Social Distancing TBR

I want to start out by making it abundantly clear that I am not meaning to minimize the severity of this situation or make light of the suffering of anyone in any way, the only thing I meant to do in this post is talk about what I am reading, as that is one of my only coping mechanism and is likely a shared one. 

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Hi, friends! I am off for work for at least two weeks (potentially more. as in up to eight weeks but that is very overwhelming and thinking about having nothing to do for eight weeks is too much so we’re not going to think about that right now), and since I and one of my parents are immunocompromised, my family and are practicing social distancing. As I write this I have just returned home from my last trip anywhere for the foreseeable future, so it seems fitting.

While I am technically in school, my school work takes up almost no time and a good amount of my days are normally spent at work or doing things for work, so since that has just….come to a halt, I have too much time. I have only been off of work indefinitely for three days and I spent all of yesterday miserable and bored, so I decided to come up with a bit of a personal schedule and TBR and decided I would share.

I can read multiple books at one time, so therefore I have divided the books I want to read into three piles and will be talking about it in that manner. My general plan is to read genre one (nonfiction) in the morings, genre two (science fiction, dystopian, all that fun stuff) in the afternoons, and genre three (contemporary) in the evening. In case anyone was curious as to the reasoning of that, it is just because nonfiction will keep me in a schoolish mood in the morning when I plan to do my schoolwork, and the science fiction and dystopian in the afternoon will be drowned out by the contemporary so that I don’t get nightmares. Anyways, here is a general TBR for my next two weeks. I know I will not read all of these, but this way I have options for each category.

Non Fiction Books

• Becoming A Man: The Story of a Transition by P. Carl
  • I have never heard of anything about this book, but the title caught my eye in the library and I grabbed it. It has great reviews too, so I’m pretty excited to jump into this.
• The First Man-Made Man by Pagan Kennedy 
  • The reviews for this book are…not great, but I listened to a podcast about Michael Dillon (who the book is about) and I have been wanting to learn more, so I thought I’d check it out.
• The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS by Jonathan Engel
  • My own (very limited) knowledge of the aids epidemic is of the United States (and a tad bit of Australia), so I want to see if I can get into this book to learn more.
• The Stonewall Reader edited by the New York Public Library
  • I’ve already read a tad bit of this and I cannot wait to read more.

• We Are Everywhere by Leighton Brown
  • I am already about a third of the way through this book and the pictures, I cannot explain how many of them have created a well of emotions, it is just a lot.
• A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronski
• The Book of Pride by Mason Funk
• Pray the Gay Away by Bernadette C. Barton
  • As a bible belt gay, I cannot wait to hear stories from people who also grew up in this…less than accepting environment.

Science Fiction, Thrillers, Fantasy, Whatever lol

• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
  • I have read the Illuminae files and I have been wanting to reread for a while now, plus I really want to check out their other series, so what better time than when I am stuck at home?

• Reverie by Ryan La Sala
• Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist
  • All I know about these two books is that they are a gay fantasy and a gay thriller respectively, and honestly that is all I need to know.
• This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
• Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
  • I have read this duology before and it completely wrecked me, but now I own it and can’t wait for it to wreck me and then sit in my room to remind me of pain.

Last but not least, Contemporary

• Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
  • I have been meaning to read this since it came out but I just,,haven’t? Here’s to hopefully changing that.
• The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart by R. Zamora Linmark
  • I know nothing about this book but it referenced Oscar Wilde in the title so I had to grab it
• I Hope You Get this Message by Farah Naz Rishi
• The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

 

Okay, so like I said, I obviously will not be reading all of these books, but here are the ones I am considering heavily right now. As I said earlier, I use reading as a main coping mechanism, but I thought I would share some others right now in case you are looking for more.

• Listening to podcasts! Two of my favorites at the moment are The Trypod and Queer as Fact.
• Knitting
• Writing
• Journaling
• Watching light hearted TV!

Okay, I think that’s it for today! Stay safe, friends! This is a rough time and if you need to talk, feel free to reach out.