a little of what I've read!

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. ARC; review to come closer to publication.

Hottest Moment: This book does feature one of my favorite things, which is to say... someone getting absolutely railed and saying something they shouldn't!!!

An Island Princess Starts A Scandal by Adriana Herrera.

The sapphic historical romance we deserve! Fun, frothy, sexy, angsty--this one has it all. Manuela and Cora are equally compelling, and Adriana milks the hell out of the older, jaded seducer/flirty Young But Ready girl. Cora kicks the book off by giving us so much vampy sex appeal, only to be completed bowled over by Manuela's eagerness and charm. And I love that like... the book doesn't skip over the challenges they face as nineteenth century lesbians, but balances it with the freedoms they're both afforded and the supportive community surrounding them. Love!

Hottest Moment: Uhhhh there's one thing in this book that I did not expect to see in this book, suffice to say.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy. ARC; review to come closer to publication.

Hottest Moment: The hero conversationally tells the heroine "I'm taking you from behind" and bends her over a sofa.

For My Lady's Heart by Laura Kinsale.

This is a fucking ride, and everything I want from a medieval romance. There's a knight devoted to his lady fair! There's an ice queen literal princess who's so sick of everyone's shit! There's a weird teen assassin who mAY be a castrato, who knows? The adventure is high and the emotions are strong. I will say, Kinsale lets the 1300s be the 1300s, for better or worse. There's plague. Our hero definitely alludes to doing some real bad shit. But the high stakes add to the emotionality of the story, and the tale never loses its sense of humor. I was absolutely invested in Ruck and Melanthe's wild road trip--and their love story.

Hottest Moment: Ruck pretends that Melanthe is his "leman" (mistress) so that they can share a room at an inn... But oops, there are peepholes, so I guess she has to play the part now! Darn!

Band Sinister by K.J. Charles.

Fun, light, fluffy--it's a comfort read, and well worth it. We have a rake seducing a virgin and teaching him how to fuck... We have a lovely poly situation... I don't know what's not to like. I've heard of K.J. Charles described as "Heyer but gayer" and I guess there's truth to that. If you like the frothiness of Heyer, the witticisms and wordplay, that's all here. But like. There are people of color in this book, for one thing. For another, Philip and Guy actually fuck. And there's like. Depth. All of these things make me say... this is my Heyer, I guess.

Hottest Moment: Philip teaching Guy the finer points of certain verbs.

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale.

A wild, intense, passionate, high stakes romance novel that was perfect for me. There are elements that show its era (the noncon encounter between the leads being the most obvious) but for the most part it adds to the story rather than taking away. I'm a sucker for villain-as-hero; but here, we get a villain who knows he's awful and knows he's going to Hell... and that actually bugs him. Not because he hasn't accepted Hell, but because he believes SHE is going to Heaven. Meanwhile, our heroine is of the mind that if Heaven lacks him--she doesn't want it. And she is totally willing to learn from him. In many ways, he's her mentor; and in many ways, he's totally emotionally dependent on her. It's just... so good. So emotional, so hot, so well-defined in its arc and meaning.

Hottest Moment: Really--pick a scene. But I do have a big thing for the moment when Elayne makes Allegreto role play as a captured warrior who's been brought to service her. He's right, she's perfect.

The Devil and The Heiress by Harper St. George.

I liked the first book in this series of standalones--The Heiress Gets A Duke. But it was a little rushed for me, and while the couple was charming, you could kind of tell that the author was more excited about the heroine's innocent little sister and the predatory, fortune-hunting earl eyeing her from her across the room. You can tell she's more alive and into this roadtrip-but-it's-a-trap romance, and though there isn't anything super dark about Christian, the Earl of Leigh, or anything super groundbreaking about the sweet Violet... It's just really fun and fluffy, and he gets soooo sad when he falls into the pit of his own making, and... it's candy, and I like it.

Hottest Moment: I really liked the scene where he paced in front of a fire lustfully with his dick sticking out of his underwear I can't super explain it.

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes.

