#MAUREEN CHOI

[cristinabcn]

"Carnación" ese oscuro objeto de deseo

“Carnación” ese oscuro objeto de deseo

Teresa Fernandez Herrera Prensa Especializada Antes de ponerme a escribir esta crónica sobre el último trabajo de Rocío Molina que pude ver ayer en la sala Fernando Arrabal de las naves Matadero, he sentido una enorme curiosidad por ver lo que ya se había escrito sobre Carnación, ya que ha llegado a Madrid precedida de estrenos en la última Bienal de Venecia, donde fue premiada con el León de…

[poppletonink]

Fearless TV: An Inspired Reading Recommendations List

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle (Fearless)

Ellie Pillai Is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam (Fifteen)

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Love Story)

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter (Hey Stephen)

An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green (White Horse)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (You Belong With Me)

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han (Breathe)

Today, Tonight, Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Tell Me Why)

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (You're Not Sorry)

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (The Way I Loved You)

All This Time by Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott (Forever & Always)

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (The Best Day)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Change)

Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman (Jump Then Fall)

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Untouchable)

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Come In With The Rain)

Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi (Superstar)

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (The Other Side Of The Door)

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (Today Was A Fairytale)

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (You All Over Me)

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (Mr. Perfectly Fine)

Dear Heartbreak by Heather Demetrios (We Were Happy)

Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (That's When)

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (Don't You)

Ellie Pillai Is (Almost) In Love by Christine Pillainayagam (Bye Bye Baby)

[poetriarchy]

my top books of 2022! was hard to narrow down to this—was excluding rereads, and wanted to highlight a good variety here—so honorable mentions will go under the read more, along with my comments on each of the top picks! these past two years i feel like i’ve really rekindled the love of reading that i had growing up, and i hope to continue that this year :)

in no particular order...

1. So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ

Succinct epistolary novel—recently widowed Senegalese schoolteacher Ramatoulaye writes to her lifelong friend Aissatou while she observes iddah. A masterclass in feminist literature that you read in a few days and then think about for months

2. Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. Alfred Corn

to some extent I failed this book by reading it too quickly, and i’m putting it here partly as a reminder to myself to reread it this year. but it had me in its grip like crazy. literally superabundant existence wells in my heart. there’s a poem by B.H. Fairchild that sums up the experience of reading Duino Elegies pretty well. yeah anyway it’s the kind of poetry that makes you levitate

3. Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon, trans. Don Mee Choi

“consists of forty-nine poems, each poem representing a single day during which the spirit roams after death before it enters the cycle of reincarnation. The poems not only give voice to those who met unjust deaths during Korea’s violent contemporary history, but also unveil what Kim calls ‘the structure of death, that we remain living in.’”

this book really changed how i think about poetry. i don’t have the book on me right now unfortunately otherwise i would pick out some poems to share, but you can read some here. in the q&a at the end between Hyesoon and Don Mee Choi they start talking about pain as this kind of underlying rhythm and women and vowels and…..GOD i don’t know. read this book

4. The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, trans. Maureen Freely & Alexander Dawe 

you’ve got to plan on spending a long time with this book, but it is so worth it. funny and monumental. including the blurb here:

“At its center is Hayri Irdal, an infectiously charming antihero who becomes entangled with an eccentric cast of characters—a television mystic, a pharmacist who dabbles in alchemy, a dignitary from the lost Ottoman Empire, a “clock whisperer”—at the Time Regulation Institute, a vast organization that employs a hilariously intricate system of fines for the purpose of changing all the clocks in Turkey to Western time. Recounted in sessions with his psychoanalyst, the story of Hayri Irdal’s absurdist misadventures plays out as a brilliant allegory of the collision of tradition and modernity, of East and West, infused with a poignant blend of hope for the promise of the future and nostalgia for a simpler time.”

5. A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (!!!!!)

memoir/essay/autofiction centered around Ghríofa’s experience as a young mother translating the legendary poem by 18th-century Irish noblewoman Eibhlin Dubh Ní Chonaill. 

this is going to sound so dramatic, but this book came to me at the perfect time, when I was knee-deep in translating some poems by a little-known Romanian poet, illustrator, and botanist who i felt sought me out after her death. i’ve had to take a break from that project for the school year, but this book gave me the encouragement I needed, and articulated the feelings I had been having in a way I thought no one could, when I thought I was going crazy. it’s about the past speaking to the present and the present speaking to the past, connection, the labor of translation, the labor of motherhood and womanhood—it’s beautifully written.

6. Among the Thugs by Bill Buford

Buford embeds himself for years in the English football hooligan scene in the 1980s. 

this isn’t, like, a masterpiece, but it’s a very very entertaining read, and I’ve recommended it to too many people already to not include it in this list. as an American I knew practically nothing about this—I picked up this book on instinct for 99 cents at Goodwill—so it did a great job illustrating the world for me. Shit gets craaazy in this book. You just need to have a stomach for disgusting men

7. The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr

this is a great book that pioneered the memoir genre as it stands today. walked so Glass Castle could run. i picked it up knowing practically nothing about what i was going to read, and i think that’s the way to go here, because any attempt to summarize the events of the book just flattens it entirely. i’ll include a warning for some pretty heavy subject matter, and people can message me if they want specifics—she’s recounting her youth in a dysfunctional family, and it can be a hard read at times. but worth it imo. karr’s command of writing and narrative is insane

8. Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop

god I’m so bad at summarizing poetry. anyways this is the collection that includes “One Art.” Bishop is crazy. precision is one of the things i value most in a poet, and Bishop epitomizes it. 

