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What I Just Finished Reading

Nothing. Still in a reading slump as far as books are concerned. I have read some fanfic.

What I'm Reading Now

I started reading A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.

Only yesterday my PocketBook e-reader decided to brick itself as something went wrong during a sync with Calibre (I wanted to transfer a Cat Sebastian romance that I had bought), and it now freezes during boot. I think its internal disk has become corrupted somehow. At least my books are all backed up.

I wrote to support, because when something similar happened with my previous PocketBook they walked me through some kind of clean firmware reinstall via microSD card to reformat the corrupted internal memory or something, but today support only responded with the useless idiot first steps in their script, i.e. the "have you tried the reset button while connecting the device to a power source" kind of turning on/off thing, that I had already tried in various permutations, only some of which I mentioned in my initial mail, but that were all useless. I haven't heard back anything yet to my reply, in which I hinted that with a different model this microSD boot and reinstall helped, and could they tell me the right steps for this model. I really hope it's not permanently broken.

What I'm Reading Next

No idea. Hopefully something on my then restored e-reader. Though I do have a smaller paper TBR pile too that I could tackle.

Current Mood: frustrated

What I Just Finished Reading

Nothing. :( Well, no books anyway. I have (re-)read a bunch of fanfic.

What I'm Reading Now

Nothing. Though I might continue The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert?

What I'm Reading Next

No idea.

Current Mood: apathetic

What I Just Finished Reading

Another not so good reading week. I haven't finished The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert from last week, though I didn't intentionally abandon it.

However Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir became available for me at my library, so I checked that out, and that one drew me in. It was a lot of fun, because it had a really competent protagonist, with situations just dangerous enough to handle, but not actually too much tension, considering the setup.

I also read some fanfic.

What I'm Reading Now

I guess The Roommate Risk still?

What I'm Reading Next

No idea.

What I Just Finished Reading

Last week wasn't good for reading for some reason. However I finished the third of the Love Language series by Reese Morrison, Love Limits, that I mentioned last week, despite the kink mismatch (daddykink, age and puppy play, which aren't my favorites).

What I'm Reading Now

I picked up The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert, because it was on sale for 0.99 € and started reading it. It hasn't fully sucked me in, put hasn't put me off yet either.

What I'm Reading Next

No idea.

What I Just Finished Reading

I mostly continued my somewhat futile attempt to find kinky romances that work for me. I read the first two of the Love Language series by Reese Morrison, on which I am quite torn. I enjoyed very much that the protagonists were kinky people with normal lives and jobs, and appreciated that there were both cis but also trans and genderfluid heroes, with various sexual orientations, and while I'm not very familiar with Deaf culture, the portrayal of that community seemed solid, and the writing generally good. Unfortunately the set of kinks that are the main focus of this series (variations on daddykink, age play and puppy kink) are not really my kinks.

I also read The Prince's Consort (Bred for Love, #1) by Revella Hawthorne, a mpreg slavefic novella, that meshed more with my kinks (more the slavefic than the mpreg, though in this the pregnancy bits didn't get further than conception), though the setup was a weird mix of contemporary and sf tech with some fantasy monarchy elements? I'm kind of unduly bothered by worldbuilding even in porn.

I also read a bunch of fanfic.

What I'm Reading Now

I actually started the third of the Love Language series by Reese Morrison, Love Limits, despite the kink mismatch.

What I'm Reading Next

Possibly the next in that mpreg series? Not sure though.

What I Just Finished Reading

Yesterday I read the latest Murderbot novella, Fugitive Telemetry, by Martha Wells, which is as delightful as the rest of the Murderbot series.

Earlier I read Undercover by Eliot Grayson, a fairly short m/m novel that's part of the Vino & Veritas series that's apparently inspired by Sarina Bowen's True North series setting? TBH while I have read one or two of those, I didn't notice the intersection, but then I don't recall every minor character of those either. The premise of the undercover FBI agent plot sounded more intriguing than what the book delivered, but it was okay.

I also read some fanfic for The Falcon & the Winter Soldier and some Harry Potter AUs.

