DYRC19 February: Let's Talk About Love by Clare Kann

February's theme was a romance book.  Obviously that's broad and gives you a looooot of options, and in a way that makes it harder, doesn't it?  I didn't want to read about the typical straight white couple of your typical romance book.  I didn't want anything crazy sexual.  I wanted something that gave me the warm fuzzies!  So after poking around goodreads and reading a bunch of different online lists, I found Let's Talk About Love by Clare Kann.

I really liked this book, though I didn't love it as much as I expected to.  It was really good and well written, but there were certain parts that made me uncomfortable for personal reasons.  I think what happened is that I read the summary of this -- a biromantic asexual black girl named Alice meets this amazing guy while working at a library and they figure out the whole dating while ace thing together --  and it hit all the right buttons.  I hyped it up a little too much so it would have been hard to live up to that.  But I did like it!  The ending was perfect.

Here's my goodreads review.  Not a lot more in depth thoughts but you know... follow me on Goodreads lol.

I started this book February 22 and finished February 24.  Equal parts quick read and me having a lot of time on my hands, sitting at my mom's hospital bedside.

Would I recommend this book? Sure, it was a fun little read.

life

I did finish my February dyrc19 book, but I haven't had time to write my post about it. My mom is in the hospital, and things aren't looking good.  Docs aren't optimistic, unfortunately.  So I've been out at the hospital practically all day every day for the last eight days.  I have actually gotten a fair amount of reading done while sitting at her bedside, but I come home so fucking beat I usually will watch an episode of something, force myself to eat dinner (stress has killed my appetite) and then fall asleep and sleep poorly at that.  I do want to get that post up (since I actually did finish the book on time for once lol) but it may take me a while.

Merry Misfits Book Club: February: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The theme for February was a book that was made into a movie or show.  That gave me lots of options obviously, but I wanted one that I had seen and liked the movie, but never read the book.  Since I really adored A Little Princess when I read it last year, I decided to go for The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett's other very famous work.  (I know she wrote more than just these but I believe these are her most famous/lastingly popular.)  I do like the 1993 film a lot, so I was curious to see how similar it was to the book.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book.  The story itself is lovely, but there's a lot of racism and classism (and even some misogyny) that aren't fun to read, even in an old book.  What I hated most of all, though, was the Yorkshire dialect that many characters (all the lower class ones...) speak in.  There were times when I had to reread sentences to understand what the characters had said.  I think about how some parents won't let their kids read silly books like Captain Underpants because there are misspellings... I don't see why being a classic makes that okay.  (Not that I'm saying kids shouldn't be allowed to read this, that should be up to each parent... I just find the double standard gross.)  I sound pretty down on the book and I don't mean to, because I did like it!  Like I said, the story is lovely... the setting is so picturesque, the plot is so slice of life, the characters are oddly endearing.  Even though I didn't like it as much as A Little Princess (as or much as the 1993 movie, if I'm honest) I did still like it.

My goodreads review is here.  Not too many in depth thoughts there, but like... follow me on goodreads lol, I post lots of legit reviews.

I read this book between February 2 and February 21.  I know that's a long time.  Not a reflection of the quality of the book so much as a reflection on the quality of my attention span and non-existent motivation.

Would I recommend this book?  If you, like me and a lot of other people around my age, grew up with and loved the movie, yes.  It's definitely worth a shot.  And if you like classic children's stories, it's probably a must read.

if stress was the ocean

I would be drowning.  Actually, even now, when stress is just stress, and not a shitty overdone metaphor, I'm still drowning.  I'm also really sad.  And really angry a lot.  I hate it.  I'm trying so hard to be this Better Person, but I still have the emotionally instability and crappy life of the old, worse person.

DYRC19: January: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

So I apparently started this post like a whole ass month ago and then just? Abandoned it.  I don't know how that happened, lol.  Anyways...

The Diversify Your Reading theme for January was memoir or autobiography.  I sat and looked through the memoir section on Goodreads for ages because I couldn't think of anything in that genre I was dying to read.  There are quite a few on my list, but honestly a deciding factor was that I wanted something that was in my library branch, because I wanted to be able to grab it when I went in to the library the next day (after deciding to do the challenge).  I had been considering reading Dewey by Vicki Myron for a while because obviously I love libraries and cats and I enjoy a good memoir from time to time.  My only hesitation on grabbing it was the fact that I was pretty sure Dewey the cat wouldn't make it to the end.  But I decided that that shouldn't be enough to keep me from giving the book a shot, girded myself, and hopped in.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  I know a bunch of reviewers didn't care for how much the book was about Vicki Myron's life and the story of Spencer, Iowa, but it didn't bother me.  I felt like learning about who Vicki was and what the town was like painted a picture that helped me understand what Dewey meant to the town and how he became as important to everyone as he was.  And Dewey just seemed like a really sweet, wonderful cat.  There were a lot of sweet stories and lighthearted moments, but there were a lot of sad things too.  I experienced the whole range of emotions, lol.

Here's my goodreads review of this book... some other thoughts there.

I started reading this book January 19th and I finished on January 27th.  It's a fast read, but I was reading other things at the time.  I probably would have finished in 2-3 days if I hadn't been.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Cat lovers only, but yes.

Merry Misfits Book Club: January: Scrooge's Quest by Marv Wolfman

I'm doing two reading challenges this year.  One is the diversify your reading challenge, which I had previously posted about.  The other is in a facebook group I'm a part of.  I wasn't going to do posts like this for that second challenge, but then I realized I may as well.  Writing these is kind of fun and makes me think a little.  Anyways, lol...

January's theme was a book you were gifted over the holidays.  I didn't get a lot of books this time around, and I definitely picked this one out for myself, but it worked.  I read Scrooge's Quest, a Ducktales comic by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Cosme Quartieri.

This comic is a tie in to the 1987 Ducktales series, and it's really consistent in tone with that show.  It was a fun little adventure and honestly the art was gorgeous.  A lot of reviewers on Goodreads marked it down basically for not being Carl Bark, but it isn't trying to be.  It isn't claiming to be.  There's a lot of heart here and a lot of fun, even a few laughs.  I enjoyed it!  More thoughts here, in my Goodreads review.

I read this book between January 14th and 18th.  Quick read, but I wasn't spending a lot of time on it (because I was doing other things, not because I didn't want to).

Would I recommend this? If you like 1987 Ducktales and/or Duck comics, yes.  It's not Barks or Rosa, but that doesn't make it trash.

Thoughts

I've been in a bad, weird place mentally recently.  Just extra depressed.  I'm really tired of the way that I am, just always emotionally bland or very low.  It's gross and not cute, and I wouldn't want to spend time with me if I was someone else.  So.  It's not great.  I've been very stuck in this rut for a long time, and I'm scared I won't be able to get out.  But goddammit I'm trying.  I'm doing my best to keep my head up.  It doesn't show though, and I wish it did.  I feel like people around me look at me and see some bitch who is just content to be discontent, and that's not true.  I'm doing my best, but progress is discouragingly slow.  I'm so sorry to anyone that's been disappointed by me.