Wickedjr89's Book Blog: August 4th to August 10th, 2019 Weekly Wrap Up

What I Finished Reading

Titles in this section link to my (sometimes fuller) reviews on Goodreads.

The Wrong Number by R.L. Stine 4⭐

Prank calls go horribly wrong. Mistakes are made, consequences had, police investigation. Sadly felt realistic in ways. I enjoyed it.

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe 5⭐

I can't express what this book means to me! I read it on Hoopla and HAD to buy a physical copy (From Barnes & Noble-Amazon only had kindle and I NEEDED to hug it!). I came out as Non-binary earlier this year (they/them pronouns). This is an auto-biography/memoir about Maia, who is the same age as me, growing up non-binary but not having the words. So many things I related to.

Obviously not everything as we are different people (and as I use Agender specifically, which falls under Non-binary, I actually don't use the term gender queer for myself because that seems to imply one has a gender to queer and I don't want anything to do with gender...i'm just queer. Just saying for those that think non-binary and gender queer are always interchangeable, they aren't for everyone. Gender Queer is part of the Non-binary umbrella and often used interchangeably but as an Agender person that just feels weird..it can be different for different people. If you aren't sure what labels someone is comfortable with, just ask them. Possibly better explanation Here) but I related SO HARD to SO MUCH OF IT. It felt like this book was made for me. To show me that i'm not alone. That i'm not the freak I grew up feeling like. That these feelings aren't just me. I SOBBED because of this book. Good tears! Even learning new vocab for things I always felt like a freak for that I didn't know I wasn't alone in and until I read this book didn't even know had a word. Words can mean everything.

So many instances of "ME TOO!" It's also about Maia coming to terms with being asexual, which I am not. So I learned stuff there too. I can't explain in words how much this book means to me. How I needed to know what it contains 20 freaking years ago. I've struggled with my gender as long as I can remember. I just thought I was confused and a freak. Now I know i'm non-binary, i'm not alone, and i'm not a freak. And my dysphoric feelings ARE real. I'm not confused. Not anymore. I can't even talk about this book without crying. I wish more people would read this book. Please.

A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson 5⭐

Exactly what it says. Even though they/them pronouns (and being non-binary) are nothing new, non-binary and they/them pronouns being so visible and visibly used by people as their particular pronouns is. I hope I said that right. Anyway it can take some getting used to. That's normal and ok. It took me 20-25 minutes to read, and then I gave it to my spouse. Who also loved it. It makes it simple, explains it, it's a graphic novel and it uses some humor.

The Ghost, The Owl by Franco and Sara Richard 4⭐

A simple and short but sweet graphic novel about a ghost and an owl and the power of a little kindness. Loved the art too.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu 5⭐

Both MC's are Chinese-American and queer. Nova is a witch who is hard of hearing and has hearing aids. Tam is non-binary, uses they/them pronouns and is a werewolf. Nova has 2 grandma's in a relationship with each other and they are bad-ass. All of them are awesome! Good witches, cute nature spirit creatures, magic, emotion from what Tam went through and what they learn from it all (You aren't alone. True friends will be there for you. And you are more powerful than you realize. Is what I got from it), and fluffy-ness. I got it from Netgalley and will have to buy a copy when it releases in October! The queer enby werewolf/witch romance story with magic I didn't know I needed. Made me teary, because I needed it and it was so cute!

My Little Pony: Fiendship is Magic by Jeremy Whitley 4⭐

Origin stories, or just interesting moments in the lives of, of the main villians in MLP. King Sombra, Tirek, The Sirens, Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis. Sombra's was very sad. I enjoyed Tirek's, The Siren's and Nightmare Moon's and loved Queen Chrysalis's the most.

Pile of Possibilities for the next week

Obviously I am NOT going to be reading all of these in the week. Hence "pile of possibilities" because we will see what happens. I haven't read any Helter Skelter this month so I should probably fix that...I am loving How to Understand Your Gender, it's just not one to rush through, but I do want to finish it. I have to read (and do want to) Rosemary's Baby for a group read for two groups ("Creatures, Creature's Everywhere!" and "Horror Aficionados"). I really want to get started on Romantic Outlaws because I want to read it before I re-read Frankenstein (and I have a special edition that I want to read) so I need to get on that! From August 15th-September 14th the group "Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror" will be reading The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and I plan to read it with them.

I want to finish the Fifty Shades trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed. I also don't know what's wrong with me not having read (well just the first story so far) Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens yet as I am (and was born) disabled. Of course I really want to read Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity soon. I flipping need to continue with the My Life as a White Trash Zombie series already with Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues. Hex Code is a short story by an Agender author that I read and loved another short story (with an ungendered MC) by alone and palely loitering.

TV I Watched

iZombie Season 5 Episode's 12-13. The last 2. And i'm sorry but that ending felt very rushed, lazy and like a cop out to me. I was so choked up for awhile, despite it feeling like an entire season of plot twists shoved into one episode, and then...it just...was like...that's it? Seriously? And, to me, it felt like shitting on 5 seasons of awesome-ness and powerful messages that need to be heard. So yea, I still want to recommend iZombie, despite the crap ending I feel it had.

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