I‘m barrelling along through this biography of Louise Fitzhugh. While Leslie Brody takes the kitchen sink approach so many biographers love (ie, she tosses in tons of cultural details that don‘t actually lend much insight to her subject), her prose is so readable that I‘m getting through 3-4 chapters a day instead of the 1-2 I usually aim for with nonfiction. #gaymay

SMALL BEAUTY lives up to its name. In only 160 pages, it offers up an affecting portrait of one woman‘s grief for all she‘s lost and all she‘s survived. These days, I dip in and out of things more often than not, but I read this in two sittings. Highly recommended. #gaymay

I ate some soy sauce noodles, then dove into SMALL BEAUTY. It‘s off to a very promising start. I‘m excited to sink into it this afternoon.

I meant to start another book last night, but I got totally sucked into this gorgeous comic about a 76-year-old woman who faces off against Death‘s Shadow. Goto and Xu explore the ins and outs of Kumiko‘s daily life as much as the supernatural threat that stalks her. I couldn‘t tear myself away. #gaymay

First library run since I got my bike! First trip anywhere since I thrifted this sweet rear basket. I think it started life as part of a modular closet system, but it fits perfectly and it was $3 instead of the $40+ actual bike baskets cost so I‘m super happy with it.

I went in for the two hardcovers (further Gay May holds) and grabbed the tagged book on a whim because Kobo keeps recommending it to me. #gaymay

I made peanut buns and an extremely unhealthy cappuccino to use up the last of the half-and-half. Now I‘m gonna see how I like A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT. #gaymay

I started my second Rachel Spangler! This one‘s not as immediately gripping as FIRE & ICE, but it feels like it‘ll build well. #gaymay

Casey helped me start a new short story anthology at breakfast. WILDE STORIES has been on my radar for ages, but this is the first volume I‘ve read. Unfortunately, the series ended after this 2018 edition. #gaymay

Let‘s take another look at the chocolate hazelnut buns while I tell you I finished THE GRIEF OF STONES yesterday.

I‘ll have a full review closer to the release date, but for now I need y‘all to know I loved it. While it has more than a touch of Fantastical Travel Syndrome (what I call the phenomenon where you hear a TON about how the characters in a fantasy novel get from place to place), the good stuff is SO GOOD I can‘t even mind. #gaymay

This lengthy anthology presents two centuries of queer short fiction alongside a detailed introduction that situates the pieces within the wider Welsh literary tradition. The stories run the gamut from overt to subtextual along both the queer and Welsh spectrums and form a valuable introductory text, especially for anyone with an academic interest in queer and/or Welsh lit.

I ended up with a large number of excellent tomatoes for FREE! Fake shakshuka was the obvious response.

I read a bit of nonfiction while I ate. DOUBLE MELANCHOLY is a memoir filtered through the texts Gatchalian consumed at pivotal points in his life, and it‘s fascinating so far. His prose is sometimes a touch too academic for my tastes, but his story‘s worth sticking it out for. #gaymay

I read a nice chunk of THE GRIEF OF STONES while I proofed and baked some chocolate hazelnut buns. (Yes, they‘re as good as they look.) The further I get into the book, the more I like it. There‘re maybe a few too many detailed tram journeys for my current mood (Future Me‘ll feel differently), but I‘m all over the new bits of worldbuilding and the various relationships Celehar falls into.

The last three books I finished were varying degrees of disappointing. I‘m hoping I can break the streak with THE GRIEF OF STONES. Alas, my ARC doesn‘t have a social media-friendly cover, but the insides are on point so far. Gonna soak up all this glorious atmosphere and poke into new corners of Addison‘s world. #gaymay

I picked up three more Gay May titles on the way to the grocery store: an historical fantasy, a short fiction anthology, and a biography. Good times. #gaymay

It was a 3 Cs morning: Casey, comics, and coffee (not pictured because I wanted to drink it myself, not watch my dog gulp it down). I‘m enjoying this quietly unsettling collection. #gaymay

I sourced some extremely green tea to go with Vivek Shraya‘s CLC Kreisel Lecture, in which she‘s her usual engaged and engaging self.

I ate a passionfruit curd doughnut today and it was everything I dreamed it would be.

I‘m still finding my way into THE OTHER MAN, but my initial impression is that it starts in the wrong place. As of 14%, there‘s been a lot of backstory and scene setting. I hope it picks up soon. #gaymay

I‘m twenty pages into my reread of THE WITNESS FOR THE DEAD, and I‘m already caught up in the atmosphere. The physical book is such a pretty little thing, too. Hardcovers aren‘t normally my scene, but this one‘s slim enough to feel good in the hand.

I had to brew some tea to go with it, since there‘s a bunch of tea consumption in the story. I picked Murchie‘s CBC blend, which I kind of forgot I had until I opened the tin. #gaymay

I love Jenn Burke‘s paranormal Toronto and its inhabitants so very, very much. This final book in the Ashes & Dust Trilogy raises the physical and emotional stakes in all the right places, pushes everyone in exciting directions, and adds new dimensions to the worldbuilding. I ate it up.

