#and maybe written by tj klune

[harpieisthecarpie]

I need a fantasy story where the main character goes to a Magical School, but as the sole custodian or a slightly underqualified guidance counselor.

They can be magical or not, but absolutely under no circumstances are they allowed to be a Chosen One.

At most they have to deal with cleaning up ground zero after Chosen One plot happenings, or trying to convince prominent characters to fill out important paperwork and go to therapy.

A queer breakroom romance is allowed, but it has to be as undramatic as possible. More aiming for the descriptions "kind of boring" and "mature romance in the way they talk about personal finances and split the Magical newspaper every morning".

Alternatively, forbidden romance with the magical OSHA inspector or internal investigator that's close to shutting down the school. They don't try to affect the love interest's ruling, but it's definitely a conflict of interest.

[glitter-stained]

Let's build Jason a bookshelf !

Pride and Prejudice - homeboy is an Austen fan canonically, we need at least this one.

Hamlet -do I need to say more? Do I?

Water for the elephants: He won't admit it, but the book reminds him of Dick, and he reads it any time he misses him. It's angsty enough to maintain a front while actually being a romance with a satisfying ending.

The Outsiders: It's not just that the story is relatable and really well written; it's the themes of loyalty, grief and heroism, and the imagery and hopefulness shining through, and it's the way Johnny reminds him of Roy and sometimes, after Roy's death, he will close his eyes and picture the two of them together in an abandoned church, in that quiet space safe from the war raging outside, reading Gone With the Wind while Roy provides uncharitable commentary about the characters' decisions.

Under The Whispering Door (TJ Klune): This one was gifted to him by Tim because "the main character is an asshole ghost, I thought you might relate." Of course, these idiots could talk to eachother about emotions and go to therapy, but why do that when you can bait your brother into reading a story that will help him process a bit of his relationship with his own death and the family? The worst part is, it worked great, and Jason is so upset that it became one of his favourite books. (The part about the stages of grief is scientifically inaccurate, though. He would know.)

A compilation of TS Eliot's works: Maybe it's because I'm a big fan of TS Eliot and Jason, but every time I reread one of his poems, I think about Jason and I'm sad. The Hollow Men, in particular about the fallen soldiers from WWI, hits so hard as a Jason poem, especially when you consider he lived through the explosion but died of smoke inhalation.

Flowers for Algernon: After losing Bizarro, Jason rereads it often, sitting on rooftops, every time the sky is bright enough to see the stars. He reads it out loud, and the words burn his tongue and taste bitter every time every time, but he likes to pretend his friend is listening, and feels a little less alone.

The Oresteia: This one belongs to the list Jason has read many times and should probably read less, because he projects the tragedy onto his real life and it's a bad influence that comforts him in the idea that he was doomed from the start and might as well burn the remains of the bridges with his family. Good luck trying to pry it out of his hands though! He also loves the idea of being seen at his worst, in the midst of all his hopelessness, and being loved anyway, cradled with unwavering devotion.

Frankenstein : He's a huge Mary Shelley fan, both as a person and a writer. As for Hamlet and the Oresteia, he definitely projects maybe a little too much of some of the characters, but hey, not everybody can brag that they relate to the Creature on such a visceral level.

What else would you guys add?

[amysgoblinhorde]

The Anti-JK Rowling: Praise for TJ Klune

I am going to overshare. I do not apologise for this.

Way back in the mid 1990s, I was I young girl in school and I was badly suffering the years of harassment and abuse by my peers and also by the grown ups who should have cared for me. I was told I brought it on myself by being weird, I was told I was an attention seeker (yes, and can't you hear me cry for help?) and it was actually the lip curling disdain of the teachers that broke me the most.

I began to feel like maybe I did deserve it. I must have been so unpleasant, so hideous a person that others could see me for what I was and the universe itself was punishing me. I developed Body Dysmorphic Disorder, I kept checking mirrors to see if I could glimpse the monster, mocking myself whenever I thought I looked normal.

Anyway. It all came to a head in my third year, when I became admittedly a bit of an edgelord. I sucked in the darkness and screamed it out.

I was sent to a hospital school. This was a little tiny class of mixed ages for children who needed extra help. It was better here, I made friends - but I also learned a dark lesson here that no child should have to -

There is an appropriate face for trauma.

And I didn't have it. I was not the cute cancer kid. I was not the brave smiling little trooper. I was told by some of the staff in the hospital school that I didn't really belong there, I should consider myself lucky. One teacher said that those of us who were there for mental health issues were weak, we had failed. If we were braver we would be in a normal school.

I would have been 11 when the first Harry Potter book came out, though I didn't read any until sixth form college. I wanted to know what the fuss was about, a movie was being made.

I thought they were fun, as many did. But I can't pretend it didn't hammer an extra nail into my heart as it yet again told me that there was an acceptable face for trauma and it was not mine.

Harry Potter. He was written to be a good looking lad, sporty. Tragically dead parents that he didn't remember anything about. Suffered abuse, but it didn't break him in any inconvenient way. He was a tragically brave little hero with his friends the impossibly clever poster girl (who incidentally was very pretty when she wanted to be) and the token dweeb who appears to have mostly be written to prop up the other two.

Then we have Neville. His story was genuinely heartbreaking and yes it was addressed, but not really. His horrors are not something we talk about. Let's not go there, let's treat it like a dark embarrassing secret. But what a brave lad he is, standing up to his friends! Not for, you know, visiting his brain damaged parents and living with his abusive grandmother. No, no, it's the friends he stands up to. Brave silly Neville. Not the hero, of course. But isn't he brave?

And at last we come to TJ Klune. I read The House in the Cerulean Sea only recently. And wow. I laughed and cried in equal measure.

As with Harry Potter, we have a collection of magical youths, learning to navigate their powers as they grow. But the differences are diamond sharp, the focus instead on all the right things while still being joyful, fantastic and often hilarious.

How can this brilliant man get it so right in such a simple way? It's obvious, when you think about it.

All traumatised children matter.

There is no right face of trauma, least of all on a child, but hey let's not leave out the grown ups. At 40 years of age I thought I knew this, but I must have kept my younger self in a little cell in my mind (ahhh but she's different, she was a monster. We don't talk about her ...).

I was David. And I was Lucy. Why is it so much easier to forgive myself when I see myself as a yeti?

Children will lash out. Forgive yourself that. Children can be little weirdos, little balls of chaos and anger. That's okay. And no child's suffering should be ignored in favour of another, no matter what they look like or what they have done.

No child should be expected to be a poster boy hero, and no child should be chastised if they do not perform trauma right.

So yeah ... Thanks for reading until the end. And thanks to TJ Klune for making a 40 year old woman feel so many things, the strangest of all being forgiveness and acceptance of her 13 year old self.

Also, Chauncey is handsome as crap.

[jenyifer]

Book List Time!!!

And with that I have 10 give or take books to discuss. Now I’m up to over 30 books since May woooo telling tumblr about each one has been a great motivator so I hope my reviews and list help people out in a non spoiler fun way. Gonna rank these in order I want to reread them.

1. Green Creek the series by TJ Klune 🏳️‍🌈🐺🌶️🌲 Wolfsong Ravensong Heartsong Brothersong I am obsessed. Literally read all four books in 3 days. I have bought physical copies and marked them up. Will make you cry, laugh, and stay in your heart forever. Just……. Go read it. But the quick synopsis is Powerful Humans Wolves Witches have to pay for the sins of their fathers over and over again while maintaining their found family and finding their true soulmates. There is Ace Lesbian non binary rep in here as well.

2. The Warden by Daniel Ford🏳️‍🌈 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩🧙‍♀️❄️🪦truly a fantasy masterpiece the romance isn’t the focus but it’s fucking good. First sapphic book to get a 10/10 for me. About a witch(with a magic system that is interesting surprising) growing up and finding herself a family without sacrificing who she is. I loved her and at first you think ehhh is this going to be boring no definitely not. Was surprising made me laugh and cry. Can’t wait for part 2 cause more of the hot gf in there I hope.

3. A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland🏳️‍🌈👑⚔️🌶️🌶️ I listened to this book two times in a row I enjoyed it so much. It’s a bodyguard and prince story. The prince’s depiction of depression anxiety panic attacks was so real. The bodyguard is very endearing. The themes of family are strong and interesting. The mystery was easy to solve but I found it rewarding because I wanted the prince to win so badly haha.

4. Spindle Splintered by Alix E Harrow🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👸🏼🥀😢

Short story about a dying girl who has a special interest in sleeping beauty. It does have a…. Debatably Sad ending. I did enjoy it for what it was trying to talk about. I lost a friend when she was too young. I’m glad I read it.

5. Scumbag Villains Self-Saving System series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu 🏳️‍🌈🚩⚔️😈🕊️🤓🌶️? I’m putting it up this high because besides that scene in chapter 21 that slapped me in the brain I really enjoyed the series. Only Danmei I HAD TO GET THE REST OF THE SERIES IMMEDIATELY Hell I’ve even now written fan fic for the side ship. About a Nerd being put into his favorite love to hate stallion novel (story about a hero who fucks his way to success) but he’s in there as the abusive villain who the hero is destined to kill. The nerd has to save himself and unintentionally builds himself a harem featuring the most red flag the hero who so sololy motivated by the nerd. It’s great easy to read very fun. But 🌶️ scene in book 3 is a definite skip and delete from memory.

6. Case File Compendium Vol 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou 🏳️‍🌈? 😈🚩🩸🕵️🥼

I did just finish reading this so maybe I’m bias but I really did find it a book I couldn’t put down. I even brought it with me to work to read a chapter during my lunch breaks. Main characters are heavy in their homophobic lifestyles but they kiss and protect each other? True crime and mentally ill characters. MC is has a fatal mental illness that makes him unstable and MIL was his former private doctor. MC is trying to date MIL’s little sister. While getting up to shenanigans they stumble into a corrupt hospital and evil forces are maybe after them?! Idk its exciting fun to read but only if you like 🚩’s

7. The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish Vol 1 by Xue Shan Fei Hu 🏳️‍🌈🐟👑🎨🖼️ I did genuinely laugh my ass off during reading this book. It was incredibly easy to read I think I finished it in 4 hours. Very cute. I love the inside and outside art. About a nonverbal Prince who has anger issues and his crush on the modern man who is trapped within an ugly little fish. Now yes the Prince is becomes actively in love with the fish. Lucky for us we are stuck in the man who is trapped as the fish’s pov and he is genuinely just trying to get back to his world by obeying the powers that be System’s prompts to go home. Fish is not trying to seduce the Prince or anything. It’s just funny I had a great time with vol 1 probably will read vol 2.

