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1. A Pirate’s Life 🏴‍☠️

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I haven't heard anyone talk about this fantastic cover, but I'm SO excited for this book!

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JOMP day 29

This months favorite(s)

I’ve read 13 books so far this month (hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze 1 more in) but picking just 1 favorite is impossible 😂

Most recent of these reads is The Wicker King and I kinda think it broke me😅

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book recs featuring bisexual protagonists?

!!!!!!!!!! OKAY here we go

my name is n by robert karjel [m]

the young elites by marie lu [m]

the gods of gotham by lyndsay faye [m]

nightrunner by lynn flewelling [m]

the lynburn legacy by sarah rees brennan [f]

whatever by sj goslee [m]

six of crows by leigh bardugo [m]

the coldest girl in coldtown by holly black [f, m]

3 by hannah moskowitz [f]

shades of magic by ve schwab [m]

we are okay by nina lacour [f]

black wolves by kate elliott [f]

in other lands by sarah rees brennan [m]

santa olivia by jacqueline carey [f]

engelsfors trilogy by sara b elfgren and mats strandberg [f]

cut and run by abigail roux [m]

far from you by tess sharpe [f]

chase the sun by nyrae dawn and christina lee [m]

storm season by pene henson [f]

a taste of honey by kai ashante wilson [m]

swordspoint by ellen kushner [m]

coffee boy by austin chant [m]

fast connection by megan erickson and santino hassell [m]

have you seen me by katherine scott nelson [m, f]

history is all you left me by adam silvera [m]

trials of apollo by rick riordan [m]

machineries of empire by yoon ha lee [m]

timekeeper by tara sim [m]

future leaders of nowhere by emily o'beirne [f]

ask me how i got here by christine heppermann [f]

the summer prince by alaya dawn johnson [m]

if you follow me by malena watrous [f]

kiss the morning star by elissa janine hoole [f]

scoring chances by avon gale [m]

maze cheat by br collins [f]

out of focus by megan erickson [m]

a hundred thousand words by nyrae dawn [m]

run by kody keplinger [f]

how to make a wish by ashley herring blake [f]

the girl at midnight by melissa grey [m]

fans of the impossible life by kate scelsa [m]

been here all along by sandy hall [m]

adaptation by malinda lo [f]

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- A WIP INTRODUCTION

GENRE: 'rural' fantasy / ya lit / mystery

TAG: wip. the scorpio girls / wip. tsg

STATUS: planning / writing (first draft)

POV: third person (limited)

- THEMES / TROPES

small town setting / paranormal / eldest daughter syndrome / folklore / magical girl trope / isolation / superstition / death and death mythology / mystery / rural setting / ocean symbology / duty / dreaming & dreams / friendship & family / freedom / anti industrialization / spirituality / lgbt+

- SYNOPSIS

Everybody knows that the Isle after midnight belongs to something else. It hunts the sheep that farmers, too stupid to put their animals away behind iron fences, leave out. It stalks the salt bitten shores and calls and calls and those unlucky enough to answer are never seen again. It walks in the dreams of the Scorpio Girls and they wake up every morning hollow eyed and knowing.

Finch has always lived on St Helena. She's not a Scorpio Girl, doesn't attend the fancy boarding school they put there some time during the 1800's, doesn't dream of death and impossible things. But she isn't like the outsiders either. She has the lay of the land in her bones. She knows not to trust the storm grey waves, knows to lock her door and salt the entrance every night. She's seen the deathmarch at midnight, seen the dead sheep and the bodies left behind when it comes out. She knows that St Helena is haunted and hunted and she knows how to survive. To stay away from the Scorpio Girls or see her own death in their eyes.

But when her brother goes missing the day she pulls a Scorpio Girl out of the waves, Finch might have to break all her rules to get him back.

- PLAYLIST (link to full playlist)

rhiannon, fleetwood mac / that's okay, the hush sound / come as you are, nirvana / devil town, cavetown / come away to the water, maroon 5 & rozzi / radio nowhere, bruce springsteen / scorpio rising, soccer mommy / in the woods somewhere, hozier

- CHARACTERS

FINCH (Reilly Macmillan-Finch)

the guardian; iron knife / kitchen table in the afternoon light / cold hands / pockets full of salt and rowan / the jagged edge of a coastline / old denim jacket worn soft and faded / wind whipped hair / earth and bone / grey eyes like a quiet dawn / instinct made flesh

HENNA (Henrietta Soldair)

the oracle; knee high socks / salt and salt and salt / red sunrise / laughter in the rain / flyaway curls / hand gripped tight / the entire world from the top of a mountain / lightning flash grin / fearless / eyes like umber

