Chessa
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chessakat.bsky.social
Chessa
@chessakat.bsky.social
580 followers 1.2K following 93 posts
She/her. Public librarian, voracious reader of genre fiction, women’s barbershop baritone, enthusiastic cook & eater. In the rolling hills of SE WA state. Feminist, progressive.
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chessakat.bsky.social
FUN AT PARTIES by Jamie Harrow out 9/16/2025 from Dutton at @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social . Fun road trip romance! The reason for the road trip requires a bit of suspension of disbelief, but the trip is fun and so is the romance. Work/life balance, self-worth - all good themes. #ewgc
Illustrated book cover. FUN AT PARTIES by Jamie Harrow. A white m/f couple sit atop a car with a cityscape in the background. She is in athletic gear and has a blonde ponytail; he is in a blue hoodie with brown hair. The night sky is the backdrop.
July 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
SECRET NIGHTS AND NORTHERN LIGHTS by Megan Oliver. Out from @berkleyromance.bsky.social 11/18/2025. Another great travel romance - family friends and first loves reconnect on a work trip to Iceland. Made me want to recreate their travel itinerary! #ewgc
Illustrated book cover for SECRET NIGHTS AND NORTHERN LIGHTS by Megan Oliver. A man and woman in warm clothes embrace in the foreground with a lake, mountain range, and aurora borealis in the background. A camera on a tripod is to their right.
July 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
EVERY STEP SHE TAKES by Alison Cochrun out 9/2/25 from @atriabooks.bsky.social Super loved this queer romance set on Portugal’s Camino de Santiago- adventure romance is really having a moment! All the feels for these two, even if I did want to shake them to just tell each other how they felt! #ewgc
Book cover for Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun. A blue background. A yellow window with buildings and boats on the water through the window. Two women sit at a cafe table leaning toward each other as if in deep conversation. Illustrated cover.
July 3, 2025 at 8:36 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
EW, IT’S BEAUTIFUL by Joshua Barkman out 7/15/25 from @andrewsmcmeel.bsky.social I laughed so hard I cried and completely alienated my family by making them stop to read comics the entire time I was reading this darkly hilarious collection! #ewgc
Book cover for the book Ew, It’s Beautiful: a False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barman. Mustard yellow background with black text. 2 Black crows peer at the reader from the right bottom corner of the image.
July 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
PLAY NICE by Rachel Harrison coming out 9/9/25 from @berkleypub.bsky.social LOVED this haunted house book that’s really about family, grief, and memory - @rachelharrison.bsky.social is always a slam dunk for me! #EWGC
An illustrated cover for the book by Rachel Harrison PLAY NICE; a purple haunted house with creepy imagery like spider webs and a demon tail wrapped around the house; pink and black accents.
July 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
Backyard lettuce season+ lilac season = 😍
A photo of freshly picked lettuce in a colander with a high structure garden bed in the background A fenced corner of yard with a raised garden bed with rhubarb growing, a medium sized yellow dog, and a hillside of lilac growing beyond the fence and blooming
April 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
PREPARING TO BITE by Keiler Roberts - out 5/13/25 from @dandq.bsky.social I found this browsing Edelweiss and cackled through the entire thing! A series of one page comics, it could seem mundane, but it’s so acerbic yet extremely human and relatable. Highly recommend. #ewgc
Book cover of Preparing to Bite by Keiler Roberts - illustrated. A middle aged woman with long brown hair sits at a table sewing a teddy bear back up as her puppy stands at the table watching.
April 3, 2025 at 8:46 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
FLIP by Ngozi Ukazu out 9/23/25 from @firstsecond.bsky.social Ukazu is an absolute auto-read for me - her graphic novels are SO funny and full of heart. This one is more introspective and existential, but I swung wildly between giggling and feeling deeply for the MCs. A fantastic read! #ewgc
Cover for the graphic novel FLIP by Ngozi Ukazu - illustrated. A black girl with short hair in a low ponytail and blue eyes lifts a mask of a white boy’s face off her own face.
