#House of Furies Audiobook

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s6 episode 1 thoughts

season 6!!!! my goodness, how the time sure has flown!! i started this whole project in may of last year, and now we are in january! so much has changed! but other things have stayed the same. 

i have heard mixed things on s6, so i am a bit nervous. but i am excited to be reunited. 

i am also curious to see where exactly the movie was set after the finale of s5. has it been a while, or only a few days? has our little friend gibson been missing this whole time? what about diana- did she pull through? will we get to know more about her?

we need to microchip gibson so we never lose him again. 

(i felt vindicated when people told me diana isn’t a fandom favorite, LMAO. i’m usually the girl that goes to BAT for overhated female characters, but she just seemed too intentionally antagonistic towards scully)

so… this episode shall deal with our agents going on a hunt. well, they had best be careful! there are a bunch of different aliens and beasts on the loose!

(post-episode thoughts: my fury at mulder is 75% normal juni rage and 25% enhanced by me being sick and emotional, a fact i only put together the morning AFTER i took all of these notes. you have been warned....)

anyway. let us begin!

(previously, on the x files)

(and i STAND by my opinion that CSM has a very soothing voice, okay?!? googling this man so i can see if he narrates any audiobooks)

man, i forgot about mulder pushing spender up against the wall and their feud. ah, spender. i feel bad for him, but that doesn’t mean i LIKE him. 

OH, WE GET TO SEE CLIPS FROM THE MOVIE IN THIS RECAP!! and they are in such high quality in comparison to the DVD i borrowed!! wow. when i watch it again sometime in the future- hopefully not on a DVD from 1998- i cannot wait to see everything so CRISP.

NOT THE KISS BAIT BEING INCLUDED IN THE RECAP LMAOOO

but now let us begin the adventures of s6!

NOOOOO! roush!!! the evil biological company! their truck is out in the desert. and their guys are pissing. 

well. this happens.

sandy is sweating. bro does NOT look good. i know his ass is not making it through the night.

when sandy gets home, he cranks the heat up to 80 in arizona, which is WILD. then he goes to lay on the couch and shiver. 

AUGH!!! his hand is JELLY???? it’s see-through!!! i did not want to look at all of sandy’s veins!!!

is he having an alien baby, too?!?!

his work buddies come to fetch him later. we see a bunch of photos of him in his house wearing a lab coat and doing doctor-y things.

AWW, his coworker called him sandman. don’t make me feel bad for the dude who works at the evil alien biotech company…

BLEURGH. he DID have an alien chest baby virus infection thing. OH, this other guy is SHOCKED!! AND HE HEARS THE ALIEN HISSING AT HIM!!!!!

HE’S GETTING EATEN!!!!! NOOOO!!!! 

RIP this guy :(

YAAAY, the intro!!! felt weird not having it with the movie!!!

and it was shortened, but okay. i’m getting used to that.

ahhh, look at this computer on which mulder is examining something. is he looking at micro film?

OH, the sweet boy, he’s restoring the fragments from the x files!! this makes me sad!! does that mean there isn’t a huge box of floppy disks somewhere containing all of them? because it is the responsible thing to do, making sure you have all your files saved in multiple sources! well, we’re only a few minutes into the episode. there’s still time for one of those to be found

and now he is presenting before a panel. he says the x files were destroyed “several months ago”, which places us on a vague timeline. scully is here!!!!

“i see your renowned arrogance has been left quite intact”, says this dude on the panel, and HEY! mulder literally isn’t even being arrogant at THIS MOMENT, OKAY? plenty of other times he is. but not now, as he is submitting his report on this alien spaceship!!

“i didn’t see men in black” “well it’s a damn good movie” <- LMAO they are BULLYING HIM!!!

scully looks pained. 

NOT THEM GETTING ON HIS ASS FOR THE TRAVEL EXPENSES STOOOOOP BEING MEAN!!!

OHHH NOOOOO!!! he says that scully can prove the whole thing, but she can’t. cut to them fighting in the hallway.

mulder… you’re pissing me off. SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE VIRUS IS OR HOW IT WOULD MAKE ALIENS!!!!!! maybe you should have brought a camera to the arctic. don’t you BRUSH INTO HER SHOULDER AS YOU WALK AWAY!!! you were going to KISS HER like a few weeks ago!!! i won’t tolerate this disrespect. 

CSM is debriefing the syndicate on the arizona alien deaths, saying he made up a cover story and it’s called “blaming it on Native Americans”. classic CSM, world-renowned great guy /s

so, he thinks the arizona guy who gave birth to an alien chest baby accidentally injected himself with the virus, and now the alien is on the loose!!! 

man, the presence of well-groomed man is missed. RIP. this other guy is here, though. so that’s good. i guess.

CSM says he is managing the situation. will he be sent out to test his sniping skills?? can you snipe an alien?

skinner is coming down to see mulder on the computer… NOOO, he breaks the news that his reassignment on the x files has been denied!!!!! 

mulder's all angry, and skinner tries to clarify he’s not arguing with him, but raises the question: “when will you accept that no amount of pressure or reason will bring to heel a conspiracy whose members walk these halls with absolute impunity?” <- ohhh, a very good point…

so they reopened the x files, then denied his reassignment? are they going to assign them to someone else? or just close them again?? will they keep scully on them?

skinner said that the vote was unanimous… he must have been trying not to blow his cover as mulder’s biggest supporter… but i'm sure this still made mulder very sad

so he gets all his stuff up and starts to leave. BUT SKINNER WANTS TO HELP HIM FIND PROOF??? SO HE CAN PROVE THE OTHERS WRONG??

i told you!!!! that man is my uncle.

he says there’s a file on his desk in the old office……. and sure enough, there is.

is this season much darker in terms of screen brightness?

OH SHIT…. why is spender down here in mulder's old office? WITH DIANA??? “diana, back on your feet. i guess that’s the only way you can stab me in the back” <- damn. he's pissed.

woah, what? okay, i was imagining scully staying on the project and spender taking his place, which would obviously be awful, but diana taking his place is like, worse. so now is it going to be spender and diana? instead of mulder and scully? ew.

jump to CSM lighting up in front of a no smoking sign… he’s just fundamentally a bad boy. he’s walking in where some sort of surgery is taking place!!!

he says he needs the patient bandaged and dressed, even though this might kill them. OH SHIT! IT’S GIBSON!!! and he must be in the middle of surgery!!!!!

EAIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY HAVE HIS BRAIN OPEN………….

good lord, i nearly passed out. again, i repeat my grounding mantra: shoutout to the props team.

and he was awake, too………..

poor baby. 

AWWWW, THE AGENTS ARE DOWN IN PHOENIX to investigate the case that skinner left them the files on, and scully WILL remind him that they are violating state laws regarding contamination of a crime scene (she lets out a deep scully sigh, asking “why do i bother?”) yeah. idk either queen.

he sees claw marks on the walls!!! that does not look like it came from some bare hands. scully is not fooled by this claim in the evidence report. 

ooooooo, he finds a claw!!!!!!!!

“is that an animal?” “ain’t rupaul” <- LMAO I’M CRYING????????? 

mulder, i knew you were an ally ✊

(listen, both of those agents are bisexual to me. and maybe ace, too. depends on the day. THAT'S MY OPINION!)

