#indian bisexual women

[amitsurbhi]

Just need it more.....

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

[bisexual-sqggitarius]

My poem, "Being Bi"

[blu3haw4]

So, out of curiosity:

Do you watch “gran hermano chile” too? everyone from my work to my friends watch it and talk about the people in it and I go “aha mmhmm” and then

🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh god no lmao, im not at all into reality show AT ALL, and for some reason I find Chilean's even more cringy lol

All my friends talk about it too, but I've come to a point of just kinda going 🤷🏻‍♀️ and wait for a change of subject

[makingqueerhistory]

Queer history fact: Amrita Sher-Gil is one of the most revered women in the Indian art world, with her paintings among the most expensive in the country. She is remembered as a Jewish, Indian, Hungarian, bisexual, artist, and high-class woman who told the stories of lower-class women in India.

[fictionfreedom]

Something something, if you want to attempt "political lesbianism" for the 4B movement you have to love all women AND understand that not all men are threats to you.

YOU HAVE TO LOVE ALL OTHER WOMEN.

You have to love black women

You have to love Asian women

You have to love Indian women

You have to love Native women

You have to love all women of color

You have to love bisexual women

You have to love women who have fucked men before

You have to love women who have fucked a hundred other people just for the fun of it

You have to love women who are sex workers

You have to love women who are strippers or pole dancers

You have to love transgender women

You have to love women with different ideologies from you

You have to love women of all different religions and beliefs

YOU HAVE TO LOVE WOMEN IF YOU WANT TO ATTEMPT POLITICAL LESBIANISM.

YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT NON-WOMEN ARE NOT ALL A THREAT TO YOU EITHER.

Not all cis men are a threat to you

Not all non-women are a threat to you

Not all trans men are a threat to you

Not all MALE BUTCHES are a threat to you

Not all MALE LESBIANS are a threat to you

Not all nonbinary people are a threat to you

Not all Masculine presenting people are a threat to you

Not all Bigender people are a threat to you

NON-WOMEN AND NON-FEMININE PEOPLE ARE NOT ALL A THREAT TO YOU.

[olderthannetfic]

Hi I'm sorry for the incoming rant but I'm so frustrated and I need somewhere safe to yell. This is insanely long so I 100% understand if no one wants to read all this.

It’s so fucking ironic that people are trying to make publishing more friendly towards queers/women/POC/disabled people/etc. but at the same time they’re turning publishing into a fucking minefield of discourse.

I'm an autistic, bisexual woman with multiple mental illnesses and a learning disability and I'm absolutely terrified to publish anything.

Everyone keeps going “We love books by minorities! Hashtag own voices! We love to support minorities and their stories! Even if you’re not a minority, we love to see authors making characters that are! :)”

But they certainly don't act like it.

They see people like Amélie Wen Zhao or Tess Sharpe or Isabel Fall get harassed relentlessly and they go, “Well if people dogpile someone over something it was obviously because that person did something Bad And Wrong™ so if you’re a Good Person™ the twitter masses won’t have to punish you :)” except in reality that’s not at all what happens.

If your experience is not generic enough to fit every single person in a group, you’re obviously writing an unrealistic stereotype! How dare you write about your personal experiences as a mixed race Indian if not everyone can relate to it? What about the Indians who grew up in India!? You’re erasing their experiences!

You have to out yourself to prove that you’re one of the Correct People™ who’s allowed to write that experience. Oh, you’re writing a trans character? Please describe your gender, in detail, so we can know whether or not you’re Allowed or if you’re an Outsider who we need to punish. Oh, you can’t come out, because you might be killed or disowned? Well, no #OwnVoices clout for you, we don’t want your book.

Your character needs to be a Good Minority™. They cannot be angry or violent or rude. If they are, you’re clearly saying that all of those minorities are angry and violent and rude and not just that one character.

There are four additional rules you absolutely must follow at all times to prevent harassment, and all of them contradict each other:

If you’re not [minority], you need to have [minority] in your stories, because they exist and it’s bad if all your characters are [not minority].

If you’re not [minority], you cannot have [minority] in your stories, because you’re not [minority] and clearly, you’ll never be able to understand how [minority] thinks and acts because you’re not them.

