It is what it is. If anyone asks what I‘m reading, I respond with old, 80s, chauvinistic romances because really, it‘s not much else. They hate each other, they fight, they fall in love. The man is manly and exerts his dominance. The woman is strong (of course) but simpering and in need of a strong man‘s loving.

They don‘t go much further than that... but that‘s why I love them. 🤣

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I‘m trying to find and read all of Sandra Brown‘s old romances. I have 14 left to find, and this is my last to read of the ones I own.

I feel like this cover has a little bit of a True Crime feel though... that might be why I saved it for last! 🤣

What better way to spend a lockdown than to read about all the serial killers your current city had?? #currentlyreading

I have to give Hendrix credit: he can certainly write a weird, cliche-filled story that I can never put down. This is an amazing mash-up of horror, humour and the 80s.

Hendrix has the talent of making the reader completely horrified, but snorting with laughter at the same time. It makes one feel sort of deranged, which I‘m sure he‘d enjoy.

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My friend listens to audiobooks at a 2.5x speed... I tried upping mine to 1.5x and at that moment, epic violence broke out and my brain overloaded! I‘ve currently got it at 1.3x. What speed does everyone else listen to audiobooks?? #currentlylistening

In order to make relationships and human connection, we need to be able to understand the emotions we face, and communicate those emotions. As Brown shows, we really don‘t know and understand a good number of the emotions we feel. I can say that I learned a good number of emotions that I simply label as ‘angry‘. It was eye opening.

This was quite the book to the heart.

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Inspired by the murders, disappearances, and fear of the LGBTQ in Toronto (and elsewhere), this is a horror novel. It becomes a memoir when the author adds his own experiences after each chapter. And then the author breaks the fourth wall by interacting with the characters. Something rare. It is an experience.

Once the last lines were read, I had stopped what I was doing, and was simply experiencing. That doesn‘t happen often.

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I‘ve realized that I have an Audible backlog, so trying to tackle that in 2022! #currentlylistening

Tackling the next of the Christmas gifts! I feel like this will be a good choice for right now.

Locking in this number! A good year of reading! I finished my ever-growing pile of graphic novels (a whopping 105) and am pleasantly surprised that that WASN‘T the majority of my book count! Let‘s see what I can do for 2022!!

Happy New Year all! 🙌🙌

Probably the last book of 2021! While I did enjoy it, it felt a little too long for the story. Things felt flat and repetitive at times. It was a cute scenario, with cute characters, but it didn‘t go further than that: just cute.

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It was a book filled Christmas! A few on my wish list and a few lovely surprises! With Misha Collins‘ finished, I‘m now enjoying Out of Character! #lgbtq #currentlyreading

This angel of a man, who happened to play an angel for 12 years on my fave show, graces us with angelic words. Too much? Maybe. I don‘t care 🤣. I really enjoyed this set of poems. Poetry is not usually my go-to, but I‘m trying to break into it slowly. That being said Collins writes really touching poems throughout his life: struggles, successes, the joys of little things and finding hope in darkness.

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It loses a star for some story holes, but overall this is one crazy ride. I mean, come on Wayne?? You didn‘t see Azrael losing his mind as he took over the Bat Mantel?? No one saw this coming?? Despite that, I enjoyed it. It is focused on Jean Paul and his mental struggles. It is violent and insane. The villains are just as looney.

So overall, crazy, but enjoyable!

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Knowing the tale, this is the first book I‘ve read in my collection. Orlo does a great job, somewhat biased, of recounting historical events that have become almost legend. True crime is hard and crushing to read, but the Donnelly tragedy of nearly an entire town turning on, and slaughtering, half of one family... is a dark day in Canadian history (to put it lightly). Orlo was very against Kelley (some of whom I have) so he‘s up next!

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My copy doesn‘t have a dust jacket so it‘s just a plain red cover. Found it in a thrift shop on the side of the road heading into Lucan, and my heart stopped when I saw it was signed and a first edition. This was the beginning of my local history obsession!

