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ya-world-challenge · 4 months

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2023 Wrap-up

I fulfilled 31 countries for the World Challenge this year, bringing my total up to 57 out of 208.

I also read about 14 other books that were repeats of countries, additional books in series, and ones I just randomly picked up, so something like 44 in total.

I also finished up all the backlog of countries I had rolled with the randomizer, so in the new year I will get to roll some new ones - yay, exciting.

So here are my top favorites from the year!

Top 5 reads in 2023

The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya

A really beautiful novel of a prodigy pianist coming of age in Soviet Azerbaijan. Musical prose and just breathtaking story.

2. The Exiles of Crocodile Island by Henye Meyer

This was an unexpectedly really good book that I was lucky to find for the tiny islands of São Tomé & Príncipe. Following a group of Jewish children forced to a Portuguese settlement. Really insightful characterization and lovely writing.

3. The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk

Such a unique folklore-esque story by an Estonian author. A clash of modernity with ancient ways, and what gets forgotten.

4. The Key by Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

Book 3 and finale of the Engelsfors series set in Sweden really brought the series to an amazing climax and gave us great character development. Also I think, the longest book I read this year.

5. The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa

Super fun queer pirate adventure! This was just so refreshing and comforting at the same time.

Honorable mentions:

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue; Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi; I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera; On the Edge of Gone by Corrine Duyvis; When a Bulbul Sings by Hawaa Ayoub

See my book review tag for all my reviews!

Full list of countries read this year

Here's all the countries I fulfilled this year and the books I read for them.

🇦🇺 Australia - Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan - The Orphan Sky, Ella Leya

🇨🇺 Cuba - A Tall Dark Trouble - Vanessa Montalban

🇩🇰 Denmark - The Shamer's Daughter, Lene Kaaberbøl

🇪🇪 Estonia - The Man Who Spoke Snakish, Andrus Kivirähk

🇫🇯 Fiji - The Wild Ones, Nafiza Azad

🇮🇷 Iran - Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

🇮🇶 Iraq - Yazidi!, Aurélien Ducoudray & Mini Ludvin

🇮🇪 Ireland - All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O'Donoghue

🇱🇹 Lithuania - Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepatys

🇱🇺 Luxembourg - The Elf of Luxembourg, Tom Weston

🇲🇹 Malta - The Maltese Dreamer, Catherine Veritas

🇲🇽 Mexico - Secret of the Moon Conch, David Bowles; Guadalupe García McCall

🇳🇵 Nepal - What Elephants Know - Eric Dinerstein

🇳🇱 Netherlands - On the Edge of Gone, Corrine Duyvis

🇵🇸 Palestine - Travellers Along the Way, Aminah Mae Safi

🇵🇹 Portugal - Mariana, Katherine Vaz

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico - The Wicked Bargain, Gabe Cole Novoa

🇷🇴 Romania - And I Darken, Kiersten White

🇱🇨 St. Lucia - 'Til I Find You Greta Bondieumaitre

🇸🇲 San Marino - The Gladiator, Harry Turtledove

🇸🇹 São Tomé & Príncipe - The Exiles of Crocodile Island, Henye Meyer

🇸🇳 Senegal - No Heaven for Good Boys, Keisha Bush

🇸🇬 Singapore - Sofia and the Utopia Machine, Judith Huang

🇸🇰 Slovakia - Impossible Escape, Steve Sheinkin

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka - I Am Kavi, Thushanthi Ponweera

🇸🇪 Sweden - The Circle, Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago - When the Vibe is Right, Sarah Dass

🇹🇳 Tunisia - Other Names, Other Places, Ola Mustapha

🇻🇪 Venezuela - The Sun and the Void, Gabriel Romero Lacruz

🇾🇪 Yemen - When a Bulbul Sings, Hawaa Ayoub

And here's the moods that Storygraph says I read which turned out to be pretty varied.

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Overall not bad progress, and I look forward to continuing to read in 2024!

Have you read any of the books I picked or have them on your TBR? Feel free to comment!

#booklr #year end wrap up #2023 reads #year end #book review #updates #ya world challenge

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richincolor · 9 months

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August Most Anticipated Reads

As summer wraps up for me, my TBR pile is still a mile long, but that isn't going to stop me from addign more to it. There are a few books I'm really excited about this August... what are you excited to read this month?

