#tbr for the month just got a little longer

[libertyreads]

Well, I was having a bad day...until this afternoon.

[sflow-er]

Sunday snippet

I haven't done these in a while, so to kick myself back into gear, I'm sharing with you the start of an aged-up Henry oneshot that grew out of my QP Walty writing practice...

It's a long one, so I'm putting it under a cut.

[Title TBR]

If there was one thing about today that Henry did not expect to struggle with, it was his necktie.

After all, he’s got enough experience to tie it on muscle memory alone. Three whole decades’ worth. From the tedious lessons with his father since before he started primary school, to the uniformed school celebrations and secret Society meetings at Hillerska, to the summer balls of Riddarskapet och Adelns Ungdomsklubb and an assortment of high society events that have dappled his life since early adulthood. A tie was not necessarily required on all those occasions, but he always found it harder to meet the standards without one.

That’s not even to mention the last few years and the campaign he started after his father’s untimely death. Sometimes, it feels as if he’s been armoured in a silk tie and a Windsor knot every other day since the funeral, to meet with some old baron or former Society brother. Rationally, he knows that’s not true; there was plenty of tieless time in between, and the last six months have been almost entirely tie-free. It’s just hard to see that when the tie days get on top of his mind.

Which makes today’s fumbling all the more frustrating.

Even with Henry drawing on his vast experience – and standing in front of the massive bathroom mirror that should remove all margin for error – the knot keeps coming out untidy. Whether it’s one or both shoulders peeking out, or the blade being too short and the tail too long, or the end result being too tight or loose by look or feel.

It doesn’t take much effort to imagine what the late Carl Emil Silfverfeldt would make of this travesty his sole heir has just inched up to his collar. Henry can see it when he holds his own gaze in the mirror; the blue of their eyes is exactly the same, as is the critical look. The longer he stays like that, the easier it is to feel a hand on his shoulder and the words ‘we agreed that you would give it your best, and we are men of our word, aren’t we?’ in his gut.

This, he thinks grimly, is most definitely not his best. He would not settle for it even on an average day, let alone an occasion. Regardless of everything else, today is an occasion, and he cannot – will not – turn up in this mess when he’s perfectly capable of making it look right –

He breaks eye contact with a sigh and catches his head with his fingertips. Careful not to mess up his hair, he kneads his forehead from brow to temples, trying to disperse the thought that’s been popping up all morning.

Maybe a break is in order. He isn’t sure if he can still afford one when he’s already wasted so much time, but it’s not like the party can start without him.

He slinks back to the bedroom, removing the tie along the way. He should probably hang it with his jacket and waistcoat, but he can’t be bothered to circle around the king-size bed to get to them. On top of the dresser will do.

Both his phone and his smartwatch keep blinking at him as he adds the tie to the items already laid out next to the charging station – signet ring, cufflinks, antique pocket watch, little square box. No doubt he’s missed a ton of messages. Figuring he might as well catch up now, he grabs the phone and takes a seat at the foot end of the bed.

He could have guessed that the first batch would be from his mother, Mikaela. She’s been freaking out about Säpo at the manor house all morning, as if there was any risk of the agents suddenly ruling the venue unsafe and calling the whole thing off.

Then again, that would be a pretty smooth way out of this tie slump. Is it too late to call August or Wilhelm and ask them to fix a last-minute security threat? Surely at least one of them must have done it before.

The thought coaxes a laugh out of him, but alas. Mikaela’s texts about the Security Police hassle end with someone having reassured her that the event can proceed with both former crown princes in attendance.

She has moved on to requesting his input on something else, apparently explained in a long voice message. There’s also a random picture of stylised yellow roses.

‘Darling, I know you’re busy getting ready, but if it’s not too much trouble,’ Mikaela starts in a tone that strongly implies it will be. ‘I’m getting a lot of questions about what is and isn’t appropriate. Five separate people – for example, Cecilia showed me her card this morning, and there were roses on it. I said you said no flowers, but she insisted, so I promised to send you a picture. Let me know what you think, okay?’

Henry sighs and enlarges the photo. He doesn’t know much about flowers or what they’re supposed to represent, but his aunt probably does. He doesn’t hate the card – but that’s about as far as he gets in forming an opinion before his mother overwhelms him with the rest of her query.

.-.-.

Cutting it off here for now (and also reserving the right to edit further). I'm fairly excited for this one so hopefully I can continue working on it to finish it soon-ish!

[theinquisitxor]

October Reading Wrap Up

October was a great reading month and I got through ten(!) books in the month. That's more than I've read in a while, so it felt good to be able to know I can still read that many. I read some spooky/halloweenish books, as well as continued a few series, and finished a series.

1.Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters 2) by Juliet Marillier, 5/5 stars. I started the month with reading the second Sevenwaters book. Just like with book 1, I enjoyed this immensely, and I found the characters and storyline to be strong and engaging. This one is even more romance heavy than the first books. Adult historical fantasy

2.Paladin's Hope (Saint of Steel 3) by T. Kingfisher, 4.5/5 stars. Another good installment in this series and new mystery that our characters are faced with. This one was a bit shorter than the first two books, and I wish this was a little longer, but otherwise it was great as always! Adult fantasy romance

3.The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way by Bill Bryson This was my nonfiction book for the month, and I read this on audio. Enjoyable, but I felt like it was a little dated. I've read other more recent books on linguistics, and enjoyed them more. Nonfiction.