(he hands the claw to scully very carefully <3)

feels wrong to see him in what i think is a polo, but it is hard to tell because the screen is so DARK.

oh yeah, let scully calculate the gestation rate of this hypothetical alien baby. under 12 hours!!! damn!! that is… quick. and also? how could a baby do all this, she wants to know? well. some babies are more equipped for violence than others. i guess. 

oh no! CSM IS HERE!! AND POOR BABY GIBSON, BLEEDING THROUGH HIS BANDAGES!!

please someone lay him down and let him watch spongebob. NOW.

gibson announces that "it" (alien baby) isn’t here. and that he knows CSM wants to kill him if he can’t find the creature. poor sweet little dude. they drive off.

mulder emerges into the daylight, and he does, in fact, have a polo on. but he is asking scully why she won’t believe him. MAYBE IT *WILL* TAKE AN ALIEN BITING HER FOR HER TO BELIEVE, BUDDY!!! DON'T RAISE YOUR GODDAMN VOICE AT HER!!

OHHH, SHE GRABS HIS HAND?? “listen, mulder, you told me that my science kept you honest. that it made you question your assumptions; that by it, i’d made you a whole person”

(okay girl, stay with me here now, but i think he meant YOU made him a whole person, not your science…….. but maybe she had to compartmentalize after nearly kissing him)

“if i change now… it wouldn’t be right, or honest” oh, scully <3 he has never deserved you or your kindness...

he’s being a whiny baby. like, i get it, and i understand. they're taking the x files away! and he needs to prove they are correct about aliens! but “i’m sorry scully, but this time your science is wrong” and walking away… 😒 which problem did that solve?

idk!! i see both of their points!!! this fundamental and ancient conflict is once again playing out, but can we focus less on the hows and whys of the situation and more on the “we need to get our jobs back and be bestest friends forever and ever, and also save that missing little boy and find some answers along the way”? please. consider this viewpoint. for me!

oh, let's go off to a nuclear power plant. again, very dark. noticing a theme here. it’s outside arizona. is that where the alien wants to go?

did they call the guy homer as a simpsons reference…? i see what was done here. well, something in the power plant is off. 

don’t send homer loose into the dark!!! the alien will eat him!!! especially while vague splattering noises are heard!!

CREATURE EATS HOMER……….

agents mulder and scully are on the scene. but so is spender!!!

UGH, he’s so ANNOYING: he basically says “i’m gonna get skinner censured for telling you some guy was murdered, now LEAVE” SPENDER!!! you are PISSING ME OFF!! 

(it made me think of that line from sharkboy and lavagirl: "mr. electric, send him to the principal's office and HAVE HIM EXPELLED!" <- that's what your whiny ass sounds like, spender)

and diana won’t let them in either, saying that it was "just a work accident". oh, so much for caring about the x files, huh? like you claimed in the last episode. you sound REAL invested now /s

scully gets him to come back to the car after he spits some venom at diana (“i hope you know whose errands you’re running”).

however, he says to give him the keys and tells scully to get in the car, and she gives him the most DIABOLICAL side eye LMAO. she is so suspicious of his shenanigans!!!

OH MY GOD, THERE WAS A REASON FOR THAT: SHE FINDS GIBSON IN THE CAR????? he’s out cold and she’s holding his head, calling him “sweetheart” oh my GOD????? 

wait. hold on. i’m emotional. hold on.

they take him to their motel, and she’s trying to smile at him while she trims off his bandages. he IMMEDIATELY READS HER THOUGHTS AND SAYS “frankenstein? really?” and DESPITE KNOWING HE CAN READ HER THOUGHTS, SHE TRIES TO LIE AND MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER.... OHHH, SCULLY

(this is still making me emotional. lying to the kid that can read minds because she doesn't want to hurt his feelings or scare him... knowing that she is the doctor that has to try and make him better, so he cannot know she thinks he looks to be in serious danger...)

he has some infection because they didn’t change his bandages and a fever, ohhhh this poor CHILD

so he ran away when they weren’t thinking about him!!!

scully, do you have antibiotics on you? is that a doctor-ly thing to have in your purse? please fix him. 

OHHH SNAP, HE CALLED HER OUT: “they were using me. because i can communicate with it” “communicate with what?” “you already know. you just don’t want to believe it”

actually such a fascinating narrative choice to have a child psychic call out her own internal lies… he’s too young to blunt his words, so we know they are the truth… getting to see inside what scully truly believes, even if she cannot admit it to herself, through the lens of this sweet angel with his poor infected skull...

(mulder nods his head to the side, indicating to her they must go talk privately)

he wants to take gibson out to find the Creature, but scully says he needs to be in bed under constant medical supervision; he is the evidence for the x files that can prove to the panel that everything they research is real!!

lowkey pissed me off that this boy is suffering in front of them so horribly and mulder wanted to go on an alien hunt.

so, they’re going to sneak him off somewhere. maybe to an alien hunt and then the hospital. but alas, who approaches them in the parking lot?

IT’S DIANA???? she claims to be alone. CAN WE HAVE A BREAKUP LATER???

she tells mulder that she took the assignment to represent his interests, reminds him that THEY found the x files together, and says that they should go find the beast right now. sure. whatever. you go find the beast, let scully doctor the poor boy. whatever. like i care.

he agrees to do just that, which i actually do think is morally wrong, because now scully has to play single mother to this sick boy. what if she gets sleepy and he is stolen from under her, like what happened with diana?

but diana and mulder are off to the nuclear reactor. mulder thinks that maybe the alien baby needs to be warm… maybe to grow?

so scully is with gibson, and he accuses her of only thinking about herself and what she can learn from him. “i’m a very special lab rat”, he says (deep and sad scully sigh)

OHHHH… these two are giving me feelings……….

gibson just wanting to be a normal kid, and scully wanting to take care of this normal kid who is sadly being used for ulterior motives, but also knowing that if she wants to keep her job and prove the x files, that she must test upon him, too... she must have felt so conflicted... and he must have been able to sense that...

meanwhile, mulder and diana are sneaking into a nuclear reactor. i hope they don’t kiss. i don’t wanna see that shit. 

do they have guns? like, good guns? what are they going to hunt the alien with?

he finds a sticky trail… while spooky music plays…. and the wrench from homer (RIP)

bro needs to stop touching mystery fluids.

EUGH he pulls out… guts??? 

but scully calls!!! they found evidence of the virus that she was infected with in gibson’s system!!!

is diana here to just snitch on their progress… with his gut haul…..?

NOOOOO!!! THE DOCTOR APPROACHING GIBSON IS GOING TO HURT HIM??? HE IS KIDNAPPED! AGAIN!!!!!!

SCULLY IS GOING TO YELL AT SOME DOCTORS ABOUT IT!!!!! THREE CHEERS FOR MAMA BEAR SCULLY!!! DON’T TELL HER TO CALM DOWN!!! GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!

the evil guy is taking him away in an ambulance while mulder and diana track the beast. and again, i’d like to know what their game plan is once they find the thing.

gibson is brought to the nuclear power plant as well, being forced around by his kidnapper, who wants to use him to find the alien. and i can barely see what is happening because it is so DARK. 

gibson is being brought into what i think is the nuclear core, where he declares that "it" is here. 

i’m gonna need this gibson fellow to make it through, okay?

mulder is POUNDING ON THE DOOR, telling the evil guy to open it NOW, you SON OF A BITCH!

diana wants to find another way in, maybe, idk, i don’t trust her!!!

AUGH, the alien EATS the evil guy!!! well. deserved, tbh. will the alien please NOT eat gibson, though?

and it seems that diana DID snitch on him??? she pulls her gun on mulder as the cops suddenly arrive??

IT’S TOO DAMN DARK, I CAN’T SEE IF GIBSON WAS EATEN OR NOT!!!

skinner is absent from the hearing in which the agents are being told they must not go near the x files at all, or else they will be immediately dismissed!!! and they are moved to assistant director kersh!!! 

who is this man.....?

i expect mulder to just hand in his resignation papers now.