Damned if You Do by Alex Brown

Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes.

She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is…missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear – then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father.

The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.

A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban [Out August 29!]

Twin sisters Ofelia and Delfi know better than to get involved with magic. Their Mami has seen to that. After all, it was magic that cursed their family, turning love into a poison. Romance is off the table for the Sanchez women. They’ve seen the curse take hold enough times to know how that road ends. And yet. Sometimes a girl catches feelings and just can’t help herself.

When Ofelia and Delfi begin having premonitions of a series of murders, the sisters know it is time to embrace their magical inheritance to get to the bottom of the mystery and save innocent lives. Teaming up with their best friend Ethan and with brooding detective-in-training Andres, the sisters set out to learn the truth. They just need to make sure Mami doesn’t find out what they’re up to.

Meanwhile, in 1980 Cuba, Anita struggles with a different magical conflict. Her mother, Mama Orti, is a bruja who belongs to a secret coven of elders and Anita knows she will be forced to join the coven herself one day. She sees no escape, though the thought of staying and letting this future claim her is terrifying. Ofelia, Delfi, and Anita’s stories collide as each woman steps into her power and embraces who she truly is, refusing to be subdued by any person, coven, or curse.

Never a Hero (Monsters #2) by Vanessa Len [Out August 29!]

Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick. But her success has come at a terrible cost.

She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that there is a ruthless and dangerous enemy still out there.

When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world as a fugitive, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in.

As the danger rises – and Nick gets perilously closer to discovering the truth of what Joan did to him – Joan discovers a secret of her own. One that threatens everyone she loves. Torn between love and family and monstrous choices, Joan must find a way to re-gather her old allies to face down the deadliest of enemies, and to save the timeline itself.

#damned if you do #a tall dark trouble #never a hero #always a monster #new releases #ya lit

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vulpixbookpix · 9 months

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3 out of 5 stars

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This anthology was comprised of short stories from YA authors for the Halloween season. The only requirements for the stories were that the tale had to happen on a blue moon on Halloween and that there was an element of queerness to it. The stories weren't too frightening, which, a scaredy cat like me was grateful for. Some of them were even a bit silly and fun, like "Hey There, Demons" by Tara Sim, where a young boy accidentally summons a demon (who turns out to be really hot) in order to exorcise a poltergeist that is haunting his home.

A few of the stories have homophobia in them in various degrees. "Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle" by Kosoko Jackson deals with a teen who had gotten beaten up and is able to seek revenge. There are also some suicidal thoughts, such as in "Save Me From Myself" by Auria Shonibar. So, please, be aware of that if you want to pick up this book.

Overall, the stories were entertaining. There were a couple that seemed to drag along or just didn't seem to connect with me. "Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia" by Vanessa Montalban was one of those. I honestly don't remember the premise after finishing the book.

If you like spooky reads that have queer characters, then this would be a great pick for the fall.

#3 stars #book review #books #reading #netgalley #night of the living queens #anthology #short stories

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ash-and-books · 1 year

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Rating:4.5/5

Book Blurb: Night of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales. No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation. NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is a YA horror anthology that explores how Halloween can be more than just candies and frights, but a night where anything is possible. Each short story will be told through the lens of a different BIPOC teen and the Halloween night that changes their lives forever. Creative, creepy, and queer, this collection will bring fresh terror, heart, and humor to young adult literature. Contributors include editors Alex Brown and Shelly Page, Kalynn Bayron, Ryan Douglass, Sara Farizan, Maya Gittelman, Kosoko Jackson, Em Liu, Vanessa Montalban, Ayida Shonibar, Tara Sim, Trang Thanh Tran, and Rebecca Kim Wells.

Review:

A collection of horror stories all happening on Halloween, told from different BIPOC teens. All the stories range from creepy to fun stories that take a fresh spin on classic horror tropes and tales. I had an absolute blast reading this one. I love that we get to read just a whole collection of queer horror stories that range from summon demons to inviting vampires in and dealing with feelings for your crush... who just might be a creature from another world. What a lovely and fun read that I would definitely recommend!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book revie #bookish #young adult lgbtq books #lgbtq books #queer reads #night of the living queers

