what's on tonight

In personal news, I have a personal trip planned, and one thing led to another, so I am back on Pokemon Go! I haven’t touched it since basically 2016, but I just went on a walk and fought Team Rocket – I think I’m sold. Once I figured out how to turn off All The Sounds so that I can fling Pokeballs while listening to my audiobook, it was real hit.

What I’ve Read

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (narrated by Liam Gerrard) – This book is like a bento box – you get a few bites of everything, all complementary. Some murder investigation, some magic rituals, some family strife, some opera, some queer people … all delightful. This is easily the third time I have read this and while I went for the audiobook and was not paying strict attention, there were so many points where I had to stop and let the words hit me. The Goblin Emperor is a great introduction to the life of the court of this world’s nobility – this is a fantastic examination of the world of the working class people who live and make their lives here. Both books are from the perspective of a person who wants to make the world better and kinder, and is actively working to do that, to the extent of their means.

Oddbodies by Toffeecape - https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209922 – Hannibal TV AU with Sentinels! Will Graham is not quite a Sentinel, Hannibal Lector is not actually his guide…. But! It’s one of those stories that I really enjoy, where Will figures out that Hannibal is, ya know, eating people, and just has to sit on that knowledge for a while. The plot of things proceeds differently that the show and probably for the best – these people are having more sex and more fun over all. A happy ending!

What I’m Reading

Moon Blooded Breeding Clinic - C M Nacosta -audiobook.- 25%- Sigh. I needed an audiobook that I didn't care much about to fall asleep to. But I forgot that the real reason I bounced off Nacosta's work is that these romances have more than a little touch of racist tropes, retooled with fantasy species. Not an unknown issue for me with this genre but like, play it off a little better, please. Also, one of the voice actors is annoyingly rough - reading each sentence like it's the first time thru, with very bland intonation. I think I'm bailing on it.

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph Williams – 1981 book on writing clearly. 20% - No movement but not because I didn’t like it, just have been on audiobooks.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma – 50% - Audiobook - A habesha-focused YA vampire novel. I will admit, I am finding some of this writing style a bit grating.

My Favorite Thing is Monsters Vol 2 – Emil Ferris – 50ish% - Oh, this book is hard. Each of the two volumes has a prolonged section in the voice of a dead woman, talking about how she survived the Holocaust and what it cost her, and by god, the sections set in 1960s Chicago somehow are not that much easier. It’s definitely profound, I am just not sure if it coheres.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 5% - I have known robot valet Charles for 5 minutes but if anything bad happens to him, I will fly to England and beat Tchaikovsky’s mailbox with a bat. 


What I’ll Read Next

The Deep Dark
Track Changes
Alien Clay
Service Model
Monstress, Vol. 9: The Possessed
Navigational Entanglements
The Butcher of the Forest
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain
Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right
The Brides of High Hill
The Tusks of Extinction
“Charting the Cliff: An Investigation into the 2023 Hugo Nomination Statistics”
“Signs of Life”
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars”
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video”
“Loneliness Universe”
“The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion”
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea”
“Lake of Souls”