#if no one got me i know mariana enriquez got me

[la-morte-vivante]

Eso también hacía el tiempo: ella era otra.

[veliseraptor]

November Reading Recap

Banewreaker and Godslayer by Jacqueline Carey. Absolutely fascinating series, I want to dig into it with a shovel. Can't recommend it.

For one thing it contains one of the possibly most differently, weirdly racist depictions of brown people that I've read in a fantasy book recently (somewhat reminiscent of Aboriginal Australian stereotypes who exist because their ancestors were "burnt" that color as collateral damage in a battle of gods); it's decent in terms of writing quality but nothing terribly exceptional, and it's riffing as nakedly on Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion as Escape From the Bloodkeep was. Which is what makes it so fascinating to me - the way that it's looking at the same story (more or less) from the perspective of the god designated evil and his minions, and what it's doing with that - but again, while I want to excavate it and pick it apart, I wouldn't tell anybody to read it unless they were morbidly curious about it.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I saw a lot of raving about this book and was really excited about it, but ended up feeling kind of...not let down, it was a solid three star book, but I didn't like it as much as I hoped. Part of that is probably because I was in it for horror and it ended up feeling pretty light on the horror - heavier on the film history, which is fine, but Siren Queen did that part better. It was fine, I wouldn't not recommend it to someone who expressed interest in it, but I wouldn't particularly include it in my stand outs of the year either.

Remnants of Filth vol. 2 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. Meatbun knows how to do (a) suffering and (b) fucked up relationships, and while this book's relationship isn't fucked up in quite the same "tailored perfectly to my interests" ways that 2ha was, it's pretty damn good. Very excited to see where this one goes.

Evidence of Things Seen: True Crime in an Era of Reckoning edited by Sarah Weinman. I was hoping for a little more from this than I got. It's pretty much just a collection of essays previously published online that come at true crime sometimes from a little more cautious/critical lens, but not in the way that I was hoping they would. I guess I was hoping for something that would be a more meta-examination of the genre and the issues it has, a little more introspective, but ultimately most of the essays were relatively straightforward true crime essays, just a little more thoughtful and with an eye toward a broader spectrum of stories than the "traditional" true crime stories. Not a bad collection, just not what I was hoping for/looking to read.

Was extremely funny to run into a surprise Michael Hobbes article that was very familiar from an episode of You're Wrong About, though.

The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates. I enjoyed this one a bit less than the other Darcy Coates books I've read, but that's less its fault as a whole as it is "made use of loaded psychiatric language that I've grown increasingly uncomfortable with in reference to its villain" and I was just not totally on board with that. So I think as far as Darcy Coates books go it's probably my third favorite of three, but I still wouldn't not recommend it as a whole. It was certainly scary, and kept me reading the way that all her books have so far because I needed to know what was going to happen.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. Sometimes I read a book and I'm like "I'm not sure I can say 'I liked this' but it sure did something to my brain and I think the something was positive, I want someone else to read this so I can talk to them about it" and that's why I'm giving this book to one of my sisters, because hopefully she will read it and then we can talk about it.

It was definitely a good book! It was a very good book. But saying "I liked it" feels sort of anodyne and quaint as a way of describing how I feel about it. It sort of reminds me of House of Leaves that way, which I guess is a recommendation in and of itself.

If anybody else reads this book please tell me what you think, I would like to discuss it with someone.

---

I'm currently reading Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky (so far a winner, as everything of his I've read has been), but I'm looking forward to trying to dip my toes back into some nonfiction with The Underworld by Susan Casey and Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause. Also need to read He, She, and It by Marge Piercy for my sci-fi book club. Other than that, I have a pretty open mind for what December's going to look like; since I'm going to my parents' house at the end of it I'll probably pick up something long-gone-unread from my old shelves there, which is always fun.

But I'm also considering making this the month I do my The Last Unicorn reread. We'll see how things play out.

[volturialice]

🥺 and 😈 and ☕️ tell meeeeeeee

🥺 what’s a truly underrated book/series you recommend and wish the whole world would read?

I already mentioned a few here, but I also think more people should read little oddities Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford and Prosper's Demon by K.J. Parker

and not actually underrated but no one I know is talking about it and I wish they would: Our Share of Night/Nuestra parte de noche by Mariana Enriquez

😈 who’s your favorite villain/antagonist? are they special to you like a protagonist is?

Other than the ones mentioned here, I also love the "antagonist who truly genuinely thinks they're the hero" types like God/John Gaius from the Locked Tomb and the Gentleman from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I guess the pattern here is I love affably evil™ men with no self-awareness and horribly maladjusted women who knowingly and gleefully take out their issues on the innocent (I'm bisexual)

☕️ drop a HOT unpopular opinion about a book/character. be savage.

suldrun my beloved fellow Night C!rcus hater (I don't even need to tell you about that one) <33

[ok disclaimer that I wrote this at like 1 AM so it's even more savage than usual and if I flambéed anyone's fave to a scorched crisp then remember it's just MY OPINIOOOONNNNN]

some other books that make me feel like the only one brave enough to point out that The Emperor Is Naked:

Already mentioned The Cruel Pr!nce and The House in the Cerule@n Sea, but I also disliked Lone W0men, the N!nth House books (first one was ok but whaaaat even was book 2), and anything I've picked up by Sarah G@iley (has cool ideas and cannot execute them even a little bit.)

A Study in Dr0wning. don't get me wrong I love Ava Reid's prose but christ on a cracker that was a drag. I suspect many of the people who rave about it were just so calibrated to expect bad/mediocre prose in their YA that encountering decent writing bowled them over

Daughter of the Moon G0ddess is a hot mess that IMO only got all that buzz because these clowns out here don't watch xianxia and so mistook it for having a shred of originality when actually it's a frankenstein's monster of scenes from Princess Agents and Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms + 16 megapopular genre tropes in a trench coat. don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with being tropey and unoriginal but you have to be like, good at storytelling then

my other unpopular opinion is that everyone needs to stop trying to make me read The Song of Ach!lles. fetch is not going to happen, it could be the best-written book in the world and I would still loathe every word. I hate that fictional man so much I keep 16 heel-destroying weapons on my person at all times. I think everyone who wants to rec me specifically TSOA should be forced to sit through minimum 3 different performances of euripides' The Trojan Women before they're allowed to mention it in my presence

send me bookish asks 📚

[pacifymebby]

Do you have any fave LGBTQ+ literature, tv, movies, content creators?

Okay so I'm still trying really hard to find queer books that I like because beyond Allen Ginsburg in college we weren't taught any LGBTQ+ authors/poets (except Carol Ann Duffy but the only thing I'd recommend about her work is to stay away because I hate it haha)(I probably hate it because of school tbh, sorry Carol) so anyway yeah, when it comes to this I've had to do all the searching myself and I don't really know how well I've done.

