#I read stuff

[justahalfblood]

I started The Lost Hero audiobook narrated by Joshua Swanson and his voice for Leo..... yikes.

[aibari]

MURDERBOT!!!!

[treestories1]

Suffering, according to Friedrich Nietzsche, is a blessing in disguise. His theory is that people who are able to endure difficult circumstances and pain are stronger individuals who are better prepared for life’s challenges.

[ellanainthetardis]

Spare by Prince Harry My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2.5

« Pa stepped back. Willy shook his head. They began talking over each other. We’ve been down this road a hundred times, they said. You’re delusional, Harry. But they were the delusional ones. »

After reading this book cover to cover, I'm forced to conclude they're right and you are, Harry. The thing is, at first, I honestly thought it was just pure character assassination and a petty - although justified, from his point of view - revenge on his brother and father and on the press. However, the more I read the more it became obvious that this was a version of the truth, his version, and because I believe some exchanges to be accurate, there's such a second reading. When William says he needs help, I felt that because I was thinking it. The thing is, beyond the who's right who's wrong, if I learned one thing reading this book it's that Harry needs help. For someone who claims to have learned accountability in the army you can't find one single instance in this book where he actually takes responsability, where he actually owns up to his mistakes, one since story where he comes off in a bad light or a little bad. He's always the hero and he's always the martyr or the victim of his own story. It's one or the other. It's never his fault. It's always someone else's: his brother's, his father's, the press', Camilla's, the list goes on and on... The irony is, every time someone told him he was delusional or needed help, I was more enclined to believe them than he who was the actual person recounting the story because his version of events is always so centered around him being hero or victim that it doesn't ring true. It doesn't mean he hasn't suffered. Reading this it's obvious the poor guy suffered. But there's such rage in this book, so many red flags... The way he talks about his years in the army, the detachement about killing... Also there's a very shocking passage where he compares the press to radicalized extremists and terrorists that I found just in poor taste and it honestly disturbed me. I don't doubt he feels that way but I still think it was poor taste. Let's not go over the obviously never resolved oedipus complex (that scene with the frostbite will forever stick in my mind thanks) that clearly still hasn't been addressed... Honestly, it's just... chilling. I came out of this hoping he gets the help he needs (and that he obviously won't find in weeds or mediums). It's his truth, I guess, but that doesn't make it the truth. View all my reviews

[overthinkorsink]

do you really like that fictional character? or do they just have the same personality as you but in a cooler world?

[unsung-idiot]

don't show him modern technology; it won't end well

bonus under the cut:

[morganbritton132]

No one tells you when you get a Big Serious Job™ how many fucking abbreviations you’ll be forced to learn.

[maeamian]

If you saw me agreeing with being annoyed about wasted helium in a fictional context and were like "I bet she has some more helium based anger in her life" good news LAPD fucked up a raid on a medical facility they thought was a pot farm and flat out ruined thousands of gallons of the stuff.

[macskasbacsi]

they mean so much to mee

[iwasbored777]

Fanfic writers after watching the honda odyssey scene in Deadpool & Wolverine

[justahalfblood]

I recently finished The Titan's Curse and Percy falls for Annabeth so much faster than I remembered. Rescue the literal goddess Artemis? No, #1 priority is to rescue Annabeth. He traveled across the country and defied gods to chase a dream to rescue her. He was ready to get down on his knees and beg her not to become a Hunter of Artemis. The boy is so smitten with her and I love him for it.

[treestories1]

The consequences of power corrupting the mind are far-reaching. It’s not just about being a dictator or having a small army of followers, but rather something much more subtle.

Power can make you believe that you are infallible, which in turn leads to arrogance and an obsession with control over others.

“Is that a serious question? I’m God! I know things.”

[ellanainthetardis]

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid My rating: 5 of 5 stars Every time I pick up a book by TJR I'm scared because the hype was such I tell myself it won't live up to it and every bloody time It Blows Me Away. I loved this one. Perhaps even more than the 7 Husbands. And on paper it wasn't for me at all. The 70s aren't my fav period, I'm not entirely into rock and roll and the format of the book had me dubious at first but you know what? I loved it all. Everything. The format is actually brilliant. It reads like the transcript of a documentary and I could SEE it so clearly, like I was watching a documentary on Netflix instead of reading. It worked so beautifully, so flawlessly that when the twist comes toward the end of who the author is I was floored. This book made me cares about those people like they were real people. I had the feeling I was reading about a real band. And I wish desperately that the songs had been recorded because they sounded so freaking good. It's not everyone who can write a book who can also write beautiful songs but TJR did it. The writing was amazing. Simply amazing. The characters were all flawed and beautifully humans in the vein of the 7 Husbands. I loved them, even those who were less interesting like (poor) Eddie. Everything in this book was GOLD. View all my reviews

[autumnillustration]

"Perhaps a lesser-known gift of Kenobi's was his ability to listen."

(AU where post-banishment Ahsoka gets zapped back to TPM, strapped with a fundamental distrust of the Jedi, an apocalyptic vision of the future, and a mandate to help Anakin Skywalker. So, in all this, it's nice to have a confidant.)

edit: link to the fic

[jq37]

You gotta hand it to Fig. All of the Bad Kids were given foils this season and they got to decide how much they wanted to engage with that part of the plot. Gorgug only interacted with Mary Ann in passing despite them both being on the Owlbears. Fabian noped out of chatting up Ivy once she crossed a line with Mazey. Riz was so busy that he truly had no time to engage with Kipperlilly even though she's obsessed with him. Kristen interacted a bit with Buddy but spent way more time verbally sparring with Kipperlilly. And Adaine was somewhat interested in Oisin but never overtly acted on it.

But Fig?

She's in Ruben's WALLS. She's in his DREAMS. She's faking her alter emo's death. She's got the Fantasy FBI after her. She's SO SO tiny. No one is doing it like Fig's doing it.

[jadenvargen]

free online james baldwin stories, essays, videos, and other resources

**edit

James baldwin online archive with his articles and photo archives.

---NOVELS---

Giovanni's room"When David meets the sensual Giovanni in a bohemian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But his girlfriend's return to Paris destroys everything. Unable to admit to the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened - while Giovanni's life descends into tragedy. This book introduces love's fascinating possibilities and extremities."

Go Tell It On The Mountain"(...)Baldwin's first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves."

+bonus: film adaptation on youtube. (if you’re a giancarlo esposito fan, you’ll be delighted to see him in an early preacher role)

Another Country and Going to Meet the Man Another country: "James Baldwin's masterly story of desire, hatred and violence opens with the unforgettable character of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York. Self-destructive, bad and brilliant, he draws us into a Bohemian underworld pulsing with heat, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray, love and test each other to the limit." Going to meet the Man: " collection of eight short stories by American writer James Baldwin. The book, dedicated "for Beauford Delaney", covers many topics related to anti-Black racism in American society, as well as African-American–Jewish relations, childhood, the creative process, criminal justice, drug addiction, family relationships, jazz, lynching, sexuality, and white supremacy."

Just Above My Head"Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land."

If Beale Street Could Talk"Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."

also has a film adaptation by moonlight's barry jenkins

Tell Me How Long the Train's been gone At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty. 

---ESSAYS---

Baldwin essay collection. Including most famously: notes of a native son, nobody knows my name, the fire next time, no name in the street, the devil finds work- baldwin on film

--DOCUMENTARIES--

Take this hammer, a tour of san Francisco.

Meeting the man

--DEBATES:--

Debate with Malcolm x, 1963 ( on integration, the nation of islam, and other topics. )

Debate with William Buckley, 1965. ( historic debate in america. )

Heavily moderated debate with Malcolm x, Charles Eric Lincoln, and Samuel Schyle 1961. (Primarily Malcolm X's debate on behalf of the nation of islam, with Baldwin giving occassional inputs.)

----

apart from themes obvious in the book's descriptions, a general heads up for themes of incest and sexual assault throughout his works.