If you’re not [minority] you can still have them in your stories, but they can’t experience any discrimination at all, or talk about their culture or experiences with being [minority] because that’s not your story to tell and you’re profiting off of their trauma. No, you’re not allowed to do this even if you hire ten sensitivity readers that confirm these experiences are realistic and correct.

If you’re not [minority] you can still have them in your stories, but you need to show their experience with discrimination, and have them talk about their culture or experiences with being [minority] because if you don’t, then you’re basically just taking [non minority] and pretending they’re [minority].

Also, there’s an additional surprise bonus rule: Sometimes people will just want to destroy you for no reason, so watch out!

They’ll take things from your story, remove them from their context and then present them as the most horrific, problematic thing possible in order to create a hate mob.

Sometimes, though, they don’t even know what they’re talking about. People who are not part of a minority group (or not the one relevant) will see something, go, “Omg? Problematic?” and post it on Twitter so they can say, “Um guys wtf is this shit? Are you fr? Can we talk about this?”

And the worst and most horrifying part, people will blame YOU for the harassment campaign!

I��ve literally seen people say, “Well if someone calls you out on Twitter you should admit you did something wrong, apologize, and tell them you’ll do better :)” as if that’s not the most insane, victim blamey shit.

Like, I cannot fathom seeing a marginalized author get torn apart by a mob, get sent horrific death threats, and have their career and life ruined, only to say, “Okay but they must have done something Problematic. Have they tried publicly flagellating themselves to appease the people who are threatening to break into their house and kill them?”

People just sweep it under the rug and pretend that it’s not a big deal, and say, “Twitter’s not real, it doesn’t matter!” as if thousands of people harassing you and sending you threats isn’t massively damaging to someone’s mental health. Like, this is the kind of shit people kill themselves over, and it's apparently no big deal because "Twitter's not real"? What?

Writing is supposed to be fucking fun! Showing your beloved story and characters and work to the world is supposed to be enjoyable!

But instead of writing my story and just enjoying the process and adoring my characters, I’m sitting here, absolutely terrified, trying to make sure I give people the least amount of ammunition to destroy my life as possible.

One of the main characters in my story is vaguely based on me. I love her with all my heart, I think about her all the time, I want people to love her just as much as I do.

But instead of having fun writing about her, I’m waking up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, thinking to myself, what if she’s too problematic?

Will people get upset with her saying the word “cunt” or bathing naked with men (and thus having her tatas out) and accuse me of being sexist or catering to the male gaze or not being a Good Amazing Feminist™? Will people call her a pick me?

Will people get upset with her being bisexual, but ending up in a “straight” relationship with the male character? They have a five year age gap, is that too much? Will people think he’s a predator or abusive? Is their relationship toxic?

Will people think he’s a creep for flirting with her and getting into her personal space and telling sexual jokes, even though that’s how I want someone to flirt with me?

What if people think she’s not autistic enough? Will people get mad that she’s ~glorifying violence~ for not becoming a pacifist and admitting that violence is bad and yucky at the end of the story?

I need to make sure she spends ten paragraphs explaining exactly why she works as an assassin. I need to sit cross-legged and whip my head around like Dr. Strange in that Avenger’s movie so I can imagine Every Possible Discourse Outcome™ and make sure she debunks everything people could call problematic.

I need to change that. I need to remove that. I need to make her sanitized and good enough so that I'll be safe.

And then repeat this thought process, with every other minority character in my story (and there are a lot).

--

Things are bad, but if you stay off of book twitter and do not write YA, you're a lot less likely to face this level of drama. There are always exceptions though, like Fall.

[xxrhxysxx]

John Price headcanons #1

this will be multiple parts because I love this man also I'm really trying to write more.

(TW: nothing really, some swearing and very little talk on sexuality and what he finds sexy)

.

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He likes chocolate ice cream. It is literality his favorite flavor ( he used to eat an unhealthy amount when he was a kid lol)

He’s more of a coffee person than a tea person.

When he was a kid he used to have a cute little doggy named Valorie. He lost her to old age and now really likes the song by Amy Winehouse.

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When he was a kid he also had a big fat crush on Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

.

He almost got married once but it really didn’t work out…

.

