The Start of Summer | Book Bi-Weekly Update

I started this past week with spending the whole day celebrating a family birthday and exhausting myself completely, for then to meet up with an old best friend among a lot of strangers. It was definitely worth it in the end, but I was honestly strangely (for me) anxious before getting there and it could’ve gone a lot better. It’s worrying how I go back to being a more uncomfortable and more socially anxious person when I’m back in my old hometown. Hopefully I’ll be able to work some on that this summer.

A summer night spent grilling with (new) friends

New book posts:

• Fierce Female Book Characters
• Exciting New Book Releases Summer 2019
• Short Reviews: queer magical realism & graphic novels – Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore & Sarah’s Scribbles book two and three
• Friday Face Off: Striped Cover – I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
• Friday Face Off: Historic Cover – The Diary of Frida Kahlo
• Pride Library: Asexual Protagonists
• Pride Library: Queer Authors I’ve Discovered This Month
• Pride Library: June Wrap-Up

Other books I’ve been reading:

I reread of the first three books of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi: Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me, as well as Restore Me

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore (currently reading)

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (currently reading)

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (DNF at 25%. It’s just not for me? I really tried. Also I found out that fictional fanbases are some of my worst pet peeves.)

Added to TBR:

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• Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley (YA contemporary, lgbt, mental illness)
• Furyborn by Claire Legrand (YA fantasy, bi/pan mc)
• Soft on Soft by Mina Waheed (f/f romance, contemporary)
• Nation of Rebels by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter (nonfic, politics)
• Find Me by Tahereh Mafi (novella)
• Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #5)

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• Space Boy by Stephen McCranie (graphic novel)
• As Many Nows as I Can Get by Shana Youngdahl (YA contemporary romance)

“In one impulsive moment the summer before they leave for college, overachievers Scarlett and David plunge into an irresistible swirl of romance, particle physics, and questionable decisions.” ‘Particle physics’ is in the synopsis so here I am, wanting to give it a try, haha.

• Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire (YA fantasy, mystery, lgbt w/ asexual mc & trans boy) – it’s compared to Miss Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children and I’ve read reviews describing it as ‘disturbing’ so that sounds promising!
• Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao (YA fantasy) – I still got to read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, but I’ve got time as this is released this upcoming fall.

Posts I’ve loved by other bloggers:

• Andy Winder gave great recommendations for 12 LGBT YA books with transgender protagonists.
• Library Looter wrote a list of bi/pan MC book recommendations, which is where I found both Soft on Soft and Furyborn.
• Cotton Candy Book Witch wrote a june rewind which was where I found Space Boy, Every Heart Is a Doorway, Song of the Crimson Flower and As Many Nows As I Can Get. My TBR is never going to decrease, is it? It’s good I’ve upped the pace I read, at least the last two months.

Three things on my mind:

• I watched Rocketman (the Elton John movie) with my brother & dad and it’s sooo good and unexpected. So different from Bohemian Rhapsody, which I also loved, but it was quite another type of story. Personally I felt this focused more on trauma and dependency, drugs & dissociation as bad coping tactics. Like when Elton John felt like his life had gone too much into drugs and crazy, his idea of normalcy was to become like his more A4 parents and marry a woman, and then gradually you see his idea of normal change through his life until he gets the happier ending and accept himself as gay and ‘weird’. The portrayal of the suicide attempt was so well done. I also really liked the surrealism used to show how Elton was out of it at times because his life was such a grand chaos and also the amazing pacing, with putting a lot of images into a short amount of time. Will definitely have to watch this movie, or at least parts of it, over and over. I might also have been very enthusiastic when my 15 year old brother suggested the movie, because he’s lately shown tendencies to change himself to become more accepted and is about to start a new school. I hope watching media where people are different & accept themselves no matter what is a good counterweight to outside pressure. Also Elton John songs might’ve been playing the last four days straight, which I take as a good sign of it working.

• I succeeded in packing up all my belongings before going on vacation to the other side of Norway. I both hated & loved it – I really like to be organized and I got to try out Marie Kondo’s Decluttering tactics for real. It was also kind of meditative, but at the other side it was too many memories and choices to be made. Also it took a goddamn long time.

• I know I made summer goals, but I’m not going to even look at them before next week – when I’m in the countryside of Denmark with all the time in the world to read and study for the upcoming year. The only goal I currently remember is buying a year worth of tea in Aalborg! Also I’m currently walking/cycling everywhere and playing a lot of Wizards Unite and Pokemon Go like the nerd I am. Add me – Wizards Unite 2758 0361 7116 and Pokemon Go 9460 5606 5208.