Fun follow up to first book {I am reading the series this year}. You know the drill. Greek myths reimagined and retold YA style. No romance which I appreciate. Overarching story line in the series so far but each book stands alone.

A friend recommended the second series. I am hoping not to get sucked into the universe... too many books to follow but so far it looks like a possibility

Perfect cozy fantasy recommended by my son. He states it‘s better than Legends and Latte which I haven‘t read yet. It was totally delicious. M/M rivals to partners an extrovert and introvert with lovely cast of characters. Am looking forward to more set in this world. Also now following author so I can read all their work. Indie published for bonus points

Read after Three Kings, the other book in RAD box. The sentences are sparse- less poetic however the poly relationship was well done. In TK I found the poly problematic but here perfect. The trans representation was also IMO well done. Overall a pick. Cozy with chapters where not much happens but they set tone for setting and mental status. Content warnings were unnecessary or maybe I‘m insensitive.

Trans & Poly rep here. Fantasy set in the quiet moments between a witch, fisherman and selkie. See my blurb. I almost didn't get into it because of the weird emotion juxtapositions but that either went away mid book or I got used to it. Insta-attraction between the 3 characters acted upon within a week which is the span of book sans epilogue. Poems at end stellar due to tie in. Teared up at end.

This book is set in the quiet moments between two, now 3 people. I actually have a different edition released by Rainbow Crate After Dark but since I am adding it to database went with Amazon for info.

You have a witch, a selkie, and a fisherman so magic, cozy?, poly romance. I feel as if the author is trying a bit too hard with the expressions. Or maybe it is my not being used to that being the focus....

What does aggressively sip mean?

My shortiies book ATM is Electric Arches. Poetry. Mainly. When I decided to tackle my anthologies and poetry books I thought wee little breaks between books but I find myself really trying to absorb the pieces. Do I understand what the author is trying to say? 🤷‍♂️

A bit on the darker side re topics covered; mental health, self esteem, being deserving of love and kindness etc set in a romance between an ex soldier who cannot quite fit in due to feelings of survivors guilt and hero complex coupled with a male prostitute who uses sex and pain to deal with feelings of being unworthy. Not overly graphic although sex is discussed but not where there are pages upon pages for a sex scene. A bit of a tearjerker.

Enjoyable read. I have a thing against cliff hangers and this was a complete story in and of itself while also setting up the probability of other books.

I do enjoy retellings because of the familiarity and not needing to wade through too many twists and turns. This one, aimed at pre-teens, is neither dark nor falling for the current trend of making everyting a romance.

A ‘horror‘ vignette about half an hour from start to finish. Not my usual genre so cannot compare to others really. The cover and title give away the entire premise / plot. I am deleting it from my kindle. Will not reread.

I think it might be goosebumps level but I never read those just watched the shows with kids. @CBee #readyourkindle #readyourebooks book no. 12

It‘s the start of @CBee #readyourkindle #readyourebooks challenge. I haven‘t done one of these random # draws before so hopefully I get it right aaand this is for the month. I know I need to pick 2-here are my choices:

12. Down The Drain by Daniel Pyle
14. The Last Witness by John Matthews
17. I Used to Know That : Stuff You Forgot From School by Caroline Taggart
18. Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Of the 4 I am most excited about Gideon!

…everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while

It is the start of @CBee's #readyourkindle #readyourebooks challenge. I haven't done one of these random # draws before so hopefully I get it right aaaand this is for the month. I know I need to pick 2 - here are my choices:

12. Down The Drain by Daniel Pyle
14. The Last Witness by John Matthews
17 I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School by Caroline Taggart
18. Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Of the 4 I am most excited about Gideon!

I don‘t quite know how to upload these group pics yet on phone but erm #Two4Tuesday is all over my feed so I just finished my 1st 5 💫 book@of year aka The Book Eaters for best read of January and am anticipating Percy Jackson in February. I think those were questions. May repost from desktop tomorrow with better formatting. Tah!

An easy 5 star ⭐️ read for me. With the exception of a chapter or two a single POV with chapters alternating from present day to a linear past. Fantasy without the epic, and confusing, world building or ever expanding cast of characters. Highly recommend

Like so many places in the north, Alnwick was all history and no future. Gardens and castles for tourists, dwindling high streets and rising unemployment for locals.

I find myself lingering over this one. No breathless sprint to the end. Utterly delightful. Savoring every chapter

Engrossing start. Cannot believe I put off opening the book since I purchased it as soon as I heard about it.

edit: I added it to my librarything on Dec of 22 so I have sat on this book for a year. Totally crazy

Hunted down this OOP book due to a mention as one of the best M/M sports books. Urban & Roux are often recommended due to their 'Cut & Run' series. NO. Dual POV shifting every other paragraph! Massive miscommunication throughout. Authors refer to MC by title 'the science teacher' or 'the coach' even to ending. Fear of being outted but have sex in public! Poorly edited. Banter not so witty. Forced myself to finish.

