I love this series. It's unhinged crack

YA romantasy need to stop having such pretty covers. I get drawn in and then it's tropetastic nonsense.

This was a fun premise that was badly executed. The pacing was off, the writing wasn't great, and it was utterly predictable.

This was my least favourite installment of this series. It was a bit too technical and had lost the charm of earlier books

Still a great read

I cannot believe it is nearly May! This year is flying by. Disgusting 😅

How is everyone doing with #GottaCatchemAll

I think this is the highest number of books logged and Pokémon caught so far

Easy, cosy Christmas murder set in New Zealand

There was something about the writing style that I didn't like. It wasn't badly written, just didn't connect to it but it was quick and easy

How are we all feeling? #RealmofElderlings

How did you find the second book? Did it live up to expectations?

What did you enjoy, or not enjoy about it?

May-June will be the last in the Farseer Trilogy: Assassin's Quest

This is the first discussion post for #QueerBC

This is for both Alan Hollinghurst and Ocean Vuong

I've put up a few questions that you can answer or you can just comment with your thoughts about the book you read

As a reminder May‘s author will be Neon Yang

Well that was a weird little book. It was a bit too shallow for me, nothing was developed and I didn't care about the characters.

I don't think I enjoyed it enough to carry on with the series.

This book is all tell and no show. We're told about the interesting and amazing histories of the two main characters, yet the characters, a fallen god and a man-killing fox, sound and act like teenagers.

The world was interesting, if underdeveloped, and I liked the mix of Korean mythology and urban fantasy tropes.

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There were 6 books for May‘s #Roll100 I went with the ones I was most likely to read

Rivers of London has been recced multiple times and I own it, I just never go for it

The Murder Next door has been on my #Scarathlon & #HauntedShelf lists and I never get around to it

Divergent Mind i bought a year ago when things were clicking that I might not be neurotypical. Heh. Got my recent diagnosis of ADHD and possible ASD (waiting on that assessment)

This year is flying by! May is nearly here and it got a bit weird with the #Roll100 rolls

Roll 1 = 4 or 40

Roll 2 = 3 or 30

Roll 3 = 7 or 70

You can pick any of the numbers or all of the numbers! Happy reading!

GDrive with everything in it is here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KiRjVpUKlBbbxCPYw42YsKQsDBZxRkqt/view?usp=shari...

I'm trying to clear down my Kindle freebies. I think I got this because the cover is hilarious

This is a fantasy rom-com that doesn't make sense but might be good 'stuck on a train' pick

General consensus was to have one author in May and the other in June.

So May‘s #QueerBC author will be Neon Yang!

What do you think you'll read? If you've got any recommendations, drop them in the comments

Don't forget April we're reading Alan Hollinghurst and poetry by Ocean Vuong

There's a tie between Neon Yang and Zen Cho for May's #QueerBC author

This is the first time this has happened, so we can have a tie breaker or have both authors

Let me know what you would prefer

Here are my selections for #CampLitsy25

@Megabooks @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB

Giving this a try tonight. Has anyone watched it?

February's part of my #readingsnake Lighting isn't great, it's a mix of non fiction, fantasy and contemporary romance

Will I actually read my #LibraryHaul or will I ignore it in favour of fanfiction ....

I stuck with this because the audiobook narrator was really good. If I was reading this, I would have given up.

The first few chapters were rough. It was clumsy and awkward. Lots of concepts which weren't fully explained. World building in general was poor.

In general the plot was predictable but that wasn't the point. This is a bodyguard slow burn romance in fantasy clothing. I wanted a political fantasy with a romance subplot.

This is a very accessible book for people learning about ADHD and autism. It's casual, there's a lot of Internet speak, anecdotes, and it's very supportive.

It's a validating read if you are struggling with a diagnosis or starting to see you might be neurodivergent.

That's the extent of it. There's nothing new, or actionable. It was affirming.

This was a bit too kitsch and cosy for me. It was well written and short! Only 70 pages.

I wonder if this was supposed to be a series vibing off Leverage (TV). There's a lot of unnecessary characters introduced.

It's not awful, it's just a bit boring.

This has been on my #ReadYourKindle list for ages @CBee

Thank you to everyone that gave their feedback on #QueerBC It's been really useful reading it all

I'm going to include more information about the authors and more reminders of the monthly authors. It's easy to lose track when everything is a month in advance.

There were several requests for an end of month discussion or check in post. How you enjoyed the author etc.

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Very behind on my #ReadingBracket2025

As much as I love Assassin's Apprentice, I went with SVSSS as my favourite because of how much joy it brought me

No wild cards yet. I think I'm going to leave them until Jun/Dec and pick a book that has stuck with me, made an impact etc but maybe wasn't my favourite that month

I wasn't very consistent this month, I either read nothing or loads.

It wasn't a great month physically, emotionally or mentally. I think I read a bit more to cope with that and since I have now time when I was ill

#MonthlyWrapUp #PuddleJumperWrapUp

One outstanding book this month and several meh books

I hit my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin and at least one #Roll100 pick

I owned everything except Running Close to the Wind which was a library book and I donated the Heroes of Olympus books

I did buy the Trials of Apollo series but that will likely also be donated when I read it. My library doesn‘t have the entire series

#2025stats

I'm sticking with categories and a few named books for #BookSpinBingo This seems to work best for me at the moment

@TheAromaofBooks

This was an absolute delight of a book with unbridled feral energy. My new comfort read.

