books · life

[#712] It’s really mind boggling

So it’s been a month since I quit social media and boy howdy am I greater for it.

I’m still staying informed on things, which is the reason behind my blog post title today. In which, it is so absolutely mind boggling how the political sides take a story and form their own narratives about it. Like, who do you really believe in this case?!

And each one often becomes more outrageous than the other. It’s especially tragic when people lose their lives because you can’t exactly say, “okay, now tell us what REALLY happened.” This is a great time for Ned from Pushing Daisies’s powers to actually exist.

Anyway, since it’s the end of the month, here’s the January reading wrap!

 

books · gaming

[#709] Welcome 2026!

So I totally fell off the face of the Earth there, as I do.

The ADHD be really real at times, or I just lose interest in the thing I’m chasing.

 

In the gaming sphere, I am still chasing FFXIV achievements and as of typing this, I am now #105 on my server. \o/

 

In the Bookish sphere,  I completed 74 books with a goal of 25.

For January, I already have four books on deck towards a goal of 26.

 

 

 

I’m especially excited for Quicksilver and have heard very good things! I’m 10% of the way in right now and I’m having a blast. I’m probably late for that train but better than never, right?

In other news, aside from posting screenshots to my FFXIV account and leaving alerts on for when friends share posts to me, I am stepping away from social media this year for my mental health. No matter how much you curate it, it is a still a flaming huge dumpster fire. My last post in Instagram was 2024, so I’m hoping to do the same with Threads and Bluesky. The people that matter have ways of contacting me outside of those platforms, so they can utilize them as they wish.

 

Anyway, that’s all for now.

books

[Top Ten Tuesday] 2/4/25

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Ten 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t (YET)

(again, in no particular order!)

 

1. Once Upon a Dark October by Jessie Thomas

2. Furever Enchanted by B. E. Bang

3. The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

4. Whenever You’re Ready by Rachel Runya Katz

5. Blood on the Tide by Katee Robert

6. Coming Home by Brittney Griner

7. In Universes by Emet North

8. Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu

9. The Prospects by KT Hoffman

10. The Emperor and The Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

 
 

TBRs are ever expanding but I’ll get to these some time, I swear!

books

January Reading Wrap-Up

Good lord, January felt like 84 frickin’ years (We won’t go into why, but I’ve made a lot of posts about it on other social media platforms since the 20th, you’re welcome to peruse.)

Anyway! We made it. Here’s January’s Reading Wrap-Up!

books

[Can’t Wait Wednesday] 1/29/25

Can’t-Wait Wednesday  is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

 

Brigands & Breadknives (Legends & Lattes #2) by Travis Baldree

Due out November 11, 2025

 

Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller Fern

Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!

If only things were so simple…

It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.

A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.

As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.

Genres: Fantasy, Cozy, Adult, LGBT+, Romance, Sci-Fi, Mystery

Editions: Hardcover & Kindle

 


 

I actually just recently finished Legends & Lattes so now I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series! I have plans to read Bookshops & Bonedust soon™️, hopefully before Brigands & Breadknives comes out…. LOL

books

Rating: Legends & Lattes

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed. (via Goodreads)

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, LGBT+ (Lesbian representation), Cozy

Ratings:

5 ⭐

1 / 5 🌶️

Star ratings weighed via Goodreads’s system

Steam / Spice ratings weighed via Romance.io‘s system

books

[Top Ten Tuesday] 1/28/25

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

(again, in no particular order!)

 

1. Andrew Joseph White – The Spirit Bears Its Teeth

2. Chloe Liese – Better Hate Than Never

3. Stella Moore – Libra

4. Stuart Turton – The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

5. Gabe Cole Novoa – Most Ardently – A Pride & Prejudice Remix

6. Madalyn Rae – Garden of Secret and Shadow

7. Opal Reyne – A Soul To Keep

8. Taylor Jenkins Reid – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

9. Georgia Beers –  Aubrey McFadden Is Never Getting Married

10. T.J. Alexander – Triple Sec


 

I feel like I’m discovering a new author with every book I pick up these days, very rarely do I read a series.

Have you read any of these authors or books? 🙂

books

Rating: To A Darker Shore

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Plain, poor, plus-size, and autistic, Alesta grew up trying to convince her kingdom that she’s too useful to be sacrificed like so many of their country’s poor to appease the infernal monster across the poison sea in hell.

When Alesta’s attempt to prove herself with inventions goes awry, her best friend and heir to the throne, Kyrian, takes the blame expecting leniency—and ends up tithed in her place.

To end the sacrifices forever, Alesta plans to kill the monster that killed her friend. She travels to the depths of hell only to find Kyrian, alive, but monstrously transformed.

There’s no escaping hell or their deeper feelings for one another, and the farther they go, the closer they come to uncovering a truth about the tithings that threatens to invoke the wrath of not only monsters but the gods as well.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, LGBT+ (Lesbian representation), Disability (Autism Spectrum Disorder representation)

 

Ratings:

3 / 5 ⭐

1 / 5 🌶️

Star ratings weighed via Goodreads’s system

Steam / Spice ratings weighed via Romance.io‘s system

books

[Can’t Wait Wednesday] 1/22/25

Can’t-Wait Wednesday  is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.


Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

Expected on February 18th, 2025

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, LGBT+

Editions: Hardcover, Kindle


Hungerstone is a thrillingly seductive sapphic romance for fans of S.T. Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood and Emilia Hart’s Weyward.

For what do you hunger, Lenore?

Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage, the relationship has soured and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry’s ambitions take them out of London and to the imposing Nethershaw manor in the countryside, where Henry aims to host a hunt with society’s finest. Lenore keeps a terrible secret from the last time her husband hunted, and though they never speak of it, it haunts their marriage to this day.

The preparations for the event take a turn when a carriage accident near their remote home brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore’s life. Carmilla who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night; Carmilla who stirs up a hunger deep within Lenore. Soon girls from local villages begin to fall sick before being consumed by a bloody hunger.

Torn between regaining her husband’s affection and Carmilla’s ever-growing presence, Lenore begins to unravel her past and in doing so, uncovers a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .

Set against the violent wilderness of the moors and the uncontrolled appetite of the industrial revolution, Hungerstone is a compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the book that inspired Dracula: a captivating story of appetite and desire.


As someone who is a fan of the original Carmilla book, I am SO excited for this one!!