Well it is the eve of Christmas for those of us who celebrate and amazingly I have not received a single book. However I love myself and purchased this one. I have read it more than once via KU, purchased the ebook, and now I have it in paperback format. Huzzah. I just love the Tal Bauer books I have read. I own ebooks: The Jock, The Quarterback, Gravity, The Rest of the Story, & this one. Friends 2 lovers, bi awakening, hurt comfort.

This book was a gift in a swap group this summer. From what I understand it is supposed to be funny but I have a fairly non-existent sense of humor. Is this funny? As described; a bunch of Weight Watcher's recipe cards from the 70s with the authors commentary. No recipes of course. I do rather want the lime sherbert recipe... it sounds good but is blue? Anyway most have the most stereotypical bad 70s color scheme which is odd for food.

I read a lot of M/M romance and this one, despite being classified a Romance for Mature Audiences, had no real gratuitous sex scenes and was plot driven. Political machinations and intrigue rule the day. Set in a world of Slaves or Pets- mainly a matter of terminology I understand these have been controversial but I feel they were really well written and I became embroiled in what happens next while still rooting for our MCs. 5 stars- 4 for shorts

I enjoyed reading the additional stories from collection. The titular story refers to an expected getaway from Book 3 of trilogy but I personally preferred the fourth story Pet. The first deals with Jord and Aimeric with flash backs from Jord pre-Prince's Guard position and early days of Laurent's machinations. Then we touch base with our MC in Summer Palace and switch to The Adventures of Charls @ a year after trilogy's conclusion.

In this installment you have the enemies from book one in an uneasy alliance working together and growing closer. More military exercises and war preparation than the mental gymnastics of political intrigue. We also get the slow burn that earned the book 'Romance' on back although I have yet to figure out why Mature Audience is noted. The in depth sex scenes are tastefully done and speak more to yearning than gratuitous. Chapter 19.5 in back

Recommendation from my son. I am definitely a C.S. Pacat fan. My son said the series becomes more and more well written as it progresses {author skill improvement} but I had no complaints. Engaging characters and political intrigue. It is clearly the beginning of a trilogy but could be read as a stand alone ending with a transition. My edition contains a short called The Training of Erasmus which is poignant due to cosmic irony.

I enjoyed this one--background I preordered this last fall when I first heard about it thinking it sounded good but then several book tubers trashed it so I hadn't read it until now. I picked up up last night and stayed up all night reading. The sex scenes were terrible. I would have preferred this stay in the fantasy instead of romantisy lane. But the challenges needed to be overcome to graduate on top of politics and magic system were good.

…transsexual bodies, identities, perspectives, and experiences are continuously required to be explained and inevitably remain open to interpretation. Ironic opening to cisgender privilege chapter given that Serrano constantly discusses nuances in language and terminology

My book stack: classic, shorts, fiction, non fiction and guilty pleasures taken from previous stacks: Illiad, Whipping Girl, The House of the Spirits, Captive Prince trilogy followed by Odyssey. Illiad being from my oldest book stack since I restarted using Litsy. Whipping Girl basically broke me but I am determined to read the essays.

After discussing with son--romanticy that discusses trauma but the author isn't skilled enough of a writer for the story. The story was really interesting the premise held a lot of promise but it just fell flat. 3 stars as I definitely will not reread. The author was very inventive and if she had only had a better copyrighter or editor she could have fleshed out the story. It needed more polishing. Creative, inventive and interesting premise.

Finished this book. Unsure how I feel about it. There were parts that were problematic and I am not sure the writing was good. The story itself was interesting but some characters were very one dimensional [and there were only 6]. I think the story deserved a better writer TBH. YA Queer representation... definitely sapphic but also the minute she sees prince's bare chest she thinks he should be put on pedestal and worshipped. Bi Poly Rep?

My son picked this one for our next read along. I gave him my book box special edition as I preferred standard UK cover. There was much hullabaloo about the title and this article on source materials pretty much sums up my thoughts: https://theconversation.com/to-read-or-not-to-read-is-that-the-question-185393

Whipping Girl by Serrano has broken me. I had to binge read something light and fun. I normally don‘t count ebooks but I read this entire series. 3 are only available as ebooks M/M hockey romance for the win

Enjoyable weekend read. Single unreliable POV. Probably won‘t reread. Noticed beverages

I am having a hard time adding photos --like they go sideways when I don't want them to but don't when I try to lol. Anyway interesting discussion in Whipping Girl re the emphasis and sensationalistic focus on transitioning process. She brings up the classism of attractiveness and I wonder how this chapter would change today after the proliferation of cosmetic surgery, Ozympic etc.

