About

Welcome to CosmicReads! I’m a middle and high school English teacher who reads a lot of speculative fiction. On this blog you’ll find my reviews of books I read, assorted thoughts about the genre, and my constant journey to tackle r/fantasy’s yearly bingo challenge!

Realistically this is likely just going to be a more convenient place for me to keep my thoughts than goodreads, but maybe someday I’ll actually start trying to reach people. I’m also fairly active on r/fantasy and r/QueerSFF, and you can find me there as u/c0smicoccurence

When I’m not reading, you’ll find me playing board games (Spirit Island, Broom Service, and Gloomhaven are personal favorites), finding as many ways to integrate pomegranates into my cooking that I can, and listening to audiobooks while taking my puppy Howard for walks. Teaching also means I spend a decent amount of home time working. I’m especially proud of the elective courses I’ve developed, including Queer Comics & Cartoons, Speculative Fiction, Ethics, and a middle school course on Graphic Novels.

What Can You Expect from My Reviews?

I read pretty widely within the speculative fiction umbrella, and love everything from pulpy action stories to bespoke and experimental books dripping in theme and gorgeous language. I also read a lot of contemporary romances and comics. You’ll likely find more queer representation in the books I read/review than the typical fantasy blog as I continue my eternal hunt for the books I wish I’d had growing up. I put special focus on gay/bi men, but enjoy queer content in general.

In terms of what I focus on in my reviews, I try to minimize the ‘what is this book about’ in my writing as much as possible. Book descriptions on back covers and store websites do a great job of that already. Instead, I try to place my focus on my experience reading the story, and identify the core elements that make the book work (or not work).

How Can You Reach Me?

In theory, the best way to reach me should be by emailing c0smicoccurence@gmail.com. That said, I don’t check it nearly as much as I should, so if you’re on reddit, messaging u/C0smicoccurence is probably going to get you a quicker response.

I’m open to doing ARC reviews as my reading schedule permits, with a special interest in queer speculative fiction or m/m romance by queer male authors.