I can’t believe I have to think of yet another intro. I don’t do anything, this is too hard!
Quick reminder, if you’re doing any holiday shopping online, I have affiliate/referral links, and it helps me make a small bit of money or get my own free trials/books/etc. if you use them, at no additional cost to you!
– Amazon US
– Zazzle – A great site for making customized products
– Honey – Free to sign up for and will automatically find sales and deals while you’re doing online shopping
– Swagbucks – Earn points for certain activities and exchange them for gift cards (it’s a good time to sign up since you can get points for online purchases you make!)
– Scribd – Subscription service for borrowing ebooks and audiobooks (you can get a 60 day free trial by using my link!)
– Libro.fm – Audiobook service that supports local businesses
As for what I actually did this month…
I started and finished playing Milky Way Prince – The Vampire Star. It has an interesting and dark theme and visuals and feel. The good ending had a powerful message too.
I played with the Sims 4 Island Living trial and sent my sim and his boyfriend on an amazing, lovely tropical vacation.
I listened to a wonderful podcast! The Two Princes, available on Spotify. It’s about two princes prophesied to fight to the death to save their kingdoms, but they fall in love instead. It was so cute and sweet and queer and good! It’s a fairly quick listen, I finished in a few days. Season 3 is even a musical! I’ve literally just been listening to the soundtrack because it’s so good and fun, and the finale song feels like pure joy in song form. Here are some songs to entice you! (You can find a whole playlist here.)
So it’s December now, holiday time. Honestly, I’m ready for the holidays to be over because they just bring added difficulty and health struggles and sadness to my life. But I don’t want to crush the joy of people who enjoy the holidays, so if you’re one of those people, enjoy all your holiday music and books and movies and decor and have a happy holiday season! (But do so carefully and safely and stay vaccinated and wear a mask and avoid crowds because we are still in a pandemic, with a new variant to boot.) I’m sure I will at least read a few Christmas books and do a couple reviews or tags or something for the season.
Blog/Bookish Updates:
Nothing.
Books I Received for Review:
None.
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!
The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon – I actually listened to this one in June but somehow missed it when I was putting that post together, and I feel bad it didn’t get a mention, so I’m putting it here! It was a good book with a trans witch main character, set mostly in a sort of fae realm with lots of fae.
The Disasters by M. K. England – Another one I read previously (September) but missed. It was a cute story about a motley crew of gays in space.
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske – This was so cute and steamy and great! A lovely start to a historical fantasy m/m series.
Blue-Skinned Gods by S.J. Sindu – Very minor spoiler, I guess, but I was tricked into reading a non-SFF book! Turned out all the seemingly SFF things had realistic explanations. I don’t understand why it was categorized as fantasy where I got it and why over 40 people shelved it as such on Goodreads. But if you like literary fiction and coming of age stories that deal with topics of religion, abuse, and identity, check it out. The audiobook narrator was enjoyable. I got this one through Libro.fm’s ALC program.
The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller – I enjoyed this, and I thought it did a good job of covering heavy topics without making them bleak, but do be warned that it could be triggering for anyone with eating disorders.
The Tragic Life of Lady Tina DeSilva by TJ Klune – This is just a short story that goes with the Tales from Verania series that I didn’t know about until recently, so I read it. It was fun, like the rest of the series!
Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin – A spin-off from the Magic in Manhattan series with a lovely, sweet romance.
A Veiled & Hallowed Eve by Hailey Turner – An action-packed and satisfying finale to a great m/m urban fantasy series.
It Ends With Us by Tess Barnett – Another finale for a m/m urban fantasy series I enjoyed.
In Case You Missed It:
– I reviewed The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye, a heartbreakingly romantic queer Hamlet retelling.
– I reviewed Red Embrace: Hollywood, a visual novel that was a thought-provoking exploration of the darker sides of vampirism.
– I reviewed A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, a fun, sweet, sexy historical + magic m/m romance.
– I recommended 10 Christmas-Themed Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books (there are also two previous posts you can check out)!
– I reviewed The Dichotomy of Angels by N.R. Walker, a fun, funny, cute m/m romance about angels.
– I shared 10 more opening lines of books.
– I reviewed The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos, a cute queer YA about teens with magic but also normal teen struggles.
I hate intros now lol.
The enxt time I order Amazon I’ll try and remember to use your affiliate link. Speaking of, I should sign up for that too…
I’m coming around on podcasts! I didn’t use to really like them but I have found a few I do… yours sounds pretty fun. I have mixed feelings about the holidays too- like I love this time of year but we are in a pandemic and I feel like so many people are just ignoring that.
Intros are hard when you don’t do anything lol.
Yay for coming around on podcasts! Yeah, the pandemic cases are definitely going to surge, which will be awful, so that’s just another reason to dislike the holidays this year.
I’m sorry the holidays aren’t a great time for you – I hope you find something (whether it’s some holiday-themed books or whatever!) to bring you some joy this season!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them too 🙂
“I played with the Sims 4 Island Living trial and sent my sim and his boyfriend on an amazing, lovely tropical vacation.”
Talk about living vicariously! LOL.
“Very minor spoiler, I guess, but I was tricked into reading a non-SFF book! Turned out all the seemingly SFF things had realistic explanations.”
Bummer! I would be VERY annoyed. At least it sounds like the book was good…?
Same about Christmas. I have my own reasons not to be in a festive mood (not only this year). And when they sell you Christmas happiness on every single commercial, I turn into the Grinch…I hope it won’t be so bad for either of us though 💚.
Oh I’m definitely living vicariously through this sim lol. I only play him nowadays when there are free trials or events, so he is just living the life. Spending the night out on the town, going to music festivals, going on vacations…
I *was* annoyed. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my kind of book.
I think a lot of people have their own reasons why Christmas is hard and we just want it to be over. But we’ll just have to manage <3
I enjoy the holidays, the lights and the candy but I don’t like Christmas music. It all seems so sad to me and makes me depressed for some reason. lol
Decoration and lights are nice 🙂 There are some weirdly sad Christmas songs out there.
I am still reading the Narnia book series. I just finished book 6. I have one more to finish, but I decided to take a small break and listen to Ready Player One and Ready Player Two. I had just seen the movie. I watched the movie because my mother was talking about facebook and the new company Meta. I had read that Ready Player One was the inspiration behind Meta. So I saw the movie and now listening to the book.
I have been listening to some true crime podcasts my mother likes to listen to. We listened to some while I was making something for my best friend and while my mother was getting the floor ready for the new flooring. I also have been listening to Christmas music on a music earning app.
Some series are great for bingeing, but some are better with breaks. I hope you’re enjoying Ready Player One!
I’m not sure what a music earning app is, I’ll have to look that up.
I’m not a big fan of the holidays for a lot of reasons but I’m kind of enjoying the season out here – they are very into the intent of the season rather than a constant rush of shopping, and running around. And most things have pandemic rules in place like masking/vax required, tickets (even free events) and limits etc
The Disasters sounds cute. I’ve not been reading much at all but I’ll check it out.
Karen @For What It’s Worth
Aww that’s nice, I’m glad you’re enjoying the season 🙂