8. So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole 🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨🐉🏝️ while having dragons and diverse cast it ultimately falls short of expectations wishing for more depth and clarity. The asexual spectrum representation feels muddled and Jamaican inspired cultural elements are unexplored which is at odds with its rich backdrop that could have enhanced the story. The story’s mystery element lacked cohesion resulting in a frustrating bittersweet ending that suggests a sequel and left me unsatisfied. I won’t read the next book. Won’t suggest it.

9. Faithless Book2 by C L Clark 🏳️‍🌈🚩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩⚔️👑😩 a big let down from book 1 but I’m locked in for life I guess. Luca is back in France navigating a way to get the crown. While Touraine shows up with a priest and Teen to some how get food for her people. Most of the plot feels useless both MC characters are stupid and do no growing. The new teen character was interesting. I disliked the poly romance I didn’t particularly feel comfortable about Touraine and Luca why not add another person in what could go wrong? Luca’s reign as Queen looks to be very bad and you will feel extremely disappointed at the end. I’m going to read the next book but only because I like the characters who didn’t go to France.

10. Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore.

I read 90% of this book and I regret it. It’s a trans characters as the leads gay retelling of the great gatsby. I was truly excited to read it I’ve read The Great Gatsby many times. However this book just laughs at the source material. I’m tempted to say maybe the Chat GPT’d the plot and didn’t ask for any over arching themes in the book. I couldn’t do it I’m gonna have to find a better trans representation book in my next set of ten.

DNF’s

Last Night at the Telegraph Club, The Once and Future witches, Gearbreakers, the emperor and the endless palace.

[moonreadingjournal]

i feel like most of the posts i post in this blog is mostly about The Extraordinaries series by TJ Klune but I don't care. It is one of my favorite series of all time.

I love it.

This post contains SPOILERS (you've been alerted)

yesterday I was almost done with Heat Wave (the last book) and I was thinking how grateful I am that I read these books. I have re-read the first two books 3 times now and I just re-read the final book for the first time since it came out.

This story still has such an emotional chokehold on me. It is so good. Nick is such a ridiculous character, I love how he is. How he is written and how he develops in the three books. I love how unapologetic he is.

I would just like to share some scenes that have had such an emotional impact on me (i don't know how to begin to explain why but I still want to).

In the first book, The Extraordinaries, for me is when they talk about how Nick and Seth met. When they were just 6 years old (maybe 7). The way I cried and still cry when I read it, says a lot. If you've read it, you know. It is the swing set scene. where Nick met Seth while he was alone swinging on this old set while eating chocolate pudding. How Seth was just a shy little boy and you can feel how his world turned technicolor when he met Nick. He was just a baby, had lost his parents in a train crash, and meeting Nick helped him. I cry when I read it, but it is nothing compared to how much I cry when I read a similar scene.

when Nick's dad was in the hospital, and Martha (Seth's aunt) visits Nick. She told him about the little boy who had lost a lot and was still grieving. How he didn't talk a lot and how her and Bob (Seth's uncle) were so worried about him. Oh my God, but when she says how he came home and kept just talking about this boy he met called Nicholas Bell and how they were going to be best friends forever.

Again, the emotional hold those two parallel scenes have on me, on my heart is unreal. I love them so much. TJ Klune does an amazing job weaving this story where you care about all the characters that appear on it. Minor or not. and I love it.

As of right now, in Flash Fire I think my favorite scene is when Nick tells Seth that he loves him. In the prom. When they were fighting against Ice and Smoke. How Seth smiles (MY TENDER HEART CANNOT). Don’t get me wrong. The whole book is so unbelievably good (all of them are). They are in the midst of chaos and that scene made me cry so damn hard again.

In Heat Wave, the whole book is on a totally different plane compared to the other two. In the story, Nick’s mother has been dead for 4 years now yet somehow she re-appeared. When you read the book, it is the real villain’s wife that can shapeshift (among other stuff). That whole thing is unreal. It is so cruel. It is so unbelievably cruel. Nick and his Dad went through all the grieving process. They still had issues in the first and second book but they worked through it so well. Becoming stronger. And then this. This was so mean. It is crazy to me how TJ Klune was like: you know how to write this book? PAIN. That’s how. And then he had to double down by killing Owen.

Like…how dare you? It is still pretty freaking good though.

Objectively, I know why Owen had to die. By the way that he was, where they all gave him multiple opportunities to turn around (in the first and last book, he is not present in the second one) but he just didn’t. I know that dying was the only way to resolve it. It was pretty hard though. He was just a kid, a villain, but just a kid. When you read the books, you find out that his parents were not good. His dad experimenting on him, used him like he was a tool (which probably was only the tip of the iceberg). When I think about him I think about Akito Sohma (if you’ve seen Fruits Basket you know). Akito was the source of torment to all the members of the zodiac. Hurt them physically, emotionally and psychologically. You find out Akito was hurt by her mother. Which, doesn’t justify it. Nothing ever does. It just allows you to understand them better but not to totally gloss over everything. Owen felt that same way. Which is why it hurt how he died. Rip.

