My original goal for #20in4 was to finish 4 books, and I did finish The Gentleman's Book of Vices for my #10BeforetheEnd. Very enjoyable queer Victorian romance. But I decided to keep going on Jonathan Strange... and am actually getting into it so am going to aim to for 20 chapters a day instead. We're having Friendsgiving today so I might not make it!

Two high schoolers decide to be friends at a 2015 Pride event, a decision that will help them through a week of personal tumult. A tender, thoughtful story. I preferred the chapters from Mark's point of view, because Kate's adventures and romance seemed pretty implausible and his more grounded in reality.

Lots of queer joy, though the ending is now bittersweet. *Will* there be babies “who will only know a country where everyone can marry?“

I do hope my hold for this comes in in time! It's my most anticipated read because I enjoy queer retellings.

#WinterGames #XmasChaCha #EarlyBirdPoints

Keeping things very open this month. Back to specific for 2025!

#BookSpin

You just have to know my opinion about *everything* right?

“Die Hard“ has Christmas music and a character named Holly. Case closed.

Thanks to @dabbe for such a cute board!

So much prettier than the English covers...

It took me awhile to get to this, because book two of the series made my “sequels that should never have been written“ shelf. This was considerably more enjoyable, though I could've done entirely without Agatha. At least Simon and Baz are together, and finally working things out. And there's some closure for several mysteries, though a couple of questions left unanswered.

#10BeforeTheEnd

I already earned my #EarlyBirdPoints but who cares?

I don't know what the last question refers to, but I'd almost certainly pick a cottage over a mansion. I'm the one who cleans! 😂

I really enjoyed this moving, funny look at depression and baking. The recipes are fairly elaborate and often require ingredients that are hard to get in the U.S., so I never actually tried any of them, which is probably just as well.

November 26th #DaysDevotedTo Cake

Finding this an odd read. I'm not exactly bored, but there's such a remove from all the characters that I have no one to be interested in. It's like reading a moderately entertaining history book.

#DoubleSpin

Talk about all the feels! This had me laughing, wincing, aww-ing and cheering from one panel to the next. The use of video game imagery is very effective, especially since my own daughter often talks about “leveling up“ in her life. It's lovely to see Lewis go from trying to win stereotypical “man points“ to winning points for letting himself be himself.

Did not occur to me that there might be long waits for this 20 year old book, so I'm pretty late starting. #DoubleSpin

#WinterGames Team #XmasChaCha #EarlyBirdPoints

I'm actually more interested in finishing my #10BeforeTheEnd than reading holiday books, but these are what I currently have holds on.

It's always risky to make me think of another book. 🤨 This seemed to really want to be Red, White & Royal Blue plus holiday Green. And in some ways it worked; the prose is sparkling and engaging.

But the worldbuilding was both nonsensical and alienating for me, which made it hard to fully commit to and enjoy the story -- especially a queer story that's supposed to be about joy. True queer joy felt lacking. A fun read but I wanted more.

#QueerBC

I chose a picture that looks a little more like my usual holiday weather. 😂

You can answer what's true, what you'd prefer, or both! My answers below.

#WinterGames Team #XmasChaCha #Earlybird

20 years ago or so, I woke in the night with a crushing chest pain. My husband called an ambulance and because we had a young child, couldn't come with me. In the panic, neither of us thought to supply me with a book.

I was fine, but I was there for hours, getting tests and just lying there with nothing. What kept me from going completely mad was my obsession with this book, which I was able to “read“ from memory.

A story so twisty, I had to restart it as soon as I finished. Excellent audio, highly recommended.

“Get a girl some chocolates, feed her for a day. Get a girl a book, and you haven't fed her at all. #Don'tEatBooks “

A recent game of “Garticphone“ which is a drawing version of the old game of “telephone.“ This kept the theme remarkably well, aside from completely losing the audiobook. Will it make you laugh, or scream? 🙀

Jason hated it when girls cried. Renee has thought it was cute when he'd told her that on their third date. It hasn't occurred to her then to wonder how many girls had cried in front of him, and why.

When I was little, I was known as “The turkey girl.“ because that's all I ever wanted to eat when we went out. Preferably turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, but hot turkey sandwich would do.

If you ask my husband his favorite food, he responds “Thanksgiving.“

We were truly a match made in heaven. 😁

Oooo, so dark and creepy! It starts off cozy and then turns on you. A very disturbing read that has many possible interpretations.

#BookSpin #BacklistReadathon #10BeforeTheEnd Number 3

Fun collection of short comics to read in small sections.

Are we in #1 or #4?

I was a little intimidated by this but was immediately engrossed. Might help that it was inspired by one of my favorite books (though not a retelling, I don't think.)

#10BeforeTheEnd #BookSpin

“Why is it all Mr. Dibbler's films are set against the background of a world gone mad?“ said the dwarf.

Sol's eyes narrowed “Because Mr. Dibbler,“ he growled, “is a very observant man.“

Reminds me of one of my old fav cartoons: a man is reading in a hammock, and books are flying towards him while he swats them with a fly swatter and yells “wait your turn!“

Another down for #10BeforeTheEnd ! Gee, that only leaves 8. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I previously bailed on this but for some reason was really interested in trying the sequel, so gave it another go. I still found the narrator on the irritating/immature side, particularly her views on romance novels -- which I *love*, but don't over-idealize. But the love interest is super sweet and the scavenger hunt throughout Seattle is a lot of fun.

Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It‘s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It‘s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you‘ve got about a hundred years here. There‘s only one rule that I know of, babies—:

God damn it, you‘ve got to be kind.

1. Hmmm. Dots are cuter, but then I'm cut off from pride flags.

2. This is a given. I'm always reading library books!

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that I wanted even more. It's so interesting to learn about the progress of Sarah Andersen as an artist and a person. I was amused that she saw herself as moving away from “relatability“ in her recent work, because it's still her hallmark for me, even when the main character has bat wings.

(The image isn't from this book, btw, but it illustrates what I wanted to say perfectly.)

It was nice to have three serious contenders for this week! The other two were The Talk by Darrin Bell and Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday.

We need this book now more than ever, and it and 9 others are available as free ebooks at https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/517-ten-free-ebooks-for-getting-free

Free for 2 weeks. You do need to make an account, but don't have to give them a credit card or any info other than a name and email.

Really liked this contemporary romance. There were a couple of plot points that made me go “hmmm“ at first and then it turned out they really added to the story.

I'm finding this a very calm, easy read which is just perfect for today.

I like that Halle is mentioned as being a larger size than the other girls she knows and absolutely nothing is made of this. It's just a fact that comes up when she needs to borrow clothes.

#ComfortReadathon @BookwormAHN

I have a bad feeling about where my book is heading... 😬

Later on me and Charlie recited our Torah for him, but we did it the way Cab Calloway would, including the Hi-De Ho's.

A beautifully realized graphic memoir about growing up biracial/Black in America. Bell has always turned his struggles and insights into powerful words and pictures, thereby also earning a living and a Pulitzer prize. But as his baby son gets older, he has to reckon with everything he's learned in order to prepare him for what he'll face. Very touching and meaningful.

#NFNovember

(Ugh. I know this board is hideous but I'm too tired to redo it.)

Books with an * are also on my #10BeforeTheEnd list.

But it's also my last month of free KU so I may just mood read, who knows. 😂

She hadn't had a chance to work through the pros and cons, or check it for safety from every angle. For heaven's sake, she hadn't even written it down and nothing *counted* until you wrote it down, which meant that Dani was currently engaged in the highly dangerous practice of loving Zaf without a permit.

#31By31 Readathon: 34 books read!

#BacklistReadathon: read 1 book by Jackilyn Johnson, and 2 and 1 DNF by T. Kingfisher.

#TBRTarot Less than 100 pages: How to Make Friends with a Ghost

#HauntedShelf #FrightClub total points: 20756!

Thanks to @Jadams89 for being our group leader and @PuddleJumper for doing such great organizing in such a short time!

My November #BookSpin list. This includes quite a few of my #10BeforeTheEnd books, so I hope I can get four of those read.

#WeeklyFavorites

Perfectly fine horror, just not my cuppa.

Possibly the scariest book I read this month. Definitely the scariest cover!

#HauntedShelf #FrightClub #31By31 Book #33
#Spookoween #HalloweenAtoZReadathon

I loved this complicated queer romance about grief, identity, Jewishness, family of all kinds, and showing love even after death. It's not at all spooky or scary, but very warm and tender

#HauntedShelf #FrightClub #31By31 book 33!
#Spookoween #HalloweenAtoZReadathon Letter R

My kind of pumpkin.

#Spookoween

1. I was in a fun musical version of “Dune,“ so I'm going to wear my fremen costume. Will probably be the closest I've ever gotten to recognizable cultural relevance for Halloween. 😂

2. A Sorceress Comes to Call was very creepy but balanced with positivity, so more up my alley than total horror.

https://wondermark.com/c/1552/

Truly horrifying! 😂

#Spookoween