#my reading list 2023

[rigelmejo]

Things Read 2023

I thought it'd be kind of fun to do a little collage of some of the things read in 2023. Because pictures entice and maybe one of these will look interesting to you, and maybe I'll just feel slightly more motivated the next time I try to read something.

First row: Easiest novels to read, I highly recommend if you're a beginner. 秃秃大王, 大林和小林, and 笑猫日记 (any book in this series).

Second row: also fairly easy, though maybe not for total beginners? (Unless you want). 小王子 (which was the first non-graded reader novel I read in chinese, and in retrospect I wish I'd started with the books above instead... but this was still readable as a beginner, I read it in paper form to stop myself from looking words up and it was still a doable read), 盗墓笔记重启 （幽默漫画）a very cute domestic side stories for dmbj set during chongqi, extremely easy to read if you know the character names. 他们的故事/Their Story by Tan Jiu, a cute slice of life girls falling in love story, it's setting makes it quite easy to read.

Third row: manhua that are a bit harder, but still probably very readable if you're not looking to work hard and sink into a novel. 19天, bl and funny af, set in school so common vocab but the jokes land better as u understand more, I also love the art. 破云  1 and 2, they're kind of hard to read in that this manhua has a page just for niche word definitions in the front, but it's easier to read than the novel it's based on. I thought it was a fun way to enjoy the story while I waded much more slowly through the novel version. Similarly, I've been reading the 烈火浇愁 manhua (not pictured) on and off since I can get further in the manhua than the novel before running out of steam. There's a lot of manhua on the Bilibili Comics app, and that's definitely an option if you're into manhua too if you like a novel premise but aren't quite ready to tackle the novel (or want to check out the manhua too). Also, sometimes on bilibili.com you can find videos of manhua with voice acting and music, which can be nice.

Fourth row: some novels I'm still in progress with lol. I read 盗墓笔记 books 1, 2, and half of 3 in 2023. I'm continuing along, and maybe eventually I'll get to sha hai. If you plan to read/watch more in the tomb raiding or supernatural genre anyway, I highly recommend reading. dmbj is not that hard to read, new words usually pop up early and then are repeated enough that you learn them within a few chapters, which makes the following chapters easier and easier. By the time I was through book 1, I switched from looking up unknown words to looking up no words and just guessing from context and it went fine. npss also writes in an easy style to read once you get used to a few wordings/slang. A lot of the words I learned from dmbj were helpful with other supernatural genre stuff I read, since I like to read that kind of stuff. 撒野, both harder than I thought it'd be and easier. It is very doable of a read as far as following the main idea of the plot, after you've read a few other novels (like row 1) or gotten comfortable with daily life words. It does some beautiful stuff though with the writing style, and detail, that's more noticeable upon re-reads. I've restarted this novel like 4 times because each time I picked it up again my reading skill had improved, and the writing felt different upon reading. If you can watch chinese shows with chinese subtitles you can read this without looking words up, but if you do encounter unknown words this was a novel I found the unknown words were frequently useful and worth learning. I'd say it's very approachable, it's just the chapters are quite long so it's always a painful reminder of how slow my reading speed is. It's about two teenage guys who meet and fall for each other, and it's also about their families and personal struggles and very character focused which I love. After this novel, I plan to check out the other novels by this author. And of course, still, 镇魂. Look, I keep reading the whole first arc, then taking a break, then re-reading the whole first arc. I need to stop being a perfectionist about understanding and catching every detail, and just move forward. I've read my print version about 2 times to the end of the sundial arc, and the web version about 2 times. I've yet again reached the end of the sundial arc as of December 2023, and hopefully I just move forward at this point. I wont say it's an 'easy' read, but I will say I picked up so much of my initial reading vocabulary from this and Tian Ya Ke, that priest's preferred writing vocabulary and particular way of phrasing sentences is more familiar to me than any other author's. So now I have a much easier time reading priest's other novels. And in the case of Zhen Hun, I know 98% of the words more or less on any given page. So yes, it's a bit silly I keep combing over to try and understand more details. (In my defense, I've been combing over the AUDIO my last read through, to try and get my listening vocabulary comprehension closer to my reading vocabulary level - I figured it was a good novel to do this with since I know nearly every word reading-wise in the sundial arc at this point). Anyway... when will I finish reading Zhen hun? Ask me when the last official english translation book is published. Because I'm waiting to read the english until I finish it in chinese first. So no doubt when the english is totally out I'll probably rush through anything I didn't finish so it's easier for me to compare. (You'd think I'd do that for Sha Po Lang and... lol you're not wrong... that's why I haven't started reading SPLs official english translation yet... I want to dig out my chinese print book and compare). Tldr: Zhen hun is one of the easier priest books to start with, all things considered. Or Tian Ya Ke. I started with both, and they're still easier reads to me than Dage and Sha Po Lang and Can Ci Pin.

