Hey y’all! I’m driving the Whatcha Reading? bus this week, as Amanda is traveling the globe.
Spring has SPROINGED around me. This is a picture I took recently of my neighbor’s camellia (I think that’s a camellia) against the sky. In a truly dorky move, I’m trying to match the colors for a quilt in progress because I love blue, green, and pink together.
Here’s what’s on the currently-reading list at SBTB HQ – with a mild TW for some discussion of depression.
Elyse: It’s FINALLY spring here so I assume it’s my brain telling me to get outside. I downloaded the audio of Ghost Station by SA Barnes ( A | BN | K ) to accompany me on walks.
Lara: I’m struggling to find a book that sticks around. I’m DNFing pretty often lately.
Elyse: I think I’ve started and put down 5 books this month. My brain is tired and restless.
Lara: I need a word that describes the unsettling sadness of not being able to find joy in reading because none of the books you pick up are hitting the spot.
Elyse: Rich calls it “book ennui.”
Sneezy: Well now!!! I’m stealing that. My book ennui is making me appear saintly while I shelve my books. (Yes, aftershocks [from the earthquake in Taiwan] are still being drama llamas, but fuck it I want my floor space back.)
Sarah: My brain is restless, too! The book that seems to be tempting my brain the most is Happy Medium by Sarah Adler ( A | BN | K ), because I can’t stop thinking about it.
Lara: The book I’m currently trying is Gator Queen by Tara Lush ( A | BN | K ). I think it’s a comedy but it’s very early days yet.
Susan: It’s seasonal depression new years for me, so I’m listening to the audiobook of Dana K. White’s How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind ( A | BN | K ) while I try to unfuck my house from its depression pit state.
I find her stuff great for helping me not focus on the shame of letting things get this bad, because her attitude is “whatever you do is progress.”
Sarah: Oh, heck. I hate the depression pit and I’m sorry you’re there.
Susan: Thank you, it sucks here! I’m doing the most scattershot job of sorting things out and booking workmen, but it’s progress.
Tara: I’ve been reading A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland ( A | BN | K ) and it’s beautifully written.
It takes place in the 1800s in Nova Scotia and is a sapphic retelling of the folk tale The Selkie Wife. It has a romance, but is not a romance, and has a gothic vibe to it.
Some of you might be wondering if it has a happy ending or not, because queer stories in this era are often heartbreaking.
I needed to know so I could have the right expectations and skipped to the end (don’t come at me) and…
…the ending is happy!
Shana: I’m reading Shadowlands Omega by Elizabeth Stephens. ( A | BN | K )
It’s a standalone in a dark fantasy romance series and I spent the first chapter flailing about trying to figure out the world building. But I got totally sucked in and now I’m having trouble doing anything else but read this book. It comes out April 18.
Also, the heroine is bald which is delightful!
Kiki: I’m listening to The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Ann Long ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I tried one of the other books in this series before and was put off by what felt like a very bad ratio of internal narration vs actual conversation between the characters, but I’m liking this one better so far.
Sneezy: I’m rereading Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage on Tappytoon. I forgot how funny it is!
The main story is completed and smutty versions of the side stories that are coming out alongside the non-smut version. Fellow Smut Demons, please note you HAVE TO buy the smut chapters from a separate link and all smut is only available on browser. If you buy the wrong chapter, you’ll have to pay twice!
What about you? Whatcha reading? Tell us everything in the comments!
