Conversations - Lending Out Books

Conversations is a meme from Geraldine @ Corralling Books and Joan @ Fiddler Blue.

I faff in and out of the discussions when it pleases me - 'cos that's just who I am (this week, lie in the grass... sorry, FOB playing in my head.)

This fortnight's theme/question/whatever you wanna be calling it is:

What are do’s and don’ts for someone who wants to borrow

your books?

Now, I really don't know why there's so much issue with this in the bookish community.

I know I'm the odd one out here but I see every dog-ear, slight tear, or general dishevelment from when you put it in your bag and then put something heavy on top, as badges of honour.

This book has a story. It's been loved, used, and abused.

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Saying that, I don't purposefully go out to wreck my books.

That's just silly. Especially when I know my natural clumsiness and hare-brained habits will deal with it for me in half the time.




I also do have some ground-rules (although they'll probably seem extreme to you guys,) namely:

• You DO NOT PUT A MARBLE IN MY BOOK (this was my brother, he embedded a marble in the front page of my HP:OotP book by accident... somehow. I wasn't pleased. Though I was slightly impressed.)

• DON'T KEEP MY BOOK FOR OVER A YEAR (a school friend; literally every time she saw me for a year she swore and slapped herself for forgetting again. At least I eventually got it back, she lost the DVD I lent her.)

• Please don't leave it in a pile of dirty clothes and other general detritus, that's just gross (my sis-in-law with my copy of The Casual Vacancy; I confiscated it when she and my brother moved out and left it in said icky pile of their cr*p.)

• Don't intentionally wreck it (no-one's actually done this one, but it's just common sense.)

And that's about it. Sometimes I'm a little bit fussier if it's a graphic novel that was expensive and/or hard to find - but even then a general 'please look after it,' usually does the job.


What can I say? There are much worse things in life than a bent corner or a tea/coffee mark. And if I didn't love you, I wouldn't be lending you stuff anyway.

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Friday Fics Fix - Bat Outta Hell

Fanfiction has no rules. It's part of what makes the medium so unique.

If a fic author wants to cross Harry Potter with something completely random, like EastEnders (please don't tell me if such a fic exists - I don't want to know,) then they can.

No questions asked (except maybe regarding your sanity in the 'wtf did you do?!' kind of style.)

Of course, once unleashed onto the interweb - particularly if you're using one of the more popular platforms like AO3 or FF - people are likely to read your bizarre Franken-fic. People like me.

Because when I see a random cross-over fic, my dear nerdlets, I can't help myself. I just can't resist it, even though nine times out of ten you can be damned sure it will end badly.

This week's fic is one of those random cross-overs that I really shouldn't click on but inevitably do. Lucky for me, it's part of the one in ten times when I wasn't scarred for life by doing this (woo!)






Now, bear (is it bear or bare? Always confused by that,) with me: this is going to sound completely batsh** crazy (upcoming pun intended - because that's just how I roll sometimes.)

This week's fic decides to pair-off Hermione Granger with none other than... (*DRUMROLL*) BATMAN!

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I know! It sounds so freaking demented. But... and this is the really weird part... it works.

The fic author has done a fantastic job of smushing the DC world and the Wizarding world together - and somehow it seems plausible (about as plausible as either of these universes is on their own anyway.)

This is set several years after the Harry Potter books end - in an AU (Alternate Universe) where the fighting didn't stop. There's also some spoilers for the books, just a warning in case there's anyone who hasn't read them yet.

(Also, when searching for the link to this fic, I found there is more than one fic out there that crashes Harry Potter into Batman. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)

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This week's fic is:

Blessings From Malice by sarhea





Sure, there are some grammar and spelling issues (if someone has bigoted beliefs, they are usually referred to as a bigot, not a bigamist - that's a whole different type of situation! #JustSaying) and some plot-hiccups that aren't really big enough to be called holes, but overall it's actually quite well-written.

There's a bunch of violence and some references to sexy-times (nothing graphic - which was almost more of a shock than the whole Hermione/Bruce Wayne deal-y... this is fanfiction after all,) but nothing that really goes that far past normal YA level.

Certainly, it doesn't get as graphic as some New Adult books I've read - so the easily embarrassed can rest easy.

Like this post? Try these:

• The Case For Fanfiction
• Nerd Church - The Pottermore Controversy
• Popcorn Review! - Batman (1989)

Comics Wrap Up - It's Much Better To Face These Kinds Of Things...

Due to a quirk of the Comics Gods, all of my comics-y goings-on this week have been in the 'Other Stuff' category.

