Month In Review(s) - August 2022

(Warning: this post briefly discusses mental health problems)

August was... OK, I guess.

And for me, this year, OK is freaking fantastic!

So, it was still too hot, but it was cooler than July which -

 - yes, please, thankyou, more of the lack of heat melting my brain, if at all possible, thanks!

I do not function in the heat. At all.

Frighteningly, we now have an official drought in much of Wales. 

If you don't know Wales and our verdant, fertile, valleys all that well, you might wonder why that's frightening.

Basically - you know the stereotypes that the rest of the world has about it always raining in London? Yeah? Well, I would consider London to be quite a dry place.

And we have drought.

(And now London possibly wants our water - but if I start getting into the long and exploitative history of water politics between Wales and England, we will be here all day.)

Climate change is real, and it is here.

Mini-Review Time! - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

 **This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com; purchases made through these links will earn me a small amount of commission**

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Genre: Sci-Fi(-ish)

Buy now on Amazon.com 

Month In Review(s) - February 2022

(Warning: this post discusses war, the threat of nuclear disaster, injured cats, and blood)

February.

2022.

February. 2022.

February 2022.

...I live in Europe. Edges of, here in the UK, but still Europe.

Y'know, that continent Putin nearly turned into a nuclear wasteland last week? 

And no, I'm not over-reacting, Zaporizhzhia is way bigger than Chernobyl, and radiation from the  Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the reason Welsh farmers had restrictions on selling livestock until 2012.

So... *gestures at Putin in a non-polite manner*

You can donate to the Disaster Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal here.

Review Time! (Graphic Non-Fiction Edition!) - Iranian Love Stories

Warning: This post contains discussions of totalitarian regimes, so-called 'virginity tests', intimate anatomy, misogyny, general human rights abuses, and related topics.

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

Title: Iranian Love Stories

Author: Jane Deuxard

Artist: Deloupy

Genres: Graphic Novel (Graphic Non-Fiction,) Non-Fiction

Buy Now on Amazon.com  







A Few Starting Notes:



I received a free digital review copy of Iranian Love Stories from Edelweiss, as an opportunity to provide an honest and fair review.

Nerd Church - Reasons I Didn't Review Your Book

 

Yes, I'm a book blogger. Yes, I write reviews.

And yes, somehow I lucked out and reviews are some of my highest-traffic content, despite the fact that I write way fewer of them than I intend to.

But I don't review everything I read. Far from it.

There are people who do that - and that's amazing, I admire you so much.

But I can't.

I just can't.

I don't have the energy or the time. And I'm trying not to do the work-myself-into-an-early-grave thing. With varied results.

And whether or not I'll be reviewing your book (metaphorical author who may or may not exist,) will be based on a bunch of factors - because you know that I don't have just one reason for absolutely anything.

(Warning: this post references the affects of Depression/Anxiety)

Month in Review(s) - April 2021

(Warning: this post briefly discusses Covid 19/Coronavirus and Lockdowns, and mental health problems)

April was a mixed month.

Not only did we have snow, hail, rain, and blazing warm sunshine on the same day, but the uncertain opening-up after Lockdown etc. still meant that things felt hecka odd.

We're in that odd position where we're (hopefully) beyond the worst of it, but it's also uber-important not to move too fast, y'know?

Review Time! - The Sigil by Shakeil Kanish and Larissa Mandeville

* = commission link

*

Title: The Sigil*

Author: Shakeil Kanish, Larissa Mandeville


Genre: Young Adult (New Adult crossover appeal,) Fantasy, Witches(-ish,) LGBTQ+ (relationships: M/M, side M/F, refs to F/F)

Buy with Amazon.com*

Month in Review(s) - December 2020

(Warning: this post references Covid 19/Coronavirus, and the UK's institutional Transphobia)

I know this wrap-up is epically late. 

Honestly, I considered combining it with January's 'Month in Review(s)' post, but I figure if 2021 is also going to be a sh**-show, it may as well be its own sh**-show, independent of the remnants of 2020.