Special mention:

I also read 2 pingxie fanfictions, 半夜衣寒 and 寒舍 by 夏灬安兰. The first story is shorter by far, both are around as easy to read as dmbj or a bit easier, and they're supernatural au in everyday life so a lot of the words are applicable to either the real world, or to books in genres like dmbj.

I also read/watched many a voice-acted manhua video on bilibili over the last year. Bilibili algorithm recommends me tons of bl, and supernatural mystery stuff, so I'd click on manhua compilation videos when bored and use the voice acting speed to get myself to read faster than I would if I were just reading the manhua in silence. I found a pretty cool horror manhua, but upon making this post I checked bilibili and the compilation I saved was deleted. If I find it again I'll post a link. It was a college student who just moved to the city, and he meets this ancient guy who may be a demon/guardian sort of thing, and the city is just full of haunting and awful deaths and misfortune going on. It was both scary and full of comedy, which was fun.

[supermarketcrush]

what's a book you read as a teenager that was so magical and personally profound to you it literally changed your life, doesnt matter if the book was actually well written or not. mine's probably the catcher in the rye

[honestlytrulycompletelysteady]

⚈ Unbelievers by @isthatyoularry | 136k8

Bloodsport by @isthatyoularry | 172k

⚈ You Can Hear It In The Silence by @imogenleewriter | 234k

⚈ saw some things on the other side by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamedlet-you | 61k

⚈ another dream but always you by @nobodymoves | 60k

⚈ Teach Me Your Ways by @elsi-bee | 34k

⚈ elephant juice @aliensingucci | 32k

⚈ 'cause I want you (for the worse and for the better) by @absoloutenonsense | 26k

⚈ Play for Keeps by @all-these-larrythings | 18k

⚈ Single Bells Ring by @absoloutenonsense | 16k

⚈ It Will Always Be You by @phdmama | 15k

⚈ Where All Roads Lead by @all-these-larrythings | 7k

⚈ Rode Hard and Put Away Wet by @kingsofeverything | 6k

⚈ Truth or Drink by @kingsofeverything | 6k

⚈ Running Through A Cloud Of Steam by @allwaswell16 | 5k

⚈ 'Sno(w) joke by @sun-tomato | 5k

⚈ Been Waitin' (After Weekend After Weekend After) by @absoloutenonsense | 3k

⚈ Run To You by @neondiamond | 2k

⚈ Lapful Of Lou by @itsnotreal | 2k

⚈ an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface | 2k

[twig-tea]

Top 5 moments of yearning in 2023 bl (no cheating you can only pick 5)

WOW. wowowowowowow. Wow. It's almost as though you saw my other answers before asking this (which I know you didn't because this came in first and I am Slow). Rude.

First, I need to establish a very important distinction: Pining (my beloved) is when you think or are determined that it will never happen; yearning (also my beloved) is when you think it could and are really struggling to hold yourself back from just going for it right now for Reasons. The possibility of fulfillment is the main difference.

