September Reading Wrap Up

This might have been one of the hardest starts to the school year I’ve ever had. Lots of factors contributed to this, including me completely disconnecting from teaching over the summer. This allowed for a lot of self-care, reading, and ensuring I have a life and identity outside of teaching. However, it did make diving back into the deep end a very abrupt transition. My stress levels are much lower now than at the start of the month, but it meant for a lot of more mindless reading, which is normally something that kicks in nearer to Christmas time.

I also got stuck in the Chicago Airport for an entire day because Trump decided to go golfing in Chicago and used the public airport. Missed my connecting flight and I have never seen a more packed airport than that. I am writing this post having only gotten a few hours of sleep, and hoping that October brings a bit more calm my way.

Longform Reviews

• George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collette: it was described to me as ‘interior existential fuckshit novel’, and I couldn’t say it better myself. Divisive, but if it works for you, it’ll really work.
  
• The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughn: a really cool post-internet noir comic. Everyone has masks and uses pseudonyms to protect their privacy. A bit basic, but excellent setting.
  
• Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care & Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson: a cozy fantasy about a middle aged woman who inherits a dragon egg, finally stands up to her sister, and has to manage a truly entitled niece. Delightful, insightful, and witty.
  
• Striker V: In the Meantime by Josh Vidmar: Book 2 in this slice of life/mental health Superhero series. At its best when doing character explorations in a superhero settings, which I haven’t seen much else taking on.
  
• Yours Celestially by Al Hess: an odd little utopian cyberpunk Romance. Highlight was real discussions and characterization around ADHD in romantic relationships, healthy coparenting with an ex-spouse, and addiction recovery
  
• Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill: The Handmaids Tale + Mushrooms. The mushrooms are weird and disturbing, but I can only recommend it on that axis.
  
• Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz: this was a cozy book that was too heavy-handed with an allegory that had some core flaws. Good for casual restaurant ownership vibes and humanlike robots.

Mini Reviews

Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold: This book deserved more from me. I was listening to it while the school year started and I just couldn’t focus at all. I got to the end while realizing that I missed major plot points and only vaguely understood what was happening. Going to shift to paper copies for this series, at least for now. I think Bujold’s meandering style, which I loved in the first book, is just going to be better visually while I’m stressed out.

Of Wizards and Ravens by Charm & Fable: I am now caught up with this lovely little webserial. It’s got too much going on for its own good, has a predictable structure that holds it back, doesn’t do a ton of character or thematic development, and I love it. Just a nice little time to turn my brain off and enjoy a kid learning magic spells.

Super Supportive by Sleyca: another webserial I’ve been reading (or, rereading), and this one is a more consistent high quality. I’m planning on doing a full review after I am caught up with the series. This is about as slowburn as you could possibly get, and I’m reveling in it.

f/Fantasy Bingo Check In

Unsurprisingly, not much change. However, my Leftovers card (top left – no theme) is done! Things will get reshuffled a bit as I keep reading, and I decided that I wasn’t going to force myself to read a book from the 70s, even if I’m eying some Le Guin that I’d like to try.

This means that the comics/graphic novels card (top right) is the only one left to complete. I’ve been dragging my feet a bit, and I think I’m re-evaluating whether or not I want to keep doing one in the future. Comics may be a structure that I want to keep challenge-free in the future, since it’s shaping which ones I pick up more than I’d like. There’s enough on there that I truly didn’t enjoy, but didn’t DNF because it fit a square, and I’ve been trying to get better at DNFing. However, I’m stubborn as sin, so this one will get completed by March.

My Achillean Card (bottom left) continues to get pruned and updated. I’m definitely happy with where it’s at, but I’d like to revisit the Translated and Murder Mystery squares, plus maybe find a middle grade gay book I’m more excited about. I’m a middle school teacher, and so why am I finding this so difficult!

Finally, my Novellas card (bottom right) saw zero changes, and I doubt much more will happen on this front. I’ve been avoiding most of my novella backlog because I may want to do another card like this in the future. However, I plan on reading a few high-anticipation ones that may end up making the cut before the end of the year.

Points of Interest

Honestly, enough has been going in on my life that I’ve had to cut out a lot of things from my life, including reading other blogs and essayists that I enjoy. October should hopefully be better as we settle into some normalcy.

DNFs

Relinquished Realms by Joaquin Baldwin (Noss Saga #3) – this breaks my heart, it really does. However, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this Epic Fantasy series hasn’t managed to keep my interest past the debut. The main character is a bit too bland for me, and I keep finding myself unsurprised by the twists and developments. I think it doesn’t help that Baldwin is pretty explicit with animal-shifter sex in ways that just don’t do it for me. Things were more fade to black in book 1, which was very romance-forward in a way that I enjoyed.

The Deep End by Blake R. Wolfe: I don’t normally post about the romances I read which are truly more erotica than romance, but this one was so bad it’s tough to not talk about it. It’s got so many tropes I hate, especially in combination (terrible ex-wife, general lack of fleshed out female characters, problematic version of age gap romance, not taking any of the billionaire’s money for any reason whatsoever even though you can’t pay your mom’s medical bills). The true crime, however, is that Wolfe wrote a romance about a guy who cleans pools, and there’s almost no fleshed out teasing/yearning in that realm. It’s mentioned offhandedly, but not really stretched out or shown to us. That’s the main reason I picked up the book! End of rant. I’m concerned, because Wolfe as some epic fantasy I’m interested in under a different penname, and I’m worried the quality will not be what I’m looking for.

Upcoming Reads

This is a bit optimistic, but here’s the docket for upcoming reads! The Prey of Gods is for the r/fantasy queer bookclub, and I’m very excited for it! I’m finally hoping to get around to Primal Soul, Tamer’s Heart, which is by one of my favorite authors, especially when I’m in the mood for something on the lighter end. It’s Pokemon themed! Finally, I’m about 100 pages into The Halls of the Dead by SM Hallow, which is mostly because I’m having trouble picking up books that are more ambitious at the moment. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to settle into a better reading rhythm in October.

I’m also hoping to get to more comics! The Absolute Martian Manhunter is widely regarded as one of the best of last year, Saga is an institution, and I think I’ll aim for reading We Called Them Giants, because I really need to figure out some of my class-reads for my comics elective in January.