diagnosed with speedrunner

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Probably my favorite book of the year. This broke me in the best way. At first I doubted myself for putting this under literary fiction, mostly doing it bc it had the "read with Jenna" sticker on it and I know they tend to read a lot of litfic. But in retrospect, YEAH. I WAS RIGHT IT IS LITFIC. the multiple perspectives give you such an incredible look at the world, the integration of real world prison statistics helped feed in quite directly how the things that are written about connect to real life. I also specifically listened to the audiobook for this and MAN. The performance for one of the characters is. So haunting and heartbreaking to me. This book does a fantastic job making you empathize with people who have committed atrocities.

The Name Of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch - I first remembered this book existed in undergrad, and was touched when I looked up the author and found out that he's now out about being queer and having a couple adopted daughters. It really felt like a moment where somehow, he was writing for queer kids like me without ever saying it. It made me really happy to reread, and I want to go back through the rest of the series.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Ehehehehhehe fucked up house.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - My boyfriend watched the Kiera Knightly P&P for the first time this year which made me want to read this. This also being the first year I've ever read romance, I wanted to go back to a book that's considered a "classic" in that genre. Honestly, enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, again! I think next year I'm going to reread Count of Monte Christo for one of my prompts since I remember struggling with the language a lot my first read through of it and anticipated that with P&P only to be absolutely fine.

Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries- First saw it on tumblr from the author, then had a coworker say she loved it. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! What if we reinvented ourselves over and over in different situations and we do NEED to lean on each other to get through hard times and the lessons we teach each other are also the ones we need ti learn ourselves and we were gay and transgender. The paneling was crazy good, I love how it changes with the dream portions of it and how there's a different style of coloring for that.

Cat Man by Parari - Solid! Way more so than I thought it was going to be frankly. This was a far more nuanced use of animal-people as a metaphor for marginalized identities than other animal-people books I've read. There were still some shortcomings, of course, but they presented different ways people cope with having a marginalized identity in a very well rounded way overall.

The Confessional by Paige Hender- Super fun! I love Silver Sprocket, I think this was a fun take on vampires (I've been in a very vampire mood this year overall). The limited color palette was really enjoyable, though sometimes I wish the plot moved a little more slowly.

How To Breathe by Art Ducky - I went back to a indie comic convention I like this year and I got this along with a whole bunch of other zines. :) While this one isn't my favorite, I think it's the one I need most in life.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - I've been meaning to read this for a while since I love reviews for weird things. I have a bookmark collection of articles on my laptop that are of weird reviews. Usually it's to gawk at the beauty and limitation of language in the face of something ridiculous. I think this book is the same in spirit, if not in experience. I read it at the right time.

The Great Beyond by Léa Murawiec - This along with just finishing The Good Place made it quite a year for miserable immortality and shitty mortality for me! Paneling- and choice areas where they were no panels -was really well considered, and I liked that the worldbuilding was vague yet specific so I could still play around with it in my head.

Self-Care for Autistic People by Megan Anna Neff - Eh. I wish this used more specific examples rather than general handwaving. I'm also sick and tired of getting told to journal.

Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker / How To Blow Up A Pipeline by Andreas Malm - So, I read both of these back to back out of worry that I wouldn't finish my bingo before the end of the year. Both gave me something different. For a while I've been interested in views of violence that aren't just "it bad" and more complicated than current American understandings? Pipeline gave me a much needed well rounded, well researched look into violent protest. Neuroqueer Heresies was a nice reminder to me that I have to be queerer, and it was a good refresher now that in my professional life I'm working more on accessibility in my workspace.

Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis - Oops! I like baking now. Genuinely this prompt helped me realize I'm not bad at cooking, just better at baking.