Carried over from last month's stack I have

The Classic: Iliad
Fiction: The House of Spirits
Non-Fiction: Whipping Girl
Quickie: Night Sky with Exit Wounds [not pictured]

Added:
Guilty Pleasure: C.S. Pacat's Captive Prince trilogy and associated short stories, Yellowface with #camplitsy, and The Book Eaters

So my June monthly stack was a fail- out of all the books in my pile I only finished the two fun ones.

I am not enjoying Ocean Vuong --but haven't given up yet as my son recommended it. Whipping Girl is interesting but scholarly esp. RN with word definitions. I read Dark Rise and in Deeper Waters. I have put off Illiad 2 months in a row now [putting Gilgamesh in its place during May]

“You thought you knew what a unicorn was,...But you were wrong“

So good. So, so, so good. My son loaned this one to me and by the end of the 3rd chapter I ordered myself a copy and bemoaned that the 2nd wasn't due out until the fall. Although it ends satisfactorily. At first it reminded me of Lord of the Rings or at least various parts of LoTR but the twists and turns. So good. Magic, the rise of evil, the fight to guard humanity. All there. An Epic tale.

Because this book shows up frequently on the 🏳️‍🌈 book lists I was expecting a romance when really it‘s a coming of age story. My son loaned me his copy. Enjoyable light read. YA. Took a couple of busy evenings to read. Pirates, magic, political intrigue with a smattering of romance. EDITING to add: MC is 16. I generally roll my eyes at teens in romances but it is what it is.

Woody Allen on steroids... at his most neurotic and stereotypical Jewish angst. I felt ptsd/trauma response was attributed to stereotypes* instead of mental health. The conflict felt flimsy as it was pointed out numerous times a relationship wasn't against rules. 3rd act breakup & resolution felt manufactured and predictable.

*“As a Jew, a pervasive low hum of anxiety is my birthright“

My last bookstack was: Gilgamesh, Island Beneath the Sea, We Should All be Feminists, If We Were Villains with Training School for Negro Girls as my quickie. Reminder Classic, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Guilty Pleasure or What I want to read, with a Quickie made up of poetry, essays or short stories for between books. My next book stack is: The Iliad {Mitchell trans}, The House of Spirits, Whipping Girl, In Deeper Waters w/ Night Sky with Exit Wounds

This book is a juggernaut hurtling to the end. Well written, and moving quickly through a series of events that, as our narrator states in prologue, seemed inevitable. I have the feeling that I would have understood subplots better if I really paid attention to Shakespeare but I didn't and the events themselves sped along. Criticism I have seen is anti queer and male gaze neither of which I saw as bothersome. See comments below

Full of micro & macro aggressions I find 5/11 stories thought provoking. My favorites were the ones where our protagonist's attitudes or actions caused me to think-as opposed to what happened to them. Stand Outs were: Who We Are, All the Things You'll Never Do, Mambo Sauce, & Now This. Final draft of College Essay was poignant.

@Andrew65 #20in4 finished up with this beauty. I actually read @2 hrs without my timer on as I was so eager to get back to it after dinner tonight I totally forgot! Reviews forthcoming.

Originally read it on 1.2.2017. I gave it 4 stars and wrote 'Nothing new in gender theory so a basic intro to feminist thinking told in anecdotes.' Early on she writes:

Each time I try to read those books called 'classic feminist texts', I get bored, and I struggle to finish them.

This booklet, based upon a TED talk, is a primer on gender theory w/o being boring or tedious. I believe that is what she set out to do. Read more in comments.

I‘ve read this before and gave it 4 stars. I might bump it down. Just over 15 hrs in my #20in4 challenge. Finished Training School and wondering how to rank it. Finished first act of Villains which was engaging at page 1.

Best of 2023 so far. I understand this isn't considered Allende's best book but it is the first I have read. A Historical Novel with the Haitian Revolution as a backdrop & spanning several decades. I found the historical bit interesting as it intersected with various other reads the most recent of which was Babel. Reading my fiction alpha by author so I have another of her books to follow this one: The House of Spirits. #20in4 progress

My mother's favorite author which is honestly the only reason I own this book.

About 25% the way through but loving it. I think it is interesting-coincidentally- that it is happening around the same time as Babel. For those who haven't read Babel it is an alternate timeline that tangentially discusses the Haitian Revolution, which falls in the timeline of our story.

So many good quotes in this book!

Music is the wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me.

..it doesn't mean anything for me to be free and everyone else slaves...her freedom was irreparably bound to that of other slaves

...:dirty linen was washed at home.