#when katie met cassidy

[vampiefemme]

i’ve pushed myself to read more sapphic literature this year, so here are some of my favs:

mistakes were made by meryl wilsner - spicy! age gap! secret relationship! this was one of the best books i read this year, i devoured it in just a few days. delicious smuttiness

sorry, bro by taleen voskuni - bi girls in love <3 super fun, lighthearted read with beautiful armenian representation.

we do what we do in the dark by michelle hart - this one is a lot heavier and, ahem, darker. another age gap and some angst but there’s a happy ending!

when katie met cassidy by camille perri - this one is about first-time sapphic revelations which i loved, really easy to read too.

one last stop by casey mcquiston - if you look past the occasional cringy millennial quip, this book is so fun and heartwarming. kinda sci-fi too?

honorable mention for the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon - not strictly dedicated to a sapphic love story (it’s a giant fantasy novel first), but so worth a read. one of the queen’s handmaidens is an undercover sorceress sent to protect her and they fall in loooove.

[nocherryblood]

Learning to love books again

Book: When Katie Met Cassidy

Author: Camille Perri

Warning! Some vague plot spoilers ahead!

Feelings: Holy shit, that was a wild ride. Sweet, and funny, but wild all the same- just like Cassidy ;)

Without being too specific, my heart was so on the edge towards the end, I was so invested in these two getting a good ending. Even if things go wrong, and arguments are had, I am absolutely overjoyed at the last scene. There are so many people who would say that, "it isn't realistic", "happy endings are bad," and all I wanna say is:

Fuck you, very politely

My heart is still beating so fast out of past fear that things wouldn't get resolved, and whilst I understand that people don't always want to read books with a happy, or at least, hopeful ending, I sure as fuck do and it sure as fuck feels like a good ending for the book- and from an in-universe perspective- a good lead into the next chapter of their lives.

I feel so happy for them, and for finishing another book (woop!), and I can gladly say that my time was well-spent! Now to cry because I just love these two ladies too much and thw book, like all books do, sadly, has come to an end.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, etc., etc.,- actually, fuck that, I'll write them some stories of my own imagination, if I can :)

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Romances to Love All Year Round

🦇 Good morning, my beloved bookish bats. We're halfway through pride month, but there are still so many amazing queer books to read! To celebrate that love is love mentality, here are 78 queer romance novels you can add to your tbr! Don't forget to #readqueerallyear, and that none of us are free until all of us are free. 💜

❤️ Delilah Green Doesn’t Care - Ashley Herring Blake 🧡 Skye Falling - Mia McKenzie 💛 The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram 💚 Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters 💙 Solomon’s Crown - Natasha Siegel 💜 The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - Page Powars

❤️ Full Shift - Jennifer Dugan 🧡 A Shore Thing - Joanna Lowell 💛 Showmance - Chad Beguelin 💚 Exes & Foes - Amanda Woody 💙 Full Disclosure - Camryn Garrett 💜 When You Were Everything - Ashley Woodfolk

❤️ Playing the Palace - Paul Rudnick 🧡 I’m So (Not) Over You - Kosoko Jackson 💛 When Katie Met Cassidy - Camille Perri 💚 Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat 💙 The Lovers - Rebekah Faubion 💜 That Summer Feeling - Bridget Morrissey

❤️ Wild Things - Laura Kay 🧡 Experienced - Kate Young 💛 Lose You to Find Me - Erik J. Brown 💚 The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School - Sonora Reyes 💙 Nate Plus One - Kevin van Whye 💜 Countries of Origin - Javier Fuentes

❤️ The Passing Playbook - Isaac Fitzsimons 🧡 But How Are You, Really - Ella Dawson 💛 Looking for a Sign - Susie Dumond 💚 The Prospects - KT Hoffman 💙 Last Night at the Telegraph Club - Malinda Lo 💜 Malice - Heather Walter

❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson 🧡 Let’s Talk about Love - Claire Kann 💛 Bonds of Brass - Emily Skrutskie 💚 Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places - Claire Kann 💙 The Stars and the Blackness Between Them - Junauda Petrus 💜 In Charm’s Way - Lana Harper

❤️ Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour 🧡 Marriage of a Thousand Lies - SJ Sindu 💛 I Think I Love You - Auriane Desombre 💚 Lavash at First Sight - Taleen Voskuni 💙 The Bump - Sidney Karger 💜 The Disenchantment - Celia Bell

❤️ The Dos and Donuts of Love - Adiba Jaigirdar 🧡 Riley Weaver Needs A Date To The Gaybutante Ball - Jason June 💛 Epically Earnest - Molly Horan 💚 Out of the Blue - Jason June 💙 Flip the Script - Lyla Lee 💜 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli

❤️ Café Con Lychee - Emery Lee 🧡 A Little Bit Country - Brian D. Kennedy 💛 Late to the Party - Kelly Quindlen 💚 The Key to You and Me - Jaye Robin Brown 💙 What If It’s Us - Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera 💜 The Falling in Love Montage - Ciara Smyth

❤️ The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre - Robin Talley 🧡 Meet Cute Diary - Emery Lee 💛 Love & Other Natural Disasters - Misa Sugiura 💚 Date Me, Bryson Keller - Kevin van Whye 💙 Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster - Andrea Mosqueda 💜 Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

❤️ She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott - Alyson Derrick 🧡 Home Field Advantage - Dahlia Adler 💛 The (Un)Popular Vote - Jasper Sanchez 💚 Melt With You - Jennifer Dugan 💙 Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler 💜 Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar

❤️ I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston 🧡 Jay’s Gay Agenda - Jason June 💛 Triple Sec - TJ Alexander 💚 Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter 💙 I’ll Be the One - Lyla Lee 💜 This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story - Kacen Callender

❤️ May the Best Man Win - ZR Ellor 🧡 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston 💛 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💚 The Fiancee Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💙 Stars Collide - Rachel Lacey 💜 Truly, Madly, Deeply - Alexandria Bellefleur

[identitty-dickruption]

17 and 24 !

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

I've mentioned this book a couple of times this year, because it blew me away with how good it ended up being. anyway. I read states of subsistence for one of my courses in the first half of this year, and I've thought about it pretty much non-stop since. I kind of went into it feeling annoyed that I had to read an entire book for a course that was unrelated to my thesis. but! it ended up being incredibly interesting and also useful, so I'm glad I read it :)

24. did you DNF anything?

yeah. couldn't get myself to finish when Katie met Cassidy. it wasn't written badly or anything. but. it was a lesbian romance book that was butch4fem. and the butch character was basically a toxic male love interest straight out of a 90s romcom. as a butch myself, it just felt so deeply gross and offensive that I couldn't put up with it anymore and just gave up. also all the sex scenes were fade to black, so there wasn't even anything to keep reading it for. lol -_-

[cvbullshit]

The official Deonie character sheet and facts post!

Deonie Clown | Species: Monster(Skeleton) - Demon

Age: Unknown

Gender/Pronouns: Demiboy - He/They/It

Category: Unknown / Original Character / Sans AU / Shipchild

Parents: Dust, Geno, G (Main) / Mad, Blue / Nightmare, Verse / Murder (Mother-Father figure)

Siblings: Placid, Cassie, Shard, Slash / Dicilind, Delirium, NA Evan, NA Elizabeth / Gabirel, Susie, Fritz, Jeremy (Sibling figures)

Partners: Crust / Ennard

Children: Error / Ora / Asmodeus / RoboFizz / Agatha / Tommy / Ink / Fresh / Enna / Cassidy / Katie / The Nowhere King

Other Family: Classic (Uncle) / Dream (Uncle) / Chara (Aunt Figure) / Papyrus (Uncle Figure) / Echo (Aunt Figure) / Aliza, SwaD, Flower (Children in law) / Anti-Error (Use to be parent) / Monika (Grandma figure?) / Swap Pap (Uncle figure) / Springtrap, Sun, Moon (Children in law) / Fizz (Child in law) / Killer (Child in law?) / Others

Origins:

Deonie use to be a half human half demon, having their biological father being human and their biological mother being demon in some way. It is unclear what kind of a demon they are. Deonie had met Ora and gained a friendship, Ora showing Deonie to the worlds of AUs along with other worlds she had access to. Deonie and Ora were the ones to first suggest a truce between Sanses and others before THE CURSE began. As time went on, Deonie proceeded to make a family by adopting different people, it soon turned into a full on family as they gained parent figures/adopted parents and their partners Crust Sans and Ennard. Their current main parents are Dust Sans, Geno Sans, and Echotale/G Sans. They had slowly began to change themselves to fit how they felt on the inside, their urge for matching their parents grew strong enough for them to make the bold decision of changing their code to replace their human half with monster-skeleton half. Since then, they had viewed their past self/human self as a parasite that was never them.

It is unsure if Deonie could be counted as a Sans AU, ship child, or neither. It doesn't matter to them what they are labeled as.

Facts:

-Deonie heavily wants to make Dust proud

-Their favorite food is Kinder Beunos

-They have Age Regression

-They have multiple forms, their main alternate form being a shadowy figure with a fiery orange face.

