#anti kingfisher

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

A lot of people complain when enemies to lovers isn't really enemies to lovers in a sense that they're not enemies and they don't hate each other but can we talk about how a lot of enemies to lovers are actually 1. oppressor x oppressed or 2. abuser x victim or 3. aggressive man x woman who gives in or a mix of them all

I love enemies to lovers when they're actual enemies but true enemies should have a balance of power and be equal. A lot of these so called "enemies" tropes are just an excuse to romanticize and simp over abusers

It's like a competition of how horrifically can we make him treat the FMC, how far can we go that people will still romanticize him?

[pikminenjoyer]

Just finished when women were dragons, and am about to start Klara and the sun.

Tbh, when women were dragons should have ended around 40 pages before it did, would have been much more impactful.

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Day 17 of Pied Month! Not doing a pun today, I'm doing a Pied Kingfisher with the aroace flag because I saw a kingfisher yesterday!!!!!

Reference photo by Emilie Chen

I'm on Cara, it's a social media for art that's anti-AI, follow me @ tbalderdash

[ostrichmonkey-games]

I think something interesting to consider when you start putting together an open or anti-canon setting, is actually having some sort of background "plot" going on.

Something you can reference internally that helps you make sure different elements have some sort of connection. That way when someone is using what you made at the table, they're going to have an easier time making up their own connections.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if someone else makes exactly the same connections that you did, but it's sort of like pre-drilling a hole to make screwing something together easier. Subtext and implication can be easier to pick up on (and iterate and reinterpret!), if it actually, at least loosely, exists.

Anyways, all this to say, I am thinking about what's going on with the Kingfisher's Court in my Riverlands setting.

[sleepnoises]

4, 5, 12! 📚

5. What genre did you read the most of?

We've got a decent amount of speculative fiction (sometimes shading gently to horror) and then a range across what one might conceptualize as the chick lit spectrum (romance, anti romance literary mid life crises, two books about fake true crime, handful of nonfiction about communication). And a tiny sprinkling of cloth/fiber nonfiction this year 🧶

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Hmm I guess this is different from overhyped in that they're not popular? The latest T Kingfisher was fine but she didn't put a lot of sauce on it. Sea of Tranquility was good but not mindblowing. The wild scope increase and subsequent tone shift in Robert Jackson Bennett's Founders trilogy wasn't really my thing. Ah well!

[lonestarflight]

Vought OS2U Kingfisher is rolled down a seaplane ramp. The floatpl is armed with two small depth bombs and may be departing on an practice anti-submarine patrol. Other OS2Us are parked by the sea mall.

Date: early 1942

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: 80-G-K-13489, 80-G-K-13491, 80-G-K-13490, 80-G-K-13487

[sixofravens-reads]

re: 2023 new releases. hope you're ready for a long message because there were a lot.

hot new releases/things that were relatively popular

He Who Drowned The World, Shelley Parker Chan (Chinese mythological historical, very gay, very stabby a la Baru Cormorant. Book 2 of 2. A particular favorite of mine from this year)

Witch King, Martha Wells (New fantasy book by author of murderbot fame. I didn't actually click with this one but I'd be remiss to leave it off)

House With Good Bones, T Kingfisher (Southern gothic rose horror by the very talented Ursula Vernon)

Translation State, Ann Leckie (high sf alien horror regency romance. Wheeeeee. I had a lot of fun reading this. You can read it as a standalone, but you get deeper context if you've read the ancillary justice series, also highly recommended)

Will of the Many, James Islington (futuristic roman empire aesthetic rigged murder school. Not precisely good but appallingly catchy, I read all six hundred pages in pretty much one sitting. If you liked red rising you'll like this, if you hated red rising you will Not)

OH YEAH THE ACTUAL NEW MURDEBOT NOVEL (System Collapse)

A Power Unbound, Freya Marske (book 3 of 3, magic alt edwardian romances with murder. This is more romance proper but it's about equal with the action plot and Marske is very good. I don't think you've read these so you'd have to start at book 1)

Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (The book that absolutely knocked my socks off, my pick for the best sff release of the year. I forget if I've already told you about this one)

Starling House, Alix Harrow (Southern gothic house drama. Similar feel to Ninth House or The Book of Night)

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty (Divorced lady pirate adventure-drama a la Arabian Nights.)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (Charming, heavily fairy tale trope themed, vaguely reminiscent of the Lady Trent books)

more obscure new releases from this year that I thought were cool, but not in the Hot New Reads You Can't Miss Because Everyone's Read Them category

Under Fortunate Stars, Ren Hutchings (sf timey wimey space shenanigans with aliens. Immensely cool premise.)

Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater (fallen angel sent to tempt a too good mortal. Extremely charming)

The King Is Dead, Naomi Libicki (vaguely persian flavored fealty romance, very heavy to the fealty. Original, thorny, and intriguing)

The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei (What if we terribly traumatized everyone going on a generation ship by making them go to viciously competitive boarding school together and then act surprised when a murder mystery occurs. Heads up that it's more interested in the human drama than the SF worldbuilding)

The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (early modern fantasy world anti-imperialism fever dream narrated by a cult survivor. Brilliantly written, spectacularly original, one of the best books I read this year)

Things for 2024, content warning for being (obviously) things I haven't read and thus without quality control

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden

The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P Djeli Clark

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan

Goddess of the River, Vaishnavi Patel

The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo

Exordia, Seth Dickinson

A Sorceress Comes To Call, T Kingfisher

Running Close To The Wind, Alexandra Rowland

Wow tumblr just lets me keep writing words. I didn't think they let me have this many in asks. Oh, and pro tip-- keep an eye out for tordotcom's most anticipated upcoming books for the first six months of 2024. They should be publishing it within the next week or so and I always add masses of books to my tbr from there.

oh holy crap, thanks!! I'll have to check these out!

thoughts on a few of em:

He Who Drowned The World - still have to read She Who Became the Sun lol but hopefully I'll get to em next year!

Witch King - Martha Wells has been recced by like All my sci-fi mutuals now lmao I REALLY gotta get into her!

House With Good Bones - THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY ON MY SHELF!! I just didn't fucking read it this year whoops. Very excited for new Kingfisher

Starling House - I was on the fence about this one since I really didn't like Once and Future Witches, but those comparisons give me hope! I'll add it to the library list!

Some Desperate Glory and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries are 2/3 of the books published in 2023 that I actually managed to read (the 3rd is The Woman in Me lmao), I can't remember if you recc'd Some Desperate Glory, but it was SOOOOOOOO GOOD OMFG

Small Miracles - my aunt has been trying to convince me to read Atwater for quite a while, I'll have to give this one a try!

The Saint of Bright Doors - I have this one on hold!! Saw a post for it a week or so ago and it sounds absolutely delightful!

The Familiar - SO SO EXCITED for this one! I hope Bardugo is maybe...slowly....extricating herself from the Grishaverse and going to write more books not related to it... (not that they're all bad, I loved the Six of Crows duology, I'm just not into it anymore and I reeeealllly like her adult books lol)

Running Close To The Wind - oh yay new Rowland! I still haven't read her last book (the one with the guy on the cover who looked EXACTLY like my boss to the point where it became an Office Meme that [Boss] Is A Gay Romance Cover Model, still meaning to get a UK version of it but haven't yet) but I'll have to look this one up!

[ninja-muse]

February was a pretty good month! I read some books I really loved (and a couple that were simply meh), I got in a father-daughter visit and had really good luck at Scrabble, the weather was mostly not awful, and even if inventory at work took longer than expected, I survived it without brain mush, which has happened before. I am still the fastest scanner! My title holds.

Regular readers will be unsurprised to learn that Eve by Cat Bohannon and Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse were my top reads of the month, or that What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher ranks third. My T. Kingfisher problem is at least a year old, after all. (Also I read a couple delightful picture books, so be sure to click through to find them!)

I'm personally more surprised by my lowest picks, because they both sounded so up my alley but fell flat for nearly completely different reasons. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store ended up feeling disjointed and like it was trying for a theme it couldn't quite grasp, and A Market of Dreams and Desires hit all kinds of tropes I love, right down to random Dickens references and weird steampunk machines, but tied everything together a little too neatly for me. Ah well.

And right in the middle of my list is my sole physical TBR read of the month: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. This managed to tick off "Canadian author" and "classic" at the same time, so I get triple points. (This might have had a hand in me picking it.) Duddy has aged surprisingly well, in that it's still pretty fast-paced and amusing and also in that Richler wrote it with the understanding that scam artistry, hypermaterialism, and misogyny were bad and y'know what? They still are. I would recommend if you're looking for a Canadian teen anti-hero, more than anything. Duddy is a trainwreck and you can't look away.

I managed to get through the month with only three books hauled. (We won't talk about ARCs but the book fairies were kind.) The Unfortunate Traveller and Under a Pendulum Sun were bought during the habitual father-daughter bookstore date, and both because I never thought I'd see them and figured I might never see them again. The Unfortunate Traveller is essays and travel writing by a guy who co-wrote with Shakespeare and I didn't know it even existed. Under the Pendulum Sun was recced to me somewhere (here? bookish website algorithms?) and since it's essentially a gothic novel with properly weird fairies, it's been on my list.

