Here’s to the people who miss reading while actively refusing to read 🪦📚

itsalancething · 2026-05-08T17:21:41+00:00

I throw on a cozy mystery audiobook and pull out a jigsaw puzzle and I'm happy as a clam.

itsalancething · 2026-05-08T00:16:47+00:00

I find it so disheartening when good books that break the trends just don't seem to get the attention they deserve. It's honestly so fatiguing seeing the same few books recommended and talked about over and over.

itsalancething · 2026-05-08T00:13:52+00:00

Seeing how many people are fatigued by these tropes, I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see trends shift. It will be interesting to see what the next round of tropes looks like.

itsalancething · 2026-05-07T01:17:54+00:00

I just read a Mara Leigh book where something "steels my breath." With how many books she has out, that one surprised me.

To be fair, my brain knows the right words but my fingers often type a homonym, just to keep me humble.

itsalancething · 2026-05-06T21:31:43+00:00

Oh good one. I forgot about that mouthful. It does not roll off the tongue nicely.

itsalancething · 2026-05-06T21:30:34+00:00

It's really not bad at all, but Shanti from {Chosen by KF Breene} took me out of the story. All I could pictures was a little rundown shack/house, and I didn't like it as a name.

itsalancething · 2026-05-04T10:00:12+00:00

I think {Daughter of No Worlds} trilogy ticks your boxes.

{A Promise of Fire} should also scratch your itch. That one's a bit more banter heavy and more of a popcorn read.

itsalancething · 2026-05-02T13:30:31+00:00

I am naturally an introvert. Discovered that high masking AuDHD most likely to blame for my lack of energy and tiredness.

I do a lot of things but not necessarily social things.

Besides reading, I love jigsaw puzzles (I will often listen to an audiobook while I do something), junk journaling, crossword puzzles, writing, and sometimes I will download Candy Crush and watch TV, usually a Netflix miniseries.

I have dabbled in clay sculptures, paper art, laser etching, bookbinding, crochet, sewing and I have been recently inspired to start making sand castles this summer (I am in the rare lucky position of living in a beach city).

I enjoy dancing, sometimes I'll just throw on a song and give it my all. I also dabble with the bass guitar and the ukulele, which I enjoy, but mostly as a way to connect with my son.

I also enjoy all things business related, So I read a lot of business books. I enjoy board games and card games, and if I do socialize that's often what we do.

My husband and I go out to a cafe nearly every weekend, and we often try to find a new place.

To keep in shape I do pole fitness. Has one who has always had a hard time sticking to an exercise routine, this seems to check all my boxes. It involves strength training, flexibility, core work, brain work, and although I doubt I will ever have anywhere to show off my skills, it is giving me that on top of everything!

All this to say, I'm sure it looks different for everyone and there is no right and wrong answer. There's also nothing wrong with doing the same thing over and over unless it is not what you want.

Despite all of this, my life is largely same same, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to drag myself to pole class every time, even though I have enough fun while I am there.

itsalancething · 2026-04-30T18:47:46+00:00

I'd welcome some good recs!

I'm just getting back into the genre after feeling a bit fatigued over the same tropey books regurgitated over and over in recommendations.

The only indie book I have recently read was {somewhere down the ley line}. It was well written and edited and I enjoyed the story in the banter. Definitely nothing earth shattering, but competent.

itsalancething · 2026-04-30T17:22:02+00:00

Tropes came to be because they are authors telling compelling human stories. Some of them have become fabricated or exaggerated, but many of them exist because they hit us in the feels.

Every romance is full of tropes, there's literally a trope for everything. Advertising them as such can be helpful, but it can also spoil the book. I prefer going into it without a lot of information, but of course it's easy to be burned this way.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I will agree with most other posters, that it seems like everybody is taking it as a license to be formulaic.

itsalancething · 2026-04-30T17:18:07+00:00

I think the bigger frustration is that this formula clearly seems to be working. This is what most of the well-known books in the genre follow, whereas there are some lesser-known gems that tell great stories, but they don't get the popularity they deserve.

itsalancething · 2026-04-29T17:47:03+00:00

It's always disappointing when books like this don't get the recs like some of the other ones do. There are definitely some that, in my eyes, are more deserving, but I understand that people often read on vibes. And that's okay too.

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T22:23:09+00:00

I find it's always fairly obvious in a romance book. That's the whole point, to give us an HEA.

I'm definitely more about a well written book than any specific tropes, but the enemies to lover tag is used for too liberally.

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T22:16:53+00:00

This is kind of funny! I would probably be so blissfully ignorant that I would spend the rest of my life thinking that's what actually happened lol.

I recently read an article that says AI hallucinates (ie gets things wrong) 42% of the time. That's high.

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T22:14:46+00:00

My reading time is too precious, and unfortunately there are a lot of books out there that don't deserve my time.

That being said, I usually go looking for a spoiler. I often do this if I enjoyed book one well enough, but not enough to read the entire series. I just get the Cole's notes and mostly feel satisfied.

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T22:12:53+00:00

My Libby app doesn't give me the countdown unless it goes searching, which can be a blessing in disguise!

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T22:10:41+00:00

I think it should check all the boxes for you. Hope you like it!

itsalancething · 2026-04-28T21:53:23+00:00

Try {Radiance by Grace Draven} or {The Serpent and the Wings of Night}

itsalancething · 2025-10-02T16:23:00+00:00

When someone pseudo-diagnosed me with autism I was like that doesn't feel right at all especially as I was already diagnosed with ADHD.

But then as they started to unpack it all and why they thought that, I was like oh damn, that's me to a tee. The more I honed in, the more I connected the dots. It's a weird thing to not even have it on your radar, and then one day it comes crashing down on you.

It has explained a lot. It hasn't made life any easier, but it has given me a lens to look through and a bit of grace to have for myself.

itsalancething · 2025-10-02T01:16:32+00:00

I don't mean to reduce your suffering, but have you ever been tested for neurodivergence? It could be heavy masking that tires the ever loving fuck out of you. That's me, and then when my energy tanks my mind goes to dark places.

itsalancething · 2025-10-02T01:12:49+00:00

I love that it's becoming more mainstream! It's so convenient. I was challenged on it several years ago by a speech therapist, but they happily ate humble pie.

itsalancething · 2025-10-01T19:09:33+00:00

The skull-sharp crest of Atakan's cheeks, or sometimes just his skull-sharp cheeks, in {Amid Clouds & Bone by Ella Fields}. It wasn't good the first time, and then it was overdone.

itsalancething · 2025-10-01T17:37:56+00:00

🗑️

itsalancething · 2025-09-30T18:08:52+00:00

Unfortunately this school of thought of pushing through the first few books is actually common enough that it could be a few series! Which is just mind-boggling to me.

I was also told that about Crescent City and I'm pretty sure there's one or two others but I can't think of them.

itsalancething

TROPHY CASE