#good. but dense.

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Books of 2023 - December (and a wrap-up)

And that's a wrap!

Extremely happy with my reading in general this year. I got to all but one of the books I absolutely wanted to get to in 2023 (and was only disappointed by a few of those); I revisited some old favorites; and I found plenty of unexpectedly delightful stories.

December was definitely a wrap-up month terms of finishing both my 2023 TBR (so. close.) and my impulse goal of reading a new-to-me book with a title for each letter of the alphabet. (That X, man.... That was difficult. I think I'll do it again next year.) There are about 30 titles left on my reading tracker, mostly stuff I threw on there to fall back on if I needed a change, or audiobooks I had on standby for boring days at work.

Audiobooks saved me this year.

And with that: my reviews, and then a little wrap-up and a summary of my plans for next year.

Total books: 5  |  New reads: 5   |  2023 TBR completed: 2 (0 DNF) / 24/25 total   |   2023 Reading Goal: 90/50

November | January 2024

#1 - Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (tr. Babette Deutsch) - 4/5 stars

It's so much more difficult to write reviews about 200-year-old classics than modern spec-fic. This book made me laugh, which is a solid point in its favor. I also survived my foray into novels-in-verse, which is another point.

As you were.

#2 - The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (tr. Aylmer Maude) - 5/5 stars ('23 TBR)

Next on my list of "one of those Russian guys", this time the book that Ruby read for school that made her cry.

And...woof. Yeah, I definitely cried. Not an easy story to read, but I am glad I read it.

#3 - Paradise Lost by John Milton - 4/5 stars ('23 TBR)

Well. I read it. Goodness knows why, but just managing that was a struggle.

The descriptions were vivid, and once I'd adjusted to the style it was engaging. It's definitely not something I'm used to, though, so it was an exceedingly slow read. That said, I do think it was a perfect book to finish right before Christmas. It felt right.

#4 - Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 1-3 by Hiromu Arakawa - 5/5 stars

Finally! Finally I have picked up this series! And I'm very glad I did. Needed something a little lighter after everything I've been reading lately.

As expected, it was delightful.

I chose to track reading with this series by the three-in-one omnibus volumes, given the relatively low page count per volume. I own the first three volumes as singles and just picked up a copy of four-through-six; the rest will have to come from the library, which will take some finagling.

#5 - The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis - 5/5 stars

Read this in one sitting to get to a round number of finished reads for 2023 and.... Wow. No thoughts. Lots of sticky tabs used. Just gonna...sit here for a bit.

Anyway.

2023 Reading Wrap-Up!

My goals for reading in 2023 included:

Read plenty of nonfiction: ok so I finished nine nonfic books, which narrowly beat out 2022's seven, but.... Yeah. We're gonna try this again next year. (I have at least two dozen on my reading tracker. I am nothing if not optimistic.)

Finish the Lord Peter Wimsey series: done and wowwwww

Get back into Discworld: I read the three Industrial Revolution books. So...not as much as I'd hoped to read but they were fun as ever! I plan to dive into the Witches subseries in 2024 and go from there.

Branch out into a few new genres: I generally didn't do so well with this one; gothic of any kind isn't for me. I will say I'm officially over general YA fantasy; I found a couple of MG books I enjoyed and will gladly recommend to the kids in my life.

General Stats:

Total Books read: 90 (84 last year)

Re-reads: 30 (including: all of the City Between series [10] in January; all but one of both Narnia [6] and the Fairyland Chronicles [4]; and all of Murderbot [6])

New Authors: 31 (24 last year)

Audiobooks: 62 (45 last year)

Nonfiction: 9 (7 last year)

DNF: 14 (19 last year)

Alphabet Book Titles: 26 out of 26!

