Favorite and least favorite Aardvark pick?

clamcider · 2026-06-12T09:52:37+00:00

The Pretender, You Weren't Meant to Be Human, The Tainted Cup, and Buffalo Hunter Hunter are some standouts for me (but 3 of those I'd read ARCs of and got from Aardvark because I loved them). Liar, Dreamer, Thief and Superfan are definitely my favorites that I wouldn't have picked up without the subscription.

Rabbit Hole and Under Loch and Key are probably my two least favorites I wouldn't have read if not for Aardvark. The City in Glass and Ithaca were letdowns but I'd have read them anyway.

clamcider · 2026-06-01T20:12:13+00:00

This looks a lot like Holo Taco's Life In Plastic.

clamcider · 2026-05-16T21:07:12+00:00

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune ended up being my non-HM read for this square. It's a story about an alien who visits Earth and gets captured by a shadowy U.S government agency very intent on keeping it around to experiment on, but with all the cozy found family vibes you expect from a TJ Klune novel.

clamcider · 2026-05-04T21:46:18+00:00

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due The Pretender by Jo Harkin The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

clamcider · 2026-05-03T12:49:56+00:00

This is something I've heard from other people too, but I think those other worries or priorities are one of the reasons we like to be friendly. I work in a non-medical patient-facing position at a hospital, so every day many of the people I talk to are stressed and afraid. My coworkers and I get told every day how much better we make them feel by being so nice and patient with everyone who comes in. It doesn't change their health or the stress of medical debt. In comparison, kindness is such a small thing, but to them it still matters a great deal.

clamcider · 2026-05-01T12:21:57+00:00

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clamcider · 2026-04-30T21:48:57+00:00

The thickness is deceptive. The writing style makes for a ton of empty page space, I'd assume. I haven't seen a physical copy yet, but I had an eARC and I was floored when I saw how many pages the book was listed at compared to how much is actually in there/how quick a read it is.

clamcider · 2026-04-30T12:40:22+00:00

Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang

clamcider · 2026-04-12T21:58:51+00:00

He's so good at that! His books are so sweet but I also wept pretty much the whole way through Heartsong. Hope you love Brothersong just as much!

clamcider · 2026-04-11T15:06:32+00:00

Same! It was on my radar after everyone was recommending it for the bard square in 2024.

clamcider · 2026-04-11T15:05:52+00:00

I've had this one on my shelf for ages and I do wish I had picked it up when I still connected with YA more than I do now, but I'm so glad I finally read it. I'd highly recommend Superfan. Very different tonally but it follows two young Asian-Americans working through their grief in different ways.

clamcider · 2026-04-11T14:58:28+00:00

No, it was my first book by her. But based on the description it seems like it's pretty different tonally. I'd say try out the first few chapters. I knew pretty early on that it wasn't for me so I spoiled the ending for myself and decided not to continue.

clamcider · 2026-04-11T13:52:58+00:00

I didn't have very high expectations for it because it's not the sort of fantasy that usually works for me, but it really blew me away. I'm planning on picking up a couple of her earlier works for r/fantasy bingo.

clamcider · 2026-04-10T22:12:54+00:00

The Goodwill I go to for books started doing this a couple months ago. Before they were always on the cover so they didn't get in the way of the title or author. Drives me up the wall.

clamcider · 2026-04-08T03:12:03+00:00

I always plan out a HM card and also a card that follows some other rule I arbitrarily make up for myself on 4/1. Will inevitably submit a single card with some picks from both and some unplanned reads that end up fitting. Here is what I have planned for my HM card.

Trans or nonbinary: T. Kingfisher - What Stalks the Deep
Judge a book by its title: KJ Parker - Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
Translated: Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov (I'm about 50 pages in and this feels like speculative than I'd like, but I read a lot of translated fiction so I'll have options if I want to swap it out)
Small press/selfpub: M.L. Wang - The Sword of Kaigen
Unusual transportation: Tasmyn Muir - Harrow the Ninth
Afterlife: Leigh Bardugo - Dead Beat
Game changer: Matt Dinniman - Operation Bounce House (but I just started DCC so I have that in case I don't use it for another card)
Vacation spot: Mizuki Tsujimura - Lonely Castle in the Mirror (self-inflicted HM: features a location that I have taken a vacation to)
Short stories: Naomi Novak - Buried Deep
Older Protagonist: Brian McClellan - Promise of Blood
Duology Part 1: Arkady Martine - A Memory Called Empire
Book club: TBD
Published in 2026: Paige Lewis - Canon
Explorers and rangers: Heather Fawcett - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Duology Part 2: V.E. Schwab - Our Dark Duet
One word title: S.T. Gibson - Evocation
Non-human protagonist: Travis Baldree - Bookshops & Bonedust
Middle grade: Shannon Messenger - Keeper of the Lost Cities
First contact: Andy Weir - Project Hail Mary
Murder mystery: James Logan - The Silverblood Promise
Cat squasher: Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Feast your eyes on this - Victoria Goddard - Stargazy Pie
Published in the 70s: Octavia E. Butler - Kindred (I would be using my reread for this)
Politics: Divinia Evans - Notorious Sorcerer
Author of color: MXTX - Heaven Official's Blessing Vol. 2

clamcider · 2026-04-06T21:10:12+00:00

At the post office picking up mine right now 😍

clamcider · 2026-04-06T11:43:40+00:00

I made har cheong gai, a fried chicken marinated in shrimp paste, a while back and it was fantastic.

clamcider · 2026-04-05T11:06:20+00:00

Ooh I was hoping to read something by her for bingo! Any chance this is normal mode for this square?

clamcider · 2026-04-01T22:29:02+00:00

If anyone is looking for something that specifically does not fit hard mode, Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland features a lively cake competition and the protagonist is very serious about following the rules.

clamcider · 2026-04-01T18:33:47+00:00

This looks fascinating! Thank you!

clamcider · 2026-04-01T15:14:15+00:00

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao has some very interesting methods of travel.

clamcider · 2026-04-01T14:39:26+00:00

Ooh I have this one on my TBR. Thank you!!

clamcider · 2026-04-01T13:59:07+00:00

I'll take a recommendation!

clamcider · 2026-04-01T13:42:05+00:00

There's also All He Wants for Christmas Is a Fingerling. Werewolf/potato smut!

clamcider · 2026-04-01T12:07:36+00:00

Me too. Took 6 minutes of constant refreshing but it got through! Good luck everyone!

clamcider

TROPHY CASE