But for books:

🍂 Orlando / Virginia Woolf

I kind of can't believe Virginia Woolf wasn't on my other recommendations because The Waves is one of my favourite books (again I think you have to have a lot of patience but it is beautiful) and this one is brilliant too. A man wakes up in a woman's body and gender roles are revealed to be a little bit silly.

🍂 Thérèse and Isabelle / Violet Leduc

Erotic novella about two girls at boarding school, low-key spoke to me as a bi girl who kind of started realising her bisexuality when exploring sexuality was sort of thrust upon me by female friends at school I guess. It's just a good example of feminine sexuality and desire written by someone who knows.

🍂 Chelsea Girls / Eileen Myles

I'm very into Eileen Myles as a poet and these stories are so so so so so fucking good too!!!!

🍂 In The Dream House / Carmen María Machado

I got into this because it's what Google recs when you finish The Dangers of Smoking in Bed / Mariana Enriquez and honestly, I didn't enjoy it as much but it was still amazing. It's gothic horror af but also a really important work on abusive relationships within the queer community which the author has personal experience of and thinks isn't spoken about enough. Its really haunting, did fuck me up a bit but ultimately in a good way. But be careful because it does chronical abuse and that can be upsetting.

🍂 On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous/ Ocean Vuong

Another one where I love their poetry and think they can do no wrong tbh, I haven't finished this yet (I keep getting distracted but don't be put off by that I'm just really easily distracted!!) And I think it's wonderful idk. It's also written in quite a cool style which is always a bonus I find.

🍂 Our Wives Under the Sea / Julia Armfield

I actually only read this because I read an essay on the Exorcist and body horror by the author where she talks about her experience with having a cyst that had to be operated on twice. The essay was so stunning that I was like damn, gonna have to read that book everyone's talking about now and bestie, was worth it. The books class also.

🍂 Sister Outsider / Audre Lorde

I just think everyone should read Audre Lorde, Audre Lorde should have been on the curriculum instead of endless Simon Armitage idk. I read this and Your Silence Will Not Protect You as a 19 year old and they changed the course of my life idk.

🍂 Communion / bell hookes

Read this and broke up with my shitty ex boyfriend. It's not entirely about lesbianism but more kind of, love in general, platonic, romantic, what it really means to love. She talks about the feminist choice to choose lesbianism which was a phenomenon in the 70s and also discusses a lot to do with how misogyny impacts womens ability to love and be loved. It was a really important read for me, made all the more important because when I picked up the book my boyfriend ripped into her name and tried to be like lol what would you read her for...and then I read it and was like oh HE'S the problem.

Poetry:

🐇Howl / Allen Ginsburg

I know he's problematic but for me Howl was the prototype, the first massive poem I read and loved as an adult, the first one where language really sounded musical to me, the first poem I heard that Hurt. If you can you should listen to the YouTube of him reading it in San Francisco,that's amazing.

I also really like A Supermarket in California.

🐇 Sappho

Just all of it I guess, I think we're all eventually pushed towards Sappho and for good reason.

🐇Emily Dickinson

Read her letters to Sue, Open Me Carefully. I read these one summer between school years and I think they changed me. Her poetry in general is wonderful, some of it occasionally comes off as very old fashioned (shock horror our girl was born in the 1800s) but there's much to savour there. Also apparently there's a TV series about her life on Apple TV, I don't have Apple TV though so I haven't seen it.

As for TV and movies I don't think I have anything at all. I don't watch a lot of TV and I mostly only watch the same 5 old man movies on repeat. I think books have always been my thing, I can concentrate on reading in a way I can't concentrate on TV and also just the fact you can put your book in your pocket and get it out on the bus, in the staff room, at school, at the pub when you're waiting for your pals etc... I was always a headphones and books gal so I don't really have any recs for TV. Sorry :/

EDIT: Kill Your Darlings!!!! As in the movie, if you're into the beats you should watch it, it's very good and a real insight into what was in reality a pretty nasty little scene.

[ravenkinnie]

I hit my reading goal for the year so here's my favorite essays and short stories I read this year:

Essays

Melanie Challenger - On Death and Love

Among the many lessons Hannah taught me that day, and in the days to come, was the significance and seriousness of grief in human lives—which is another way of saying the significance of love in our lives, because it is the fever of our attachment to one another that charges grief with its intolerable brilliancy. And so, my meeting with Death that day was as much a meeting with Love.

Lauren Silverman - What Rainbow Trout Know About Relationships

When I start to feel shaky, I look at the spot above Paulo’s upper lip. Staring at that diamond-shaped divot, I remind myself that humans evolved from fish. That in the womb, before our eyes and lips migrated across our faces, we looked less like people and more like rainbow trout. That we, too, feel the urge to travel, and also, to return home. That sometimes the trip requires leaping over impossibly high barriers. And that sometimes, because of the love and insanity of those around us, we make it to the other side.

Larissa Pham - For the Love of Orange

Orange isn’t a color ordinarily associated with romance. That dubious, cloying honor goes to reds and pinks—think long stems, no thorns, velvety petals on silky sheets. No, orange is the color of surprise and warning: a hazard sign, a smoggy sunset, a field of California poppies waving their heavy heads on the beach. Our eyes are sensitive to it, pulled to it even on the periphery, and for me its constant presence was affirmation. I raced into the world on the heels of love, my vision laced with orange.

Alice Driver - What's Love Got to Do With It?

I was in a relationship for a decade, six of those years married, and when my husband left, he said, “You only care about your own projects.” And he was right about that — I do care deeply, obsessively about my own projects, about the curiosity that brings them to life, their creation, planning, and execution. For a year or two after the break-up of our marriage, I debated my worth and what kind of a woman I was, wondering if I should — or could — change.

Julia Koets - The Rib Joint

We were best friends—we knew that—but we didn’t talk about how the borders of our bodies had started to blur. In Classical Latin, costa meant “rib,” which, later, in Medieval Latin, came to mean “edge” or “coast,” the side of a stretch of land. We were walking the edge of a boundary neither of us would name. That night, her body slept against mine like the Atlantic against the Carolina coast. 

Suzanne Rivecca - Ugly, Bitter, True

You’re catastrophizing, friends would say to me, when I talked about becoming homeless. They were right. But I’d reached that dark inner place at which a catastrophe seemed less outlandish than a reprieve.

Stories

Addison Ritzer - Always Almost

The sculpture she presents is stiff and cold, as if she doesn’t love me, as if she cannot comprehend that she ever had. I cannot ask her about love because my mother is nothing if not honest. Her honesty has never been kind.

Amelie C. Langlois - Cafe Flesh (tw gore)

You may think this to be fantasy, or at most, the recordings of a faraway place - but if you can read this, then we are closer than you may wish to ever believe. So if you see that lonely light, far off in your dreams, perhaps you should follow it. Perhaps we will meet, and drink together until our souls disappear. Or perhaps not.

Amelia Gorman - Bring The Moon To Me

My head is overflowing when I get home. I worry about the numbers turning into fat worms and eating holes in the side of my head, with all the zeroes falling out. I need to hurry if I’m going to bring them into the tactile world. I grab a pair of my mother’s birch needles. They are slowly rotting.