9. God’s Silence by Franz Wright

it’s hilarious to me that Franz Wright’s poetry got better after he converted to Catholicism, because that really shouldn’t happen. but yeah this is an awesome collection. i’ve seen a lot of them floating around on here—”Night Walk” in particular is one from this collection that has made the rounds on tumblr. if you liked that, you’ll like this book. his poetry isn’t perfect but it’s worthwhile. on another note his dad is one of my favorite poets of all time

Honorable mentions: 

DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi (great book, but one of the more well-known Don Mee Choi outfits, and I wanted to highlight Autobiography of Death as part of the lesser-known translation work she’s doing. Also just preferred the latter!)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (I’m someone who has trouble reading “classics” from this period, but this one stands out from the rest in every regard!! seriously, I read this right after Dracula and it just highlighted to me how much Dracula was lacking. lol)

The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn (lovely poetic sci-fi!)

1919 by Eve L. Ewing (inventive, innovative poetry about the Chicago Race Riots of 1919. Remarkable how Ewing was able to not only balance her literary and sociological/historical backgrounds, but make them really work together)

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (super fun. must-read for mystery fans)

The Institute by Stephen King

The Witness of Poetry by Czesław Miłosz

[rhetoricandlogic]

You can't 'Trust' this novel. And that's a very good thing

May 12, 202211:27 AM ET Heard on Fresh Air Maureen Corrigan

Trust by Hernan Diaz is one of those novels that's always pulling a fast one on a reader. Take the opening section: You settle in, become absorbed in the story and, then, 100 pages or so later — Boom! — the novel lurches into another narrative that upends the truth of everything that came before.

When a work of fiction reminds me that it is a work of fiction simply to show me how gullible I am, well, thanks, I knew that already. But sometimes these metadramatic maneuvers serve a novel's larger themes. Susan Choi's 2019 novel, Trust Exercise, about the misleading powers of art and memory, is one recent instance; now, Diaz's Trust is another. That word "trust" in both their titles is a tip-off that that's exactly what we readers shouldn't do upon entering these slippery fictional worlds.

Trust is all about money, particularly, the flimflam force of money in the stock market, and its potential, as a character says, "to bend and align reality" to its own purposes. The opening section is imagined as a novel-within-a novel, entitled Bonds, a 1937 best-seller about the rise of a Wall Street tycoon named Benjamin Rask. Think of figures like J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, men whose DNA was made of strands of ticker tape. We learn that Rask is that rarest of creatures, a wealthy man without appetites. Our narrator tells us Rask is fascinated by only one thing:

If asked, Benjamin would probably have found it hard to explain what drew him to the world of finance. It was the complexity of it, yes, but also the fact that he viewed capital as an antiseptically living thing. ... There was no need for him to touch a single banknote or engage with the things and people his transactions affected. All he had to do was think, speak, and, perhaps, write. And the living creature would be set in motion ...

For the sake of posterity, Rask does eventually marry — an equally self-contained woman named Helen. Throughout the Roaring '20s, Rask accrues wealth and Helen finds her place as a patron of the arts. Then, comes the Crash of 1929. Because Rask profits from other speculators' losses, rumors circulate that he rigged the Crash and he and Helen are ostracized. The final chapters of this saga detail Helen's ordeal as a patient at a psychiatric institute in Switzerland; her mania and her eczema, described as a "merciless red flat monster gnawing on her skin," are reminiscent of the real life torments of Zelda Fitzgerald.

The opening section of Trust, as I've said, is so sharply realized, it's disorienting to begin the novel's next section, composed of notes on a story that sounds like the one we've just read. But, then, Diaz lures us readers into once again suspending our disbelief when we reach the captivating third section of his novel, which mostly takes place during the Great Depression. There, a young woman from Brooklyn named Ida Partenza becomes the secretary — and ghostwriter — for a financial mogul named Andrew Bevel. Bevel's life is the source for that best-selling novel, Bonds, and he's so infuriated by that novel, he's had all copies removed from the New York public library system. Bevel hires Ida to help him write a memoir that will set the record straight. Sure. The fourth and final section of Trust is wired with booby traps, blowing the whole artifice up before our wide-open eyes.Trust is an ingeniously constructed historical novel with a postmodern point. Throughout, Diaz makes a connection between the realms of fiction and finance. As Ida's father, an Italian anarchist, says:

Money is a fantastic commodity. You can't eat or wear money, but it represents all the food and clothes in the world. This is why it's a fiction. … Stocks, shares, bonds. Do you think any of these things those bandits across the river buy and sell represent any real, concrete value? No. … That's what all these criminals trade in: fictions.

