Hi! My name is Bec and I post about books and reblog anything related - from memes and writing advice to cats, art, and embroidery. I primarily read fantasy, mystery, and science fiction, particularly with a historical, queer, or humanist bent. Not much into YA or booktok.
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Sometimes you are in the equivalent of the great british bakeoff and a dragon attacks. That's fine, because you have a cake knife and an offset spatula. Also you can sort of communicate with bees because your mom was a cool lady. Also your boss is a cool lady. And your deceased stepdad's second wife is a cool lady. And your grandmother is a deeply unpleasant but powerful sorceress. And you like running cross country.
Whiskeyjack by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Sometimes your dad is presumed dead twice but cool anyway and your deceased stepdad is cool and your bestie(s) are cool and your bestie's much older brother and his boyfriend are also very cool and your stepdad's will makes the reader cry every time. And also you defeat the Dark Gods or whatever.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes 5 stars
I liked the approach of all uh. We'll say 28? Different angles to identifying the ancient wonders we maybe know and maybe exist and the discussion of the ones that are fairly well known.
Blackcurrant Fool by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Well. Lark caught us instead. And it sucked. But the book didn't suck even a little!
Agrippina: Empress Exile Hustler Whore by Emma Southon 5 stars
We all know I am a slut for Dr Emma Southon. She's married it's fine but like. You know. Her brain and all.
Love-in-a-Mist by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
It's a murder mystery and there is a unicorn, but most importantly Jemis gets a new wardrobe and is cuddled by the guy who has a crush on him. You have two hands, Jemis. You talk about this guy's thighs ALL THE TIME. I do not think Violet would mind is all I'm saying.
Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Ahahahaha it's fine it's FINE do not follow your good neighbors into the woods even if they're probably your cousins and ALSO very curious about the fact you were dead. I'm extrapolating. Anyway don't do it.
The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed 2) by Brigitte Knightley 5 stars
Truly this series was THE surprise of the last two years. Genuinely delightful. Actually a duology. Funny as hell. A good demonstration of what happens when the magic healers go, previously we were pacifists but you're trying to kill us all so...
Also ends with total destabilization of all current governments and isn't Weird about Not Ireland. ALSO the worldbuilding is based on 'so what if the Norman invasion failed and there is magic'. Blue and orange assassin angel (???) morality. Tactical battle healing along with the "I was a pacifist but..." A kitten named Acts of Warranted Brutality who rewards you with purrs for acknowledging the warranted part of it all. Protagonists with blind spots. Antagonists with blind spots.
Anyway it's a good time.
A Widow's Charm by Caitlyn Paxson 5 stars
I liked this book so much I immediately went to purchase it and the next one only to find that the sequel doesn't come out until April of 2027, which is rude. Homophobic. A CRIME.
I kid I'll wait it sounds really fun.
Anyway I'll take practical widow good at running the estate who was genuinely fond of her husband and also wants him back for practical reasons for 500, Alex, and the sort of necromancer who she first tries to convince then seduce into helping her for the same. It even makes sense why he doesn't want to do it, aside from (eventually) liking said practical widow reasons!
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce 5 stars
I remain a lonely horsegirl who likes swords and cats living in a lonely world. I live for Alanna's constant 'bitch you thought' moments.
The Boleyn Curse by Alexandra Walsh 2 stars
How did this get two stars, you ask. Truly I do not know. This book's cardinal sin is being boring as hell but its secondary sin is everything else. Everybody has magic now. There are evil italian-welsh. I support Lucia's wrongs tbh mostly because our protagonists are insufferable. This IS what's wrong with the private sector. I think Alexandra Walsh could benefit from reading that Estelle Paranque from last month tbh.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
I mean. Yeah.
Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend 5 stars
Well. The Aztecs. Who knew reading their own or their descendants' histories about themselves would like. Give insight. Who knew. It's shocking or whatever.
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
Well. Listen. I think y'all know this by now.
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 stars
I think it was @flavia8 who said this book wasn't very popular and they seemed to be the only one who really liked it. No, my friend. We are holding hands. We are patting this book on the head. Presumably we are tearing up about Holytree together and kinda horrified about the literal living hell of Earl Horseriver.
Anyway it's good.
Learn my Lesson (Wicked Villains 2) by Katee Robert 3 stars
Sexy but for a series called Wicked Villains where the author's notes talk a lot about how not good her characters are they're pretty middle of the road morals-wise. IDK. Yay throuples!
Stone Speaks to Stone by Victoria Goddard 5 stars
Review here
The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court by Gareth Russell 4.75 stars
It's what it says on the tin and it's interesting.
