#Bastonate

[rosiethorns88]

Dropping the latest Sketch-a-Wish, voted on by my lovely Patreon members for January! Featuring a tense scene from Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo!

Spoilers for Hell Bent below!

This is one of the few examples of me putting in the WORK for the background, only because it's such a character itself. Il Bastone is a real world setting from Ninth House / Hell Bent, and even though they are scant, there were luckily a few interior photos available for me to reference to create the Virgil bedroom, where Alex and Darlington are having a tense conversation in this scene. I took some liberties on the design but a lot of the structures, accents and patterns were either pulled from the interiors or exterior facade of the Anderson Mansion. (especially the stained glass windows and painted tile fireplace!).

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the painting over the fireplace to capture a small world-building segment from Hell Bent that I think has a modest symbolism of Alex's and Darlington's new relationship here. A fun little puzzle for those who want to try to research it!

[kev6425]

Eva Longoria

[klien2000]

Nagchichismisan habang nagwawalwal ang mga bebecakes natin,,, sana walang mag-maoy 🙏🙏🙏

[sweettoothvn]

Coffee Please!

[soeurdelune]

NON MAIS un forum inspiré de scott pilgrim vs the world où tu peux challenger n'importe qui pour la baston même les persos avec qui t'as pas de liens et au quotidien des actions randoms te rapportent des XP tandis que d'autres t'en font perdre et si tu perds tous tes XP c'est game over et tout

[ndostairlyrium]

Critical / spoilers (I'm halfway through act 2) below. You know the drill

That convo with Bellara about the nature of elven gods in which she says "how do we remedy / I feel guilty" and such kinda baffled me, like

Dude, your race has been treated like meat by literally everyone? Just look at Tabris, the alienages, slavery, blood rituals because nobody cares / "their blood is finer than others", and all that jazz

In my native language we'd say "what do you want more, a slice of ass?"

Maybe I picked the wrong option (= "we're not responsible for what they did hundreds of years ago" which was, I think?, the best among the ones I saw on the wheel) but here I thought that the robinhoodification of the mafia was the worst thing :'D

[silverskye13]

Lady Merrewin: You have to make him respect you. Cut off his arm if you have to.

King Eliam the Everlasting, watching from fantasy heaven probably:

[sadlynotthevoid]

Being honest, I haven't watched a single chapter of the human spin off of my little pony. But if there was a crossover of it with og!Cale on it (preferably as the main character, but aceptable as a support character as long as his characterization is not reduced to the role of trash he acted or 'dumb/stupid, hot headed idiot'), I would read it.

Oh, so you say friendship is magic? Well, og!Cale needs friends damn it.

[vynpop]

Ready or Not

By Cara Bastone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

"Eve Hatch lives for surprises! Just kidding. She expects every tomorrow to be pretty much the same as today. She loves her cozy apartment in Brooklyn, close to her childhood best friend Willa and far from her traditional midwestern family, who have never really understood her. While her job is only dream-adjacent, it's comfortable and steady. She knows what to expect from life--until she finds herself literally expecting after an uncharacteristic one-night stand.

Now Eve's loyal friendship with Willa is feeling tense, and it's actually Willa's steadfast older brother, Shep, who steps up to help. He's always been friendly, but now he's ordering her surprise lunches, listening to all her complaints, and is...suddenly kinda hot? Then there's the baby's father, who is (technically) supportive but (majorly) conflicted.

Maybe it's her surging hormones, maybe it's the way Shep's shoulders look in a T-shirt--but Eve starts to wonder if she's been secretly desiring more from every aspect of her life.

Over the course of nine months, as Eve struggles to figure out the right next step in her expanding reality, she learns that family and love, in all forms, can sneak up on you when you least expect it."

Review

There are not enough words to explain just how much I enjoyed this book! A beautiful friends-to-lovers trope that had my heart squealing with joy. Even though I am an enemies-to-lovers kind of girl.

Shep is so wholesome and sweet. Eve is funny and relatable. Being a mother of 3 children, I could only dream of having a man do what Shep did for Eve. He didn't hesitate once! Not once! He was thrilled from beginning to end.

