We haven’t been travelling. I especially haven’t gone anywhere. But I’m finding that a lot of my need for novelty and newness can be fulfilled by walking in the woods and discovering a new plant. It’s oddly satisfying. Maybe it’s not exciting to everyone, but for me, spotting a spring ephemeral – especially a new-to-me one – taps into the same delicious feeling as finding a new restaurant or waking up in a new city. Weird, but good. I’m always noticing, and that feels nice.

A few years ago I took the Ontario Master Naturalist Program at Lakeland University and that just enhanced my wonder with the natural world around me even more. Bob Bowes, who leads the program, has this boundless and inspiring curiosity about the natural world, and I found that my interests expanded beyond any one specific topic as a result of the program. Now it shows up in a variety of really random and wonderful ways.

When I break new ground into my garden space with my shovel and get stopped by rocks – I am reminded of how the hill is actually part of the Peterborough Drumlin Field, and instead of being annoyed (okay, sometimes I’m still annoyed), I think about how at one time these hills were formed beneath the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet, and how there is so much deep history and wonder in that – some of these rocks have been buried for thousands of years and here I am messing them up to grow some beans. I’ll be honest, had never thought about drumlins before, if I even knew what they were, I can’t remember.

Then I switch to my pick axe and keep digging.

It’s amazing how being a nerd about nature can just creep up on you too – driving through Ontario I kept seeing plants I didn’t recognize, seeing birds I didn’t know, and as time passed, and I realized that it was information I wanted to know. I wanted knowledge. I remember announcing it to J during one of our family drives. Little home education projects like One Small Square – where you measure out a small square of outdoor space and just observe it closely over time – gets you looking closely at blades of grass, moss, tiny bugs, soil and dirt, and how a small space can change over time. Who are they? What is in the dirt? What kind of lichen is that? What is lichen anyway? What a cute patch of moss, I wonder what kind it is. Over and over again, questions, and seeking answers.

Then at some point I could walk through the woods and identify many of the things I was looking at. I could hear a bird and tell you who they were. On the other hand, I could now also identify all the different species that were invasive or potentially harmful to the forest and I’ll admit, that kind of sucked too.

What do you mean that cute little puple periwinkle plant with the shiny little leaves is choking out native species in thick mats? What do you mean that bellflower is an agressive and relentless spreader? What do you mean that tree with the berries isn’t really a good source of nutrition for birds, but does use them to proliferate everywhere and is hard to remove? And I wasn’t sure if that was the right mindset either – to approach the outdoors with a friend or foe kind of attitude, and that took me down a path of looking at Indigenous research that encourages looking at why invasive species is there in the first place, and finding a way to use them versus just looking at removing them (though I still remove many of them anyway.) I don’t have all the answers, but I’m tapping into my own boundless curiosity, and that feels like something good.

Despite some of the less than lighthearted themes like murder, corporate owned space, generational indenture, and serious thoughts about what makes someone A Person, I find it is also quite optimistic and uplifting.

It’s like a cozy blanket when I’m feeling sort of grumpy or even when I’m not feeling grumpy – it’s full of real kindness, sarcasm that’s actually funny (and not just mean,) and told from the point of view of a sentient human-bot construct, Murderbot (pronouns it/its) that just wants to watch media serials (like the Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon) and the cute found family kind of thing that I’m a sucker for.

The Murderbot series also manages to be full of action and heroic battles that still manage to be somewhat self-effacing. The first book (novella) in the series is only 171 pages long – but there is expert level world building – and it sets the stage perfectly for future books. There is so much story going on, I’m simply impressed as a reader, but also from a craft perspective.

In addition to the text based books, I’ve also enjoyed the audiobooks – they’re narrated by Keven R Free, a prolific narrator, who has a fabulous voice, and brings the characters fully to life in his performance of the book.

For our anniversary last year, JC got me a collection of all of the Murderbot books, signed by the authour, and I thought that was a pretty thoughtful gift, especially considering how obsessed I am with the series. They are a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

This book may not be for you, but it’s very much for me, that said, I do know that if you like the first book, a commitment of a mere 171 pages, you’ll probably like the rest too.