Literary fiction, too, is a fantastic commodity in which our best writers become criminals of the imagination, stealing our attention and our very desires. Diaz, whose last novel, In the Distance, reworked the myths of masculine individualism in the American West, makes an artistic fortune in Trust. And we readers make out like bandits, too.

[recvordshqs]

* EXTRA, EXTRA! desde westbound mag nos complace presentar a otra de las estrellas del firmamento de don crowlley, CLEVELAND, ha hecho una aparición de último momento en las oficinas de westbound tras el fallecimiento del rey midas de la música ¿cuál será su próximo movimiento? descuida, que maureen y sus secuaces le seguirán muy de cerca.

¡bienvenide a recvordshqs, GUM! te agradecemos muchísimo el interés puesto en el proyecto, te recordamos que cuentas con veinticuatro horas para enviar la cuenta de tu personaje, de necesitar más tiempo no dudes en enviar un mensajito a la administración.

fuera de personaje.

SEUDÓNIMO: gum.

ZONA HORARIA Y/O PAÍS: colombia.

TRIGGERS: incesto, non-con, pedofilia.

¿NOS DAS PERMISO DE QUE TU PERSONAJE PARTICIPE DE MANERA ACTIVA EN LAS INTERVENCIONES Y CAPÍTULOS?: ¡claro!

¿ERES MAYOR DE VEINTIUNO?: sí.

ficha de identificación.

NOMBRE Y STAGE NAME: progenitores le han nombrado baek desde que nació, incluso registros oficiales de su nacimiento lo identifican como: choi baek. desde que habilidad con la guitarra y su manera de componer le ha saltado a la fama, ha decidido dejarse conocer como cleveland: ciudad donde creció.

FACECLAIM: jay park.

EDAD, FECHA Y LUGAR DE NACIMIENTO: 21 años, 19 de abril, ohio.

PSIQUE: personalidad es encantadora ante los medios, magnética, irresistible. sabe jugar entre lo que el publico quiere ver y lo misterioso que desea mantenerse. mas sin embargo, lejos de reflectores y groupies, cleve tiene una lengua muy filosa. sarcástico, irónico, incluso pedante en ocasiones. va por lo que quiere y no le importa ser un egoísta para conseguirlo. amigos los cuenta con una mano y es suficiente: poniendo un muro entre él y el resto. le cuesta bajar sus defensas y dejar ver cómo es realmente. selectivo, observador, impulsivo. impaciente. odia la incertidumbre. le fascina ser el lobo solitario que cree poder arreglárselas a solas, siempre siendo suficiente propia compañía para resolver lo que necesite. desconfiado, le cuesta ceder ante los demás, piensa que gestos de bondad o desinteresados no existen, aunque tiene sus excepciones.

FÍSICO: parece la típica estrella de rock, chaqueta de cuero, cabello despeinado e imperfecto que aún luce como si pudiese estar en la portada de cualquier revista. le gusta verse inaccesible, rudo. tatuajes adornan sus brazos, torso y espalda. PUNTOS CLAVE:

mención de trigges: violencia familiar.

# 1. progenitores migran hacia el sueño americano, romance pasajero y promesas rotas es la base de aquella relación. baek llega al mundo como producto de un descuido. por supuesto, padres son tan jóvenes y con sueños que van dejando de lado gracias al nuevo nacimiento; teniendo que encargarse de nuevas responsabilidades y de un alma inocente y tan frágil que todavía no gana consciencia de la pesadez de su existencia en la vida de progenitores. su madre, por ejemplo, decidida a continuar sueño de que pinturas serían más valoradas en aquel país. su padre, por otro lado, sería un bueno para nada: un charlatán. amargura en sus ojos cada vez que observa a infante y durante mucho tiempo les castiga a ambos con su rencor hasta que abandona hogar tan pronto como se le da la oportunidad y no vuelven a saber de él.

# 2. su infancia fue dura, llena de carencias, gritos, manchas violetas en su dermis y recuerdos que aún le atormentan y que gracias a nicotina y alcohol se vueven más llevaderos. siempre ha estado consciente de sacrificio por parte de su madre para mantenerlo con un techo sobre su cabeza y con el estómago lleno, pero ese esfuerzo no estuvo ahí desde el principio. baek sabe de los sueños que todavía guarda y cree que él no se da cuenta. lo sabe, porque tan pronto como baek tiene la edad suficiente para cuidarse solo y monstruo abandona hogar, ella vuelve a las pinturas, a ese mundo de arte y al menos le da paz mental que progenitora ha logrado poco a poco darse con un puesto de enseñanza en una preparatoria.

# 3. él, por su parte, siempre se refugi�� en una libreta y su lapiz, vaciando cada sentimiento desde que apredió a escribir. música acompañándole en todo momento, todo lo que sabe lo aprendió de un anciano amable quien lo refugiaba cuando situación en casa era díficil de escapar. aquel hombre tenía un sinfín de vinilos y se dedicó a mostrarle sus años de gloria cuando logró alcazar el estrellato en los años dorados de su vida. sin querer, se convierte en la figura paternal que baek siempre quiso. ahí es donde primera guitarra llega a sus manos y conocimientos de música que nunca llegó a imaginar.

archivo en westbound records.

POSICIÓN EN WESTBOUND:

músico y compositor, llegó a westbound después de ser descubierto en un bar de mala muerte, siendo el vocalista y guitarrista principal de una banda sin mucho futuro. toca la guitarra y el bajo.

RELACIÓN CON DON:

le debe a don todo, o eso siente, hay tantas cosas de las que lo pudo haber salvado cuando lo descubrió en aquel bar. lo motivó, le dio propósito, le abrió los ojos a un mundo nuevo y le entregó fama, reconocimiento y estrellato en bandeja de plata a alguien que nunca tuvo ni una cuarta parte de lo que tiene ahora. lealtad es en lo que piensa cuando recuerda a don, siendo quien le aconsejaba y le bajaba los humos cuando era necesario. ahora que no está, bueno, ausencia pesa más que nunca en su mundo.

REACCIÓN A SU FALLECIMIENTO:

removido.

OPINIÓN DE WESTBOUND:

westbound era el cielo después de haber escapado de la monotonía y el rebusque de quien no tiene nada pero espera comerse el mundo alguna vez. interior se llenaba de ilusión aunque quisera disimularlo y jugar la carta de que nada le sorprendía, que estaba acostumbrado a ello, que ser una estrella era algo que merecía y que era invencible. ahora… se siente perdido, sin saber a dónde ir, como si le hubiesen quitado los pies del piso. ambiente es distinto, sin don, se siente reemplazable.

[diyeipetea]

JazzX5#373. Noa Lur: "Martin Galox" [Gaur (Errabal Jazz, 2021)] [Minipodcast de jazz] Por Pachi Tapiz

JazzX5#373. Noa Lur: “Martin Galox” [Gaur (Errabal Jazz, 2021)] [Minipodcast de jazz] Por Pachi Tapiz

“Martin Galox” Gaur: Gaur (Errabal, 2021) Noa Lur, Ander García, David Sancho, David Fernández, Maureen Choi String Quartet (Maureen Choi, Julia Álvarez, Pedro Barberán, Javier Romero). El tema es una composición de Natxo de Felipe. © Pachi Tapiz, 2021     En anteriores episodios de JazzX5/HDO/LODLMA/Maltidos Jazztardos… https://www.tomajazz.com/web/?p=26769 Noa Lur en…

[belle-keys]

do you have any book recs for books like the atlas six? (Dark academia, found family kind of lol, university/school/secluded setting, mystery, maybe even romance)

hi hi, thanks for the ask! here ya go!

the absolute best dark academia books according to me in addition to TA6:

- Babel: An Arcane History by RF Kuang

- The Secret History by Donna Tartt

other enjoyable dark academia recs:

- If We Were Villains by ML Rio

- Vicious by VE Schwab

- These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

- Bunny by Mona Awad

kinda fun YA academia-based books in boarding schools:

- Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

- Crave by Tracy Wolff

Dark + POC academia satire: Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Choi

Also, this video has tons of recs! Leo never fails to supply recommendations like this!

[the-forest-library]

June 2021 Reads

Soulless - Gail Carriger

Changeless - Gail Carriger

Blameless - Gail Carriger

Heartless - Gail Carriger

Sixteen Scandals - Sophie Jordan

The Box in the Woods - Maureen Johnson

People We Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry

Yolk - Mary H.K. Choi

The Ex Talk - Rachel Lynn Solomon

Daisy Jones & the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

Today Tonight Tomorrow - Rachel Lynn Solomon

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson

Dear Mrs Bird - A.J. Pierce

Check, Please! - Ngozi Ukazu

Dinosaur Lady - Linda Skeers

H is for Hawk - Helen Macdonald

The Bassoon King - Rain Wilson

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: This was a pretty darn good reading month. Favorites were The Box in the Woods, the Parasol Protectorate series (Gail Carriger), and People We Meet on Vacation. Yolk was also great - heartbreaking and devastating - but great. It would make a good companion read for Crying in H Mart. And, I had no clue I read two books by Rachel Lynn Solomon this month until I created this list! It makes sense, though, as they were both love letters to Seattle.

Goodreads Goal: 135/100

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads

[booksociety]

Book Society presents its September reading event! The members have chosen Back to School as the theme and The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar as the optional book of the month. For this event, we will be venturing into academic surroundings as we read books set in schools of all kinds. Whether you choose to solve a dark murder mystery, learn some magic, or follow a love story in the book of your choice, we invite you on this journey. This event is open to everyone, not just our members.