-They have fire magic but barely use it unless needed

-They have an adopting problem/find the strangest things cute or adorable

-Their age is more of based on an individual's viewpoint, however they have no exact age

-They use to drink, still sometimes picks up alcohol when they can get away with it but rarely

-They have no biological children of their own

-Don't be fooled, they may act cute, but they are just as dangerous as a lot of the common "Bad Sanses", they use their cuteness to their advantage

-They have a one-sided(?) frenemy relationship with Mel

-They can shrink and grow to many sizes

-Due to their type of demon, they can act like an animal at times, specifically like ferrets, domesticated rats, dogs, cats, and foxes.

[partialbirthabortion]

I still have yet to find any lesbian bodice rippers outside of Tristan Taormino anthologies. I tried to pick up When Katie Met Cassidy today because at least the love interest is actually butch even though I knew the sex scenes were fade to black and it was so offensively bad that I literally returned it to the library within the hour.

[raspberryconverse]

Tag nine people you want to catch up with/get to know better

Tagged by @apothecarose

Last Song:  Hell N Back - Bahkar (it was playing on WXRT)

Last Film: This is Where I Leave You. My spouse really wanted to watch a movie and it sounded decent. It was actually pretty good.

Currently Reading (or last read): I currently have a list of about 20 unfinished fics I'm reading right now, lol. There are several that I think were abandoned, though.

As for books, I just started When Katie Met Cassidy the other day and just finished They Hate Each Other, which was super cute

Currently Watching: Love (Netflix), Sister Wives, The Wilds, various YouTubers (my spouse is really into a lot of interior design/DIY channels and I have my various commentary folks I like to watch). And I'm always watching a little bit of Heartstopper here and there because I can't get enough of Nick and Charlie.

Current Obsession: My Nick Nelson in the rain cross stitch. It's finally starting to look like something besides a sea of 415 with random splotches, so I'm very motivated to keep going.

I'm normally more of a knitter, but I just haven't been into it much lately except during my 2 virtual knit groups.

Tagging @flamingohistorian, @catandherfandoms, @kaiyonohime, and @mammameesh

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Monte Carlo (2011, Thomas Bezucha)

27/11/2023

Monte Carlo is a 2011 film directed by Thomas Bezucha.

The protagonists of the film are Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy and Leighton Meester who in the film play three friends who organize a trip to Paris. The film is based on the novel Headhunters by Jules Bass.

Grace Bennett is a high school senior from Texas who works as a waitress with her best friend Emma Perkins to earn money for a trip to Paris after graduation. After admiring the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower, they lose the bus and their tour guide, and to take shelter from the rain they find refuge in the lobby of a luxury hotel where Grace is mistaken by everyone, including the paparazzi, for an heiress Englishwoman named Cordelia Winthrop-Scott. The heiress, however, secretly leaves the hotel to join her friends in Ibiza, so they spend the night in Cordelia's suite and from that moment a new holiday begins for the three friends.

As scheduled in Cordelia's agenda, the three leave together with the heiress' luggage, on a private jet for Monte Carlo where Cordelia must participate in a charity auction for which she must donate an expensive Bulgaria diamond necklace. During a party organized in her honor, Grace meets Cordelia's aunt, Alicia who actually mistakes her for her niece thanks to her incredible resemblance and Emma dances with Domenico, a French prince. The following day, Meg reunites with Riley, a globetrotting Australian boy she met briefly in Paris. When Grace take part in a polo match, Alicia quickly discovers that she is not her niece, who is a real talent in that sport.

The evening before the auction, Prince Domenico invites Emma to a dinner on a yacht. Meanwhile Cordelia sees a photo of her in a newspaper at a party with two girls and after discovering that her necklace is missing, she calls the police.

Cordelia manages to escape and reveals Grace's fraud, also demanding that she be arrested, but after Grace makes a public confession, Aunt Alicia, believing in her good faith, unexpectedly makes a generous offer for the necklace of 6 million euros.

Eventually Meg decides to join Riley on his trip around the world which is on a peak of Machu Picchu; Owen and Emma get married and live in Texas; while Grace volunteers in schools in Romania where she meets her love, Theo.

Nicole Kidman, Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan are the producers of the film for 20th Century Fox and New Regency Productions. The production began filming in Hungary on May 5, 2010 in Budapest.

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Katie Cassidy

full name: Scarlett Braeden

nickname(s): Scarlett, Letty

pronouns & gender: She/her, cis woman

sexuality: bisexual

birth date: January 10th, 1981

birth place: Merrock, Maine

time in town:  Most of her life 

housing: Suburbs

occupation: brain surgeon at Merrock hospital

family: Ellie Braeden (niece)

personality: Scartett is is intelligent, compassionate and hard-working. She often describes herself as "dark and twisty" due to her negativity but also an emotionally complex person who is capable of empathizing with others when they're at their lowest points. Her single-mindedness makes her selfish, and most people would define her as arrogant careerist. She is suspicious and if she feels insecurity in herself they becomes depressed.

