#but you can always get interlibrary loans as well

[good-night-space-kid]

Everything said here is making great points. My goal this year is to better educate myself about the last ~120 years, and I've recently raed a few good books on this topic so I'd like to share some of my recommendations.

If you do wish to learn more about the USSR led genocides, I suggest starting with Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder. It gives a really good overview of the genocides in eastern europe under rule by the USSR and Hitler from the 1930's (touching on the 1920's famine in Ukraine as well) through the 1950's with some information on the later decades. The audiobook is available for free on youtube with part 1 and part 2 linked here, otherwise you can check out your local library.

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, 1921-1933 by Anne Applebaum is a really good read about the Ukranian famines. It lays out the political scene, the policies, the enforcement of the famine, the lived experiences, and the subsequent cover up. There's also an audiobook for this one that I recommend, but as far as I know you will have to get that one through a library.

One that I haven't read yet, but plan to as soon as I can get it on interlibrary loan, is Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich. She won the nobel prize in literature for her works, and this is well deserved. Her books are an incredible blend of oral histories and strong historical research, and she's written many that I would recommend checking out, but this is likely the most relevant for this particular topic.

The thing is, I have nothing against socialism or communism as a political ideology; trust me, I'm as anti-capitalist as they come. The leftism is really not the problem here.

The problem is when in their leftism, people – Americans, really, and western Europeans – use the ussr as this sort of goal, this complete antithesis to the modern capitalist society, this almost-utopian place to live. They use hammer and sickle symbol, the ussr anthem; sometimes, as a joke, sometimes, not so much.

Not only that clearly shows that they know absolutely nothing about the ussr – it's also spreading russian propaganda, whether it's on purpose or not, which is especially insidious now, when russia is literally committing a genocide.

The ussr wasn't a socialist utopia where everyone is equal. It was a totalitarian dictatorship, responsible for colonisation and genocide of multiple people and cultures. Just like the russian Empire before it. Just like modern russia continues to do now.

For many Eastern European and Central Asian people, hammer and sickle is not just a symbol of a political ideology. It's the symbol, under which people were starved to death, imprisoned or executed for daring to write in their own language; in which cultures were erased, people – forcefully assimilated, stripped of their own national identity.

It's the propaganda of being "the same people, the same nation" that russians love to use; that westerners love to believe, for the sole reason of the oppressed daring to look similar to the oppressor; for the sole reason of Americans being unable to look past their own history and realize oppression comes in many shapes and forms.

By using the ussr symbols in your political movement, you're denying the atrocities commited under that symbol and spreading russian propaganda, whether it's on purpose or not.

It's not "progressive" to wave around a hate symbol.

Do your research.

[official-linguistics-post]

heya! just a quick question, feel free to ignore, but i was wondering if you had any tips for finding linguistic resources? i'm real intersted in middle and early modern english (as broad as both those may be) and i'm just struggling to find anything that isn't surface level "They kinda spoke like this" – i'd love to find something that goes deeper into the morphology and syntax, or any more specific linguistics than "sometimes... vowels..........".

this also extends to like.. casual linguistic discussion i guess, like youtubr videos and the like. i just have a hunger to learn More about middle and early modern english.

tl;dr: how does one find linguistic resources? this includes youtube videos, blogs, etc as well

thank you in advance, but no worries if you can't help !!

ah, you seek an entry point to the world of Academic References.

my first approach is always plumbing the depths of bibliographies. you can start with related wikipedia pages and head down to the "references" or "further reading" sections; you can pick up a textbook and see who the author cites; you can look for libguides on the subject; you can even search up annotated bibliographies!

(bibliographies are genuinely one of the greatest resources you can have to hand. when i read academic works, i devote a whole section of my notes to citations i want to follow up on for further information, and the rabbit hole can go on forever.)

getting hold of certain items can be a little tricky if you don't have access to an academic library, but many public libraries can help you with institutional access and interlibrary loan, plus jstor has a free option.

i'm less confident on a method for identifying informal resources...

[jeannereames]

Hello!! Good morning/afternoon/evening Dr. Reames I wanted to know if you know of any books, essays or articles that deal with the relationship between ancient Persia and Greece.

I hope you have a great day!!

Unfortunately, it’s semester-end, so I’m neck deep in grading, but I can toss out a couple books, and note that there’s also been some important reassessments of Herdotus on Xerxes.

Greece, Macedon, and Persia, edited by Tim Howe, Erin Garvin, and Graham Wrightson 2015. Chapters by a bunch of folk I know who do excellent work. It’s not cheap, but you can probably get a hold of it via Interlibrary Loan.

Pierre Briant has several books that deal with Persia and Greece. Darius in the Shadow of Alexander might be a good start. While ostensibly about that topic, he covers prior interactions between Persia and Greece that led to the Macedonian invasion.

Also, look at Amelie Kuhrt on Xerxes’s depiction by Herodotus. She’s got one solo-authored piece and another where she was one of four authors (if I remember right). Robert Rollinger and Josef Wiesehöfer may two of the other authors? Memory is failing me, but it’s a great article.

The Getty just put out a coffee-table type book called Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World, edited by Jeffrey Spier, Timothy Potts and Sara Cole. I don’t have a copy (yet), but all reliable authors were solicited for the chapters.

That at least should give you some names, too, when searching articles. Maria Brosius is always reliable, as well. And look for reliable (recent) stuff on the Persian Wars, and Athenians tooling around in Thrace before the wars, especially Miltiades and Darius I. And what was going on in Asia Minor that led up to the wars, plus during the Peloponnesian Wars.

[mr-saavik]

Midyear Book Freakout Tag 2024

Haven't done this in a few years and no one asked for it but here we go

1) Best book:

Lots of contenders for this, but I think it has to be A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. Fantastic writing on a great subject

2) Best sequel:

I haven't really read any traditional sequels where a story continues on from another, but any of the Sherlock Holmes books/short story collections works for this. Maybe The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes or The Hound of the Baskvilles as favorites? Idk

3) New releases you want to read

Henry Henry by Allen Bratton, but idk when I'll get to it because I'd need to get an interlibrary loan

4) Most anticipated release

I'm lowkey bad at keeping up with whats coming out BUT I am excited to read Failure to Comply by @librarycards

5) Biggest Disappointment

Probably Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong because I had heard it was great and a good introduction to writings on disability, but ended up being a very mixed collection of writings and a lot of it just felt meh

6) Biggest Surprise

Perhaps Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip? Not surprise in the sense that once I knew what it was I thought I wouldn't like it, but surprise in the sense I had never heard of it until I was assigned to read it in a class about literature of the Middle Passage

7) Favorite new author

Virginia Woolf. I've read Orlando before but I don't really remember it; reading A Room of One's Own made me realize I love her writing style