4.Echo North by Joanna Ruth Mayer, 4/5 stars. This was an enjoyable YA fantasy, and a good blend of fairytales I really enjoy. I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but this reminded me of some of the 'older' YA that is really good. East of the Sun West of the Moon, batb, cupid & psyche retellings all blended together. The author also credits Robin McKinley, DWJ, and Edith Pattou as big inspirations, and I could tell. YA fantasy

5.Last Argument of Kings (First Law 3) by Joe Abercrombie, ?/5 stars. I honestly was so done reading this trilogy, and just wanted to know how it ended so I could just finish it. I skimmed most of it, and only read the Glokta chapters and the ending. This type of fantasy is 100% not for me. I only finished the series because my brother gifted me the boxed set (and he read them). Adult fantasy

6.I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacquline Harpman, 5/5 stars. This is a lesser known classic that's gotten some popularity recently. It's part dystopian, part science fiction, and reminded me a little of The Wall which I read earlier this year. Very poignant, dark, but an exploration of self and a woman on her own. This is translated from French!

7.A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher, 4/5 stars. Another good T Kingfisher fairy tale retelling (however this was quite loose on the retelling), but also dark, featuring child abuse and animal horror. But there is humor, and a good cast of adult characters trying to fix the situation, and I like how T Kingfisher writes competent adults.

8.Witch Week (Chrestomanci 3) by Diana Wynne Jones, 3/5 stars. I started this on audio, but finished with the physical book. Can't say I enjoyed this one as much as the first two. This just reminded me of how horrible middle school was! A good halloween time read though. Middle grade fantasy.

9.The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky, 4/5 stars. This is a historical fantasy that has been on my tbr since 2019. This is light on the fantasy elements, and about first contact between Inuit and Vikings in present-day Canada about 1000 years ago. Our main character is an Inuit shaman, and they and a viking have to team up to save the land and their peoples. Super detail rich and well written.

10. Graveyard Shift by ML Rio, 4/5 stars. A good read for Halloween, and excited to see that ML Rio is publishing again! A thriller about 5 people trying to discover who made a new grave in an abandoned graveyard. As someone who works in academia, I liked the academia element in this story, I only wish it was longer!

I'm on track to finish my Goodreads Reading Challenge this year, which is 80 books. Usually I get somewhere in the 90s, but not this year I guess. For Nov and December, I'm planning on finishing the Sevenwaters series, and Chrestomanci, so I'll be prioritizing those books.

November tbr:

The Scorpio Races (reread on audio)

Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters 3)

Heir to Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters 4)

Chrestomanci: The Magicians of Caprona (book 4)

Paladin's Fate (Saint of Steel 4)

Nonfiction

The Word for Woman is Wilderness

Cape Cod (on audio?)

The Virgin in the Garden

[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

[matrose]

Explore my bookshelf!

Tagged by @swanmaids like a MONTH ago but i just remembered this so im doing it now:))

An estimate of how many physical books I own: more than 300 id say… ive got a bunch of books in storage in my moms basement and im running out of space again in my little dormroom….

Favorite author: choosing one is way too hard…off the top of my head id say mary renault, adrian tchaikovsky, octavia e. butler, and tolkien:)

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: maybe im being too judgmental too quickly but i have yet to read a booktok book that ive loved :,) i also dont like romance in general so im gonna stay away from the whole colleen hoover and ali hazelwood corner over there

A popular book I thought was just meh: the priory of the orange tree ☹️ i wanted to love it but i think the comparisons it got had my expectations way too high and i ended up disappointed :((

Longest book I own: probably some science fiction collection ebook that ive got, maybe the collected stories of arthur c. clarke or something?

Longest series I own all the books to: history of middleearth? 😏 i also own all german released animorphs books (just 30 ☹️) so bookwise thats longer but im unsure about wordcount :///

Prettiest book I own: the 100+ year old butterfly catalogue that belonged to my great-grandfather hehe

A book or series I wish more people knew about: children of time…..im forcing SO many people to read it. dr avrana kern is literally in it

Book I'm reading now: jane eyre & robinson crusoe & he who drowned the world

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: TOO MANY…. a wizard of earthsea final answer

Do you have any books in a language other than English: yes. ive got german books and like atleast one in french and latin floating around somewhere

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook? i love ebook for the convenience:) i also like physical books but am indifferent to paperback or hardcover…

tagging: @icedille @himemiyaaah @swordcustodybattle @souldagger @allucka uuuh 😭 anyone else thag wants to 😞

[iamthecomet]

I havent finished it myself yet (cus Im a dreadfully slow reader, irl its 10000x worse)

but my friends HIGHLLYYY recommended "the house in fhe cerulean sea" by TJ Klune and it just got a sequel like, last month lol. its a YA but it doesnt read like one if that makes sense?

It's setting is basically today but add some people with magical abilities or from fantasy creature origin. but its all still pretty down to earth for its setting. and has some really cool themes! the story is hard to explain without spoiling anything tho. also the main character and narrator/pov is an adult! which you dont see often in YA or its like, a fresh 18 yo instead of someone in their 30's or 40's (I dont remember which rn sorry lol)

I own this! (But haven't read it). And it's one of my bosses favorite books! (She's mad at me that I haven't read it yet). It has such a good premise and I am very excited to (someday) actually pick it up and read it. We just got the sequel in at work and it was on the shelf for like...two hours before someone came in and borrowed it. They were *very* excited.

We have it shelved as like adul fiction and not YA at my library. I feel like it hovers in that in between place, where it is sort of YA and sort of not. a few years back they (authors/publishers) tried to make a new market called New Adult (so like geared toward older teens and 20-30 year olds) but it never really took off, and I feel like that's where this one fits. Like not quite an "adult" novel but also a little too mature for the younger teens and therefore it just kind of bounces around between them and no one really knows where it belongs (ACOTAR is like this too--so many library's shelve it as YA, but uhhhhh).

ANYWAY, I've heard basically only good things about Cerulean Sea so I really need to get around to it. The TBR is just very long, and gets longer by the minute haha.

