#kevin reads historical fiction and nonfiction

[swampthingking]

the thought of cracking the spine of a book makes kevin nauseous. he like opens it just enough to see the words and holds the book at such uncomfortable angles to read— anything to keep the book pristine and intact. he does not let people borrow his books because he is a control freak (as a term of endearment) and does not trust them to take care of them the way he does.

and andrew is the complete opposite, cracking the spine as soon as he opens it. he annotates in pen. he dog ears the pages because who the fuck has time to find a bookmark. he throws books out of anger. he throws them at aaron for fun. he lets them get smashed and torn in his bag. he always keeps them, he just prefers them to look like they’ve been read.

[secretlystephaniebrown]

Books I read in July 2023

20 Books this month! Uh... this list got long, so I'm putting it below the cut.

Weyward by Emily Hart - a solid 'meh" from me. Historical fiction, follows three storylines across three eras. Has vaguely... weird vibes about women/motherhood/witchy stuff. Not a fan. Pretty cover though.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casate - Listen, I love a Greek Myth retelling. It's fun, and doesn't really girl-boss the story. It's not a favorite, but it's solidly enjoyable.

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan - A solid nonfiction book, presented as a narrative. It talks about the rebirth of the KKK in the 1920s in the American Midwest. It's interesting and well written, if a bit over-reliant on Big People of History theory.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - Binti is very good, but has the issue that a lot of lore-heavy novellas have, which is that there's no room to breathe and absorb the world. Highly recommend though.

Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe - I mean, I did a whole podcast about this one. But it's excellent, and generally a fascinating example of graphic memoir.

The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur - Fake engagement but make it gay! Not perfect, but it's a fun time and a quick read.

Witch King by Martha Wells - MARTHA WELLS STRIKES AGAIN. Probably my favorite thing this month. Fascinating world building, compelling characters, a great narrative.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - I was going to read China Rich Girlfriend but then I realized it's been four years since I read Crazy Rich Asians so I grabbed this back from the library. Still a fun time. Crazy Rich Asians and the sequels read like Regency Romance novels to me, because they're so unhinged from reality in terms of these people's lives. But I love it.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan - A fun sequel, with some fun twists, some great expanded cast, and a delightful premise.

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan - Sigh. Last book of the trilogy, and it... doesn't really have a main character, and it suffers a bit from it. The storylines intersect in a kind of artificial way. I liked most of them, but the connective tissue was weaker, so it was my least favorite of the series.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - *chef kiss* Ursula my beloved.

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill - I'm actually not... particularly familiar with the Crane Wife as a story? Never was part of my life growing up. But this is a delightful little novella about a girl whose mother brings home a crane one day. Check the trigger warnings for this one, but it's fun.

Nimona by N.D. Stevenson - I watched the movie then read the graphic novel. I love both. They're so different, but I love both for their own strengths, if that makes sense? It's just so good.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - I've read a few other Kuang books, and I think this one is my favorite. Because it's a satyr, the problems in Babel with her lack of subtly doesn't really drag it down. It can be broad, and obvious, and project everything, and it's just funny, rather than frustrating.

Paper Girls volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Jared K. Fletcher - Finally wrapping this one up! I love this series, it's a fun time.

Paper Girls Volume 6 - Thank you Hoopla app for letting me check out the final volume immediately after I finished the fifth one. A SOLID story overall.

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie - I've had this weird little project going for a while to read all of the Poirot stories in order, and this short story collection is #3. Not sure this one worked for me as well as the others. But I felt satisfied when I finished it.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow - Mm. not for me. I liked the Harrow novel I've read previously, but this "modern fairytale" thing didn't do it for me. Very short though, and the illustrations were fun.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - I did NOT expect to read this one in a day. I picked it up, fully prepared to read this slowly, since I often take my time with historical fiction before it clicks. But no. This was amazing. I couldn't put it down. I really appreciate a historical fiction that doesn't... push contemporary values onto the characters, but goes "yeah this is what people felt and thought at the time". Like this character is going to be on board with footbinding, and be upset that she had daughters, and it's wonderful! The other candidate for top book of the month.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld - "what if SNL romance?" A female comedy writer for not-SNL falls in love with a musician who guest-hosts. The story is divided into two parts; their first meeting, and then their reunion during COVID isolation times. The first part is fun; a quirky little meet-cute odd couple thing. And then... uh, the separation is kind of random and I don't like the 2020 section as much. It's... fine? But I enjoyed it less than the first part, and often felt like the characters were having the same conversations over and over again. But still enjoyable and fun if you enjoy an m/f contemporary novel.

[peacehopeandrats]

TBR Bingo Finnish!

It took more than the summer just because I was waiting on some holds, but here I stand, ready to enter the Month of Reading with a new Bingo card! If you want the full list of what I read, that is below the cut. I highly recommend just about every book on it.

My favorite new author surprised me.

Stephen Graham Jones is a Native Author and the book The Only Good Indians is a Native horror story. Now, I don't read horror, which is why this being my favorite surprised me. In fact, this was my first ever horror novel so I can't say how it compares to anyone else popular in the field. I can say that being a Native story it very much has that this is the horror WE would experience feel to it. By this I mean I doubt an author of any other background could capture this story as well. There was an emotional element to it that I can't really put a finger on. Just so well written. I'm going to read his other books when I can get my hands on them.

Nonfiction: Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Blue Cover: King’s Cage, by Victoria Aveyard

Woods or Trees: In The Woods, by Tana French

Family: A Long Petal Of The Sea, by Isabel Allende

Fantasy: Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

Animals: The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Matsukawa

Sports: My Year Of The Racehorse, by Kevin Chong

Realistic Fiction: A Very Typical Family, by Sierra Godfrey

Water: The Bookshop On The Shore, by Jenny Colgan

Paper Book: Rubyfruit Jungle, by Rita Mae Brown

Comedy: The Road To Roswell, by Connie Willis

Graphic Novel: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughn

Free Space: War Storm, by Victoria Aveyard

Fiction: Bluebird, Bluebird, by Atiica Locke

Red Cover: Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas

Sailing: The Girl From Everywhere, by Heidi Heilig

Time: Opposite of Always, by Justin A Reynolds

Native Author: Crooked Hallelujah, by Kelli Jo Ford

Kindle: Song of My Soul, by Ginny Aiken

Orange Cover: Genesis Begins Again, by Alicia D. Williams

Food: Tastes Like War, by Grace M. Cho

Real Person: The Forgotten Founding Father, by Joshua Kendall

Vacation: The Only Good Indians, by

Historical Fiction: Even As We Breathe, by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Audio Book: When to Rob a Bank, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

[terrainofheartfelt]

Do u have any book and movie recommendations?

sooooo many. you might regret asking.

I love books very very much, just in case you didn't know, so let me fire off at random some of my all time faves with and without blurbs.

poetry: Devotions, Mary Oliver | No Matter the Wreckage, Sarah Kay | Leaves of Grass, Whitman | Post Colonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz

nonfiction:

My Life in France, Julia Child --- her memoir of moving to France with her husband post WWII and her discovery of cooking and deciding to write her cookbook and it's so charming and so her and it's just a delight

Open Me Carefully, Emily Dickinson --- a chronological collection of letters, poems, and letter-poems Emily sent to her lover sister-in-law Susan Dickinson. it's intimate, playful, kind, passionate, and the editors do a great job of putting it all together. and you read it and just know that you are only skimming the surface of the deep love these two women had for each other i gotta lie down

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding, Kristin Newman --- funny sexy travel memoir by a TV writer who spent her hiatus months in the aughts summers by traveling solo and having whirlwind romances and also her reconciliation between being the woman who can't be tied down but also wanting to build a life with a partner.

