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justdyingslowly · 5 years ago

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1. Name justdyingslowly obviously come on

2. Nationality Australian

3. Age 22

4. Birthday nnnah dont feel like it

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign) Libra/Scorpio cusp

6. Gender wamon

7. Sexuality very very hetero

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself) androgenous

9. What do you/did you study? Psychology (focus on sexology) and art.

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have? I am disabled you think I can work ha sexologist would be awesome. When I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman but Australias always burning

11. Your birth order head first

12. How many siblings do you have? 1

13. Do you have good relations with your family? yeah dads finally out of his abusive relationship, nearing age 70 and his emotions and his sexuality are finally opening up for the first time and that makes me SO happy.

14. How many friends do you have? what kind of fucked up question is this.

15. Your relationship status relationshipped. Fiance? got the marriage papers in a drawer somewhere with the car rego but can’t be fucked filling them?

16. What do you look for in a SO? empathetic, mature, calm. Always open to discussion. Prefers to be blunt rather than secretive. Emotional age over 14 (incredibly fucking rare apparently). Puts an importance on context and understanding other views above all else.

17. Do you have a crush? Hellll yeah Crush on my partner and got a crush on a mutual friend of ours who don’t even know hes cute af hehe one day partners gonna accidentally spill the beans and embarrass me coz hes shit with secrets RIP me.

18. When did you have your first kiss? You think I can remember this bullshit? Its not that big a deal

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands? One night stand sex almost exclusively sucks. Just. SUCKS. Because neither of you know what the other likes and it ends up being an awkward mix of trying to please yourself while trying to also be considerate.

20. What are your deal breakers? Plugging your ears to anything that feels gross, uncomfortable or disagrees with you. How can you grow as a person without introspection? How can you mold what you think and believe without taking in other arguments and comparing them to your beliefs to see how they stack up? Its pathetic.

21. How was your day? cute mutual friend had a fall this morning and were both worried about him. His back is bad and he’s getting a little older, he can’t be getting dizzy and having falls like that. other than that im anxious about seeing my gastro. He’s lovely but... specialists are specialists. Good at knowing what they know but not always great at listening.

22. Favourite food & drink you think im allowed to eat or drink? water and... foods a touchy subject.

23. What position do you sleep in? Usually on my side with a body pillow to grip so I don’t end up choking my partner in his sleep.

24. What was your last dream about? uuhhh...going to italy and being unable to get into this tiny basket boat properly.

25. Your fears does PTSD to medical shit count haha

26. Your dreams ... going to italy and being unable to get into a tiny basket boat thingy?

27. Your goals - get some sort of diagnosis eventually. Its been 3 years of trying and im tired. - get back to studying art part time for my bachelors. - pass JLPT N3. - go back to university for psychology. - do the dishes when I get home.

28. Any pets? two budgies. we also take care of any orphaned or injured birds.

29. What are your hobbies? feeling nauseous drawing writing a little bit im making a little gameboy game in C atm too

30. Any cool places in your area? i live next to a national park with waterfalls and koalas and emus and stuff

31. What was your last awkward situation? mutual friend made a comment on his chest i playfully smacked it (related to the comment) it was surprisingly hard “O-oh wow, thats... I didnt expect that” my partner laughed at me. it was awful.

32. What is your last regret? getting embarrassed at friends pecs stop making me think about it 33. Language/s you can speak english. N4 Japanese.

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.) of course not what the fuck

35. Have any quirks? Quirkless. I do wiggle when im happy though apparently.

36. Your pet peeves open doors.

37. Ideal vacation spend a months chilling in an old japanese house in autumn hokkaido oooooof that sounds nice

38. Any scars? internal? yes

39. What does your last text message say? peepee poopoo ustinky

40. Last 5 things from your search history how do i find this

41. What’s your [device] background? Sam Porter Bridges walkin around Sam Porter Bridges cuddling BB-28 Louise while he sleeps my chicken

42. What do you daydream about? all might

43. Describe your dream home an old japanese house in autumn hokkaido oooooof that sounds nice

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion its a comforting thought having a parent-figure who cares about you and looks after all the big things you can’t manage yourself, but institutionalizing it runs a severe risk of becoming harmful cults. And it often does.

