This one hurt. I thought I was reading a fantasy murder mystery western romance and it is, but it‘s really about the people we‘re closest to and how we try to make them into who we need them to be.

“The tendency has been to drastically overrate the proficiency of American born, adult, White men and undervalue the skills of other workers.”

This series is excellent. I‘d like a bird friend who went everywhere with me and remembered everything, although …maybe not if they were as talkative as Almost Brilliant.

“I‘m not good at lying.”
“How are you going to get better if you don‘t practice?”

“The thing about satanism is you can go for whatever you like …demon raising…personal knowledge …gastric upset.”
“What‘s your thing?”
“Nonjudgmental humanist community outreach!”

“Perhaps a large part of being grown-up was remembering to be amazed.”

This was an interesting global history. The ancient history interested me more then the modern stuff. I think a historical look at pain management would be worthwhile, since humans have dealt with pain throughout history. Also, it felt like the author kept letting Regan off the hook for the war on drugs, which seemed odd.

That was the best book I‘ve read in awhile, with the stay up late, wake up early, every spare moment type of reading.

This is so SO SO cute. There‘s no plot or anything. But that‘s not really the point.

I like all of CL Polk‘s work including this. I did have some trouble with the setting of this book though. The magicians and the angels and the demons were fine. But reading about the main character, a lesbian, deal with the homophobia of 1930s Chicago was upsetting, because of how inescapable it felt. I have trouble with history fiction sometimes.

I liked the way the author weaved around in different timelines and stories here: going from Dante, to Botticelli, to the 18th century and back the the Medics. It was wide ranging and ambitious. But I could use more background info for some of it…Darn it, I think I have to go find some books on the bonfire of the vanities now.

This was nice. It had representation and took a few moments to have characters talk about intersectionality in ways that felt real and are frequently overlooked. I guess my problem with it is the same I had with Heartstopper, I want someone, at some point, to have lasers, or robots, or superpowers.

This is a series? I should read the rest, cause this was a lot of fun. It felt like journey into the west or a king fu movie (if the normal people told the stories) or the Canterbury tales (if there were more martial artists).

Ever since I learned that Gambit has 3 cats, and realized I suddenly didn‘t loathe him anymore, I‘ve known superheroes are better with pets. It‘s not really complicated.

“Release the Kraken!”
“You‘re staying in time-out Benjamin.”

Mmm. I enjoyed some of the history, but any time she wrote about things I had first hand experience of, mostly when she wrote about American culture, I felt like everything she said was a reach. Which makes me mistrust everything else.

Very readable.

Lots of times when storytellers write about storytelling it makes me want to do violence, especially in fantasy settings. Like when Tyrion Lancaster told everyone that Bran should be king cause he had the best story? Moved me to violence. But the magic as metaphor for art that Stiefvater uses is beautifully made.

There is something very earnest about these books and sometimes I handle that better then others. But they are also infectious and warm.

Don‘t mind me, just building a geodesic dome for….reasons.

“An author‘s first duty is to let down his country” Brendan Behan

Meh. Not really my genre. But not as bad as I was afraid it was going to be when I worried that trauma was going to turn girls into monsters.

I like Muir‘s characters so much that I forget, between books, that the politics and rules of her universe and magic system slide right out of my smooth brain. The important thing about this novel is Nona got to pet the dog. Kevin swore the best oath. And Harrowhark was grumpy at many, many people.

A small child asked Randall Monroe, XYCD comic creator, what would happen if the solar system filled with soup….it turns out that much soup is too dense. A black hole would form and rip the solar system and then the Milky Way apart. This is the type of earnest, ridiculous scientific debate I live for.

Electocuitoneer and Brutale find out their boss owns a private prison, they both spent time in and, and share their feelings with him in regards to his managerial techniques. Respect henchmen, respect.

This little crossover, that I just got around to reading cause someone mentioned Sandman was in it, made me cry. And Ian and his father dealing with illness through a fantastical journey to the moon, then to have the story dedicated to Ray Bradbury, poet-king? My poor heart can only take so much.

“Sharp‘s men would have expected him to deliver a speech. No record exists of what he said…Given his laconic tendencies, it‘s likely his exhortation bore a closer resemblance to Blackbeard‘s famous rally cry, “Let‘s jump on board, and cut them to pieces.”

If this doesn‘t make it into season 2 of Our Flag Means Death I will be sad.

“”What‘s a post code? Is it like a zip code?” I asked confused….as I would later learn, in England, somehow people make sure to know the post code of where they are going. Meanwhile in America, many people don‘t even know their own zip code” ….Mr DePree, I would suggest resisting the urge to speak for all Americans. Most of us don‘t have ancestral homes (but know our zip codes).

This was such an esoteric topic that I feel like I learned more about the author based on what he chose to study then I did about the history of flood stories. Irving Finkel is an interesting character, if he showed up in a work of fiction I‘d tell the author that it was a bit much.