I sure hope Burke isn‘t done with this setting. I‘d jump on another spinoff series about any of the characters attached to Caballero Investigations. #gaymay

It‘s know, I know, you‘re not supposed to quote from ARCs, but I‘m so taken with “traitor cookies” as shorthand for “betrayal of all that one has every right to expect from a baked good” that I‘ve gotta share it here.

Raisin-forward things are gross, y‘all. You can have mine.

I had such a great time binge-reading HOUSE ON FIRE yesterday that I requested an ARC of the third book before I‘d even finished it. Gonna spend a goodly chunk of my afternoon in Jenn Burke‘s paranormal Toronto. And this time, I won‘t spill half my precious Queer Beer on the patio. #gaymay

I got a bike as an early birthday present! I‘m excited. I haven‘t had a proper, outdoor transportation bike in 20+ years.

The bike and I took a nice, long ride together this morning, with a brief pause so I could drink some water and read a wee bit from my current short story collection. #gaymay

I found myself in a serious Jenn Burke mood yesterday and promptly used some of my Harlequin points to get HOUSE ON FIRE. I‘ve avoided doing so until now partly because I have to read it on my phone thanks to their ebook fulfillment thingy and partly because I liked but didn‘t love the first book in this spinoff series, but here I am, hardcore into it. At her best, Burke reminds me of how much fun urban fantasy can be. #gaymay

Did the outdoor book & beer thing on this warm Friday afternoon. In theory, LUCKENBOOTH is totally my book, but in practice I feel like it keeps asking me to make intuitive leaps without the textual or emotional base I need to do so. I don‘t dislike it, exactly, but I‘m not sure if I‘ll finish it.

I didn‘t get to finish my long-awaited Queer Beer because I somehow put the glass down wrong and spilled half of it. I honestly almost cried.😔 #gaymay

I went to the park today so I could walk the Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth, and for the first time ever I saw someone else in there! I started an essay from this witchy book while I waited for them to finish, then continued it once I‘d done my own walk and reached the (very mushy) heart. Along the way, I got a kick out of all the animal tracks and boot prints that showed in the wet earth. A deer visited not too long before me.

It‘s taking forever for most of the BIPOC-authored titles on my Gay May holds list to make their way to me, so I did a quick library run to balance out my stack with a comic, two plays (in one volume), a memoir, and a novel. Three of them were on my list when I went in, while the tagged book was an impulse borrow off their Asian Heritage Month display. #gaymay

I headed back into comics last night with Bishakh Som‘s slice-of-life memoir about the time she spent creating her previous book, APSARA ENGINE. There‘s a lot of cooking, a lot of introspection, and an excellent cat named Ampersand. It left me glad I‘ve got her collection in my stack. #gaymay

I finally made my first recipe from THE SWEET LIFE IN PARIS: Thérèse‘s chocolate cake. It‘s not the most attractive thing out there and I‘m not entirely sure if I incorporated the egg whites correctly, but the flavour was good. There‘s very little added sugar, so it‘s perfect for people who like chocolate-forward things.

I‘m glad I fought past my low tolerance for American high school narratives and devoured this beautiful, affecting gender discovery story. Sasha Masha‘s journey is as complicated and ever-evolving as life itself. I wish we‘d had books like this when I was a teenager. I‘m glad current teenagers get to experience them. #gaymay

First outdoor reading session of the year! It was only 11° out, so I had to go inside for a coat as soon as the sun went behind a cloud, but this winter was so long and so soul-destroying that I‘ll take it.

I still find Max‘s disdain for curling unrealistic, given that she‘s a veteran sports reporter desperate to rebuild her reputation, but I‘m enjoying the book so much I can suspend my disbelief. This is great stuff, y‘all. #gaymay

It‘s a pain day, which means I‘m liable to do a lot of reading. First up: my daily short story, to be followed by some nonfiction and more of my novel.

After lots of debate, I decided I‘m in a sports romance mood. Many thanks to @BookNAround for the rec!

I really like FIRE & ICE so far, but I find it unrealistic that everyone except the curlers themselves seems to consider curling a weirdo outsider sport. I‘m not into it myself, but curling is really popular here, both to play and to watch. Is this anti-curling bias manufactured drama? Or is it an American thing? #gaymay

I started STONE FRUIT last night while I sat up with Casey during another of his dodgy tummy episodes. I finished it this morning while he napped by the front door. It‘s a deeply affecting comic about family, relationships, and mental health, and it‘s going on my recs list. #gaymay

THE ARCHIVE OF ALTERNATE ENDINGS is made of siblings and queerness and stories that echo across centuries, and I‘m obsessed with it.

5 stars

#gaymay

I had another hefty reading month, thanks in large part to yesterday‘s Readathon. More importantly, I read SO MUCH GREAT STUFF, including a whopping 3 new-to-me 5-star reads! Along with the tagged book (which I still can‘t stop thinking about), I adored THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab and RUN TOWARDS THE DANGER by Sarah Polley.