One of my favorite scenes is after they find out that Nick’s mom is not Nick’s mom but an imposter. Nick and his dad have to live at Jazz’s house until the home is repaired. It makes my heart hurt when Nick is woken up by his dad. His dad snuggles for a while with Nick and cries his heart out (along with Nick). It feels like they have to go through the grieving process again. It is not the same though. Because they didn’t lose Nick’s mom again. She was never there. But they toyed with their emotions. It is just so twisted and so jarring.

It might seem cliche but my other favorite scenes are in the epilogue. When they are 26 (Jazz, Nick and Seth) and 27 (Gibby). It is Jazz’s and Gibby’s wedding. My favorite, favorite part is when Nick is saying how he has decided to propose to Seth. Using the wedding ring that his mother, Jenny Bell, gave her father. Only for Seth to also propose to Nick using his own father’s ring. I cry just a little harder in this scene. It isn’t quite the same as having matching necklaces. Like some couples do. It is so much more impactful. Nick’s dad loved his mom from the moment he met her. The life they build together. The pain they both felt when she died. The fact that he gave Nick his ring. It makes it so much sweeter. As well as for Seth. He loves his aunt and uncle. They became his parents in all the ways that mattered. But he always kept close to his heart the fact that he lost his own parents. There is this instance in the first book where Nick is at Seth’s home and sees the pictures on the wall. And he talks about how Seth doesn’t have a lot of memories from his parents but the ones that he does have he protects them so fiercely. So the fact that he gave Nick his father’s ring is also so impactful.

My last favorite little scene is almost at the end of the epilogue. When Jazz and Gibby are kissing at their wedding and Nick says how they took a picture right at that moment. Where Nick is cheering loud and Seth is quietly smiling. jazz and Gibby have a sweet kiss. And how he hung that picture in his home with Seth. Right next to the one he has of his mom. The one at the lighthouse. My heart cries.

It is such an amazing book and I wish the fandom was a lot bigger and that it also had a lot of fanart. I wish it had a graphic novel or a manga. And a good animated show (not a live action). I wish a lot more people talked about this series. Hopefully it will get the recognition it deserves.

I don’t know if I had a point for this post but I just wanted to make it. I don’t have a lot of people that have read it and I wish I had someone to talk about it with.

[redheadgleek]

October books

Only 6 books completed this month, although I have a few that are in-progress. 

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (friend recommodation). Some absolutely incredible world building here; I was completely absorbed in the story, but I'm also not sure if I want to read the sequels?

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (friend recommendation). At one point, I had to go find the summary to make sure the kid made it through the story alive and unhurt (he does). The villain was a little too cartoonish, but it was a really creepy, haunting story. 

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. Slow burn second chance romance. I liked alternating between the different time periods, the romance was definitely real and messy and I had serious issues with the proposal. The part that intrigued me the most: the call out to Stephenie Meyer in the acknowledgements. Maybe Corienne was written by them both? 

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. The House in the Cerulean Sea is what got me into reading and I really enjoyed going back to this universe. Did we need a sequel? No. Did it get awfully preachy in places? Yes. Were the kids the best and did we need even more of them? Absolutely.

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske. There was a little too much focus on world-building here and the story got lost, but still, it's a romance novel, and that romance was smoking.

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Bloom (friend recommendation, audiobook). Fascinating history (man, what old medical examiners had to do to get answers on toxins!), lots of science that was easy to understand, and dramatic cases. The narrator had a weird voice and rhythm though and there were parts that dragged.

[4ragon]

Hey hi I don't do this a lot but I think I want to make a book recommendation!

Now, if you're following me (which I'm just going to loosely assume that you are if you're reading this because why else would you be) then I'm going to assume that you share a few interests with me. Interests which include:

Found family

Stories about healing

Stories about acceptance

A weird sense of humor

Magic and fantasy

Queer love stories involving what can only be described as The World's Most Boring Man

If any of the above appeal to you, or all of them, might I recommend:

The House In The Cerulean Sea

by TJ Klune

You guys. It's so good. It's sooooo good. It's such a great take on the magical meeting the mundane. It's witty and funny and sweet and hopeful, it's well written and creative, every single character has so much life and personality, it's just. AUGH. Literally every piece of this book was tailor made for me and I adore it. Probably my new favorite book. It looks like he has another queer book about ghosts and I think that's going right into the to-read pile too, at some point.

Anyway. I dunno. I'll post the blurb from Good Reads under a read more in case any of you want to know more. If you trust my reading tastes, which hey, maybe you can glean from my writing tastes, then definitely grab this book from the library. (Only real TW is mentions of child abuse and neglect, but nothing graphic.)

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

[nyx-b-log]

phew it's been a busy week! in between life stuff, prepping for an exam on sunday and finishing all these books, i feel like i've been in go mode all week!

i started and finished the house in the cerulean sea by tj klune, about a inspector for state-run orphanages for magical children who gets sent on an assignment to an orphanage with the antichrist and learns what found family means. t only took me a few days to read, it's incredibly easy to sit with and just read for long periods of time, which i think i needed after some dense sci-fi. it's a bit heavy handed in its message in places (the word groupthink was also used at one point), but if you can look past that this is a perfectly pleasant way to spend an afternoon or two. not mind-blowing, but it brought a smile to my face.

worth mentioning is the accusations that the (white) author was using (specifically canadian) residential schools for his own gain. honestly, without knowing that going into it, i'm pretty sure i would never have made the connection (though that might be on me) and i'd bought the book before i found out about this. there's a (positive) discussion of it in this reddit thread (which i'm not linking because i necessarily agree with op, simply that it's comprehensive) and (a negative) one in this one and it's worth looking into on your own before deciding to read the book.

i also finished left-handed booksellers of london which was fine? i enjoyed it enough that i'm interested in reading book two, but i *despise* susan as a character asdfghjkl she spends the entire book going 'what? what?' and doesn't really grow from this. she had so much potential (a shaven headed punk girl in the 80s!) but fell very flat for me. cos of that the romance between her and merlin also felt like an afterthought. the world is great tho, and every time a new character or thing came up i was always interested to see what it was. as a YA book, it was enjoyable. the audiobook performance was occasionally annoying (which maybe contributed to my dislike of susan), but on the whole it's pretty good. she does accents well.

for manga, i read watashi no tadashii oniichan vol 1 again, the manga about a woman looking for her older brother and falling in love with the cute insomniac she works with, but properly this time. still loved it, the building of relationships and reveals is great and i'm really looking forward to finishing the series.

i also read ao haru ride vol 1, which is a classic but i've never actually picked it up before now. it's about a girl who falls in love with a boy in middle school, but then there's a misunderstanding and he moves away, only for them to reunite in high school. it explores their new relationship and how they've changed as people in the intervening years. i *loved* this, i devoured it in one sitting and am very, very sad i don't have the rest of the series. the writing is fantastic, the characters are already amazing, would recommend if you're into character-driven stories and/or romance and haven't picked it up yet.

in terms of stuff i've started, i'm about a third of the way through the traitor baru cormorant and oh my god??? this is amazing???? it's a political fantasy about a girl whose island nation gets colonised by the neighbouring empire and how she's planning to dismantle it from the inside. it's such an angry book, but in the best possible way. deals pretty heavily with colonialism and homophobia (especially in the beginning), with references to sexual assault, so bear that in mind before picking it up, but the writing is exquisite, and it's so cleverly written. also accounting, lots of accounting.

for audiobook i was planning to listen to a guide to imperial china but it wasn't available, so i went with skulduggery pleasant playing with fire (book 2 in the series) which is a nice comforting read. a character will turn up and i'll get hit with a blast of nostalgia, like oh it's you! and i'm enjoying it just like i did the first one.

that's it for me, i'll check in again next week! have a good week everybody!

[ilikereadingactually]

The House in the Cerulean Sea

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

i went into this book not knowing anything about it except that it had been vaguely on my radar and @digger1649 said i should read it, and boy oh boy have i been crying for the last hour after finishing it!!!! what a beautiful surprise. like i heard the title and thought somehow maybe it was about pirates? and then i saw the cover of the ebook and the cover is very sweet but i definitely, definitely thought it was a middle grade book (please google "middle grade sea adventure" which is what i searched to find the book cover this reminded me of and you'll see the kind of cover trends that pinged for me here). all of that is great, i love middle grade, i dig pirates, i was a children's bookseller, and so i was emotionally unprepared for an extremely relatable forty year old queer man, his deadening government job that he keeps doing because he cares about the welfare of children, and the love and courage and selfhood and family he finds. like what the fuck, i'm crying again.

anyway, i loved it. not the subtlest of books, but who actually needs subtle when the messages are "all children deserve to be protected" and "hate is loud but it's only a few people shouting" and "change starts with the voices of the few"? this book is like getting hit with a cartoon mallet that says LOVE on it. i feel very loved and lightly bruised.

the deets

how i read it: i read the ebook via Libby, hence the confusion about thinking it was middle grade for a while, none of the usual physical things to clue me to the target demographic, lol. but i will definitely be buying this one for my home library.

try this if you: want your heart to be warmed, are fortysomething and dread work some days, love unexpected/surrogate parenting stories, or ever cried about the X-Men being an allegory for the queer experience

a line i really liked:

The fingers tightened around the page in his hands. Linus thought it would rip.

Sal cleared his throat and began again.

He said, "I am but paper. Brittle and thin. I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me. I get written on, and I can never be used again. These scratches are a history. ... Take me in hardened hands, and I crumple. I tear. I am but paper. Brittle and thin."

[midnightisquiet]

TOP 9 BOOKS

tagged by @wellhalesbells - Thank you! 💜

The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey (Sci-Fi) - (I know its a series. No, it's not cheating) It's just- it's just my favourite, okay? It's found family on a spaceship, it's politics and aliens and epic and action-packed and spans decades and I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS WITH MY WHOLE HEART. (also, check out the tv show on Prime)

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden (Fantasy/Historical) - (no, still not cheating) Russian folklore inspired fairytale taking place in medieval Russia

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt (Sci-Fi) - about a guy who involuntarily travels to a new alternate universe everytime he falls asleep. This gave me such a Doctor Who feel, I could have read a whole series of Zax just travelling from world to world.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Historical/Fantasy) - lets be honest, if you are at all in any kind of bookspace, you have heard of this book.