BACKGROUND / BIO

TW: CRIME, SUICIDE, CHEATING, DEATH, PATERNAL DEATH, FOSTER CARE

Born in Merrock, Maine, as the second child in the family of John and Irina Braeden. Her father met her mother, a Bulgarian emigrant, during her interview for a green card. Everyone thought this marriage was only for Irina’s visa, but there was a true love between them. Coming from a middle-class background, John’d put himself through business school and managed to became one of the biggest business man in the area. At the other side, Irina chose to be housewife, completely dedicated to the family and the children. Scarlett couldn’t give a concrete answer as to what her father did to make money, only that he did. As for her mother, Irina, she was a housewife of a rich man. She lunched with her elite neighbors, never washed her own dishes, and looked the other way when her father had an affair. Her clothes were always perfect, and she didn’t allow Scarlett or James, Scarlett’s bigger brother, to leave the house in anything worn or cheap.

Scarlett was only 12, when the life she knew fell apart. Somebody would say she barely remember but it was not true. She remembered everything from the last year of her father’s freedom and it was anything but. Dark cars followed her mother’s car when she left the Braeden’s kids at school and parked across the street of their house, the phones in her home made a clicking noise when she picked up the line, she had the feeling someone watched them all the time. And she was not wrong Braeden had funneled his funds through glorified Ponzi schemes - he’d given out insurance policies for homes, land, business, and property to unsuspecting victims, with no intention of paying them off but the Feds having a hard time nailing him for corruption and instead managed to imprison him for not paying his taxes. His accounts and property were frozen and his family fell apart. Irina, couldn’t handle the drop in status, took a bottle of pills with a pint of gin, and never woke up and Scarlett and James was put in foster care.

Years in the foster care was like a nightmare for Scarlett. At first she did everything to run away but soon her free spirit was broken. She felt betrayed by both her parents and she started hating everyone around her. She felt alone and her only close person was James. Being older James had the opportunity to leave the system a year later, when he turned 18 and after a year when he found a proper job he was able to take the custody of Scarlett and she left her foster family too. Realizing they could rely only on each other, Scarlett had to grew up faster - she became more serous, more concerned about her future and she didn’t allow herself doing stupid things, and it was not surprise when she managed to get a scholarship for the med school she dreamed about.

Years in the med school was like a therapy for Scarlett. She started to live again and she started to believe people again. There she found her first real friends and where she started to realize she was not guilty for her father’s crimes and for her mother’s death. She managed to return in Merrock with head held high where she started her internship in the local hospital.

Scarlett met her futute fiancee Alex on her brother’s wedding. She was 25 years old then and she felt in love with him immediately. His carefree made him look so dangerous and attractive. Scarlett had clung like glue to him. But Alex accepted her as a friend. Few years later he looked at her with different eyes and soon after they became a couple. They got engaged when she was 30 years old but their fairy tale didn’t last for long. Just few months before their wedding Alex’s ex-girlfriend showed up with a child she claimed was his. Tensions escalated and Scarlett broke off the engagement and left Merrock, believing she was doing Alex a favor by giving him the opportunity to start a family with his former mate.

Life away from Merrock and her brother was hard for Scarlett. She rented a really small apartment in New York near to the hospital where she started working. But the apartment was not important since she barely came home. She lived only for her work but things changed when she met Caroline - an photographer in famous magazine. They quickly felt in love and called themself a couple or at least were and weren’t one. They both had a big trust and insecurity problems, and the several affairs didn’t reflect well on their relationship, causing them to call it quits several times. But they reunited again, simply because when either of them tried to move on with a new relationship the other would show up and sabotage the effort, and after their last reunion they even got into an thoughtless marriage, hoping that would help their relationship but of course it didn’t worked this way. Just a few weeks later a call from Merrock changed everything. Scarlett found out her brother and his wife died in a car crash and she returned as quick as possible in her home town where she found she had to share a custody over her niece with her former fiancee Alex. To be the picture full, Caroline told Scarlett she had zero desire to move from New York and play a mother to a kid she didn’t even know which led to the couple’s split. In the middle of divorce, Scarlett moved back in Merock where she started work at the local hospital this time as a brain surgeon.

[all-about-books-baby]

Absolutely BEGGING for queer, f/f book recs. Just finished when Katie met Cassidy and it was horrendous and I just need something better

[tinderina-belle]

I read a wlw novel called “When Katie Met Cassidy” which was a steaming pile of trash and made me ashamed that I spent money on it. Meanwhile @redlance ‘s Experimentation is one of the greatest stories I’ve ever read- that I’ve reread like 5 times and that always reminds me of how much I love love.

