#ann putnam

[imp-thing]

Lalalala more crucible shitposting

[itswadestore]

From images of Congo from Anne Eisner Putnam, 1940-1950

[pedroam-bang]

The Bridge - The Haindmaid’s Tale (2017)

[raggedyannrevivaleffort]

Rag Dolly: the Raggedy Ann Musical

Putnam Playspace, February 6th-8th

COULD ONE POOR RAG DOLLY, PLAIN AS CAN BE

REALLY MAKE SOMEONE'S WISHES COME TRUE?

That’s right! The endeavors of the Raggedy Ann Revival Effort are no longer just dreams and make believe. Join us February 2025 at Ohio University’s Putnam Playspace for our first real-for-sure staged reading of the newly revised Rag Dolly script.

Come give us your feedback, hear the songs we’ve all come to love (performed alongside a live piano accompanist), and join us to celebrate four years of not taking “impossible” for an answer!

Feb 6th, 7th, & 8th @ 7:30, Feb 8th @ 2:00

Putnam Playspace, Ohio University - Athens, OH 45701

an Ohio University School of Theater Laboratory Production

Learn more at the Raggedy Ann Revival Effort website!

[la-femme-au-collier-vert]

From The Library of Anne Rice (Part 1)

A list of books owned by Anne Rice including annotation information taken from auction listings at Bonham's, October 2024. Will continue in Part 2.

Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (abridged edition).New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1963. She writes on the flyleaf in June of 2012: "When I bought this book I don't know. I know I read it or a copy of it in the 1980s when writing The Vampire Lestat. It is essential to me." On the jacket spine she has added "Sacred!"

Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. 1981. Marked on the cover, "Gift to Stan from Anne 1985 / Save Always, AR," and internally reads in Stan's handwriting: "A gift to me from Anne because I've never read it."

Gaskell, Elizabeth. Tales of Mystery & the Macabre. Wordsworth edition, 2007. bears Rice's ownership signature to title page ("Anne Rice / May 29, 2012 / The Desert") and is tabbed and annotated throughout. 

Gaskell, Elizabeth. North and South. Penguin Books, 2000. bears her ownership signature on the title page.

Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. New York: Charles Scribner's Son, 1940. Original beige cloth stamped cover and spine, in facsimile dust jacket. First edition with the Scribner's "A" on the copyright page. With Post-it note to front pastedown indicating that the book was a gift "From Becket and Christina / Christmas / 2012."

King, B. B. & David Ritz. Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King. New York: Avon Books, 1996. First edition, inscribed to "To Anne / All the best to you / B.B. King / 10-18-96." 

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Books, 1976. Anne Rice ownership signature dated February 7, 2015, Palm Desert. Annotated on front pastedown; "It's immediately a pleasure, and making me want to write."

 Montgomery, L.M. Emily's Quest. Oxford City Press, 2009. Anne Rice ownership signature dated February 21, 2015; annotated and tabbed.

Montgomery, L.M. Emily Climbs. Sourcebooks, 2014. Anne Rice ownership signature dated February 12, 2015.

Montgomery, L.M. Emily of New Moon. Ameron House, c.2015. Anne Rice ownership signature dated February 6, 2015, inscribed: "Reading the paperback and loving it so much I had to have a hardcover." 

Montgomery, L.M. The Blue Castle. Sourcebooks, 2011. Anne Rice ownership signature dated May 12, 2015 to title page.

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: Putnam, 1969. Book club edition. On May 26 and 27, 2013, she writes, "Badly need this, Studying in detail" and on page 74 she writes, "Note how easily it flows." She has great praise for the nimbleness of the novel's p.o.v. and is often asking herself "how can I learn from this?" On p 225 she writes, "This is a most impressive piece of work and is masterly. Again I marvel at vocabulary, tone, and placement—organization of the book. I fight OCD as I write, I've come to see that, and this helps me to see what this novel accomplishes. Presenting the Don as a 'great' man, a 'genius,' without apology is a conscious approach that is so powerful."

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. Another copy, later edition, lacking jacket. With Anne Rice's ownership signature.

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions. London; William Heinneman, 1972.

Puzo, Mario. The Fortunate Pilgrim. New York: Random House, 1997. Anne Rice ownership signature. 

Wallace, Lew. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1908. Anne Rice re-read this copy of Ben-Hur in 2006, a used copy she picked up somewhere, leaving detailed marginalia throughout and summing up her thoughts on the first flyleaf: "12-12-06: This is an amazing achievement: a Judeo-Christian novel. Jewish history and honor are here! And a woman tells this history to her son! How did we get away from this to The Robe ... 12-15-06: I've spent over two days reading & studying this wonderful book. It does seem unique—and it covers an amazing amt of material including a physical description of Our Lord, the crucifixion, etc. It is not anti-semitic. It presents Jews as exotic, 'oriental.' It has a primitive quality ... why is the prose so difficult? so 'dated'? Compare to Dickens." Rice's notes in the margin often compare the novel to (presumably the 1959 version of) the film, finding the novel superior in every way, and commenting more than once on its structural similarities to Dickens: "the whole spectacle and the co-incidence" (p 166).

