#a letter from my good friend the sub sub librarian

[josis-teacup]

Already a favourite from todays chapter

[obikinfest]

Check out these fics from Obikinfest Day 5!

✨ ‘Lay Your Weapons Down’ by Anonymous, 9.3k, Teen and Up Audiences

“Anakin, can you hear me? I won't leave anymore.”

Tags: Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Split Mind, a bit of angst, Post-Episode: s01e06 Part VI (Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi TV), pwp: padme what padme

   ✨ ‘won’t leave you falling’ by Anonymous, 4.5k, Explicit, WIP

In the six years since his apprenticeship began, Obi-Wan has discovered Anakin has very particular needs. Needs only he can satisfy; who else could be entrusted with the Chosen One's well-being? He's simply fulfilling his duties as a loyal padawan. And he will do anything—anything—for his master.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Age Difference, Dom/sub, Body Worship, Fuck the Noise out of Anakin Skywalker's Head, Light Verbal Humiliation, Situational Humiliation, Praise Kink, Cock Warming, Face-Fucking, Oral Sex, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Force Bondage (Star Wars), Anal Sex, Felching, Snowballing, Come Eating, Aftercare Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi is Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi Has a Big Dick, Sassy Obi-Wan Kenobi, Possessive Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gentle Dominant Obi-Wan Kenobi, Submissive Anakin Skywalker, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker is a Disaster

   ✨ ‘Everything looks different, now that I see you’ by Anonymous, 7.2k, Teen and Up Audiences, WIP

When Anakin had hoped to be hired as a florist, his main concern was to find a way to earn his living. Never would he have imagined to be so lucky to be actually chosen for the job, and find the most attractive and charming man among his customers.

or: Obi-Wan Flirt Kenobi shakes Anakin’s delightful yet ordinary life by entertaining him with the language of flowers

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Library, Librarian Obi-Wan Kenobi, Language of Flowers, Fluff and Humor, Eventual Romance, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Soft Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi has a dreamy voice, Hopeless Romantic Anakin Skywalker, Anakin is so smitten but he doesn't wanna admit it (nothing new I see), Good Friend Ahsoka Tano, References to Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet References, My love for literature is showing, POV Anakin Skywalker, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

   ✨ ‘Promises Turned to Ash’ by Anonmous, 2k, Teen and Up Audiences, WIP

“Space; an empty, lonely place where even stars seek each other out for warmth and companionship. When Anael Heavensmaker leads the war against the droids with Odyn Kanodi by his side, will they win against the darkness? Or will their secret passion for one another lead them astray?”

At least, that’s what the back of the number one best selling book, Promises Turned to Ash said. Imperials and Rebels alike are enamoured by this forbidden romance between two space wizards written by an anonymous author. What happens when Vader reads the book and figures out it’s an extremely long and convoluted love letter from his former Master? Will a romance novel be enough to end the war?

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Action & Romance, Humor, Happy Ending, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Darth Vader Redemption, Pining, Obi-Wan Kenobi is helplessly in love with Anakin Skywalker

   ✨ ‘among the wheat’ by Anonymous, 1.8k, Not Rated, WIP

Prompt: Obi-Wan, a huge city boy, inherits a farm from his adoptive father, Qui-Gon. By the time he finally gets to go out to the country, the farm isn't in the best of shape, so Obi-Wan decides to patch it up before selling it. Problem is: he has no idea what he's doing. Enter Anakin, his neighbor from the next farm over, to help Obi-Wan in more ways than one.

Tags: Fluff, Alternate Universe - Small Town

   ✨ ‘two roads, diverged’ by Anonymous, 23k, Explicit

Modern AU. Professor Obi-Wan's car breaks down and he enlists the services of none other than intrepid mechanic Anakin Skywalker.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Classic Cars, Motorcycles, Professor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mechanic Anakin Skywalker, Explicit Sexual Content, Anal Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Rimming, Top Anakin Skywalker, Bottom Obi-Wan Kenobi, Eventual Romance, Humor, University

   ✨ ‘let me love you’ by Anonymous, 700 words, General Audiences

Prompt: obi-wan has a no-good truly awful bad day, and becomes needy for anakin’s affection/attention.

