Well dang. From the cover and size, I was expecting a graphic novel. It does have pictures and visual ephemera but is mostly of the “take a public domain work and add something weird to it“ subgenre and that's just not my thing. Seeing Austen's actual words mixed up with new ones bugs me.
#JaneAustenThenAndNow #Permberlittens @Crinoline_Laphroaig
Ugh, so awful. A lot of his books still hold up but this is very much not one of them. I need some brain bleach.
5 DNF's -- Hail the Bail! (Actually, at least 6.)
I got somewhat derailed from my plan by the #TransRightsReadathon, so some extra books around the sides. Plan to read Making Money for my upcoming vacation though.
Perhaps my favorite historical romance by this author, a Loretta Chase-esque starchy hero/headstrong heroine story, made especially affecting by how perfectly they match. He's responsible and careful, burdened by his late father's scorn, she's an artistic dreamer with a “busy brain“ (ADHD) and they both help each other as they fall wonderfully in love.
I can see why others loved this, but the relationship between the main characters felt off to me and when I peeked ahead, I could tell the backstory was going to freak me out, so I bailed.
#TransRightsReadathon
#FirstLineFridays
Gene Ionescu has always loved every detail of baseball, but none quite so much as its near-complete indifference to the body.
“I knew it,“ Ernie says. “You are always looking at his ass.“
“What can I say?“ Gene asks. “I like 'em clenched.“
Love the great range of disabilities and body types shown here. Although the main focus is on physical limitations, a lot of the advice is applicable to other kinds of disabilities too.
#TransRightsReadathon (author is genderqueer)
Bardugo was already on my list of authors to catch up on, so I went to town this month! I read Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, King of Scars, The Language of Thorns and DNFd The Lives of Saints. This has me caught up with the “Grishaverse“ except for Rule of Wolves, which I'm saving for next month. A very enjoyable series, exciting and emotional and romantic without sappiness.
#AuthorAMonth
@Soubhiville
Bardugo's “Grishaverse“ is inspired by world history and mythology, and here she takes some of the classic tales of our world and shows how they might have played out in hers. The prose is gorgeously and emotionally fraught; although not really any darker than the originals, they expose the darkness in different ways.
#AAM
Soft pick because this is a frustrating, sometimes painful read. It's a great illustration of the phrase “don't be your child's first bully,“ though the mom certainly isn't the worst; she doesn't put her child in conversion camp or pray over him or kick him out, just refuses to accept his name and identity. Just.
It's certainly a valid story and she does learn and grow, becoming a “SuperAlly!“ in the end. Includes a letter from the son.
You fear that Alex will be marginalized, but the first and foremost marginalization is family rejection.
This is a cis girl and her trans girlfriend but it reminds me a lot of accompanying my daughter to the women's bathroom. 😂 Very cute graphica memoir about how Sara's “boyfriend“ decided to transition and they stayed happily together.
#TransRightsReadathon
This is the self-defeating logic of anxiety; it makes us truly believe that the only way to feel safe is to never feel safe.
Didn't love the art style and *really* didn't love how relevant all the political content still or again is 😭 but this is a funny and warmhearted collection of comics. A group of queer friends, all with their own complicated identities or lack thereof, find their way through money problems, dating disasters, terrrible laws, and terrible decisions, with each other to lean on and learn from.
#TransRightsReadathon
A transgender man winds up back in his home town and makes a lot of discoveries... including his former teen self, somehow. A soft pick, but I'm disappointed I didn't like it more. The book feels kind of unfinished to me, like a really good editor could have fixed a *lot* about it. There are some excellent moments but they don't jell into an excellent book.
#TransRightsReadathon Book# 1
I think, for a second, about just saying fuck it and telling Michael the whole truth, as wild as it sounds. Tell him I'm a time-traveling existential crisis with gender feels and just see what he does.
Started my first #TransRightsReadathon book. This isn't transition focused as I expected, more of a “can I fix what went wrong in my life?“ story, and I think maybe a romance is coming. I'm not disappointed! 😂
Dryly -- and even wetly -- funny political satire, with heart to it. (As always with Wiswell.)
A sweet short story that puts a science fiction spin on the problems of social media and the need for self care.
anyone else having problems with gateway errors today? I haven't been able to note any of my reading. :-(
The life of a well-meaning upper-class English woman, from her childhood in the 1870s through the very different world of the 1930s. I think I wasn't the audience for this; Streatfeild's writing is engaging as always, and her characters relatable, but I found the story so dour and depressing overall.
