#superheroes don’t get DNRs basically

[strinak]

2020 Books in Review

Final count: 233.

Had a higher than normal amount of books where I just fucking...wandered off somewhere in the first third and have yet to return. Usually if I DNF it’s earlier and/or more permanent? This year had a lot of mulligans, basically.

Strong opinions time!

TJ Land is fucking great and I don’t see people mentioning them ever! Read some queer superhero/supervillians! There are trans characters, kinky characters, polycules! Badass powers! Shenanigans! Read about a demon and an angel falling in love over a series of hilariously mismatched battles! Read about enemies-to-lovers robot gladiators but also it’s about Destroying the System That Exploits Robot Gladiators!

Lisa Oliver has the strongest libertarian/conservative vibes I have EVER seen in an m/m novel and I was Not Into It and she goes on the DNR list forever!

Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly are doing a/b/o with dragons and other cliches but also getting Weird with it and I enjoyed it!

Aiden Bates wrote the m/m that made me angriest this year bc you can’t do a Romance Novel where the mc’s Actual true love has been dead for years but he’ll settle for this fuckboi who doesn’t respect him (openly! at their jobs!) bc he’s pregnant and scared to do it alone so It’s a Happy Ending. I hated it, I hated it SO MUCH.

Want some soothing fucking romances in these trying times? GL Carriger, AJ Sherwood, Thea Hayworth, Lucy Lennox. That sounds like a backhanded compliment but it VERY MUCH IS NOT. The world is on fucking fire, I cannot handle a Deeply Tortured and Struggling Protagonist right now!

Look, sometimes I like to read straight-boy harem nonsense bc sometimes it’s fun (Savage Divinity on Royal Road, Good Intentions series by Elliott Kay) and sometimes it accidentally has excellent f/f in it. Simon Archer is Not good for that and reminds me deeply of Scottie Futch, my nemesis (who keeps changing his penname so that I’ll accidentally start one of his books but also keeps giving his self-inserts his Actual First Name so now I have a trauma re: mcs named Scott).

Reverse-harem genre, I fucking support you, okay? But also, you must rein it the fuck back! I will give you a five-dude or six-dude harem, fine, seems like a lot but fine. But the 9 - 12 dude harems - with no cultural shit behind them! her pussy’s just that good! - are Too Much. That is Too Many Main Characters. Because they don’t have independent storylines! They’re just her entourage, Reacting to Things!

I got distracted. Erin R Flynn! The Accidentally Wolf series feels very much like Anita Blake But the Bad Years Are the Whole Thing This Time. House of Garner had the bad kind of hatesex that made the protag feel bad and I was OUT. But Artemis University I actually quite enjoy, even if I’m several books behind (on purpose, plot develops at a serial kind of pace).

Benjamin Medrano is Niall Teasdale if he was less into harems and more into darkfic.

Amy Crook wrote an imperfect but very good-vibes solarpunk book this year in To Hive and to Hold and I feel like some of you would be into that.

Luke Chmilenko & Bryce O’Connor wrote one of, if not THE, best books I read this year, Iron Prince. They definitely struggled to define the genre in their book description but it’s clear in the book itself. Very much feels like it’s drawing conventions from certain Chinese novels I’ve read? I may be seeing a correlation where there isn’t one, but “orphan gets a trash system and military academy-mumble-mumble-sorta mecha and then fights an unparalleled genius of a prominent clan into falling in love with him and eventually overturns the world” is def a Thing I’ve seen. But also a thing I love when done right! Bonus, a queer female best friend that is Never a love interest!

Kai Butler is another top contender with The Earl and the Executive! Queer Regency in SPAAAAACE! Deeply into it and book two is already out (mulliganed it). Tropey but sells the HELL out of it!

Lucy Lennox & May Archer collaborated on Fakers, a dueling fake-boyfriends story that I 80% ADORE but there’s this 20% of me stuck on part of the premise that just Hit Different. One of our MCs came out right before he left town and a bunch of people straight up did not and do not believe him? They dance around in a way that genuinely reminds me of Jennifer Crusie re: Bet Me and her talking about how she regretted having a sex bet as part of the premise but it being too baked in by then to take out without tossing out the whole novel so she just had to throw things at the wall trying to make sure you knew it wasn’t Like That. They have mentioned they didn’t originally intend it to open a series but envisioned it as a standalone and I wonder if they had to retcon some homophobia out of it later or something.

IDK! I had a freakout in early spring (like most of us!) and decided this year I was just going to fucking try some stuff and read some nonsense and some of it turned out shitty and some of it was great and some of it just Did the Job of distracting me from a horrifyingly historical series of events and you know what, thank you Shannon West and Claire Cullen and Riley Rivers and every single person writing cliche/okay/mediocre/forgettable romance novels and/or porn on kindle unlimited because y’all may not win awards or inspire me to write recs but damn if y’all didn’t Get Me Through Some Shit and frankly that is an undercelebrated function of art and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

Apparently I’ll need it 2021, too, so I’ll be back in 2022 with a lot more books titled stuff like The Dragon’s Arranged Werewolf Bride and The Secretary Dom and Merman Omega’s Kraken Mate and tbh I started out joking but also I would read all of those.

1. Hawke Oakley - The Dragon’s Doorstep Baby

2. Reese Knightley - Risking It All

3. Christina Lauren - The Honey-Don’t List

4. GA Aiken - Dragon Actually

5. Alice Winters - A Villain for Christmas

6. AJ Sherwood - Jon’s Spooky Corpse Conundrum

7. AJ Sherwood - Jon’s Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case

8. AJ Sherwood - Jon’s Crazy Head-Boppin’ Mystery

9. AJ Sherwood - Brandon’s Very Merry Haunted Christmas

10. AJ Sherwood - Mack’s Perfectly Ghastly Homecoming

11. Dessa Lux - The Omega’s Bodyguard

12. Dessa Lux - The Omega’s Pack

13. Dessa Lux - The Beta’s Test

14. Dessa Lux - The Omega Learns a Lesson

15. Dessa Lux - The Alpha’s Home

16. Dessa Lux - The Omega’s Day Off

17. Shannon West & Victoria Sue - Konnor & the Omega Mate

18. Jill Haven - His Elder Dragon

19. Shannon West - Gettin’ Plugged

20. Shannon West - Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

21. Shannon West - Define Naughty

22. Abigail Kade - Discovering Destiny

23. TJ Land - He’s a Monster

24. Megan Derr - The Ransom of a Night Hunter

25. Kelex - One Wild Omega

26. Isabelle Adler - Irises in the Snow

27. Claire Cullen - Forbidden

28. Leta Blake - The River Leith

29. Lorelei M Hart - Their Koala Omega

30. Shannon West & TS McKinney - Hybrid Reset

31. Kiki Clark - The Alpha & His King

32. TJ Land - Hot Air

33. TJ Land - Toy Boy

34. TJ Land - Butterfly Boy

35. TJ Land - The Amateur

36. TJ Land - The Captain

37. TJ Land - Crafty Little Devil

38. TJ Land - Rotten Apples

39. TJ Land - Eternity’s Sunrise

40. SE Harmon - PS I Spook You

41. Macy Blake - All or Nothing

42. Macy Blake - Nothing Ventured

43. Shannon West - The Last Dragonet

44. MA Church - Trouble Comes in Threes

45. Jennifer Crusie - Agnes & the Hitman

46. AJ Ridges - Say You’re Mine!

47. Sloane Kennedy - A Touch of Color

48. Aiden Bates & Jill Haven - Claimed By Fate

49. Benjamin Medrano - Sting & Song

50. Benjamin Medrano - Born a Queen

51. Benjamin Medrano - Ancient Dreams

52. Benjamin Medrano - Spells of Old

53. Benjamin Medrano - Halls of Power

54. Erin R Flynn - Upended Life

55. Erin R Flynn - Surviving Plagues

56. Erin R Flynn - Rough Beginnings

57. Erin R Flynn - Drowning Studies

58. Shannon West - Runaway Omega

59. Wanda Withers - In the Closet

60. LG Estrella - Monster Whisperer

61. Lisa Oliver - Stay True to Me

62. Simon Archer - Maid to Order

63. Tom Larcombe - Farmer

64. Matthew S Cox - Nascent Shadow

65. Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly - Swallow

66. Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly - Magpie

67. Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly - Clutch

68. Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly - Mate

69. Megan Derr - The Matchmaker

70. Megan Derr - The Werewolf of Grey Lake Inn

71. Megan Derr - Cake with the King

72. Megan Derr - Delivery with a Smile

73. Megan Derr - The Christmas Package

74. Megan Derr - The Jewels of Bangkok

75. Megan Derr - Ivan the Heartless

76. Megan Derr - The Huntsman

77. Megan Derr - The Toymaker’s Hoard

