L. Rambit's Blog

Best of 2023

[Link to Best of 2022 List]
[Link to Best of 2021 List]
[Link to Best of 2020 List]
[Link to Best of 2019 List]

Happy New Year, and happy thirtieth birthday to me! My grandma always said that being thirty is infinitely better than being twenty, and I'm hoping that's true, because the majority of my twenties sucked (major exceptions including the birth of my youngest niece*, meeting my best friend, and my parents adopting the best dog in the world). I'm overdue for a lifetime of stability and comfort after the nonsense I've had to go through.

2023 had very few 'best of' entries... Only 5 percent of the books I read made it onto here. I'm a little disappointed, especially considering I might not make a list like this again. (I can't read nearly as much as I'm used to reading, due to my new job.) But the few books that did make it onto this list are truly excellent.

(*Obviously the births of ALL my niblings were great, but the rest of them happened in my teens and pre-teens; not my twenties.)

Willodeen by Katherine Applegate is a children's book — I read a lot of children's books this year — about a small tribe of people who hate a "useless" smelly, pig-like animal and hunt it to near-extinction... Only to experience environmental upheaval and an inexplicable absence of their beloved "hummingbears;" cute little animals that bring in tourists and tourist money. Willodeen, an odd little girl who loves the pig-like animals, goes on a scientific journey to find out why her forest is changing so fast. Why there are so many fires lately; where the hummingbears went... It's a story about environmentalism and how fragile the balance of nature can be once humans start meddling. On top of that, it's a beautiful story of grief and recovery and friendship... (Did this book make me cry? Maybe.)

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane was a dystopian story about a woman who's wife dies in childbirth during a major societal upheaval. The president (who feels very Trump-ish), quickly becoming a dictator, has decreed that anyone who hurts someone else must now carry an extra shadow... And people with more than one shadow are second-class citizens who have almost no rights at all. Since the baby technically "killed" her mother, she is assigned an extra shadow at birth, and all the stigma that comes with it is even more extreme when directed at an infant. It's a beautiful, poetically-written, almost stream-of-consciousness story about fascism, bigotry, queerness, found family, and self acceptance (and also healing, since our protagonist is severely traumatized from the loss of her wife).

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh is a novella about a vaguely inhuman man who lives in and guards the woods and all the magical inhabitants within; a sort of fairy groundskeeper... And the tale of how he slowly falls for the eccentric human man who bought the property he lives on. Since the story is so short, it's hard to say much without spoiling anything, but if you enjoy old-school fairy lore, medieval magic, sassy old ladies, and queer romance, you'll love this.

While I loved the entire series, I'm choosing the first (of five) Gregor the Overlander books by Suzanne Collins (yeah, the Hunger Games author!) for this list. It's set in modern-day New York City, where an impoverished tween (Gregor) has to care for his family due to his mother's full working schedule and his father's recent disappearance. While chasing his toddler sister through a laundry room, the two of them fall... Into a dangerous underground world where talking, person-sized cockroaches, bats, and albino humans are at war against evil rats. It has some tropes I don't love (namely, "chosen one" prophesies), but that doesn't much bother me because Gregor is the most precious pacifist of a protagonist. He only wants to protect and support his loved ones and is willing to go to extremes to do so. He's a good boy and I love him. This series has so much to say about poverty, sibling bonds, the true cost of war, death, mental illness, trauma... And Gregor is an absolutely incredible role model for young boys! He's a gentle, sensitive, emotional, loving, kind kid... Highly recommend! (Warning: The later books are a very blatant Holocaust metaphor. Genocide by gassing happens, and it's graphic.)

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is a very weird little... thing that I'm finding hard to describe. Every sentence in this book felt like a sharp left turn; I continuously found myself laughing and saying "wait, what?!" — I guess, if it has a plot, it's about a transcriptionist (Greta) for a therapist (Om) who becomes obsessed with one of Om's patients: a married Swiss woman (Flavia). Despite signing confidentiality agreements, when Greta meets Flavia outside of her therapy sessions and falls head over heels for her, they quickly form a deeply unethical romantic/sexual relationship built on lies. But it's so much more than that; it's a funny and deeply sad character study(?), essay on loneliness and repressed trauma(?), something. As another reviewer worded it, "my favorite genre is literary fiction about messed up women doing crazy sh*t". I loved it, even if I don't quite know what it was.

And that's it! I really didn't have a lot of luck with books this year. (Or with anything else, what with the broken hip and macular degeneration and "learning to live as an Officially Disabled Person" now, and all.)

My list of books that were pretty good, but not quite good enough to make it onto this list, are A Curious History of Sex, Goddess of Filth, A House with Good Bones, Together We Rot, Bones & All, Rabbits for Food, The One and Only Ivan, Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation, A Night Divided, Thornhedge, and (if manga counts), Tomura Shigaraki: Origin. You know it's a rough year when there are two new Kingfisher books, and neither of them makes the "best of"!

Because I'm a crotchety old biddy and negativity is my bread and butter, here's the list of books I actively hated from this year: And Then I Woke Up, A Welcome Reunion, Tell Me I’m Worthless, The Witch and the Vampire, and Sister, Maiden, Monster. See?! Even my "hated" books list is short! It really was just a whole year of "meh," wasn't it?

In 2024, I'm looking forward to the following books: Lady Makbeth, Murder Road, Icarus, Adam, Mine, A Sorceress Comes to Call, Deliver Me, and Heavenly Tyrant. (Assuming Heavenly Tyrant actually comes out this time. I love you, Xiran, and I understand why you can't tolerate your publisher messing with your pay, but please, I'm dying, here!) (Seriously, follow Xiran Jay Zhao's YouTube account; they spill so much tea about the publishing industry...)

I'm now following authors Marisa Crane, Emily Tesh, Skyla Arndt, and Jen Beagin; they've been added to my "favorite authors" list. And I'm still following Mira Grant, Katherine Applegate, K. Ancrum. Nicole Lesperance, Naomi Novik, Mona Awad, Kristen Arnett, T. Kingfisher, Akwaeke Emezi, Anne Heltzel, Xiran Jay Zhao, Samantha Irby, Caitlin Doughty, Sayaka Murata, Katrina Leno, Stephen Graham Jones, Simone St. James, Zoje Stage, Darcie Little Badger, Elizabeth Lim, Ava Reid, Catriona Ward, and Grady Hendrix.

I'm no longer following Chloe Gong, Lucinda Berry, Eric LaRocca, or Silvia Moreno-Garcia. No hate to them! I really liked some of their work, but for various reasons, I'm no longer interested in what they create. Hopefully this year I'll find some cool newbies!

Book Aunt Strikes Again

Happy holiday season, Goodreads! I'm not much a fan of Christmas (or Christianity in general), but I can't say I dislike any excuse to give and receive presents. Maybe I'm obsessed with reliving the good parts of my childhood by forcing books I liked as a kid onto my niblings, or maybe I just don't have any better gift ideas, but I bought the kids a ton of books this year. Again.

(I should add that books are hardly the only thing I buy for them. I give them treats every time I see them and mail them each several letters a month, because gift-giving is my love language.) (Wasn't the guy who wrote that love-language book also a weird Christian, though? Oh, dear.)

Thing One has once again escaped my bookish ambitions by virtue of being a Surly Teenager who Barely Talks to Me, so I wouldn't have been able to guess what kind of books he likes, even if I'd wanted to. (I got him six other gifts, instead. My parents each also got him six gifts, so collectively we could give him 18 presents. Mostly I bought him small things— a water bottle with a filter, athletic, moisture-wicking socks... But I did splurge and buy him a fancy repair kit for his beloved 3-D printer.)

Thing Two, age 16:

Thing Two, Red Fish, and I started a book club together in the spring. Red Fish chose our first book, which I then purchased to share—

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands wasn't really my cup of tea... You can read my rather salty review of it here. I don't love historical lit, and I really don't love child abuse, so... Yeah, not for me. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for the rest of our bookclub books, as libraries have my back covered. Shout-out to libraries. (Enjoy some filler text I'm inserting so that the formatting of this blog post doesn't get all messed up again. Is this enough? Looks like it.)

I also got her Howl’s Moving Castle (and some ChapStick) because I had yet to cave in and pay for Amazon Prime, and there was a minimum purchase requirement to qualify for free shipping. But whatever; HMC is a classic for a reason! Teen-me loved the books and was beyond excited to learn there was a Ghibli movie for the series, even if the movie is way different from the source material. Both are magic.

Then, for her birthday, I bought Thing Two a box-set containing Tamora Pierce's Immortals quartet (and candy. And some bomb-ass sterling silver earrings shaped like dragons). Most people prefer to start with the Song of the Lioness quartet when it comes to Pierce, and I get that; I love me some Alanna (I actually bought Thing One the Lioness Quartet a few years ago, when I was trying to introduce him to, y'know, the basic concepts of feminism)... But the Immortals quartet is just so much better, especially if you're an animal lover. (And the series was partially responsible for my love of teacher/student romances. Well, that, and the fact that I had crushes on half of my teachers. I've never been a fan of people in my age-range.)

Thing Three, age 13: This kid got me into reading Suzanne Collin's Underland Chronicles, which were fantastic; I highly recommend them. (I bought him all 5 of those books, so that we could read the series together without waiting for long library holds.)

Since he enjoys fantasy, for his birthday I got him...

There's not much to say about Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel that I didn't say in last year's Book Aunt post; just that it was a book I enjoyed as a kid, told from the perspective of a bat, with a particularly scary villain that always stood out to me. There are other books in this series, so I'm hoping he'll like it enough to keep reading.

See above; I talked about The Wind Singer in last year's blog post. It's an older dystopian tale about a world divided into strict classes, and a family that tries to break out of said system. They're long books with some very funny and very heartbreaking moments; I recommend it to any kid who can handle darker subjects.

For Thing Three and Red Fish, I pre-ordered copies of Chris Grine's fourth Animorphs graphic novel, The Message. (Funny, because I just got a digital copy from my library for myself.) You know the drill; I've loved Animorphs since I was a kid, I love rereading it periodically now, and I love that it's being adapted into graphic novels I can share with my niblings. That love absolutely extends to paying for physical copies so Scholastic is hopefully incentivized to keep commissioning this series. Animorphs is an incredible anti-war series that contributed to my becoming the radical leftist and environmentally conscious human that I am today... So I'm all for corrupting today's youth with outrageous morals like "Fascism Bad," "exercise your right to vote," "animals have feelings and complex inner lives" "critical thinking/ questioning authority is Good, Actually," and "all humans are equal (all means ALL)."

I also bought him a copy of John Bellairs' The House with a Clock in Its Walls, which kid-me loved (and not just because it featured an overweight protaganist who is never forced to lose weight just to be loved! Like Lewis, I, too, was (and am) a chunky, chocolate-loving bookworm with difficulty making friends). It's important for kids to read about people with different experiences than themselves (like fat people's): it teaches kids to be more empathetic.

Red Fish, age 12:

When Red Fish's family came to visit me in March, I had a few goodies waiting for her. (Okay, a lot of goodies. I like buying presents.) But amongst the candy and bracelets and stickers, I had a copy of Hatching Magic by Ann Downer-Hazell. Red Fish is obsessed with dragons, and from what I remember, this book about a wizard losing his wyvern's egg through a time portal, only for it to be discovered by a modern-day child, fit the bill.

Then, for her birthday books:

Lily's Ghosts by Laura Ruby was a fun one that kid-me liked specifically because I thought the protagonist seemed like a sexy bad-girl with a tragic past (remember: I was little when I read this. This isn't adult-me calling the protagonist sexy). She liked science and had issues with her flighty mom and then ghosts happened and she had to deal with creepy adults at gunpoint and she got to make out with a pretty Greek boy... Listen: sometimes a kid just likes what she likes, okay?

You can read my review for The Ghost of Fossil Glen by Cynthia C. DeFelice here, but basically it's a mildly spooky series about an 11-year-old girl who is contacted by various ghosts (some good, some evil, some canine) that she has to help put to rest. I first read this series in audiobook format when I was little, driving on a road trip with my parents. I kind of regret getting this one for Red Fish, because it's a bit more childish than I remember, and she's already reading past a high school level.

