Monat: Dezember 2023

Cat Links book talk

My 2023 reading recap

Posted on pahakeijukainen

2023 was somehow a special year because I finally found back to reading books. I also started buying more books (and of course I haven’t read that many of them, that’s the law. Maybe I’m more of a book dragon than a book worm). Actually I bought so many new books that we had to get a third bookshelf (and then I had to buy even more books so that the shelf wouldn’t look super empty). Yet, my reading list of 2023 isn’t super impressive. Under the cut you’ll find out a bit more, but be prepared: My impressive count of books read in 2023 is 17 (actually 19, but I couldn’t add the two volumes of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne to Storygraph, but that’s fine, because 3 out of those 17 are the Concrete Jungle comics which literally have 20-25 pages each…).

Cat Links concert review, music talk

My 2023 concert recap

Posted on pahakeijukainen

Last year, when I was asked how many concerts we go to on average within a year, I excused the 14 concerts and 2 festivals as an exception because there were so many shows that had been postponed because of the pandemic. Little did I know. I didn’t anticipate what would happen this year, after I quit 2 time-consuming hobbies, out of which one was fairly expensive as well. Things escalated. I went to concerts. I enjoyed it. Join my concert recap of 2023 🙂

Cat Links book review

Book review: F.T. Lukens – In Deeper Waters

Posted on pahakeijukainen

F.T. Lukens has my heart in a tight grip. And it all started with So This Is Ever After, a book I randomly discovered as an Amazon recommendation. When I found a copy in the local bookstore I couldn’t get my hands on it fast enough because the summary had sounded so tempting. And I was hooked. I discovered that there were even more books by F.T. Lukens and started running after an English copy – until there was a sale on English books online and I used the opportunity to order both a copy of In Deeper Waters and Spell Bound. Since then, I had been waiting for the right time to finally read one of those two – and now the time has come and I finally dived into yet another fantastic queer adventure. It took me less than 24 hours to finish the entire book and here’s

Continue readingBook review: F.T. Lukens – In Deeper Waters

Cat Links book review, comic review

Comic review: Bad Omens „Concrete Jungle“ Issues 1-3

Posted on pahakeijukainen

Ohaaaa, the excitement. I’m not so much of a comic reader. I read manga, I read graphic novels, but for some reason I’ve never felt really close to most western comics (despite spending my childhood reading Micky Mouse comics). I can’t say why. But I made an exception when I found out that Noah Sebastian of Bad Omens was involved in creating a comic (at this point I must say that I’d also make this exception for Gerard Way’s comics. Yes, I am a victim to nerdy musicians that turn into comic authors / artists). And not just any comic, it’s actually a Bad Omens themed comic featuring Bad Omens as characters. Why would I not want that? To get these comics in Germany, you either have to do a bit more research or order them from the US. Or you have a very nice Santa Clause (aka my soulmate,

Continue readingComic review: Bad Omens „Concrete Jungle“ Issues 1-3

Cat Links book review

Book review: Gry Kappel Jensen – Forget Me Not (Rosenholm Trilogy 2)

Posted on pahakeijukainen

It feels a little weird to start reviewing a book series with part 2, but it’s been a bit too long ago that I read part 1 to be able to write a review. If you haven’t read part 1, you should not read the review of part 2, because the summary includes spoilers for part 1. Maybe if I ever find the time and motivation to re-read part 1, I’ll add a review of that one as well. But for now I’ll just do part 2 because I finished reading this one very recently.

Cat Links concert review

Concert review: Eisheilige Nacht, PLWM Dortmund, 22 December 2023

Posted on pahakeijukainen

For me, it was the first „Eisheilige Nacht“ ever. On the one hand because I had „forgotten“ about Subway to Sally until they released their new album Himmelfahrt this year, which was an absolute banger. On the other hand, the dates never really fit my schedule. This year though, the date fit, the location fit and the line up made my heart beat faster, as it included Fiddler’s Green, one of my favourite bands for several years now, and Letzte Instanz, one of my teenage loves that I’ve never seen live before. So off I went to the PLWM in Dortmund for my last concert of 2023. … Continue readingConcert review: Eisheilige Nacht, PLWM Dortmund, 22 December 2023

Cat Links book review

Book review: Andreas Dutter – Starlight in our Dreams

Posted on pahakeijukainen

Felix, a young man from rural Austria, moves to Cork for his studies. A big step, as he’s generally a rather shy, insecure young man who is highly influenced by a) his belief in Astrology and the fact that his identity is determined by him being Pisces and b) his childhood in an Austrian village, where people weren’t exactly accepting towards his sexuality. In Cork, he tries to start a new life. He moves in with a girl, Cara, he met online who is just as much (if not even more) into Astrology as he is, and takes up Cultural Studies at the UCC. Right at the beginning, he meets Owen – a guy who seems cold on the outside, but turns out to have a very soft core. In contrast to Felix, Owen deoesn’t believe in Astrology at all. So they start a bet: Felix and Cara will pick dates for Owen and, based on their natal chart, will determine how these dates will end. Owen agrees – and chaos enfolds. … Continue readingBook review: Andreas Dutter – Starlight in our Dreams

Cat Links concert review

Concert review: Future Palace & Envyyou, Helios 37 Cologne, 03 December 2023

Posted on pahakeijukainen

Second to last concert of the year. We’d seen Future Palace as support for Electric Callboy three times during their TEKKNO tour and I was blown away by the energy of this band. And I really wanted to go see them afterwards, but if I remember correctly, their Cologne show was sold out. Good thing they added a bonus show I got tickets for. And I didn’t regret it.

Cat Links concert review

Concert review: TVINNA, Eivør & FAUN, Phantastischer Lichterweihnachtsmarkt Dortmund, 2 December 2023

Posted on pahakeijukainen

The medieval christmas market in Dortmund is truly something else. For several years now, the phantastic atmosphere of Germany’s most beautiful christmas market attracts the big names of the German medieval rock scene (as well as other artists from other genres). As a visitor, you get an exceptionnal experience both market-wise as well as concert wise. To be honest, the line up for each weekend is one of the longest awaited revelations every year for me. Because I can be sure that there will be bangers and that there’ll be must-see shows for me. The only question remaining is usually „How many?“ This year, when FAUN were announced with a special guest, I started a weekly prayer circle that it would be TVINNA. I’ll elaborate more on that a bit further on, but in short: I kept updating the PLWM website every few weeks and actually discovered that TVINNA had

Continue readingConcert review: TVINNA, Eivør & FAUN, Phantastischer Lichterweihnachtsmarkt Dortmund, 2 December 2023

Cat Links concert review

Concert review: Saltatio Mortis & Alestorm, RuhrCongress Bochum, 25 November 2023

Posted on pahakeijukainen

So this show was a double first timer. One I had been waiting for for several years (roughly since 2007 or 2008) and one that I hadn’t known until now that I needed to see them. Given that I came with a „Let’s see what happens, I have no expectations“-attitude, that concert was a very damn good one. … Continue readingConcert review: Saltatio Mortis & Alestorm, RuhrCongress Bochum, 25 November 2023