The third book was a total surprise. Apparently I helped crowdfund it in 2019 and they've only just managed to get it printed and also I said I wanted a physical copy? The things we learn. Anyway, it's essays on aromanticism, agender identity, and asexuality so that tracks.

And I know I said I wasn't going to talk about ARCs but I got some good ones this last month and also in January, and there's a lot of them that are out or soon to be out and I'm having that problem where I want to be reading all of them at once. March is going to be interesting and probably a little panic-inducing.

Click through to see everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

Eve - Cat Bohannon

A history of human evolution, through the lens of the female body.

8.5/10

warning: touches on sexism, mental illness, suicide, miscarriage, and rape

reading copy

Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse

The fractures following the eclipse have deepened and no one can see a way back to peace that doesn’t involve bloodshed. Out in June

8/10

Indigenous cast, 🏳️‍🌈 POV characters (bisexual, third gender), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (third gender, sapphic), Black-Pueblo author

warning: war, torture, mentions of child abuse

reading copy

What Feasts At Night - T. Kingfisher

Alex Easton has returned to kar hunting lodge to relax. Unfortunately, the locals claim there's a monster on a property.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (third gender), protagonist with PTSD

Library ebook

The Twilight Queen - Jeri Westerson

Will Somers, jester to Henry VIII, is caught up in another mystery, this time of a corpse in Queen Anne’s bedchamber.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (bi), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (gay)

digital reading copy

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - Mordechai Richler

A delinquent teen grows into a hustler, against the backdrop of mid-century Jewish Montreal.

7/10

largely Jewish cast, Jewish author, 🇨🇦

warning: racial slurs, misogyny

Off my TBR shelves

The Woman With No Name - Audrey Blake

Lonely and craving war work, Yvonne signs up to be the first female spy for the Allies in occupied France. Out in March

7/10

half a 🇨🇦 author

reading copy

The Frame-Up - Gwenda Bond

Ten years ago, Dani turned her art thief mom in to the Feds. Now her mom’s mentor has given Dani an offer she can’t refuse: use her magic to pull an impossible heist, get her life back.

6.5/10

Black secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic)

reading copy

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

The Black and Jewish residents of a Pennsylvania neighbourhood are (mostly) in it together, not least of when the government decides to take a local Deaf kid to an asylum.

7/10

Jewish and Black cast, major character with chronic illness and a limp, secondary Deaf character, Black author

warning: ableist characters and institutions, racist and anti-Semitic characters, sexual assault and molestation, (largely) reclaimed slurs

library book

The Market of Dreams and Destiny - Trip Galey

Deri may have a chance to buy out his indenture early when he meets a princess looking to sell her destiny. But in the goblin’s Untermarkt, nothing’s ever easy.

6.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (mlm), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (mlm, genderfluid), British Indian secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: child abuse, enslavement

borrowed from work

Picture Books

No Cats in the Library - Lauren Emmons

Cats aren’t allowed in the library but that’s where all the books are!

🏳️‍🌈 author

Read at work

Family is Family - Melissa Marr

Chick gets a note before kindergarten, telling him to have his mom or dad walk him to school. Except that Chick has two moms.

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters and themes

Read at work

Currently reading

Knife Skills for Beginners - Orlando Murrin

Paul Delamare is filling in at a cooking school when the resident celebrity chef has a, erm, "accident."

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), Black British secondary character

Reading copy

True North - Andrew J. Graff

The Brechts move to Wisconsin to restart a rafting business. They hope it’ll save their young family, but it might do the opposite.

library book

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character, occasional secondary Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 9 +2 Yearly total: 20 Queer books: 4 + 2 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1.5 Classics: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 3 ARCs acquired: 6 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 0

January

[mizkit]

new blog post: TBR shelf

new blog post on https://mizkit.com/tbr-shelf-2/

TBR shelf

Over on Bluesky one of my friends was doing a “31 days of books on my to-read shelf,” listicle thing. I thought that was a good ‘un, so I started doing one too. I thought I’d port it over here. I’m really sorry but I’m tired and lazy and am only going to link to Amazon (all links are affiliate, I will earn some bitty percentage if you click through and use my links, etc etc etc) for these titles instead of doing the whole kit & kaboodle but if there are books I particularly think you should take the trouble to look up on your platform, I’ll mention that.