Cleland, John. 1709-1789. Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. New York: Penguin Books, 1985. Annotated and with ownership signature to the title page: "Anne Rice / January 2014 / Palm Desert." Rice underscores Cleland's descriptions of bodies and physical acts, and in particular, wonders about the novel's p.o.v.: on p 108 she writes in the margin, "Is this a man's view? A gay man? An author who is male and female?"

Clinton, Bill. Born 1946. My Life. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2004. Jacket spine with label "From the library of Anne Rice" laid down to tail. First edition, inscribed on the title page, "To Anne—After doing this book, I admire you even more—Bill Clinton." with: a note on the Office of William J. Clinton letterhead: "2/17 —Huma—For author ANNE RICE.—Thanks, Sally." When Clinton published his memoir in 2024, Rice was one of the VIPs to receive a presentation copy, in which he expresses his admiration for her work after having written a book of his own.

Bellman, Henry. 1882-1945. Kings Row. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1943. Annotated and with ownership signature to front free endpaper: "Anne Rice / June 27, 2013 / Palm Desert." Rice has carefully read and annotated this copy, complementing the writing (particularly when Bellamann writes about Father Donovan) and adds a long note on the rear pastedown: "Pages & pages of this book are about the mind—about how the mind learns, expands, grows, experiences." Sometimes her comments are in conversation with the text, as when, on p 153, she underlines the town of Auvergne and writes "Auvergne, what a coincidence! As I plan a trip there and write about Lestat!"

Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield.  New York: Penguin Classics, 2014. With ownership signature of Anne Rice dated June 11, 2018, tabbed and annotated throughout. On the preliminary leaf of Copperfield, Rice writes, "Again with my beloved David, and my beloved Dickens. I have just read Claire Tomalink 'The Invisible Woman' and her later bio of Dickens. I'm writing my new novel in my head."

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008. Signed and dated June 15, 2018, tabbed and annotated throughout.

Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnen. South Moon Under. New York, London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933 (undated later facsimile edition).

Mitchell, Margaret, Gone With the Wind. New York: [Simon and Schuster], 2011. Rice reread this copy in March of 2015, tabbing dozens of pages and commenting in the margins.

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2007. The first date on this copy of War and Peace is June 30, 2010, and Rice writes: "The Desert / Being reborn in Tolstoy, studying at his feet—Searching for the Christ who is bigger than religion." In a different ink, Rice adds at the top of the same page, "Revisiting 7-16-17—Having seen much of the new BBC series with Lily James as Natasha." Rice has tabbed the pages throughout this volume and made extensive notes on character development and theme. On the rear flyleaf, she adds, "'Life is everything...' p 10064— use for L" as well as "The guiltlessness of suffering (do we make ourselves suffer to be guiltless)?"

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karinina. Translated by Rosamund Bartlett. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Signed and annotated February 19, 2015. Heavily tabbed, especially in the center part of the novel, and noted on the front flyleaf: "Reading chunks of the story of Levin & Kitty / So beautiful and smooth—"

[forthegothicheroine]

Ann Putnam Jr was the only one of the Salem accusers that we know of who publicly apologized and recanted in front of the town. I've heard lots of takes on her apology- that it was heartbreaking and sincere, or that it was mealy-mouthed and hollow for saying the devil influenced her. It's not for me to accept her apology- she didn't do anything to me- and obviously no apology could ever be enough or bring anyone back or make it up to the survivors.

But for a twelve year old girl whose mother and friends were also accusers? I fully believe that she looked back and concluded they all must have been under the devil's sway.

[the-sum-of-many-poets]

salem

around sunset

the sow

leapt four feet in the air

gave one squeak & fell down dead

the farmer’s banjo arm

a cursed ear

clutched in his palm

& the perley’s sick cow

who went mad

ran into the pond & drowned itself

surely the raving tree

slave to the wind

spoke a proposition through the leaves

found a restless soul

obsequious & broken

& claimed it

this harlequin woman

jinxed the village with a strand of her hair

once

she even uttered a poem

conjuring sweet ambergris from plague

blame belongs with her

in the ground

in the crevice with elizabeth howe

the witch’s mark upon her

away from the sycamore & its wooing limbs

the trials of piously high anxieties

already the genius

draws a diagram for killing

ann putnam junior

her most aggressive accuser

laments

fourteen years later

walks the ruins of her own future

what could a twelve year old know of executions

the piss & shit of hangings

what furrows a child’s mind

ask the mother

ask the wasp in her mouth

feeding a puritan’s satan fetish

a small gnarly man they say

with cloven feet

approximately the height of a walking stick

first comes anger

followed by mischief

fools

he is the walking stick

& who will carefully

lovingly guide

the blind widow of elizabeth howe

©️david sichler

[shyfoxsky]

Photo Credits: Jim Cumming, Aline Bedard, Brian Hall, Ron Gallagher, David Burt, Jake Putnam, Megan Lorenz, Anne Dorcas

If you've been following this blog for more than a couple of weeks, then this post will come as no surprise to you. I've been using tags and writing posts as if I've already confirmed the red fox as a theriotype, but that actually isn't the case. I really wanted to wait and give myself time to determine if this was a cameo coming back or potentially the season affecting how I feel, but it's been three months, I've graduated college, and now that it's my awakening anniversary, the same day I first confirmed this species nine years later, I feel it's time to officially announce.

I've spent some time to myself, really looking into my identity and who I am over the course of my final college semester, and I feel like my therian birthday/awakening anniversary just after my graduation from college is a good time to graduate from my state of questioning. I've done some in-depth research on therian terminology as well as watched and tracked my shifts, my moods, my days, and more, and through that I've come to a conclusion.

Foxes are my theriotype and wolves are a heartedtype, alongside horses. I used to consider vultures, bats, and even marine mammals to be the same, but with some time to really look into the term itself and the experiences of other otherhearteds, I realize they're simply animals I like and relate to and have had some influence in my life. I've found horses to fit under the heartedtype label due to the longevity and intensity of their influence on my life, as they've done so since I was a small child, and my connection with them, and wolves are similar. Otherhearted people have described their heartedtypes as just shy of theriotypes, something they felt like they almost were, something they longed to be, something they 'ought to be, but aren't. Many describe seeing themselves in their heartedtypes, thinking like them, even having shifts. Many said that they feel more deeply and strongly about them than they do their own theriotypes, and though I could say that's how I feel with foxes, it honestly fits wolves better. Though I feel they look like me, they don't feel like me more than foxes. My behaviors, vocalizations, and just general feelings all point to me being a fox, but not a wolf.

Wolves are a recent thing, red wolves in particular being discovered by me in college, just before I first questioned them. In college, I had to be in friend groups for my own human social needs, and I think that caused me to think of myself as more social than I really am. In my final semester, I wasn't in any groups, I barely attended clubs, most of my time was spent by myself in my dorm working on my thesis with my mate as one of the only people I talked to at all, and that's when I started seeing myself as a fox again. My life became wrapped around wolves as I prepared for my thesis, and I think that deep appreciation and connection for the species led my brain to becoming confused as to what I am. I think that earlier in the year, when I said I might consider myself a wolf because I want to be one and have it easier in the community and be seen as cooler and more powerful, I was right. I never really thought of myself as a wolf when I was younger, even when I knew less about myself and both wolves and foxes and I was aware of them and their ability to be red-furred and enjoy water, whereas with foxes, there was no question that I was one when I first awakened. I just always knew, but it was never the same when it came to wolves. I love wolves, they're amazing animals, but they just aren't me. I don't see myself in how they act, how they live. From sociality to vocalizations to especially body features like the tail, they get trumped by foxes.

Otherheartedness has been something I've struggled to comprehend for some time. I've struggled with finding that line between an animal I like and one I'm connected to and one I identify as. It's like looking at a blonde as a ginger. I identify with them, we both have light hair, but I can't put myself under their specific label, because though we are similar, I don't have the same feelings and experiences as them. It's an inconsequential thing, but if someone were to say I was blonde, I'd feel they were wrong, because I know myself to be a ginger, even though I wouldn't mind or care if I was blonde. I feel similarly with wolves. I can see myself as one, I can look at one and think "that looks like me", I am a canine like them, but I'm not one myself, I don't have the same feelings and experiences as them, and I can't ignore that fact anymore. My friends, family, even my mate all can see the fox that I am, so much that even those who don't know I'm an animal consider me to be like one. I rarely get that with wolves unless I make it obvious, to the point that my mate has made sure to ask me and clarify that yes, I do see myself in wolves and consider them part of my therianthropy.

