What I Read in 2023

 

Novels, novellas, collections

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu “Heaven Official's Blessing, vol.1” [China] (re-reading)

Rebecca Roanhorse “Trail of Lightning” [USA]

Ekaterine Xia “Phoenix Chosen” [USA, Taiwan]

Иван Антонович Ефремов “Сердце змеи” [Russia]

Xan van Rooyen “Silver Helix” [South Africa, Finland]

Laura Silverman “Girl Out of Water” [USA]

Martha Wells “Artificial Condition” [USA]

Stanisław Lem “Непобедимый” [Poland]

Gail Carriger “Poison or Protect” [USA]

Anu Holopainen “Yölaakso” [Finland]

Premee Mohamed “The Annual Migration of Clouds” [Canada]

Ana Mardoll “No Man of Woman Born” [USA]

Haruki Murakami “Norwegian Wood” [Japan]

Чжан Вэй «Старый корабль» [China]

Shisi “Little Mushroom: Judgment Day" [China]

Hồ Xuân Hương “Kysymyksiä kuulle” [Vietnam]

Non-fiction

My November and December 2017 Reading

My extremely belated November 2017 reading is introduced to you by Evvi!

Ника Водвуд «Пёся» (Nika Vodvud “Pyosya”) [Russia]

Emmi Itäranta “Kudottujen kujien kaupunki” [Finland]

Лена Климова “Дети-404. ЛГБТ-подростки: в стенах молчания” [Russia]

Maria Turtschaninoff “Maresi” (The Red Abbey Chronicles #1) (translated by Annie Prime) [Finland]

Salla Simukka “Jäljellä” [Finland]

Short stories:

Alex Wells “Angel of the Blockade” [USA]

Rebecca Roanhorse “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” [USA]

New Books, New Books! [Daily Photo #1099]

my unread books: excuse us, we'd like to…

me: ohhhhh time to buy new books! look how pretty???

Yeah...

So, here are the books I recently acquired! :D

The Other Me by Suzanne van Rooyen

“Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she's an alien. She doesn't fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he's perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn't find out she's a freak.

New Books [Daily Photo #1002]

A bit belatedly but here are the books I got for my birthday and Xmas! ^u^ Can there be a better gift than a book?

After Atlas by Emma Newman

No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll

The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

A Tuulispää cookbook by Satu Saunio! ^u^

Maggie and Nyx [Daily Photo #902]

I took Maggie and Nyx for a walk in the Finnish woods! =D

I think they are best friends now.

My July and August 2017 Reading

My July 2017 (yes… I'm slow ^^;;;) reading is introduced to you by The Pink One!

Agatha Christie “Why Didn't They Ask Evans?” [UK]

Chigusa Kawai “La Esperança, Vol. 1-2” translated by Suvi Mäkelä [Japan]

Sarah Waters “Fingersmith” [UK]

“Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology” [USA, Canada]

A novelette free online:

JY Yang “Waiting on a Bright Moon” [Singapore]

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Fanart: Né łe! (40 Chihuahuas and 1 Husky IN SPACE)

*Counting chihuahuas* 38, 39, 40! Finally!

Hello hello. 'Tis I, the fanart procrastinator! How are you? After months of…um... procrastinating... quite intensely, I've finally managed to not only post my Paradise Kiss fanart (that I drew last year...) here recently, but also finish and, as you can see, actually post (gasp! right away?!) the cutest fanart project I've ever done! Meet 40 chihuahuas and 1 husky who travel IN SPACE.

Wait, what?

New Year, Old Books [Daily Photo #641]

Although I got quite a few new books last birthday and Christmas I decided to start reading one of my “old” ones first, Planetfall by Emma Newman. I'm on Chapter 8 already and enjoying it a lot! ^u^ They say the way you start new year determines how all of it is gonna be, so I guess my 2018 will be full of books and space? ;p

All the Awesome Books [Daily Photo #638]

So, the rest of the books we had ordered for my birthday and Xmas finally arrived (most arrived in time but two were a little mischievous!), so I can finally show them all to you! ^u^

 I Heart Robot by Suzanne van Rooyen [South Africa/Finland]

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang [Singapore]

Fanart: Tyri from I Heart Robot

I wasn't planning to draw anything today but this goth girl Tyri kept appearing in my mind's eye with her violin and corsets, and I am very weak and well, goth girls in corsets, you know?? So I sit down to draw her, totally intending to make a simple black-and-white drawing like these ones, but nooo, a voice in my head says “make it colourful, make it red, it will match the cover” and sometimes you gotta listen to those voices when art is concerned, right? So next thing I know, I'm armed with pencils and actually colouring!