The Real Traviata, Rene Weis --- an opera book because me. a biography about Marie Duplessis, the French woman who inspired Dumas to write La Dame aux Camellias and therefore Verdi's Traviata and THEREFORE Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge. she had by the most objective accounts a difficult and short life full of fear and illness and abuse but also full of strength and color and love and I found it really moving.

fiction: aka the novels I am thinking most about right now.

House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende --- an all time favorite. a historical, multigenerational epic that left me staring at the ceiling after finishing it. and cemented Allende's place as one of my fave authors

The Sentence, Louise Erdrich --- it's about ghosts and independent bookstores and indigenous women and community and love and trust and the pandemic. great novel.

Sex and Vanity, Kevin Kwan --- people are always looking for who they should crown the modern Jane Austen, and it's him. it's kevin kwan. this is a modern remix of A Room with a View and it is funny and sexy and sweet and was a delight to read.

Beautiful World, Where Are You, Sally Rooney --- my favorite of hers. I love how the chapters of story are interspersed with emails between the two leads. yes there's romance, but the real center of this story is the friendship between the two women.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong --- entirely lives up to the tumblr hype. possibly exceeds the tumblr hype. I told my best friend to read this book. which she did. then scolded me because while she agrees it's beautiful it's also so heartbreaking. truly some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. I checked it out from the library but i really want a copy of my own to mark up.

Bright Young Women, Jessica Knoll (out Oct. 3rd) --- i got this ARC at the librarian convention. I'm in the middle of it right now but I have to talk it up because it is sooooo good. It's about women who meet because they have the worst possible thing in common: their best friend was murdered by the same serial killer. It hops around between the '70s and the present day, reads like a thriller, and the thesis is really about destroying the myth of the criminal mastermind, a la all those true crime docs about dahmer and bundy. I'm almost halfway through and the murderer is only referred to as "The Defendant." It's about taking the narrative away from him, the universal defendant, and recentering it around the exceptional women whose lives he ended and/or destroyed. Again, please check it out when it comes out this fall. But be forewarned that the subject matter is dark.

as for MOVIES, well, if I tried to make a list like the one above I'd be here all day, so why don't I just list a handful that I consider central to understanding who I am as a person:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

The Life of Brian

The Blues Brothers

The Princess Diaries 1 AND 2

Little Women (2019)

Juno

The Holiday

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Star Wars, the OG and prequel trilogies

and, last winter I stumbled across The Four Seasons starring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett, and I thought it was delightful.

[dykevillanelle]

savannah “dykevillanelle”’s 2022 reading list!

{ books read 2015 x books read 2016 x books read 2017 x books read 2018 x books read 2019 x books read 2020 x books read 2021 }

books read: 93 (goal was 100 but sometimes we have a hard year) pages read: 32,179

top 5 fiction:

(best) the overstory (richard powers)

the stars and the blackness between them (junanda petrus)

no one is talking about this (patricia lockwood)

girl, woman, other (bernardine evaristo)

last night at the telegraph club (malinda lo)

top 5 nonfiction:

(best) afropessimism (frank b. wilderson iii)

recovery from schizophrenia: psychiatry and the political economy (richard warner)

the age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power (shoshana zuboff)

virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between (joseph osmundson)

crying in h mart (michelle zauner)

bottom 5:

girl made of stars (ashley blake herring)

the four winds (kristen hannah)

aphrodite made me do it (trisha mateer)

come closer (sara gran)

(worst) lovecraft country (matt ruff)

full list and reviews, in order read, under the cut

yolk (mary h.k. choi) [ya, realistic fiction | ★★★★★]

the secret scripture (sebastian barry) [ historical fiction | ★★★]

she drives me crazy (kelly quindlen) [ya, romance | ★★]

last night at the telegraph club (malinda lo) [historical fiction | ★★★★★]

the stars and the blackness between them (junanda petrus) [romance | ★★★★★]

come closer (sara gran) [horror | ★]

racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in america (eduardo bonilla-silva) [nonfiction, sociology | ★★★]

something to talk about (meryl wilsner) [romance | ★★] 

real life (brandon taylor) [realistic fiction | ★★★★] 

invisible no more: police violence against black women and women of color (andrea j. ritchie, editor) [nonfiction | ★★★★★] 

queenie (candice carty-williams) [realistic fiction | ★★] 

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo (taylor jenkins reid) [historical fiction, romance | ★★★] 

how we get free: black feminism and the combahee river collective (keeanga-yamahtta taylor, editor) [nonfiction | ★★★★★]

one last stop (casey mcquiston) [romance | ★★★★] 

patsy (nicole dennis-benn) [realistic fiction | ★★★] 

hani and ishu’s guide to fake dating (adiba jaigirdar) [ya, romance | ★★★] 

my year of rest and relaxation (ottessa moshfegh) [realistic fiction | ★★★★]

wilder girls (rory power) [ya, horror | ★★★★] 

not straight, not white: black gay men from the march on washington to the AIDS crisis (kevin j. mumford) [nonfiction | ★★★] 

sex object: a memoir (jessica valenti) [memoir | ★★] 

severed (ling ma) [science fiction | ★★★★] 

blood meridian, or the evening redness in the west (cormac mccarthy) [historical fiction, classics | ★★]

her royal highness (rachel hawkins) [romance | ★★] 

i’m thinking of ending things (iain reid) [horror | ★★★] 

things have gotten worse since we last spoke (eric larocca) [horror | ★★★★★] 

evicted: poverty and profit in the american city (matthew desmond) [nonfiction | ★★★★] 

boy parts (eliza clark) [realistic fiction, horror | ★★★★] 

crying in h mart (michelle zauner) [memoir | ★★★★★] 

leave the world behind (rumaan alam) [science fiction, horror | ★★★★] 

killing the black body: race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty (dorothy roberts) [nonfiction | ★★★★] 

no one is talking about this (patricia lockwood) [realistic fiction | ★★★★★] 

my best friend’s exorcism (grady hendrix) [horror | ★★★★] 

helter skelter: the true story of the manson murders (vincent bugliosi) [true crime | ★★] 

perfume: the story of a murderer (patrick süskind) historical fiction, horror | ★★★]

the tattooist of auschwitz (heather morris) [biography | ★★] 

recovery from schizophrenia: psychiatry and political economy (richard warner) [nonfiction | ★★★★★] 

lovecraft country (matt ruff) [horror | ★] 

pretty girls (karin slaughter) [horror | ★★★] 

therapeutic communication: knowing what to say when (paul l. wachtel) [nonfiction | ★★★] 

maybe you should talk to someone: a therapist, her therapist, and our lives revealed (lori gottlieb) [memoir | ★★] 

the examined life: how we lose and find ourselves (stephen grosz) [memoir | ★★★]

written in the stars (alexandra bellefleur) [romance | ★] 

klara and the sun (kazuo ishiguro) [klara and the sun | ★★★] 

go tell it on the mountain (james baldwin) [realistic fiction, classics | ★★★★★]

luster (raven leilani) [realistic fiction | ★★★] 

queer and trans artists of color: stories of some of our lives (nia king, editor) [anthology, interviews | ★★★]

annihilation (jeff vandermeer) [science fiction, horror | ★★★★] 

my sister, guard your veil; my brother, guard your eyes: uncensored iranian voices (lila azam zanganeh, editor) [nonfiction, essays | ★★★★]

girl made of stars (ashley herring blake) [ya, realistic fiction | ★] 

the age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power (shoshana zuboff) [nonfiction | ★★★★★] 

folklorn (angela mi young hur) [science fiction, fantasy | ★★★★★] 

girl, woman, other (bernardine evaristo) [realistic fiction | ★★★★★] 

aphrodite made me do it (trista mateer) [poetry | ★] 

we do this ’til we free us: abolitionist organizing and transforming justice (mariame kaba) [nonfiction, essays | ★★★★★] 

the chinese lady: afong moy in early america (nancy e. davis) [biography | ★★★] 

the parisian (isabella hammad) [historical fiction | ★★★★★] 

under the udala trees (chinelo okparanta) [historical fiction | ★★★★] 

the overstory (richard powers) [realistic fiction | ★★★★★]

queen of teeth (hailey piper) [horror | ★★★] 

the southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires (grady hendrix) [horror | ★★★★]

the vegetarian (han kang) [horror | ★★★] 

the priory of the orange tree (samantha shannon) [fantasy | ★★★★] 

harlem shuffle (colson whitehead) [historical fiction | ★★★★] 

the poppy war (r.f. kuang) [fantasy | ★★] 

parable of the sower (octavia butler) [science fiction | ★★★★] 

the idiot (elif batuman) [realistic fiction | ★★★★★] 

tender is the flesh (agustina bazterrica) [horror | ★★★★] 

the four winds (kristin hannah) [historical fiction | ★★] 

manhunt (gretchen felker-martin) [horror, science fiction | ★★★★] 

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow (gabrielle zevin) [realistic fiction | ★★★★] 

ace of spades (faridah àbíke íyimídé) [ya, horror | ★★★★★]

nona the ninth (tamsyn muir) [science fiction | ★★★★★] 

blitzed: drugs in the third reich (norman ohler) [nonfiction | ★★★] 

virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between (joseph osmundson) [nonfiction, essays | ★★★★★] 

we have always lived in the castle (shirley jackson) [horror | ★★★★] 

the black flamingo (dean atta) [ya, poetry | ★★] 

things we lost to the water (eric nguyen) [realistic fiction | ★★★★] 

ruinsong (julia ember) [ya, fantasy | ★★] 

flung out of space (hannah templar & grace ellis) [graphic novel, biography | ★★★★★] 

everything i never told you (celeste ng) [mystery | ★★★★★] 

here the whole time (vitor martins) [ya, romance | ★★]

why freud was wrong: sin, science, and psychoanalsis (richard webster) [biography | ★★★★] 

sea of tranquility (emily st. john mandel) [science fiction | ★★★★] 

free food for millionaires (min jin lee) [realistic fiction | ★★★★] 

my heart hemmed in (marie ndaiye) [horror | ★★★] 

greywaren (maggie stiefvater) [ya, fantasy | ★★★★] 

bad gays (huw lemmey & ben miller) [biography | ★★★★★] 

cinderella is dead (kalynn bayron) [ya, fantasy | ★★] 

eileen (ottessa moshfegh) [realistic fiction | ★★★] 

artemis (andy weir) [science fiction | ★★★★] 

my heart is a chainsaw (stephen graham jones) [horror | ★★★] 

the orange eats creeps (grace krilanovich) [science fiction, horror | ★★] 

afropessimism (frank b. wilderson iii) [nonfiction, memoir | ★★★★★]

[play-exy-be-sexy]

genre of books the foxes read

Neil:

why would neil want to read when he could be playing exy?

no, the only books neil read are textbooks

and books about exy plays and strategies

it drives andrew mad.

he’s been trying to find a book that neil will read for years

hasn’t happened yet

Andrew:

it’s fanon knowledge Andrew loves reading.

i think andrew reads all types of books

his favorite genre is like deep fiction books.

ones that make you think ya know?

examples: ishmael, secret history, idk i don’t read books like that

when he doesn’t want to think too hard he reads cheesy mysteries

he always solves the cases before the people in the book

he’s also a whore for sad gay romance books

and psychology books

give andrew a book and he’ll probably read it

he also has read like all the classics

he had a good hs english teacher but we won’t talk about that rn

random note but andrew is a potterhead...

Kevin:

we already know what Kevin reads but i’ll elaborate

Kevin loves history books

fiction and nonfiction

give him a mythology retelling and he’ll love you forever

or just mythology in general

i’m a firm believer kevin’s studying ancient greece and rome in college

but he also likes all mythology

he’s very fascinated in asian mythology too

when he learns he’s native american(wymack had to tell him because the raven refused to acknowledge it) he takes a few native american lit classes and really enjoys learning about those myths and history

he loves coyote stories and creation myths

also he could go on for hours about how the us constitution is based on the iroquois league constitution.

he’s read it like five hundred times. it’s so pretty

he also likes books about certain people from history.

recent and long ago

like the ones that go over someone’s whole life ya know?

i have one about john lennon that he definitely read

kevin has always really enjoyed reading but never really does it

so when he starts to learn the life isn’t all about exy, you can find him reading constantly

the foxes make fun of him but they are actually really proud

Aaron:

you think aaron has time to read for fun as a pre med college athlete?

hell no

the only things he read are ones about microbiology and anatomy

and not by choice

he doesn’t even have a specific genre he likes because he’s never had the opportunity to explore genres. sad but true...

Nicky:

give nicky allllll the gay chick flick rom com books

he refuses to read anything serious

ever

all he wants is happy summer reads where the characters end up together

all fluff

but only contemporary. he doesn’t like fantasy or anything

if the main character isn’t hot. he doesn’t want it

andrews’s all reading “the mental health crisis in predominantly white countries”

and nickys over there with heart stopper

he’s not ashamed(and he shouldn’t be)

Renee:

renee is very similar to andrew

she reads all stuff

but she really likes fantasy books

especially like ya/middle school ones

she didn’t really get to read them when she was a teen so she want to catch up

but she also reads newer ones

the raven cycle, simon snow triology, grishaverse. all the basics.

she also reads a lot of the same as nicky.

but maybe sadder? sometimes.

and finally books about like inner peace and happiness amd all that

how to befriend trees

gardening books even though she doesn’t have a garde

ya know peacecore-y stuff

Allison:

smut

it has to be sexy

like bad

acotar

bridgerton

fucking wattpad

fairy porn

mafia shit

idk what else

yeah, it appalls the others

and she can just like read it with a straight face in PUBLIC

“whatcha reading, Ali?”

*looks over her shoulder*

“HE DID QHAT TO WHO?”

allison proceeds to explain in detail

the team is concerned for her mental well being sometimes

she doesn’t give a fuck

Dan:

she likes easy reads

nothing that makes her think too hard but things she can enjoy

she reads for fun and to relax

unironically reads murder mysteries

andrew gives her side eyes all the time

historical fiction

like 1700-1800 royalty stuff

lots of ya

just whatever looks good at the bookstore really

definitely judges books by covers

same tho

she’s not picky

as long as it’s easyish

she doesn’t really like series tho

she wants to read one book and be done

Matt:

matt reads sport fiction

i’m sorry but it’s true

he doesn’t really read that much

he’d much rather play video games or watch a movies

but when he does it’s about sports

he was the boy in hs who REFUSED to read so their parent bought them a book about michael jordan thinking they might read it

and they do. and then it’s the only book they read for five years

yeah that’s matt

and we love that for him

[morgan--reads]

Top Ten Reads of 2021

10. Experimental Film  - Gemma Files 

A compulsively readable horror novel that combines film history and Wendish mythology to great effect. The ending is a bit pat, but I was never bored reading it and I was intellectually engaged just as much as I was creeped out. 

9. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood 

The plot follows the childhood of two manufacturing heiresses, one of whom dies at young age, leaving behind a manuscript of a novel that explores a science fiction story told between two lovers. It’s not the plot that elevates this book, however, but the absolutely gorgeous writing, which makes even the most mundane events riveting.

