#mainly books on my tbr

[gatheryepens]

🌧️ Rules: spell out either your name or username using only books or only movies that have your vibe, and tag some people.

Thank you for tagging me @cravingstudyvalidation sorry it’s taken me a month to do…..

g - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

a - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

t - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

h - Heartless by Marissa Meyer

e - Emma by Jane Austen

r - Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

y - You Know You Love Me by Cecily Von Ziegesar

e - East of Eden John Steinbeck

p - Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

e - (The) Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

n - Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

s - Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Thank you once again for the tag Tessa 💖

Tagging anyone who wants to do this :)

[lagaans]

perfect representation of thinking gay thoughts..

[unimportantweirdo]

hey someone make me stop buying things

[jflemings]

would you minds sharing any random jessie relationship headcanons you have? you write about it so well in your fics pls let us into your brain lol

— my oddly specific gf!jessie headcanons

pairing: jessie fleming x reader

warnings: nsfw & saw

a/n: got this ask and kept it in the drafts so i could just keep adding to it when a thought popped into my head :)

if any of my headcanons inspire fics please please please tag me!!! i’d love to see your take on them <3

- took soooooooo long to ask you out because she kept psyching herself out

- spoke with such confidence that it was honestly a shock to you when she told you she was nervous

- talked about you all the time to her friends and family before they ever actually met you

- introduces you to her sister before the rest of her family (mainly bc elysse begged to meet you)

– she has tiktok only so you can send her videos and you’re the only one she follows

– she takes soooo many photos of you

loves taking embarrassing ones just so she can laugh at them later

– sleeps on the side of the bed closest to the door

– is an absolute pain in the ass to go furniture shopping w because she reads everything on the label

– early bird

– not super big on pda but insists on holding your hand everywhere you go

– she doesn’t really celebrate her goals but if she knows you’re in the crowd she’ll point to wherever you’re sitting and blow you a kiss

– if you get married she gets your first initial tattooed on her inner left bicep closest to her heart

– easily embarrassed by compliments

– likes to read her book with your head in her lap

– makes the best bacon and eggs, i don’t make the rules

– if you drink coffee you can bet your ass she memorised your order the first time y’all went out for coffee

– super clingy in the mornings

– makes a playlist of songs that reminds her of you/your relationship

– very attentive gift giver, will take note of even the smallest things you say you like for future reference

– if you’re a reader she’s got your tbr in her notes app so that if she sees a book you’ve been meaning to read she can just get it for you

– likes to give and receive flowers

– a rambler, she’ll talk your ear off if she gets talking about something she really enjoys

that includes you, she talks about you to her teammates all the time

– secret avid pet name user

babe, baby, my girl, sunshine, ALL OF THEM

- blanket hog

- the two of you make a pact to learn something new by the end of the year and she chooses to learn how to play the fucking harmonica

- she gets rlly good at it tho

- picks out your outfit for game days

- loves having baths with you

doesn’t get to do it often but when she does she goes all out: bath bomb/bath salts, candles, her kindle. the whole lot

- talks during movies if she doesn’t know what’s going on

“why’d he do that” “jess i don’t know, we’re watching the same movie”

- not a big tv series watcher but will sit with you while you watch it

- loves her documentaries though

- does a really good david attenborough impression

- is ridiculously competitive when it comes to monopoly and twister

- which is funny because she’s shit at twister

- likes to be close to you at all times

if the whole couch is free she’ll still sit next to you, thigh to thigh

- doesn’t like to argue but will if she feels strongly enough about it

- she can honestly be kinda condescending in arguments without even realising it

definitely comes from her role as a leader

- she asks you multiple times through the day what you’re thinking about just because she likes to know what’s going on inside you head

- likes to do normal, everyday things with you like chores. honestly doesn’t even care that she has to vacuum the whole house, she just likes that fact that the two of you are cleaning together

- as clingy as she is she also really likes her alone time and will often take herself to a corner of the house to just mellow out, especially if she’s been around people a lot that day

- she’ll always come and find you with a smile on her face when she’s ready to though

- loves to update you on her day when she’s away. she’s been known to send you photos of anything and everything when she’s with team canada

- likes to get you lil something from every city she visits if she can

- you display all the trinkets she gets you on a shelf

- when you first started dating she’d write you letters as a way to express her emotions because she didn’t feel like she could properly communicate them directly to you

she gives them all to you on your wedding day

- she’s just so so so so in love with you

NSFW

– generally soft during sex unless she’s high off a win, pissed off or been away from you for too long