I’ve pre-ordered System Collapse on Librofm (which is thankfully also being narrated by Kevin R Free) and I haven’t yet decided if I’ll get the hardcover on release day or someday down the line, but if I was going to pre-order or buy it, I’d recommend Bakka-Phoenix Books, Canada’s oldest Science Fiction and Fantasy bookstore. You can visit them in Toronto, or order online and they’ll ship it to you.

I started thinking about this because recently I made The First Mess’ Spice-Roasted Cauliflower in a Coconut Tomato Sauce with Lentils. But I didn’t make it with lentils – I had planned on making it with chickpeas, but in a moment of inspiration, I decided to use a red pepper hummus that was approaching its expiration date. I also added spinach. and I didn’t have fennel seed so I used anise. It turned out great.

Anyway, I told our small human today that following recipes is pretty important when you are baking* or just starting out in the kitchen. Or just because you enjoy creating the recipe someone intended you to make. But at a certain point, when you’ve been making a variety of foods for a while, recipes can become beautiful guides that you can riff on all you want.

It all depends on your comfort level. Once you get comfortable in the kitchen you can start experimenting and it can be so much fun. Or maybe it’s not fun for you, and you can figure out some other way of getting food into yourself. As for me, I love reducing food waste, and still making something delicious.

*Even with baking, I find that sometimes I can bake more by feel – especially bread. It seems it’s intuitive but I think if anything, it’s muscle memory – the dough feels right when it’s ready, and if it’s not, you know what you need to do to get it where it needs to go. But it take experience and repetition, like learning anything else.

As I mentioned before, I’m participating in the Trans Rights Readathon. While I love reading grown up books and the whole thing, what re-sparked my love of reading a few years ago was the vast potential of children’s books to delight, to educate, and to expand horizons.

We’ve been lucky enough to have raised a reader. Whether that’s from our own efforts to read together, or our own inclinations towards reading ourselves, or some combination of those things, I’m happy about it. I’m always looking for new books for us to share and talk about, so we read together or separately, and it is just really fun and is a great thing to connect on.

Anyway, since it’s also Middle Grade March, I wanted to find some middle grade reads written by trans and non-binary authours. I haven’t read all of these, but I am planning to. Some helpful folks suggested a few more to me on twitter, some of which I checked out for myself, but I’ll list them here either way. All authours in this list have publicly claimed being trans or non-binary, so no assumptions are in play.

As a parent of a middle-grade level reader, and in response to the growing anti-trans movement targeting children, I feel like it’s especially important to have kid-friendly fiction that is written by trans and non-binary folks, and fiction where trans and non-binary kids can see themselves represented, as well as offering a window for cis kids to see something outside of their usual experience.

If you feel like donating, I am raising money for Skipping Stones and Trans Wellness Ontario here. Or you can donate directly to an organization or an individual.

Strange Worlds Travel Agency by L.D. Lapinski

I picked up the first book in the series because the cover caught my eye when browsing e-books, and then I ended up buying it so I could share it with the kid. They have so many great characters and the stories and worlds are so weird and wonderful.

Pre-order Jamie, which is coming out on Mar 30, 2023. If like me, you’re in Canada, you can order it from Blackwells, with free shipping to Canada.

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

We read this together on Day 1 of the Trans Right’s Readathon. I enjoyed sharing this kid friendly adventurous tale with the child. It also inspired us to read more about Korean mythology and how it was connected to this tale as well. This book also has an educators guide put together by Disney Hyperion publishers, which helped weave this story into our literature study, and helped framed the discussion we had after the story.

We’re also going to read the rest of the series – next book is Tiger Honor which is out already, and Fox Snare will be published October 2023.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

I got a signed copy from Toronto’s Bakka Pheonix nearly a year ago and I’ve been meaning to read it ever since. Judging by Xiran Jay Zhao’s other work – Iron Widow, which I liked quite a bit, I expected this to be a good one, and so far I’m really enjoying it. Bonus points: each chapter name is great.

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the character development was rich and the world building was excellent. I love when I really feel a sense of care about the people in the story, and that was the case with this book.