I cannot recommend the audiobook enough. The voices are amazing and the narrator gives Avra the right amount of manic, racoon energy that brings him to life.

Voting for #QueerBC May's author!

Vote here: https://forms.gle/jU6pQiU5659bLsqr9

April's author is Alan Hollinghurst whose written several novels, poetry collections, and short stories which gives you a lot to pick from

If you are on Storygraph and want to join the book club, you can do that here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/book_clubs/ec1d5a86-5de9-4315-a128-fcab4d27c31d

Suggest authors here: https://forms.gle/nLwAy72Zufi4brty6

April is National Poetry Month and #QueerBC has voted to read the works of Ocean Vuong!

A Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist, his poems often explore transformation, desire, and violent loss

We also voted on several individual poems. The two favourite poems;

April's book for #RiordanverseReadalong is House of Hades!

It is the penultimate book of the Heroes of Olympus series

@mom2bugnbee @LitsyEvents

#RealmofElderlings book is Royal Assassin. Aim is to have this I've read by the end of April and then move on to the last book in the Farseer Trilogy

How is everyone finding it? I haven't started my re-read yet 🤣

It's nearly April! How are we all getting on with #GottaCatchemAll

Congratulations to @PuddleJumper and @Yuki_Onna for catching their first Pokémon!

Stuffed full of cold and unable to breath so decided to try an audiobook. I'm hoping the unbridled feral goblin energy this book is giving isn't my fever because it's delightful

My #Roll100 for April and can't say I'm interested in any of them 😂

Death as Fine Art is an ARC I picked up without knowing it was a series

Blood of Elves ... I want to, just not at the moment

Serpent & Dove is too big!

Spring is desperately trying to emerge here so I went with some yellow, green dice for April‘s #Roll100

Roll 1 = 24
Roll 2 = 36
Roll 3 = 16

Tag me if you want to share what you are reading!

Template and trackers are available in the GDrive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nSSxkd6v2jAZmu_J-KXOPmNijsyt22vFUa74xU43...

Time to pick the poet and poems for April‘s National Poetry Month #QueerBC

Pick the poet you want to read in April and 2 of your favourite poems from the list
Voting will end Sunday 30th March

Vote here: https://forms.gle/9fEvsgB4o7zVqNQY6

I've been avoiding things for days because everything is getting a bit too much so it's time for some #BodyDoubleReadathon

I find knowing other people are also doing things at the same time as me, or imagining people in the room with me reading or whatever really helps me stay on task

It'll run noon-noon and you can make it what you want. I have been toying with making a Discord group so there's some socialisation. I'm not fussed either way

Oo nearly forgot about this! Thanks for everyone participating on Litsy, you reminded me.

It runs from March 21-31. Instagram has some amazing recommendations.

Tagging the #QueerBC group in case you want to join as well

I read the majority of this book in the bath with a Poseidon candle that smelt of sea, salt, and shipwrecks. It felt fitting.

This was a filler book. Not terrible, not great, moved the plot along and positioned the characters.

#RiordanverseReadalong

Illumicrate are releasing a special edition of the Farseer Trilogy

Pre-sales are available to subscribers from May 13. Then non subscribers can purchase from May 15.

£90 for the set

They are beautiful! #RealmofElderlings

I've caught up! I'm about half way through this and enjoying it so far. I like some characters way more than others. Jason is still boring. Riordan is still weird about Aphrodite and femininity.

#RiordanverseReadalong

April we'll be reading The House of Hades. Hopefully more Nico 🤣

@mom2bugnbee

#QueerBC April‘s author is Alan Hollinghurst! This is an author I‘m aware of but never read anything by them. I think I have The Line of Beauty haunting my shelves somewhere

Have you read this author before? Drop any recommendations in the comments

Don‘t forget March‘s author is Bushra Rehman. There is still loads of March left! How are we all getting on?

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I don't buy new new books anymore. I'll always opt for second hand or from the library which is what I intended to do with the Trails of Apollo books but I found the book set cheaper new than second hand.

Won't get to these until next year with #RiordanverseReadalong I'm excited though

A really intriguing premise that wasn't executed well

January #ReadingSnake I tried this last year and gave up. This year I've made the stripes smaller and separated them with a band

Each band is a book. I'm using different colours for different genres. Once it's all done I'll stuff it and sew it up

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii It was my birthday on Monday so it's been a good week!

1. Two Point Museum, amazing game
2. Millie's cookie cake, best thing in the world. I ignore my intolerances to get one for my birthday
3. Watching video essays by Bob Wess on bisexual Dean Winchester from Supernatural. Really interesting putting the show in a real world context regarding sexual visibility
4 & 5. My beautiful, idiotic cats Ovid and FitzChivalry

I enjoyed this a lot more than the first one. I found the trio much more compelling and the storyline interesting.

There are still some issues. It got repetitive, Riordan has some weird issues around femininity, and there were some racist and fatphobic comments.

#RiordanverseReadalong

This is a really fun story. London based urban fantasy following two cupids as their love matches turn deadly.

I enjoyed how different the world and afterlife was, the characters were all engaging, the romance was an organic slow burn, and it was the right level of humour for me.

I have the final version and it still reads like a first draft. I wonder what the other version was like because this one still has pacing issues, typos, weird dialogue, and it's awkward to read.

It's very safe. Fake dating the bi hockey player because your shitty friends are trying to force you to date someone. But twist! You both have crushes on each other.