I've talked before about how Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is my all-time favorite children's book, and for good reason: the writing itself, the word-choice, is beautiful. Flowing and lyrical. I love books that almost read like poetry (with the caveat that there is still a plot. Much as I enjoy them, pretty words with no substance does nothing for me). The plot for this one? A girl and her mysterious father go to stay with her strict, book-loving aunt, only to later be kidnapped by villains directly from a fictional novel. Magic and mayhem ensue.

Thing Four, age 11:

For Thing Four's birthday, I bought him a box-set of the first three Chet Gecko mysteries by Bruce Hale. (Also Pokémon cards. And candy. And a Roblox gift card. Gift-giving is my love language, damn it!) Anyway, these books are a punny, reptilian spin on the detective noir genre that gave kid-me a lot of chuckles. I probably won't be buying Four any more books, unless they're cook books— he's a math and science-minded munchkin who prefers doing to reading. Lesson learned.

Blue Fish, age 9:

When the Fish family visited in March and I had the smorgasbord of goodies on the girls' bunk beds, I included Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park for Blue Fish. This is an interesting story about a Korean-American girl who chooses to do a silkworm project for her American science fair; it's a story about heritage, racism, friendship... And kid-me was amused by the between-chapter segments wherein the protagonist "spoke" to the author herself.

Then, for her birthday...

My Big Sister Is So Bossy She Says You Can't Read This Book by Mary Hershey seemed like a natural fit for Blue Fish, since, well. She does have a bit of a bossy big sister who often steals the limelight. (I love all my sisters and nieces, but as a youngest sibling, myself, I definitely understand the feeling!) This book is a combination of funny and sad as our protagonist struggles with her (lack of) friends, her tumultuous relationship with her sister, and the recent death of her grandfather. Being a tween is hard.

Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles is a book my third grade teacher bought as a gift for me, specifically, which I've always loved her for. Ruby is struggling with being alone in her small southern town after her grandmother takes an indefinite trip to Hawaii, but at least she has chickens to raise and a weird new girl to maybe befriend. Once again: complicated relationships with frenemies, one shockingly sad scene, and some grandfather-related trauma make up the background.

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume is yet another story about a lonely, bookish girl (I'm starting to see a pattern in my preferred childhood literature) who has an awkward relationship with her very famous pianist mother. Cornelia makes friends with her eccentric, elderly neighbors and their dogs, and much of the book is her listening to the Somerset Sisters' wild life stories.

Like with Thing Four, I don't think I'll be getting Blue Fish any more books... I've been a tad selfish, only considering what I would have liked as a child, and not necessarily what they want; who they are as people. (We're learning and growing!) Blue Fish is a very active bambina who prefers sports and theater to reading, and that's okay!

Bonus! She's a sibling, not a nibling, but I bought Sibling2 some graphic novels for a challenge that she was trying to complete. (Note: I don't really enjoy reading graphic novels or western-style comics. I'm more of a manga gal. Sometimes I'll do it, but it's not my favorite medium in which to consume stories.)

I read Killing Stalking by Koogi back when it was still being updated regularly online... I paid to read it chapter by chapter, so Sibling2 should consider herself lucky to have the first 10 chapters in one pretty little book. It's dark and utterly messed up; gore and rape and all that jazz. (You know; exactly what you (I) want from a webcomic!) As the title suggests, it's about a Korean guy who obsessively stalks his crush, but unfortunately, that guy turns out to be a serial killer. What are the odds?! Kidnapping, maiming, and toxic gay "romance" ensues. It's a fun time!

I read the first few volumes of Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV on Hoopla, but I never finished it because I have the attention span of a gnat. But I enjoyed what I did read! Mass gory child death abounds in this series as we follow a mysterious monster hunter. She tries to solve this child-killing nonsense. Whether she succeeds, I never found out, and I probably never will. As I said before, I like when cartoons and comics are as gory as possible. Show me the guts! Show me a fetus or an eyeball! Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me! This series did not disappoint.

Easily the most reputable of the graphic novels I gave to Sibling2 was Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan. It has, y'know, a really creative and compelling sci-fi plot with themes of racism, slavery, and prejudice and the responsibilities of parenthood, yada yada. There's also a hot, topless woman with 8 spider legs, so that's pretty cool. I read the first few of this series when I lived with a roommate who was obsessed with them. Again: I'll probably never finish the series, but what I did read was some good stuff.

Aaand... That's a wrap! Those were all the books I bought for blood relatives in the last year. (I'm not including the stuff I bought for friends, because then I'd be here all day.) Again: in this upcoming year, I'm going to try to give more personal gifts based on what people actually want, not what I want to give, so I don't think I'll ever write another Book Aunt post. Goodnight and good luck, see you, space cowboy, or whatever sign-off you deem most appropriate.

* For clarity: Things 1-4 are the children of Sibling1. Red Fish & Blue Fish are the daughters of Sibling2. Don't get your Dr. Seuss references crossed.

September-November 2023

Howdy, folks! Been a while since you've heard from your favorite 29-year-old! I'm doing fine, if "fine" means incontinence panties and compression socks and ongoing eyeball injections and being forced to work on holidays without the incentive of holiday pay and daily crying meltdowns because I'm in so much pain I can barely get in/out of a car! I'm feeling very "Act 3, Scene 1" Mercutio, if you know what I mean!

We've officially reached my favorite time of year, which spans from mid October to mid February! I can finally go outside without my exceedingly Caucasian flesh bursting into flames, hallelujah! I'm sleeping with my fan on and my window wide open, and I couldn't be happier to wake up chilled. I might've been a polar bear in a previous life.

I've been a busy Lyn, getting settled at my new job, which is alright, even if I am by nature an extreme introvert (my Myers-Briggs type is INTJ; my job trainer informed me that I'm "like a serial killer" because I scored high logic and low empathy on my work-style quiz), and being forced to Talk to Humans Nonstop for 8 hours a day is sometimes akin to mental torture. My tally of "customers who've called me a bitch" has already reached the double digits. (I wish they'd think of more creative insults. "You're a bitch"? Yawn. "Your dad still files your taxes for you"? Devastating.) I also got my flu and Covid boosters, as per autumnal tradition.

I haven't bought a car yet. Car payments are expensive! I prefer spending my money on things like fancy ice cream. And latch hook projects. And a †box containing 50 tiny rubber ducks to hide on my coworkers' desks an hour before work starts. You know; important stuff!

Dad and I watched "The Menu" (2022), which I'd heard good things about! And they were warranted... This horror/comedy was great all across the board. Cast, writing, humor, themes, commentary... On the opposite end of the spectrum, we watched "The Meg" (2018) and spent the entire runtime snarking in terrible Australian accents ("It's time to defeat The Meg... With the power of Sexy Aussie!" "Let's Steve Irwin this bitch.") and feeling mildly disappointed when no sharks leapt from the ocean to eat any helicopters. It's exactly what you think it is: dumb blockbuster fun. ................................................. ........................................................ ..............................................

We watched a movie called "Shadow in the Cloud" (2020) that we both loved? I dubbed it "Mad Max: Sky Edition," while Dad thought it was serving "Roosevelt-Era Snakes on a Plane." It was so bizarre and absurd that I kept intending to get up and fix myself a drink while we watched, only to be dragged back into my seat by the next bonkers scene. It starts with an English female fighter pilot in the 1940s boarding a rickety bomber plane full of exceptionally rude and sexist soldiers. She's carrying a package with her and insists that, under no circumstances, should they open it. And then monsters attack. And explosions. And Japanese fighter jets. And crawling around on the outside of flying airplanes. And deceit upon deceit. By the end, Dad and I kept responding to the insanity with "sure, that might as well happen!" "What's next, dinosaurs?!" — I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Before my Netflix membership expired, I watched Nimona (2023). The queer rep was plentiful and the art was pretty. The sci-fi AND fantasy elements were fun (though I would've preferred just fantasy for this particular story), but where it lost me was all the slapstick humor (distracting, unnecessary) and vague worldbuilding. We get hints of an elitist monarchy where only nobles can become knights, and some imperialist flavors to the utopia these characters live in, but I want details! I appreciated the message that an unjust society isn't "just" from one bigoted apple spoiling the bunch. It's the whole system that needs to be ripped apart and rebuilt. I loved our shape-shifting Nimona, and her backstory was the best part of the entire film.

For shows, Dad and I enjoyed "Who is Erin Carter?". I love shows that have only a few episodes to tell a complete story in... Cuts down on unnecessary fluff. This story of a mystery woman who runs away with her young child to Barcelona, only for her violent past to catch up with her some years later, was full of action. I love seeing a mom beating creepy men up with random household appliances! I wasn't necessarily on Erin's side — her blonde nemesis was in the right, not her (Dad disagrees), and I think the ending could've been wrapped up tighter (Dad agrees). Also, it should've been gay. Murder Mommies would've made a way better ending! Make Erin and Lena kiss! (Netflix, hire me.) (I'm kidding.) (Or am I?)

Since I don't want to pay for Netflix or Max anymore, our streaming service options are limited. Thankfully, we get Hulu for "free" with our service provider. Dad pulled up "Only Murders in the Building," which, as someone who hates true crime, I found very charming and funny. A cozy murder mystery full of quirky characters and some very creative filming choices. It felt along the vein of an Agatha Christie novel, only with a hell of a lot more profanity and celebrity cameos. The humor is mostly dry and occasionally — but not very — dark. It's definitely making fun of true crime as a genre. It has heart and genuine chemistry in the odd friendship between two zany geriatrics and a cranky millennial solving a crime together; not for honor, but for the joy of making a podcast about it. We finished season one and are slowly making our way through season two.

I've been playing a ton of "Hogwarts Mystery" on my phone. (I know, I know. JK Rowling is a garbage human who actively and quantifiably hurts the trans community, and I'm a bad ally-slash-not entirely cis person (a cisn't, if you will) for playing this game at all. But did you not read the opening paragraphs of this post? Let me have my stupid little game, please!) Let me live out my Slytherin animagus Mary Sue fantasies. I'm about halfway through the third year right now, but I keep getting distracted by side-quests, so it's slow going. Screenshots include my very cool dorm room, and my character chatting with Chiara, the angsty werewolf girl whom I intend to date when the opportunity presents itself.

I haven't done a ton of reading since starting my new job... It's gotten to the point where I had to lower my 2023 reading goal from 100 books to 95 books. No shame! To quote some of my favorite life-mottos from Tumblr: Cringe culture is dead; kill the cop inside your head; do whatever you want, forever.

I binged my way through the Underland Chronicles. I'd read the first book a few months back, and then once I started book two, I couldn't stop until I read all five. This series is absolutely incredible... Suzanne Collins is a fantastic author who really wrenches my heart around, and I haven't loved a protagonist as much as I love Gregor in a long time. This is a children's series, as opposed to the YA nature of her "Hunger Games" books, but a lot of the themes remain the same: poverty, corrupted government, the price of war, strong sibling relationships... The Holocaust and antisemitism metaphor is extremely blatant, and I wouldn't recommend children who are easily frightened read this, once we've got mice being rounded up and gassed to death by the thousands... It's extremely upsetting. Which, it should be! It's important to teach children, and to do anything to lighten the weight of this atrocity would be extremely disrespectful... But it is a lot, I will confess. Still, I adored these books, even if they did make me cry several times. Highly recommend, and the next time someone scoffs at you for reading "kid's books," feel free to smack them for me.

When You Wish Upon a Star is one of two new Elizabeth Lim books to come out this year. Thing Two and I enjoyed her writing in "Six Crimson Cranes," though not so much in its sequel, so I was excited to see that Disney hired her to write a version of Pinocchio from the perspective of the blue fairy. (Apparently "Twisted Tales" are a whole thing from Disney; who knew?!) We delve into the blue fairy's surprisingly human origins as a baker's daughter in 19th century Italy, where ships are frequently capsized by a monstrous whale. Because Chiara is so Good and Kind, she's given the opportunity to become a fairy, much to her jealous sister's dismay. Her fairy training, her sibling rivalry, and her friendship with sweet young Geppetto made up the majority of this book. To call it "good" would be a stretch, but as far as highly manufactured Disney fanfiction goes, it wasn't the worst.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate — Kathy Apples, my beloved! I loved this. It's a children's book based on the true story of a gorilla kept at a mall as an attraction. There are two other books in this series, so I plan to get my hands on them, soon. Kathy Apples once again wages war on my poor emotions by telling an animal's perspective of living in captivity, in poor conditions, by abusive humans. Yet it was beautiful, too, as Ivan struggles to the best of his gorilla abilities to free himself and the baby elephant who lives in the cage next to his. It really is interesting to see the steps we've taken in our understanding of animal welfare, but it's also awful to realize how bad we used to be, and how far we have to go. Still, it's very important to acknowledge these things, and especially to get kids thinking about it.