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something

[homonatural]

okay so katie cassidy!ruby met sam and dean a lot in s3 and knows they’re brothers but gen padalecki!ruby thought sam and dean were like together when dean comes back in lazarus rising so like what’s up with that

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Romances to Love All Year Round

🦇 Good morning, my beloved bookish bats. We're halfway through pride month, but there are still so many amazing queer books to read! To celebrate that love is love mentality, here are 78 queer romance novels you can add to your tbr! Don't forget to #readqueerallyear, and that none of us are free until all of us are free. 💜

❤️ Delilah Green Doesn’t Care - Ashley Herring Blake 🧡 Skye Falling - Mia McKenzie 💛 The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram 💚 Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters 💙 Solomon’s Crown - Natasha Siegel 💜 The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - Page Powars

❤️ Full Shift - Jennifer Dugan 🧡 A Shore Thing - Joanna Lowell 💛 Showmance - Chad Beguelin 💚 Exes & Foes - Amanda Woody 💙 Full Disclosure - Camryn Garrett 💜 When You Were Everything - Ashley Woodfolk

❤️ Playing the Palace - Paul Rudnick 🧡 I’m So (Not) Over You - Kosoko Jackson 💛 When Katie Met Cassidy - Camille Perri 💚 Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat 💙 The Lovers - Rebekah Faubion 💜 That Summer Feeling - Bridget Morrissey

❤️ Wild Things - Laura Kay 🧡 Experienced - Kate Young 💛 Lose You to Find Me - Erik J. Brown 💚 The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School - Sonora Reyes 💙 Nate Plus One - Kevin van Whye 💜 Countries of Origin - Javier Fuentes

❤️ The Passing Playbook - Isaac Fitzsimons 🧡 But How Are You, Really - Ella Dawson 💛 Looking for a Sign - Susie Dumond 💚 The Prospects - KT Hoffman 💙 Last Night at the Telegraph Club - Malinda Lo 💜 Malice - Heather Walter

❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson 🧡 Let’s Talk about Love - Claire Kann 💛 Bonds of Brass - Emily Skrutskie 💚 Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places - Claire Kann 💙 The Stars and the Blackness Between Them - Junauda Petrus 💜 In Charm’s Way - Lana Harper

❤️ Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour 🧡 Marriage of a Thousand Lies - SJ Sindu 💛 I Think I Love You - Auriane Desombre 💚 Lavash at First Sight - Taleen Voskuni 💙 The Bump - Sidney Karger 💜 The Disenchantment - Celia Bell

❤️ The Dos and Donuts of Love - Adiba Jaigirdar 🧡 Riley Weaver Needs A Date To The Gaybutante Ball - Jason June 💛 Epically Earnest - Molly Horan 💚 Out of the Blue - Jason June 💙 Flip the Script - Lyla Lee 💜 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli

❤️ Café Con Lychee - Emery Lee 🧡 A Little Bit Country - Brian D. Kennedy 💛 Late to the Party - Kelly Quindlen 💚 The Key to You and Me - Jaye Robin Brown 💙 What If It’s Us - Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera 💜 The Falling in Love Montage - Ciara Smyth

❤️ The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre - Robin Talley 🧡 Meet Cute Diary - Emery Lee 💛 Love & Other Natural Disasters - Misa Sugiura 💚 Date Me, Bryson Keller - Kevin van Whye 💙 Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster - Andrea Mosqueda 💜 Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

❤️ She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott - Alyson Derrick 🧡 Home Field Advantage - Dahlia Adler 💛 The (Un)Popular Vote - Jasper Sanchez 💚 Melt With You - Jennifer Dugan 💙 Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler 💜 Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar

❤️ I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston 🧡 Jay’s Gay Agenda - Jason June 💛 Triple Sec - TJ Alexander 💚 Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter 💙 I’ll Be the One - Lyla Lee 💜 This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story - Kacen Callender

❤️ May the Best Man Win - ZR Ellor 🧡 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston 💛 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💚 The Fiancee Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💙 Stars Collide - Rachel Lacey 💜 Truly, Madly, Deeply - Alexandria Bellefleur

[oraccles]

2022 Reading Goal Wrap-Up

⭐️reading goals for 2022⭐️ ✧read 50 books [63/50] ✧read more series Optional Goal ✧books re-read [2/~]

<b>Comments</b> So this is just my little section of basically how my reading year went. My goal this year was to read 50 books. I achieved that goal, but I feel like I cheated by adding the children’s books that I read for work. (Maybe cheating isn’t the right word.)