(Dammit Loki! Stop messing with my sh**! I said I was sorry already!)

My 'Other Stuff' category is what most people would call Miscellaneous - the category where all the stuff I'm too confused or lazy busy to put into other categories goes.




There's still some very interesting cr*p going on in this week's wrap-up - so take a look! XD





Other Stuff




This week, I read a Thor tie-in novel: Thor: Dueling with Giants (UK - US) by Keith R A De Candido.

This is the first book in a trilogy of 3 kids' novels - Marvel's Tales of Asgard - and I'll be reviewing it soon. :)

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There's good news for fans of diversity in comics this week:

Marvel announced plans for a new Inhumans character and series: Mosaic. A new black superhero, Mosaic's alter-ego is a basketball player named Morris Sackett.

Elsewhere, Mark Millar has announced new runs of both the Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl series, with the title role of Kick-Ass being taken up this time around by an African-American woman.

It's uber-good that comics creators are finally waking up and smelling the under-representation in the industry, but there's still undoubtedly a ways to go.

Progress, though my dearest nerdlets! Progress!

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In #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend news:

Sebastian Stan spoke briefly about his views on Stucky; his comments were positive, and probably about as enthusiastic as you can get while towing the studio-line.

A gay porn parody of Civil War seems to have decided to use the hashtag for marketing.

I have no issues with porn in itself (as long as it's safe, sane, consensual, and non-exploitative,) but am majorly p**sed off that they're using the tag.

People have been working to get this seen as a serious campaign, and throw light of the lack of LGBTQ+ representation and relationships in mainstream media; adding porn to the mix runs the risk of cheapening the issue in the eyes of many.

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Nadia Bauman at Women Write About Comics wrote a piece about the treatment of Russian culture and history in graphic novel Codename Baboushka Vol 1: The Conclave of Death (UK - USA.)

(You can see my review of Codename Baboushka Vol 1 here.) 

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Johanna at Comics Worth Reading spread the news that awesome Welsh actor Michael Sheen will be directing a film adaptation of Dark Horse Comics' title Green River Killer (UK - US.)







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1/2 Year Resolutions Update

It's the end of June!

So I guess, given that half the year is gone already, it's time to look at where I am with those pesky bookish New Year's resolutions I made.

(Damn you attempts to improve myself!)

Reading Resolutions

• To read 200 books (Goodreads Challenge)

Well on-target for this - I've read 110 books so far, 13 books ahead of schedule, and 55% through!

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• To read at least 20 books for the Charity Reading Challenge 2016.

Yeah... don't think this one's gonna happen. Seeing as how I've read a grand total of... 1 book for this challenge.

I think it's because all the e-books and library books and new books keep distracting me.

So I'm revising my target down to 10 books. I can always put it back up again if I've got the chance.

• To read widely

Welp. This one seems to be going quite well if the range of genres I've read this year is anything to go by (and that's a lot of different genres - I think I have a problem.)

I also wrote a post entitled '6 Ways To Read More Widely' in order to help others - because I'm nice like that.

• To read at least 5 books in Welsh

Yeah... I haven't started this one.

I only mean to read like, really easy kids books, but I still haven't got around to it. Welsh is hard! ...So I kind of keep putting it off.

Even though I really want to learn more because hell, it's yr iaith (the language) of y gwlad (the land,) and it does mean a lot to me - but dude, it's a tough language to learn!

• To never, ever, stop reading in print

Still reading a lot in print, as well as reading on the e-reader. Love print!

Blogging Resolutions

• To blog regularly.

I blog almost every day - so this one is going well. Just have to keep it up!

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• To always be open, honest, and genuine in my blogging and my reviewing.

I hope you all agree that I definitely keep this in mind when blogging. To the extent where sometimes I probably tell you a little more than you wanted to know!

• To never lose sight of why I started this blog - which was to have fun, feel a bit more like a person again, enjoy reading, and encourage others to do the same.

Hopefully still doing that!

• Try to find ways to promote reading

As a Book Nerd On A Mission, I've been trying to read out in public (the big wide world!) at least once a week, even if it's only waiting for The Bestie to reach our table at the coffee shop.

People definitely seem to find this weird - particularly in Pizza Hut. I think they were about two minutes away from calling the men with the white coats.

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I've also been adding non-bookish blogging hashtags, and tagging non-bookish blogging accounts for retweets, on Twitter. That way it's not just the bookish who are exposed to my all-out zaniness.

BUT THERE'S STILL MORE TO DO.

I want to spread reading to the world! But for that, my dear nerdlets, I will need your help.

