Nerd Church - Short Story: Living the Dream

So this is another instalment of my 'Snapshots of Anna Sinclair' series from Medium.

If you want to see the first one - New Money - on Dora Reads, then you can do so here.

Hope you enjoy!

Warning: brief references to domestic violence and prison

Living the Dream

Good morning, Anna Sinclair

Image by Marco Wolff from Pixabay

Nerd Church - The Devil Wears Double Standards

Warning: this post briefly discusses sexual assault and slut-shaming/victim blaming.

 

I recently read The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.

And while I largely enjoyed it, and it's really well written, I have Some Thoughts™ about the way it treats women - especially women with any type of ambition or aspirations.

The Devil Wears Prada is a book about Andy, who becomes an assistant to Miranda Priestly - boss b**ch in chief at fashion magazine 'Runway.'

Miranda is a living nightmare who seems to delight in making her assistants' lives hell.

Friday Fics Fix - IT and Walt Whitman

'Richie, who calls Eddie up sometimes in the middle of the night to explain the entire plot of a novel he just read in two hours to him.'

This is a weird one - and not in the usual way that fanfiction is weird.

This is weird because it's so... grown-up. 

I mean... grown-up fanfiction, who knew?

(And no, I don't mean in an 18+ sexy-times way - that's way more common. 😅)

Mini-Review! - Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson

* = commission link

*

Title: Some Places More Than Others*

Author: Renée Watson

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Middle Grade/MG (Kids)

From My TBR: 15 Young Adult and Middle Grade Books By Black Authors

 

(Warning: this post references racism and police brutality)

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

There are three important reasons for me writing this post:

1. Black Lives still Matter.

2. It's always a good time to highlight diverse books.

and 3. There are so many amazing Black creators out there, who don't always get the recognition they deserve.

So here's a small selection of some of the Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) books on my TBR list that were written by Black authors.

For those of you who don't know the book-blog lingo - a TBR is a 'to-be-read' list. Mine is immortal and cannot be stopped. Send help.

For those of you who are British like me, and/or haven't heard the book blogging term, Middle Grade books are those aimed at (roughly) ages 8-12, or 8-14, depending who you ask.

(Quick disclaimer: obviously, I haven't read these books, just their synopses, so I don't know what they're like in terms of content, quality, etc.)

I hope you find something to add to your own TBR, and remember to support Black authors, and other Black creators.

There're so many talented Black authors out there who deserve our attention!

Review Time! - Queer As A Five-Dollar Bill by Lee Wind

(Warning: this post discusses Homophobia and bigotry, including physical violence)

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

Title: Queer As A Five-Dollar Bill

Author: Lee Wind

Genre: YA, Contemporary, LGBTQ+ (Gay & M/M)

Amazon: USA

Mini-Review! - Dat's Love and Other Stories by Leonora Brito

**This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (US). I earn commission from qualifying purchases**

Title: Dat's Love and Other Stories

(Also published as 'Selected Stories)

Author: Leonora Brito

Genres: Anthology, Short Stories, Contemporary(-ish,) Historical Fiction

Buy now on Amazon.com

Month in Review(s) - February 2019

February was... OK.

Look, I'd love to say it was great. But my Depression has been kind of up-and-down.

So I can't honestly call it 'great' - but 'ok' is fairly accurate.

I survived it. I even enjoyed some of it. So 'ok' is what I'm gonna call it.

Mini-Review! - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

**This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (USA) - I receive a small commission for products purchased using these links**

Title: Home Fire

Author: Kamila Shamsie

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Retellings

Buy Now USA

Month In Review(s) - December 2018

In order to fully boot 2018's a** out the back door, there's still a little business to attend to - in this case, December's wrap-up.

Except for Christmas (which is always amazing - I love Christmas,) December sucked.

Review Time! - Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

**This post contains affiliate links for Amazon USA, I receive a small commission for any qualifying purchases made using these links**

Title: Piecing Me Together

Author: Renée Watson

Genre: Young Adult (with New Adult crossover appeal,) Contemporary Fiction

Amazon: USA

Month In Review(s) - October 2018

Argh. October.

October was pretty much like the previous months - stressful, full of family worries, and working uber-hard.

My grandparents are both still in hospital. Life is still hectic.

Only October also managed to give me the gift of about four or five different colds. I'm one of those people who get colds on a rotating-door type basis. 😷

Really Mini-Reviews - Escorting the Escort by Lyss Em and Babyvamp by Lyssa Dering

You want some awesome M/M New Adult romance novellas?

Of course ya do!

Today I've got reviews of Escorting the Escort by Lyss Em and Babyvamp by Lyssa Dering - which are both written by the same author, just under different names.

They explore orientations beyond just Gay or Straight, and are pretty damned awesome t'boot!

Comics Wrap-Up - For The Strong-Willed When The World Gives You A Raw Deal

Superheroes, anti-heroes, and girls kissing! Let's get going my nerdlets!

Really Mini-Reviews! - The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

I have two reviews for stunning collections of short stories by Asian-American writers for you today dear nerdlets!

Check out my reviews of The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen, and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu:

#BannedBooksWeek: Nerd Church - F**k It, Let's Talk Censorship (Ft. Thirteen Reasons Why)

Warning: this post discusses suicide, suicidal thoughts, mental health problems, sexual harassment, and censorship.

Links may also discuss these topics.




(Did you notice I self-censored in the title of this post? I can't bring myself to swear without *'s because in a traditional Welsh household, the only one allowed to swear is your mam. Lol.)

Via Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is back! (23-29 Sept 2018)

And, darling nerdlets, I'm here once again to ask all the goddamn awkward questions!

Cos that's kinda what this week is about!

Month in Review(s) - August 2018

August... August can shut the f**k up.

Sorry if that was a little aggressive! But my Nanny is back in hospital again and... this time scares me even more than the last two times.

Which isn't August's fault, y'know, as a month.

But it isn't anyone else's fault either.

And sometimes it helps to have something to anthropomorphise your fear and anger at - y'know, aside from Parkinson's Disease itself.

Review Time! - Learning Curves by Ceillie Simkiss

Title: Learning Curves

Author: Ceillie Simkiss

Genre:

New Adult, Novella, Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Asexual, Panromantic,) Romance (F/F)

Release Date: 17th August 2018

Amazon: UK - USA

Month In Review(s) - May 2018

May. May was hectic.


Some good stuff happened. Some not-good stuff happened.

Such is life I suppose!

Really Mini-Reviews! - Swing Time by Zadie Smith and The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

What have I got for you today?

Some more awesome-sauce Really Mini-Reviews!

So, here are my reviews of Swing Time by Zadie Smith, and The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware: