10 Years in 10 Books | #readathon challenge

I love this idea for a readathon challenge so much that I'm typing up this post before I've started reading for the day, also possibly because I'm just not really in a reading mood. Which is a problem on readathon day. Anyway - I went for books that weren't the obvious choice, or tried to. Also tried to go for books I've read.

For example, yes, I could of put Deathly Hallows for 2007 but I think everyone's aware of my love of Harry Potter considering the 2 tattoos I have related to it.

2007: The Arrival by Shaun Tan - this is a gorgeous graphic novel that uses no words, cannot recommend enough.
2008: Duma Key by Stephen King - honestly, one of my favorite books. By King and just in general - a very underrated book by him that I highly, highly recommend.
2009: Leviathan (#1) by Scott Westerfeld - this is such a fun first book, and fun series. It's been a while since I've read them but - so much fun!
2010: Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1) by Cassie Clare - I love the Infernal Devices series, so much. I've got problems with Clare but this series, I can't even tell you.
2011: Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely #5) by Melissa Marr - this whole series is gorgeous. It's been a while since I've reread, and I know they'll probably seem a little outdated now but - I love them.
2012: Adaptation (#1) by Malinda Lo - just read this for the first time recently, and something about it just clicked with me. I'm still in love with it months later.
2013: The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater - this might me by favorite of this series, I just love it so much. The atmosphere, the world.
2014: The Saint (Original Sinners #5) by Tiffany Reisz - not my favorite of the series, but still the best I read that year that I can find. If you haven't heard of this series - they're amazing but also all the trigger warnings in the world.
2015: Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo - this was hard, so many good books. But I've already read this book three times so I think it wins. Incredible duology.
2016: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - this book. God damn. I will shout it's praises from the rooftop. And Exit, Pursued by Bear came out in 2016, too, so it was a tough choice.
2017: City of Strife (#1) by Claudie Arseneault - this was rough cause everything is so fresh but this book was incredible. So diverse, so full of plot and feeling. Cannot wait for book 2!

Whew, that was harder then I thought it'd be. If you posted a list, anywhere, let me know! I kind of failed in the not the obvious choice place, a few times, but I feel like in a few other places I did pull out a different one. Either way - I've got to go read something now, hopefully.

Happy reading!

Recently Read, Watch, Other | August 14th, 2017

I've read quite a few things this first two weeks and I just wanted to quickly talk about some of them, especially because I did reviews - either here or on goodreads. And I really miss doing weekly wrap ups? It's so much fun to talk about what I've read and watched or whatever, but I think every two weeks might be a better plan?

Reading: (finished this week)
Deceptive (illusive #2) by Emily Lloyd-Jones (3/5)
I'm really sad this didn't get more books in the series, because I feel like they could of gotten much better, and there's definitely stories I'm sad we didn't get. (I ship Kit/Magnus and no one can tell me that didn't happen). And this duology wasn't amazing, but it was pretty good, fun, and interesting.


If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle Aged Men by Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) (4/5)
I reviewed this on goodreads - mostly fun but not incredible.

Lumberjanes: UNICORN POWER! by Mariko Tamaki (3.5/5)
I'll have a review up closer to the release date, but mostly: enjoyed it a lot. If you're a fan of the comics, or not, I'd suggest checking it out - but if you haven't read the comics, I highly, highly recommend them. They're all 4/5 or 5/5 for me. (goodreads link)

Takeover (Takeover Series #1) and Just Business (#2) by Anna Zabo
I've got a review for the first in this series going up this week - will be linked when up - but overall this is a fantastic m/m BDSM erotica series so far, highly recommend. The first one is mostly fluff. but not all fluff, and the second one almost made me cry a few times. Both very good (any questions about trigger warnings let me know, and I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities, this goes for any book, really)

The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais
Goodreads Review - this is an adorable graphic novel that turns the little red riding hood story on it's head, and is out October 3rd!

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)
Takes place in his Stormlight series - I'd say universe but... cosmere - and some have said you don't have to of read Words of Radiance to read this one but I highly disagree? There's.... so many spoilers, but it's also so damn good. Lift is a fantatic character and I hope we get more of her in Oathbringer.

Lady Stuff: Secrets to Being a Women by Loryn Brantz (4/5)
Goodreads Review again! (trying harder on this) this is pretty fluffy, and kind of feels like a might lighter version of Hyperbole and a Half, but still enjoyed)

The Tea Dragon Society by Emily O'Neill (5/5)
Blog review, and also on goodreads. Basically: in-fucking-credible, I'm definitely going to be picking up a copy on October 31st when it comes out and so should you. The author has another graphic novel you should check out in the mean time but this one - SO GOOD.


What Does Consent Really Mean? by Pete Wallis, Thalia Wallis (4/5)
Review will be up on blog closer to release date but already up on goodreads, too many things to say to sum it up. Complicated feelings, but overall: super fucking important.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su, Kate Rorick (3.5/5)
If you haven't heard of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries it was a webseries and it is really, really great. This is a book, written by two of the writers of the webseries, that is based on the videos but has more in-depth in the thoughts. I think I'm going to write a full review of this one but I'm still not sure yet?