78. Megan Derr - Little Moments Vol. 1

79. Megan Derr - Midsummer Song

80. Megan Derr - Godfrey & the Detective

81. R Cooper - Tit for Tat

82. R Cooper - Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut

83. Carole Cummings - Don’t Fear the (Not Really Grim) Reaper

84. Toni McGee Causey - Failure to Communicate

85. FT Lukens - Monster of the Week

86. Thea Hayworth - Integrate

87. Thea Hayworth - Wildwood

88. Shelly Laurenston - Badger to the Bone

89. Delmire Hart - The Grumpy Thistle Fairy

90. Delmire Hart - A Demon’s Contract

91. Delmire Hart - The Most Eligible Bachelor

92. Arden Steele - Purrfect Harmony

93. R Cooper - How to (Not) Train a Firecat

94. R Cooper - The Other Side of the Roses

95. Madeleine Ribbon - Blessed Curses

96. Sarah Andersen - Adulthood Is a Myth

97. Tao Wong - A Thousand Li: The First Step

98. Wendy Rathbone - The Moonling Prince

99. Mary Calmes - More Than Life

100. TJ Land - The Tools That Ran Away

101. TJ Land - Earth Sucks (#bigwetloserplanet)

102. GL Carriger - Marine Biology

103. GL Carriger - The Sumage Solution

104. GL Carriger - The Omega Objection

105. Lexi Ander - Sunder

106. Lexi Ander - Alpha Trine

107. Salem Fitzgerald - Captivated

108. LM Kerr - Reborn: Apocalypse (Volume 1)

109. Megan Derr - Finder Tolan

110. Megan Derr - Lord Seabolt

111. Megan Derr - Hold Still

112. Megan Derr - The Glass Coffin

113. Megan Derr - Love Tokens

114. Stella Starling - The Boyfriend Game

115. Megan Derr - Fighting For You

116. Megan Derr - Wick

117. Megan Derr - Midsummer Baker

118. Megan Derr - Midsummer Curse

119. Megan Derr - Locke & Key

120. Megan Derr - Wriggle & Sparkle

121. Megan Derr - Of Last Resort

122. Tricia Owens - Mated

123. Alston Sleet - The Dungeon Traveler

124. Delmire Hart - Chief

125. Delmire Hart - Wolf

126. AJ Sherwood - How to Steal a Thief

127. Lucy Lennox - Borrowing Blue

128. Stella Starling - Falling

129. Marina Vivancos - I’ve Been Careless with a Delicate Thing

130. Lucy Lennox - Made Marian Mixtape

131. Lucy Lennox - Say You’ll Be Nine

132. Lucy Lennox - Virgin Flyer

133. Lucy Lennox - Grounding Griffin

134. Lucy Lennox & May Archer - Fakers

135. Skylar Jaye - The Wild Hunt

136. Mell Eight - Stealing the Dragon

137. Mell Eight - Gathering the Hoard

138. R Cooper - Frangipani & the Very Shiny Boy

139. R Cooper - The Tales of Two Seers

140. AJ Sherwood - Marriage Contract

141. AJ Sherwood - How to Hack a Hacker

142. Kai Butler - The Earl & the Executive

143. Honor Raconteur - Imagineer

144. TJ Land - To Hell and Back

145. TJ Land - Boomball

146. Amy Crook - St Aiden’s School for Boys

147. Amy Crook - To Hive and to Hold

148. Riley Rivers - The Werewolf’s Brash Bear

149. Riley Rivers - Unicorn Unashamed

150. Aiden Bates - Buried Passions

151. Jill Haven & Liam Kingsley - Forbidden Magic

152. Megan Derr - Tournament of Losers

153. Carrie Summers - Temple of Sorrow

154. Mercedes Lackey - Hunter

155. Mercedes Lackey - Eye Spy

156. Shane Walker - Business as Usual

157. Shane Walker - Master of None

158. TS Paul - The Forgotten Engineer

159. Erin R Flynn - No Longer Alone

160. Erin R Flynn - Team Inez

161. TJ Reynolds - Shattered Sword

162. Mary Calmes - His Consort

163. Mary Calmes - His Prince

164. Sara York - The Lost Prince

165. Nnedi Okorafor - Binti

166. Nnedi Okorafor - Binti: Sacred Fire

167. Sam Burns - The Fantastic Fluke

168. SJ Himes - Wolfsbane

169. Ilona Andrews - Sweep with Me

170. Stephanie Burgis - Moontangled

171. Stephanie Burgis - Some Girlfriends Can

172. Meredith Katz - Smoke Signals

173. Luke Chmilenko & Bryce O’Connor - Iron Prince

174. RJ Moray - Million Dollar Daddy

175. Louisa Masters - Demons Do It Better

176. Jacey Conrad & Gia Corona - Seared

177. Louisa Masters - Fake It Til You Make It

178. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 1: A New Discovery

179. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 2: Breaking In

180. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 20: Thanksgiving part II

181. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 21: Mistakes

182. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 22: Forgiveness

183. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 23: On Display

184. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 31: Size Matters

185. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 32: Talking It Out

186. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 33: Under Pressure

187. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 34: Opening Up

188. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 35: Center of Attention

189. RJ Moray - His Boy Next Door 36: Always

190. Lucy Lennox & May Archer - Liars

191. GL Carriger - The Enforcer Enigma

192. Beryll Brackhaus & Osiris Brackhaus - The Demon of Hagermarsh

193. Beryll Brackhaus & Osiris Brackhaus - The Windmines of Bora Bora

194. Hannah Birchwood, Key Dyson, & Raymond Roach - After the Storm

195. Allie Brosh - Solutions and Other Problems

196. Pia Foxhall - Blackwood

197. Lucy Lennox - Jacks & Marchie

198. Erin R Flynn - Accidentally Wolf

199. Sam Burns - Wolf Found

200. Sam Burns - Wolf Reborn

201. Sasha L Miller - The Ambassadors

202. Joely Sue Burkhart - Broken Angel

203. Sasha L Miller - Retirement

204. Sasha L Miller - The Elf, the Cat, and the Human

205. Megan Derr - The Succubus

206. Amy Crook - The Raven Door

207. Amy Crook - Getting His Due

208. AJ Sherwood - Marriage Contract

209. AJ Sherwood - Fourth Point of Contact

210. Amelita Rae - Secret Ingredient

211. Amelita Rae - Divine Proportions

212. Beryll Brackhaus & Osiris Brackhaus - Loving Djinni

213. Keira Marcos - Fall for You

214. Amelita Rae - Owned

215. Amelita Rae - Cherished

216. Eliot Grayson - The Alpha’s Warlock

217. Layla Reyne - Variable Onset

218. Kasia Bacon - Rago

219. Molly Harper - Pasties and Poor Decisions

220. Molly Harper - Snow Falling on Bluegrass

221. EJ Russell - Duking It Out

222. Claire Cullen - Betrothed

223. Claire Cullen - Promised

224. Molly Harper - Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues

225. Molly Harper - Selkies Are a Girl’s Best Friend

226. Andrea K Host - Stray

227. Andrea K Host - Lab Rat One

228. Andrea K Host - Caszandra

229. Riley Rivers - The Werewolf’s Dragon Defender

230. R Cooper - Play It Again, Charlie

#books #amazon is evil but #kindle unlimited is the new harlequin publishing #books of 2020 #the year in reading #my reading year #reading log

[canaryatlaw]