✧ how to participate:

optional: reblog this post; check out our network and members

read (or reread) either The Henna Wars (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 400 pages) or a book of your choice that fits this month’s theme

share what book you’ve chosen, thoughts, reactions, and/or creations

use the tag #booksociety in your posts, and include “@booksociety​​’s Back to School Event: [insert book title here]” in the description of your creations

the event starts on 1 September and ends on 30 September

✧ reading recommendations (under the cut):

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson (young adult, contemporary, thriller; 433 pages)

A List of Cages by Robin Roe (young adult, contemporary, mental health; 310 pages; trigger warning: abuse)

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall (young adult, contemporary, romance; 272 pages)

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro (young adult, retelling, contemporary; 321 pages)

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio (young adult, contemporary, romance; 373 pages)

Akata Witch (Akata Witch #1) by Nnedi Okorafor (middle grade, fantasy; 349 pages)

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 410 pages)

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (young adult, contemporary; 470 pages)

Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1) by Richelle Mead (young adult, fantasy, paranormal, romance; 421 pages)

Carry On (Simon Snow #1) by Rainbow Rowell (young adult, fantasy, romance, lgbt+; 522 pages)

Educated by Tara Westover (adult, autobiography; 334 pages)

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi (young adult, contemporary, romance; 394 pages)

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire (young adult, fantasy, mystery; 173 pages)

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (young adult, contemporary, romance; 438 pages)

Girls With Sharp Sticks (Girls With Sharp Sticks #1) by Suzanne Young (young adult, scifi, dystopia; 400 pages)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling (middle grade, fantasy; 309 pages)

Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper #1) by Alice Oseman (young adult, contemporary, romance, graphic novel; 278 pages)

Her Royal Highness (Royals #2) by Rachel Hawkins (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 274 pages)

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry (young adult, contemporary; 329 pages)

Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins (young adult, fantasy, paranormal; 232 pages)

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 329 pages)

If We Were Us by K.L. Walther (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 368 pages)

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (adult, contemporary, thriller; 368 pages)

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen (young adult, contemporary, romance; 432 pages)

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (adult, fantasy, mystery; 336 pages)

Marked (House of Night #1) by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast (young adult, fantasy, paranormal; 306 pages)

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (young adult, contemporary; 330 pages)

My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 (My Hero Academia #1) by Kohei Horikoshi (young adult, superheroes, manga; 192 pages)

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff (adult, fantasy; 429 pages)

Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo (adult, fantasy, contemporary, dark academia; 459 pages)

Normal People by Sally Rooney (adult, contemporary, romance; 266 pages)

Of Curses and Kisses (St Rosetta’s Academy #1) by Sandhya Menon (young adult, fantasy, romance; 384 pages)

One of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) by Karen M. McManus (young adult, contemporary, thriller; 361 pages)

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 288 pages)

Openly Straight (Openly Straight #1) by Bill Konigsberg (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 320 pages)

Parachutes by Kelly Yang (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 496 pages)

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (young adult, contemporary, lgbt+; 416 pages)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) by Becky Albertalli (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 303 pages)

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith (young adult, contemporary, romancce, lgbt+; 368 pages)

Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles) by Tamora Pierce (young adult, fantasy; 465 pages)

The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1) by Laurie Forest (young adult, fantasy; 601 pages)

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend (Hamilton High #1) by Kody Keplinger (young adult, contemporary, romance; 304 pages)

The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give #1) by Angie Thomas (young adult, contemporary; 444 pages; content warnings: racism, on-page character death)

The Chase (Briar U #1) by Elle Kennedy (new adult, contemporary, romance; 377 pages)

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (adult, historical; 213 pages)

The Novice (Summoner #1) by Taran Matharu (young adult, fantasy; 398 pages)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (young adult, contemporary, coming of age, mental health; 213 pages; trigger warnings: sexual assault, child sexual abuse, physical abuse, self-harm, suicide, eating disorder, drug and alcohol abuse)

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (poetry, young adult, contemporary; 368 pages)

The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) by R.F. Kuang (adult, fantasy, 530 pages; content warnings: war, violence)

The Secret History by Donna Tart (adult, contemporary, dark academia; 559 pages)

The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen (new adult, contemporary, romance, sports; 274 pages)

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #1) by Jenny Han (young adult, contemporary, romance; 355 pages)

Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson (young adult, contemporary, thriller; 416 pages)

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead (young adult, fantasy, paranormal, romance; 332 pages)

When Dimple Met Rishi (Dimple and Rishi #1) by Sandhya Menon (young adult, contemporary, romance; 380 pages)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (young adult, horror, mystery, lgbt+; 357 pages)

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (young adult, contemporary, lgbt+; 400 pages)

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (young adult, contemporary, lgbt+; 328 pages)

[of-foolish-and-wise]

Contemporary Campus Novels

You know, for people who want to hear about some books that aren’t heavy classics or Donna Tartt?

Fiction:

- The Idiot, Elif Batuman

- An Education, Susan Choi

- Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney

- Normal People, Sally Rooney

- On Beauty, Zadie Smith

- Rules of Attraction, Bret Easton Ellis

- The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides

- The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

Fantasy:

- The Magicians, Lev Grossman

- A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness

- Vicious, VE Schwab

- Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

Academia-Adjacent Fiction: 

- Falling Together, Marisa de los Santos

- The Feminist Persuasion, Meg Wolitzer

- Fates & Furies, Lauren Groff

- Weather, Jenny Offill

Academia-Adjacent Non-Fiction:

- A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf

- Educated, Tara Westover

- Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

- Lab Girl, Hope Jahren

YA:

- Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson

- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart

- Emergency Contact, Mary HK Choi

- Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins

- Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld

- A Separate Peace, John Knowles

- Looking for Alaska, John Green

YA Fantasy:

