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Friday; 06/13/25

100 days of productivity: day 3/100

I didn’t get a whole lot done because I had a lot of family commitments, but I managed to have a decent study session in the morning. I took a lot of notes on my iPad, and did my second weekly quiz of the course. I didn’t do great on the quiz, but I did better than I did on the first one; ultimately I’m counting it as a win as I am improving.

I also had a nice long reading session before bed. My current read is The Eagle and the Hart, which is about Richard II and Henry IV. Historically, I’m not great at finishing longer nonfiction books, but I’m hoping this time is different! I sometimes struggle with the language, but this year I’ve really been trying to build my ability to read denser works.

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Thursday; 06/12/25

100 days of productivity: day 2/100

Today I got caught up on the textbook notes for my course. I spent a lot of time studying with my friend, and we were outside for some of it which was nice. I also began my MATLAB assignment which had been freaking me out a bit :)

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"This is my most precious jewel. Don't you like it?"

Henry V x Catherine of Valois.

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Adding on to this

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

3⭐️

I’m ngl this book was just very odd. It was sort of plotless, and I personally didn’t understand the greater meaning of it (if there was one.) I enjoyed Gene’s narration, but there was not much else about this book that I really enjoyed, or even found special. It was atmospheric, something I would space out while reading. Overall not a bad book though!

Library book; hardcover

Tracking my summer reading here bc I’m kind of over Goodreads atm!!

So far:

The Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain by Eric R. Delderfield

3⭐️

At the back end of my spring semester I became very interested in specifically the Plantagenet Dynasty (thank you Dan Jones) so I picked this up from the library to learn more about the overall history of the monarchy

Library book; paperback

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

4⭐️

Ok so I first read the Raven Cycle when I was (I think) 13. I remember liking it a lot then over the past year or so I started realizing it had a decent online fan community (inspiring me to start a reread). I started the reread last fall, but put off getting into BLLB when I realized it had no Ronan pov. I decided to read it when summer began because I knew I would be able to get through it easily and gently now that I had no major academic responsibilities. I actually massively enjoyed it!

Owned; paperback

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

5⭐️

AHHHHHHHH this book made me feel sick but I couldn’t stop reading it. It was so good. Literally everything I could want in a book. I’ve always been very interested in WWI, both because of the war itself & how useless & based on nationalism it was, but also because of the poetry and culture that came from it. I also think that the queer perspective was so so amazing & well done. Wilfred Owen, author of Dulce et Decorum est was probably a gay man!!! So the inclusion of and emphasis on the m/m love story between the two main characters did not at all feel out of place, if anything felt very appropriate and realistic. It is also my fantasy to be a rich public school boy in England soooooo… But yeah this book was perfect.

Library book; hardcover

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

5⭐️

Hi so this book also made me sick. It did that thing where the writing was super descriptive to the point it felt nauseating. All this aside, this book was very very very good. It explored uncomfortable and taboo themes like enmeshment/emotional incest, intergenerational trauma, violence, religious bigotry, and the most hypocritical sort of homophobia stunningly well. Young Mungo is not a Romeo and Juliet story; it is hardly a love story. It’s a story with love, and with pain, and it makes you as the reader want to give mungo a whack and yell at him to run away before it’s too late (even though you know deep down that he won’t listen to you.) I choose to believe that the ending was hopeful, because if I believe otherwise I will not be able to think of this book without getting incredibly angry and unjustifiably critical.

Library book; hardcover

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt

4.5⭐️

This book was essentially 200 pages of limerence & youch it hurt. I felt as delusional as the narrator, longing for someone who hardly will give me a second look. I found the book begrudgingly relatable, both because of the narrator’s fixation on men and masculinity, as well as the strained relationship between the narrator and his parents and the isolation between the narrator and his peers following his coming out. Overall, this one hit a little bit too close to home.

Library book; hardcover

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Wednesday; 06/11/25

100 Days of Productivity: 1/100

I’m starting a 100dop challenge because I’m taking a class this summer and I want to do well and not let my adhd take over! I’m hoping this challenge will help keep me accountable for my school work through this asynchronous class.

My class is in Signals and Systems, and my main goal today is to finish my notes on Chapter 2, which covers LTI (linear time-invariant) systems. If I have extra time, I also will try to review some of the class’s earlier material as I’m already feeling slightly lost (oops.)

I started about an hour ago. I was sitting outside at a cafe then decided to move because my iPad was burning up lmao. Now I’m waiting for my friend to meet me & then we’re going to go to the library, where I’ll stay for at least two more hours. The rest of my day is pretty busy—I have therapy, and some family commitments—so I’m hoping to get as much done in this time as possible.

I also might browse the library for a new book because I’m about 100 pages into my current read—Shuggie Bain—and I don’t think I’m feeling it. I’m quite busy at the moment with school stuff and family stuff & a book like Shuggie Bain requires full binge-reading undivided attention (which I cannot succeed in at the moment without totally ignoring the rest of my responsibilities).