Like this one, for example:

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD, K.B. Wagers – this is the 2nd book of a 2nd trilogy (first trilogy here) about Hail Bristol, former gunrunner & current reluctant empress of an interstellar empire. These are some of the best books I’ve read this year, and I intend to finish the trilogy over the next few days, while wailing and gnashing my teeth at KB, who has apparently been GREATLY ENJOYING me doing so over on BS. They were apparently waiting with bated breath for me to get to the end of the first book of this trilogy, and my screams evidently did not disappoint. :)

Hannah Ritchie, NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: “Surprising facts, dangerous myths, and hopeful solutions for our future on planet Earth” – someone recommended this, I don’t remember who, but clearly I thought their opinion held some weight so I picked it up. :)

MC Vaughn, ROMANCING MISS STONE, a title I wish I’d thought of :) This is technically a research read for me, but with that title I’d have picked it up anyway.

Barbara Hambly, ONE EXTRA CORPSE, oh man I forgot about this one I gotta read it soon! I love her murder mysteries and I bet–there IS another one out! OMG. BRB, throwing over all my plans for the day to read. (I am now halfway through reading this and have the next one in my Kobo basket.)

THE ANTI-SOCIAL SEASON, Adele Buck – this is also a research read, and I have actually read it since putting it on my TBR list ten days ago. It’s cute, as was the first book in its series. Actually, it is cute, but it’s not just cute. There are some really great, frustrating family dynamics in this book and they’re really well realized and extremely sympathy/empathy-inducing. Buck did a good job.

THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR, Victoria Goddard – 90% sure somebody, possibly Stephanie Burgis, recommended this one. I have no other information about it right now. :)

WHEN THE WAVE COLLAPSES, Norah Woodsey – again, almost sure I picked this up on a recommendation or review that sounded interesting.

RATTLESNAKE WIND, Lilith Saintcrow – I mean it’s Lili. :)

THE MERCY OF GODS, James S.A. Corey – you know, I haven’t actually finished the last 3 books of The Expanse, so I’ve got no business picking up another JSAC book, except…I totally did. Maybe next year I should have a goal of re-reading/finishing The Expanse and reading this. :)

THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN, Sylvia Izzo Hunter – 90% sure Stephanie Burgis recommended this one too.

I have no idea how it is I haven’t read this yet, because her books are a “drop everything, including work, and read immediately” for me, but A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL, T. Kingfisher

(Actually, I looked it up and it came out RIGHT before Worldcon, so honestly I probably didn’t even see it arrive, which is no doubt how I missed it. I’ve got to finish KB’s books, but this might be the one to end my year on bc after all, total emotional destruction is always a good way to end the year, right?)

Also, I don’t have to have read it to recommend it as a “go look on other sites for it if you haven’t read it either” book.

ALASKA INFERNO, Lolo Paige. I confess 97% of the reason I picked this one up was to see how annoyed I would be by the Alaska stuff, but I have 3% hope I won’t be. :)

That’s as far as I’ve gotten on BS so I’ll do more later. :)

[dreamtigress]

A Writer’s Ask Game

11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

27.  Favourite line/scene

32.  Most difficult character to write.

38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

Thanks for asking, @hotpinkmurex!

11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

Tough one, because there's a lot of answers...

Anne McCaffrey was the first fantasy/sci fi I ever read, and as such, had a lot of sway over my brain for a bit. I even wrote a thesis style paper on Pern in HS and corresponded with her about the books. The first fan fiction I ever 'wrote' were self insert fantasies of Pern and dragons and fire lizards that I made in my head endlessly.

Then there's Robin McKinley, Tanya Huff, Terry Pratchett, and most recently, T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon. They influence my sense of humor in my writing, my love of offbeat and reluctant heros, lovable anti-heroes, turning tropes upside down, witty banter, and more. I've read and re-read many of their books over the years.

27.  Favourite line/scene

Another toughie, because SO MANY possibilities. But, keeping on my theme of late, I'm going to pick an SoC scene, and go with the Geldrenner bathroom Kanej scene. SO much happens there. So many emotions, exposition, and things of import for the characters. It's visceral punch in the feels. I've re-read it multiple times and it never ceases to pack that punch.

32.  Most difficult character to write.

Of the ones I write POV's for regularly, probably Jesper. It takes me a bit to settle into the chaos of his mind so I can portray it accurately. Of my OC's that I had written recently, I did section for Zurye, and I am still not sure if I have found her voice completely.

38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

Less a weird full fledged story idea, and more just an amusing note that has been sitting in my ideas section for a bit. Not sure if I will use it in a story somewhere.

"At some point, Inej notices all three men have freckles, and she’s tickled pink by this." Referencing Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan.

From this Ask Meme: https://www.tumblr.com/dreamtigress/751854523393490944/a-writers-ask-game?source=share

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

I am genuinely gobsmacked that Quicksilver has a 4.45 rating on Goodreads because what in the ever loving fuck have I read

I suppose it sort of makes sense because most people are just simping over Kingfisher who is basically Rhysand and Cassian mixed together but personally it made me want to kms

Kingfisher (what is that name, let's start there) is an actual caveman and borderline threatens to r*pe Saeris but of course he is the new best book boyfriend why not?