Also recommended by others, and by Ash Van Otterloo – A Touch Of Ruckus. Their next book is coming out in May and is The Beautiful Something Else, and features non-binary rep.

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill

This is a cozy vibes graphic novel series, and I tried reading it as an e-book, but I am hoping to get my hands on a paper copy because me and the kid do better with those for graphic novels. We also picked up the card game… just because. Kay has also written and illustrated a few other books – like The Moth Keeper and Princess Princess Ever After.

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

This is a big book that I bought a hardcopy of. It centres a non-binary teen struggling to find how they fit into society with rigid ideas of binary gender and associated roles. I read it, and absolutely loved it. The characters are lovable, there is a lot of growth, there is found family and good supportive role models, themes of forgiveness, and being yourself despite pressure to conform.

I loved how the protagonist was complicated and not always doing the right thing, but was consistent in terms of what you could expect the character to do based on their personality. I read this one via audiobook and hardcover, and I’d recommend either. The narrator on the

I’ve preordered the next book in the series, as it’s coming out later this year.

Books I haven’t read (yet):

I haven’t read these, but they all looked intriguing, and a few of them I’ve picked up to read during the week.

• Anna on the Edge by A.J. Sass
  • Anna on the Edge is a novel about figure skating and identity and new friends. I’m also hoping to read Ellen Outside the Lines.
• Hurricane Child by Kacen Callendar
• Dear Mothman by Robin Gow
  • Robin Gow has also written A Million Quiet Revolutions (which is a young adult book in verse).
• Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
  • I picked this one up, but Kyle Lukoff has written several other books, including several Mermaid Days (which is for early readers), When Aidan Became a Brother and Call me Max (both picture books)

I’d love to head if you have any thoughts on any of these, or if you have more to suggest. Cheers! And happy readathon.

Visiting them back in February 2021 got us out of the house, on the road, and inside the Hamilton Farmers Market for the first time. They offered curbside pick up at the time too which was nice – because I definitely got lost in the market the first time I went in there. However, thanks to Bring Me Some, the market became VERY familiar to all of us of the year or two they were there. 

We’ve worked our way through their entire menu, and I have some favourites, but there are really just endless winners you can’t go wrong trying any of them. Below is a picture of Damn Gurl, Yous a Pineapple, which is a saucy crispy fried vegan chicken, green onions, cilantro, glazed, and grilled pineapple, smoky bbq sauce.

It’s beautiful, and delicious, but it wasn’t even my favourite sandwich – eventually, my regular order was just the Senior Chicken or their comfort bowl – both stellar options. I also really enjoyed their popcorn chickn.

While they’re known for their vegan chicken sandwiches and vegan comfort food, they started making burgers and no surprise – they’re burgers are fantastic amazing too. In their usual, great menu item names, they call this one the “Big Ma… Nevermind”.

It’s got it all. Super saucey shmac sauce, the three bun, the crappy lettuce, melty vegan cheese slice, two impossible patties grilled to perfection. Just an absolutely magnificent burger all around.

If you find yourself in Hamilton, it’s definitely worth paying them a visit. We took our meal over to a spectacular owl themed playground called the East Chapel Parkette.

Bring Me Some
638 Concession Street Hamilton, ON
website | tiktok | instagram

I have had the privilege and delight of reading a lot of books by a lot of different Trans and Non-binary authours over the years and I wanted to share some recommendations. You may find my summaries minimalistic, but I like to keep things simple, and my reviews don’t usually include a synopsis because they’re easy enough to find on the book review sites. I hope that you’ll find this list helpful, and perhaps find some new to you authours to follow.

Some disclaimers: all authours below have claimed trans or non-binary identity publicly in some way, all books below have potentially triggering content, which you can find more specific details of on their Storygraph pages which I will link to. This list is not comprehensive at all, but some of the books I wanted to share with others.

So, in no particular order, let’s begin:

Unstoppable Series by Charlie Jane Anders

You really cannot go wrong with anything from Charlie Jane Anders, but this is a great time to get into the Unstoppable Series; The final book of the trilogy is coming out on April 11, 2023. Read the first two books (Victories Greater than Death, Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak) during the readathon, and get excited for book three, Promises Stronger than Darkness.