8) Newest fictional crush

Closest answer I can give to this is Sherlock Holmes because I do love that bitch but idk if "crush" is the right word for it or if he counts as new if I was familiar with his character from the Granada tv series

9) Newest favorite character

To not repeat saying Sherlock Holmes, I'm going to say Merricat Blackwood from We Have Always Lived in the Castle even though I've read that before, so again, it doesn't really count as new

10) A book that made you cry

None despite historically being a known crier

11) A book that made you happy

Uhhhhh I guess one of the Sherlock Holmes ones? I tend to read sad shit and reviewing what I've read so far this year there isn't really "happy" material besides that

12) Most beautiful book you've bought or received

Big fan of these two

13) What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

Well. Finish what I'm currently reading (Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, Noor by Nnedi Okorafor, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle), also read Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam because I have it out from the library, same with The White Album by Joan Didion because it is also in the massive book of nonfiction work from Didion I have out from the library, and I think Sara @colors-changing-hue & I are going to attempt to finish all of the Sherlock Holmes books by the end of the year but we've been slow on that recently so we'll see if that happens (to complete the series we'd nees to finish The Return of Sherlock Holmes and then read The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes). Besides all of that for fun, once classes start back up I will be reading a lot of Shakespeare for my class on his early plays, some medieval romances for a class on that genre, and probably some books about Hitchcock because I'm taking a class on his films and the professor teaching it usually assigns a few whole books to read besides articles & stuff

[fenrislorsrai]

Three songs you've been listening to a lot lately?

I end up listening to a lot of stuff on shuffle and I normally listen to a new album per day on Bandcamp because I am a musical magpie. so most recent thing I bought (and therefore listened too more often) was Lars Leonhard's Reflections.

A food you've been enjoying lately?

Paczki. they'll all be gone shortly as the bakery stops making these donuts as soon as Lent hits.

What's a book you'd recommend at the moment, and why?

I'm currently reading Silvia Federici's "Caliban and the witch" which is on the rise of capitalism and the European witch hunts as method of crushing peasant resistance to wealth accumulation. Wanna shake you fist at the connection between Protestantism's glorification of work? this is the book for you. (and me, mostly me)

What's a hobby that you really enjoy, that you don't talk about much?

Sculpture. I am sponsoring a minigolf hole for a fundraiser, so this is me excuse to get Real Weird.

Have you seen a really good movie or tv show lately?

I went to little mini film fest over weekend and both the shorts shown in that were delightful and do not appear to be online. Booo. (Six Day Fiance and Jelly Bean, if you see them in film festival rotation) They were paired up with Bottoms which is a great send up of the whole genre of amrican teen HS comedy. Also, props to the wardrobe department. I have seen every lesbian outfit they had in this movie on IRL lesbians.

What's a podcast that you think everyone should listen to?

I am not a podcast person so I honestly don't remember what the last one I listened to was.

What book/movie/show have you always wanted to finish, but haven't been able to yet?

I need to finish Squirrel Girl. I have all the issues, but shit happened while I was ctaching up and I need to start over cause I forgot. whomp whomp.

What book/movie/show/podcast are you looking forward to reading/watching/listening to soon?

I am slowly making my way through the Powell & Pressberger catalogue based on what I can get via interlibrary loan, so I need to go on quest to see what more distant libraries have. Might be Black Narcissus based on friend describing it as "unreasonably horny". well sign me up!

If can't get that one, might get Ken Russel's "The Devils" because my queue of old movie is apparently filling up with nuns right now.

I'll tag @tabbiewolfreblogs and @sass-ishmoon for interesting media recs :P

[serenenecrosis-twt]

While I appreciate the sentiment, I need you to understand that this is inherently wrong.

It's very difficult to even physically get to libraries in cities underserved by public transit when you are poor. Public transit costs money and time and energy that a person with three jobs who already has to take the bus to and from work doesn't usually have. It's a situation of having one day out of seven off work that you'd rather sleep through than spend on the bus just to go get books. Libraries that are chronically underfunded also close down frequently, don't always have the digital services of larger ones, and have political controversies around book bans and rightist administrators who deface and disappear materials by queer and black creators. It's all well and good to talk about the ease of access from a completely online experience where digital copies of books are removed automatically from your account on the due date, but that completely ignores the major issue of those same poor communities being disproportionately impacted by late fees on in person materials and services.

A big city library may have supportive queer and black staff, a huge selection of books, no late fees, robust digital services, free interlibrary loans, and be directly near a major transit hub, while a library in a rural area may be physically hard to access, have pay-to-play interlibrary loans, little to no digital services, charge 50¢ per day per late item, a tiny selection of heavily censored and restricted materials, and an openly hostile staff. And rural areas are disproportionately poor. Add all that on top of the fact that the number of people who are even aware and appreciative of libraries and other public services is dwindling and explicitly discouraged by the American school system, and all libraries are systematically underfunded by the government.

Imagine you are poor and disabled, nobody in your school even likes the library, your teachers don't value it, it's a struggle to access it, it's only open from 9am-3pm Monday through Wednesday and no weekends because they don't have a budget for any more staff, the materials are censored, the staff they do have is politically hostile, it's dirty and smells weird because they don't have money for a full time janitor, it's jam-packed with underserved homeless people for the short hours it's open, materials from other libraries cost money, they don't offer digital services (you can't even afford home wifi to use them if they did), and you can't check out any new items until you find the book you lost and pay your late fees.

The capitalist system in the US Regime systematically seeks to make libraries obsolete, shut them down, and replace them with for-profit services. Every good thing about libraries that exists, exists under conditions of extreme adversity, and are unequally distributed in an openly classist and politically biased manner.

There is no 'good will hunting' solution to extreme poverty. It's actually not possible to fly over a fence by pulling on your bootstraps. There are no degrees or job offers for what you can learn at a library. Even if you can leverage the reading comprehension of a dogshit public school to teach yourself advanced maths or science with library books, you're not going to solve a problem on a college whiteboard as the overnight janitor and get talent scouted into a six figure job. All that you can achieve by going to the library as a poor person is becoming a well-read poor person who is hyperaware of how utterly fucked you are.

There are millions of hood scholars and ex-con chess grandmasters who work at McDonald's with no prospects of life improvement. Many just flat out kill themselves because they know that there's no escape.

I hate anti-intellectualism as much as the next person, and yes, people who espouse it are obnoxious and outspokenly wrong about most things. But at the end of the day, this phenomenon is a direct result of the internal material conditions of the US Regime, and people who choose to be willfully ignorant are doing so because it's a better survival mechanism than being educated and helpless in the face of the crushing weight of a reality that most people cannot psychologically handle.