What's this? A book for adults?! Who even am I! Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum is exactly the kind of contemporary lit that I like: depressing and existential. It's about a middle-aged author who, in 2008, finds herself in a mental health facility due to lifelong crippling depression. It's told piecemeal and non-linear, in very short chapters that show snippets of her unfulfilling life and shallow relationships before and during her stay. It's grim and listless, and I very much vibe with that. The chapter about Bunny's struggle to find a tolerable psychiatrist hit very close to home. (The horror stories I could tell you... I don't particularly like my current psychiatrist, but he never touches or stalks me, he's chill with over-the-phone appointments and mail-service med delivery, and he found a cocktail of drugs that actually works on me, so I'm clinging to him with both hands.) Not everyone would like this, but it's my cup of tea; especially that unsettling conclusion.

So, years ago, I started watching Attack on Titan, just like most anime nerds. It was intense and dark and epic... But it annoyed me due to all the "WHAT A TWIST!" and "find out what's going on... NEXT SEASON!" cliffhangers. I don't have the patience for that crap! So I told myself I'd let it go until all was finished, and THEN I would resume — and that time is now. The manga and anime are completed and I'm free to binge. Of course, the mangaka Hajime Isayama has since gotten himself into hot water by denying Japanese war crimes on Twitter (can we all just agree not to use Twitter anymore? It's a cesspool), and some fans are reading antisemitic and fascist undertones in AOT's themes, so that's... Unfortunate. But my e-library has all 33 volumes in stock, so I'll see for myself what the fuss is about. The beginning is well-crafted; it's a detailed tragedy about the last vestiges of humanity hiding from human-eating giants, all seen from a child's eyes.

Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora is, despite the cutesy title and art style, a delightfully twisted horror series wherein the main character is a kidnapper, a murderer, and (probably) a pedophile... And yet she remains one of the most sympathetic characters in a cast full of batshit insane people. There is no subtlety in this series, and all of the characters are extremely shallow. The fun of it comes from the depravity, and (somewhat) from wish fulfillment. Does your boss try to cut your wages? Threaten her! Is your teacher a pervert? Threaten him, too! Did some random thugs harass the child you kidnapped? Just gouge their eyes out. Never mind that they're two larger boys and you're a tiny teenage girl with no self defense training; the plot wants you to be a competent serial killer, and so you are one. Some might call this series a guilty pleasure, but I don't believe in feeling guilt over pleasure, so I'll just say that I enjoyed this trashy mess for exactly what it was. Not everything has to be high-brow art. (If you want a brief summation of the plot, though, it's about a high-school student who kidnaps a little girl, whom she insists she is in love with, and the depths she'll sink to keep her.)

Still chugging my way through Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia manga! I've finished volumes 22-25 (of 38, so far, although my library only has up to 34... Hopefully they acquire the rest when it's translated into English, because I'd be very annoyed if I had to spend actual money on it) and I'm all caught up on the anime until the next season drops. Some of my favorite volumes were in this batch... I loved when it became "my villain academia" and focused entirely on the villains for several chapters. The league of villains are my favorite characters in this series! I love when villains are sympathetic; when they love each other; when they have backstories that explain WHY they became villains in the first place, and how some of them aren't so different from the so-called heroes... In fact, one of the reasons I put the series down for so long was because they started killing the villains off, and I didn't want to see any more of my faves die. But I guess it's okay... In my fanfics, they're alive and well.

I probably won't have anywhere else to talk about this, since I don't think I'll write a December wrap-up, but eeee, the fourth Animorphs graphic novel is coming out in four days, and I'm the first in line to get it from my e-library. Yay, yay!!!

† Lest you think I was kidding about the duck thing, here's a picture of my duck friends. I referred to the task as "Operation: Sneaky Squeaky" and it was such a rousing success that Dad bought some of his own to beduck (duckorate? Dúckoupage?) his office, too.

May-August 2023

Well... I can't say summer was fun. (Can I ever? It's the absolute worst season. The armpit of the year.) But maybe that's because it's 117°F outside (yes, really).

On today's episode of "Lyn lives in a decaying meat-sack and faces the horrors of entropy and time," guess who now has to get monthly injections directly in their eyeball to combat macular degeneration? The fun times just keep on rollin', folks; nothin' but parties all day long here!

(I'm fine, really. I have a full-time desk job, I'm on my meds, and I'm now in trauma therapy. I'm just a crotchety old biddy and I love to complain.)

I saw more movies than usual. I'm not a movie person (I walked out of Oppenheimer because it was so boring!), but the summer season, combined with months of unemployment, naturally led to more time spent in the theater (or in front of Netflix with a pug in my lap).

My parents and I watched Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) together which, despite being corny historical revisionism, was still enjoyable for all of us due to stellar acting and sweet father/daughter sentiments. And speaking of historical revisionism, none of us enjoyed 2017's "The Greatest Showman." I usually love musicals (and Hugh Jackman), but I struggled to get into this one, especially knowing what a trashbag P. T. Barnum was in real life. "Hey, people with disabilities and deformities! Can I exploit and dehumanize you for profit and still be a likable protagonist?" (Answer: No.)

We liked "A Man Called Otto" (2022) a lot. It actually hit pretty hard, as someone who's struggled with mental illness and suicidal thoughts since I was ten years old. Sometimes it's so easy to forget that everyone impacts everyone, and the loss of one human life has such a ripple effect, even when that person believes themself to be alone; unloved.

Thing Three's entire class performed a stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid, so I went to his school to watch (Thing Three made a superb Grimsby), and then the next weekend we went to see the new Disney adaptation of the same story in theaters. Halle Bailey was gorgeous, and her chemistry with Dimples McGee — sorry, Prince Eric — was adorable. We also saw "Elemental," which was a lot cuter and more engaging than I expected. Were Thing Two and I ugly-crying at anthropomorphic fire falling for anthropomorphic water in a touching metaphor for interracial immigrant love? I'll never tell!

I'd been looking forward to the Barbie movie since the first trailer dropped, and it didn't disappoint (for me, anyway. I saw it with my mom and Sibling1, and they didn't like it nearly as much). It was a little "baby's first feminism," in that I felt I was being spoonfed concepts I've known and understood for years (yes, movie, I know society places the pressure of perfection on women while praising men for mere adequacy. Thank you for spelling it out, though!), but the jokes were funny, the sets/props were phenomenal, and Ryan Gosling stole the show.

I didn't want to mention seeing the remake of The Haunted Mansion, but Dad said that it would be "sad" not to. (Although I'm not sure why he cares, seeing as he stole my popcorn and then fell asleep in the theater. Head back, mouth open, zonked. At least he didn't snore.) It really didn't need to exist, but it had a good cast and a few funny moments. Danny Devito is always a win; Jared Leto can step on a Lego.

Season two of Good Omens dropped! I was leery to watch at first; after all, season one covered the entire book. What further story is there to tell? A freaking good one, as it turns out. I shouldn't have worried; Neil Gaiman's never let me down. So much of this season had me giggling and squealing in fangirl bliss, and you bet your biscuits I wrote fanfic once I was done watching. Very queer, very sweet. Dad thought it was too heavy on fluff, light on plot, but that didn't bother me. Who knew Jon Hamm was so hilarious?! I'm beyond excited for season three.

Speaking of book-to-TV adaptations, we finally watched Sharp Objects. You know a show is dark when it starts with a note reminding the audience to seek help if they're self-harming. I... Didn't like it much. The editing/pacing was weird and hard to follow, and the girl they cast to play Amma was too old for the role (the fact that she's thirteen is pivotal to her character!). While I halfheartedly tried to make Dad second-guess himself, he figured out all the twists pretty early on. Amy Adams is great in her role as Camille, but otherwise, this one fell flat; definitely a case of "the book did it better." At least I don't have to pay for HBO anymore. (Still paying for Crunchyroll, though.)

I haven't been reading very much since I got out of rehab. I just have no drive for it... I buy books, I stare at 'em, I don't read 'em. And when I do read 'em, I don't like 'em. But here's what I managed to get through this summer:

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands was the first book that two of my nieces (Thing Two and Red Fish) chose to read for our newly formed book club. I... Did not care for it. It was a struggle just to get through the first one, and then my girls turned around and requested the sequel (Mark of the Plague) for our July meeting... SIGH. You can tell the author is a giant history nerd, so it was interesting to see the big focus on social/class dynamics of children, apprentices, business owners, political workers; the king vs the people vs the church... But it's just hard to care when everything is so bleak and everyone keeps getting murdered and 98% of the characters are mean (aka: all the reasons I hate Game of Thrones. Minus the sexual assault). While it might be accurate that adults were fine with beating kids, any kids, in the 1600s, it's still depressing to read hundreds of pages of, say, a 13-year-old orphan getting kicked in the chest by grown men until her ribs break. Not my idea of a good time, personally.

Pretty sure this was an instance of "it's not you, it's me," but I was a bit disappointed by Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby. Maybe I'd just hyped it up too much in my head? Of course it was funny and sassy, and I liked a lot of the essays (the one about teenagers was hilarious), but a lot of it felt like it was retreading old ground, retelling stories from previous books (her dad's ashes, etc). I acknowledge this one is worth listening to a second time, to see if it was just my cranky mood at the time impacting my experience, or if it really is Not As Good as her other 3 books. I'd hoped there would be a little more focus on Irby's wife and stepkids (again, that chapter on teenagers was hilarious, but it focused on teens in general; not Irby's kids). I understand if she wants to keep her family's privacy, but it feels like she's written so much about her past, and very little about her current life. Just use pseudonyms, Samantha, please!

I really did not expect Paris Hilton's Paris: The Memoir to be so interesting, but it hooked me on page one. I didn't know Paris has clinically-diagnosed ADHD and PTSD, and I did not expect rape and pedophilia within the first few chapters, so that was painful. But most interesting was all of her writing focusing on the criminally abusive Troubled Teen Industry, which my mother attempted to enroll me into, back in 2009 (Sibling2 had to talk her out of it). Hearing Paris go into detail on the abuse, assault, mental torture, and murder that teens went through on the pretense of "straightening them out" was harrowing.

Celebs and pop culture are not things that I pour much thought into, so there were a lot of references and namedrops I didn't get (especially since they were a bit before my time... I was a mid-90s baby), and I definitely cannot relate to partying, sex, or being social, but the writing was engaging enough for it not to matter. I liked how it was so cemented in pop culture, showing the passage of time with specific references. That felt very appropriate for a book like this. Paris isn't someone I would ever want to hang out with, and whether she's a "good person" is debatable (the last-chapter apologies for all of her racism and homophobia felt very "my editor/agent made me write this"), but it's nice when someone who's been so demonized and slut-shamed has a chance to tell her side of things, and she's definitely spitting some hard truths about the rape culture and virgin/whore dichotomies we trap young girls in. Good book, Paris; you'll always be Amber Sweet to me.

I read This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar because I had to read a new sci-fi/fantasy release to complete Kindle's spring challenge, it was barely over 200 pages, and that whole silly debacle wherein one anime nerd on Twitter single-handedly launched this book onto the best-sellers list intrigued me. But... It was very much not my cup of tea. Was the writing beautiful? Absolutely! Was there any plot whatsoever? Nope! It doesn't surprise me that the author mostly works in poetry — just like with most poems, I was left wondering, "what was the point of all that???" and "is this actually going somewhere? Anywhere???" the whole time. So many pretty words used to describe absolutely nothing. If you want a story wherein gay otherworldly beings flirt over centuries of meddling in human affairs, just re-read Good Omens.

I bought my niece (Red Fish) some books I'd enjoyed as a child for her birthday, which sent me back down memory lane rereading The Ghost of Fossil Glen and its sequel by Cynthia C. DeFelice. I may have made a mistake in that they're a little young for Red Fish (who is now 12) — though she's pretty advanced for her age. I guess your mileage may vary, depending on whether your kid can handle concepts like child murder and animal abuse. Kid-me liked them, and I still like 'em now. They center around Allie, a pre-teen who is a bit of a ghost magnet; ghosts frequently come to her for help. Sometimes the ghosts are good and sympathetic. Sometimes they're evil liars. Sometimes they're dogs. Again: the books are quite simple and don't much beat around the bush, but as a kid I really enjoyed figuring things out with Allie, and feeling mildly spooked all the while. And you gotta love that late 90s cheese. I only re-read the first two before I felt satisfied; I didn't need to read all 4 books.

