7 Hacks for Completing the Goodreads Challenge in the Final Days

For those of us who haven't finished our Goodreads challenges for 2016, the time has come to take more creative measures.

There is cheating, which is bad, and there is acceptable cheating - which is good.

So here are my hacks to help you towards your reading target for the year:

Nadolig Llawen i Chi

Hi my nerdlets, this is just me popping in to say Nadolig Llawen i Chi/Happy Christmas To (All of) You!

And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then have a great festive celebration of whatever sort you're having, or just a nice day in general :)

Here in Wales (those who are playing the when-she-mentions-Wales drinking game, take a swig!) we grow up with Father Christmas in first-language-English homes.

First-language-Welsh homes, and those who go to Welsh-language-medium schools, have Siôn Corn, which roughly translates to Jack Chimney - a festive spirit who wears green and lives in chimneys.

Of course, both Father Christmas and Siôn Corn have been absorbed into that conglomeration of European figures which is Santa Claus - so that's basically what you'll see around the place.

And, because I couldn't resist sharing this with you, here's a more-than-slightly bemusing finger puppet video in Welsh from YouTube:

Review Time! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne

Title: Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne

Author: Marguerite Bennett

Contributors: Aneke, Marguerite Sauvage

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+ (M/F; F/F)

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

Ahhhh, Red Sonja - the She-Devil with a Sword.

We come once again, my nerdlets, to the opportunity to review a Red Sonja book (which apparently, as a woman, is beyond my expertise; but it turns out girls can review comics. #TrueStory.)

And to see that this Sonja story had Marguerite Bennett at the helm?

I hardly dared get my hopes up at the prospect of Sonja being given the book she deserved... but I think my fervent prayers to the feminist gods were at least somewhat answered.

Strap in guys, 'cos I got some stuff to say.

Premise:

Hyrkania's king is dying. Sonja believes the kingdom will be better off with someone who... well, basically, isn't her... in charge.

Instead of the She-Devil, someone else comes in to fill the power vacuum.

But will this new leader be a force for good? Or will the prejudices he stirs up become Hyrkania's shame?

Best bits:

WOW. Dudes, this was the Red Sonja book I've been waiting for.

Finally, Sonja is freed from the prospect of painful chainmail wedgies and having to make pathetic doe-eyes at Conan that make her fans (well, some of us,) want to barf.

Instead, we have a still-sexy she-warrior who gets to wear warmer (though still not especially protective) clothes into battle, and doesn't have to worry about rust in her most intimate areas!

(Does anyone else flinch at the idea of non-lined chainmail underwear? *shudder*)

The (in)famous chainmail bikini is the costume male creators and fans have chosen again and again for Sonja; essentially they want an overly-sexualised Barbarian Barbie.

But as Sonja makes very clear - NO-ONE owns her!

There's also a clear political message throughout this book - hatred against people who are different to you goes against everything that makes us human.

Sonja is revolted by the clear bigotry and outright racism that creeps into Hyrkania, and even more revolted by the support this bigotry has from the people.

Instead of a strong female leader, they have a douchebag bigoted dude. Kind of timely, don't you think?

Sonja's bisexuality is not ignored here: too often, Sonja's character is manipulated to erase her queer aspects - she becomes de facto straight in so many of her books.

But with Marguerite Bennett at the helm, we have a queer woman making sure Sonja is given her dues.

There are also people of colour (PoC) characters with agency, and complexity, and lives of their own.

Not so great bits:

Ok, so, my main problem with this book is that it comes dangerously close to White Saviour territory.

For those who don't know, the White Saviour trope is where a white person comes along and rescues the PoC characters - the implication being that they couldn't possibly rescue themselves, and need a white person to come and do it for them (which ofc is utter sh**.)

This trope reinforces the ugly idea of white superiority, and places PoC in a position where they are never the hero, only the victim.

Here, the PoC characters are pretty much doing things for themselves, but the final save-the-day business is achieved by Sonja - the white heroine and symbol of inspiration.

It all plays out a lot more complexly than just white-girl-saves-PoCs, but... I'm not saying this necessarily goes over the line, but we can certainly see the line from here, y'know?

And even seeing the line is worrying guys. I don't want to be anywhere near that line.

Parts of the plotting in general are... confused? Maybe? It just feels a bit hectic and out-of-control in places in terms of plot.

Maybe this is a side-effect of trying to make the plot twisty and action-filled, when really, all that was needed was to follow the characters' lead.

There's a bunch of gore and violence pretty much everywhere, swearing, and some non-explicit sexual content.

Verdict:

We verge uncomfortably close to white saviour territory here (*squints suspiciously at book*) and that's not cool.

Aside from that, though, this is the Sonja book her (true) fans have been waiting for - she kicks butt, looks sexy, but never betrays her character or her dignity.

Bennett's Sonja is strong. Bennett's Sonja is my Sonja, finally brought to the page.

This book is a major step-forward for the character. I just hope it can be built on and improved in the future.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

Liked this post? Try these:

• I Got Ninety-Nine Problems, and Sonja Ain't One
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God

Nerd Church - Let's Hope It's a Good One

2016 has been a global dumpster fire.

