Life is still ridiculous, but I did take a bit of time off to hike–and to read.

I’ve had trouble focusing–not a tremendous surprise–so I’ll need to go back and reread the new releases I’d been waiting for at some point when I’m a little less distracted. In other words, take those ratings of 7 with a grain of salt–I need a book to draw me in and not let go, and that these books didn’t do that is on me, not necessarily them.

There were some very good stories however. I finally got around to reading Richard Osman‘s Thursday Murder Club, which I loved.

Tania got me the Murderbot short story, Compulsory, which I didn’t even know was being published, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next story that comes out this fall. (MURDERBOT!)

Although it didn’t pull me in, I still enjoyed Anna Lee Huber‘s most recent Lady Darby book. It’s comforting to drop into familiar places with known characters.

To keep me moving, I’ve been listening to a lot of audio books.

I just finished the last recorded SPI Files book, (She self-published the next two stories, so no audio version) and had to struggle to figure out what I wanted to listen to next.  (We merged my parent’s audible account with ours, so when I browsed today, I kept seeing books my parents listened to, which was weird.)

Other than that, lots of rereading. Favorites, to pull me out of my own head and allow me to escape.

Mystery

• The Thursday Murder Club (2020) Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club) 9/10
• Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon 9/10
• A Fatal Illusion (2023) Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby) 8/10
• Against the Currant t (2023) Olivia Matthews (Spice Isle Bakery) 5/10

Fantasy

• Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold 9/10
• Hard Spell (2011) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation) 8/10
• A Queer Trade  (2016) K.J. Charles (Rag and Bone)  7.5/10
• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human (2023) Kimberly Lemming (Mead Mishaps) 7/10
• Once a Rogue (2023) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) 7/10

Romance

• Lancaster Stories by C.S. Poe: Kneading You (2016) 7.5/10, Joy (2017) 9/10
• Garnet Run by Roan Parrish: Better Than People (2020) 8/10, Best Laid Plans (2021) 8/10, The Pride of Garnet Run  (2022) 7/10
• Teacher of the Year (2023) M.A. Wardell (Teachers in Love) 6.5/10

Science Fiction

• Compulsory (2023) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) 8.5/10

Audio Books

• A Dangerous Collaboration, Audio Book (2019) Deanna Raybourn narrated by Angèle Masters (Veronica Speedwell) 8/10
• SPI Files by Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker: The Grendel Affair, Audio Book (2014) 8/10, The Dragon Conspiracy, Audio Book (2015) 8/10, The Brimstone Deception, Audio Book (2016) 8.5/10, The Ghoul Vendetta, Audio Book (2017) 8/10

Ethical Fashion

Roughly 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020, with 9 million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19. This accounts for nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide. Almost half of them are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health and development.

14 states have either introduced or enacted legislation rolling back regulations that governed the number of hours children can be employed, lowered the restrictions on dangerous work, and legalized subminimum wages for youths.

Packers Sanitation Services paid a $1.5 million fine for employing 102 children to work in dangerous meatpacking facility jobs across eight states. Last summer, Reuters revealed that children as young as 12 — many of whom were migrants — were hired to work in a metal shop owned by Hyundai.

The media campaign to legitimize sweatshop economics & child labor

In Bangladesh, poor children under the age of 14 work as child laborers an average of 64 hours a week.

Children as young as 6 work up to 110 hours a week.

On average the children earn less than $2 a day. Some less than $1 a day.

How To Tell If A Child Made Your Clothes

Dangerous Jobs: Kids Under 18 Cannot Do This Work: Meat Processing and Slicing, Power-Driven Woodworking Machinery, Mining, Logging, Forestry and Sawmilling

US Dept. of Labor confirms Iowa’s new child labor law violates federal law:

Amputations, fractured fingers, second-degree burns and head trauma are just some of the serious injuries suffered by US meat plant workers every week,

Around a quarter of U.S. domestic produce is picked by an army of child workers who numbered an estimated 500,000 in 2021.

In Iowa, a new law allows children as young as fourteen to work in industrial laundries, and, with approval from a state agency, allows sixteen-year-olds to work in roofing, excavation, demolition, the operation of power-driven machinery, and other dangerous occupations. Jennifer Sherer, a co-author of the E.P.I. report, said, “Iowa’s new law contains multiple provisions that conflict with federal prohibitions on ‘oppressive child labor.’ ” It also limits employer liability for the injury, illness, or death of a child on the job. Adolescents are almost twice as likely as adults to be injured at work.

Packers Sanitation Services allegedly used child labor at three meatpacking plants in two states, according to the Labor Department.

The DOL asked a federal court to issue a statewide injunction and restraining order against the company for its alleged crimes at plants in Grand Island, Nebraska, Worthington, Minnesota and Marshall, Minnesota.

The past two months have been hellish.

To sum up: my mother died unexpectedly and my brother and I have been dealing with all the things.

So I read nothing by comfort reads for several weeks, and have been slowly reading some of the new releases I had been looking forward to.