Tags: BunnyWan, shape shifting, Fluff, catican

[badlydrawndrawnings]

atwq book one thoughts

when the first atwq book came out, i was no longer part of the targeted audience. still, when the book came out and i was at walmart shopping with my mom, i was able to check out the book/magazine section and read at least up to the end of chapter one (we had to leave because we needed to go to the checkout line). i liked what i read, and wanted to read more, but i just couldn’t afford to buy the book.

few years back i got spoiled on rather minor details of the books. i decided to do everything in my power to not get spoil from that point on (i usually hunt down spoilers in my other fandoms, but asoue was one of my first fandom i entered via me and my sister. no one else read the books or weren’t fans of them, so we turn to each other to talk about them. getting spoilers for my first fandom hurt me in a way that doesn’t hurt when compare to my other fandoms)

now i got a chance to read the atwq books and i took my sweet time (i began reading at the beginning of the new year year) for the first book. i hope i don’t get spoilers for the remaining books. i’m basically going to do a review of sorts for all four books, but it’s not going to be organized half the time and me probably having some rambles of the original asoue book series + personal stuff that’s not heavy. it’s under the cut to not clog up space + keep most spoilers out.

so this first book and i guess the rest of the series only exists because lemony and kit wants to steal something in the city and lemony deciding to leave kit all by herself, this hangfire wants a stolen statue that’s actually not stolen (because he’s the one who basically came up with the story it was stolen) for reasons, and hangfire deciding that as well as making up a lie he also decides to kidnap a man from his daughter for the BB statue (i’m too lazy to write out the whole name), with lemony deciding to stay to help ellington and strain’d-by-the-sea (i’ll call it sbts i’m too lazy to right it fully again).

thought it does make me wonder something. just how super important is ellington’s dad to be worth kidnapping and become a hostage as well. like, this guy is straight up willing to use ellington and her desire to get her dad back. yes, ellington has shady vibes but they’re all here because of someone who doesn’t want to do his own freaking work of stealing a freaking statue! 

granted because i got also strong noir vibes, especially given lemony is sort of crushing on her but not really and agreeing to help ellington find her dad and like, the opening paragraph of the book is something of a give away, i get the feeling i shouldn’t trust and have my heart on my sleeve 100% for ellington. she is clearly the kid friendly version of the woman character who makes the request to the detective and is totally gonna backstab the detective at some point.

but because i’m not really seeing these signs now in this first book, as well as having terrible judgement when it comes to backstabbing characters i’m just gonna do exactly as the above. i think because ellington talks fondly of her father from what i know of, i think it’s just me wanting a character in this series to have a good parent who is alive.

onto the next character moxie! i like moxie and her friendship with lemony. he needs friends who aren’t completely in this whole vfd mess. bit off topic, but i always thought the kind editor in asoue was a woman for some reason. and despite knowing her for a few days, lemony trusts her enough to tells her things kind of makes me think she is the kind editor.

so, pip and squeaks are clearly the kids who will wear a trench coat and pretend to be an adult. looking at the illustration, squeaks looks like a walking toddler but i get the feeling’s like, five. pip looks like his age so no problem there. so, gonna headcanon that when they go out to get their driver license they are going to ace the test with all early practice

in regards to dashiell qwerty, i like him, and for weird reasons. first off, his freaking last name is something i adore. qwerty is just the freaking first letter row of a keyboard. this is some ace attorney level of naming (they love puns and  meanings for many of their characters). second, the one illustration of qwerty makes me of ghost trick (the hair and sunglasses is basically the character design of the main playable character). i’m honestly sorry for bringing of things you probably don’t know, but i like him and trust him. i feel like i shouldn’t get too attach to him. if the sub-sub-librarian got freaking shot with a harpoon gun, i should expect something bad happen to qwerty. the fact he’s not even part of vfd makes me even more worry.

on prosper lost i have little to say. well, i can say ‘eh’. but it’s a good eh. he’s just a man trying to run a business in a dying sbts. i wish him all the luck it doesn’t close down

i have some harsh words about the mitchum family. but before i go into it, i want to talk about carmelita spats. as a child, i did not like her. she reminded me of a bully i had while as a kid who eventually left the school, so her return in the later books made me upset because shes like, agreeing to work with the villians. i wasn’t immune from bullies at least until my first year of high school, so when i did a re-read in middle school (and post high school pre-netflix show) i still didn’t like her. 

however, i admit i feel some pity i did not have for her when i was little kid. she’s clearly an orphan who doesn’t know it (i think her parents during taa were alive and spoiling her rotten), and while knowing that she was going to side with esme and olaf, a part of me wished something in the narrative change. i knew that realistically she was going to still side with the villains, but at the same time, i had the dumb idea that maybe she wouldn’t (so when it happens, i went ‘why did i thought the opposite that i’m being silly’). watching netflix!asoue and another re-read with netflix’s show in mind, she’s just a character i love to hate while having a ton of pity for her. i think her rotten behavior is because her parents are showering her love and affection, but sadly by this ‘babying’ and spoiling, it made her think she deserves everything and handed on a platter. hearing the wonderful words from esme and olaf (more esme than olaf), carmelita believe they were going to be loving her like her parents did, maybe even more.

when it came to deciding what is carmelita’s fate is, i usually think she survived the fire, but died from fire related injuries. however, after meeting the mitchum and their oh so ‘lovely’ son, i’m recanting it. i thought carmelita was a terrible child, but no, stew is the real terrible child. i read this book twice, and i can’t find anything from the pages to my freaking heart that can make me love to hate him or give him pity (like, even in the smallest ounce of pity my middle school self gave for carmelita). it’s not help that his parents are too blind and obsess with fighting with each other to work together and see their son is not the sweetheart they think he is. worst, i can’t tell if stew is using this to his advantage or if he’s just that much of bully who gets away with it and doesn’t know his parents are arguing that much.

(going back to carmelita, my new headcanon for her is that she was thought to be dead, and esme - who i think survived the fire- ditch out of grief. upset at being abandon, carmelita decides to go back home to what she presumed to be her worried parents (she’s been missing for like, a few days at max). but discovering the remains of her family house in ashes she enters an almost breakdown because in hindsight, she should have listen to the orphans, as well as having to accept she’s an orphan -the one thing she didn’t want to be. while on the trip back to her parents carmelita drags ernest -who i think also survived- into taking her home because since he worked with esme, carmelita is his responsibility now. ernest is still in grief over the lost of his brothers and wants nothing to do with her, but does so because he wants this kid to return back home to her real family and have no more part of vfd. with the discovery, ernest decides to raise her as his own. it works out compare to esme’s care, and carmelita becomes a better person due to ernest raising her as a real parent and not someone spoiling her 24/7 and because of their experience allow them bond and reflect their life choices.)

in regards to s theodora markson...i don’t know how to feel about her. everything she does in this book towards lemony makes sense if he was an older teenager of 17 or 18. she doesn’t want back talk and is willing to kick lemony out of the car. she is making lemony do things no one his age should do. i know lemony is an apprentice but this is all so mind-boggling hard for someone his age to do (like, even at 17 and 18 is the same but that's older so i’m not as worry but worry none the less). however, given she’s a vfd member, i bet what she went through is just a tough and harsh (maybe even more; times change it’s possible what lemony is going through is actually a water down version of what she and her generation went through), and if the schism affected her in ways i may never know. i do wonder who is her last apprentice.

as for lemony snicket himself...i have words. i got introduced to the asoue series as a kid via my sister and the movie, and it’s actually a funny story. my sister told me there’s this cool movie i would like. when i saw the the littlest elf stop motion i almost left the living room out of confusion. then some british narrator cuts in and after he does his bit, i sat back down and my sister paused the movie and laugh at me (turns out she watch the movie beforehand and wanted to see my reaction). throughout my entire life i only knew lemony snicket as guy who is very sad man who lost everything in his life and does his best to help three children who as it turns out, are children to the woman he loves (loved), and has maybe a faint hope of reuniting with what may be the last member of his family (i read the beatrice letters once and and beatrice’s ii letter wanting to meet him is one of the few details i remember).

so basically reading a kid!lemony snicket is jarring. i can’t say he has a personality change because kid!lemony is still the same as adult!lemony. clearly getting pinned for crimes he didn’t commit, being force to be on the run, and his fiancee broke things off with him happening around the same time and with the fact he probably never saw his siblings again when becoming a fugitive was the biggest shift to a lonely, depressed man who is willing to stay at the edge of a random town and cry and not set foot in it. however, i think there are traces of who kid!lemony eventually become.

kid!lemony is willing to go to a random town he doesn’t know. kid!lemony is spunky and wants to solve this mystery in his own correct way. kid!lemony is all ‘i’m gonna do something and there’s nothing you [theodora] or anyone else can do to stop me’ and like any kid, will make mistakes and will screw up (he fell for hangfire’s voice mimicry after all). but i know that in the end of the day, it’s only a matter of time before things turn sour and traces of adult!lemony shows up in kid!lemony. his ‘talk’ to the imaginary kit is definitely traces of what is the eventually adult!lemony: a lonely person who wants someone/something that is familiar comfort that could brings some amount of joy. kid!lemony uses his imagination, while adult!lemony turns to his memories (netflix!lemony could be using his imagination to ‘look’ into his memories to feel better).

there isn’t too much left to say, other than the spoilers i learn. i am upset to learn asoue characters cameo in the series. i got more upset that one of the cameos i learn was hector. i knew he was a vfd member because the tua confirm it via jacques letter to lemony, but this really 100% confirm it. i wanted to be surprise. it seems i wasn’t completely spoiled, because i was really surprise to see hector be the first cameo. 

hector is one of the few adult characters i like. i think it’s because i relate to his skittish behavior- i’m not on the level as him-  i thought of him as hispanic/mexican -i’m half mexican from my father’s side- and because until jerome and justice strauss’s return in the tpp, hector is the only adult who while failing baudelaires (for not standing up for jacques and willing to leave them in their jail cell) makes up for it 100% and grows as a character. he successfully helps the baudelaires when it came to saving duncan and isadora via the self sustaining hot air mobile home (contrast to jerome, who when the children begs for help, decides to not help because he realizes he’s not brave enough for the task), and rightfully calls out vfd the place for their rules and overall behavior (contrast to justice strauss, who while does use her judicial powers to make the marriage null and calls count olaf out, has listen to a legal argument first due to being enraptured by the idea of being on the stage).

i think by default, i like kid!hector. he basically had my reaction when asking  confirmation that the butler (hangfire) did it, and i share that desire of wanting a (good) mexican restaurant [i consider taco bell as a ‘mexican restaurant’ but honestly i don’t like their menu]. it’s jarring to see kid!hector speak his mind and can be harsh without any signs of the skittish behavior. i will say kid!hector’s call out reflect nicely on how adult!hector at the end of tvv called out vfd the place. i guess hector is the type of guy who would make call outs on other people, not the person who is the target of call outs. it’s sad kid!hector call outs kid!lemony for not helping kit, but adult!hector will do nothing to save jacques from his eventual death. adult!hector is the thing kid!hector would hate, and i can’t help but wonder if hector hates himself for what he did.

[darkwing-katy]