...

Two hours later this was completed:

My April Reading: Stars, Minds and Robbers

My April reading is introduced to you by Valkopentu The Smol.

• Estanislao Bachrach “The Agile Mind: How Your Brain Makes Creativity Happen” [Argentina]
• Takako Shimura “Wandering Son Vol. 7” [Japan]
• Karuho Shiina “Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 1-5” [Japan]
• Kameron Hurley “The Stars Are Legion” [USA]
• Nalo Hopkinson “Midnight Robber” [Jamaica, Canada]

Reading Next... [Daily Photo #359]

I suddenly caught cold (rare for me but still unpleasant), so spending the night reading and doing nothing else sounds fun. But… how do I choose my next book?!

Too many!

Space Opera [Daily Photo #333]

Finally they have arrived! ^u^ Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr and The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley. 

Now I just need to quickly finish the bazillion of books I'm currently reading…

December Reading: How I Finished My Bookish 2016

My December reading is introduced to you by Muuks!

Books:

• Farida Khalaf, Andrea C. Hoffmann “The Girl Who Beat ISIS: Farida's Story” [Iraq, Germany]
• Liquid City Volume 2 [the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia]
• Eden S. French “Reintegration” [Australia]
• Ji-Un Yun “Cynical Orange” vol.4-5 [South Korea]
• Kathryn M. Drennan “To Dream in the City of Sorrows” [USA]
• Per Hafslund “Löytöretki luontoon” (Naturens eventyr) [Norway] 
• Holly Webb “Smudge the Stolen Kitten” [UK]
• Agatha Christie “Ordeal by Innocence” [UK]

Hello, Old Friend [Daily Photo #257]

I've been binge watching Babylon 5 lately. =D

New Pencils, Stickers and Obscura Burning [Daily Photo #230]

Shiny new things arrived from Adlibris the other day! Watercolour pencils, metallic pencils, sticky notes and a new book from the awesome Suzanne van Rooyen!

7 Babylon 5 Fanarts

An embarrassingly long time ago I asked folks for Babylon 5 characters fanart requests. And because it took me forever to draw them, I decided to add two bonus arts as compensation. :-)  I apologise for the delay! If you haven't watched Babylon 5, there will be a spoiler about one of the characters below.

Here they are!

Shadow Surgeon

for Henri 

Usually very ominous. So I decided to draw a Surgeon doing something mundane and not threatening. Not at all.

My June Reading: LGBT stories

My June reading is brought to you by Valkopentu! Since June is Pride Month, all the books have LGBT characters. As a bonus, most books also have ethnically diverse characters.

• Takako Shimura “Wandering Son” vol.1-3 [Japan] 
• Elizabeth Bear “Karen Memory” [USA] 
• Malinda Lo “Adaptation” [China, USA] 
• Noelle Stevenson,  Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters “Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy” [USA] 
• Marja Björk “Poika” [Finland] 
• Sarah Diemer “The Dark Wife” [USA] 

My May Reading: Scars, Math and Vampires

My May reading is introduced to you by Schenok!

Books:

Suzanne van Rooyen “Scardust” [South Africa, Sweden] 

Yōko Ogawa “The Housekeeper and the Professor” (博士の愛した数式) [Japan] 

武内 直子 『美少女戦士セーラームーン』 vol. 10 (Naoko Takeuchi “Sailor Moon” vol. 10) [Japan] 

Мария Людвика Крюгер “Голубая бусинка” (Maria Krüger “Karolcia”) [Poland] 

Karoliina Korhonen “Finnish Nightmares. A Different Kind of Social Guide to Finland” [Finland]

Maria Autio “Varjopuutarha” [Finland] 

Octavia E. Butler “Fledgling” [USA] 

A short story:

N.K. Jemisin “The Brides of Heaven” [USA] 

Daily Photo #78: New Books! (Again)

Yay, my new books arrived! Allow me to introduce...

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley [non-fiction]

Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember [YA fantasy, debut!]

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey [science fiction]