“I loved the idea of “multiculturalism,” because it made sense to me. I‘d always struggled to feel as if I belonged, and so I thought that everyone should be made to feel welcome-because by that logic, then I would be welcome too. Who said selfishness can‘t lead to human rights advocacy?”

This is delightful (depending on how much you can stand to read about pre-anesthetic dental surgery). It seemed well and carefully researched and treated patients and donors with respect.

Super hero comics have a…..spotty record writing about disability. Sometimes the disability is a superpower or a metaphor for a superpower. Which YMMV, but I hate the “x disability is my superpower”. At best, it seems like it should be “my ability to survive x is my superpower”. Anyway! A diabetic superhero!!! Very excited. Fighting crime causes lows. Explaining to other superheroes feels weird. It‘s very relatable. Niche. But relatable.

For a book about a dimension jumping fairy tale girl, this is surprising grounded. A sequel to A Spindle Splintered, this tells the story of someone who was dealing with so much medical trauma that she never really learned to be an adult, cause she never thought she would be one. It was a fun read. There were some great lines, and I‘m kicking myself that I didn‘t note where in the book they were.

“I know how I‘d start” said the dust-wife finally. “Some things, I expect, you don‘t know till you‘re doing them. But it‘s been done before”

“When she closed the door to her room, it stayed shut. In the royal palace, the doors were always opening, servants coming and going, nurses coming and going, ladies-in-waiting coming and going. Princesses were public property. She had not realized that a nun had more power than a princess, that she could close a door.”

The urban parts of this urban fantasy felt really well researched, and even without the fantasy element the various cons, B&Es, and double crosses hit me in my Leverage loving heart. I respect a character with a large collection of wigs.

For some reason I thought this was a short story collection. It took me way too long to understand that it was a novel in the same universe as another of McGuire‘s books. So I was kind like that guy who wanders in halfway through an MCU movie. “….wait do I know you, am I supposed to know you? Do you have your own movie? I don‘t get this joke?!??” Its a humbling experience.

It might be that I like Stiefvater so much, or that I don‘t usually read these YA Disney property books. But I really enjoyed this. It was much better than I thought it would be, better than it had any right being.

“With no good ideas, she was going to go for the bad one. They better carve that on her tomb, the Charlie Hall credo.”

I just really like Tom Taylor‘s take on Nightwing and family. I mean look at what a protective, emotional intelligent, badass Alfred is!

I looked and looked at my salad trying to guess what it was. When it could not be avoided anymore, I took a bite and it WAS tuna fish, marshmallows, walnuts pimento (just for the pretty color our hostess told us latter when she gave us the recipe), and chunks of pure white lettuce and boiled dressing…the other ladies shrieked “delicious” and “heavenly” and “so different” (that I could go along with).

This was an interesting memoir. I was honestly surprised by how long ago it was written, because the author had a very modern, light, voice. But there were stunning moments of racism and domestic violence that were mentioned so casually that it was a little terrifying. So I couldn‘t begrudge anyone skipping this.

Sometimes you read a book and you realize, “they didn‘t have as much to say as they thought, so they padded everything”. Sometimes a writer is hyper focused on one thing and will try to make everything about it. I don‘t know which this is. I couldn‘t get through all the mushroom talk to get to the mysteries.

Wait, this came out! I don‘t like to admit to liking anything too much, so keep that in mind when I say the Finder series by Carla Speed McNeil is one of the best things ever. I love her world building, her art. I love the costumes, the emotional depth of even passing characters and places. I love poor awkwardly trying, wildly glamorous Rachel.

I don‘t think I care for this. The magic seems to correlate with having lots of money, which is dull. Almost no one has any intellectual curiosity. 2 different adults noticed another adult‘s pimple, which is oddly Jr high. What adult has ever cared that another has a pimple? We‘ve all had them? Who is this for? Magicians, Ninth House, and Deadly Education were all more likable. Maybe it gets better, IDK.

Me, reading: “While the mosaics in the Bellerophon Hall linked to the pagan worship of the Anonymous God were covered over by mortar”…wait, what?! What is the Anonymous God? TELL ME MORE! Raja: continues on unconcerned, like everyone knows all about the Anonymous God.
Me: I haven‘t been so frustrated by a cool name since the Greco-Roman Mystery Cults

Bad guys: You can‘t run.
Nightwing: I really can. Half this job is cardio.

… I don‘t know. That decorating hack where people put their books on the shelf with the pages facing out fills me with a blind rage. At the same time I wanted to tell the protagonist “let other people read the way they want to read, they aren‘t bothering you.” So the amount of hypocrisy this stirred up in me was substantial.

This was such an interesting and immersive story. The magic system, the characters, and the sense of loss that accompanies growing up, war, and age all felt familiar and strange.

This is good. I liked it. A young relative of mine absconded with it before I could get pictures. Then he called me asking for the sequel. And I was like “….oh buddy, I‘m sorry.” But he lives in hope.