#also as much as i enjoy reading hard copies of books it's way easier to take a screenshot of a pdf sorry

[that-starlit-wanderer]

Liberty-loving revolutionary and advocate of equality Plato

[queer-ragnelle]

Hi! I really want to read the vulgate cycle but I have a hard time staying focused when reading it. Are there any sections of the vulgate that are not as important to the understanding or able to skip? Thank you so much for making all these stories accessible and thanks for your reply :))

Hello my friend! This is a great question and one I get a lot. The Vulgate Cycle is long and daunting, but I can help you navigate it!

Firstly, here is the full Vulgate Cycle PDF collection for everyone to read. Secondly, I'll summarize what you can do, and elaborate below a cut.

TL;DR

If reading a PDF, use CTRL+F to find your favorite character's name/stories.

If reading a physical copy, utilize the index (located at the very end of the Post Vulgate) to find them.

Discover chapters of interest from the summary page (also located at the very end of the Post Vulgate).

Skip The History of the Holy Grail and begin with The Story of Merlin or Lancelot I.

Now, let's break down the ways you can navigate the Vulgate Cycle step by step.

CTRL+F

This option will certainly be less effective if your favorite character is a prominent one such as Lancelot or Gawain as they appear a million times. However, if you want to learn more about someone else, say, the Lady of the Lake, you can search her up and find every instance of her appearance. Like so.

Index

In the very back of the final book of the Post Vulgate, there's an Index listing every named character [Ex: Gawain], location [Ex: Orkney Isles], entity [Ex: Holy Spirit], animal [Ex: Gringalet the horse], and language [Ex: Hebrew] mentioned in the entirety of the Vulgate Cycle. There you'll find a list of which book/chapter/page they appear in. Here are all the mentions of Gawain's horse in The Book of Merlin.

Chapter Summaries

Each book of the Vulgate Cycle has a Table of Contents with the chapter numbers and long, descriptive titles. That alone may give you an indication of what you want to read. However, at the back of the Post Vulgate, right before the Index, there's a list of every chapter in the Vulgate Cycle with a summary of events. That will give you more detail and may help you decide if you want to read in full.

Skip

If it sucks, hit da bricks. The beauty of the Vulgate Cycle is that you don't need The History of the Grail or The Book of Merlin to understand what comes later. I enjoy them because History gives a ton of background to the religious themes the Grail Quest will eventually explore and sets up all the motifs way in advance and Merlin has the Orkney Bros as well as Yvain and Sagramore as kids which is fun. But the fact is you can begin with Lancelot I and you won't be lost. Lancelot I was written first, Merlin is a prequel, so it's optional, and the motifs of the Grail Quest are going to be heavy handed when you get there anyway without the added stuff from History. That's hundreds of pages you can skip if you want to! Norris J. Lacy, the head editor, and his translation team did a phenomenal job with footnotes throughout, so if a character off-handedly refers back to something, you can rely on them to leave a little note at the bottom for you to refresh your memory with. It'll even give you a chapter/page number if you want to refer back yourself. Here's a footnote referring to Agravaine's unnamed amie [his ladylove] who helped wing woman her sister to romance Gawain. That was 4 chapters prior to this moment.

So there are plenty of ways to navigate the Vulgate Cycle and make it more digestible. That being said, it's translated so beautifully by Lacy and his team, that it reads like a modern novel. I have no doubt that once you get started, you'll become invested, and find it much easier to work through than you first thought. It's long-winded and character dense but it's fun. I do hope you're able to read it and understand why I love it so much! Thanks for this ask and I hope this helps. Have a great day!

[castlebyersafterdark]

Speaking of porn do you think that individually mike and will would watch or read porn (probably more likely to read because they could find porno mags aimed at girls - idk how widely available gay porn was in the 80s)? Honestly not just as teenagers but as adults too, maybe when the other is on a trip and they're horny and pent up. Or they just need to get off, idk. If they do, what kind of porn do you think they get off to?

(If you need to make this easier than this could also be considered as a modern au lol. What kinda gay porn would they be browsing on the hub if they weren't repressed 80s gays 😔?)

It was definitely around, but I don't know the logistics of finding it. I mean, I wasn't there of course so this is all research and general knowledge, but they came of age in the golden age of the video store. VHS was kiiiiing. Porn was available. Gay porn? I have no idea where a teen in 1980s smalltown Indiana would find it. Maybe they sneak the straight stuff and look at the men in them? I'm reading forums and - mixed bag, everyone has a different take and I don't own a time machine! Yet.

You know Mike started off sneaking Karen's smut novels. Feeling embarrassed reading all the ways the hunky men are described, but copying down all the descriptions and terminology in a secret notebook, then writing his own stuff. Getting off to his own romance stories!! That's our naughty little writer. He's stealing a muscle mag, athletic magazines, which are suspicious as hell but it's accessible at least. I don't think there's much either boy would get their hands on until they leave town and get out into the world. That's why Will's stashing away department store catalogs for the underwear section and rewinding suggestive scenes in movies. Making do with what's around. I don't personally see Mike or Will ballsy enough to get a porno tape from a video store, gay or straight, as teens. Later in life, more likely. But not then. They're too self-conscious and paranoid, it's risky. If they saw anything - honestly? It's something Dustin got from Steve or Lucas and gives to Mike to check out for himself, not knowing Mike's actual deal.

In the 90s they're nerds, and they're prioritizing being on the forefront of internet usage early on. The reality that as technology changes - so does sex. Mostly photos at the beginning, but of course they'd find stuff online, the kind they queue up to download overnight to enjoy the next day since it takes so long and they don't want to tie up the phone line all day 🤭 But also - Will would collect really nice photography books. Finds from queer bookstores and specialty places while living in whatever city they end up. He'd be really into gay erotic photography. Vintage anthologies and modern art collections with that edge. Mike's forever a big fan of the skin mag, even as time goes on. A classic is a classic for a reason. But older - he's not stealing. He's a man with a hot partner and a steely scowl for anyone who judges the flavor of mag he slaps down on the countertop. Whatever.

Modern AU? You know Mike's getting off to femboy solo action videos. And beefy muscular guys doing the same. He's got his types, ok? He's watching sounding because he's too scared to try but he gets so hard watching it, he's into guys getting off in spandex superhero costumes and he's totally looking at foot stuff. Will likes watching fetish videos of guys tied up with intricate ropeplay and edged or engaging in tickling kink or getting pounded by a fuck machine. Stuff that's a little odd and makes him both anxious and horny. Also he likes hearing men whimper. He's into bizarre kinky ASMR stuff like breathing and heartbeats. Will likes stepfather/stepson scenes because, well 😉 And then, sometimes a little gangbang scenario starring guys who look like him.