- The Raven Cycle, Maggie Stiefvater

- A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray

- Wilder Girls, Rory Power

- Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

[cassandraclare]

Hii Cassie !! I m really excited for CHoG....I m literally in love with them just by reading flash-fics and excerpts..!! My ques is that do we know by the end of CHoG to who we should ship James with (Jordiala or jrace/grames????(SORRY IDK THE SHIP NAME FOR THEM) or we would find that in CHoI???? Xoxo

I feel like Jrace is definitely the name of either an alien in a bad sci fi movie (”Commander Jrace, set the moon cannon to DESTROY EARTH!”) or the name of someone’s new and annoying boyfriend in a sitcom. (”Can you believe Maureen’s here and she brought Jrace with her — what a dick that guy is.”) However, my opinion is that fans should pick ship names, so I’m just going to wait and see what you come up with. 

Ditto who you “should” ship - up to you, really!

[lit-society]

After enjoying the long months of the summer with friends, family, and your books of choice, it’s finally time to start heading back to school. With our return to various academic institutions, the librarians and library assistants at LITSOCIETY would like to invite you to join us in our fourth book fair: ON CAMPUS. 

How to participate: 

pick a book that takes place in, or features, an academic institution as the setting or the basis of the plot 

if the school is not either a major setting or a plot device, the book most likely does not fit our book fair, however this is up to your discretion

this book fair will take place between September 1st and September 30th

if you have any questions about this book fair, please contact the head librarians 

once you’ve finished your novel, create something (graphic, moodboard, gif, etc.) to showcase in the library

when posting use the caption “@lit-society​ book fair 4: on campus + caption”

library assistants: make sure to use the tags #f. [book title] #m. [your name] #book 4 when sharing your piece with the library

remember to tag #litsociety in any creations made, so they can be added to the library 

This book fair is open to all, whether library employee or patron. We hope you enjoy your choice of book this month. For your aid, we’ve added a list of a few books that would fit the theme of this book fair below the cut. 

A Study in Charlotte – Brittany Cavallaro (321 pages, mystery, YA, retellings)

Again, but Better – Christine Riccio (373 pages, contemporary, YA, romance) 

An Education in Ruin – Alexis Bass (368 pages, YA, suspence, romance) 

Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins (372 pages, YA, romance, contemporary) 

Carry On – Rainbow Rowell (522, YA, fantasy, LGBT) 

Emergency Contact – Mary H.K. Choi (394 pages, YA, romance, contemporary) 

Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender (368 pages, YA, LGBT, contemporary) 

Final Draft — Riley Redgate (272 pages, YA, contemporary, LGBT) 

First & Then – Emma Mills (272 pages, YA, contemporary, romance) 

Girls with Sharp Sticks – Suzanne Young (400, YA, science fiction, mystery) 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – JK Rowling (309 pages, middle grade, fantasy, fiction) 

Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) – Rachel Hawkins (323 pages, YA, fantasy, romance)

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1)  – Ally Carter (284 pages, YA, romance, mystery) 

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret – Misa Sugiura (400 pages, YA, LGBT, romance) 

Looking for Alaska – John Green (221 pages, YA, fiction, contemporary)

Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo (459 pages, fantasy, adult, mystery) 

One of Us is Lying – Karen M. McManus (361 pages, YA, mystery, contemporary) 

Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars #1) – Sara Shepard (286 pages, YA, mystery, contemporary)

Romancing the Throne – Nadine Jolie Courtney (392 pages, YA, romance, contemporary)

S.T.A.G.S. – M.A. Bennett (290 pages, YA, mystery, thriller) 

Tell Me How You Really Feel – Aminah Mae Safi (312 pages, YA, romance, LGBT) 

The DUFF – Kody Keplinger (280 pages, YA, contemporary, romance)

The Hate You Give – Angie Thomas (444 pages, YA, own voices, contemporary) 

The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1) – Holly Black, Cassandra Clare (295 pages, fantasy, middle grade, fiction) 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky (213 pages, YA, fiction, contemporary) 

The Poet X – Elizabeth Acevedo (368 pages, poetry, own voices, contemporary) 

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) – Maggie Stiefvater (409 pages, YA, fantasy, romance) 

The Rest of Us Just Live Here – Patrick Ness (348 pages, YA, fantasy, LGBT) 

The Secret History – Donna Tartt (559 pages, fiction, mystery, adult) 

The Vampire Diaries – LJ Smith (253 pages, YA, paranormal, romance)

This Adventure Ends – Emma Mills (320 pages, YA, romance, LGBT)

This Time Will Be Different – Misa Sugiura (416 pages, YA, contemporary, romance)

Tiny Pretty Things – Sona Charaipotra (448 pages, YA, contemporary, mystery) 

Truly Devious – Maureen Johnson (416 pages, YA, mystery, contemporary) 

Twilight – Stephanie Meyer (501 pages, YA, paranormal, romance) 

Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead (332 pages, YA, paranormal, romance) 

Where I End & You Begin – Preston Norton (304 pages, YA, romance, LGBT) 

Wicked Fox – Kat Cho (429 pages, YA, fantasy, romance) 