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jolieeason · 8 months

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Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight by Shelly Page, Alex Brown, Ryan Douglass, Kalynn Bayron, Sara Farizan, Kosoko Jackson, Tara Sim, Rebecca Kim Wells, Trang Thanh Tran, Vanessa Montalban, Em X. Liu, Maya Gittelman, Ayida Shonibar

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books Date of publication: August 29th, 2023 Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Short Stories, Anthologies, LGBT, Queer, Fantasy, Paranormal, Fiction, Lesbian Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat Goodreads Synopsis: Night of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible exclusively featuring queer…

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yesreaderwriterpoetmusician · 9 months

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thegirlwiththelantern · 2 years

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Hello, again! I write book release posts on my book blog, China Sorrows. But I like them to be specifically for books I'm personally excited about. In looking for 2023 releases I came across quite a few books I don't want to read but which would probably be really exciting to other people, so here some are.

Quick note- because I'm not covering them on my blog I didn't hunt through various sources and if the one I found doesn't list a synopsis, I won't. I also don't list synopsis for sequels in case of spoilers.

On A Wire: A Novel by Ryan Lill-Washington (queer)

Night of the Living Queers edited by Alex Brown (queer)

Authors including Shelly Page, Kalynn Bayron, Sara Farizan, Kosoko Jackson, Tara Sim, Rebecca Kim Wells, Trang Thanh Tran, Vanessa Montalban

Things I'll Never Say by Cassandra Newbould (queer)

Ten years ago, the Scar Squad promised each other nothing would tear them apart. They stuck together through thick and thin, late-night surf sessions and after school spodies. Even when Casey Jones Caruso lost her twin brother Sammy to an overdose, and their foursome became a threesome, the squad picked each other up. But when Casey’s feeling for the remaining members—Francesca and Benjamin—develop into romantic attraction, she worries the truth will dissolve them and vows to ignore her heart. Then Ben kisses Casey at a summer party, and Frankie kisses another girl. Now Casey must confront all the complicated feelings she’s buried—for her friends and for her brother who she’s totally pissed at for dying. Since Sammy’s death, Casey has spilled all the things she can no longer say to him in journals, and now more than ever, she wishes he were here to help her decide whether she should guard her heart or bet it on love, before someone else makes the decision for her.

Star Tent: A Triptych by Amie Whittemore (queer)

poetry collection featuring alien abductions, black holes, and weird-ass sestinas

The Wicked Bargain By Gabe Cole Novoa (nonbinary)

On Mar León de la Rosa’s sixteenth birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn’t enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father, and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar’s father and the entire crew of their ship. When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up their soul to save their father by the harvest moon, or never see him again. The task is impossible–Mar refuses to make a bargain, and there’s no way their magic is a match for el Diablo. Then Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate–and the captain’s son; and Dami, a gender-fluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption–or it could mean certain death.

A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron (gay)

Edward Dinnissen leads a charmed life. He’s the Crown Prince of Canada, gets the royal treatment at his exclusive private school, and resides in a ritzy mansion. He thrives off being the perfect prince as he prepares for the Investiture Ceremony on his eighteenth birthday, the final step in his role as heir—and Canada’s future king. But this closeted Crown Prince has just one tiny problem: he’s unsure how to tell his parents, his beloved country, and his adoring fans that he’s gay. Billy Boone should be happy with the simple life. His family’s ranch is his favorite place in the world, he loves his small town, and his boyfriend is the cutest guy at Little Timber High. So why does it feel like something’s still missing? Maybe it has to do with the fact that this out-and-proud cowboy feels destined for more . . . When Edward and Billy meet by chance in New York City, they discover that they are long-lost twins, and their lives are forever changed. Together, will these twin princes—“twinces”—be able to take on high school, coming out, and coronations? Or will this royal reunion quickly become a royal wreck?

Last Chance Dance by Lakita Wilson (Black, bi)

Leila is crushed when Dev, her boyfriend of four years, breaks up with her right before graduation. Just when she’s thinking she wasted her entire high school experience on a dead-end relationship, her best friend Bree reminds her that Last Chance Dance is just around the corner. A high school tradition, the Last Chance Dance gives all the students one last opportunity to find love before they graduate. All Leila has to do is submit three unrequited crushes to the dance committee and if any of her crushes list her too, they’ll get matched. Presto: new relationship, just like that. To her utter amazement, Leila is matched with all three of her choices—and with someone she never expected, Tre Hillman, her chemistry partner and low-key nemesis. Though at times skeptical, Leila embarks on her Last Chance Dance mission—trying out her matches and going on dates. If Dev wasn’t her true love—then maybe someone else is. She knows it’s definitely not Tre, even though he seems more and more determined to convince her he’s right for her. But as graduation and the dance approaches, and each date seems to change her mind (and her heart)—Leila must figure out what—and who—she really wants. It’s her last chance, right?