Of course, this is something I've honestly known for a few months now, since September, but with four years identifying as each species, I really wanted to take my time with my questioning. I didn't want to just give into my rose-colored nostalgia goggles and drop one label for the other because it had been my theriotype before or because it had been my theriotype for so long. I think that was the right choice for me, waiting. I also think I was right in getting off Instagram for this. That's where most of my therian journey has been, some posts dating back to 2018, before I even knew red wolves existed, and while I love that side of the community, I've made some genuine friends on there, it's addicting to post as often as you can with big, grand essays about your identity, especially when it comes to questioning and confirming and having some news to share, rather than little side posts whenever you feel the need to post about anything you want. In that way, I think I prefer Tumblr. Not only do I not really waste anything by posting something small three times a day about how I'm feeling and what shifts I've had, but it's not a numbers game. I don't have hundreds of followers to write super eloquently for. I love my essays, just take a look at this post, but it's nice to be able to go back to my roots and embrace my younger self, the little kit who told everyone how she had a super fun mental shift and of her new tail and about the epiphany she had that morning at breakfast. The switch helped me reconnect with the part of me that first awakened and knew without hesitation that she was a red fox. I've missed her, and I hope that if she could see me now, she'd think I'm everything she wants to be when she gets older.

That leaves me with one conclusion; I am a red fox, just like I thought and said back when I first awakened. They are so very near and dear to me, and I have a deep, rich, and complex history with them. The universe, fate, whatever you call it, has put them in my life for years. From the first time I ever saw wildlife other than a squirrel or backyard bird, to my awakening, to when my mate immediately guessed I was one when I told him about therianthropy, they've always been there. Wolves are one of my favorite animals, the defining animal of my college years, the species I dedicated my senior thesis to, and they have had a big impact on my life, but they are not what I am. I share certain behaviors with them, but I believe they more than likely only feel like me because they are so alike the human world and body and mind I was born into. It's easy to behave similarly to them when we share the same nuclear family, dispersal style, socialization behaviors, and body types. Foxes are so different from humans, and I think that as I learned how to hide my animality and assimilate into human society, especially in college when friend groups feel the most like temporary dispersal wolf packs, I forgot just how different my natural instincts are from humans. I am a solitary, red-furred, water-loving, forest-dwelling, little hunter.

TL;DR I am a red fox therian who is otherhearted to wolves and horses.

[aspiringtrashpanda]

Did you know the Salem Witch Trials memorial was raised in 1992, and the last convicted witch (Elizabeth Johnson Jr.) was officially exonerated in 2022 when the imprisonments and executions happened in 1692? Wild. Find the prompt list HERE.

── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──

DAY 19 Prompt: Solomon Additional tags: Solomon's morally grey past, regret, angst

Twelve brisk steps from the wooden slats of the outdated square house, Solomon finds himself fenced in by a stone wall. The structure creeps just higher than his waist, and though the grout has begun to crumble between uneven edges and lopsided bricks formed through nature’s touch, the absence of any moss speaks of reverent care.

Satisfactory, Solomon decides, a solemn gaze sweeping over slabs of granite benches basked in dappled evening light. They could still do better, though. The rectangle of emerald sod, housing the oaks that protected engraved memories from too much exposure, remains well-kept and manicured, but a lack of real heart thrums within the memorial.

He supposes it is for good reason. 

Two long strides to the right, a daisy for Sarah. The knobs of the stems irritate Solomon’s palm, catch on his fingers as he makes his rounds. A larkspur for Martha. An aster for Susannah and a daffodil for Alice. 

“God knows I am innocent–” He reads aloud, his free hand tracing the truth that had been silenced with a rope. The stone says nothing in return, the wind still and lifeless. Though silvery strands had guided him mere moments ago, they now hang limp into his eyes, a constant reminder of the toes that dangled mere inches from safety. 

Salem haunts Solomon, a specter over his shoulder, a poltergeist in his coffee mug. Each sip turns the dark liquid crimson, sluggishly snaking down the ceramic to drip into the shallow graves at the foot of Gallows Hill. 

If he hadn’t–

If Ann hadn’t seen–

If only he had turned to face her, revealed himself to be the local apothecary, then perhaps the girls would never have picked up the hammer of injustice. When boredom is as potent a malady as smallpox, then hysteria is quick to spread.

The Putnam garden looms in his memory, lush with sage and elderberry, chamomile and marigold. He could have knocked, could have asked permission. Alas, a tonic from the previous night had rendered him haphazard, and a quick spell snipped the stems in favor of brevity. A dark shawl shielding bloodshot eyes from the morning sun, all Solomon had considered was the feather down of his bed. 

He had heard the gasp, the shriek of the young girl, the shrill demand to explain the impossible dissection of her garden without a spade in sight. Yet, he had fled, a nameless ghost of midnight rags billowing around him, his frame imperceptible.

The strike of the gavel wakes him in the middle of the night more often then he’d like. 

Solomon knows he is imperfection personified. Humanity he loved, he had lost, and though he shoulders their burdens, he cannot wash the blood from his hands. 

A thorn pricks his skin as he places a black rose beside Bridget’s date of birth, date of death. He lets the tiny incision leak ancient red into the curve of her initial. 

 It will not bring her back, but perhaps it will ease her spirit to know she lives on in his regrets. 

── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──

The Salem Witch trials were actually bonkers. Check out the memorial site for more info.

OBEY ME! MONTH MASTERLIST

[heaveninawildflower]

Colour illustrations by Anne Hinchman taken from ‘Nantucket Wild Flowers’ by Alice Owen Albertson.

Published 1921 by G. P. Putnam's Sons.

MBLWHOI Library.

archive.org

[myhauntedsalem]

Giles Corey’s Ghost and Curse

Giles Corey and his wife along with 25 other people were accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts by a group of young girls in 1692.

Corey, born in England in 1611, was a wealthy farmer who lived with his wife five miles southwest of Salem in what is today Peabody.

Corey’s accusers were three young girls, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam and Mercy Lewis, they along with two other girls had implicated most of the victims in the Salem Witch Trails.

Giles and his wife Martha were members of the Salem Town Church where they were a part of a group of members who did not want Reverend Samuel Parris appointed the minister of this church in 1689.

Ironically, Abigail Williams was Parris’s 11-year old niece and one ringleader of the girls involved in the accusations. Putnam was the other leader.

Corey was brought before the local magistrates, he refused to enter a plea so he was thrown in jail.

On September 9th his wife was sentenced to die along with five others.

At his trail the girls stated he was “in league with the devil.” Corey refused to enter a plea because he knew the law stated he could not be tried, condemned, and executed until he stated he was either innocent or guilty.

Historians believe that he was avoiding this because he knew he was going to be found guilty which meant his land would be confiscated. He wanted it turned over to his heirs. He and Martha had 3 children from previous marriages.

Since he stayed mute, the court decided that a confession should be forced out of him. Corey was ordered to undergo peine forte et dure or pressing.

On September 19th he was dragged, naked to an open field where he was placed on a board that had been put in a shallow pit. Another board was placed on top of him.

Heavy stones and bricks were placed on top of him. For three days he endured this torturous pain, all the time remaining silent.

On September 22nd the end was near. Corey’s mouth was dry with thirst and his face was swallow and red. George Corwin, whose ghost is mentioned in another post here, was the Essex County sheriff at the time.

He knelt on the ground next to Corey having seen his lips move. He felt that Corey was about to relent but instead Corey uttered these now famous words, “More weight!”

With his dying breath Corey called out. “I curse you, sheriff, and I curse all of Salem.” That same day Martha was hanged with eight other people.

The witch trail executions stopped after this. Salem’s townspeople realized shortly after Corey’s pressing that all the girl’s testimony had been lies.

Nineteen people were hanged, four or five others died in prison waiting for their trails or executions. And Corey died under stones.

This torturous death resulted in his ghost haunting the Howard Street Cemetery today. It is believed he also haunts the Joshua Ward House in Salem–more information about this is in the link above.

This cemetery did not open until 1801 but it was on this land where Corey was pressed in a pit. It is believed his body is buried here as well.

Several witnesses have stated they have seen his apparition floating among the tombstones. Others state they have felt his clammy hands touch them.

As for the curse, George Corwin died of a heart attack. Other Essex County sheriffs have suffered from heart conditions as well. Several over the years reported seeing Corey’s ghost in their bedrooms.

Those who reported this sight stated they felt a strong pressure on their chests that didn’t go away until Corey’s ghost disappeared.

There is also a legend that states when Corey’s ghost appears he acts as a harbinger. It is said people saw his ghost just before the June 25, 1914 Great Salem Fire that destroyed most of the city.

Others believed Corey’s curse caused this fire.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

2024 Reads

Another human invented marker of time has passed moving us from one year to the next. It's a good reason to start over my lists right?! XD 2023's list can be found here! 2024 starts below!

You Made a Fool out of Death with Your Beauty - Awaeke Emezi

Pussypedia: A Comprehensive Guide^ - Zoe Mendelson & Maria Conejo

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek -Kim Michele Richardson

Meru - S.B. Divya

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South^ by Radley Balko & Tucker Carrington

Watching the Tree: A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Tradition, and Spiritual Wisdom^ - Adeline Yen Mah

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg^ - Helen Rappaport]

Pride and Prejudice* - Jane Austen

Fresh Girl - Jaida Placide

Butts: A Backstory^ - Heather Radke

The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides

The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex^ - Nathaniel Philbrick

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico^ - Amy S. Greenberg

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible^ - Charles E. Cobb Jr.