Ethan, the baby's father...I tolerated him mostly. There were so many times I wanted to punch him in the face but the baby had that covered for me. Thanks, little one! You showed him! If you decide to read the book...you will know which scene I'm talking about.

Being pregnant can be such an isolating experience, especially when you don't have someone to turn to. I feel that Cara Bastone captured that experience well. I felt that there could be some tweaking here and there, but I was so in love with how everything played out. I will be checking out her other books as well.

[mercerislandbooks]

Our Favorite Fiction of 2024

Although there is still a month and a bit of 2024 to go, and it's entirely possible that one of us will find another novel we absolutely adore, we wanted to give you, our lovely customers, a peek at the collection of fiction we couldn't stop talking about this year. Our staff is a varied lot with diverse tastes (luckily our customers are just as delightfully quirky) and we hope there's something for everyone in this round-up of titles.

Cindy, Laurie, Nancy AND Caitlin all loved Liz Moore's The God of the Woods, with its historical setting, secrets galore, and rich people doing very bad things. If you're in the mood for a thriller set in the '70's this will satisfy.

As for Table for Two, by Amor Towles, Brad says that the concluding 200-page novella of this short story collection is "worth the price of admission", continuing the story of Rules of Civility. He was also charmed to discover the only published mystery of famed Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne. The Red House Mystery is for those of you longing for a perfect locked room whodunnit from the Golden Age of Mysteries.

For a contemporary thriller, Cindy highly recommends Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, saying, "Lucy Chase, exonerated in the murder of her best friend, is mortified when a popular (and handsome) true crime podcaster opens a new investigation that thrusts her into national and community scrutiny all over again. Moving back and forth between the events that led to the crime and this new investigation, old friendships and relationships are reconsidered. Let the neighborly finger-pointing begin! Again."

Or, if a week on Cape Cod with your adult kids AND your aging parents in the height of summer sounds appealing (or at the least, amusing to read about), Laurie and I both loved Sandwich by Catherine Newman. Funny, poignant, and perfect for book clubs, this is a short book that packs a punch.

My personal top read of 2024 is The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Try this smart and thought-provoking debut if you like time travel, handsome Arctic explorers, and shady government shenanigans.

One of Caitlin's favorites from this year is Small Rain, by Garth Greenwell, a book she calls, "Magnificent! A tender novel about healing, care-giving, and poetry." She also loved Us Fools, by Nora Lange, a heartbreaking yet humorous story about two sisters growing up in the Midwest during the 1980's farm crisis. And check out the testimonials at the front for Caitlin's quote!

Nancy and Caitlin can't stop talking about Fire Exit by Morgan Talty. Caitlin says, "A long kept family secret, inheritance, guilt and mental illness combine into one outstanding novel." While Nancy adds, "I can't say enough good things about this book and author. Incredible writing!"

Becca and I got to buddy read and write a blog about The Spellshop, the coziest of cozy fantasies. This one is for readers who want a warm hug of book with a dollop of whimsy. Warning, it will make you crave toast and jam.

And (in my opinion) our favorite fiction isn't complete without an exceptional romance. Ready or Not, by Cara Bastone was a fantastic, surprise pregnancy, friends-to-love romance. I absolutely loved these characters and all their emotions. Plus, the audiobook is one of the best I've listened to this year.

Check out the link to see our complete list and, as always, we're happy to give you even more recommendations!

2024: Our Favorite Fiction

Up next, our Favorite Nonfiction of 2024!

-- Lori

[dropboxofcuriosities]

Quand le défi 'qui porte le pantalon' prend une tournure littérale, 1950.

[viviween]

La parola «imbecille»: viene dal latino 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴, che significa «bastone».

Imbecille è, quindi, chi ha bisogno del bastone per camminare, ossia di appoggiarsi a qualcosa d’altro, qualcosa di esterno, che non ha nulla a che vedere con la libertà.

[kev6425]

Eva Longoria

[turrondeluxe]

What if your Kirby was in 2007?

i would Explode

[sweettoothvn]

*Squints*

Winnie stalks who?

2nd image by: @kitskame

[a-vicious-faithless-angel]

Doodle smoodle ploodle dump <3333

----[Tags]