WHAT I LOVE

I didn’t have anything specific scheduled to email you about this week, so I thought I’d do a little roundup of things I’ve been loving.

I’ve read some great books lately so I thought I’d share them with you.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: historical fiction with a bit of a mystery twist. Set in England during WWII and follows three female friends during the war. It begins years after, and features flashbacks to when they were working as codebreakers at Bletchley Park. One of them has been committed to a mental institution and they all have to work together to break her free, solve one final code, and reveal the spy who had her locked up. It’s VERY well written with lots of twists and turns and I couldn’t put it down.

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu: I mentioned this in a previous email but it’s a sapphic vampire romance that came before Dracula. It’s written in the 1800s so of course it’s pretty light on the smut but there is some delicious tension between Carmilla and Laura and it’s well worth reading.

The  Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap: I also mentioned this previously, but it was another one I couldn’t put down. Set in 1820s Scotland, James arrives in Edinburgh to study surgery. Desperate for money, he makes a deal with Aneurin MacKinnon, a dissectionist and body snatcher.  They slowly fall in love as they unearth corpses to dissect and go undercover to solve murders. It’s SO well written and I loved James & Nye’s relationship. It’s a little more closed door than smutty, so don’t go into expecting a super steamy book but it’s a lovely MM romance nonetheless. Note: if you’re squeamish about surgery/dead bodies/dissection, it’s probably not the book for you.

Skating On Thin Ice by Walter S. DeKeseredy, Stu Cowan, and Martin D. Schwartz: This was VERY well written and has been on my TBR for a while. It’s not a fun one but it is worth reading. It’s non-fiction and a little bit dry but it’s a very thorough (and horrifying) discussion about hockey culture and violence against women.

I also put together three gorgeous puzzles recently!

Autumn on Bow Bridge by Galison, Fall in NYC by Pink Sky and Halloween Night by Heather Chan (sorry, can’t find a link for the latter two!) 

I’ve also been drinking a bunch of tea lately. 

 My current favs all happen to be from The Republic of Tea and are Hot Apple Cider, S’mores, and Decaf Earl Greyer. None of them have caffeine, so they’re perfect for cozy evenings without having to worry about not being able to sleep! 

Last weekend, I got together with friends and had tacos and watched horror movies. One was legitimately good, the other was hilariously bad.  

The hilariously bad one was Crackoon. I wish I could say it was a clever spoof on Cocaine Bear but it was just a terribly written and acted low-budget movie about a raccoon that ingests some weird synthetic drug and turns into a vicious killer. It was awful, but if you enjoy hilariously awful horror movies, give it a shot. We can’t decide if it was better or worse than the times we watched Llamageddon or Velocipastor …   

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was legitimately excellent. I’ll pretty much watch anything with Gillian Anderson in it and the fact that it’s a sapphic slasher movie (directed by a trans woman!). It’s gory as fuck and an incredible nod to both old Hollywood and slasher film franchises. LOVED it and I can’t recommend it enough.

I hope you enjoyed the little book/movie/tea/puzzle roundup and that you have a wonderful week!