So epic it hurt my wrist holding it! 🤣 Loved this Batman series so far! It‘s exciting to see the beginning of the Bane storyline, and see the epic and bloody fights between him and Batman. A good, thorough storyline and classic in it‘s canon.

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I think V is the Warden‘s fave character, because a good portion of this book is about him having another crisis. I didn‘t mind because that meant I got some Butch-time, but it took a good chunk of the story, which meant the rest felt rushed.

I didn‘t really connect. Things happened out of nowhere (and I mean sharp event changes with zero connection or explanation). And while I love the main prisoners, Lucan didn‘t shine in this book.

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My goal of reading all my graphic novels is nearly complete! I‘m ending with these epic tomes! #currentlyreading

Let‘s do this Warden!! ❤️#currentlyreading

I will forever love Thorne. Taking a simple idea (terrible first meeting) and turning it into a quirky, laugh/snort-out-loud, sweet romance is what I‘m expecting and getting with Thorne. The cast of characters in this novel is amazing: meddling old rich ladies; a mess of a hot man; safe, reliable Ruthie... and many endangered turtles.

It was the light read I needed, and I didn‘t look up from the pages until it was done.

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August meets Jane on the subway; only on the subway; any subway; in fact, no matter the time, or place, if August steps on the subway... Jane is there. That‘s weird. 🤣😉

Another cute, funny and heartwarming tale by McQuiston with a great cast of characters. This is sweet romance about finding oneself and choosing the family you need and want. #lgbtq

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I‘m pretty picky about my vampires, but I enjoyed Martin‘s take. He did play with a lot of the lore, but what he kept, he developed into a pretty interesting concept. The characters, of course, were all so well rounded and interesting. Martin‘s skill at world building and character development is on point in this novel.

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Success! All my Halloween reads done! Although a little overdue 🤣🎃

My friend is an editor and when she learned that I have a bit of an obsession about our local history in the Donnelly‘s, SHE GOT ME COPIES OF HER LATEST BOOKS!! 😍

Can I just say, I LOVE how these covers line up when side by side! ❤️

I‘ve been focusing on Vampires this October. Probably won‘t finish this before November, but eager to see what Martin does with the lore!

Lesson learned: don‘t think Harley Quinn is gonna be a small issue run. On 22 of 75 (technically the tagged volume), but really enjoying it! Honestly, the greatest character is Red Tool 🤣. I can‘t get over him. He needs his own run (does anyone know if he does??).

Can I just say? CRUSHED IT! 🤣 This book is EPIC! In size, scale and idea. Honestly, once I realized what he meant by mind vampires, I felt like it was such a simple idea! But Simmons, stating that they are real (and yes, in simplest form, I agree) has developed and grown this idea into something TERRIFYING. It‘s the ultimate discussion on abuse of absolute power, and it‘ll make you scream.

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Ito is scary in a simplified, let‘s take normal daily things and twist them beyond recognition, way. He‘s the Lovecraft of manga and maybe that‘s why he‘s terrifying; because I don‘t realize it until I try to go to sleep. His art is disturbing at times, but it‘s also strangely beautiful. This tale of a town obsessed with spirals, is so simple, and yet so beyond creepy, I wasn‘t expecting it. And my convo with a friend says it all.

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I‘m probably going to cry because Ito scares the bejezus out of me, but here we go!

And with the tagged book, my Goodreads reading challenge is done and dusted. A good 50/50 split this year so far: 90 graphic novels read (and still 17 left in my TBR pile, and 90 novels).

Let‘s see how high this number can go!! 🙌❤️

For a first novel, you can see Simmons‘ skill in weaving the terrifying into reality. Simply put, this book is about finding a poet long thought dead. It turns into a tale of fighting the darkness with light, refusing the unknown for the known, and battling evil by walking away.

It was gory, and disturbing, but it didn‘t keep me up at night.