They're both into watching tiny twinks take those massive dragon dildos - but individually for different reasons. They're also totally watching super sexy romantic couple's amateur porn together because they're saps and it's arousing watching others - and then using it to get ideas and make their own, even if it's just to enjoy making and watching it back together ❤️

[nocturius8015ficore]

Fanfiction #6: Of All the Things I've Lost

Nocturius: 6th Republic Commando fanfiction!

This story is a very intimate and a bit experimental one about Fi's slow recovery from his brain injury. It also talk about his early relationship with Parja. The format is 30 ''datapad entries'' spread on about 200 days, so I suggest you to read it SLOWLY and take the time to imagine and feel the gaps in your head.

Enjoy!

I'M ALSO ON Ao3! -> click HERE

Title: Of All the Things I've Lost

Fandom: Star Wars Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss

Characters: Fi Skirata, Parja Bralor, Bardan Jusik

Rating: Teens and up. **Sensible topic (depression/suicidal thoughts)**

Topic: Fi's brain injury, physical and psychological recovery, memory loss, love

Pitch: To help Fi getting better, Parja told Fi to keep a personal journal. It was one of his hardest mission.

📖📖📖📖📖📖📖

Of all the things I've lost by Fi-Core/Nocturius Between True Colors and Order 66 Around 550 to 750 days after the battle of Geonosis Kyrimorut, Mandalore -------------------------------

Fi’s datapad journal entry #001 Parja tol me to keep jornal. Feel dubm doin i. Hansss messy & shaky. Diffikultt to ritwe. Fiefk

---

#002 Wgo is Parja? Missin my vode. ---

#003 Not sure wher i am. Where every1??? I scrared ---

#004 Knees hurt, I fell too ofte toda y ---

#005 Food good, happy belly, happi Fy!

--- #006 Parja makes me walk agan today. She kind & patient. She say I progess ---

#007 Bard’ika came today. Healing T-time! I wish I could takl to Dar about the bb… I miss my vode. I wan a to go home ---

#008 I’m so lost. Dont even know wehre home is. Where is Niner? Are they dead?! ---

#009 Parja is cute ❤ Hope she wont read that. oh well ---

#010 shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, osik, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, shab, copy-paste is my new friend! 😃

--- #011 I feel like osik. Im still unabll to put clothes by myself. All the Nulls are gone. I’m alonr with Parja. She is the 1 who helps me with that now. It's embarrasssing. Not the idea I had of a woman seeing my shebs for the first time… ---

#012 My legs hurt so much. I tried to walk by myself today. Feeling like I only have bones and no meat. Parja shaved me. I’m ugly as shab, way too skinny cheeks. At least I have nice hair growing back. Love when she brushes it. I might keep them long. 😝 ---

#013 Parja showed me how to cook uj cakes. I barely participated this time but she made me lick the spatula.😋 She said she will teach me bits by bits. It’s supposed to be good for me to have small goals like that. Not only work on physical or mental improvement but more ‘’day-to-day’’ and natural things. It’s the Mando way of life, she said. It was wonderful and fun. The freshly baked cakes are so tasty.🤤 Nothing like the ones Kal’buir smuggled on Kamino. ---

#014 I wish I was able to speak full sentences. Writing is getting easier if I take my time. It’s just frustrating, I sound like an idiot or a small child. My mind is getting clearer but I know I forget a lot. I suppose it’s good I know I do. I really hope I’ll continue to get better but my expectations are low. I’m supposed to be dead, they say.

---

#015 I work very hard to get better at coordination. Still can’t take a shower by myself. It’s so embarrassing. It would be simpler if it was a droid doing it but they aren't as soft and delicate as her. I like her touching me, but it’s so wrong. I try to keep my thoughts straight, she is only taking care of me. I’m grateful she never made any comment about… shab. Stuff going on. I can’t help it. It’s all pretty messed up. ---

#016 Memory is a weird thingy, I remember my vode from Teroch squad like it was yesterday but I don’t remember WHAT I ate yesterday. My stomach does tho. Oh dear, that was way too spicy hot…

--- #017 Bard’ika healing therapy is literally a miracle I swear. I’ll never say anything bad about Jedi. Ever.

---

#018 I spilled a full bowl of blue milk and cereal on Parja. So fierfek ashamed and angry about myself. Hate everything, hate myself, hate the shab of all. I never wanted to blow up something that hard in my life. A big ball of explosion would end all of this.

---

#019 Fierfek. I don’t remember why I was sooo angry. Get a grip, trooper. It’s only wasted food. She’s not even mad at me. I want a hug right now, but no one is there except the nurse droid. I feel so lonely.

---

#020 What is a soldier who can’t walk by himself? I’m useless. Actually I don’t want to fight. I just want people to leave me alone, I’m a burden. I don’t want to be alone really. I don’t know what I want. My mind so foggy. Kal’buir say I probably have some PTSD. I don’t know how to handle this.

---

#021 The way she smiles at me. I wish I could stand up and hug her tight, but I can’t hold a shabla spoon without dropping my food. Could she truly loves me one day? Does she see me as a man? ‘Cause I can’t stop thinking about her in an un-jedi-ly way. My chest hurts.

---

#022 Why my thoughts doesn’t align with my mouth? I’m supposed to be Fi-big-mouth-Skirata. More like Fi-big-never-able-to-finish-his-sentences-Di’kut. I don’t mind about my legs, I just want to be able to talk properly and not be so shabla lost all the time. I wish she could have seen me in my prime, I dunno. What is left of me anyway…

---

#023 First 4 meters with no help. Parja kissed me on the cheek to congratulate me. Feel like osik, but I got a kiss. 😃😃😃

---

#024 I can’t tell her how I feel. She will never want me. I’m a wreck. Stay focus trooper, the day you will be able to walk and dress yourself alone, she’ll be gone. She doesn't love you, she’s your nurse. That’s it. I wouldn't choose myself either. I can’t even make jokes. Maybe they should have left me behind. That healing process is so slow. I fear I’ll only get worse from here. My time is so short, I don’t have a lot of it ahead. What if the day I’m ok, I'm just too old for anything? She will move on and find another poor soul to fix.

---

#025 Love beskar’gam. I look good in it, a cool skirt around my shebs and that spear. That will do it. Plus, I can hide everything I feel under the bucket like the good ol’ days.

---

#026 Sometimes, I think of something clever, then laugh at my own jokes. Then I forget the so-called joke and don’t remember why that was funny in the first place. I don’t care too much about looking like a crazy lad. I’m just sad to not have been able to share it and be the only one laughing.

---

#027 I can’t live like this. It’s not a life. What am I supposed to be?

---

#028 I don’t remember how but this is the BEST DAY of my life. She kissed me. A real. Lovers. Kiss. On my fierfek lips. Oyaaaaaa it feels sooooooo good. ☺️☺️

---

#029 The shab, Fi from yesterday, you drank 2 bottles of tihaar instead of water or had a funky dream? Won’t happen anytime soon…

---

#030 WASNT A DREAM. SHE KISSED ME AGAIN. KANDOSIIIIIIIIIII! ❤️❤️ I love you Parja. You are my cyar’ika. I need to remember that. Fi, my boy Fi, you have a girl. Read that again and again. This is not a drill. Parja is your GIRLFRIEND. I love you I love you I love you.

---

End

Fi-Core/Nocturius 5th of July 2024

📖📖📖📖📖📖📖

[hongluboobs]

book reader i have a copy of dream of the red chamber (volume 1) that ive been trying to get through for over a year how do i motivate myself to finish it

I'm recently coming out of a half a year ish period of not reading very much so trust me when I say the lack of motivation comes for us all. I think I have some tips for how to motivate reading in general+ some for DOTRC specifically :)

(Real quick, I assume because you mentioned a volume 1 you're talking about the Hawkes-David translation published by Penguin in five volumes under the name 'The Story of The Stone'. This is the translation I read through, and it's the one I see recommended most to english speakers looking for an enjoyable reading experience, so to any other prospective readers of this novel I HIGHLY recommend reading this translation as opposed to any other ones. I don't know if I need to say this or if it's well-known to seek out that version, but because Hong Lu's canto is coming up I want to make sure anyone interested in reading through the source material can have the best experience possible with it👍)

It's important to remember that reading is a hobby, and the best way to keep going with it is to make it a habit. Unfortunately, this means forcing yourself to read sometimes, but it comes easier the more you do it. The trick is: it doesn't have to be a lot of reading.

The hard part for me is really just picking up the book and starting to read. Normally with books I like to set a goal of a chapter or so per day, but because this book has longer chapters that wasn't always feasible for me, especially if I had stuff to do. But once I had the book in my hands and started reading I would usually go above my goal I had set :)

Last year a lot of my DOTRC reading was done while I was waiting in line for things, getting/eating food, waiting on the bus, or killing time between classes/during boring lectures (I don't know if I'd advise that last one). This is moreso once you get in the rhythm of things, though.

Another tip is sometimes the format is the thing to stop me. I don't know if you're reading from a physical book or an ipad/kindle/etc or a computer or what, but sometimes I read better on my laptop than other things because it's Always Around. Sometimes I don't feel like grabbing a book or I don't have it with me, but my laptop's already open and I'm bored so maybe I'll do a little bit of reading instead of scrolling social medias. Lately, i've been jumping between my laptop and kindle for reading (laptop for convenience, kindle for portability and reading before bed at night) but I've gone between physical books and digital devices before. (If you want the epub versions of dotrc, I'd be willing to share them as well. The only difficulty is page numbers change between reading formats so I can only really switch at the start of chapters or if I skim to where I last was.

Something that saved me while reading DOTRC specifically (as well as other sinner books) was having a place I could discuss/"liveblog" the book. These books can get LONG and the reading experience varies from "really interesting and compelling" to "oh my godddd I do not need 20 pages of Outdated Whale Facts right now". (no offense to Moby Dick. I'm only slandering that one because I read the whole thing and in spite of enjoying it I understand why there are SO many abridged versions around.) It's kind of just the classic lit experience to deal with these types of things, but it's a lot more tolerable to me if you can talk to other people about it.

When I read DOTRC I didn't have anyone else reading with me, but just having a place to tell people about all the things that happen in this book helped me to keep track of events and characters. It also motivated me to keep reading so I could tell The People what happened next. Having someone else read with me would probably have helped as well, but it's hard to sell people on reading a 5-volume behemoth of a novel with so much stuff in it it has it's own field of study dedicated to it.

You can really yap anywhere. I have a channel in my Limbus Discord dedicated to the books so I don't drive everyone insane with my rambling and it seems to have helped some of my friends get through some of the other books as well so I think this method is a pretty solid success? You could also pretty easily do it just in someone's DMs if they're already familiar with the book (this has the bonus of them potentially being able to clarify things for you and help you get a deeper understanding of the book) or even yapping on a tumblr sideblog or empty notes doc or something.

So TL;DR:

Picking up the book is the hardest part. Reading a little is better than not reading at all.

Subjecting your friends to this book will make it easier to keep going :)

Also: for Dream of the Red Chamber specifically: the book starts slow. I don't know how far in you are, but so many people drop it early. I started reading it during a 12-ish hour car ride and that might've been the play because i can see people getting bored during the first few chapters. It definitely picks up though, so trust me when I say it gets a lot easier to read as you keep going. Chapter 5 is an incredibly interesting chapter, and from there I find things pick up and start going faster. (It helps that chapter 5 is pretty relevant for the direction I think Limbus is going to take canto 8 in!) The later volumes were able to go by a lot faster for me than the earlier ones as well.

This is a long ass book, but it's gonna be a while before Hong Lu's canto drops and we get to Witness that Surrender. Or Surrender that Witness. I'm not actually sure. But regardless, you've got plenty of time to get through it, even if you're a slower reader or don't have much time to dedicate to reading. Steady progress is the name of the game for stuff like this.

Worst case, you've killed a bunch of time during the wait for Hong Lu's canto (because oh boy, I have a feeling this one's gonna be a wait) and you are able to gain a better appreciation for canto 8 by understanding some of the nicher bits of how it adapts stuff from the source.

Best case, you really enjoy reading it and end up like a bunch of the Hong Lu fans I know who were permanently changed by reading this book and started reading scholarly analysis of it for fun (or start seeking out every adaptation of it you can find, or read the book 5 times over... I am coming to realize this book does something to people.)

This book is legitimately incredibly good, even outside the context of me reading it because I was very invested in that beautiful cyan freak from a game I like. I might not have been able to get through it without Limbus providing me the push to keep going on days where I really didn't want to read, but it's a legitimate interest of mine now I will seek out information on regardless of its connection to Limbus! Trust me when I say it's worth getting through even if it feels hard or tedious.

(and if it helps- a solid amount of the stuff I feel is most likely to be Limbus relevant happens near the end of the book. There's so much in this book so things that could be relevant are scattered throughout almost all of it, but I've been picking up so many end of the book vibes from stuff we've seen lately. so you've got to get there!!)

[sergeantnarwhalwrites]

Writerly Questionare

Woah okay. Thanks for the tag @winglesswriter! I'm gonna have the questions below the cut to try to make the copy and pasting easier.

I tag @chayscribbles @winterandwords @vacantgodling @the-void-writes @aether-wasteland-s @nanashi23 @televisionjester (Only if y'all want. Open tag too!)

About Me

When did you first start writing?

