Hello, I’m Rogan and welcome! Last year, I never got around to doing any proper book wrap ups. [zooms in] Well. Let’s be honest, I haven’t been posting much to begin with. Since I read a ton last year, I’ve decided that I’ll be trying a different format for this video. I saw someone on TikTok doing this, and I like the concept. Basically, I’ll throw up the cover, and react to it. No words, no detailed explanations, just how I felt about it. Quite a few of these will have reviews on my GoodReads, so you can go read them there if you’re particularly interested in any. I will still break them into months, and add a star to any books that I really like and strongly recommend.
We’ll start with December of 2022, which I never did anything with, whoops! I read a whopping 24 books, but many of them were graphic novels and rereads. I’ll go through these very quickly.
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen. *chef’s kiss*
- Loveless by Alice Oseman. Excellent author, alright book.
- Draw the Line by Laurent Linn. Interesting…not bad.
- In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. Yesss, rollercoaster for my babies.
- A Natural History of Transition by Callum Angus. Very thought-provoking, good.
- Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Slow start, fast pick up into strangeness.
- Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel. Meh.
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Wiiiiild!
- Dungeon Club: Roll Call written by Molly Knox Ostertag and illustrated by Xanthe Bouma. Heartwarming friendship.
- Fire Season by K.D. Casey. Oooh spicy.
- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. MY LOVES. READ IT.
- Saga Volumes 1-10. All of this? SO GOOD.
- Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan. Eh, it’s alright.
- My Monster Boyfriend edited by C. Spike Trotman. Spicyyyy hell yeah!
- The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg. Don’t really get what’s happening, okay.
Onto January, I read 8 books and two were rereads.
- Heartstopper Vol 1. by Alice Oseman. Excellent heartwarming story with a lot of ups and downs.
- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. Eh, not another zombie story. Oh, wait, I’m blown away, what the hell is going on?
- Set in Stone by Stela Brinzeanu. Okay, okay, this is interesting.
- In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae. Typical cute second-chance romance.
- Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin. What. Is. Happening. Disgustinggg. This is a RIDE.
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Very funny, and very sad, touching end.
- DPS Only! by Xiao Tong Kong, or also known as Velinxi. Video games! Very good.
- Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir. Okay…Had so much potential, but fell very short.
In February, I read exclusively graphic novels, because I did not have the mental energy for anything else due to being in rehearsals for a short play festival. I still managed to read 7 of them.
- Sordid Past presented by Smut Peddler. Excellent, some very spicy stories.
- Silver, presented by Smut Peddler. Yesss, chef’s kiss. Spicy old people!
- Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti. So. Much. Happening. So good!
- Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden. Not bad, just not for me.
- Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu, translated by Silja-Maaria Aronpuro. So sad and heartwarming.
- Space Trash Vol 1 by Jenn Woodall. Fantastic concept, execution ehhh.
- The Adventure Zone Vol 5: The Eleventh Hour. Great, full of laughs and chaos.
March was just four books, and one of those was a RPG book. I was so mentally tired from work the previous month.
- The Black Guy Dies First by Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris. Fantastic! So much learned!
- Kids on Bikes Playbook by Jonathan Gilmour and Doug Levandowski, illustrated by Heather Vaughan. It is what it is, good game system.
- Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco. Hmm. Three people together. Delicious. Vampires. Great!
- The Unbalancing by R. B. Lemberg. The other book, eh. This one, EXCELLENT. Explosions!
In April, I read 8 books, and I’m amazed I read that many because I had a lot of work. But quite a bit of it was travel, so that probably helped!
- The City We Became and The World We Make by NK Jemisin. First one, incredible. Mindblowing! Absolutely great. Second one? What the hell!? Universe shattering!
- The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova. Alright, dragged on a little.
- Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky. First read was meh, second read was more enjoyable.
- Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde. My heartttt!
- Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher. Started off very slow, ended pretty decent.
- Chaos Theory by Nic Stone. Very good, heartwrenching.
- Loki’s Ring by Stina Leicht. Author is fantastic, amazing worldbuilding.
Moving onto May, I read four. May the force be with you.
- Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton. Felt like it dragged on too much.
- Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee. Can’t really remember, it was good?
- Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi. SO good! That twist, wow!
- Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg. Wanted to strangle the characters several times, it was great.
Before continuing, a quick ad break. If you want to support this channel with money, I have a few ways you can do that. First, I have a Patreon, which is monthly, and you can choose how much you want to spend. You get access to different things, depending on what tier you sign up at. If you don’t want to or aren’t able to commit to monthly payments, I also have ko-fi which is the equivalent to a tip jar or buying me a small coffee. If you aren’t able to contribute financially at all, that’s alright! Even just sharing my content with your friends or reposting helps. Let’s get right back to the books!
In June, we had the 11th round of the Queer Lit Readathon, and most of the 8 books I read this month was for that.
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. My heart! SO good.
- The Sign for Home by Blair Fell. Excited for the concept, conflicted about it.
- The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon. YES. CHAOS. Hilarious and touching! A rollercoaster.
- Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson. Excellent, no notes.
- Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore. Highly recommend this one.
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. So heartwarming and great.
- Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa. Punched in the heart. Intense. BIG thumbs up.
- A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo. Good. Not mindblowing, but good.
In my birthday month, July, I read 6 books. I had a lot of trips this month, visiting my friends and camping, which helped me read more!
- This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves. Naughty. But excellent.
- FINNA by Nino Cipri. I don’t even understand what’s happening. So so.
- Tender is the Flesh by Austin Bazterrica. What the fuck. That is all.
- The Fae Keeper by H.E. Edgmon. More chaos. I approve.
- The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon. Mindblown by the world.
- The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes. Wanted this to be good so badly, but it didn’t get there.
Next, in August, I read 8 books. Life was quiet this month.
- Real Hero Shit by Kendra Wells. Was informed it was spicy, and it’s barely seasoned. But overall, good!
- Mañana: Latinx Comics from the 25th Century edited by Joamette Gil.Great look into the future!
- Pageboy by Elliot Page. Whew. Excellent read.
- Exodus 20:3: A Monster Romance by Freydis Moon. Tiny, but packs a SPICY punch. It’s hot in here.
- Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth, and Identity by Leah Myers.Fantastic, learned a lot that I didn’t know.
- We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology edited by Tara Madison Avery and Jeanne Thornton. It’s good.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Druid’s Call by E.K. Johnston. The movie was good, the book is good too.
- Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder edited by Saundra Mitchell. Some okay stories, some fantastic ones. Overall a good read.
September was only three books, I had a couple of very busy work trips that took up a good portion of the month.
- The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. Not what I expected at all, good!
- The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White. This one. Yes. AMAZING. THIS ONE.
- Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens. Kind of spicy, kind of not? Good.
In October, I read only one book, but I was on a two-week long
vacation running around abroad, so that’s completely fine with me.
- Touch the Future: A Manifesto in Essays by John Lee Clark. This book. Definitely read it!
I’m surprised I managed to read 6 books in November, but no complaints!
- Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review by Tehlor Kay Mejia. So annoyed with the MC, but it’s so good.
- Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher. If they would just fucking talk and communicate!
- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. This author can do no wrong.
- The Instant Coffee Shop: How to open a café in one week by Darcy Millar. Hint of the future? A lot of great information.
- Love at 350° by Lisa Peers. Cute and hilarious!
- Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz. JUST TALK. COMMUNICATE!
And finally, December. We had round 12 of Queer Lit Readathon, and three books were for that. It’s the first time in a while that I haven’t aimed for a blackout of our bingo board, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.
- Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues by H.S. Valley. Mutual hatred. Kissssss. Something with rings? Fantastic.
- Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore. Incredible visuals, so good.
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Absolute perfection.
- Cupido by Skatuya. I love these boys so much, the concept is amazing.
- Girl by the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. Sad and cute.
- Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon. This…. EXCUSE ME. Amazing readthrough, fantastic…then IT WAS THE END. WHERE? IS? THE? REST?
At the end of the year, I read 69 books (nice), and was in the middle of reading two books. That’s allllll of the books I read in 2023 and more! What did you think of this format? Did you like it or do you prefer my typical wrap up format? Were there any books that you love or are really interested in? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll see you next time!