To endorse bootstrap exceptionalism as a solution to a problem that requires violent mass revolution, the complete upheaval of the status quo, and a top to bottom restructuring of the state to fix, is possibly even more ethically bankrupt than enjoying marvel movies or having broke opinions about women's makeup.

ever since i got access to american library cards thanks to tumblr user anneemay (pbuh) 2 weeks ago ive lost even the 3% sympathy i had for americans crying ofc we’re stupid and illiterate our schools suck!!! because you assholes have had FREE ACCESS to THOUSANDS of books and audiobooks and classic films this ENTIRE TIME you’ve been blaming your schools for your elected ignorance!!! from my home in India I’ve listened to eight audiobooks and watched half of cronenberg’s oevre and I’m watching nosferatu (1922) today and I can’t even go to a library in person and you people have had these things your entire life yet you come on tumblr at 18 19 20 and say you don’t know who james baldwin is and if you expect me to you’re classist and 18 year old Americans are too stupid to know bombing foreign countries kills people so it’s okay if they choose to do that rather than work at McDonald’s and of course I have no idea what stocks are or what colonialism is and MCU is the height of cinema and it’s feminist to wear makeup like. my god. you people are going to go through the rest of your life being incoherently stupid and it’s not because you’re poor and it’s not because your schools suck but its because you’re so ensconced in your American privilege that you will never be forced to confront the realities of life and you can go on living your Disney adult fantasies because you’ve destroyed your innate human curiosity and potential at the altar of hyper consumption.

[herbofgraceandpeace]

My interlibrary loan FINALLY came in (from another state I think lol), so I’ve begun watching the 1987 TV movie of Christopher Fry’s play “The Lady’s Not for Burning”

and you guys it’s terrible and I love it SO MUCH

Kenneth Branagh is horribly miscast as the protagonist Thomas, and he’s chewing the scenery for all he’s worth, but also I can’t imagine many other leading men going for the role at all? Like, that’s the thing about Branagh for me—he isn’t always right for the role/production, but I can 100% get behind his desire to be involved because me too!!!!! I would also cast myself as Hamlet in a tediously long production!!!

A lot of the line delivery and directing choices make no sense? The actions will contradict the obvious sense of a line, but also, it’s a verse drama—even though I’ve read the play 2-3 times (and I’ve got a pretty good understanding of pseudo-Shakespearean verse), I’m sometimes only understanding how the line SHOULD be performed by realizing something was off with how it was performed.

I quite like the female protagonist Jennet Jourdemayne’s actress, I think she’s doing a better job with her character than Branagh, but also I just love Jennet even though I have a sneaky suspicion her character is primarily a promotion/embodiment of humanism. But whatevs, I don’t think that’s the only thing the story REALLY has to say about her!!! If you take the story at its simplest and deepest, it’s truer than some of what the author is trying to say?

I also am enjoying Nicholas, Humphrey, and their mother much more than expected! I’m not sure if the actors can wholly claim credit for this, but the humor of their characters and their part in the story is making much more sense to me when I see it! Alison and Richard are still super sweet, and I love them very much. Plus, the actress who plays Jane Bennet in P&P 1995 is Alison!!! And she’s doing great!!!

also, I was VERY surprised to see the title card proclaiming that the play was “arranged for film by the author”?? Like!!! That’s so cool!! But also I SWEAR it’s and edited version of the script, because I think one of my favorite lines is missing? I’ve got a half finished post about that passage in my drafts from the last time I was reading the play, and maybe this will motivate me to finish it. Also, it lowkey ties in really well with the season of Advent, which is super funny timing from God

[goombasa]

Library Propoganda Post

Go to your local library.

I'm always a bit surprised to hear about people who don't know about everything that you can find there. Then again, libraries aren't nearly as advertised as they used to be, and yet there is so much that you can do there.

And y'all should go and experience it.

First and foremost, to make sure everyone knows, public libraries are free. There's generally no fee to get yourself a card and start checking things out. Literally no excuse not to go in and grab one.

Most obviously, you can check out books, of pretty much any subject or genre. If they don't have what you're looking for, bring it up with the librarian on duty, ask what their process is for making requests. Most libraries will have an interlibrary loan system, where you can request a book and they'll borrow it from another library for you to read. Note that some libraries do ask for postage for this service, but others will just eat the cost for you.

But what if you live a good, long way from the library and are worried you won't be able to get the books back before the due date? Well, libraries generally have phone numbers or some will have an online system where you can request the books be renewed. Again, it differs from library to library, but in general you'll be able to renew a book up to two times before it has to be returned, provided there's not a wait list for it. Almost every library will also have a drop box available as well, where you can drop off books after hours if you can't get back before they close.

And it's not just books either! A library exists to make media and information of all kinds available to everyone for as cheap as possible. To this end, libraries nowadays will offer DVDs, Blurays, audiobooks, periodicals, and even video games for rent. Some of the larger libraries I've been too will even have older tech available, with means to use it, like VHS or cassette tapes, or even game consoles to rent, though they're usually very particular about those, or they're only for use within the facility.

But what if you don't have the physical means to watch movies or listen to audiobooks anymore? No CD player, no DVD or bluray player? Well, apart from watching in the facility itself, most libraries will also have digital services as well that you can sign up for with your library card number. My library has services like the cloud library, allowing you to check out electronic and audio books like they were physical. You check them out, and then when the time expires, it's returned and you can check out another one without having to worry about late fees at all. We have Kanopy, a free streaming service with a focus on documentaries, foreign films, and blockbusters from a few years ago. We have the comics archive, which is full of comic books and graphic novels from all eras and countries.

But that's just stuff you can check out. Public libraries are also a great sour of news, as they often have local, regional, or national newspapers available to read, along with various periodicals and magazines too. Heck, some libraries will even host an archive (physical or digital) of back issues of local news sources or articles associated with the local area. Depending on the nature of your library, you might also be able to find a lot of genealogical information there as well. Local yearbooks, graveyard records, local histories, libraries often have that stuff available for public perusal. 

Ask about technology while you're at it, as many libraries might not necessarily have a lot of tech that you can take off premises, but there's a lot there that you can still use, whether it's computers and printers for basic web browsing and computing uses, conversion equipment to get your videos and audio off of aging formats and back them up digitally, and even programs that might help you get cheap or free devices that you might not be able to afford on your own. This is usually done in association with third parties.

If you're looking for things to do with your time off or want to learn a new skill but prefer the motivation of being taught in person or being around other people who are trying to learn the same thing as you are, or just looking to join a club or organization that enjoys a similar hobby, the library often hosts local talks, informative classes, or is just a meeting place for folks who want to have a group discussion about whatever they wish to talk about.