With actual purpose middle school. Like 6th/7th grade.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Sorta. What's actually funny is I really ain't a fan of romance but I write that shit on the side XD.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

I'm not really sure about that emulate part. I could list a shit ton of awesome writers though (the people I taged and many many more) Lol, I'm definitely not compared to anyone though.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

I'm usually writing in my room, on a crowded tv dinner table. But I write in a lot of places, including passenger seat of car. Or in the library if I'm settling on strictly typing stuff. (I usually handwrite)

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Listening to music and being busy as hell.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I think so. I have a shit ton of black characters for a reason. I'm black, it's easy.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

The power of friendship, violence, we were forced to together so now we working together, and "good guys" doing bad shit too. Those are usually pretty prevalent in my stories.

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Uhhhh that's hard to decide but I guess I'll go Saz. Saz is my stud bear morpher dragged into a battle against the humans. She is stressed, bro is going through it, and she's a wrestler.

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

Most of them honestly. I think I'd be more than willing to hear about Hollis's (Robots & Gardens) exploits.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Cosma would get her shit rocked and I'd get mine rocked in return. And I think me and Green's anger problems would clash in really bad ways.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

They appear magically in my brain. And I obsess over them like I obsess over all of my interests. The Fucked at Five oc's were the one's that deviated the most because most of them are based on the movie Open Season.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Tough exterior but actually really soft and big women go brr.

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc)

As a combination of as real people I imagined, comic book characters, art I made, and cartoon characters (like a banger indie animation).

My Writing

What's your reason for writing?

Teehee it's how I process a lot of things and also I have to fill the world with content I want to see cause no one else is.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

All of them for real. I love y'all. But any of them loving the characters as much as me honestly.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

A cool dude who loves to write gay dorks gaying dorkily and fighting..

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Giving my character's a personality I guess.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

I've been told I can write really fluid fight scenes or I have decent descriptions.

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

Lol I think it's great when it's great and ass when it's ass.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Yep. My fanfic writing would probably be slowed even further but I'd still write whatever came to mind in general.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

Oh I definitely write what I know will amuse me. But I arguably think it's a mixture of both. Sometimes I'll see something or get a response that brings me to write. And it's bangers always.

When did you first start writing?

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc

My Writing

What's your reason for writing?

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

[pub-lius]

So I started This Fierce People by Alan P Crawford and so far I'm enjoying it, but I noticed he doesn't have your typical notes. So I went to the notes section and he does something totally different; he has the page number, start of the quote, and the source (eg. 10 "I am sorry": Beakes, De Kalb, 383.)

Need to know your opinion on this because right now I'm very mixed. I think it's super interesting (it was published this year for reference), but it's unique and I'm not used to seeing it (also wondering if you've seen this before) so I was little taken aback. It's not super hard to navigate but it definitely takes adjusting and honestly it kinda makes reading easier? Since the footnotes aren't right there in your face but again it sorta makes it harder because I'm not used to it.

hey girl

so yeah i have seen this before. i honestly don't mind this, it's the format chernow used and several others, and it is nice. i DO prefer footnotes at the bottom of the page, especially for large books because if you're going to take up that much real estate on the page, you might as well put the footnotes at the bottom, at LEAST the ones that have like a quote or commentary in them. it's probably the most realistic way to include information in the footnotes without including them at the bottom of the page.

even more rare, i've seen authors include footnotes at the end of chapters, and there's the typical play format where the footnotes are on the opposite page (my copy of othello is like this). it really just depends on the rest of the formatting of the book whether it works, and it's just one thing to take into consideration!

[mango-jpeg]

2024 writing retrospective (shamelessly copying dex, sorry. ur an icon)

i posted something every month of this year ! which is not something i set out to do but once i realized i was halfway through i had to see it through (<- guy whose biggest motivator is committing to the bit)

one takeaway from this was the value of just sitting on a fic for a few weeks… i always want to post as soon as a thing’s done, while i’m still riding the high of completing a project, but giving myself time and distance to edit is good, actually. whoda thot

also confirmed the value of setting arbitrary deadlines - birthday fics were also great for this lol - these days i've set sunday as a soft, rolling deadline (if it's not ready by this sunday i'll wait a week (so i'd better finish it))

bit of a grab bag year in terms of fandoms and pairings, and that was really fun for me !! there are some i’d like to return to if i can think of a new angle (yaoqing trio) others i might leave behind (i think covid erased argenthill from my brain)

also a year where i challenged myself a little and - probably because i posted so regularly - feel i’ve improved a bit

singularity was tough to string together but through the sort of episodic format i got better at writing little chunks. linger a little longer was like puuure character study, very scary. i feel like i have a middling understanding of action but gunfights - instead of swordfights or hand-to-hand - were a challenge in hard feelings

all the king’s horses was a sort of surreal experience. the basic idea and structure came together quite suddenly but it was difficult to write in the limited time i gave myself. also funnily a return to form for me (used to only write angst lol) while at the same time felt very different from my usual

more and more i enjoy writing longer, sillier fics, which are much harder to write than pwp and simply do not do numbers in the same way lol. this is fine - i write for myself first, & i've been writing porn longer so ofc it's easier and probably better - but it has meant that i appreciate comments more and more all the time :~)

coincidentally began and ended the year reading books about writing:

Consider This is very much a how-to guide with practical advice that was interesting and thoughtful. got me thinking about form/organization

Track Changes is a history of word processors that made me think about how my own creative process is irrevocably tied up in specific technology. really cool read

wips i’m carrying into the new year: kaeluc royalty au (still), olympic year (yes, still), welt/caelus/dan heng + whipped cream (...)

ideas i’m starting the year off with: ryudate 5+1, singularity sequel, kaeluc outsider pov, chiscara!!!

i’m very excited to finally take part in a ship week (nsfw akishinji week) which is something i’ve wanted to do for literally years. yippee!!

as always, a goal for this year is to write more comments on fic + art, it's just a muscle i'm always working on

i’d still like to write more for/with others - requests are fun but i get very few... is it weird to request requests ?

my other goal for the year is really to uhh write less. sad. gotta make the diss work a priority

these liner notes are excruciating to write but i think after 2 years i'll stick w them a little longer. they're good practice in organizing and expressing my thoughts

i hope it's a yaoiful year for all !!! see u in march <3

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Could you expand on what you said in a post about libraries about the big 5 publishers screwing over libraries in terms of digital lending rights?? I’ve not heard of that at *all* and im generally pretty caught up on publisher news, so I think theres a pretty big library-shaped hole in my sources lol

All righty, a couple disclaimers here. One, this is from a Canadian library perspective, so idk how well it applies to the US. Two, I don't work in the collections department at my library, so I'm basing this off what I remember from class years ago

(also clarifying that I'll be referring to ebooks and audiobooks collectively as digital books just to make it easier)

But in short, the Big Five publishers only very reluctantly put up with libraries having physical books, and one of the reasons they do that is because only one person can have a physical book at a time. Digital books, though? Why, if a library has a copy of one of those, hundreds of people could read it at a time! That's profits they're losing! How terrible!

But, well, selling to libraries is still a sale, so the companies sell to them but restrict it as much as possible. One, libraries pay much more for digital books than your average consumer. I don't have the exact number, but it's significantly higher. Two, unlike a physical book, which a library can have rebound if it's popular but hard to find, and which could conceivably last years if it's hardcover or paperback binding, digital books have severe limits on them. Maybe the library can only buy one "copy" of a digital book - i.e., only one patron can use it at a time. That digital copy artificially expires after 20 loans or 2 years, whichever comes first. Got a waitlist of 50 people waiting to read the latest Alexander McCall Smith book? Too bad! 30 of them are gonna have to go without! Do you have a moderately popular book by Danielle Steel, which gets borrowed every couple of months? Sorry! You've had it for two years, so it's gone now! Better buy a new copy!

Now, this is the case on digital platforms like Libby/Overdrive. Each digital book acts the same as a physical book, except that most of them go away after a certain amount of time. Certain public domain books might be a one-time buy for libraries, but for the most part, every loan, every week that goes by is chipping away at a digital book's life. Certain digital platforms - Hoopla, for example - have what's called "simultaneous use" policies - maybe you only have one ebook copy of a book by Agatha Christie, but every library patron can read it at once. The trade-off for this is that my library has to pay a certain amount for every person currently reading or listening to a book on Hoopla. We have a daily budget that can't be exceeded. Every week we field calls from people who, one afternoon, wanted to open up Hoopla, but were told they couldn't take out any books - because too many of my library's 40 000 active patrons had also decided to enjoy a book that day. And not every publisher even allows simultaneous use licenses, or they don't allow it on all of their titles

A final reminder to this very long post: please do not boycott Libby or Hoopla over this, I beg of you. Your libraries are pouring a lot of money into them because they're being used. Instead, put pressure on the big five publishers to make their digital books accessible, and vote in your municipal elections to get libraries more funding so we have more budget to put into those items. An easy way to increase your library's funding is just to spend a bit of time a week in there. Hang out with your friend for a few hours, just walk in and look at the shelves, or sit there and use their free wifi to play games on your phone. Digital books are here to stay, and libraries are important for getting those books into people's hands

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

i know you mentioned in the past on this blog you're multilingual and i was wondering if you had any tips and tricks for learning/picking a language to learn or resources as someone whose major surrounds linguistics?

Did someone mention languages? Oh hell yes. I

How to pick a language to learn

This is really about as subjective as it gets because there are plenty of reasons to learn a language. Job relocations, a romantic partner, fun, etc. I've literally picked up learning a language just because I enjoyed a song and thought the language was beautiful (Brazilian Portuguese) so really it just depends on you and you alone.

If you like anime and want to watch without subtitles, learn Japanese.

If you want to learn Turkish because you enjoy films from the country, learn Turkish.

If you're trying to learn Mandarin because of long-term work benefits, learn Mandarin.

And if you're really having that hard of a time picking, you can do a coin toss or a raffle generator to help you pick between the handful you're interested in. But you'll usually find it easier and more fun learning a language you're actually invested in. But should you ever run into the problem of being forced to learn a language, I do have tips on a separate blog on what to do then that you can read here.

What are your goals?

I would first decide what your goals are for learning a language.

Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking are all separate abilities. You can read Arabic perfectly but then the moment someone starts speaking to you, you're completely lost. You can be auditorily fluent but be unable to read and write.

Fluency is really a big word here in linguistics as what fluency looks like to one person, might not be fluency for someone else.

So I would figure out what your goals for learning a language are. If you want to learn Italian so you can an untranslated copy of Dante's Inferno, then you don't necessarily have to focus on listening and speaking skills. On the flip side, if you're just trying to learn Japanese because you want to watch anime without subtitles,

I personally wanted to watch Chinese films and dramas without worrying about subtitles, so I don't really focus on reading and writing skills and my speaking abilities are kind losin' their edge. But that's fine with me since I personally only want to watch stuff in Mandarin.

But because I do plan on working in Japan after I graduate, I try to maintain all my skills in all four of those categories. Same for Spanish as there are native Spanish speakers in my life I remain in contact with constantly.

Figure out what kind of learner you are and the type of instruction that suits you best

If you ever get the chance to take an elective surrounding Second Language Teaching or Second Language Learning, I recommend it. If not, I recommend the book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.

Once you take this class, you never really look at any language class you take the same way ever again. You'll be wondering if your class is one that centers around the Grammar Translation Method, the Audiolingual Method, Content-based Instruction, is this a class that involves Critical Pedagogy?

Because once you become aware of those methods and whether or not you are compatible with them, you'll see how your progress fluctates.

There's also whether or not you consider yourself a kinetic or visual learner, and so on and so forth. How one person learns might not be applicable for you, so their tips and tricks that help them learn a language faster might do nothing but inhibit you.

So I would experiment with any tips you come across and keep what does help you, toss out what doesn't.

Expect the plateau, don't be discouraged

When you are first learning a language, it goes pretty fast because everything is new and. But eventually you are going to notice that your progress is stagnating and you aren't learning nearly as much as you used to and you may begin to feel discouraged or begin slacking off because of it.

The plateau happens to all of us, so don't worry if it ever happens to you.

There are plenty of tips you can find online from various people how to overcome a language plateau, so I'll just list my personal methods of trying to shake things up:

Try learning your native tongue through your target language

Find more entertainment-based resources to encourage you to study like movies, youtubers, reality tv shows in your target language, try reading a book in it, etc.

Get out of your comfort zone. Complacency is the enemy here

Try finding new mini-goals to boost your learning

If you haven't already, try journaling in your target language

I'm assuming if you're following this blog, you're probably really interested in Japanese or Chinese since I mostly write content for Japanese anime and some Chinese games like Genshin but I do have some fun entertainment resources for the other languages I know/am learning. I don't wanna make this ask response too long though so if you're interested in that, let a girl know and I will get to channel reccing

[flatland-a-2024-translation]

About this translation

This story is Public Domain. This means you can read it for free, anywhere online, without having to pay for it, unless you’ve chosen to buy it from me as a thank you for making it. This also means that you can take this story, and do anything you want with it! You can make it into a movie, an audiobook, you can edit it to change all the characters’ names and pronouns or turn them into unicorns, you can translate it into different languages, and you can sell anything you make from it, or even just print it yourself and sell it that way.

Why have I chosen to do this after spending so much time and work making this, you ask? Because I’m poor, and I want other poor people to also be able to read books for free, and because I think the world is more fun when people are allowed to be creative without copyright law getting in the way.