8. A Children’s Bible - Lydia Millet 

A novel that reckons with the climate crisis by showing how it affects a small group of children. Despite the dramatic subject matter, the book leans more sweetly sad than tragic. The audiobook comes in under six hours, making this story perfectly bite-sized. 

7. Book of Eels - Patrik Svensson

Just a really pleasant nonfiction read that successfully combines the natural history of eels with a memoir of the author’s relationship with his eel-hunting father. 

6. The Organs of Sense - Adam Ehrlich Sachs

A surreal take on historical fiction that dances irreverently through the early modern period, combining takes on the Enlightenment, satire, and very funny jokes. 

5. The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro 

Dreamy, sad, and quietly terrible, the book captures Arthurian myth without being afraid to expand upon it. It asks interesting and frightening questions about memory and the possibility of moving on from events as epic as war and as small as marital arguments. 

4. Circe - Madeline Miller

Genuinely epic but emotionally intimate, this myth retelling elevates the source material without straying far from it. The audiobook, read by Perdita Weeks, is the best one I listened to this year. 

3. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick

Weird and deeply melancholy, this classic science fiction novel feels disturbingly relevant to our present but goes far beyond a warning of impending doom. Its atmosphere of resignation, punctuated by moments of bright hope will feel just as familiar as any of the predictions it makes about corporate greed or environmental catastrophe. 

2. Nothing to See Here - Kevin Wilson

The story is centered around children who catch on fire whenever they are upset, but it feels more real than plenty of realistic fiction. This book surprised me at every turn with how human its characters are. No one is nasty or villainous and when they hurt each other, it feels organic and bittersweet instead of tragic. 

1. Underland - Robert Macfarlane 

One of the first books I read this year, I thought about it all year long. Not only did I learn something new in every single chapter, I was also consistently transported to these mysterious underground places through Macfarlane’s prose, which combines beautiful description with almost devotional contemplation.

[cressisaqueen-moved]

cressisaqueen’s book rec

in case any of y’all need books to read during quarantine

fantasy/sci-fi

- the lunar chronicles series by marissa meyer

- six of crows series by leigh bardugo

- carry on/the simon snow series by rainbow rowell

- heartless by marissa meyer

lgbt+

- it’s not like it’s a secret by misa sugiura

- let’s talk about love by claire kann

- simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli

- leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli

historical fiction

- the book thief by markus zusak

- alex and eliza series by melissa de la cruz

YA and realistic fiction

- the hate u give by angie thomas

- eleanor and park by rainbow rowell

- to all the boys i’ve loved before series by jenny han

- crazy rich asians by kevin kwan

nonfiction/autobiographies

- yes please by amy poehler

- naturally tan by tan france

- 700 sundays by billy crystal

[aliteraryprincess]

End of the Decade Favorite Book Tag

I was tagged by @brightbeautifulthings and @thelivebookproject. Thank you so much! 

Feel free to adjust the questions for your personal need (add or exclude genres to your liking, or categories, everyone reads differently). I’m trying not to repeat books, but hey, what happens happens, right?

I’m sticking with only books that I’ve read for the first time this decade. This means a lot of my favorites, including Wuthering Heights, don’t count since I read them for the first time prior to 2010. I’m also trying to limit myself to three books or less per category. Otherwise we would be here all day haha.

1. Fantasy books that are obsession worthy Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones, and A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

2. Urban fantasy books filled with people you want as friends The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

3. Portal fantasy you fall in love with multiple times In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

4. Novellas or story collections worth reading The Breathing Method by Stephen King (part of Different Seasons), Angels and Insects by A. S. Byatt, and Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

5. Historical fiction that transports you to a different time Possession by A. S. Byatt, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent    

6. Favorite fairytale/mythology retellings The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden, Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, and Deerskin by Robin McKinley 

7. Sad, sad, sad A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 

8. No, I’m not to old for kids’ books, what are you talking about??? When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, and The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander   

9. Happy, happy, happy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Trilogy by Jenny Han, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, and The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan 

10. Whoa, never expected that ending and to have that much fun!!! In the Woods by Tana French and Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris 

11. Like I’m scared, but I’m happy about it Pet Sematary by Stephen King, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, and The Silent Companions by Purcell 

12. Classically favorite The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 

13. Party in your ears  The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, and The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (okay yeah, I’m not done with it and won’t finish it this year, but the audiobook is great!) 

14. OTP <3 <3 <3 Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley from Emma by Jane Austen, and Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth from Persuasion by Jane Austen 

15. Oh wow, that’s me!! Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

16. A bit of nonfiction The Brontës by Juliet Barker, Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall, and On Writing by Stephen King     

17. A book you got from Tumblr and now you can’t stop thinking about All for the Game by Nora Sakavic, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall 

18. A book you had high expectations for and then the author OVER delivered If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, and The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I’m taggined @lettersfromthelighthouse, @manuscripts-dontburn, @reynoldsreads, @foxingfae, and anyone who wants to do this! 

[aletdownsquid]

Comprehensive Exam Readings

My research “question”:

Many writers of U.S. fiction insert nonfiction documents into their narratives to critique how marginalized citizens are excluded from their rights to equal protection granted by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I’m interested in how African American authors and other writers of color have employed these strategies since the end of World War II; for example, the inclusion of real warrants for runaway slaves in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, or passages from U.S. treaties with Native American tribes featured in Watershed by Percival Everrett. In the essay, I will identify, historicize, and examine some of these conventions, and drawing upon Assemblage Theory and Third Space theory,  explore how these subversions of the fiction genre might allow authors of color to highlight historical truths, erase some of the distance between literary and political realms, and possibly affect political change.

To be completed by September 2020. (note: Strikethrough is complete / Bold means I intend to cite them in my comprehensive exam)

U.S. Fiction (Post ‘45): Major List

Guiding Questions:

How do works of geopolitical American fiction since the end of WWII explore the ways in which American exceptionalism has subjugated people of color? Specifically, how do these works examine the ways American colonial rule define U.S.–indigenous relations; and how do these works continue to engage with race in America since the Civil Rights movement?

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah. Anchor, 2014.  

Akwaeke, Emezi. Freshwater. Grove, 2018.

Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin, 2010.

Aswany, Alaa Al. Chicago. Harper, 2008

Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room. Vintage, 2013.

Barthleme, Donald. “Concerning the Bodyguard,” Sixty Stories. Penguin, 2003. 

Beatty, Paul. The White Boy Shuffle. Picador, 2001.

Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Random House, 2012. 

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Vintage, 1991.

Clemmons, Zinzi. What We Lose. Viking, 2017.

Currie Jr., Ron. God is Dead: Stories. Penguin, 2008. 

Diaz, Junot. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Riverhead, 2006.

Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad. Anchor, 2010.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage, 1995. 

Everett, Percival. Watershed. Beacon Press, 2003.

Gay, Roxane. Ayiti. Grove Press, 2018. 

Gibson, William. Pattern Recognition. Berkley, 2005.

Greene, Graham. The Quiet American. Penguin, 1980. 

Habila, Helon. Travelers. W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. 

Hagedorn, Jessica. Dogeaters. Pantheon, 1990. 

Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Harvest, 2008.

Herrera, Yuri. Signs Preceding the End of the World. And Other Stories, 2015.

James, Marlon. A Brief History of Seven Killings. Riverhead, 2015. 

Jarrar, Randa. A Map of Home. Other Press, 2008.

Jen, Gish. Typical American. Harcourt, 2014. 

Johnson, Adam. The Orphan Master’s Son. Random House, 2013. 

Johnson, Mat. Pym. Spiegel & Grau, 2011.

Kaulfus, Ken. A Disorder Peculiar to the Country. Harper Perennial, 2006. 

Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. Vintage, 1989.

Kushner, Rachel. The Strange Case of Rachel K. New Directions, 2016.

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies: Stories. Mariner, 1999. 

Lapcharoensap, Rattawut. Sightseeing: Stories. Grove Press, 2005. 

Le Nam. The Boat: Stories. Vintage, 2009.  

Lee, Chang-rae. Native Speaker. Riverhead Books, 1996. 

Luiselli, Valeria. The Story of My Teeth. Coffee House Press, 2015.

Mathews, John Joseph. Sundown. University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

Mbue, Imbolo. Behold the Dreamers. Random House, 2017.

Mengetsu, Dinaw. How to Read the Air. Riverhead, 2011. 

Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2010.

Ng, Celeste. Everything I Never Told You. Penguin Books, 2015.

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer. Grove Press, 2015.

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Refugees: Stories. Grove Press, 2018.

Okada, John. No-No Boy. University of Washington Press, 2014.

Orange, Tommy. There There. Vintage, 2018. 

Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic. Anchor, 2012. 

Ozeki, Ruth. A Tale for the Time Being. Penguin Books, 2013. 

Packer, ZZ. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere: Stories. Riverhead, 2004. 

Pena, Daniel. Bang. Arte Publico, 2018. 

Reed, Ishmael. Japanese by Spring. Scribner, 1993. 

Reed, Ishmael. Mumbo Jumbo. Scribner, 1972.

Rekdal, Paisley. Intimate: An American Family Photo Album. Tupelo Press, 2012.  

Salesses, Matthew. The Hundred-Year Flood. Little A, 2015. 

Sebald, W.G. The Emigrants. New Directions, 2016.

Shamsie, Kamila. Burnt Shadows. Picador, 2009. 

Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. Penguin Books, 2006.

Washington, Bryan. Lot: Stories. Riverhead, 2019.

Williams, John Alfred. The Man Who Cried I Am. Harry N. Abrams, 2004.

Wright, Richard. Native Son.Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005. 

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. Dial Press, 1999.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions. Dial Press, 1999.

African-American Iconoclast Fictions: Minor List

Guiding Questions:

What methods do African-American fiction writers use to interrogate racial subjugation for people of color in the United States and across the Global South?

Adjei-Brenyah, Nana Kwame. Friday Black. Mariner Books, 2018

Baldwin, James. Go Tell it On the Mountain. Everyman’s Library, 2016.

Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” Going to Meet the Man. Vintage, 1995.

Beatty, Paul. The Sellout. Picador, 2016.

Bell, Derrick. “Space Traders”

Brooks, Gwendolyn. Maud Martha. Third World Press, 1992. 

Butler, Octavia. Dawn. Aspect, 1997. 

Butler, Octavia. Kindred. Beacon Press, 2009.

Cole, Teju. Open City. Random House, 2012. 

DuBois, W.E.B., “On Being Crazy.”

Dumas, Henry. Goodbye Sweetwater. 

Ellis, Trey. Platitudes. Vintage, 1988.

Everett, Percival. Erasure. Graywolf Press, 2001.

Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. Knopf, 1993.

Hannaham, James. Delicious Foods. Back Bay Books, 2016. 

Hopkinson, Nalo. Falling in Love with Hominids: Stories. Tachyon Publications, 2015. 

Hopkinson, Nalo. Midnight Robber. Grand Central Publishing, 2000.

Hughes, Langston. “One Friday Morning”

Hughes, Langston. “Salvation.”

Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat”

James, Marlon. The Book of Night Women. Riverhead, 2010.

Jones, Edward P. The Known World. Amistad, 2006.

Keene, John. Counternarratives: Stories and Novella. New Directions, 2015.

Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl”

Larsen, Nella. The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand and The Stories. Anchor, 2001.

Laymon, Kiese. Long Division. Agate Bolden, 2013.

Mackey, Nathaniel. Late Arcade. New Directions, 2017.

MacPherson, James Alan. Hue and Cry: Short Stories. Harper Collins, 1969.

McFarland, Jeni. The House of Deep Water. Putnam, 2020.

Miller, Keith D., Joyce Lausch and Kevin Everod Quashie. New Bones: Contemporary Black Writers in America. Prentice Hall, 2001. 

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Vintage, 2004.

Morrison, Toni. Jazz. Vintage, 2004.

Morrison, Toni. Paradise. Vintage, 2004.

Reed, Ishmael. Flight to Canada. Penguin, 1976. 

Ross, Fran. Oreo. New Directions, 2015.

Scott, Rion Amilcar. The World Doesn’t Require You: Stories. Liverlight, 2018. 

Senna, Danzy. New People. Riverhead, 2017. 

Shuyler, George. Black No More. Penguin Classics, 2018. 

Thompson-Spires, Nafissa. Heads of Colored People: Stories. 37 Ink, 2018.

Toomer, Jean. Cane. W.W. Norton & Company, 1988.  

Toure. The Portable Promise Land. Back Bay Books, 2003.

Whitehead, Colson. Sag Harbor. Anchor, 2010.

Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. Doubleday, 2016.

Widerman, John Edgar. American Histories: Stories. Scribner, 2018.

Wideman, John Edgar. Phildelphia Fire. Vintage, 1991

Wideman, John Edgar. Fanon. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.

Theory: Assemblage & Third Space Theory 

Guiding Questions:

Can fiction be used as a tool to engender a new sense of belonging while rejecting a stable state of being? If so, how can this framework of assemblage be applied in fiction to highlight the ways local identities intersect with shared global perspectives? Can an assemblage approach to fiction encourage accountability for civil rights without state sanctioned legal status?

Agamben, G., 1998. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Translated by D. Heller-Roazen. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Aunt Lute Books, 2012.

Anzaldua, Gloria. Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality (Latin America Otherwise). Duke University Press Books, 2015.

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “The Case for Contamination." The New York Times Jan. 2006. 5 Nov. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/magazine/01cosmopolitan.html

Bakshi, Sandeep, Jivraj Suhraiya and Silvia Posocco. Decolonizing Sexualities: Transnational Perspectives, Critical Interventions. Counterpress,  2016.

Belletto, Steven and Joseph Keith. Neocolonial Fictions of the Global Cold War, University of Iowa Press, 2019. 

Bhabha, Homi K. Nation and Narration. Routledge, 1990.

Bruynell, Kevin. Third Space of Sovereignty. University Of Minnesota Press, 2007.

DeLanda, Manuel. Assemblage Theory. Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

DeLanda, Manuel. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. Continuum, 2006.

Dubey, Madhu. Signs and Cities: Black Literary Postmodernism. University of Chicago Press, 2003. 

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press, 2005. 

Gates, Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey. Oxford University Press, 1988. 

Gwaltney, John Langston. Drylongso: A Self-Portrait of Black America. The New Press, 1993. 

Goyal, Yogita. The Cambridge Companion to Transnational American Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Goyal, Yogita. Romance, Diaspora, and Black Atlantic Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2015. 

Goyal, Yogita. Runaway Genres: The Global Afterlives of Slavery. NYU Press, 2019.

Knadler, Stephen. Remapping Citizenship and the Nation in African Literature. Routledge, 2010. 

Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythology. The Crossing Press, 1982.  

Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider. The Crossing Press, 1984.  

Machado, Carmen Maria. In the Dream House: A Memoir. Graywolf, 2019. 

Madsen, Deborah L. Beyond Borders: American Literature and Post-Colonial Theory. Pluto Press, 2008.  

Munoz, Jose Estaban, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics. University of Minnesota, 1999. 

Okker, Patricia. Transnationalism and American Serial Fiction. Routledge, 2012. 

Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States from the 1960s to the 1990s. Routledge, 1994. 

Puar, Jasbir. “I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess: Becoming intersectional in Assemblage Theory.” philoSOPHIA, vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, pp. 49-66. 

Puar, Jasbir. The Right to Maim. Duke University Press, 2017. 

Puar, Jasbir. Terrorist Assemblages. Duke University Press Books, 2007.

Rosen, Jeremy. “Literary Fiction and the Genres of Genre Fiction.” Post45, Aug. 2018. http://post45.research.yale.edu/2018/08/literary-fiction-and-the-genres-of-genre-fiction/ 

Rutherford, Johnathan. "The Third Space Interview with Homi Bhabha." Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, Lawrence and Wishart, 1990, pp. 207-221. 

Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. Vintage, 1994. 

Scott, James C. Weapons of the Weak. Yale University Press, 1987.

Shackleton, Mark. Diasporic Literature and Theory – Where Now? Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. 

Shamsie, Kamila. “The Storytellers of the Empire.” Guernica, Feb. 2012. <http://www.guernicamag.com/features/3458/shamsie…> 

Sharpe, Christina. In the Wake On Blackness and Being. Duke University Press. 2016

Shklovsky, Viktor. “Art, as a Device.” 

Soja, Edward. Thirdspaces: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other-Real-and-Imagined Places. Blackwell Publishers, 1996. 

[notimetoblog]

Thank you all so much for joining the World Book Day celebration! It was a pleasure getting to hear about your favorite books! I am a fervent believer that reading is so powerful. It expands your minds, takes you to places you had never even imagined, and can teach you so much about the world and ourselves.

I have compiled the list (in alphabetical order by title) of all the books that were recommended during this celebration. Each book links to the original recommendation, states the genre of the book, and has a brief synopsis of the book :D

If you would like to recommend more PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO SO!! We could always use more books in our lives!! Thank you all again and I hope you’re able to read some books on the list that you haven't read before!

BOOK RECS

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas

Recommended by @wintersxsoul here

Genre: Young Adult / Romance / Fantasy

Synopsis: Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price.

Around  the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Recommended by @just-add-butter here

Genre: Fiction / Adventure / Classics

Synopsis: One ill-fated evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg rashly bets his companions £20,000 that he can travel around the entire globe in just eighty days - and he is determined not to lose. Breaking the well-establised routine of his daily life, the reserved Englishman immediately sets off for Dover, accompanied by his hot-blooded French manservant Passepartout. Travelling by train, steamship, sailing boat, sledge and even elephant, they must overcome storms, kidnappings, natural disasters, Sioux attacks and the dogged Inspector Fix of Scotland Yard - who believes that Fogg has robbed the Bank of England - to win the extraordinary wager. 

Burn for Burn Series by Jenny Han

Recommended by @marvelsangel here

Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal / Young Adult

Synopsis (of first book):  Postcard-perfect Jar Island is home to charming tourist shops, pristine beaches, amazing oceanfront homes—and three girls secretly plotting revenge.KAT is sick and tired of being bullied by her former best friend.LILLIA has always looked out for her little sister, so when she discovers that one of her guy friends has been secretly hooking up with her, she’s going to put a stop to it.MARY is perpetually haunted by a traumatic event from years past, and the boy who’s responsible has yet to get what’s coming to him.None of the girls can act on their revenge fantasies alone without being suspected. But together…anything is possible. With an alliance in place, there will be no more “I wish I’d said…” or “If I could go back and do things differently...” These girls will show Jar Island that revenge is a dish best enjoyed together.

Code Name Verity By Elizabeth Wein

Recommended by @notimetoblog here

Genre: Historical Fiction / Young Adult

Synopsis: Oct. 11th, 1943 - A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? 

Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South by Anne Moody

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Memoir / History / Nonfiction

Synopsis: Born to a poor couple who were tenant farmers on a plantation in Mississippi, Anne Moody lived through some of the most dangerous days of the pre-civil rights era in the South. The week before she began high school came the news of Emmet Till's lynching. Before then, she had "known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was...the fear of being killed just because I was black." In that moment was born the passion for freedom and justice that would change her life.

Crazy Rich Asians Series by Kevin Kwan

Recommended by @marvelsangel here

Genre: Fiction / Romance

Synopsis (of first book): the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry. What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a palace, that she'll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia's most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

Recommended by @just-add-butter here

Genre: Romance / Fantasy 

Synopsis: It begins in a cold and shabby tower room, where young Countess Meliara swears to her dying father that she and her brother will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. That promise leads them into a war for which they are ill prepared, a war that threatens the homes and lives of the very people they are trying to protect. But war is simple compared to what follows, when the bloody fighting is done and a fragile peace is at hand. Although she wants to turn her back on politics and the crown, Meliara is summoned to the royal palace. There, she soon discovers, friends and enemies look alike, and intrigue fills the dance halls and the drawing rooms. If she is to survive, Meliara must learn a whole new way of fighting--with wit and words and secret alliances. In war, at least, she knew whom she could trust. Now she can trust no one. 

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

Recommended by @rosegoldlilacs here

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult

Synopsis: Ben Wolf has big things planned for his senior year. Had big things planned. Now what he has is some very bad news and only one year left to make his mark on the world.How can a pint-sized, smart-ass seventeen-year-old do anything significant in the nowheresville of Trout, Idaho?

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Recommended by @wintersxsoul here

Genre: Classics / Fiction / Fantasy

Synopsis: Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Recommended by @softhairbarnes here

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Thriller

Synopsis: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

Harry Potter Saga by J.K Rowling

Recommended by @agentpegcxrter here / First book recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult

Synopsis (of first book): Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Recommended by @notimetoblog here

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi's magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time

How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City by Joan DeJean

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: History / Nonfiction

Synopsis: At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Paris was known for isolated monuments but had not yet put its brand on urban space. Like other European cities, it was still emerging from its medieval past. But in a mere century Paris would be transformed into the modern and mythic city we know today.Though most people associate the signature characteristics of Paris with the public works of the nineteenth century, Joan DeJean demonstrates that the Parisian model for urban space was in fact invented two centuries earlier, when the first complete design for the French capital was drawn up and implemented.

Love Style Life by Garance Doré

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Nonfiction / Memoir / Fashion

Synopsis: Garance Doré, the voice and vision behind her eponymous blog, has captivated millions of readers worldwide with her fresh and appealing approach to style through storytelling. This gorgeously illustrated book takes readers on a unique narrative journey that blends Garance’s inimitable photography and illustrations with the candid, hard-won wisdom drawn from her life and her travels. Infused with her Left Bank sensibility, the eclecticism of her adopted city of New York, and the wild, passionate spirit of her native Corsica, Love Style Life is a backstage pass behind fashion’s frontlines, peppered with French-girl-next-door wit and advice on everything from mixing J.Crew with Chanel, to falling in love, to pursuing a life and career that is the perfect reflection of you.

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Fiction / Japanese Literature / Cultural

Synopsis:  This leading postwar Japanese writer's second novel, tells the poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. In consequence, he feels himself "disqualified from being human" (a literal translation of the Japanese title).

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Recommended by @chocochipcookieyum here

Genre: Historical Fiction / Classics

Synopsis: A story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Recommended by @gamorazenn here / by @agentpegcxrter here / by @arosewithdaisies here

Genre: Fiction / Romance / Classics

Synopsis: The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Fiction / Romance

Synopsis: Tsukiko is drinking alone in her local sake bar when by chance she meets one of her old high school teachers and, unable to remember his name, she falls back into her old habit of calling him 'Sensei'. After this first encounter, Tsukiko and Sensei continue to meet. Together, they share edamame beans, bottles of cold beer, and a trip to the mountains to eat wild mushrooms. As their friendship deepens, Tsukiko comes to realise that the solace she has found with Sensei might be something more.

Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle

Recommended by @thesaltyduchess here 

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult / Science Fiction

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry shouts out an ancient rune meant to ward off the dark in desperation, a radiant creature appears. It is Gaudior, unicorn and time traveler. Charles Wallace and Gaudior must travel into the past on the winds of time to try to find a Might-Have-Been - a moment in the past when the entire course of events leading to the present can be changed, and the future of Earth - this small, swiftly tilting planet - saved.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Recommended by @arosewithdaisies here

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Crime / Classics / Short Stories

Synopsis: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on 14 October 1892; the individual stories had been serialized in The Strand Magazine between July 1891 and June 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. The stories are related in first-person narrative from Watson's point of view.

The Bean Trees by Barbara King

Recommended by @nerdgirljen in a comment here

Genre: Fiction / Contemporary

Synopsis: Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

Recommended by @agentpegcxrter here

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult / Classics

Synopsis: Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil—what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Recommended by @notimetoblog here / by @arosewithdaisies here

Genre: Fiction / Classics

Synopsis: This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story is of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his new love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tart

Recommended by @lunardanvers here

Genre: Fiction / Contemporary

Synopsis: It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris

Recommended by @wintersxsoul here

Genre: Fiction / Mythology / Fantasy

Synopsis: The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Recommended by @marvelsangel here

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr

The Immortal Rules Series by Julie Kagawa

Recommended by anonymous here 

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Paranormal

Synopsis: Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Recommended by @redandpurpleskies here

Genre: Science Fiction / Classic

Synopsis: The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.

The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Fiction / Japanese Literature / Classics

Synopsis: The story is told through the eyes of Kazuko, the unmarried daughter of a widowed aristocrat. Her search for self meaning in a society devoid of use for her forms the crux of the novel. It is a sad story, and structurally is a novel very much within the confines of the Japanese take on the novel in a way reminiscent of authors such as Nobel Prize winner Yasunori Kawabata – the social interactions are peripheral and understated, nuances must be drawn, and for readers more used to Western novelistic forms this comes across as being rather wishy-washy. Kazuko’s mother falls ill, and due to their financial circumstances they are forced to take a cottage in the countryside. Her brother, who became addicted to opium during the war is missing. When he returns, Kazuko attempts to form a liaison with the novelist Uehara. This romantic displacement only furthers to deepen her alienation from society.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Recommended by @consttantina here

Genre: Historical Fiction / Fantasy / LGBT / Romance

Synopsis: Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

The Song of the Lioness Series by Tamora Pierce

Recommended by @just-add-butter here

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult

Synopsis: The Song of the Lioness quartet is the adventurous story of one girl's journey to overcome the obstacles facing her, become a valiant knight, and save Tortall from conquest. Alanna douses her female identity to begin her training in Alanna: The First Adventure, and when she gains squire status in In the Hand of the Goddess, her growing abilities make her a few friends -- and many enemies. Books 3 and 4 complete Alanna's adventure and secure her legend, with the new knight errant taking on desert tribesmen in The Woman Who Rides like a Man and seeking out the powerful Dominion Jewel in Lioness Rampant.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Recommended by anonymous here

Genre: Historical Fiction / Classics

Synopsis: The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

[brigdh]

What did you just finish? Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. A shallow, wealth-porn, frothy bauble of a book, but one which is lots of fun. Rachel Chu and Nicholas Young are both new professors at New York University (Nicholas in history, Rachel in economics, which I have to say seems like a weird choice for a character who spends the whole book being shocked by wealth) and have been dating for about two years, when Nicholas invites Rachel to come to Singapore with him for the summer, so he can participate in his best friend's wedding and she can meet his family. Rachel does so, only to discover that Nicholas is not generically middle-class as she'd always assumed, but rich. And not, like, normal rich, you guys: crazy rich. The rest of the book consists of Rachel gawking at the possessions of Nicholas's family and friends: private jets, personal islands, hotel chains, uncounted maids and drivers and servants, clothes from every top-name designer you can image, antiques and art and mansions and skyscrapers and on and on. Not all is absurdly wealthy bliss, however: various unmarried women try to drive Rachel away so that they can claim Nicholas for themselves, and Nicholas's mother is determined to keep her out of the family. She's shocked enough that Nicholas would marry beneath himself when she assumes Rachel is one of the Taiwanese plastics Chus (such trashy new money!); you can imagine how she feels when she realizes Rachel is actually the daughter of a single-mother real estate agent from Palo Alto, California. Meanwhile, the wedding brings to town every cousin, aunt, uncle, old childhood friend, ex-partner, and business connection from around the world back to town (seriously, this book has an oppressively long character list), and Nicholas's cousin Astrid, who also fell in love outside of the Singaporean elite, is dealing with the breakdown of her own marriage. The whole thing is a bit of a forgettable guilty pleasure, the sort where most of the fun comes from watching people who have such a vastly different lifestyle than me or anyone I know, like Gossip Girl or that Downtown Abbey scene where Maggie Smith asks "What is a week-end?" – except for the fact that pretty much every speaking character is Asian. Still, even if it's silly, it's a fun, fast-moving read. I will confess that my favorite part ended up being the footnotes, where Kwan translates the occasional word or phrase in Mandarin, Malaysian, Hokkien, or other languages and explains references to Singaporean places and people. A few of the ones that made me laugh: Malay slang used to express shock or exasperation like “oh dear” or “oh my God.” Alamak and lah are the two most commonly used slang words in Singapore. (Lah is a suffix that can be used at the end of any phrase for emphasis, but there’s no good explanation for why people use it, lah.) Among Singapore’s upper crust, only two boys’ schools matter: Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) and Raffles Institution (RI). Both are consistently ranked among the top schools in the world and have enjoyed a long, heated rivalry. RI, established in 1823, is known to attract the brainy crowd, while ACS, established in 1886, is popular with the more fashionable set and somewhat perceived to be a breeding ground for snobs. Much of this has to do with the 1980 article in the Sunday Nation entitled “The Little Horrors of ACS,” which exposed the rampant snobbery among its pampered students. This led to a shamed principal announcing to stunned students (including this author) the very next morning during assembly that, henceforth, students were no longer allowed to be dropped off at the front entrance by their chauffeurs. (They had to walk up the short driveway all by themselves, unless it was raining.) Expensive watches, eyeglasses, fountain pens, briefcases, satchels, pencil boxes, stationery, combs, electronic gadgets, comic books, and any other luxury items would also be banned from school property. (But within a few months, Lincoln Lee started wearing his Fila socks again and no one seemed to notice.) The exotic Black and White houses of Singapore are a singular architectural style found nowhere else in the world. Combining Anglo-Indian features with the English Arts and Crafts movement, these white-painted bungalows with black trim detailing were ingeniously designed for tropical climes. Originally built to house well-to-do colonial families, they are now extremely coveted and available only to the crazy rich ($40 million for starters, and you might have to wait several decades for a whole family to die). Overall I'd really only recommend the book to someone in need of a mindless beach read. In particular the ending is left unresolved; I know there's a sequel, but even for a book in the midst of a series I'd expect more loose ends to be tied up than what we got here. That said, I haven't seen the movie yet, and I suspect it's the sort of story where good actors can make all the difference, simply by fleshing out these somewhat-cardboard characters. Driving to Geronimo’s Grave by Joe Lansdale. A collection of six short stories by an author mostly known for capturing the spirit of rural east Texas, both in historical and modern fiction. In the title story, a brother and sister run afoul of a bank robber in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. This one had an excellent first-person narrator and a great sense of humor. In the Mad Mountains is a surprisingly straightforward Lovecraft pastiche, with hints of the Titanic's sinking and Amelia Earhart's disappearance mixing with the cosmic horrors. There's no twists or revisionism here; you could almost mistake this one for actual Lovecraft, except that Lansdale is much better at writing well-rounded characters. Though that's a low bar. Robo Rapid is an old-fashioned, surprisingly cozy YA post-apocalyptic story – more Edgar Rice Burroughs than Hunger Games – with a girl heading out on an adventure across a vast and unknown desert. The Projectionist is darker than the other stories; a noir tale of mobsters and unrequited obsession. Everything Sparkles in Hell is probably my favorite of the six. It reminded me a bit of Django Unchained, having a similar sort of violent humor tucked into a revisionist Western. A black bounty hunter and his Native American buddy track down four murderers, at least until a man-killing grizzly bear and a massive snowstorm complicate matters. Wrestling Jesus is the only story of these that I'd before; it was published in the Dangerous Women anthology and I have to say that I really disliked it there. A bullied teen is semi-adopted by an elderly ex-wrestler, who teaches him how to fight in between preparing for his own big match – he and another man have a rivalry going back decades where they compete for the attentions of a beautiful woman. Read as a story explicitly about a 'dangerous woman' it's a disaster, since a) the woman only appears in one scene, where b) she's literally a prize to be fought over by men. Read by itself, it's a fine story about a father-son relationship. Or it would be, if Lansdale hadn't included a long afterword complaining about the bad reviews he got for the anthology. Don't write a story that so blatantly misses the point and then get upset when people say you missed the point, dude! I hate it when authors I like act like dingbats in their nonfictional writings. But with all that said, this is a very nice collection of stories, with a surprising diversity of tones and settings. I've long been a fan of Lansdale's Hap & Leonard series, but this book would make a good introduction for newcomers. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley. What are you currently reading? Jade City by Fonda Lee. This book has been described as "Hong Kong gangster movie, but fantasy". I just started it this morning so I can't say more than that, but really, what more do you need?