Last Courtesan of Olympus by Amanda Meuwissen 3.5
Pretty hot but does fall into the trap of treating BDSM like a magical fix-it therapy tool. So it goes.
The Beast (Wicked Villains 4) by Katee Robert 3 stars
Can I get this magical fix-it bdsm with two dudes who are supposedly terrible humans but kinda just chill and visit a bdsm club a lot. It might not be less expensive than therapy given how expensive I am assured Hades' sexdungeon club IS, but it seems effective.
The Sea Witch (Wicked Villains 5) by Katee Robert 3.5
Well it's the same plot as Lean my Lesson except the dad was Vaguely Redeemable I Guess and it was hotter. So there's that.
Desperate Measures (Wicked Villains 1) by Katee Robert 3.5
Apparently this was the first one. Who knew. At least Jafar starts the story by taking Yasmina's abusive father out back and shooting him, so he has a leg to stand on in the morally ambiguous category. Too much daddykink for me personally but otherwise relatively hot. Also Yasmina does get to shank a dude with a letter opener, which is what she opens the book yearning to do, so points for that.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison 5 stars
Let Csethiro duel somebody 2k27. Let her loose. The nohecharei really do not have to consider hanging out in the bedroom politely pretending not to be there if she's in the room, I diffidently offer, though tbh maybe they should leave Csevet there. Just, you know. Just in case. Or whatever.
Did it take a lot of rereads to get this month a better star rating. Maybe. Listen those rereads are loadbearing. The load is my sanity.
Summer is just flying by, and before I know it, I'll be starting my new job! I'm going back to teaching as of August 31st with two courses: College Composition and Research & Composition. I know I used to complain about teaching all the time, but I've really started to miss it. And I have sooo many fun ideas for Research & Composition (archival work! The school I'm teaching at has a special collection of items from the 1850s!)
Books Read: 10
This was a pretty great reading month. My overall favorite was Mansfield Park, which I fall in love with more and more on each reread. My new favorite of the month was Saint Catherine; it's only flaw was that I wanted it to be longer. There really isn't a least favorite. Even though Lovers' Vows is only 3 stars, it was still interested and really enhanced my reading of Mansfield Park. Titles marked with ® are rereads.
Funny Story by Emily Henry - 5 stars ®
Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald - 3 stars
Game Changer by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
The Murder Next Door by Hugh D'Andrade - 3.5 stars
What Jane Austen's Characters Read (and Why) by Susan Allen Ford - 4 stars
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 5 stars ®
Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan - 4 stars
Saint Catherine by Anna Meyer - 4.5 stars
Tough Guy by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
Role Model by Rachel Reid - 4 stars
Books DNFed: 1
The Elopement by Gill Hornby - I just wasn't feeling this book at the moment. I fully intend to come back to it since I enjoyed Hornby's other books about the Austen family. It just wasn't the time for it. 🤷🏻♀️
On Tumblr:
Well that goal of posting things in July didn't really happen...
June 2026 Wrap Up
Tagged: 26 in 2026 - July Update
On YouTube:
But as usual, there's plenty here! A lot of these are for Jane Austen July, which is an event over on BookTube.
The Jane Austen July Tag
June Wrap Up | 7 reads and 1 DNF!
Christmas in July Book Haul!
Currently Reading 7/13/26
The Elizabeth Gaskell Project | My Lady Ludlow
August TBR | trying to get my goals back on track...
Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” that was written in 1950 is set on the day of August 4th, 2026 (tomorrow)!! Now’s your chance to read it around the time it’s based in!
Audio: A recording of Leonard Nimoy reading it on Internet Archive.
I used to set this one for second year undergraduate creative writing seminars on writing science fiction on a double bill with Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" and no-one here gets out alive.
It is August The First. No, no, don't look at your calendars, just trust me on this.
July was fun! I saw friends a lot! Pet a bunch of cats (and didn't even cry about it!) Ate a bunch of new foods, and was brave with the support of friends and went to a craft event in Providence. Went to the zoo and saw some bugs. What a month. All that definitely made up for the mediocre reading month. I picked up a bunch of books on impulse from the library, and only one of them was truly Good. Most were Okay, Glad I Read, and some were annoying and I didn't want to finish. Yet I persevered.
Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas ⭐⭐⭐ – First of all, I think this is a very brave book to publish when any criticism of weight loss drugs gets you called ableist. Second of all. What the fuck. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this. It has this undercurrent of sadness throughout the entire book. A lot of it struck home. I liked how it mentioned men with eating disorders get dismissed, that a fat man may struggle but so more would a fat woman. A fat woman of color. And those added struggles didn't negate that of the fat man. The added layer of being a fat gay man. How parents can try their best or their worst but you are still left to pick up the pieces of how their decisions fundamentally changed you forever. How skinny does not equal happy. The Hunger. There's a lot to unpack in this book. It's not exactly what I expected, but it is a giant fuck you to fatphobia and the diet industry.
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker ⭐⭐⭐ – Interesting and weird, maybe too much so. The whole time, it was hard to know what was really happening and what wasn't and I know that was On Purpose, but it was confusing at times. There was a reason behind it, only explained in the last three pages, which made things make sense, but while reading it was just confusing. I liked how the two timelines wove together, and the underlying narrative, but this was very different than what I expected (which is neither good nor bad).
Morsel by Carter Keane ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I appreciated the THE DOG IS OKAY disclaimer at the front, as well as the IF YOU'RE LISTENING ON AUDIO, THIS IS A BUFFER SO YOU CAN SKIP WARNINGS IF YOU WANT. It had nothing to do with the book, but it did boost my enjoyment and put me in a good mood. It was funny, it was scary, it was emotional, there was a lot packed into these 200 pages. It reminded me of my favorite horror movie I've only seen once, The Ritual.
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Okay! I see! I get it! The tragedy is tragic! I appreciate when faced with two options, Wei chose Secret Third Option that anyone could've seen if they just bothered to get their heads out of their asses and look. That you go in with that list of trigger warnings and you think you know what applies to who and what's going to happen and then you're wrong and you want to burn everyone down. I loved that it humanized Terren without excusing his actions. As a reader, you feel so so bad for him. He deserved so much better. And yet. There must be consequences. Because yes he deserved better, but so did Wei. So did her brother. Her neighbors. Her village. And she's going to make sure they survive. What a book.
These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs ⭐️⭐️ – Meh. Fine. Hard to get into. Kind of want to try it again because this audio narrator is familiar to me and is not my favorite, but also. I just wasn't very invested in any of it. I found The Twist kind of stupid, to be honest, but it would be interesting to go back with that knowledge. At the same time, I feel like we never had time to know either of the characters involved to really Get It. The timelines were hard to keep track of, and it didn't help that the tense kept change from present to past depending on the character highlighted in each chapter. The fights were cool at least.
The Girl With A Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean – DNF at around 100 pages. I didn't vibe with the writing style at all. These women are in their fifties, yet talk like they're in their teens. "Main character can't remember anything about her past" is such a baby writer plot, it's my own fault for not honing in on that in the synopsis. The second person POV I saw when skimming ahead was intriguing, but not enough to keep me going.
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer ⭐⭐ – Fine, I Guess. Kind of boring. Mostly mid. Left too many unanswered threads for my liking. What was with the guy on the bus in the beginning? What was up with Lucy? What were the symbols all about? Who was phone?? I get it's horror, and sudden endings and no explanations are Tropes in the genre, but give me SOMETHING. Would make a cool video game, if it isn't already.
Null Entity by Seth Haddon ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I didn't enjoy this as much as the first one, but it was still good! The idea that you spent so long making your body Your Body, and then someone else is piloting it. Oof. Big fan of the body autonomy commentary. Less a fan on the overall plot here, but was still a good time.
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan ⭐⭐– This was so promising. Not just from the synopsis, but multiple beloved authors had blurbs on the cover. Even the first few chapters were fun (hence the two stars and not one). But as the story progressed, as we got through THREE DIFFERENT TIMELINES (four including the forward and afterward), it became a chore to get through it all. I know it's a historical fantasy, but having the deus ex machina be the beginnings of the French Revolution felt so! Anti climactic! You have these all powerful beings at your disposal, and he's saved by a mob? And we don't even get to see it because he ran off with his ex again? Come on. Sebastian is so incredibly stupid I hated following him in every timeline and Jacques is just downright annoying. On top of it all, There was one (1) interesting woman the entire book and she was brutally murdered. At least the monsters were cool.
August? What do you have for me? Do you have anything good this time? Honestly, I think my goal will be to finish one (1) fiber project. Everything is taking so long and I get bored so I start something new and the cycle continues and now I have like ten projects in progress and it's stressing me out. I'm behind on BOTM because of my library hold hubris, but I think I can catch up with that too. I guess August will be for playing catch up. Lets go, then!
i love murderbot as like a representation of being nonbinary in a dangerous situation. when its public most of the time it has to choose between presenting itself as a governed secunit (aka "mindless killing machine") or a human, and both options make it upset, but it cant be neither because that would put it in danger. it doesnt tell people the name it gave itself because humans would find it weird and unsettling. it doesnt want to be perceived as human and it doesnt want to be perceived as a robot either!! murderbot my nonbinary hero
