I went straight from breakfast to the Children‘s Hospital Book Market, where I knocked four things off my wishlist! Alas, nobody donated anything by Charles Stross or Kay Kenyon (my two big book hunt targets at the mo), but I was glad to give the sick kids some money and fill out my personal Skip Beat! library at the same time.

A Chinese feast yesterday means Hunan-style lotus root for breakfast today! They used a lot of doubangjiang this time for extra deliciousness.

I‘ve seen a lot of people say they loved the first story in this collection but weren‘t nearly as keen on the rest. Me, I‘m loving it all as of 55%. Kim Fu has a lot to say about monstrousness, from a great variety of angles. I like her short fiction much more than her novels.

This week‘s library haul consists of the final volume of FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST and some exciting stuff for Gay May. I‘m amazed the librarians processed A SWEET STING OF SALT so quickly. They normally drag their feet on anything genre, but I guess they‘ve decided this one‘s literary enough to merit better treatment.

Then again, THE BAKER AND THE BARD has been out less than two months, too. Maybe they‘ve checked their genre processing bias. #gaymay

They don‘t advertise it on the box, but Funko‘s enormous enamel Storm pin glows in the dark! I‘ve been enjoying her eerie light since last summer, but she never got bright enough for my phone‘s camera to pick up until a few days ago, when I had the overhead lamp on for a bit longer than usual. Now I get to share this joy with the world.

Yesterday‘s outdoor reading session, with Casey assisting. I tore through the first half of DREAMS MADE FLESH and still loved Lucivar and Marian‘s story very much, with all the usual caveats. The big one: I forgot Karla‘s canonically queer, and I‘m disgusted that Bishop‘s worldbuilding still forces her to bed a man to preserve her jewelled power. Gender essentialist magic is crap. Let her ditch her virginity with a nice lady instead.

I‘ve gone from basically never buying books to snatching up scads of them. 🤷‍♀️ Last night I bought two from Kobo‘s April VIP sale and fell prey to a duology they suggested in the little upsell bar when you go to check out. Gay May‘s coming up fast and I really want more queer fantasy in my stack. #gaymay

It‘s mystery time with Casey! I agree with those who‘ve said this second Bangalore Detectives Club outing doesn‘t have quite the same energy as the first, but I‘m still enjoying my time with Kaveri. She‘s a great sleuth to hang out with.

I‘m now a two-ereader person. My old Kobo was tablet-style, so I could load books from multiple retailers via apps. Ever since it died and I switched to a Clara 2E, I‘ve had to read old Kindle purchases and ARCs on my iPad. (You CAN load ARCs onto Kobos, but the DRM makes it a frustrating process.) I considered thrifting a $15 Kindle this weekend, but when I told my mum about it she offered me her old Paperwhite instead! It‘ll make life easier.

I went back and bought a Three Kingdoms opera doll yesterday, even though I only know the story through references in other things. It was too cool to pass up, and they only had two left (compared to seven on Monday) so I got there just in time!

I also found replacement copies of the first four Vlad Taltos novels, which I gave to a friend and then told her to pass along. Alas, this copy of JHEREG contains zero pressed leaves. Dammit, Past Me.

This week‘s library haul, plus the changing-face opera doll I did indeed go back to buy on Monday. They‘d already sold one, so I‘m glad I stopped in! The current face is Bao-yu; the others are Dai-yu, Bao-chai, Wang Xi-feng, Shi Xiang-yun, and Grandma Liu (with thanks to my phone‘s built-in translation function, since the box is in Mandarin). I‘m kind of obsessed with it, and I was delighted to learn opera dolls are a whole genre of collectible!

I lost some momentum with my 700-page fantasy, so I decided to take a break at 50% and dive into Lily Chu‘s forthcoming book. The story‘s great so far, with tons of complicated family dynamics, toxic positivity, workplace diversity issues, and online treasure hunts. I‘m loving it on that level—but y‘all, Chu is a present tense writer and I don‘t remember her being this dependant on (or this clunky with) the past perfect in her earlier books. Blah.

I made it through a goodly chunk of TELL ME HOW TO BE while I built this tiny crystal windmill. I can‘t say I dislike the book, but it feels very EXPECTED, with a fair few stereotypes in play and without enough of a spark to compensate for any of it. I‘m surprised, given how many Littens adored it. Sparkiness is subjective, though, and at least I can be glad it was there for them, even if it‘s not there for me. #audiopuzzling

Somebody donated a bunch of changing-face opera figures to the thrift store and I maybe got way too excited when I realized some of them were from A DREAM OF THE RED MANSION (also called THE RED CHAMBER, or THE STORY OF THE STONE in English), which is my project book for this year! I didn‘t buy one but now I kinda wish I had. Maybe there‘ll be some left next time.

