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The library ran an "Exploring Romance Subgenres" challenge, where the idea is (not surprisingly) to read works in different romance subgenres, one book each. I thought I'd post the list of what I read and some quick thoughts.

Here we go:

Holiday Romance: The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch. M/M. It's set in a sort of world in which "kingdoms" for each holiday exist hidden from the Normal World. Tl;dr the prince of Christmas is engaged to the princess of Easter, but falls in love with the prince of Halloween instead, which messes up the planned political alliance between Christmas and Easter. It was very silly, but I enjoyed it enough that I might pick up the next book in the series.

Sports Romance: Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey. F/M. The fan of a has-been golf star ends up working as his caddy with the goal of helping him win the PGA tour - earning some cash for herself and helping him get his mojo back along the way. The characters were pretty fun, but there were too many sex scenes for my taste, plus lots of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense. Also there wasn't enough sports in this sports romance (I don't even like golf but if I'm going to read/watch a sports romance, I want it to have More Sports. Then again I'm one of those people who wanted even more skating-related stuff in Yuri on Ice.)

Romantic Comedy: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Jall. M/M. The fuckup son of an aging rock star begins dating a squeaky-clean lawyer as a PR move. This one was so-so; the main character was kind of exasperating because he created a lot of his own problems. A lot of the time that I was reading it I kept feeling like, "You brought this on yourself, bro. Grow up, calm down, and think things through first." But I did like that he was actually pretty good at his job as an event organizer (?) for a small nonprofit, and that the job-related problems that came up had more to do with people responding to the media portrayal of him rather than him being bad at doing his actual work. I did like the love interest a lot; found him very sympathetic. There was this one bit where he mentioned having difficulty engaging with queer clubs and things because only thing he has in common with the people at them is his sexuality, and.... yeahhh, I've felt that before.

Paranormal Romance: The Only Purple House In Town by Ann Aguirre. F/M. A vampire who isn't good at being a vampire (for reasons that become very clear later) inherits a relative's house and moves in; she turns it into a boarding house and ends up leasing rooms to a varied cast of characters, including a handsome hawk-shifter that she used to go to school with. I enjoyed the premise but the execution was not my thing at all. It seems to be written for the sort of audience who really likes the subtype of "found family" narratives where everyone fits into very defined roles and tidy boxes.

Romantasy: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. F/F. An orc pursues her dream of opening a coffee shop, and discovers maybe her "heart's desire" isn't something but someone. Yeah, I know this is more "fantasy with romance", shh it's close enough. I've heard so much about people both loving and hating this book that I wasn't sure what to expect. It was... okay! A little saccharine, but I can see why people would find it appealing. I do remember seeing someone say that "even the points where the stakes are high don't actually FEEL like the stakes are high" and I think I would agree with that. It was nice over all though, the relationship was cute, and I liked some of the worldbuilding.

Dark Romance: How does it feel? by Jeaneane O'Riley. F/M. A scientist who studies moths accidentally enters fairyland, is captured by the Unseelie Prince, and gets caught up in the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I'll be honest, I hated this. The beginning, where the main character is in the real world and doing scientist stuff, was all right, but after she fell through the fairy ring everything was just Not My Thing. There was nothing likeable about the love interest and a lot of their scenes together had the kind of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense that I find a real turnoff (like, it was more than the usual level of nonsense I would expect in a F/M romance novel). This is the beginning of a series but I will Not be checking out the rest or anything else by this author.

Western Romance: Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage. F/M. A real estate lawyer falls back into love with her ex, a ranch hand. This was actually quite nice, and kind of cozy. I found the argument 3/4 of the way through the book pretty tedious, but it resolved pretty quickly. This is another protagonist who creates some of her own problems, though I found her more sympathetic than the protagonist of Boyfriend Material. I did end up with a lot of questions about how things turn out, though; like, the protagonist's parents are huge snobs who hate the love interest, and while there is a big scene where shit goes down, the issue isn't resolved at the end. Like, okay, how's she going to deal with that mess? Who knows.