I had the opportunity to read Promises Stronger than Darkness as an e-arc, and I was very happy with how the series played out. It’s a book I would have loved as a young person, and as a result, I think it has a significant amount to offer us adults that maybe didn’t see ourselves in books growing up.

Read it if: just do it. but also, you like space operas, found family, space princesses!, unexpected heroes, villainous villains, great character development and communication, mostly queernorm, adventure.
Content Notes: Yes, please check storygraph for this series.
Other great books by this authour: Genuinely, all of them, that said, my other absolute favourite is All the Birds in the Sky. I’m hoping to read Never Say You Can’t Survive during the readathon.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

I read this book and it’s lived rent free ever since it came out. It’s simply so so very good, but also bleak? But also desperately good. The book is set on a ship heading to “the promised land.” It sort of functions as a sci-fi version of American enslavement and the Antebellum south, but on a ship where escape seems impossible. I’m not going to say more – there is a lot going on, and it’s just an exceptional and gutting, and will probably make you think.

Read it if you like: unlikely heroes, mysteries, dystopia.
Content Notes: Yes.
Other Great Books: The Deep. I’m planning on reading Sorrowland during the Readathon.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Featuring a trans woman virtuoso violinist, a Faustian bargain, aliens, a donut shop, and a battle between good and evil. It’s GREAT. I don’t want to ruin it for you. It was just entirely a delight.

Read it if you like: love, triumph, identity, found family.
Content Notes: Yes.
Other Great Books: We have The Great Space Adventure written by Ryka Ayoki and illustrated by Cai L. Steele. (This book is for kids, published by the phenomenal Flamingo Rampant and is absolutely gorgeous.)

Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern

I’m not just adding Sim’s work because they sparked this whole readathon, but because I genuinely enjoyed Seeds from the Swarm. I thought the world was brilliantly created world, based on our own possible outcomes, in a way that was entirely believable – it was full of potential while not deifying anyone. I’m looking forward to the next books in the series. (you can read my review of this one here if you want to)

Read it if you like: solar punk, speculative fiction, potential, disaster baby queers, queernorm, to start a series that is still in progress.
Content Notes: Yes.
Other Great Books: Depart! Depart! was the first book I read from Sim Kern, which got me interested in following their work, and also one of their wonderful publisher’s Stelliform Press. Sim’s short story collection, Real Sugar is Hard to Find is full of possibilities, and I’m going to keep my eye out for Free People’s Village on netgalley and/or elsewhere.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Ever since I read Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi has been an authour I just automatically pre-order – I haven’t ever been disappointed by any of their incredible work, and their range is nearly unbelievable. Jumping around from romance, to young adult, to fantasy, to memoir, to adult contemporary, to poetry, they’re just great. Pet was their first young adult novel, followed by the prequel Bitter, which is also worth checking out in the order they were published.

Read it if you like: good vs evil, magical realism, queernorm
Content Notes: Yes
Other Great Books: All of them. But if you’re looking for something unexpected in the romance genre, their romance novel You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is an absolute journey through grief and art, and also entirely delightful (though also very spicy).

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

A friend recommended this book to me recently and wow it was incredible. Absolute religious dystopia full of monsters, body horror, and religious trauma BUT also full of absolutely righteous anger and triumph – it’s so powerful and worth reading.

Hell Followed with Us is a debut book from Andrew Joseph White, but judging by this piece, he’s an authour to follow.

Read it if you like: righteous anger, found community in dystopia
Content Notes: YES.
Other Great Books: He’s got so many good looking books coming up over the next few years, watch his work!

Little Fish by Casey Plett

Little Fish is about a young Winnipeg trans woman struggling with friendship and sex work while investigating whether her Mennonite grandfather also might have been trans. Casey Plett has written several lovely, and this is but one of them. So if you haven’t read her work yet, it’s time!

Read it if you like: small(ish) town trans life, solving family secrets, imperfect but very real characters, stories that ache.
Content Notes: Yes
Other Great Books: All of them. I recently read A Dream of a Woman, which was her newest, and a short story collection.

