#baker thief

[justabooklovingmetalhead]

8 amazing trans books for trans day of visibility!

[aroaessidhe]

ok slightly late for ace week, but here's most of the ace books I own!

[transbookoftheday]

💚 Trans Aro Books To Read For Aromantic Visibility Day 💚

("Godly Heathens" isn't out yet, but you can preorder it or request an ARC on NetGalley.)

[urfavisalloaro]

Claire/Claude from Baker Thief is AlloAro (Canon)

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault

goodreads

Adèle has only one goal: catch the purple-haired thief who broke into her home and stole her exocore, thus proving herself to her new police team. Little does she know, her thief is also the local baker. Claire owns the Croissant-toi, but while her days are filled with pastries and customers, her nights are dedicated to stealing exocores. These new red gems are heralded as the energy of the future, but she knows the truth. When her twin disappears, Claire redoubles in her efforts to investigate. She keeps running into Adèle, however, and whether or not she can save her sister might depend on their conflicted, unstable, but deepening relationship.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this book yet, but I've seen Claudie Arsenault's fantasy books around for a while and they sound interesting!

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault - DNF

I have to admit I didn't give this one much of a chance. I got it in a Rainbow Crate so I felt compelled to at least try to read it, but it's just not my kind of thing, and I DNFed at page 4. Really didn't like the writing style.

Idol Minds by KT Salvo - 2.75/5 stars

Almost DNFed this when I was about 50 pages from the end because it very abruptly lost my attention. I never really liked either of the main characters so I didn't care about their breakup or HEA. Also the sex scenes were weirdly short but also repetitive, somehow?

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse - 3.75/5 stars

I will be completely honest and admit that I could remember almost nothing of the first book when I started reading this the other day. I remembered that I really liked it, and that was about it. This one was...good?

Ok, so, let me see if I can put this into words. During the pandemic, authors kept writing, right? Especially if they were under contract to produce a series. And for some authors, that was fine. There is no discernible difference in their work. And then other authors, it's like...the anxiety brain fog got baked into their writing. There's nothing technically wrong with it. Things are happening. The characters are still engaging. And yet...sometimes it just feels like...things are happening. Like the author couldn't really process the emotions of the things happening, and thus couldn't really write feeling into the work? So it becomes just Things Happening. And I know how I should feel about it, but I'm not feeling it. Like when the dose of your antidepressant is too high, and you just have no feelings? It's sort of like that.

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton - DNF

There's nothing wrong with this book, tbh—it's well written with an interesting setting, characters with depth, and a theme that should, in theory, interest me. That said, I just wasn't feeling it. I won this book from my local bookstore and it's the sort of literary fiction that I read all the time in my teens and early twenties, even though I never really enjoyed it? I'm a genre fiction kid, as it turns out.

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron - 4/5 stars

I really really liked this, and I probably would have rated it higher, except it fell into the trap that a lot of queer retellings of classics do: in being forced to hew to a plot line from a century or more ago, a lot of story and character depth has to be jettisoned. This book did a much better job than The Henchman of Zenda by KJ Charles, but I still found myself wanting a more modern storytelling style. Overall it was really good, though.

Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer - 4.75/5 stars

I hated Less for most of the time I was reading it (but it didn't bore me, so that's something). When I got to the end and realized it was a romance, I ended up loving it, but I had to split the difference in my rating, haha. This is the direct sequel and I loved it. It's laugh out loud funny (which I did not find Less to be most of the time) and melancholy, but at its heart is also a love story.

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain - 4/5 stars

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske - 5/5 stars (reread)

I loved it even more on the reread. I would die for Edwin and Robin. I'm crazy excited for A Power Unbound.

Hoarfrost by Jordan L Hawk - 4.25/5 stars

Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda - 3.5/5 stars

I never know how to rate thrillers because honestly, they aren't my genre. This was part of the batch of books I won at trivia from my local bookstore. It was good in that it held my attention and was entertaining (and a bit creepy), but like, I don't know that I'll tell people that they simply must read it. But yeah, I read it in a day, so it's a quick read.

Spell Bound by FT Lukens - DNF

Ugh. Reads like my fantasy epic I was writing when I was 14 (see also: TJ Klune's Verania series). When I'm mentally editing the book as I'm reading, you know that's a bad sign. The first chapter could have been like, 2 pages (instead it was 18). Here's how Chapter 3, which introduces the other main character begins: Summer was such a waste of time and effort. Spring was okay. Autumn was the best. Winter wasn't bad.

Okay???? Great??????? Why do I care? I read for another page after that. Lukens is an author I really, really want to like, but the last two books I've read by them are just obnoxious. I could forgive The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic because it was one of their first books (it might have been their first?), but this...is not their first book, yet that's what it reads like. I suspect this is a manuscript they wrote a while ago, shelved, and brought it back out now that they're having success.

Heart of Dust by HL Moore - 5/5 stars

You know when you read a book that's so good, and you can't figure out why the hell you had to stumble across it by going down some algorithm recommendation rabbit hole? This is one of those books. Gritty and unique sci-fi setting, a backdrop of labor rights, aching gay mutual pining? Please read this.