– is a switch lol

– gets pleasure from you being pleasured, she’d eat you out for hours if you let her because she likes knowing that she can get you off

- also a biiiiiiiiiiiiig fan of using a strap, absolutely loves the way you look when she bottoms out

- is surprisingly vocal in bed

- has a massive praise kink it’s literally insane

- she came untouched once bc she was fucking you w her strap and you were telling her how good she was doing

- likes when you scratch down her back but can’t let you do it often bc of the shared change room

- once went to training with a scratched up back and sam never let her live it down

- isn’t super experienced but she is observant so she figures out what you like really early on

- made it her personal mission to fuck you on every surface of your new place when the two of you moved to portland

- is a big fan of morning sex

- not a big fan of shower sex

- also is a fan of make up sex

- tries to give you as many orgasms as physically possible in one round (four is her record) (she intends to beat it)

- aftercare queen

- is pretty firm with what she does and doesn’t like and isn’t usually one to go out of her comfort zone unless the two of you have discussed it before

- refuses to hit you during sex. she’s just not comfortable with it

- doesn’t really like choking either but she does like having her hand on the base of your neck without applying any pressure

also goes absolutely feral when you do it to her

- definitely prefers to have sex in the comfort of your own home

- the two of you got caught by niamh once because jess was too loud as you ate her out

neither of you could look her in the eye for about a week afterwards and jessie endured so much teasing

- isn’t one to have drunk sex but she does like just having her hands under your bra so she can cup your breasts. she doesn’t know why, it just happens when the two of you are going to bed after a night out

- is the biggest tease in the world

- will rile you up and then pretend she has no idea what she’s doing

- has insane stamina and will go for rounds until she physically can’t

- can get really cocky during sex, especially when she knows you’re about to cum

- if she’s had a really shit day/week she likes to be overstimulated just to get all of her negative emotions out

[heavenlyyshecomes]

do you have a list of pre-90s wlw books anywhere...

my tag was mainly about gay movies but also here's a list of books from my tbr:

pre-90s

couple of the white room—ryoko yamagishi

after delores—sarah schulman

olivia—dorothy strachey

sweet days of discipline—fleur jaeggy, tim parks (tr.)

beginning with o—olga broumas

'90s-early '00s

facing the mirror: lesbian writing from india—ashwini sukthankar (ed.)

notes of a crocodile & last words from montmartre—qiu maojin

the membranes—chi ta-wei, ari lariss heinreich (tr.)

fingersmith & affinity—sarah waters

violets—shin kyung sook, anton hur (tr.)

[theliterarymess]

For more information on the drama regarding author Cait Corrain rn.

Corrain has a debut novel coming out next year entitled ‘Crown of Starlight’. It was under consideration for Illumicrate. It has just recently been revealed that Corrain has been creating burner accounts on Goodreads to rate her competition 1-2 ⭐️ and boost her own book. She of course denies it but a lot of evidence has been revealed. It has been noted that she is mainly targeting marginalised authors. It’s very sad because their book wasn’t doing bad! Many people were getting excited for it but this author still chose to sabotage their peers.

The doc exposing burner accounts of her review bombing other authors here. The evidence dates back to April this year

Apparently the author was friends with another recent debut and asked for their endorsement for her book, only to secretly review bomb them too

Author Xiran Jay Zhao is providing lists of other 2024 debut authors you can support here

Goodreads has currently disabled users from interacting with Corrain’s book due to the breach of guidelines which I worked out while trying to remove it from my TBR

[tiramissyoucake]

No title sorry bout that lol Satoru Gojo x Reader, mainly fluff, reader lovingly bullies gojo, gojo is whipped, 800+ Words

CW: none, fluff head to toe, can't spell 'Satoru' without 'Sato' (sugar) gehehehehehehehe dies, little proof reading

Notes: I had a long day and I was book shopping and I realised "ah, gojo would buy shit for his gf just because he remembered her" so here we are, I'm not good at writing fluff plz bare wit me, I'm trying out a new divider plz tell me if it looks good or bad :')

A book slid across the soft surface of the table to you, you put down your mug and examined the cover then looked up towards your white haired boyfriend who's face looked like he was expecting you to jump into his arms and express gratitude.

"What's this?" Satoru's expression fell at your words. He sat up and gestured to the book as if that would make you understand. "The book you were talking about, remember? When we had coffee in that new place?"