LitenVerse Series by Nino Cipri

LitenVerse Series has two novellas in it – Defekt and Finna – and both are twisty mind bending searing critique of capitalism and worker treatment, and it’s dark and dreary at times, but also fantastic. I love a funny, queer, anti-capitalist adventure through the multiverse, and you can too! I was happy there were two books, and from the perspectives they chose.

Read it if you like: to laugh, to travel through space time, you like having your expectations turned upside down and inside out.
Content Notes: Yes

A Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy

I picked this book up when it was republished by AK Press as part of their Black Dawn Series – which is an exciting series in and of itself, “focused on honouring anarchist traditions and explores themes that do not reinforce dependency on oppressive forces and will generally express the values of antiracism, feminism, anticolonialism, and anticapitalism.”

Anyway, this novel is sort of a utopian alternative history novel. I especially enjoyed build out around Hronople. I felt very pulled into the world, like I was looking it through the eyes of Dimos Horacki (the cynical journalist narrator)

Read if you like: the idea of workable anarchism, sort of cynical characters that get pleasantly surprised by new possibilities.
Content Notes: Yes
Other Great Books: I have been enjoying her short story collection, We Won’t Be Here Tomorrow: And Other Stories and am aiming to finish it soon, and plan to read Escape from Incel Island during the readathon.

Small Beauty by jia quin wilson-yang

This 160 page novella packs a punch, and when I read it the first time I left having strong feelings, so when I see the cover, I think of those feelings, but I don’t remember the details. Please trust my vibes okay? Pick this book up.

Read if you like: Small town Ontario, stories that feature trans woman characters but aren’t transition stories, mysteries, explorations of ancestry and family history and identity.
Content Notes: Yes

Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun L. Harrison

Last but not least, this is a non-fiction book looking at the intersection of fat phobia and anti-Black racism. It’s a small book, but mighty and may challenge some pre-conceptions you have or teach you something new.

Read it if you: want to destroy fatphobia, racism, sexism, and want to learn about the history of and interrelationship of all of those things.
Content Notes: Yes

So here are just a few suggestions for the Trans Rights Readathon of some of the books I’ve enjoyed over the last decade or so. For my next readathon related post, I’m planning to list off some of the books I’m hoping to read.

It’s sort of funny how being just an hour and a half outside of Toronto turns the ordering process back ten years though. We certainly were spoiled for choice in Toronto – things labelled vegan, no modifications required, or entirely vegan Thai restaurants, but whatever no matter. This isn’t exactly hard.

Bualai was very accommodating, and knew what vegan meant, and already had a vegetarian section on their menu, and are currently take out only which I appreciate since we’re not dining in anywhere anyway.

We ordered:

• Thai Vegetable Spring Rolls
• Vegetables Pad Thai (without egg or fish) 
• Basil Tofu & Mixed Vegetables 
• Eggplant Delight

All dishes were a bit saucier than I expected, but I did enjoy the basil tofu quite a bit, I can definitely see myself grabbing take out from here again, but I think I’ll try and remember to make rice at home.

Bualai Taste of Thai
108 Walton Street, Port Hope, ON
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February also marks the return of talking about Harper Collins novels again as workers are no longer on strike and ratified the contract there. Really appreciate the positive impact this might have on the rest of the large publishing industry, or at least, one can hope.

This month I started reading the first book in a few series I intend to continue – namely Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, which is an absolutely fantastic adventure magic fantasy novel that pulls together Knights of King Arthurs Table, secret societies, Root Crafters, and deals with some serious subject matter like grief, slavery, what it means to have a mixed heritage in a so-called post colonial world. Anyway, I’m glad I got on this train, because I’m looking forward to the next book. It’s full of action and intrigue, light romantic elements, diverse characters, and a strong woman lead.

My Canada Reads book this month was We Spread by Iain Reid and it ultimately so weird, and in the light of The Last of Us TV series, a subtle or overtly fungal themed book may not be something I want to do for a while. BUT the story was compelling, it was so readable. I cared about Penny and what happened to her. I thought he wrote the unreliable narrator so well, and from the point of view from an elderly woman with so much care it was very thoughtfully done.