"I don't hate your kind. I'm just disappointed by how breakable you are. If I held you down and fucked you the way I'm imagining fucking you right now, I doubt that you'd survive it."

I'm sorry? Is this supposed to be sexy or something?? Bare in mind I DNF'd around 20% so this is only maybe their second interaction

"Maybe the issue is that you asked me a question about my cock like a hungry little bitch in heat and didn't ask me something that mattered. . . There you go again. Hungry, needy little bitch in heat, begging to be fucked"

Is it me? Because I'm not getting it. This is what we want in book boyfriends? Really? He also actually, for real, being deadly serious said that he's not evil because he doesn't sexually assault her 💀

I DNF'd but while scrolling through other 1 star reviews I saw that he apparently surprise chokes her during a spicy scene and just no nope. No thank you. BDSM? That's cool that's hot, with consent and communication. Surprise choking is what we call ✨domestic and sexual abuse✨

"This author writes abusers well—he is charming, charismatic and the people around him make lots of excuses" was from another review and it's spot on

And the "banter" between them?? It is so forced it's actually gag inducing

It's such a bummer because I really loved Saeris and the side characters and the world itself seemed pretty cool. The romance should have been between Saeris and the princess or quite literally anyone but Kingfisher and I would've eaten this shit up

This book made me kind of realize why some people rate books one star just for the hell of it because someone has to keep the balance if this absolute load of shit has a 4.45 RATING

I guess if you want a "romance" where the love interest acts like a 14 year old boy in his emo phase who just got his gaming privileges taken away and treats the FMC like she's 2 years old but is also aggressively sexual and violent around her, manipulates her and doesn't allow her bodily autonomy, then this one's for you 🫶🏻

[projectantivirus]

A new united effort to rehabilitate and weaponize high profile threats has arised. Organizations from around the world  make a collective push for the successful transition of the use of B.O.Ws and mutates to fight future incidents. The best of the best agents and scientists  have been selected for this program in order to handle, train and utilize these biological weapons.  These subjects are being repurposed into anti-viral and anti-terrorist combatants. Agents and subjects have been moved to Kingfisher, a remote island in Sweden, that will serve as both  base of operations and their new home until the experiment is either terminated or, successfully concluded. But who is really in control here?

     Project Antivirus is a literate, laid back and 18+, Resident Evil discord rp open to characters from the RE universe both villain and hero! This primarily sandbox RP, with a contributing over arching plot, began in 2022 after the village incident, and has now been brought into 2023. This plot is loosely based on the B.S.A.A’s use of B.O.Ws for combat. We accept OCs and crossover canons with an RE verse.

Taken Characters

 Join  rules

plot

Wanted Characters

Banned Characters

Twitter/X account

[ninsiana0]

Books 19-24 read in 2024

PALADIN'S HOPE by T. Kingfisher

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The 3rd book in The Saint of Steel series, aka The Super Queer One! Of course Ioved it!

PALADIN'S FAITH by T. Kingfisher

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The 4th book in The Saint of Steel series, aka the one where Marguerite comes back, and then goes for a very long walk. I adore this series.

THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A bloody, gory, queer, anti-capitalist fever dream.

THE MERMAID, THE WITCH AND THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anti-colonial, genderbendy pirates, and the Sea is a sentient character.

THE SIREN, THE SONG AND THE SPY by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The sequel to THE MERMAID, THE WITCH & THE SEA, wherein the world is made so much bigger, and the stakes are so much greater.

CAN'T SPELL TREASON WITHOUT TEA by Rebecca Thorne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you ever wanted to runaway & open a gay little bookstore/teahouse in a small town with your girlfriend? Also there are dragons.

[tolyasword]

I was tagged by @slowtides to talk about what I've been reading lately! Here's a couple things I've read this year so far. I was a little slow with reading the first 4 or 5 months since I was finishing grad school, but I've read all of the above in the last five or so months. I can talk a little about each of them!

The Eye of the World - I finally started on The Wheel of Time series this year. A friend of mine in college about ten years ago told me to read this and with the show, I decided to give it a try. I really thoroughly enjoyed this first book. I found Rand and Mat's storylines a little less exciting than Perrin and Egwyane but otherwise I really loved this and I'm already reading book two! I really want to read the whole series.

Elantris - my very first Sanderson novel. I'm so glad I started with this one as it was his first (written and published) novel so now I can see how his writing has evolved. This was such an interesting concept and really fueled my imagination and made me want to write again. It was surprisingly easy to read (for some reason I was expecting his writing to be denser and harder to get through but now I realize why he's so popular!) and I flew through it. I really want to get my own copy and annotate it while rereading it.

