The Whatnot of TJ

Books Read in 2023
Janaury 2024 Reads
February 2024 Reads 




MARCH 2024 READS The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.

I decided to take a break from the Green Creek series after reading Wolfsong and Ravensong last month. I wanted more Klune, but I wanted to slow down my devouring of more GC.

At first, I was thrown off by the narration of this book because it was the same person who did Klune’s In the Lives of Puppets, and so I had those characters very much in my head when I started. I’ve listened to narrators read other books before and it’s never been a problem--sure, my inner voice of Charlie Spring from Heartstopper and Luc O’Donnell from Boyfriend/Husband Material are very similar because of the same narrator, but it has never pulled me out of one of them, or changed my perception of the story.

This one did. But once I gut passed that, and almost imperceptibly, I found myself caring more and more and becoming more and more invested in these characters. There are controversies about this book that I’d rather not dwell on, and that make me feel like I have to defend my enjoyment of the book, but I don’t feel like doing it right now. Just know that I am aware, and I have feelings, but they don’t take away from what this book does well, or my devotion to Klune’s other works.

Heartsong by T.J. Klune ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

So, each book in this series picks up the story from another characters POV. I really loved Ox so much in the first book, that it was jarring to be with another character in the next one. When I found out Heartsong was going to be told by another character that I cared about even less than I did the second book, I was skeptical, but I knew I was still going to get all the found family and heart and soul that I’ve come to love, plus I had to see where the story went next.

I was not prepared for this new(ish) character to completely own my soul. I was not prepared to find out more about a brother that I hadn’t really seen as much more than a sidekicky, comic relief of a character up to this point. I wasn’t expecting him to own my little ace-middle child-secondary character in my own lifestory heart so very completely. GUHHHHH! I seriously couldn’t imagine not loving this book anymore than I did. I couldn’t imagine loving any other book in this series any more than I did this one.

Brothersong by T.J. Klune ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

And then we get to this fucking book. JFC. This one took what I loved about Woflsong, Ravensong and especially Heartsong and ramped it up to infinity. It was perfection(ish), it does sort of drag out there in the end, but waves hands dismissively*. And there was one scene that was completely unnecessary and OOC that hurt my soul, but it was short and then never mentioned again.

I went on and on about it on Tumblr, but it’s super spoilery so I don’t suggest hitting that link if you haven’t read, but once you do, join me in obsessing! <3

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've been aware of Scalzi for a long time and have read his blog on and off for years, but this is the first actual book of his I've read. It was fun. Not too deep, not too thorough, but fun and have me a good sense of his style.

The UnHoneymooners by Christine Lauren ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This was a Blind Date with a Book gift from my niece. It does hit a lot of my trope faves (fake relationships, enemies to lovers, forced proximity) and it was cute. But, I wasn't super invested in the couple and the misunderstood perceptions didn't seem as big a deal as they maybe could be? IDK.

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had this in my TBR for a while, but saw it on a list of trans rep book suggestions for the TransReadathon. So read it for that. It was the first book I've read with a Trans MC and I enjoyed it. My dislike for the character in the beginning had nothing to do with his gender or his transition. It had to do with his wealth, his entitlement and his complete disregard for others. He was a good character to get to witness um… transform?

I did have some unsatisfied reader feelings, some plot points that were alluded to but not executed, some resolutions that seemed too easy, but for what it was--a cute fake dating, enemies to lovers-- love story, it was cute.