June Wrap Up Part 1

 I've read a ton of short things so I wanted to do a wrap up of what I've read so far.

The first short story I picked up was Randomize by Andy Weir. I love Weir for his great characters and humor but sadly, there just wasn't enough time to develop the characters much. It focuses on technology and gambling but the ending surprised me so I gave it 3 stars.

I read Pet by Awkaeke Emezi. I loved their writing but similarly felt this book was too short. I wanted more character development and world building. The story focuses on Jam, a 17 year old trans girl whose mother's painting comes to life. The painting, known as "Pet" has come alive to fight a monster in Jam's best friend's house. While this wasn't my favorite, I really did like the writing style and will pick up more from this author. I gave it 3 stars.

Then I reread Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. I paired the audiobook with the graphic novel for a fun immersive experience. I love the humor, the artwork, and the three central characters. I gave it 5 stars!\

I listened to the audiobook of Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx. Her descriptive writing was beautiful but I wished we had more time with the characters to make the ending more impactful. I guess I'm picky about short stories. I gave it 3.5 stars.

Lastly, I've read the comic Bingo Love by Tee Franklin. I read this for a Read Harder challenge but I'm so glad I did. This focuses on two young black girls who meet and become best friends and girlfriends. When their religious parents catch them, they are separated but reunite nearly 50 years later. The story is of their second chance love and I absolutely loved it. 5 stars!

June TBR

 It's Pride Month so I wanted to focus on queer books this month. I will likely be squeezing in some other books as well.

1. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Or one of their other books)

2. Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

3. We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker

4. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden 

5. The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket by John Weir

6. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

7. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

8. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (re-read)

May Wrap Up

 Well, the slump hit hard and I didn't finish anything until the second week of the month. I have read 5 books.

The first was For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor. Yes, I was drawn back into the Bobiverse. This is the second book in the series and I loved it. There was first contact with aliens that were destructive and the Bobs join together to defend the humans and other intelligent beings in the universe. It was lovely with its dry humor and wit. I gave it 4 stars.

Then my library had in my hold of Blood Sugar by Sacha Rothchild. This is a mystery book following the main character who has killed three people, but when her husband ends up dead, she was not responsible. There wasn't a huge amount of intrigue because her husband died of his illness and it was more to see if she would be held responsible or not. There is one twist, which I thought was good but overall, not super memorable. I gave it 3 stars.

Afterwards, I picked up my ARC of The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. I wrote a dedicated review for that so I'll just sum up by saying I gave it 3 stars as well.

I read Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. This is eir graphic memoir of growing up with gender dysphoria and struggles with eir sexuality. The author identifies as nonbinary and asexual. I found the art to be simple but nice. The story was mostly well put-together until the end. It ends abruptly. I gave this 4 stars.

Lastly, I squeezed in one more listen in the month. I listened to The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes. I knew nothing about this series but was drawn in by the intriguing title. It follows Fred who has turned into a vampire, but is still the safe, boring, work-focused person he was before. He goes to his school reunion and meets a real monster hunter. They get involved and his life is suddenly full of parahumans. It is dry, witty, and laugh out loud funny. It's almost a satire of paranormal stuff and I really enjoyed this book. I gave it 4 stars and was eager to realize it's a 7 book series. Looking forward to more!