Bedside book stack: May 1st edition. The Readathon is over, and now we start Gay May! I‘m beyond excited to spend the next month immersed in queer books, starting with these four. They‘re all #BlameItOnLitsy titles except for the tagged book, which I found when I searched for more work by Catherine Hernandez. #gaymay

I‘ve now read one entire with-eyeballs novel, one entire audiobook, and one entire comic. Time for more YONA OF THE DAWN!

Also, I‘m super proud of myself for managing to save this crème egg for today, even though I really, really, REALLY wanted to eat it earlier this week. #readathon #deweyapril

A little while back I bought some fiery nacho Pringles that taste strongly of jalapeño but not so much of cheese. My onion-free salsa con queso tastes strongly of cheese but not so much of jalapeño. I married the two and achieved balance.

I‘m about halfway through THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI now, and I‘m still enjoying it but I‘m not in love. It‘s gripped me well enough that I‘ll look for more from Shion Miura, though. #deweyapril #readathon

I turned the heel on a sock while I listened to WHAT ALES THE EARL. I‘ve gotta finish the book today so I‘m ready to start a queer audiobook for Gay May, which means I‘ve spent my Readathon scrounging around for audio-friendly activities. One more listening session should do the trick. #audioknitting #readathon #deweyapril

Every so often, I try to engage with the large double-double* phenomenon. I always end up wishing I had a black coffee instead, but maybe someday I‘ll come to love this Canadian staple.

Anyways: I spent a bunch of time with my audiobook and now I‘m ready to give YONA OF THE DAWN some more of my attention. #readathon #deweyapril

*it‘s possible I didn‘t achieve double milk here. How much milk is standard? I don‘t even know.

My reading buddy finally rousted himself out of bed to join me!

THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI reminds me a lot of SILVER SPOON by Hiromu Arakawa, except instead of a city kid learning about farming at school, we‘ve got a city kid learning about forestry through a first job. I‘m gonna finish the second long chapter, then take a wee break with a comic before I head back in. #readathon #deweyapril

It‘s Readathon time!

1. Manitoba
2. I‘m pretty excited about the tagged book. It‘s off to a great start.
3. Fiery nacho Pringles dipped into salsa con queso.
4. I‘m not a morning person but I wake up stupid early every morning.
5. This is my 28th consecutive Readathon. (If I don‘t hold the Dewey‘s world record, I‘ve gotta be close to the top.) This time, I think I‘ll skip using a timer to log my reading. Keep it casual.

#readathon #deweyapril

I‘ve assembled my Readathon pool! I‘ll start with the tagged book and my wee YONA OF THE DAWN stack, then move along to the rest once I finish them (or once midnight strikes and Gay May begins). Whee!

I‘ll also be over on the Readathon‘s official Litsy page this time around (@DeweysReadathon). We‘re bringing it back after a couple of fallow years.

#readathon #deweyapril

And so we reach the final recs grid on our Gay May countdown. It‘s been fun, y‘all. I hope you‘ll join me next month in reading all/mostly/more queer books.

I‘m thinking I should‘ve announced it as a Thing after all.

Anyway, today‘s all about poetry, and for once I present the titles without comment except to say they‘re all collections except for THE BLACK FLAMINGO, which is a novel in verse. Books tagged in the comments. #gaymay

I went to the library at opening time to lay in a bunch more stuff for Gay May: some romance, some nonfiction, and a finished copy of THE WITNESS FOR THE DEAD to reread before I devour the sequel.

Outside next month‘s reading scope, I requested one of Sarah Polley‘s films because I loved her essay collection, RUN TOWARDS THE DANGER. I hope her filmmaking hits me as hard as her writing. #gaymay

Friends, THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE blew me away. The atmosphere! The personal moments! The ins and outs of how Addie navigates her strange, there-but-apart life!

I‘m posting a review because it meant a lot to me and I want you to know it, but I love it in that way where I don‘t want to analyze it any more than I did in the previous paragraph. Lemme just tell you it was a rare 5-star read and leave it at that.

I‘ve spent the last seventy-three thousand days reading THRESHOLD. It‘s weird; I like it enough that I don‘t want to bail, but I can‘t seem to sit down and READ it. What should‘ve been a 2-3 day book has become a 5-6 day book.

Argh. I hate reading slowly. I‘ll definitely end up rating it lower than I would‘ve if it‘d taken me those 2-3 days instead of the better part of a week.

Today‘s pre-Gay May recs grid is all about YA! As per usual, this is a non-exhaustive selection of books I love and recommend to anyone who wants to join me in reading all/mostly/more queer books next month.

The tagged book dives into the multiverse. (It‘s also super divisive. Many people hate it, but for me it‘s the fuckin BEST.) The rest are highlighted in the comments. #gaymay

I picked up my first round of holds for Gay May! These are all books I learned about on Litsy. Gonna read down that Stacked tag.

I also laid in three Queer Beers to drink while I read them. Look at that sweet can redesign! #gaymay #blameitonlitsy

Today‘s Gay May recs grid combines historical and general fiction, because apparently I‘m too busy reading queer stuff in other genres to really fall in love with books from these ones.

The tagged book is for movie stars in love. All the rest are highlighted in the comments. #gaymay