Vacation and Snowflake Challenge #12~!

[nonesensed]

I worked past midnight yesterday BUT I AM NOW ON VACATION!!! I'm having such a chill day today, it's wonderful 💗💗💗 I've gotten some writing done and some cleaning as well. And I finally have the energy to get to another Snowflake Challenge~!


Challenge #12 Create a Rec Countdown. You pick 5 categories of Recs -> You pick which category gets 5 recs, which one gets four, three… and so on.

5 Books
- "The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill" by Rowenna Miller
I love how this story focuses on two sisters in such a realistic way. There's no overly dramatic rivalry, they're not fighting over a man, and they can truly rely on each other even if they don't always see eye-to-eye. Also, there are eerie fairies and people dealing with awful husbands.
- "The Mask of Mirrors" (Rook & Rose #1) by M.A. Carrick
Love this whole trilogy: the characters, the worldbuilding, the magic, the mystery, it's all *chef's kiss* It starts with conartists with hearts of gold trying to scam money from an aristocratic family and then it ESCALATES (in the best of ways).
- "No One Came for Me" av Mary Hollow
Had this recced from my local bookshop, where the author apparently showed up and offered a reader copy that won over their biggest horror fan on staff. I understand why! It's an anthology with a lot of variety, so while I didn't like all of the stories, I utterly adore some of them. Very dark, very messed up 😁
- "The Stars Are Legion" av Kameron Hurley
Speaking of dark and messed up, I adore Kameron Hurley's writing, and this is the first book I read of hers. An amnesia mystery plot set on a biotech spaceship with design inspiration from H. R. Giger it's definitely not a story for everyone, but if you're into darker settings with hopeful undertones, I highly recommend! (Oh, and if I remember correctly, all the characters go by she/her pronouns).
- "A Taste of Gold and Iron" (The Mahisti Dynasty #1) av Alexandra Rowland
To end on a lighter note, if you're looking for a "royalty/bodyguard-enemiesish-to-lovers" combined with a political-intrigue-mystery story, I highly recommend this one!


4. Visual stories (comics, manga & illustrated books)
- "Labyrinten"/"The Labyrinth" av Simon Stålenhag
I love Stålenhag's art and the eerie atmosphere from most of his worldbuilding. This story is one of his darkest ones thus far, set in a post-apocalypse, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wonderful ominous slowburn~
- "Monstress" av Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda
Cosmic horror, beautiful art, mystery and interesting worldbuilding - what's not to love? Weeeell, I guess the very graphic violence in this isn't for everyone, but no comic ever is 😅
- "Vei" av Sara Bergmark Elfgren & Karl Johnsson
A two volume comic set in a fantasy version of the past where the Norse Gods are real. At the start the story, it did appear rather cliché to me but that was quickly averted.
- "Witch Hat Atelier" by Kamome Shirahama
Everyone and their dog is reading this ongoing manga, but I still can't help gushing about it 💖 The reason I started reading it was actually this video about its art design, and what kept me reading is the plot, the characters, and the fact that I can read a comic/manga with a main cast of children WITHOUT FEELING LIKE A CREEP. It's rather sad that I'm impressed by bath scenes that don't sexualize kids, but here we are.


3. Youtubers
- Books 'n' Cats
Literature analysis and discussions, often of horror stories, with a cat! (A person is also there 😉)
- Princess Weekes
I enjoy her media analysis, whether I've partaken of that media or not.
- WritFinch
Interesting worldbuilding channel with beautiful art!


2. Games:
- Bleak Spirit
Fun and easy storytelling game with strong Elden Ring/Dark Souls/Bloodborne vibes. Be as eerie and mysterious in your vague storytelling as your heart desires 😁
- Candela Obscura
Speaking of eerie and mysterious, why not gather up a group of investigators and deal with cosmic horrors from beyond~?


1. ME~!
Since part of the challenge is to rec ourselves, if you want to find my writing you can read my original works over at booksabaking and my fanfiction at Nonesensed. I also have a writing Tumblr where I occasionally post artwork I've commissioned for my stories, quotes from my stories, links to stories, etc etc -😊

So hyped for writing right now! I'm rereading a number of my WIPs and having fun outlining and tweaking them. Hoping to get something actually finished before Monday, but don't want to jinx things *knocks on wood*

Comments

[flo_nelja]

Thank you for the recs!
Has the "Vei" comics been translated?

[nonesensed]

You're very welcome! And yes, "Vei" has indeed been translated into English. My Storygraph automatically sent me to the Swedish edition and I didn't even think about it before I linked, whoops 😆

[tjs_whatnot]

Ohhhh! I'm definitely checking out some of those books! And also your original fiction, w00t! YAY for recs!

[nonesensed]

Huzzah, I hope you find some of them to your liking! Would love to hear what you think about them (books, my writing, or both) whenever you might end up reading them, but no pressure 💖 Oh, and if you have any specific dislikes, squicks or tropes you'd like to avoid, let me know and I'll wrack my memory to see if there's anything in in my recs or writing you might want to opt out of 😊

[scintilla10]

Yay for vacation! Yay for recs! There's lots that's new to me, so I'm excited to check some of these out. :D

[nonesensed]

Yay and huzzah! 🎉 Vacation was great 💖 And I'm glad I could bring new recs for you to explore 💖💖💖 Would love to hear what you think about whatever it is you check out (but no pressure if those things end up not being your cup of tea 😊)