Danielle Garret was back with three more books in the Nine Lives Magic series, and largely I’m here for both the cat Selene, and Amanda Ronconi, the narrator of the audiobooks. But it’s a solid series with minimal if any fat phobic elements, and has an over arching plot as well as mini mysteries in each book. While I can’t get Talisman Tales as an audiobook for a few months, I’ve actually started reading it in print.

I found Lana Harper’s Payback’s a Witch extremely satisfying to read. It’s a bit of a revenge tale for a lacklustre ex that also happens to be someone that is part of the richest family in town, filled with love and magic. I wasn’t sure if I’d read the rest of the series, but writing this, I’m getting the feeling I will, just to see where the rest of it goes.

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver is a YA, and is ultimately a coming out story, with re-found family, with parents that are terrible (terrible parents kick their kids out of their homes for being non-binary, queer, or basically anything, I don’t make the rules, that’s just facts,) and a lot of love.

New to me in February was a spicy demon romance novel – That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming, and after many recommendations for this one, I’m glad I picked it up despite it not being my usual scene. It was delightfully silly, had very few morally ambiguous characters (which can be very very nice) and yet at times still explored some deeper philosophical questions. It’s salacious though, and graphic, and perhaps not my cup of tea, but it was fun and perfect for when I read it.

This months nonfiction books included A Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia Butler by Lynell George, which I talked about on tiktok this month. Another was Mycotopia: Citizen Science, Fungi Fanatics, and the Untapped Potential of Mushrooms by Doug Bierend, which I listened to as my night time relaxation book. I think my favourite fungi book is Merlin Sheldrake’s magnificent Entangled Life, but Bierend’s book covered some interesting technologies and initiatives being covered.

Other books.

• Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne – a spicy pride and prejudice retelling. truly silly and illogical in ways that troubled me afterwards. Anyway, as much as it troubles me to link to goodreads, this review (not written by me) sums up how I feel about it.
• Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp – this is the start of a series of mysteries with a magical element, and featuring murder. Sort of like a cozy Dexter that makes pies? I don’t think I’ll be going back to it.
• A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys – it’s a solar punk first contact scenario, but I didn’t enjoy it for a variety of reasons that might be me specific.

E-ARCS this month courtesy of Netgally, and their respective publishers:

• The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher (cute, but sad, but also wholesome) (see on storygraph)
• The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty (Shannon Chakraborty can do no wrong. Loved it) (see on storygraph)
• The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi (I liked this one, it was weird and moody, with ornate prose that I found entirely enjoyable.) (see on storygraph)
• The Book of Rain Thomas Wharton (I really couldn’t get into this past the first few chapters. Started off strong.) I’m debating whether to review it, since I’m so unenthusiastic about it.

So how about you, have you read any good books lately?

I started the year off reading Theodore Sturgeon’s More than Human, mostly because he was one of Octavia Butlers Mentors and one of the Read Harder Challenge’s for this year was “read your favourite authours favourite book” but I realized later that her favourite book was likely Pilgrimage by Zenna Henderson since it was a book Octavia Butler often gifted to friends.

Incidentally, it was somewhat challenging to find a copy of it – but I did make it to the Merrill Collection of Science Fiction in the Lillian H. Smith Library in Toronto so I got to take a look at the book. It’s a non-circulating copy, which turned into a great excuse to visit the collection and take a peek at the current exhibit they have called “Speculating Women – Pioneers of the Fantastic” which is on until April.

I sat in the library and got the gist of the book, but I managed to find a digital copy so I can give it my full attention at some point.

The thing I love about reading challenges is that when I feel like reading something, but am not really into whatever is on my TBR (to be read) I can take a look at the challenge lists and see if anything in particular resonates at the moment, but also that sometimes I can see if a book I read without a challenge influence fits within the parameters. It

Other Read Harder challenge books I’ve read were:

• Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin – (Read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author)
• Crumbs by Danie Stirling (Read a completed webcomic).
• Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands Kate Beaton (Read a graphic novel / comic / manga if you haven’t before; or read one that is a different genre than you normally read)
• Widowland by C.J. Carey (Read a book you know nothing about based solely on the cover. – which was a pity, because I learned after the fact this novel was written by a TERF, so I wont be reading any further.) I also read it because it was on the Philip K Dick Awards longlist.