Mariana Enriquez - Where Are You, Dear Heart?

For an entire year I spent my allowance on expensive medical books, while my friends all spent theirs on drugs. Nothing brought me as much happiness as those books. All those euphemisms for death. All those beautiful medical terms that didn’t mean anything, all that hard jargon—that was pornography.

[housewarningparty]

2, 3 and 14 for the end of year asks?

2. Album of the year?

I'm sure you understand how difficult this is to answer! I've listened to so much music this year! A lot of albums I've loved came out! If someone asks this again I'm probably going to give a different answer but

Anno 1696 by Insomnium - spent all year with it, I think I can safely say it's my new favorite Insomnium album (which is saying something bc they have 8 LPs and I like them all). If they're a band you're already familiar with, you'll know what to expect from them. Nothing in Anno 1696 is particularly revolutionary for Insomnium. They've been crafting dynamic, beautiful melodic death metal for 20+ years. They've done a concept record before. What elevates Anno 1696 for me is just how much of a distillation of this band's strengths it is for me: the melodies are beautiful, the lyrics are smart and compelling, it's deeply emotional without losing any of the heaviness that I want from them. The Sakis Tolis feature on "White Christ" fuckin SMOKES - that song gives me goosebumps. And as if that wasn't enough, the fact that they followed it up this year with the Songs of the Dusk EP is so fucking cool. The idea of writing a concept album and then adding on a canon-divergence au ending in the form of an EP? Fucking genius.

https://youtu.be/PWG-WzEciHU?si=1tdPqrWnY0ygHrgW

3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

Started listening to being operative here - I really liked Void of Vision. They were the only band on the bill at Invent Animate's Heavener tour this year that I did know at all. I didn't check them out before either, so I went in totally cold. The mix at the venue was terrible all night, but Void of Vision put a lot of energy into their set, I loved the vibe, what I could hear sounded good - I texted one of my friends after the set "I bet I'm going to really love this band when I can actually here them." And I was right! It's metalcore with a fun goth/industrial edge. Nothing crazy but a fun additional texture that really hooked me. They're like if Motionless in White made music I actually enjoyed. Super fun, great show, very sweet people. As a Spiritbox fan, I think you might like them.

https://youtu.be/82-Aw_mWoLk?si=tGUu6yOb3l4T3I1i

14. Favorite book you read this year?

Painful to pick just one! I did wrap up my Top 3 on this blog before (Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez, A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon) but if you twist my arm and I have to pick one out of those three, it'd be A Day of Fallen Night, for sentimental reasons. I mean it was an extremely rewarding and engaging read for me, but it was also one of those books that shows up when you really, really need it. Got me through a very painful and difficult month, and I'm always going to love it for that. Plus it was gay as hell.

[the-cloudy-dreamer]

About me (II) @mathomhouse-e tagged me and since we all at the Dreamling Nation server are getting to know each other I’m happy to share over here 🖤

Nickname: My name doesn’t lend itself for nicknaming BUT I use Meiga as my artist/illustrator name and Cloudy is more than fine too specially in fandom/tumblr context.

Sign: Capricorn ☀️ Gemini 🌙 Aquarius ⬆️

Height: 1.60 cm

Last thing I googled: Ferdinand Kingsley + Tudors ( since me and @quillingwords were having a conversation about historical dramas it seemed pertinent!)

Song stuck in my head: Ziggy Stardust- David Bowie and Frankenstein- Rina Sawayana ( I have @virgo-dream to thank for the last one 😂)

Number of followers: Somehow 247 —I’ve gotten some followers after all my silly Sandman posts

Amount of sleep: 4 or 5 hours? chronic back pain is the worst specially now that is winter and it’s cold—it’s hard to sleep right now for me.

Dream job: I’m an illustrator and my dream job would be doing editorial work specially if it was for publications and authors that I admire.

Wearing: Right now—dark grey baggy sweat pants, an attack on Titan graphic t-shirt and a loose fluffy black sweater.

Movies/books that summarize you: Too many to name! but my favorite genre is fantasy and horror so you get the idea.

Favorite song: Too many to name again! But I’ll go with Rock&Roll Suicide-David Bowie because I was just hearing The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars.

Favorite instrument: Probably plain old human voice —perhaps piano and violin?

Aesthetic: My general aesthetic is black on black on black—some people find it depressing I find that black is my happy colour I always feel comfy wearing it.

Favorite authors: Too many to name again! I’ll mention Alejandra Pizarnik because I was just revising her diaries and I’m always reading her poetry. Sylvia Plath, Mariana Enriquez, Banana Yoshimoto are some amazing woman authors that I love.

And of course I have to mention Neil Gaiman here because I just adore his books 🖤

Random fun fact: Years and years ago before there was an actual Coraline movie I worked for months in a small Mexican animation studio doing some character design for a Coraline 2D project—but LAIKA studios started working on the movie that we all know and love and the project I was working on got shut down 🤷🏻‍♀️ which was a pity because we were doing some amazing work! ( an as a side note I never got paid for the work I did on that 😂)

I think just about everyone was tagged for this but I’ll tag some of you guys again @sonata-ix @littledreamling @wintersmitth @firemandeanbuck @ghostboyjules @runningheadless @hopefulpenance @aquilathefighter

[cor-ardens-archive]

"It's like a lived a in weird haze," I feel you so hard... I never got to "explore & discover" during my formative years. If I wanted to take the "free trial" for life, I had to pay for it: either I chose my family/survival or developed my wants/needs. There's this Mariana Enriquez short story called El Chico Sucio about a well-off woman living in a poor (normal) neighborhood by choice, and one guy I know said he felt an extreme paranoia while reading it (spoilers ahead) 'cause [1]

i'm familiar with the mariana enríquez story, it was one of my favorites from things we lost in the fire! this is an interesting connection that you draw, because i do something feel like the people who truly live in the world are concealing things from me, or directly lying. this is also because my family did both frequently, and i'm sometimes confused about my past, and what is actually true.

i was certainly not too sheltered -- from the rest of the world, sure, but i was still exposed to harm and danger within my family. part of my feeling of betrayal is that i got little protection, and yet my parents both instilled in me a great fear of the outside world and strangers (aka non-family).

thank you for your message, it's always a comfort when others share their own feelings of alienation, so we know we're not alone in this. sending you a lot of love 💙

[andromerot]

tagged by @lesbianboyfriend <3

last song: magnolia blues by adia victoria!! my friend reccomended it to me and im making my way through her music its really good

last movie: i started watching labyrinth a couple days ago inspired by nemo... id only watched it once before in elementary school english class but im enjoying it. its funnie :)

currently watching: not watching any shows right now but i AM taking recs. i am however listening to the silt verses and the far meridian

currently reading: uh. A lot of books very slowly these are the ones i remember

The main one is portrait of the artist as a young man by joyce....i have struggled with it for many months but im close to the end now. I have liked it !! Very beautiful prose and also a weird little catholic boy, as a treat

Pájaros en la boca y otros cuentos by samanta schweblin!! Short story anthology, they're really good

Beowulf translated by seamus heaney!! Got a bilingual edition of it for my birthday and im enjoying it but im also going very slowly because im spending a lot of time comparing the languages

I started reading a series of unfortunate events...if i had read this series as a child it would have made me worse but im having fun :) im still at the first book though

Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego by mariana enriquez...another story anthology and another birthday present. I've only read the first one so far but. Its so haunting. Love it.

