Great queer YA retelling of Northanger Abbey! I loved Catherine‘s obsession with gothic novels updated to Cade‘s obsession with horror movies. The gay fears and love story felt very real, especially for teenagers in rural Texas.

Unfortunately, when I showed this to my gay classic-lit-and-horse-loving friend, he informed me that this artist is just as bad as all the others at drawing horses 😂

I really wanted to love this short story! It had some great ideas, really interesting worldbuilding, and compelling characters. There were places where the writing was beautiful. But it desperately needed an editor. I wouldn‘t say no to the world being more fleshed out, either. I might read more by this author but I will be checking the sample first.

Fascinating book! I don‘t know if this is more comprehensive than the embroidery one or if I just know more about embroidery (or less than I thought, since I expected sashiko to be in that one and it‘s in this). There are three projects I really want to make. I might have to buy this book (it‘s a library borrow) as well as the supplies. #LitsyCrafters

Patchwork quilt made by my MIL!

This book struck a decent balance between “plot” and “random punny adventures.” Some of the things that irk me about other Oz books were definitely present here (are Glinda and Ozma *really* all that great?). But I just loved Trot, Cap‘n Bill, and the Orks so much that I can‘t downgrade the rating. #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

A character has been turned into a grasshopper and another character asks “Can you give molasses?” The first character opines that he is not that kind of grasshopper. Does anyone have any idea what they are talking about? I searched “grasshopper molasses” and just got stuff about making a grasshopper trap.

Wow! I‘ve never heard of this Korean style of patchwork before, but it‘s stunning! It‘s called jogakbo or chogakbo and I‘m definitely going to have to try the project and look into the style more deeply.

I liked that this had more of a storyline and less randomness than previous Oz books. Betsy Bobbin and the Shaggy Man are delightful. However, I was constantly frustrated that the horrible Love Magnet works differently than it did in the past (presumably so it can be defended against), and the nomes‘ personality changes didn‘t stick, other than the king inexplicably getting a new name.

Celehar is so well liked and so bad at knowing when people like him. It‘s kind of adorable.

I would really love to read Katherine Addison‘s worldbuilding notes.

Picked up this #bookhaul (and a journal) at my local bookstore today. My bookshelves are getting… a tad overcrowded. I really need to get myself to read more books I already own, so hopefully I can donate some and make room!

I picked this up based on the title, but I found it pretty boring (the witchcraft is mostly set dressing, which would be fine if I liked the characters more) and didn‘t like the art style, so on to the next.

This book intertwines the POVs of the five Haddesley siblings, latest in a family that has an ancient compact with a bog, in which they give the bog the body of their patriarch and it gives them a wife for the new patriarch. I absolutely loved it. Magrat isn‘t a huge fan of being used as a book rest, but it didn‘t scare her off my lap.

#storygraph roundup for June.

Getting my #bookspin list in just under the wire! @TheAromaofBooks

A lot of the criticisms of current “AI” technology in this book wasn‘t anything I hadn‘t heard before, but the book does bring it all together and show the destructiveness of the hype. The chapter on fighting the hype is very helpful, though I‘m skeptical that satire will do more than make AI believers double down defensively. I definitely recommend this book to fellow AI skeptics.

“Her siblings were not… just the same as they had been ten years ago. They were worse. They had spent the decade of her absence growing around one another like roots in the same crowded patch of earth, contorting themselves so everyone could fit.”

My husband and I may have spent a little money at the bookstore today…

Low pick, mostly because of the aforementioned #undramaticirony. It did get revealed in the next chapter. I also felt that all the conflicts were resolved too easily. However, I loved all the characters and found the main three all relatable in different ways, which was nice. The poly and queer rep felt very true to life, and I just loved the endings (it felt like the last two chapters and the epilogue were all different endings)!

It would have to be fantasy. That‘s probably 90% of what I read anyway. If I were compelled to only read fantasy, maybe that would release some guilt about not reading more widely 😆 #sundayfunday

Gah. I was excited for this polyamorous romance and really enjoying it so far. Then I hit the halfway point and the main character reads some paperwork and discovers!!! Some DRAMA!!!

No idea what the drama is.

I‘m annoyed. I‘m going to give it one more chapter. If the drama isn‘t revealed by the end of that chapter, this is a DNF (and maybe even if the drama is revealed).

The Patchwork Girl herself is pretty fun, but most of the other characters are annoying. I‘m getting kind of sick of Baum‘s formula of “some characters get together and travel around Oz, encountering all kinds of weird people and things that have never before been mentioned existing, and the problem is solved in a way that could have been done all along.” I did enjoy the bits of romance between Scraps and the Scarecrow.

I‘m on a vacation in the Poconos as I read this book! What a fun serendipity.

Absolutely fascinating, compelling book! My mind was blown over and over again. Did you know that termites don‘t actually digest wood?! They chew it up and bring it back to their mounds to be digested by fungus, and then the termites consume what the mushrooms leave! Amazing.

Photo courtesy my husband, since I spotted but failed to photograph the tiny mushrooms on this tree.

Cute queer romance. Shallow story retelling The Legend of Sleepy Hollow but with real magic and ghosts. Normally YA queer romance graphic novel retelling on a Halloween theme would be my EXACT cup of tea, but I just didn‘t find this compelling. The villain was really over the top.

I was fascinated by the setting of this book—a magnificently luxurious hotel in West Virginia haunted by magical springs, run by a brilliant and determined woman who is furious to learn the hotel will be used to house detained foreign nationals as World War II begins. The characters were harder to get into, since their POVs are not very deep, but the beautiful writing carried me along.