More outdoor reading with my favourite little dude. I wouldn‘t normally start something this long during the Readathon, but I‘m in a fantasy mood and I can put at least a small dent in it before I fall asleep. #deweysapril2024

Just hangin around outside with FMA while we wait for the rice to cook. Casey gets a small portion with every meal (he eats four times a day thanks to a pancreatitis bout a couple years back) and I plan to steal some from his pot to go with my leftover beans & lotus root. #deweysapril2024

That‘s another volume of SKIP BEAT! in the bag! This one didn‘t flow quite as well as the last couple, so I regular-loved it instead of being all OMGOMGOMGZZZZOMG, but I still laughed and gasped and had a great time watching the Japanese Route actors practice performing together in English. I can‘t wait until they land in the US and more superdramatic plot stuff comes to fruition. #deweysapril2024

I finished the tagged book during my daily Candy Crush time, and I loved it. It‘s fun, funny, emotional, and perfectly in tune with that state of being where you‘re desperately trying to figure out what it seems like everyone else in your situation has already mastered. #deweysapril2024 #audiogaming

We‘re into Hour 4! I finished THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES, read another essay from LIGHT IN GAZA, and had a shower. Now I plan to read a few X-Men issues before I dive into some manga. My Marvel Unlimited library currently sits at 232 issues and I‘d like to get it down to 220 by the end of the Readathon. #deweysapril2024

Dewey‘s 24-Hour Readathon is about to begin! It‘s my 32nd consecutive ‘thon (which: whoa) and I‘m all set to kick it off with another chapter from THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES. It‘s lovely so far; a little bit like MIDNIGHT DINER in how it uses particular dishes to unravel the mysteries behind people‘s lives, but without the show‘s underlying grit. #deweysapril2024

I finally had enough time with my own spice cabinet to make another recipe from ON THE HIMALAYAN TRAIL happen! Haembe te nadir (or beans with lotus root) was just as good as I hoped it‘d be. My lotus root didn‘t take on as much of the ver masala‘s colour as the stuff in the example photo did, but it sure sucked up the flavour. My tastebuds were happy.

First library haul since I got my bike out of storage! I picked up all my holds, which‘ll also be my stack for this weekend‘s Readathon, and fell victim to a display of books that had never been checked out. I chose the tagged one and a poetry collection in translation.

The book in shadow is LIGHT IN GAZA, an anthology of Palestinian essays.

I hadn‘t heard of BAD SUMMER PEOPLE until it turned up in my library‘s Express section, but I love a book about rich people behaving badly so I jumped on it. I got through the first 50% while I did various hands-on-brain-off stuff earlier, and I feel good about all my choices. It‘s like east coast Jackie Collins on vacation.

One of the things I did while I listened was block this baby shawl. I‘m happy with that result, too. #audiocrafting

Throwback to yesterday, when I didn‘t want to put QUEEN OF THE DARKNESS down long enough to take a proper picture with Casey, let alone post about it. This series is far from flawless, but I love the characters and the vibe so much that I can work past the bits that stick in my teeth (like all the gender essentialism and the alpha male bullshit). This reread has especially confirmed Surreal as my Black Jewels MVP.

Last night‘s supper involved xiao long bao with lots of chili oil, broccoli, and the final volume of HEAVEN OFFICIAL‘S BLESSING. Alas, I‘ve had a lot of trouble sinking back into the story. These Chinese fantasies divided into multiple English volumes could really use Previously On… summaries. Hopefully I‘ll manage to click with it as I move into the final confrontation.

The Vlad Taltos Musical Episode (aka LYORN) is the perfect blend of fun songs, theatrical shenanigans, heavy plot stuff that builds on everything that happened to Vlad in the previous books, criminal endeavours, and commentary on what it means to stand up to tyranny.

I LOVED IT SO DAMNED MUCH.

I want everyone who likes fantasy to read it, but it‘s the penultimate book in the series so I want y‘all to read some of the others first. Okay? Okay.