I don't know if this counts as reading because it's more like studying but im making my way through the little prince in yiddish !! Learning a lot :) ...דער קלײנער פּרינץ

Also dracula. Daily. If it....count

current obsession: um. Guess. (Mabelpod its always mabelpod)

tagging @kittysghost, @kyoshitaurus, @lycanwing, @tigerlily1615, @paramoregf , and also @dykehoggle as i must thank it for the movie

[biblionation]

The Reading Rush 2020: expectations vs. reality

Hey my darlings! I hope you’re doing well and you’re all safe during this pandemic.

This year I’ve started participating in readathons by my favorite booktubers. In May, I participated in the Tome Topple for the first time and I was so happy to actually finish an 800-page book in that readathon (I read The Priory of the Orange Tree and I LOVED it!). 

Now I’m participating in the Reading Rush 2020 (formerly known as the Booktubeathon), which runs from July 20th until the 26th. And I wanted to share how I’ve been doing with this readathon.

This was my original TBR:

Read a book with a cover that matches the colour of your birth stone: I planned to read a Costa Rican historical graphic novel called “Puerta Langosta”, because it has tons of turquoise in its cover.

Read a book that starts with the word “The”: The Marriage Game, one of my most expected romance new releases of 2020. 

Read a book that inspired a movie you’ve already seen: I have the perfect book for this, The Golden Compass (I watched the 2007 movie, but I haven’t read the books). 

Read the first book you touch: I closed my eyes and picked one from a small pile I recently bought and I got “Love in a Fallen City” by Eileen Chang, one of the most important Chinese authors from the 20th Century. 

Read a book completely outside of your house: I’m probably gonna  skip this one. 

Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of: I’m always saying I want to read more classics, short stories or memoirs. Some possible books for this challenge are: Sanditon by Jane Austen; “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” by Mariana Enriquez (horror short stories by an Argentinian author, she’s BRILLIANT, you need check her out); The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, Becoming, I Am Malala, Hunger, Men We Reaped, Eloquent Rage, Open Season. 

Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live: I started Americanah a couple of weeks ago but I got a bit of a reading slump, so it’s the perfect book for this challenge.

This is how it’s actually been going:

My first book of the Reading Rush 2020 was “The Marriage Game”, which I'm counting this as challenges #1 and #2 (lol don't judge me); the cover looks like a light turquoise, right? 

My second book was “Love in a Fallen City”, my pick for challenge #4, but since I realized it fits challenge #7, I counted it as well. I live in Costa Rica and the book takes place in Hong Kong.

The last book I finished, “Hurricane Season” by Fernanda Melchor was a brutally brilliant short novel by a Mexican author, and the truth is I’ve always wanted to read more Latin American literature, so what the hell, I’m counting this for challenge #6. 

There you have it folks. I’m a cheating mess, but I actually don’t care because I’m just too happy participating in this readathon and completing some challenges. I know people go all out and try to read 7 books in 7 days, but I have a full time job, so it would be extremely hard to complete that many books in one week.

So, with all my cheating lol now technically I only have challenge #3 left with The Golden Compass, which I DEFINITELY need to complete during the weekend. Wish me luck.

Have you participated in the Reading Rush? If you are, what are you currently reading? Let me know!

[wearethecyclones]

2020 Book Round-Up!

Because sure.

(I just realized that the dumb default tumblr layout I’m using changes numbered lists into lettered lists............. I can’t. Please know that I would never do that. There’s 59ish books here.)

Post Office - Charles Bukowski (2/5)

The Guy on the Right - Kate Stewart (1/5)

Tin Man - Sarah Winman (5/5)

The Turn of the Key - Ruth Ware (4/5)

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong (5/5)

The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious 3) - Maureen Johnson (4/5)

Well Met - Jen DeLuca (3/5)

Severance - Ling Ma (4/5)

The King of Crows (Diviners 4) - Libba Bray (4/5)

Bringing Down the Duke - Evie Dunmore (4/5)

Lock Every Door - Riley Sager (2/5)

Saga Vol. 7 - Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples (5/5)

This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (5/5)

A Question of Holmes (Charlotte Holmes 4) - Brittany Cavallaro (2/5)

The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern (5/5)

Saga Vol 8 - Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples (5/5)

Saga Vol 9 - Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples (4/5)

The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams (1/5)

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides (3/5)

Beach Read - Emily Henry (4/5)

The Last True Poets of the Sea - Julia Drake (4/5)

If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (5/5)

Heartstopper Vol. 1 - Alice Oseman (5/5)

Heartstopper Vol. 2 - Alice Oseman (5/5)

Heartstopper Vol. 3 - Alice Oseman (4/5)

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin (5/5)

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates (5/5)

The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehisi Coates (5/5)

Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender (3/5)

You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson (4/5)

The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James (4/5)

The Rural Diaries- Hilarie Burton Morgan (5/5)

One to Watch - Kate Stayman-London (3/5)

Are You Listening - Tillie Walden (5/5)

Beloved - Toni Morrison (5/5)

Burn Our Bodies Down - Rory Power (4/5)

The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune (5/5)

The Boy in the Red Dress - Kristen Lambert (2/5)

Bloom - Kevin Panetta (5/5)

In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado (5/5) 

Weather - Jenny Offill (4/5)

Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid (5/5)

The Shadows - Alex North (4/5)

Cemetery Boys - Aiden Thomas (3/5)

The Tower of Nero - Rick Riordan (4/5)

The Broken Girls - Simone St. James (4/5)

Horrid - Katrina Leno (4/5)

One by One - Ruth Ware (3/5)

Becoming - Michelle Obama (4/5)

Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez (translated) (5/5)

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke (5/5)

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottlieb (5/5)

A Rogue of One’s Own - Evie Dunmore (4/5)

Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall (5/5)

In a Holidaze - Christina Lauren (2/5)

The Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 - Gerard Way/Gabriel Bá (3/5)

ATLA: The Promise Part 1 (4/5)

ATLA: The Promise Part 2 (4/5)

(And this is simply to hold a space to say I DNFed a few books and deserve at least one book toward my overall count because of it)

DNFs and Why:

Nevermore - Neil Gaiman: This isn’t a true DNF this is a “I’ll come back to this later” but I got about 20% in before accepting I wasn’t feeling it.

Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam: Y’all... I read 10 pages of this and I have never hated 10 pages more in my entire life. This is the most overwritten, pretentious garbage. This is classic man writes about tits from woman’s POV writing. The narration is a disaster. The main character makes really gross observations about her teenage children. I stopped and set this down basically when her 15 year old son’s nipple hair was mentioned as she watched him from inside the house while he jumped into a pool. I... i hate this book so fucking much.

House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski: This is a “Maybe Someday” because I just... I was going cross-eyed. It was so boring and textbooky and maybe I’ll want to read it another time.

Girl Gone Viral - Alisha Rai: I just.... I juuuuuuuust hated this. The characters were like... they were so boring but then the author threw like four hundred sorta character details on them and it made it more boring. 

[wellhalesbells]

help I just finished the raven cycle. now what??

i mean, firstly, mourn.  i cannot stress the importance of this step enough.  take the time to sob and rage and fall apart about the fact that you have finished this series that is just head and shoulders above nearly every other.  because that did happen and it does blow.  i suggest a lot of laying on the floor or under your bed, eating tacos, and being generally despondent.  also if you feel the need to wear black for a year or keep your curtains drawn 24/7, well, that’s totally acceptable.

once that’s done, we’re ready to reenter the literary world!  probably, and ish.  to help ease the transition, i would suggest trying to pinpoint what you most loved from that series and then working from there.  was it the fantasy elements, the characters, the lgbt-ness, the young adult-ness or just the straight-up pretty writing?  here are a few things that might help fill the void (though do recognize that none will be perfect and, factually, your life is just emptier now):

FANTASY 

[admittedly, i do not have a lot of fantasy on my shelves because i need long breaks between for that genre, but here are a few of my more recent reads]

the scorpio races - going from maggie to maggie is never a bad idea.  i will concede that it took me way longer to get into this one than it did the raven cycle, but i did eventually get there and the characters were heaps more established (and rational) than what’s usually on offer in a YA read!

the grisha trilogy - okay, so i really got into this because it has such a well-drawn villain.  meaning: he’s fucking gray, like all good villains should be.  you can sympathize with him and i was surprised to find that i cared what happened to him, not just to our hero.  the story and characters were also really great.  and if you want to jump off this trilogy into the six of crows duology (LGBT+), my only advice would be: don’t let your expectations get too high.  unfortunately, i went in expecting it to be the raven cycle’s equivalent and, for me, it did not have that same depth.  good, for sure, but on trc’s level?  not so much, in my opinion, and i wish i’d known not to expect that going in because i feel like i would’ve enjoyed it more if i had.

the dream-quest of vellitt boe - lovecraft with laaaaadies.

3-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS

mosquitoland - this book can be a little hard at times but, woooow, did i fall in love with mim.  this had just the right amounts of humor and heart for me.

station eleven -considering this jumps timelines and characters, it’s monumentally impressive that you can feel such a connection to and investment in everyone’s stories.

LGBT+

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda - this is cuuuuuuute and i just love everyone and want the absolute best for them because they so deserve it and it shook out just how i wanted it to.

a place called winter - this is another one that’s hard, but worth it, i think.  it’s a sweeping story, spanning decades and continents and hammering in the historical hardships that came from being any letter on the lgbt+ spectrum during the pioneer era.

the watchmaker of filigree street - historical fiction, in general, is pretty much a turn-off for me because it’s dense and overly drawn a lot of the time (i get it, it’s the 1800s, can we shut up about the details every three seconds please, UGH).  but if there were ever a book that was going to turn me completely around on that, it would be this one because WOW, YES.

flying lessons and other stories - a slew of sexually and racially diverse stories from some truly brilliant authors!

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe - ohhhhh it’s pretty.  and soft.  and full of love and fear and understanding.  it hurts my heart with how tender it is.  [weeps]

idyll threats - you know how there are five million ‘cop/sheriff/detective in a small town’ mystery series that just go on and on forever and never end?  WELL NOW WE HAVE ONE FOR THE LBGT COMMUNITY.  the second book just came out last month and i want everyone to support these if you can; i want there to be so many i can’t count the number on my fingers and toes anymore, i want thomas lynch to be a friggin’ household name, i want a terrible movie franchise and an awkwardly posed poster on my wall, okay?  I WANT THIS TO BE A THING PLEASE.

YOUNG ADULT

the illuminae files - these books are dope.  they’re engaging not only story-wise but also visually, the text forms images, the fire fights are chaotic smashings of words, the space walks are delicate tight-ropes of sentences and then, on top of that, the characters and the twists and turns of the story?  oh my BUH-GOD.  this series is breath-takingly good and so freaking smart, okay?  it just is.  IT IS.

i’ll meet you there - i liked every single detail of this book and they’re all… still there.  i read this quite a bit ago and i remember so much of it.  i don’t remember what i had for lunch an hour ago but i remember this book.  so.  that’s pretty cool.

the merciless - all right, all right, all right, i have to qualify this.  because i was not a fan of the ending.  maybe you will be, i don’t know, i - personally - was not.  BUT everything leading up to that ending?  yeah huh!  it was some good-ass suspense.  as of right now, i’ve only read the first book of this series but… i think i am going to keep going with it.  it’s hard to get me to squirm but this book managed it and i think i have to chase that, right?

WRITING

the secret history (LGBT+ minor character) - i said i would never recommend this book to people (it is long.  and dense.  and depressing) but, lookit, that turned out to be a fucking lie.  it feels historical even though it’s contemporary and it is such a complete story?  i mean, i know this story, i know these characters, i was thrust into those pages.  and i loved it.  if you need your characters to be likable though?  NOT the book for you, haha.

autopsy (LGBT+) - i read a fair amount of poetry these days.  i like very little poetry.  this?  this i liked a crap-ton.  donte collins is a friggin’ wordsmith, man.

the princess saves herself in this one - another poetry book i enjoyed!  i really love watching skilled people play with language, what can i say?

we were liars - okay, so, this is another odd one for me to recommend because… i did not like it.  like, at all.  i mean, i did like it a lot, and then the ending came and obliterated any positive thoughts i’d had about it (because i feel like it breaks the contract with the reader and that makes things just… not cool imo, but whatever).  HOWEVER i did find the writing really, really lovely.  it has a gorgeous, soothing flow to it.  and, again, some people may really like the ending and, in that case, this would be a super great book for you because the writing is really simple but nice, y’know?

american housewife - an awesome book of awesome short stories written very awesomely!

i’ll give you the sun (LGBT+) - the writing in this makes me want to fall to my knees with how good it is.  i just can’t.  i could go on and on for days.  it feels like it’s something that should’ve taken centuries to craft because it is so lovingly put together and it just–it makes you feel all the feels, okay.

everything i never told you (LGBT+ minor characters) - i like this book so much more in retrospect.  but it does the adult fiction thing that every fucking adult fiction book does and that made me so mad at the time.  but, beyond that, it’s a unique and well-told story!

things we lost in the fire - my favorite horror book i’ve read in a good long while.  mariana enriquez is a master at building up a creepy atmosphere.  it’s not gore and guts as much as it is a mounting sense of doom that’s entirely constructed through words and imagery that are so damn well-crafted.  really hoping for more english translations of her work because she is just so skilled a writer.

middlesex (LGBT+) - this took me a while to read because it is the very full history of three different generations of stephanides between those covers but, wow, is it well-written.  it’s moving and deep and winding and detailed and fucking worthwhile.

[riverheadbooks]

Women in Translation: Megan McDowell

This week's #WITmonth spotlight is on Megan McDowell! Megan has translated many contemporary authors from Latin America and Spain, including Alejandro Zambra, Mariana Enriquez, Lina Meruane, and Carlos Fonseca. Her translations have been published in The New Yorker, Vice, Words Without Borders, among others.

Riverhead Books: You translated FEVER DREAM by Samanta Schweblin, which Riverhead published earlier this year. What was the most exciting aspect about translating the book, and what in your opinion was the biggest challenge?

Megan McDowell: FEVER DREAM gets inside your head, horror story that’s both visceral and psychological. I love horror, but people have asked me (half-joking) how I managed to spend so much time with such an intense book. I found it enjoyable, like it heightens the senses and throws you off kilter. There was one week when I was working on the book and maybe wasn’t sleeping that well, and I kept having strange dreams and nightmares inspired by the book. There were dead ducks and horses and worms and rope. It was an exciting book to translate in the sense that spending time inside its terrible world kind of messes with your head. It was also the challenge of the book to maintain that tautness, that tension. I wanted the English to give people nightmares.

RB: Briefly explain your process of translating a book, from when a project is first presented to you to when the final version goes to print. How closely do you work with authors?

MM: There are different processes with each project. Sometimes a publisher brings me a book, other times the author finds me or I find them. But there are always several phases to translation, and I really can’t skip any of them (I’ve tried). I do a first draft from the Spanish, then put the Spanish away and work on the English text until I think it’s perfect. Then I put that away, hopefully for months, so I can come back to it with fresh eyes; this is the phase where the text really starts getting good. Then I do a final comparison with the Spanish, and work with the editor on any outstanding questions she has. Then it’s time to publish, and I start getting nervous.

I like to work closely with my authors, I think it helps a lot. I got to meet Samanta in London when we went for the Booker events, and I feel like I know her a little better now, and I can hear her voice. I’ve worked with Alejandro Zambra on several books, and I think I do a better job each time because I know him and his work ever better. Even when I can’t meet an author in person, I’ll usually pester them over email with questions during the various phases of translating. I used to worry about asking stupid questions, but now I just ask everything. Even if the question is stupid, I usually learn something from the answer.

RB: What about a book appeals to you that makes you want to translate it?

MM: Really, the same things that make me want to read a book--and keep reading--make me want to translate it. Is it surprising? startlingly beautiful or memorably ugly? Does it have something important to say? Is it engaging? Does it do something that feels new?  Do you want to have a beer with the writer or character? Punch him/her in the face? Hug/sleep with/ marry him/her?  Yeses to any of these questions could make me want to translate a book.

RB: Is there a newly released or forthcoming translated book (either one you’re working on or one you’ve heard about) that you’re particularly excited about?

MM: I just found out that Coffee House will be publishing a translation of Alia Trabucco’s novel La Resta by Sophie Hughes. I’m really looking forward to that. 

[diamonddeposits]

EVRIPIDIS AND HIS TRAGEDIES - BITTER

Barcelona based artist Evripidis and His Tragedies delivers a surreal (serial killer)  visual treatment for his latest single-Bitter..an emotionally immense tune that features vocals from NYC based  Greg Goldberg (The Ballet)!  We got in touch with Evripidis who graciously answered some questions about their sound, their city and their interests. Watch the treatment above and then check out the interview below. Give Neos Kosmos a spin and we think you will find it soundtracking your days and nights (we know it is ours)! 

01. Hey how are you and what are you up to?

I am good! Trying to enjoy spring as much as I can (since last spring was cancelled), promoting my latest album Neos Kosmos, drawing and reflecting on my next move.

02. What inspired the name of your musical project?

My name is Evripidis, which means that I share my name with one of the three most famous playwrights of ancient Greece. I can be quite dramatic myself and my songs are often like tiny pop tragedies, complete with a choir that interacts with the main character, a direct link to my love of sixties Girl Groups. Back in the day when I was looking for an artistic name, while browsing the internet I discovered a book that was titled “Euripides and his tragedies". This discovery ignited a sparkle, I immediately thought it would be hilarious but also kind of accurate to name like that my musical project, one that deals with heartache, existential angst, death and the joy of living, all bundled up with emotion and a sprinkle of humor. I intentionally used Evripidis, which is how my name is pronounced in Greek, instead of the English version Euripides.

03. How would you describe your sound?

It is pop, influenced by my classical piano studies and my love for many popular genres of the last 100 years. On my previous records I had a multi-instrumentalist, almost orchestral approach but my latest record has a synth finishing and a dance beat.

04. What was the inspiration behind your single (and latest video) Bitter?

In "Bitter" I wanted to convey a mixture of romanticism, cynicism, and humor that is kind of camp, but also deeply heartfelt. I am, after all, bitter and hopeful, grumpy and funny, all together at the same time, and I wanted to connect with those who feel these strong contradictions. I invited Greg Goldberg from The Ballet to sing with me because I imagined an encounter of two like-minded souls who never give up on love, and also because I couldn’t help but add some some queer pizzazz.

The video is a collaboration with my friend Centauros, an amazing Spanish pop artist who visioned the song as a gay thriller. I guess he did so because love can be scary, unpredictable, violent and fun at the same time.

05. How was the first show you played like? How was the crowd and where was it?

My first show as Evripidis and His Tragedies was in 2005 at a dive bar, Robadors 23, in one of the seediest streets of Barcelona-calle Robadors in Raval, a narrow, dirty one, buzzing with sex workers, their clients, drunks and petty thieves. Right next to that bar there used to be a legendary punk, queer venue that was our second home back in the day, so I was very familiar with that street anyway. I remember my mom calling me on the phone right before entering the venue, to wish me luck. She sounded very proud of my forthcoming performance, and I thought “if you only knew mommy…” with a little mischievous smile. The concert was a success. Everybody I knew was there, and since I was pretty sociable and a new entry in the scene, the place was packed. I remember I played a very long set which was probably not a good idea but this is how I used to be in my early days as a performer: too anxious to show the world my craft but not caring very much about my audience’s patience. I hope I have improved since then

06. What are some of your favourite artists when you were growing up?

I consider that the artists we listen to between 15 and 25 are the ones that have the deepest impact on us. In my case it was The Velvet Underground, Nico, The Beach Boys, The Magnetic Fields, The Smiths, Kate Bush, Pulp, Saint Etienne, Marianne Faithfull, Soft Cell, The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes, Pet Shop Boys, Portishead, Joy Division, Jens Lekman, The Hidden Cameras, Alaska y Dinarama, Stereo Nova…

07. What was the first song you ever wrote called? Did you ever get a chance to play it live?

When I was a kid I was composing little classical pieces with pompous names like “Viennese waltz”, that maybe were one page long and terribly simple but came with an elaborate cover hand drawn by me. I am not sure what my first pop song was called, although if it is the one I think of, it was musically and vocally inspired by Nico’s "I'm Not Sayin'" but sported a starry-eyed, hopeful lyrics, the complete opposite from the song it drew inspiration from. I don’t think it made it to my first concert, by the time I was playing live I had moved on from that kind of naivety.

08.   Tell us a little bit more about Neos Kosmos, your latest record. Any themes?

The title comes from the words Neos Kosmos that I glimpsed, printed on a crumbled paper receipt from a pharmacy in my hometown Athens. These two words on a mundane scrap of everyday life seemed like a sign, resonating perfectly with the artistic process behind the record, as well as its content.

Neos Kosmos was written and recorded in the course of half a decade and maps my particular bittersweet vision of a New World on a personal, artistic but also global level, characterised by intense contradictions. Sonically it breaks away from  my former, multi-instrumental musical adventures, employing the use of synthesizers instead.

Recurring themes are friendship, ally ship, queerness, mental health, longing, domestic bliss, diversity, human touch, the everlasting chase of the elusive butterfly of love.

The record is mostly sung in English although there is a song in Spanish and another in Greek.

Neos Kosmos features collaborations from indie pop darlings Rachel Kennedy (Flowers), Greg Goldberg (The Ballet), Max Andrucki (The Smittens), Francina Ribees, Marc Ribera and Laura Antolín (Doble Pletina) and it is produced by Sergio Pérez (SVPER).

09.  What are some of your favourite places in Barcelona?

Barcelona has a lot of incredible spots. but one of the most magical places is Montjuic hill, which is right in the heart of the city and it is world of its own,-it features a castle, a massive historical cemetery, a cactus park, a botanical garden, various other parks with eclectic styles and architecture, a swimming pool with incredible views featuring on Kylie’s “Slow” musical video, important museums, even a quite kitschy but still adorable village that consists of relics of buildings from all corners of Spain.

The Collserola Mountain is also incredible-it is just half an hour from the city centre and bears dense Mediterranean forests, wild boars, a small levee, crazy modernist architecture, the ruins of a casino, an arched viaduct, a whole neighbourhood with breathtaking views of the city, a historical attraction park, a huge telecommunications tower…

10.  Any books or films that you have read or seen lately that you would love to recommend?

comic: “Berlin” by Jason Lutes, “Monstruosamente” by Alfonso Casas.

Books: “Our Part of The Night” by Mariana Enriquez, “Glitter Up The Dark” by Sasha Geffen, “Just Above My Head” by James Baldwin, “A Broken Mirror” by Mercè Rodoreda.

Movies: “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Promising Young Woman” by Emerald Fennell, “Johnny Guitar” by Nicholas Ray, “Stop” by Stanley Sunday, “¡Corten! “by Marc Ferrer.

11. Any local artists that you are into and would love to tell us about?

A bunch of current artists that I love are Doble Pletina, Cabiria, Rebe, Papa Topo, Caliza, Marta Movidas (from my Spanish music family) and Nalyssa Green, Stella, Kristof, Miss Trichromi, Johnny Labelle, LogOut (from my Greek one).

12. Any sleeping tips for us?

Drink valeriana or take it in pills two hours before going to bed. It is natural and harmless. Do not check your mobile phone for some time before sleeping. Read a book instead. If you share the bed with someone you love it also helps.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Our favorite books of 2017

Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.

2017 is coming to a close, but if there's one thing that stands out from this year, it's all of the great books. 

From poignant, socially conscious YA novels like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas to haunting short stories like Things We Lost In The Fire by Mariana Enriquez, 2017 was a year that shined bright with unforgettable literature.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's top books of 2017 reflect the crazy-ass year we just lived through

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we look back and chat about what we read in 2017. 

You can check out the highlights from our conversation below.

Favorite new book

(For books newly published in 2017)

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

Aliza says: "It's just this really beautiful book that combines a really relatable, very specific but universal teen story about figuring out your place in the world, with the struggles that black teenagers face, police violence, and all the complicated aspects of that. It's just an amazing, well written debut." (Listen to the MashReads' full podcast discussion here.)

The Idiot 

by Elif Batuman

Peter says: "It was beautifully written and [had] such a singular voice and personality that really just shook me." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Things We Lost In The Fire

by Mariana Enriquez

Peter says: "It was just right up my alley in a thousand ways." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Don't Call Us Dead 

by Danez Smith

MJ says: "I still get chills when I think about it. That opening poem. When I think back on this year, that poem — and the way it made me feel and the way it made me think and the discussion we had here — will be a shining light." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Most unexpected book that you loved

(For books outside our comfort zone that we found ourselves obsessing over)

There's Someone Inside Your House 

by Stephanie Perkins

Aliza says: "It's not totally outside my wheelhouse in that it's YA but it is a pretty gruesome slasher book, and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, and I ended up loving it. I thought it was so interesting and fit in so perfectly with my foray into horror." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Things We Lost In The Fire 

by Mariana Enriquez

MJ says: "I'm known to love short stories, but known to not be interested in occult and paranormal stuff. But I think this collection toed [the line between] those two genres and merged them with the type of literary fiction and short story structures that I really, really enjoyed." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Grief Is The Thing With Feathers 

by Max Porter

Peter says: "I didn't think I would dislike it, but I did not expect to love it as much as I did. [I wept] constantly while reading it. But it was a good cry, a very cleansing lovely cry, all through reading that." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

The most challenging thing you read

(For books that might not have been the best fit for us but we read anyway)

South and West 

by Joan Didion

MJ says: "I LOVE Joan Didion. I was so inspired to pursue writing because of her. 'South and West' is a collection of her notes. The reason why it's so challenging though is that it's just notes that were marketed as a book. So it's really interesting getting a peek into her thought process, and I would recommend people read it because it offers a glimpse into how she structures, and what she's looking for when she crafts those iconic essays. But it's just hard to read because you have such an expectation of what you're going to get from a Joan Didion story, and it's just not a story."