I set the same goal of 50 books on my Storygraph account but didn’t add the children’s books. With my goal from SG compared to GR, I was only 3 books away from reaching my actual goal of 50 books. I think next year I will do the same thing and not count any children’s books unless I am reading them purely for my own entertainment. I’ll still list them on Goodreads that I read them, but I won’t physically count them towards my reading goal.I wanted to re-read more books and read a lot more series this year but that just didn’t happen. I will add these onto my goal for next year as well.

📙physical copy 🎧audiobook 📚series 📖re-read 💻e-book ❤️fave ❌dnf JANUARY The Giving Tree (5)⭐️📙 One of Us Is Lying (3.5)⭐️📙 The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (2.5)⭐️📙🎧📚 Five Feet Apart (2)⭐️📙🎧 The Problem with Forever (2)⭐️📙🎧 FEBRUARY Circe (5)⭐️📙🎧❤️ When We Collided (2)⭐️🎧 Love & Gelato (3)⭐️🎧 Dating You / Hating You (2)⭐️🎧 The Hate U Give (5)⭐️📙🎧❤️ Monday's Not Coming (3.5)⭐️📙🎧 Brown Girl Dreaming (4)⭐️📙🎧 People We Meet on Vacation ❌ MARCH Sense and Sensibility (3.5)⭐️📙🎧 Wonder Woman: Warbringer (4.5)⭐️📙🎧📚 Pencils, Pens & Brushes: A Great Girls' Guide to Disney Animation (5)⭐️📙 The Girls (2.5)⭐️📙🎧 The Evolution of Mara Dyer (3.5)⭐️📙📚 P.S. I Like You (3)⭐️🎧 APRIL Lily and the Octopus (4)⭐️🎧 We Were Liars (2.5)⭐️📙🎧 The Girl on the Train (2.5)⭐️🎧 The Love Hypothesis (2.5)⭐️📙📚 Shadow and Bone (3.5)⭐️📙 MAY Scythe (3.5)⭐️🎧 When Katie Met Cassidy (1)⭐🎧 The Gravity of Us (2.5)⭐💻 Josh and Gemma Make a Baby (2.5)⭐🎧 Opposites Attract ❌ To All the Boys I've Loved Before (3)⭐📙📚📖 You've Reached Sam (3)⭐📙 The Heart Principle (3)⭐📙 P.S. I Still Love You (3)⭐📙📚📖 Paper Princess ❌ The Start of Me and You ❌ JUNE Six Crimson Cranes (5)⭐📙📚❤️ What If It's Us (3)⭐📙📚 Call Me By Your Name ❌📙 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (2.5)⭐📙 Red, White & Royal Blue (3.5)⭐📙🎧 The Miseducation of Cameron Post (3)⭐📙🎧 We Are Okay (3.5)⭐📙🎧 JULY The Song of Achilles (5)⭐📙🎧 hello reading slump AUGUST Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody (4)⭐📙 Dinosaurs Love Underpants (4)⭐📙 Where's My Mummy? (5)⭐📙 The Littlest Bear (5)⭐📙 Tails Are Not for Pulling (4)⭐📙 Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (4)⭐📙 Siege and Storm ()⭐📙🎧 SEPTEMBER There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea (4)⭐📙 Thelma the Unicorn (4)⭐📙 Catwoman: Soulstealer (3.5)⭐📙📚 OCTOBER Fallen (2)⭐📚📙 The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin (5)⭐📙 Christopher Pumpkin (4)⭐📙 The Kingdom (4.5)⭐🎧 The Hallo-Wiener (5)⭐📙 NOVEMBER Creepy Pair of Underwear! (4)⭐📙 Monster Chefs (4)⭐📙 Dogzilla (5)⭐📙 Kat Kong (5)⭐📙 Wilder Girls (1.5)⭐📙 The Grimrose Girls (4)⭐📙📚🎧 Be Not Far from Me (2.5)⭐📙 Pig the Pug (4)⭐📙 Internment (2.5)⭐📙🎧 DECEMBER Daughter of the Moon Goddess (3.5)⭐📙🎧 ⭐TOP 5 (end of the year)⭐ ✩Six Crimson Cranes ✩The Song of Achilles ✩Circe ✩The Hate U Give ✩The Kingdom ❌  DNF books ❌ People We Meet on Vacation Paper Princess The Start of Me and You Opposites Attract Call Me By Your Name Luna What Big Teeth The Grace Year

[dwellordream]

When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri. Romance. Corporate lawyer Katie Daniels is fresh off a broken engagement and a ruined social life. But her plans to throw herself into her work are complicated by an introduction to a charming rival- Cassidy Price, who is unapologetically open about her sexuality and her ambitions. The more time she spends around Cassidy, the more Katie begins to question her assumptions about the life she thought she wanted- and begins to fall further and further in love with Cassidy.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Romance. Ernest Pettigrew, former major in the British army, leads a quiet existence as a lonely widower, mourning the loss of his beloved wife and estranged from his ambitious son. But his narrow world begins to broaden when he befriends Jasmina Ali, a widowed shopkeeper in his village. Though their friendship raises eyebrows and the ire of bigoted neighbors, Pettigrew begins to envision a happier future for himself- even if it means sacrificing a stiff upper lip in the process.

Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti. Mystery/thriller. Mourning the death of her twin sister, Advika has retreated from her family and friends. But at one Hollywood party, Advika meets the charismatic and mysterious director Julian Zelding, who sweeps her off her feet- despite being 40 years her senior. Advika's new life with Julian seems like a dream come true- but shortly after their wedding she receives a message from his late first wife, who offers her a million dollars to divorce him in her will. As Advika investigates Julian's past marriages, she uncovers more and more dark secrets about a man who seems to have it all- and who will do anything to keep it that way.

Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning. Historical fiction. 17-year-old Sylvie Pelletier and her French Canadian family move to the frontier of Colorado in 1907, seeking work in the new marble mines operated by the wealthy Padgett family. Sylvie is enchanted with the luxurious fairy tale lifestyle of Mrs. Padgett, and infatuated with quick-witted young Jasper, who stands to inherit millions from his family's operations. Yet once Sylvie takes a job at the manor house, her romance with the family's grand wealth is quickly crushed, and she begins to understand just how deep their exploitation of their servants and miner goes. When Sylvie embraces her father's union organizing dreams, she risks everything- her future, her family, and her life- for a chance to take a stand.

American Royalty by Tracey Livesay. Romance. Up-and-coming rapper Danielle "Duchess" Nelson dreams of making it big- so she can secure a stable life she never had as an orphaned and unwanted teen. When she is offered the chance to perform at a tribute concert hosted by the British royals, she leaps at the opportunity for some good publicity in the wake of an embarrassing feud with a beloved popstar. But when she meets the young Prince in charge of organizing the concert- the bookish Jameson, who's abandoned his typical royal duties to pursue a career as an academic- the two find themselves on the brink of an unexpected love affair, one that could ruin both their lives and reputations for good.

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin. Drama/realistic fiction. Zach is six years old, and his life has just changed forever. A shooting at his school- carried out by the son of a beloved staff member- has killed nineteen children and teachers, including his older brother Andy. As Zach's parents mourn Andy and consider whether they want justice, revenge, or silence, Zach is left in the shadows, torn between the trauma of what he's endured and his relief at the absence of Andy, who was more often cruel and vindictive than anything else. While Zach's parents' relationship is strained to the breaking point over what to do next, Zach must confront the anger and grief inside him, and decide what forgiveness really means.

Kala by Colin Walsh. Mystery/thriller. During the summer of 2003, a group of impulsive, carefree teenagers ran amok in the sleepy village of Kinlough. There was whip-smart, responsible Helen, ambitious, romantic Joe, and shy, kindly Mush- and Kala, the center of their universe, who dared more, pushed things further, and inspired them all. Several months later, Kala is missing. And in 2015, Helen, Joe, and Mush reluctantly reunite when her remains are discovered. Someone knows the truth of what happened to Kala twelve years prior. It may be one of them. And the person responsible for Kala's death will do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried deep.

The One by Julie Argy. Drama/romance. Emily is the perfect candidate for hit reality show The One, where multiple women compete for the affection of an attractive, relatable, all-American bachelor. Quiet, pretty, and sheltered, Emily has been earmarked by producers as Bachelor Dylan's future wife. And she's almost convinced herself she wants this too- after all, her life was going nowhere fast before that casting call. But when Emily encounters Sam, an outspoken, bold fellow contestant, she starts to question the narrative she's been instructed to play out since childhood- one where she meets a nice guy, marries him, and becomes a doting wife and mother. As Emily and Sam draw closer, the lines between their prescribed roles of Good Girl and Spitfire and real life start to blur, and The One hurtles towards a shocking finale.

Books Recs of 2024

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Mystery/fantasy centered around Din, a young assistant investigator assigned to help an eccentric and infamous detective, Ana Dolabra, solve a series of murders. Din is an engraver, his brain altered so he has a photographic memory. However, no one is quite sure how he got his current position, since he failed every single one of his final exams except the combat portion. Ana is an exceedingly odd woman who refuses to go to any crime scene in person and often performs mad science experiments in her spare time. As Din struggles to keep up with the case, which revolves around a bioweapon being unleashed on a series of the empire's best engineers, he also worries what will happen when Ana finally uncovers his secrets.