This has been a long, long, long week. For those of you interested, here is essentially what happened. Monday: I go to work. It's the one week that the school is fully closed so everyone can prep for the start of the new school year (which is exactly a week later, so this coming Monday). I get assigned to help this one teacher get her room ready. There is lots of heavy lifting. I spot Christian briefly and we share a wave. I sort through a crapton of books for the classroom and organize them by theme...sorta. Also there is lots of stapling and "is this straight?"ing. There is an all-staff luncheon and meeting that afternoon. I see Christian and decide to offer to give him a ride back to the school afterwards since I know he doesn't have a car. We sit at different tables because of assigned seating. I notice that even though his table was told they could get food, he goes to the back of the line and lets literally everyone else get their food before him. There are roughly forty people there, two of which are men, including him. This is a type of chivalry that I've never seen before in real life. Who is this guy? Where did he come from? I'm pretty sure he's secretly Leopold from "Kate and Leopold". As we are eating and waiting for the meeting to start, I keep looking at him, and I'm fairly certain he's glancing at me. One of the ladies at the front desk is seated next to him and turns and sees me. I smile and she laughs, then says something to him. He waves at me and she says something else, and I can read his lips as he replies, "Kate's cool." We smile some more. She laughs. I have to go to the bathroom when the meeting is over. Then I chicken out of waking back into the room to make sure he has a ride. Instead I sit in my car and wait for him to leave. He has a ride. Dammit Kate, why didn't you offer? I realize I don't know how to get back to the school from this place, so I decide to follow his ride. They end up going the wrong way and I have a moment of "HOLY SHIT THEY'RE GOING TO CVS TO GET STUFF AND I'M FOLLOWING THEM AND HE'S GONNA THINK I'M A STALKER AHHHHHHHH". Turns out they just went the wrong way. The girl who drove him texts me later to make sure I got home okay. I have somehow made a new friend. Apparently he was concerned about me since he knew I was following them. It's the start of a long week. I have decided to read all of Inkheart so I have an excuse to visit the library. Tuesday: I go back into the classroom. At one point I'm sitting at a table, cutting out waves. Christian pops his head in, possibly looking for someone else, possibly wanting to say hi to me. Who knows. We wave and say hi. I eat lunch with the girl who texted me yesterday. She's pretty cool. I have made a work friend. 10/10 was not expecting. I'm bummed that that's the only time I saw him, but realize that tomorrow is a day of meetings and surely, SURELY I will see him. Wednesday: the Day of Meetings. I have three meetings to attend. In between them I assemble four chairs and a table, and I'm so proud of myself for being able to follow instructions. Is this what adulting feels like? Is this why people buy furniture from IKEA? Is this why people build things? The first meeting is all about preschool stuff. It's fun. My boss is hilarious. The second meeting is after school staff. I go because I may or may not sub after school. Christian is there. The meeting is in the library. We smile and wave, and I contemplate sitting by him. But I'm too shy and I'm not that bold (at least when it comes to him) and I need to sit somewhere where I can read the instructor's lips. Alas. There is the occasional glancing at each other, and I make an effort to pay attention instead of daydreaming. Meeting number three (an IT info meeting that has two separate times we had to choose from) is the final meeting of the day, and the last thing on the agenda for that day. I am curious. Last week Christian asked me which session I was attending. I told him the 2-3pm. He said he signed up for the 1-2 session and he didn't think he could change it. He also thought the meeting was that week. So I've spent all day wondering if he did switch sessions. The clock is ticking. I resolve myself. "It doesn't mean anything. He just went to the other one. That's cool." Christian walks in. I am ecstatic. He waves and asks if he can sit by me. I tease him. "Didn't you tell me you were doing to the other one? I'm pretty sure you said that to me." "I never said that. I signed up for this one." Cue more grins and laughing. Then a very pregnant teacher comes in and he immediately offers his seat. I now have a teacher sitting between us. I am simultaneously impressed with his action and annoyed because I'm selfish and wanted to sit by him. Holy shit. Who is this man? Why is he so polite? WHERE DID HE COME FROM? Throughout the meeting we occasionally look at each other. Each time I feel like I'm blushing. Dammit, Kate, could you be any more obvious? Afterwards I go to the IT people and have them set up my work email on my phone. I see Christian talking to my new work friend and wonder if he's killing time, trying to wait for me. We nod at each other, he asks if everything's all good, I hold up Inkspell because i finished the first book and tell him I'm taking it. He laughs and says that's cool. This is all done via mouthing the