EW, CSM IS HERE TO SEE SPENDER??? he says he doesn’t want to see him. but CSM congratulates him on handling mulder. and he calls him “son”. 

“simple but extreme solutions” bro is offering to kill him??? no... he says this will not do in such a situation

spender asks if he’s killed men... IJBOL! that is his whole thing, buddy. welcome to this show.

CSM says you cannot kill what a man stands for, unless you kill his spirit. can mulder's spirit be killed?!?!

mulder is back to investigating the scraps of paper from the x files. “it would help if you’d shut the door; it’d make it harder for them to see that i’m totally disregarding everything i was told” <- LMAOOOO

oh scully, always pushed to the side in his mad ahab quest: “everything we were told, mulder” <- YEAH, YOU TELL HIM!!!!!!!!

she thinks that diana is throwing him under the bus (her report makes no mention of gibson!! and lies about the body they found!! also, i think she literally pulled a gun on him when the cops rolled up??), but he INSISTS that she is doing this out of the goodness of her heart 

“and though it may not say it in her report, diana saw it too. and no matter what you think, she’s certainly not going to go around saying that just because science can’t prove it, it isn’t true” 

wait hold on… i’m emotional… that was so mean… why am i genuinely tearing up…?

scully just wants him to trust her…. and he won’t take her files, because he's being stubborn, but they are literally TEST RESULTS that prove his theories to be true……..

the claw matches the DNA from the virus and the DNA from gibson…. 

if it’s true, that means everyone is a little bit of an alien?? oh scully…. look at her…….. sciene geek...

back at the nuclear power plant, it’s GIBSON!!!!! he sees the alien going for a swim in the nuclear water!!!!! yucky. 

it’s hatching………… oh.

the end.

man.

i don’t know if i’m emotional on this fine evening, but i nearly cried at mulder disrespecting scully. how can you say that about someone, that they make you whole, and keep you honest, and then treat them like that? how can you just toss her to the side the minute someone else says what you want to hear?

like. what the fuck! i can’t tell if this is purposeful character development leading up to something or if he is truly being an awful guy. how can he go from trusting her with everything he is- his life and even his death, over and over again- to having a hissy fit because she can't prove the virus was alien? it's not like SHE is the one taking them off of the assignment! she is not the corrupt government! in fact, she knows better than anyone the reality of the corrupt government, considering they 1) KILLED HER SISTER and 2) TRIED TO KILL HER WITH TERMINAL CANCER THAT DAMN NEAR SUCCEEDED?

shakes my fist angrily… i think scully should get to bite him.

she NEVER blows up at him!! even when he deserves it!!! and he has!! a million times over!! but she doesn’t!! it’s his stupid alien nonsense that got her sister killed and nearly killed her!! why does he act like he is the only one who can see some bigger picture?? oh wisest of all men, mulder, enlighten us with your alien theories??? bitch!!! if i was scully, i would have had enough!!! i would need a break from him!!! i would take that reassignment!!!

okay, maybe i’m just really angry tonight. BUT I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE! we were making such good progress in the “telling your best friend you love them” department, that i truly cannot stand this!! you tell him anything he wants to hear and he’ll eat it up!!! sure, sure, this lady that you used to date CONVENIENTLY wants to save the project you just got kicked off of after dedicating your whole life to it. (heavy on the /s) BRO??? LET’S USE A LITTLE BIT OF COMMON SENSE.

grrrr, i’m actually gonna GROWL. i don’t CARE about your inner man angst, you HAVE TO BE NICE TO YOUR FRIENDS!!! she LOVES you and you LOVE HER, so you ought to ACT LIKE IT.

and they took my uncle skinner away from me…

oh, i just know that if i had seen this when it was airing, i would be SPITTING MAD!! i’d be on those discussion forums saying NASTY things!!!

man. i still feel angry.

scully and gibson…. she wants to keep him safe, but also wants to prove her theories, and he suffers because of it… poor baby… how she held his unconscious head, calling him sweetheart; how she screamed at the doctors who ignored her…. god…

see, normally i’d say “give them both a baby”, but right now i’m mad as hell at mulder, and he does not deserve baby privileges.

poor gibson… i hope he makes it out of that nuclear reactor.

also. spender. the most pathetic nepo baby of all time. is he not at all suspicious about why his absent father is suddenly making a reappearance? hello? and the way he just pushes people around with his newfound power? do you think CSM will just use him and then discard him like he does everyone else????

wow. much to contemplate. for now, i must sleep off my rage. stupid mulder in his stupid polo…

spender and diana are literally scully and mulder from shein.

[keyofjetwolf]

A Jet Wolf 2024 Book List

I keep meaning to do this, and as I'm clearly not in the mood to work my actual job today, why not now? WHY NOT INDEED.

For the first time in a long time, I'm making an active effort to read. It's something I enjoy but have let slip away from me over the years, and after finally admitting it wasn't going to just naturally return without putting in the work, here we are. I've also allowed myself to embrace audiobooks, which has been a sticking point I can't explain, but increases my book consumption about a thousand fold. I "read" as I get ready in the morning, while taking my steps, while knitting, before bed, whenever the fuck. It's not yet April and I just finished the twelfth book out of my 2024 goal of twenty, thus proving I was being weird about something for stupid reasons, as is really often the case so you'd think I'd learn sooner, but why make it easy for myself.

Anyway, I like lists, and also foisting my unsolicited opinion on the world. Here, then, is the former, with thoughts on each to eventually follow as I will inevitably continue to not want to do actual work.

Oh, and the first lines thing, too. Because I think it's neat.

----

How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix [first line]

Never Lie, by Freida McFadden [first line]

Sing Her Down, by Ivy Pochoda [first line]

Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty [first line]

The Change, by Kirsten Miller [first line]

Truly Madly Guilty, by Liane Moriarty [first line]

The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin [first line]

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty [first line]

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides [first line]

The God of Endings, by Jacqueline Holland [first line]

The September House, by Carissa Orlando [first line]

The Pallbearers Club, by Paul Tremblay [first line] [thoughts]

What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty [first line]

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë [first line]

The Terror, by Dan Simmons [first line]

The Fury, by Alex Michaelides [first line]

Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng [first line]

Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff [first line]

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee [first line]

If We Were Villains, by M.L. Rio [first line]

The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn [first line]

Paused: Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver [first line]

Currently: The Other Family, by Wendy Corsi Staub [first line]

[goodluckclove]

"literary junk food" reminder?

mm FUCK YOU'RE RIGHT.

Okay so like. I'm calmer now. I woke up, made a green tea, and had my daily Weekend Wife Look (That's when I look at my wife while they're still sleeping and think about how much I like my wife). But yes, I saw something on the internet that upset me yesterday and for some reason I've decided I need to talk about it.

Under the read more, though. I got. Rambly.

First off I should clarify a few things, as this is something I can see a certain type of person using as a way to dub me "anti-intellectual". I am not an anti-intellectual. I consider myself decently intelligent and above the norm in terms of the amount and variety of literature I've read. I won't call myself well-read because that's another label I do think is mostly bullshit. But I've read a lot of the "Smart Person" authors like Kafka and Vonnegut and Camus and Calvino. I tried reading James Joyce's Ulysses like three times and it sounds like something I'd love, but for some reason I can never get past the first 60 pages. I can enjoy shit like Naked Lunch and The Sound and the Fury fine but Joyce consistently exhausts me with his particular brand of Irish Incoherence.

What I mean to say is that I regularly enjoy the type of books - and culture as a whole, really - that on several occasions forced me into conversation with A Certain Type of Person. The kind of person who treats their tastes in art as a moral virtue. Who thinks the failings of society are at least partially due to the fact that not enough people have read and appreciated "The Classics". I actually was pushed towards dropping out of college by an interaction I had with a guy who was in the Master's program I was working towards. He saw I was reading J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey (I like it! I wish Salinger wrote more women) and took it as an opportunity to start raving about his opinions on Catcher in the Rye, a completely separate book I did not bring up at all.

People who do this make me unreasonably angry.

So the thing I saw was using "literary junk food" to talk about people who only read Young Adult fiction. I have so many issues with this that I don't know where to start. Because it plays into a bigger issue, I think. I see people on Youtube talk about the BookTok influencers who say they only read the dialogue in their books, or who complain about how a book has "so much text". They scoff at these people. Laugh at their inability to properly appreciate literature. These people are the problem.

And like. No? No. No, they're not. Some of them might be a reflection of a problem, sure. If a person of a certain age genuinely struggles with a dense book of a certain length, or if they only read books far below their age level, that could be an issue. But it's 100% not an issue with the reader. Much like how in the rising rates of younger people who struggle with fundamental reading skills, we shouldn't blame or make fun of the fucking kids, you weirdos. What? What are you doing? That's so weird. Stop it.

Most people aren't born with an innate love of reading. There are so many factors that can make developing that kind of passion incredibly difficult. Maybe they didn't grow up in a house with books and they weren't read to as kids. Maybe they're dyslexic or something and the fonts of most paperbacks are legitimately difficult to read. Maybe they were never exposed to the kinds of genres and authors they'd really enjoy. Maybe they saw some stupid fucking argument on the internet (Audiobooks aren't real reading! YA and comics aren't real reading! Mmm paperbacks are soo much better than e-readers I just want to shove them in my mouth yummy yummy I am so cool and smart) and decided they'd rather stay away from all of that entirely.

"Oh," the strawman I invent for this hypothetical exclaims, "but the internet exists! You can just look up more appropriate books to read! There's no excuse!"

Hey, Scarecrow I Reanimated Through the Dark Magic of my Rage? Do me a favor and try what you just suggested. I Googled "books for people moving past YA" and found a few lists on the subject, and the books were mainly:

modern novels I haven't read and might be fine

way-old classics that seem thrown in so people would think there was "variety"

some wack shit i'm very confused why people would suggest to those branching out from YA (Dune? The Martian? That's crazy, right? That's crazy to me.)

I was overwhelmed. I imagine if someone was only exposed to YA and saw a bunch of lists like these they'd could easily be discouraged. That is, if they weren't already discouraged by the dipshits online implying they're wronging themselves by enjoying the books they enjoy.

The thing that pisses me off is that Those People who say that aren't entirely incorrect. If someone only consumes one type of art, they are denying themselves a bunch of styles and stories and perspectives that might profoundly change the way they look at the world and at themselves. This applies to the person who only reads dystopian trilogies and romantasy epics, and it also applies to the person who only reads fucking Tolstoy or whatever. It applies to me, as a majority of the fiction I read up until like five years ago was written by men during like the 40s-90's (I don't know why but that ended up being my Era of Choice).

Variety in art is cool and good. If someone feels like they don't have the option to explore different stories, that belief is the issue. The person is not the one at fault, even if their reasoning for not branching out is incorrect. Yes, there are more adult-orientated writers who aren't old white straight men. There are adult-orientated writers that might be more engaging then the ones from the 19th and early 20th century. Not every adult-orientated book is Ripe With Ideas and Philosophical Concepts. There are fiction books written for adults in mind that make their prose as accessible as their dialogue. There are nonfiction books, even, that are written by intelligent authorities with a genuine love for their subject that makes their writing super enjoyable to read and not at all like a textbook.

But also it's not a bad thing if your main genre is young adult fiction. My main genre is probably post-modernism. The only difference between us is that post-modernism sounds esoteric enough that a lot of people won't question it, where as a ton of people feel super comfortable assuming a YA book is lesser. These are usually the same people who assume young adults are inherently unable to grasp complex ideas.

I don't read a ton of YA. At the same time, I will never go as far as to claim the entire genre has nothing to offer adults, because that's an absolutely insane take. That's nonsense. I've read fucking picture books as an adult that touched my heart (Has anyone read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds? Oh god I teared up.). Cynthia Voigt's book Homecoming was an early step in me realizing my mom was abusive. I'm pretty sure Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events played a huge part in my want to become a writer.

"But you moved on," the Scarecrow breathes, voice weakening as the dark magic seeps out from the thin veil of hay and burlap, "adults are supposed to move on and read Grown-Up books."

Yeah man, maybe. There's a lot of shit that adults should be able to do, and people are so satisfied with those milestones of Adult Development that they sometimes forget that age is not the only factor in those things happening. If other reading options aren't presented in a way that seems welcoming and engaging, what are they supposed to do? Just walk to a library and grab the most boring looking book because that might be their only frame of reference for a "grown-up" book? Slog through it like they're in high school again? All to feel worthy in the eyes of someone who publicly condescends what might be the only type of literature they've enjoyed and connected to so far?

Why? Why would they want do that?

Anyways I'm getting hungry and the scarecrow I enchanted has lost its sentience, so I'll cut it short. There are a lot of intellectual pursuits - brilliant artists in a variety of mediums - that I am consistently bummed out that people feel like they can't get into. But I also understand, because a lot of people who like Adult Books or Abstract Art or Improvisational Jazz or Experimental Theater tend to not like the art itself as much as they really enjoy being perceived as a person who likes those kinds of things. And ultimately that's - fine.

That's a fine way to live, Scarecrow Corpse. You're allowed to base a majority of your identity out of truly understanding Infinite Jest or Koyaanisqatsi or Derek Jarman's Blue. But like don't expect that to change or improve the lack of culture you claim to hate so much.

[peachblossom-odyssey]

So I am in love with and obsessed with your works, "How Familiar the Danger". So much so I have been reading it to my friend like an audiobook. Each work is compelling and passionate and thoroughly enjoyable. Then my heart sank when I realized it hasnt been updated since last August. Is there any hope for future updates? Do you have other plans for the story? Has it been dropped all together? If so I understand, but I think its just amazing and thank you for writing it in the first place.

Thank you, I’m so happy to hear you like it! It really does my heart good, thank you for making my day! Unfortunately my fixation on Nimona has faded right now and I’m focusing on another series atm, so as of right now I don’t plan to update anytime soon, but that will probably change if the fixation returns because I do love that au and I’m proud of it and would like to write Ballister meeting Ambrosius’ parents and Nimon meeting Ambrosius and all that. I have a half-written wip for the next chapter but the motivation isn’t there. All I can offer rn is a snippet from Nimona’s pov if that’s alright.

—

Then he kissed her Boss.

He kissed her Boss.

That motherfucker.

She couldn’t let that stand, she couldn’t let this happen, not now when the Boss’ health was so precarious and his heart was so fragile. Whatever the knight was planning, whatever sick game he was playing with Ballister’s feelings, she was putting a stop to it here and now. She struck, shifting into a coiling viper to leap onto the bed and sink her teeth into his wrist with a hiss of utter fury, forcing him to release her Boss with a sharp cry of pain.

“Nimona!?” Ballister yelped as the knight practically fell off the couch, twisting and jerking to try and wrench Nimona off of him, only to go prey-still when she reverted to her humanoid form, kneeling on his chest with murder in her eyes as she hissed down at him, her tongue still forked and serpentine as it flicked between her fangs.

“Stay the fuck away from him.” she growled, “You hear me, creep? Get the fuck out of our house now!”

[lia-land]

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

5/5 stars

Spoilers*

I don’t think I can put into words how much I loved this book. A shorter review because I have nothing to criticise. This book is perfect.

I did go into it having seen spoilers that Feyre and Rhysand would be endgame, but I didn’t find that to negatively affect my reading experience. The build-up was amazing and I would gladly read another book entirely made up of the two of them exchanging magical flirty notes.

The twists, characters, and pacing are all so perfect and there was not one boring or slow chapter. I would especially love to see more of Tarquin and the Summer Court. I do feel bad about how Feyre, Rhys, and Amren deceived Tarquin, but it was for the greater good.

Chapter 54 and 55 are pure gold. Personally, I think the tension during the throne room chapter and the inn chapter are unmatched, but 54 and 55 were so satisfying to read after the build-up. I had the audiobook on when I got to 54 and 55 because I was getting ready to go out and I wish I had time to fully process everything. I love when a book has the power to change my mood. I’d seen spoilers for all of it, but it still had an effect, which is impressive. What I’d give to experience this book for the first time again…

I like Azriel, but I was so mad when his arrival robbed us of Rhys and Feyre going to buy lingerie together. Though, somehow, I think I preferred how that chapter ended. Something about Rhys sending her a vision of it was sexier than if it had happened, so I can’t even be mad anymore.

The cliffhanger!!! I hope we get a bonus chapter of Rhys and Feyre’s ceremony one day. It’s a need.

The only thing that would have made this book even better for me is if Rhys’ trauma from Under the Mountain was acknowledged more. It felt just slightly skimmed over. We get little glimpses through lines like ‘it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just your body reacting,’ but I think it’s an important aspect of Rhys’ recent history that should have been acknowledged. Not just in this book, but throughout the series as a whole (I’ll discuss this more in my A Court of Wings and Ruin review).

Also, the House of Wind is a bit of a plot hole because they make it clear that no one can winnow in. They can only fly in or take 10,000 stairs. If this is the case, how do all the people on Starfall get in? Surely they don’t all have an Illyrian plus one and didn’t go up the stairs in their formal attire. I’ll personally be overlooking that because the rest of the book is so good.

Importantly, I should note that the only reason I saw spoilers for everything is because I was so obsessed with Rhys and Feyre that I was reading short fanfictions about them while I was still reading ACOMAF, because I quite literally could not wait for them to finally get together and I also didn’t want the book to end too quickly. In hindsight, I don’t actually know if the plot is any good because I was far too invested in Rhys. The plot could be nonexistent and I’d still give this five stars for Rhys and his charms.

Infinite stars out of 5. This was exactly the kind of book I was expecting and more.

[skyfallscotland]

So I wanted an audiobook to listen to on my long journey to the convention last weekend, so I borrowed the dramatised audio of House of Earth & Blood thinking I'd just see if I liked it (scarred by my Throne of Glass experience, I no longer believe any hype). I actually quite like it, maybe because of the urban fantasy setting? I'm more interested? I don't know. Anyway, here's my thoughts, part one:

Everyone lied. I had fucking flash cards ready? People made flash cards? This is not difficult to follow, I don't know, the worldbuilding seems fairly straightforward to me, but to each their own?

I love Danika already and I hate everything

Oh. I thought...I thought that was going to happen at like...the end of the book. Oh damn. I'm low-key devastated?

E Ithan is blacklisted for life. Fuck off, E Ithan.

Fury is also blacklisted. Fuck her.

I'm ride or die for my little dancing drug addict already, I don't know if you can tell.

Oh, and I'm in the CLUB NOW!!! Ruhn Danaan, Crown Prince of the Valbarran Fae 🎶💃🏼

Don't know if we like him yet or not? But I'm going to go with yes against my better judgement, because he seems like a little emo boy and teenage me is obsessed already 😌

Hunt seems ok? Why does everyone hate him? Never mind, y'all hated Chaol, I'll form my own opinions 😭💀

I love that things are blowing up here. That's my favourite kind of action movie and this feels like an action book.

Also, Danika definitely stole that fucking horn.

"Not interested." Queen, you dropped this 👑

Sabine is also blacklisted along with all the archangels, they can go choke.

I sort of feel like she's showing more of Bryce's depression and trauma, rather than just glazing over it the way she sort of does in her other series', but I just feel like...you can't bring up a suicide attempt and just glide right on, you know? Let me sit with this.

Evil mum says Danika definitely stole that fucking horn. The Bryce-Danika friendship is starting to feel a little lopsided and I don't know if I'm digging that.

I think I'm around halfway through. I like it so far, more than I liked Throne of Glass. Not sure if I have favourite characters yet or pairings. I like the otters 🥹

[areiton]

Cap-IM Rec Week - Day 7

Today’s list is short--it’s highlighting work you wouldn’t normally give a chance to, and that’s pretty rare for me. I give everything a shot because I’m a greedy whore when it comes to Stevetony. But here are two works that standout and that I thoroughly loved. I’ve really enjoyed @cap-ironman Rec Week--if you’re looking for more recs, check out @stevetonyweekly where I post all the Stevetony content I read each week. 

Tiny Spy Assassin Steve by copperbadge

An AU in which Steve Rogers was born into the modern day and never received the Serum, but managed to make it into SHIELD as a handpicked protege of senior field agent Abraham Erskine. Along with Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Peggy Carter, and eventually Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, Steve still tries to make a difference.

Particularly in the life of Tony Stark, who picked up what he thought was an art student in a bar, and ended up dating one of SHIELD's top agents...

I am EXTREMELY picky about pre-serum Steve fics and this one is just--fan-fucking-tastic. 

[Podfic] Straight on till Morning by Sineala by M_Samro

Tony Stark resigned his commission in Starfleet five years ago, after a disastrous away mission, and he swore he'd never go back. He just wants to be left alone to build warp engines in peace. But the universe has more in store for him than that, as he discovers when Admiral Fury comes to him with an offer he could never have expected and cannot possibly refuse: first officer and chief engineer aboard the all-new USS Avenger, a starship of Tony's own design. What's more, the Avenger's captain is Steve Rogers, hero of the Earth-Romulan War. Believed dead for over a century, Steve is miraculously alive... and very, very attractive.

But nothing is ever easy for Tony. As he wrestles with his secret desire for his new captain and his not-so-dormant fears, another mission starts to go wrong, and Tony becomes aware that Steve has secrets of his own -- and the truth could change everything.

So this fic--podfic--deserves two spots on the list. First because I almost didn’t read it. Star Trek was the first media I can remember watching as a child (dear god, the nightmares from those fucking ear bugs) and it remains one of the nearest and dearest to my heart, so I’m extremely picky about crossovers--but I trusted Sine and it quickly became one of my favorite Trek fics, in or out of the fandom. I’m ALSO picky about podfic--I get very very little time for podfic and I’m super picky narrators on these kinds of things--audiobooks/podfics/podcasts--so I wasn’t sold on the idea, but I had a house to paint and a friend rec’ed it and omg, best decision ever. As emotional as the reading the fic made me, listening to the podfic was even more so. I love it to an unhealthy degree, honestly. 

[acmoorereadsandwrites]

10 Books to Look Forward to in 2024

Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan, an adult East Asian fantasy featuring kelpies, kappas, sea witches, a water dragon princess, and a half-siren captain of the border guard. The city of Tiankawai is half-submerged and the humans are looking down on the fathomfolk from their skyscrapers. Available on February 8th from Hachette and February 27th from Orbit

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova, a Balkan folklore crossover fantasy with shadow magic, witches, monstrous exes, Berlin wall-inspiration, and dragons. When Kosara's shadow, the source of her magic, is traded to give her safe passage across the Wall, she is struck with a fatal illness that impacts all shadow-less witches. She has little choice but to go back over the Wall and confront her ex, the Tsar of Monsters, to get her magic back. Availabe on June 25th from Tor and McMillan

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase is an adult Botswanan cyberpunk Africanfuturism Queer thriller with horror elements from a Queer Motswanan author. Nelah has everything she could want except a child. On a rendezvous with her lover, they hit a young woman and Nelah will do anything to hide their actions or else she'll lose her chance at being a mother and, perhaps, her chance at having a body. Available from Kensington Books on January 23rd

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo, a YA mystery debut focusing on young women and their trauma. When Jo-Lynn's former best friend goes missing, Jo seeks out the truth while trying to find herself again. Available from Bloomsbury on April 30th

Goodreads

Pre-order link

The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim, a feminist psychological horror featuring cannibalism and a young woman slowly turning into a murderer. When Ji-won's mother starts dating George, a white man with an Asian fetish, Ji-won because obsessed with his blue eyes and hungers for them. Available on June 25th from Kensington

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Road to Ruin by Hana Lee, an adult Queer fantasy love letter to Mad Max: Fury Road. Jin-lu, a magebike courier, carries love letters from her prince to a princess across the wastelands...and she's in love with both of them. Available from Simon and Schuster on May 14th

Goodreads

Pre-order link

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft is a Sapphic voyage to discover the origin of magic, until the leader of the expedition is murdered. With Germanic folklore and lush prose, it looks to be another hit from Allison Saft. Available from Penguin Random House September 17th

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Teller of Small Fortunes is an immigrant cozy fantasy adult debut. We're a bit too early for a cover or pre-order link on this one, so here is the PM deal. Please keep it in mind as we get closer to the publish date in November!

Kacen Callender's first YA fantasy features polyamorous characters of color, trans representation, and a quest to find the Book of Source, an alchemic text said to give its reader great power. Available on February 6th from MacMillan

Goodreads

Pre-order link

Not in the Plan by Dana Hawkins, a Sapphic contemporary romance. Mack, an author struggling to write her sophomore novel, meets Charlie, a nearly bankrupt coffee shop owner and sparks fly as Mack uses parts of Charlie's story for her book. Available January 31st only in digital and audiobook

Goodreads

Pre-order link

[sonicasura]

Yeah, its for the best. One thing is for certain though, Mama Hibino is gonna be a nightmare to anyone who works with the Mirage Company. She's going to put a new meaing to 'Hell has no fury like a mother's scorn'. She's pissed for lacke of better words.

Yeah the Science Department might be the ones to actually be able to make something. Infact, I bet Reno and Kikoru might be the first to give Kafka a hobby. Finger Painting. One huge piece of paper or cloth and Kafka can finger to his heart content. That sure most be something to see, a kaiju and two kids finger painting while having good time.

No doubt Reno and Kikoru ends up covered in paint because they can't stop themself from running here and there over the large space.

Audiobooks and movies is defently checked before he gets to hear or seen any. Kafka already is not that good with horror in canon. After what he went through, its most certainly needed for a good while. And he'll get to see the movies using one of those car movie screens.

And since they installed a set of speakers that allows Kafka to listen to the radio without issue, him hearing music on occasion is possible as well. They even managed to make so Kafka can even change the channle whenever he wish through using a rope system of sorts. Maybe? Not quite sure how it would work to be honest.

And yes, Kafka and Tiny is going to have a better bond thanks to all they've gone through and thanks to those therapy sessions. You know whats quite ironic Sonic? In this au, Kafka have had more time to actually talk to Tiny all this time.

See heres the thing, Kafka did not immediately transform the same way that happened in canon. Shortly after the operation to merge the two was done, a cocoon that is similare to the ones you find in Resident Evil 6 had replaced Kafka. A cocoon that slowly grows over the next few months to be able to house Kafka's new form that Tiny is making for his new host.

And while the people of the company is busy watching over these changes, Kafka and Tiny are having quite the heart to heart for lack of better words.

They are both tired of this shit and are more then happy to help each other. Tiny don't even need Kafka to convince him to mercy kill the other test subjects. The small kaiju still have some humanity of his own left.

A kaiju and two kids finger painting sounds too cute to not photograph or record. It would be unbelievable but this is Kafka. He just destroys any normal standards in general.

Movie projectors are always great to use especially in a room as big as Kafka's. The therapist helps them list down what subjects to omit for every piece of media. Cartoons are usually a safe option.

I'm not surprised Kafka develops inside a cocoon. This form is drastically different from canon in multiple ways so the transformation would take longer. Plus Tiny is the only one he can interact with inside the cocoon.

Considering what the larval kaiju really is, there would be some humanity underneath all that sorrow and pain.

[curieincali]

Year in Review - BOOKS - 2023

Audiobooks read:

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

DisneyWar by James B. Stewart

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie

Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer

Horse Crazy by Sarah Maslin Nir

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

As You Wish by Cary Elwes, Joe Layden

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

eBooks read:

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (In Progress)

Regular books read:

Wet Moon Volume 4: Drowned in Evil by Sophie Campbell

Princess Jellyfish Volume 3 by Akiko Higashimura

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney (In Progress)

It felt like I read a lot more this year, but looking back at previous years, not by much! What really happened is I joined not one, but TWO book clubs - one with work and one with friends. It's definitely helping me explore outside of my normal tastes, and I've found some great stuff.

In 2023, I branched away from audiobooks and into ebooks in the interest of not listening to fairy smut on my speaker, and instead reading it on my phone as god intended.

I finally started a GoodReads account, but I'll probably still do these yearly round-ups here on tumblr. But now I can more easily endorse (or roast the fairy smut) items on my my reading list.

[ossidae-passeridae]

tagged by: @trudemaethien

tagging: @elfiver @thegreencarousel @brachiosaurus-on @canonical-transformation

favorite color: we're somewhere in the realm of bluish-purples at the moment I think, with a bit of dark forest green to round things out.

currently reading: *cracks knuckles* alright you asked for it...

Repcomm Series (on Hard Contact right now, but I plan to gnaw my way through them all. Research for Commune Fic)

'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' by Eric Newby (Research for Commune Fic)

'Dwelling on Earth: A Manual for the Professional Application of Earthbuilding Techniques' by David Easton (Research for Commune Fic)

'Harrow the Ninth' by Tamsyn Muir (for the seventh time)

'Dune' by Frank Herbert (with my partner who's somehow never read it before)

'Between Past and Present: Archaeology, Ideology, and Nationalism in the Modern Middle East' by Neil Asher Silberman (research for that obikin fic)

'The Pursuit of Oblivion: A social History of Drugs' by Richard Davenport-Hines

Most of the fiction is in audiobook form, because I'm struggling to read fiction with my eyes at the moment for some reason. This is the shortlist of things I've touched in the last few days - I'm slowed down hardcore by The Sickness right now :(

last song I listened to: Probably something by Crowded House?? 'Private Universe' maybe? (fantastically surreal music video)

last movie (in theaters): uhhhhhhh... It might be Mad Max: Fury Road?? I have not been to a cinema in many, many years now.

last series I watched: If we're talking series-in progress, 'Star Wars: Rebels' (last time I watched I was there for Rex and only Rex, this time I'm actually watching the episodes he isn't in as well lol). Last series I finished was probably the Kenobi Show. Again. I like seeing him in pain okay don't @ me

craving: salt. so much salt. Also adequate painkillers but that one's a pipe dream

tea or coffee: I am a tea person through and through. On average I drink 8-10 cups of black tea (with milk or lemon) per day, every day. Coffee is an occasional treat lol

currently working on:

Din-centric possession horror fic (so close to being done, sooooo close. this is the only fic which is cooperating with me right now)

sithfic, which needs so much editing I simply want to throw it into the sun. I won't, but fucking hell do I want to

Exchange fic which I need to pivot direction on but I don't WANNA so it's in the time out corner

Revakin fic which, like the exchange fic, is on its last scene and I just need to power through...