The Last Catastrophe: Stories by Allegra Hyde

A vast caravan of RVs roam the United States. A girl grows a unicorn horn, complicating her small-town friendships and big city ambitions. A young lady on a spaceship bonds with her AI warden while trying to avoid an arranged marriage. In Allegra Hyde’s universe nothing is as it seems, yet the challenges her characters face mirror those of our modern age. Spanning the length of our very solar system, the fifteen stories in this collection explore a myriad of potential futures, all while reminding us that our world is precious, and that protecting it has the potential to bring us all together.

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson (queer)

In self-deified Emperor Thracin’s brave new galaxy, Humans are not citizens. Instead, they are laborers indentured to the empire, working to repay the billions in debt they unwittingly incurred when they settled on Gahraan—a planet already owned by someone else. Asha Akindele has lived her whole life on Gahraan, eking out an existence between factory assembly lines and constant terror—studying stolen aeronautics manuals in the dead of night and trying not to get herself killed for mouthing off to a guard. Then she discovers she has a sister imprisoned by the Emperor, and is forced to make a choice: stay enslaved, but relatively safe, or escape and risk everything in the name of family. Obi Amadi is a time-traveller, sick with a legendary disease. Armed only with his prosthetic arm, his ever-constant melancholy, and the humour he uses to mask it, he has spent years travelling through time and space in search of a cure for the sickness currently unmaking him limb by limb. His mandate: Find the cure, go home. And maybe figure out along the way if the prince he thinks sometimes he might love could be that home. When Obi saves Asha’s life, they make a pact: both will do all they can to get the other to the Emperor’s stronghold unscathed. With the reluctant aid of Xavior, a mouthy deckhand with a mysterious past, Asha and Obi attempt to navigate a galaxy that hates them to find the things they both believe will make them whole. But a prophecy has started that has other plans, and not only is Asha forced to make a terrible choice, she must soon reckon with the legacy of an ancient religion and its heroes, who may be awakening, reincarnated in ways beyond her comprehension.

The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney (sapphic)

For generations, a monster called the Memory Eater has lived in the caves of Whistler Beach, Maine, surviving off the unhappy memories of those who want to forget. And for generations, the Harlows have been in charge of keeping her locked up—and keeping her fed. After her grandmother dies, seventeen-year-old Alana Harlow inherits the family business. But there’s something Alana doesn’t know: the strange gaps in her memory aren’t from an accident. Her memories have been taken—eaten. And with them, she’s lost the knowledge of how to keep the monster contained. Now the Memory Eater is loose. Alana’s mistake could cost Whistler Beach everything—unless she can figure out how to retrieve her memories and recapture the monster. But as Alana delves deeper into her family’s magic and the history of her town, she discovers a shocking secret at the center of the Harlow family business and learns that tampering with memories always comes at a price.

Running by Lindsey A. Freeman (queer)

In Running, former NCAA Division I track athlete Lindsey A. Freeman presents the feminist and queer handbook of running that she always wanted but could never find. For Freeman, running is full of joy, desire, and indulgence in the pleasure and weirdness of having a body. It allows for a space of freedom—to move and be moved. Through tender storytelling of a lifetime wearing running shoes, Freeman considers injury and recovery, what it means to run as a visibly queer person, and how the release found in running comes from a desire to touch something that cannot be accessed when still. Running invites us to run through life, legging it out the best we can with heart and style.

