Posted in Book Tags

Pride Recommendations Book Tag 🏳️‍🌈

Happy Monday, bibliophiles, and more importantly, happy pride month!! 🏳️‍🌈

Sorry for the unexplained absence for about a week there—I was on vacation in California, and I had tons of fun! We were in Yosemite and then San Francisco, and I enjoyed myself in both places. It was lovely to be in San Francisco during pride month and seeing all the pride flags…having them everywhere made me so happy. 💗

Now, onto the book tag! I was tagged last pride month by the wonderful Hundreds & Thousands of Books, and the tag was originally created by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. I’m definitely going to do a pride recommendation post of my own, but since I would never turn down the opportunity to recommend queer books, I figured I’d participate in this lovely tag!

Rules

  • Tag Ally @ Ally Writes Things so I can see your recommendations!
  • Give at least one recommendation for each of the prompts below
  • If you don’t have a recommendation, talk about a book you want to read
  • Tag as many people as you want!

Let’s begin, shall we?

🏳️‍🌈PRIDE RECOMMENDATIONS BOOK TAG🏳️‍🌈

A BOOK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

The Chandler Legacies centers around a group of unlikely friends, and I loved seeing their relationships develop over the course of the book!

A FAST-PACED BOOK

Victories Greater Than Death is a fiercely queer space opera, and if you’re looking for lots of action, this one moves at a breakneck pace!

A DIVERSE ROMANCE

Nope, I’m never gonna stop recommending Sick Kids in Love—I’m not usually a rom-com person, but this was one of the biggest standouts of my reading last year! Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis, Sasha is bisexual and has Gaucher’s disease, and both of them are Jewish! So refreshing to see not just disabled rep, but queer disabled rep!

AN UNDERRATED MEMOIR

Gender Queer is a beautiful graphic memoir about exploring gender and sexuality!

A NONFICTION OTHER THAN MEMOIR

What’s Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She was a super fascinating read—I’d highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of gender-neutral pronouns or linguistics in general.

A BOOK WITH FEWER THAN 10,000 RATINGS ON GOODREADS

I just read The Raven and the Reindeer while I was on vacation, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a crime that this book doesn’t get as much attention. One of the best queer fairytale retellings that I’ve read recently!

A BOOK WITH AN LGBTQ+ PROTAGONIST

weeeeeeeeell, all of these books are queer, but I wanted to highlight Perfect on Paper in particular. As a bisexual woman, this is some of the best bi rep I’ve ever read!

A BOOK WITH MORE THAN 500 PAGES

Any Way the Wind Blows clocks in at a dizzying 640 pages, and while it was the weakest book of the trilogy for me, it was still worth it for Rainbow Rowell’s excellent writing and character-building.

A TRANSLATED BOOK

I haven’t read many translated books at all, and the only queer one that I can think of (Here The Whole Time) is one that I’m not a fan of, so I’ll have to leave this one blank. 🫥

BOOK YOU WANT EVERYONE TO READ

Ever since I discovered it last summer, I’ve been trying to push The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea on everybody that I can; it’s been so long since I’ve read a book with such beautiful themes, writing, and romance! Plus, if that doesn’t entice you—queer pirates and mermaids. Enough said.

A SHORT STORY COLLECTION

All Out features tons of great short stories from a group of amazing queer authors!

A BOOK BY A TRANS OR NONBINARY AUTHOR

Iron Widow is by a nonbinary author, and it’s a fiercely queer and feminist story of breaking free of the gender binary and and dismantling patriarchy and rape culture!

I TAG:

Today’s song:

over the moon obsessed with this right now, won’t be able to think of anything else for the next 3-5 business months

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

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Posted in Monthly Wrap-Ups

April 2022 Wrap-Up 🎫

Happy Saturday, bibliophiles!