AIDAN (Aidan Macmillan-Finch)

the vanished; dreamless nights / ocean fog / longing for somewhere new / dad's straight jaw / checkered shirt / man of the house now too / thousand words, never said / ash on the windowsill / stolen kiss / walk in the night / lost

OLLIE (Olivia Kim)

the scorpio girl; simmering unrest / homesick sick sick / cigarette smoke caught in someone else's jacket / biding time / smudged lipstick / the silence after a song / promise ring / blind faith / running through the lavender fields

RORY (Rory Macmillan)

the innocent; firefly wings / mother's grave / the little yellow house on the hill / watching eyes / secret places / ghosts in the rearview mirror / chasing birds / a jar filling up with baby teeth / dog's black tail / waiting waiting waiting

LAUREL (Laurel Avenport)

the haunted; hunger

- TAGLIST (ask -/+)

@7devills

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“This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story,” she said with a smile.

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Native American Authors of Dark Fiction

Since my Black Horror Writers post was so well-received, I thought it would be a good idea to make a similar list for Native American authors. No Sherman Alexie or N. Scott Momaday here (although they’re good too) – here are some contemporary authors you probably haven’t heard of but who you should totally be supporting. The list is a bit of a mix of horror, sci-fi, fantasy and contemporary fiction, but I’ve focused as usual on darkly imaginative stories. Enjoy! 

Stephen Graham Jones A Blackfeet author of horror and crime fiction, SGJ is both prolific – with more than 20 books to his name – and magnificently talented. You might want to start with Mongrels, which gives a fresh spin on the werewolf genre, or you can skip ahead to this year’s release The Only Good Indians – a heart-pounding supernatural thriller with a classic slasher pace.

Owl Goingback An author of horror and crime fiction for adults and children, Goingback specializes in stories that are high-horror, low-gore. Start at the beginning with Crota, which won a Stoker for “Best First Novel,” or jump to the present with the Stoker-award-winning “Coyote Rage.”

Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing for children and young adults, Smith is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. If you like urban fantasy, you’ll probably enjoy her Tantalize and Feral series, which give you all the shapeshifter/vampire/angel goodness you could ask for. If you’d rather go for something more classically Native, try Rain Is Not My Indian Name, a contemporary coming-of-age type novel.

Cherie Dimaline A Métis writer and activist hailing from Canada, Dimaline considers herself first and foremost a writer of Indigenous stories. Her books aren’t shy about exploring themes of colonialism and genocide – consider The Marrow Thieves, a dark dystopia about Indigenous people who are hunted and harvested for the properties of their bones. Or you might enjoy Empire of Wild, which draws on the Métis story of the Rogarou - a werewolf-like creature with a rich folklore history tracing through the mixed heritage of the Métis people.

Waubgeshig Rice An Anishinaabe writer from the Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario, Rice is a journalist and author of dark fiction. Start with Moon of the Crusted Snow, which is a brooding post-apocalyptic thriller set in Canada.

Rebecca Roanhorse OK, Roanhorse is kind of a controversial listing here. Some critics take issue with the way she portrays fictionalized, fantastical reimaginings of traditional mythology from a culture she is not intimately part of (she married a Navajo man and claims some Ohkay Owingeh ancestry but there’s some dispute about that). But a lot of people (especially young readers) think her books are badass and really give a face to their experiences. I’ll leave it up to you to decide. You’ll probably want to start with Race to the Sun, which is this year’s novel, but Trail of Lightning and Black Sun are much-loved fan favorites, too. If you’d rather just enjoy her writing without venturing into the argument about her use of cultural elements, she also writes Star Wars books.

Darcie Little Badger A scientist and author from the Lipan Apache tribe, Little Badger is a member of the Indigenous Futurism movement, imagining Native characters in sci-fi settings that honor historical and cultural perpsectives. She’s also noteworthy for her LGBT+ inclusion. She’s mostly known for short fiction and comic books, but she does have a novel this year – Elatsoe, set in an alternate version of America filled with ghosts and magic.

Tommy Orange A member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations of Oklahoma, Orange is a pretty new name on the scene. His book There There is more literary, having been a Pulitzer finalist in 2019, so you might not be as into it if you’re primarily a genre reader. But it’s a hard-hitting contemporary narrative twisting together multiple stories, and a downright ambitious debut. Keep an eye on this one.

Daniel Wilson A robotics engineer and New York Times best-selling author, Wilson is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He writes Asimov-style hard sci-fi about robots, which he’s more than a little qualified to do! Start with Robopocalypse, which is an action-packed horror-scifi romp.

Drew Hayden Taylor A Canadian playright and author with Ojibwe heritage, Taylor likes to joke about his mixed-race background. His writing covers a whole spectrum from plays, short stories and even graphic novels. If you’re looking for a book, The Night Wanderer is a good choice – a vampire Gothic set on a reservation.