You Should See Me in a Crown – Leah Johnson (328 pages, YA, LGBT, contemporary)

[darkmacademia]

Hi! This is a reply for the person who asked about light academia novels: "My Education" by Susan Choi, "The Idiot" by Elif Batuman, "Prep" by Curtis Sittenfeld, both of Sally Rooney's novels, "Old School" by Tom Wolff. For not-too dark YA academia, the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson and "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" by E. Lockhart. Finally, an Oxford fantasy that isn't too dark is "A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness."

oh thank you so so much for taking the time to send these! I’m gonna check these out too. here you go @jinx-lirin​ 💕

[whorehour]

Wishlist

SIDE NOTE: This was requested but while writing it i accidenly lost the ask beacuse im really dumb:( anyways i hope u like it maureen and im really sorry:((

sypnosis: a one-shot in which yeonjun struggles with buying the reader the perfect birthday present and in the midst of reliving some old memories, they create new ones.  2K WORDS

TW// mild use of vulgur language // very soft fluff

it was 2am when u heard something tick against your bedroom window. you tried to ignore but, it just kept getting louder. as you drew open the curtains you were met with the face of your beloved best friend, choi yeonjun.

"morning sleeping beauty" "its 2am" "the early bird catches the worm" he remarked as he climbed into your room and jumped onto your bed. you want to be mad at him from disturbing your precious sleep but, the truth is that this wasn't something new. it was quite normal for yeonjun to show up at your place at the strangest of times without any warning but that doesnt mean you weren't confused. 

"what's all this about yeonjun" you weren't exactly pleased with this spontaneous visit you valued your sleep and yeonjun knew that. "whats this?" you asked as he shoves a crumbled up piece of paper in you face. "this my dear is your wishlist from when you were 8" "how did you get that?" "we made them together on your 8th birthday, here look you wrote that these are the things you want to acomolish in ten years" the memories of your 8th birthday came flooding back. your mum had invited your friends over for a party and after everyone had left you and yeonjun stayed outside in your backyard colouring. then, yeonjun suggest you make a wishlist list of all the things you wanted to accomplish together before your 18th birthday

"i cant believe you still have this" "of course i still have it, i keep everything that's precious to me." "so you snuk into my room at 2am just to show me this?" "yep!" he smiled clearly very proud of himself. he leaned his head against your beds headboard, his eyes sparkling brighter than any star in the sky. you had to admit that your best friend was indeed beautiful which is why you can't understand why he hasn't gotten a girlfriend yet. not that it bothered you, in fact it would’ve bothered you even more if he did. you've always had a little crush on yeonjun but you never even dared to reveal your true feelings for the sake of the friendship. 

"hello? earth to y/n?" "oh sorry... thank you i love it, really" yeonjun mirrored your smile and with a playful glint in his eyes, he stood up and went back to the window and looked at you as if he was expecting you to follow him.

"what are you doing?" "read number 6" "mc donalds at 2am? really?? now??" "its 2am isn't it? hurry up birthday girl, im hungry" you blinked twice in confusion trying to process all that was happening. you ignorantly thought that the wishlist was the gift paying no attention to its contents, but of course there was always something more when it had to do with yeonjun. 

"are you sure this is legal?" "probably not...hey, dont give me that look this was your idea" you and yeonjun were currently at an abandoned apartment building ready to check number 9 off the wishlist, having a picnic on the roof of an abandoned building under the stars. you had to admit, this birthday present was becoming quite scary, but the thought of getting caught doing something this stupid with your best friend was more than exciting. you finally reached the top floor and opened the door which lead to the roof. the apartment building its self was about 12 stories high so, you were quite high up.

"the views so pretty" "yeah... beautiful" you didn't notice how yeonjun was looking at you with so much love in his eyes. to him you were the most beautiful and precious thing and seeing the way your eyes twinkled with happiness made his heart skip a beat. if it weren't for your impatient whines to set everything up and start eating, he would've told you how he felt right then and there, but everything happens for a reason. 

an hour later and you were both laying under the stars talking and laughing and sometimes not saying a word, the silence was never awkward between you two, in fact you found so much comfort in each others company that sometimes no words were needed.

"did you feel that?" "feel what?" "its raining" "what!? hurry grab the stuff lets-" you were starting to stand up when yoenjun pulled you back down. he reached inside his jean pockets and pulled out the whish list. "number 2" he said nonchalantly. number two was special to both of you. it was something you always wanted to do but never had the chance because your parents would scold you, over time you had forgotten about it...until now. yeonjun stood up and extended his hands to help you get up. he pulled you in close and started swaying from side to side.

"there's no music" you mumbled and right on que, he started humming your favourite song. it was a magical moment, just like you had dreamed about when you were eight. it felt like a movie scene and you didnt want it to end. yeonjun held you close as you rested your head against his chest and whispered and it was at that moment you both realised how deeply in love you were with each other.