SciFi Romance: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell. M/M. A political arranged marriage between two people from different planets doesn't go as smoothly as expected due to a third party working to make the interplanetary political situation explode. I really enjoyed this! I've seen it recced around a lot, both in its original form and after it was published, so I was kind of worried I'd be disappointed. Not so! One thing that made me like it so much is that there was so much to chew on aside from the relationship. Interesting worldbuilding, lots of plot both related and unrelated to the relationship, etc. I also liked the relationship - like, those two definitely have some stuff to work through, it's kind of a mess, but I'm confident they can manage it. I'm definitely going to read the sequel.

Regency Romance: The Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles. M/M. A duke's ring is stolen after a poorly thought-out tryst, and he takes it upon himself to track down the culprit and recover it, quickly enlisting the help of a disgraced gentleman that he went to school with. This was very fun! Again, part of what it had going for it is that there is a lot of plot aside from the relationship - yes, the developing feelings are important, but there's also the matter of the quest, and all the various subplots the duo get tangled in, etc. I really liked the way things wrapped up; it was very satisfying. This is an author I'd heard a lot about but wasn't sure I would ever actually read; I really liked this one though so I might seek out some more in the future.

Highlander Romance: Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson. F/M. I was kind of cheating with this one, as it's actually contemporary paranormal, but the love interest is a sexy Scottish dude so I'm counting it anyway: An American visits some estranged relatives in Scotland and, while there, encounters a handsome dude with a temper who (it turns out) is cursed to turn into a lakemonster at night. The premise was silly, but fun, and I could roll with it. There were more sex scenes than I prefer, but some of them were quite Inspired, leaning into the monsterfucking premise in a way that I hadn't expected (they weren't my thing overall, but at the same time I was kind of impressed). But there was some of the nebulous heterosexual nonsense that I'm not a fan of. ...Also a major plot point hinged on the protagonist finding a diary from the late 13th century, reading it, and discovering the secret to (potentially) end the curse. Unfortunately for me I find it much easier to accept the idea of a handsome were-Nessie than I can accept the idea that an untrained rando could successfully read a 13th-century Scottish manuscript.

Whew. That was a lot. ...I think I'm going to take a break from Romance Novels and read something else now. :V Fortunately there's lots of good books out there to explore, eh.

+ Finished reading Winter's Orbit. Hopefully will have time to write more detailed thoughts later, but the tl;dr is that I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. It's a romance novel but there's lots of non-romance plot, which is basically my preferred kind of romance novel.

+ Was working on fic today. Nothing special or complicated, but it still feels good to work on something. I feel very rusty, though. It's ridiculous that putting one word in front of the other is so hard. Guess the only way out is through, though!

+ Still considering signing up for FTH. One thing I'm waffling on is what to offer; Hetalia-wise my scope is narrower than it was the last time I participated in an auction. Not that I'm solid about sticking to my usual set of characters; some of the best auction fics I've written were for pairings I'd never thought about much until that moment. But there's always the chance that someone unfamiliar with my work will ask for something I'd have trouble delivering. I guess I'll just mention my usual characters in the description and see what happens. Aside from that, though, I'm not sure what other fandoms, if any. Promare, maybe? I'm due for a rewatch anyway.

+ Watched The Life of Chuck this evening. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation of King's novella. Admittedly, the first section was pretty stressful, what with the apocalyptic scenes and whatnot, even though I knew how the rest of it went. Overall I found it pretty sweet, though. I've seen it described as kind of schmaltzy, and like... yeah, I guess that's fair, it IS schmaltzy. I enjoyed it overall, though.

List of books read in 2026. :)
( Reading list for 2026 )

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!

- Went to physio last night. Things seem to be coming along well. I made an appointment for a few weeks from now; she said that if it feels okay by then, to just cancel the appointment. We'll see.