Bloom Into You - A manga series recommended to me by a person irl for reasons. I haven't read manga in a long time and I've never read a non-magical manga before. It was super cute!

Where the Nightmares Go - was throughly enjoyable. The first and last stories in particular were WOW. The second one (I think it was the second, maybe the third) was so terrifying that I literally could not allow myself to picture it in my head as I was reading or I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for like a week. Highly recommend if you like horror and uncanny fiction.

The Ex-Girlfriend of my Girlfriend.... - It was good! Very lesbian centric (I was feeling a little bi-erasure) but as I'm trying to explore my queerness, I was happy to read through these situations. The latter parts of the book definitely felt a bit more bi-positive and openly queer (umbrella term) so I think it was worthwhile to read. The bright colors and illustrations were also very fun.

Nettle and Bone - After graduating I read a lot of novellas because it was easier than full novels. This was my first T. Kingfisher and will not be my last. The topic was women and breaking cycles and dealing with family and finding independence and also about hot-silver-fox-fighters and demonic chickens. Cannot go wrong.

High Times In the Low Parliament - Another novella. Totally bizarre and amazing. Fae/faeries, government, sapphics, lots of drugs. It was super enjoyable and I think maybe the first novella I read after graduating??? So it's gonna stick with me. I might even purchase a copy.

Off With Her Head - What promised to be a historical breakdown of misogyny unfortunately turned into a repeated argument for 75% of the book, with the only actually engaging chapters being the ones with historical research. It will definitely make you angry if you are a women or are anti-patriarchy, but after a while the anger will get tiring until you get to The One Juicy Historical chapter. I don't usually read nonfiction so this was maybe not the best thing for me to read.

White Cat, Black Dog - I can't say much about this except that Kelly Link is my favorite short story author and I got this practically brand new book for $10 at a used book store. One or two stories were a little meh for me, but nothing downright awful. I love the way this is retellings of other fairytales but feels sooooo different you'd never know it until you read the acknowledgements or notice that the original tales titles are written at the beginning under the titles. I particularly loved the retelling of Tam Lin.

This is for anyone who wants to write a bit about what they've been reading or what's been engaging for them lately! If you want to share, please do! Also tagging a few people: @twoheartsoneclara @antoine-triplett @actuallylorelaigilmore @spellmansabrina @thyla

[logi1974]

Südafrika 2022/23 - Tag 25

Herrschaften und Oukies!

Eigentlich wollten wir heute Morgen wieder früh aufbrechen um im Lionspruit Game Reserve wieder zu picknicken. Allerdings hat uns auch hier jetzt die bereits angekündigte Schlechtwetterfront erreicht.

In der Nacht nahm der Wind jedoch an Fahrt auf und es schüttete für eine gute Stunde wie aus Kübeln. Deswegen gab es eine Planänderung und wir frühstückten erst einmal in aller Ruhe und behielten das Wetter im Auge.

Unser neuer Freund “der Rüde” kam auch um sich sein Frühstück abzuholen. Dafür hatten wir beim Einkauf im hiesigen “Shopping Center” einen 5 Kilo Sack Wildfutter, zu sagenhaften 50 Rand, gekauft.

Danach nahm der kapitale Keiler noch einen Drink an der stets gut gefüllten Bar, bevor er weiter zog - wahrscheinlich klappert er mehrere Häuser ab.

Da es die ganze Zeit über trocken blieb, entschieden wir dann doch loszuziehen. Für Morgen ist nämlich richtiges Scheißwetter vorher gesagt und dann ist uns dieser Ausflug ohne 4x4 zu riskant. 

Punkt 10 Uhr standen wir am Gate zum Lion Spruit Reserve. Dort trugen wir uns in die unvermeidliche Liste ein, zahlten insgesamt 130 Rand an Eintritt (pro Vehicle) und los ging es mit unserem morgendlichen Game Drive.

Zuerst mussten wir jedoch eine Anti-Poaching-Einheit passieren lassen, die gerade ihre Kontrollrunde durch das Reserve beendet hatte. Es gibt eine Reihe von Rangern, die hier patrouillieren - viele sind ehrenamtlich engagiert. 

Sie behalten die Tierwelt im Auge, damit Wilderer nicht die Möglichkeit haben zu wildern und kooperieren mit den Kruger Park Rangern, um Wilderer ausfindig zu machen. 

Beispielsweise ist auch dieser schmucke, junge Mann ehrenamtlich in seiner Freizeit in der Abteilung “Verkehrskontrolle” engagiert:

Darüber hinaus sie achten auch auf die Vegetation, damit fremde, invasive Pflanzen sich nicht ausbreiten können, wie beispielsweise aus Amerika eingeschleppte Kakteenarten (hier: die Königin der Nacht), die sich wie die sprichwörtliche Pest verbreiten.