Louise Erdrich A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Erdrich is widely acclaimed as an author in the Native American Renaissance. Like Tommy Orange, her books are more on the literary side of things, but there’s plenty to enjoy for genre fans as well. For my money, I say start with Future Home of the Living God, which is a dark dystopian apocalypse about evolution running backwards and a woman struggling to keep her baby safe.

As always, reblog with your recommendations and suggestions for any names I left off the list! 

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Sapphic Books List: Pirates 🏴‍☠️

Swashbuckling adventures with some lady loving on deck! ⚔️⛵🌊

Old school pirates:

Uncharted by Alli Temple

The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara

Escape to Pirate Island by Niamh Murphy

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin by Colette Moody

A Pirate’s Heart by Catherine Friend

The Sea Hawk by Brenda Adcock

Shell Game & Beggar’s Flip by Benny Lawrence

Pirated Love & Pirated Heart by K'Anne Meinel

Sky, Grass, and Animal Pirates:

The Forever Sea by Joshua Phillip Johnson

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

The Persephone Star by Jamie Sullivan

The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater

Pirates from the Future:

Compass Rose & Sea Wolf by Anna Burke

The Abyss Surrounds Us & Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie

Comics! 

Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess - 9 books (ongoing)

Happy arrreading!

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List of Books to Read Before You Die

1. Any book you want

2. Don’t read books you don’t want to read

3. That’s it

4. Congratulations you did it

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idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, it’s not because you won’t be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsby’s green light or whatever, it’s because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if you’re wondering what happens when you DON’T develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com

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Announcing the #tbrbusterchallenge2021

Given the overwhelming success of the past year, I have decided to launch the Second (Annual?) TBR Buster Challenge! 

The goal of this challenge is simple: read the books that have been languishing on your TBR shelves.  Some of you may have impossibly long TBR lists. Some of you may have a TBR list that only includes a few books. Maybe you have a physical shelf stacked full of books. Or maybe it’s just an amorphous list that lives in some half forgotten corner of your mind. No matter where you fall on these spectrums, this challenge is for you!

The greatest part of this challenge in 2020 is that everyone was able to fit it to their needs. Some people issued their own personal challenges to focus on specific genres. Others just plucked the next book that interested them from their shelf. Some people plowed through their lists like they were on a ferocious mission. Others read only a handful of books. This challenge is designed to be flexible! 

So why not give it a go? Bust your TBR shelf with me! 

A Basic #tbrbusterchallenge2021 to Get Started

Read a minimum of one book per month that has been languishing on your shelf. Want a more ambitious challenge? How many books do you read per year on average? Try making half of the part of the #tbrbusterchallenge2021. Don’t have time to read one book per month? That’s okay, too! You can pop in and out of this challenge as it fits into your schedule, and everyone will be here to support you :)

Post about the books you read! I am hoping to post mini-reviews every month. Do what works best for you. In 2020, many people posted monthly roundups and that was great!  Do you like taking photos of your books? Post ‘em! Do you like book quotes? Post ‘em! Anything and everything is welcome!

Tag your posts with #bookbanditchallenge and #tbrbusterchallenge2021 so I can see them and show you some love!

My Personal Challenge

Like last year, I will be posting polls every month so that my followers and challenge participants can help pick which books I should be reading. This really helped me last year, and I can’t wait to see which books y’all pick off of my shelves. For a bit more accountability I have set up the monthly themes ahead of time. 

January: Fantasy

February: Romance

March: Science Fiction

April: Middle Grade reads

May: Memoir May

June: Wrap-Up

July: Non-fiction

August: YA reads

September: Historical Fiction

October: LGBTQ reads

November: Contemporary Fiction

December: Wrap-Up

If you want, you can pick a book of your shelves that follows these themes!  (For those that may be new to this challenge, wrap-up is where I am realistic about my likelihood to hit a reading slump and use it to catch up on the top books everyone has selected in the preceding months.)

That’s it! Those are the rules. Hopefully, simple enough that everyone feels they can join in. Together we can help each other read some of those books we’ve all been intending to read.

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21 books I wanna read in 2021

I know I’m kinda late setting this goal, but you know what.. better late than never!

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston

Ironside by Holly Black

Valiant by Holly Black

Tithe by Holly Black

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Scarlett by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer

The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Veneficium by Daniel A. Schulke

Under the Witching Tree by Corinne Boyer

How the King of Elphame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

Under the Bramble Arch by Corinne Boyer

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Instagram: cosyacademia

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Shelf confidence day 12

False God

I can’t wait for book 3 to get here

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“Becoming literate, then, means far more than learning to decode the written representation of a sound system. It is truly an act of knowing, through which a person is able to look critically at the world he/she lives in, and to reflect and act upon it.” — Paulo Freire, Cultural Action for Freedom

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