Fantasy

A Matter of Magic (1988) Patricia C. Wrede (Mairelon the Magician) 9/10

Cecelia and Kate series by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (1988) 8/10, The Grand Tour: Or, The Purloined Coronation Regalia (2004) 8/10, The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After (2006) 8/10

Supernatural Fantasy

Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara
The Wolf at Bay (2019) 8.5/10, Thrown to the Wolves (2019) 9/10, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing(2020) 10/10, Cry Wolf(2021) 10/10

Mystery

Mystery on the Menu: A Three-Course Collection of Cozy Mysteries (2023) Nicole Kimberling 8.5/10
The Deadliest Fall (2023) Charlie Cochrane 7/10
A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder (2023) Dianne Freeman (Countess of Harleigh 7.5/10

Romance

Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper 10/10

Science Fiction

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
All Systems Red (2017) 9.5/10, Artificial Condition (2018) 9.5/10, Rogue Protocol (2018) 10/10, Exit Strategy(2018) 10/10, Network Effect (2020) 10/10, Fugitive Telemetry (2021) 9.5/10

Audio

Small Vices, Audio Book (1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds (Spenser) 10/10
Blitz, Audio Book(2022) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Moira Quirk (The Rook Files) 10/10
A Treacherous Curse, Audio Book (2018) Deanna Raybourn narrated by Angèle Masters (Veronica Speedwell) 8/10
Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka narrated by Gildart Jackson
Veiled, Audio Book (2015) 7/10, Burned, Audio Book (2016) 5/10

It’s Pride Month! Of course I think you should celebrate by reading queer books!

Here are some recommendations across several genres, and I went ahead and noted when a book had explicit sexual content (if that’s something you’d prefer to avoid). There are multiple cozy mysteries, lots of fantasies, and even some low- or no-spice romances, so you should be able to find a book that might appeal!

Several authors are quite prolific, so I’ve (mostly) listed the books / series I thought might be good starting points, but if you click through to an author page, there are plenty of other books (as well as my reviews) available to peruse.

Additionally, I’ve been working on updating my book pages, and now have a section for queer books! There you can peruse all the authors I’ve read and reviewed, and find lists of their books and series.

I’m still trying to rebuild my book database, but since I’ve forgotten most of what I knew about building databases, that is a bit of a slog. In the meantime, I do have a spreadsheet you can view! One tab is for mental health, neurodiversity, and ace rep. The other tab I started after listening to a Book Riot: When in Romance episode on heroines in STEM (I’m added to the list they shared).

Mystery

• Lindenshaw Mysteries by Charlie Cochrane
• The Best Corpse for the Job (2014), Jury of One (2016), Two Feet Under (2018), Old Sins (2019), A Carriage of Misjustice (2020), Lock, Stock and Peril (2022)
• MM | Mystery, Cozy, Amateur Sleuth + Cop | Queer author

• Grasmere Cottage Mystery series by Dahlia Donovan
• Dead in the Garden (2018), Dead in the Pond (2018), Dead in the Shop (2018)
• MM | Mystery, Cozy, Amateur Sleuth | Queer author

• Secrets and Scrabble series by Josh Lanyon
• Murder at Pirate’s Cove (2020), Secret at Skull House (2020), Mystery at the Masquerade (2021), Scandal at the Salty Dog (2021), Lament at Loon Landing (2023), Body at Buccaneer’s Bay (2021)
• MM | Mystery, Cozy, Amateur Sleuth + Cop

• Mystery on the Menu: A Three-Course Collection of Cozy Mysteries (2023) Nicole Kimberling
• MM | Mystery, Amateur Sleuth+ Cop | Explicit sexual content | Queer author

• Snow & Winter series by C.S. Poe
• The Mystery of Nevermore (2016), The Mystery of the Curiosities (2017), The Mystery of the Moving Image (2018), The Mystery of the Bones (2019), Interlude: Snow & Winter Collection Volume One (2021), The Mystery of the Spirits (2021)
• MM | Mystery, Amateur Sleuth + Cop | Explicit sexual content

• Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon
• MM | Mystery | Explicit sexual content

• Murder Most Actual (2021) Alexis Hall
• FF | Mystery | Queer author

Historical Mystery

• Dead Dead Girls (2021) Nekesa Afia (Harlem Renaissance Mystery)
• FF | Mystery, Historical (post WWI)

• Pentecost and Parker by Stephen Spotswood
• Fortune Favors the Dead (2020), Murder Under Her Skin (2021)
• Bisexual heroine | Mystery, PI, Historical (post WWII)

• Page & Sommers series Hither, Page (2019), The Missing Page (2022) Cat Sebastian
• MM | Mystery, Historical (post WWII), Romance, Amateur Sleuth + Spy | Explicit sexual content

• The Will Darling Adventures by K.J. Charles
• Slippery Creatures (2020), The Sugared Game (2020), Subtle Blood (2021)
• MM | Mystery, Historical (post WWI), Amateur Sleuth + Spy | Explicit sexual content

• The Lords of Bucknall Club by J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry
• A Case for Christmas (2021), A Sanctuary for Soulden (2021)
• MM | Mystery, Alternate History (Napoleonic Era), Romance | Explicit sexual content

Fantasy / Historical Fantasy

• An Island For Two (2022) Ophelia Silk
• FF, Ace | Fantasy, Romance

• Legends & Lattes (2022) Travis Baldree
• FF | Fantasy

• Last Binding by Freya Marske
• A Marvellous Light (2021), A Restless Truth (2022)
• MM / FF | Historical Fantasy (pre-WWI), Romance | Explicit sexual content

• Montague Siblings by Mackenzi Lee
• The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017), The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky (2019), The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (2018), The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks (2021)
• MM | Historical Fantasy (1700s), YA

• Magic in Manhattan by Allie Therin
• Spellbound (2019), Starcrossed (2020), Wonderstruck (2021)
• MM | Historical Fantasy (post WWI), Romance | Explicit sexual content

• The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk
• Witchmark (2018)
• MM | Fantasy, Mystery | Queer author

• Paladin’s Hope (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel)
• MM | Fantasy, Romance | Explicit sexual content

• The Affair of the Mysterious Letter (2019) Alexis Hall
• Trans character | Fantasy | Queer author

Supernatural Fantasy

• The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) TJ Klune
• MM | Fantasy | Queer author

• The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards
• The Last Sun (2018), The Hanged Man (2019), The Hourglass Throne (2022)
• MM | Fantasy | Sexual content | Queer author

• Adam Binder series by David R. Slayton
• White Trash Warlock (2020), Trailer Park Trickster (2021), Deadbeat Druid (2022)
• MM | Fantasy | Queer author

• Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara
• The Wolf at the Door (2018), The Wolf at Bay (2018), Thrown to the Wolves (2019), Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (2010), Cry Wolf (2021)
• MM | Fantasy, Mystery, Law Enforcement | Explicit sexual content

• Grilled Cheese and Goblins: Adventures of a Supernatural Food Inspector (2018)
• Nicole Kimberling
• MM | Fantasy, Mystery, Law Enforcement | Explicit sexual content | Queer author

• Human Enough (2019) ES Yu
• MM | Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Law Enforcement

• Shadow Police by Paul Cornell
• London Falling  (2014), The Severed Streets (2015), Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? (2016)
• Queer character in ensemble | Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Law Enforcement

• Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies (2022) Misha Popp
• Bisexual heroine | Fantasy, Mystery

Romance

• London Calling series by Alexis Hall
• Boyfriend Material (2020), Husband Material (2022)
• MM | Romance | Queer author

• Waiting for the Flood (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires)
• MM | Romance | Queer author

• Aidan Wayne: stand-alone romances
• Loud and Clear (2016), Play It Again (2019), Not So Cookie Cutter (2019)
• MM, Ace, Disability rep | Romance | Queer author

• Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper
• MM | Romance | Queer author

• The Agency series by Ada Maria Soto
• His Quiet Agent (2017), Merlin in the Library (2018), Agents of Winter (2022)
• MM, Ace | Romance

• N.R. Walker: stand-alone romances
• Galaxies and Oceans (2018), Upside Down (2019)
• MM, Ace | Romance | Explicit sexual content

• American Dreamer (2019) Adriana Herrera (Dreamers)
• MM | Romance | Explicit sexual content

• The Charm Offensive (2021) Alison Cochrun
• MM, Ace | Romance | Explicit sexual content

• Perfect Rhythm (2017) Jae
• FF, Ace | Romance | Explicit sexual content | Queer author

• The Heartbreak Bakery (2021) A.R. Capetta
• Trans/NB Character | Romance, Fantasy, YA | Queer author

• The Love Study (2020) Kris Ripper
• NB, Bisexual | Romance | Sexual content | Queer author

Historical Romance

• Feminine Pursuits by Olivia Waite
• The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2019), The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (2020)
• FF | Historical (1816), Romance | Explicit sexual content

• Band Sinister (2018) K.J. Charles
• MM | Historical (early 1800s), Romance | Explicit sexual content

Comics

• Mooncakes (2019) Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu
• FF | Fantasy, YA, Comic

• Heathen by Adriana Herrera
• Heathen Volume 1 (2017), Heathen: Volume 2 (2019), Heathen, Volume 3 (2020)
• FF | Historical Fantasy, Comic

• Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
• # Hockey (2018), Sticks & Scones (2020)
• MM | Romance, Comic

Science Fiction

• The Janet Watson Chronicles by Claire O’Dell
• A Study in Honor (2018), The Hound of Justice (2019)
• FF | Science Fiction, Mystery

• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
• All Systems Red (2017), Artificial Condition (2018), Rogue Protocol (2018), Exit Strategy (2018), Network Effect (2020), Fugitive Telemetry (2021)
• NB, Ace, Aro | Science Fiction

Fiction

• Last Night at the Telegraph Club (2021) Malinda Lo
• FF | Historical (1954), YA | Queer author

• The Boy in the Red Dress (2020) Kristin Lambert
• Queer | Historical (1930), YA