2023 TBR:

Read: 19

DNF: 5

Didn’t Get To: 1 (currently reading this one)

My Top Five Anticipated 2023 Reads:

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - 4/5 stars

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 4/5 stars

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers - 5/5 stars

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - DNF @ 35%

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel - 3/5 stars

Top Five New Reads of 2023:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie

2024 Reading Plans:

Reading Goal: 100 books. Why not be obnoxious for once and actually set an unrealistic goal? (For the record, I had almost 100 books on my "potential 2024 reading list" back in September; I did my best to winnow it down but, with some carry-over from this year, it's currently at 88 books. Of those, 36 are hard-and-fast "to read in 2024" books.)

Get to some of the older residents of my TBR. There are some books that have been on my formal TBR for nearly a decade. I'm not even sure where a lot of them came from, but it's time to see if they're any good.

More nonfiction! Guys, I'm learning things! I feel like such an accomplished adult! Topics on the list for 2024 include cadavers, history and travel, murder, mythology, fungi, WWII hijinks, and pirates.

Another, less impromptu Alphabet of Book Titles challenge? In addition to the expected Q, X, Y, and Z, this year I struggled with R, F, and K for some reason? (I DNF'd three or four R titles and disliked the one I did finish.) I already have both a Q and a Z title sitting on my physical bookshelf at home and have a Y option picked out. X is still tripping me up (if I wasn't set on new titles I'd reread Xenocide). Since I'm that close already and I pulled it off in 2023, I'm tentatively going to try again.

Top Five Anticipated Reads of 2024

Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day by Stephan Talty

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

[densewentz]

just say I was the top listener spotify smh

[aeymii]

That one time he was sick

[meli-mouse]

takin dumb photos at a sleepover or something

[bilolli]

[crabplatinum]

my fave duo!! the beloved leader and his right hand short ass yapper scout :3 can u tell im absolutely exploding wanting to draw my pookies but struggling with the robots...

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I take back my former Luo Binghe design. Big Buff Binghe is too standard. It's expected. The sillier angle to take is: manifesting his small, needy dog energy into physical form.

[skunkes]

Hii, the PDF of my 2024 digital sketchbook is now up on itch.io! ^_^

$4 for all of my drawings from January - December 2024, and an extra page of "unused" drawings ^_^

🔞 this includes all my 18+ work!🔞

More little details on the project page!

🍀Link here for those interested!🍀

[twilightcitysky]

Courtship

“Crowley, come in! I was just redecorating.”

“Really? You never redecorate. Last change you made was in 1860, when you had the plumbing installed.”

Aziraphale smiled at him. “After everything that happened, I started thinking things over,” he said tenderly. “We almost lost the bookshop, but here it is, good as new. We almost lost the world, and… and now that we didn’t, I want to make some changes. I think it’s time.”

Crowley frowned. “Here, have you got something in your eye? You keep blinking.”

Aziraphale stopped trying to flutter his eyelashes. “I’ve painted the back room,” he said eventually, in a more normal tone of voice. “Would you like to see?”

He headed towards the door without waiting for an answer and pushed it open. “What do you think?”

“Oh, um. Very nice. I might’ve gone with a warm gray, or maybe mother-of-pearl… but yellow’s good too.”

“I happen to like this particular shade of yellow,” Azirphale said, a trifle testily. “Very much.”

Crowley held up his hands. “Hey, it’s your bookshop. Are you ready for lunch?”

*

“What’s this?”

“They’re flowers. Roses, dahlias, and a few Peruvian lilies.”

"What do they do?"

Aziraphale, holding out the intricately beribboned, carefully wrapped and above all expensive display from the most exclusive florist in London, began to feel a bit awkward. "They… smell nice, I suppose? And they can brighten up a room."

Crowley peered over his glasses. "Sure, for a little while. But they're cut, see?" He touched the bottom of the bouquet, as if Aziraphale perhaps hadn't noticed. "They'll die in a week."

“I suppose. I thought you might–”

“Is this more redecorating? I can help with that, no problem. Listen, why don’t I get rid of these for you… and if you’re wanting something for the bookshop, we’ll get a nice rubber plant to put under the window.”

Aziraphale sighed.

*

“Oi, angel! Think you dropped something!” Crowley jogged to catch up with him and put the matte black box, which he’d left on the seat of the Bentley, back into his hands.