"you know, when i was eight years old i considered myself a great artist. however, today...not so much” "come y/n its the last thing on the list we have to do it" "alright fine, open the paint bucket" number 10 was very... ambitious. you wanted to paint a disney castle on one of your bedroom walls. sure the idea was cute, but it would've been cuter if it was done by a professional and not by two teenagers who can barely draw stick figures. but alas, yeonjun insisted to stick to the list and so, here you both where, ready to (ruin) paint over your white bedroom wall. 

"ready y/n?" "nope" "good"

"THATS SO NOT A CASTLE" "WHAT DO MEAN ITS PERFECT" "lets just paint over it yeonjun"  "no. we're leaving it as it is. its got character. you clearly dont understand art." "oh really? do you understand this" as the last word rolled off of your tongue, you painted a nice blue line across yeonjuns arm. he laughed for a second, then got serious and started running after you with a paint brush drenched in white paint. your bedroom filled with laughter and screams as yeonjun picked you up and pinned against the wall. he was so dangerously close to your face that you could feel his breath fan over your lips. you didn't move nor did you want to. yeonjun however, inching closer and closer until you could feel his soft pink lips on yours. the kiss was soft and short after two seconds he pulled back with wide eyes an apology already prepared, but you didnt give him any time to say a word, instead you wrapped your arms around his neck tightly and drew him into a deeper kiss. yeonjun finally relaxed and melted in your embraced as he kissed you back with so much love and passion. his hands snaked around your waist and pulled you closer if that was even possible. you could feel his tongue poke against your lips asking for permission and you willingly let him in. as your tongues battled for danced around in each other’s mouths, yeonjun wrapped his hands around your thighs and lifted you up. you wrapped your legs around his waist as he walked towards the bed where he laid you down softly. 

"you sure this is ok?" he whispered above you.

"more than ok...please, dont stop again" that was enough for yeonjun to strip off his shirt and go back to kissing you. his lips travelled down towards your jaw and down to your neck. he started to kiss all over your neck.until he found your sweet spot. the sound of your breathless moans cause yeonjuns pants to tighten as he littered hickies all over your neck. he pulled back to admire his work and his eyes travelled upwards to find a bright smile on his face. yeonjun felt his heart flutter as the sight and leaned in again to place a chaste kiss on your lips before pulling your top over your head. 

"you're so beautiful" he whispered as his littered kisses all over your chest and stomach. his kisses kept getting lower and lower untill he reached the waistband of your sweats. "may i?" he asked to which you eagerly nodded. he removed your sweatpants dangerously slow which cause you to whine in impatience, earning a breathless laugh from the man above you. you were getting impatient by how slow things were moving so you flipped yeonjun over and sat on his lap. his reaction was priceless, eyes wide and mouth opened ever so slightly he looked like a deer in headlights. he watched eagerly as you reached behind your back to remove your bra and tossed it wherever. 

the sight in fornt of yeonjun was enough for him to buck his hips upwards. his hands travelled towards your chest as you bent down to kiss him again while grinding on him. yeonjun couldn't help but moan, he flipped you over again and stripped himself of his pants and boxers. "like what you see?" yeonjun laughed at your wandering eyes. you didnt respond instead pulled him into another deep kiss but this time it was sloppier. yeonjuns hands slid down and removed your underwear, his lips never leaving yours. you could feel him lining himself into your entrance and gripped his arms which caused yeonjun to pull away from the kiss.  “dont worry, i got you... i wont hurt you i promise” you trusted yeonjun with your life and you couldn't feel safer with him, but you were still nervous. he pushed inside of you and you winced and the streched. yeonjun didn't move a muscle he was so scared of hurting that he waited for your command before he started moving his hips. he kissed your lips to distract you from the pain

"i love you" he whispered "i love you too"yeonjun buried his head into your neck and soon, the pain turned into pleasure and you started moaning in yeonjuns ears."f-faster" you moaned out. yeonjun didnt hesitate to buck his hips forward at a faster rate. he sat up and lifted your legs over his shoulders and moaned at the feeling of your warm walls wrapped tightly around his length. the view of yeonjun moaning and bitimg his lips as his hear stuck to hia forehead due to the sweat, had you moaning and cleanching around him

"fuck- stop that or ill- fuck" he continued to pound into you not caring how loud the two of you were being. yeonjun looked at you and could tell by the way your face was twisting and how you were tightening around him that you were close."come with me baby" his growled in your ear. his voice alone was enough to send you over the edge as you came on his dick. the feeling of your walls pulsing around him caused him to pull out and come on your stomach. the view of yeonjun moaning as he came on you was breathtaking. daringly, you scooped up his cum from your stomach and placed your digits in your mouth, sucking every finger while keeping eye contact with yeonjun. yeonjun moaned at the sight and scooped up the remaining cum and shoved his fingers into your mouth and watched in awe as you sucked his fingers clean. after he pulled his fingers out he leaned in and kissed you once again, tasting himself on your tongue. 

he pulled himself back and laid beside you as you both started up at the ceiling, trying to process all that just happened. "well, that wasn't on the list" you laughed and yeonjun joined in as he pulled you closer. you rested your head against his chest and wrapped your arms around his figure after pulling the covers over both of you. yeonjun kissed the top of your head lovingly and whispered "i love you" “i love you too...we still need to paint over that castle by the way." "ssshhh dont ruin the moment"