45. Your personality type me

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done i saw the lost bunny that was on all the posters in the neighbourhood looked thin and patchy so i grabbed him to take him home. im allergic. sent me to hospital and I almost died.

47. Are you happy with your current life? feeling sick sucks and partners having a depressive episode but things are pretty good

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life living

49. What does your wardrobe consist of? blacks, reds, whites and pinks

50. Favourite colour to wear? at the moment pink. Red is always comforting though.

51. How would you describe your style? mix between lazy alternative punk, teenager with band shirts and harajuku peach kawaii uwu

52. Are you happy with your current looks? kinda wish i was a bit shorter but what can you do

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be? bit shorter

54. Any tattoos or piercings? lol no PTSD

55. Do you get complimented often? by who? partner constantly, family haha are you kidding im australian so a friend’s version of showing affection is calling you a cunt and slapping your ass in public

56. Favourite aesthetic? all might

57. A popular trend that you dislike blocking because you disagree or find them distasteful. Ignoring all context to opposing thoughts and arguments. taking a personal feeling of disgust to mean something is evil. Blocking your ears to anything that isn’t a circlejerk of what you already think - and trying to isolate anyone who even just listens to something other then the noise of your sloppy dicks to have a thought of their own.

58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with? The Machine by Low Roar

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like. why wouldnt i admit i like a song

60. Favourite genre? probably enka haha

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? probably enka haha oh and tatsuro yamashita

62. Hated popular songs/artists? why the hell would I hate something like a song? I hate aspects of the music industry as a whole I guess?

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5 which playlist they aren’t all together in one place

64. Can you sing or play any instruments? piano, saxophone... uh... partners good at making music and playing shakuhachi

65. Do you like karaoke? no.

66. Own any albums? yes? many?

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations? no. but triple J, ABC Jazz and Classical. sometimes they even play final fantasy and JRPG music on classical which is pretty neat. -

68. Favourite movie/series? can i make this about games because then the answer is Metal Gear Solid

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc ...shounen?

70. Your fictional crush/es if they’re over 40yrs old, male and happy and bubbily or grumpy and sad then there’s a big ol fat chance I wanna bone. Solid Snake from MGS4, All Might and pretty much anyone drawn by Tarou Madoromi.

71. Which fictional character is you? uh

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so what does this even mean what language is this

73. Favourite greek god? idk hades seems chill

74. A legend from where you live that you like the story of Tjilbruke is funny and good. all Kaurna stories are good.

75. Do you like art? What’s your favourite work or artist? im in a big egon schiele mood atm.

76. Can you share your other social media? no i am incapable

77. Favourite youtubers? many

78. Favourite platform? not too high up. actually i like being a little lower than ground level in corners.

79. How much time do you spend on the internet? too much

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite? look i just want to say that MGS4 is the best one in the series and Death Stranding is phenomenally engaging.

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts) these are all so goddamn definitive how can I pick? Oh wait the answer is One Piece

82. Do you play board/card games? I play DnD atm and know 15 yr old rules to Yugioh

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema? that shit dosn’t happen here

84. Favourite holiday golden week coz its a week also easter because thats when all the glucose based sweets come back

85. Are you into dramas? what kind

86. Would you use death note, if you had one? no. thats called being a murderer.

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to? chill people out a bit. when people feel unsafe they get really depenfive and territorial and block their ears to everything, making in-and-out groups for themsevles that end up putting them in more harm.

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse? im disabled with a disabled partner. we arent funny sure we can survive normal everyday life when society is angled so sharply against us.

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be? id like to be a mimi spirit

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death? spooky time

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick? toshinori yagi

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week? anyone healthy

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo that cursed one with the intense eyes and the hand

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true im me im not me im pee

95. Cold or hot? cold.

96. Be a hero or be a villain? both are distasteful ideas in reality

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme? i can’t do either partner speak sin bad puns and its hell, these both sound about equal

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time? shapeshifting. controlling time is eithe rmanipulative or lonely. shapeshifing is every other superpower at once.

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death? both are deeply upsetting ideas

100. ….. or …..? jiji or ossan? generally Jiji, but ossans can be lovely too.

#personal #stupid

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xxdanganronpa-stuffsxx · 5 years ago

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Hey, hey! I love your blog already, and I hope to see it grow! So since Halloween is coming soon, how would the V3 boys celebrate with their s/o?

Ahhhh my first request!!!! Thank you so much I hope you like it! This one was super fun to write!!

(Also sorry if anyone read this before I edit it I straight up forgot to write kiato’s name before his section at first ;p sorry for the confusion)

-mod korekyo

Ryoma Hoshi

“Nope not happening”

“Come on ! No one will know it’s you they will all think you just my son or something!”

“I’m not going trick or treating”

“There’s free candy!”

“…..”

“Fine im in”

You bought him a mask which made him a bit more comfortable with the whole thing

The trick or treating itself was kinda awkward

You two learned pretty quickly that it was best that you did all the talking because he didn’t exactly have the most “childlike” voice

The rest of the night was actually pretty nice though

You two just cuddled up on the couch, pigged out on candy, and watched cheesy 80s slasher movies

He fell asleep with his head on your lap and you almost exploded from how cute it was

Gonta Gokuhara

“S/O lets make little costumes for all the bugs!”

You guys went all out! All the bugs had cute costumes made entirely by had

(It took 8 hours, a few hundred sticks of hot glue and a few mental breakdowns but no one needs to know about that)

You two also decided to do some Halloween themed baking

He’s a bit clumsy and batter gets EVERYWHERE but it turns out really nice

You decided to put on a horror move

BIG MISTAKE

Four minutes in and this man is a mess!

Why did you do this to him

He needs lots of cuddles now

You two end the night snuggling and watching very kid friendly Halloween movies

Over all a pretty great Halloween

Kokichi Ouma

Halloween is his favorite holiday!

It’s the perfect time to scare people, pull pranks and over all be the little rat boy he is

“S/O lets go trick or treating!”

You were a bit surprised by this but you sure weren’t gonna turn the idea down

You two actually have a lot of fun

He definitely brought a bunch of pranking supplies to prank the little kids

Later that night you go see midnight horror movie showing

“I’m totally not scared S/O!”

That’s a lie

This boy is so jumpy

About twenty minutes in he is sitting in your your lap

He’s holding on to you for dear life

After the movie is over he won’t stop shaking

“I wasn’t scared at all!”

That’s also definitely a lie

He was still afraid later that night when you two were going to sleep

“Kokichi go to sleep”

“No! I’m gonna get killed by the dream Demons!”

You basicly picked him him up and held him like a child

“What about now”

“….mhm”

“Alright now go to sleep”

“I love you S/O”

This wasn’t a lie

Korekiyo Shinguji

He loves Halloween!

He loves introducing you and your friends to old Halloween traditions

Carving pumpkins is for normies, carving turnips it is!

Halloween night you two decide to try out a good old fashion Ouija board session!

He promises it’s Probably 100% safe!

Emphasis on the “probably” part

You get together everything you need

Candles, check, ouija board, check, your terrifying/ super hot boyfriend, check

You didn’t summon any actual spirits (at least you don’t think you did)

It’s mostly likely because you two were too busy giggling the entire time

“S/O stop asking the sprits if they know joe!!!”

“Never!”

Overall it’s a pretty rad night

Kiibo

“Halloween what’s that?”

Oh boy

You have made it your goal to give this boy the craziest, scariest, and most halloweeniest first Halloween ever

“Kiibo I am taking you to haunted house!”

Bad idea

The second he was jump scared he shut down

It took 8 minutes for him to reboot

You two got kicked out for obvious reasons

Alright plan B

Halloween movies!!!

You guys cuddle, eat candy, and binge watch all the classics

Well you eat candy

You really gotta figure out how to give him an eating mechanism

He got to see you smile which was better than any candy really

“Happy Halloween kiibo!”

You kissed him on the cheek which made him shut down again, this time it was due to overheating

Poor kiibo

Kaito Momota

He’s really not all that into Halloween really

He’s more of a chrismas guy really

But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to find a really ridiculous couples costume for you two to wear to some Halloween party

“Kiato I am not dressing as a rocket ship”

“Please!?”

“No”

“You’ll be a sexy rocket ship!”

“No!!!”

You ending up settling on peanut butter and jelly

(It’s a little cliche but it’s better than being a rocket ship)

As ridiculous as you feel, you have to admit Kaito looks pretty adorable

You love your dorky space boyfriend

Shuichi sahara

Halloween!? Don’t you mean spooky murder mystery marathon!?!

As much of a scaredy-cat he usually is, This boy loves Halloween

(He refused to step foot into a spirit Halloween store until he was 13 but no one has to know that)

You two just chill and watch some spooky movies

That is until Kokichi decides that he is going to scare the living daylights out of you boyfriend

He jumped up from behind the couch screeming at a noise level you didn’t think was possible

(How he got into your house is still a mystery)

Shuichi screamed Almost as loud as Kokichi but a few octaves higher

Well your chill night was nice while it lasted

Shuichi is bright red and looks like he needs a lot of conforting now

You snuggle up to him and wrap your arm around his shoulder

This is pretty nice too

Good Halloween 10/10 would Halloween with Shuichi again

Rantaro Amami

This boy lives and breaths Halloween!

Did he put Halloween decorations up?

Bold of you to assume he ever takes them down

Does he have a costume?

He ordered a $300 custom made Dracula costume months in advance

(He refuses to tell you where all the money came from and you kinda just go with it)

He throws the biggest Halloween parties

He’s super cute and happy when Halloween is coming

He gets pretty flustered if you bring it up around him though

Halloween’s with avacado boy are super coo

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sugakookiesbutbadass · 6 years ago

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💜 Soft Bias Tag 💜

i was tagged by the two lovelys at @bts-soccer-moms to do the most adorable tag ever ~ tysm this was so much fun!!

1. Who is my bias?

my favourite muscle bunny jeon jungkook, kookie, nochu, love of my life

2. What made you notice them?

“Dope” was my first bts mv and i swear it was legitimately love at first sight (that police uniform got me whipped from the start but shhh) i’ve never chosen a bias that quick in my life tbh i didn’t even know what a bias was back then and i already knew it was going to be him (cheesy i know) also when i started watching more bts content i fell for his honey vocals, his big sparkly eyes, his cute bunny smile, and he’s just my ideal boy you know? he’s beautiful and talented what more can i say?

3. What’s your favourite thing about them?

i know everyone says this about their bias but honestly can you blame us? of course the answer is everything! i love everything about him, his passion and ambition for music, his big heart and love for his hyungs, his cute mannerisms, his will to strive to become the best at whatever he sets his mind to, he’s not only beautiful on the outside but he’s infinitely beautiful on the inside

4. Who would initiate skinship more?

i think at the beginning probably me? mostly because he's such a shy shy boy but also i think once he's more comfortable it will be pretty balanced between us

5. Who would hog the blankets more?

either neither of us or him bc i'm literally a human heater so i don't really need to hog the blankets that much plus if he just cuddles up to me he wouldn't need to hog them anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6. Who would be more clingy?

i don't think either of us are that noticeably clingy but if it's just us and not in public then perhaps me?

7. Who would say “I love you” first?

hmmm is it cheesy if i say we happened to say it at the same moment bc it finally felt right? lolol but idk i think maybe he would to say it first cuz it takes me a while to finally admit things so yeah

8. Who easily be more flustered?

oh man i think we both tie in this one but i’d like to think that i can hide it better than him, i mean have you seen the stuttering mess kookie is when his hyungs catch him off guard poor bun bun

9. What cuddling position would you two have?

please refer to this taekook moment as a point of reference

10. Which colours remind you of him?

two colours come to mind:

~ golden honey yellow: he's not the golden maknae for nothing, also like i've said before, his honey vocals make me melt every time and he's also the sweetest boy so of course he reminds me of honey plus he looks so precious whenever he wears yellow

~ a deep bold red: it reminds me of the fire and raw passion in his eyes as he performs, the energy he exerts when he dances, and just that alluring presence he holds when he knows he's owning the stage

tldr: kookie is 💛✨🍯 and jungkook is ❤️🔥🎤

11. What season would you like to spend with them?

summer! i want to have all the fun in the world with him without any worries or cares in the back of our minds, i want to have cute amusement park dates, ice cream at the park dates, bowling alley and arcade dates, everything and anything, we could go out to the pier, stargaze, the whole shabang

12. Who would bake the cookies and who would steal the batter?

based on the cooking run bts episodes, i think he'd be better in the kitchen than me tbh and i'm not much of a baker but i will help if i see someone else baking but also low key so that i can sneak a bite or two

13. Which one of you would make bad puns and how would the other react?

i think both of us would crack a pun every now and then and the other person would just sigh and roll their eyes but also quietly chuckle and note to themselves to one up the other person in the future

14. Who would want to adopt 50 cats and dogs?

i think we would alternate between one of us being like "you know what sounds like a good idea? adopting a dog. right now. let's do it." and the other one being the Reasonable One™ but then eventually one day we both end up being the one wanting the dog and attempting to enable the other and so we end up getting a cute dog child and we live happily ever after the end

15. Which one of you would nearly burn the kitchen down trying to microwave a pop tart and who would come to the rescue?

well considering kookie had said before that he has One Fear which happens to be microwaves so i'm gonna say it's him. it will be like:

him: "kirstyyyy can you make me a pop tart?"

me: "sorry kookie i'm a bit busy at the moment, can you try making it yourself?"

*smoke detector goes off in the distance*

me: *cleans up the mess and makes him a new one*

me: "you're an idiot"

him: "yeah but i'm your idiot" 😉

me: “ugh you're lucky i still think you're cute” 🙄

him: “heheh sorry ily” 😙

16. Who likes to lean over trail railings and who pulls them back?

i think we'd both have our moments for this because we both have no fear of heights and have moments where #dangerismymiddlename but then again we are also promoters of safety so yeah

17. What would watching a horror movie with them be like?

it would consist of a lot of fun banter and teasing towards whoever jumps or get scared :P i really enjoy watching horror films with company because i love commentating (especially for dumb horror films where i get to yell at the characters for making dumbass decisions) but i also get a laugh whenever someone (including myself) gets a big scare so yeah, i think it would be fun to have a horror movie marathon with kookie during spooky season or something

18. Who would be the cheesy flirt and who would be the smooth flirt?

i think kookie can be 50/50 i mean have you seen this boy's duality? his dorky offstage personality vs his sensual onstage presence gives me whiplash.. me on the other hand, i think my cheesiness will outweigh my smoothness like 75/25

19. Who would be more competitive?

we will make everything a competition, but like in a fun healthy way like "i bet i can beat you in this track in mario kart" "iS tHaT A cHaLLeNgE??!?" and whoever wins gets like a little prize each time (can be anything from food to a peck on the cheek to getting the better controller next time to picking the next movie etc.) like just simple silly competitions to keep it interesting (no sore losers or egotistic winners in this house, it's all just fun and games) and ooo bonus: we can keep a little chart over like the month or maybe the year like a "jungkook vs kirsty" and the overall winner gets a grand prize of whatever they want

20. Who would have to be given constant reminders (to eat, sleep, drink water, etc.)

him. we all know that he works his hardest and tries to push himself past his limits so i think he would need someone to gently remind him to take care of himself from time to time :’(

21. Who sends memes and who sends cute “i miss you” texts at 3 am?

we're talking about your resident meme king and queen here so what do you think? but then again we both have our soft hours so i think it will be a fair mix of both. something like

"i miss you"

"you meme a lot to me"

and that’s it!! this was honestly so much fun to do and i’m now feeling softer than usual for my bunny rip gonna go watch some cute compilations or something ok byeee

i tag: @wen-jun-bae, @blueberry-child, @taeyongskookie, @cyphersnamjoon, @mysticalj, @jinstaej, @min-baby-boy-yoongi, @majinstic, @madpanda69, @kochiniseokjinnie, @im-captain-of-this-ship, @kawaii-ing, @chiantae, @dailygifihope, and anyone else who wants to do this :)

#soft bias tag #soft bias #jungkook #bts #jungkook bias #get to know me #personal #tag #tags #ask me stuff :)

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gardenplow3-blog · 6 years ago

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Reading Recap: October 2018

At the end of every month, I take a look back at my reading journal and share the books and my thoughts on them here. The comments below are excerpts from my full reviews on Goodreads; you can always keep up with my reading in real-time over there.

The books I read in October were all over the place—a lyrical, lovely historical novel; a thrilling fantasy-adventure; a collection of moody short stories of the English countryside; two dark and spooky novels, an elegant investigation with Miss Phryne Fisher—plus two thoroughly engrossing audiobooks.

I’m still thinking about the Tiger’s Wife.

In fact, I gave it 4 1/2 stars, but maybe it’s 5. Maybe it will eventually be bumped to my all-time favorites list because I keep thinking about it.

The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht | 4 1/2 stars I don’t want to give too much away about the events of this book because the way it unspools as you read is so… perfect. And it’s a difficult book to explain because it’s definitely a novel, but it’s also a collection of beautifully told, interconnected stories.

The basics are in the flap copy: Natalia is a young doctor in an unnamed Balkan country; from the descriptions, you can sort of figure out that it’s Serbia. She’s dealing with the aftermath of the civil wars when her beloved grandfather dies. As she’s trying to understand the circumstances surrounding his death, she tells stories: about herself, about her grandfather and retells stories that he’s told her… about a magical tiger and the tiger’s wife. As Natalia eventually learns, the stories her grandfather has been telling her are not fairy tales, but true stories of his life and the other villagers in Galina. Just as her grandfather’s youth was shaped by war, so was Natalia’s and her reality as a teenager during the Balkan wars echo the fable-like stories of his past.

This books takes you directly into Balkan villages—to WWI, WWII, as well as the fraught 1990s—and casts a spell while it explores the different kinds of love, secrets and dreams, the way the fallout of war spirals from the past into the present.

Favorite highlight: “Like everyone in the village, he had faith in the rituals of superstition. He gave money to beggars before traveling, put pennies in the shrines of the Virgin at crossroads, spat on his children when they were born. But, unlike his fellow villagers, he was renowned for having a deficit. He had been born in a lean year, without a ducat under his pillow. To make matters worse, an estranged aunt had once allegedly lifted him from his crib and praised heaven for what a beautiful baby, what a gorgeous, fat, blessed, rosy child he was—forever sealing his destiny to be impoverished, crippled, struck down and taken by the devil at some unexpected time, in some terrifying way.”

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss | 4 stars This is a rollicking adventure with lots of feels thrown in along the way, which is my very favorite kind of story. It picks up where The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter left off. Our five kickass heroines, aka, The Athena Club—all the offspring of literary characters who are… SURPRISE!… real people in this alternate version of London—are off on a mission to rescue Lucinda Van Helsing from an insane asylum. The action involves, in no particular order, a daring asylum escape, sleeper cars on the Orient Express, hiding in a traveling circus, crashing a meeting of the Alchemical Society, and eating cake in the art nouveau cafes of Budapest. I love the Saturday-afternoon-serial feel of the narrative—coupled with lovely writing and characters I want to spend my time getting to know.

There are genuine emotions here among all the action, too. The girls, all technically monsters in their own way, struggle with their humanity and wrestle with what it means to do the right thing, how to find balance between toughness and tenderness, and making peace with themselves and the found-family they’ve formed together.

This would be a fantastic read-along with Dracula because there are plenty of smart, sly references to that novel. I read them back-to-back unintentionally, and it was a brilliant experience.

Favorite highlight: “If you have been up all night, escaping from a burning mental asylum or fighting men who refuse to die when you shoot them in the forehead, or both, coffee is the perfect beverage.”

Help the Witch by Tom Cox | 4 stars This is a collection of short stories from one of my favorite nonfiction writers. Tom Cox is the author of books about cats that are not books about cats—they’re about nature and living in the country and the power of walking and family and basically everything that makes life good. Now he’s written a collection of spooky and eerie, unsettling—not scary—stories that put you right there in the moody Peak District of central England. The writing on his web site is also brilliant.

Favorite highlight: “Outside, the dark is very dark. But in the day, the whiteness is very dark too, sometimes ever darker.”

Melmoth by Sarah Perry | 3 1/2 stars I’ve been thinking about this book since I turned the last page, and here’s where I’ve landed: It has a perfectly spooky gothic tone that I was super into. Throughout there’s some very moody, supernatural-ish stuff going on that was spine-tingly. I read this book in one day because I couldn’t put it down. It was an ignore-everything marathon of reading because I needed to know how it would all play out.

This novel is a series of stories told by different characters about the darkest times in their lives, and the stories they share are DARK, but not in the virginal-maiden-locked-in-a-castle way. They’re dark in a peoples’-lives-were-ruined way that was not fun at all. It was horribly sad. And I feel like that kind of serious subject matter is in direct contrast with the isn’t-it-spooky tone of the novel. Ultimately, I found the whole thing really depressing and when I closed the book, I was sorry that I’d devoted an entire day to it. But it’s so well crafted and well plotted, I feel like a jerk with my criticisms.

And there you have it. I still don’t really know how I feel about this book except that I for-sure won’t be reading it again. But also, I will never forgot some of its scenes.

Favorite highlight: “The Silence is something more than the absence of noise. If it is possible to hear silence, Helen hears it: a thick, soft sensation against the drums of her ears.”

Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood | 4 stars I adore Phryne Fisher—in print and in the TV series ‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries—because she’s a super feminist and her politics—and the politics of the book—are very progressive. The juxtaposition of 1920s slang and fashion with ultra-modern opinions is irresistible, and I cannot resist a found-family. Phryne has created a lovely family for herself with her assistant Dot and her housekeepers, Mr and Mrs Butler. In this particular book, there’s a murder at a manor house, which is like catnip for me: lots of listening through doors, scampering to lovers’ bedrooms in the middle of the night, forced cocktail hour… it’s fab.

Favorite highlight: “It took determination to be really strange. That, or absinthe before breakfast every day.”

The Witch Elm by Tana French | 3 stars I think Tana French is excellent at what she does—I couldn’t put this down because I needed to know what was going to happen, and I had no idea how it was all going to resolve itself. Really, the writing craft should get 5 stars.

But man! this was really not for me. Even though I compulsively turned the pages, I didn’t enjoy the experience or the characters at all. The only character I liked died. I thought everyone else was horrible: duplicitous, selfish, whiny, untrustworthy. I am grateful I don’t know people like this in real life, and I don’t enjoy spending time with them, even if it’s pretend and on paper.

Favorite highlight: “Hugo’s road has that effect; it gives the impression of being there only on alternate Thursday or to people with they mysterious talisman in their pockets, invisible the rest of the time and instantly forgotten when you leave.”

Dracula by Bram Stoker (audiobook) | 5 stars

I’m a sucker for epistolary novels, so before even opening the pages the first time I read this book, I was pretty much on board. Then when I got to know Mina and Jonathan, Dr. Seward and Van Helsing—I was smitten. This is a big, sweeping adventure story, and although it was published in 1897, it’s surprisingly modern. Unlike, say, the Brontës, which require a little work sometimes to get through the prose, this is very readable and the action moves at a good clip. But it’s not all desperate carriage rides and stake stabbings; there are a lot of genuine emotional moments in this book, and I love the way Mina turns out to be the heroine of the whole enterprise.

This audiobook version is fantastic. The voice work is very compelling and really brings the story to life.

Favorite highlight: “It is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles. And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he play. Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of him. Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break. But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again, and we bear to go on with our labor, what it may be.”

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (audiobook) | 5 stars I’ve read this book in print at least once, maybe twice? And I loved it for the reasons the NYTimes review didn’t… the beginning, before it gets into the heart of the story from the past, is a travelogue/love letter to Bulgaria—and that voice is part of what I loved so much about Elizabeth Kostova’s first book The Historian. This one has so many things I love: a mystery, foreign travel, a little romance, the love of a found-family, things that are not what they seem, shocking revelations over food, and regular people following mysterious clues to dangerous conclusions. At every moment I thought, “This is exactly what it would be like if *I* found myself caught up in a mystery” and since I’m always secretly hoping that will happen, I loved this story. There are plenty of surprises—I actually gasped a few times and shed a few tears. The big reveals aren’t obvious, but when they happened, I was, like, “Oh, yeah… that makes sense.”

The voice acting in this audiobook is awesome. Each character gets its own voice and is immediately recognizable. This is particularly effective when a character tells a story from the past—the accents, the aging voices, the emotion… it’s lush and moving and all-together engrossing.

Favorite highlight: “Always thinking. Thinking too much, and then sometimes not enough. You read a lot of books, yes?”

FIND ALL THESE BOOKS AND MORE IN MY AMAZON STORE!

What have you been reading recently?

Source: https://meljoulwan.com/2018/11/29/reading-recap-october-2018/

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