Dora Reads is the book blog of a Bookish Rebel, supporting the Diversity Movement, bringing you Queer views and mental health advocacy, slipping in a lot of non-bookish content, and spreading reading to the goddamn world! :) (All posts may contain Amazon links, which are affiliate, unless marked otherwise. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. USA ONLY - please do not make UK purchases with my links)
Tuesday, 11 March 2025
The Bookish Diversity Link List 2025
Friday, 15 November 2024
Friday Fics Fix - And Now He's An Armadillo
'I still think we should try Khonshu, Marc. He’ll be here before long anyway, so…
Nope. He is not having the bird fix this. He will… sort it out. Somehow. Like a big boy.'
This is such a random story.
- It made me smile, and I think we all could do with some more of that at the moment.
Friday, 1 November 2024
Friday Fics Fix - We Got It All
'The people who know the Winter Soldier is rogue and hunting won’t exactly be shouting it from the rooftops, because telling people your pet murder machine has gone a little bit rabid on you is just the slightest bit bad for morale.'
I'm cheating, this week.
I have rec'd this fic before - way back, in the ancient internet age of 2018 (and also in a few rec lists since then.)
Friday, 11 October 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Challenging My Golden Fic Rule...
Warning: this post discusses mental health problems
'Ed is happy, Stede is happy, the crew is happy. Izzy stands on the sidelines with rope in his hands, watching them all mingle and play. No one seems to notice the shadows under his eyes, how they grow darker, how the purple bruise-like colour seems permanently inked onto his skin these days.'
Every so often, a fic comes along which challenges my golden rule of fanfic-rec'ing.
And the golden rule is, of course: If it's well-written, I must rec.
Friday, 4 October 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Lila, Klaus, and Ghosties
Now everyone is staring at Klaus, who had chosen to pick at a thread on the shawl he’s wearing. He looks up in the following silence, smiling.
“What can I say, the fans love me.”
I'm currently reading The Umbrella Academy (TUA) fanfiction like there's no tomorrow... which given the current state of the world is a possibility, but let's move on...
So, I'm heavy on the TUA fanfics-reading at the moment.
...Especially the ones that play around with my favourite, fandom-specific, tropes.
Friday, 20 September 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Almost Like Adults, But With More Insults
'“I'm sorry I made you feel like a burden,” Allison admitted.
“Wow, two apologies in one day! You're definitely breaking a Hargreeves record.”'
We are talking The Umbrella Academy (TUA)!
Because the series has now finished - for better or worse (...a lot of people think the ending falls into the 'worse' category, but moving on...)
And that, of course, means that I need to read a whole bunch of TUA fanfiction to fill the umbrella-shaped (...Klaus-shaped) void. (But not the Void, lol.)
Friday, 6 September 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Some Lovely Steve and Bucky Goodness
'And here Bucky was, living his whole life slightly out of step and just now realising it, because no one had ever told him so.
Slightly out of step.
Different.'
Sometimes, you find fics which were written just for you, ya know?
My dearest nerdlets, a fic with Bucky Barnes (from the MCU/Marvel movies etc.) as a sad Queer boi with synaesthesia and migraines? This thing was written for me - no question.
Friday, 9 August 2024
Month(s) In Review(s) - June + July 2024
Warning: discussions of Depression and pet loss
...OK, doing this as a two-monthly thing is becoming an unintentional habit 😅
The only excuse that I have is that sometimes Depression messes my memory up - and the fact that I entirely (and I mean, entirely,) forgot to write a post for June coincides with some pretty sh**ty mental health days over the past two months.
So, yeah. I'm blaming Depression. And I don't feel bad about that, because it blames me for stuff all the time 😅
Sunday, 16 June 2024
Nerd Church - Migraine Trips
You wake up and go downstairs, pausing mid-way down.
The lines of each individual stair seem to waver for a moment.
The stairs themselves seem vaguely Burtonesque - all slanted lines and moving pieces.
Your head hurts and you close your eyes.
Friday, 3 May 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Cyberpunk Stucky
'“Okay, get up, the both of you.” He took out his phone, typed Shuri’s address in, and sent it to Steve’s number. “You’re going to get blood all over the upholstery. And then I’ll have to set fire to it, and then to you for making me sacrifice my good sofa.”'