Jangobi vampire AU continuation fic

I'm not letting myself touch any of the less-done WIPs until these ones are done, and it's a struggle. Someone bully me into writing pls I need the assistance. My WIP pile overfloweth etc

[paperback-bitch]

Review: Lock The Doors

By Vincent Ralph Hardback: n/a – Paperback: $10.99 – E-book: $8.98 Approx. 400 pages – Audiobook: 9 hours YA Thriller/Mystery

SYNOPSIS

The truth won't stay hidden behind locked doors.

Tom's family has moved into their dream home. But pretty soon he starts to notice that something is very wrong—there are strange messages written on the wall and locks on the bedroom doors. On the OUTSIDE.

The previous owners have moved just across the road, and they seem like the perfect family. Their daughter, Amy, is beautiful and enigmatic, but Tom is sure she's hiding something. And he isn't going to stop until he finds the truth behind those locked doors. . .

Will their dream home become a nightmare?

Themes: Grief and Loss, Survival, Relentless Pursuit of Truth

Tropes: We’re All Mad Here, Blended Family Struggles, The Trauma is Coming From Inside the House

Warnings: Mentions of Physical Abuse, Depictions of Psychological Abuse, Minor Character Death, and severe PTSD and grief around the loss of a child.

REVIEW

This is a weird one for me. It started of so painfully slow for me, and I personally feel the book is about 100 pages longer than it needed to be. The chapters are short – ridiculously short, in fact. Some of them are only half a page long, even. The longest chapter in this book was five and a half pages, and the majority of them average two pages or less. It was such a strange style for me and honestly turned me off so much that my pending 3-star dropped to a 2-star, and for a while, the book was in my DNF pile.

I let books linger there for a while before I give up on them completely, and ultimately when I decided to focus on thrillers and mysteries for September and October, I decided to give Lock the Doors another chance. After all, the mystery was intriguing me, and I did want to see how it resolved. So I picked it up again, and I devoured 2/3 of the book in a single night. I’m writing this review the same night, in fact, because man do I have some feelings about this book.

On one hand, I try to shy away from spoilers, because I believe in letting people experience the book on their own. On the other, I have revealed spoilers in the past when I feel it’s important to the integrity of my review. I’m trying to dance a delicate line on this one, because the twist managed to take me by surprise, which is rare. Well, that’s not quite true. I saw the twist coming, but the motive for it? Now that was a real twist, and it sparked genuine fury in me.

This book has a tangible villain. It’s a psychological thriller in the best way, where it really messes with your head and makes you question everything, but it does have a villain. The book doesn’t want you to think that, though. The main character, teenaged boy Tom, spends the entire book digging and digging into secrets that are none of his business, because he refuses to let someone suffer when he can help them. He saw what his mother endured, and it made him someone who can’t turn away when there’s even a chance someone needs help and he can provide it. And when he uncovers the full truth, he has sympathy for the one that is so clearly a villain in my eyes. I do not.

I understand why Tom sees it this way, and I understand why I believe the author wrote it that way. But I respectfully refuse to agree, and that may be a personal shortcoming of mine. If I relate to something in a book, if I see something in it that reflects my own life, I take it personally. And I took this book personally. Despite the slow start, the twist and reveal drew a fury out of me that had me wanting to hurl the book across the room, and I was turning pages so fast that I very nearly did. The villain in the novel, the cause of all the suffering of the characters, was basically a caricature of someone in my own life. It lent a level of pain to the book that I struggled hard to swallow down when it hit a little too close to home.

In the end, the ending was satisfying if a bit too tame for my taste, but again – personal shortcomings. I tend toward rage when I’m hurt, and I wanted the villain to suffer much more than they did.

FINAL THOUGHTS

4/5 stars. This would have been my first five star review on the blog, if not for the inane chapter lengths and the frustrating pacing. It takes skill to craft a villain so tangible and infuriating that it incites readers to rage, and I docked a star for the simple fact that the flaws almost led me to leaving the book unfinished before the reveal.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Fans of psychological thrillers, this is one for you. The twist was one I don’t see used often, and again, this book manages to get under your skin and evoke true emotion. If you’re into Holly Jackson, she has a similar vibe, and Karen McManus too.

[lesstheshadow]

2023 in books ✨

I managed to read 100 books in 2023! here are some favourites and also some stats because I love stats.

100 books — 48 Print, 12 digital, 40 audiobook. 11 rereads

76 authors — Most read author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Median days taken per book: 4

Slowest read: 79 days to finish The Sound and The Fury

Shortest book 64 pages, longest 1243

Total pages just under 36,000 (estimate due to audiobooks)

Average rating: 3.86 stars

69% of books were borrowed

Most read genres were: Literary Fiction (38), Fantasy (29), Science fiction (16), and Historical fiction (13). also quite a bit of poetry, horror, and mystery too :)

Favourites by Genre:

Best Contemporary: Real Life — Brandon Taylor

Best Fantasy: Piranesi — Susanna Clarke

Best Sci Fi: Embassytown by China Miéville

The Name Of The Rose — Umberto Eco

Best Poetry: Dart — Alice Oswald

Best Non-fiction: In The Dream House — Carmen Maria Machado

favourite book was my all-time favourite which I reread this year — The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This whole thing was less difficult than I expected! My attention span feels better and I am so glad I put in the effort to read this much. Not going to push quite so hard next year, but hoping for 60 books and at least 30% non-fiction <3

finally here are some weird specific genres I've noticed

Some Surprisingly Specific Micro-Genre In Books I’ve Read/Bought:

Climate change sci fi (How High We Go In The Dark, In Ascension, Venomous Lumpsucker) — entirely predictable

Fictionalised true crime with an unreliable narrator (Devil House, Penance) — not surprised, though wouldn’t have predicted it

Lots of nuns going round rn (Matrix, For Thy Great Pain) — not complaining, but also why?

if u want to see my graphs let me know. i have so many graphs. ty for reading I might post about books more this year <3

[maryadeson]

Aside from wanting to read some dirt, I generally wanted to get a better sense of Trump. Here’s what I learnt: 1. Trump entered the presidential race not wanting to win, it was simply intended to be a platform to build his media empire (allegedly). 2. Trump’s administration thinks his an idiot 3. He likes to eat cheese burgers and go to sleep with his three televisions, rather than in the company of Melanie Trump 4. Rupert Murdoch thinks Trump is a fucking idiot. 5. Trump is paranoid. This is the reason why he prefers to eat McDonald’s because he has long feared a poisoning plot. His rational is McDonald’s would not expect him to show up and so no one would know to prepare a special poison meal.  6. Trump thinks of himself as white trash - "“What is this ‘white trash’?” asked the model. “They’re people just like me,” said Trump, “only they’re poor.“ 7. Steven Bannon wrote the inaugural address, which on reflection makes sense. 8. John Bolton was not nominated for Secretary of State because of his moustache. 9. Ivanka Trump is entertaining the idea of being the first female president. 10. Bannon believes Trump’s son is guy of treason.

