![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Recent and current interests
Feb. 10th, 2026 08:10 am So I said I'd post something about my actual interests, and the sooner the better (I don't want to chicken out).
Thought I'd just do a little recap of things I've been reading, watching or things I just liked in general.
Books:
Second reread of Gideon the Ninth
Whenever I'm in some kind of emotional crisis I come back to this series. While I like the series as a whole, the first book has something that I truly adore, and that is a murder mystery and a big cast of suspects. I will probably be rereading Harrow soon, so I might give some more thoughts on that then, as I really love being inside of Harrow's mind.
Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds and Coriolanus
Recently decided I'd read the whole of Hunger Games for the first time and got obsessed pretty quickly. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the original three though. While I appreciate the look at how people from Capitol looked at games in the beginning, and how much marketing they needed to actually make them watch, I just hated being inside of Coriolanus's head. The interesting thing is that I needed to read Shakespeare's Coriolanus for my course (I swear I didn't even plan this), and I enjoyed looking for inspo taken from it and used for the Hunger Games. Still have mixed feelings about BOSAS.
Had to read other works of Shakespeare's, but I don't have the strength to write about it as I had the exam and colloquia on it a few days ago.
Tales from the Gas Station
I'm currently reading the fourth book in the series, and surprisingly enjoying myself. I struggled a bit with the third book as it was too long without a proper reason (in my opinion). The second part of that book kind of won me back over, but I dreaded seeing how they would wrap everything up, because they set up so many things in the previous books, and also I forgot a lot of things and dreaded the thought of having to reread everything. The fourth book is pretty good, maybe exactly because I've taken the chill approach of not caring much about solving the mysteries, but just enjoying the crazy vibes. Maybe I'll give my final thoughts soon.
Ballad of Sword and Wine (what is it with all these ballads lol)
Someone recommended this and promised me political intrigue, and I was not disappointed. I've yet to finish (exams are taking up a lot of my time), but I've been devouring this book. Sure the romance and the banter are pretty good (in my humble opinion), but the schemes and coups are actually written with so much detail and not just put there to be the background for a romace.
Games:
Yuuyami Doori Tankentai
I haven't actually played it (boooo), but I recommend watching a video on it anyway. There are shorter videos, but I still recommend the four hour long one by Dungeon Chill. He takes time talking about the language and small hues of meaning because he knows Japanese. Oh, I should mention this is horror lol. I am usually a chicken when it comes to horror, but I can't look away. Especially here. The games is so atmospheric, so well written and beautifully animated. It is often very slice of life as they take their afterschool walks, think about crushes, identity and other things that are hard to deal with in teen years. I don't think I can say anything that will truly get it across how good this game is, and how nostalgic I felt in the end.
I wanted to add movies I've recently watched to this list, but let's take small steps lol. Either way I don't know how I would put down my thoughts on the Two for the Road (1967)
This is it for now, although maybe not the best representation of my tastes.
Solenne
Thought I'd just do a little recap of things I've been reading, watching or things I just liked in general.
Books:
Second reread of Gideon the Ninth
Whenever I'm in some kind of emotional crisis I come back to this series. While I like the series as a whole, the first book has something that I truly adore, and that is a murder mystery and a big cast of suspects. I will probably be rereading Harrow soon, so I might give some more thoughts on that then, as I really love being inside of Harrow's mind.
Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds and Coriolanus
Recently decided I'd read the whole of Hunger Games for the first time and got obsessed pretty quickly. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the original three though. While I appreciate the look at how people from Capitol looked at games in the beginning, and how much marketing they needed to actually make them watch, I just hated being inside of Coriolanus's head. The interesting thing is that I needed to read Shakespeare's Coriolanus for my course (I swear I didn't even plan this), and I enjoyed looking for inspo taken from it and used for the Hunger Games. Still have mixed feelings about BOSAS.
Had to read other works of Shakespeare's, but I don't have the strength to write about it as I had the exam and colloquia on it a few days ago.
Tales from the Gas Station
I'm currently reading the fourth book in the series, and surprisingly enjoying myself. I struggled a bit with the third book as it was too long without a proper reason (in my opinion). The second part of that book kind of won me back over, but I dreaded seeing how they would wrap everything up, because they set up so many things in the previous books, and also I forgot a lot of things and dreaded the thought of having to reread everything. The fourth book is pretty good, maybe exactly because I've taken the chill approach of not caring much about solving the mysteries, but just enjoying the crazy vibes. Maybe I'll give my final thoughts soon.
Ballad of Sword and Wine (what is it with all these ballads lol)
Someone recommended this and promised me political intrigue, and I was not disappointed. I've yet to finish (exams are taking up a lot of my time), but I've been devouring this book. Sure the romance and the banter are pretty good (in my humble opinion), but the schemes and coups are actually written with so much detail and not just put there to be the background for a romace.
Games:
Yuuyami Doori Tankentai
I haven't actually played it (boooo), but I recommend watching a video on it anyway. There are shorter videos, but I still recommend the four hour long one by Dungeon Chill. He takes time talking about the language and small hues of meaning because he knows Japanese. Oh, I should mention this is horror lol. I am usually a chicken when it comes to horror, but I can't look away. Especially here. The games is so atmospheric, so well written and beautifully animated. It is often very slice of life as they take their afterschool walks, think about crushes, identity and other things that are hard to deal with in teen years. I don't think I can say anything that will truly get it across how good this game is, and how nostalgic I felt in the end.
I wanted to add movies I've recently watched to this list, but let's take small steps lol. Either way I don't know how I would put down my thoughts on the Two for the Road (1967)
This is it for now, although maybe not the best representation of my tastes.
Solenne