I'm sure I've missed a few things, as there are some differences from one library to the next, depending on who is funding it (I'm fortunate in that the town government funds my library and gives it a very generous yearly budget for basically everything, as well as a local fund that helps us equip it with whatever technology, repairs, and upgrades it needs), but most of these options are available (FOR FREE) at your local library, and even if you can't make frequent trips there, just getting a library card and using their digital services helps to keep them funded and functional, you have no idea what it means to a librarian to have new people come in and take a look around for stuff. And most library staff is more than happy to help you find what you're looking for. Even if they don't have it in the building, they'll help you find out where and how you can find it.

This concludes your local library propaganda post.

Go to your local library.

[jeannereames]

Hello, I hope you're well :D I have some questions related to Olympias.

Was she "de facto leader of Macedonia" as it says on wikipedia? She was also regent for her cousin Eacides, and for a few months also regent on behalf of Alexander IV?

I’ve actually written a fair number of entries on Olympias. But in most, I refer to THE leading authority on her life: Elizabeth D. Carney. The number of articles (and books) this woman has written is a just a little scary!

If you are interested in Olympias, ignore everything on the internet (even me) and go and buy Beth’s book: Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great. It’s been out a while, so you can probably find it used at a fair price, or find it in a library, especially a university library. If you can’t find it or afford to buy it, ask the library to get it for you via “interlibrary loan.”

Bonus. She’s easy to read, has a very good narrative style (imo). And yes, when she gives lectures, she talks just like she writes. Ha. (Not all authors do.) When I’m reading Beth’s stuff, I can almost always “hear” her voice in my head, amusingly.

Anyway, just start there; she will answer every question you have, and some you never would have thought of. Very rarely can I give such a singular “Go read this” suggestion as with Beth’s book on Olympias. She has several other good ones, including on Macedonian women generally, and on Eurydike, Philip II’s mother (e.g., ATG’s grandmother).

Now, as for my own posts on Olympias, here are some. I mention her quite frequently (as a search of “asks” + “Olympias” will show), but these are some of the longer ones.

Olympias’s role in Macedonia was complicated, and she was not de facto leader except in some respects, especially as it involved religion. When it came to war, and politics, that was Antipatros. That may be one reason Olympias eventually retreated to Epiros later in Alexander’s campaign, where she had more influence. But again, Beth’s book is much better about explaining all of that.

How Old Was Olympias When She Married Philip? A general post on Olympias herself and her background, that should help contextualize where she came from and what expectations she may have had, for her role as Philip’s 4th or 5th wife.

Olympias’s Relationships with Philip’s Other Wives. This discusses dynamics in a polygamous household like Macedonia.

Did Philip and Alexander of Epiros Have an Affair? While this is more about Olympias’s younger brother, it addresses, again, family dynamics in Epiros and Olympias’s role at the court (both courts).

Finally, a pair of posts on Philip’s murder, and Alexander and Olympias’s (non-)role in it. IMO.

Who Killed Philip of Macedon?

Did Alexander and Hephaistion (and Olympias) Know about the Plot?

Hope all this helps!

[absolutely-xantastic]

I work in an academic library and sometimes the university stance (you must buy your textbooks) and the library stance (don’t pay for anything ever) are not in communication with each other, which can be very confusing. If you are in college PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to your library!

Library staff (reference in particular) are literally there to help you find resources! Academic databases and websites do not function like google - there is not an underlying learning algorithm that can guess what you want. Academic research is not intuitive - it’s a SKILL that you can learn and library reference staff already have those skills and we WANT to help you get the resources and info you need. Many libraries offer some sort of an ask a librarian service - email and/or live chat (with a real person!) that you CAN and SHOULD use if you are having trouble accessing or finding resources. I PROMISE YOU - no one will laugh or shame you for not knowing how to navigate archaic academic resources. Library database and article access is a complicated beast and you’d be amazed at how many FACULTY don’t know how to properly use the library or are fully aware of what the library can get if you just ask. And the faculty often assume that students have a MUCH HIGHER baseline of what students know how to do with regards to research, and that knowledge gap is only getting bigger (looking at you AI) so PLEASE do not feel bad if you are struggling at research and do not be afraid to ASK FOR HELP.

Even if you think you checked the library website and can’t find access, ask someone. Milage will vary depending on the size of your school but there may be multiple ways to access a single article and odds are you aren’t going to know to check all of them but staff will. And if you truly don’t have access, ask about interlibrary loan. You can request articles as well as physical materials and often those request get filled quickly and at no extra cost to you.

Also - if your professor is requesting specific books for class, ask them about putting a copy on course reserve. A lot of folks don’t know about reserves (faculty included) but academic libraries will put copies of course texts on course reserve, meaning that those books are specifically on hold for use by a class at the instructors request. Reserves often cannot be checked out for very long (ie a few hours) but that is by design - so that if folks for whatever reason cannot get access to a book on their own, there is a library copy that should be more available to them. It’s not a perfect system, and there may be a fight to get the one copy but it’s an attempt to make course materials more equitably accessible (rather than having one library copy of a required text that someone checks out and hogs for the whole semester).

TL;DR - I work in an academic library and staff WANT TO HELP YOU FIND RESOURCES. People don’t know the true extent of how libraries (particularly academic ones) will go above and beyond to ensure you have access to things you need. Dont get discouraged if you can’t access things, no one expects you to know how to do it so ALWAYS ALWAYS ask library staff. I promise we want to help you. It’s literally what we’re here for.

(Not to mention that using library services is the most effective way to ensure that the library can keep providing access and services - we rely a lot on usage statistics so the more you ask for help, the better we can be at actually helping)

Beware!

[how-to-portuguese]

Are there any children books in portuguese you will recommend for beginners to read? Thanks

So many people recommend reading children books to learn a new language! Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right approach for me. I got really bored with the very basic books, but the more interesting books for older children were just too advanced. I chose a slightly different strategy. I picked a book I liked and knew REALLY well, and I tried to read that book. For me, this was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

That way, I would more or less know everything that was going on, even if I didn’t know all the words. This made it easier for me to guess the meaning of words by the context, and then I didn’t have to constantly look up new words. It may sound weird, but I actually recommend that you don’t look up a word or sentence unless you really have no idea what the sentence means. Don’t get stuck on every detail. Just power through. You’ll quickly identify words that are used a lot, and they will stick with you.

At the time I did this, there was this guy who was personally creating a European Portuguese version of the audiobooks (officially they only offer Brazilian Portuguese, but the pronunciation and some of the content differ between the EP and BP versions). He posted each chapter as a separate video on YouTube, so I could listen to a chapter and follow along in the text. This was really helpful to learn how to link the written word to the spoken sounds, even if I didn’t know the meaning of the words.