The big question is all the content factual.

I haven’t learnt anything of any great importance; I don’t feel I’ve satisfied my curiosity.

Rating: 2.5 stars

[palominodragon]

List of all the novels, novellas, audiobooks, comics, and fanfiction I read or listened to in 2022.

This is the second year I've kept a month-by-month list. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something and also helps prevent those moments of "I read a really cool book/fanfic but I can't remember what it was! DX"

In 2021, my favorite was Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. With the 2022 list, it's harder to pick a favorite, but I think it's tied between some of the scifi I read - the Murderbot series, Iron Widow, Project Hail Mary, and Space Opera. They were all so fun and all had very different tones. I also loved Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy and Tracy Deonn's Bloodmarked (the sequel to my 2021 favorite).

Here's the full list:

January novels/novellas/audiobooks: All Systems Red - Martha Wells Wise Child - Monica Furlong (reread) Artificial Condition - Martha Wells Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells Exit Strategy - Martha Wells The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling (reread/for book club) Network Effect - Martha Wells Where The Drowned Girls Go - Seanan McGuire Fugitive Telemetry - Martha Wells Juniper - Monica Furlong (reread)

February novels/audiobooks: The Last Graduate - Naomi Novik Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao (for book club) The House In The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune February fanfiction: Lovely, Dark, and Deep (Reylo, 4317 words) - junkyardjeditrash

March novels/audiobooks: Dweller On The Threshold - Skyla Dawn Cameron Into The Drowning Deep - Mira Grant (reread/for bookclub) Wanderers - Chuck Wendig (reread)

March fanfiction: Gratify (Reylo, 8132 words) - Anonymous

April novels/novellas/audiobooks: The Magicians - Lev Grossman The Black Stallion - Walter Farley Blindsight - Peter Watts The Black Stallion Returns - Walter Farley Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover (reread) Star Wars: Lost Stars - Claudia Gray (reread) Star Wars: Bloodline - Claudia Gray (reread)

April fanfiction: what's not given (Reylo, 12140 words) - Vittra Time (Reylo, 52536 words) - koderenn

May novels/novellas/audiobooks: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (for bookclub) The Island Stallion - Walter Farley The Black Stallion's Filly - Walter Farley Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (REREAD, IT WAS SO GOOD) Son of the Black Stallion - Walter Farley The Black Stallion and Satan - Walter Farley The Black Stallion's Blood Bay Colt - Walter Farley The Island Stallion's Fury - Walter Farley The Black Stallion Revolts - Walter Farley The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt - Walter Farley

June novels/novellas/audiobooks: Legendborn - Tracy Deonn (reread/for bookclub) The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater (reread) Feed - Mira Grant (reread)

June fanfiction: The Unkown Regions (Reylo, 13596 words) - constant-reylo Starstuff (Reylo, 40815 words) - voicedimplosives (reread) Silence (Reylo, 85220 words) - Koderenn

July novels/novellas/audiobooks: Deadline - Mira Grant (reread) Cemetery Boys - Aiden Thomas (for bookclub)

July fanfiction: Mine (Janeway/Kashyk, 5602 words) - Caladenia Bad Ensign (Star Trek Voyager, no pairings, 1643 words) - Curator Bad, Bad Crewman Janeway (Janeway/Chakotay, 3618 words) - sara_sedai Not So Bad Tuvok (Star Trek Voyager, no pairings, 1820 words - Caladenia It's Good to be Bad Chakotay (Janeway/Chakotay, 2313 words) - Manalyzer fics by Lexus (Beautiful_Ruin): Bad Borg (Janeway/Seven, 1966 words) Bad Drone (Janeway/Seven, 1694 words) Bad Pilot (Janeway/Tom, 1694 words) Bad Inspector (Kaneway/Kashyk, 3531 words)

the choice is yours (Edissy, 488 words) - blueyedgurl like a heartbeat drives you mad (Edissy, 4843 words) - redbelles Rainbow in the Dark (Edissy, 5560 words) - Seicchanart aesthetic chills (Edissy, 51623 words) - slowlimbs

August novels/novellas/audiobooks: Seasonal Fears - Seanan McGuire A Girl and Five Brave Horses - Sonora Carver Blackout - Mira Grant (reread) What Moves The Dead - T. Kingfisher Shadow of the Sith - Adam Christopher Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente (for bookclub)

August short stories: Open House on Haunted Hill - John Wiswell (for bookclub)

August fanfiction: in the second drawer on the right (Edissy, 2035 words) - Seicchanart

September novels/novellas/audiobooks: The Princess And The Scoundrel - Beth Revis The Goddess Of Nothing At All - Cat Rector Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente (REREAD because FEELS ;_;) The Island Stallion Races - Walter Farley Black Horses For The King - Anne McCaffrey (reread) The Black Stallion's Courage - Walter Farley The Courtship of Princess Leia - Dave Wolverton

September manga: Red River - Chie Shinohara (volumes 1-7, reread)

October novels/novellas/audiobooks: The Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik The Black Stallion Mystery - Walter Farley The Black Stallion and Flame - Walter Farley The Black Stallion Challenged! - Walter Farley The Black Stallion's Ghost - Walter Farley The Black Stallion and the Girl - Walter Farley The Black Stallion Legend - Walter Farley (WTF was that ending???) The Thousand Eyes - A.K. Larkwood

October manga: Red River- Chie Shinohara (volumes 8-13, reread)

October fanfiction: Ceasefire (Kylux, 100408 words) - hollycomb (reread) So Now Get Up (Reylo, 5553 words) - Lilander Carry Your Throne (Reylo, 3676 words) - bitterbones

November novels/novellas/audiobooks: Colman -Monica Furlong (reread) The Twisted Ones - T. Kingfisher (reread) The Invisible Life of Addie Larou - V.E. Schwab (for bookclub) Go Hex Yourself - Jessica Clare

November manga: Red River - Chie Shinohara (volumes 14-26, reread)

November fanfiction: hand in unrebloggable hand (tumblr/twitter, 5,357 words) - drxxmingofblue (it was freaking hilarious) sonámbula (Shuri/Namor, 4180 words) - lunarmoonbeam The Importance of Fun (Pitch Black/Jack Frost, 4700 words) - LinesAndColors

December novels/audiobooks: Bloodmarked - Tracy Deonn Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe Prince Lestat - Anne Rice

December manga: Red River - Chie Shinohara (volumes 27-28, NOT reread! apparently I never bought the last two volumes =o)

December fanfiction: Under the Ruins of a Walled City (Kylux, 477556 words) - hollycomb (reread) Like Young Gods (Reylo, 84000 words) - disasterisms (reread) To Kingdom Come (Reylo, 145765 words) - disasterisms (reread)

[guccifloralsuits]

Vi! What Pretentious American Classics™️ do you recommend? 🥸 I trust your opinion a lot!

Classics:

*Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (if you only read one book off this list, make it this one)

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (if you have trouble traversing through heavy accents I would rec listening to audiobook)

Pretentious Classics if you are an avid classic lit reader/are willing to put in some effort

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Sound of Fury by William Faulkner

I can give more if this is more the area you’re looking to get into just lmk

Poetry Collections

Cane by Jean Toomer

The Wasteland by TS Eliot

Ariel by Sylvia Plath (Plath’s restored original version, not the Ted Hughes approved version, don’t read it like an EmoGirl though I’m begging read it right)

Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens (he’s my fav we looooove the modernists here)

Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

Short Stories:

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Ann Perkins

Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe

Plays/Essays/misc

The Cocktail Party by TS Eliot

To the best of my knowledge, all of these are American. LMK if that’s not the case, and happy reading!