Wow, he remembered? You couldn't help but smile, that conversation was weeks ago and he still remembered, during then you passively mentioned the book's title, you merely brought it up saying your friends were all reading it and talking about it but you weren't going to pick it up anytime soon (for the sake of your TBR list, you can't..)

"And you waited until now because...?" You picked up the book as you spoke, fingers flipping through the freshly printed pages and examining the font size and spacing of the words. Satoru snorted, "waited? I've been looking for it everywhere!" He folded his arms over his chest as irritation took over his features."Everywhere I checked, it was sold out!"

"Seriously? You ran around stores for me?" You teased, and he pouted, scooting his chair closer to you. "Of course~ when my love asks for something, I race to get it!"

"Satoru, that's nice, but.." You set the book down. "I didn't ask for–"

"Shhhh, you can show me your devoted thanks later." He cut you off with a finger to your lips, acting as if he was saving your breath from praising him and his valiant efforts (of purchasing a popular book).

Continuing this would just prove to be useless, although it was a nice gesture, even if you couldn't read it now– he listened, he knew you were interested and he made the effort to purchase something with you in mind.

To say Satoru was an impulsive buyer was an understatement. He's smart with his money, and yet moments where he loses all rationality in a transaction have been frequent after establishing a relationship with you. If Satoru sees anything in a store that briefly reminds him of you, he's taking it home to you.

The best part of the whole process is seeing your reaction, even if you told him he didn't need to waste his money on you– he could see the smile twitch at the corner of your lips as you grew flushed; almost as if shy that satoru thinks of you so fondly outside of your daily interactions.

His surprises could be anything, ranging from a mug that was the right shade of your favorite color to a necklace he thought would look good on you, it makes him even happier when he sees you use said gift in any mundane activity.

"This is really sweet of you, baby, thank you." You replied and kissed his cheek, Satoru hummed through a smile happily, accepting your affections. You reached for your mug– the mug he bought you because he knew you'd love the cartoon cat on it.

"So where'd you find it?" He waved off your question."It doesn't matter. What matters is that I got it before anyone else could, and capitalism loses!"

"Capitalism actually won because they got your money, so.." You quietly drank from your mug as you watched his face contort to disappointment. You restrained yourself from laughing at his pouting. How dare you belittle his victory?

"You're so mean to me! And here I bought 2 copies so we can read it together!" He announced as he showed his copy, the same book with the same cover. You set down your mug and cooed at him. "Satoru! You didn't have to do that. Honestly, are you obsessed with me?"

You uttered that sentence in a clear joking tone, but his expression hadn't changed. "Of course I am! I thought I made it pretty clear! You're literally all I think about!" Satoru proudly proclaimed and grew red in the face when you burst out laughing, your features growing flushed as well at his declaration.

"You're so lame, Satoru!" You wiped the tear away from your eye as you came down from your little giggle fit. He pouted at you once more. "What? Am I the only obsessed one here?"

"Maybe, I'm not the one who ran store to store looking for 2 copies of the same book?" His pout persisted at your retort, laying his head on your shoulder he stared up at you with a pitiful yet loving gaze, one that he would give you whenever you were being 'mean' to him.

"Okay, okay.." You turned to him and cupped both his cheeks in your hands, kissing his forehead, Satoru indulged in the closeness, feeling your scent envelope him as you leaned closely to him. He stopped you from moving your hands away just as you began doing so, keeping them on his cheeks.

"... Satoru?" You waited for him to answer but he only tipped his face towards you, you rolled your eyes unable to fight the smile off your lips as you kissed his cheeks, the tip of his nose and finally right on his soft lips. "Was that good enough compensation?"

His face reddened, and he nodded once. "Mhmm, thank you, pookie~"

[oniiion-studies]

–studyblr intro–

hello hello! welcome to my (somewhat) new studyblr! i'm no stranger to the community, but i've taken a LONG hiatus from academia. life has a way of life-ing, y'know?

...about

amaris <3

she/her

20

american

...academics

3-time dropout, so... independent studies! XD

latin + art history

interests: language, classic literature, greek + roman history

my long-term goal is to pursue an associates degree in music!

