The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas – I’m 105 pages in as of writing this and enjoying it so far! Took a little bit to get going but i’m interested now.
What I’ve Recently Finished
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (The Second Norton Critical Edition) – I love Frankenstein so much. Loved some of the essays, not so much others.
What Do I Think I’ll Read Next?
Whatever I feel like then.
Other Stuff
With everything I got going on, the possible new hernia while still recovering from hernia repair surgery (I see the Dr tomorrow) among other things, i’m going to stop posting on a schedule. I do already have a couple posts scheduled to go but from now on i’m just going to blog when I REALLY want to. When I have something I really want to say, maybe it’s gushing about a new favorite book or deep diving into a book or some other topic. Could be cannabis related, could be news related, could be book related, could be life related etc. Just whatever calls to me to blog about. So i’ll be sporadic from now on but the posts I make will have more passion behind them.
I also recently made a storygraph profile! It is here if you want to check it out.
I also added it to my linktree links, which has all my socials in one spot.
Thought provoking and interesting. Not sure what to say though, but glad I read it.
Dracula by Bram Stoker – DNF
I give up. I read Dracula (all of it) a few years ago. I didn’t like it. I thought maybe i’d appreciate it more now, but I don’t. I listened to 2 chapters. The narrators are great, if you love Dracula check it out (you can find it on audible.com – has Tim Curry and a whole cast). I’m bored. I hate that I don’t like it, I LOVE vampires … generally. But this just doesn’t work for me. I really thought i’d be able to get into it but I can’t, I just can’t. I’ve loved (years ago, I need to rewatch it) the Dracula movie with Gary Oldman. I should just rewatch it.
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom – 5 stars!
I am so glad I loved this one just as much as I did Krampus: The Yule Lord! I saw the same things in it that made me love Krampus enough to read it 3 times already. Maybe i’ll revist Slewfoot later to.
I’m not entirely sure what else to say. I loved Abitha. She’s a strong woman who goes through so much shit. I loved Samson as well. I loved the messages in the story. I just want everyone to experience it for themselves and it’s perfect for spooky season!
Other Stuff
I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. I enjoyed it and gave it 4 stars on letterboxd. I still have to finish the franchise.
Well at the moment I don’t think i’ve been able to read in a few days, however I am still working on the 2nd Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein and the Cannabis Pharmacy books that I mentioned 2 weeks ago in that Bi-weekly Wednesday Wrap Up.
What I’ve recently finished
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom – 5 stars! I am so glad I loved this one just as much as I did Krampus: The Yule Lord! I saw the same things in it that made me love Krampus enough to read it 3 times already. Maybe i’ll revist Slewfoot later to.
I’m not entirely sure what else to say. I loved Abitha. She’s a strong woman who goes through so much shit. I loved Samson as well. I loved the messages in the story. I just want everyone to experience it for themselves and it’s perfect for spooky season!
What do I think i’ll read next?
I don’t know. Still working on Frankenstein and Cannabis Pharmacy like I said above. I got a huge list of potential stuff for October so, we’ll see.
Other Stuff
I’m still recovering from my hernia surgery in July and it looks like I might already have another causing serious problems. I am so fucking tired. I can’t do this. I struggle so much just to survive let alone have hope for a better future as everything, every hope i’ve ever had, is always taken from me. I don’t want to go into all right now. It’s a lot. And I doubt anyone cares. I lost my husband, my grandma, 2 people who actually supported me being transgender. My health issues and body are a mess and I was born this way and can’t fix it. I’m super scared for my future. I battle so much I don’t speak on the internet, and since i’m so open about so much, I doubt anyone would think that, but it’s true. I’m sure it’s true for a lot of people.
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – I’m making progress on the extras.
Cannabis Pharmacy: The Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana by Michael Backes – Making progress on this to.
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom – I’ve read one chapter so far. I need to continue it.
What I’ve recently finished
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor – 4 stars
Thought provoking and interesting. Not sure what to say though, but glad I read it.
Dracula by Bram Stoker – DNF
I give up. I read Dracula (all of it) a few years ago. I didn’t like it. I thought maybe i’d appreciate it more now, but I don’t. I listened to 2 chapters. The narrators are great, if you love Dracula check it out (you can find it on audible.com – has Tim Curry and a whole cast). I’m bored. I hate that I don’t like it, I LOVE vampires … generally. But this just doesn’t work for me. I really thought i’d be able to get into it but I can’t, I just can’t. I’ve loved (years ago, I need to rewatch it) the Dracula movie with Gary Oldman. I should just rewatch it.
What do I think i’ll read next?
I don’t know.
Other Stuff
I’m still recovering, from the surgery and I have a cold. My stomach is in all sorts of pain. My normal medical issues, fluid build up, still recovering from the surgery .. I have started making YouTube videos again, being more relaxed about it. The link below links to my linktree which has links to all my social media.
BBC Wildlife Magazine – May 2022 by Immediate Media Company London Ltd – 4 stars
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haban Girma – 5 stars
This is a wonderful autobiography! I loved how stories from her life was told in the pretense tense, it felt so much more personal. It’s also infused with humor. You can learn so much from this, in an accessible way and having a nice time while doing it. Please read the discussion questions at the end, they give food for thought.
I have also been disabled my entire life but for entirely different reasons. I am neither deaf nor blind. I do have auditory processing disorder though so when she mentions there was too much noise to make anything out, I relate to that. I can’t make anything out in those situations either.
She’s the first deafblind student to graduate Harvard, and she’s barely 6 months older than me. We still have so far to go, but that’s not meant to take away from how far we’ve come.