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I‘m almost done Song of Kali, so let‘s jump into this tome of Simmons‘. 😳#currentlyreading

It‘s a tiny Simmons; I don‘t know what it‘s about; I‘ve heard it‘s terrifying/disgusting... let‘s see how this goes. 😳

This makes me so sad because I LOVE Newman! This book was a disaster! Choppy, disjointed, and most of the fun characters, from the first 3 novels, were no longer there. A new villain was introduced, and while he was cool, it took WAY too long to get to him. 😭 Most of my Halloween books have been flops.

Not even ⭐️ but I will continue with the series.

At times I felt like I was missing the point. Beowulf is my favourite poem, and the story from Grendel‘s POV, I was expecting violence and debauchery. Instead, it was philosophical.

A lonely, isolated and confused creature, Gardner gave him humanity (sometimes more than the fabled Danes). His inability to understand his hatred and draw to humans, presented an interesting dichotomy.

The stream of thought narrative, though, was daunting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Has anyone else started or planned their #Halloween reads? Starting the tagged book today! I might be slightly over ambitious with Carrion Comfort though! 🎃👻

Beowulf is my favourite poem so when a friend mentioned this book, I immediately bought it. I‘m not sure how it flew under my radar! #currentlyreading

I like old Batman. I love my characters jaded, damaged but driven, and that is Batman. This was a good Miller; I‘d say on par with Year One and Dark Knight Rises. Although at times, the story seemed disjointed and random (unsure what the ‘gangster‘ texts were for) it was still a solid story.

I loved, for once, that different artists were used throughout. I love Miller‘s harsh style but it can be a bit much for an entire book.

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I loved Dark Knight Returns; I skipped Strikes Again (because obvs); and now I‘m trying Master Race! Come on Miller, end on a good note!! #currentlyreading

This is probably the most inclusive and diverse LGBTQ+ book that I have read in years! It‘s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for that alone, but it was also just a cute, fun read. It‘s handling about mental health and self-care was also overwhelmingly mature.

Having just come out as asexual, I truly appreciated the author‘s inclusivity and maturity, while still having fun!

It‘s a good vacation when you‘ve read the 3 graphic novels, and 2 out of the 3 books you brought! Picking up the last one!! #currentlyreading

I had no clue where this was heading; it could‘ve stayed a thriller or it could‘ve gone full horror. Instead, it sort of did a fine balance in between.

When Whitney, a budding journalist stumbles upon a major story after 9/11, she has to try to suppress what she calls, The Creep (a natural tendency to elaborate). But the medical miracle could be more than she could possibly imagine. A good read, because it‘s not too far of a stretch.

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This book is SMART! So intricate and engrossing, it also reads like a movie (makes sense based on who the author is) and keeps the reader guessing and on the edge of their seat while reading. This is the kind of thriller that needs to be written more - not just horrible people in bad situations, but a race to catch a killer that always seems to be three steps ahead.

If you see a chestnut man, it‘s too late.

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Been enjoying this so much on audio, that when I found a copy thrifting, I had to pick it up! Finishing it using the tangible version! #currentlyreading

Another book in which I was drawn in by the cover! Has anyone read it? #currentlyreading

I was drawn in by the cover and then mesmerized with the story. Any book that makes me look up information while reading is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read to me. It was engrossing, heartbreaking, and enchanting. Angrboda tries to ‘disappear‘ from the Norse gods that hate her and use her. But when her heart is returned to her, she finds she cannot escape fate, no matter how tragic it may be.

Taking a break from thrillers! Let‘s get some Norse romance! #currentlyreading

Every book that Brown writes gets exceedingly better and better! As she writes, 2020 was not a year she wanted to write about, and the 1920s sounded a lot more fun. Boy, do I agree! This book had such a great setting and character development! Brown did a fantastic job of weaving the thrill and excitement into the dangers of the prohibition era. A fantastic read! @CoverToCoverGirl

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Honestly, those first two chapters? 😳 Thats how you get thrown into a story! #currentlylistening

Let‘s get this party started! @CoverToCoverGirl , I‘m 50 pages in and I already love Thatcher!!