#‘novels I’ve read this year’

[impaladin]

redraw? study?? of scarlet from the back of the limited edition tdp, because i’m obsessed with her expression/eyes on there. joy ang’s scarlet my beloved

speedpaint and comparison under the cut

[novelconcepts]

As gently and politely as I can put this: that post I made about outliving him is meant to be an anti-suicide affirmation. It is not meant to be a blinders-on assessment of reality, of the future boiling down to whether one man lives or dies. It is meant to reassure myself and everyone else that the horrors come, and the horrors go, that nothing is permanent, that hope persists with split knuckles and blood on its teeth. Things are rough. Things will likely get rougher. My eyes are open to that, but in the end, the first thing they want from us is to roll over, surrender, die. And I will not be granting that wish. I deserve to be here. You deserve to be here. We deserve to see the sun rise. And it will. I promise.

[itspileofgoodthings]

my seniors have been so quiet all year and it’s been fine cause we’ve had a lot of writing/research to do but I need them to talk to me now so i was hit by a bolt of inspiration two days ago and I made them all tell me their comfort level with sharing aloud, rating themselves on a scale of 1-10. I then averaged the class score and they’re a 4.5. I then told them yesterday we needed to raise the score the tiniest bit. And the 1’s and 2’s didn’t need to be 10’s just maybe 3’s and 4’s. And they tried! They talked more 😭

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

Thinking about how for about a month my favorite part of going to the movies was seeing the trailer for queer. like yea girl i think you might like that movie a little bit. wait while we’re here i have a question

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Sword of Kaigen

standalone fantasy set in a rural mountain village at the edge of an empire that still holds traditional values, with families of powerful water/ice magic warriors

follows a powerful young heir who begins to question his beliefs about the empire when a new boy comes to his village from the city

and his mother, a housewife who has tried to forget her youth as a warrior and vigilante in the city since she moved back home to a loveless marriage

when there’s a violent attack on their village that they’re unprepared for, everything changes, and she has to embrace her old skills to protect her family and people

[raddestrose]

I kind of want to change my profile picture but have like no idea what to change it to.

Like a joke one, or not, but alas I do not know

[micamicster]

Hiiiiiiii,

I was wondering if you or followers have good reading recs( preference for a published novel but a good fanfic also appreciated). I let Big corporations win and am now trying to avoid the endless scroll but am finding that I’m in a bit of bind to find something that’s scratching the itch and I refuse to regress back into binge reading YA(which is fine! But I believe that there must be a good story even if the protagonist goes to work sometimes) ((also extra preference is NYC is a main character bc I refuse to get a new personality))

I was trying to sit on this ask until I had more to offer you because my brain is completely fried and I’ve forgotten everything I’ve read in the last couple of years other than like. Moby dick. Which does not remotely meet your standards. However I don’t think my brain is likely to get less fried any time soon so I’m going to throw this out to my followers in hopes they can be more helpful than me!

For a couple of suggestions the first book that came to mind was The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker, which is a lovely story about two fantasy creatures crossing paths in turn of the century New York. It is very deeply about the Jewish and Syrian immigrant communities in manhattan and illustrates their world and experiences through the ultimate fish-out-of-water stories of their non-human leads. It is slower paced so it may not be for everyone coming from YA though. Another fave is the girls at the kingfisher club by Genevieve Valentine, a fairytale retelling of the 12 dancing princesses set in jazz age new york. These characters do not have jobs lol. Shorter and quicker than the previous rec, this story focuses on the relationships between the sisters but has a central romance I really enjoyed as well. The next one is not set in new york but when I was younger and transitioning into adult fiction I remember barbara kingsolver being a great entry point. I would recommend The Bean Trees, which is about a young woman striking out on her own through the southwest only for someone to abandon a child in her car. I haven’t read it in years so I’m not sure how it holds up but I remember it being very readable with an engaging cast of weird female characters! Also not set in nyc but one of the few contemporary novels I enjoyed in the last couple years was station eleven by Emily st john Mandel, which is sort of a loosely connected cast of characters and vignettes about art and humanity in the post-apocalypse.

Anyone else with recs for my anon?

[romantichopelessly]

thanks for the tag, @cabeswaterdrowned !!

the game: post 9 books you want to read in 2025.

tagging @the-fab-fox @sunshineandteddybears and anyone who just wants to, most of my close mutuals aren’t really readers.

[devilsskettle]

i think i'm finally gonna read house of leaves wish me luck

[mabaris]

I know it’s probably just my age and I’m Too Young To Possibly Get It and You Had To Be There but I’ve always kinda rolled my eyes whenever people talk about how joss whedon was some titan of nerd media and everyone loved his work

avengers came out when I was 13 and I thought that was. all right. at the time, everyone on the internet was nostalgic for firefly, so I watched that and found it extremely underwhelming, and wasn’t interested in seeking out more of that writing. but it is inescapable huh

[dearmyloveleys]

just curious, do yall still want/are interested in another translated version of the mdzs original text? I’m fully fluent in English, love books, write fiction myself (graduated with a minor in creative writing as well), and 80% fluent in written and spoken Chinese. If I may, I can offer a more writerly/authorly + detailed (definitely not in the way of more embellished) interpretation and formatting translation of the og text which I feel that the Seven Seas ver is lacking. But I will probably need one or two others’ help in proofreading and cross checking translations!

[beryytiredlilyrice]

I feel like there was a positive correlation between how bad this year was and how much danmei and mlm books I read. Things getting worse on the x-axis, # of novels on the y-axis

[mossiestpiglet]

Just finished The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and this might actually break whatever mental block was stopping me from reading novels all these years???? Did y’all know books were good???????

[itspileofgoodthings]

idek why but this is Peak Romance(TM)

[mxtxfanatic]

Book of the Week: The Times Spent in Pretense

Author: Butterfly's Shadow Beneath the Moon/Yue Xia Die Ying (月下蝶影)

Genre: ancient setting, court politics, josei

Rating: T

My Synopsis: Hua Liuli, only daughter of two famed generals, wants to be known as the most beautiful sickly beauty in the empire. Crown Prince Ji Yuansu wants to put off working himself to death on the throne for a few more years. Emperor Changlong just wants people to stop treating him like he's stupid while he celebrates the return of his two closest friends and their family to the capital. When you have your priorities straight, who cares about the petty schemes of those convinced they live in a dogblood drama?

My Actual Review: Unlike a lot of the other books under this author, this novel is not a revenge fantasy and, as such, it is actually lighter than the others on suspense and drama (lighter, not completely absent, as this still involves court politics.) The fact that this book satirizes the genre by subverting expectations (no, the emperor isn't paranoid enough to betray his most loyal subjects, no the crown prince won't be dethroned, no the famous general won't be sent to his death) is a breath of fresh air. And the comedy is fantastic, I found myself smiling and laughing almost every chapter, which made the parts where the story gets unexpectedly somber all the more poignant. The characters in all their different positions and goals work so well together. I never really felt like the cast was too big or that anyone was extraneous. Also on that note, pretty sure like half the princes are autistic but present in completely different ways. Wild. As per this author's MO, there are content warnings for the usual underage marriage, age gap, and such.

Translation: complete

[shortson]

currently reading northanger abbey and i keep having to Take a Break because i feel such intense intense anger towards john thorne I Fear I Need Something Drastic to Happen to Him