That being said, I know some people prefer to start with basic children books and slowly progress. While I can’t give examples of specific books, I can provide recommendations on where to find them. You can find books at various levels at Bertrand, Almedina, Porto Editora, FNAC, and Wook. If you don’t want to buy books, you can always use these website to browse and then see if you can find a copy on Library Genesis. You might also be able to get some kind of interlibrary loan or borrow an eBook through your local library.

My husband was a really big fan of the Ducktales comic books when he was a kid. I think this was called “Patoaventuras” in Portugal. Maybe some of my followers or even some native Portuguese have some recommendations on their favourite books?

[recurring-polynya]

today i randomly watched the live action bleach movie. bleach was my first thing i was into like 10 years ago and well that was 10 years ago but now i am reading some posts to catch up (this is how i got to this blog) so i was wondering... is there anything, big or small, canon or fandom thing that is a must to know lately? :D l

Hey, welcome! The live-action Bleach movie is not, like, a masterpiece by any means, but what it does have going for it is a love of the source material, and I can definitely see it reigniting an old interest.

Hkrnnngh, what is there to know? Well, it's kind of an exciting time to be a Bleach fan, actually?

The manga finished in 2016. The ending was a little rushed (Kubo was having health issues and it was dropping in popularity), but it did end conclusively.

There are a number of light novels, including two that take place post-canon. Can't Fear Your Own World, which takes place 6mo post-canon, has a ton of lore and tells the story of Hisagi getting bankai. We Do (Knot) Always Love You is 3 years post canon and is (nominally) about Rukia and Renji's wedding but it keeps going off on these weird tangents about werewolf puppies or the Soul Society Interlibrary Loan System. Some people really enjoy these, but they are not required reading. You can buy Viz translations of CFYOW. I think WDKALY is harder to find, but there is a nice fan translation here by @missstormcaller. She translated part of CFYOW, too, but I think it was only the first few chapters. (I have not read CFYOW and am not the best person to ask about it). There are older light novels, too, I particularly like Honey Dish Rhapsody.

There's a mobile gatcha game called Bleach Brave Souls, which causes pain and anguish in all who play it. It often has very cool AU-style character designs and cute, character-driven storylines. It is very possible to enjoy BBS content without ever actually playing BBS. I strongly recommend this course of action. I have personally forbidden myself from playing BBS. There are numerous other Bleach games and I do not know anyone who plays them.

Kubo did a new short series called Burn the Witch, which was subsequently animated. It's hinted that it takes place in the same universe as Bleach, but in England/Reverse London instead of Japan/Soul Society. It is supposed to be continued, but there hasn't been much news lately (there are a lot of issues in the anime industry right now because of the pandemic and other labor concerns)

There was a new manga one-shot, No Breaths from Hell, that came out in August. We all thought it was going to be some li'l Shinigami's Cup, slice-of-life type thing, and then it turned out to be (what looks like) a set up for a new, post-epilogue arc. Kubo has cheekily denied that there will be more, but he also put out new designs for all the captains and lieutenants and designed two new lieutenants, so most people are pretty sure that was a joke. The one shot been on-and-off available on Viz's website.

There was a big Bleach Expo in Japan in December. Kubo made a ton of new drawings and there was new merch and it looked like a fun time!

They announced a while ago that the final arc of the manga, the Thousand Year Blood War was going to be animated. There was a superstage at December's Jump Festa where they announced it would be coming out in October of 2022, and released a trailer.

I am not that up on things like DVDs and manga releases, but it seems like Viz is always dropping new editions of stuff, including Blu-Rays of the original series.

Fandom stuff!

The Bleach fandom is not really what I would call coherent. There are a lot of subfractions that do not get along with each other, so wherever you go, it is important to curate your experience. I find Tumblr a pretty nice place to be, and its tagging function works very well for seeing only what you want, but it's also pretty quiet here. Twitter is much more active, but someone has an absolute ice cold take about every thirty seconds, and people will say extremely mean stuff, and Twitter's algorithm will actively show you stuff you hate to incite drama, so block liberally, it's nicer for everyone actually! If you're interested in more of the industry news, you should probably be on Twitter, but it does filter over here eventually.

Mostly, people tend to cluster around particular characters/groups of characters/ships and make friends that way. Some groups have more private Discord servers or group chats. It's a pretty quiet fandom overall, so sometimes you get bizarre alliances between devotees of various characters/ships. People always talk about how vitriolic shippers are, but I avoid getting dragged into debates and no one has ever tried to start shit with me (knock on wood).

There are a lot of incredibly talented fanartists, but people are also very welcoming to newbie artists. I don't feel like fanfic is as big a part as the fandom (like there are a lot fewer writers, and a lot of people don't read it at all), but there is some incredibly good fanfic out there, and new fanficcers are always welcome.

I hope that helps! It's a bit of a dead (lol) fandom at the moment, but it has been a pleasant and reliable source of serotonin my life for the last three years, and with the anime coming back, I am optimistic that it may pick up in the next year. If you would like any more specific recommendations, let me know what sort of stuff you're interested in and I'll do my best!

[bookshelf-in-progress]

The Christmas Card Caper: Part 1

Well, this is embarrassing.

After arranging the Inklings Christmas Challenge and fiddling with at least four different story ideas for the past two months, it looks like I’m not going to have anything ready in time for the deadline. I guess I was right in saying that Christmastime was a difficult time to get writing done--between holiday stuff and work, by the time I had time to sit down for writing, the Christmassy atmosphere I so desperately wanted to have in the story was hard to capture.

Even though I couldn’t pull a story together, I have managed to do some Christmas reading. I love Christmas mysteries, and I’m always on the hunt for more stories within the very specific subgenre of “mysteries where Christmas traditions are used to hide stolen jewels”. I’m pleased to report that I found another one! And it’s in the public domain! Since I can’t post anything of my own, I figured I may as well provide something Christmas-y for people to read. And, you know, I make up the rules, so I can do what I want.

“The Christmas Card Caper” by Glorya M. Hayers is a short story from her long-running Alfred Quicke series. While her work has nowhere near the acclaim of L.D. Melbray’s Morrick Hopeley stories, she still stands as a key writer of Coregean “Golden Age” mysteries, and while this is far from her best work, I think this story is a pretty decent example of her style. It mixes mystery and comedy in one twisty, madcap conundrum that needs to be unraveled by the idle-rich amateur detective, Mr. Quicke. Since it’s a longish story, I’ll be posting it in several parts, but I wanted to get at least one section transcribed and posted before the deadline.

Many thanks to the incomparable @isfjmel-phleg, who arranged the interlibrary loan that finally brought this story into my hands after a long and fruitless search. (And thanks to you guys for not mocking me for my failure to complete my own writing challenge).

The Christmas Card Caper

Lady Norina Quicke’s Loriston townhome was always the picture of a respectable Coregean Christmas. The tree dripped with ornaments, the banisters and doorways groaned under greenery, and her children came home on Christmas Eve to enjoy the festivities with her. Alfred Quicke had obeyed the yearly summons, but instead of enjoying the season’s comforts, he was crouched beside the Christmas tree, engaged in one of the most difficult battles of his life.

The battleground made for a fascinating, if not a purely traditional, Christmastime tableau. Young Alfred Quicke, lean and knobby, with ears protruding outward beneath a pile of carefully-groomed brown hair, and eyes that seemed just a touch too sharp for a rather vacant-looking face, wrestled with a white box from Tremble’s department store and a selection of now-rather-crumpled red paper and white ribbon that both seemed opposed on a spiritual level to serving as coverings for the box.

Lesser men would have abandoned the fight hours ago, but Alfred Quicke was never one to accept defeat. This confounded package would be wrapped by Christmas Day. Paper and string were beastly difficult to maneuver, but at last Quicke wrestled a good measure of both into submission. The paper was mostly around the box, held in place by a length of ribbon secured, for the moment, by his finger resting upon a crucial junction. He needed only the final knot to hold everything in place.

As Quicke prepared for his final maneuver, a pale-haired young man strode into the parlor.

“Still at it, Quicke?”

Quicke’s iron concentration faltered. His finger slipped, the ribbon went slack, and the package fell into slovenly deshabille.

Mr. Quicke’s hands made a similar mess of his hair while his eyes stared daggers at the intruder. “You’ve ruined me, Brem! A morning’s worth of work, gone, because you have no sense of decency. I’ll bet you run past golf games and shout mid-swing. Invade medical theatres and startle scalpel-holding surgeons. Head to Rhosemore and--”

Mr. Quicke did not explain what manner of mischief Mr. Sloe could cause at the royal palace, because the offender, immune to Mr. Quicke’s long speeches, stretched himself across a sofa and asked, “Why didn’t you get it wrapped at the store? They have entire counters of girls there who’ll wrap it up for a handful of narries.”

Mr. Quicke’s eyes brightened and his color rose. “It’s about the experience, Brem! May as well ask why I don’t pay someone to eat Christmas dinner for me, or to travel ‘round the world in my place. You don’t experience life by paying other people to do things for you.”

“No, but you do miss out on a lot of life when you spend half of Christmas Eve wrapping paper around a parcel.”

Quicke hefted himself to his feet and looked upon his friend with feigned exasperation. “What else am I supposed to do, I ask? I invite you for Christmas because I can’t bear to think of you vegetating in the club ‘til Twelfth Night, only for you to spend all your time following my sister ‘round like a puppy.”

Mr. Bremmigan Sloe grinned. “She’s a wonderful woman, Quicke.”

“Glad you think so,” Quicke said. “I can’t see the appeal myself, but judging by the number of times you’ve taken her to dinner in the past six months, you must take some pleasure in her company.”

Sloe’s smile softened like candy left in the sun. “She’s one-of-a-kind. The only woman for me.”

Mr. Quicke examined Mr. Sloe. “I could do worse for a brother-in-law,” he conceded, “but I suggest you wait until after the holiday before making any definite plans.”

Brem went white. “What do you mean? Does Dot expect...?”

“Dot expects nothing. Like the butterfly, she floats aimlessly through the day, taking each moment as it comes. I’m merely issuing a friendly warning for caution. You may change your mind about Dot when you see the creature she becomes when consumed by the frenzy of charades.”

“Charades?” cried a female voice from the hall without. The woman who came after it was the one-of-a-kind girl herself—Dotsella Quicke, in all her five feet and two inches of golden-haired glory. Brem was far from the first man to fall for the youngest Quicke’s delicate elfin features, but he was the only one Dot had permitted to remain in attendance on her so long—and the only one who’d lasted long enough to see Dot at Christmastime.

“Charades,” Dot said, “is a cracking game, and you’d better not try to cry off like last year…”

Miss Quicke’s tirade trailed off as her gaze slid from her brother and toward the mess of paper he had left near the base of the Christmas tree.

“What’s this?” She knelt next to the uncooperative package. “Alfie, is this yours?”

“It’ll be mater’s, soon as it’s wrapped.”

“If we leave that up to you, it’ll be an Easter present.”

Such disdain, coming from a younger sister, would have been too much for any older brother to endure. But before he could object, Dot began gathering the loose ends of paper and ribbon.

“Don’t bother. I’ll finish,” Quicke said.

“I’ll have it done in a flash,” Dot replied. “I’ve spent veritable weeks wrapping gifts for the Duchess’ orphans.”

Perhaps she had—the Christmas party for the orphanage had dominated Dot’s time since November—but it didn’t give her the right to wrap the present so easily. Where was the struggle? The hard-fought victory?

Mr. Quicke objected, “I was nearly finished.”

A roll of the eyes showed Miss Quicke’s opinion of his claim as she tied the final knot in place. She placed the package under the tree and said, “And now you are finished.”

“It’s the experience, Dot. You’ve deprived me of the satisfaction--”

“I’ve saved you from embarrassment--”

“--of gaining a worthwhile skill--”

“Mother would have disowned you for such a gift--”

“Now I’ll never know if I could have--”

 “Children!” scolded a female voice.

The siblings, who had forgotten they had even Mr. Sloe—watching in rather terrified awe—as a spectator, fell silent as they realized they’d gained a second. Lady Norina Quicke stood behind Brem’s sofa, stiff and stern.

“Such bickering! At Christmas! I thought you outgrew such things long ago.”

Mr. Quicke smoothed his hair and stepped forward. “A mild misunderstanding, Mother.”

“I hope that shall be the end of it. There are much better things to do at Christmastime.” Lady Norina lifted her hand which held a stack of letters. “The post just arrived. These are addressed to Dotsella.”

With a gasp of joy, Dot took the letters from Mother and settled on the sofa to open them. Brem, producing a letter-opener, slit the envelopes, and Mother watched while Dot squealed over the contents.

“From Aunt Embella! She’s still in Faysmond!”

“Taysie Noreck! I haven’t seen her since we were in school!”

Alfred Quicke, uninterested in the communications between old schoolfriends, occupied himself with the mystery of the wrapped present. How had Dot done it? So far as he could tell, his youngest sister possessed supernatural power over paper and string—the construct defied the laws of physics.

His investigation, which could have lasted until Christmas morning, ended when he heard Brem tell Dot, “Last one.”

Quicke looked up as Dot took the card. Even from the outside, he could tell it was no ordinary two-narry greeting card. The envelope was deep green, of thick and expensive paper; the direction, though water-stained, was written in white ink. Quicke, curious, joined his mother behind the sofa to observe the opening.

The card, when Dot removed it, showed a picture of a door, decorated with Christmas wreaths and garlands. The interior of the card showed a Christmastime parlor scene. Cutout images of three smiling children, dressed in the style of Queen Edella’s day, stood upright when Dot held the card open. Between them, a Christmas tree adorned with painted candles and ornaments, unfurled itself, and beneath the tree, instead of toys or presents, there sat a single golden ring.

The ring was no paper construct—it was real and whole and shining gold, and bore an enormous deep-green, oval-cut stone surrounded by brilliant diamonds. A thread tied it to the strip of paper that formed the trunk of the tree.

Dot gasped when she saw it. She gazed dreamily at the man sitting next to her. “Oh, Brem!” She snapped the thread, plucked the ring from beneath the tree, and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly.

“Oh, Brem!” Dot cried again. The card fluttered to her lap as she threw her arms around Sloe’s neck. “Yes! Yes! Of course I’ll marry you!”

Brem seemed stunned by Dot’s exuberant reaction, but he returned the embrace, accepted Quicke’s congratulating handshake, and endured the admonitions of Lady Norina, who found these newfangled surprise engagements a lot of fluff and nonsense.

Drawn by Dot’s screams of joy, it wasn’t long before every member of the family—Father and the other siblings, a handful of aunts, nieces and nephews, and even a good portion of the servants—had gathered around to admire the ring and share in Dot’s good news.

“It’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen,” Dot kept saying. “A Christmas proposal! I couldn’t have asked for better!”

Brem—who had been the only child of a reclusive man—seemed overwhelmed by the chaotic convocation of the entire Quicke clan. He was white as a sheet, and could barely stammer replies to the congratulations thrown his way.

When the furor began to calm, Sloe slipped out from the crowd and gestured to Quicke. Quicke, bemused, followed him into a hallway that seemed a silent sanctuary after the noise of the parlor.

Brem was frantic as he faced his friend. “Quicke, you have to help me.”

“Gladly,” Quicke said. “I’d be honored to stand as best man.”

Sloe threw his face over his hands and groaned. “Don’t say that.”

Quicke was offended. He thought of Bremmigan Sloe as one of his closest friends, and as brother of the bride, he had double-right to the role. He hadn’t thought Brem so devoid of feeling. “Naturally, if you’d prefer someone else--”

Sloe seized Quicke’s hand in desperation. “Quicke, listen to me! I didn’t send her that ring!”

There were jokes, and then there was insanity. Quicke suspected the latter. “Don’t be coy. Who else could have sent it?”

“I don’t know! Not me!”

This required new calculations. “You didn’t propose to my sister?”

“Not on purpose!”

“Then who sent the ring?”

“I wish I knew. I’d wring his neck. Going after my girl and putting me through... this. It’s inhuman.”

“The card wasn’t signed?”

“Not a mark on it. And no return address.”

Brem handed card and envelope, both forgotten in the hubbub over the ring, to Mr. Quicke. The only marking on the card was the printed message, “Best wishes to a Christmas angel.” That seemed romantic, but then why was there no signature to take credit for the gift?

The envelope showed no direction indicating where the card had originated. The only writing showed the address of the Quicke home, and even that was smeared where it apparently had been showered with snow.

Who could benefit by sending a gift in such a manner? An ordinary gift-giver would have signed the card. A rival suitor—even one hoping to play the secret admirer—would have signed to prevent this confusion. Somehow, this ring had come into Dot’s hands, but the question was, why?

“What am I going to do, Quicke? I’m not ready for marriage. I’m still living in the rooms at the club. I’ll need a house, a staff, and I was hoping to wait for that money I have coming from Uncle Andras--”

Mr. Quicke found such worries a secondary concern. His attention was still on the card and envelope. Where had they come from? There must be some clue, some way to track...

With a cry of victory, Quicke pointed at the top right corner of the envelope. “There’s the answer!”

This startled Brem into silence. “What?” He peered anxiously at the envelope. “Where? Who sent it?”

“Someone in the nobility,” Quicke said. “Or with noble connections. There’s no stamp. This letter’s been franked.”

Brem examined the scribble of ink. “By whom? I can’t make head or tail of it.”

“Someone can,” Quicke said, “or the post office wouldn’t have sent it.” Quicke’s finger shifted slightly to indicate the postmark. “This post office, right here in Loriston. Someone there must be able to identify it. We track down the house this card came from, and we’re that much closer to finding the man who sent it.”

For the first time since the ring appeared, Sloe appeared as though he wasn’t in immediate danger of apoplexy. “Quicke, do you really think you could find it?”

“I shall brave the cold streets of Loriston for your sake. I can go to the post office this minute.”

“Oh, capital! Off we go! Where’s my coat?”

Quicke gave him a sharp glance. “The betrothed slipping away from his beloved on the day of joy? That won’t do. You stay here and keep Dot happy. Enjoy Christmas Eve.”

“Enjoy? Enjoy?”

“You have my word that the mystery will be solved by Christmas Day.” Quicke started toward his rooms, already planning his investigation. “In the meantime, try to convince Dot of the benefits of a long engagement.”

[courtesansjewelbox]

Ok but also some of us who do check books in and out also went to school (for a library technician diploma). It’s not always the case. I think some public libraries don’t require it but at our college library, we do that on top of other duties.

The librarians at our college library deal with research and citation questions, information literacy classes, collections management/weeding decisions and metadata. Plus administrative things like decisions about our operating budgets, staffing issues, etc. They deal with outreach and building relationships with other departments, faculty or even community partners.

We library techs do the nitty gritty cataloguing, acquisitions, circulation. Some of us mark the info literacy assignments, deal with booking classes or equipment, deal with overdues, update webpages, do document delivery/interlibrary loans, create posters for marketing purposes, etc. We troubleshoot printing and wifi and other equipment issues as best as we can. Some also create training materials like videos, websites, procedure documents, etc. We note down statistics and gather information, test out software and give input on policy decisions. And we deal with invoices and expense claims and financial transactions at the counter.

If I am being honest, can I do what I do without having gone to school for it? Maybe, since I am already computer literate and I learned most of it on the job. (Except if you do cataloguing. That one is a bit tricky to get into cold.) But the diploma also helped me gain good references from my practicum as well as an overview for the workflow of a library and an entry point into the jargon. And having to do some reseach papers for classes helped me help students doing the same. It was a very practical education and I never regretted it.

[mistchievous]

I see so many posts about how to access academic journal articles and whatnot that are behind paywalls, and if you're in America at least, I honestly can't stress how much you should just get a library card.

Perks?

It's free.

Check out all the books!

They don't have the book you need? They can get it from another library system! Interlibrary Loan is your friend!

Check out DVDs and whatnot as well!

Sounds too old school, you say? What about those articles, you ask? Netflix exists, you say?

There's also The Digital Library.

Ooo!! Ahh!!

Guess what! Your library card often gives you access to dozens if not hundreds of online databases! Including major databases such as EBSCO! Which -- you guessed it! Is a giant archive with almost every research journal you can think of! And that's not all it has either!

There are lawyers who pay through the nose for access to the Westlaw database. Literally thousands of dollars per year. With my library card? Free.

Different library systems have contracts with different databases. So there's no guarantee you'll have the exact same databases no matter where you are, but you should see what's available. And check surrounding systems too! You don't always have to live in an area to get a card. We can literally get a form filled out at our library and get cards in a dozen surrounding counties/boroughs/parishes.

Woo!! More free stuff!!

And The Digital Library isn't just research you know! There's Overdrive/Libby. Check out e-books for free with your card! Check out audiobooks online for free! Check out movies to stream for free!

Online databases like Hoopla are basically a streaming service you get for free with your library card.

For the love of God, go to your library's website and dig around. See just how much they offer. I am barely scraping the surface right now, okay?

Get a god damn library card.

[teal-deer]

Abarat -- Absolute Midnight (spoilers)

ok hello fellow uh... 5? fans? of abarat? on tumblr, I got the interlibrary loan of Absolute Midnight WITH ILLUSTRATIONS and I finished it and here’s some thoughts These will sound like whining or like I hated it, but I actually did enjoy it, I just also have Some Problems and I wanna rant.

1) who the fuck is Gazza? Gazz? Whatever his name is? I hate him. What the fuck is the point of this character? He feels randomly shoehorned in just to give Candy ANOTHER goddamn love interest and I’m like MALINGO IS RIGHT THERE? WHY ARE YOU DOING THE YA LOVE TRIANGLE THING? And unlike Malingo (or arguably Letheo who I felt was going that way in book 2, or Chris Carrion or Finnegan Hob who I felt Barker was going with until he remembered that they’re each a minimum of 16 years older than Candy and then went WHOOPS), I literally have NO IDEA what Gazza looks like, I don’t think he gets a single illustration. He comes out of nowhere, he oscillates wildly between “huge asshole” and “infatuated with Candy,” the ONLY thing I can remember about him is that he was  fisherman, I guess. He has no development, and Candy just... instantly falls in love with him despite having one (1) conversation with him which began with him trying to stab her. And I confess -- I’m an asexual grey-romantic 34 year old, so yeah, romance is always confusing to me, but this one realllly strains credibility. And I’m kind of feeling justified because I haven’t seen a single fanart of this guy, ever, and I’ve seen fanart of *all kinds* of minor characters.

And like I’m not normally a shipper. But holy jeez. Malingo: a truly wonderful person who clearly loves candy and is also very attractive, who had instant chemistry with Candy when they met and a very well developed backstory who has been around for 3 books, who smells like pumpkin spice and looks like a friendly joyful jack-o-lantern... and then HELLO SUDDENLY A RANDOM ASSHOLE who we don’t even know what he looks like.

I’m just. I’m upset about this! What the hell, Barker, why did you feel the need to shoehorn in a Typical YA Love Interest? (Possibly, I missed something? Some part where he got character development or a backstory beyond “random fisherman”? Is he secretly the Commexo Kid or something? the small child that gets killed to show how evil Mater Motley is had more character development than this dude). I kept kind of hoping that she’d have her love at first sight crush and he’d then get killed just to prove Carrion’s point about loving and losing because he was *so* annoying but no, he’s just still there at the end, whining about everything, negging Candy, and generally just being arbitrary.

2) As usual for Abarat Barker suffers from Too Much Stuff Happening Gotta Get It All Out ASAP so nobody gets to rest and we just careen as fast as possible from Thing to Thing AAAAAAAAAAAAAAa but that’s okay because it’s mostly pretty cool & interesting

3) Boa Is Evil. I’ve seen some people complain that this wasn’t foreshadowed well and it came out of left field, but... having just re-read the other two... I do think Barker didn’t foreshadow it very well and he could have done a lot more, annnd I think he hadn’t quite started down that line of thinking until Days of Magic: Nights of War, B U T, I will say that there were weird mysteries about Boa we didn’t know of from the first time we learned of her, and I’d always gotten the feeling that a) Christopher wasn’t just a spurned entitled man, that something else was going on there and b) there had to be more to Boa than just Pretty Sparkle Perfectly Good Princess Embodiment of All Goodness (TM). I do think she gets wayyy too far into Cartoonishly Evil though, like, she went from Perfect Princess to Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain, and I can’t tell if this is just Clive kinda writing badly, or if there was a “real” Boa who was somewhere between and that removing her more just removed the “bad” parts and everything else was absorbed into Candy. Or something. You know it’s bad when Mater Motley is the more nuanced villain here... Also, the Fantamoya have some SPLAININ to do as to why they saved this bitch in the first place, with the power they have they HAD to have known she was Like That, but also had to have had some other reason for doing so. I feel like they did more to Candy than just put Boa there...

4) The illustrations in this one are a lot more foreboding and a lot more abstract. And I get it, this is the darkest of the three books, but at the same time it’s at the expense of things like... well, what the hell does Gazza even look like (is that even his name, I can’t remember, I had to return the book to the library). At this point, I wish Clive would do a Dramatis Personae thing, sort of like the Almanac he did in Book 1, because there’s A LOT of characters now and I’m starting to lose track.

5) If you’re gonna give Chris Carrion a redemption arc -- and I am HERE for it -- he’s gotta start doing good acts. Starting with going up against his grandma and against Boa. But I *am* here for the possibility -- I actually thought he was a nuanced character in Book 1 even, and I normally hate dudes who go “she broke up with me so I’m now gonna be eeeevil” but hey! turns out it was way more complicated than that and he was actually justified in trying to assassinate her.

6) Did Letheo die in book 2? I actually can’t remember o_O

7) That’s a HELL of a cliffhanger to end on, wow! I wonder, also, if the Abarat is a kind of inverted torus of a sort, like... a multi-dimensional shape, so at the edges the water still appears to fall down, but there’s really two sides to the “plate” (the other side being wherever Candy, Malingo, and That Guy just ended up), with the Twenty-Fifth being a column in the middle that connects both; possibly where the Izabella “comes back” from falling off the edge.

8) That Glyph at the end was super dope

9) How many world-ending cosmic horror factions can one universe hold anyway!? Jeeeeez

10) I’m really glad I got spoilered for Malingo surviving because I might have just given up there what with What’s His Name coming on the scene and then Malingo apparently getting fridged. Also, his head flapping around is really funny. I wonder how long it’ll take him to grow a new body? Also I am amused by Geshrat giving birth to flappy severed heads, apparently, but also like “that’s probably less trouble than giving birth to a whole baby actually if the head is baby sized”

ok rambling rant over