Sophie > Recent Status Updates

It's kind of on me for not inspecting further (it does say civil war in the title and the author's other work is mostly about particular battles or wars) but I really just wanted a broad overview of the Russian Revolution and how that led to the communist USSR and was NOT prepared for the very thorough war details. I've committed too much time to this to quit but yep, I still do not like military history.

Rereading volume four to refresh my memory so I can finish this series

I have been very excited to start this and am going to be so bummed if I do not get the level of insane absurdity the description promises.

I absolutely loved this. I can see why people who were expecting this to be sapphic or poly were disappointed (although there IS arguably a MFF throuple endgame) but this hit all the right notes for me. Freya Marske, you are yet to let me down.

This week sucks deeply enough to break my "no fuck/puck puns in my hockey romance" rule because I just need something mindless (you'll notice this is book 8 in this series.... it's been a rough couple of years).

Continuing my way through the Best Novella nominees for this year's Hugo Awards. I never have a bad time with Freya Marske, so I'm optimistic for this one

This was so sweet and an excellent start to my binge read of all the Hugo Best Novella nominees. Queer robots making noodles!

*increasingly loud and violent chanting* Murderbot! Murderbot! Murderbot! MURDER--

Anyway, I don't know why I've been putting off reading this when I've had the e-arc for months. But now is definitely the time for a palette cleanser I have no doubt I will enjoy.

I want to take Lindy West at her word that she made the choice to be in a poly relationship and is happy about it, but listening to this really felt like listening to a woman rationalize being coerced into something she didn't want by her partner and it made me viscerally uncomfortable. I can't listen to any more of it. DNFing at 29%.

Won this by surprise in Becky Spratford's Horror For All weekly giveaway (I had forgotten I entered like a year ago) and am thrilled that it is EXACTLY my brand of horror. It's the first time I've been excited about reading fiction in a while.

I'm glad I listened to this on audio because I cried through the last several chapters and it would have been hard to keep going if I was reading with my eyes.

Reading for the YASF Tournament of Books. Oh no, they assigned me a Victorian era historical romance, what a STRUGGLE ;)

The other book I am reading right now is Discipline and Punish and every time I switch books it is like whiplash.

Shout out to nerds on Spotify who almost never fail to have my back when my musically uneducated (except musical theatre!) ass decides to read a book like this and I want a playlist of all the referenced music together so I can know what he's talking about. Also, this is excellent so far.

Closing out 2024 on the highest possible of notes

Shoutout to my friend Cal who recommended this, because so far it is meeting me precisely where I am on this journey with almost spooky accuracy.

This is just as brilliant and essential to our time as everyone is saying it is.

We all cope with election stress in different ways. I couldn't decide if I wanted a holiday romance or a sports romance to distract me, so this novella was a useful find.

I've been saving this little morsel for Halloween/November 1 and am extremely excited to be diving into it.

Oh Rachel Reid, how you destroy me. Also, second chance romance is not always my trope, but when it hits for me it HITS and this is HITTING.

The cover is so bad it circles around to being delightful, but the story is quite nice.

This was a fucking doozy but I think it was something I really needed to read, especially right now.

I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying (actually I am crying)

A new KJ Charles and a new Courtney Milan in the same month is truly a gift to me in particular.

I am a simple lady. I see a KJ Charles book, I buy the KJ Charles book, I read the KJ Charles book.

Oh this is fun as hell. It speaks to my inner child who was obsessed with Egyptology while also reminding me of one of my favorite KJ Charles novels. Plus the author is from St. Charles, IL and the book is set around where I live, which was a fun surprise.

This is so so good and the tone definitely helps get through some of the profound stuff being thrown at you, but wow is it heavy. I can only read this a few chapters at a time before I'm staring down the barrel of my own mortality.

I was going to hide that I was reading this because the cover/title combo is a bit embarrassing even for me, but then I remembered that shame about what you're reading is for losers. This is Not Good but boy am I having fun.

Oh this is GOOD good.

Having a great time with this bona book. It's a good balance between academic depth and extremely readable prose, and I am SO fascinated by Polari. Highly recommend!