okay, so today. all around pretty good. having a school-free day during the week is really nice. Gives me a chance to catch up on stuff I didn’t get a chance to do over the weekend. I had set my alarm for 10:55 for my 11:30 PT appointment, but I ended up waking up around 9 and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I got up and made breakfast, and just relaxed a little. I was doing the dishes and I guess I lost track of time, because the next thing I knew the clock said 11:40 and I was just like CRAP. So I called them and said I was running late but would be there ASAP, thankfully my apartment is like a 7 minute walk from them so I was able to get there pretty quickly. the session kicked my butt once again, which I’m thinking is going to be the pattern from now on, because we’re working on “strengthening exercises” and I guess that means going super hardcore. but hey, I’m not complaining, because I know working out is good and I should be doing it anyway. There was a good moment where my PT guy wanted me to do a plank on my knees and I did it and was like......I’m not getting anything from this haha and had to go back onto my feet to actually get a stretch, so that felt good. I had planned on going grocery shopping after PT because the grocery store is directly between my apartment and the PT place, so it makes sense to go there post-session. I brought my cart with me which I usually stash behind the front desk while in session. Well, I was a good amount into my shopping before I realized I left the cart at PT, so I called them again and said I’d come get it when I finished shopping. So I did the rest of my shopping, it had been like a week and a half, but I didn’t think I needed to get all that much, but somehow it added up to a lot of stuff physically at least, the 5 pound bag of flour and the 4 pound bag of sugar definitely didn’t help. so I get to the check out and end up with four plastic bags full of stuff, I figure I’ll keep them in the cart until I get to the edge of the parking lot, and then just carry it from there because the PT place is just across the street from there. Well, while I was getting ready to take the bags out of the cart, my phone rang, so I answered, and in an interesting twist of events it was one of the lawyers from the public guardian’s office, the one I had my office across from my first semester there and was very friendly with. She was like “are you busy?” and I was like “not particularly” despite the fact that I was standing in a parking lot with a cart full of groceries in 30 degree weather, because I wanted to talk to her lol. She had a question about some research she needed to do about how other states handled the issue of infants brought into care that need to have DNR’s signed because they’re just fully in failure to thrive (sadly a common occurrence in neglect of infants) or are similarly injured from abuse and look like they’re not going to make it. so she was wondering if I knew anything about how New York handled it or if I could tell her who she could contact there to find out. I didn’t know anything about it in NY because I’ve spent a relatively short amount of time actually learning New York law, but I was able to point her in the direction of several different offices that could help, so that was good. Once the phone call was over I took all the very heavy bags out of the cart and dragged them across the street, which turned into quite the feat, lol. But I got there and grabbed my cart, then had to deal with sticking all the stuff in, which is much more difficult when they’re in bags, because they can’t fit in all the space around it like things normally can, so I ended up still carrying one with a very heavy cart. So I headed out, came across a man on the sidewalk asking if I had any money to help a wounded veteran, and I sadly told him I didn’t have any cash on me (which I didn’t, of course, I don’t lie about stuff like that) and he asked if I had any change, so I checked what I had. I only ended up having one quarter because I typically take them out for laundry, but I gave that to him along with a giant handful of pennies, nickels, and dimes, and he was really happy and kept saying thank you and like.....I don’t understand why anyone would not want to do good deeds when they literally are so satisfying for you, and of course you’re helping another person which is invaluable. but yeah, that interaction made me happy. I dragged my groceries the rest of the way home, then took them up the stairs in two trips, and man, I was so dead by the time I got them there, lol. But I put them away, and then tried to start my secured transactions reading for class tomorrow night. The assignment was 60 pages, and as I’m sure you can imagine it’s not the most thrilling reading, and half of it was basically an extensive example of a terms and conditions disclaimer regarding automobile sales on credit, so that wasn’t great. But I did the rest of it and finished just in time to watch The Flash! I liked the episode overall. I was hoping for some hinting on how they’re going to get Barry out of prison, so I was a little sad that didn’t happen, but the rest of it I liked a lot. The whole storyline with Barry seeing the good will that was built up by Henry when he was there gave me a lot of dang feelings, I really liked it (and Barry kicking the bad guys asses in the end by speed-repositioning their limbs so they knock themselves out was immensely satisfying, lol). The Ralph stuff was probably better than it’s been up to this point, so that’s an improvement at least. and he did save the day in the end, even if he had to brave getting hurt to make it happen. So overall I liked it. then of course, we had Black Lightning!! which had another awesome episode. I love what they’re building up to with Jefferson coming back into being a superhero and taking back his town. like, god, he’s just SUCH a good character, his writing is impeccable, I don’t even know how else to put it. I also loved how Anissa having a girlfriend wasn’t even a plot point, it was just accepted as normal and not made into a big deal. It’s good to see where moving into having LGBT characters on tv shows where their sexuality is just part of them, not a plot for the show. And damn, that moment at the end where she’s in the drug store that’s being held up and she legit sends the guy flying over like 3 aisles was SO badass, definitely my favorite scene in the episode. I can’t wait for her powers to be developed more fully and her getting to be an actual superhero fighting alongside her dad. But yeah, very good. After it was only 9 pm so I didn't want to go to bed yet, so I started watching The Royals on a suggestion from a friend who is a big fan of it. It’s interesting so far. it’s apparently American produced, but it feels very english in tone, lol. First few episodes were enjoyable, so we’ll see where it goes from there. I do want to start Agents of Shield at some point as well as the show Mistresses which Jes McCallan (the actress who plays Ava on Legends) was in for like 3 seasons, so we’ll see where I go from there. And yeah, after watching them I started getting ready for bed and here we are. I’m tired so I’ll end it here. Goodnight babes. Stay safe and warm. 

#daily journal #January 2018