The last "Kindle Spring Challenge" was to read a book that had gone viral on Booktok... Unfortunately, Booktok sucks; full of Colleen Hoover and Sarah J Maas. But of all 86 titles, there was ONE I've been wanting to read... Crying in H Mart is Michelle Zauner's emotional autobiography about her messy relationship with her late mother, as well as her Korean heritage and the complications of being mixed race in both Korean and American settings. I think I'm just gonna have to accept that I'm Old now, because I really love autobiographies/memoirs. Anyway, I did enjoy it; it had a very strong beginning, but it kinda lost me after that. It meandered and lost its punch. Still good, though!

The timing of this book's release was serendipitous. I'd already pre-ordered the eBook for Mothered by Zoje Stage, and it turned out to be a book I needed for Kindle's summer challenge! Task? Read a "beach read." Since most of said beach reads were either bad mysteries or bad romances — and not the fun Lady Gaga kind — I was relieved to be able to read a bad... Whatever this was, instead. Okay, it's not fair calling this 'bad.' I enjoyed it immensely, just as I'd enjoyed Stage's "Baby Teeth." Sometimes I enjoyed making fun of it more than I enjoyed reading it, but the joy was there nonetheless. It's a thriller wherein mother and daughter survive the Covid-19 pandemic by moving in together... But this unearths some old traumas and quickly drives them both insane. You know from page one that someone murders someone; the rest of the book just unveils who did what, and why. Being a Zoje Stage book, weirdness ensues. (Also: apparently "Zoje" is pronounced "Zoya." Who knew?!)

I told you that I love memoirs! Pageboy by Elliot Page just came out... I'm kind of a Page fan. Every movie or show I've seen with him, I enjoyed (especially Umbrella Academy! And y'all know I'm a big X-Men fangirl). So I'm not sure why I didn't love this. Was the writing too simple and explicit, making me cringe a LOT? Was there too much sex, sexual assault, bodily excretions, and drugs? (Not that Paris's memoir DIDN'T have all that, but it wasn't uncomfortably graphic like this was.) Maybe it was the audiobook that was the problem? Elliot reads it himself, and his voice is so flat and monotone... Elliot, you're an actor! What the heck! — And it's not just the voice, but the text, too. Elliot lists all this bad stuff happening, with 0 emotion or commentary. Just: welp, this happened. Okay?? Anything to add??? Maybe I'm just jealous that Elliot has more romantic and sexual experience than I'm ever gonna get, and he's accepted his own gender/identity in a way that I'm far off from doing of my own? I definitely don't wanna examine that too closely, so... Elliot, I'm happy for your journey and coming out, I'm glad things have gotten better for you, I'm sorry you've been through so much trauma... And I'm sorry I didn't love your book.

When I told my nieces that I couldn't stand to read about children being abused in 1600s London anymore, Thing Two suggested we read about children being abused in 1960's Berlin, instead. A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen was our third bookclub book, and I liked it a lot. I guess I never knew much about the Berlin Wall; why it existed or for how long, or the dangers of trying to cross it. (I didn't pay much attention in history class, okay?) This book humanizes the facts by focusing on a tween girl's experience on the impoverished east side, trapped by Russian communists as her father and brother narrowly escape to the more liberated west. On fear of death, she contends with secret police, hidden cameras in her own home, propaganda, censorship, fake friends, dead teenagers... It all feels very dystopian/sci-fi, but apparently this is real stuff that happened! Occasionally the preachy nature of children's lit started to drag — no, child, you don't need to feel bad about stealing a shovel, and you definitely don't have to pray for the police who are actively threatening your life — but overall it was very interesting, and inspired me to research more into Cold War happenings. Hey, kids, learning is fun!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares was something I read back in '05 when the movie first came out (America Fererra being one of my first celebrity crushes!), and was inspired to re-read when Dad and I watched a 3am game of women's soccer, because neither of us is good at sleeping. On reread... Yeah, these books are really good, the writing is excellent, the relationships between these four best friends feels authentic and warm. But the "romances..." Oof. We've got Statutory Rape: the Slowburn! that Eric tries to justify with "you're too sexy and young for me!" (but I raped you, a mentally ill child, anyway, and I really really hope you won't tell the police!). How... Romantic? Barf! And we've got Kostos and Lena, aka "we have zero chemistry and barely interact, but suddenly we're in love, I guess." I remember teen-me liking Tibby and Brian, so I guess if I reread the rest of the books, I'll see if I still like 'em. Problematic "romances" aside, I did enjoy this, even if every word out of Eric's mouth made me contemplate homicide.

Speaking of contemplating homicide! Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey was... Difficult. It's been a minute since I've been so annoyed by a protagonist. It's about a 28-year-old Canadian who gets divorced... And that's it; that's the plot. Cue several hundred pages of her wallowing in despair and insulting anyone who has the misfortune to care about her well-being while making the worst life decisions possible. This woman has absolutely no self awareness, and it was hard to read. Speaking as a crazy person who also wallows in despair: I am at least aware of when I'm being obnoxious! When my friends are mad at me, I usually know why! So it was very frustrating to read about someone so relatable and yet so stupid about it. You can't treat people like this, Maggie. And her constant obsessing over her appearance also made me want to slap her. I think the author was trying to write a contemporary "this is what it's like to be a modern woman!" narrative, but like... No, it's not? Like Maggie, I too am a queer white woman, and I too ruin all my relationships. But gott in himmel, please tell me I'm not this annoying!

Yeah... I think it's time to give up on author Lucinda Berry, because the A Welcome Reunion novella pissed me off big-time. It's a follow-up to her "The Perfect Child," a basic "family adopts evil child. Evil child is Evil. Oh No" story. I can't say much on WHY this made me so mad without spoiling it, sadly, but it had the same conclusion as her "Saving Noah" book did, and it didn't sit with me right THEN, either! Therapists saying that their patients are "beyond help"? Um, ew??? Suggesting they stop "sociopaths" from having kids/passing their genes down? Okay, eugenicist. I have a cluster-B personality disorder with a heavy stigma, and it sucks! It SUCKS to be talked about like you're a problem to be solved. This author used to be a PSYCHIATRIST, for crying out loud. This is what she actually thinks about people like me?! (Also this novella was clearly rushed and badly written. I sent a few of the worst metaphors to my friend so we could laugh about it, because honestly! Did she write this in five minutes while sitting on the toilet?!) I wanted a follow-up to Janie's story; not some rushed trash about everyone BUT Janie.

The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison M. Dickson was pretty mid-tier. I enjoyed the first three quarters, which is more than I expected; a "wealthy yet unhappy wine-guzzling white woman notices that things are Amiss, but nobody believes her" thriller is a dime a dozen, but the first of several twists actually surprised me and added some freshness to the tropes. Towards the end, though, I started getting bored again. If you like this kind of book, you'll enjoy this one; if you don't, it won't change your mind.

T. Kingfisher, my beloved! Thornhedge is her newest yarn; a short fairytale with Sleeping Beauty origins, though of course she takes it in her own direction with Irish folklore and Muslim heroes. Toadling was such a lovable protagonist. And she was a greenteeth! I don't see a lot of those in fairy lore, for some reason. Honestly, Kingfisher never misses; there was no doubt that I'd love this. If you like classic fairy-tales with a twist, I highly recommend you check this little novella out.

I am so, so beyond thankful for Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, because it reminded me of why I love reading so much. This book was good stuff. Everything I love; fantastically written capital-L Literature about unhinged, dysfunctional queer women with bucketloads of unresolved trauma. Thank you for getting me out of my reading rut. I stayed up all night to read this thing, because I couldn't put it down. Not to be mean, but this book achieved what "Really Good, Actually" failed to convey. The writing was just excellent; the kind of thing I aspire to write. So creative, so funny. Very few things make me laugh out loud, but I highlighted every other paragraph, it felt like, and some lines hit me like a truck. I LOVE WORDS. I LOVE ART. I've read 70 books this year (so far!) and only 4 of them have made it onto my "best of 2023" list, but this one shot onto that list immediately. Time to stalk this author and consume everything she's ever written!

I picked my way through My Hero Academia volumes 13-21, and I've finally caught up to (and surpassed) where I stopped watching the anime a couple years ago. (Since I'm terminally online, however, I know most of the major spoilers for the whole series. Luckily, spoilers never bother me.) I don't really have much to say about this series that I didn't say in my last blog post... It kind of feels like Horikoshi has toned down the sexism (or maybe I'm just numbed to it)? I was talking with some friends about whether Bakugo is a "redeemable" character... I find that he is, specifically because he's fifteen, and he does learn and grow as the series progresses. If Horikoshi is good at one thing, it's drawing parallels between protagonists, antagonists, and villains, showing that everybody is two sides of the same coin; that, under different circumstances, our heroes might have become villains, and vice versa. The parallels between Bakugo and Endeavor really showcase what he could — and is trying not to — become. Good stuff.

Hip Fiction for a Hip Fracture

I was finally discharged from the rehab clinic! My leg holes (sorry, tunnel wounds, because apparently that sounds less disgusting? I'm not convinced) are gone, but I've got some gnarly scars to commemorate our time together. (My sincerest apologies to anyone with trypophobia.)

I also sold my condo and cried about it quite a bit, because I no longer get to be an ✨Independent Adult✨. And I lost a job opportunity at the last minute, because they didn't want to wait for my healing to finish. And my parents got some injury lawyers involved to sue the [REDACTED] that fucked my leg up so badly, and it was all very boring and American, and I never want to think about this period in my life again because it makes me hate myself and everyone else, too. Hi-yo, trauma, awaaaaay! (On the plus side, I now walk with a cane, which puts me another step closer to becoming Kaz Brekker.)

I watched some Netflix. Finally got around to Arcane! So good; Silco is my favorite, of course; you know I always love the baddies. And "Wendell & Wild," which was also excellent; love me some Laika stop-motion (and trans and black protagonists!). And when my sister gave me her Disney+ password, you know I was watching Owl House, if only to fangirl with my 11-y/o niece about Hunter. (Quoth my niece: "He's a bad boy, but he's a sad boy, too. He's a bad, sad boy!")

But Lyn, you ask. How did you keep yourself occupied while you were stuck in a rehab facility for almost four months, costing Worker's Comp about $900 a day, in addition to the 1.5k ambulance, and the 10k hospital/surgery bill? Well, dear Nonexistent Reader, here is a list of all the stuff I read while I was locked up:

I was already on a Lucinda Berry kick in January, so getting hurt was all the permission I needed to buy more of her books. Phantom Limb is about two sisters who were severely abused as children, now struggling to exist in the 'real' world as 'normal' adults. One manages to do so (kind of). The other does not. I guessed the main twist early on, but some of the others caught me off-guard. As with all Berry books, I live for the dark psychological realness.

I really freaking like Darcie Little Badger's writing. I just want to live in the gentle worlds she creates, where everyone is kind and respects and supports one another, and sexuality/alternate gender expression is treated as normal and fine. I didn't like Elatsoe as much as I liked "A Snake Falls to Earth," but I still enjoyed it very much as a ghost-summoning girl pieces together the mystery behind her cousin's murder. Lots of Lipan/Apache culture mixed with (slightly) futuristic and fantastical touches.

Ghost 19 by Simone St. James didn't leave much of an impression. I like St. James, but short stories are hit-or-miss (usually miss) for me, and haunted house tales especially so. I don't have a fantastical bone in my body; no part of me believes in ghosts (or life after death in general), so it's hard to be spooked by ghost stories. But I did like that the protag was a "disgraced" actor in the 1920s... She likes sex and drugs, and she's not shy about it! That's pretty fun.

Eyyy, I finally finished Rachel Klein's The Moth Diaries! I think overall I preferred it to the movie (despite really liking the movie!) because the book focused a lot more on how our protagonist and Ernessa (the maybe-vampire stealing her best friend) are alike in that they're isolated by their Jewishness in an elite Catholic school. Vampirism is always a metaphor, and here it's about alienation due to ethnicity and sexuality. Loved it. Loved the "dark academia," "Gothic boarding school" vibes.

