bdingz's reviews
415 reviews

Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for a digital ARC of this book.

This one is for the frog-catchers, the birdwatchers, and anyone who's gotten down in the dirt for a better look at a plant or mushroom.

I had just finished Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass when I picked up Forest Euphoria and it proved to be the perfect follow-up. In this book, author Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian seamlessly blends science, politics and nature together...or perhaps she shows the reader how linked they are to begin with. Kaishian takes the reader along for her journey to become a mycologist, sharing how she reckoned with her queerness and cultural identity along the way.

If you liked Braiding Sweetgrass and The Entangled Life, be sure to preorder Forest Euphoria or pick it up upon its release in May.

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This story takes its time to pick up, but when it does, it’s quite captivating. 

To be honest, I found Addie to be the least interesting character. She’s stubborn, smart and pretty, but despite the length of the book I didn’t feel I truly got to know her. Was that perhaps the point? That she’s unknowable by all except for Henry and Luc?

I wanted more of Remy and Sam!

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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

 "If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again."

Well, this made me cry several times.

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Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris

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dark reflective tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

A welcome addition to the “mushroom horror” canon. I love bogs, I love rot, I love unsettling rabbits.

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The Selected Works of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde

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emotional reflective

5.0

She’s a legend for so many reasons.

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Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power by Destiny Hemphill, Tamiko Beyer, Lisbeth White

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hopeful inspiring reflective
This was lovely, and I will be returning to it for inspiration in the future.

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Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is such a beautiful piece of work, from the art to the writing. It’s clear so much thought and love when into all of it. What a perfect origin story for the Amazons.

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I understand why this book isn't for everyone. It certainly is for me, however.

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Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology by Ellen Datlow

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dark tense
My favourites were:
The Importance of a Tidy Home
Return to Bear Creek Lodge
Cold
Löly Sow-ma
The Lord of Misrule

An overall good mix of tongue-in-cheek, strange, and creepy stories. There were just a couple I didn’t quite “get.”


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Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The characters felt real. I enjoyed the flower symbolism woven in. 

The “does she like me?” did grate on me after a while.

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