Other books I’ve finished this month:

• Upgrade by Blake Crouch
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi (part of a trilogy)
• Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson with Eugene Yelchin
• The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau (Book 2)
• Ship Wrecked (book 3 of the Spoiler Alert series) by Olivia Dade
• An absolute obsession with all of the published Vampire Knitting Club books by Nancy Warren (which I’ve unfortunately finished – though a new one came out)
• When We Had Power by Susan Kaye Quinn
• The Seventh Wife by T.Kingfisher
• Africa Risen a short story collection by multiple authours.
• Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
• Greenwood by Michael Christie
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
• Autonomous by Analee Newiz

Highlights

For me the top three standouts for the month were nice in different ways:

Greenwood by Michael Christie is a multigenerational saga that follows several people connected by a private island off the coast of British Columbia. I was pulled into the story from the beginning when introduced to a botanist working as a glorified tree park tour guide after global climate collapse made trees, and especially old growth trees, a rarity. The story was woven in a really lovely way, where the perspective would shift in time or character, but in every case there was this feeling of sadness imbued in the work – which I’m not normally inclined towards picking up, but in this case it was very well done. It’s one of the short listed Canada Reads books this year.

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi took a bit to get into, but I’m glad I came back to it after putting it down last year. It’s a story of identity, secrets, revolution, and privilege in a society separated into classes by blood types. It ended up going to places I did not expect, and it was a pleasant surprise. I’m glad this is part of a trilogy, because I’m curious where the authour and story will take me next.

Legends and Lattes was a slow and steady cozy fantasy novel with orcs, elfs, succubi, baker rats, and the steps towards opening a coffee shop, and I liked it – some people aren’t looking for chill vibes with minimal strife, and so for them, I figure they should pass on this one, but I was really feeling something cozy and soft after some heavier books, and this stood out as a new and potentially interesting direction for fantasy novels. It wasn’t full of grande battles (just a little bit of tension)

I am looking forward to a mix of book types in February – I’ve already found this month’s Cozy Witchy Mystery books, Nine-Lives Mystery’s by Danielle Garrett featuring a sassy cat called Seline, and I have an e-ARC that received high praise I’m looking forward to taking a look at.

When we were back in Toronto recently, one of the places I had been curious about was Soy Boys in Church Wellesley Village. I enjoyed their cheeky name, as you might know the term can be used in the pejorative for men that do not meet certain pseudo ideals of masculinity, and they sell vegan things in Church Wellesley Village which is in Toronto’s Gaybourhood – anyway, I’m team take back all the pejorative names and make them shine.

They do vegan burgers and soft serve, and are open super late. They opened earlier in 2022, and I’ve kept hearing good things – but it was time to find out more.

The Soy Boys menu is simple, which makes it a lot easier to choose something, and it’s clear they’re good at what they’re doing. I ordered a double burgers, and added plant based cheese to mine. I was feeling nostalgic for long past days when I’d go to a certain arch shaped restaurant as a child, and these are satisfying options for people, like me, with big appetites. The less hungry can go with a perfectly respectable single burger and be happy too.

We got a size of the waffle fries, which were fine and perfectly respectable fries, but despite of my general love of potatoes, fries are not really my thing.

We also modified one of our burgers, and they followed the instructions to the letter without any trouble.

Soy Boys is not wheelchair accessible, and has about 13-14 steps to get in the door. There is a small seating area if you want to dine in, and if you are somewhat nearby, you can get delivery via the usual apps.

Next time on Burger Time: Mavericks (Toronto) or Bring Me Some (Hamilton). I liked both for different reasons – tune in next time to find out more! Or don’t, I am not the boss of you.

Soy Boys

Website | Instagram | 471 Church Street Toronto, ON (map)