Oh, you know I've been waiting for Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones for well over a year now. The second entry in any series is tricky, because you want it to measure up to the first while still bringing originality to the table. Jones knocked it out of the park. Jade is my most beloved Final Girl, and this is one of my all-time favorite horror series. The heart! The drama! The humor! The characters! I might need to re-read this before #3 comes out, though, because I was so excited to have it that I may have read too fast and missed some of the finer details.

After enjoying the anime so much, I wanted to read the My Hero Academia manga. I've finished volumes 1-12 (out of 37... So far! It's still ongoing!). The rampant misogyny is even more blatant in the manga, which is a huge bummer. That said, it's refreshing to have such an emotional, kind, empathetic male lead in a genre that revels in toxic masculinity. The portrayal of healthy masculinity and male friendships in MHA is surprisingly mature! Not to mention the thematic criticisms of consumer and celebrity culture/capitalism and the marginalization they cause, especially for mentally ill/impoverished/transgender people. You almost never see Japanese works criticizing authority figures and the entire prison/justice system, especially in superhero action series aimed at younger teens! It gives me some hope for the future of Shonen. (But seriously, Kohei Horikoshi: reevaluate the way you portray women. It sucks!)

And Then I Woke Up was a weird little short story by Malcolm Devlin that asks the question, "what if the zombie apocalypse isn't real? What if it's all just a mass delusion created by the public"? I didn't like it. Again: Short stories aren't my jam, and subversions of horror tropes aren't necessarily good or deep just because they're subversions. This story took a mildly interesting concept and then did nothing with it. The "They Live" movie from 1988 did it better.

My Daddy the Pedophile is a memoir by author Lily Palazzi about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, and (more importantly) the aftermath. Too many abuse narratives end when the abuse stops. As all survivors know, there's so much more than that. The police investigations and legal trials. The social and familial rejection. Rebuilding a life. Everything Lily learned about the different types of pedophilia/child sexual abuse, and how she breaks the cycle. Some readers were angered when Lily chose to forgive and pity her monstrous father, but there's no "wrong" way to be a survivor. If that's what she needed to find peace, more power to her. (I'm not nearly as forgiving towards my abusers, but that's a different story!)

Speaking of child predators! Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman is the charming love story (barf) of a 25-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy. (But Lyn! you argue. This was set in Italy, in the 80s! Social norms were different then!) I know. And I tried to give this book a chance. But I just hated it, okay?! I hated how rude and creepy Oliver was (Elio wasn't the only teenager he preyed on!). I hated how moody and gross Elio was (peach masturbation? Underwear sniffing? Eyelid licking?!) I could've forgiven all that if they were relatable or at least likable, but romance is already not my genre of choice. A romance where I dislike both leads is insufferable. What's the point when they're both miserable?! Just watch some gay porn while scrolling through scenic photos of Italian orchards; it'll be a more rewarding experience.

I really enjoyed Asa Akira's Insatiable: Porn — A Love Story, but it's not for everyone. As expected from a porn star's autobiography, it was crass and graphic, full of sex scenes and drug use. I watch a lot of porn, and although Asa's work isn't my personal cup of jizz, she's been a big-name star in the industry for decades. It was cool to read her perspective! Her narrative voice was blunt and matter-of-fact; often very funny. I loved her attitude, and learning how she manages her relationships; the pros and cons of her lifestyle, and the different jobs she's had, both in front of and behind the camera. Unfortunately, I found it to be more of an entertaining read than an enlightening one.

If I make a 'best of 2023' list, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane will definitely be on it. I read lots of 'sad contemporary lesbian' books, but this one stands out by being dystopian. The president (who is totally not an expy of Trump/Hitler, cough cough) introduces new, fascist policies to America, and as always, marginalized folks feel it the hardest. This was a beautifully written character study with a unique and poetic voice. Found family, single parenthood, struggling to exist as your country becomes more and more tyrannical... I don't know a single young, queer American (myself included!) who doesn't already feel the suffocation of a boot on their neck. This book perfectly illustrates that thrum of perpetual anxiety, as well as the ways we continue to build lives and loves, despite the hardships. There's still hope in darkness.

On the opposite end of the queer lit spectrum is Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt, which I hated so, so much... I wanted to love it! Trans characters written by a trans author exploring a haunted house! Sounds great! I was immediately turned off by the staggering amount of bigotry and negativity that put a huge nauseating weight onto everything (and yes, I get that that's THE POINT, but Mon Dieu is it hard to read so much unrelenting hate and bile!). And what the hell was up with that ending?! The message I gathered was that "everybody is hopelessly bigoted; there's no changing it. Rather than work to improve, we should just accept that we're all awful and the world sucks forever." Fuck that! If the author wasn't a trans woman, I would call this book incredibly transphobic. Maybe I didn't get it, or maybe it just sucked! You decide.

I don't feel like I'm giving any spoilers when I say that The Secrets We Keep by Cassie Gustafson is about a girl who claims her best friend's father molested her. There are a few other "twists" throughout that are pretty obvious, but that's fine; it's not a mystery. It's a tragedy. Our teen protagonist struggles to protect her family from police/social services, feels immense pressure from the abusive adults in her life, and feels mixed desires to cling to her best friend while still "punishing" her for causing such drama in the first place. It's well written and realistic, told from a traumatized teenager's limited understanding of very adult issues.

I finally read Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong after two years of saying I would. In my defense, it's very long, at over 17 hours. Ms. Gong's writing is excellent. I never hated the Romeo and Juliet story, but it's hardly my favorite of Shakespeare's works. This series makes it way more fun with Chinese vs. Russian gang violence, set in Shanghai in the 1920s. With kaiju-esque bug monsters, because why not. And knowing I dislike YA romance, you'd think I'd hate this, but 1. It has a plot outside the romance 2. R&J are, individually, interesting characters, and 3. THEY ACTUALLY FUCK, as well as betray and harm each other, physically and otherwise. The stakes feel real (as opposed to YA's usual pussyfooting and failure to grasp that 'enemies to lovers' should, y'know, actually be enemies. And lovers.) So... Yeah, it's a good'un!

Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin was better than I expected. Better than The Honeys, anyway, which I read earlier this year, although they were very similar in plot: rich, queer kids find themselves entangled with sinister girly cults at Rich Kid Summer Camp. (They have more than just that in common, but I don't want to spoil.) Usually YA horror is a snore-fest, but this one actually managed to disturb me! Kudos. And the protagonist was fairly likable, too.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh, despite being a teensy novella written by a newbie author, is the fairytale that I've been waiting for all my life. It went onto my 'favorites' list immediately. After reading it, I purchased a copy for my best friend, and then I turned around and bought the sequel, too. I was obsessed with all things celtic/fairy for years... it's mostly fizzled out, but I still perk up at the mere mention of the fair folk. I'm well used to being disappointed by books that don't get it right, so imagine my delight with this. Snappy dialogue, gay pining, ancient foes, badass no-nonsense old ladies... So good.

My middle nephew asked to read the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins (of 'Hunger Games' fame) together, and glory glory Hallelujah; it's a kid's series I actually enjoy. unlike a certain other series we read. We've finished the first two (of five) books, and they're great! A modern, urban spin on Alice in Wonderland. A creative and engaging plot! Rats and bats and bugs galore! Gregor is a precious lamb. You know that meme that's like "men will call themselves feminists, but still refuse to wash the damn dishes"? Gregor washes the damn dishes. And changes baby diapers. And shares his food, and views all sentient species with equality. Collins is aces at writing poverty, civil unrest, and strong sibling relationships.

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores is your classic lesbian "friends to enemies to lovers" tale, as well as a retelling of Rapunzel. Too bad it wasn't well-written. Info-dumping out the wazoo, poorly explained word-building, boring characters, and enough unnecessary angst to lubricate a fanfic-writing tweenager (as opposed to my crusty, fanfic-writing adult ass). Very forgettable and meh; everything I hate about YA fiction.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison was obnoxiously girly. Boyfriends and hookups and shopping and gal-pals and bleh. As for the trauma it centered around, I was like, "that's it? I went through way worse when I was half her age!" (Comparing trauma isn't fair or healthy and I shouldn't do it.) It felt too lighthearted and easy, for all that there was some decent werewolf gore. One of the themes was forgiveness, but all of the characters (the protagonist included!) who were forgiven didn't deserve it, in my opinion. I felt cheated when everything wrapped up so neatly. And why was abortion never on the table? If she was so reluctant to be a parent... Don't be one, then? At least discuss the option! I'd hoped for something a bit meatier and less fluffy. I've liked stuff by this author before, but this one missed the mark.

Goddess of Filth by V. Castro was a very short audiobook (around 4 hours) that I liked a lot. It's about four Hispanic girls who summon a spirit, who then possesses one of them... But it's not your standard possession story. The possession is actually a positive and sexually empowering experience for the very repressed girl, who works with and grows from the ancient goddess in her mind. Consensual body-sharing is a trope I always enjoy. It's so rare!

T. Kingfisher, my beloved! A House with Good Bones is her newest work. It's full of her usuals: practical, sexually empowered, unapologetically fat middle-aged woman who don't need no man? Check. A beloved family member in need of assistance? Check. Hilarious, powerful elderly people? Check. Sinister hauntings in unexpected places? Check. A helpful, friendly beefcake of a love interest? Check. Focus on the scientific specifics of local flora and fauna (this time insects and vultures and roses)? Check! Unsettling, vaguely explained parallel dimensions? Check and mate! This was fun, and very cozy. I had it read in just a few hours.

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder was... A lot. My best friend had to DNF it, and I wish I'd followed her example. I'm not a splatterpunk fan; I find it depressing, needlessly gross, and pointless. Dropping acid while reading the Book of Revelations would give you a similar experience to this book. The author was trying to do a lot here, and her efforts felt very clumsy. (Ex: a white woman murders a Black woman, then has a monologue about how it was morally wrong and antifeminist for her to do so. I could practically hear the author pleading, "don't cancel me! I'm Aware that this is Problematic™!") And then she turns around and name-drops victims of Dahmer. Did her editors not think to say "hey babe, let's leave the real dead teenagers out of your apocalyptic sci-fi horror novel"? I did like the last few pages, though.

I needed a palate cleanser after SMM, and Batcat: The Ghostly Guest by Meggie Ramm was perfect. An absolutely adorable kid's graphic novel, I was surprised to learn it was a metaphor for being nonbinary. I'd thought it was a metaphor for being mixed-race. True, Batcat uses they/them pronouns, but presenting them as half cat, half bat doesn't really fit. NB people aren't "half girl, half boy," they're their own thing. Still, this was very cute and funny, and gender is a spectrum, so I'm sure some queer kids will see themselves in our feline-pteropine friend. (The author is nonbinary, so obviously they're writing from experience, too.)

Finally got my mitts on that infamous cannibal romance(?) novel, written by a weird vegan who equates eating animals with eating human beings (Camille DeAngelis). Bones & All was... Interesting. I interpreted it as a metaphor for how sexual abuse can lead to hypersexuality and difficulty connecting with others. I don't think it was a coincidence that the first people Maren and Lee ever ate were their babysitters, and there's definitely something in how out-of-control Maren feels while consuming boys/men, immediately followed by deep regret and shame. (I later read theories that suggested it's a metaphor for addiction, and maybe that makes more sense, but listen: I don't know much about addiction. I do know a lot about sexual abuse. When all you have is a hammer...) This was messy and imperfect. I understand why it has mixed reviews, but I liked it.

Part of deprogramming from the Mormon cult (and coping with my own sexual abuse) was dealing with my hangups regarding sexuality. Some might say I've done too good a job of it, between my work as a phone sex operator/erotica author and my research in human sexuality at ye olde community college. Kinks/paraphiles and the history of human sexuality are big interests of mine, and I fully agree with a lot of what this book says about the Christian/Puritan hegemony that dictates our culture as Americans — yes, even atheist Americans like myself; that's what 'hegemony' means — and that our extreme reactions and low understanding of paraphiles (including pedophilia!) is a real problem that we need to have more empathy for. Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us by Jesse Bering didn't teach me a dang thing I don't already know, but it was a fun read... I'd recommend it to newbies in the sex/kink positive community. My one criticism: the author uses outdated terminology for trans folks, and claims there are only four sexualities. Oof.

