June Reading Update
Jul. 1st, 2023 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaAnother beefy month! It's all downhill from here, lol.
Currently Reading:
Flux by Jinwoo Chong
Library book. I've only read a little bit and I don't really have strong feelings about it yet. Honestly, considering how fucked up the world is right now, I don't know that I'm even in the right headspace to enjoy it. We'll see.
"You Just Need To Lose Weight": And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
I'm a Maintenance Phase fan so I was excited to get ahold of one of her books. So far I'm enjoying it, though it'll definitely be a slow read--with medical-adjacent nonfiction it always is with me.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Started this at work on a whim, will probably finish it this weekend. So far I really like it!
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart (Drowning Empire 3)
On hold. I have no desire to read this...I'll poke at it in a few weeks and see if I can manage it.
New Reads:
The Accidental Bride by Jane Walsh (Spinsters of Inverley 2)
4/5. Would have been 5/5 but every character sounds like they've been to the same therapist. A little too much communication--it sucks the drama and the impact out of what should be emotional climaxes. And it totally falls down on the platonic relationships.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
3/5. I think the author does a great job creating the atmosphere and bringing all the relationships to life in heartbreaking, unnerving detail. But the book doesn't feel like it goes anywhere...it just ends.
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden
5/5. Really interesting worldbuilding, and I like the way the story was resolved a lot.
Crier's War by Nina Varela (Crier's War 1)
2/5. I get why the YA girlies were wild over this but it's the same boring YA dreck but sapphic this time.
Walking Practice by Dolki Min
5/5. Visceral and creepy and unexpectedly sad. I love it.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles (Doomsday 1)
5/5. I think this is the best of all the K.J. Charles I've read so far. Great balance of romance and actual wrestling with social issues.
Persona 5 Vol. 10 by Hisato Murasaki
5/5. I enjoyed this portion of the plot way more than I did when I was trying to play it.
I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane
5/5. Feels very prescient in today's political climate. Relly enjoyed the way the author uses the premise to tell a story about queerness and imprisonment and trying to exist in a world where you're being legislated out of your own humanity.
Leech by Hiron Ennes
4/5. Very good right until the big twist, at which point it really fell flat for me. Frankly the parasite is a much more compelling protagonist than its victim.
The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
5/5. Sapphic marriage of convenience? Strangers to lovers? Yes please.
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
5/5. I love the style of Hall's historical romances, with the dash of anachronism for flavor and the awareness of all the imperfections of the time period and the big swoony setpieces. The romance is sizzling.
The Love That Dares: Letters of LBTQ+ Love and Friendship Through History by Rachel Smith & Barbara Vesey
5/5. I got unexpectedly emotional over this one...really needed it this Pride month, honestly.
Rereads:
Moth by Lily Mayne (Monstrous #5)
5/5. Still slaps. I think this is the first installment in this series where I felt like Lily Mayne was really mixing it up and subverting expectations.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
4/5. A classic Poirot mystery. Christie uses the first person POV to great effect. Bogged down as all of her work is by weird British bigotry.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
5/5. Cho does so much in a very small space, and crafts an entire world and rich character dynamics deftly.
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (Circle Reforged 1)
5/5. One of my favorite books of all time and in my opinion very underrated. Pierce ties together the arcs of all four main cast members, drawing on their individuals adventures and balancing the growing pains of adulthood with the intense love they all have for each other. I would kill to get that Tris in Lightsbridge book funded.
SVSSS Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
5/5. I have nothing to add except that every one of these extras does direct psychic damage to me personally.
Currently Reading:
Flux by Jinwoo Chong
Library book. I've only read a little bit and I don't really have strong feelings about it yet. Honestly, considering how fucked up the world is right now, I don't know that I'm even in the right headspace to enjoy it. We'll see.
"You Just Need To Lose Weight": And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
I'm a Maintenance Phase fan so I was excited to get ahold of one of her books. So far I'm enjoying it, though it'll definitely be a slow read--with medical-adjacent nonfiction it always is with me.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Started this at work on a whim, will probably finish it this weekend. So far I really like it!
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart (Drowning Empire 3)
On hold. I have no desire to read this...I'll poke at it in a few weeks and see if I can manage it.
New Reads:
The Accidental Bride by Jane Walsh (Spinsters of Inverley 2)
4/5. Would have been 5/5 but every character sounds like they've been to the same therapist. A little too much communication--it sucks the drama and the impact out of what should be emotional climaxes. And it totally falls down on the platonic relationships.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
3/5. I think the author does a great job creating the atmosphere and bringing all the relationships to life in heartbreaking, unnerving detail. But the book doesn't feel like it goes anywhere...it just ends.
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden
5/5. Really interesting worldbuilding, and I like the way the story was resolved a lot.
Crier's War by Nina Varela (Crier's War 1)
2/5. I get why the YA girlies were wild over this but it's the same boring YA dreck but sapphic this time.
Walking Practice by Dolki Min
5/5. Visceral and creepy and unexpectedly sad. I love it.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles (Doomsday 1)
5/5. I think this is the best of all the K.J. Charles I've read so far. Great balance of romance and actual wrestling with social issues.
Persona 5 Vol. 10 by Hisato Murasaki
5/5. I enjoyed this portion of the plot way more than I did when I was trying to play it.
I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane
5/5. Feels very prescient in today's political climate. Relly enjoyed the way the author uses the premise to tell a story about queerness and imprisonment and trying to exist in a world where you're being legislated out of your own humanity.
Leech by Hiron Ennes
4/5. Very good right until the big twist, at which point it really fell flat for me. Frankly the parasite is a much more compelling protagonist than its victim.
The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
5/5. Sapphic marriage of convenience? Strangers to lovers? Yes please.
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
5/5. I love the style of Hall's historical romances, with the dash of anachronism for flavor and the awareness of all the imperfections of the time period and the big swoony setpieces. The romance is sizzling.
The Love That Dares: Letters of LBTQ+ Love and Friendship Through History by Rachel Smith & Barbara Vesey
5/5. I got unexpectedly emotional over this one...really needed it this Pride month, honestly.
Rereads:
Moth by Lily Mayne (Monstrous #5)
5/5. Still slaps. I think this is the first installment in this series where I felt like Lily Mayne was really mixing it up and subverting expectations.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
4/5. A classic Poirot mystery. Christie uses the first person POV to great effect. Bogged down as all of her work is by weird British bigotry.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
5/5. Cho does so much in a very small space, and crafts an entire world and rich character dynamics deftly.
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (Circle Reforged 1)
5/5. One of my favorite books of all time and in my opinion very underrated. Pierce ties together the arcs of all four main cast members, drawing on their individuals adventures and balancing the growing pains of adulthood with the intense love they all have for each other. I would kill to get that Tris in Lightsbridge book funded.
SVSSS Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
5/5. I have nothing to add except that every one of these extras does direct psychic damage to me personally.
