Lady Business

Back in 2023, and in the midst of a terrible life/reading slump, I asked Jenny for some book recommendations. Jenny's reading is wide and vast and I was in the Pit of Despair book-wise. I felt light years away from being able to successfully choose a book I could start, read, and finish.

Jenny recced me Finder by Suzanne Palmer. I had tried to read Finder once before in hardcopy, but couldn't get into because I struggled to get into anything. This time, though, I got the audiobook and was able to rot in bed underneath the covers while listening. +1 for audiobooks.

This time, the book stuck. Then I got the second book, Driving the Deep, and it stuck. With it, I managed to listen while doing care tasks and art projects. Then I reached the third book in the series, The Scavenger Door, and I was fully prepared to follow both Fergus and Palmer into a 13 book series. I also started thinking about maybe going for a walk? In sunlight? Wild. ( Read more... )

I've been thinking about awards, their value, and what they add, both to the literary landscape and the experience of reading. When I was new to SFF, I used awards to guide my reading and as a discovery engine. As I became more embedded in fandom, instead they became a type of historical record. I didn't engage with awards from a "tell me who the winner is!" position. Instead, I wanted to know the winner, the short list, the long list (if available), and also the history of what the award honorees. It's the historian in me. We can learn a lot—but not everything—from what's come before. ( Read more... )

Just one year I would like for the Hugo nominations to open without controversy. Is that so much to ask? (Apparently, yes.) ( Read more... )

The holidays were great for my reading, which was a nice change. It was mostly rereads, to various levels of success, and a book I will be nominating for the Hugo Award, probably, unless something else I finish before nominations challenges how much I love one (1) monkey bot. ( Extremely long wrap up! )

It's 2024 and everyone's making their reading lists for the year. I'm excited for everyone's lists (I love lists).

The thing about looking forward to books is that I psych myself out of my excitement for the books I most want to read. I get massive anxiety over the fact that I A) might not be smart enough for the book's themes and B) might not enjoy them. Then I get hardcore FOMO as everyone reads them. Thus, overwhelmed by feelings, I never read them. "This seems bonkers," you say. Yes! It is! Welcome to Yet Another Late-ADHD-Diagnosis Discovery Moment, with me, your host, Person Who Didn't Realize They Had ADHD and Just Thought They Were a Big Weirdo.

However! That part of my brain isn't the boss of me anymore! I have coping skills for this problem now. To counter this thought process and habit, I decided that I would excuse myself from too many anticipated 2024 releases this year (stay tuned at Fangirl Happy Hour if you're invested, though). Instead, a novel approach: just enjoy new releases as I find them! But how to reduce the FOMO?

To replicate the anticipated book feeling without the stress I am going back in time to 2021. What books came out in 2021 that I wanted to read but never got to? What books were recommended to by pals that were released in 2021? What books did I never know about? What did all the various awards have to say about 2021? My reading in 2021 was…not great. That means I have a mostly blank slate! And so—

( 2021 Anticipated Books )

Some of these are sequels, which means I'll have to do a little refresher reading. I've already ordered a few books for this purpose and scoped out my library. The pleasure of putting this together and looking at all the options was immense and is a credit to the marginalized communities (readers, editors, agents, and authors) and their allies both in and outside of the publishing industry who fought for more diverse stories. 2008 me is impressed!

This doesn't include nonfiction or romance. If you have any 2021 recs in those categories, please let me know!