It's difficult to find romances featuring trans heroines, and it's even more difficult to find them written by trans women. And this one is a BDSM romance at that! I think that whether or not you're trans, whether or not you're into the kink scene, there's something deeply relatable to April's problem--being the mom friend, being the den mother, feeling overlooked in favor of younger, prettier, less "complicated" models. This book is honestly pretty fluffy and sweet, and it should be. But the emotional authenticity hits hard throughout.

Hottest Moment: Personally a big fan of the scene where April gives Dennis a good ol' Brentwood hello.

The Siren by Tiffany Reisz.

Note: this is an ongoing erotica (erotic romance?) series, and though I'm not going to note every book as a rec because they must be read in order.... I'm reading it and loving it. Not for the faint of heart--and I will say that the first book reads a bit darker than the others, to me--it's going to give you a little bit of everything: polyamory, hardcore BDSM, a dominant Catholic priest, a kink king, an erotica writer/dominatrix. The core trio is totally captivating, and while I won't lie, they do some... very morally dubious shit.... I simply don't care. It's too well-written and too compelling. (Soren Stan For Life.)

Hottest Moment: There is... a lot. But in the first book, for me it was 100% Soren cornering Nora in an elevator and getting her off while reminding her that they're always going to come back to each other. Also, the "my turn" flashback with Kingsley because............

Love with a Scandalous Lord by Lorraine Heath.

This is pitched as a very normal, sedate "virginal American heroine comes to England and gets swept up by London and an older, jaded lord" book. Here's the thing: our heroine, Lydia, is a second gen heroine. Her mother was the heroine of a previous book, and fell in love with Lydia's stepfather, the illegitimate son of a duke who raised Lydia from a young age. And the hero, Rhys... is Lydia's step-uncle. That in itself is pretty intense, and you get the whole "older man accidentally seducing an innocent" thing. Then there's another classic Lorraine third act twist--and it is quite a twist. The romance is pretty normal. He hates himself and feels he can't love her, she was half a virgin when she met him; it's an angsty back and forth. Personally, that works for me. Especially when our hero was the town bicycle.

Hottest Moment: Our hero doesn't want to risk getting the heroine pregnant (I mean, he's already risked that but okay) and blows her mind in... other ways. I was a bit surprised to see an ol' "fingerbang from behind" in an early 2000s Lorraine Heath, but I was not unhappy.

M is for Marquess by Grace Callaway.

I'm not a huge fan of espionage romances, that hasn't changed--and this book does have a pretty sizable espionage plot. What makes it work here is that it's really not all that convoluted, and it doesn't compete with the romance. Our hero is into the heroine from the jump but afraid of hurting her (and really, of being rejected by her in the same way he was rejected by his wife, because he is a lil kinky). Our heroine is considered frail and desperately wants to prove to everyone she isn't. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it is enjoyable, especially if you like a "frail heroine" a la Win Hathaway (which I do).

Hottest Moment: Thea sneaks into Gabriel's room to give him something to remember her by while they're parted. It works.

[dustin-redfin]

Originally drawn: 6 June 2023

final wrapup/epilogue of my pathfinder character (now a full cop)

[killtheartistry]

⭐️ART WRAPUP OF 2022!⭐️

January

February

April

May

June

July

August

October

November

December

This year was a wild one! I’ve had a lot of firsts this year! (First time losing 20lbs, winning an art award, being social since 2018, etc) This year also had lots of art improvement in it. I may not have been able to show it all in these 10 images, but that doesn’t matter. I wish all of you seeing this a fulfilling 2023! Happy new year!! 🎊

[talenlee]

June 2023 Wrapup

June has ended, the time of Queer Pride is over, which means we resume our normally regular scheduled broadcast of Queer Wrath. Please do not adjust your set, we will continue to bang on pots and pans (both the metal object, and the people who are into lots of genders). Pride Month is the month where we party, the rest of the year is when we arm ourselves, you see.

But with that in mind, let’s check out a bunch of stuff I wrote and made this month and why you, you, you, might want to go back and read it, and see the cool things you missed!