This Is Your Mind on Plants^ - Michael Pollan

The Silent Patient*~ - Alex Michaelides

Finding Me^ - Viola Davis

Wuthering Heights# - Emily Bronte

Exit Strategy~ - Martha Wells

The Girls Who Went Away:^ The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades before Roe V. Wade - Ann Fessler

Bowling Alone:^ The Collapse and Revival of American Community - Robert D. Putnam

Fugitive Telemetry%~ - Martha Wells

The History of Wales^*% - History Nerds

The War on Everyone^% ~- Robert Evans

Searching for Black Confederates:^ The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth - Kevin M. Levin

The Great Influenza:* The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History [2004] by John M. Barry

Network Effect~ - Martha Wells

Zelda Popkin:^ The Life and Times of an American Jewish Woman Writer - Jeremy D Popkin

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon

Medical Apartheid:^ The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present - Harriet A Washington

The Assassination of Fred Hampton:^ How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther - Jeffrey Haas

The Death of Vivek Oji - Awaeke Emezi

Mutual Aid:^% Building Solidarity in This Crisis (And the Next) - Dean Spade

Passin' Through - Luis L'Amour

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Histories of the Transgender Child^ - Jules Gill-Peterson

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curiosu Man^ - Mark Kurlansky

When I Fell from the Sky:^ The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival - Juliane Koepcke

Dear Senthuran:^ A Black Spirit Memoir - Akwaeke Emezi

Emma* by Jane Austen

Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees

Woman:^ The American History of an Idea - Lillian Faderman

System Collapse - Martha Wells

A Dark and Starless Forest - Sarah Hollawell

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love^% - Bell Hooks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks^ - Rebecca Skloot

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America^ -Rachel Hope Cleves

The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle^ - Lillian Faderman

The Woman in Me^ - Brittany Spears

Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America^ - Gregory Smithers

Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of Disability Rights Activist^ - Judith Huemann

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When a Disaster Strikes and Why^ - Amanda Ripley

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone^ - Edward Dolnick

Utopia for Realists:^ How We Can Build the Ideal World - Rutger Bregman

The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey

To Believe in Women:^ What Lesbians Have Done for America - Lillian Faderman

Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

Tribe:^% On Homecoming and Belonging - Sebastian Junger

Freedom^% - Sebastian Junger

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield

Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea% - Mark Kurlansky

Bridehead Revisited# - Evelyn Waugh

The Witch Elm - Tana Frencyh

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

HumanKind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman^

Autumn at the Willow River Guesthouse - C.P Ward

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World Find the Good Death^ - Caitlin Doughty

A Study in Drowning - Ava Reid

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James

Gideon the Ninth* - Tamsyn Muir

See What I Have Done - Sarah Schmidt

Plain Bad Heroines* - Emily M Danforth

Tell Me I'm Worthless - Alison Rumfitt

On Killing:^ The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society - Dave Grossman

Camp Damascus - Chuck Tingle

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror - Daneil M. Lavery

The Night Gardener - Jonathan Auxier

The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals^ - Aaron Mahnke

The Willows% - Algernon Blackwood

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones% - Alvin Schwartz

The Motion of Puppets - Keith Donohue

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow% - Washington Irving

Wisconsin's Ghosts^ - Sherry Strub

Trauma and Recovery^: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror - Judith Lewis Herman

An Enchangment of Ravens - Margaret Rogerson

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell* - Susanna Clark

Portrait of a Thief - Grace D. Li

The Five^: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper - Hallie Rubenhold

Countrymen: The Untold Story of How Denamrk's Jews Escaped the Nazis, of the Courage of their Fellow Danes^ - and the Extrondinary Role of the SS - Bo Lidegaard

The Road to Jonestown^: Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple - Jeff Guinn

The Scary Book of Christmas Lore^ - Tim Rayborn

On Tyranny^: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century - Timothy Snyder

The Old Magic of Christmas:^ Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year - Linda Raedisch

Harrow the Ninth~* - Tamsyn Muir

The Hogfather - Terry Pratchett

12 Days at Bleakly Manor - Michelle Greip

Christmas Truce: The Western Front December 1914^ - Malcolm Brown & Shirley Seaton

Midnight Never Come* - Marie Brennan

Behind the Scenes:^ Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House - Elizabethy Keckley

Key: * = Reread ^ = Nonfiction ~ = Read with Empty % = Novella #= Doc book club

My goal for 2024 is for 40% of my reads to be nonfiction. I've had two years within the recent past where I managed 20% of my reads to be nonfiction, so I'm aiming to double that.

Okay, below the cut I'm putting the nonfiction books on my tbr, most of which I have the lovely people of Tumblr to thank for the recommendations!

1968: The Year that Rocked the World

The Age of Wood; Our Most Useful Material...

The Assassination of Fred Hampton

Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the...

Being Human

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shelf

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man

Bowling Alone

Brave the Wild: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped...

Butts: A Backstory / Evermore Recommended

The Cadaver Kin and the Country Dentist / Automatuck9

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse...

Dear Senthuran

DisneyWar

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with...

Finding Me (Viola Davis)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed...

The Food of a Younger Land

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women...