...hobbies

crochet – i run a small business selling finished items. my business is almost 2 years old!! i've been crocheting since i was 6 years old, and i'm mostly self-taught

music – i'm a huge metalhead, and i play a lot of instruments! my first love will always be bass (upright), but i mainly play bass guitar now

reading – i LOVE to read. anything i can get my hands on, my TBR is miles long, send help...

taking notes – a rather silly interest considering my break from academia, but i love typing, writing and color-coordinating notes! i will take notes on anything and everything if given the opportunity!

aquariums – i'm currently keeping ghost shrimp!! i have about 15 of them, and i'm hoping to get another tank so i can keep a red-clawed crab!

...what to expect

study session recaps

book reviews

word of the day

life stuff/cool things i'm doing

...etc

i looooove cozy video games (stardew valley, animal crossing, etc)

cooking + baking, i love to try new recipes!

tea > coffee

i go rock hunting almost every year in the upper peninsula of michigan and tumble them in my free time!

all of my tattoos are bugs !!

all of my original posts are tagged #oniiionstudies, which i'm also tracking!! feel free to tag me in stuff, let's be mutuals! <3

[liu-anhuaming]

Reading Chinese Ebooks on 讀墨 ReadMoo

For the past few years, I've labored under the assumption that I can't read Chinese ebooks because I just can't focus on them. However, I recently saw someone on insta mention the app 讀墨. I was intrigued, and decided to give it a try. And wow, what a shock, I can in fact read Chinese ebooks! I just have to change it to vertical text and make the font very large.

So the past couple weeks I've been trying to read more consistently using 讀墨. The book I started with was slow going at first, which almost made me give up; it was the Chinese translation of The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. This book really wasn't for me, and I didn't want to keep reading it. So instead of just giving up, I bought one more book and tried again: 《你的孩子不是你的孩子》 by 吳曉樂 (yes, it is the basis for the Netflix show of the same name).

I devoured the book in under a week. So yeah, I think Chinese ebooks work for me if I like the book.

Below is gonna be an overview of the app, and my thoughts on it so far. It's not comprehensive though, since there's a lot of things on this app I haven't explored yet (like the audiobooks).

***Please note that 讀墨 is a Taiwanese app, and as such it mainly offers books written in traditional characters. There are apparently books written in simplified available, but I haven't explored those since I'm fine reading traditional.***

Buying Books

Buying books is fairly simple. You make an in-app purchase of coins, which you then use to buy books. Note: As of writing this, I have recently recently received a notification from the app that their book purchasing system will be changing soon. Instead of being able to buy the books in the app, you'll have to log in to your account in a browser and buy the books there. The books will apparently then appear on the app for you to read.

As it stands, 210 coins costs $10.99, and the books I've bought have ranged in price from 210 to about 300 coins. That means the books cost ~$11-$16, just like a regular book. This could be pricey, but since I'd otherwise be paying for international shipping if I were buying a physical copy, this feels like a bargain to me. (For me, shipping books from Taiwan/China to the US typically doubles the price of the purchase rip)

Once you buy the book, it's in your library for you to start whenever you please.

As for browsing for books, I haven't gone too in-depth yet. I went in to 讀墨 with a TBR and went for books off that list exclusively. When it comes to buying books online, I almost always go on whatever site I'm buying from with a list of the books I'm thinking of buying. I get recommendations elsewhere (e.g., Goodreads or insta).

Reading Books

The 讀墨 reading interface is pretty typical for an e-reader app. What makes me like it way better than other apps I've used is that it has a lot more customization options.

For starters, you've got 6 options for page/text color. There's the typical black, white, and sepia, but there's also blue and green! I use the 奶綠 option, since I don't like having such a stark contrast between the text and the background when reading on my phone for long periods.

Then there's the options for changing the text size and spacing. You can make it bigger or smaller as you please, and put more or less space between each line of text.

You can also change the font. There's 8 different fonts you can choose from, including the default. There's even a font that puts 注音 next to each character! You can see a preview of that one in the photo below.

And then, there's the option to switch between horizontal and vertical text. The default is horizontal text, but I've come to prefer vertical when reading Chinese novels. If you go to your settings on your profile, you can make vertical text your default, which is what I ended up doing.

Like any good e-reader, there's options to highlight text. There's four different colors you can use (pink, yellow, purple, and blue). If you go the ToC, you can find all of your highlights and filter by color of highlight. Super convenient, since I've been using pink to highlight words/phrases I don't know or find interesting and yellow to highlight key sentences/paragraphs.