I met a sweet dachshund and had to include his picture!

Such a cute, funny book! Perfect for new parents… or parents of any age who can remember the newborn days (however foggily… ah, sleep deprivation). It‘s a very short, quick book, mostly comics of one or a few images, and I giggled on nearly every page. And yes, this is exactly what my mom was like.

My kiddo wanted to go to the library to get a summer reading game board and I had a hold to pick up. Then he wanted to play on the library computers so I was left to wander… #libraryhaul

Thrift store #bookhaul!!!

It took me a while to get into this. I don‘t think I remembered book 2 very well and it must have bothered me that the main characters were all separated. Once they started to get back together I was more interested and read faster. I really liked some of the new characters in this book. Somehow fairly early on I felt that this was not a concluding volume and went to Deonn‘s website, which led me to her Instagram, which confirmed: 4-book series.

This book is mostly the same advice on clearing out your closet that you see everywhere else. It‘s even a bit repetitive in itself, and the outfit photos are boring and weirdly repetitive. The focus is on finding and dressing for your individual style, but the author has some very specific ideas about style that she weirdly gives as universals. However, I really liked the “three words” system she gives—there‘s more to it than it sounds like!

“Nobody was autistic in the past!”

Lord Hollingford: shy, doesn‘t know what to say to people who don‘t have the same interests as him, would have learned from a book of small talk, simple character, famous scientist

I read a lot in May… partially at the cost of getting behind on my podcasts because I was listening to Sabriel 😆

There‘s a Clare in this book! Good start 😄

June #bookspin list!

This is a really excellent craft book! Detailed written instructions and clear photographs explain English paper piecing very thoroughly. There are lots of project ideas, though only one is shown step-by-step (the pentagon ball)—it‘s pretty much obvious how to do the rest, since she gives clear instructions on joining shapes and doing appliqué. I can‘t wait to get started doing some English paper piecing.

So much fun! It‘s 1930s Mississippi and magic is widely known, but Black people are forbidden from having or using it. Two Black and Choctaw girls, one of whom is Deaf, need money to pay for a magic license. Their cousin suggests they join illegal broom races. Brooms has a wide variety of representation of all kinds and a great, exciting story. I also liked the simple but expressive art style. Thanks, @Kenyazero for inspiring me to get this!

I‘m not a big audiobook fan but I loved this! I think it‘s a combination of the fact that I‘ve already read this book a few times and Tim Curry‘s masterful narration. I especially enjoyed his drawling Mogget voice!

My #doublespin this month was “a zine” so I‘m finally getting a start on my (not huge) zine collection! This zine was both fun and well researched, with several pages of sources at the end. It was almost as professionally done as a published graphic novel, except for one place where the formatting was apparently messed up 😂 I had good timing to read this, as I expect a friend over soon who would love it, so I‘ll pass it on to him!

This was an enjoyable little creepy novella full of tarantulas. I liked Anatema as a horrific employer and love interest a lot, and the world was very well drawn for such a short book. What was missing for me was Dália, the narrator. At a few times she mentions feelings or thoughts she seems to have had for a long time, but never came up before. I didn‘t feel like I could connect with her at all.

Not my favorite T. Kingfisher, but that‘s like saying that poppies aren‘t my favorite flower—I‘m still glad to have them! Nicely creepy and filled with fun characters. I wish I‘d already read the story this is based on, “The White People,” but I plan to read it this spooky season and I‘m sure I‘ll think back on this book when I do. And I may never look at deer the same way again!

One of my favorite movies! I didn‘t know there was a book!

Strange book. I really liked the world and the way the story was told, in a complex nonlinear way that was fairly easy to follow due to date stamps (I still had some confusion about which things happened before and after the dome, but that didn‘t detract). Lots of interesting characters. Unfortunately, the POV character is a lazy, greedy, sex-obsessed bore. I did not enjoy spending time with Kaaro and I really don‘t get what Aminat sees in him.

I liked that this book had a bit more of a plot through-line than others. Of course, the invasion plot chapters are interspersed with Dorothy having adventures and meeting silly beings all over Oz. Lots of puns and bits that are very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. It really grates on me that Dorothy never thinks that if something can reason and talk to you, it deserves to choose its own fate.

I‘m enjoying this book, but I sure wish there was less about sex and erections.

This was even better than the first book! It really got into the political complexities of Zetian‘s world (which mirror our own). I appreciated that she learned that, as she puts it, “drastic actions have drastic consequences.” In so many ways! I could hardly put it down as I got close to the ending. Can‘t wait for the next book!

This book is hard to review. It‘s a manifesto for Liberatory Harm Reduction, but it isn‘t organized enough to be a manifesto. However, I think the scattered presentation is to its benefit; it‘s all about humans being humans, and humans don‘t live neat, organized lives (especially the queer, trans, BIPOC, street and sex workers this book lifts up). I was only passingly familiar with harm reduction, so I learned a lot.

Here‘s my #bookspin list, just squeaking in!

The title of this book is the rallying cry for Iranian protesters after the murder of Mahsa Amini by police. This graphic collection pulls no punches. I was disturbed and inspired. I know a lot more and have a much better understanding of the recent history and current state of protest and repression in Iran. And, unfortunately, some of it reminded me very strongly of the current state of politics in the US. 😞

Another adventure through strange and random lands. Another thing that is pretty dark if you think too hard about it, which Baum clearly didn‘t intend the reader to do. The characters were fun, and while I‘m getting pretty sick of the way Baum correlates beauty with goodness/friendship, at least he subverts that a little in this book.