#bookish bingo

[bigheartedbibliophile]

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

I got a bingo! Did you play?

@thereadingchallengechallenge I remember you saying you might do this! I'm curious to see where you ended up.

[crystal-library]

Reading Goals for 2023

I've set up reading goals for myself each year for the last few years, and aside from Goodreads reading goals, I don't think I've met a single goal. So I decided to keep my goals for this year pretty simple. At least, by my standards.

Read 100 books

I've decided to change how I'm doing my TBRs this year, based on a few factors I either know will work better for me, or that I'm hoping will. Rather than doing monthly TBR lists, I want to create Bingo cards for every three months. I'm hoping that it will give me a little more flexibility with the books I'm reading, as well as take off the pressure to finish TBR lists. I'll have four Quarterly TBR cards with 25 books each.

Keep TBR jar tag at or below 450 books

The main objective of this goal is to make sure I'm reading at least as many books as I'm buying, without overwhelming myself. I want to make sure I'm reading books I own, but I also have a list of book series (I'll be posting that later) that I've decided that if I don't continue or finish by the end of the year, I will be marking as DNF and archiving the books I own. That will help with this goal, as well.

Read a little each day

This one's pretty simple. I tend to spend a lot of time on my phone, and I want to replace some of that time with reading time every day.

Read more diversely

This is one I include in my goals every year, but I never quite know how to determine whether or not I've succeeded. So this year, I've given myself specific goals. I want to read more books by Indigenous, Latinx, and Trans and nonbinary authors, as these are the categories I read the least from in 2022. I also want 50% or more of the books I read to be written by POC authors.

Read more Middle-Grade and Adult books

Not to say there's anything wrong with reading YA. It's just that, for the last few years, the majority of what I've read has been YA, and I would like to branch out a bit more into other age groups. It also has a bit to do with work, since I work with students who would be included in the middle-grade age range.

2023 TBR Bingo cards

I have two Bingo cards I've put together for 2023: one has specific books I want to read, and one has prompts that I'll be able to choose books to read for each one. The goal is to have six prompts from each on each Quarterly TBR. Here are the cards:

There are my goals for this year! I’m looking forward to seeing where my reading journey takes me this year!

[livinliterary]

Let's Play A Game Of Retelling Bingo!

It’s no secret that retellings are one of the best things to come out. These remixes of the classics we grew up with give us *life* and make our bookshelves look oh so pretty. I know there are a lot of them, so in honor of Huntress of Sherwood by by KC Kingmaker (releasing on April 9), a gender-bent retelling of Robin Hood, where Robin is a fiery heroine, and the Merry Men are her obsessed,…

[the-forest-library]

Beat the Backlist Challenge 2024

[bulletnotestudies]

Welcome back to another yearly reading bingo!

for the past two year's i've hosted a genre reading bingo, but if you know me at all, you know i like to change things up quite a lot, so this year i present to you: genre bingo's younger sibling, BOOK COVER BINGO :) (transcript of the prompts and taglist below the cut)

CHALLENGE RULES ☁︎ one book per prompt, meaning the challenge calls for 16 books in total ☁︎ it is a 2024 challenge, so you have from january 1st till december 31st to fulfill the prompts ☁︎ reblog this post to participate ☁︎ once you read a book, cross the prompt out on the above template and post your update! bookish photos/playlists/etc. are of course also welcome ☁︎ tag your updates (templates with crossed out prompts, text posts, etc.) with the tag #2024 book cover bingo so i can see and reblog them

that’s it, if you have any questions at all, send them my way, otherwise i wish you a fun year, filled with *chef’s kiss* books!

Here are the prompts: ☁︎ a cover with a repetitive pattern ☁︎ a very detailed cover ☁︎ a cover with an illustration without lineart ☁︎ a very minimalistic cover ☁︎ an animal on the cover ☁︎ a cover with a hidden meaning (one you only really understand after you've read the book) ☁︎ a cover featuring a photo ☁︎ a brightly coloured cover ☁︎ a weapon or jewelry on the cover ☁︎ a heart or clockface on the cover ☁︎ a letter/envelope or book on the cover ☁︎ a hand, eye, or entire face on the cover ☁︎ a pretty cover ☁︎ an ugly cover ☁︎ a black and white cover ☁︎ a cover with cursive lettering

taglist: @serendistudy@melaschnie@dreamofghosts@the---hermit@ben-learns-smth@upside-down-uni@myhoneststudyblr@kindastudyingstuff@meyli-vaisyl

storygraph link coming soon!

[the---hermit]

2023 genre bingo update #4

This has been in my drafts for a while. It should be the second to last update for this challenge. If I will in fact finish it, because to be completly honest the last few prompts left are what I normally avoid reading so there's a chance I might don't end up reading enything that fits, we'll see. I might end up squeezing in those prompts something that doesn't fit perfectly, I don't know yet. If you want to read my other updates for this challenge here's the links: update 1, update 2, update 3.

All individual book reviews are linked in the titles below as usual.

What Lies In The Woods by Kate Alice Marshall for the thriller prompt:

I hated this book. I thought the idea of having these girls lying about the attack they witnessed in the woods was interesting, but the writing was terrible. I didn't like any characters, and the twists were predictable. I think I complained enough about this in the review I wrote, so I won't go on too much.

The Lottery and other stories by Shirley Jackson for the horror prompt:

Weirdly enough this year I have read almost no horror? This is weird for me? I have been in a pretty big fantasy mood this year, but this book reminded me of my love for this genre. Since it's a collection of short stories there were highs and lows, but overall this author's writing is so special.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman for the urban fantasy prompt:

This book was a solid middle ground for me. You might know that Neil Gaiman is my favourite author, but in general I tend to like more his darker stuff. This book was good and entrataining, but not the type of fantasy I'd normally go for. I was also expecting more American Gods vibes, which wasn't really the case here. I think it's a good novel, but it's not in my top Gaiman books.

[queerbookmasterlist]

(via 2023 Bookish Bingo)

It’s almost the new year, so it’s time to whip out your 2023 Bingo Cards!

I made these 2023 Bookish Bingo cards to be used throughout the year. They were a little snarky, but I thought it could be fun to see how fast someone get’s Bingo!

Feel free to download them and cross off the squares if you find any of this in any type of your bookish groups, whether on Facebook, Twitter, Bookstagram, BookTok, Discord, or so on!

[shakespearean-angel]

My first and only bookish challenge hehe 😜

[sassblogsstuff]

[Found this not my]

♡But I thought this would be a good year to do this challenge

[imaprettygirl]

A drop of ink, a blot spread across time

(Vintage au)

Plot summary: It was 1950s when pen pals were popular and almost everyone had one! You used to have a handful of them but the camaraderie between you and them faded as you got older. One day, you found a newspaper on your late great-grandpa's shelves in his bedroom. Excitedly, you flipped the papers to get to a specific page and bingo! There was a section for the addresses of people who are looking for a pen-friend much like yourself. After randomly choosing, you sent out your first letter and he replied back! However, you noticed something weird in the photo he sent...

Crds to @drinkthesky for the divider!

Men I deem fit: Alhaitham, Albedo, Imbibitor Lunae/Dan Heng, Dr Ratio, Diluc, Zhongli, Venti, Neuvillette, Scaramouche, Sunday.

(Fck alphabetical order, I can't do that sh*t)

The amber glow of the afternoon sun bathed the room as the open windows situated at the opposite of the door allowed sunlight streams to enter the room as its panes quivered in hushed symphony due to the beckoning of the hot air. If you moved closer to the windows, you could see dust particles illuminated by the natural light. Even after the passing of your great-grandfather, the bookish scent of his cologne still lingers in his bedroom along with his possessions which were either coated with a thin layer of dust or covered with a big white cloth.

The wooden floor creaked beneath you as you walked towards his bookshelves in hopes of finding pieces of classical literature and maybe learn a thing or two from it. You delicately traced your index finger through the long vertical rows of books, leaving a trail of dust on the pads of your digit. As you peruse through countless novels only to be unsatisfied until you saw a newspaper at the edge of the shelf, untouched by the dust that plagues the rest.

'How strange...' you thought to yourself as you rubbed your thumb and index finger against the surface of the paper to determine its texture: it was sandy and rough, definitely ancient but the format was similar to the ones your dad reads in the morning so it must be a freshly produced newspaper, albeit printed in a different quality of paper.

Or so you thought...

The newspapers in your hands gave you a glimmer of hope; it was an opportunity to find a pen friend! You used to have a few ones but stopped writing to them either because they used too much colloquial words or they had at least twenty spelling mistakes in each sentence which gave you a migraine whilst trying to make out if your correspondent was writing in a foreign language or not. But this time, maybe you could hit the jackpot and find an actually nice pen-pal. Excitedly, you flipped through the papers and stopped at the specific page which had a list of names along with their addresses under the bold heading:

'Pen-friends! Make new friends around the world!'

Your eyes scanned across the list of names, allowing your intuition to guess the personality of that stranger based on their names alone. But then, a specific name caught your eye- it was uncommon which was the main reason it stood out from the rest of the names which probably were taken from 'Top 10 best names for children of this year'. You took a closer look of the address below that person's name and turned out, both of you lived in the same area! A surge of enthusiasm rippled throughout your body and immediately tucked the newspaper into the inside pocket of your coat.

~~~~~♡~~~~~♡~~~~~♡~~~~~

The curtains of your living room slowly opened as you peeked your head out and pressed your face against the glass. A day had passed after you had sent your very first letter and heck, you even went a mile far by sending a photograph of your two cats to make a memorable first impression. Then- just like you had anticipated- the postman on his bike suddenly came into view and halted his vehicle by your mail-box and placed a letter inside. You clutched the folds of the curtains unable to contain the happiness blossoming inside you. As soon as the postman disappeared out of your eyesight, you rushed outside to take the letter out of the mailbox. The first thing that greeted your eyes was the immaculate handwriting and the scent emitted from the paper.

'How sweet of him...' you thought as you continued reading the letter in your mind. The paragraphs were neatly organized and made of outdated vocabulary that you wouldn't understand had you not taken an interest in classic literature. You could tell this man practiced utmost eloquence just by his letter alone. Overall, he wrote a few things about himself and asked you about your hobbies, what you like and blablabla.

But then, something struck within you concerning with the photograph he sent and notes written behind it:

"The construction of the mall is making my ears bleed. I cannot stand the constant sounds of the drills and other sounds coming from it. I daresay, you must be experiencing the same disturbance as we are only one street apart from each other. Perhaps we should plan to meet up after the mall opens. What do you think of it?"

The more you stared at the photograph and the note, the more confused you became. The picture showed the mall with the same as the one down the street but it was still in construction according to the photo. 'Huh?' A frown stretched across your face. That specific mall had been going on more nearly a century now to the point that the community had been urging the government to shut it down in order to build a more innovative one. Didn't it finish construction like a hundred years ago? But his photo told a whole new different story.

Suspicions rose inside of you as a spiral of questions revolved around your head- you found it difficult to process it. Not missing a beat, you hurried to your room to find that newspaper you took from your late great-grandfather's shelf. You mumbled in frustration when you couldn't find it; you swore you left it either on the desk or on the bed. Finally, you found it under the bed and oh my...

The letter was published a century back in time which meant that...

"T-The man I just sent a letter...was from the past...." The newspaper dropped from your hands. Your letter had ripped its way out of the fabric of time and went into the mailbox of a man who lived in the same area as you but different time period. He was in the past, you were in the future.

Still, a part of you felt curious about the interaction between two people of different dimensions. So you decided to reply back to his letter. What could go wrong...right?

To people who are more knowledgeable in time travel or parallel universes, pls don't attack me, I know what I wrote may or may not make sense for some of you but pls don't mind me 😭😭😭

And also, not proofread because I wrote this around midnight and I'm literally on the verge of dozing off- (Ik I have such healthy sleep cycles and I have to wake up at 6 am yayyy!! Sleep-deprived-students-core😘🙆🤗)

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Happy November! 🍂

I already have a couple of books in mind to complete this, like Mexican Gothic and Obsidian Feathers. Do you have any other ideas?

[crystal-library]

As I mentioned in this post, I'm changing up how I do my TBR this year! I'm doing four bingo cards with 25 books each, with the plan to read them over three months. I'm still working on recovering from a reading slump, so I don't want to overwhelm myself right off the bat.

I'm super excited to try this method, and I had a lot of fun putting together my TBR for this first quarter! 

I also have a few library loans I want to finish this month:

Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast (for a project)

How to Succeed at Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

Here's a full list of the books on my TBR and the prompts they fill for my 2023 Bingo Challenge!

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Wait for Night by Stephen Graham Jones (Shortest book you own)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (Disability Rep)

Skyhunter by Marie Lu (On your TBR for over a year)

Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar (Trans author)

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed edited by Saraciea J. Fennell (Latinx author)

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds (Banned book)

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé 

Jackpot by Nic Stone

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno Garcia

The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin

Rouge Princess by B.R. Meyers

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

The Martian by Andy Weir

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

[filteredred]

Bingo!

[the-forest-library]

Queer AF - Okay, Cupid

2023 Debut Novel - One Night in Hartswood

That’s Not My Name - The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel

Good Vibes Only - Infectious Generosity

Bird is the Word - Elf Dog & Owl Head

On Your TBR 5+ Years - The Silver Chair

Between 300 and 400 Pages - A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem

Name That Tune - The Breakup Tour

Dance the Night Away - The Ladies Rewrite the Rules

Four Word Title - All the Hidden Paths

These Woods Hold Secrets - After the Forest

Coauthored or Illustrated - Winter

Neon Colored Cover - Karma

Prominently Features a Desert - Places We’ve Never Been

Hotel, Mansion, or Castle - The Glass Castle

Retelling of a Classic - Most Ardently

Creature Feature - Shady Hollow

Written By or About a Celebrity - A Book of Days

Blurbed By a Fave Author - Just for the Summer

STEM Stan - The Planets

I Was Framed! - Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice

Writing About Writing - Says Who?

Second Chances - The Tusks of Extinction

Author Last Name Starts With V - Every Time You Hear That Song

Let's Circle Back to This - The Husbands

First in an Unfinished Series - The Lying Game

[inkwolvesandcoffee]

Ghost Bookshop Romance Headcanons

CoD ML

📖 Ghost is secretly quite bookish, having found refuge in novels during his youth and now even as a grown man. He especially loves bakery and coffee shop romances, though he’d never admit this outright.

📖 No one asks what he’s reading when they see him sitting with his e-reader, more often than not smoking as well.

📖 Those who are brave enough to ask only get glared at in answer and walk away, tail tucked between their legs.

📖 When he’s on leave, back home in Manchester, he watches out for a particular girl he’s seen at Waterstones. Pops by there for hours on end, drinking coffee, smoking outside yet near the shop, all in the hope he’ll bump into you.

📖 Your face looks familiar to him, but he can’t remember where he’s seen it if ever he has. Nonetheless, it’s enchanting, a strange though pleasant (and thoroughly distracting) imprint on his memory.

📖 Unbeknownst to him, you’re secretly his favourite author. However, you barely have any photos out there, preferring the anonymity of your pen name. It doesn’t help you haven’t published in a while due to being grabbed tightly in the vicious maws of writer’s block. Henceforth, despite the loyal fanbase, there’s little talk about your works or you yourself.

📖 One day he catches you sitting in one of the chairs dotted around the store, reading. Finally, at long last, he has the chance to talk to you!

📖 Simon has a whole plan. First he’d ask you what you’re reading and your opinion on it thus far, gradually leading the conversation towards your recommendations and favourites. It’s essential to gain that info because there’s always plenty to say and discover about books. Then, he’d ask you for tea, show you he isn’t as scary as he looks.

📖 But, like out in the field, there can be unforeseen circumstances.

📖 He didn’t account for the goosebumps on your skin, the slight shiver that has you shaking despite your efforts to suppress it.

📖 “Trying to catch a cold?” Simon crouches down before you, takes off his heavy leather jacket and drapes it over your shoulders. It’s warm, infused with the scent of nicotine, black pepper, gun oil, gasoline, and black tea.

📖 For a moment you stare at him, gobsmacked. After all, you don’t meet someone in a skull balaclava at Waterstones on the daily. Nevertheless, after wrapping his jacket around you a little tighter and deciding he means no harm, you find your voice. “Not consciously. Guess I’m not particularly good at dressing for the weather.”

📖 “No, you’re not.” He chuckles at your expression, a mixture of shock and surprise. Much to his delight, Simon senses you’re not offended by his bluntness. “Fancy a cuppa? My treat.”

📖 “Only if you tell me your name.”

📖 “For now, call me Ghost.”

📖 “Cheshire. Pleased to meet you.”

📖 “Like the cat?”

📖 “Indeed.” The way you tilt your head, eyes bright with defiance and granting him a glimpse of the walls you’ve carefully constructed around yourself, sends electricity through his nerves. “Curiouser and curiouser.”

📖 Simon usually keeps people at a distance, even the taskforce, but he’ll gladly take on the challenge of getting closer. “Yeah.”

📖 As per his promise, he pays for the tea and a scone to share. He cuts it in half, giving you the thicker top part while he settles for the thinner bottom bit.

📖 He doesn’t know how, but as he watches you smear jam and only the tiniest bit of clotted cream on the pastry it hits him. Finally he recalls who you are, where he’s seen you before.

📖 “Cheshire,” he begins, wanting to breach the topic carefully. Still, it’s hard to not get distracted by how you’re innocently enjoying your scone, enough to unintentionally give him the opportunity to wipe the crumbs from the corner of your mouth. However, to restrain himself, Simon tucks his hands in his lap. “Have you by chance heard of (your pen name)?”

📖 He clocks how you stiffen. Bingo. “How do you know that name?”

📖 “I… I’m… I’m a fan. Inked Monsters is the first book of yours I read. I liked how you discussed the prejudice against age gap relations, lone wolves, and heavily tattooed people. Made me feel heard.”

📖 You can’t help but chuckle, amazed at this giant’s enthusiasm for your novels. “What’s so funny?”

📖 “Nothing, it’s just… you don’t strike me as the type to like my writing. I’m glad to hear it touched you, though.”

📖 “Well, I am. But yours is the only one in the genre I really like. I’m not a big fan of fairy tales or retellings, but yours,” he glances at his cup, comically small in his big hands, “I… I do… a lot.”

📖 “Glad to hear it.”

📖 “How’s it going with Sugar Hood and Flannel Wolf? Haven’t heard or seen anything about it for a while.”

📖 You snort because ‘for a while’ is a severe understatement considering it’s been three years. The fanbase exploded with supportive messages when you announced you were writing another modern fairytale. This time, it would be about a lumberjack grumpy werewolf and a young woman who runs a bakery after her grandma’s passed away.

📖 And there’s the key phrase.

📖 Would be.

📖 “I’m suffering from writer’s block, which also drives my publisher and agent up the bloody wall. They still earn enough thanks to me to not cancel my contract, but I don’t think I’ll be able to publish soon… if ever again.”

📖 The way you look down into your tea, head bowed low and eyes sad, breaks his heart. “How so?”

📖 “When a hobby turns into a profession, there’s the pressure to perform, to deliver. I used to write for fun, but now it feels like a chore and I feel nothing but guilt for not doing it. Doesn’t help I’m stuck on the plot.”

📖 “You need a rubber duck.”

📖 You look up at him, feeling like you lost the plot. “A rubber duck?”

📖 “Talk through your problems to a rubber duck and you’ll see the solution presents itself. This duck can also be… someone.”

📖 “Are you asking to be my rubber duck?”

📖 “Proofreader, at most. If you’d allow it.”

📖 “A second opinion wouldn’t hurt.” You smile to yourself and shake your head. “A ghost reader.”

📖 Little do you know that that is what gets him going. “Let’s make this a two-man project. You write, I read, and we get through this together. Fuck deadlines and to hell with the people pressuring you to write. This is our plan, our mission. Getting that book out.”

📖 You giggle, a sound he archives for later. “My God, you’re headstrong. It’s nice, though, to hear you speak as passionately about my works like I did once.”

📖 “Being stagnant is useless. It’s also definitely the way to get yourself killed out in the field.” Simon wishes he could kick himself in the face for his words. “Sorry, you can take the man out of the army, but not vice versa.”

📖 “That explains a lot, you being an army man.” You take a sip of tea and nibble on the scone. “Retired or on leave?”

📖 “On leave.”

📖 “Know when you’re deployed again?”

📖 “Not any time soon. Unless Price cooks something up again. No, I’ll be here for a while.” Mumbling under his breath, the words too low for you to make out, he adds, “Plenty time for me to help you.”

📖 “Pardon?”

📖 “Nothing. But,” he clears his throat, “if you don’t mind, would you sign one of my copies?”

📖 “Sure. You have it with you?”

📖 “No, so, uhm, could we meet here tomorrow for that?”

📖 “Are you asking to see me again?”

📖 “If we could have tea again, that’d be nice too.”

📖 “Maybe grab a bite in town instead?”

📖 He perks up. “That’s a yes?”

📖 “It’s bad protocol to go out with a fan, but,” your smile makes him melt, “how can I say no to an interesting man like you, Ghost?”

📖 You pop the last bit of the scone into your mouth. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Meet here?” He nods. “Thank you for the tea.”

📖 “Anytime.”

📖 Ngl, silly as it is considering you just met, he’s kinda disappointed you don’t give him a kiss on the cheek before you leave.

📖 Though he finds enough satisfaction in the fact you ate the piece of the scone he cut for you.

📖 Enough to carry him through the day.

📖 Afterwards, the two of you stay in regular contact. It’s not always about business and even if it is, the conversation always diverges. To what you’re reading, simple recipes for Simon to try and make (he’s a self-confessed terrible cook), easy stretching exercises for you to do in between writing sprints (he hasn’t had the courage yet to ask you to accompany him to the gym), or possible outings.

📖 Yes, outings.

📖 Because Simon loves driving around the country on his bike with you.

📖 What he’d love even more, though, is not having to book rooms or accommodations with two single beds rather than one king or queen size bed whenever you’re off on a multi-day trip.

📖 Occasionally you do buddy reads. You were the first to propose it and have since expanded your literary horizons together. If only because Simon makes a lot of notes. Honestly, it’s surprising he doesn’t have a literary degree what with how passionate he is about reading.

📖 One day, a few days before he’s off to the gods know where, your ghost reader gives you a book with a copy of his dog tag. Until then, you’ve only known him as Ghost.

📖 But now you finally know his name.

📖 Simon Riley.

📖 “What’s this?” You look from the necklace to him, uncomprehending why he’d gift you his dog tag.

📖 He keeps his eyes trained on you, taking you in as best he can lest this will be the last time he’ll see you. After all, there always remains the chance he won’t return. “In case I don’t come back. I don’t care if they’ll be unable to identify me. I’m a ghost, un fantasma according to a buddy in Mexico. But I want you to have something to remember me by.”

📖 “You’re very real to me.” His heart cracks at your outburst. “How can you say that? You’re a person, Simon!”

📖 There’s no hesitation in the way he cups your cheeks and presses his lips against yours. You melt into his touch, the feel of his hands on your skin, feeling the smirk pressed against your lips when you clutch his shirt.

📖 “Your person, eh?” he asks when he breaks away, breathless and lightly panting. However, he has to stop himself here. Unlike in the field, there’s no time limit with you.

📖 Because despite the novel, he’s come to understand you’re in more than a business relationship.

📖 A relationship which takes time, shouldn’t be rushed.

📖 An opportunity for you both to show yourselves.

📖 For him to learn patience and self-restraint.

📖 For you to learn how to trust and rely on someone.

📖 And grow together.

📖 “Yes, so don’t you bloody dare claim otherwise ever again.” The way you poke his chest, full of conviction, melts his cold heart.

📖 “I’ll try to be a person around you, sweetheart.”

📖 If only because you care.

📖 And he can’t live without your stories.

📖 Especially not when you tell them yourself.

Btw, I might actually write Sugar Hood & Flannel Wolf because I’m going nigh on feral thinking about werewolf!Price. I mean, c’mon, that man screams wolf vibes (aside from the massive daddy… I mean teddy! Teddy vibes).

[the---hermit]

2023 genre bingo update #1

Last year the genre bingo was the only challenge I did finished, so I am really curious to see if this year I'll also manage to find a book for all these prompts. Certainly, like last year, a lot of the prompts of this challenge are out of my comfort zone, so I'll have to find new stuff and/or compromise but we'll see as we go.

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne for the children's lit prompt:

Just like in 2022 I started my year with a Winnie The Pooh book, it might become a tradition. I am deeply bonded to these stories, and although the translation I have of this book was a bit weird it was really good to just relax and spend some time in the 100 acres wood.

The Sandman volume 7 by Neil Gaiman for the graphic novel prompt:

I have a couple of unread graphic novels on my shelves but this was the first one of the year, and it was a great start. This volume finally answered some questions I've had for the past few volumes of the series, and it made me fall in love more and more with the complexity of the world created by Gaiman.

Cain's Jawbone by Torquemada for the mystery prompt:

This puzzle novel is a mystery that includes 100 pages to put back into order and six murders. Did I find any of the murderers or the name of the victims? Of course not, but it was a fun past time, and it can become really addictive.

Hilda And The Troll by Luke Pearson for the short story prompt:

This might be an unconventional pick for this prompt, because it's a graphic novel, but it's about 40 pages long so to be honest I would not call it a novel. It's a really sweet story with light fantasy elements, the illustrations are lovely, and it leaves you wanting more.