#darren charlton

[aurorawest]

2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Is it February of 2024? Yes! Am I still going to post my favorite books that I read in 2023? Also yes!

Ginn Hale's Cadeleonian Series, the second half of which I read in 2023: Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, Book Two; Master of Restless Shadows, Book One; and Master of Restless Shadows, Book Two

This series begins with Lord of the White Hell and continues with Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, then concludes with Master of Restless Shadows. Each duology follows a different set of characters, but it's a true series so you need to read them in order. It's a toss-up for me whether I preferred Champion of the Scarlet Wolf or Master of Restless Shadows. Both are fantastic duologies. I particularly loved getting Atreau's story in Master because he's sort of an unlikable playboy-esque character in the preceding books...but wait! Turns out there's more to him after all.

After Francesco by Brian Malloy

Who would think a book about living through the AIDS epidemic in NYC in the 80s would be as funny as this book is? It will also tear your heart out and stomp on it. Also takes place partly in Minneapolis (and is by a Minnesotan author).

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Folklorist meets the Green Man and they fall in love. This is the first half of a duology, the second being Drowned Country, which I just finished today so can't included it on my 2023 wrap-up. All the dark and violent whimsy of the mythic past and the most brutal versions of fairy tales, plus a lovely romance.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in (the author has cited Ender's Game as a huge influence). I don't want to say anything more than that, because I feel strongly that you need to go into this book knowing nothing. The twists and turns are so good, the main trio are wonderful, complicated characters, and the world is super cool.

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

In some ways the most heartbreaking of Pulley's novels. Also probably her most dreamy and magical. It's my least favorite of her books, but my least favorite Natasha Pulley book still ended up on my best of 2023 reading list.

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

This book awakened in me a latent love of Soviet queers. You'll see this book filed under sci-fi by booksellers, but it isn't really—it's historical fiction about a very real nuclear disaster in the USSR that was covered up for decades. Like all of Pulley's books, the characters are deeply complicated and flawed. The pleasure is really in reading the way she tells a story and her beautiful use of language, so even if you're not interested in Soviet nuclear disasters, I absolutely recommend you read this. Also, you'll probably be interested in Soviet nuclear disasters when you're done.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Haha, you thought The Watchmaker of Filigree Street punched you in the chest with feels? Get ready for the sequel, which will have you Curled Into A Sobbing Ball On The Floor™. Join Thaniel Steepleton, Keita Mori, and their adopted Waifish Victorian Orphan, Six, as they go to Japan, where things are weird, there are ghosts, and Thaniel and Mori still somehow don't understand what they mean to each other.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. This book is my favorite of Natasha Pulley's novels.

Tommy Cabot Was Here and Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian

The first two books in Cat Sebastian's The Cabots series. The books are historical fiction that follow various queer men in the Cabot family. The Cabots are one of those old money, liberal New England families—think Kennedys. Both books are about Sad Gay Men™ finding love in soft, tiptoeing Cat Sebastian fashion. Peter Cabot is a road trip romance and a bit longer, so the characters have some time to breathe.

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly

This was probably a Stucky fic at one point, right? I mean. No shade though, truly! This was my favorite romcom that I read in 2023. It was also a comp for Strangers to Husbands, haha. I love the setting—hiking the Pacific Crest Trail—and I love the main characters, Alexei and Ben. Alexei came out to his family recently and got rejected, while Ben is from a big, accepting Portuguese family. Funny, touching, and an excellent love story.

Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver

Looks like a romcom but will stab you in the heart repeatedly. Kit Oliver has a gorgeous way with words and captures the dynamic between two people who have no idea how to talk to each other so well. I'm also a sucker for farm settings.

The Sugared Game and Subtle Blood by KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures)

I've read almost all of KJ Charles's books at this point, but the Will Darling Adventures are my favorites (I read the first book in the series in 2022). I love the combination of romance and action/adventure. I've never met a m/m book set in the interwar period that I haven't loved. Will and Kim are wonderful characters, and sometimes I think about what other adventures they had after book three ended.

Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray

An FBI agent and a GRU agent get assigned to work a case together in 1959 and they fall in looooove. There's a road trip, a family dinner, and FEELS. I'm not sure I've ever had a time skip hit me in the gut so hard. Remember how I said I love Soviet queers? Here's another example.