What I'm Reading Now

I browsed a bunch of other m/m romance samples but nothing really clicked, so I'm not really in the middle of any books. I am still reading one of the somewhat lengthy HP AUs (one where basically the divergence is to make Snape OOC and a competent teacher) that I interrupted for Murderbot.

What I'm Reading Next

IDK? Apparently still not in the mood for historicals or most SF. I would quite like to read some m/f femdom romance, preferably with non-billionaire protagonists whose lives do not revolve around some exclusive sex club. But for some reason that remains hard to find.

( cut for spoilers, a bit confused but not unhappy )

What I Just Finished Reading

Most recently this morning I read Unicorn Vet by Zoe Chant, a shifter romance novella that was a sweet and quick read, but a bit boring in that it was very low conflict even for a novella. It's kind of aggravating that I currently don't tolerate tense reads well, but then the opposite doesn't work either. Argh.

I also finally finished the last bit of Bitter Heat, the third of that Leta Blake A/B/O series.

Earlier I was in the mood for kink so I read a bunch of m/m BDSM coffeeshop romances in the Bold Brew series by various authors, skipping the Daddy Kink ones. In particular I read Puppucino by Allison Temple, Extra Whip, by L.A. Witt, Cinnamon Roll by Anna Zabo, Fair Trade by Cate Ashwood. They were all somewhat mediocre, though I liked the Zabo one a bit more than the rest, but mostly delivered as advertised.

I also read a long Harry Potter AU and a bunch of shorter fanfic.

What I'm Reading Now

I didn't click with The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon but it's still on my library shelf for a bit, so technically I'm still reading it and maybe I'll get back to it?

What I'm Reading Next

IDK? I had preordered The Devil Comes Courting by Courtney Milan and that dropped onto my ereader, so my TBR pile has grown once again. The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell is also still on it, and of course haven't read A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (or re-read the first book) either. Still not in the mood for SF.

What I Just Finished Reading

I didn't read a lot last week, especially not books, though I did reread some more Steve/Bucky fanfic.

But I finally managed to read What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, and it was a lot of fun. Can recommend.

What I'm Reading Now

I still haven't given up on Bitter Heat, the third of that Leta Blake A/B/O series, particularly as I stalled at 85% in or so. Also as the library delivered The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon to me, I started that, but I am not far in yet.

What I'm Reading Next

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell is still high on my TBR pile. And of course I still haven't read A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (or re-read the first book) either, because I'm not in the mood for SF atm.

...is that I sometimes do not understand what is said, no matter how often I replay a section. It doesn't matter so much with news or other non-fiction, where mostly context fills in the gap, but it really annoys me in narrative podcasts. And unlike with tv, there is no subtitle option.

(BTW if anyone has listened to the latest Rusty Quill Gaming podcast, 191, and understood the last sentence Gragg is saying about quiche, that apparently was amusing, could you tell me? I replayed that bit four times and it just never resolves into meaning.)

What I Just Finished Reading

I finished reading the second of that Leta Blake A/B/O series, Alpha Heat, and the companion novella, Slow Birth about what happens to the original couple from the first book during the events of the second (tbh, that was a bit tedious due to the overlap). I then started to read the third, Bitter Heat, but got stuck some two thirds in or so. I guess my A/B/O dynamic mood is finally winding down? I also read a porny novella by Kris Ripper, Training Mac (Erotic Gym, #1), because I was still in the mood for kink, but somehow that author's porn never quite works for me, though I've kept trying a couple of times now, because it gets good reviews. I then switched to re-reading a bunch of Steve/Bucky fanfic, some kink, some soothing h/c.

What I'm Reading Now

I haven't given up on Bitter Heat yet, so I might get back to it once I finish re-reading this Steve/Bucky novel (not an A/B/O AU, btw, if you want to check it out, it's Bucky recovery fic) .

What I'm Reading Next

I haven't gotten around to reading What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch yet, so I still intend to read that soon. I also picked up The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell, because a review on SBTB lead me to check out the free preview and that was intriguing. So that's a new addition to my ever growing TBR pile.

