October Reading Wrap Up

October was the month of productivity at work (am I finally hitting my groove this year), a million small house projects that have been put off too long, and hosting my parents for a long weekend. They had so many questions about Rugby, it was stressful and delightful. Noticing some anxiety spiking up, so that’s a challenge I’m going to tackle in November. I’m also trying to race to finish all the books I said I wanted to read before 2027 kicks off!

Definitely felt like I was treading water a bit, reading wise. I don’t know if the data backs that up (a slower month, but not that slow). I think partly this was because I spent some time bouncing between books, paused reading while my parents were in town, and took a short audiobook break when I felt like I wasn’t enjoying anything I listened to. Thank you Adventure Zone for getting me back on track.

Longform Reviews

• Super Supportive by Sleyca: a mashup of slice of life, superheros and space adventures. The slowest of burn, but perfection for those who enjoy sitting with characters and watching life unfold
  
• The Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez: an avalanche of color and interesting artistic decisions. Sort of a eldritch noir comic with a prismatic color pallette?
  
• Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle: a high energy body horror that focuses on a mother who works as a fashion influencer and body snatcher
  
• The Halls of the Dead by SM Hallow: a horror/fantasy hybrid about the gore and brutality of necromancy, love, and revenge.
  
• Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris: a short and introspective horror about suicide and fungus. I don’t recommend the audiobook, but there’s a lot here to love.
  
• We Called them Giants by Kieron Gillen: an absolute snack of a comic. It doesn’t go as deep as I’d have liked, but I respect the hell out of the unconventional story choices Gillen made. Also the art is GORGEOUS! I could rave for days about the use of color here.
  
• The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden: a brilliant first half and disappointing second half. Weird, weird worldbuilding in futuristic South Africa. Drayden smashed a bunch of disparate elements together that jived really well.
  
• The Teras Trials by Lucien Burr: this Romantasy didn’t blow me away, but there was a great physical connection and contentious banter. The gothic vibes never manifested into a fully satisfying plot or setting though.
  
• First Test by Devin Grayson (adaption of the Tamora Pierce novel): a romp down memory lanes for folks who already love the chapter book. Not a good adaptation for new-to-Keladry readers though

Mini Reviews

Daily Grind #2 by Argus: the sequel to a eldritch office dungeon series, and I’m still enjoying this one a lot! I don’t know that my thoughts are too different from book 1, so I’m not posting a full review. However, I love how the characters react like real people. Not all the same, and our lead is really into it. However, they also force themselves to step back and go on dates, shopping trips, and avoid getting sucked wholesale into the delve. Progression is slow, so you still aren’t seeing characters who are masters of the universe. Just a very satisfying slow burn series with well-done characters. Bisexuality everywhere.

Thirty Love by Tom Vellner: a tennis romance that was fine, but didn’t really blow me out of the water. Lots of little things bugged me, such as the overexplanation of tennis rules, the abrupt switch from dislike to nearly confessing your love, and the fact that there’s seemingly only one social media account that matters. I also didn’t really buy into the rivalry aspect as much as expected. I liked this book a lot, but it never excited me the way that The Open Era did. The third of the 2026 tennis romances is out of print in America, so it may just be these two for this year.

Antimage by Alexander Olson: as I continue to lean on Progression Fantasy and LitRPG as something on the lighter end to read as I adjust to the demands of a teaching schedule again, this was a reminder that ‘numbers go up’ isn’t enough to keep me fully engaged. This was fine, but I don’t particularly want to read the sequel. I just didn’t feel like enough characterization or thematic work was happening to keep me interested. To it’s credit, this book does a pretty great job at showing a bisexual male lead who isn’t a stereotype, and whom doesn’t shy away from either side of his attraction – though there’s no romance/sex in this volume, nor do I think it becomes a prominent part of the story.

Bingo Check In

Not much to say, other than that I’m 4 books away from completing my Comics and Graphic novels card. I’m at the point where I’m more focused on catching up on all the stuff I’ve put to the side, rather than on my reading challenges.

It’s a race to 2027, and I don’t know if I’m going to get everything read that I want to!

Points of Interest

I have officially given up on the new Fire Emblem game, which is a crying shame. I am however, side-eyeing the new Star Wars Podracing game. So we’ll see if that happens.

Every Book a Doorway reviewed Angel’s Country and it looks like exactly the type of thing I’ll enjoy. I’ll always be a sucker for books that find the intersection of accessible and experimental, especially when that boundary-pushing gives us insight into a character.

Biblionerd Reflections pointed me towards Bright and Broken Things, which is getting me to consider if next year is my time to explore Gay Egyptology. If anyone knows of good queer spec fic written by Egyptian authors, send them my way!

Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads put Honeysuckle on my radar. Welsh Feminist Frankenstein is right up my alley, since I enjoy folkloric vibes and lyrical prose.

After last year’s lecture on the queer history of vampires, my GSA kiddos want more lessons on the history of queer speculative fiction, so if you know of good rabbit holes to dive down, I’m all ears.

There were definitely more things out there, but I was really bad at keeping track of where my new TBR additions came from!

DNFs

World Trigger by Daisuke Ashihara: maybe Shonen Manga is like SNL. Is it at its best when you’re a kid, and nostalgia is the driving factor in someone’s enjoyment of it? I was just bored as this series continued, and when I had gone a month without reading another chapter, I knew it was time to drop this. It doesn’t hold a candle to some of my favorites.

Idolfire by Grace Curtis: tough to say if there was anything objectively wrong with this book, but I was zoning out after twenty minutes of audio. I’d like to return to this when I’m in a different mindset, and am proud of myself for putting it aside.

All Them Dogs by Djamel White: realistic fiction, especially on the literary end, will always be hit or miss. This one didn’t work in audio. I’d not be opposed to trying to read it, but realistically that probably won’t happen.

Upcoming Reads

In an effort to try to make progress on books that have been sitting in the ‘read soon’ part of my TBR, I set aside about 30 books I wanted to tackle before the end of the year. I’ve got 14 left to read, which feels a little bit ambitious. Here are six that I’m hoping to tackle in November. Four are short, and Tobias Begley typically has a quicker prose style, so the real barrier (assuming I like them all) is going to be Water Horse.

• Primal Soul, Tamer’s Heart by Tobias Begley: this is a personal favorite author, writing a new series inspired by one of my favorite nostalgia-kicks: POKEMON! It came out in July, but I’ve been so bad at letting obligations set my reading priorities recently.
  
  Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J. Miller: I swear I was going to pick this up for my novella readathon. Library holds coming up stopped that from happening, but it’s about a boxer and a tattoo artist in a magical roaring 20s. How can I not?
  
• Nausica of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazake: after Saga, this is my next stop on rectifying my lack of exposure to the big names of speculative comics. Hoping I like this one as much!
  
• The Seep by Chana Porter: this book keeps getting nominated for various book clubs, but never manages to win. I’m excited for something profoundly fucked up. The premise is a woman asking aliens to turn her into a baby, and her wife having to deal with the fallout.
  
• Sunward by William Alexander: cozy … in Autumn … how original!
  
• Water Horse by Melissa Scott: Queer Epic Fantasy that seems ill known, but everyone who talks about it speaks nothing but praise, including Kai Ashante Williams!