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes (queer)

Berlin 1933. Following the success of her debut novel, American writer Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels himself to participate in a culture exchange program in Germany. For a girl from a small town in Maine, 1933 Berlin seems to be sparklingly cosmopolitan, blossoming in the midst of a great change with the charismatic new chancellor at the helm. Then Althea meets a beautiful woman who promises to show her the real Berlin, and soon she’s drawn into a group of resisters who make her question everything she knows about her hosts—and herself. Paris 1936. She may have escaped Berlin for Paris, but Hannah Brecht discovers the City of Light is no refuge from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she thought she left behind. Heartbroken and tormented by the role she played in the betrayal that destroyed her family, Hannah throws herself into her work at the German Library of Burned Books. Through the quiet power of books, she believes she can help counter the tide of fascism she sees rising across Europe and atone for her mistakes. But when a dear friend decides actions will speak louder than words, Hannah must decide what stories she is willing to live—or die—for. New York 1944. Since her husband Edward was killed fighting the Nazis, Vivian Childs has been waging her own war: preventing a powerful senator’s attempts to censor the Armed Service Editions, portable paperbacks that are shipped by the millions to soldiers overseas. Viv knows just how much they mean to the men through the letters she receives—including the last one she got from Edward. She also knows the only way to win this battle is to counter the senator’s propaganda with a story of her own—at the heart of which lies the reclusive and mysterious woman tending the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn. As Viv unknowingly brings her censorship fight crashing into the secrets of the recent past, the fates of these three women will converge, changing all of them forever. Inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime—the WWII organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as “weapons in the war of ideas”—The Librarian of Burned Books is an unforgettable historical novel, a haunting love story, and a testament to the beauty, power, and goodness of the written word.

The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar (queer)

Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita was born to be a star. Her tent sells out nightly, and every performance incites bloodcurdling screams. She’s the most lucrative circus act from Texas to Tacoma, the crown jewel of the Family Fortuna, and Avita feeds on the shrieks, the gasps, the fear. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his rendering of Bird Girl. Is that all he sees? A hideous monster—all sharp beak and razor teeth, obsidian eyes and ruffled feathers? Determined to be more, Avita devises a plan to snatch freedom out from under the greased mustache of her charismatic father, the domineering proprietor and ringmaster. But will their fragile circus family survive the showdown she has in mind? By turns delightful and disturbing, bawdy and breathtaking, horrific and heartfelt, this electric and exquisitely crafted story about a family like no other challenges our every notion of what it means to be different—subject to an earful of screams—and to step out of the shadows and shine anyway.

Infamous by Lex Croucher (sapphic)

Twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer Edith (“Eddie”) Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together—from climbing trees and sneaking bottles of wine, to extensive kissing practice. But Rose has started talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. Why can’t they continue as they always have? Then Eddie meets charming, renowned poet Nash Nicholson––a rival of Lord Byron, if he does say so himself––and he welcomes her into his world of eccentric artists and boundary-breaking visionaries. When Eddie receives an invitation to Nash's crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside, promising inspiration (and time to finish her novel, a long-held dream), she eagerly agrees. But the pure hedonism and debauchery that ensues isn’t exactly what she had in mind, and Eddie soon finds herself torn between her complicated feelings for Rose and her equally complicated dynamic with Nash, whose increasingly bad behavior doesn’t match up to her vision for her literary hero. Will Eddie be forced to choose between her friendship with Rose and her literary dreams––or will she be able to write her own happily ever after?

The Third Daughter by Adrienne Tooley (sapphic)

THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a sapphic YA fantasy out next summer about emotional girls doing desperate things to save their families/country/souls from a corrupt church intent on seizing the throne.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner (sapphic)

CLEAT CUTE is about a rookie and a veteran battling for a spot on the World Cup roster who realize cooperation may be better than competition, both on and off the field

Cassidy is Queen by Cameron James (sapphic)

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (queer)

It’s 2003, and artist Dawn Levit is stuck. A bookbinder who works in conservation at the Met, she spends her free time scouting the city’s street art, hoping something might spark inspiration. Instead, everything looks like a dead end. And art isn’t the only thing that feels wrong: wherever she turns, her gender identity clashes with the rest of her life. Her relationship, once anchored by shared queerness, is falling apart as her boyfriend Lukas increasingly seems to be attracted to Dawn only when she’s at her most masculine. Meanwhile at work, Dawn has to present as female, even on the days when that isn’t true. Either way, her difference feels like a liability. Then, one day at work, Dawn finds something hidden behind the endpaper of an old book: the torn-off cover of a ‘50s lesbian pulp novel, Turn Her About. On the front is a campy illustration of a woman looking into a handheld mirror and seeing a man’s face. And on the back is a love letter. Dawn latches onto the coincidence, becoming obsessed with tracking down the note’s author. Her fixation only increases when her best friend Jae is injured in a hate crime, for which Dawn feels responsible. As Dawn searches for the letter’s author, she is also looking for herself. She tries to understand how to live in a world that doesn’t see her as she truly is, how to get unstuck in her gender, and how to rediscover her art, and she can’t shake the feeling that the note’s author might be able to help guide her to the answers.

