Hi! My name is Bec and I post about books and reblog anything related - from memes and writing advice to cats, art, and embroidery. I primarily read fantasy, mystery, and science fiction, particularly with a historical, queer, or humanist bent. Not much into YA or booktok.
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I get so self conscious reading a first-person story where the narrator has the same insecurities as me. I am in the photo and I’m having an existential crisis.
i DESPERATELY need a Three POV of platform decay holy shit. it gets tapped to go on a mission and its instructions are ‘cause a distraction and then go back to the shuttle and wait for me’ and it instead decides to cause the distraction and then go on a day-long speedrun freeing as many secunits as possible. and then it gets yelled at by everyone. “can it be a we problem” “no. get in the shuttle” secunit three i love you so much
Maybe its the 9 years of catholic school bit my favorite book theology is lois mcmasters bujold "world of the five gods"
I love the Pachinko idea destiny from the Curse of Challon. That in time of need many men are sent who could be a hero and someone will land in the correct place eventually.
But my absolute favorite comes from penric and Desdemona
"The gods have no hands but ours" and that we become the miracles for other people.
Its empowing and optimistic without ever minimizing that effort involved. But also It's a individualist enough to apeal to my American ass while still being communal enough for my 17 years of chior.
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My favourite format of book! My paperback to hardback ratio is something like 20:1. And a lot of those hardbacks are art/craft books. I should think my fiction paperback to hardback ratio is at least 30:1
Immortal Game • Taipei Story • I Who Have Never Known Men • A Drop of Corruption • The Felicity Complex • The Incandescent • The Spy Who Came in From the Cold • Dreamland • The Intrigue • The Fire Next Time
Can you believe Try To Finish All These ARCs Month was a success? I read and reviewed four ARCs, an additional four books off the Bella's Book Club summer reading list, and two more I just felt like reading! And the ARCs... weren't half bad? Many had sex scenes and some had good food 😜🍲
Immortal Game [GR review] ★★★1/2☆ - Allison Saft is one of those authors whose story ideas I like in theory but never in execution. But I met her IRL this month and she was super chill so I decided, eh, let's give the Chess Lesbian rivals-to-lovers a chance. I'm glad I did, because I liked this one much better than Saft's other books! Improved pacing here.
Taipei Story [GR review]★★★★☆ - Funnily enough, R.F. Kuang falls into the same "never clicked with before" category as Saft for me. I suspected I'd like her writing better in a genre other than fantasy, and this book proved me right. (I mean definitely don't pay $650 for it but it's got great prose and voice going on.)
I Who Have Never Known Men ★★★★☆ - I'd seen lots of hype for this one, but wasn't prepared for how disturbing I'd find it. This was MY Backrooms. 10/10 showed me a terrible time
A Drop of Corruption ★★★★☆ - This series is so damn fun. I liked this even better than the first book due to the cool villain and Din's hilarious slut era (we love a sad cringe failman with a huge dick!) Can't wait for book 3 now! Too bad I'm like 27th on the holds list 💀
The Felicity Complex [GR review]★★★1/2☆ - Exactly the Good For Her™, Ex Machina-esque tale I was promised. Nothing wildly original, but a delightfully weird narrator here.
The Incandescent ★★★★☆ - An excellent @bellasbookclub summer reading rec! Loved the magic school worldbuilding and the teacher POV. Emily Tesh is batting 100 for me so far.
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold ★★☆☆☆ - I'd long wondered whether or not John Le Carré was for me, and now I can definitively say that he is Not
Dreamland [GR review]★★★1/2☆ - Saw Olivie Blake on a panel a few years ago and was impressed by all the intelligent things she had to say, so I was eager to read her work for the first time. This one was a tad overwritten/purple, but not bad. Really liked the main POV character/narrator and not just because she dropped out of the same university I did
The Intrigue [GR review]★★★1/2☆ - A solid noir tale from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Nuance enjoyers will enjoy the nuance 👍
The Fire Next Time [GR review]★★★★★ - Absolutely floored by how good this was. Just. Every single sentence, wow. Even at the few parts that haven't aged well I found myself wondering what Baldwin would think of the modern shift toward intersectionality, and y'know, I think he'd get it. Gonna need to buy my own copy of this one for rereading purposes
DNFs: None.
July superlatives: here! (and here 😉)
Next up:
My ARC goals for August are such a random combination. We're looking at Winterveil, Christmas in Austenland, at least one of two different Jonathan Strahan anthologies, and Building 903. I also finally have The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi from the library, so fingers crossed I manage to read that one too!
previous months:
2024 • 2025
2026: january • february • march • april • may • june
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Well! This was disappointing lol. I picked it up because it kept appearing on New Weird Fiction lists (I say, like I've found more than two of said lists), with the likes of VanderMeer and Mieville, and fucked up walking journeys are thematically relevant for the revision project I'm working on.