The Glass Universe

The Great Hunger: The Story of the Famine...

The Great Influenza

Helping Her Get Free: A Guide for Families and Friends of an Abused Woman

The History of Ireland

The History of Scotland

The History of Wales

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Indifferent Stars Above

In the Heart of the Sea / ecouterbien

In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death...

The Last Days of the Romanovs / Automatuck9

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical...

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During the Crisis...

A New World Begins

Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous...

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get you Killed / Empty

Radium Girls

The Road to Jonestown

Paper: Paging through History

Pussypedia / Bookstagram Rec

Salt: A World History

Say Nothing

Sea Biscuit: An American legend

Searching for Black Confederates

This is Your Mind on Plants

Unmasking Autism

The Unthinkable: Who Survives when Disaster Strikes - And Why

Watching the Tree / found all by my little self

We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we Will be Killed...

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the.. / Rose

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta...

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Pupils at P. S. 106 at 1328 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn, under the direction of teacher Anne S. Frankie, collect mostly canned food for their annual interfaith Thanksgiving project, 1952. The food was distributed to the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Menorah Home for the Aged, and the Lutheran Inner Mission. The tall kids are Richard DiStepano, 11, and Maureen Kidwell, 10. The little ones are Jessie Conlon, 6, and Gene Cadaro, 5.

Photo: Brooklyn Daily Eagle via the Brooklyn Public Library

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide 2024 Recs, Batch Four

16 recs for Midsommar, Mythic Quest, The Nice Guys, Nope, Ocean's Eleven, the Old Kingdom / the Abhorsen Trilogy, Only Lovers Left Alive, Only Murders in the Building, Persuasion, and Piranesi

Midsommar - The Taking and Giving of Things, Dani Ardor/Pelle

As Hårga gives, so Hårga also takes.

Midsommar - watch as they pull me down, Dani Ardor & Pelle

One year later.

Midsommar - katabasis, Dani Ardor/Pelle

The girls welcome her like family, calling her syster, their voices warm as spring. The thing about syster is that Dani had one, once. Syster is a haunted house with a picket fence. Syster is a dog chasing her with ever-sharper teeth. (Dani, after.)

Midsommar - Lace and Paper Flowers, Dani Ardor/Pelle

"Her flowers," the storyteller would say, voice dropping to a whisper so the children had to crane forward in their beds to hear. Five or six piled atop fresh white sheets. You sleep by age here. You connect by age. "The flowers will never rot and that's how we know." Only Dani's do.

Mythic Quest - one fine day, Poppy Li

“Ian, why the fuck is my office door locked?” Ian called from the inside of their shared office, “You need to be outside Poppy - you need to touch grass.” Poppy has a work day that is slightly out of the norm.

The Nice Guys - Domestic Affairs, Jackson Healy/Holland March

Holland gets the sneaky feeling that Healy is there to stay.

Nope - The Sky That I Fell Through, OJ Haywood/Angel Torres

In the wake of everything that happened with Jean Jacket, Angel finds that he can't bring himself to just go back home. So he goes to the only other place that he can think of to find some comfort.

Ocean's Eleven - smoke gets in your eyes, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan

Danny honestly didn't know much about Rusty Ryan. At a poker game once he'd heard Rusty tell a guy that he was from Orlando. Danny thought not. Everything about him said California, the Valley. Danny would have bet large sums that his people were Okies, migrants who'd fled the Dust Bowl with the banks at their heels, snapping up their homes and their land. There was something post-apocalyptic about Rusty's angle on the world. Besides, nobody who put that much work into being effortlessly cool could have come from anywhere but California.

Ocean's Eleven - only losers fight clean, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan & Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean

Five times Rusty saw it coming, and once he didn't.

Ocean's Eleven - ain't that a kick in the head, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan & Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean

danny ocean, 11 moments

The Old Kingdom - blood for the breaking, blood for the making, Sabriel/Touchstone

After Kerrigor, the Great Charter Stones need to be mended.

Only Lovers Left Alive - More Alive, Adam/Eve

Tangier was far older, and far, far more alive.

Only Murders in the Building - measure your life (in seasons of love), Mabel Mora & Charles-Haden Savage & Oliver Putnam

It's time for the Only Murders in the Building movie premiere - and the interview requests are rolling in. There's fake tan, real feelings and - always - banter.

Persuasion - Home to Harbor, Anne Elliot/Frederick Wentworth

She had dreamed of this, in those short heady days when her heart had been alive with love and hope for them, before her father—before Lady Russell—before the look in Frederick’s eyes while she broke his heart became the worst thing she had ever seen. She’d imagined herself coming home to visit, Mrs. Wentworth, an honored guest in her father’s house. Well. She was an honored guest in her father’s house, even if her father wasn’t her host.