Starting the month with our five game pile articles, threeeee of which were videos, we got:

Kings Quest I, a game commonly seen as the historical foundation of the narrative adventure game, and how its place in history is closer than you think it was.

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist, a truly amazing game designed, it seems to drill a hole in my skull and take up residence permanently.

Fallout New Vegas, and the question of why this game persists as a meme as a signifier of the trans community, specifically trans women

Girl By Moonlight, a Blades in the Dark hack that explores a genre that is mostly about women and tries to decouple it from the assumptions of Blades’ vision of Truama and how it changes you.

Playing With Tier Lists, where Fox and I talk about a bunch of characters for Pride Month that came out in 2022’s absolutely ridiculous anime seasons.

Then over in the Story Pile, we got:

Harrow the Ninth, the continued story of The Locked Tomb, and oh no I am going to be one of those people who just wants to recommend every book in this series aren’t I

Sword Art Online Alternate Gun Gale Story, a yuri series that also features a bunch of guns and a really insightful examination of the videogame structure of Sword Art Online

GGWP — Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, a manga about girls who want to do sick wavedashes as a metaphor for kissing

Call of The Night, a horny anime about a not-very-horny vampire, and the not-very-romantic boy who is trying to fall in love with her.

I wrote about the Hanamusa ship, which got attention from Kiana Mai, and therefore, it got fantastically large amounts of attention on tumblr. That was cool, that meant that there were people meaningfully engaging with the point of how Delia is a character you know can’t do some things, and you know that Jesse is a character who you know would do most things (that aren’t sensible).

I also wrote about queerness in D&D and my worldbuilding. I talked about how heterosexuality as a cultural frame has to be invented, and that means everyone in Cobrin’Seil exists at a level of background queerness we can’t. I talked about the forced gender locking of two different heritages in the 4e book Heroes of the Feywild, and the way that gender transition in 3rd edition was cheap enough to build infrastructures around.

The Story Piles were kinda overloaded this month – if I’d wanted to, I could probably have done nothing but anime for weeks! I summarised a bunch of queer anime that I didn’t really want to write about entirely as that. I also talked about the way that Wreck It Ralph echoes a story of a trans identity while trying to make that identity invisible. Then I got nostalgic about the woman who scared me about the sin of Pride because she was freaked out by a talking cat plush toy in a book for four year olds.

This month’s shirt design is a design that’s meant to evoke the Ulysses jacket from Fallout: New Vegas, which is a killer shirt design and I like it a lot. I might not buy it myself, because I am currently pretty poor, but that’s not the important thing. The important thing is filling my Redbubble store with stuff that makes me think: hey, I bet X would like this design.

I’m not always right but it’s what I’m trying.

If I could, I’d put this design on the back of a soft jacket. I don’t want it to be a hoodie, because the hood would hang over the top of the design, but maybe a long-sleeve shirt with this design on the back. Not sure.

At the start of this year in my journal I wrote this:

I want to do a better job of the things I know I care about.

Source more.

Plan ahead.

Double check.

Early bedtimes.

Permit softness.

This June, I knew I had some real bad days for early bedtimes. I got to bed at 5 AM one night because I was trying so hard to get marking done before a key date (which I messed up, hilariously, and had more time than I thought). Thing is, this is also a month where I was able to get myself to go to bed at 10 pm every day of the week until the weekend, and that’s good! That’s a really good difference in how I relate to sleep normally, especially since ‘get to bed at 10pm and then wake up at 7am’ is a great way to get more work done.

Elli also got more walks, more walks with both Fox and I together, that’s also great. He loves to walk in the sunshine. Bright, sunny days and he has this way of walking that I call ‘high steppin’, where he kind of struts and bounces as he walks, like he’s much more interested to look around than he is to snuffle around underneath the grass of things.

There was a big windstorm. There was Fox’s birthday, and my sister’s birthday. There was a lot of family stuff this month too. Bloodwork also got to take precedence – I was able to make sure I spent time on that, and time on my literature review.

I feel like I can do more. I want to do more. I want to do better.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary #Meta