Second distinction: Yearning is not necessarily sexual tension. It can be an element of it, but yearning is about wanting something, whether that's sex, closeness, acceptance, or something else. It's about wanting existing barriers to drop that are preventing you from having the thing you want most in that moment, whether they're internal or external, physical or metaphysical.

Finally, as much as I would love to talk about only my favourite shows exclusively forever, you did ask for my top five moments rather than top 5 shows that contain yearning, so I stuck to the rules. All that is to say, there are a couple of series on this list that I don't actually recommend lol

With that out of the way:

Top [For Real Only] 5 Moments of Yearning in 2023 BLs Because Shan Hates Me

1. Jae Won yanking and then patting down Ji Hyun before putting him in a cab, The Eighth Sense

Basically this whole show is yearning (except for the brief interlude for pining). I chose this moment because this was the first moment I was certain they both actually knew what was going on and it was clear to them both that they could have this, at least in theory; the tension felt palpable, and I really wasn't sure whether they were going to hold back or not. Jae Won is supposed to be saying goodbye, but he can't keep it in to the point where he just can't stop touching Ji Hyun (that backpack pull that happens immediately before this, guh), and Ji Hyun is also so clearly soaking it up. When the cab pulls up and they just keep staring, there was a real question in my mind about whether they were going to break and just go for it or not. For these two it's not just about sex; they yearn for version of one another they are when they're together, and they don't want the spell to end.

2. Khun Lu and Ken almost kiss while naked in bed, Chains of Heart

I'm still not entirely sure I know what happened in that show, but the yearning between these two was palpable the whole time. In this particular scene, Ken has just seen a hint the previous night that Lu is in fact Din, his missing-presumed-dead lover, and he's already previously rejected Lu on the premise that Din is still alive and is the only man he'll ever love, even though he feels drawn to Lu. Up until then, his yearning was for Din, though he also felt something for Lu. Now suddenly he's presented with the possibility that he's already reunited with his lover, which is all he wants, though he's unsure that's what's happening. On the other side of this equation, Lu has been wanting as much of Ken as he can charm, trick, or beg for. He just wants him now, here, under the pretense of this new body, because he knows Ken will never be safe if Din is thought to still be alive. At the same time, he is torn between wanting to be near Ken to keep him safe and wanting to stay away to keep him safe. Yearning barely covers it.

3. The post-sex breakdown of Yai and Jom in I Feel You Linger In The Air

This scene was particularly painful because the yearning only hits harder after his orgasm, rather than the catharsis Jom was probably expecting. In this scene they weren't just yearning for one another physically like in earlier parts of the show; they are yearning for a future they can't have together but both want and in this moment feels like it should be possible. Yai really looks like he wants to meld into Jom's skin. The way that sex does not break the yearning is quietly devastating. Is there anything worse than having everything you want in your arms but knowing you can't keep it?

4. Patts desperate to get through to Saengai on the other side of the door, La Pluie

@liyazaki the tumblr gif search is not crediting you properly so adding a tag to you here!

Listen, Patts has been yearning for reciprocation from his soulmate for years before he meets Saengtai, and it did not at all stop once they met, it just changed in quality. He's always yearned rather than pined because with soulmates comes the expectation that it will work, because of 'destiny'. We saw him say in a flashback that he thought his soulmate could be platonic, and I do believe him when he says to Nara that he'd be fine with that, because what he really yearns for is to be understood and wanted for himself (hence the heartbreaking line "is it that hard to choose me?" that comes before this). The fact that someone had a "destined" connection to him and rejected him for years took a real toll on this man. The way he claws at the door in this scene will stay with me into 2024.

