I’ve had a very hard time focusing on anything lately, so I haven’t done much. I think I’ve mostly watched YouTube.
I did a little gaming though! I started a new Sims 3 game with sexy cowboys. It probably won’t hold my attention long, but I’m having fun with the horses and chicken coops and cows and things I haven’t played with much or at all before. The animals are so cute! Towards the end of the month, I decided to try Project Zomboid after seeing some YouTube videos (I recommend Call Me Kevin and ambiguousamphibian), and I’ve been loving it! It’s really supposed to be about surviving while killing/avoiding/keeping out zombies, but the combat is stressful and hard for me, so I turned off the zombies and made it basically a post-apoc survival life sim. It has so much depth and detail, plus tons of difficulty/gameplay settings and lots of mods. It’s such a cool game. I do have one save with the zombies, but I’m debating whether I should get a better mouse before I keep playing that one. As usual, I’ve been documenting my misadventures on Twitter!
Ok I absolutely cannot figure out the combat in #ProjectZomboid, so instead of fighting zombies, we're fighting gender norms through ✨fashion✨ pic.twitter.com/vr3LCw7gHr
— Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) (@KitTheNameless) August 22, 2022
It’s been a while since I’ve shared new (to me) music, so here’s a song I’m currently into. It starts getting especially good around 0:53. Warning the video is slightly NSFW because butt.
This one too. Weird that they’re both about break-ups, I think? I just like these types of songs, this sound, this feel, the emotion.
That’s about it. So I’ll just again ask everyone to please wear a mask when you’re out around people, especially indoors. If there’s even a chance you could be sick, stay home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go somewhere. And if you don’t know about monkeypox, please look it up so you at least know what symptoms to look out for, especially if you have kids in school. Stay safe and keep others safe!
Blog/Bookish Updates:
I’m sorry if my blog is loading slowly lately (it is for me). I’m crossing my fingers that it’s just a temporary issue with the webhost. Anyway…
If any of you are paranormal/horror/thriller fans, this author is offering review copies of his book Kaleidoscopic Shades! You can find more info about it on Goodreads or Amazon. If you’re interested, you can email him (bettlejuice1963 at gmail dot com)
Books I Received for Review:
The Reanimator’s Heart by Kara Jorgensen, from Gay Romance Reviews. Rites of Winter by A.K. Faulkner, from Lucy Turns Pages. Reforged by Seth Haddon, from BookSirens. Sorrow’s Forest by Kaitlin Corvus, from BookSirens.
Books I Finished:
If you’re considering buying one of the books below from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!
This was a great reading month! Idk if it’s become harder for books to impress me or if I’ve gotten worse at picking books out because I don’t find a lot that are 4.5 stars or 5 stars anymore. But I found two, maybe three, this month! And all the rest were enjoyable too.
The River of Silver by S. A. Chakraborty – I enjoyed this series extra more than I thought I would.
✨ The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros – This was great! As someone who’s not Jewish, I loved how Jewish it was, and I felt so immersed in the historical setting and the character POV.
Road Seven by Keith Rosson – Light on the SFF, but fantastically written, believably flawed characters.
Heat Wave by TJ Klune – A nice ending to this queer YA superhero series.
✨ The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang – This was so cute! I really loved it. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t fantasy until after I’d finished lol. Idk if I’ll review on my blog (since it’s not SFF), but I already reviewed it on Goodreads and Amazon.
✨ Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente – I think this is one of the most memorable books I’ve read this year! This book was wild and weird with super creative ideas for aliens. Heavy on winding tangents, light on plot, but I loved the weirdness and creativity and writing style, and then the ending was absolutely incredible!
Rites of Winter by A.K. Faulkner – Another great book in a m/m UF series I’m really liking.
The Reanimator’s Heart by Kara Jorgensen – A sweet m/m romance about an autistic necromancer and the man he accidentally reanimates.
Reforged by Seth Haddon – An enjoyable high fantasy with m/m romance, magic, action, and some political machinations that kept me guessing.
In Case You Missed It:
Books:
– I reviewed A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows, a great audiobook with kind characters, sweet romance, and interesting high fantasy politics.
– I reviewed Lost and Bound by Eliot Grayson, a nice shifter romance.
– I reviewed The ABCs of Spellcraft Volume 3 by Jordan Castillo Price, another fun addition to a series with a sweet relationship and magical shenanigans.
– I reviewed Rites of Winter by A.K. Faulkner, an action-packed addition to a great UF series.
– I reviewed Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, a wild, weird, super creative, wonderfully written book about aging rockstars in a singing contest with aliens.
– I shared thoughts on disability rep and gatekeeping in books.
– I recommended 10 Lesser-Known M/M urban fantasy series.
Games:
– I reviewed The Darkside Detective, a fun point-and-click paranormal detective game.
– I reviewed Townscaper, a relaxing, simple town-builder that lets you just chill and be creative.
– I reviewed Calico, a cute and silly game about petting animals, decorating a cafe, and helping out a town of magical girls.
I like the idea of turning off the combat and just… simming the survivl parts. 🙂 Combat gets old after a while. Space Opera (and all of her stuff really) is now on my TBR. I feel like some light hearted/ humorous SF is what I need lately!
It’s really chill that way! I hope you like Space Opera if you try it, it was so fun and nice!
Sometimes I feel like I’m playing those games with you LOL. It’s nice that you can find solace/escape in them, even the zombie ones 😂.
“The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang – This was so cute! I really loved it. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t fantasy until after I’d finished lol. Idk if I’ll review on my blog (since it’s not SFF)”.
Why not? Break character! 😉 I have a self-professed YA blog where I review tons of adult spec fic…
I’m glad if my tweets can make you feel like you’re playing too 😁 I’ve been tweeting updates for my current zombie game that actually has the zombies (spoiler I died today lol), and it has been SO STRESSFUL but also fun!
That’s true! I do always say we should review what we want. But that means I’ll have to add new genre tags lol.
I love that Duncan Laurence song. I end up surfing Youtube when I can’t concentrate too.
I’m glad you like it too! YouTube is the perfect solution when you can’t focus.
I really liked The City Beautiful as well! I really like the song “Arcade” and I’m getting into Conan Gray more. LOVE his song “Family Line.”
I’m glad you liked that one too! And the song! I don’t actually know many Conan songs, but I keep thinking I need to try more, so I’ll check that one out.
I like the first song, I am still reading that martial arts fantasy book series. I’m on the last book called Black Jade. It’s sorta good. She keeps killing off characters though. I’m still watching Lucifer. I started watching the second season of Stranger Things. I had seen the first season with my boyfriend. I’m watching The Woman Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. My best friend recommended me to see it. My mother and I started watching Kleo. It’s like Kill Bill. I’m also watching House of the Dragon.
I’m glad some other people are liking the song too! I still haven’t watched any of Stranger Things. Maybe one day. I heard the Woman Across the Street one was good too. I hope you’re enjoying all the shows!