Recursion by Blake Crouch (Sci-Fi) - don't know what I can say about this without spoiling anything, but it's Blake Crouch, so it's a fast-paced top-tier Sci-Fi Thriller and this was the book that made me decide to read absolutely everything Crouch ever publishes (sneakily slipping Dark Matter in too - yeah, okay, that was cheating)

The Stand by Stephen King (Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi) - my favourite Stephen King so far - but that's not saying much, because he has written a gazillion books and I only read a fraction of them but...oh well. Post-apocalyptic (which I'm still not sick of) and a real chunky boy at about 1440 pages.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Fantasy) - this is just a hug in book form. it's cute as hell (iykyk) and magical and has the found family trope front and center.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (Sci-Fi) - aaand we're travelling to alternate worlds again - what can I say, I like what I like.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (Horror/Sci-Fi) - about a cave explorer who begins to think she might not be alone in that huge ass cave - and that she also maybe shouldn't trust her handler, who's in charge of her high-tech suit. Yeah, this really creeped me out.

Tagging: not really sure who I should tag for this so how about

If you made it this far, you're tagged. Yeah, you! Do you read books? I just tagged you. Go on, I would love to see the books you love.

Also shamelessly linking to my Storygraph and Goodreads accounts.

[averytalllemon]

Okay so- I just finished the book Under the Whispering Door and I just jlkasdfhigkleyau8t6iw79

I have so much to say- listen to my rant if you want, but if you don't then don't.

!!HUGE Spoiler Warning!!

I genuinely mean it, if you feel like spoilers will lead you to not read this book in the future then don't read this post. I am so serious about this- I want people to read this book so badly because I need people to rant to who understand what I'm talking about, people that I can agree with (or disagree with, of course). But in the end, do what you wish, though if you take anything from this, let it be: Read. This. Book. (please)

Anyways, onto my rant!

First off, this book is overall so well written and makes some amazing points. I honestly think it changed me as a person, I feel like it changed my view on the world, only slightly though. I just feel- wiser maybe? Like Hugo taught me something, how to be a better person, better at being there for others, better at understanding, ya know? I think it was the bits about how no one knows what you're going through, though experiences can be similar none are the same. I like that, I think about it a lot now. If I notice my friends having a hard day and I have the time to help and talk to them I no longer say "I get it" or "I know" when they explain what they are going through (or I at least try not to) because though I already sort of knew this, I feel like Under the Whispering Door helped me better understand or see more clearly that I in fact don't know. I don't know a lot of things. I'm wrong most of the time. There's plenty of things I don't understand and I'm okay with that, I'm content by that idea. Recently I've been working to better myself and I feel like this book really helped with that, so thanks. Thank you, TJ Klune, for writing this book, and thank you to my friend who got this as a present for me for my birthday I really appreciate it. (Yes, I did already thank my friend for this book ^^)

Now for the part I'd imagine most of you who have read this far are waiting for (or not, I could be wrong).

Wallace and Hugo. I cannot explain them they're just my new favorite ship. I love them so much- aewrohruilt9y4q3i2gk4yhfjT -I'm fine. My friends, for the past week (because honestly, it took me a few months before I picked up the book) I have been ranting to them non-stop about these two. I love them so much. I am horrible at explaining ships and ship dynamics but these two- they just work together, they click. I love how at the start of their relationship, when Wallace first started to develop feelings for Hugo he was thinking about him more than anyone or anything else yet also going "Pfttt- me? have feelings for Hugo? Neverrrr-" (this isn't just an exact quote of course but it sums everything up well) until he was pretty much like "Oh shit- I love him, don't I?" (Again, not a direct quote from the book.) There's also their little therapy session things where they go outside and chat. This is what I was talking about earlier, what I felt changed me in a way. They just stand there, sometimes they talk about big things that they need to get off their chests, other times they'll just chat like good friends about random things, and on some days, they just don't talk at all, and it's perfect. They're perfect. They can just exist with each other and need nothing more. They can be at peace with each other. It's amazing! They have a connection, a bond like no other. I love it. I love them so much. They are just so cute.

And though this may come as a bit of a surprise, my favorite character, not Wallace or Hugo but Nelson. Nelson is so amazingly funny- he always lightens the mood with his silly comments. He's so chaotic in the best way possible, and he really just doesn't give two shits sometimes, when it's the right moment of course. When the moment calls for it, he can be serious, calm, caring, and wise. Gosh I love this man- he'd the best- I think I would've been more said when he left if I didn't know that they'd meet again, eventually, they'll all be together.

Gosh I love this book so much <33333333

If you haven't read it yet, read it. And if you have, read it again. I promise you it'll be worth it.

Also feel free to reblog, I wanna hear some opinions on the book, characters, etc.

[queenoferdas]

(It’s time for bookish Questions with Julie!) What is your favorite classic book? What is your favorite modern book? What makes a book a classic? What was the first book that made you fall in love with reading? Are you currently reading anything?

I love bookish questions.

Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Aka the only classic I that I finished that I enjoyed.

Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune? I don't know. I'd have to read it again. I only remember bad things about that book, like the absurdity of it 'cause I have to give a content warning 'cause the plot is crazy. But the imagery is great because that's TJ's specialty. But everything I like is in a series and my favourite book can't be in a series cause that would mean it's a good book in comparison and in relation to the other books in that series and it cannot be read as a standalone. So probably Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune.

I don't know. Maybe that it was written in context to the immediate time, written as a reflection of the society outside the author's window, or in response to events that had recently happened. But, reading them now, it's been fucking years. Long enough for people to study its fashion and studied in an English class.

I don't know about an individual book, because I was raised on series', so it would be Spirit Animals by multiple authors, so basically the Scholastic Team. There's a scene in the 3rd Spirit Animal book that I think about every time I drink water after a significant time of not drinking water, 'cause when Meilin was in the maze, she ran into someone who gave her water and told her not to drink it all in one go otherwise her stomach would hurt. And I knew the first paragraph of the first book off by heart. And I had a crush on one of the characters and he probably defined my type. So shout out to Shane!!

Nevermind my favourite modern book is All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater. The characterisation is impeccable.

I am currently reading 2 books. Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare and Husband Material by Alexis Hall. I love them both so much so far. I cannot wait to keep reading them.

[unofficialsherlockian]

(tis Bougie on anon! Hi!)

W, X, Y and N for the fanfic meme?

Thanks for the ask! I love talking about fanfic :’) (fanfic meme)

W. Favorite pairing to read is definitely Sherlock Holmes x John Watson in most any capacity (save for the platonic Elementary, unless friendships can count in a pairing, then Joan and Sherlock is up there!). Top of that is the og Doyle universe ofc. I’ll slurp up some KakaGai any day too (Kakashi x Gai from Naruto is basically canon anyways).

To write is tricky. I want to write Holmes x Watson but I haven’t found my footing yet. I think my favorite to write so far with confidence has been Linus Baker x Arthur Parnassus (idk if there is a ship name!) of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea. I felt so connected to those characters in a real unique way and writing them feels like second nature. Their voices are always in my head.

X. Im somewhere between a voracious fic reader and a careful one. Smaller fandoms tend to be voracious- I go through the tag picking stuff that sounds good to read and once I finish that, I double back and clear the whole tag out. Larger fandoms I’m very selective (stuff like Sherlock Holmes and HP have me going through with a fine-toothed comb).

Y. Personal satisfaction vs popularity - I kind of have to focus on personal satisfaction as a small time fic writer. I also have a long running background as a writer who has done a lot of original work but hasn’t published yet, so I’m always doing what feels great to me, even if it’s not what other people read.

I’m definitely not most satisfied by my most popular stories - Year one of the Slytherin Harry AU (HP and the Stone of the Immortal) has the most hits of anything rn but I think as I’ve worked on that series, I’ve gotten better and had more fun with it (I’m grateful so many people have taken a look and enjoyed that first part. I really loved writing it; it was a fun start to what’s turning out to be a crazy complicated character driven AU/rewrite. The love for that one is also pushing me to work on it more because damn I wanna eventually finish my queer Slytherin HP).

Second most hits are on Just Transport (BBC’s Sherlock told through the lens of FTM Sherlock). I’m proud of that one because of the response it got-several people said how much it meant to them. But it’s also something written by a very young guy and it shows on how I tackled certain things. I did some trans Sherlock Holmes fic since that I’m definitely more satisfied with (Pieces that Fit with Elementary’s Sherlock FTM)

Those two most popular by hits are second and third to Soulmates in Kudos and I would honestly never think about soulmates again if not for the face that many people still like it (for some reason lol). Emergancy Lighting follows that up, though and that’s one of my most favorite that I’ve ever posted, followed by a couple most recent ones, so I’m hoping as I grow as a writer, maybe it will show in the “popularity” of fics as well.

But honestly, personal satisfaction aside, I’d be happy to only have a handful of readers if they all expressed that my writing meant something to them. That kind of connection is what’s really the best with any story.

[iwasjustgoingthere]

Books Read 2022

1. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros have to compete for humanity’s survival in intergalactic Eurovision. Lots of fun language and praise of glam

2. The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons

I stayed up late my last night in Washington to finish it. Historical fiction of a Jewish girl fleeing Vienna to work in a British manor, romance develops. I’m glad they gave the ending it deserved, even if the final chapter 40 years later was strange. 

3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

A caseworker, Linus Baker, who’s job is to check orphanages for magical youth is sent to an extra special orphanage on an island. He learns to love it there. Warmed my heart and made me cry while I was home alone in late winter. 

4. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

A series of magic realism short stories. I loved these. The point of them seemed to be to experience the stories and not understand them fully. I normally want to understand everything so it was interesting how much I could enjoy a story I don’t understand. 

5. What to say next by Julie Buxbaum

Guy with Asperger’s befriends popular girl going through grief/trauma. It was a good book, I thought.

6. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Literally SO good. First of all the story/world-building, incredible, and then the fact that they solved a love triangle with a throuple makes me unbelievably happy. 

6. Heartstopper, books 1 - 4 by Alice Oseman

Not to be that person but I read these before the Netflix series became a thing. A happy coincidence! Yes they’re so cute 

7. And then there were none, by Agatha Christie

I borrowed this book, along with Heartstopper, from a friend so I’d have something to read in the train. 

8. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I started it and wasn’t interested, but when Alka told me it was good I finished the book, and boy am I glad I did. A psychotherapist tries to help a woman who killed her husband and hasn’t spoken since. 

9. Sperling by Katharina Korbach

A German novel that my friend’s girlfriend lent me. A college student struggling with an eating disorder meets a lonely phD student who lives near her. A sad book but well-written. 

10. Beautiful World Where are You by Sally Rooney

I’m not a fan of Sally Rooney so we’ll see if I finish this book. I’m at least mildly compelled by it, as long as I skip the email portions. (update: as of October, not finished)

11. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

I got it for free from a book box. It’s crazy that the book is slightly older than me, the main character would be approaching 60 years old. I’m getting into it though, maybe this will relaunch a book phase for me. At this point (mid-June) it’s clear I won’t be reading 50 books this year. 

12. Ilium by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons has male-author syndrome but unfortunately his world-building is superb. Really enjoyed this book overall 

13. The Husbands by Chandler Baker 

Yeah, this was good. While one aspect of the whole thing was clear, it was still a chilling story and made me think (the book is about what to do about husbands who don’t take on their fair share of the household and how far you can go for justice). 

14. One Last Stop by Casey McQuinston

Fluffy, but we love a somewhat supernatural fluffy lesbian romance. Girls on Ney York’s subway trains. 

15. Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin

A lesbian struggling with her mental health ends up with a job in a Catholic church and struggles to manage her life and find out who killed the person who had the job before her. This book is my comfort book right now, I have ordered a paper copy from World of Books and wish it was arriving before November. 

16. Mauersegler by Jasmin Schreiber

Finally. I’ve been meaning to read it forever. A man is on the run from something he did that lead to his best friend’s death. 

17. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Two boys find out they’re dying sometime that day and get together to live their last day to its fullest. It’s crazy how long and important a single day can be, I feel like it could be a little exaggerated in the book but it really doesn’t feel like it while reading. 

18. Dracula by Bram Stoker

Courtesy of Dracula Daily, which I can recommend. 

19. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe

A young embalmer avoids dealing with his past regarding his best friend, their choir days, his mother, and the time he had to do emergency work after a landslide. He’s stupid but the book is good! His best friend was wonderful.

20. The Truth about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Yes, nice. A girl is traumatized by her best friend drowning randomly and tries to find some meaning in the incident through jellyfish.

21. The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin 

A girl goes to a new school unlike her previous school with a small class of colorful characters and becomes a better person while they all speculate what happened to the class legend, Paulie Fink.

22. The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

The prequel to “they both die at the end” and very nice. Makes me want to flip through the other book to catch all the references. 

23. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

25-year-old April May finds one of many giant robot statues and becomes the face of the global movement to understand their possibly alien nature. 

24. S by Doug Dorst and J. J. Abrams

A book that’s both a typed story and the interactions of two young people in the margins, trying to figure out the book, the author, and each other. 

Ok there we have it! I don’t want to count the Sally Rooney book but if I count all the Heartstopper Books individually we’re at 27 books in 2022!  Pretty good! That seems like a nice number of books for a book lover.

[wolfstarwarrior]

1, 4, 17!

1. How many books did you read this year?

60 as of this morning!

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Yes! I fell in love with TJ Klune’s adult fantasy; they’re great comfort reads that give me the warm fuzzies. Also RF Kuang, because everything she writes is so smart and raw and cathartic.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

Probably Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot. It was recommended to me by the tiktok algorithm, which had already severely disappointed me several times so I wasn’t expecting too much from it, but I ended up really liking it! It’s maybe not the best-written book I’ve ever read, but i enjoyed it a lot. It’s a very fun exciting read!

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

'Under the Whispering Door' is a upcoming book (I got the ARC from work) I really wanted to love, and ended up just feeling tepid about. Overall, it's the story of an asshole who does, and is given a chance for redemption and love when he meets the people whose job it is to shepherd his ghost along to whatever comes next. Unfortunately, it opens with a chapter of him being _such_ an unrepentant asshole to one of his employees that it was hard to feel any sympathy later, or care about him getting a chance to be a better person. (As one of my friends who also read it suggested, it'd make a decent SNL sketch about a whiny, put-upon employee and a boss who can't get a word in edgewise to tell them they're fired; the difference being, I wouldn't be expected to care about them as people afterwards.) The second chapter, where his business partners and ex-wife tear him to shreds at his funeral, more then set the scene for what he might need redemption from, but also had me at least mildly sympathetic with him as someone who'd just really missed out on human connections. The other problem is that Hugo, the ferryman and future boyfriend of the dead Wallace, seems a nice enough fellow, but it takes Wallace so long to get over himself that we're halfway through the book before we get to know Hugo as a person either. Without those attachments, a lot of the expected tropes just fell flat instead of being charming and engaging --  don't ask a strange man to call your ex for you and reminisce about the good times, that's just creepy; don't try to get your employee rehired several months later, she's going to already have another job to pay all those bills she was complaining about -- It ended up just not really doing anything for me. I'm just sad because otherwise it was a competent gay romance about someone learning to open up to people for the first time in his (after)life, and I'd love to have one more of those to recommend to people.