The premise was "guy checks into a hotel for a work trip, goes on an ill-advised hike, and gets lost/trapped on a fairy tale rules path in a weird nightmarescape for [REDACTED], and all he wants to do is get home to his wife and kids." You see why this should've been up my alley.
Unfortunately: I found it completely lacking in substance. It was kind of weird (but like. such a vanilla flavor of weird. hardly weird. do better)(...oh this is where DCC comes from for me: it's such a bland level of weird), and definitely fucked up, but there....wasn't much to it, except the same two notes of "I want to get home to my family" and incoherent breakdowns at intervals (which: understandable, but. c'mon, dude, DO something about it). Early on in my read I was getting "THE LIBRARY OF MOUNT CHAR meets DCC with a dash of ELSEWHERE EXPRESS" vibes, and I only might've liked one (1) of those to begin with--at the end, I stand by that assessment.
Our protagonist, Ben, lacked agency but wasn't even clever about anything, so we wandered down this path with him for a decade doing....not much of anything except surviving, badly (which, spoilers, you find out late book he Literally Can't Die While On The Path so like. What even was the point. He could kill himself OFF the path, or GET killed off the path but as long as he Remained On The Path, No. Way to take all the urgency out of the only thing your book had going for you lmao). It might've done some neat stuff with time loops but... didn't.... It possibly could've had something to say about depression but then.... didn't... Hell, it could even have said something interesting about God and choices and the traps we build for ourselves and.... didn't. I'm hugely extrapolating themes, here, because a blurb on the back calling this "quietly profound" pissed me off. Like my guy you gotta take a STANCE to count as profound, and this Did Not Do That.
This was, thankfully, a quick read, which was good given its underwhelming mediocrity. Skip it.
Sometimes you are in the equivalent of the great british bakeoff and a dragon attacks. That's fine, because you have a cake knife and an offset spatula. Also you can sort of communicate with bees because your mom was a cool lady. Also your boss is a cool lady. And your deceased stepdad's second wife is a cool lady. And your grandmother is a deeply unpleasant but powerful sorceress. And you like running cross country.
Whiskeyjack by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Sometimes your dad is presumed dead twice but cool anyway and your deceased stepdad is cool and your bestie(s) are cool and your bestie's much older brother and his boyfriend are also very cool and your stepdad's will makes the reader cry every time. And also you defeat the Dark Gods or whatever.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes 5 stars
I liked the approach of all uh. We'll say 28? Different angles to identifying the ancient wonders we maybe know and maybe exist and the discussion of the ones that are fairly well known.
Blackcurrant Fool by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Well. Lark caught us instead. And it sucked. But the book didn't suck even a little!
Agrippina: Empress Exile Hustler Whore by Emma Southon 5 stars
We all know I am a slut for Dr Emma Southon. She's married it's fine but like. You know. Her brain and all.
Love-in-a-Mist by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
It's a murder mystery and there is a unicorn, but most importantly Jemis gets a new wardrobe and is cuddled by the guy who has a crush on him. You have two hands, Jemis. You talk about this guy's thighs ALL THE TIME. I do not think Violet would mind is all I'm saying.
Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Ahahahaha it's fine it's FINE do not follow your good neighbors into the woods even if they're probably your cousins and ALSO very curious about the fact you were dead. I'm extrapolating. Anyway don't do it.
The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed 2) by Brigitte Knightley 5 stars
Truly this series was THE surprise of the last two years. Genuinely delightful. Actually a duology. Funny as hell. A good demonstration of what happens when the magic healers go, previously we were pacifists but you're trying to kill us all so...
Also ends with total destabilization of all current governments and isn't Weird about Not Ireland. ALSO the worldbuilding is based on 'so what if the Norman invasion failed and there is magic'. Blue and orange assassin angel (???) morality. Tactical battle healing along with the "I was a pacifist but..." A kitten named Acts of Warranted Brutality who rewards you with purrs for acknowledging the warranted part of it all. Protagonists with blind spots. Antagonists with blind spots.
Anyway it's a good time.
A Widow's Charm by Caitlyn Paxson 5 stars
I liked this book so much I immediately went to purchase it and the next one only to find that the sequel doesn't come out until April of 2027, which is rude. Homophobic. A CRIME.
I kid I'll wait it sounds really fun.
Anyway I'll take practical widow good at running the estate who was genuinely fond of her husband and also wants him back for practical reasons for 500, Alex, and the sort of necromancer who she first tries to convince then seduce into helping her for the same. It even makes sense why he doesn't want to do it, aside from (eventually) liking said practical widow reasons!
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce 5 stars
I remain a lonely horsegirl who likes swords and cats living in a lonely world. I live for Alanna's constant 'bitch you thought' moments.