Wranglestone and Timberdark by Darren Charlton

What if the real dystopia isn't the zombie apocalypse, but "normal" life? I don't know if I've ever read a YA series that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I know I've never read a zombie book that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I don't think these books have even been published in the US (only in the UK), but if you can get your hands on them, they're worth it. Really beautifully written in a style that evokes the emptiness of the great national parks of the American west.

Honorable mentions:

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

#wranglestone #timberdark #darren charlton #honeytrap #aster glenn gray #kj charles #sugared game #subtle blood #cattle stop #kit oliver #something wild and wonderful #anita kelly #the cabots #cat sebastian #natasha pulley #the bedlam stacks #the half life of valery k #the lost future of pepperharrow #the kingdoms #some desperate glory #emily tesh #silver in the wood #after francesco #brian malloy #ginn hale #champion of the scarlet wolf #master of restless shadows #reading tag

[guide-to-galaxy]

Top 5 (books I will definitely read in 2024) Tuesday

If I don’t read these books by the end of this year, someone needs to take away my reader badge 😂. I know Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads won’t think any less of you for not reading all the books. Neither will I – but I want roasting if I don’t read these books lol. 📚🚀📚 The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (GR/SG) – Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of…

View On WordPress

#Ace of Spades #Aiden Thomas #Babel #blogging #books #Chloe Liese #Darren Charlton #Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé #Only When it&039;s Us #R.F. Kuang #The Sunbearer Trials #top 5 tuesday #Wranglestone

[thepeculiarbird]

I've been thinking of my next read and still can't figure out which book I wanna read so that's why I'm doing a poll.

I couldn't find the english title of the first book so here's the cover.

#book #poll #readers #reading #reader poll #alice oseman #iwbft #sarah sprinz #leigh bardugo #grishaverse #the grisha series #the raven cycle #maggie stiefvater #young blood #sasha laurens #wranglestone #darren charlton #the fascinators #andrew eliopulos

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: LGBTQ Apocalyptic YA

Fave Five: LGBTQ Apocalyptic YA

All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown Wranglestone by Darren Charlton Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward

View On WordPress

#All That&039;s Left in the World #Andrew Joseph White #Bleeding Earth #Darren Charlton #Erik J Brown #Francesca Lia Block #Hell Followed With Us #Kaitlin Ward #Love in the Time of Global Warming #Wranglestone

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Wranglestone | Author: Darren Charlton | Publisher: Stripes Publishing (2020)

#books #Wranglestone #Darren Charlton

[fantasticbookdragon]

Review: Timberdark by Darren Charlton

Review: Timberdark by Darren Charlton

Author: Darren Charlton Genre: YA Fantasy Published by: Little Tiger Publication date: 01/09/22 Pages: 384 My rating: ★★★★★ I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (more…)

View On WordPress

#Darren Charlton #Gifted #Little Tiger #Review #Timberdark #Wranglestone

[klausbens]

i just recently read wranglestone and “home” by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros is 100% a peter and cooper song

#wranglestone #darren charlton #frankie reads

[ninjacat49]

Home by Cavetown is so Cooper coded oh my

#wranglestone #timberdark #darren charlton #cooper #love him

[lovebooksgroup]

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton @DarrenRCharlton @YA_Books #BookReview #BookTwitter #Fivestarread #WOW

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton @DarrenRCharlton @YA_Books #BookReview #BookTwitter #Fivestarread #WOW

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton Review by Kelly Lacey  Having been struggling of late to find a book that sparked excitement and deep emotion within me. I picked up Wranglestone at random from my small home library. I had planned to read for maybe an hour and then get on with my day. That all changed after just a few pages.  The world-building that Darren Charlton creates is exquisite and it…

View On WordPress

#Darren Charlton #Gay Romance #Wranglestone #Zombies

[therealefl]

Charlton Athletic - Five Potential Replacements for Dean Holden - Opinion

Charlton Athletic’s fourth League One loss of the season yesterday proved to be costly for Dean Holden, the 43-year-old boss relieved of his duties at The Valley after lasting eight months in the hot-seat. Currently occupying 19th spot in the third tier, this weekend’s 2-1 away loss at Oxford United proved to be the final straw with a statement released yesterday evening confirming the news that…

View On WordPress

#barrow afc #Charlton Athletic #Chris Wilder #Danny Cowley #darren moore #dean holden #efl league one #EFL League Two #league one #league two #Leam Richardson #lincoln city #manager sacking #Pete Wild #Sheffield United #Sheffield Wednesday #Wigan athletic

[aurorawest]

Reading update

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters - 4.25/5 stars

Genuinely good YA thriller.