Sterling Karat Gold by Isabel Waidner (nonbinary)

Sterling Beckenbauer is plunged into a terrifying and nonsensical world one morning when they are attacked, then unfairly arrested, in their neighborhood in London. With the help of their friends, Sterling hosts a trial of their own in order to exonerate themselves and to hold the powers that be to account.

A Manual for How to Love Us by Erin Slaughter

Seamlessly shifting between the speculative and the blindingly real, balancing the bizarre with the subtle brutality of the mundane, A Manual for How to Love Us is a tender portrait of women trying their best to survive, love, and find genuine meaning in the aftermath of loss. In these unconventional and unpredictably connected stories, Erin Slaughter shatters the stereotype of the soft-spoken, sorrowful woman in distress, queering the domestic and honoring the feral in all of us. In each story, grieving women embrace their wildest impulses as they attempt to master their lives: one woman becomes a “gazer” at a fraternity house, another slowly moves into her otherworldly stained-glass art, a couple speaks only in their basement’s black box, and a thruple must decide what to do when one partner disappears. The women in Erin Slaughter’s stories suffer messy breaks, whisper secrets to the ghosts tangled in the knots of their hair, eat raw meat to commune with their inner wolves, and build deadly MLM schemes along the Gulf Coast.

#book #books #2023 #queer #booklr #my lists

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everyoneneedsaface · 4 years

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Any alts for Paris berelc and family for them?

Alts: Olivia Rodrigo, Gabbi Garcia, Clementine Albano, Melissa Calma

Dad: Paolo Montalban, Piolo Pascual, Richard Gomez

Mom: Vanessa Lachey, Lea Salonga, Chuti Tiu

Sister: Kathryn Bernardo, Julia Barretto, Bea Binene

Brother: Joshua Garcia, Daniel Padilla, Kiko Estrada

#ask #family #siblings #parents

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diaryofanangryasianguy · 6 years

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Hi! I was wondering if you ever saw Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)? It was a made-for-tv disney musical with Paolo Montalban as the Prince Charming and Brandy as Cinderella. I remember that it made me really happy to see an Asian (Southeast Asian, as Montalban is Filipino-American) in an actual romantic role. I generally didn't care for disney at the time and even more so now, but that one movie just made me really happy seeing an actual Asian actor.

Hey!

I believe I’ve seen some segments of it but I never saw the whole thing through. I don’t watch musicals except High School Musical (and it was mainly for Vanessa Hudgens lmfao can’t lie though).

But that’s pretty cool. I didn’t know the dude was Filipino American. Well we are talking about 1997 and I wasn’t that old yet so lol. I don’t think I even knew that Filipino people existed at that time yet. I probably didn’t even know what race was tbh lol. In 1997, I only remember watching anime and some cartoons.

Angry Asian Guy

#anon #ask #yup

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battyaboutbooksreviews · 8 months

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🦇 Young Adult Books for Latin and Hispanic Heritage Month 🦇

📚 It's the beginning of Latin & Hispanic Heritage Month, and I hardly know where to begin! Here are just a FEW of the amazing stories written by Latin and Hispanic authors to read in celebration of the culture!

✨ I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez ✨ Running by Natalia Sylvester ✨ It's All Love by Jenna Ortega ✨ Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez ✨ Suncatcher by Jose Pimienta ✨ Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa ✨ Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older ✨ Mexican White boy by Matt de la Peña ✨ Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez ✨ Fire With Fire by Destiny Soria ✨ You Don't Have a Shot by Racquel Marie ✨ Wings in the Wild by Margarita Engle ✨ Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore ✨ We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez ✨ The Turning Pointe by Lauren Yero ✨ Under This Forgetful Sky by Vanessa L. Torres ✨ A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban ✨ This is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves ✨ Secret of the Moon Conch by David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall ✨ Rubi Ramos's Recipe for Success by Jessica Parra ✨ Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira ✨ Last Sunrise in Eterna by Amparo Ortiz ✨ No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado ✨ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ✨ Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera ✨ The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes ✨ The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo ✨ Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

#young adult books #young adult fiction #books #book recommendation #book lovers #batty about books #battyaboutbooks

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ya-world-challenge · 10 months

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Half-year wrap-up and 1 Year Anniversary!