I personally HC him as unlabeled sexually. he likes both men and women, and if had to pick he would say bisexual but he isn’t sure. He really doesn't care as long as he and whoever he's with are both happy.

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He had a shit ton of black friends growing up lol ( this is probably why he's so fond of Gaz) He most likely had a black girlfriend at some point. Long term too!

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He takes really good care of his beard.

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The first time he had non-British food he damn near left the country permanently. This man was in love ( he specifically loves Indian and Jamaican cuisine)

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He loves 80s-2000s rock but also listens to jazz and R&B.

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Probably has a small crush on Megan Thee Stallion ( it really is not that small lol breaks his neck whenever her name is mentioned in conversation) Gaz is on his ass about it lol

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He has a slight dad-bod

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He thinks open-backed clothes are sexy

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He lives in an apartment it is quite big but it's nothing special. He wants a pet to come home to but he’d be too worried it will die while he is gone.

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He would love his partner no matter what. You would need to do something world-shattering for him to stop loving you.

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He snores so fucking loud omg... (It's bad guys... Real bad)

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.

. That's it. I had a lot of run writing this and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it my request are in fact open so if anyone what to sent a request I'd be happy to answer it. Tho it might take me a minute because in a slow writer and school is hard lol-rhys☆

[rose-l-20]

Hello, how are you? I loved your headcanons about Night at the Museum, several of them have become canon in my mind as a fan. I don't know if you're taking requests, but could you do headcanons like you did for the other characters, but this time for Amelia Earhart? I feel like she needs more love from the fandom, and besides, she's one of my favorite characters in the franchise.

GENERAL HEADCANONS - AMELIA EARHART

Hey! I am wonderful now that my business diploma has finally ended, so I can get through the small handful of requests i have, and my own personal ideas! How are you you my love? Which headcanons did you like, I would love to know!

If you would like to request more characters, please refer to my NATM MASTERLIST for the characters, and send you requests.

SUMMARY: See request above!

WARNINGS: nothing too different from the first list I did, and again my opinions!😱 I am basing these headcanons on the movie character, not the actual Amelia Earhart as I am not 100% knowledgeable on her history and don't want to offend the dead. I genuinely found this hard even though I've seen the movie 10 billion times!.

Amelia had long hair growing up that people would compliment and gush over. One day she got sick of it, so she grabbed the closest pair of scissors and cut her hair to her collarbone.

When it comes to how she talks, Amelia went to a play with friends as a teenager, and a character spoke in this unique way. She used the voice when making jokes, then it just became her daily voice.

I don't usually like sexuality based headcanons to characters based on history (excluding Jed and Octavius😂), but as a young teen I took one look at her and went "oh that's a badass Bisexual woman".

Amelia knew from a young age that "house wife" wasn't going to happen. She knew she was worth more than that. This doesn't mean that she didn't want to experience love and the warmth of a significant other. so when meeting potential (male) partners, the first thing she would say is "If you're looking for someone to cook and clean for you, then don't waste your time sugar".

In her twenties, she saw a plane fly across the sky, and knew from the sound of the engine, that she was going to become the best pilot the world had ever seen!

Amelia had a short time of being alive from the tablet, meaning she didn't get to see how her life changed the world for women. if given the chance, I feel like she would've had a moment of emotional silence. Feeling proud of herself, proud of all the women who fought to get to this point in history.

Again, she was only alive for a night. but she, and the original exhibits got along within no time, which created the best comradery.

From a basic google search, She loved creating coinvent and stylish fashion, so I just know she altered her coat to have as many pockets as it could fit. You could say it is the retro version of Yelena Bulova from marvel's utility vest!

If she had enough time to see movies, hear music, and taste food from our era she would LOVE movies based on flying (obviously), but I also think she would love comedy.

Amelia can surprisingly handle high levels of spicy foods, with little to no reaction. If she were to try a true traditional Indian curry, she would be asking for 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths!

her music taste would 100% be female empowerment artists, with a hint of metal. basically anything that would be fantastic for a badass battle scene.

She is soooooooooooOOOOooooo stubborn, which we can see in the movie. It is her way or the highway sometimes, which she tries her hardest to not be that way but it's like second nature.

again from light research, she was a nurse at a point in her life. with this, and also how tender she was with Larry and the rest of the exhibits she gets joy from being nurturing to those around her.