Highfire by Eoin Colfer. Urban fantasy (very comedic fantasy) about a dragon called Vern (short for Wyvern), who teams up with a juvenile delinquent named Squib (real name Everett Moreau) to take down a corrupt sheriff who is plaguing the Lousiana bayou. Vern is a very small (seven feet long) dragon who is the last of his kind (as far as he knows). When he is spotted by a local troubled teen, his first instinct is to hunt Squib down and kill him, but he quickly realizes the two of them have a common enemy- the murderous sheriff who is running drugs through their territory.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. Magical realism about a romantic-minded art historian who is swept off his feet by a mysterious and charming heiress. After a whirlwind courtship, the happy couple return to her childhood home; a Gothic manor on a lonely island. The more time our narrator spends around his wife's past, the more questions are raised- increasingly sinister ones about who she is and what exactly she is capable of. Once upon a time, she was best friends with an equally odd and dreamy little girl named Indigo. But no one has seen Indigo for many years now- and the Flower Bride may be behind her disappearance.

Chlorine by Jade Song. Horror/magical realism. Since childhood, Ren's entire identity has been wrapped up in swimming. If she can be strong enough, fast enough, special enough, success is sure to come her way. As the end of high school approaches, Ren's passion for swimming becomes less about her future, and more about past legends of mermaids and sirens dragging sailors into the deep. School, friends, and her parents' expectations all fall away- Ren will make her home in the water, no matter what she has to do.

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza. Realistic fiction. Jen and Riley have been best friends for as long as they can remember, despite their vastly different childhoods. Riley is from a middle class Black family; Jen was raised by an impoverished white single mother. After twenty years of doing almost everything together, their lives are at a crossroads- Riley is a news anchor about to take Philadelphia by storm, while Jen is expecting her first child with her police officer husband. When Jen's husband is involved in the murder of a Black teenage boy by a fellow officer, Riley finds herself expected to cover the story- and Jen finds herself expected to answer for her husband's actions- and her own beliefs about what racism looks like.

Queenpin by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Our nameless heroine lives a mousy existence working as a bookkeeper for a rundown local night club, but her life is turned upside down when the infamous Gloria Denton, a gun moll and smuggler, takes her under her wing. Gloria transforms her young protege from a timid girl to a sophisticated, cunning woman capable of handling gangsters, conmen, thieves, and bookies, but when she falls for the wrong man, her relationship with Gloria is strained, and they must decide just how far they can trust one another.

Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen. Historical fiction. Based on the real life trial of Katharina Kepler, mother of the famed Johannes Kepler, Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Empire. Katharina is a busybody, a domineering and devilishly clever woman with a particular talent for healing. She is also a fiercely loyal mother to her adult children, but when an old neighborhood grudge flares into accusations of poison and witchcraft, Katharina is determined not to meekly confess and beg pardon. The more she lashes out at her neighbors and the authorities, the more charges begin to pile up against her- despite her son's desperate attempts to save her from torture and execution.

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Based on a real life murder case in 1931 Phoenix Arizona. Naive and sheltered Marion Seeley is deposited in Phoenix by her disgraced doctor husband, who is forced to take a job with a mining company in South America after his medical license is revoked. Marion befriends the vivacious Louise and Ginny, two fellow nurses, who introduce her to the underground party scene in Phoenix. Politicians and businessmen flock to the secret parties held by them, and it's a quick way to make money on the side. Drawn in by the luxury and thrills, Marion falls in love with Joe Lanigan, a powerful local politician, but as their affair intensifies, her friendship with the other women fractures, culminating in a gruesome crime.

[chickiesbb]

Oookkkaaayyyy I get how this was a play on When Harry Met Sally; the enemies to lovers type of angst in the beginning even if there was no justification for such a thing lol just a thing of the sexes I guess and internalized homophobia. Yeah that’s a big thing in this thing but I truly believe our protagonist handles it well and is super mature for the pace at which this book travels. In my opinion it’s not really a slow burn, more like just the regular angst that comes with hestitant love and people overcoming their inner fears but at the same time being “batshit crazy school girl obsessed” with a person. Quick read which is good because the relationship and plot aren’t anything too wild like fake dating or serious enemies to lovers so the pace was efficient in telling exactly what needed to be told and nothing was repetitive at all honestly some characters also resonated with myself that were in the background. It made me wanna be more true to myself. Also some themes of gender discussion in here of one of the main characters and it’s so casual and brief at moments it’s not a big part or anything, but it’s important to me it was brought up because it’s a big topic for masc women

Katie had said this was their song..

Okay now my topic of TMI .. even though it may be ironic to say that:)

This book made me feel more safe about exploring the areas of self pleasure I felt ashamed or dirty for even thinking about before. Definitely liberating reading about it in such a normal way I did more research on that and thank you book for that.