The Stagsblood Prince by Gideon E Wood - 4.25/5 stars

This one ripped my heart out and I am going to be PISSED if there isn't a happy ending in the third book in the trilogy.

You First by JC Lillis - 4.25/5 stars

You'd think a book that is essentially an Incredibles AU would be lighthearted, right? You wouldn't think you'd practically be sobbing by the end? Haha! You thought wrong!

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton - 4.25/5 stars

I initially rated this 4.25 stars but honestly I might bump it up to 4.5. It's a zombie story but it was really well done, and I ordered the second book in the series the minute I finished this one.

The Falcon and the Foe by AJ Truman - 3.75/5 stars

Felix Silver, Teaspoons, & Witches by Harry Cook - DNF

This one was too Middle Grade for me.

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers - 3.5/5 stars

So I won my local indie bookstore's trivia in March and the first place prize was a bunch of books that I never would have picked up on my own, including this one. I bumped it to the front of my TBR pile because I thought it would make a good comp for the manuscript I'm editing - it's about a woman who meets and drunkenly marries a stranger in Vegas, then falls in love with her afterwards. The book is really not a romance though, and is actually about burnout. I might have rated it higher if it didn't sell itself as a romance.

All the Better Part of Me by Molly Ringle - 4.25/5 stars

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. There isn't a single one of her books that don't live in my mind rent free for apparently the rest of time after I read them, but man. I'm not sure if this one hurt as much as The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, but it's pretty close. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. AKDJF;AKDJFKDAFJ;D JUST PLEASE READ IT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

A Destiny of Dragons by TJ Klune - DNF

Not only did I DNF this, I removed the rest of the series from my TBR pile and will be offloading them at my local indie bookstore's next book buy-back. I think the worst part of this one was that he dedicated it to his eighth grade English teacher, who apparently told him his stories would never amount to anything. And like. What an awful thing for a teacher to tell a kid (sidebar, my eighth grade English teacher is one of the reasons I started to really take writing seriously, she was amazingly supportive - thank you, Mrs. Brzezinski!). But reading this series is like...you know, she might have had a point. I KID I KID WE ALL KNOW KLUNE ACTUALLY CAN WRITE but holy shit again, this series is so bad. The writing was a little better than The Lightning-Struck Heart but the characters are so fucking annoying. The term Mary Sue gets thrown around a lot and I'm generally not a fan of its application (since usually it's used to tear down teenage girls) but Sam of Wilds is such a fucking Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, I guess, but down with the gender binary, let's just have one word). Everyone wants to have sex with him and while it may have been sort of funny at first (it wasn't), by book 2, the joke has worn extremely thin. Also there's a prophecy about him, because of course there is. And he's the most powerful wizard ever. And yeah, I've read a lot of books where there's a prophecy about the MC and they're the Most Powerful Magic Person Ever, but they're usually not this annoying.

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim - 5/5 stars

This is book 2 of a really interesting and original fantasy/steampunk series. I really enjoyed the first one but this one was even better. It takes place in a world where time running correctly is controlled by clock towers. The main character is a clock mechanic (obviously an important job) who falls in love with the clock spirit of the town of Enfield (delightful, since my wife is from Enfield and it's not a place you often see mentioned in fiction). This book raises the stakes of the first one and takes place largely in India. Highly recommend.

Stormhaven by Jordan L Hawk - 4.25/5 stars

Game Changer by Rachel Reid - 4/5 stars

Is this the OG m/m hockey book? There was something very quaint about it haha.

The Best Man's Problem by Sera Taíno - DNF

I'm beginning to realize that I don't really like books where the family is given equal importance to the romance.

Arctic Wild by Annabeth Albert - 4/5 stars

Hummingbird Heartbreak by Max Walker - 2.75/5 stars

I found Dusty's reaction to the reveal of Brandon's past to be over-the-top and unreasonable (like, unreasonable within the context of the story - obviously characters can react unreasonably to things, but it still needs to make sense for them!). I probably would have rated this 3 stars if not for that, because it's a sweet enough love story.