Das Lion Spruit Reserve ist ein Naturschutzgebiet mit Büffeln, Rhinos, Giraffen, Kudus, Impalas, Zebras, Gnus und anderen kleinen Antilopen sowie einigen Löwen mitten im Marloth Park.

Am Gate bekommt man eine Karte für die Pirschfahrt mit der alle wichtigen Wege und Punkte zu finden sind. Das Gebiet ist reich an verschiedenen Arten mit 56 Säugetieren, 32 Reptilien und 221 Vogelarten, die bereits identifiziert wurden.  

Der Eingang zum Lion Spruit Reserve befindet sich in der Wildgoose Street, einer Nebenstraße der Olifants Road.  

Das Lionspruit-Reservat bietet einige schöne Aussichtspunkte und einen Picknickplatz. Es lohnt sich dort zu rasten und ein Picknick oder sogar BBQ zu machen.

Die Einrichtungen dazu sind vorhanden und werden regelmäßig sauber gemacht. Wenngleich etwas mehr Sorgfalt auch hier nicht schaden könnte.

An dieser Stelle ist das Aussteigen aus dem Fahrzeug erlaubt. Dennoch sollte man wegen der ansässigen Löwen unbedingt immer die Augen offen halten.

Die Löwen im Lion Spruit Reserve haben alle Namen und werden eng von den staatlichen Wildwarten zusammen mit den Honorary Rangers (ehrenamtliche Wildwarte) überwacht.

Die Wegführung durch das Reservat ist als One Way (Einbahnstraße) ausgelegt und man fährt im Uhrzeigersinn. Es gibt einige Loops, da kann es in Ausnahmefällen zu Gegenverkehr kommen.

Der Besuch des Lion Spruit Reserve ist streng reglementiert. Täglich werden nur 20 Fahrzeuge in den Park gelassen, um die Tiere so wenig wie möglich zu stören. Wer sich demnach erst später am Tag zu einem Besuch entscheidet, kann unter Umständen Pech haben.

Als erstes besuchen wir den Impala Damm mit dem dazu gehörigen Bird Hide. Besonders beeindruckt sind wir von der Rollstuhlrampe und deren kunstvoll gestalteter Ausführung.

Wir beobachten ein Paar Woodland Kingfisher, die sich immer wieder ins Wasser stürzen.

Als nächstes führt uns der Rundweg zum Gravel Pit. Ein Rund-Loop führt um einen Teich.

Eine größere Gruppe Hagedasch Ibisse hat sich hier zu einem konspirativen Treffen eingefunden. Doch die Versammlung wurde unterwandert! 

Ein Hammerkop hat sich heimlich unter das Volk gemischt und tut so, als würde er sich brennend für die blühende Water Lilie interessieren.

Gegen 11 Uhr erreichen wir Frickie´s Damm. Dort befindet sich das Picknick Areal und hier machten wir einen kurzen Stopp. Wir waren dieses Mal nicht die einzigen Besucher weit und breit, sondern eine südafrikanische Familie hatte sich zum Bush Breakfast eingerichtet.

Wir wollten nicht stören und nahmen deshalb am Zaun, mit Blick auf das Wasser, Platz und beobachteten die Umgebung. Natürlich bleibt unsere Anwesenheit nicht unbemerkt und ein Toko hofft auf eine milde Gabe.

Es gibt nicht nur zahlreiche Sitzgelegenheiten, sondern auch diverse gemauerte Grillmöglichkeiten.

Am linken Uferrand entdecken wir eine installierte Wildkamera:

Wir fahren weiter, an der östlichen Seite, in Richtung Süden und treffen plötzlich völlig unerwartet auf eine Herde Impalas. Der Busch ist so dicht bewachsen, dass wir die Tiere erst in aller-aller-letzter Sekunde sehen.

Man muss höllisch aufpassen und ständig darauf gefasst sein, dass plötzlich Tiere aus dem dichten Busch auf die Pad springen.

Kurz darauf treffen wir auf diesen alten Giraffenbullen, was für ein prächtiger Kerl. Er wirft sich so richtig in Pose, wie außerordentlich zuvorkommend von ihm!

In der süd-östlichen Ecke des Reservates kommen wir zum Jackalberry Bird Hide, an einem See.

Nachdem wir erst einmal eine kleine Runde, zur Sicherung der Lage, drehten, trauen wir uns aus dem Auto zu steigen und in den Bird Hide zu gehen.

