#a chance meeting

[mercerislandbooks]

Our Favorite Nonfiction of 2024

It's very nearly the last minute, and, just in the nick of time, we have our list of favorite nonfiction from 2024. I will admit that this area is not my strong suit, so my coworkers are doing the heavy lifting. These are for the readers who want to more deeply understand the world around us, the history behind us, and the future to come. Brave readers all.

If you're looking for a behind the scenes peek at the giants of the American writing scene, pick up one of Brad's favorites, A Chance Meeting. Brad says, "American Luminaries... they're just like us! They hang out, have coffee together and get into arguments. In Rachel Cohen's wonderful new book, we eavesdrop on artists and writers from Henry James to James Baldwin and witness the impact these men and women had on each other."

As for the editing and publishing side, Caitlin loved The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America. "Judith Jones was the legendary editor at Knopf. She shaped the careers of Julia Child, Madhur Jaffrey, Anne Tyler and John Updike. Early in her career Jones saved The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank from the slush pile. What a life!"

Speaking of Julia Child, many of us love to cook (as well as read) at Island Books, and Laurie highly recommends Seriously, So Good by Carissa Stanton. She says anyone can cook from it and the food is delicious, which is exactly how I like my cookbooks!

Laurie also found Ina Garten's memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens "full of humor and dishy storytelling. The Barefoot Contessa entertains as she weaves the story of her childhood meeting Jeffrey and becoming THE Ina Garten. You'll enjoy this from start to finish!"

As for Cindy, her favorite nonfiction was Doppelganger by Naomi Klein. She says, "In Doppelganger, Canadian author, activist and cultural analyst Naomi Klein tours the persistence of The Doppelganger in history and literature while reckoning with her personal doppelganger, Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth turned conspiracy theorist ("Other Naomi"), with whom she is chronically confused or interchanged with by the public, mainly online. Part memoir, part social critique, Klein touches upon on issues of self-identity, self-presentation, online identity, the rapid dissemination of bad information, news, fake news, and the simmering entry of AI into our online constructs among many other factors that over the last few decades have contributed to the accelerated political polarization and societal disparity we are experiencing today."

Back to the realm of what we can control, from the author of Four Thousand Weeks, Victor highly recommends Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. "The perfect book for embracing and accepting your imperfections." Sounds like a good way to start out the new year!

Looking for a seafaring adventure to fill the void left by David Grann's The Wager? Brad says, look no further! "Hampton Sides brings Captain James Cook's final voyage to life in The Wide Wide Sea, while thoughtfully addressing the moral complexity of Cook's encounters with the indigenous populations of the Pacific Ocean."

If you'd like to explore a little closer to home, Nancy can't stop talking about Born of Fire and Rain. She says it's for the reader who is interested in the science and ecology of the Northwest. Plus it's beautifully written and illustrated. Come for the cover, stay for the words.

And for the micro-ecology of our own backyards, Backyard Bird Chronicles is perfect. Nancy says, "This is a great gift for anyone who likes to look out the window. Tan is showing us how to observe with no ulterior motive. Just the birds and beautiful drawings provide wonderful entertainment."

Caitlin loved There's Always This Year, saying it's "a book of fathers, sons, life, and, of course, basketball." And she picked Bluff, by Danez Smith, as a standout poetry collection from this year. She says she often read through individual poems multiple times, and calls it a "deeply thought-provoking look at civil action."

My own contribution is How to Winter, which I enjoyed so much that I wrote a whole blog about it. It's perfect for this time of year, but has tools that can help us shift our mindsets during any challenging times.

I hope one of these catches your eye, either for you, or for the nonfiction reader in your life! This link will take you to the book list on our website:

2024: Our Favorite Nonfiction

Happy perusing!

-- Lori

[strangelovealchemist]

“A Chance Meeting”

Darkened Skies With Stars Above Me

Hearken Back To Those Who Loved Me

See Their Faces In Constellations

Gentle Voices In Conversations

They Called My Name And We Played The Game

We Knew Life Would Never Be The Same

With The Rising Sun We Felt The Change

Hearts And Minds Forever Rearranged

Call My Name

Play The Game

Travel ‘Round

The Earth Again

Feel The Moon

High Above

Universe

Breathing Love

We Said We’d Never Fall

We Tried To Build A Wall

We Thought We Knew It All

We Thought We Knew It All

But Then We Fell

Into The Same Dream

And Under The Same Spell

Beneath Skies Of Blue And Green

The Transformation Was Complete

We’d Count The Hours Until We’d Meet

With Every Thought And Every Breath

We’d Turn Back Time And Pass Each Test

The Life We Lead Is Strange Indeed

Where Strangers Meet And Still Believe

That Somehow Somewhere There Exists

A Gentle Soul With The Sweetest Kiss

Someone That Sincerely Cares

And Together You Can Share

A Moment Or A Life Aware

Of Heaven’s Gift If You Dare

The Comfort And The Certainty

That Comes With Such A Bond You See

And Often Comes So Easily

In Truth Belies Its Rarity

So If You Get The Chance

A Chance Meeting Or Circumstance

From Someone Who Has Danced The Dance

Throw Caution To The Wind, Advance

Words By Andreas Liotsakis a.k.a. Strangelove Alchemist

[bluebird-writing]

FYI I changed the title of “A Chance Meeting” from its original title, which was originally “The Leep Meets Frankenstein’s Monster”. I thought the new title is more creative

[anna-scribbles]

inspired by recent events from my sister’s actual real life

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

My Great Grandma who loved her babies very much

Reference that I used for the face!

[go-go-devil]

The entire 3-minute city ambiance scene from Ghost in the Shell (1995) is already one of the best moments in all of cinema imo, but I NEED to talk about my absolute favorite part from it:

That brief moment when Major Kusanagi and a stranger with her exact same body model catch a glance at one another. How quickly the initial curiosity of seeing the doppelgänger turns into a feeling of unease as the boat carries her away.

She will never meet this stranger. She'll never know anything about her other than the simple reminder that every piece of her cybernetic body is not unique to her. There is no part of her other than her brain and all its memories that she has any true ownership of, and even that isn't immune to being hacked and potentially erased by outside forces. Despite being a part of a bustling city, all she can do is reflect on how utterly isolated she feels as a living being.

How can she possibly define her humanity when she herself is confined in the form of what is essentially a highly modified weapon? How can she relate to others when she has more in common with the mannequins on display in a shopping mall than with the any of the people walking the streets?

All of this inner turmoil at one’s own existence conveyed without a SINGLE word of dialogue spoken. Now that's the power of cinema if I've ever seen it!

[almondcroissantsandink]

i will give the animators 12 american dollars if this is how the inevitable final faceoff with Striker goes down

[ofswordsandpens]

I know Percy's desperately trying to escape the godly world but not only do I think the gods aren't going to leave percy alone once he's in New Rome, I also think Percy's in the situation now where he can't refuse at all because like, if he was in the mortal world at a mortal college he at least would be able to try and be like "sorry I can't do a quest right now I've already used up my three excused absences this semester try again in the spring :/" but in New Rome? They will be like "Percy! It is an honor to be hand-selected for a quest. And by the gods no less! Stars above, you should be grateful! I don't know what your little greek camp has taught you but here in Rome, we respect the gods' requests. Your absence will be excused. Now go."

[fluffyartbl0g]

I know this probably sounds crazy,,, but i used to wear a hat almost exactly like that one!!!

WUH?! THAS INSANE!!!!

[slfcare]

the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.

[strangelovealchemist]

“A Chance Meeting”

Darkened Skies With Stars Above Me

Hearken Back To Those Who Loved Me

See Their Faces In Constellations

Gentle Voices In Conversations

They Called My Name And We Played The Game

We Knew Life Would Never Be The Same

With The Rising Sun We Felt The Change

Hearts And Minds Forever Rearranged

Call My Name

Play The Game

Travel ‘Round

The Earth Again

Feel The Moon

High Above

Universe

Breathing Love

We Said We’d Never Fall

We Tried To Build A Wall

We Thought We Knew It All

We Thought We Knew It All

But Then We Fell

Into The Same Dream

And Under The Same Spell

Beneath Skies Of Blue And Green

The Transformation Was Complete

We’d Count The Hours Until We’d Meet

With Every Thought And Every Breath

We’d Turn Back Time And Pass Each Test

The Life We Lead Is Strange Indeed

Where Strangers Meet And Still Believe

That Somehow Somewhere There Exists

A Gentle Soul With The Sweetest Kiss

Someone That Sincerely Cares

And Together You Can Share

A Moment Or A Life Aware

Of Heaven’s Gift If You Dare

The Comfort And The Certainty

That Comes With Such A Bond You See

And Often Comes So Easily

In Truth Belies Its Rarity

So If You Get The Chance

A Chance Meeting Or Circumstance

From Someone Who Has Danced The Dance

Throw Caution To The Wind, Advance

Words By Andreas Liotsakis a.k.a. Strangelove Alchemist

[bluebird-writing]

A Chance Meeting

Fandoms: Original Work & Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Rating: General Audiences

No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Frankenstein’s Creature & Original Character

Summary: “In the 23rd century, another strange creature meets and befriends Frankenstein's monster.”

Additional Context: I wrote this as a Halloween-themed sequel/revival of an original Wattpad story I wrote many years ago. If anyone is interested in reading it in PDF form or would like further context/information, feel free to shoot me an ask or message!

[jonnywaistcoat]

Mr. Waistcoat, there's a rather heated discussion about this question on hellsites such as Twitter & Tiktok, and I thought your opinion might be a valuable contribution.

Would you rather stumble across a bear or a man when alone in the woods?

Wish you a lovely day (preferably not alone in the woods),

drumla

This is a very bizarre question that I can only put down to the likelihood that the majority of Twitter/Tiktok users don't regularly go walking alone in the woods, 'cause, uh, you do meet people (including men), pretty regularly. And it's fine. Maybe you say hi or give each other a nod as you pass, but basically no-one is actually lurking in the woods with sinister intent. When you meet someone, chances are they are also just taking a walk. It's not impossible the encounter might be unpleasant, I suppose, but it's a pretty tiny possibility.

A bear, on the other hand... Depending on the type of bear, that's an encounter that has a comparatively high chance of going sideways.

I suppose my view might be slightly skewed by being a British man - passing other people in the woods generally only requires a nod of acknowledgement, whereas in a lot of other cultures (especially much of the US) I suspect the expectation of being drawn into small talk is much higher, which might be awkward or irritating. But still, y'know, better than a bear.

But yeah, 99% of the time neither the woods, nor people walking within them, are dangerous or scary, and I think the folks debating this question should get off social media and take a woodland walk, cause walking alone in the woods rules actually!

[justaz]

lol arthur realizes with the other knights after watching merlin flirt and being hit with a wave of deja vu: holy shit you asked me out

merlin and the rest of the knights around a campfire after leaving a village bc lancelot and leon somehow started a brawl in the tavern: ???

arthur points at merlin: after valiant! you asked me to buy you a drink! you were asking me out!

merlin is busy cooking dinner and confused out of his fucking mind: what???…..valiant….oh the knight with the snakes.

gwaine who was slightly tipsy now stone cold sober and sitting up straight against a tree: wait. explain. what do you mean merlin asked you out??

arthur snaps his fingers as he recalls the memory: i apologized for sacking you and you said that if i bought you a drink we’d be even.

merlin now remembering how he had stumbled into camelot, picked a fight with a pigheaded bully which quickly turned homoerotic and flirtatious, and continued their teasing-flirting for days before merlin shot his shot and asked the prince out only to be rejected: oh yeah, i forgot i did that…..wait, you mean you didnt realize what i was asking?

arthur: no?? we argued everyday, how was i supposed to realize you were asking me out??

merlin now abandoning the dinner and staring across the camp at arthur while the rest of the knights watch their back and forth like a game of tennis: to you we were arguing, to me that was very much flirting. i thought you were flirting back so i decided to ask you. then you rejected me

arthur, mentally beating his past self up for fucking up their chance: i didn’t reject you!!! i just didn’t realize what you were asking me. how was i meant to? we fought every chance we got

leon, nudging elyan, glee and excitement riling through him: its happening!!! its finally happening!!! seven long, grueling years is finally paying off!!!

merlin, realizing the misunderstanding and acknowledging the fact that he wasn’t rejected, his flirtations just weren’t noticed - realizing he still has a chance: oh…oh i see. arthur, my dear, our fights were extremely flirtatious. need i remind you of what you said? “do you know how to walk on your knees? would you like me to teach you?” or “i could take you apart with one blow”

arthur, mental capabilities at an all time low: m…my dear….?????????

merlin grinning devilishly as he realizes that his flirtatious persona he had hidden away after falling head over heels for arthur can make a come back: that is what i called you. should i call you something else? say…mine?

percival gags in elyan’s ear: cheesy

elyan hides a laugh: at least they’re finally getting somewhere. better than the hopeless pining

arthur, flushed from head to toe: ah uh no um im uh

merlin thoroughly enjoying himself: oh come now, your majesty. use your words.

[fonziqor]

silly lil mamma mia au for @goromcomzine !! 💗

[tiffanyachings]

i love tlt because i get to be like yes i am aware this character has died not once but twice. now pray tell me what page of alecto is she gonna show up