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty was an ambitious mess that I can't really recommend to anyone, but I still liked. Even if the penultimate scene read a lot like a Contrapoints video, wherein she wears different costumes and debates herself about capitalism and feminism. The point of view shifted between a bunch of different people all living at an apartment complex for one eventful week in July, and while I liked their perspectives and the pretty, flowy writing, a lot of the plots trailed off with no real conclusion. It lacked focus and ended abruptly. I think this would've benefitted from a few more rounds with a strict editor and a "kill your darlings" attitude. (The idea that single instances of sexual coercion and power imbalance can be compared to the wreckage of capitalism as a whole is an interesting one, though.)

I DNF'd a few books, too. Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary (the narrator's dudebro I'M SO MACHO voice was annoying), Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave (Ms. Apples, I love you madly, but you are way too white and American to write this book without sounding patronizing as hell), Pittacus Lore's I Am Number Four (I just found it boring), Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess (oh woe is me, it's so hard being a rich white girl surrounded by inferior Indian people in... India...), Sharyn Higdon Jones's Healing Steps: A Gentle Path to Recovery for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse because it hit way too close to home and started triggering my rage response (apparently when I'm triggered, I just get mad and punchy. Not very productive, tbh), and Hiron Ennes's Leech and David Koepp's Aurora (so boring). As always, I don't count DNFs towards my yearly reading goal, and neither should you. For shame!

Also I made these Fruits Basket-inspired Chinese Zodiac ornaments by painting a bunch of rocks. This has nothing to do with anything, but they're very cute, I'm bad at ending blog posts, and I wanted to show them off. Time to focus on buying a car and finding a new job; not necessarily in that order. (Did I mention I can now leg-press 240 pounds? I guess physical therapy is good for something.) So... Bye!

Dec 22-April 23 Book Recs

So, I've been having A Time. In under two months, I lost one of my jobs, got smashed by a drunk driver (and thus no longer have a car), had to sell my home and move back in with my parents (probably for the rest of my/their lives, because I Cannot be Trusted to live alone), and I broke my freakin' hip, so I've spent the last two months (and counting!) recovering in a rehab facility, contemplating suicide with varying degrees of seriousness, zooming around in a wheelchair, and flirting shamelessly with my physical therapist, all because the surgery to repair said hip had some ✨Complications✨ resulting in ✨Open, Bleeding Wounds that Refuse to Heal.✨ I refer to them as my Leg Holes. As in, "please stop fingering my Leg Holes; thank you."

But that's not what this is about. No, there's something far more dastardly afoot: my library is gonna stop using the Overdrive app! FOR SHAME.

They're switching to Libby, which, I guess has "all the same features" (sure, Jan). So why won't they accept book recommendations, huh? Huh?! I've been recommending 5 books to Overdrive every 30 days for the last few years, and I freakin' like doing it! So rude that I won't be able to do that anymore. (Yes, Libby has a feature where you can "express interest" in unowned items, but it's not the same, okay?!?!) SOB.

In honor of my favorite feature that will soon no longer be with us, here is a list of everything I've recommended for the last few months. Farewell, Overdrive, my old friend, patron saint of E-books and E-Audiobooks; you have served me well. You will be mourned, and someday, you will be avenged.

December 2022 was when I learned of this shameful cancellation of all things joyous. I wasn't yet sure when this transition between apps would take place, so I quickly recommended several books that I felt strongly about, in case I wouldn't get a chance to do it again.

The Message by Chris Grine may not have a cover yet (probably because it won't be published until December 2023), but it's the fourth book in the Animorphs series that Mr. Grine is adapting into graphic novel format. As a lifelong Ani-fan, I've loved all his adaptations so far, as well as his presence on podcasts. I'm particularly excited to see how he'll manage to portray a child getting bitten in half and slowly bleeding to death in any sort of PG way. Good luck, Chris!

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher was another must-have. I love Kingfisher. I love her horror (The Twisted Ones, The Hollow Places), I love her fantasy (Nettle & Bone, Bryony and Roses). We're at a point where I'll read anything she publishes, so of course I was eager for another quippy fairytale, hopefully full of her usual staples of sassy old ladies and queer positivity.

So... Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman looked very promising. Before Autism was widely understood, some people believed it was the result of fairies and changelings. I love the idea of an Autistic author taking that myth and crafting a story around it. I do! I just... Didn't love this story. It's a matter of "it's not you, it's me" — my sister enjoyed this book! I just found it a little too "basic YA" for my tastes.

I've never read anything by Hannah F. Whitten before, but the cover and summary of The Foxglove King drew me in. Cults? Catacombs? Necromancy? Sign me up! In hindsight, some of the summary reads like red flags— "lush, romantic epic fantasy" isn't my cup of crack, and the protag will almost certainly have a romance/love triangle with the two guys mentioned, which is (barf emoji), so let's hope I don't hate it.

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood is another "impulse click" that I'm afraid I'll regret. First off, it's pretty long (the audiobook is over 13 hours), and it's "inspired by Greek mythology." I don't particularly care for Greek mythology. But it's "sapphic," and centers around human sacrifice! That's gotta count for something. Right?!

January 2023, Aka: after I lost my job/home/car, but before I broke my hip:

Do you have any idea how loudly I squealed when I saw that Samantha Irby is publishing another memoir? DO YOU?! I adore this woman's essays. I love her fat, queer, irreverent, unapologetically sexual, chronically ill, hilarious sass. I love her attitude. I love how she can make me cry one minute, and then cry with laughter the next. I want to be her best friend. I'm so pumped for Quietly Hostile that it's not even funny, dude.

"The Dangers of Smoking in Bed" by Mariana Enríquez is one of my all-time favorite books, which is unusual, because I don't usually care for short story collections... But damn, she really nailed every one of them. I haven't read anything else by her since then, but the cover and promise of cults and family drama in Our Share of Night has drawn me in. She's the author that got me into Hispanic horror, and I know she won't let me down.

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey is an absolute wild card from me. Heterosexual feel-good British chick lit about breakups and makeups and "finding yourself"? Absolutely none of that is my usual fare! So why was I compelled to rec this, and why do I still want to read it now?! Beats me!

Maame by Jessica George is one of those books that's like, I know it's probably good, I know I should read it, I know I'll PROBABLY like it... But I keep putting it off. Maybe I'm intimidated because it's supposed to be Deep and Meaningful, all about motherhood and the immigrant experience, and I'm just not in a good headspace for depth right now? I'll get to it eventually...

Of course I had to rec Heavenly Tyrant ASAP. The series is so popular, and I wanted to be as high on the hold list as possible when it comes out this August. Xiran Jay Zhao crafted a world of ancient Chinese history combined with sci-fi elements that I adore, and topped it all off with queer characters and, my absolute favorite: angry, dangerous, powerful women. I absolutely live for ruthless leading ladies who do horrible things and feel no remorse. (step on me, Mommy...)

February 2023: Hip-crunch time!

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran has that gorgeous cover, and promises a haunted house story that's really an allegory (as all good horror is); this time for generational abuse, homophobia, and the French colonization of Vietnam. It sounds great! However... My best friend warned that it has a very YA feel, which makes me less excited for it.

I've gotten more into nonfiction lately, and Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough by Dina Nayeri looks like a good one; all case studies about the rape culture we live in every day, from reproductive rights to immigrant asylum to the injustices of bureaucracy...

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores is actually the audiobook I'm listening to right now, as of writing this post. It's about two childhood friends, one of whom is turned into a vampire after a brutal attack. Her friend, the witch, helps her hide this taboo identity. Lesbian romance ensues. Combine that with a haunted forest, and it's pretty much everything I love all wrapped up into one... But the low ratings are making me nervous.

The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner is yet another impulse click that I hope I won't regret. Set in Paris in the 1870s, apparently this is about vengeance and murder-solvin'. Maybe it's the hipster in me that feels resistant to popular lit, but I'm not in any hurry to get my hands on this one. I hope it's less "cozy mystery" and more "actually dark."

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling seems like an environmental sci-fi story with themes of immigration and climate change. I like stories about a group of near-strangers all slowly discovering each others' pasts and intentions... Very "Agatha Christie" vibes. I hope it gets spooky and weird.

March 2023: How am I still at this rehab facility???

Elizabeth Lim is the author of "Six Crimson Cranes," an Asian retelling/spin on the Six Swans fairytale that I enjoyed reading with my niece. While the sequel left something to be desired, I'm still intrigued to read When You Wish Upon a Star, Lim's retelling of Pinocchio from the perspective of the blue fairy!

Speaking of fairy tale retellings, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw seems to be a dark continuation of the Little Mermaid, wherein evil mermaids take over the castle. I didn't care for Khaw's "Nothing but Blackened Teeth," but I'm willing to give her another chance, since I'll always have a soft spot for killer mermaids.

I don't like Riley Sager. I think he's hugely overrated (in a genre that's ALREADY oversaturated with bland white male authors, he somehow stands out as the Whitest and the Blandest). Most of all, I hate how his premises always sound so interesting before he fails them with mediocre writing. I KNOW I'm setting myself up for disappointment with The Only One Left, but I chose it anyway, and now I'm mad about it.

Mona Awad wrote a new book!!! I loved "Bunny," and I really liked "All's Well," so I'm beyond excited for whatever trippy batshit mess the lady's cooked up this time in Rouge. Her brand of femme horror is delightful. I'm excited for this takedown of the beauty industry, in which there's plenty of horror to be found. (I'm hoping for a Neon Demon vibe!)

R.F. Kuang wrote the famous Poppy War series... Of which I could barely finish the first book. It was extremely long, meandering, and depressing, and probably needed to be broken up into about 3 books itself. Thankfully, Yellowface is under 10 hours long and has a more contemporary vibe, which suits me better than epic fantasy.

April 2023: Seriously, let me go home please!!!

I loved Amy Engel for "The Familiar Dark"— it was as short as it was brutal, like a punch to the face in literary form. I Did It For You: A Novel is about a woman seeking answers from her sister's killer, and I'm confident Engel will cheerfully rip my heart out again (which is behavior that I encourage from an author!).

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a new-ish author whom I've never read before, but Chain-Gang All-Stars looks right up my alley. Female gladiators? Death matches? Criticism/commentary on the private prison industry? Lesbians??? I'm hooked and it hasn't even been published yet.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina is a much-needed look at the violence against (and lack of police action to aid) indigenous women, told from the POV of a native girl living on a reservation where girls routinely go missing. I'm excited that this book is told using a lot of native myths/legends... I hope this newbie author pulls it off well.

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro not only has a gorgeous cover, but it's also about La Llorona! One of my favorite legends. Mental health issues, therapy, and overcoming trauma are some dang good themes, too. This seems like an author worth checking out.

I wasn't wild about "The Wolf and the Woodsman" by Ava Reid, but it was set in the same verse as "Juniper & Thorn," which landed high on my "best of 2022" list, so of course I'm gonna give A Study in Drowning a shot. I'm always up for (dark, adult) fairy tales, so long as they're well written. (I love Judaism in fairy tales, too, which is something Ava Reid has in common with Naomi Novik.)

And... That's it. I won't be able to rec books anymore; at least not on Overdrive. It was good while it lasted, I guess... Thank you, OD, for making this winter/spring suck slightly less than it otherwise would have.

Best of 2022

Although I read more new releases this year than I usually do, meaning some of these entries are 2022 releases, that's not the point of this list. My 'best of' lists are for the best books I read in that period of time. You'll see old and new stuff here; the only important factor is that they were new to me.

[Link to Best of 2021 List]
[Link to Best of 2020 List]
[Link to Best of 2019 List]

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. Looks like I have a new favorite author to watch out for. Holy damn this was good... I couldn't put it down! It's one of those ones where the twists make all the difference, which are books I either love or hate, and it all comes down to whether the author is skilled enough to pull it off. This author clearly is, so... I'm reluctant to say anything, lest I spoil any of these bomb-ass twists, but I really appreciate the respect and research this author put towards very stigmatized mental health conditions. I've never seen this particular disorder portrayed so sympathetically towards those who suffer it. The author herself describes this book as a tale of psychology and healing "disguised as a horror novel," and I love that. (Also, it gave me a ton of weird new recipes to try.)