I keep saying things along the lines of “this week has been low-key…” in my updates and in my journal, fully knowing that it’s the calm before the storm (read: AP tests), but it’s been good to enjoy the calm nonetheless. And if I could get through three AP tests last year, then I can do it this year too. At least they’re all in one week again this time.

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Looking back, April was somewhat busy, but it never quite felt that way. Going to three concerts in a month was certainly a plus, however tired I got the day after the second two. I have less than a month left of high school (!!!!) and it certainly feels like things are slowing down…it’s all coming into perspective…

April’s been a great reading month as well! Aside from one DNF at the beginning of the month, I haven’t read anything below two stars. I found some great books in the bunch too, both from new-to-me authors and from tried-and-true authors! A good batch, I think.

Things have been slowing down as far as writing goes; since I shared my WIP, I’ve been in a sort of limbo where I’m not sure what to write next. For now, I’m outlining for said WIP’s sequel, but it’s been…rocky. I forgot how frustrating the beginning stages of outlining can be sometimes. Figuring out the playlist has been fun, though…Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, learning a few new songs on guitar, finishing Raised by Wolves (w h a t) and Severance (season 2 can’t come soon enough), watching Spirited Away, listening to an excess of Wet Leg, Spiritualized, and Jack White, and seeing Spiritualized, Snail Mail, and Ben Folds live. (All three were lots of fun, but Spiritualized was hands down my favorite!!)

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! I can chalk that one up to several lengthy books that took me longer than usual to read, but that’s okay. Still on track for my goodreads goal of 200—78 books as of now!

1 – 1.75 stars:

Witches Steeped in Gold

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Conductors

3 – 3.75 stars:

One for All

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Weight of Our Sky

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Extasia4.5 stars

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

now THAT is an impressive high note
this was so beautiful live 😭
in which my dad and I try to catalogue all of the songs that they played at the Spiritualized soundcheck
such a fun album!
also a very fun album!!
every day I get more and more excited about the new Soccer Mommy album
such a haunting ending to a beautiful album
this was so much fun live!! the whole concert was so fun and interactive

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY APRIL GOALS?

  • Read at least 20 books: 18, but it’s all good.
  • Try not to spontaneously combust at the Spiritualized concert if/when they play “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”: …well, no “Ladies And Gentlemen,” but nonetheless, I spontaneously combusted. Hands down, one of my favorite concerts I’ve ever been to. Thanks again, J Spaceman!

GOALS FOR MAY:

  • Get through the AP tests
  • Finish high school strong! (aAAA STILL CAN’T BELIEVE I’M GRADUATING—)

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: April 18-24, 2022

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

It’s been another fairly low-key week on my end; we had the day off on Friday, so I’m getting way too used to shorter school weeks. After last week, I’ve been on a streak of great books! So many unique books in particular—I can’t decide which one I’ll review next week! I’m nearly finished with the whole Heartstopper series too—I’ve got vol. 4 ready on my Kindle, along with my other library books!

Writing-wise, I’ve been attempting to outline for book 2 of my sci-fi WIP, and…it’s been…it’s going? It’s going. I have a clear picture of the beginning and the ending, but the middle is still hazy, so I’m trying to figure out what goes in between. Making playlists always helps get my sense of direction going, and it’s certainly helping now, at least.

Other than that, I’ve been listening to the new Spiritualized (AAAAAH), drawing a little, and playing some guitar. I also saw Snail Mail for a third time on Sunday night (great!) and Ben Folds with the Colorado Symphony last night (amazing!!), so there’s been a lot of concerts this month!! I’m tired now, but it was worth it.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Heartstopper, vol. 3 – Alice Oseman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Library at Mount Char – Scott Hawkins (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Extasia – Claire Legrand (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Chandler Legacies – Abdi Nazemian (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Heartstopper, vol. 4 – Alice Oseman

One for All – Lillie Lainoff

Warrior of the Wild – Tricia Levenseller

The Weight of Our Sky – Hanna Alkaf

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!