You will be able to buy physical copies of this book from me if you want, on Lulu.com, as long as Lulu.com exists, and if you would like to send me money after reading the book for free, as long as Paypal exists and I’m still alive, you can send it to “TinyelFlatland” on Paypal, (and do me the favor of ignoring my deadname. I’m too poor to get a legal name change at the moment.)

If you would like to read the original version of this story, published in 1884, you can look up “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions” online, and read it for free, because that’s also Public Domain, which is how I was able to make this for you to read! Isn’t it great?

If you are reading this online, congrats! If you’re reading it in a physical book and you didn’t know you could also read it for free online, then congrats! You can! It can be found on archive.org, otherwise known as the Internet Archive, unless you’re reading this in 2300 or something and they don’t exist anymore, along with other places too. Just search for the title, and it should show up!

This translation was started on September 15th, 2023, at 7:55PM.

It was rainy today.

I’m writing this so that in the future, when the original story of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, published in 1884, has become so antiquated that it’s hard for students and other readers to understand the language, there will be at least one more recent stepping stone to aid in understanding.

I am also writing this so that schools who want to teach Flatland may do so with a bit more ease, since it might be hard to get most kids to read the old one.

I will try to keep my translation as accurate to the original Flatland as I can, while making it easier to understand. Sometimes, I may interject if I think extra information will be helpful, with my comments marked by double parenthesis and a note that I’m the one interrupting ((Note from the second editor / end of note from the second editor.))

Flatland: A Romance of Many Adventures was written as satire to criticize the systems of oppression that the author saw around him in Victorian London. Satire is a form of humor where the flaws of something are emphasized to make them more obvious and clear. Many people today, and back then, struggle to understand the satire that Edwin Abbott Abbot had crafted. So I’m making this note in the hopes that more people will understand it properly and look at this book from the right, well, angle. (hehe)

The narrator of this story calls himself A. Square to protect his identity, similar to the way people whose identity is not know will be called things like “J. Doe” or “M. Smith”.

His name is not actually A. Square, but many people enjoy calling him “Abbot Square”, after the author.

A. Square represents bigots of all kind, who are so wrapped up in their own biased world-view that they implicitly trust everything they are told by the people in power without ever taking the time to actually question anything enough torealize that what they’ve been told, and how the world actually works, do not match up at all.

This idea applies both to his ideas of the Dimensions, and systems of social hierarchy and oppression.

You will see many contradictions in A. Square’s testimony of how the world works that he doesn’t realize are contradictions at all. Because to him, actual logic and facts don’t really matter, he just goes along with whatever those higher up tell him.

You will see him thoughtlessly repeat propaganda that conflicts with everything else he has been told to believe, without a single trance of irony or awareness of these conflicts.

You are meant to be shocked and horrified and flabbergasted by A. Square’s ideas about society. That’s the whole point. The point is that he’s wrong, to get you to examine your thoughts about society to see if you are falling into any of the same pitfalls he is. The whole point is to show how absolutely ridiculous his ideas are. You’re supposed to laugh at him. It’s a comedy, and the joke is how ridiculous and absurd bigots are all the time without them even realizing it.

There’s a lot more I could say about this subject, but I’ll stop here and let you get onto the story.

For this version of this book which includes illustrations, I will also be including image descriptions for all of the illustrations so generously provided by the original Author, along with any additional illustrations I created myself, for all my fellow Irregulars out there reading this.

The original Flatland is around 33,000 words long. This version has come out to around 39,000.

This translation was, for this version of the document, completed on July 25th, 2024. This version is meant to be read digitally.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

If you are reading this a hundred years in the future, I hope the world is a better place than it is today. I hope global warming has been managed, I hope capitalism has ended, I hope that Irregulars of all kinds – Queer people, Black and brown people, disabled people, religious minorities – are treated as equals and that no one has to go without food or shelter. I hope that the word “homeless” seems antiquated and confusing, because everyone has a home. I hope sea turtles aren’t still eating plastic because of nonstop pollution and corruption. I hope the black-footed ferrets and bison recover from endangerment and are thriving in their natural environments again. I hope that white supremacy and colonization have been overthrown, and that the world looks back on the country that called itself “The United States of America” with all due horror, disgust and shame. I hope that slavery has been abolished permenantly, everywhere, with no loopholes saying “except as punishment for a crime”. I hope that slaves are not sent to fight wildfires or build bombs to send overseas to murder Palestinians or any other victims of colonization. I hope that the world has figured out a way to disarm all nuclear bombs, and has agreed to forever forget the knowledge of how to make more. I hope that physical books still exist, and that libraries still exist, and that corporate monopolies have all long since been destroyed. I hope everyone everywhere has access to free, quality healthcare, and that all of the stolen land in this world is given back to its rightful stewards.

If you are reading this in the future, I hope you live in a better world than what we have right now.

And if you are reading this right now, I hope you take every opportunity presented to you to learn more, to question more, and to make this world a better place.

Enjoy.

-signed, Tinyel (tin-yell), a physically disabled and autistic+ADHD nonbinary aroace lesbian who uses it/its/itself and skull/skulls/skullself pronouns. (I mention this because I know bigots in 2050+ will still probably try to pretend that Queer identities are brand new and only invented last year, and so Queer and Questioning people in 2024 can see that others are out there!)

PS. My cat says hi.

This is the end of the preface by the second editor.

[aesteasis]

do you have any brazilian literature recommendations :))?

ooohohoho yes i do, im glad you asked >:)) grab some snackies and a water bottle, this is gonna be a long post.

most of what i've read from brazilian literature are classics and like books that are at least decades old lol (uni life go brr), so my recommendations will probably rotate around that. so lets go!

first of all, of course, i recommend Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis (black author btw!), it wouldnt be a br lit rec if i didnt mention this one at some point. this is like the ultimate classic i'd say, but im not recommending just for that. i REALLY enjoy unreliable narrators and this book is all about it. its a novel about a guy who marries his childhood love, but suspects she's cheating on him, but yk, he's a white man from the 19th century, he thinks he's always right and is privileged af and it shows in the way he tells his story, so his opinions arent that trustworthy. and the author knew very much what he was doing, and he did it on purpose.

still about Machado, i must mention his short stories. i really really enjoy grotesque and gothic literature (think the vibes of poe, lovecraft, gogol, dostoevsky, etc) and Machado nails at it. he's also translated poe's works to portuguese back in the day, so we know for certain there's some influences in there. well, i recommend Machado in genereal, my guy really knew how to criticize society with some great witty and sarcastic comments if you know where to look.

if you want more grotesque but is tired of reading stuff written by men, i recommend Julia Lopes de Almeida (who isnt as known as she should be, she was done dirty and purposefully neglected by ABL - brazilian literary non-profit society) and Lygia Fagundes Telles. both of them have some reeeal creepy stories, just the way i like it.