5. Minato and Shin at the Onsen, Minato's Laundromat s2

As much as I dislike where this season went, a yearning list would not be complete without Shin and Minato. We spend a lot of time with Shin's yearning in this show, but we get glimpses that Minato is actually yearning too throughout the season and especially at the onsen. In this scene, he tries to get drunk to get past his own insecurities, but it doesn't work as well as he wanted. This scene was all about Minato articulating all the ways he also yearns, and how it's overwhelming for him--and how that overwhelm is frustrating. I love this outpouring of Minato's frustration around his own internal blockers to what he wants. Also Shin swallowing in this gif makes it perfectly clear he is also Suffering. Perfection.

Bonus and it doesn't count as cheating because it's not a BL SO THERE:

Sam and Mon comforting one another after Sam's grandmother found out about their relationship, GAP

This show was such a mess but my god these two women wanted one another so badly, and I appreciated the hell out of that. It felt like yearning rather than pining until near the end, because all through their getting together phase they insisted on such an intense level of denial that they didn't even seem to worry about what they wanted being impossible, they just knew they didn't have it yet. So they did things like bite one another and pretend it was platonic and wonder why they weren't satisfied. I was thinking about going with an early scene where they barely resist the urge to make out, but instead I went with this one because I think it's a double-whammy. in this scene, Sam is trying to get Mon to tell her what's wrong, and Mon confesses that Sam's grandmother saw her at her house and asked her to leave Sam. Instead of pulling away, Mon clings to Sam, and Sam apologizes to her for not being there for her. Sam thinks she can talk her around to accepting Mon. "Don't worry; I'll talk to her. We'll get through this". The yearning here is for them to be together and safe; accepted by their families and happy, and not feeling this pain. I don't recommend this show, but there is something to be said for the way it showed the impact of intergenerational trauma and the very real yearning so many of us feel to just be accepted as we are.

[wickedcriminal]

Always sailing, sailing, sailing...

...never quite reaching.

Seventh day of Doomsday~ ☠️

[kaiserouo]

Fun fact: Most simulacra don't know they're simulacra, thanks to the ego retention system

[pangur-and-grim]

that’s very fair! I think my problem is that Im a pleb who tends to read bigger name stuff, so I can’t think of any smaller books that fit the comedic gay sci-fi/fantasy bill :/

is it alright in this situations to comp to books to haven’t read, or should I try to track something down and read it before sending these letters out?

[bookthroneking]

Top 10 Books of 2023

I've read 35 books this year. Some of them I liked, some of them I loved... these are the ten books I adored (and one honorable mention).

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (review here)

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (review here)

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (review here)

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield (review here)

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (review here)

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris

Zombies: A Cultural History by Roger Luckhurst (review here)

The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan Ryan (review here)

The Crow by James O'Barr

Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite

+1: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver (review here)

[readingaway]

Here we go, time to wrap this up!

[mikimeiko]

Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham, 2022)

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

The final list of books I read in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

Because the year is almost up and I'm behind on sharing my reviews here, I'm making this long and linked post. Thanks for following along with me this year!

___

286. Falling Glass by Adrian McKinty. Review here.

287. Just A Bit Gay by Alessandra Hazard. (Re-read). Review here.

288. Top Secret by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy. (Re-read). Review here.

289. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Review here.

290. Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell. Review here.

291. Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates. Review here.

292. Emmett by L.C. Rosen. Review here.

293. Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake. Review here.

294. Betting On You by Lynn Painter. Review here.

295. Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Review here.

296. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. Review here.

297. Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly. Review here.

298. In the Weeds by B.K. Borison. Review here.

299. The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene. Review here.

300. Mixed Up by Gordon Korman. Review here.

301. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. Review here.

___

Have you read any of these books? If you have, what were your thoughts?

___

Happy reading!

[poisonandpages]

"You keep rescuing me and I don’t know why,” Gretchen said. “But every day I tell myself my life must be worth something because you keep saving it. They can’t keep us apart. I don’t care what happens. You never stopped trying to save me."

Books Read or Re-read in 2023;

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

[surr3al1sm]

I saw a post a day or two ago that was asking if Jack had ever done something that Taylor Swift (I think it was her-) had ever done (I can’t find it so I’m crediting it this way)

Well I just saw a TikTok of a clip from Benson Boone’s concert where he basically drops to the stage from like the audience and lands with a flip. Do we think Jack has ever done that? It honestly seems like something he would to me.