[ritzcrackee]

september tbr yayyyyy

rereads are marked by a ✩, new reads are marked by a ♡, library reads are italicized and new acquisitions are bolded

physical tbr: 8

dune messiah - frank herbert - ♡

oedipus rex - sophocles - ♡

antigone - sophocles - ♡

medea - euripides - ♡

the way of kings - brandon sanderson - ♡

wuthering heights - emily bronte - ♡

circe - madeline miller - ☆

the immortalists - chloe benjamin - ☆

digital tbr: 2

the hundred years war on palestine - rashid khalidi - ♡

in the shadow of the sun - em castellan - ♡

last months books: 8

a dowry of blood - s. t. gibson - 5/5

this was a rereaddddddd and it held up! i'll always feel mildly conflicted about alexi's age but its not enough of a hang-up for me to lower my rating. i like this book a lottttt yippee

dune - frank herbert - 1.5/5

guys. i fuckinf. ifucghinh. i did it. i rwad dune. slamsmy head againsy the wall.

i haven't talked about this yet (i think), but i kind of read dune twice? i realized very early on that the physical book wasn't the way to go for me. something about trying to absorb complex information when there's pretty lights and sounds and tiny tiny text on a weirdly shaped object was truly? impossible for me. BUT!! my good friend (hiii king) had given me his special annotated copy so i really wanted to read his thoughts on everything?

anyways, the way i solved this problem was to just... read everything twice. once, physically, as more of a vibes catching heavy skim, and then again, digitally, really trying to understand the minutiae of it.

this approach maybe worked? i still couldn't tell you very much of the plot, but knowing what was coming helped me enjoy it more? idfk

my favorite part wasssss the annex at the end and the chapter where the ecologist dies ❤

(franz please don't be offended by my rating and come to my house and kill me IM SORRY IM BAD AT SCI-FI I STILL LIKED IT)

in at the deep end - kate davies - 2.5/5

meh. writing style was fast paced and interesting, but a little too #qUirKy for me. the author said she was a big fan pf pheobe waller-bridge, and like... yeah you did kind of write knock-off lesbian fleabag didn't you? (to be clear i did enjoy this somewhat, just a perfectly average amount lol.

done deal - skrifores on ao3 - 4/5

woo hoo this was a 50k word modern au gentlebeard fic :3 i feel like 50k is enough to count as a novella? i guess we r tracking long fics too now. um yeah this was very sweeeet and very cuteeeeee

turn on the light - smallest church on ao3 - 5/5

THIS MADE ME TEAR UPPPPPP my babies.... (also a gentlebeard modern au fic but THIS one was 55k. so. yay)

divorce towers - ellen meister - 1/5

yeah idk what i expected. i got a free trial of amazon prime and this looked like the most interesting of the free book options? wish i had dnfed it halfway through but yk. i'm sure its for someone out there.

beastars vol 1 - paru itagaki - 5/5

yayyyy beastars ❤ fun fact i absolutely hated the anime on my first watch but like,,, in that obsessed way yk? rewatched it recently and LOVEDDDD it so i'm making my way through the manga :3

beastars vol 2 - paru itagaki - 5/5

i love to love animal cannibals....

last months goal: find a tbr system that fits my current goals better lmao

i just added a library marker lol. i was gifted a couple books, so my physical tbr got a lil longer. alsoo i keep reading novella/novel length fanfics so i'm tracking those as well heart emoji.

this months goal: read some stuff off of my fall tbr

gang i'm tired. the reading slump has been so real and i KNOW the fall weather is gonna kick my ass. i'd also love to finish a hard book this month but realistically i will read six fanfics and a romance. fml.

[cuephrase]

2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 29, 30 for comics

coming from this ask game

2. The most recent comic you got

The Boy Wonder #4

picked it up this wednesday at my LCS, (along with batman #151 and absolute power #2), i have seriously enjoyed this black label mini sm so far and this issue made me so soft and melty inside fr

5. The oldest comic you have

New Teen Titans Annual #1

this came out august 19, 1982, so it's...like ten days away from being 42 years old? neat!!

6. The comic you were most excited to find

Nightwing (2011) #15

so this a screenshot bc i actually got this as a gift for my brother-in-law!!

mini story time: when i decided i wanted to start reading bat comics, i went to him and asked where to start for nightwing and he loaned me his collection of n52 nightwing with great excitement lmao. (he started reading nightwing midway through this run releasing- it's what got him into nightwing- no judging allowed!!) this was the first series he started collecting/one of the two he kept when he sold most of his collection to pay for his honeymoon.

he didn't have the whole run though, (which omg we talked about pricing and it is wild how much the value of a comic book fluctuates), so i decided to get the handful of issues he was missing for him as a birthday gift. this was really easy except for this issue bc it has two covers. this one, and a joker version. i passionately hate the joker cover but it was the only one i could find- in person or online, so i almost gave up. being patient paid off, though, and i was able to get him the cover i wanted!! very exciting. plus!! he was so stoked when he saw the cover bc, as it turns out, he also hated the joker cover, which is why he didn't own the issue

7. The comic you searched for the longest

Red Robin #25

i started collecting red robin on oct 15, and i got this issue (the last one i needed), on feb 20, so it took a little over four months. i usually have pretty great luck at finding what i'm looking for the day i go looking for it lol, so this was super satisfying to bring home for a variety of reasons

9. The longest comic/collected edition you have

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. #1, Robin 80th Anniversary: 100-Page Super Spectacular

i'm pretty sure the ntt omni is bigger than any of the saga omnis i have, but i will confess i did not check page count. fun fact tho, i got this signed by marv wolfman. got to chat with him for a bit about tim, nightwing, and getting into the industry which was super neat.

and then the robin 80th is the longest single i own. i think? again, did not check page count but i can't think of anything longer. i don't think b:ul or wf3 are longer?