words. The IT people are still messing with my phone. He leaves. I am kinda sad. He returns. I am amused. Also I'm still kinda reeling from the fact that he came to the session I said I was gonna be at and sat by me, even if only for a moment. This is a good indication that he is interested. The IT people are STILL dealing with my phone. He leaves, this time for good. I go to the library afterwards, hoping to say bye. He is talking to another teacher, and I can't keep killing time loitering like that. Reluctantly, I leave. He changed meetings for me. Holy shit, this might be a thing. Thursday: I see him once in the morning as I'm using the die-cutter in the library for bulletin board letters. I wonder if he saw/heard me singing to my Disney pandora. I'm fairly certain he didn't. I am both glad of this and disappointed of this. I finish the classroom I've been assigned and go to other classes in search of anyone who needs help. Another class needs letters. I volunteer to go to the library and cut them all out for them. They all seem to hate the die-cutter, so they are eager to let me do it. They don't know I have ulterior motivation. Insert maniacal laugh. I get there and play my music. Christian sees me and we wave and ask how it's going. Then he leaves. He probably has a meeting. I am kinda bummed, but I also know that I need to focus on being as helpful to the teachers as possible. We have one day left to get everything ready for open house. I stay late helping yet another classroom. Friday: It is here. The open house is tonight. Also my mother and my uncle are coming to visit me at work because they're curious. I am nervous but also excited. Mom knows about a Christian and I kinda want her to at least see him. I see him prior to their arrival and we chat for a bit about a painting project I offered to do for the library. He says Monday would be a good day to do it. My mom and my uncle arrive, along with my grandma. I was not aware that she was coming along. Holy shit, I hope she doesn't start telling everyone about her medical issues. Holy shit, she is. Grandma no. Grandma stop. We finally get to the library. Mom and I walk around. My stress level has risen and I'm regretting having my family come visit. I accidentally blurt out that she was fired from her librarian position without thinking about how inappropriate that was. Fucking hell, Kate. We leave the library and are trying to decide where to eat. I have almost got my grandma out the door when my mom points out a wagon. My grandma wants this wagon. She drags my uncle over to look at the wagon. I look at my mom. "Her hand was on the door. Why did you do that? Why would you say that?" Mom is clearly regretting her comment. Christian comes around the corner to talk to me. I tell him to save the Animorphs books for me and I'll come get them after lunch. He says he will. We chat for a minute, the three of us, and then my uncle finally gets my grandma away from the wagon. Christian bids us farewell and returns from whence he came. When mom gets into the backseat with me, she leans over and mutters, "He came out looking for you to talk to you. That's a clear sign. He likes you." I feel as if the family stress was worth it just to hear my mom say that she's positive he's into me. Now we know. We eat a delicious lunch and they drop me back off. I help with balloons (there is a hilarious incident involving helium), then I go to the library to get more books since we have 45 minutes to kill. Another teacher has taking the other animorph books. I am slightly mad at her. How dare she. I then help Christian go through the box of books to trash, and we and another girl make fun conversation. I realize I need to get back to the other building, so I walk with them to the trash bin out back. I tell them I gotta go to the other building and say byes and I'll see you later. Then I walk away, all the while throwing my closed umbrella in the air and catching it epically. I turn once more to say bye. Christian comments on my impressive umbrella catching skills. For good measure, I toss it up again and catch it. He laughs. I feel validated. After open house ends, I impulsively go back to the library. Maybe I can ask if he wants to get a coffee. Goodness knows I could use one. But I don't know how to ask if he wants to get a coffee. It's stupid. It's coffee. Why can't I say this. Why can I be so bold about some things and so shy about others. Fucking hell. We end up talking with a mom of a teacher. I learn that he wears contacts. Somehow the mental image of him wearing glasses is adorable to me and I need to see this in reality asap. I try to kill time when he walks away. It is raining, so I have an excuse. When he comes back, however, he has on his backpack and seems in a rush. There is car waiting for him. Oh. Well, there went that plan. He said bye and "Have a good weekend!" I say, "you too! Bye!" Then I leave. As I watch "Mamma Mia" with my mom, my aunt, and my cousins, I briefly entertain the notion of asking him out by singing "Take A Chance". I won't, but I'm amused by the mental scenario of what that would look like. I come home and type all this up. Holy crapoli I typed a lot. I am so tired. It has been a long week. I need to sleep. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll dream about him wearing glasses.