BBC Science Focus Magazine by Immediate Media Company London Ltd – 4 stars
Me and My Dysphoria Monster: An Empowering Story to Help Children Cope with Gender Dysphoria by Laura Kate Dale and Hui Qing Ang – 5 stars
I wish i’d had this as a child. I would’ve had the words and known I wasn’t alone so much sooner.
There are some draft errors (like on one page it says missing words and later some sentences just stop in the middle) but I got this from Netgalley and it is an e-arc draft so i’m not holding that against it.
Nisha is a trans girl. She has a dysphoria monster that keeps getting bigger as she’s misgendered but then she comes out and has support and her monster gets smaller. At first she wanted her monster to just go away but with the help of an adult trans man learns what her monster was trying to tell her, and living as who she is makes her so much happier and confident. It’s a beautiful story and has information for adults wanting to support trans kids after the story. I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc.
Stinetinglers: All New Stories by the Master of Scary Tales by R.L. Stine – 3.65 stars
I really enjoyed this collection over-all! It has 10 stories. I didn’t care for 2 of them personally (but I didn’t hate them or anything) and I really enjoyed the other 8! 3.65 average rounded up to 4 Welcome to the in-between 3.5 Our Little Monsters 2 Skin 3 The Ghost in the car 4 The boy who heard screams 5 Bugs 3.5 How to change your life 4 The bad side 4.5 The hole in the ground 5 The monster maker 2 These are obviously just my opinions, nothing more. These stories are perfect for kids I think and they are certainly fun to read as an adult to. If you enjoy Goosebumps (or Goosebumps like books) definitely check this collection out. A few of them gave my spine a tingle!
Philosophy Now – Issue 150 by Anja Publications – 3 stars
Other Stuff
I think i’m on the way to healing but not there yet. My body has been through a lot with the surgery and the sickness.
I did update my “about me” page a bit since I plan to talk about cannabis as well now. The books aren’t going anywhere though, still love to read!
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – I absolutely loved this! This book means so much to me now! I felt so much of what Tova was going through for my own reasons. And felt for Cameron. And Marcellus the Octopus is amazing, all three of these characters are amazing. I loved so many lines. It made me cry. I found so much depth in these pages personally. And I had to hug the book! I wanna give it more than 5 stars!!
More than a month after finishing it I still wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Monster Musume, Vol. 7 by Okayado – Funny manga and I enjoy the characters. Not much to say. 5 stars
Monster Musume, Vol. 8 by Okayado – 4 stars
Saga, Volume 5 and 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples – 5 stars each. Rereads since volume 10 is finally coming out in October (last I checked)!
Why I’m Afraid of Bees by R.L. Stine – 4 creepy fun stars.
Gender Queer: A Memoir Deluxe Edition by Maia Kobabe – ALL THE STARS! ALL OF THEM! I had read the original years ago so it was a reread but in this new edition! Words fail to express the love I have for this book but I did my best in my original review Here and my “review” of the new deluxe edition Here.
Monster Musume, Vol. 9 by Okayado – 4 stars
The Gender Friend: A 102 Guide to Gender Identity by Oakley Phoenix by Oakley Phoenix – I absolutely loved this book! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for letting me have an advanced copy. This book is so accessible in the language and is also kind. Kind not just to transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary folks (TGNCNB for short) but also to loved ones wanting to support their TGNCNB loved ones. I can’t stress enough I can see someone really trying but it’s not always easy. If someone is truly trying and caring I don’t want them to feel like it doesn’t matter or that they are awful if they mess up. Mistakes happen. Trying is what matters and you’ll get there. I am a nonbinary trans person and it’s generally easy to tell who cares and is trying versus the ones that aren’t. This book is like a hug from a kind friend. It explains gender related thing, answer questions, etc. I am going to have to buy this book when it comes out so I can give it to loved ones. 5 stars
Paradise Club by Tim Meyer – 5 stars I cared for the characters and this has a lot of gorey fun! Horror, slasher, splatterpunk …
I have a long way to go still in terms of recovering from surgery. I came home with 2 drains, a left and a right, and initially the left was very active and the right wasn’t doing much of anything. Well … the night before (as I was going to lay down to sleep) I was going to get the right drain out the left one, that was still VERY active, fell out!! Scaring the shit outta me!
Long story short (actually still long, sorry) I still have the right drain in. I was also leaking (and still might be to a degree) via part of my incision down my stomach. Well i’ve had (and still have, as of typing this on Monday August 8th) a lot of gauze and tape over my stomach (and a large hernia belt for compression) because the hole that was left behind from the left drain leaked for awhile but it appears to be closed now. While the hole was leaking the right drain continued doing it’s almost nothing crap, which was scary because they said “in theory the right one should pick up the slack” and i’ve been dealing with low grade fever and swelling (feet, legs …) from retaining fluid, even before the left drain fell out!
Also some heat and pain in my lower stomach from the fluid build up. So i’ve been doing as much as I can of walking and keeping my legs up, which is thankfully helping! And now that the left hole is actually closed it looks like the right drain might be picking up finally? Let’s hope so! And let’s hope it stays in long enough! I’m so afraid of needing to go back to the hospital over this shit. But I have been keeping an eye on myself and I know if I start vomiting or get a high fever to call the Dr or go to the ER.
I haven’t felt like reading much, and that’s ok, but I am reading Haben at least this month and I am enjoying it so far! I’ve been playing Sims 2 and watching Youtube videos
Edit (On August 10th, Wednesday): The right drain stopped holding suction and was not salvageable. Had to come out despite it not being ready yet so they said i’ll probably be ok but ya know, if I start feeling like shit etc. to keep them posted. Right now the hole is leaking but if it’s like the left one within 2 days it’ll be closed and my body wasn’t ready yet. So here’s hoping I leak enough + my body is able to absorb the fluid it needs to.
Literary Stoner 