#book talks

[bookslutskye]

so i recently got top surgery and this was on my discharge papers after a mild complication

[soracities]

i dont know how else to put this but to approach books (or any media, really) solely for the sake of relatability is genuinely incredibly heartbreaking......to have such little (or such unwilling) imaginative scope that you cannot stretch yourself, even marginally, in a different direction to what you’ve known or are used to knowing when the very POINT of stories is to transport you somewhere else, into someone else, so you can do just that........when fran lebowiz said a book “is supposed to be a door!” and george saunders said good prose “is like empathy training wheels” they were right!!! they were so so so SO absolutely entirely right!!!!!

[aosdatc-s]

Reading "White Nights" while travelling by a public bus, having my heart shattered at finishing the book and not being able to shout at the top of my lungs

Top 10 worst experiences!!

[mybelovedmonster]

the beekeeper's apprentice: mary russell book one

synopsis (via goodreads): Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes's pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.

rating before reread: ★★★★★

rating after reread: ★★★★

general thoughts: i have changed as a person since i last read this! i am no longer the pretentious middle schooler so deeply enamoured by holmes and russell's deductive skills. instead, i think, i favor the growth of their relationship and trust in one another.

laurie r king's writing style for this series is honestly immaculate. she has successfully infiltrated the mind of mary russell. its a period piece told from the perspective of a young woman, and shes managed to capture that spirit through her descriptions.

i take off a star however, for repeated rereads. its never going to compare to the first time i read it. its hard to say anything abt the cleverness, for me, when i already know whats gonna happen.

spoilers under the cut!!

firstly i suppose i gotta talk abt the relationship between holmes and russell. gotta say, i love it? but in later books the foundation we've laid here takes a bit of a sinister tinge. for now tho, i love it.

they save each other!!!!! its directly talked abt in the book but to paraphrase, russell saves holmes from dying of boredom, and holmes saves russell from becoming a worse version of her aunt.

they provide each other companionship and a whetstone to hone their minds against. say what u will, but sherlock holmes needs someone to go up against, who can be an equal to him and put him in his place if need be.

laurie r king describes their playact of a falling out in this way: "Holmes and I had only a few days to perfect our rôles of the two friends now turned against each other, the father and daughter alienated, the near-lovers become bitterest, most implacable of enemies"

if i am to criticize one thing in this book, it is their weird relationship. she is 15 when they meet, and he is like, definitely in his 60s. as a middle schooler i was quick to justify and defend my hero, sherlock holmes, but now i find it hard to not feel a little uneasy. i will say tho, the way laurie r king writes their relationship helps to assuage my concerns. it doesnt feel predatory.

anyways, onto mrs. hudson and dr. watson. some say watson is portrayed poorly here. i think it can go either way. those who want all of their characters to be smart and capable in all ways see watson diminished into a bumbling fool. i think tho that watson is aptly characterized, if we're basing it off of the original stories. he is fiercely loyal, an excellent doctor, and, quite frankly, incapable of pulling off some of the more delicate schemes needed to be on the level of sherlock holmes. yes, he is written to be a bit of a fool, but not i would think in a malicious way. he has a big heart, and many other wonderful qualities. he is not, however, capable of disguising himself and losing a tail.

mrs. hudson is a girlboss.

the daughter of moriarty being the villain is perhaps a bit trite? but perhaps thats also why its clever. u dont expect it. moriarty is dead, this is not connected to the original stories, and in the original stories i dont believe theres a mention of his family.

its late, and im getting tired, and i am quite certain no one will read this, so i will end my nonsensical babbling here.

[dragonbadgerbooks]

I love seeing other people's book pictures and drawing inspiration for future ideas and that got me thinking recently:

What are some of your go-tos for book pictures?

My current favorite is a house plant that I bought on a whim. But I'm also a sucker for a good "book and a hot beverage" picture and I frequently will put a blanket or random piece of clothing with a fun color or patter on the floor and take book pictures that way.

[giggly-squiggily]

Hey friend 👋

Just wanted to rant about AFOTAR a bit lol. Don’t judge me, my favorite character is Eris. I know that might seem a little iffy, but really he’s just a traumatized baby that wears a mask just like Rhys. He and Rhysand are basically the same people except Eris has no safe place, no inner circle. Makes me so sad and I wanna hug him!!! And really, half the inner circle just doesn’t like Eris because he left Mor to die. But really, death for her was better than being shackled to the Autumn court, right? He didn’t want Mor to suffer the same fate as his mother and I just love him for that ❤️

Also, I saw you haven’t read the last two spinoffish books. I haven’t read the last one either so we’re both on the same page pretty much! Anyway friend I’m so excited to rant to you about these characters and share my little headcannons for them!

Hey friend! :D Let’s go, ACOTAR thoughts!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Bestie you almost had me at that- I can’t lie 💀 ERIS??? I won’t judge- mainly cause I have my own onslaught of questionable favorites in books and also cause it’s been forever since I read the trilogy- but ERIS??? (Lucien’s hotter gonna be real-)

I can see your reasoning though! While I don’t think I myself will ever like anyone from the Autumn court besides Lucien- Eris’s choices did eventually lead to Mor having a better home in the end. I wouldn’t wanna marry into that court either. Death would be more preferable compared to the court.

All and all: I’m happy you’re so fond of him- and you’ve given me a new perspective of his character I never really considered. If you said Tamlin, we would have some problems /j but yeah- more power to you, friend! 🥰🥰🥰 I hope he gets that support group he desperately needs eventually!

I’m thrilled to bits having you come by and rant about the books to me! There’s so many great things within, and I love hearing your takes on characters I’ve never given much thought of before! :) I’d love to hear more of your thoughts, so please feel free to come by and chat whenever your heart desires!

[fandom-madness69]

I'm in the mood to talk about book series that rocked your whole world. And yeah the books we all grew up reading are fine but I wanna know about other books. Like the Life As We Knew It series where a massive asteroid knocks the Moon so close to Earth it looks like those super moon pics we've all seen but always, all the time, even during the day. The moon was always visible after that asteroid. It brought about an apocalypse of sorts. The main character is a teenager. That series is the reason why three book hating jocks I went to school with became avid readers.

What book or book series rocked your world and why?

[moononastring]

i really hope this book gets better. i'm a little less than 100 pages in and i'm so bored. it's just a lot of talk about intense blue eyes, there's a lot of staring between the mmc and fmc, and the writing is super repetitive that just feels like they are trying to reach that word count goal.

i'm really surprised cause so many people have rec'd the dark verse series and it has a pretty high rating on goodreads, but so far i'm struggling hard to get through it. sorry i know you have not read it yourself, but i need someone to vent to. i will keep my ranting as vague as possible cause i hate spoilers. i hope it gets better cause if it doesn't pick up soon i think i will be dropping this series.

GAH. This makes me sad because fr it’s so well-loved, I expected better!!! Maybe it’s one of those series to people where the writing doesn’t matter as much as them just having a good time with it and the characters? It doesn’t need to be good to have a good time kinda thing haha.

Though the vibes really seem so good!!

Did you read more? How have you liked it? ESP compared to Sinners Anonymous series since you just read it!

[sparrowlucero]

like the most politically neutered movie of all time unironically

[bookslutskye]

apparently neil newbon is coming to ECCC in march and upon hearing this earlier today, i have decided (to at least try) to make the blazer of benevolence that my bard wears and maybe go meet neil newbon

[soracities]

reading bits & pieces of samuel beckett's letters and honestly. this man was hilarious.

[great-and-small]

The majority of the Earth’s rodents: How do you survive environments with practically zero oxygen, feel no pain, and live for decades when none of the rest of us can???

Naked mole-rats:

[picturebookshelf]

@deep-aural-fixation Thank you! I love what a wide range there is to kidlit, so it's a lot of fun to try to find as much variety in it as possible! It's actually why I decided to tag posts according to decades -- I really love to see how styles and themes in children's books change from one decade to the next. 2020s books are different from 2000s books are different from 1970s books are different from 1920s books! And yet there are some things can connect them all, it's very cool.

and yeah, everyone has those certain books that they remember reading and they just hit differently ^^ I know in doing this I've come across some books where I can perfectly remember the classroom I was in when I read it, or the bookshelf at home I kept it on. That's another reason I try to find as many different types as possible, everyone's "special nostalgic books" are different from someone else's, so I hope that every so often people see a book that unlocks a memory for them

[razzafrazzle]

Just Checking In! (aka Something About Red Triangles)

[stemmmm]

bad youtube clickbait thumbnail that reads "I think I just had a therapy session with a DEMON???"