#currentlyreading

[torpublishinggroup]

Hello everyone and happy January 31!! It’s the most special of days–a birthday! Specifically the fantastical @olivieblake’s birthday. HAPPY HAPPY DAY, OLIVIE!!! 🥳🎂🎉

For such a special day, we have to have a special celebration to match, so we’re giving YOU the first look at the stunning interior art of #GiftedandTalented, created by the incredible @polartss! Take a look now and don’t forget to pre-order Gifted & Talented, on sale 4/1!

[dearlyjess]

will always treasure mornings like these

[paperbacksunday]

The journal is a product of my disease, perhaps an accentuation and exaggeration of it. I speak of relief when I write; perhaps, but it is also an engraving of pain, a tattooing of myself.

— Anaïs Nin, Henry and June: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin

[cassiesbookishcorner]

[sophilozophy]

I'm currently reading The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli and flying through it. The pacing is great and the story really engaging. I wouldn’t be surprised if I finished it tonight–tomorrow at the latest.

[litallday]

“At ten years old he realized that people were born whole, and that the bad things peeled layers from the person you once were, thinning compassion and empathy and the ability to construct a future. At thirteen he knew those layers could sometimes be rebuilt when people loved you. When you loved.”

— All the Colors of the Dark: A Read with Jenna Pick by Chris Whitaker

[thebookkolektiv]

The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort — Book Review

As I read The Wolf of Wall Street, one recurring question kept flashing through my mind: what would I do if I had the same jaw-dropping wealth as Jordan Belfort? How could I possibly spend that kind of money? I imagine I’d indulge in simpler pleasures—buying more books, expanding my vinyl collection, maybe traveling to Switzerland, though for reasons far less dubious than opening a bank account for laundering. And sure, I’d probably splurge on the occasional fancy dinner, but at $20,000 a plate, I’d expect nothing less than a divine culinary experience.

It’s hard to wrap my mind around the life Belfort describes. It’s a life so absurdly excessive that it seems almost too outrageous to be true. Half of his story is wildly hilarious, filled with the kind of antics that could only come from someone with more money than sense. The other half is just pure insanity, where the boundaries of excess are stretched beyond comprehension. From lavish parties to drug-fueled escapades, his world is an unrelenting carousel of excess and absurdity.

But as entertaining as some of the chaos is, the last few chapters were a real slog for me. By the end, Belfort’s increasingly reckless behavior, driven largely by his crippling drug addiction, becomes harder to stomach. It’s not just the drugs that make his actions so frustrating—it’s the choices that led him there. The casual, conscious decisions to chase power and wealth at the expense of everything else. What becomes clear in his story is that nothing corrupts quite like money and power. They warp our sense of right and wrong, often so subtly that we don’t even notice until we’re lost in the moral abyss.

I like to think that, given the same opportunities and mountains of cash, I’d make better decisions—use the wealth to help those around me, to make the world a little brighter. But honestly, who’s to say? None of us truly knows how we’d react when faced with such intoxicating levels of power and excess. And besides, when your fortune is built on fraud and deception, it kind of negates the idea of “good intentions�� anyway.

What I do respect, however, is Belfort’s willingness to tell his story with brutal honesty. It takes a certain amount of courage to lay bare your own addiction, your worst impulses, and the sheer madness of it all. His account offers an unflinching glimpse into the life of the obscenely rich, a life filled with unimaginable highs and equally devastating lows. It’s a cautionary tale, and if nothing else, it proves that wealth and power, without restraint or integrity, can lead you to the edge of your own destruction.

[themelodyofspring]

I have bad dreams too. But then I remember I’m awake and that the bad dreams can’t follow me when I’m awake. And then I feel better.

Wolfsong, TJ Klune

[peterrsthomas]

Book Review: Caraway of the Sea

Caraway Auclair has devoted herself to protecting her brother, serving as the ship’s first mate and enforcer. Sacrificing nearly all she is to ensure that he becomes the most fearsome pirate Captain to ever sail the Carnelian Sea. She realizes too late, that the seas have only grown darker, and the waves more fearsome, they threaten to pull her under completely and mold her into something akin to a nightmare.

Caraway of the Sea, a new novel by Madeline Burget, is a new entry to the pirate fantasy/romance space. Billed as a ‘grim cozy pirate tale’, it promises slow-burn romance and lots of paranoia.

And boy does it deliver.

Caraway, our titular main character, is a young woman in a man’s world. Here, though she did hide herself as a man in events prior to the story, hiding as a man isn’t the main focus. People accept that she is a woman. But, that does not mean she is free from danger—far from it. Indeed, she is still the subject of violence, and in particular sexual violence. This is explored in some depth.

But Caraway is herself violent, and we get the sense that this is in some part because she is a woman. To keep herself safe, she has to present herself as someone not to be messed with. And this leads to many a brutal encounter. The action sequences are, indeed, brutal, and bloodthirsty readers will find enough swordplay and gore to satisfy. 

The main focus is on Caraway’s fracturing relationship with her brother. He, as captain of their crew, is becoming increasingly paranoid and insecure, and she, as his protector, tries to prevent him from following a deadly and ruinous path. But events soon turn for the worse as she becomes the latest subject of his dark suspicions. 

The story is interspersed with flashbacks, and this mostly works well, though there is one jarring revelation (which I won’t spoil) that made me question how it could take so long for Caraway to come to her eventual realisation. On reflection, it does speak to the nature of gaslighting and abuse in a fundamental way, and made me reevaluate Caraway as something of an unreliable narrator—she is slow to understand what becomes plain to the reader, and we watch her come around.

My one gripe is the overuse of Caraway recalling memories of things recently passed that the reader was not privy to. The emotional weight of such moments is underwhelming if we weren’t witness to the initial occurrence. This happens more at the start, and is in no way disruptive, but it is just one of those things that didn’t work for me. Perhaps things could have been sequenced differently, or some scenes added in place of others, that would have provided more coherence here.

Above all, the slow burn romance is done well. Enzo, the strong and handsome love interest, is a compelling counterpoint to Caraway, and his affection for her grows even as she is slow to understand her feelings towards him. We can empathise with her reluctance while still rooting for them—even if Enzo isn’t always trustworthy.

In all, this book is definitely a worthy contribution to the genre. And, it is the first in a series—I will be interested to see where Caraway adventures next…

[bookspinesandspectacles]

✧ 28.07.23 ✧

☕️ Currently Reading: A Dark Inheritance by H.F. Askwith

was meant to be doing my online lectures but went for a macca's breakfast run after class instead because why not.

to do:

week two modules for writing the short story and managing events classes

plan event concept for assignment

[torpublishinggroup]

🌪️ The wait is finally over, Stormlight Archive fans! 🌪️

The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive is out now!

Cover Art: Michael Whelan

🌟 Don’t wait, airsick lowlander—get your copy of the hardcover, audiobook, and ebook here.

[bossladykei]

Flipping the Script (Legacy Mechanics #1) by Willow Dixon

Currently reading 📖 Book Review: definitely some flipping was had….  ***Spoilers here and there***  I didn’t know this … see this what I like .. reading books about characters from other books siblings or friends. Learning that Quinn from the Crimson Club series. Is Jesse brother, not only that Ez, Wes, and Jett. As well that Ez and Wes is Jesse friend as well. Like what? Never knew this…

[paperbacksunday]

I'm sick of my own romanticism!

— Anaïs Nin, Henry and June: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin

[cassiesbookishcorner]

looking forward to my tbr this month

•Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

•The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

•Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

•The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

•Never Bargain with the Boss by Lauren Landish

[celestarly]

🍃❤️

𝐀 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐡’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐚𝐧.” “𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬,” 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 ��𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐤. . . Character: Eva & Bash Book: The Other Side of the Mirror - The Mirrored Trilogy . . Please don’t repost. 🤍 🖤We’d love your support through follows, shares, saves, comments, and likes! 🖤 Your engagement means a lot to us! . 🌹 Art by @celestarly 🌹 Commissioned by IG @danaevyn

[chloeematthews]

Starting 2025 as I mean to go on