29. The comic you're currently reading...

...(or want to re-read soon)

Superboy (1994) #1, Robin (1993) #1, Young Justice (1998) #1

i just started reading superboy today!! i've been looking forward to reading him for awhile and finally made it to him, woo!! enjoying it so far too :)

and then i'm just kinda constantly in a state of wanting to re-read robin and yj98 lmao. idk if it'll happen 'soon', idk why but i get super squirrelly about re-reading when i have other stuff on my tbr 😅. i don't have that many titles left on my tbr so. i'll either finish my tbr or break somewhere and re-read. i honestly don't know lmao

30. Dealer's choice: a random comic!

Nightwing (2016) #87

i got this bad boy for free because i made the vendor laugh 😎 (disclaimer, ship who you want, i'm not judging or looking for a fight, okay? okay cool.)

i was at the Collectibles Warehouse (generic made-up name) with my dad for the first time, super fun, and he was helping me look/asking questions as we went. the vendor saw me looking through his nightwing stuff and started telling me about an issue of batgirl (babs) he had just sold, the first time they kissed i think? first something for dickbabs.

dad: "oh first kiss, that's pretty cool, do you want to see that one?"

me: "no, i'm okay"

dad: "i thought you liked him with the redhead??"

me, laughing: "i do, but the redhead i like is starfire"

dad: "he's been with multiple redheads?!"

me, dying laughing: "yes"

dad (stage whisper): "so you don't ship him with her...are they a bad couple?"

me: "...i just prefer him with starfire"

vendor, apparently eavesdropping, burst out laughing: "i had no idea young people still shipped those two! dc's been pushing dickbabs so hard, i thought all the kids liked them. man i love when he's with starfire. you want that comic?" (i was holding the comic, about to show my dad bc, yk, pretty cover) "for you, that one's free"

me: "are you sure?!" (this was a more expensive one- not like Expensive, just above retail)

vendor: "oh yeah, you just made my whole day"

never think i'll experience that again, very entertaining series of events.

bonus: dad's reaction to the cover

dad: "oh my. his pants are very...shiny. look at his thighs! he has very nice thighs, wow"

me: "dude, ikr!!"

tysm for the ask, anon!! i hope you enjoyed the answers :)

[9thbutterfly]

Tiny book reviews

Once again it has been a few months since I did this. And I've continued to read even as work got busy, which feels like a big accomplishment!

I feel like my brain has recovered a bit from the exhaustion of the last few (more than a few?) years, but let's see if I actually remember things about the books I read two months ago.

She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker Chan

It was... okay? It's nice to get out of Fantasy-Europe, but it also didn't really pull me in. I guess it feels kind of lonely, if that makes sense? I like books where I can feel a web of characters liking and caring about each other, and this wasn't that.

Drachenglanz (Empire of Ivory), by Naomi Novik

One of those middle-of-the-series books that I pick up at the book bazaar to see if I like the style and the rest of the series is worth reading, and in this case, yes it is. Even though I had very little idea what was going on or who the characters were, it felt engaging enough that I want to read the rest.

Grass for his Pillow, by Lian Hearn

I remember little about this, except that it was a quick easy read and left me annoyed that I had not yet ordered the next book.

The Burning God, R.F. Kuang

I wanted to like this trilogy, and was interested enough in the plot to finish it, but it was too grim and bleak for me, and while the first part still had the saving grace of characters who cared about each other, that fell away as they ended up dying or betraying each other, so I was pretty much just trying to get through to the end as quickly as possible.

Temeraire, by Naomi Novik

Starting to read this in the proper order now. I have very vague memories of reading this before, when my best friend lent it to me years ago, but really nothing past "dragon egg gets found on enemy ship", so I got to read and enjoy the rest as if I had never read it before.

An Artificial Night, by Seanan McGuire

I guess I have been well and truly drawn into this series. Going back to the Bay Area, even in fictional form, is always hard, because there is always a gaping hole where my friend Cindy no longer lives (I started reading Seanan's books mostly because Cindy knew her personally). This one was harder to read than the previous two in the series for a different reason, though - abducted children are much harder to bear since becoming a parent. Anyway, itching to buy the next one, but I need to somewhat reduce my TBR pile first.

Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt

I have no idea how this ended up in my TBR pile (got it from a neighbour, maybe?) and I wasn't even going to read it, because it is so not my thing, either in subject matter or style, but somehow it still drew me in. Glad to be done with it, though, because alcoholic parents just. Piss. Me. Off. Look, I know it's an addiction and they can't help it, but also get your shit together and stop making your children suffer, for fuck's sake. #yeah thanks Papa

Die Herrin der Farben [The Mistress of the Colours], by Peter Dempf

Another one that I think I got from our neighbour. Historical novels can be nice, but this one annoyed me right out the gate with stereotypical "women were treated like trash and corsets mean they couldn't breathe" stuff. Sure some of the "treated like trash" might be true, but to have that be all you have to say about the lives of women is just not enough for me any more. And I couldn't care about the plot, either.

Into the Narrowdark, by Tad Williams

A reread, and I immediately wanted to start into another one.

Tad, oh Tad. What do I say to describe his books? Do I love his books because the characters always care about each other, or is characters caring about each other so important to me because his books helped shape who I am? But either way, this book, like all of the Osten Ard books, is full of characters I love so much, from my decades-old friends like Simon, Miriamele or Tiamak, to my new "babies" like Jesa and Nezeru, and also full of mysteries that I desperately want the answers to. What is going on in Tanakiru? Why is Yeja'aro behaving like he does? And what the HELL is the Red Thing?!

Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go get yourself The Dragonbone Chair, and then the rest of the series. This is an order.

Voll im Bilde (Moving Pictures), by Terry Pratchett

I bravely keep trying to read Terry Pratchett, whenever I find one of his books at the bazaar, because I know everyone loves him, and I want to know what people are talking about, what all the clever quotes on tumblr are from and such, but it always feels like trying yet another dish from a country whose cooking style you just don't enjoy. (Not that I have encountered such a situation. Maybe I should say, like taking a sip of yet another alcoholic drink, knowing I just do not enjoy the taste of alcohol.) I guess I got even less out of this one than others because I'm not a film person, either. And I still don't understand the point of some kind of dark force making people make movies? But I also don't want to try harder to understand.

