I just wanted to start by saying that BLACK LIVES MATTER. I am struggling to find the right words and I think it’s better to point you to these videos from Kimberly Jones and Amber Ruffin and Trevor Noah. This country needs to radically change the racist, broken systems we have had for so long. If you can, please support some of these organizations and help the protestors, communities, and victims families: Bail funds for protestors, Black Lives Matter, NAACP, Breonna Taylor family fund. There are so many more organizations that need support than I have listed here - please seek them out.
With everything going on right now, I wasn’t sure if I should still write a blog about “favorite things”. But I rely on the consistency of a monthly blog to help me remember things I enjoyed and also as a time capsule and a journal. So I decided to still collect some good things from May, mostly just for future me.
MOVIES & TV
TRAIN TO BUSAN
This is probably not the best movie to recommend when the world is a garbage fire, but if you feel up to watching a very well made but also very grim Korean zombie film, Train to Busan is worth checking out. It made me genuinely gasp in surprise, clutch my blanket in tense moments, and do some particularly ugly crying.
BOOKS
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
Paladin’s Grace, another wonderful novel by T. Kingfisher, follows Stephen, a wayward paladin searching for direction after the death of his god, and Grace, a talented perfumer trying to overcome a troubled past and keep her shop afloat. These two meet for the first time in a grimy alley when Grace enlists Stephen’s help to hide from some over-zealous priests. The next time they meet, Grace and Stephen accidentally witness the attempted assassination of a prince. Thrust into the middle of a sinister plot that keeps bringing them together, the paladin and the perfumer fall in love. Paladin’s Grace has intrigue, pining, humor, stellar prose, and a troublesome civet cat named Tab. It is definitely Kingfisher’s most “romancey” novel (from what I have read of her work so far) and I loved it to bits.
Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles
After serving in WWI, Will Darling returns to an England that has no use for him. Unable to find work, Will resorts to selling his war medals just to make ends meet. But when Will unexpectedly inherits his uncle’s used bookshop, it seems like things might finally be looking up. Immediately after taking over the shop however, criminals and war office officials start showing up demanding sensitive information that Will supposedly has in his possession. As Will is drawn deeper into the conflict and tries to find this mysterious document, he is aided by Kim, a charming stranger who is suspiciously eager to lend a hand. The plot thickens with all sorts of double-crossing, ulterior motives, peril, nefarious villains, kidnapping, and complicated desires. Charles skillfully mixes pulp adventure fiction and romance to create a book that I could not put down. I love all of KJ Charles’ books, but I think Slippery Creatures has got to be one of my favorites. I’ve read it twice already and I am so glad this is the start of a series - I want to spend more time with all of these characters.
A Phoenix First Must Burn
The contents of this great anthology are best summed up by the official description: “Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic.” I really enjoyed the wide range of stories in this collection - reimagined folktales, contemporary paranormal, dystopian scifi - all featuring Black women and gender nonconforming main characters and mostly hopeful endings. A Phoenix First Must Burn introduced me to a number of authors that I definitely plan on seeking out for future reading.
Hexworld Series (Books 1-4) by Jordan L Hawk
Spirits Series (Books 1-3) by Jordan L Hawk
Whyborne & Griffin Series (Books 9-11) by Jordan L Hawk
I went on a bit of a Jordan L. Hawk bender in May. First off, I finally finished reading the 11 book Whyborne & Griffin series. While there are some rough bits in the earlier books, the series as a whole is a really solid collection of paranormal adventure stories with a memorable cosmic horror flavor. I love how all of the books tie together in the end and how the romance between the two main protagonists is not a constant rollercoaster of break-ups and conflict. By the end of book 5, Whyborne and Griffin have pretty well solidified their relationship and the subsequent books feature the two characters loving and supporting each other despite disagreements.
The moment I finished the final W&G book, I started reading Hawk’s Hexworld and Spirits series. All three of these series feature m/m romances and fast-paced supernatural adventures. Spirits focuses on two paranormal investigators in the late 1800s: Vincent Night, who uses the power of mediumship, and Henry Strauss, who uses scientific inventions. In book 1, Restless Spirits, their methods are 100% at odds as both men try to make contact with ghosts in an extremely haunted mansion. Of course, since this is a romance, their animosity quickly turns to passion. With the help of Henry’s super sciency teenage niece Jo and Vincent’s partner Lizzie, this small found family proceeds to go on further adventures in a small haunted town (Dangerous Spirits) and an equally haunted orphanage (Guardian Spirits). These books are a lot of fun and occasionally quite creepy and three stories connect together really nicely. Content warning: Restless Spirits contains a character being outed against their will and homophobia from the villain that was hard to read, so keep that in mind.
The Hexworld books take place in a turn-of-the-twentieth-century New York filled with witches and their familiars (people who can shape-shift into animals). When a familiar and a witch bond, they are able to power magical spells called “hexes” (hence the hex-related titles for all these books). For every familiar, there is one special witch with whom their magic is most compatible, a scenario that of course leads to romance. The protagonists of Hexworld all either work for or have some connection to the Metropolitan Witch Police. Since these are relatively short, fast-paced stories, almost all of the romances are fast burn, with people falling in love over the span of days. But with all of the plots revolving around solving time-sensitive cases, there really isn’t time for weeks/months/years of pining (with the exception of book 4 which features two characters who pine steadily through books 1-3). My only gripe with this series is the near complete lack of female characters. Whyborne & Griffin and Spirits, while still featuring male protagonists, include really strong supporting women. Hexworld barely has any women at all.
He’s Come Undone: A Romance Anthology
He’s Come Undone is an entertaining anthology focusing on starchy, buttoned-up men falling in love and losing control. My favorite stories in the collection are Cat Sebastian’s Tommy Cabot Was Here, about two boarding school roommates reconnecting as middle-aged adults and giving into years of pent-up feelings; Olivia Dade’s Unraveled, about a meticulous math teacher falling for his co-worker, an art teacher who has a side-business making murder dioramas; and Adriana Herrera’s Caught Looking, about best friends who have an accidental night of passion and a whole lot of feelings to figure out afterwards. These are fun, escapist romances to take your mind off things for a little while.
Starcrossed by Allie Therin
Book two in Therin’s Magic in Manhattan series, Starcrossed continues the story of Arthur, the son of a rich and powerful political family who spends his days protecting the world from magical artifacts, and Rory, a reclusive, stubborn psychic who can touch an object and see it’s history. While the two men team up and fall in love in the first book, Starcrossed establishes that they still have a lot of things to figure out about their relationship. And they have to do this while a group of paranormal bad guys are causing mayhem, Rory’s power is becoming uncontrollable, and Arthur has to escort his ex to a wedding. This series is a fun blend of prohibition era paranormal adventure and romance and I would definitely recommend it.
ART
I have been severely lacking in any sort of art motivation for the past few months, but I finally managed to do some drawing in May and muster up the motivation to make this little set of pop culture sword collages. I like how they turned out.
