Enjoyed this one. While I'm not a fan of horror, I don't much mind gore so that wasn't an issue. Well-written, well-observed good flawed protag to be frustrated by and hopeful for.
May 15, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Enjoyed this one. While I'm not a fan of horror, I don't much mind gore so that wasn't an issue. Well-written, well-observed good flawed protag to be frustrated by and hopeful for.
God, THIS BOOK. Read it on @akathembe.bsky.social's recommendation, and GOD. It's a very despair-at-the-state-of humanity kind of anthology (to me). And Ahegao has the unique distinction of being, in the year of our Lord 2025, genuinely shocking. He just kept GOING. Yhu, they gotta give him a prize
May 11, 2025 at 9:47 AM
God, THIS BOOK. Read it on @akathembe.bsky.social's recommendation, and GOD. It's a very despair-at-the-state-of humanity kind of anthology (to me). And Ahegao has the unique distinction of being, in the year of our Lord 2025, genuinely shocking. He just kept GOING. Yhu, they gotta give him a prize
Dense, botanical, weird. It's described as a pandemic novel, and yeah, it did have that lockdown feel of being unmoored from what we previously called reality.
May 11, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Dense, botanical, weird. It's described as a pandemic novel, and yeah, it did have that lockdown feel of being unmoored from what we previously called reality.
Good, change-of-pace read. Mostly stream-of-consciousness, dipping in and out of the narrator's ongoing shift working a hospital A & E, and selected memories. All the mundane tragedy and comedy you would expect. Still we persist, you know?
May 11, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Good, change-of-pace read. Mostly stream-of-consciousness, dipping in and out of the narrator's ongoing shift working a hospital A & E, and selected memories. All the mundane tragedy and comedy you would expect. Still we persist, you know?
A sweet, queer rom-com. She is very good at these.
May 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
A sweet, queer rom-com. She is very good at these.
Good gossipy murder mystery.
May 11, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Good gossipy murder mystery.
I read this one several months ago and remember thinking it was a weird, strange and ultimately rather darkly lovely tale.
May 11, 2025 at 9:06 AM
I read this one several months ago and remember thinking it was a weird, strange and ultimately rather darkly lovely tale.
Between you me and the internet, I find Emily Henry just a leeeettle over-rated. But this was good fun: a fairly unique premise, likable characters, dislikeable antagonists, and a satisfying denouement.
May 11, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Between you me and the internet, I find Emily Henry just a leeeettle over-rated. But this was good fun: a fairly unique premise, likable characters, dislikeable antagonists, and a satisfying denouement.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark -I read this 3 months ago and unfortunately retain very little beyond a certain sense of It-was-alright-ness. Cool cover though
May 11, 2025 at 8:49 AM
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark -I read this 3 months ago and unfortunately retain very little beyond a certain sense of It-was-alright-ness. Cool cover though
Alternate history, and another good yarn. Mythology, culture, human nature, mystery. The author invokes Ursula K Le Guin, and it's appropriate.
March 13, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Alternate history, and another good yarn. Mythology, culture, human nature, mystery. The author invokes Ursula K Le Guin, and it's appropriate.
Really enjoyed this one, so much so that I went and hunted down her other books. Strands of mythology, human nature, romance, grief, etc, etc, enjoyably woven together
March 13, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Really enjoyed this one, so much so that I went and hunted down her other books. Strands of mythology, human nature, romance, grief, etc, etc, enjoyably woven together
The ending was a little too neat (IMO) but it did go to some unexpected places and got me genuinely invested in the titular character and her travails. Not bad
March 8, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The ending was a little too neat (IMO) but it did go to some unexpected places and got me genuinely invested in the titular character and her travails. Not bad
(Read a couple more non-fiction books that weren't on the list before turning to this because sometimes shit happens and you want easy.)
Short and very, very sweet. Young love, family love, pet love, friends love. Not too saccharine, some bitter in the sugar, balanced and easeful like a good exhale.
Short and very, very sweet. Young love, family love, pet love, friends love. Not too saccharine, some bitter in the sugar, balanced and easeful like a good exhale.
March 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
(Read a couple more non-fiction books that weren't on the list before turning to this because sometimes shit happens and you want easy.)
Short and very, very sweet. Young love, family love, pet love, friends love. Not too saccharine, some bitter in the sugar, balanced and easeful like a good exhale.
Short and very, very sweet. Young love, family love, pet love, friends love. Not too saccharine, some bitter in the sugar, balanced and easeful like a good exhale.
Reading Hanif's almost densely lyrical prose was like taking a new route home - it required a bit of extra attention but was that much more rewarding. Heard about it on one of my fave podcasts which whike also ostensibly about basketball, is really about Life™ (open.spotify.com/episode/3vvk...)
February 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reading Hanif's almost densely lyrical prose was like taking a new route home - it required a bit of extra attention but was that much more rewarding. Heard about it on one of my fave podcasts which whike also ostensibly about basketball, is really about Life™ (open.spotify.com/episode/3vvk...)