[danithebookaholic-blog]

Pinterest Reading Challenge: The List

So, as previously mentioned in my last post, "The Reason: The birth of a wine-loving bookaholic" I taken several Pinterest Reading Challenge suggestion lists and have compiled them into my very own challenge for this blog. The following is the list of suggestions. Some are my own ideas to help get me out of my comfort zone of what I normally read. Others are suggestions from friends, family members and readers like you! Thank you to all who have helped contribute to an idea or a book to read!

I've decided that to spice things up: my posts will not go in the order they are listed. So, don't hold your breath waiting for me to respond to the next suggestion, as it probably will not be the next one I'll be working on. I'm leaving it all up to chance!

So, 'Chance,' I've written every idea on a Popsicle stick (now my office smells like a giant Popsicle without all the sugary goodness!) and placed them in a canning jar. A couple problems:

All the ideas don't fit in one jar (at least not in the jar I have).

I can't pull one out. However, I found while shaking it to make a tinkling noise for Emry (learn more about him and my other fur children in the Lifestyle section), the side to side motion makes one pop up out of the jar.  This could be a really cool way to have the topic chosen for me. It really would be a total chance as to what I have to read next! But we'll see, seeing how I still have a third problem.

Not only is the jar too small for all the topics, I don't even have all the topics written out yet! So this may not work. I'll have to see if I can find a bigger jar. But for now, the 150 topics that are in the jar will do.

I will continually update this list as I come across new ideas, but for now: the list... so far.

Reading Suggestions:

a banned book 

a bestseller from a genre you don't really read

a bestseller from the previous year

a book a friend recommended

a book about a culture you're unfamiliar with

a book about a difficult topic

a book about a road trip

a book about adventure

a book about an animal

a book about an artist

a book about an immigrant or refugee

a book about an interesting woman

a book about changing habits

a book about food

a book about travel

a book about your hobby

a book and it's prequel

a book at least 100 years older than you are

a book at the bottom of your 'to read' pile

a book based on a fairy tale

a book based on mythology

a book based on or turned into a TV show

a book based on a true story

a book by a female author

a book by a male author

a book by a person of color

a book by an author from a country you're never visited

a book by an author who uses a pseudonym

a book by an author you love

a book by an author you've never read before

a book by or about a person who has a disability

a book 'everyone' has read but you

a book from a genre or sub-genre you're never heard of

a book from a non-human perspective

a book from a used book sale

a book from Oprah's Book Club

a book from your childhood

a book in which a world religion plays a key part

a book in which all of the 10 commandments are broken

a book in which none of the 10 commandments are broken

a book involving mythical creatures

a book involving time travel

a book more than 100 years old

a book of essays

a book of fiction you own but haven't read before

a book of letters

a book of poems

a book of short stories

a book on spirituality

a book published this year

a book recommended by a family member

a book recommended by a librarian

a book recommended by an author you love

a book recommended by someone you just met

a book set around a holiday other than Christmas

a book set during Christmas

a book set in a different country

a book set in a hotel

a book set in Africa

a book set in Asia

a book set in Europe

a book set in high school

a book set in London

a book set in New York City

a book set in Paris

a book set in South America

a book set in the future

a book set in the Middle East

a book set in the fall

a book set in the spring

a book set in the summer

a book set in the winter

a book set in the wilderness

a book set in two different time periods

a book set on an island

a book set somewhere you've always wanted to go

a book that came out the year you were born

a book that has been on your TBR list for way too long

a book that has less than 150 pages

a book that has more than 500 pages

a book that has more than 600 pages

a book that has more than 800 pages

a book that has a story within a story

a book that is guaranteed to bring you joy

a book that is more than 10 years old

a book that was originally written in a different language

a book that scares you

a book that takes place in your hometown

a book that takes place over a character's life span

a book that was made into a movie

a book that will make you cry

a book that will make you smarter

a book that will make you think differently

a book that your dog or cat would recommend

a book that's been mentioned in another book

a book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you

a book where you learn something new

a book with a/an [insert color here] cover

a book with a bird on the cover

a book with a cat on the cover

a book with a dinosaur on the cover

a book with a dog on the cover

a book with an elephant on the cover

a book with a fish on the cover

a book with a monkey on the cover

a book with a pony on the cover

a book with a stag on the cover

a book with a whale on the cover

a book with a color in the title

a book with a family-member term in the title

a book with a female heroine

a book with a great first line

a book with a lion, a witch or a wardrobe 

a book with a love triangle

a book with a male protagonist

a book with a month or a day of the week in the title

a book with a number in the title

a book with a protagonist who has your occupation

a book with a/an [insert color here] spine

a book with a subtitle

a book with a title that is the main character's name

a book with an eccentric character

a book with an apple on the cover

a book with a hot air balloon on the cover

a book with a rotary phone on the cover

a book with a table on the cover

a book with an umbrella on the cover

a book with an unreliable narrator

a book with antonyms in the title

a book with bad reviews

a book with career advice

a book with magic

a book with multiple authors

a book with non-human charaters

a book with one of the four seasons in the title

a book with pictures, that is not a children's book

a book written by a celebrity

a book written by a comedian

a book written by an author with your same initials

a book written by someone under 30

a book written by someone you admire

a book you bought on a trip

a book you can finish in one day

a book you learned about because of this challenge

a book you love (read it again)

a book you own but haven't read

a book you picked solely because of the cover

a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't

a book your dad loves

a book your friend loves

a book your mom loves

a book you've always wanted to read

a book you've started but never finished

a classic from the 20th century

a classic romance

a coffee table book

a dystopian book

a fairy-tale

a funny book

a graphic novel

a how-to book

a light book

a memoir

a motivational book

a murder mystery

a mystery thriller

a new children's picture book

a New York Times bestseller

a nonfiction book you own but haven't read

a nonfiction book

a novel set during war time

a play

a political memoir

a popular author's first book

a Pulitzer Prize winning book

a romance set in the future

a satirical book

a science-fiction book

a self-help book

a self-improvement book

a serious book

a steampunk book

a trilogy

a YA bestseller

an espionage thriller

an inspirational book

an organizing and/or decluttering book

the book located at: 10th row, 3rd bookcase, 2nd row from the bottom, 8th book from the right

the first book in a series you've never read before

the first book you see in a bookstore

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 14: Valentine’s Party

I’m so exhausted today and I don’t know why. I have literally no excuse at all. I got a bit more sleep than usual last night (I was so responsible, it was wild), and today was not exactly taxing. I was on the circ desk for 2 hours, during which I mostly just wrote a letter to B, and then the library had our annual chili and chocolate Valentine’s Day lunch because the library staff likes to party. It was so good.

And CB from Ref was goaded into telling stories, which were hilarious. I legitimately think he could have a third career as a stand up comedian (after his first career as an attorney and his second career as a librarian). Today’s first story was about the leak in his kitchen (well technically his bathroom, but initially discovered in his kitchen) as reported to him by his 18 year old son. Then he transitioned into a frankly hilarious story about the same son and his friend taking mannequins from the Justice dumpsters (”I pronounce it Jus-teece like the French because it’s so expensive...there is no justice here”) and then filming videos with them. It was so the funniest thing I’ve heard since...probably his story about the mysteries of the “Christmas Closet.” I really wanted to ask him to stop because it hurt to laugh so much. I wish I could retell this story to literally anyone in a way that would do it justice. (Or...justeece), Apparently the mannequins were “girls...like they weren’t women mannequins, they were small” and his son and co. used them in videos in which they (the mannequins) rode on skateboards and ate at Cookout. (I’ve tried searching for these videos but I can’t find them...the sub-genre is too large.) And when they were told to get rid of the mannequins because there were ten of them just hanging out in the yard, his son got rid of 8 and then just kept 2 in the house, eventually, upon goading, moving them to the garage where he began painting them. Why? No one knows. Certainly not CB. But his confusion was so fucking funny I couldn’t handle it.

He also talked about how he’s always having to shut down his children’s bad ideas and how when he does so he has to put on his “Captain No Fun” persona and now one of my other co-workers is considering making him a “Captain No Fun” cape. Which, you know, she should.