After all, have decided I need to reread all the Osten Ard books yet again, and to wonder some more about the Red Thing.

[elizais]

hiii! you seem to have only started writing recently but i would love to hear how you got into bsd/writing? thank you! also, would you like to be called elizais?

heyy! so, yes, call me elizais. obvs not my actual name because that is silly to share but for your main question:

i got into bsd agessss ago. like 2020/21 ish? i want to say? so around when haikyuu dance animations were being liked by everyone and their dads. and i watched seasons 1, 2, 3 and loved it! but that was ages ago and i was one of them anime kids and a lot less mature then i am now.

and i was so hyperfixated on it for a year or so and read a few of the books of the authors and that. but then i became too reliant on it to feel happy? if that makes sense. and then angst would make me feel utterly miserable for the rest of the week. so little me went full cold turkey on it and made a new tt account and everything. that is when i really matured and grew into who i am now.

and then like a couple months ago one of my friends (i'll say 'A' for his name) that i'm not that close with comes up to me and a couple others at lunch and they ask me to hold this book for a second. it was no longer human and omg i literally had flashbacks. because whilst i did leave behind bsd, i did still enjoy reading.

and then i message them later abt the book and we start talking ab the anime and A tells me s4 + s5 is out but they were only on season 1 and that is when i started thinking of rewatching it and watching s4 and 5.

and then the next day my english teacher is going on ab poetry and i enjoy analysing poetry. she is my bff and an absolute saint and she says that there are a lot of great japanese poets and i swear my eyes popped out of my skull bcs after the lesson i went to the bathroom to go on my phone. (booo british schools banning phones) and i pulled up my old tbr list and the book of nakahara chuya's poems were on there and i ordered it.

that same night i was going through every emotion at once and just had to go back to what brought me the most comfort when i was that upset years ago and that is bsd!!! i watched it all within a few weeks and none of my friends now had watched all of it so i loaded up tumblr and started to talk 2 ppl about the show!!

thank u for asking nonnie! thats it in a nutshell :))

[pastelwitchling]

How's everyone's reading going? I always struggle to pick up more than kindle unlimited sports romances when school and work start, but I'm really pushing myself past that stress in small ways.

Here are the books I'm currently reading, just finished, and am hoping to get to soon that I really wanted to talk about:

The Sun and the Star (read): This book is pure serotonin. It's one of the longer Percy Jackson books, but I never felt the length for a single second. There were definite moments where I could tell someone other than Rick Riordan had taken over writing, but that doesn't change how fun and romantic the book was. What an absolute treasure.

Scoring Position (read): kindle unlimited mlm hockey romance. I just finished this today actually, and it ended up getting a lower rating than what it had been for most of the book, but I'm still glad I read it. It did offer a good palette cleanser, and though I didn't end up loving it the way I'd hoped I would, I would still recommend it for a nice time.

Under the Whispering Door (currently reading): I tried reading this a few months ago and DNFed after chapter five or something. I felt like the humor was hit-and-miss, I thought Wallace was a little too annoying, but I knew that I didn't want to DNF it for good. Why? I really liked Hugo, Mei, and Nelson, and the teashop. I thought there was some good potential there. I have to drive a lot to school and work, and I figured that since I couldn't enjoy reading this physically, then maybe I would have a better time on audiobook, annnnd... yeah. The narrator is phenomenal, I would highly recommend this audiobook if you couldn't get into the paperback. He has a way of reading in SUCH a funny way that I was suddenly laughing at lines I didn't think were funny the first time. I've got less than 3 hours of the audiobook left, and I'm having a great time. It's not anything groundbreaking, and I think the first half was very slow and repetitive, but it really has got me thinking about death and life a little bit more, and I really enjoy these characters. I now love Wallace, he's hilarious and becomes so easy to love, and I can't wait to see how this story ends.

House of Sky and Breath (currently reading): Anyone else really have trouble reading physical books when they're super stressed or overwhelmed? That's kind of where I am. I'm annotating and tabbing my paperback copy, I'm 10 chapters in, but I feel like I just don't have the strength right now to physically hold a book, you know? The first book in particular already took me so long to read because of its length (you're not Order of the Phoenix, STOP trying to be Order of the Phoenix, not every story can carry that kind of page count!), and now I just feel like I'd be going through it faster if I can read it digitally. I won't get my ebook copy from the library for over 2 weeks, so I might just try to read as much as I can now, and then finish with the ebook. I know the big spoiler at the end, but beyond that, I have no idea what happens in this book, and I can't wait to find out.

Books I want to pick up next:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part of last year's reread so that I can start this year's reread. I'm afraid, but it must be done.

Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods: I think I was subconsciously waiting until after the show ended to dive back into this world, and I'm just ready to spend all day with my favorite demigod (and satyr) trio.

House of Flame and Shadow: Is this a shock to anyone? I should've read HoSaB sooner so I would be ready for this book now, but I overestimated by reading speed, so here we are. I hope to get to it before any spoilers start circulating.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: I have more books on my physical TBR, but this is one of the lightest and I think I need that.

The Paladin's Shadow: 'Nough said. Anything by Tavia Lark is gold.

I love talking about books so much, so please do let me know what you're reading now, how you're feeling about it, what you'd like to pick up soon. It's always fun to me to discuss books, and I'd really like to talk more about them on my tumblr from now on. I still have it tagged rin reads if you want to filter that out though.