Still plugging along through THREADNEEDLE. A lot of reviews compare it to THE CRAFT, which I haven‘t seen, but it reminds me of a contemporary take on A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Libba Bray—except I like this one better.

BUT—ain‘t there always a but?—it really does feel like a 600-pager that should‘ve been a 400-pager. It‘s lost some of its momentum as Anna whirls around through magic without really approaching her climactic choice.

A new volume of SKIP BEAT! dropped on Tuesday after a gruelling year-long wait, so I‘m doing my traditional partial reread to prepare. This morning I hit the first of the volumes I own through Kobo rather than comiXology and I figured I‘d see how it read on my actual Kobo instead of the iPad app. Turns out, e-ink is great for manga! I‘ll still read all my western comics on the iPad, but I‘m glad I‘ve got a more portable option for Japanese stuff.

First outdoor book & beer session of 2024! I‘m still enjoying THREADNEEDLE, but it‘s started to feel its length. (Litsy says it‘s 400 pages, but Kobo says 591 and that seems more like it.) Hopefully it stays good all the way through.

Also, I‘d definitely call it more mature YA than full on adult fantasy.

The beer was delish; dark and rich in that way that evokes non-sweet molasses, if you know what I mean. Perfect for witchy teenagers, too.

Throwback to yesterday afternoon, when it hit 9° and I got to hang out on the deck with two decidedly not stray dogs and another selection from this strong short fiction collection. We‘re gonna repeat the scene later today.

Ivy is supremely disinterested in my new book, but I very much enjoyed the first 23% of THREADNEEDLE. Looks like this impulse buy paid off! I want things on Anna‘s behalf and I‘m excited to see how this world develops.

The book‘s a bit odd, though, in that I can‘t quite tell if it wants to be an adult fantasy with younger characters, as its publisher suggests it is, or a young adult fantasy with a more adult slant. We‘ll see how it plays out.

To be honest, I‘m more or less dragging myself through this Marauders run (how is all this queer time travel into the distant past so dull?), but I do very much like the idea of all the mutants from maybe-alternate future dystopias betting on which of their timeline‘s crappy things are gonna happen first.

When it‘s 4° in October, you shiver and moan. When it‘s 4° in April, you read on the deck while the dogs play tug-of-war.

(Okay, you shiver and moan a bit too, because it still ain‘t WARM but at least it‘s above freezing.)

I made a good start on this popular time travel romp, and it looks like it‘s gonna be fun! It‘s also, um, the first of my 16 2024 purchases I‘ve actually read. Gotta whittle the list down this month.

I always like to have a hot drink on hand when I start a new Vlad Taltos novel, what with Vlad‘s klava obsession. Someday I‘ll look up the actual klava recipe (surely other fans have worked it out), but for now, Vietnamese coffee will do.

And the book is a DELIGHT. It‘s the Vlad Taltos Musical Episode, complete with theatre jokes! But there‘s also lots of heavy plot stuff! And commentary on Things! And cool continuity bits!

I‘m a happy reader.

This takes place in such a gloriously weird world that I really, really wanted to love it. Alas, I‘m bailing at 45%. Holton clearly aims to rethink women‘s roles in Victorian England, but she‘s done so within a framework where the women in question are more concerned about any sort of skin-darkening than they are sexual assault, and where they gleefully embrace colonial trappings like Pygmy bones as ornaments. No, thank you.

I‘m babysitting sweet Wesley and his brothers tonight, and I‘ve reread a big chunk of HEIR TO THE SHADOWS in between play sessions. It‘s clicked for me that the reason these books are so readable and compelling, despite the dodgy bits, is how well Anne Bishop nails that all-important balance between the mythic and the personal. These characters are PEOPLE first, no matter what dark magics or ancient social orders govern their lives.

I drank my first rice lager tonight, and it was delicious! The rice came through good and strong, with the same character it gives to sake, while the elderflower added a subtle citrus note.

I also read another little chunk of THE STORY OF THE STONE, which I‘ve gotta finish tomorrow morning before I make a library run. I wanted to go the day after tomorrow so I‘d have more time with my loans, but I totally forgot about Good Friday closures. Sigh.