“Ah. Actually, you see… that was for you.” Aziraphale felt his cheeks heat. “In case you got peckish,” he added lamely.

“This fancy stuff? Men break into bedrooms at midnight to leave this kind of chocolate next to pillows. Saw it in an advert.”

Aziraphale brightened. “Would you like me to break into your bedroom?” he asked, a tad breathlessly.

Crowley laughed. “What for? Listen, why don’t you have these. You’ll appreciate ‘em more than I will.”

*

“Are you ready to go?” Crowley glanced at his watch.

“Just one more thing. I. Er. I-thought-you-could-wear-this,” Aziraphale said in a rush. “If you like.”

Crowley took the velvet box from his trembling hand.

He opened it. “It’s…”

“Yes?”

“It’s very sparkly.” Crowley held the ring up to the light.

“It’s a diamond,” Aziraphale said desperately. “A diamond ring.”

“Oh. And you’re givin’ it to me because…”

“I–” Aziraphale stopped. He searched Crowley’s face, looking for a flicker of understanding. “My dear, I would like–”

“Oh wait, let me guess. It’s for your magic act, right? Are you practicing palming again, or is this the sort of ring that squirts ink when you twist the jewel?” Crowley pulled curiously at a glittering stone the size of his thumbnail. “Happy to help if you need an assistant. Just no more bullet tricks, okay?”

Aziraphale stared at him. “Yes,” he replied dully. “My magic act. Yes. Exactly. I’m trying to make something appear.”

“Got it in one!” Crowley gave him a pleased grin. “I know you so well, angel.”

“I daresay you do.”

Aziraphale followed him out to the car. There’s nothing else for it, he thought. I’ll have to throw a cotillion ball.

[nwluxx]

Sasuke is in his "am I just a friend to you?" phase 😅 Naruto's sure to crack soon 👌

[qprpbj]

my outsiders musical hot take is steve being reduced to ensemble is kinda not at all that serious 🥸

[spaciebabie]

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND....HER LIPS.....ARE ALWAYS THERE

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

How I've seen most people write Rangi coming out to her mom:

Rangi: Mom, I have something to tell you.

Hei-Ran: Go on.

Rangi: Kyoshi and I.....are.....together.

Hei-Ran: Oh I'm so happy for you.

*they hug it out, much wholesome*

How I think the coming out scene went:

Rangi: Mother. I need to tell you something, Kyoshi and I are together.

Hei-Ran: Oh thank the spirits. It finally happened.

Rangi: ???? You knew????

Hei-Ran: Sweetie, everyone in the mansion-no, all of Yokoya knew about it! Well except for Kyoshi.

Rangi: ????!! WHAT?!

Hei-Ran: I'm pretty sure Jianzhu thought you were dating, that's probably why he kidnapped you, you know?

Rangi: WH-HOW?!

Hei-Ran: Oh please, we saw your gay little ass running all over the damn mansion just to be near Kyoshi and to impress her. We were mute, not blind and deaf!

Rangi, having a crisis: I-wha-but-

Hei-Ran: Well, you aren't very good at hiding your emotions sweetie.

Rangi, flipping a nearby table: The fuck you mean I'm not?????!

Hei-Ran: Oh curses, go get Atuat, I owe her $5.

Rangi: YOU BETTED ON THIS????? WITH YOUR DOCTOR?????

Hei-Ran: Well Kelsang is dead, so I had to keep our bet alive somehow.

Rangi: I-*inhales* YOu know what? Doesn't matter! Do you accept Kyoshi or not?

Hei-Ran: Anybody who gives my girl that much cardio is 100% welcome into our family. In fact, I already added her to our family registry 2 years ago. As far as the Fire Nation is concerned, you two have been married for a while.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

caps from comic Im doing

[buboplague]

I've been on a small reading binge the last month, anyone have book recommendations? Any genre is fine, but preferably something a bit lighthearted, or easy/fun reads!

edit: oooo thank you guys!! I'll be checking out the ones I have library access to!

[spinecurlingmice]

losing it