[lotsofplanetshaveadeathstar]

Random snippet that's been floating around my head that needs to get out

Some backstory: I do a Goodreads challenge every year and it's always for 100 books. This year, however, I did not read a book basically from mid-September until sometime in November bc I truly did not have time between school, work, and HHN. However, I have a massive curated TBR that I use to request books from the local library/request that the local library buy specific books and deliver them to my house, which I sometimes do weeks/months in advance of those books being released, which is a long-winded way of saying that I still had books being delivered to my house on a weekly (at minimum) basis. So it got to be the second week of December and I needed to read something like 15 books to hit my goal (which I did, and I even got in an extra for 101 total for the year), so I'm speeding through these books as fast as I can, which is fairly easy due to the type of book I usually read (YA romance or thriller with the occasional adult fiction or nonfiction thrown in the mix). However, there was one YA historical fiction that was so well written, especially with how the author handled the romance plot, that it had me *feeling* things (nothing dirty, you pervs). The longing, the denial, the little touches, it all came together to produce a wonderfully bittersweet story that touched my heart and my brain and my soul in such a way that had me longing for a situation of my own (or at least, what I imagine that would look like since I've never had a situation of my own). As a result, there's been a snippet of a story rattling around in my brain, which is something that actually happens somewhat frequently and I always mean to write those snippets down but I never do, so this time, I'm actually going to do it. So without further ado, here's a tiny snippet of a love story, as told from the point of the guy when he realizes he loves the girl next to him:

"Someday, when I'm 85 and can't remember what I had for breakfast or what shirt I wore the day before, I'll still be able to recall the first time I was struck by lightning.

I was sitting on the couch in my apartment watching a movie, something I did fairly frequently. Only this time was different. This time, she was sitting next to me.

The night hadn't started out as anything special. The movie was one we had both seen before, and it was mainly serving as background noise while we scrolled on our phones, alternating showing each other something funny we came across and talking about random nothings. Slowly, our exchanges began to taper off as exhaustion from the long, busy day began to set in. With every blink, my eyes stayed closed longer and longer and eventually stayed closed, until I felt my phone fall out of my hand and land on my knee before sliding to the floor. I began to reach for it when I realized there was something warm on my shoulder. It was heavy too, but in a good way, a solid, comforting warmth. She had fallen asleep and her head was on my shoulder.

For a moment, I just sat there, stunned. No one had ever fallen asleep on me before, although if that were by choice or not, I had no idea. I looked down at her as she slept, her face peaceful and free of stress and just... beautiful. The word appeared in my head as simple as if it had always been there, waiting for me to realize what I'd always known. It felt like the most ordinary revelation, something so profound but also completely normal and accepted.

Without another thought, I lowered my head and gently kissed her forehead just below her soft brown hair. At my touch, she stirred, her features momentarily scrunching and then smoothing again as she lifted her head from my shoulder and blinked, taking in her surroundings and turning her face towards mine. She gave me a tiny smile that seemed to fill her entire face before closing her eyes again and laying her head back on my shoulder, her body snuggling closer now.

That's when I knew - I was in love with her. And the bolt of that realization felt powerful enough to sustain me for the rest of my life, as long as the rest of my life was spent by her side."

Welp, there it is. I have no idea if it's good (I feel like I'm very good at formal writing and stream-of-consciousness word vomit, and less so with construction of narratives and making things sound human) or if anybody will even like it if they ever read it, but it's out there and yeah. Here's hoping that one day, something like this will happen to me (and to you, reader, if you so desire (see, good at the formal)).

[asnowfern]

Thanks for the tag @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk !💜

🍓How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I was in a HP-obsessed friend group in primary school and we thought it would be fun. It is awful and I will leave it buried deep deep in ff.net so it never sees the light of day. ACOTAR is the first fandom that got me seriously writing after an ACOSF alternate ending fic idea wouldn’t leave me alone.

🍇How many fandoms have you written in?

Three (I think?) - Harry Potter, Doctor Who, ACOTAR

🍈How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Not going to count the primary school years. Aside from the few months where I wrote a couple of short Doctor Who fics in 2014/2015, it would mostly be the past year or so.

🍎Do you read or write more fanfiction?

I read more than I write but am still soooo behind on my TBR list😩

🍌What is one way you've improved as a writer?

I hope my action based scenes have gotten better!

🍑Do you have any bad habits as a writer?

I definitely have a bunch of phrases that I like to use repeatedly. Also, I’m quite bad with punctuation.

🍍What's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Not so much weird but random. From “whether tibetans ever had warrior tribes (they didn’t)” to “how to travel from London to Paris in the Victorian era (multiple ways of train-ferry/ship-train)

🍉What's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

All nice comments are a delight to receive! Although those that pick out their favourite parts or mentioned how the fic made them feel are definitely a little bit special💕

🍐What's the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Chinese legend based AUs! They were such a big part of my childhood and I love merging them with western fiction.

🥭What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Longer form fics. Pacing and fleshing out storylines can be so tough? It also takes so much time and effort and dedication (props to all the lovely long fic writers around!)

🍏What is the easiest type?

Soft and comfort💖

🍋What is something you've been too nervous/ intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

I just read (and thoroughly enjoyed) Bride by Ali Hazelwood so knotting has been on my mind🫣

🍇What made you choose your username?

It is the literal translation of my Chinese name. 雪 (xuě) is snow and 薇 (wēi) is a type of fern. My mom thought it sounded pretty😂

Tagging (with no pressure!) @reverie-tales @wilde-knight @rosanna-writer @witch-and-her-witcher

Answer the questions and tag five fanfiction authors you know!

Thanks so much for the tag @tunaababee 🥰 The post got a bit long, so went ahead and made a fresh one....

🍓 How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I joined the 1D fandom back in 2011, which was my first foray into the world of fanfiction. Started writing some drabbles and imagines here on Tumblr which then led to proper fics which then led to where I am today

🍇 How many fandoms have you written in?

Just three! One Direction, All For the Game, and now ACOTAR

🍈 How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

I think I wrote my first proper fanfiction in... 2012? 2013? So I guess technically over a decade, but I did take a break from fandom and fanfiction writing in 2017 before returning in 2021, soooo how are we counting here?