The Boleyn Curse by Alexandra Walsh 2 stars
How did this get two stars, you ask. Truly I do not know. This book's cardinal sin is being boring as hell but its secondary sin is everything else. Everybody has magic now. There are evil italian-welsh. I support Lucia's wrongs tbh mostly because our protagonists are insufferable. This IS what's wrong with the private sector. I think Alexandra Walsh could benefit from reading that Estelle Paranque from last month tbh.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
I mean. Yeah.
Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend 5 stars
Well. The Aztecs. Who knew reading their own or their descendants' histories about themselves would like. Give insight. Who knew. It's shocking or whatever.
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
Well. Listen. I think y'all know this by now.
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
I think it was @flavia8 who said this book wasn't very popular and they seemed to be the only one who really liked it. No, my friend. We are holding hands. We are patting this book on the head. Presumably we are tearing up about Holytree together and kinda horrified about the literal living hell of Earl Horseriver.
Anyway it's good.
Learn my Lesson (Wicked Villains 2) by Katee Robert 3 stars
Sexy but for a series called Wicked Villains where the author's notes talk a lot about how not good her characters are they're pretty middle of the road morals-wise. IDK. Yay throuples!
Stone Speaks to Stone by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Review here
The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court by Gareth Russell 4.75 stars
It's what it says on the tin and it's interesting.
Last Courtesan of Olympus by Amanda Meuwissen 3.5
Pretty hot but does fall into the trap of treating BDSM like a magical fix-it therapy tool. So it goes.
The Beast (Wicked Villains 4) by Katee Robert 3 stars
Can I get this magical fix-it bdsm with two dudes who are supposedly terrible humans but kinda just chill and visit a bdsm club a lot. It might not be less expensive than therapy given how expensive I am assured Hades' sexdungeon club IS, but it seems effective.
The Sea Witch (Wicked Villains 5) by Katee Robert 3.5
Well it's the same plot as Lean my Lesson except the dad was Vaguely Redeemable I Guess and it was hotter. So there's that.
Desperate Measures (Wicked Villains 1) by Katee Robert 3.5
Apparently this was the first one. Who knew. At least Jafar starts the story by taking Yasmina's abusive father out back and shooting him, so he has a leg to stand on in the morally ambiguous category. Too much daddykink for me personally but otherwise relatively hot. Also Yasmina does get to shank a dude with a letter opener, which is what she opens the book yearning to do, so points for that.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison 5 stars
Let Csethiro duel somebody 2k27. Let her loose. The nohecharei really do not have to consider hanging out in the bedroom politely pretending not to be there if she's in the room, I diffidently offer, though tbh maybe they should leave Csevet there. Just, you know. Just in case. Or whatever.
Did it take a lot of rereads to get this month a better star rating. Maybe. Listen those rereads are loadbearing. The load is my sanity.
Summer is just flying by, and before I know it, I'll be starting my new job! I'm going back to teaching as of August 31st with two courses: College Composition and Research & Composition. I know I used to complain about teaching all the time, but I've really started to miss it. And I have sooo many fun ideas for Research & Composition (archival work! The school I'm teaching at has a special collection of items from the 1850s!)
Books Read: 10
This was a pretty great reading month. My overall favorite was Mansfield Park, which I fall in love with more and more on each reread. My new favorite of the month was Saint Catherine; it's only flaw was that I wanted it to be longer. There really isn't a least favorite. Even though Lovers' Vows is only 3 stars, it was still interested and really enhanced my reading of Mansfield Park. Titles marked with ® are rereads.
Funny Story by Emily Henry - 5 stars ®
Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald - 3 stars
Game Changer by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
The Murder Next Door by Hugh D'Andrade - 3.5 stars
What Jane Austen's Characters Read (and Why) by Susan Allen Ford - 4 stars
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 5 stars ®
Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan - 4 stars
Saint Catherine by Anna Meyer - 4.5 stars
Tough Guy by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
Role Model by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
Books DNFed: 1
The Elopement by Gill Hornby - I just wasn't feeling this book at the moment. I fully intend to come back to it since I enjoyed Hornby's other books about the Austen family. It just wasn't the time for it. 🤷🏻♀️
On Tumblr:
Well that goal of posting things in July didn't really happen...
June 2026 Wrap Up
Tagged: 26 in 2026 - July Update
On YouTube:
But as usual, there's plenty here! A lot of these are for Jane Austen July, which is an event over on BookTube.
The Jane Austen July Tag
June Wrap Up | 7 reads and 1 DNF!
Christmas in July Book Haul!
Currently Reading 7/13/26
The Elizabeth Gaskell Project | My Lady Ludlow
August TBR | trying to get my goals back on track...
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
