Something is Different! - Introducing Dora Reads

Diary of a Reading Addict has become Dora Reads!

The new URL is dorareads.co.uk

Month in Review(s) - June 2017

June was too damned hot here in the UK.

It regularly reached over 28C, & often over 30C. I officially melt at around 23.5C, so I was NOT happy.

Nerd Church - I Know You Mean Well...

Warning: this post contains discussions of homophobia and f**k-ups by well-meaning allocishet people.

Pride month may have come to an end, but those of us who are LGBTQ+ are LGBTQ+ all year round.

(And pride season pretty much continues all summer anyhow - due to scheduling issues.)

Something I’ve noticed since I came out last year is well-meaning allocishet* people put their ever-loving feet in it on a pretty regular basis.

This isn’t out of malice – it’s more like a failure to listen and understand.

*Allocishet = allosexual, cisgendered, heterosexual. Basically, non-LGBTQ+.

Allosexual means feels sexual attraction (i.e. not asexual or asexual-spectrum,) cisgendered means identifies as your birth gender, heterosexual is only attracted to the opposite sex.

So the term allocishet refers to people who aren’t in any way covered by the umbrella of queer or LGBTQ+.

12 Things They Don't Tell You When You Become a Book Blogger

There's stuff no-one warns you about when you become a book blogger.

So I thought I'd do you all a favour and write a 100%* accurate post on the struggles of book-blogging!

*Well - somewhere between 70% & 95% anyway!

Nerd Church - No-One Wins

How do we even define victory in 2017?

Because I'm not sure I know any more. No-one wins.

I don't just mean in the British election - although, there was no least-worst option there.

I mean overall. No-one wins. We're all lost and headed nowhere fast.

(Except for the Nazis - and they're the ones we don't want to win.)

Nerd Church - OK UK, We're F**ked

Who do you vote for when there is no least-worst option?

I'm damned if I know; but for the sake of being a helpful little Bookish Rebel, I'm going to try to go through the options with you!

(Aren't you lucky?! ...What do you mean 'no?')

Don't be afraid to ask questions - I don't bite, and I may inadvertently slip into British and/or Wenglish slang and totally confuse you.

Month in Review(s) - May 2017

Ahhhhh May. The month when we all gave up hoping 2017 would be better than 2016, and decided to just do damage control from here to Christmas.

(I joke - but only slightly. People in 1917 would be shocked by how short a distance we've come.)

Nerd Church - A Tribute to the Father of the Nation

It's likely that, unless you're Welsh or have noticed the name on my Twitter feed over the last few days, you don't know the name Rhodri Morgan.

If you do, perhaps you think of a mop of white hair and a whirlwind of energy.

Or maybe you think of some of his famous one-liners, the things he said that make Boris Johnson look positively shy in comparison.

Rhodri Morgan was the second First Minister of Wales.

The First Minister leads the Welsh government. We have only ever had three: Alun Michael, Rhodri Morgan, and our current leader, Carwyn Jones.

He passed away on Wednesday (16th May,) at the age of 77.

Nerd Church - Mental Health 101

(Warning: This post discusses mental health problems and stigma.)


Mental Health Awareness Week is 8-14th May in the UK.

Let's take things back to the basics.

To people who have never had mental health problems, it can be all too easy to believe misconceptions.

The worst of these are stigmatising:

The ideas that people with mental health problems are weak, faking it, wanting the attention, whiners etc., as well as that people with mental health problems are inherently dangerous, or to blame for their conditions.

Nerd Church - It's Nearly Eurovision Time!

Okay, it's a gay* cliché, but I love Eurovision!

The final is next Saturday (13th May) - I'm probably going to record it though, because that way I can skip through the awkward voting satellite link-ups that take waaaay too long!

Honestly though, I'm totally looking forward to the big, shiny, glittery, spectacle that is the biggest show on Earth!

*I'm using gay as an umbrella term here for all LGBTQ+ folks, because it fit better in that sentence!

Month in Review(s) - April 2017

(Warning: this post discusses depression, and has brief references to suicidal thoughts.)

April started sh**ty for yours truly - as you'll know if you read my March wrap-up, I've been having depression problems again.

So March wasn't too good, and April started out not too good.

But I went to the doctor, who put my tablet dose up, and things are starting to look up.

I've only been on this new dose for just over a week... but man, I feel so much better. I hate it that people are so anti-meds. I'm still alive because of those tablets.

Nerd Church - Millennials Aren't Lazy (Everyone Else, On The Other Hand...)

Millennials have to take a lot of sh** from older people.

We're constantly being told we're 'soft,' we're 'whiners,' and we're 'lazy.'

None of that is true. We are no more or less soft, lazy, or whiny, than any other generation there has ever been.

What we are is jaded and cynical.

I hate to admit it, but it's the truth. Maybe that's just because we see things a little clearer than older generations, who knows?

We see that things aren't fair - and we aren't afraid to f**king say it.

Nerd Church - Disability Is Not Ugly

There's a new TV programme coming on in the UK, Katie Piper's Face to Face, which takes people with skin conditions and shows them how to cover it with make-up.

On an individual basis, I have absolutely no problem if you want to wear make-up. Whatever you want or need to feel like you is fine by me.

The problem I have is not with the participants on the show, it's with this habit reality TV has of placing disabled people in the 'ugly' or 'Other' box.

Shows like Katie Piper's Face to Face, Too Ugly For Love, The Undateables, or Embarrassing Bodies are sending the message that disability means you are wrong.

They're saying that you should somehow be ashamed or embarrassed of who you are, and how you look.

Month in Review(s) - March 2017

March was difficult, guys.

My depression has not been good, and I had an awful cold.

So, between the two, my concentration was utterly shot. I also had a lot of work on, which I had to prioritise. (Because I need money.)

The result of those factors was that I only wrote/published two reviews in March (granted, I did publish plenty of other posts too.)

I have to admit that, as my own worst critic, I'm kind of disappointed.

Nerd Church - Brexit: What the Actual F**k?

The wheels of Brexit have turned further.

And I'm angry. Yes, downright angry. Because my future - our futures - have been ripped away from us.

I think I'm as angry now as when the referendum results first came through.

Seriously. Because not only is this country going ahead with this f**king stupidity, but people are still insisting that it's a good thing.

Hate Against Sexually Fluid People - Examples

(Warning: this post contains hate comments against sexually fluid people, biphobia, insults, and swearing.)

I'm tired of reading things about sexually fluid celebrities and finding hate comments, or coming across hate stuff on Twitter.

So I thought I'd give you just a little taste of some of the stuff that's said out there in interweb land about sexually fluid people.

Amazon Wish-List

Hi guys,

This is just a short post to let you know that you can support DORA, if you want to, by buying me a book via Amazon wish-list.

Absolutely no pressure! This is just an if-you-want-to thing.

Nerd Church - Planet Earth is Blue...

We're f**king up the world my dear nerdlets. Sorry to be all doom and gloom, but it's the truth.

The fact is, our impact on the environment is not OK. And we need to show the powers-that-be (whoever they may be) that we want action on climate change.

Climate Change, unlike what a certain orange politician will tell you, is very real.

And we millennials? We're gonna be the ones who face the consequences.

We need to show that it's NOT GOOD ENOUGH. And that we believe in evidence, science, and actually taking some f**king responsibility every now and then.

Nerd Church - Eff Off FOMO

You know what I'm sick to death of? People trying to make others guilty for not having seen this film, or read that book.

The effect it has on you is called FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. And, as a concept, it's stupid as all hell.

Guess what? There are many centuries' worth of popular (and niche) culture to consume. No one has time to get through it all.

Month in Review(s) - February 2017

February. The shortest of months, and the one with Valentine's Day crammed into the middle there.

Which may explain why four of the 5 books I reviewed this month were romances - guess it even got to yours truly! (I'm not going all soft on you though, dearest nerdlets, I'm still your Rebel Valentine! Lol.)