Pop culture with a scifi/fantasy leaning - things that would appeal to a person who occupies the border-spaces of multiple identities. Very cleverly written and arranged, it made me want to hear more of her thoughts (she responded to me on here!) Recommended for nerdy women especially
February 10, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Pop culture with a scifi/fantasy leaning - things that would appeal to a person who occupies the border-spaces of multiple identities. Very cleverly written and arranged, it made me want to hear more of her thoughts (she responded to me on here!) Recommended for nerdy women especially
Written by a beauty insider who never went full evangelist. So that this is not an urging to divest from Beauty™ but a sort of soothing reminder to take it less seriously.
(For something more radical I recommend this essay, which was a truly new viewpoint for me: www.them.us/story/ugline... )
(For something more radical I recommend this essay, which was a truly new viewpoint for me: www.them.us/story/ugline... )
January 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Written by a beauty insider who never went full evangelist. So that this is not an urging to divest from Beauty™ but a sort of soothing reminder to take it less seriously.
(For something more radical I recommend this essay, which was a truly new viewpoint for me: www.them.us/story/ugline... )
(For something more radical I recommend this essay, which was a truly new viewpoint for me: www.them.us/story/ugline... )
This was fine. Shared external goal, room for personal growth, the forces keeping them apart make sense. Perfectly serviceable. I think it's time to read other genres tho, I dey tire 😅
January 6, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This was fine. Shared external goal, room for personal growth, the forces keeping them apart make sense. Perfectly serviceable. I think it's time to read other genres tho, I dey tire 😅
Enemies-to-lovers is such a tricky trope. Simply getting off in the wrong foot isn't enough to sustain a believable antagonism, otherwise you're just annoyed the characters are being huffy instead of actually talking. DNF :(
January 2, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Enemies-to-lovers is such a tricky trope. Simply getting off in the wrong foot isn't enough to sustain a believable antagonism, otherwise you're just annoyed the characters are being huffy instead of actually talking. DNF :(
Interlude - a book I saved for an appropriate medium. I can read on my mobile, having grown accustomed to linking together bite sized chunks into a meal, but for this I wanted pages. And I was right. Redolent with religion and references, staggering in scope, brave & wild & scary in its audacity
January 1, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Interlude - a book I saved for an appropriate medium. I can read on my mobile, having grown accustomed to linking together bite sized chunks into a meal, but for this I wanted pages. And I was right. Redolent with religion and references, staggering in scope, brave & wild & scary in its audacity
Glad I got past the initial aversion to first-person-present-continuous because what a lush, sensuous book. Food+ art + architecture + scenery + sexy people. Couple are both bisexual, one's enby, lots of fun with gender and monogamy, sex scenes are gorgeously written, much wow (srlsy tho the sex!)
December 24, 2024 at 5:24 PM
Glad I got past the initial aversion to first-person-present-continuous because what a lush, sensuous book. Food+ art + architecture + scenery + sexy people. Couple are both bisexual, one's enby, lots of fun with gender and monogamy, sex scenes are gorgeously written, much wow (srlsy tho the sex!)
For contrast - I read this earlier in the year but still retain the story. The couple has an external goal to get invested in, an interesting supporting cast, and a unique setting. Basically I like it when there's more com than rom, is what I'm saying. Maybe even a little dram.
December 22, 2024 at 9:36 AM
For contrast - I read this earlier in the year but still retain the story. The couple has an external goal to get invested in, an interesting supporting cast, and a unique setting. Basically I like it when there's more com than rom, is what I'm saying. Maybe even a little dram.
Right so here's the thing with rom-coms. You know what will happen, you're here for the journey. So if the characters, bants or circumstances don't do it for you, then, sadly: DNF :(
December 22, 2024 at 7:58 AM
Right so here's the thing with rom-coms. You know what will happen, you're here for the journey. So if the characters, bants or circumstances don't do it for you, then, sadly: DNF :(
I'd have probably skipped The Familiar as Ninth House and Hell Bent never quite did it for me - very dense but still insubstantial somehow - but this worked a treat. Rich characters, rich setting, varying range of moods, and a plot that mercifully concludes (God safe us from trilogies) 4/5
December 21, 2024 at 8:06 AM
I'd have probably skipped The Familiar as Ninth House and Hell Bent never quite did it for me - very dense but still insubstantial somehow - but this worked a treat. Rich characters, rich setting, varying range of moods, and a plot that mercifully concludes (God safe us from trilogies) 4/5
This thought found me in the middle of Someone You Can Build A Nest In (what a title!) Interesting premise but the plot felt a bit laboured, characters a little flat and the third act dragged on a bit too long IMO. 3/5
December 19, 2024 at 4:35 PM
This thought found me in the middle of Someone You Can Build A Nest In (what a title!) Interesting premise but the plot felt a bit laboured, characters a little flat and the third act dragged on a bit too long IMO. 3/5