Piranesi - Shelter in Place, Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen & Sixteen | Sarah Raphael

Sarah's continuing relationship with the House, and with Matthew, carrying her lantern in the darkest times.

Piranesi - The Crystal Cave, Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen & The House & James Ritter

Jamer Ritter returns to the House.

[foxqueen-katarian]

So I had to look up who Mary Towne Estey was, but the details of her life and how she handled herself after being accused are actually really interesting! If you don't want messages about this though please feel free to ignore!

Yeah, she was really brave, and spent more time advocating for others who had been falsely accused than she did for herself. She was almost 60 years old. From some of the digging my aunts did it seems like the accusation of her was politically driven, the Estey's owned land abutting the Putnam's and there had been regular fights between Isaac Estey (Mary's husband) and Thomas Putnam (Ann Putnam's father) over who had the rights to a stand of trees and small field. Mary's accusation came after one of those fights in which the Putnam family had 'caught' Isacc and some of his brothers (cousins?) on the disputed land and beat them until they were forced to retreat (the Estey's were outnumbered).

[musingsofmonica]

Fall 2024 Diverse Reads

Fall 2024 Diverse Reads:   

•”Heir” by Sabaa Tahir, October 01, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Fantasy/Action & Adventure/Epic/Romance

•”The City and Its Uncertain Walls” by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel, November 19, Knopf Publishing Group, Literary/Fantasy/Magical Realism/Science fiction/Gothic/Mystery/Horror

•”Masquerade” by Mike Fu, October 29, Tin House Books, Literary/Coming of Age/World Literature/China/21st Century/LGBTQ

•”The Mighty Red” by Louise Erdrich, October 01, Harper, Literary/Contemporary/Coming of Age/Thriller/Suspense/Romance/Cultural Heritage

Native American & Aboriginal

•”Society of Lies” by Lauren Ling Brown, October 01, Bantam, Dark Academia/Thriller/Suspense/Mystery & Detective/Women Sleuth/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black/Asian American/Women

•”The City in Glass” by Nghi Vo, October 01, Tordotcom, Fantasy/Epic/Fairy Tale/Folk Tale/Legends & Mythology

•”A Song to Drown Rivers” by Ann Liang, October 01, St. Martin's Press, Historical/Ancient/Fantasy/Fairy Tales/Folk Tale/Legends & Mythology/Romance/Women

•”The Witches of El Paso” by Luis Jaramillo, October 08, Atria/Primero Sueno Press, Historical/Fantasy/Magical Realism/Family/Saga/Cultural Heritage/Hispanic & Latino

•”Blood of the Old Kings” by Sung-Il Kim, translated by Anton Hur, October 08, Tor Books, Fantasy/Epic/World Literature/Korea

•”This Motherless Land” by Nikki May, October 29, Mariner Books, Literary/Family Life/Adaptations & Pastiche/Diversity & Multicultural/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black/Women/World Literature/Nigeria/England 

•”The Most Wonderful Time” by Jayne Allen, October 08, Harper, /Contemporary/Romance/Romantic Comedy/Multicultural & Interracial/Diversity & Multicultural/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black/Holiday/Friendship/Women/Own Voice

.”Twenty-Four Seconds from Now” by Jason Reynolds, October 08, Atheneum Books, YA/Contemporary/Romance/Boys & Men/Social Themes/Emotions & Feelings/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black

•”Something Close to Nothing” by Tom Pyun, November 12, Bywater Books, Literary/Family Life/Adoption/Identity/Multicultural & Interracial/Diversity & Multicultural/Cultural Heritage/Asian American/LGBTQ

•”The Burrow” by Melanie Cheng, November 12, Tin House Books, Literary/Family Life/Animal/World Literature/Australia

•”Sand-Catcher” by Omar Khalifah, translated by Barbara Romaine, December 03, By Coffee House Press, Literary/Political/Absurdist/Cultural Heritage/Arab/Palestinian/World Literature/Middle East/Israel/Jordan

•”City of Night Birds” by Juhea Kim, November 26, Ecco Press, Literary/Coming of Age/Performing Arts/Dance, Theater & Musicals

•”The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World” by Tiffany Yu, October 08, Hachette Go, People with Disabilities/Disabilities/Disability Studies/Interpersonal Relations/Discrimination & Race/Social/Political 

•”The Message” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, October 01, One World, Essays/Current Events/American Government/Discrimination & Race Relations/Violence in Society/Writing/World Travels

•”Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight” by Sayantani Dasgupta, October 01, University of North Carolina Press, Essays/Women's Studies/Feminist/Cultural, Ethnic & Regional/Ethnic Studies/Asian Studies

•”Taiwan Travelogue” by Shuang-Zi Yang, November 12, Graywolf Press, Literary/Historical/World Literature/Japan/Taiwan/LGBTQ