now, if you're into authors who dissect the human mind and master the stream of consciousness and love to relate to the thoughts of the characters of your books, i highly recommend Clarice Linspector. no one does it like her, my girl knows how to transform thoughts into a narrative and its insane, her books are really endearing to read imo.

but if you want something that will thresh the brazilian society (or well, any third world country's society i'd say) and expose every flaw about the system, racism, misogyny, colonialism and class conflict, i recommend specifically the books Vidas Secas, by Graciliano Ramos (idk if theres a translation, but the title says Dry Lives), The Slum, by Aluísio Azevedo, and The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, by Guimarães Rosa (this one is sooo hard to read in portuguese bc it uses a lot of regionalisms from a region im not from, so hard that i actually got a copy in english to read for my finals lmao. but worry not, the english translation is much easier to understand. it also has some queer themes, both gender and sexuality wise, and its a literal masterpiece).

for poetry, i highly recommend Augusto dos Anjos, a personal favourite. im not that into poetry, but Carlos Drummond de Andrade and Cecilia Meireles are very good too.

there's so much more i could recommend, but these are the ones that come to my mind rn. idk if thats what you were thinking about, and sorry i coulnt bring anything contemporary, if thats more your vibes, but i really recommend all of these, for anyone, they're really enriching to read.

[canageek]

Finished reading the print copy of Destroyer of Light. I think this is the first time I've reread that particular arc because I wasn't a fan of it originally, but I think I got a lot more out of it this time, it's more subtle than I remember and I really like the characterization of Persephone in it.

The book feels really nice and solid, and seeing the comic and print really brings out the artwork, there's something stronger about it when you see it on the white page with the black art, I think the contrast really helps make it pop in a way it doesn't on my computer screen. Like the art is always good, but there's just something special about seeing it in print.

My only complaint about the book is with that style of binding, I think the inner margin needs to be larger because I had to hold the pages really far apart to see the inner edge. That puts extra strain on the cover and binding, and you can tell that the cover is already beginning to warp. I hope future volumes this can be fixed, the outer margin is quite generous so it wouldn't be hard to sacrifice a little of that to make the inner margin larger.

Oh and there's a little wear around the edges of the cover but that's not something that bothers me at all, I get most of my books that used book stores so I'm used to battered covers.

Oh and I almost forgot, I really love the section of the back explaining the Greek myth inspirations and how the comic deviates from them, you have to love a comic with citations.

If you want to read the comic (and you definitely should) it's on Tumblr but I strongly recommend the reading experience of reading it on it's main website, it's much easier to navigate through though I'm not sure if that has all of the commentary about its inspiration. https://theiamania.thecomicseries.com/archive/

Otherwise it's all well tagged on the author's Tumblr: @a-gnosis

For this particular volume the main content warnings would be abortion and incest, and possibly if you have trauma about mother child relationships, it's not currently the healthiest one in this issue.

Let me know if you enjoy reading this, I'm thinking of writing up more book recommendations like this, I just read some really good books by Tanya Huff and Richard Baker that I'm tempted to share.

I should also remember to copy and paste this over to my blog, somewhere that's a bit more searchable.

[trickstercaptain]

@toodamnloyal sent a meme: 2, 5 , 9

2. how is their social media presence?

please don't let Jack anywhere near social media SO in all honesty, Jack's social media presence is minimal, if not non-existent. as much as Jack craves attention, I think he much prefers tangible attention that is physically in front of him rather than virtual attention, especially as he's not that technologically savvy or interested in technology in general. I think, even in a verse where he grew up during the technological revolution rather than being older when smartphones and social media come along, his entire ethos and aesthetic is old school rock n roll, anti-establishmentism and anti-the machine. I just can't see him getting super into social media considering that the man rarely even watches TV. the main appeal for him with social media would be to pick fights with strangers over the internet, he would find that so much fun and this is really the only reason he would set up a social media account. just to start arguments get people riled up online from the comfort of his living room. it satisfies his need to be annoying.

5. top five favourite things not available in their canon verse.

lmao okay so I could answer this in the sense of — better understanding of medical science, easier access to education and knowledge, abolition of public executions and the death penalty. all of that is a real bonus to not being in the 18th century. but if we're talking super specific and personal things to Jack: records/CDs/portable means of playing music. music obviously exists in the 18th century but there is no means of recording it and playing it back, or enjoying certain pieces of instrumental music without a full orchestra or band present lmao. Jack would love the opera and concert halls in his canon except that these are very much one-off experiences for him. in modern verse he can curate a really diverse appreciation for and taste in music across many different cultures and genres, and can physically own copies of certain songs or pieces of music. I joke a lot about how varied Jack's taste in music is, but it is really borne from the idea that it is something he enjoys so much but is restricted by in certain respects within the confines of his historical era. add to that too that he can learn to read and play sheet music, a language that is pretty much shut off to him within his lived experience in the 18th century.

going back to what I mentioned earlier but in a more specific way, education and access to knowledge. Jack didn't receive a formal education in his canon and, in teaching himself, books were often hard to come by. as much as he's not the biggest fan of the strict framework of school and university etc, he does love that easy access to knowledge, language and cultures different to his own. the modern world feels a lot smaller than the world Jack inhabits in the 18th century, but he is much more easily able to quence his insatiable need for knowledge. plus I'll talk about this below but it's much easier to get to places. it means he has fewer excuses for when he just up and vanishes from someone's life one day, but travelling is so much easier and more convenient.

9. how do they like to travel in the 21st century—both day to day life, and possible international travel?

okay so Jack's love of boats does not go away in this verse — he spends plenty of time out on Teague's boat growing up and eventually goes on to own a small clipper-style sailship in what is a really expensive hobby that he funds through his cons. this is also mostly the means by which he travels the world during his ten years after fleeing the UK. so by sea is still his preferred method of travel, however the modern world opens up his options too and the other real interest he has in this verse is the car lmao. he's a closet petrolhead and, while not a qualified mechanic by any means, spent a great deal of time at his grandfather's garage growing up and has a real enthusiasm for cars in general, as well as fixing up and driving them. this means that he loves a good road trip and would happily drive a car for miles at a time. by contrast, he can tolerate travelling by air but doesn't particularly like aeroplanes — if he wants to get somewhere in a hurry, he will fly there, but he would prefer to drive or sail if possible.

[gchoate17]

I read 17 books this year, 13 of which were nonfiction. Here were my top 10, ranked in the order that I enjoyed them, but the top five are really the ones I care about enough to recommend:

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (2024)

This feels like the most important book I've read since Dana Suskind's 30 Million Words. I want to read it over and over again until I have ironed out all of my bad phone habits and helicopter parenting. A must-read for parents, but honestly, everyone should read it. If you see me on the street, please come talk to me about this book.