Wir sehen im Schild die kunstvoll angebrachten Nester der Webervögel. Die Herren Weber, die die Nester gebaut haben, sitzen auf und an den Halmen. Hier handelt es sich um Weißstirnweber.

Sie preisen laut singend und zwitschernd ihre Neubauten der Damenwelt an. Aber offensichtlich gibt es ein Überangebot auf dem Weber-Wohnungsmarkt und es finden sich keine Interessentinnen.

Wie den Schildern im Hide zu entnehmen ist, können sich auch hier leider nicht alle Besucher benehmen. Umweltschweine gibt es überall auf der Welt!

Wir fahren weiter und auch hier fallen uns die vielen Nester der Gemeinschaftsspinnen auf. Es handelt sich um sozial lebende Spinnen, die ähnlich wie die Siedlerwebervögel große Gemeinschaftsnester anlegen.

Wir kommen zum nächsten Damm, dieses Mal ohne einen Bird Hide: dem Rooi Damm. Hier sind die anderen Werbers, die Maskenweber, offensichtlich mit ihrem Brutgeschäft bereits fertig.

Die leeren Nester hängen traurig an den Ästen und es ist kein geschäftiges Treiben mehr zu sehen. Totale Ruhe!

An dem Zwischenweg sehen wir von weitem einen Haufen liegen, der uns irgendwie bekannt vorkommt ...

... es ist der Giraffenkadaver vom letzten Jahr, der noch genau an der gleichen Stelle liegt. Hier der Vergleich:

Dass es hier Hyänen geben soll, halten wir für ein Gerücht. Niemals würde der Kadaver dann hier noch so liegen. Letztes Mal konnten sich wenigstens die Geier noch dafür begeistern.

Am nächsten Punkt mit einem Birdhide kraxeln wir hoch und bewundern dabei das recht neu installierte Geländer. Auch hier drehen wir erst einmal die obligatorische Sicherheitsrunde. 

Leider gibt es hier überhaupt nichts interessantes zu sehen. Nur Wasser und üppiges Grün. Da muss dann eben der Hasenbär als Tiersichtung herhalten.

Dann finden wir doch noch diesen, uns unbekannten, hübschen Käfer. Der fühlt sich geehrt, dass er unser Interesse wecken konnte und posiert freundlicherweise ausgiebig.

Nach vier Stunden sind wir wieder am Gate angelangt und machen uns auf den Rückweg zu unserem schönen Appartement. Es ist schwül-heiß.

Den drückend heißen Nachmittag verbringen wir auf der Terrasse, am und in unserem Plansch Pool. Es ist herrlich! 

Wir hocken am äußersten Ende, im Wasser, und schauen durch das Geländer in den Busch und halten nach Tieren Ausschau.

Das wäre auch was für uns zu Hause. Allerdings sind da weniger interessante Tiersichtungen zu erwarten, von Nachbars Katze “Mitzie” einmal abgesehen.

Plötzlich kommt ein heftiger Wind auf, alles fliegt weg.  Der Himmel wird rabenschwarz, es blitzt, es donnert, es knallt und der Strom ist weg. Die Welt geht unter.

Es schüttet buchstäblich Bindfäden. Heute wird drinnen in der Indoor-Küche gegessen. Es gibt Gem squash Kürbisse gefüllt mit Hack und gegrillte Folienkartoffeln.

Lekker Slaap!

Angie, Micha und der Hasenbär

[clinchcoverenthusiast]

January is finally over! The only good thing about it lasting forever is I got a lot of reading done. A tumblr friend brought The Tea Dragon books to my attention and bless her for it because they were so soothing and beautiful. Overall, it was another satisfying reading month but other standouts were Parasocial, The Saint of Steel series, Game On, and The Love Con. I own Chain-Gang All-Stars but switched to the eaudio from Libby about halfway through. The Anti-Hero was on KU, and everything else was from either Hoopla or Libby.  

The Anti-Hero (The Goode Brothers #1) - Sara Cate

Parasocial - Alex de Campi, Erica Henderson

Dracula Motherf**ker! - Alex de Campi, Erica Henderson

The Hunger and the Dusk #5 - G. Willow Wilson, Chris Wildgoose

Mickey Chambers Shakes it Up - Charish Reid* **

Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) - T. Kingfisher

Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah* **

The Tea Dragon Society - K. O'Neill**

The Tea Dragon Festival - K. O'Neill**

The Tea Dragon Tapestry - K. O'Neill**

We'll Never Have Paris (Paris, je t'aime #1) - Adriana Anders

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology - edited by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.* **

Game On - Seressia Glass* **

The Love Con - Seressia Glass* **

Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel #2) - T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel #3) - T. Kingfisher

Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher

Swordheart - T. Kingfisher

* = author(s) of color

** = main character(s) of color