(CW for homophobia; also, the digital edition is full of mistakes.)
#BookSpin
@TheAromaOfBooks
I have such mixed feelings about this. Parts of it I loved, particularly a character that reminded me so much of myself as an idealistic teen. I hope I would have been as strong as he is.
But reading it was like buying a really expensive dinner and constantly wondering “was this worth the price?“ as you eat. It is so. freaking. LONG. And sometimes cruel. I was wondering up to almost the last minute if I would finish.
#Roll100 (January 😳)
Even better than the first book. Complex, dark, twisty and achingly romantic, as the characters fight for their lives and their loves, battles they may not be able to win. Includes one of the most powerful scenes of hand-holding ever written.
#AAM @Soubhiville
#AllergicToChunksters @julieclair
I enjoyed the first series in this universe, but this one is so much stronger. Bardugo really learned the lesson of not making the villain the most interesting character in the story; instead we have a crew of six young adults, all with their own challenges and darkness to overcome, on a terrific heist adventure. Can't wait for the next one.
#AAM
Perhaps the original fake engagement romance? In WWI London, Patricia is mortified to overhear fellow boardinghouse “guests“ gossip about her lonely state, and invents a date with a fiance. When she's followed to the “date,“ she spies a likely man in uniform and begs him to help her out.
The romance that follows is chock full of gender essentialism and not that interesting, but there are some fascinating and funny portraits of the time. cont.
Your aunt's sense of duty is the most offensive sense I have ever encountered.
Laughter is a protest scream against death.
Not an easy choice because both books are unique in their own ways, but this one stands out.
I'm trying to get away from numerical goals but the satisfaction of a full board does make it harder. 😋
#Roll100 The Hazelbourne Ladies (and still working on last month's The Book of Love
#AAM Opnions
#AllergicToChunksters The Hazelbourne Ladies, Legendborn, Bloodmarked
#RiseUpReads DNF
#ReadOrDonate Mistress to a Millionaire (DNF & donated)
#QueerBC DNF
#MonthlyNonfiction2025 Navigate Your Stars, How We Learn to be Brave
“Oh, Patricia! why will you persist in being a cold douche!“
Took me a second to realize he meant a cold shower. 😂
What on earth? When did Ozma grow up and join the Ziegfeld Follies? 😂
This is one of my childhood favs. The lunchbox trees, with the napkin leaves, could anything be more tantalizing? And I love all the adventures and the sneaky Nome King.
@BookmarkTavern #BeyondTheYellowBrickRoad
“Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the land of Oz?... your impossible stories about animals that can talk...“ -- Bellina, the hen. 😂
@BookmarkTavern #BeyondTheYellowBrickRoad
The book is “a product of its time,“ sure, so let me just say that said time and the people who lived in it were plain terrible.
Previously published short essays on politics, pop culture, interviews with celebrities, and a snippet from Gay's advice column. I enjoyed the pop culture pieces the most, because Gay geeks out in a way that makes you see the appeal of the stupidest things. (Except the Bachelor. Nothing can make me see the appeal of The Bachelor.) The political sections were hard to read--because now they rhyme. The rest was pretty meh. A soft pick.
#AAM
Afrofuturism. Aliens from outer space have immigrated to Earth and become helpful citizens... but some seek to ban them. Future, a doctor who treated humans and aliens in Nigeria, flees to America with a dangerous secret. There she joins her civil rights lawyer grandmother in fighting for the rights of aliens.
Not sure how I feel about the metaphor, and there's a ton of loose ends, but it's enjoyably weird.
(This cover is so much better than any of the English language ones!)
One of Jones' lighter and more accessible books, with a funny cast and a lot of magic to figure out. Unfortunately it's very attached to the grand comedic tradition of lots of fatphobia.
#DoubleSpin @TheAromaOfBooks
The author-illustrators bring their own fascinating culture into the future in this delightful middle grade graphic novel. Indu is found alone on a moon by an Indonesian astronaut who adopts Indu and supports him when he decides he's a boy. When they return to New Earth, Indu faces hard changes, including bigotry from his new classmates. But he also discovers new friends and allies, and that his adopted culture has a long queer history.
cont.
Immersive historical fiction set in an English tourist town just post World War I, as a competent young woman, a naturalized German citizen, and a now-disabled fighter from the upper class try to find their places in a changing world that's still chock full of classism, sexism, ableism and bigotry. Well drawn, lovable characters, lively action, and some slow-burn romance make it very much my cup of tea, but I was thrown by the ending (cont.)