April 3, 2025 at 8:42 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
THE WITCH’S ORCHARD by Archer Sullivan - coming out 8/12/25 @stmartinspress.bsky.social
Do you like the Reacher TV show? Do you wish it was headed by a female PI and set in Appalachia? Do you like creepy & vaguely threatening things like Applehead Dolls? Check out this great mystery. #ewgc
Book cover of The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan - a very close up shot of an apple tree, looking both a little frozen and bearing apples.
April 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
ZOMROMCOM by Olivia Dade coming out 8/5/2025 from @berkleyromance.bsky.social I *love* a genre mashup, and this mixes paranormal romance with comedy with zombies and it is a LOT of fun! Clearly the start of a series, and I’m looking forward to the next installment. #ewgc
Purple book background with zombie hands reaching toward the center where two people stand - a tall blonde man holding a long sword, dressed in all black; and a shorter, plumper woman with brown hair wearing a white tank top and hot pink overalls holding a machete - the characters are holding hands with their backs to each other, ready to fight off zombies!
April 3, 2025 at 8:34 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
#EWGC THESE SUMMER STORMS by Sarah MacLean out 7/8/2025 from @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social MacLean’s first foray into contemporary romance, although this reads more Women’s Fiction (a weird genre distinction, but iykyk). This was HIGH DRAMA and rich people problems, so ymmv. I did love the romance
March 6, 2025 at 10:08 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
#EWGC FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS by Marisa Kanter out 5/6/2025 from @celadonbooks.bsky.social I really enjoyed this friends to lovers romance! Their marriage makes too much sense on paper, but can they let themselves face the truth about their feelings? Great inclusion of dealing with family trauma.
March 6, 2025 at 10:05 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
#EWGC SWEPT AWAY by Beth O’Leary. A hilarious and kinda absurd premise produces very fun results! I enjoyed the time on the boat the most - it goes a litttttle off the rails once they are back on land, but still a very enjoyable read! Out 4/1/2025 from @berkleyromance.bsky.social
March 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
#EWGC SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME by Abby Jimenez out from @littlebrown.bsky.social 4/1/2025. A fast and furious romance complicated by a move to care for a mother with dementia. Extremely heartfelt, with real barriers the protags must overcome to be together.
March 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
YA horror novel HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER by Justine Pucella Winans is SUCH a fun, heartfelt ride. The mystery kept me guessing, the sweet teenage romance is swoony, and you can’t help but root for CJ and her family. Out 3/11/2025 from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social #ewgc #booksky💙📚
Book cover for the YA horror novel HOWT TO SURVIVE A SLASHER by Justine Pucella Winans. A scary person wearing a red-eyed wolf mask and hoodie brandishing a knife takes up the top 2/3rds with an orange yellow sun image behind him. He is chasing three teenagers, running toward the reader through a neighborhood. On the left background, a teenage boy wearing a blue t-shirt runs, holding the hand of the main character in the front, a non-binary teenager with long blond hair and glasses, wearing a white-t-shirt and jeans. A teenage girl wearing a long sleeved orange t-shirt and jeans is on the right, looking behind her as she runs from the wolf man.
February 6, 2025 at 9:41 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
After putting off finishing it for weeks because I didn’t want it to end, I finally finished the graphic novel SPENT by Alison Bechdel and it was SO FUNNY and so real and I can’t wait for everyone to scream about it. Out 5/20/25 from @harpercollins.bsky.social #ewgc
Book cover for the graphic novel SPENT by Alison Bechdel. Sky blue background. Text: Author of FUN HOME Alison Bechdel SPENT: a comic novel. Two women with short hair on the cover. One has short brown hair, a pink bandana across her forehead with matching pink glasses, a blue t-shirt with a yellow polka dot apron (house dress??) over it; standing next to the author’s rendering - short grey hair with wire-rimmed glasses, wearing a white button shirt under blue overalls with a red hoodie sweatshirt over it. She is holding a pitchfork, and both are making vaguely “American Gothic” expressions, while it’s implied that the author is taking their selfie.