🍎 Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Recently, I've been writing more than reading. I like to spend my evenings after work and dinner writing

🍌 What is one way you've improved as a writer?

Well, if you ask certain people, it's that I now write smut 😂 I never wrote smut before the ACOTAR fandom and even then, I didn't write smut until a good number of fics in.... and now look at me! Writing gargoyles and fae men in the woods 💀

🍑 Do you have any bad habits as a writer?

It's absolutely the way I have a bad tendency to repeat phrases and words over and over again across all my fics

🍍 What's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Basically everything I researched for Falling For Your Fools Gold. I went really deep into pirate facts and uncovered so many weird but interesting things 🍋🍋🍋

🍉 What's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I mean 10/10 I love any comment that my fics receive! But I do have a special place for people losing their minds or the ones calling Cassian an idiot (affectionately)

🍐 What's the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Does Rhysta count? That feels a bit fringe just because it's most definitely a crack-ship

🥭 What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Probably canon-verse? I think my overall issues with canon and the mess that is canon makes it hard sometimes to fit stories and characters within those confines while still achieving what I want from the story/characters

🍏 What is the easiest type?

Modern AU, fluffy little drabble!

🍋 What is something you've been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Feysand

🍇 What made you choose your username?

My AO3 name is of course related to my 1D days. The Lou being Louis Tomlinson. And pumpkin spice just being delicious. So voila! Pumpkinspice_Lou

Tagging with no pressure: @moodymelanist @kale-theteaqueen @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk @talkfantasytome @unhealthyfanobsession

[copperbadge]

Do you feel that Adderall has helped you at all with motivation/attention for pleasant or passive things? I sometimes struggle to get myself to watch a new show, but I can usually do it because it requires very little effort. But reading a new book (my favorite childhood pastime) is like pulling teeth, my tbr pile of comics is starting to just look like a money pit, and I find myself even struggling to focus on fanfic these days, which never used to be a problem even when the others were. I'm wondering if being medicated will help me make a dent in my comics pile or ao3 email folder.

Do you know, I haven't really looked much at that? I'm not going to say my life is in a shambles, exactly, but I've been doing poorly at the basic functions of independent living for a good six months, so having the ability to change that has made it my focus for the last two weeks. During the day I've been fixing the issues I've had at work (fortunately invisible to everyone else for the most part), and in the evenings I've been putting my literal house in order, starting to reconnect with relationships I've let lapse, and resting. I've also been prepping a new novel for publication (August 12th!) and traveling.

So I haven't put a ton of thought or effort into anything new. I've actually got a podcast backlog because I no longer need constant audio input when I'm not working.

Mind you, now that I think on it, I did manage to read down some of my digital backlog, and I've been weeding some new music I downloaded and wanted to sort through, which is significant "new input". I've just been categorizing it as cleaning because it involves deleting a bunch of junk off my hard drive. But it has meant listening to and analyzing like, ten albums' worth of music, which is normally especially hard for me because I'm not much of a music person.

So I don't know. I feel like maybe it is yet again an issue of categorization and prioritization; I generally prioritize cleaning over passive entertainment, and I've just been miscategorizing the latter as the former. I'll give reading a swing this week; I certainly have a shelf of books waiting for my attention.

Now, all of the above acknowledged, the experience of treatment is highly varied and not all medication works immediately or effectively first go, like it has for me. And medication is just one aspect of all this; there's still mental work to be done. I'm also not an expert either from personal experience or training. So I definitely think discussing this with a professional will be more helpful than I can be, and being patient with your own living experiences. I'm sure you'll get it figured out!

[ninja-muse]

March also felt like it took forever, which I think is due to spring break taking up half the month and work being therefore slow. And yet it feels like a good month, all the same. I got a good ways further with the novel I’m working on, at least for me, put my Easter tree up last weekend, and had a few productive Leaving The House adventures. And one that, while productive, was just kind of a crappy day, but that’s how these things go, I guess. The art show mostly made up for the rest of it. Also, there is now sunshine, some days! And the trees are blooming!

I also read a lot, as always, including one great book and a handful of pleasant surprises, and I managed to get rid of seven reading copies, which feels unusually high. Had a handful of duds too though, including three books that I was really, really hoping would be better, even if I mostly finished them. The dithering I predicted last month didn’t materialize, thank goodness, or at least it limited itself to hour-long bouts after I’d finished something.

About halfway through the month, I realized I’d only read female authors and I decided that hey, it’s Women’s History Month, why not see if I can get through the whole month with only female authors?! This did not happen, but only by accident. One of the books I picked up was actually by a Two-Spirit person, but I’m still counting the challenge completed because really, the goal was not to read men. It wasn’t a hard challenge for me, and might actually have made picking books a little easier, but it’s not something I want to do all that regularly. Maybe next March?

Of course, I’m cheating a little on the challenge because I’m, like, 12 pages into Episode Thirteen because I had to read something on my commute tonight and I didn’t want to wait any longer. I’ve had the book out from the library for a week and a half and it’s going to be due back in the same length of time. My system doesn’t issue fines for late books anymore, but I still like to return books when I’m supposed to.

Also on my TBR for this month: Amina Al-Sirafi, coming from the library on Tuesday, the company ARC for Tasting History by Max Miller, and We Don’t Lose Our Class Goldfish by Ryan Higgins because I was so good about Not Men that I didn’t even read picture books. Don’t have any other plans, but hopefully some of the books “in process” at the library actually go into the system. I’m first in line for most of them.

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

Diary of a Misfit - Casey Parks

Shortly after Casey comes out to her family, she learns that her grandma grew up friends with a trans man. Her need to learn more about him brings her to a reckoning with her own family and childhood.

8.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 subject (trans man), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: homophobia, misgendering, rape, drug abuse, child abuse

The Magician’s Daughter - H.G. Parry

Biddy’s magical guardian is in trouble and she must leave her island home to protect him (and magic, generally).