So let's keep this super-brief because December 2020 was like forever ago!

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)

Month in Review(s) - September 2020

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, Transphobia and JKR, and mental health)

September was weird. I think that goes for much of 2020, but September felt especially 2020-ish.

In August, Wales was down to a very small number of Coronavirus cases. We had it in control. 

By the end of September, over half of our population was in Lockdown, and remain in Lockdown. That includes yours truly.

Review! - Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of The Faun by Guillermo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke

 ***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: Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of The Faun

Author: Guillermo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke

Genre: Media Tie-In, Horror, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tales (-ish,) Magic Realism(-ish,) Young Adult (Maybe? Maybe just adult with YA appeal. It's kind of difficult to gage the age range here!)

Amazon USA

Month In Review(s) - August 2020

 

August was way too hot - I'm too Welsh for this cr*p!

Seriously, I melt above 24C. That's plenty enough for me. So between 27C and 30C is literal hell to me. Thank God it's cooled down a butt-tonne now.

Anywho, I cut back on blogging in August (and you can see how that went here,) but I somehow wrote more reviews and bookish content than I have in a long time *shrugs*

I wrote 2 whole reviews dearest nerdlets! In one month! Lol.

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

Review Time! - Can Everyone Please Calm Down? by Mae Martin

 ***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: Can Everyone Please Calm Down?: A Guide To 21st Century Sexuality 

Author: Mae Martin

Genre: Non-Fiction, YA (NA crossover appeal), LGBTQ+, Memoir(-ish)

Amazon US

Month In Review(s) - April 2020

(Warning: this post discusses Covid 19/Coronavirus, and Anxiety)

April 2020.

Um... yeah... 

(I know it's the 13th of May - I'm disorganised, and you all know this.)

OK, plus side: I had fewer panic attacks this month!

I mean, I still had panic attacks, and a butt-tonne of Anxiety, but I had slightly less of it! Woo!

(Small victories, dearest nerdlets, small victories.)

Mini-Review! - Legendary by Stephanie Garber

 ***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: Legendary


Author: Stephanie Garber

Series: Caraval #2

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Amazon: USA

The Verdict:

I don't think I've ever enjoyed a second book so much when I found the first book so... meh.

Don't get me wrong - Caraval was ok. 

It was an enjoyable enough read. 

I did have some... issues... with it when I reviewed it a few years ago, but overall it was just ok.

Month in Review(s) - February 2020

February... I mean, on a personal level, February wasn't too bad.

I had a few colds (and yes, they were colds,) and some bad depression days, but nothing too much.

Although *gestures vaguely at the state of the world* I realise that more than a few squares have been crossed off on our apocalypse bingo cards.

But we've been crossing those things off since 2016, so it's probably not that surprising.

And a reminder, my dearest darling nerdlets: where there's life there's hope, and where there's hope, there's life.

Book Review! - Talk Softly And Carry Your Big Stick With Pride by Ariel Jean Bailey

OMG she still reviews! 😅😎

 ***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: Talk Softly And Carry Your Big Stick With Pride:

The Biology, Sociology, and History of the Gender Spectrum
Author: Ariel Jean Bailey

Genre: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ (Trans+/NB+, some Genderqueer+, some Intersex+)


Amazon: USA

Month in Review(s) - August 2019

August was not as hot here in the UK!!!!! 

Thank whatever deity, divine power, or cosmic entity that may be listening!

Don't get me wrong, there were still days which were officially too hot. But there were less of them. *sighs happily*

Unfortunately, I spent most of August with a cold.

Because I'm one of those people who will catch every virus imaginable after a galandular-fever-like illness screwed my immune system over when I was 16. Good times.

Review Time! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (USA.) I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Title: Watersnakes

Author: Tony Sandoval

Genres: 

Graphic Novel, Fantasy*, Young Adult, Magic Realism, LGBTQ+ (F/F), Horror*, Ghost Story* (*ish) 

Buy Now USA