Honestly, I knew I'd put ONE of the Scholomance books on this list (I really should have put #1 on last year's list), so it was a toss-up between #2 or #3. I ended up choosing The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik.. This series is quality. These books are SO fast-paced and tightly woven. Everything unfolds in the most satisfying way. And while the characters and their various relationships here are secondary to the plot, they're great, too! They're developed and fed to the audience as the plot carries on, a little bit at a time. El is such a fun and cranky narrator. She's a good person, but damn if she's not gonna complain about it the whole time! This series has a respect for teenagers as people that I don't see in most YA works... Yes, teens are smart, competent, caring people! Watching them puzzle and problem-solve and work together was such a pleasure. Even the antagonists have clear yet complex motivations that make perfect sense. And can I just say I appreciate how racial/cultural/sexual diversity is intrinsically woven into the worldbuilding while still acknowledging privilege and bigotry? Balancing on that line is tough and Naomi nails it beautifully.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata is an autobiographical manga, which I had to purchase in paperback form. (Since I'm something of a minimalist and don't like to keep books, I've since given it to my best friend.) I'm not a visual arts person, but I appreciated the simple, gray-and-white art highlighted with pops of pink. Despite its mature subject matter (self harm, sex work, suicidal thoughts), the cute art makes it palatable for even sensitive readers. As a lesbian myself, I rarely see anything that reflects my experiences. This comes much closer than most. A lonely, mentally ill lesbian seeks her first sexual encounter with a sex worker, then records what led up to it, and how hard it is to let go; to truly be with another person. A quick read, but worthwhile. I really like josei manga; I should read more of it. (I just hate paying for stuff, aaaa; I'm so broke...)

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I read almost all of Hendrix's published works this year, and I have to say, this one is my favorite so far (aside from 'Final Girl Support Group,' which appeared on last year's list). But he's always a hit for me! Don't let his fun covers and glib titles fool you; his books are ooey-gooey gory horror from start to finish. He's one of the few male authors who truly shines at writing women, and I love it... Although he also writes the casual misogyny of men (Yes, All Men) so well that it makes me grind my teeth.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a very unique take on vampires. In a world where there are no vampires in Mexico City (but they are everywhere else, and there are many kinds of them), young Aztec vampire Atl escapes the drug war that killed her family with the intent to cross the border. Unfortunately, she's a spoiled princess who doesn't know how to care for herself, and she's being pursued by a European drug lord who wishes to capture and torture her. She must band together with a homeless, teenage human if she wants to survive. As with all things 'vampire,' I highly recommend Maven of the Eventide's video on this book.

I Am the Ghost in Your House by Maria Romasco Moore. A mother and daughter, literally invisible, must exist in a world that cannot see them. This makes things such as falling in love with pretty girls a challenge, especially after the mother starts popping out of existence, as well as sight. Queer characters and punk subculture! Such a weird premise done well! Plus, the audiobook reader is Emma Galvin, who's been one of my faves for years. Whenever I hear her voice, I go "it's her!!!"

Since I read three T. Kingfisher books this year (Bryony and Roses, Nettle & Bone, and What Moves the Dead), it was difficult to decide which one to include on my Best Of list. Honestly, they all deserve to be on here... She never misses. Her usuals were present here: badass female characters (to my delight, they're usually plus-sized, sex positive characters in their 30s!), badass (and hilarious) elderly women, period-realistic feminism, queer positivity, a romance I don't hate, dry humor, women protecting women... As the youngest of three sisters myself, I enjoyed that this book was about the youngest of three sisters setting out to murder her sister's violently abusive husband. Since he happens to be a prince, it's not like anybody else will stop him... I usually prefer Kingfisher's horror to her fantasy, but this was just about perfect.

The Depths by Nicole Lesperance was unexpectedly good! YA horror usually isn't my bag, and I wouldn't necessarily say I found it "horrifying," but I definitely found it compelling.

Darling by K. Ancrum makes me wonder if I actually do like YA. Maybe? Sometimes? A dark/gritty/contemporary retelling of a classic story (Peter Pan) sounds like something that would make me roll my eyes, but this one actually worked. Somehow. (It helps that I've read and enjoyed this author's other works in the past.) A cast of queer teenagers of color having a Warriors-esque, cop-dodging, drag show dancing wild night in the streets of Chicago is cool enough as it is, but then that twist that actually got me pushed it over the top. Ancrum clearly loves and respects the source material, too.

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid I read the author's previous dark fairytale set in this world (The Wolf and the Woodsman), and while it was good, it didn't captivate me utterly the way J+T did.

Honorable mentions: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni (gorgeous spooky gothic monster family history tale), Don't Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller (more gothic hauntings, cursed family history), White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (a haunting mixed in with commentary on gentrification and antiBlack racism), The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (a fantastical retelling of the second-Sino Japanese war), Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (fairy tale retelling), Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel (culty horror), House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (lesbian vampire Gothic horror), I'm sensing a pattern... Apparently I like spooky, gothic-flavored stories that involve girls and social commentary. Big surprise.

Authors I'll continue to keep an eye on in 2023 are: Chloe Gong, Naomi Novik, Mona Awad, Kristen Arnett, Xiran Jay Zhao, Eric LaRocca, Sayaka Murata, Katrina Leno, Stephen Graham Jones, Simone St. James, Catriona Ward, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Grady Hendrix, (of course I'm following other authors, but these seem the most likely to publish something within the year).

I'm not going to be following Patricia Briggs anymore... I've had enough of the Mercy Thompson series, and I never cared for any of her other works.

I also won't be reading any more Percy Jackson, or listening to the Newest Olympian podcast.

Books I'm looking forward to in 2023 include Heavenly Tyrant, Don't Fear the Reaper, How to Sell a Haunted House, A House With Good Bones, Sister, Maiden, Monster, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, Tell Me I’m Worthless, The Stolen Heir: A Novel of Elfhame (yes I'm giving Holly Black another chance to redeem herself from the garbage that was The Queen of Nothing),

My main library is forcing me to switch from Overdrive to Libby, sigh. I don't love change, so I'm not looking forward to that switch. (I'm sure it's fine; I'm just used to things being my way.)

You can also find me on Storygraph.

Christmas!!!!

It's that time of year again; the time where we embrace our capitalist roots in a bizarre gangbang of pseudo "Christian" ideals and Pagan rituals. That time where we bankrupt and stress ourselves to the nth degree, and annoy the ever-loving hell out of every Jewish or Muslim person in our lives by insisting our traditions are more important than theirs, all for the sake of convincing our families that we still love them.

Look, I'm trying to hate Christmas slightly less than I used to. (It used to make me actively suicidal.) If I keep my focus on the kids in my life, it's more fun. So.

I decided to get all three of my nieces (and two of my nephews) three books each that I loved as a kid for Christmas (so, 15 books total) based on how old I was when I read/loved that book. (Obviously I excluded books that I genuinely thought they wouldn't like. I know my kids!)

Blue Fish, age 8:

This sweet little fishy doesn't particularly care for reading on her own, but she LOVES reading with her mother and big sis, so I tried to choose simple, fun titles; good for read-alongs. (I tried to pick books my sister would enjoy, too, since she's gonna have to read 'em.)

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews (yes, THAT Julie Andrews. Fraulein Maria herself). This book is so FUN and imaginative, and it's stuck with me since I first read it. The ice cream machine, the wiffle bird, the literal sweet tooth. It's a tale about three children and a scientist helping a mythical creature find out if he is truly the last of his kind, with fantasy, adventure, and danger on every corner. Likable characters and great world-building.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville. If I learned anything hanging out with the kids this year, it's that little girls love dragons now just as much as I did. I LOVED the Magic Shop series as a kid; SO creative, such great fantasy tropes, poems, talking rats... I haven't read this book since I was a kid, but I still remember Tiamat the female dragon and "Midsummer night will break your heart, but Hallow's eve will patch it." Just gorgeous. (Technically it's the second entry in the Magic Shop series, but come on. The Monster's Ring isn't as good.)

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. This one is cheating a little bit, since I actually read this as an adult. But Kathy Apples, AKA my dream-mother, AKA the co-author of Animorphs, has crafted yet another wonderful story from the perspective of a tree who witnesses anti-Muslim racism towards a child in her neighborhood and recruits all her bird and squirrel friends into helping the child out. It's a beautiful story that should help kids appreciate nature more, as well as being more loving and accepting to those who are different from them. Did it make me cry? Maybe. Leave me alone.

Thing Four, Age 10

Thing Four and I don't have much of a relationship (yet) but that's my goal for the upcoming year, getting to know and connect with him better. He mostly only reads with his mother, so I'm trying to choose books good for read-alongs. (Again: I tried to pick books my sister would enjoy, since she's gonna have to read 'em.)

Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles. My third grade teacher bought this book for me, specifically, as a goodbye present! I miss her so much... Anyway, this is a gorgeous tale of a girl who's beloved grandmother takes an indefinite trip to Hawaii, forcing her to try and make friends for the first time in her life. She also raises and hatches three chicken eggs, and must finally come to terms with a girl who "hates" her after her (Ruby's) grandfather fell asleep at the wheel, killing himself and this girl's father. And yes, it's Emotional and Makes me Cry. I'm a crybaby; what do you expect?

My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt. YET ANOTHER TEAR-JERKER with focus on grandmothers. Listen: my grandmother half-raised me and was a shining influence in my life, so of course I love books about 'em. Anyway, this is a book about a girl who's parents are both mentally disabled, and the stigma that surrounds her family in the town. After her matriarchal grandmother dies, Tiger is given the opportunity to live with her glamourous aunt in Baton Rouge. She's tempted... Her parents are beloved, but a burden. It's hard to take care of someone who's supposed to take care of you.

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder was a book I read with my mother one summer, and never forgot. I think it was kid-me's first introduction to the concept of real-world serial killers (told in a kid-appropriate fashion), and how to be safe around dangerous people. It might be a bit odd to recommend him a book written in the sixties, but what was good for the goose might be good for the gander. (Kid-Me being the goose in this idiom.)

Red Fish, age 11:

Red Fish is the most like who I was as a kid... Mostly. Yeah, I was a precocious lil bookworm with an attitude like her, but I never had a type-A personality; she got that from both of her parents. (And she's way smarter than I was, too, but that goes without saying.) She's sweet to me because I'm the Cool Auntie (hopefully), but man can she get sassy! (I love it.)

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson. The Wind Singer was, to me, what The Giver was to most kids (aka: baby's first dystopia). Before The Hunger Games was even a twinkle in Collins' eye, there was The Wind on Fire trilogy, which is INTENSE AND EPIC AND DYSTOPIAN. Oh, my heart. (And yes, I had to order this off eBay cuz it's kinda hard to find.)

Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel. Since Red likes books with animal protagonists, this series was a no-brainer. My dad and I listened to these audiobooks in the car every day on my way to school, and I HATED having to stop. Sometimes Dad was sneaky and kept listening after he dropped me off! This tale of two little bats separated from their family and struggling to find their way back, while hunted by THE most terrifying villains a kid could imagine, are unforgettable.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. Funke is one of my all-time favorite children's authors (see 'Inkheart' below) and this niece of mine is dragon-crazy, so I just know she'll appreciate this tale of the "last" dragon teaming up with a human boy to find out what happened with his species. Danger and excitement abounds! (And once more we're faced with a super scary villain. WHY ARE KIDS' BOOK VILLAINS SO SPOOKY?)

Thing Three, age 12:

I've got three nephews in addition to three nieces (so, six kids total) from my two sisters. (Thing One isn't getting books from me; I got him something else. I don't think he'd like them.) Three cracks me up every day by being a rough-and-tumble boy with a truly gentle heart. I'm never having kids, but if I did, I'd want them to be just like him.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. So I wanted to get him the Coraline graphic novel, but he hates horror and that might dip a little too close for his taste, so I'm testing the water with Gaiman's Graveyard Book, which is a take on The Jungle Book about a child raised by ghosts and a vampire after his parents are killed by an assassin (who has definite Shere Khan vibes). The boy has to decide whether he belongs with the living or the dead. It's a beautiful, emotional story that I really hope this kid can appreciate.

The Last by Katherine Applegate is the first in the Endling series. It's kind of cheating, because I read this series as an adult, not a child. But it's a great adventure of a dog-like creature named Byx who may be the last of her kind, travelling with her ragtag found family to (hopefully) stop an impending war. It's a lovely story by one of my favorite authors, and I hope Thing Three finds as much enjoyment in it as I did.

Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori. It's so freaking tragic that I only know one other person who's read this series; it's GREAT. One of Kid-me's top faves. A weird family of Scottish-Italian witches and Mafiosos? What kid WOULDN'T love it? Wacky hijinks and bathroom humor and dry UK wit only partially obscures the warm heart at the center of it all; the genuine and visible love a non-traditional family shares.

Thing Two, age 15:

I had a harder time getting books for Two, my sweet girl, because most of the stuff I liked as a teen was either really sexual or VERY problematic by today's standards, and her parents are... Strict. So. (Plus, I don't wanna get her books with a crappy message! PLUS plus, she still reads a lot of kid-lit, so I didn't want to get her anything above her level. Nothing turns a budding reader off more than being forced to read something. It's just a matter of preference!)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. From ages 15 to, like, 23, I was OBSESSED with Stiefvater. I read everything she'd ever published and went to all her book signings. I even took a class she taught! Anyway, Races was her book I always introduced people to, since it's a standalone and it's just beautifully written, about a girl who enters into a deadly magic horse race to save her family's farm and prevent her brother from finding work in the mainland.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Whenever I bring this one up, people say "oh, I've seen the movie!" No, babe; the movie is NOT the same. The title and very basic premise are the same, but this tale is a serious high fantasy about a girl cursed to be utterly obedient, no matter how much suffering it causes her. Levine is a favorite for a reason.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke was THE book that made Kid-me realize I was going to become an author. The way the words are woven so GORGEOUSLY was something I'd never seen before; before this, words were only a tool for story-telling; not a piece of art themselves. It made me long for the Italian countryside; I wanted so badly to evade Capricorn's gang with Meggie and Mo and Dustfinger, and read creatures out of books with the power of my voice... (The other books in this series, not so much. Let's pretend this is a standalone.)

(If you're wondering why I chose THOSE particular nicknames for my kids, Sibling2's kids are a reference to "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss, and Sibling1's kids are characters from "The Cat in the Hat." I don't want to put their information, including their names, online. Heck; I don't want to put my information online; why do you think I go by "L. Rambit"?)

May and June 2022 Books

May was a pretty "blah" month for me. First my oldest sister informed me that she would never support my "choice" to be gay (thanks, sis! Love you, too), then I had a lot of financial stress and had to do some gross stuff to earn extra $$, and I got super sick on top of it. Not Covid, thankfully; just regular sick. I didn't feel like reading, but I DID do a fair bit of writing.

June was a little better, emotionally speaking, but I still didn't feel like reading. My friend said that's just how summer is; you don't wanna do shit. So... That'll be my excuse. I don't exactly feel bad about it; I don't have any obligation to read more than I want to. But still...

Books I recommended my library purchase in May of 2022:

1. Sometime in Summer by Katrina Leno (expected release: June 27, 2022). A new Leno book! I loved "Summer of Salt" and "Horrid." Those two books are tonally way different from each other, so I don't really know what to expect here, but I'm excited! Based on the summary, I'm getting some SoS seaside vibes and magical realism, and some Horrid mother-daughter tensions.

2. Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (expected release: July 18, 2022). Pretty pink cover with dripping blood? Clearly, this was made for me! I liked Gailey's River of Teeth novellas and, while I'm not speculating on a stranger's gender/sexuality, it wouldn't surprise me if she wasn't cishet. So— haunted house, family drama, serial killers? Count me in!

3. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (expected release: July 18, 2022). Moreno-Garcia is growing on me. I was disappointed by "Mexican Gothic," but I loved "Certain Dark Things" enough to give her other stuff a chance. This book seems to have some gothic vibes; jungle isolation, mad scientists, and monsters!! Love that.

4. The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim (expected release: August 29, 2022). I loved Six Crimson Cranes, and I'm so hyped for the sequel! I wanna know what's gonna happen to Shiori! I'm hoping there isn't a love triangle with the dragon (I'm fond of Takkan as the love interest). Still, I can't wait to see what the kingdom of dragons is like. Will the dragon king be a total ass? Cranes surprised me multiple times with its twists, so I'm expecting to be blown away by the reveals here, too.

5. Little Eve by Catriona Ward (expected release: October 10, 2022). This one is weird, because the book has been out since 2018, but my library is acting as though it's new. Maybe the audiobook is new, or the American* edition, or...? I don't know, but I love the author, and my libraries don't carry any older versions, so if I ever want to read this spooky goodness, this is what I have to recommend.

* I don't know if this is considered a hot take, but I don't like when books are "Americanized." It feels patronizing! Translate works into as many languages as you can, of course (good translators are freaking amazing and I love them) but there's no need to change anything on a national/cultural level! Who cares if "color" is spelled with a U or it says "bin" instead of "trash can"? It's fine! We can put on our big-girl pants and figure it out, I promise!

Books read in May 2022: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I Am the Ghost in Your House by Maria Romasco Moore, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer, Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz, and Dragonslayer by Tui T. Sutherland.

That's not a lot of reading for me. But I did do some watching! I finally watched seasons 3 and 4 of Castlevania and it was fantastic and I heard the news that the series is getting a French revolution-era spinoff??? DUDE.

Dracula is still fine as wine, thanks for asking. If I had a nickel for every time my lesbian ass lusted after a thicc, cape-wearing, homicidal cartoon DILF who adores his wife but makes questionable parenting decisions, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice. (If it wasn't clear, I'm also referring to Magneto, the ultimate love of my life.)



Unf. Rip my throat out, Dracudaddy.

Books I recommended the library should purchase in June of 2022:

Life Ceremony: Stories by Sayaka Murata (release date: July 4, 2022). After the charmingly, heartbreakingly relatable slice-of-life that was Convenience Store Woman and the absolutely bizarre (yet similarly-themed) cannibalism and incest of "Earthling," I honestly don't know what to expect from a collection of short stories by Murata, but I'm excited to find out. (I hope there will be more themes of "not all women fit in when they live in a conservative, Capitalism-driven society.")

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (release date: July 11, 2022). I don't know what it is about lesbians and the ocean, but we apparently love it (I'm no exception. Love me some Sapphic ocean themes). If you've read my Deep Water series, you know I love queers, marine biologists, and mental health. I don't know if this will be a literal or metaphorical drowning (I suspect the former), but I'm here for it regardless.

Our Shadows Have Claws by multiple authors (release date: September 5, 2022). I hope the cover is released on GR soon, because it looks great on my library website. I'm so here to support Latino YA authors! I don't usually like short story compilations, but I'm ready to get my socks blown off regardless. Latin America has some of the best monsters in literature, so I sincerely hope at least a few of these stories give me the creeps!

The Depths by Nicole Lesperance (release date: September 12, 2022). YESSS, gimme the creepy magical islands!!! Would you look at that gorgeous cover?! Magical realism? (Hopefully) spooky magical realism? "Dark, tangled secrets"? YES PLEASE. I'm particularly intrigued by the "strange little girl" the premise promises, since creepy children are the best. Ahhh I hope this is good, and more than just basic YA.

The Encounter by Chris Grine (release date: October 3, 2022). The third Animorphs graphic novel is coming out this fall!!! If you've read this blog for a while, you know I've been an Animorphs fan since I was a kid, and I recently re-read the entire series. I tried to get two of my three nieces into the series. One loves it; the other doesn't. Such is life. Anyway, I can't afford to financially support Mr. Grine's work, but I can recommend him to my library, and I can try to get The New Generation into a very good series about surviving the horrors of war, as well as the realistic complexities and trauma that come with being a child soldier. (This book in particular is notorious for a scene of attempted child suicide, so brace yourselves.)

Books read in June 2022: Billy Summers by Stephen King, Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher, You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno, We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca, The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan. and Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino.

Book questions

1. Favorite book? That's a rough question... I went into my "favorites" tag and looked for the book I had the fondest feelings for. Turns out it's currently The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.

2. Favorite author? I went through the list of authors I follow... The one I have the fondest feelings towards right now is Naomi Novik.

3. Popular book you dislike? I've tried to read The Traitor Baru Cormorant and Gideon the Ninth because I was promised lesbian weirdness, but both bored me.

4. Favorite genre? Horror

5. Book you hope will not be turned into a movie or TV show? Doesn't matter, since I don't watch movies/TV anyway.

6. Book you hope will be turned into a movie or TV show? See above.

7. Physical books or ebooks? Ebooks!!!

8. Favorite book quote? I went through my saved quotes and felt the most fondness for

“Take my eyes; take my voice; take my hands; take it all. If the stars exist behind the night and there is a king who grants the wishes of kings, if hope is a tether that binds to the light, I'd pay all the years I have left in darkness, please don't take him.” - K. Ancrum's The Legend of the Golden Raven

9. Favorite book cover? I don't know if it's my "favorite," but right now I'm really loving the cover for Rin Chupeco's The Sacrifice. It's kinda sexy and very spooky.

10. Scariest book you’ve read? This is hard because I don't really get scared much by anything (fictional, I mean. I'm a total coward for anything real)... I think the last time I felt any fear at all from a book was T. Kingfisher's The Twisted Ones, and that only lasted til the halfway point.

11. Funniest book you’ve read? I'm not one for comedy, but the first funny book that comes to mind is The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.

12. Saddest book you’ve read? I remember bawling my eyes out after my roommate made me read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. And of course I started sobbing in the middle of school after reading Where the Red Fern Grows and Bridge to Terabithia.

13. Favorite trope? Skip

14. Favorite children's book author? Gonna say Bruce Coville. I loved his Magic Shop books as a kid; they're really creative and fun. I still remember some of the poetry today. And! His book The Skull of Truth was the FIRST time Kid-Me encountered a gay character in media. This was back when it was really, really hard for kids' authors to publish gay rep. Do you have any idea how much that meant to me as a tiny, closeted lesbian???

15. Book you didn't finish? Most recently, Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong.

16. First book you remember reading? Hard to say, because I have a pretty damn good memory and I can't recall which was the "first," but I remember my dad reading me a lot of picture books. I guess I remember being very pleased that I read the picture book Chicken Chuck all by myself, without parental help.

17. What book are you reading right now? I always read multiple books at once because I've got the ADHD (diagnosed and medicated and everything). Currently reading A Grimm Warning by Chris Colfer, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao, Billy Summers by Stephen King, and The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein.

18. Last book you read? The last book I finished was Dragonslayer by Tui T Sutherland.

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19. Do you read fanfiction? Yeah, all the time!

20. Last book that made you cry? I don't cry as much as I used to... I'm on the Good Drugs. But anyway, I cried when re-reading Animorphs #53, The Answer; it got me right in the nostalgia.

21. Favorite character? I went through my favorite characters lists and, after filtering out the ones that weren't from books, I gotta say Georgia Mason from the Newsflesh series. I'm also very fond of El from Scholomance and Wu Zetian from Iron Widow. I like badass tough girls who take no shit!

22. Do you buy used books? On the rare occasions I buy physical books at all, yes, they're always used.

23. Books you read in school? I'm not in school. I haven't been in school in years. (I don't understand this question.) Um, I really enjoy a lot of classic American lit that we happened to also read in school... To Kill a Mockingbird; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn... But I don't love them because of school; I love them because my sister read them to me when I was tiny. I like most of Shakespeare's works, too, especially Titus Andronicus and Hamlet. There were books I hated in school, too... I hated anything by George Orwell, and I absolutely loathed One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest.

24. Do you check out books from the library? Yep! 99% of what I read is from the e-library. I'm brooooke, and I was raised to love libraries from infancy.

25. Favorite children's book? Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

26. Series or standalones? Both are fine, but I prefer standalones.

27. Book you didn't like? Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (I don't really like anything by Moshfegh).

28. Paperback or hardcover? I guess paperbacks, on the rare occasions I read physical books. I'm rough; I bend the pages and throw them around and write in the margins.

29. How did you get into reading? Same thing that got most people my age into reading; I saw the first Harry Potter movie and had to read all the books after that. (Plus, my parents both worked at a library and I come from a very book-obsessed family. I got read to a lot as a kid.) And no, I'm not linking any Parry Hotter things in this blog post. Fuck Rowling; trans lives matter.

30. Book recommendation? Any of Samantha Irby's autobiographies. They've got it all; you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel empowered to change the world for the better...