7/10

warning: incarceration, mentions of torture

The Librarian of Burned Books - Brianna Labuskes

Three women in the ‘30s and ‘40s find their lives altered by censorship and war.

7/10

Jewish MC, 🏳️‍🌈 MCs (lesbian), Jewish secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay)

warning: Nazis

Lent - Jo Walton

Brother Girolamo wants only to bring Florence closer to God, but he’s hampered by something greater than any sin.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary character, 🇨🇦

League of Dragons - Naomi Novik

Napoleon is retreating across Russia but Laurence and Temeraire learn he has greater plans than a mere next stand.

7/10

British-Asian secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character, disabled secondary character

Island Time - Georgia Clark

The laid-back Kellys and the on-the-go Lees are spending a weekend on a remote Australian island. Then a volcano erupts and they’re forced to confront themselves. Dramedy.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (lesbian, bi, gender-questioning), fat main character, Chinese-American secondary characters, Indigenous Australian secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices

Backpacking Through Bedlam - Seanan McGuire

Alice and Thomas have reunited but they’ve got a few more adventures to get through before their happy ending.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, sapphic), Korean-American secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

A House With Good Bones - T. Kingfisher

Sam’s back home for a bit and Something Is Up with her mom. The surprise racist painting is just the beginning….

6.5/10

fat protagonist

warning: racism, some fat-shaming by bad people, bugs

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2 - Umi Sakurai

The further adorable adventures of Kanda and Fukumaru.

6/10

Japanese cast, Japanese author, #ownvoices

The Keeper's Six - Kate Elliott

Esther’s son has been kidnapped. He’s also the local Keeper, important in the interdimensional network. Getting him back is going to be more complicated than expected.

7/10

Jewish main character, Jewish secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (phallic, non-human genderfluidity), Japanese and other East Asian secondary characters

warning: discussion of slavery and the trafficking of people

Tauhou - Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall

A genre-blending look at Indigenous female resilience across continents and time.

5/10

Maori and Coast Salish cast, 🏳️‍🌈 characters (sapphic), Maori-Coast Salish author, #ownvoices, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: residential schools, racist systems, internalised fatphobia

British Columbiana - Josie Teed

An awkward millennial gets a winter internship in a gold rush ghost town.

5/10

🇨🇦

warning: racists, gaslighting, social anxiety

Picture Books

Quackers - Liz Wong

Quackers lives by a pond and all his friends are ducks, so he must be a duck too. Meow?

DNF

Shanghai Immortal - A.Y. Chao

Work for the King of Hell? Check. Thwart a jewel heist? Check. Babysit a mortal? Check. Or … not, if Lady Jing’s impulsiveness gets in the way. Out in October.

Chinese cast, Chinese-Canadian author, #ownvoices, 🇨🇦

Currently reading

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen - KJ Charles

The day after Gareth ruins his chances with a charming stranger, he finds himself elevated to an estate in the country. Unfortunately (or not), there’s a very familiar smuggler in the area.

🏳️‍🌈 protagonists (phallic)

Episode Thirteen - Craig DiLouie

A ghost hunting show gets to be the first to investigate the most haunted house in America.

🇨🇦

Stats

Monthly total: 12+1 Yearly total: 37/140 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 11 Authors outside the binary: 1 Canadian authors: 2 Off the TBR shelves: 4 Books hauled: 1 ARCs acquired: 5 ARCs unhauled: 7 DNFs: 1

January February

[magpiefngrl]

Fandom Wishes 2022

Thank you @etalice for tagging me! I'm going to call them Wishes too, since my main goal for the year is to lessen the stress of setting goals and signing up for stuff and biting more than I can chew etc etc

I've given some thought to my intentions for the year, life and writing-wise, but here I'm going to focus only on my fannish ones:

Read more, esp longer fics. I’ve said before that I read very little fanfic in 2021; not only that, but rarely did I start anything over 3-4k. Lately, however, I've been in a real mood for lengthier works. I've been tearing through 20-30k fics and am looking forward to the longer ones. There's a lot of fic to catch up on, and although I've got a book TBR list as long as my arm, I'd like to make time to include fanfic in my monthly reading. read a few

Enjoy fandom when I can. I struggled to phrase this but what I mean is this: in the past year or two, I've distanced myself from fandom, which was beneficial for many reasons, but also because it gave me the clarity to examine what I want out of such a community. It can be easy to feel pressured by a need to do more: more reading/writing/interactions/events/fests/commenting/reblogging etc. I'm fully-employed now, unlike before, my circumstances have changed drastically, so all I have time for is to lurk. I look at art, I read some fic, occasionally I might rec something. It's not a lot, but this is all I have time for and this is what makes me happy, so, for the foreseeable future, lurker it is. done

That being said, I do want to finish one fanfic WIP. Which I wanted to do last year too but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I've got a fair few WIPs and of course I'd like to finish all of them but, at the very least, I want to get one done and posted. Just one, dear fandom gods, please. DONE!

Something that occurred to me now and it's not quite fandom-related is this: many years ago, back when I first joined GYWO, I used to post a writing review at the end of the month (how much I'd written, which WIPs I worked on etc). I stopped doing it when I got into a long writing block, but I feel ready to go back to it again. Or maybe something like the Six Sentence Sunday, which was quite motivating in the summer, even though it felt like speaking into the void. Sometimes I avoid sharing lines because the snippet I have is so terrible and I feel embarrassed, but I think it might be a good idea to work through the shame of sharing less-than-good writing. So, I guess, my last intention is to come up with a way to reflect on my writing for the month or share bits of it, as a way to track my progress. still working on that one

Hmmm...who to tag? I think everyone has done it by now. Let's see if @coriesocks @trixietricoter @aibidil and @sixappleseeds feel like doing it? Also, if you haven't been tagged but wish you had: here's me tagging you!

Happy 2022!