I mean, there's usually some element of dumpster fire in a year but... well, you guys were there. You saw it. 2016 was something else, yeah?




But every cloud has a silver lining - even a cloud as laden with metaphorical rain as 2016.

There were good things in 2016 - if only on a personal level.

Yours truly had some good personal stuff: this blog, coming out, having less bad depression days than I have in years.

All of these things mean that - for me at least - 2016 wasn't a complete waste of space.

But let's not kid ourselves - the world is sh**ty right now.

But the ones who win, my nerdlets, are the ones who never give up.

Love and truth and hope can win - it's going to be a hard job, which is why we need to all take a little piece of it for ourselves, spreading the work around.

My nerdlets - there is hope. There are amazing people in this world. There is beauty and love. Hold onto that.

2017 is going to be a fight against hatred and bigotry, but it's a fight that people who love and care and want the world to be a better place can win. One tiny piece at a time.





I love you all. And I and so many people out there are going to do our best to whoop 2017's butt into shape.

It won't be as cr*ppy as 2016. We won't let it be.




Take care of each other, and go be your beautiful, amazing, selves.

Nerd Church will be back on 8th January 2017

Like this post? Try these:

• Nerd Church - We Are Strong
• Nerd Church - You're The Only You We've Got
• Nerd Church - Sing It For the World

Friday Fics Fix - A Not-So Jolly Christmas with Draco and Harry

One of the main issues many people had with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the complete lack of explanation of life between the last chapter and the epilogue.

Basically, the big question mark is how exactly the Wizarding World got stuck in and started to reinvent itself - to come to terms with a life after the Battle of Hogwarts.

This week's fic imagines a sort-of 'what if' scenario.

What if, due to the lack of general education most of the students had in that last year, they returned the next year to catch up with their missed studies?

What if Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts... and so did Draco Malfoy?

via GIPHY

Because there was so much opportunity to explore what happened to Draco. How did he cope with... well, everything?

And this fic explores that.

And it turns out he didn't cope all that well - which is probably reasonable!

A few warnings: much swearings, much the dark and angsty stuff, and some obsessive behaviour that is NOT HEALTHY in either relationships or friendships.

There's also what can only be described as some sort of Magical Fight Club. #JustSaying

via GIPHY

This is the first in a series, and is based around Christmas (woo! Christmas! Lol.)

The implication is that, in future instalments of the series, Draco and Harry (often known in combination as Drarry (#IKnowRight?)) will have something romantical going on, but in this fic, we just have the beginnings of a frenemies bromance a la Magneto and Professor X.

There's also a few typos in there, but it's generally worth it.

This week's fic then, is:

Dark Days of Christmas by Belle_Lestrange101

Enjoy, and have an awesome Christmas my nerdlets!

via GIPHY

Friday Fix Fics will return on 6th January 2017

Like this post? Try these:

• Friday Fics Fix - Tis The Season
• Friday Fics Fix - Deck The Halls

Comics Wrap-Up - Said the Spider to the Fly

Film Trailers

I loved the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer! Looks like soooo much fun!

He's such a dork (and the dorkiness is awesome!)

I'm totally looking into getting one of those unlimited card-thingies for my local cinema, because even though they seem like a large amount of money as outlay, the price of cinema tickets just keeps going up - and I can't afford an average of £10.00 per trip.

Other Stuff

Over on Book Riot's Comics section, M Lynx Qualey talked about Ms Shabash - a Bangladeshi super-heroine.

Sounds pretty cool - a Bangladeshi hero who fights the CEO of a whitening cream company!

-0-

And because this is the last Comics Wrap-Up before Christmas, here's a random gif of Tom Hiddleston to wish you all the best:

via GIPHY

Comics Wrap-Up will be back on 5th January 2017!

Like this post? Try these:

• Comics Wrap-Up - Setting Fire To The Sky
• Comics Wrap-Up - LEGO Time!

Blog Update - FYI, My Nerdlets, This Is What's Happening

Just to let you guys know, I'll be cutting down a little on the amount I post per week (not a lot, promise!)

Blog admin and commenting back on other people's blogs is taking up more of my time, and I'm busy with work - I'm self-employed, so I need to focus on work when I, y'know, actually have it.





That said, I'm still going to be posting a lot and faffing about on social media plenty, it's just that I'll be posting 4-5 times per week instead of 7 (and I think you can live with that, yeah?)

I'll also be reducing my blogging over Christmas - but I'll still pop in every now and then, promise ;)





This is more of a re-organising than a reducing, I'm hoping to give myself more time while improving the quality of the content I post - and that way, everyone wins.

I hope you continue to support Diary of a Reading Addict (DORA) and that you're as excited as I am to see what 2017 brings :)

Honestly, this year (while being a dumpster fire politically,) has been one of amazing growth on DORA, and I'm so thankful to all of you!

I also hope you understand that I have a habit of pushing myself too far - to the extent of actual exhaustion, and a hugely negative affect on my depression - and this is a way of me stopping myself, slowing down, and putting my health first, before I get to that stage.






I love you guys, and I'll still be in your faces probably more than you want me to be - but I need to calm things down a bit! ;)









Go out and be awesome guys! I'll still be here when you get back ;)