[thesistersarcheron]

WIP Wednesday

What’s that? I’m participating in WIP Wednesday? Yes, because I’m in a horrible writing slump this week and I need a little public pressure to keep me on track with this next chapter of As the World Falls Down.

“Not going to speak to me tonight?” Feyre thought she saw the corner of the male’s mouth edge upward beneath the veil of shadows obscuring his face. “Cat got your tongue, perhaps?” Despite being faceless and nameless in her nightmares, his presence was as arresting as his voice—as his touch—suggested. The way the air itself seemed charged around him pulled at the very core of her being. Fear filled her mouth and coated her throat like acrid smoke, but Feyre foolishly wished she could see his face—just a glimpse, to tell if he were as beautiful as the stars that began twinkling in the swath of midnight that veiled him, little glimmering pinpricks that seemed almost amused as she took notice of them. “Shame. You sounded so pretty last night.” Her faerie clicked his tongue, and Feyre scowled. His easy laugh shivered in the space between them before settling against her bones, and she used that momentary break in his attention to wrench out of his grip. He let her go, shoving his hands into his pockets as he prowled, circling her. She tried to ignore him, searching the blurred edges of her dream for an exit, a door, a hallway. But his easy strides were feline, predatory, and in all her years stalking quarry in the forest and hiding from wolves, Feyre had never felt so much like prey. The shadows settled slightly, clinging to him like a king’s mantle and crowning him in swirls of midnight. The closer she looked, eyeing him in her periphery as the dark throne room began to take shape around her, the more she imagined she could see his basic outlines, the jagged sketch that revealed the upward sweep of his cheekbones, a straight, strong nose, and the dangerous edges of his jaw. She could just make out an expression beneath them, as still and focused as the full moon on a winter’s night. He finished his rotation and hooked a finger under her chin, guiding her eyes toward his. His touch crashed through her like a lightning bolt. “I knew that dress would suit you better than those dreadful human hunting rags.” A deft hand untwisted the chignon at her nape, freeing her hair so it fell around her shoulders, tickled her neck, and tangled in the pale gems that littered the neckline of her gown. “Though the idea of you in nothing but Illyrian leathers is also appealing…”

[aroaessidhe]

other connected things (in books I read in 2023) that aren't big enough to make a whole post for but I just want to list them here. this is absolutely just a bunch of random things that come to mind lmao

mammoths, dinosaurs, other extinct creatures

Mammoths at the Gates

Sheiné łénde

Our Hideous Progeny

The Meister of Decimen City

(im sure theres some I'm forgetting here I just didn't make it a tag..)

zombies

Zombabe  

This Delicious Death

The Undead Truth of Us

Star Eater

angels

Angels Before Man

The Fall That Saved Us

Radio Apocalypse

The Prey of Gods 

fungi (in some form)

Lucha of the Night Forest

Deep Roots

Sheiné łénde

The Battle Drum

retelling of Hamlet but with AI

The Death I Gave Him

Hamlet, Prince of Robots

other AI characters

Emergent Properties

Flight & Anchor   

Ancillary Justice

The Infinity Particle

System Collapse

The Paradox Hotel  

queer frankenstein reimagining-sequel

Our Hideous Progeny

Unwieldy Creatures

[brian-in-finance]

Video 📹 clip from full YouTube video

Watch Caitríona Balfe read an extract from 'Prophet Song', a Booker Prizes 2023-shortlisted novel written by Paul Lynch.

The story so far: Ireland is in the grip of a government that is taking a turn towards tyranny. On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her doorstep. Two officers from Ireland's newly formed secret police want to speak with her husband. And as the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society.

Discover the book: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...

Directed by Hannah Berry George for Mermade Films

Remember when Eilish found herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society?