2. Dead Wake by Erik Larson (2015)

These acts of war we learn about in history always seem to loom so large in idea, but when broken down minute by minute -- as Larson has done here -- such catastrophic events suddenly feel so terrifyingly plausible. My God, I could have been on that boat! I could have had to jump into the sea. I could have had to make a choice between which of my children to save.

How horrible a thing to happen while at sea while having a clear view of no help on the horizon. Larson shows us all of that in a well-researched way. He triangulates all sides of the story. And it's a fascinating one, moving both fast and slow at the same time, just as the Lusitania did.

3. So Many Steves by Steve Martin & Adam Gopnik (2023)

I listened to the audiobook version and it didn't seem like a literary reading as much as it was simply a recorded conversation -- Martin and Gopnik talking, with Gopnik elaborating on the conversation after the fact. I loved it, but it feels more like I tackled a podcast than a book. Steve Martin is an interesting and sincere man. And, of course, talented, but this book allows me to see more of his depth. His jokes always kind of struck me as too playful to be truly funny, but now knowing how much of an intellectual Martin is (and was the whole time, presumably), I can probably appreciate them more. He may be silly, but he is also deliberate. I've always loved him the most as an actor -- Roxanne, Three Amigos, SNL -- but I also loved going to one of his concerts, and I'm looking forward to reading his novels.

4. All that Glitters by Orlando Whitfield (2024)

I liked this book as much for the details of the art world as much as I did for the crime drama -- maybe more? -- and Whitfield writes tenderly and honestly about himself and his friendship.

5. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (2023)

Finkel's most notable accomplishment here is his ability to balance art appreciation with crime, drama, and psychology in a way that keeps the laundry list of thefts from becoming monotonous. I never lost interest.

6. Spearhead by Adam Makos (2019)

I listened to the audiobook version and I think if I had read a hard copy I would have been in four-star territory instead of three. The voiceover actor put weird emphasis on names in a way that suggested we were supposed to know who people were, even if they were being introduced. I spent a lot of time thinking, "Should this name mean something to me?" That pulled me out of the story. And the shifting of points of view would be easier with a visual. All on me, though, not the writer.

The research is the real star of this show, though. And also the unlikely coincidences. An almost unbelievable story -- in the same vein as UNBROKEN. As with all thoughtful war stories, this one confirmed for me that war should not be fought by the young men who are only trying to survive. Let the idealogues kill each other if they need someone to die.

7. Your Table is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina (2022)

I mostly read this for the restaurant tales, and they align with my own dozen years working in restaurants, though Cecchi was working at the top of the restaurant world in New York, of course. As Bourdain and Orwell and countless other writers have pointed out over the decades and centuries, restaurant worker culture is a kind of insane fraternity, and this book is more evidence of that. These are the kinds of stories you tell to slack-jawed people at a party or at the bar, not the kinds of stories you go after if you're looking for something literary. But I will say that Cecchi is open and honest and vulnerable in an admirable way. He talks about his experiences with sex and drugs in a way that doesn't feel boastful in the way most people talk about them. And there is absolutely some literary merit to the epilogue. That part of the book was beautiful.

Takeaway that sticks with me: Dustin Hoffman is as nice as I think he is.

8. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (2010)

I loved the concept and setting, but the narrative itself felt somewhat absent. The pacing felt inconsistent and ambitious. Martin is at his best when it comes to the small details of the human personality/behavior, and he turns his back on some of that when he's spanning a large swath of time instead of focusing on moments strung together. He nails the different art world personality types.

9. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett (2021)

I most enjoyed Patchett's recounting of her early years as a writer, her relationships with her father(s), and her relationship with Karl. I feel like I like Ann Patchett the person/the character more than I like her writing. Is that possible?

10. About Alice by Calvin Trillin (2006)

Tender description of the writer's wife, following her death. Vignettes. No real narrative.

Previous Book Lists: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.

[spotlightauthors]

Catherine Perkins

Catherine Perkins, long-time resident of Lexington, KY, is a semi-retired Thoroughbred horse trainer, retired farmer and horse rider, full time poet, part-time comedian, and zero-turn mower operator for an equine nursery. She has poems in numerous anthologies, as well as in online journals such as Jerry Jazz Musician and Yearling. Catherine is also the author of one collection of poetry titled “Udder Uproar” through Accents Publishing, 01/2024.

Author Name: Catherine Perkins

How long have you been writing? 50 years or more

Did you ever imagine that you would be published one day? I never thought about being a writer much less being published.

What made you want to become an author? Once I decided to take writing more seriously, I started taking classes, I longed for respect and acceptance from the writing community and knew I wasn’t going to go get a degree to get their attentions, so getting published was the next best way.

How long have you been published? January 2024 was when my first book came out, but I’ve had poems published in local anthologies and in online journals since as early as 2012.

How does it feel to be published? It feels amazing. I am proud of myself and I want to settle down and do it again. I think I’m waiting for winter when I’m too afraid to leave the house if it’s cold, snowy or icy out.

Are you self-published or did you go through a publishing company? Why? I am not self-published. I felt like I needed guidance from a seasoned publisher and I got luckywhen one of my mentors and teachers, Katerina Stoykova, is a publisher, too and she said shewanted to publish me. 

How many books have you written? 1

What is/are the name of your book(s)? Udder Uproar

What genre is it/are they in? Poetry

What do you feel will inspire others to never forget when they read your story(ies)? I think people who read or hear my works will remember I made them laugh. 

What’s the hardest part about writing a book? The hardest part is that there are numerous difficult parts about writing a book and I don’t feel one is harder than another. Because I write poetry almost daily, but rarely in a thematic start to finish way, compiling a collection and putting it together in some sensical way is very hard, And then to see all the edits that need to be made, to find someone(s) to read if for you and to report back edits you didn’t see the first 1200 time you read the manuscript and to not revising the poem out of a poem are equally as difficult as the next. For me formatting it was very time consuming and quite troublesome. Table of Contents, acknowledgements, notes, etc...

What’s the easiest part about writing a book? I don’t believe I found anything easy about putting together a book. The process of writing is easy for me and it kind of ends there.

What do you enjoy least about being an author? Selling myself

What is your favorite genre to read? Is it different than the one that you write in? I like reading poetry I can understand and I really like mystery, and humorous works of fiction, I enjoy a good auto-biography or biography, too.

Where can interested readers purchase their copy of your book(s)? A Likely Story, Accent Publishing, Amazon, and Northshire Bookstore

Do you have any future projects in the works? Is there a tentative release date? I’m trying to sit down and put together another collection. I have a bit of a word/dictionary obsession so it will definitely have lots of strange words in it and even though I do write heavier and more depressing poetry I feel humor is easier for me to market, plus I love to make people laugh and I do like performing funny. There is no release date because the book doesn’t even have a page 1 yet.

Do you have any social media sites that you would like to share with my readers?  Blog, Facebook, and Instagram