I love it when fanfic authors have the determination, the dedication, the goddamn verve to write full-length novels.
When those full-length novels are so freaking good - so well thought out, so fleshed out in terms of world-building, so passionate and compelling, that you would legit. buy this as an original novel?
OH MY GOD!!!
Sunday, 17 March 2024
Nerd Church - Should We Judge Older Books By Modern Standards?
Warning: this post discusses racism, ableism, and general prejudice, including reference to dehumanising language and slurs
I've been re-reading* The Princess Diaries for a while now.
For those not aware: this was a massively popular YA series by Meg Cabot from the early 00s where a New York teenager named Mia Thermopolis finds out she's actually the Princess of Genovia. (As you do.)
There also 2 films starring Anne Hathaway, which are fun, but don't really match the tone of the books.
*Well, re-reading the first couple and reading the rest for the first time 😅
Thursday, 25 January 2024
Friday, 19 January 2024
Friday Fics Fix - Doctor Who and Self-Care, Because Why Not?
'Knock, knock, knock on the door. Three times, not four, and the door isn’t blue. It’s red, glittering in baubles of sunlight cast over its fresh coat of paint. The Doctor is safe.'
So far, I'm loving the way Dr Who is headed with Russell T. Davies back at the helm.
Side-note: Welsh people (which Russell T Davies is,) say Dave-iss, not Daveys. Please, for the love of God, respect that. (And check out this Legends of Tomorrow clip for pronounciation, complete with accent.)
Also, Welsh people with common surnames will use middle initials or names to distinguish themselves from other people with the same name. Don't miss out the initials/names when talking about them, please and thank you.
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
The Bookish Diversity Link List 2024
Your resource for all things bookish diversity is back!
Welcome to the 9th (Hell yeah!) Bookish Diversity Link List, 2024.
Friday, 24 November 2023
Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics of 2023
Since F3 is going on its regular break in December, I thought that now was a great time to give you my stand-out fics of the year!
- That's not the same as the best fics of the year.
It's more... the ones I can still remember when stressed and tired at the end of November 😅 (Expect a lot from the last few months, ngl.)
Remember to please check out the orginal rec'ing posts for Content Warnings and SPOILER status.
I'll leave the link to those original rec. posts when I finish up talking about each fic.
Friday, 6 October 2023
Friday Fics Fix - Izzy Hands Is Being Haunted
'His captain just looked sad, like he'd failed Izzy in some way.'
OH MY GOD THIS FIC!!!!
krhguergjopwrgm';¬!
...sorry, had to fangirl over the page a bit there. This fic is so good.
Like - page-turning, stayed up an extra hour to read some more, good.
Friday, 11 August 2023
Month In Review(s) - July 2023
Warning: this post briefly discusses Depression
July. Ugh.
Well... let's look at the positives.
Once again, nobody in my life - either human or animal - died, almost died, or had a life-changing diagnosis.
Which is a low bar for a win, but that's the bar that I have - so it's a win.
Sunday, 23 July 2023
Nerd Church - Watching Tennis With Depression
Warning: As you probably figured out from the title, this post discusses Depression.
Disclaimer Time: I'm not any kind of medical, psychological, or mental health professional. These are my own experiences - nothing more, nothing less.
I love watching tennis.
Like I love it.
It's the one sport that I've followed regularly and consistently since I was a kid.
And for a British kid, there's nothing bigger in tennis than the Wimbledon Championships.
Friday, 21 July 2023
Friday Fics Fix - Solid SamBucky
Warning: this post briefly discusses PTSD/mental health problems
'The storm begins while Sam is away. Which means that Bucky is left to fend for himself in their empty apartment...'
We all need some solid SamBucky emotional/mental-health-based Hurt/Comfort every now and then, right?
...I mean.
We all know it's true.
Friday, 30 June 2023
Friday Fics Fix - Clint Barton Has No Coffee
'The coffee is gone.
"No," Clint whispers, staring at the counter where he left it. "What the... is it... coffee burglar?"'
I would like the record (there's a record, right? Sure, let's say there's a record,) to show that I'm not actually a big fan of time-loop tropes.
...Which you wouldn't think, given how often I rec. them, but there we are!
(All of which is to say that this week's fic is a time-loop fic.)