Any ideas of how to spread reading like a plague will be most welcome! AND GET OUT THERE AND READ IN PUBLIC!

• To not get stressed! - If I don't finish a post by a certain time, it doesn't matter! This is my blog, and I shouldn't be stressing about it.

Ha, yeah... working on this one. It's hard sometimes when you're trying to run your own business (most ninja assassin princesses are self-employed,) and sort out the normal life sh** and blog.

But blogging is definitely good for me mental-health-wise - hence the amount of posts I write on a weekly basis, and the amount of faffing about and bugging all of you that I do in general :)




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Month in Review(s) - June 2016

We're half-way through the year folks! Which is kind of rocking, really, because it means we're that much closer to Christmas.

(I love Christmas!)





Anyway, back to the summer-ish-ness of June, and I can honestly say I read a little bit of everything this month.

Plus it was a pretty fab month blog-wise: I reached over 750 Twitter followers, over 15k blog page-views (ARGH!!!!!) and over 30 Bloglovin followers.




AND JUNO DAWSON LIKED MY TWEET!!!!!!

(I'm a massive Juno Dawson fan - so this was kind of a fantabulously big deal to me.)

So catch up on all my reviews this month with this handy link-list (and I've added cover images, because I spoil you.)

Kids

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Fantasy

Young Adult

Say Her Name by Juno Dawson - Horror, Ghost Story

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly - Historical Fiction, Crime

Adult

Life Blood by V M Black - Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Novella

Landline by Rainbow Rowell - Contemporary, Chick Lit, Magic Realism, Romance* (*ish)

Graphic Novels

Codename Baboushka, Vol: The Conclave of Death - Spy, Gangster, Thriller, Crime

Klaw, The First Cycle - Young Adult, Fantasy, Superhero*, Paranormal* (*ish - there are shifters of various types and somewhat of a superhero origin story.)

Last updated: 25th Feb 2026

The Writer Diaries - Micropoetry, June 2016

Here we are my dearest nerdlets! The little scraps of micropoetry that I've written this month, all wrapped up neat 'n' tidy in a blogpost!

(They're kind of sad poems... sorry about that! In my defence, more than one was written in reaction to various things going around me, and in the country in general, when I wrote them.)

8th June

Goodbye little bird,

I promise I loved you

I promise I cared.

Goodbye little bird -

If I could've made it so,

You would've been spared

11th June

Empty shop, empty shop, empty shop.

Reduced bank hours,

Downgraded post office,

One train an hour.

Empty shop, empty shop, empty shop.

15th June

The sky is crying -

It throws down its tears,

So we can know,

That it cries too.

16th June

A bright light burned out today

As it left it lit the way -

Said love not hate is what I say,

Hatred will not win the day

#jocox

23rd June

You think you know me.

How I wish that were true.

You claim to know me.

But I know you.






Like this post? Try these:

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Nerd Church - The Reaction

Stupidity won over sense. And in the last couple of days we've already begun to see the effects of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Scotland now wants to leave the UK (I don't blame them, honestly.)

Gibraltar (one of the UK's dependencies) may end up as part of Spain.

The Northern Irish are applying for Republic of Ireland passports in droves.

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The economy took a massive hit on Friday - as soon as the referendum result was known; the stock market crashed, the pound (Sterling - our currency) plummeted in value.

Many companies are already looking at downscaling their UK operations, or planning on pulling out entirely.





Our future has been sold out from under us, and the over 65s vote was the clincher.

People who won't be here to see the effects in the decades that follow were the ones who pushed us into this.

What I can't understand is why everyone didn't use their vote.

I've gone on and on before about the importance of using your vote, but here, in a referendum - where every vote counts - it could have made a huge difference.

I know, I know - the voter turnout was the highest in years; certainly it was the highest turnout in my own memory, but a measly 72% just doesn't cut it with a decision this big.

Think of the difference that could have been made.

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But life goes on.

Lord knows, it'll be much harder than before. But we have to try.




Somehow, we're going to have to grit our teeth and look firmly towards hope.

Hope that we can somehow make this work without it hurting everyone too badly. Hope that we can still foster tolerance and love within our communities. Hope that we learn our lesson quickly, and manage, somehow, to bring a brighter tomorrow.

I'm rooting for you all - but this is going to be tough guys, let's not beat around the bush. Let's work together, and find our way through this... somehow.




Nerd Church is a weekly post where I have a massive rant about discuss various social, political, ethical, moral, etc. issues. And shove in random gifs.

Like this post? Try these:

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• Nerd Church - Use Your Vote, Raise Your Voice