Athena

distracted

Yes, December is a busy month here too. I hope you will have some relaxing reading time . I'm planning to read the next 2 volumes in the Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya (15 & 16), but other than that I'm not sure yet. Probably some manga and / or graphic novels and / or illustrated children's books and / or short adult works . It will depend on what I feel in the mood for.

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson

Hey everyone who's reading this and interested, this is a friendly reminder that the December read-a-thon takes place in the weekend of 6, 7 and 8 December. This is NOT this upcoming weekend, but the weekend after that (so about a week and a day away).

Thoughts on recently read books. Sofie Hagen - Happy Fat This is a memoir & information book about the author's life as a fat person, fatphobia and diet culture. I really liked this book and related to the author in some aspects. Maggie Ann Martin - To Be Honest A YA contemporary fiction book about a fat teenage girl whose mother is fatphobic. The mother participated in a weight loss reality TV show and since then has become different and is strict for her daughter. The main character's older sister, is just moving to college. I really enjoyed this book. I wish it'd gone on a bit beyond the ending. Linda van Rijn - De jaarclub (& Plek 218) A Dutch literary thriller. it's wintery, which is why I picked it to read now that the weather is getting colder etc. It was a nice read, but I felt it took a bit too long to get suspenseful and then it was somewhat quickly resolved / revealed whodunnit. Plek 218 is a short story that was in the end of my edition, and I found this story an enjoyable read. Asten Clarke - Who Am I?: An Autism & BPD Story This is a short, self-published memoir by an autistic author who also has BPD (borderline personality disorder). It was a pretty nice read, but I would've liked to hear more about BPD as I don't know lots about it. Some knowledge of autism and BPD recommended, I don't think the book would be as easy to follow if you don't know much about autism. Kate Darbishire - Speechless A middle-grade contemporary fiction book with a main character who has cerebral palsy. She is in a wheelchair. She hardly speaks and when she does it sounds weird to other people. She gets bullied at school and doesn't have any friends. Her mother ends up in the hospital and then her grandparents come to stay to take care of her and her older brother. Her father is away a lot for work. The grandparents don't know the children that well. Henry Fraser - The Little Big Things A memoir by Henry, who had an accident when he was 17, that made him paralysed from the shoulders down. He becomes a mouth artist, making paintings using his mouth to hold paintbrushes. It was a really interesting read. A Note to those who are wondering why no video: There currently is something going on with YouTube, the FTC and COPPA. Link to Google Support Link to news article Google 'YouTube FTC COPPA' if you want to know more. My video making is on hold until I know more about what does and doesn't count as "kids' content". If you set your videos as kids' content, you lose features like comments and likes. If you set your videos as "not for kids", you can be fined a lot of money per video if FTC or YouTube algorithms deem the video is for kids. What I would think, discussing middle-grade and children's books is kids' content, discussing YA and adult books is not. But it remains to be seen. YouTube has not yet responded much. A lot of creators are confused. I may have to leave YouTube altogether. All of this has me hugely stressed out. Anyway, so no videos until further notice.

Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin by W. J. Burley

I read about this too. It's so so stupid .

magical

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (book 1)

Agreed! I think she did, but at the time publishers weren't interested. She has 3 YA novels published with another publisher, whom I think wasn't interested in the graphic novel of Heartstopper. She got a deal with Hachette when it turned out the Kickstarter did so well. But I don't know exactly, I do follow the author on Twitter and Instagram. Yes! Stim (see my previous post) is on Unbound .

I'm kind of puzzled why you recommend a non-fiction selfhelp book and call it a thriller in a 'fav fiction books' topic..? Are you connected to this book in any way?

Of course, we'd be happy to have you !

eggs

I have the camp feature now! I couldn't cook anything though as I have 0 ingredients and only 4 berries . But I'll try it when I do have some ingredients. I made my way to Motostoke (or something like that).

I'm sorry to hear that Madeleine , yes that is so true!

I've backed Stim, an anthology by autistic authors. It's entirely crowdsourced, and the editor is working on it. It's not finished yet, though. But when it is it will have been entirely crowdsourced. Alice Oseman first selfpublished Heartstopper Volume 1 through a Kickstarter campaign, which I backed. It then got picked up by a traditional publisher. Anyway, that's the two examples I could think of!

It's cool you got the same version . The intro is long! I don't have that option yet, I think I need to get further in the story for that. I'm kind of a slow player, my boyfriend is way faster. I'll put in spoiler tags where I am in the game, in case anyone else doesn't want anything spoiled for them. I just spoke with my boyfriend and he says I'll get the camp feature soon

Aww I'm sorry your NaNoWriMo isn't going as well as you had hoped! @Hayley explained it pretty well! For read-a-thons in general, some of them in other places have specific themes or challenges, but for the BCF read-a-thon you can read whatever book or books you like. I want it to be relaxing. Initally it was a way for me to spend those 3 days, to use most of my free/spare time on/for reading, and not feel guilty about it. Because back then (in 2013 when I started this) sometimes during other days, I didn't read a lot and instead did other things I wanted to do and by the time I was done with them, I didn't have any time left in the day to read. So I wanted to make reading a bit more of a priority. I'd seen this phenomenon read-a-thon in other places and so I brought it to BCF. For myself I used to read specific books during most of our read-a-thons, but as I said that's for each person individually to figure out. Most people, during the past 6 years, have just continued what they were already reading, I believe. I'm the nut that sometimes tries to have their current read finished a few days before the read-a-thon, then spend a few days not reading, to then read a lot during the read-a-thon. Anyway.. I hope Hayley's and my answer help. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask .

The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Thank you! Yesterday evening I started playing Pokémon Shield. I played for about 2 hours yesterday, I look forward to play more later today. My boyfriend and I have one Switch (which he paid for), and he's been playing it more than me. Only one of us can play at a time, so I'm letting him play while I do some stuff and then later today I'll get to play.

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear that! I had a heavy cold about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and since about a week, am recovered from it. I do still cough now and then. I hope you feel better soon .

Book reviews of books I've read in the past ~30ish days: Veronica Henry - A Night on the Orient Express Enjoyable read but it had a bit too many different characters and storylines that didn't intersect as much as I'd hoped. E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 3: Old Haunts Very enjoyable mystery that I read together with Sarah (Little Pixie). Shawn Inmon - Halloween in Tangleton Short horror story that came for free with the author's newsletter. Enjoyable but a bit predictable. Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 13: Volume 13 Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 14: Volume 14 I enjoyed these 2 volumes in the Fruits Basket series, Volume 14 more than 13. Peter F. Hamilton - The Commonwealth Saga 2: Judas Unchained (re-read) After over a month, I finally finished re-reading Judas Unchained! I loved re-reading it, but am also happy to move on to some shorter books haha. S. K. Ali - Love From A to Z YA contemporary fiction with Own Voices Muslim representation (the author's 2nd novel). MS representation also. I loved this book, some of the themes it discusses are islamophobia, racism, grief, coming of age. S. K. Ali - Saints and Misfits 1: Saints and Misfits YA contemporary fiction, the author's debut novel. Own Voices Muslim rep. Themes of rape and sexual violence. The writing wasn't quite as polished as the author's second book, but it was still a really good read.

Those songs were my least favourite part! The second half was very good though. I'm currently reading Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen.

Have fun on your holiday !! I hope you will remember, I love seeing you around the forum .

The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell