Erin > Recent Status Updates

'The big mistake is to confuse the persistence of the status quo with the dictates of testosterone.'

BIG mistake. HUGE.

So... It seemed like a good idea to re read all the Toby stories before the latest arrival next month. And it has been a much needed escape in a return to lockdown.

But now I'm up to the penultimate book and it's still a good 4-6 weeks until my paperback book 14 arrives in Aust! 😭

This is so good! It's like a dark, *better* Harry Potter, written by someone who actually thought for more than five seconds about class, and privilege, and race.

Whew. That was *relentless* and somehow the moments of lightness and connection can almost make you forget the despair of the horde. But not quite. It's only halfway through and this book is just explosive.

Started today and this is unputdownable. So, so good to see Caleb getting the help he needs and building bridges not walls with the people he loves.

I'm diving back in. Mainly because I ordered so many of the second hand versions that I feel like I have to try again. Wish me luck!

Early on I was very worried: a very overprotective father (angry, violent, can't handle his grown up daughter's sexuality, possessive - note to the world, this is NOT CUTE), not a trope I enjoy.

Trust in Seanan, I thought. And I was right: she never lets me down ❤️

Pre order for the win!! So excited to see this arrive this week, and just when I needed it ❤️

Wow. There are some seriously *ugly* tropes on full display here. I hope this is an aberration for Ms Grimes, who has developed some extraordinary capacity for writing the male gaze (and as far as I can tell, by internalising it).

And what is with these useless men who never ask, and women who just get sad and lonely, or oddly regretful about their new fiancés?

"The moving stairs were having a rest"

😊

A new Ilona! A new Ilona! 😍🥳

It may be tiny but it is exactly what I need right now, as I hunker down in my house trying to escape the bushfire smoke outside. I didn't love the Maud story, but Dina's books are.always 👌👌

This is delightful!! Someone give Ms Yap a publisher and a contract to turn this into a full length book (or series?? I feel each of these women deserve their own book!) ASAP!

There are a few small technical flaws, but the pace settles in quickly.

“Then again, maybe the cops didn’t want a reminder of how the creek got its name in the 1840s. Twenty-three Koori women and children chased into the water by officers of the law; guns used, machetes, axes. A small massacre by local standards.”

This is what it looks like when white Australian writers honestly acknowledge our history.

The big take away for me so far is that by denying boys and men opportunities to be vulnerable with each other and build supportive, caring relationships, they have only two acceptable* options: loner, or bonding via anger, violence and the humiliation of others.

I’d never put that together before. And it makes sense of so much that is mind bogglingly hard to accept or understand.

*fight the system, boys!!

The big take away for me so far is that by denying boys and men opportunities to be vulnerable with each other and build supportive, caring relationships, they have only two acceptable* options: loner, or bonding via anger, violence and the humiliation of others.

I’d never put that together before. And it makes sense of so much that is mind bogglingly hard to accept or understand.

*fight the system, boys!!

“Fortunately, the majority of scientific progress is measured by improvements in the questions we ask, rather than the finality of our answers.”

THIS. So much this.

“Fortunately, the majority of scientific progress is measured by improvements in the questions we ask, rather than the finality of our answers.”

THIS. So much this.

“more to the point, I was reasonably certain he wasn’t going to try to devour my soul. My expectations for a husband had lowered.”

Another winner! This is delightful.

Another winner! This is delightful.

Absolutely loving this. Daniel José Older was right - it is indeed brilliant!

“In this land of extreme heat and aridity, the Aboriginal inhabitants had built comfortable houses and produced grain surplus to their immediate requirements.”