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I made this today as venting for my new job :'3

(Based on XKCD 2933)

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actually i think the biggest obstacle for boreo will be that theo will never want to come out and boris will never want to be exclusive

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Am I alone in the feeling that not every book needs to be a series?

I get it, it’s so fun to continue on with the story and make this giant world with intricate details, but I really just want it to end sometimes.

I love a good interconnected standalone, but not every book needs one !! Just let it be done please.

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So my younger brother is graduating high school & he wants to watch a bunch of coming of age films this week before he’s like officially done.

My time has come…. Dead Poets Society/The Perks of Being a Wallflower double feature in the Lord’s year of 2025!!!!!

Very hyped if you could not tell already

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ophelia - john everett millais / nettles - ethel cain

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For @naewitchcraftinvolved and anyone else who's interested, here are my recs of "good" queer historical fiction novels. I put "good" in quotes because obviously there's no accounting for taste, so this is only my personal opinion. Some (okay a lot) of these do not have a happily ever after for the main characters, but I still think they're very good books that are worth your consideration. In no specific order:

1. Literally anything by Mary Renault, but especially The Persian Boy and The Last of the Wine

2. The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley Parker-Chan (contains magical realism)

3. As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann

4. Julian by Gore Vidal

5. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

6. The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri (has magical realism and the third book is just about to drop, but assuming it'll be awesome)

7. Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja

8. The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

9. A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein

10. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (magical realism here too, you can skip the sequel IMO)

11. Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox

12. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (I'm not sure this counts as historical fiction because it was written in 1956 but it should be mandatory reading for basically everyone)

13. The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox (okay so one of the queer main characters is literally a fallen angel, but who's to say that can't be real 🤷🏻‍♀️)

14. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (is Greek Mythology technically historical fiction? I say it belongs here!)

15. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (LOL I know, I know, it's not "canon", but I dare you all to read it and then tell me they aren't all disaster bisexuals! Just consider this a free bonus.)

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Decided to read Brideshead Revisited for the first time and

1. This is the gayest book I have ever read. This is not subtext common to the time period, this is Evelyn Waugh slamming us against a window going LOOK AT HOW FUCKING GAY THESE DUDES ARE, LOOK, LOOK AT THE GAYS

2. Anthony Blanche is amazing. I can hear exactly how he speaks in my head perfectly. One of my best friends was very much the American Anthony Blanche and reading him telling Charles a story about pretending to be a girl friend of his on the phone with an older man made me go text my friend.

3. I suddenly have a burning need to know when exactly the term "invert" or "inverted" as a casual way of referencing homosexuality fell out of favor

4. Sebastian having a wildly religious family that he avoids whenever possible despite having a connection to and love for them he cannot shake off is such a deeply relatable feeling

5. Seriously. I was led to believe this book had "queer subtext" but I have yet to find any text that isn't the time period equivalent of shouting GAY from a rooftop.

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"The faggots and their friends live the best while empires are falling. Since the men are always building as many empires as they can, there are always one or two falling and so one or two places for the faggots and their friends to go. When an empire is falling, the men become so busy opposing the rebellions elsewhere and searching for the reasons why this is happening, that they have no time to watch the faggots and their friends at home. The populace, tired of hearing only of foreign defeats, allows the faggots room to play. This entertains them. Once the empire is gone, the cause of the present evil must be found. And the faggots and their friends along with others often get chosen. Then times get bad and the faggots and their friends fade."

The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions, Larry Mitchell (1977)

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Philippe Besson - Lie With Me

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Dedication of Maurice by E.M. Forster // Sappho // The Well of Loneliness, Radclyffe Hall

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Oh I saw this in my public library!!

✨PREORDER CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT✨

If you’ve been waiting to buy your ticket to Luna Park, now is the time to dive in! Absolutely thrilled to announce an exclusive preorder campaign for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON, and so happy to be partnering with indie booksellers who are just as excited for Rio and Benny as I’ve been since I started writing this book! 😅

Through April 29th, if you preorder the novel through one of the bookstore’s websites, your book order will be sent with an exclusive art print and sticker, and will be signed by me, either in person or as a bookplate, depending on your store order.

Participating stores are listed below, linked to their respective preorder pages:

Blue Willow Bookshop - Texas (signed bookplates)

Meet Cute Bookshop - California (signed bookplates)

Loyalty Books — Washington, DC (signed & personalized books)

The Ripped Bodice — NYC (signed & personalized books)

(Please contact the booksellers to inquire about international shipping, for while I know there are shops that ship internationally among those listed here, I don’t know what their limitations may be)

Thank you so much to all of these wonderful booksellers for making this preorder campaign possible, and thank you, dear reader, for your enthusiasm about my book! Can’t wait to get these goodies into your hands! 💕