- The book box that I ordered came in. It was a neat experience, but I don't think I will order something like this again; once is enough. I can't really justify the cost. Hopefully the books will be good though.

- ...However, I have been putting together my own book boxes for myself for the past few months, mostly out of things that I have around the house, plus some odds and ends. So, books that I haven't read yet, plus candles, and international snacks from the grocery store that I've been meaning to try. And then I set them aside for several weeks. By that time, I've forgotten what I put in the box. So, I'll continue to do this. It's pretty fun.

- There is a task on my to-do list that I've been meaning to do for weeks. I was planning to sit down and do it today, and then something came up and I didn't have time. ... I will do it tomorrow.

- I want to do my best to be more like the way I want to be. Somebody who gets things done. It's hard, but I'm getting there.

As mentioned previously, after watching the film, I decided to check out Conclave by Robert Harris.

There are a few differences between the novel and the film, but mostly they're minor changes (Lawrence = Lomeli in the novel, Benitez is Filipino in the novel rather than Mexican, etc). I do seem to recall that the turtle scene wasn't in the book; I'm kind of surprised that they added that for the movie, but it was a lovely character moment and Benitez looks kind of like a romance film protagonist in that scene, so I'm certainly not complaining.

Some of the scenes were more effective in the movie than the novel, I think. But that could be due to acting and directorial choices and so on. The one that comes to mind is the saying grace scene after Benitez is introduced to everyone - in the novel, Benitez just says the whole thing, and that's that. But in the film, he pauses after saying the usual spiel, and everyone thinks he's finished and starts to sit down - but then he continues, thanking the Sisters and reminding the others of the impoverished etc, and the effect is very striking.

There are some differences between the novel and the film that I did find interesting, even if the change doesn't affect the overall plot.

( Continued, spoilers )

Overall, I wouldn't say that the novel is a must-read if you liked the film, but I enjoyed it a lot and I think that if you wanted more after watching the movie, it's a good direction to go. Plus you get more into Lomeli's (Lawrence)'s head, etc. On the reverse, I don't think I would actually recommend it without seeing the film first, because the film really is rather good and there are a few things that I thought it did better. (Though I might be biased.)

+ Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. An alternative take on "Sleeping Beauty". Whimsical and creepy. I enjoyed it. A novella, rather than a novel, so it's a quick read. Kingfisher being very Kingfisher-y.

+ Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein. Literary fiction about a woman who goes to live in her brother's house in a remote village in another country. It was weird and written in a very run-on, kind of breathless style that I actually kind of enjoyed even if I found the overall story kind of unappealing.

+ Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson. Scandinavian crime novel, first in the Doggerland series - "Doggerland" is a fictional country in the novel, situated somewhere in the North Sea between England and Denmark. (There is a prehistoric region called Doggerland that actually existed* in roughly that area.) ...Anyway, the novel was pretty fun, some nice building up of this fictional location. I enjoyed the main character, a rough-at-the-edges female detective possessing equal dosings of angst, cleverness, and compassion. I kept getting tripped up by the fictional setting though - more specifically, how Scandinavian history would have been affected by such a huge piece of land existing in this location (the novel doesn't go into it, but man. I keep chewing on it.) Will keep an eye out for more from this author.

+ The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Time-travel novel in which some people from the past are brought to our time as part of a super-secret project of the British government. One of the main time-travellers is Graham Gore from the Franklin Expedition. The author's note at the back strongly implies that this work was heavily influenced by AMC's The Terror (and possibly even started out as Terror fanfic). ...Anyway, I found it enjoyable enough, though it kind of unravelled and got too weird toward the end. I have that kind of reaction to time-travel fiction in most cases, though.

+ Space Opera by Catherynne Valente. Eurovision, but it's in Space! A story in which alien cultures compete musically instead of going to war with each other. They haven't allowed in a new species in a while, but humanity's a candidate. The problem? If the newbie loses, it's total obliteration for them. The style this novel is written in is kind of obnoxious - think Douglas Adams turned up to eleven, plus Catherynne Valente's usual... well, whatever it is. The ending was sudden and unsatisfying, like many ESC pop songs. Interesting premise, some neat aliens, but overall not what I'd hoped for.

I finished reading P. Djèlí Clark's A Master of Djinn the other day.

This novel was very fun. Once it got going, I found it hard to put down. It's set in a magic-filled, alternate-history version of our world, in 1912 Cairo. An agent of the ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and the Supernatural has been tasked with tracking down a murderer claiming to be the person who reintroduced magic to the world forty years ago.

The worldbuilding is very fun; if you like technology mixed with your magic, this is worth a look - aside from the djinn and various other magical elements, it's full of clockwork and airships and whatnot. The possibility of a world war looms in the background.

I enjoy Agent Fatma as a character; she's fun. And her developing friendship with Agent Hadia is great - after the rocky start. And also I enjoyed Fatma's relationship with Siti. (If you like F/F, there is F/F in this, and yeah, the relationship is pretty nice!)

A discussion I came across described it as "you can tell the author is just putting everything he likes into this book" and... yeah, I think that's fair, actually. But I found the result pretty cool, so it works for me.

This is the first novel in this series; there are other works in this world though - novellas and short stories. I'm really looking forward to reading The Haunting of Tram Car 015, which I've heard is pretty good.

The fact that most of the author's other works are shorter does show - toward the end the plot unravels a bit, the pacing is kind of off, something like that. Some discussions that I saw about it were really bothered by this, but I wasn't particularly fussed. Good to know that the short works are even better, though!

So, yeah. Fun novel, and I'm looking forward to reading the author's other works. My main disappointment is that there isn't much fandom related to this series; I was hoping to find some cool fanarts of the world and also of Fatma and her stylish suits, but so far haven't turned up much. What a bummer. :V

I borrowed the first volume of Natsume Ono's House of Five Leaves from the library. Whoa, I'm really enjoying it a lot!

The premise: A ronin who is a skilled swordsman but lacks confidence and assertiveness has difficulty finding employment. Reluctantly, he agrees to work for a charismatic gang leader.

I'm getting really drawn in; I like the characters very much so far, and the art is very pretty. The library has up to vol 04, so I'm looking forward to reading the rest ASAP. (Unfortunately, there are 8 vols in the series, so I'll probably have to ILL the rest, aughhhhhh)

...Anyway, I enjoyed it very much, and while I'd hesitate to recommend anything based on one volume, it's very good so far.

+ I took too many things out from the library. I don't know how I'll finish them all in a reasonable time. Like, while I was browsing, it didn't seem like a lot, but it was like - 5 movies, 5 graphic novels, 5 nonfiction, etc... It adds up. Whoops. Luckily none of these are things that will go on hold and have to be returned, probably. Aside from maybe the Junji Ito works. And also Susanna Clarke's Piranesi.

+ Went to mom's on Sunday and made fudge. It turned out well. It's a two-person job, so I'm glad we got it done. Not sure if I will be able to help her make any of the other Christmas baking, though. It depends on how things go with the course I'm taking, whether I will be able to set a few hours aside to do that.

+ She asked me "Are you feeling overwhelmed?" And... yeah. A little. I wish I had started the Quickbooks course in November; that was an option. But I thought that I would be super busy at work, and then that didn't happen for various reasons. ...Anyway, I had better get this course done now. I'll do my best.

+ The pride org has arranged a coffee and board game meetup at one of the cafes this upcoming Sunday. But the post announcing it got almost 100 comments from homophobic assholes being nasty and horrible about it. I want to go to the meetup, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that, considering that these people know where and when it will be happening. (Plus, I'll be busy, and might not be able to stay long.) ...I'll probably go anyway, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned.