here's the thing:

This is going to be mostly about books of which I read 114 this year. Here's some fics I bookmarked this year though!

• TAZ:A Outsider POV comedy of "Mama creeps out a dude VERY HARD bc he is the WORST" (by gayprophets, here)
• Daredevil Pining Olympics feat. arranged marriage worldbuilding that kicks ass, Matt/Foggy (by lady_ragnell, here)
• Star Wars EU soft? ish? sort of? whump and bonding, Luke/Mara (by BananasAreForParties, here)
• TAZ:B Extremely good bullshit "Barry and Kravitz meet when Barry is still a bounty, shenanigans ensue", Gen (by jothending, here)
• Leverage Thanksgiving fic which I don't super care about holiday-wise (fuck Christopher Columbus!) but v good OT3 (by phnelt, here)
• MCU Thor 'n Jane and birth control. 11/10 comedy. (by shinyopals, here)

This is where I'm at with one per fandom and also things I'm willing to admit in public that I've read. I tend to uh, hide under blankets before admitting I read something E or M rated even if it's 100k and there's only one scene of The Junks: Touching? It's what it is. They're in reverse order, with my recent bookmarks on top and beginning of the year stuff on the bottom.

ONTO ACTUAL BOOKS.

I read 114 books this year, which I know because I tracked them all on goodreads. I think the authors I read the most this year were Seanan McGuire and that author with 4 names some of which are Ann Gallagher and L.A. Witt. Oh damn, and Cat Sebastian and Alyssa Cole and Courtney Milan. I forgot that this was the year I really jumped headfirst into the romance genre. Okay so. (These will all be goodreads links FYI).
 

Notable book from Seanan McGuire: Chaos Choreography. This is here cause I read it twice. I read through the whole series, of which this is... book five? I still hold so much of dance close to my heart and this book managed to hit all that stuff spot on, with an added benefit of monster hunting shenanigans, family issues, and a sweet established romance. Nice!

LA Witt & co is just... It's basically all just erotica. Emotionally horny and properly horny erotica. Sometimes you just want to read a book called Kneel, Mr President and then she delivers it. Nonsense, I say with an approving nod.

Cat Sebastian's featured book: Unmasked by the Marquess. I actually read this much earlier in the year so I can't recall everything about it, but I enjoyed it so much that I bought a physical copy which I almost never do. The main dude and other love interest have a pretty good dynamic, but the biggest appeal is the Gender Moods™. Robin/Charity is the blonde on the cover and the (queer) author has spoken about that if the character lived in modern times she'd probably ID as nonbinary but of course that specific language didn't exist back then.

Alyssa Cole! Notable book: Can't Escape Love. I bought this in tiny pulp paperback form and I've read through it a couple times though I've only marked it as read once on goodreads, oops. 115 books this year then, since it counts rereads! Wheelchair user main girl, autistic main guy. They're both huge nerds and bond over being nerds and helping each other understand things. I read a review of this book that said the accessibility things of the woman's house was described as lovingly as like, fancy castles and things usually are and that's basically my feelings towards this book.

Courtney!! Milan is one of my fave romance authors damn. I just! So good! The book I'm gonna feature of hers is The Heiress Effect, one of my faves of hers and I think a reread this year. Jane, the main character, is so desperate to drive everyone away from her by being as terrible as possible while trying to pretend she's so empty-headed and rich she doesn't know it. God okay fine I'll rec a second book here also: The Countess Conspiracy. It's about science and women in science and also the importance of birth control and women's rights and! Such good stuff and the mains are you know, friends, and like each other. Good stuff.
 

 

If I had to say my favourite story this year though, it would absolutely be The Mermaid's Daughter. This book was written to push every single button I own. Art and singing and mermaids and lesbianism and craving the ocean and feeling out of control and!!! And also the writing, dear god, so good. It's one of the few books in recent years that just hit me like a truck and left me staring at the ceiling and thinking deep thoughts. A warning though: though I was satisfied by the ending, under pretty much any other circumstance I wouldn't be because she turns back into a mermaid and leaves her girlfriend behind in the regular world.
 
 

Witchmark was another reread this year, and I enjoyed it just as much on my second go-round. Queer with a wlw sequel coming up, witches 'n things, VERY cool world, good character relationships. Do recommend!

On the opposite side of that, I have two books... god it could be more, but lets stick to two books that I opposite-of-recommend. McHugh by Jay Flynn is one, which my wonderful and beloved friend Satan themself sent to me. It's so much. It's too much. 400 pounds of gold in a car and he's dead of alcohol poisoning by the third chapter or I'm a fucking goose. Also, please never read this long list because I've decided the second part of this isn't one book with an explanation it's a list of books without: Come Home To Me by Peggy L. Henderson, probably anything by Peggy L. Henderson if I'm being honest, One True Mate by Julie Trettel, or Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. 

Or I mean, you can make up your own opinions and read them and stuff but like. Why. Why would you do that. (Though I'm also putting this in as a caveat: I'm sure the authors are fine people and I'm only dunking on the books because I'm a nobody. Except Jay Flynn, my dude, what the fuck.) If anyone has books they'd like to rec or uh, warn me off of, that's always fun! I like scifi and fantasy and romance, but when books are Heterosexual™, the kind where they're like I'm A Woman And He's A Man!!!, then I start screaming a little. Mermaids are a huge pro, being shitty at communication is a con. 

And happy new year to everyone!