Hsinju’s Lit Log

blending the worlds of Literature and Engineering

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  • Buy AWAKENINGS!
  • Book Reviews
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • ARC Reviews
  • Bookish
    • Wrap-Ups
    • Memes
      • #5OnMyTBR
      • Top Ten Tuesday
      • WLW Wednesday
    • Reading Challenges
      • Sapphic Saturday
      • Here & Queerathon 2020
    • Book Tags
    • Blog Tour
  • Other Things I Talk About
    • Travel
      • Map of Cities Visited
    • Theatre Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Language
    • Tech
    • Miscellaneous
  • ABOUT
    • About
    • Review Policy
    • Contact Me
  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Starting from Scratch by Jay Northcote

    12th June 2018
    Cover of Starting from Scratch (Jay Northcote)

    Starting from Scratch (Housemates #5) by Jay Northcote

    • Publisher: Jaybird Press, 2017
    • Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
    • Format: Ebook
    • Page Count: 196 pages
    • My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

    accurate trans portrayal, hot sex, awesome people

    Most people were obsessed with genitals. Gay guys were all about the dick and straight guys were all about tits and pussy. It was something you took for granted, a fact of life, until you realised you were trans and then suddenly began to see gender through a totally different lens. Definitions of masculinity and femininity became more flexible, less rigid, and not so focused on body parts.

    This is my first attempt to read a sort-of-erotic M/M romance fiction, and also a first novel with a trans lead.

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    1 Comment
  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Keeping Long Island by Courtney Peppernell

    8th June 2018
    Cover of Keeping Long Island (Courtney Peppernell)

    Keeping Long Island by Courtney Peppernell

    • Publisher: Pepper Books, 2017
    • Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
    • Format: Ebook
    • Page Count: 268 pages
    • My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

    Wow.

    This book deserves so much more attention! I finished it in less than a day and was left feeling very, very loved. It was written in a similar format as The Perks of Being a Wallflower was, as both protagonists dealt with mental health issues by writing letters to strangers, but that is not to say that these books were at all alike in contents.

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    1 Comment
  • Book Reviews,  Nonfiction

    Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

    5th June 2018
    Cover of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo)

    Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls #1) by Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo

    • Publisher: Timbuktu Labs, 2016
    • Genre: Children’s Literature
    • Format: Ebook
    • Page Count: 212 pages
    • My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

    This book had me smiling and close to happy tears on various occasions. It is wonderful to have such a compilation of female individuals’ stories in such plain language. Everyone should read about these wonderful people around the world who are willing to fight the system just to pursue their dreams.

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    No Comments
  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

    1st June 2018
    Cover of The Upside of Unrequited (Becky Albertalli)

    The Upside of Unrequited (Simonverse #2) by Becky Albertalli

    • Publisher: Balzer + Bray, 2017
    • Genre: Young Adult
    • Format: Ebook
    • Page Count: 336 pages
    • My Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5)

    It was an okay yet sweet YA book. I enjoyed some of the scenes but not really the whole plot.

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    1 Comment
  • Book Reviews,  Nonfiction

    Other-Wordly by Yee-Lum Mak & Kelsey Garrity-Riley

    29th May 2018
    Cover of Other-Wordly (Yee-Lum Mak & Kelsey Garrity-Riley)

    Other-Wordly: Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World by Yee-Lum Mak, illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley

    • Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2016
    • Genre: Language
    • Format: Ebook
    • Page Count: 53 pages
    • My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

    Awwww, the illustrations are really endearing and heart-warming! Some of the words are so peculiar yet amazingly accurate about life that they should exist in every language.

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    No Comments
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About Me

Lí-hó!! I am Hsinju (they/she), a Taiwanese book blogger, writer, and full-time grad student in engineering. Here, I mainly review books featuring authentically represented LGBTQ+ characters and/or written by LGBTQ+ authors. You’d usually find me going about life with my heart stuck in the last book I finished.

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