[sexiestfishermanalive]

MY TOP 10 BOOKS/SERIES I READ THIS YEAR BECAUSE I WANT AND I CAN

10. The Oresteia (Agamemnon, Liberation Bearer's, Eumenides) - Aeshylus

9. The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School - S. Reyes

8. A Spartan's Sorrow - H. Lynn

7. The Theban Plays* (Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigony) - Sophocles

*(YES I KNOW THIS IS TECHNICLY NOT A SERIES AND yes i know the order I have is different then the order I gave on the cover but i listed how I read them aka how they go chronologicly, not the order in which they were published)

6. The Sunbearer Trials - A. Thomas

5. Baker Thief - C. Arsenault

4. Loveless - A. Osmeman

3. Pandora's Jar - N. Haynes

2. Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth) - T. Muir

1. Poppy War (The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God) - R. F. Kuang

[stardustandrockets]

What do you look for in a special edition book?

I'm not too picky if it's a favorite book, but alternate covers, pretty end pages, and pretty edges (plain or a design) are my main asks. Here is a stack of pretty edges from @rainbowcrate! They've really been knocking these books out of the park!

These aren't all the special editions I have from them, just my absolute favorite edges. (Though they're all pretty and worth showcasing, tbh.)

[guide-to-galaxy]

Top 5 (books with candy) Tuesday

I took a bit of leeway here and there with this prompt. But what’s new? 😄 it’s half sticking to the prompt and half not posting on Tuesday lol. Here we go! Thanks exceedingly to Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads for this prompt! 📚🚀📚 I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn (GR/SG) – Kimi’s obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel like the…

[jennyandvastraflint]

"Powerful love comes in many forms, and not all of them need to be romantic. I daresay most aren't."

- Baker Thief (Claudie Arsenault, 2018)

[justabooklovingmetalhead]

[aroaessidhe]

Aro-allo books!

ARO WEEK 2023

THE TROUBLE / Adult contemporary “romance” / aro gay protagonist

MOONSHINE / Adult historical fantasy / major side character who has some POV is aro bi

AN ACCIDENT OF STARS / upper YA/adult portal fantasy / secondary MC is a polyam married aro woman

THE LAST 8 / YA alien apocalypse sci-fi / aro bi MC

TWO DARK MOONS / YA high fantasy / one of the two MCs is an arospec girl

TAKE ME TO YOUR NERDY LEADER / YA contemporary / aroallo MC

BAKER THIEF / adult urban/high fantasy / one of the two MCs is aro bi

THE ORACLE STONE / adult high fantasy / one of the three MCs is aro pan

DITHERED HEARTS / adult fantasy romance / one of the major characters who has POV is aro bi

*as a note, some of these only briefly explore aromanticism. If you want more details on how much things are explored, see my database!

[transbookoftheday]

Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault

Adèle has only one goal: catch the purple-haired thief who broke into her home and stole her exocore, thus proving herself to her new police team. Little does she know, her thief is also the local baker.

Claire owns the Croissant-toi, but while her days are filled with pastries and customers, her nights are dedicated to stealing exocores. These new red gems are heralded as the energy of the future, but she knows the truth.

When her twin disappears, Claire redoubles in her efforts to investigate. She keeps running into Adèle, however, and whether or not she can save her sister might depend on their conflicted, unstable, but deepening relationship.

[aroclan]

I read Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault.

Does this story have an aromantic character?

Yes, a lead character, who stays aromantic, and uses the exact word. Other characters understand this word.

Was it a good read?

It was awesome. I've been borrowing these from the library, but this one is worth buying for my ebook reader. (I'll never read it again; it's just to support the author.)

Anything else?

SO MUCH! But first and foremost, author Claudie Arseneault is a founding member of the Kraken Collective! I want to read so many books now.

Please, if you can at all afford it, support the authors: buy the books, and don't return them.

Back to the story...

There is an introductory section dedicated to trigger warnings. I didn't need any of them personally, but it's nice to feel cared about, you know? It's the exact opposite of some other books I've read, that jump deep into dark places without warning.

There are minor characters that use neopronouns. For the character using ol/ols, everyone in-story knew already, so it wasn't introduced. It broke my flow, but not much more than that. But that's also great writing! The story is unfolding naturally, and it's just incredibly well-done. There's a solid amount of foreshadowing and letting the reader imagine things going all wrong… just before they go all wrong.

Chapter titles are in French. I decided to stay off the Translate button, so I "missed" some more precise translations, but it also gives the book a lot of flavor.

I would like to give a special shout-out to the oft-forgotten French Canadians!

Spoiler Zone!

This is the spoiler zone; this is under the Read More. If tumblr didn't show that to you, for some mysterious reason, and you don't want spoilers, you have to quit reading here.

First, a relatively minor spoiler, since it becomes obvious early in the book. The aromantic character is allosexual. In fact, we learn of her allosexuality first. Aromanticism was a big deal, but she's reached a point where she's comfortable with it.

The other main character is demisexual. Just as much as she is surprised to be forming a bond with and attraction to the aro, the aro is really confused about what she wants.

A relationship forms, but it's explicitly not romantic, and they have a good talk about boundaries and needs. I'm only slightly disappointed we don't get to see it develop(ed) further, even as an epilogue.

[oldtvandcomics]

Not my best work, but I tried to draw Claude / Claire from the book Baker Thief, in that traditional hero-is-looking-at-their-secret-identity-in-the-mirror pose.

[a-flaming-triple-a]

My library sent me an email saying they decided not to get either of the books I recommended which were Baker Thief and City of Strife by Claudie Arsenault. Ugh so aphobic 🙄