Grinder (Seattle Sharks #1)  by Samantha Whiskey (4/5)
This is just almost boring m/f romance novel about this single dad hockey player and yet.... I loved it? Second time reading it because there was a sequel that came out and wanted to dive into that (more on that below). I go back and forth on doing a review on this but - it's a ton of fun, the child is adorable, it's a little melodramatic but I honestly would of been disappointed if it wasn't, and I didn't cringe too much through any of the sex scenes. I just had a craving for a silly romance book and here this was!


Stuff: (currently-reading, watching, crafting, such)

I'm currently reading a few things, so I'll be quick. Enforcer, the sequel to Grinder, which is twice as long but I am enjoying so far? It's just a lot different and not what I was expecting, but I don't think in a bad way? seems more complex.

I've started Dear Martin by Nic Stone, which is amazing so far but I had to put it down because I've already almost cried a handful of times and it made my chest heavy? It's a heavy, important book but, whew, is it hard to read. So important, though, and I'm really enjoying the writing style.

I've read probably literally less then 10 pages of There's Someone Inside Your House as I'm typing this, but I'm hoping to get further before the day's over. I am enjoying it so far, though? I've seen some negative reviews but... my expectations are a Steph-esque slasher and that seems to be what I'm going to get, so I'm so damn excited.

And, finally, I'm also currently reading City of Strife, which if taking me a ridiculously long time and I'm not sure why? I'm loving it but it is heavy high fantasy. However, also (I believe) all the POV/MC's are queer, which I am so into. I'm really, really loving it so far just... I don't know, guess I'm having a hard time concentrating it on because life.

For watching - this week I watched The Wedding Party on Netflix, which was fun but not as fun I expected (it's not a good movie, though. I'm someone who may or may not seek out not great movies to watch because they're entertaining.... no judgement, right? And if you've got recommendations...).

Speaking of things that aren't good, Pretty Little Liars ended, so I decided to give it another shot. I only got like 3 episodes in the last time I tried, but this time I'm like 7/8 episodes in. It's definitely not good but it's entertaining, fun, I like that there's some diversity. (I cringe at the teacher/student thing but, ah well, pretty sure it'll be there forever). It does have some good stuff, at least stuff that could be good, I'm hopeful.

As always I'm watching RoosterTeeth/Achievement Hunter stuff and also YouTube stuff - booktubers primarily but also other people, I don't think I've done one of these since I started watching Simmers, but I watch those now. Ah, how fun. My favorite BookTuber at the moment, has been my fav for a while and is: BooksandLala. She's fantastic, highly recommend her readathon vlogs.

For crafting, I'm still crocheting. Currently working on a large granny square blanket - which will never end probably - and some hats. Do any of you guys craft? I'm really working on moving my blog not just book focused, although It'll always primarily be books because, well, I love books a lot. Especially talking about them.

I'm also thinking of taking part in a month long (about) readathon kind of thing that's like DnD but for reading? It's called The Reading Quest and was created by readatmidnight (info post), and it is super cute. However, I'll also be traveling for 10 of the days during it so we'll see how that goes.

What've you been reading, watching, or whatever?

Happy reading! (and watching, crafting...)

On the blog:

July 2017 | Monthly Wrap Up

Comic Review: The Tea Dragon Society

Spoken Word & Slam Poetry | How I Found it (+ some recommendations)

I, randomly, find myself on YouTube going through way too many spoken word, and slam, poems. And I really love both, in all honestly. I didn't really realize how much I loved poetry until very recently, the last few months, and I honestly think spoken poetry is my favorite. Even if I'm reading a collection, or just a poem, I have to read it out loud. I can't just - read it in my head, it doesn't feel quite right.

And I'm not sure what I wanted to say about this, I'm just kind of winging this post, but I wanted to talk about it. And wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations. There's so much out there, and I've found places to start, but I have no idea where to go from here. Or if other people share my love / slight obsession.

And I also wanted to share what I'd found, because maybe you hadn't discovered it and are going to end up loving them. Poetry is definitely not normally light, at least I haven't found any, but some of it is just incredible and it's so good.

So I'm going to just talk about some of my favorites - Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye, first off, who I ran across completely by accident. And, funnily enough, I found their poem together, first - An Origin Story. I'd highly suggest listening to it, it's about friends, best friends, and it's... surprising how much I understand finding weird coincidences. And it's one of my favorites, because it's so much fun. I'm going to link everything down below that I can.

I feel like I'm just getting into it and the lines feel blurry, for me, on the line between slam poetry and just spoken word poetry, but I'm throwing a bunch of links to poems below that I love. There's another by both Sarah and Phil, and then a bunch of Sarah's. Why only hers? Because I keep listening to them over and over, as soon as I can stop listening to all of these over and over, I'll move onto finding more.

The most important of the ones below... is kind of hard to say, they're all important. However - Transcript of Civil Rights is super important and explains something that's so complicated, in four minutes. These two girls are kick-ass. I actually found this through tumblr, completely on accident, and it made me a cry the first time through (a lot of these did).

They're all important, I just kind of want to end it here so you can go and watch all of those.

But there's one more thing I want to talk about - the poems I never thought of as spoken word poetry, that I just thought of as a poem being read out loud. And - I might have one of these almost memorized. You guys might have heard of the lovely, talented Neil Gaiman. I had a lot of trouble finding good recordings of both, but - The Day the Saucers Came. However - I can't find a good recording online of The Faery Reel, which is my favorite and I love it so much. (It's on the audiobook of his collection called Fragile Things, which I highly recommend all around). I'm so angry I can't find a good one - there are videos of other people reading it, or some awful live recordings of Neil. Anyway - I love that poem, just save up an audible credit and splurge. I mean, it's Gaiman, right? (Dammit. I even looked for sound bites, I'm so sorry I can't find it. It's in plain text here, but it's not quite as lovely. He even says himself it demands to be read aloud).

Finally, before you go and listen to all of those, I want to know if you enjoy poetry (of any kind)? Have you tried it since the weird forced dissection that happened in school? If you have tried it - what did you think of it? Do you have any favorites? (Spoken, slam, just words on a page, well screen, I'd love to read/hear any of it).

(Also, I want to add this is just a small tip of the iceberg, kind of thing. I really wanted to write this post before I got further into spoken word and/or slam. So I'm probably missing a lot of good stuff, but all I've found as been good so far).

Some Favorites: (from above and more) (warning: feeling and tears, grab some tissues)
Sarah Kay's and Phil Kaye's: "An Origin Story" "When Love Arrives"
Sarah Kay: Mrs. Ribeiro + Ted Talk (If I had a daughter / B is first) + Postcards + Speaker's Spotlight video
Shanita Jackson and Dakota Oder poem's Transcript of Civil Rights
"Bitch" Slam Poem
Ethan Smith's "A Letter to the Girl I Use to Be"
Aaron Burstein's "Social Anxiety at 130bpm"
Sierra DeMulder's "The Tampon Poem" (girls, it's funny but also not)
Dominique Christina's "The Period Poem"
Lily Myers, Zach Goldberg, and Evan Okun - "We Made It"
Rape Poem
(Not a complete list of what I've listened to and loved, but the ones I've made sure to save. Why do I never save things when it's late at night?)

Book Recommendations: Scary Books for Beginners

Book recommendations! I've never done a post like this before, but I'm planning quite a few at the moment, we'll see how many work out. This is, obviously, because it's officially October (though, I start thinking about Halloween in, like, the last week of August). Soon bad horror movies will be on TV (maybe I'll do a post recommending those, I've got some favorites).

To explain the title - these are scary/horror/such books for people who don't normally read in the horror genre but are looking to maybe give it a try. Or if you scare easily, these are also good books for you. I'm going to do another post, that when it goes up will be linked here, about more serious horror books, that maybe you don't want to start with, but you should work your way up to. I also might do a post recommending plain paranormal book, those always scream fall to me, lurking down dark alleys and around graveyards and such.

Personally, it's rare a book honestly scares me. I started reading King young, probably too young, so keep that in mind for these books - but, overall, I think others would agrees these are a good kickoff into horror/scary stuff.

The Merciless by Danielle Vega
I've read a fair number of horror books and so I wasn't expecting anything from this. So was surprised that I actually kind of enjoyed it. It's a bit gore-y at points, but it's fun (at least I thought it was a lot of fun), and the ending surprised me. Definitely a good way to get a taste of horror, if you've never ready it before, at least I think so. (Full review going up on the 7th, but this is all you need to know).

Say Her Name by James Dawson
I only gave this book a 3/5, but I think because I was just expecting so much from it. Don't get me wrong, though, I did really enjoy it. It's a little cliche for most of it, but when it starts to pick up it definitely veers off that set path. And I really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for anything Bloody Mary, and this was a lot of fun. (Maybe read it with the lights off and a flashlight, maybe a candle or two around).

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
This is, technically, a middle grade book - but it's very, very creepy. Gaiman is always good at creating a certain atmosphere in books and this is no different. It's creepy and strange and has scattered illustrations that are mildly terrifying, in all honestly. Fantastic, highly recommended book. It's scary, but I still think it's a good jumping off point, more creepy then anything.

Coffin Hill, Vol 1: Forest of the Night by Caitlin Kittredge
This is very, very good. It's a bit more gore-y then anything else here, bloody, and a graphic novel. It's set in New England, in my home state, and it's - eerie and mysterious and I really, really loved it. The art is really good, too.

The Breathing Method by Stephen King
This is only a short story, but it definitely gives you a taste of what King is like. The writing, the building tension, the horrifying ending. It was fantastic - personally, when I read this, I listened to the audiobook, but you can find it in print. (I believe it's in Different Seasons, a short story collection).

Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Comic book series. I've only really read the first volume, about half of the second, but I really loved what I read. Now - I've heard the second volume is really bad and they're pretty creepy, scary, so these aren't the best place to start, in my opinion, but if you're looking for something in the middle - start with first volume and move forward with caution.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I wasn't going to include this one because I forgot it's horror. I'm not sure how I feel about that label, because it's definitely weird and strange at parts, but no part really scared me, or even creeped me out. I really loved this book, though and it is odd, but I know it's not for everyone.