#absofuckenlutely

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: August Wrap-Up.

Hey, would you look at that, it's suddenly September! Rude and uncalled for. This month, I did a lot of knitting (two sets of gloves and two hats! gearing up for holiday season), and a LOT of writing (finished the first 16k draft of a scene, who???), and read uh. Some. I didn't finish a ton of books, but I did make it through what felt like a ton of pages.

Two-thirds of this month's reading were post-apocalyptic-community-oriented, on purpose, to feed into my current writing project, and that worked really well--either I'm very good at choosing books that match the vibe I need, or my ADHD brain is good at making connections, OR a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. Photos and/or reviews linked below:

GHOST STATION (pages-out stand-in book pictured above, because I checked it out from the library after canceling my paperback pre-order, which was a good call) - ★★ This was very bad. Bad science, stupid incompetent characters, JUST enough neat worldbuilding to make it FRUSTRATING that this missed so hard. I'm bummed because I wanted to read DEAD SILENCE by this author, too, but I don't trust her now :(

ALWAYS COMING HOME - ★★★★½ Loved this!! Dense and chewy, and it required a lot of patience, but it was very rewarding and I'm really glad I read it. My absolute favorite passage was about scrub oaks, but I posted a few other highlights and tagged them as "le guin posting," if you're interested! If you like Le Guin and/or utopias and better futures and/or huge books that push what it means to Be A Novel, check this out for sure.

ARCHANGELS OF FUNK - ★★★½ So. I didn't realize that this was attached to a few other novels she's already written. And I read it cold (oops). Goodreads informed me that it was Book #2 of Cinnamon Jones, and review-diving indicated that REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE is also implicated in its worldbuilding, but that didn't stop me because I can't read. I would like to revisit this one after I've read those other two, I think, but!: The community and vibes and Making Art At The End Of The World were all immaculate, and the character names made me feel vindicated in some of my own naming conventions (seriously: there's an Indigo in this, and a Game-Boy, and Hawk, I can't make this shit up).

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of this month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[air-rising]

Ellie’s positive mindset is very inspiring. As someone who is adamant about being positive about things whenever possible the same way as Ellie, it’s absolutely crucial she has support where she can fall apart privately. I learned that the hard way in college. Positivity is great, her sheer force of will to publicly say she was unbothered is incredible. BUT it is not a personal failing to not see the positive sometimes. You get tired and the mental strain can cause burnout. Source: happened to me. Very glad she had Daan and probably a few trusted teammates there at the WC to help her through the hard parts.

Absofuckenlutely

[readandneedle]

Fabrics Spurned By God:

-polyester satin

-polyester organza

-literally any kind of sequined spandex. absofuckenlutely not, thanks.

-silk charmeuse

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

not me, setting an alarm to send my "text in sick" message tomorrow morning and then fall back asleep in utter bliss :)

[tecolote69]

Damn hijo de sue your absofuckenlutely stunning

[kagetsukai]

WIP Wednesday

Yay! I’m doing it on an actual Wednesday! Anyway... I was tagged by @queen-kass-the-writer. Thank you! The following excerpt is from the Wayhave Chronicles OC/OC story I’m writing and it’s just after the very unique meet-cute I wrote for them. Poor Benji just can’t catch a break. This is relevant to @ma-sulevin‘s interests ;)

“Please roll your tongue back into your mouth. It’s unseemly,” Tina said under her breath to make sure no one could hear her.

Benji glared at her.

“You let her go,” he said, then groaned. “How am I going to get her number now?”

“Have you considered that she might not want to give it to you?” Tina asked. “She did punch you, after all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benji said, indignant. “She was just about to program it into my phone when you showed up and ruined everything.”

Tina’s eyebrows climbed into her hair as she stared at his face some more with an emphasis on his mouth.

“Me? I’m the one who ruined things?” she asked. “Honestly, Benji. I don’t know what you were thinking, hitting on a girl when you look like that?”

“Like what?”

Tina helpfully brought out her phone, pulled up the camera, set it to selfie mode, and handed it to Benji. To his great horror, he saw that half his mouth was already quite swollen, with the cut on the lip slowly dripping blood all over the place - including inside and all over his teeth. He looked like the worst kind of a mess. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh,” Tina echoed him and took back the phone.

[drjohnwatson]

did I just spend like 4/5hrs to put whatever tiny/the only pieces of bootleg from Soldaat van oranje that exist together in something only slightly cohesive with audio edits, translation, and it's now 3am? Yes.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

do i KNOW Exactly What Weaponry Hazard Carries?? no. should i?? yes, probably. do i need him to have a hockey stick right now?? absofuckenlutely lmao (he is not carrying a hockey stick)

[explore4adventures]

Absofuckenlutely 🤪

[vantekay]

hi um, i lost my mEMES i literally had like 500+ can you guys please donate before i cry right now

[albion-my-way-to-camelot]

Tumblr ads completely surpassing the usual surrealism and diving straight into a new category of absofuckenlutely incomprehensible is one of the few comedic blessings of 2022

[ariiiiannaxxi]

You a heavy nicki fan like that? 😂

Absofuckenlutely that’s my sister

[roguish-southern-redhead]

Absofuckenlutely

[explore4adventures]

ABSOFUCKENLUTELY

[tansbun]

am i crying? absofuckenlutely yes.

[medusx]

@blackpanthcr replied to your post:

that moment when the first is my older fc & the last is my animated actor face. also how amazing is djimon voice though - i loved him the black panther series

#hawkward but honestly yeah chad seems cool but to me djimon will always be black panther