pickI know book comparisons aren't always fair to make, but this one can't be avoided: if you love hockey robot Jack Zimmerman, you will love hockey robot Mickey James III. They are absolutely unique characters who approach the pressures of being a hockey legacy while trying to handle mental illness in different ways. But they are also both mentally ill hockey legacy bisexual disasters and I love them both so much for it.
pickThis book captures the isolation, anxiety, and depression that characterized lockdown living for so many people. Carley/Orpheus is a queer, poly, disabled woman living alone in NYC who finds an outlet for her need for escape in cycling around the city. The book lost me a little in part 3 when things got real weird but in general this was a great book that viscerally captures a particular moment in time.
so-soI wanted to love this book, but it felt strangely muted and anticlimactic. The main plot point alluded to in the summary happened 2/3 into the book and was resolved in 30 pages. There was a subplot about the LI's hyper-religious family that resolved so neatly it felt unreal and unsatisfying. Yet it's about a trans guy coming to terms with being open and the relationships between trans people were amazing. So 3.5⭐️ and I'd read this author again.
pick1. I've just finished the tagged book and enjoyed it a lot. I tend to be a sucker for any queer retllings so 😝
2. Spear was my third finished book
3. Either Thistlefoot or A Minor Chorus
4. I had one big interruption when we went out to dinner but I just kept reading and ignored everyone else lol
5. I'm relearning that I don't like taking pics for social media at all; text first & foremost please & thank you
#readathon #deweyoct
pickThis is a really sweet gay ace romance. I know someone who this is a major comfort read for them, and I can definitely see why. Jordan and Hennessey are a sweet couple and the in depth conversations about asexuality and what that means for different people are great. I can easily see this being something to come back to, especially if someone needed fuzzy reassurances about asexuality. #readathon #deweyoct
pickBook 1 of Dewey's done! I absolutely loved this book! Xiran Jay Zhao continues to bring us astounding Chinese fantasy based on Chinese myth and legend. They also continue to bring us huge cliffhangers that leave me desperate for the sequels 😱 This was the perfect way to kick off the readathon! #readathon #deweyoct
Loving Zach so far! And thoroughly enjoying the supervillain emperors trying to save China through their preteen descendents 💙 #readathon #deweyoct
#readathon is here! My favorite readathon every year! I'm ready to go with a stack of possibilities and a cup of tea. I'm gonna start out the day with Zachary Ying, for a quick, fun, action-packed beginning to the readathon!
so-soThis is one of those books that has a lot of historical significance, so I don't really regret reading it. But my god did Uris need a better editor. It just felt like he was trying to do 4 different things and not wholly succeeding at any of them. This also has one of THE MOST misleading summaries I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. Wouldn't recommend if you want to actually enjoy the story/the writing of the books you read.
pickThis book was absolutely AMAZING. Queer Jewish boy dealing with the bullshit academic pressure put on high school students is totally my jam. Even better, Ariel is a religious Jew who obviously finds great comfort in Judaism and the Jewish community. Do you know how rare that is in media of any kind?? In a lot of ways this was a love letter to Judaism and it was so beautiful.
Well ain't he a real peach of a parent? Newsflash: you don't blame the person being bullied for the fact that he's bullied, you blame the person doing the bullying.
So this came out not long after TPM came out, in 2000. There's a little interesting foreshadowing of what the PT holds here. Because at this point, we're didn't actually know why Vader had fallen. Little moments like this are part of why my Epic Star Wars Reread in Publication Order is so rewarding for me.
Love me some angry environmentalists taking on the government.
Poor Obi-Wan! Someone give the boy something to eat! 🍔🍗🍎🍜
pickThis book was so beautiful. The hope, peace, and justice that it embodies was so wonderful to experience. Everyone should absolutely pick up this book.
Lord almighty these boys are sweet! I'm really loving all the various friendships and support groups in this book.
pickCrying a bit about how absolutely perfect this book was, to be quite honest. A character driven novel about a life changing platonic relationship? Literally the pinnacle of achievement. Just so amazingly good.
Love me some self-aware characters willing to acknowledge their faults and work on them.
This is such a good intro to a portal fantasy. Like you know this book is gonna delve into topics portal fantasies don't generally bother with and it's gonna be good shit.
Picked this book up on a whim for a challenge calling for a book with a DNA helix on the cover and was rewarded within 20 pages with queer content! Felix is attracted to boys and his grandparent is genderqueer/genderfluid and uses the pronouns vo/ver/veirs. I have NEVER been so pleasantly surprised by a random library book selection before, especially a middle grade book.
Matthew's whole existence is also a Big Aro Mood tbqh. I love him with my whole heart.
This is an aro mood if I ever saw one tbqh. That particular fear that your friends are going to leave you behind when they get involved in romantic relationships? So damn aro.
pickI really identified with Sazed's questions about religion and how can you choose one out of hundreds to be the only true religion. I don't think I'll be able to use his method to answer my own questions (his was a little extreme and magical 😅), but it still felt good to see someone else grapple with questions I've had since high school.
Not totally happy with the resolution of Vin's storyline though🤨
Real talk: this is SO important. Recognizing what you deserve to have in a relationship is crucial for your well-being, as well as the well-being of any potential partners. I love that this snarky portal fantasy book addresses this so well.
The scene with Eliot's mother makes me cry every. single. time. I'm just having so many emotions 😭😭😭
pickI spent a significant amount of time yelling "use your damn words!" as I do with basically every romantic plot I've read ever.
I also spent a significant amount of time laughing my ass off about Lucas's continually high dad.
Anyway, this gay romance between a lumberjack and an oblivious potter was a fun time, even if I just read it to fit a reading challenge.
Seriously, the way this book plays with our (and Elliot's) expectations regarding magic lands and portal fiction is just *so good*
This book starts off amazing and keeps it up all the way through. There are few characters I love more than the sarcastic, prickly little pain in the ass that is Elliot Schafer.
pickThis book made me ache. It's a glimpse into the Jewish community of Ireland throughout the twentieth century, told through three different characters in different times. Gradually, their stories are woven together, an intricate tapestry weaving the past, present, and future of Irish Jews into a single narrative. This book was deeply moving and I highly recommend it. #readathon
So this book is apparently where the Jaina/Kyp nonsense started. At this point, she's 17 and he's 33. That's so fucking gross I don't even have words. @ anyone who has ever shipped them: shame on you.
Threepio is hands down my favorite Star Wars character. He's a perfect bundle of outraged anxiety.
I LOVED this short aroace poetry collection focused on Artemis. So much of her rage and confusion and stubbornness felt so familiar to me. Seeing it written out so beautifully was a gift.
Anakin's philosophical development in this series was so good and I will never not be bitter about his death, especially considering that Jacen became the hero/leader of the Jedi before completely going off the deep end. We deserved further Anakin development, damn it!
On the other side of the spectrum, Borsk Fey'lya is one of those characters I would LOVE to jettison into a sun. Preferably a really big one with really heavy gravity that would squish him flat as he burns.