What I Just Finished Reading

I finished At Her Command by Joey W. Hill, and as seems the usual with their books, some parts really worked for me, and some really didn't. I enjoyed the main couple, the femdom and service kink bits and their relationship, was indifferent to the "rich business people whose life revolves around some exclusive BDSM sex club" trope (but I knew that going in), but what really bugged me were some of the supporting sequel-bait characters...

( cut to spare the uninterested the ranty bits )

I also read a whole bunch of shifter and A/B/O romances with some original M/M thrown in over the last week:
* The Beta's Test (The Protection of the Pack, #3) by Dessa Lux (solid A/B/O shifter novella)
* Mated to the Meerkat by Lia Silver (fun m/f shifter romance novella, doesn't do the insta-mate thing)
* Alpha & Omega by Isabelle Arden (A/B/O shifter romance with a priest, that didn't really do much for me, which I might have guessed as apparently I had read a another novel by this author previously, but completely forgot about that)
* Guardsmen series by Cooper West (M/M dog shifter romance, the first The Protector was okay, I really enjoyed the second Parker's Sanctuary, while the novella Mismatched worked less for me)
* Vespertine by Leta Blake (enjoyable contemporary m/m romance between a rockstar and a priest, no shifters or such, actually less angst and melodrama than I expected from the setup, though there's some of both)
* Until the World Stops by L.A. Witt (a m/m romance set during COVID times, and I found the getting together for convenience during lockdown premise intriguing enough to check out, but had mostly a meh reaction)
* We Have Till Dawn by Cara Dee (a case of Not My Kink, but well written enough that I finished it despite that. But I forgot again that this author is way more into daddykink and daddykink-adjacent relationships than I am, even if it is not prominently mentioned in every summary. I actually had the same reading experience with another of her novels, and then forgot again.)
* Slow Heat (Heat of Love #1) by Leta Blake (non-shifter A/B/O romance with age gap angst thrown in)

What I'm Reading Now

The second of that Leta Blake A/B/O series, Alpha Heat. So far does what it says on the tin, i.e. angsty and somewhat overwrought illicit alpha/alpha romance in A/B/O world.

What I'm Reading Next

My copy of What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch finally arrived yesterday (for some reason, maybe Brexit related? it was out of stock for a while at the German Amazon), so I probably will read that soon, once I scratched that A/B/O dynamic mood I'm in sufficiently.

What I Just Finished Reading

I finished Love Code by Ann Aguirre, which I enjoyed though not quite as much as the first in the series. I also listened to an audiobook version of Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi, because it became available at my library, and I had put a hold on it at some point after seeing a review somewhere. I didn't enjoy that novella, mostly because I found it hard to follow so I was left confused at the end. The POV characters' experiences of racism worked emotionally, but what I could piece together of the worldbuilding and the plot didn't hold up, and the superpowers and how the characters used and did not use them didn't really make sense to me either.

What I'm Reading Now

I was in the mood to read some femdom romance, which is unfortunately hard to find for some reason. I discovered that Joey W. Hill had written one last year, At Her Command that I haven't read yet, so I started that. Hill's books are kind of hit and miss for me. The writing is usually fairly solid, and sometimes the id-fic parts align well with my preferences, but also frequently things are featured that I'm not into. Like, I'm much less fond of the "life revolves around some exclusive sex club" trope, and am indifferent to the whole "successful, rich business people" protagonists. Also, there tends to be some "not like other girls" misogyny sprinkled around whenever heroines are described. OTOH this one features the sub having a service kink, which I really like. I can't say yet where exactly this will fall for me, but a third or so into it, I'm still sticking with it.

What I'm Reading Next

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (and re-reading the first book) is still on my TBR list, which is clearly more aspirational than a reliable reading schedule. I haven't acquired any new books beyond the one by Hill, to add the pile, so nothing changed from last week.

What I Just Finished Reading

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher. The second in the Saints of Steel series, and as delightful as the first.