I posted the first review for my YA World Challenge reading project on June 24 last year, so I just realized it's my 1 year anniversary!

So far I have finished 40 countries/regions! Including 2 trilogies and 1 duology that makes 45 books, at a rate of almost 4 per month. I'm pretty happy with that progress! I finished 20 books in 2023 so far.

I'm also happy that I'm still enjoying this project. Sticking to genres I like has helped, and I'm amazed by the diversity of new YA releases coming out lately, which has made it easy to pick up new books (thanks, Netgalley!!)

Challenge progress:

40 of 208 countries/regions (newly added in bold)

🇦🇫 Afghanistan - One Half from the East, Nadia Hashimi

🇦🇷 Argentina - Furia, Yamile Saied Méndez

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan - The Orphan Sky, Ella Leya

🇧🇸 Bahamas - Facing the Sun, Janice Lynn Mathers

🇧🇴 Bolivia - Woven in Moonlight + Written in Starlight, Isabel Ibañez

🇧🇼 Botswana - Entwined, Cheryl S. Ntumy

🇨🇦 Canada - This House is Not a Home, Katłıà

🇨🇫 Central African Republic - Beasts of Prey, Ayana Gray*

🇨🇳 China - Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan

🇨🇿 Czech Republic - Torch, Lyn Miller-Lachmann

🇪🇪 Estonia - The Man Who Spoke Snakish, Andrus Kivirähk

🇫🇯 Fiji - The Wild Ones, Nafiza Azad

🇫🇷 France - Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, Faïza Guène

🇬🇷 Greece - Tina’s Web, Alki Zei

🇬🇱 Greenland - Last Night in Nuuk, Niviaq Korneliussen

🇬🇩 Grenada - Sugar Money, Jane Harris

🇮🇳 India - Lioness of Punjab, Anita Jari Kharbanda

🇮🇶 Iraq - Yazidi!, Aurélien Ducoudray & Mini Ludvin

🇮🇪 Ireland - All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O'Donoghue

🇯🇵 Japan - Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Mizuki Tsujimura

🇱🇹 Lithuania - Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepatys

🇲🇾 Malaysia - The Weight of Our Sky, Hanna Alkaf

🇲🇽 Mexico - Secret of the Moon Conch - David Bowles; Guadalupe García McCall

🇲🇦 Morocco - Thorn, Intisar Khanani*

🇳🇬 Nigeria - An Ordinary Wonder, Buki Papillon

🇲🇰 North Macedonia - A Spare Life, Lidija Dimkovska

🇵🇸 Palestine - Travellers Along the Way, Aminah Mae Safi

🇵🇱 Poland - When the Angels Left the Old Country, Sacha Lamb

🇵🇹 Portugal - Mariana, Katherine Vaz

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico - The Wicked Bargain, Gabe Cole Novoa

🇷🇴 Romania - And I Darken (trilogy), Kiersten White

🇷🇺 Russia - Night Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko

🇼🇸 Samoa - Telesā: The Covenant Keeper, Lani Wendt Young

🇬🇧 Scotland - The Library of the Dead, T.L. Huchu

🇸🇬 Singapore - Sofia and the Utopia Machine, Judith Huang

🇸🇪 Sweden - The Circle (Engelsfors trilogy), Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago - When the Vibe is Right, Sarah Dass

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates - Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson*

🇺🇸 United States - Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe - All That It Ever Meant, Blessing Musariri

*inspired fantasy world

Currently reading:

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka - I Am Kavi, Thushanthi Ponweera 🇨🇺 Cuba - A Tall Dark Trouble, Vanessa Montalban

#updates #ya world challenge #reading challenge #half year update #booklr #bookblr #june wrap up #2023 reads #books #tbr goals #ya books #fantasy books #diverse books #currently reading #books and reading #reading goals #read the world #authors of color #reading list

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uzuuzuking · 7 years

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hey pal,,, do u have any like,, specific music you listen to when you're doin art or just trying to focus on somethin? I'm trying to start that klance AU but ?? I have 0 inspiration and 0 motivation i need som Help

