The Whatnot of TJ

HAPPY PRIDE!

I hope to come back some time in the near future and talk about things and stuff. But until then, here, have some book recs.



The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've been trying to read more nonfiction, more self help, but I've been very leery of most I've tried for various reasons. This one got my interest peaked with the funny, relevant to my sensibilities title. But then it kept my interest with some honest, easy to digest and apply advice. It reads very much like a collection of blog posts and not a thesis statement that needed to be needlessly expanded into a book (which is one of the things that has turned me off with a lot of nonfiction lately).

How to Belong to a Billionaire by Alexis Hall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The 5 stars was for the entire series and a conclusion that was way more satisfying than it had any right to be. I read a lot of reviews that were mad at this book because it “wasn't even a romance since they spend so much time with other partners.” But, you know what? I loved that about this book. It made it realistic, and unpredictable and there were large chunks of this book where I very much DID not want them to wind up together.

More than a romance, it read very much like a coming of age story with the characters needing to grow up, grow apart and then find themselves before they could decide where they belonged. And while there was a HEA and a bright, beautiful bow around it. There was still room for even more growth (and a LOT of therapy) and for more to happen.

Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This was the last of Sebastian’s Seducing the Sedgwicks historical fiction series and I loved them all so very much. This was friends to lovers (she writes this trope so lovingly) and hurt comfort and just…*sigh*. I love it a lot!

Each book tells the story of another queer brother (and I know, three queer men in one family, what are the odds? But hey, it can happen just ask the Bennetts 🤣) and I honestly couldn't tell you which brother I loved the most (probably the most broken one 🤣🤣).

The Charioteer by Mary Renault ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

FINALLY finished!

This was definitely from a different time with a unique writing style that I've grown incredibly unfamiliar with. It was good, but needed a lot of time to sort it all out. At least for me.

It's said to be the first queer book published in England where the main character is openly queer, where it's a romance and where they get a HEA (sort of).

I first heard about it in Cat Sebastian's We Could Be So Good because the character refused to read it until another character convinced him that no one dies in the end. ❤️ And then, Alexis Hall mentioned it in his author annotations in For Real citing it as the source for that book's MC's name. ❤️❤️

Murderbots 4-7 bt Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I put all of these together because I listened to them back to back, to back, to back, and the plot sort of merged and blended in such a way, gun to my head, I couldn't pinpoint what book told what story. I do remember that the 5th one (Network Effect) was my favorite, being the longest and the most character developy of the bunch.

It's hard to pinpoint just why these are so delightful, but they are (that's a lie. It's the humor, definitely that and the way it manifests itself in the what the fuck is wrong with this dumb humans and why do I fucking care? of it all. 😍😍)

I'll definitely be buying the collected works in print when it's complete, because the only downfall of audio is the inability to annotate and highlight all my favorite parts. ❤️

The King's Men (All For The Game #3) by Nora Sakavic ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

OH MY GODDDDDD!

Can the story just end here? Like, can I just stop here and roll around in the possibilities and The-Maybe-Everything-Will-Be-Okay-Of-It for a while?

I just think I'll be much nicer to these characters in my head than Sakavic is on the page and they need a bit of a reprieve, ya know? We all do. ❤️❤️

I will say that after reading the first one and REALLY not getting the hype and going into The Raven King a bit reluctantly, but coming around by the end, I FINALLY understand the obsession a bit.

A normal level of a bit.

Totally normal about it. *nods*

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Steifvater ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

This was my first book by this author, even though I have a few of their books on my actual honest-to-goodness shelf. I bought it at the library and then went to a Silent Book Reading meeting and needed something to read and had no other physical book on my person. I'm glad I didn't.

It read like a very accessible Allende, with magic and folklore tied to a specific place and time and I loved it.

A Gentleman’s Gentleman by T. J. Alexander ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

*sigh* I was not prepared to love this as much as I did. Reading other queer books of this time period, reading other trans rep books from this time period (A Lady for a Duke) , reading other books with the same trans narrator (Most Ardently), even reading other books from this author (Triple Sec) did not prepare me for the love that pour out of me while listening to this one.

I don't want to go too much into the whys because there is something of a plot twist that I'm not sure just how plot twisty it's meant to be, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Just read it. Then come back here and gush with me. ❤️❤️

 

So, what is everyone reading for Pride? So far, I'm just set to finish:
*When The Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
*Even Though I Knew the End by C.I. Polk
*Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer
*Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
*A Destiny of Dragons by TJ Klune

And then we'll see where the muse takes me. Recs, of course, always welcome. ❤️❤️