Goodbye Days 

by Jeff Zentner

MJ says: "Goodbye Days was a tough one because it was TOO in my wheelhouse. It was a lot of YA, it was a lot of grief. But I think about it so fondly now because of that line 'do you think he ever got to love anyone the way he wanted to.' (Which comes when a grandmother finds out her grandson is gay, and mourns the fact that he didn't get to live his full life.) That line sits in my heart. So I think of that book fondly though at the time while reading it, it was definitely a challenge for me." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

My Absolute Darling 

by Gabriel Tallent

Aliza says: "I didn't like the characters, didn't like [Tallent's] writing style, didn't like the way he wrote about women and women's bodies. Just not for me at all. I love that people are getting something out of this book, especially if it can do anything to help victims of assault, I'm happy about it." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

The Gunslinger 

by Stephen King

Aliza says: "Again. A man that doesn't know how to write about women. Those sex scenes will haunt me. Forever. That being said, I've read a couple Stephen King books. This was the first Stephen King book I didn't like." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

History Is All You Left Me 

by Adam Silvera

Peter says: "Every page was a struggle, [but] not because it was boring. That book sapped me of energy ... I couldn't deal with the preciousness. I had a lot of trouble with the characters, what they did, their motivations. I give that book a lot of credit for many things, and I'm not sad that I read it. It was just hard." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

The unsung hero of 2017 literature 

(For outstanding books that we think deserve more praise and attention)

The Language of Thorns 

by Leigh Bardugo

Aliza says: "They're beautiful folk tales with beautiful illustrations. It was just amazing and beautiful and empowering and dark in a great way." (Read MashReads' interview with Leigh Bardugo here.)

Goodbye Days 

by Jeff Zentner

Aliza says: "I like the fact that he was confronting these ideas of responsibility. I like the way that he writes teenagers ... I like his turns of phrase. As emotional as that book was for me, I left it feeling good." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Fever Dream 

by Samanta Sweblin

Peter says: "I still think that book is incredible. It honestly turns my head around and around and around. It's a fever dream of a book, and I think it's magical in a way that no book has been for me in a very long time." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Universal Harvester 

by John Darnielle

Peter says: "It's not a perfect book, and I do think it fails in some ways but I found it to be gripping and affecting, and I've thought about that book a lot this year, because honestly I do think there are some haunting, haunting things in that book that I don't think will leave me anytime soon." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Release 

by Patrick Ness

MJ says: "I adored that book! I loved it so much and I didn't see it get a ton of pick up which makes me so sad. It's a quiet, little book of the day in the life of a kid who is gay, and it's modeled after Mrs. Dalloway. It's just really charming and really affecting. Everyone knows Patrick Ness from the Chaos Walking series. I think there were other YA books got more attention this year, and I feel like this one got lost, but it is so good!"

Favorite Thing You Read This Year

(Our top favorite books, newly published or older, that we read in 2017) 

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

Aliza says: "It was just a really amazing book. I know it's a classic but it's a classic that's often forgotten about. The book is so good. [Hurston] is such an amazing writer. It's so gripping. Just a really beautiful book and her journey still feels very timely." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Turtles All The Way Down 

by John Green

 Aliza says: "That is one of the many books I got to read this year that dealt with mental health, and I'm really happy that people are writing about, and that these authors feel comfortable and brave enough to expose their battles." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Tiny Beautiful Things 

by Cheryl Strayed

Aliza says: "I think 2017 has been a bit of a garbage fire, 2018 hopefully will be better but who knows, and I think that [Strayed's] funny dark advice is what we need." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Lincoln in the Bardo

by George Saunders

MJ says: "It's so wildly inventive. It's a book that should not work — it's this weird-ass trip through purgatory, written as just lines of dialogue and some of the historical documents are fake — but it does. It's so genius. It has so much heart. I love that book, I recommend it to everyone, go read." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

The Upside of Unrequited 

by Becky Albertalli

Aliza says: "It's amazing, and one of the first times I saw myself in a book. Shout out to Becky Albertalli for being my YA queen."

The Haunting of Hill House 

by Shirley Jackson

Peter says: "It was awesome to read it with you all because I knew I loved it, but re-reading it again, I realized my previous love was a pale thing in comparison to the bright shining star that burst forth from my head [when I re-read it.]" (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

Infiinite Jest

by David Foster Wallace

Peter says: "Even after [our podcast discussion], I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of this book after an hour of talking about it. It's not maybe my favorite book of all time, but its still the greatest book I've ever read. I really want to read it again. It was something that was incredibly and infinitely surprising." (Listen to the full MashReads Podcast discussion here.)

WATCH: This futuristic library is an architectural marvel, but its walls are lined with fake books

[lair-of-books]

It is now March 6th & I am writing this post from my new place, finally fully settled in. February was a very special month for my little family (hubby & two tiny humans), a month of new beginnings. We didn’t exactly live in the safest of neighborhoods…matter of fact, its up there with one of the worse. This is common in NYC but not ideal when you’re trying to raise two tiny humans. Our neighborhood prevented us from many of the simple things like taking a walk down the block, all four corners having heavy police presence. Now I love my city, but this was new for me. We moved into that apartment 4 years ago with hopes to move sooner rather than later. For those of you who live in NYC, you know that rent for an apartment is about the average mortgage on a house. We considered the very likely possibility of moving out of state & starting over. What held us back? I’d have to say that its our jobs/careers. They aren’t exactly positions easy to come by & we are blessed in that sense. Yet still, the rent for an apartment is astronomical. Through the grapevine I heard about NYC lottos for brand new beautiful apartments in development in up & coming neighborhoods. I never in a million years expected to win smh after all, the odds were grim in such a large city. When I got the call I couldn’t believe it, my commute is longer but It’s also a suburb style neighborhood w/out actually leaving the city. In fact it wasn’t until I was handed the keys that it clicked. I am still in disbelief but for the 1st time in many years, I am happy in my home ;)

Special thank you to my twin Gretchen @Chicnerdreads for being super sweet & coming to my neck of the woods to help out while we moved. I also got to read & edit her AMAZING debut poetry book Love, and You (Goodreads link here) out April 4th, 2017!🖤🙌🏼🖤

On the reading/blogging front…I didn’t blog much but surprisngly the move didn’t hinder my reading. I think its because when i’m stressed or overwhelmed, I find comfort in my books. On to my Wrap-Up…

The Valiant by Lesley Livingston ★★★★ (3.75 STARS)

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller ★★★★★ (5 STARS)

Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas★★★ 1/2 (3.5 STARS)

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco ★★★★ (4 STARS)

  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (Book Of The Month)

Caraval by Stephanie Garber (Owlcrate)

Rooms by Lauren Oliver

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Things We Lost In The Fire by Mariana Enriquez (Blogging For Books)

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Kings of the Wild by Nicholas Eames

Zodiac Starforce 

*I can’t resist a good ebook deal & all of these were either .99 or $1.99 with the exception of My Sister Rosa which was $2.99

To All The Boys Ive Loved Before by Jenny Han

Starflight by Melissa Landers

Into The Light by Althea Romig

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

Kill The Father by Sandrone Dazieri

Usually this is the part where I include any movies or tv shows the hubby & I binged but the move pretty much ate up our February. Now that we’re settled, things are getting back to norm (whatever that is lol) & we’ve even gone out on our first date night since living here. I’m a little behind with reviews but I’ll catch up soon enough, for now i’m just enjoying the moment <3’s! ;)

Happy Reading My Bookish Peeps! <3<3<3

February Wrap-Up & Book Haul (a very late but personal one…) It is now March 6th & I am writing this post from my new place, finally fully settled in.