*blows the dust off my stupid sappy love songs playlist for otps and daydreams* *claps my grubby hands and starts rubbing them together* boi have i got some music for u

this playlist is now titled specifically “for cass” but if anyone else wants to make fun of my music taste, go right ahead. i’m exposing myself

in alphabetical order bc that’s how my ipod sorts it:

all about your heart - mindy gledhill (super fluffy love song!)

as long as you’re mine - idina menzel & leo norbert butz (i just rly love wicked ok)

banana pancakes - jack johnson (really calm established relationship song)

bloom - the paper kites (soooo soothing and good for pining)

camera shy - school boy humor (two words: celebrity au)

can i have this dance - vanessa hudgens & zac efron (yeah it’s hsm but i’ve always loved music in 3/4 time plus imagine lance teaching keith how to dance aaaaaa)

can’t sleep love - pentatonix (my jaaaammm)

clarity (cover) - andrew garcia & andy lange (this cover is soft and i discovered it bc of an ereri cmv where they kiss a lot. sue me.)

climbing the walls - backstreet boys (THE PINING!!!!!!!)

crazier - taylor swift (she actually has some rly good otp songs i have to admit...)

do i love you because you’re beautiful - brandy & paolo montalban (i loooove cinderella 1997 and this song is sooooo good just trust me on this. also watch the movie!!)

do you know me - john mayer (dreamy feelings)

dressed to kill - landon pigg (mmm yes good. ballroom dance au where they see each other in fancy clothes for the first time and are hit in the kokoro with the doki dokis)

enchanted - owl city or taylor swift (either is fine but i do like owl city. imagine the masquerade!!!!!)

falling in love at a coffee shop - landon pigg (the title is self explanatory)

falling slowly - the swell season (soft!!!!!!!)

for the dancing and the dreaming - httyd cast (a rly cute song,,)

girls like girls - hayley kiyoko (every song she drops the gayer i become. i rise.)

hazy - rosy golan feat. willian fitzsimmons (extreeemmeely soft and cute!)

hello, i’m in delaware - city and colour (relaxing and more dreamy feelings)

house by the sea - moddi (recently discovered this song bc @sniperlance posted about it saying “homesick lance” and i cry bc it rly is homesick lance,,)

i knew i loved you - savage garden (gives me that 90s teen romance vibe and i like it)

i’d lie - taylor swift (GOD THE PININGGGGGG!!!)

i’m yours - jason mraz (cute cute cute cute cute)

if i’m saying nothing - landon pigg (more pining bc i can’t control myself apparently)

jenny - studio killers (surprise bitch! bet you thought you’d seen the last of pining)

love story - taylor swift (this is where my altean prince lance and assassing galra keith au comes from lol)

missing you - all time low (klangst hurt/comfort)

one and only (cover) - samantha palileo (her voice is so smooth i get chills every time)

one day - kodaline (more klangst hurt/comfort)

paper tigers - owl city (idk i just imagine klance so hard to this man u gotta give it a try)

pretty girl - hayley kiyoko (gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay)

rhythm of love - plain white t’s (it’s old but it’s cute!)

siren - the honey trees (i love the instrumentals)

something just like this - the chainsmokers & coldplay (the music video is so cute,, pls imagine tiny boy lance growing up wanting to be a superhero and pining keith who just wants to smooch him and hug him)

so she dances - josh groban (his voice is like smooth molasses. plus dance au with extra pining)

suerte - jason mraz & ximena sariñana (all i care about is the spanish bc spanish speaking lance)

te amo y más - diego luna (more spanish speaking lance!!!!!)

tee shirt - birdy (her alto voice cures my depression)

ten minutes ago - brandy & paolo montalban (ballroom/masquerade au!! the possibilities are endless!!!!!)

when can i see you again - owl city (all the xylophone sounds like stars and it’s so happy)

wherever you are - barry coffing & vonda shepard (yeah it’s originally from a winnie the pooh movie but come on. i’m cliche af so might as well)

willow weeping - priscilla ahn (mmmmmm the pining)

world falls apart - dash berlin feat. john mendelsohn (saving each other and always being there for each other aaaaaa)

world spins madly on - the weepies (this is what inspired one of my langst drawings lol)

whew all done! enjoy my dumb music

#answers #music #jams #sorry it took so long for me to respond!#i have a lot of music lol #GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FIC YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!#bi-dragon-queen

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