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I spent my Friday evening making a colour-coded spreadsheet of candidates for the municipal election. It took a while because there are so many of these fuckers, but at least I know who to vote for now.

Advance voting is open, so I'm going to head down tomorrow to get this out of the way.

There are a lot of more interesting things that I've been meaning to post about, but between work and the above, it keeps getting bumped down the priority list. :V

Stuff I've Been Reading Lately

Stuff I've been reading recently:

+ The Miss Clara Vale Mysteries series by Fiona Veitch Smith (The Picture House Murders, The Pantomime Murders, The Pyramid Murders and The Penford Manor Murders). A light and fun series set in late '20s and early '30s in northern England. It's a series where the time period is very much a part of the story - everything from societal attitudes, the role of class and servants, and the use of ~cutting-edge technology~ to solve cases. Plus, the protagonist is very fun. I also appreciate that the author notes discuss research that was done and details where the reality was stretched a bit to fit the plot. Would recommend for light reading.

+ Authority by Jeff Vandermeer. Second book in the Southern Reach trilogy. My feeling on this series is kind of weird, because I'm not into it per se, I don't like it exactly, but there is something very compelling about it and I'll probably end up reading the third novel eventually. Authority lacks the "survival in a hostile landscape" aspect that Annihilation had, unless you want to get metaphorical with it. What it does have is lots of questions about What Is Going On, some investigative aspects etc. I read this one for a "SciFi Horror" challenge, and it definitely fits the bill.

+ My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. A slasher fan finds herself in the middle of a slasher plot! I remember seeing reviews of this after reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and seeking out more of Jones's work. Some people liked it, some people enjoyed Buffalo but didn't like Chainsaw. It does seem like a very "You'll either love it or you'll hate it" novel. Very referential, but that's part of the point, and it suits the protagonist - it has a strong narrative voice. I'll definitely read the next book in this trilogy.

+ My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams. This one is about the author's experience with Anna Delvey, a fraudster who scammed not only businesses and banks, but also some people who considered her a friend (the author is one of those). This was the first time I'd heard about this particular scammer, and it was quite a ride. Worth a look if you enjoy reading about financial crimes.

+ None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. I love this author's stuff; her work tends to start off somewhat normal, and then slowly get more and more batshit and twisted as the narrative goes on. I have 1 hour left in this audiobook and I am so looking forward to finding out how it ends, because, what.

+ The Library at Hellebore by Cassandraw Khaw. I picked this one up for a challenge, but I'm frankly not very into it. The premise is that it's a school for the "dangerously powerful", promising a normal life after graduation. Except on graduation day, the faculty eat the students. Or something. This one jumps around the timeline a bunch, and brings in a bunch of characters in the middle of action, expecting us to somehow care about what's going on without being introduced to anyone or anything properly. I've seen situations where this can work, but this just ain't doing it for me. The book's short, so I'll likely finish it anyway, but yeahhh not my thing.

+ I have The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez out from the library, so I'll probably tackle that next!