What I'm Reading Now

I finished none of the ones I mentioned being vaguely in the middle of last week, but instead settled on starting Love Code by Ann Aguirre. I'm enjoying it so far.

What I'm Reading Next

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (and re-reading the first book) is still fairly high on my TBR list, or maybe Dalliances & Devotion by Felicia Grossman. There's also a new one by Patricia Briggs in her Alpha & Omega series, but I haven't even caught up with the one before that. But that reminded me that series exists, and that I enjoyed the first ones.

More immediately, there's assigned reading for my Russian course, that I still have to do, but that's only a page or so, some sort of article about sightseeing in Moscow, churches and statues judging by the helpful pictures...

Don't know whether I'll keep up with this meme regularly, but since I actually just finished reading a book...

What I Just Finished Reading

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert. A fun, quick read, that I enjoyed, though it veered a bit close to farce for me at some points. I liked this more than the second in the series, not quite as much as the first.

What I'm Reading Now

There are a couple of books I started but haven't finished yet. Immediately before the Talia Hibbert I had started Dalliances & Devotion by Felicia Grossman, because I really liked the first in that series, Appetites & Vices, but a little bit in the heroine started to rub me the wrong way, so I switched.

I guess technically I'm also reading the Duke I'd Like to F... collection, because I read one of the novellas (the one by Nicola Davidson), which was okay, but not great, and then I realized that all seemed to be quite into age differences with the woman younger, which while not a squick, isn't really a kink for me (I picked it up on sale for 89¢ so I didn't look too closely). So I'll probably won't continue with that for now.

Others I have started recently but have kind of drifted away from (without actively disliking, it's more being generally frazzled or something) are The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Greene, and The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller.

What I'm Reading Next

Always so hard to decide... Perhaps I pick up again one from the ones I already started. I also really want to read A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, but I probably should reread the first book, because it's been a while and also I only listened to that as an audio book (when I couldn't read because of eye stuff). Another possibility is Love Code by Ann Aguirre. I enjoyed the first in that series a lot, and hope the second will be as much fun.

Okay, so can somebody explain that final post-credit scene to me?

( spoilers, though mostly just confusion )

Current Mood: confused

...but this historical m/m romance novel I'm reading (Best Laid Plaids by Ella Stainton) is driving me crazy. Between both of them referring to themselves and each other sometimes by first, sometimes by last name, and also by hair color, body size, age and occasionally nationality in a dizzying, randomized cycle, there are entirely too many things to refer to just two people.

It's really frustrating, because the sex scenes are decent otherwise, the paranormal plot so far is interesting, and the characters likeable, but this makes it nearly unreadable.

Current Mood: aggravated

I am now caught up on the main storyline (all 180+ episodes) as well as a good number of specials, even though I only started to listen to it this January. This certainly explains why I haven't read a single book yet this year...

And now I have to wait to find out what happens next.

Has anyone tried this StoryGraph website/app out? Is it actually more helpful with book recommendations than Goodreads? I've seen some mentions in my DW circle a while ago, but have been reluctant to sign up for new services, because more often than not it just increases the number of semi-defunct accounts I have, but don't use. But it seems to be sticking around, and as I mentioned last month, I've been having trouble to pick and choose from my TBR pile right now.

So has anyone tried this and found it useful to settle on what to read next rather than just tracking their reading?

For some reason I've been just finding it harder and harder to pick what to read next, despite a growing book pile of things that looked promising when I saw a review or such. I never had any particular system, so I'm not sure why it's a hurdle now. I suspect it's that I'm reading more ebooks, so the unread piles is somehow both usually hidden yet overwhelming when I look at it?

It used to be that my electronic reading was mostly fanfic, where somehow this is less of a problem with the way that's published, but currently I'm less fandom engaged, and looking more to books, but it seems such an effort right now to decide what to start. Meh.

Maybe I should just use a random number generator or something.

Current Mood: indecisive

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RatCreature

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December 2022

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a frustrating thing about podcasts...

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WandaVision finale

I didn't think I was particularly sensitive to epithets...

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endlessly waffling over my to read pile

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