---------

DONE! I am not 100% happy with these, but truly there wasn't much to go off of. I hope you're happy with them MARVELFOREVER352.

Have a good Friday and a relaxing weekend!

[thenightling]

I posted something similar before but I'll say it again. I think if the Universal Monsters were created today they'd be accused of being woke.

Dracula - Played by an authentic Transylvanian (Bela Lugosi's home town is in Transylvania, which was part of Hungary at the time of Bela Lugosi's Birth). In fact I think he's the only English language Dracula to actually be born in Transylvania AND to have served his nation's army. Dracula's daughter - Canonically NOT straight. Shown to be attracted to men and women. (I know Carmilla was a Lesbian but I'm focussing on the Universal monsters here). Frankenstein - Played by a mixed race actor. (Boris Karloff's mother was Indian) and directed by an openly gay man, James Whale.

The Mummy - Played by a mixed race actor and his character was attracted to a mixed race woman. (Half African). Boris Karloff - who starred in many Universal monster movies, including Frankenstein and The Mummy, was half-Indian.

James Whale - Director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Openly Gay in the 1930s. And Bride of Frankenstein had a lot of gay overtones, particularly with Dr. Pretorius.

Ernest Thesiger - Who played dr. Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein was openly bisexual in the 1930s. The Wolf-Man - the only American-born of the classic movie monsters. Movie briefly touched on things like classism and racism against the Romani people. Also (ironic since so many people misinterpret it), the Pentacle (a pre-Christian Pagan symbol) was a protection symbol that warned of the werewolf, who the next victim would be, warded against the werewolf, and could (if worn) prevent the werewolf transformation. Though, yes, I know, many medieval Christians used it as a ward against demons.

Oh, no! The classic monsters have gone woke!

Sorry, I never quite got over a few years ago being in a Universal Monsters Facebook group and getting flack for sharing a beautifully rendered piece of art where The Bride of Frankenstein was kissing Lily Munster (a version of Dracula's daughter). One comment even said (unironically) that James Whale would be rolling over in his grave.) Mostly whining of "Wokeness."

[junglejim4322]

Fucking crazy that Merle Oberon and vivien leigh were part Indian and went to the ends of the earth to hide it. all old Hollywood men were closeted bisexual and all old Hollywood women were closeted ethnic apparently

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

Queer Glossary of Muslim/Islamic World:

This is a list of gender & sexuality related terms, used in Muslim/Islamic World.

Mithli/Mithly - postmodern Arabic term for queer folks

Mithliya - feminine form word “Mithli”, refers to lesbians, sapphics, queer women

Kwiir/Kwiiriya - arabized version of word queer

Mukhannas/Mukhannath/Mokhannas/Mukhanathan/Mukhannathin - archaic Arabic term for trans woman, trans femme, individuals of non-normative gender and/or sexuality

Mukhannith - classical Arabic term for transsexual woman

Mutarajilla/Mutarajil/Mutarajilat - archaic Arabic term for masculinized female, trans male, trans-masculine. It is masculine equivalent of word “Mukhannath”

Boyah/Boyat - a term used in persian gulf states to describe masculine women,butch, & AFAB gender non-confirming

Mustargil/Mustarjil/Mustarajil/Mustarajjila- vernacular term for trans male/trans-masculine folks in Marsh Arab tribe

Mabun/Maabun - archaic term for an eunuch homosexual male who take passive role in Islamicate World.

Khanith/Khaneeth/Xanith/Makhanith - vernacular term for AMAB transgender, gender non-confirming, queer in Arabian Peninsula. The Khanith is also a third gender/sex community of Arabian peninsula.

Khuntha/Khunsha - archaic Arabic term used to describe intersex & ambiguous gender individuals in Muslim World.

Khuntha Mushkil - term for non-binary & gender non-confirming intersex individuals.

Khasi/Khasee - archaic term for eunuchs in Arabic/MENA Islamic empires

Khusra/Khusray/Khusaray/Khusara - Pejorative word for eunuch transgender, gender non-confirming individuals in Pakistan & Northernmost India. The word derived from Punjabi

Murat/Muraat/Morat/Moorat - vernacular term for transgender, eunuch, gender-diverse folks in Pakistan. It is also used in some parts of Afghanistan.The word Murat is itself a portmanteau of Mard (meaning man) and Aurat (meaning woman)

Hijra/Hijre/Hijjara/Hijarah/Hijada – all-encompassing term for gender & sexual diverse folks in the Indian subcontinent. The term includes trans femme, mtf transsexual, masculine woman, effeminate gay man, cisgendered drag queen, androgyne, transvestite, queer, eunuch, non-binary & intersex individual

Khawaal - term for MTF transsexual, transvestite & effeminate dancers in Pre-mordern Egypt.

Köçek - archaic term for effeminate male, gender fluid dancers in Ottoman society. The term also refers to feminine boys regardless of their sexual orientation. “Cengi” is female counterpart of Köçek.

Khawaja sara/Khwaja sara/Khwaja sira/Khawaja sira/Khwajasera/Khwaja saray - Persian archaic term used to describe a range of gender identities, including trans woman, gender fluid, effeminate (mukhannas), eunuch, trans-masculine, and trans-feminine individuals in South Asia. It goes beyond being just a gender or sexual identity; it is also associated with gender spirituality. This term was historically used to designate trans and non-binary individuals in Medieval Muslim empires. Nowadays, the term khawaja sara/khwajasara has become a subset of Hijra

Kothi - pejorative slang term for effeminate men, gay transvestites, drag queen, passive homosexuals in Indian subcontinent. In pakistan, kothis are referred as “Zenana”.

Panthi - slang term for dominant, hard, masculine gay & bisexual male in Bangladesh, Pakistan & India. This term derived from to Hijra Farsi or Ulti Bhasha

Parikh/Paarikh - slang term refers to boyfriend & husband in Bangladesh. This word is mostly used among LGBTQ+ population

Dohpartaa or Dohpartah - informal, slang term for bisexual in Bangladesh & West Bengal. The word derived from the Hijra Farsi or Ulti language.

Mamsuh - Arabic term for intersex person, who is agender or genderless.

Hum Jins, Hum jinsi, Ham-jense, Ham-jens – homosexual in Urdu, Persian, Tajik language

Ham-jins bâz/Ham-jens bâz – a derogatory term for gays in Farsi-speaking communities.

Ham-jens-garâ - slurr for homosexual in Farsi

Ham-jins garo - pejorative term for homosexuals in Tajikistan

Do jens garâ/Doh jense garâ - term for bisexual in Farsi

Mak Nyah - term for transgender woman, MTF transsexual in Malaysia. The term “Mak Nyah” is widely used among trans women, mukhannath/ trans-feminine folks. The term was first coined in late 1980s.

Pak Nyah - informal,vernacular term for trans men in Malaysia.

Waria - Indonesian term for AMAB trans folks in Indonesia. Warias are considered as third gender in Indonesia.

Priawan - vernacular term for trans-masculine in Indonesia.

Bissu - a term used to describe non-binary or two spirit identity in Bugie Tribe of Indonesia

Burnesha - vernacular term used to describe trans-masculine,butch in Ottoman empire of balkan & Albania.

Chokri/Chukri - term for drag queens, transvestites who are associated with “Alcap gaan”, a sufi folk music. This cross-gender phenomenon can be found in Bangladesh & West Bengal. Chukri individuals may identify as straight, gay, bisexual, or trans. Muslim Chukris are devotee of sufi saint Madar Pir/Madari Pir.

Zenana/Jenanah - vernacular term for effeminate male,MTF transvestite in Bangladesh,Pakistan,Northern India.The term Zenana derived from Urdu or Farsi, which means feminine.

Bachaa posh - vernacular term for FTM crossdresser, trans-masculine in Afghani dialect

Bacha Bareesh - pejorative vernacular term for effeminate boy, passive homosexual,transgender folks in Afghanistan. Bacha Bareesh are effeminate boys,MTF drag queens who take part in Bacha bazi.

Bacha Nagma - a term used for sufi transvestite or drag dancers in Kashmir.