The World We Make by NJ Jemisin - 2.5/5 stars

NK Jemisin, please do not read this. Jemisin has been open about how difficult this book was to write, and about the fact that she couldn't handle the trilogy she'd planned and took it down to a duology, and…unfortunately, it shows. I loved the first book but this one was a disappointing finale. The pacing was uneven and the character development stalled. Plot threads were introduced and either vanished (Bronca's new girlfriend) or were resolved in a way that felt unearned (the mayoral race, Manny's true identity, honestly the whole big conflict). Aislyn was an interesting character who ultimately felt underutilized. I actually, physically cringed at a couple points during this book—the coda was really just one long cringe, and the other moment was when Brooklyn calls...Beyonce. Who is an old friend. But then Beyonce is never brought up again and I couldn't tell you what the purpose of her inclusion in the book was. I'm sure some people love that kind of stuff but I can't stand it.

I did really love the other cities though! If Jemisin ever returned to this universe, I'd read a book about Faiyum in a heartbeat. His snark and his gay little crocodile earring were chef's kiss.

Jemisin is a fabulous writer and all my issues with this book feel like the result of an author forcing herself to write something she wasn't feeling and just wanted to be done with. Disappointing all the same since I had really been looking forward to this one.

The Sugared Game by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

It is not possible to go wrong with an AJ Charles book and this one is no exception. I love Kim and Will so much, and I really really hope the third book builds on the trust they established in this one.

Sixteen Souls by Rose Talbot - 3.75/5 stars

I liked this book but I did find myself, at the climax, wondering why on earth living people would sacrifice themselves to save ghosts from...being more dead? Like. They're...already dead.

#natasha pulley #the kingdoms #kj charles #the sugared game #the restless dark #erica waters #the stagsblood prince #gideon e wood #you first #jc lillis #wranglestone #darren charlton #honey girl #morgan rogers #a destiny of dragons #tj klune #chainbreaker #tara sim #hummingbird heartbreak #max walker #the world we make #nk jemisin #sixteen souls #rosie talbot #reading tag

[guide-to-galaxy]

Top 5 books (with water) Tuesday

I like the open water! Well, no, let me rephrase that. I like watching movies about the open water – especially if there’s a sea creature involved. Much easier for me to stay on land if I knows what lurks in the depths 😂. 📚🚀📚 Fable by Adrienne Young (GR/SG) – Trader. Fighter. Survivor. As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable…

View On WordPress

#Adrienne Young #blogging #books #Darren Charlton #Erin Morgenstern #Fable #Into the Drowning Deep #Joan He #Mira Grant #The Ones We&039;re Meant to Find #The Starless Sea #top 5 tuesday #Wranglestone

[thepeculiarbird]

I just started Wranglestone yesterday, I read 5 chapters and I'm already in love with the vibe and the characters. Just the fact that a lot of stuff you know, younger kids of their time don't is just so interesting! I think this'll be my favorite read of the year.

#readers #reader #reading community #readblr #reading #readers of tumblr #wranglestone #darren charlton

[thetranscendentstateofnirvana]

help i just accidentally ripped a page out a book bc i turned the page too quick 💀 tried to tape it back in and now it’s like wonky errrrrrrr get owt

#help me pls #i love books #this ones like okay idk how i feel yet x #if anyone’s wondering i ripped out page 92 of wranglestone by darren charlton #wranglestone #kiss kiss #going sleep now snoreseeeeee snoreeeeeeee

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Timberdark | Author: Darren Charlton | Publisher: Little Tiger Press (2022)

#books #Timberdark #Darren Charlton

[rollercoasterwords]

13, 17 and 4!!! : ^ D

hi ridi <3 <3 <3

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

yes!! had encountered leslie feinberg in the past but this year was the first time i actually sat down + read some of hir books <3 also found a couple poets whose work i really loved - franny choi, natalie diaz, alice notley...& a bunch of korean authors w books i really enjoyed - bora chung, lee ki-ho, young-ha kim, cho nam-joo. also really enjoyed marquis bey's cistem failure & of course my beloved lindsey drager w the archive of alternate endings <3

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

wranglestone by darren charlton & bad feminist by roxane gay :| wranglestone just kinda sucked generally but was especially disappointing bc i was v excited 2 read gay zombie apocalypse novel...a let-down. + i've talked abt why i disliked bad feminist before on this blog so won't give the full rundown but. just found many aspects of it politically noxious...

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

the archive of alternate endings <3 been a long time since i've added a new book 2 my faves-of-all-time list like i was expecting it 2 be good but was shocked by how much i loved it <3 <3

end of year book ask game

#ask #book recs