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Unrelated personal update I POSTED A COMIC IT'S 48 PAGES OF ART SCHOOL TOXIC GIRL FRIENDSHIP GET THE PDF HERE ok anyway.

I don’t know how I read this many books in a month, especially the longer ones. Some of them are graphic novels, I was off work for a week and then when I did work it was insanely slow and thus conducive to reading time, and I did skim a lot. But a lot of these were really good! 

Presented in the order I read them because:

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe REALLY started the year off on a good book. I loved Margo’s narrative voice and all the characters surrounding her, and I really wanted to see things work out. It was funny and sweet and yeah sad at times but I enjoyed it a lot. It’s a book about a college student who suddenly finds herself a single mom and so starts an OnlyFans and how both of those things affect her life and the people around her. It just… it just works so well.

The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me by Hiroki Haruse

Gift from my girlfriend <3 the premise is incredible, the attempts at a plot were not as incredible, but it was a cute quick read and overall fun enough.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Those 1870s rich people sure could pine. I mostly found myself feeling bad for the women in the story, and also for everyone else in how deeply restricted they were by such arbitrary social rules. Which I think was the point? Trying to read more Classics these days anyway.

Averee by Dave Johnson, Stephanie Phillips

Gift from a friend. Really disappointing because the premise sounded right up my alley and both author and artist seemed to be very experienced professionally, but the overall story was thin and shallow and the art was stiff and uninteresting. It felt like if it was twice or three times as long and also used the basic setup differently to explore the actual social impacts of its conceit it’d be more fun.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

It was fine. I think this would’ve hit harder if I was reading it as an exvangelical, but I have only ever experienced American Christianity from the outside, so. Probably my last Tingle book, I don’t think I really vibe with the writing style.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

We get it you really liked The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. (Also maybe Lolita?) I feel like the author was desperately trying to pull off a specific kind of likeable-unlikeable narrator here that ultimately fell flat with me. He was just too obviously scheming. Sorry for the spoiler I guess.

I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 04 by Okura

It was ready to borrow on Libby and I couldn’t remember which volume I’d read last so I impulse-grabbed it. Cute, short, sweet. I totally forgot everything about the supporting cast since the last time I checked in on the possibly-gay son. It’s cute though!

Edison by Pallavi Sharma Dixit

THIS RULED. EXTENDED REVIEW HERE. I LOVE IT, NO NOTES.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

I was not expecting this book to be about the horrors of drug addiction and pain and obssessive personalities, but as an exploration of those things it was fine.
Taiwan Travelogue by 楊双子, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ

It's always nice to read sapphic historical fiction by a lesbian. The main character is annoying but in a kind of fun way, and the food descriptions made me put the book down and run out to the local Asian food market for wintermelon tea and braised pork over rice. I think people who think Babel is a nuanced and complex look at colonization and imperialism should read Taiwan Travelogue.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I was interested in checking this book out for a while because when I worked at the bookstore I could see its VAST LENGTH on the shelf and was frightened and intrigued by it. Then it was ready to borrow on libby and I was like great I don’t have to lug a brick around. Then I realized I had to read the brick. It felt like it took forever and at least two of the viewpoint characters felt superfluous as consistent throughlines, but I liked the lesbian subplot and the language and worldbuilding was interesting, which was mostly what I was reading it for. I liked how the fictional lands were both distinctly fantastical and clearly inspired by real-world equivalents.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I finished Priory and then immediately needed a palate cleanser so I reread my fave. Still good! Still fave. Despite the het.

Heart and Seoul by Jen Frederick

Absolutely deranged that this book says ON THE FRONT COVER that it's a romance and yet the main couple ends the book not together for reasons of family drama scandal situation. I don't think you're allowed to do that! Romances are supposed to be happy endings! Otherwise it was both more and less intrigue kdrama plot twisty than I expected. I liked the one roommate that got character development but I wish the other roomies did too.

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

I disagree with her philosophically on the matter of quotation marks for dialogue. Otherwise I really did like the relationship between Ivan and Margaret a lot but Peter’s head was kind of annoying to be in. Too Joyce 4 Me. I like how his love triangle works out in the end that was a fun choice.

The September House by Carissa Orlando

This was fun and unsettling. What if you moved into a very haunted house but you were totally fine with it because you had a system and you were coping and then your daughter comes to visit and is like mom what the fuck? The way in which the narrator was unreliable here was really interesting. To me.

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

I am a known Ann Liang stan so when I say this is her best book so far I'm being very serious. Also I am never reading it again because it made me sob and brought me back to the worst parts of being the dumbest kid in the smart kid classes at my high school. It hit very hard. I enjoy reading her funny stuff more. But this is a very good book.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

I like this matriarchial kind of 1840s English village situation. I feel like I learned a lot about a very small and specific world. It didn't spark with me the same way it did with whoever I was reading on dreamwidth that mentioned it but it was nice.

The Shakespeare Requirement by Julie Schumacher

Not as good as Dear Committee Members sorry.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account Of The Everest Disaster

HARROWING. I have developed new phobias of things I didn't know I needed to fear. Did not know oxygen deprivation did that to people! Also the back and forth with Boukreev as described in the post script was understandable but very sad.