Gej – non-derogatory term for gays in Balkan regions. It is used in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania.

Dygjinishëm - Albanian term for bisexual

[quillandqueer]

✨Interesting New Releases | 25th June

A Language of Limbs: The first love of a teenage girl is a powerful thing, particularly when the object of that desire is her best friend, also a girl.

A Novel Love Story: A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction… literally.

French Windows: Nathalia, therapist suggests that she write about the neighbours she idly observes in the building across the street. But as these written snapshots become increasingly detailed, he starts to wonder how she can possibly know so much about them.

Saints of Storm and Sorrow: In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization.

Six Of Sorrow: Sixteen years ago, six girls were born on the same day—and now, on their birthday, one of them is missing.

Sleep Like Death: Kalynn Bayron returns to fairytales with a lush, thrilling and original YA Snow White retelling

We Shall Be Monsters: Frankenstein meets Indian mythology in this twisty, darkly atmospheric fantasy where the horror is not the monsters you face but the ones you create.

What I Would Do to You: The death penalty is back. But if the victim’s family wants the perpetrator to die, they have to do it themselves. Twenty-four hours alone in a room with the condemned. No cameras. No microphones.

You're Safe Here: Wellness, motherhood, and technology converge in a future California as three women’s seemingly innocuous decisions have consequences greater than they could imagine.

[animentality]

Some predictions for the Harry Potter show they're making.

- Seamus will be gay, and it'll be confirmed via Twitter, but not anywhere in the show.

- Dean will be confirmed bisexual but you will not see this in the show, but on Pottermore.

- Hermione will be mixed race. Bc J Karen Rowling is obsessed with black Hermione as a bulwark against the racism allegations.

- Buckbeak will be gay. Openly. But he doesn't talk.

- Dobby will be Mexican and speak Spanish. Dobby es LIBRE.

- Madam Hooch will be a lesbian.

- Madam Sprout will be black.

- Cho Chang will be Korean.

- Padme and Parvati Patil will be belly dancers

- Severus Snape will be Indian and too hot for who he's supposed to be.

- Nymphadora Tonks will be a cheeky bisexual who has a throwaway line about how she loves women.

- Voldemort will dramatically talk about how he loves trans people and will make a better world for them.

- all the death eaters are depraved bisexuals

- Bellatrix Lestrange will be Polynesian

- Cornelius Fudge will be black

- Neville will be from New Zealand and possibly Maori

- Zabini Blaise will be gay. He's also going to die this time around.

- Winky will be a lesbian.

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

Well, I am a bit ashamed of this one and proud of it at the same time.

I have a phase, with some hyperfixation on woman shaped and curvatures. I can't paint them correctly so I tried old fashioned color pens, despite the setback that I know would come fast and strong. And I wanted to try something harder - at least for my brain : playing with the inverse contrast and colors.

I don't have black paper and I found it funny to play with the reverse color effect on my tablet, last time, so I decided to think the drawing that way. The fluorescent light would be my color with paler shades as I go to the reverse shadows.

Then I played with filters and render.

I took some models for the poses but these some characters of my longest fiction, in Diablo universe. I might try to draw more of them if you don't mind.

Let me give you some descriptions for those characters.

On the left, this is Kalinda (full OC), first concubine of the Vizir of Luth Golheim. In her country women seem to have no rights, but Kalinda proves that she has more power than her husband. He rules under the light. She rules in the shadows, pulling strings for her husband to prevail.

Kalinda is a mature woman. Black hair. Brown skinned. Indian typed. Bisexual.

On the right, this is Astrid, my OC taken form the spear amazon of Diablo 2. She has a dark past, but her experience helps Annor (the heroine) to overcome some of the worst things. She helps her to discover a part of her feminity, in a dark moment. Best friend with maternal attentions.

The golden filter is there to illustrate her aura, that she can use as an almost perfect shield.

Astrid is in her 30's. Blonde. Light skinned. Nordique type.

Under the cut, the comparison of the result, the black and white lighting render and the original drawings.

[gogandmagog]

so what are your favorite books/authors besides lm montgomery...I maybe just maybe am tailoring my goodreads tbr for next year 👀

“I love a book that makes me cry.”

– Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

And apparently me too??? I’m just over here adding this grossly popular quote right at the top of this list after having wrote it up, because when I look back over these all-star books that rushed to be highlighted, I realise that… every last one of these moved me to tears.

But I’ve read them all half-a-dozen of times, at least! 🥺 So, here we go, here we go!

Beloved by Toni Morrison. This one knocked me out, good and proper. It’s such a masterpiece. It starts in the 1870’s of Ohio and follows a former slave and her daughter. It’s got a strong Haunted House vibe (there is a ghost), and it opens up with both something quite Maud-would-appreciate-this-ish and quite chilling; "124 WAS SPITEFUL. Full of a baby's venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims." Mind, some people haaate this book, and feel quite strongly about it — but I like prosey books (this is the top complaint as far as I can tell), and this one is certainly that. Some very harrowing descriptions of the abuse of slaves, to be sure, but I personally have never been one to turn away from that ugliness, because remembering and understanding its weight feels important.

Stoner by John Williams. This is a little bit like ‘life sucks, and then you die’ — hyper precise about mundanities and is frankly a huge red flag to see sitting on a dudes bookshelf but… I loved it so much. 😅 It’s quiet, but poignant, and in its simplest rendering is about a very bored English Professor falling greatly in love with someone who is not his wife. Keep in mind, I’m hardly a girl who thinks infidelity is either cute or excusable… but this book firmly lodged itself in my heart, anyway.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. I’m a HUGE BIG HUGE BIG HUGE Baldwin fan. And this is the book that started it, for me. Like, this novel will fully pull you apart, and give you a wallowing. I’d say it's even a great atmospheric read for winter, and I also even want to go ahead and say this book is considered a classic, but I could be making that up; maybe it’s just a classic to me. The plot surrounds the struggles of a bisexual man in late 1950’s Paris; he’s just proposed to his girlfriend, but he goes on and has a relationship with a male bartender. There’s race, misogyny, and class issues here too, but this book isn’t so heavy that it becomes cumbersome to read. It’s actually quite beautiful. 

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Another prosey book. Maybe the most prosey book I’ve ever read… you don’t really get a break from it. But it’s so lush, and visceral, and the word play is sometimes so genius that you don’t mind getting fully lost in it (at least, I didn't!). This book could be labeled “tragedy” because it’s sometimes rather bleak – it's about fraternal Indian twins, Kerala history, and the lasting impact of childhood traumas, as well as the exploitation of the weak, really. But, there’s high points too!

Elsewhere if you haven’t read Peter Pan as an adult, I urge and beg of you to. J.M. Barrie (that’s James Matthew Barrie, and I will never stop conspiring that this is intentional of Montgomery and James Matthew Blythe) is right up there with Lucy Maud in the realm of exquisite and sweet storytelling that transcends age.

Of course Shirley Jackson, but you’re already a reader there! Fanny Howe has been an obsession of mine lately, too — I think I’ve posted her twice here and here — despite her being a poet, which is something of a fault that I’m being very charitable about overlooking (only half-joking, I really usually don’t care for poetry [except you Mary Oliver], not even LMM’s or by extension Anne or Walter’s either). Eve Babitz and Joan Didion are close personal friends (okay, it’s one-sided).

Anyone else that I read over and over are so classic that it’s almost white noise/nonsense to list them. I think the Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is my all-time never-to-be-defeated, and Lolita (despite its very uncomfortable content) by Vladimir Nabokov is a close second (I once saw Lolita cited as being ‘a love letter to the English language’ and I frankly agreed with my whole chest), and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (his essays are things of brilliance too) takes bronze. I also obviously throw myself at the feet of the likes of C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll and Fyodor Dostoevsky and Virginia Woolf and Kafka and Sylvia Plath and Charles Dickens and James Joyce, and all of Those Guys too. Genuinely. I also wholly stan Washington Irving. He’s most famous for Sleepy Hallow, which I’ll link right here because if you tap on it and read even a single line, I think you’ll be like, ‘oh right, he is sensational.’ And this quality continues throughout his catalogue!

Signing off with a true and sincere hope that you’ll consider sharing your TBR list with everyone, and maybe some recommendations of your own, too!!! Your opinion means worlds!!!