[peacehopeandrats]

TBR Bingo Update!

Has been a while since I've posted one of these because my schedule has been super busy. I'm living with a pair of dogs that I have to walk separately and then I've got other work around town, so I'm in and out a LOT, but it also means I'm listening to books or reading them out loud to pets a LOT.

So here's what I've got so far:

And here's a text recap of the titles for each of those X's, just in case anyone says they'd kind of like to check things out.

Blue Cover: King's Cage, by Victoria Aveyard

Family: A Long Petal Of The Sea, by Isabel Allende

Fantasy: Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

Animals: The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Matsukawa

Sports: My Year Of The Racehorse, by Kevin Chong

Realistic Fiction: A Very Typical Family, by Sierra Godfrey

Graphic Novel: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughn

Free Space: War Storm, by Victoria Aveyard

Red Cover: Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas

Native Author: Crooked Hallelujah, by Kelli Jo Ford

Orange Cover: Genesis Begins Again, by Alicia D. Williams

Food: Tastes Like War, by Grace M. Cho

Real Person: The Forgotten Founding Father, by Joshua Kendall

Historical Fiction: Even As We Breathe, by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Audio Book: When to Rob a Bank, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

I won't go into details about all of them, but I'm going to point out the Big Library Read book because I think it is an amazing program and if your library doesn't have it, you should ask them to join!

The Big Library Read is a worldwide book club where participating libraries get an infinite number of digital books (kindle or audio) for their patrons to check out and enjoy all at the same time. At the site you can join the discussion with other readers from everywhere. I have not been disappointed by the selections yet and I've been participating almost since the beginning. If your library doesn't participate, you can still go to their site and look at the other books from the past events. I highly recommend just about every book on that list.

The Forgotten Founding Father has been on my list to read for YEARS. Yes, this is all about Webster of the famous dictionary and you get to hear all about the creation of the dictionary as well as the man's life. I had absolutely no idea how much stuff we owed Webster for until I read this book. Nonfiction is amazing.

[ibupony]

MBTI book tag

Saw at @nercz and I thought why not?!

1. First things first, what is your MBTI type? ENTJ

2. When did you learn to read? 
At the age of 5-6 

3. What languages can you read in?
 Hungarian and English.

4. What books are you currently reading or most recently read? 
I’m reading The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater & The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

5. Name 3 books you never finished:
 Uhm. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I just... couldn’t. Also I’m struggling with The Great Gatsby for like 3-4 months now, but I usually finish every book I pick up. Neuromancer was a great challenge too, but I blame it on the horrible translation, so I plan to re-read that one in English.

6. What are your favorite books from childhood? Harry Potter (obviously), the Darren Shan saga, The Arthur trilogy by Kevin Crossley-Holland & Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. 

7. What are your current favorite books?
 mehh. I still adore all from above, but if I must name some then it would include Álomhajsza by Vavyan Fable, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline & The Hitchhiker’s Guide. 

Multiple Choice (bold as many as apply to you & add your own choice if you must)

8. Your favorite genres:
Mystery/Sci-fi/Chick Lit/Young Adult/Horror/Nonfiction/Memoirs/Dystopias/Poetry/Self-Help/Historical Fiction/Fanfiction/Realistic Fiction/Biographies/Satire-Black Comedy/Philosophy/Fantasy

9. Your opinion on rereading books:
I do it all the time/I really love books but I have very little time/It has to be a really good book/I can’t stand it/I haven’t done it since I was a child/I only reread my favorite sections.

10. How long does it take you to read one book on average?
 Depends on my mood and the book. It can be 1-2 days to months.

11. How do you typically read? As a child & college student I used to read everywhere all the time (heck even when walking home from the bus stop :”D), but nowadays I usually read while I take a bubblebath. And since it’s my “me-time”, it’s a must each week. :) 

12. How many books do you typically read in a year?
None or 1/About 1 to 3/Maybe 4 to 10/At least more than 10/ At least 50/ Too much. I can’t keep track

13. For school assigned books, what type of student are/were you?
 As a student I loathed most of the assigned books from a very early age so I usually skipped them (except for ancient Greek epic poems & Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky which I enjoyed a lot). At college I had a lot of Maths, Chemistry & Natural Sciences, so I didn’t have to read that much (but I did read a lot of fiction under the desk during classes :”)))

[thestoryreadingape]

3 UK Agents Seeking YA, Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, Crime and more - by Erica Verrillo...

3 UK Agents Seeking YA, Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, Crime and more – by Erica Verrillo…

on Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity:

Here are three UK literary agents actively looking for writers.

Juliet Mushens is looking for adult and YA fiction. She is looking for crime, thriller, YA, reading group fiction, ghost stories, historical fiction, SFF, romcoms, and high concept novels.

Kevin Pocklington is looking for a wider range of non-fiction submissions and would like to develop…

[bisteverogers-archive]

6 & 20?

hi, liv, thanks for asking!!

6. what books have you read in the last month? ruta sepetys, the fountains of silence; leigh bardugo, ninth house; rainbow rowell, carry on; tegan quin and sara quin, high school; kwame mbalia, tristan strong punches a hole in the sky; kevin wilson, nothing to see here; rick riordan, the tyrant’s tomb; katharine mcgee, american royals; and anne carson’s translation of an oresteia. i think this puts me back on track for my goodreads goal after a dry spell fdshjkhfjds

20. what are things you look for in a book? women that are treated well and fleshed out as characters, fleshed out and purposeful characters in general, good pacing, & good world-building. in nonfiction or historical fiction, just stuff that’s well-researched, mainly. one of the ways i find other stuff to read is by snooping in bibliographies, so on the surface, i love it when books have those, too LOL.

ask me about books?