Back to the whole book + SleepyCasey thing. I‘m enjoying DOUBLE EAGLE a lot more than I did DEEP HOUSE, but King‘s mysteries do feel a bit repetitive when you read three of them in pretty quick succession. He repeats a lot of his scene-setting and/or character-defining details, which helps when it‘s been a while and doesn‘t when it hasn‘t. The inconsistencies leap out, too, like how Ivory ages about four years in four months. 🤷‍♀️

I made a Trans Rights Readathon recs grid for Instagram and figured I‘d share it here too. Most of these are by trans and nonbinary (or agender) creators, with a couple of selections by cis people with trans loved ones. Some engage deeply with transness; some are just good stories by trans folks. Individual titles tagged below. #transrightsreadathon

I‘m loving LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, just like the friend who leant it to me promised I would! It‘s one of those stories I can fall right into and fully inhabit, though I don‘t find it as funny as the jacket copy says it is. I mean, there‘re funny bits here and there, but on the whole I don‘t find sexism gives me a lot to laugh at. 🤷‍♀️

Elizabeth would disapprove of my Spice Tailor supper, but it‘s so tasty I ain‘t even sorry. These kits are delish.

I stopped in at Toys R Us today and was delighted to find they‘ve expanded their books selection to include lots of material for older teenagers and adults! Some of the genre divisions don‘t make sense (for example, there‘s a weird amount of non-romance on the romance shelf), but whoever their purchaser is brought a lot of diverse books into the fold alongside the uber-popular stuff like Brandon Sanderson and Sarah J. Maas.

One of the most frustrating things about the early parts of this series is how often the young women dismiss each other as shallow, vapid bimbos who automatically qualify as The Enemy.

One of the best things about its later parts is how they realize this is bullshit and they team up to support each other and maybehopefully save the world.

Lunchtime nonfiction with Saki. Despite my little pal‘s glare, this is an important and insightful work that digs into the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from academic, legal, and personal angles. (NB: it was published in 2017. More recent writing on the matter also includes two-spirit people.)

I finally finished all the novels I had out from the library (and, sadly, bounced off a thriller I purchased a couple months back and really looked forward to), so it‘s on to QUEEN OF SHADOWS! Jade‘s sister, Ivy, is a solid reading buddy for this one, since she avoids household sunbeams at all costs. Give her a shadowy napping nook and she‘s a happy, happy girl.

Jade made use of her favourite sunbeam appreciation spot while I read another story from this lovely MG anthology. There really is a lot of joy here, just as the cover promises. More importantly, there‘s hope and joy even in hard times; a valuable reminder that we can find (or create) bright moments even in the midst of suffering.

This week‘s small but mighty library haul features another from this year‘s Canada Reads Longlist, two more volumes of Yona, and Thomas King‘s latest (I think?) Thumps Dreadfulwater mystery.

I‘ll bet the library staff got a kick out of processing as many books as possible on Leap Day.

For the first sixty pages or so, I thought THE FUTURE was gonna be The One. Since then, though, it‘s skewed too abstract for my tastes and my attention‘s wavered in a big way. I would‘ve bailed if the Canada Reads panelists hadn‘t specifically said it gets rough but it all pays off in the end. Now, with a hundred pages to go, I hope I agree with them.

I had to postpone my usual February plan to take the month off from American creators because I‘m still in the thick of my big X-Men catch-up and I didn‘t want to pause it for that long, but I‘m definitely going ahead with Gay May as scheduled! To that end, I‘ve started stockpiling queer books. WHAT A DESI GIRL WANTS showed up in a Little Free Library this morning and THE SINS ON THEIR BONES was too tempting on NetGalley. #gaymay

Sunday afternoon book & beer. I‘m halfway through the words part of DENISON AVENUE, and the thing that strikes me so far is that while Wong Cho Sum may be grieving her closest connection following her husband‘s death, she‘s still in community with so many kind people. It‘s beautiful.

The beer, a Great Scott! Cream Ale from Blackwheat Brewing Co out of Brandon, MB, is just what I feel like tonight. Crisp malt & slight biscuit finish, as promised.

JUNIE is one of those books that practically reads itself. I feel like I‘ve hardly spent any time with it, yet I‘m already a hundred pages in. Knight‘s prose is deep and evocative without being performative, and her dialogue gives each character a strong voice. I can‘t wait to read on.

One thing I do always and unreservedly love about Sarah J. Maas‘s books: from HEIR OF FIRE onwards, she thanks her dog in every Acknowledgments.

Dogs are super important, y‘all.

In actual book news, I finished rereading it this morning and I‘m back to loving it. Hurray! Just gotta tackle some library materials (and maybe an unread purchase) and it‘s on to QUEEN OF SHADOWS.