February 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
Finished up FIRST-TIME CALLER by BK Borison last night, and what an absolute DELIGHT. Loved the strong sense of place in Baltimore, and the supporting characters are so fun and well-drawn. Out next week, 2/11/2025 from @berkleyromance.bsky.social #ewgc
Cover for the novel FIRST-TIME CALLER by B.K. Borison. Peach half background on left, pink on the right. Male protagonist in his late twenties, brown hair, button down shirt with a note peeking out of the pocket, and jeans and tennis shoes, with headphones on - connected by a cord to the phone the female protagonist on the right is holding to her ear, same age with long auburn hair, wearing a pink top and jeans with tennis shoes. They face away from each other while sitting on an old fashioned radio with an “On Air” sign hanging between them.
February 6, 2025 at 9:25 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
January was a good reading month - luv 2 escape reality right now 💀 #booksky💙📚
Storygraph reading calendar showing how many pages I read each day in the month of January. Progress for these books included: The Roommate by Rosie Danan, Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older, Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings, How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans, and Spent by Alison Bechdel.
February 2, 2025 at 5:21 AM
chessakat.bsky.social
Cooked up a pound of @ranchogordo.bsky.social Garbanzos using my favorite Master Beans recipe from Molly Baz’s Cook This Book and they are so goooooood (used shallot, garlic, cilantro, leftover diner breakfast ham, parm rind, and dried chiles). Now to update the leguminati spreadsheet! 😂
An enameled cast iron pot with cooked garbanzo beans, shallot, garlic, chiles, cilantro, ham, and cooking liquid)
January 25, 2025 at 11:34 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
Just finished Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings - super cute contemporary romance with a snarly and snarky FMC a swoony and emotionally intelligent male love interest, set in the content creation world. Very funny! Out 8/5/2025 #BookSky
A hand drawn pink background with four houseplants - all behind 9 squares cut out for book covers. 4 books are filled in: The Roommate by Rosie Danan, Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older, and Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings.
January 25, 2025 at 3:36 AM
chessakat.bsky.social
Behold! My spreadsheet nerdery crossing over with my #RanchoGordo nerdery to produce the dream document
A screenshot of a google sheet listing a bean variety, the color of the bean with the cell color changed to that color, type of bean, what it’s good for, when it is best by, and a second column for multiple bags
January 25, 2025 at 12:54 AM
chessakat.bsky.social
Scout says hang out in front of a fireplace if you feel like it
A black cat lounges half in a cardboard box on a white scratch mat in front of a fireplace
January 23, 2025 at 6:46 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
The peace I feel being off Facebook and Insta this week
A blissful black cat with her eyes closed in a circle in a sunbeam on red sheet
January 21, 2025 at 8:57 PM
chessakat.bsky.social
Day 10 (final!) of #LibFaves2024 : MOONBOUND by Robin Sloan @fsgbooks.bsky.social

My favorite read of 2024! If you love your fantasy with a big pinch of science fiction and your SF with a healthy dose of whimsy, please pick up this EPIC book! Epistemology, multi-dimensional thought, quests, oh my!
Illustrated cover of the book MOONBOUND: A NOVEL by Robin Sloan. A view of the sky over the curvature of the earth at the bottom. Dark purple sky gives way to pink sky to orange sky moving down, green earth with blue river at the bottom of page. A tear through the pink sky coming off the end of a tiny rocket ship heading toward earth - the night starry sky and moon peek through the tear.
December 19, 2024 at 12:51 AM
chessakat.bsky.social
Day 9 of #LibFaves2024 : BURY YOUR GAYS by @chucktingle.bsky.social @macmillanlib.bsky.social

An absolute romp of a book! Takes on corporate greed and queerness in media, all while scaring the pants off the reader in a very unsettling way! Chuck Tingle is a national treasure. Want this movie!
Book cover for BURY YOUR GAYS by Chuck Tingle. Black background. “Chuck Tingle” in large pink letters. “Bury Your Gays” in large font, with sunset colors with palm trees. A bloody sledgehammer crosses over the cover diagonally. “You can make a killing in Hollywood” in yellow small letters at the bottom.
December 19, 2024 at 12:43 AM