Aside from highlighting, when you select text you have the option to look the characters up in a dictionary or online. I've been getting a lot of errors with this recently, but I'm wondering if that's just my phone acting weird? It worked perfectly fine when I first started using the app. Anyways, the dictionary it takes you to is 夢典 MoeDict and it opens in a browser. This personally is a bit annoying bc I actually have this dictionary app installed on my phone, but this is a minor complaint. The dictionary opening in a new browser tab is a non-issue.

Reading Stats

Now, I'm a big dork and love to track my reading stats. To my great satisfaction, 讀墨 keeps track of some stats. The main one is time spent reading. You can set a daily goal (the minimum is 20 minutes), and if you reach it you get a nice checkmark on the calendar. The calendar doesn't update until the very end of each day, so if you've reached your goal for the day it won't show on the calendar until the next day.

Also, keep in mind time differences between where you live and Taiwan. I'm ~12 hours behind Taiwan, so the app doesn't start a new day until around noon for me.

Below the calendar, there's a chart that shows your total reading times for a week, month, or year. I normally can't be bothered to time my reading (especially not when I'm reading physical books) so this is cool to see. I think when it comes to reading in Chinese, being timed is more interesting because I'm able to more clearly gauge progress.

And below all that, there's a breakdown of the genres you read. I don't pay much attention to genre when choosing books, so I don't find this one quite as interesting.

(tfw you're reading a non-fiction book about a tutor so your main genre becomes 教育)

Overall Thoughts

So yeah, I've enjoyed myself so far. Aside from the reading interface, I find the app pretty easy to navigate. I spent a bit of time just clicking around and was able to figure out what's what pretty quick.

Like I said, this isn't a comprehensive review, but I'd recommend giving the app a try if you're willing/able to put down money for ebooks and are able to read traditional. It feels worth the money for me, since the interface is pretty customizable and easy to use.

If you're wondering where to find simplified ebooks, idk. This is my first real foray into Chinese ebooks, so I don't really know where to find them for simplified or traditional. I have heard that it is a little easier to pirate Chinese ebooks since their copyright laws are a little different than ours in the US?

[marcusagrippa]

books tag game!!! tagged by @en-theos :D

Last book I read: Imperium by Robert Harris. Cicero........Ciceroooo....... I'm rereading the trilogy and I forgot how good they were! Wish wish wish I'd had the chance to see the plays :>

Book I recommend: Pestilence and the Body Politic in Latin Literature. Hello.........👁️👁️

Book I couldn't put down: the Silo series by Hugh Howey!

Book I've read twice: the book with the most recent rereads is unironically Attis. Hello. Taps mic. It's like a parasite. I feel like I miss the point of it every time I read it so I reread it again and give myself one billion points of psychic damage. Either that or the Revenge of the Sith novelisation because I enjoy torturing myself

A book on my TBR: Metamorphoses!!!! I've recently read Peter Green's translations of the Amores and the Ars Amatoria and. Hhngh. I need to get Ovidpilled Quickly.

A book I've put down: Halcyon by Rio Youers. Tried to get into a non-spin related book and didn't really like it - cool concept but absolutely could not Stand the way children were written.

A book on my wishlist: clothbound classics.......clothbound classics hello.........also a physical copy of Augustus by John Williams. It's so so so good and has my absolute favourite favourite portrayal of Salvidienus 🫶🫶🫶

A favourite book from childhood: SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT. My copy of the first book is falling apart at the seams I've read it so many times.

A book you would give to a friend: hhrghhghh inferno

A book of poetry/lyrics you own: Propertius' complete works! 4.7 my best friend <3

A non-fiction book you own: the Roman Revolution stares at me from my bedside table every time I wake up. Good Morning Mr Syme.

Currently reading: I'm in the middle of soooo many books rn but mainly Lustrum by Robert Harris, Lucan's Pharsalia (JWJ translation) and the Aeneid (David West translation)!! Also Exposed: the Greek and Roman Body by Caroline Vout which I'm really enjoying

Planning on reading next: Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell (thank you Xuan), Antony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy (thank you Loïs) or the Last of the Wine by Mary Renault (thank you Judith) :]

tagging @cattus-catos @foxnewsdeathcult @enlitment @tunathena @stcantarella (no pressure though)

[dionysism]

hey! if you don't mind answering, what's your favorite greek mythology themed book? the iliad, the odyssey or something third? also, i'm really curious what are your favorite translations of the books i just mentioned? it's always a pleasure to visit your blog btw <3

the odyssey is my fav of all time and i love the iliad dearly too but i'm also a big fan of the oresteia & related plays (sophocles electra & the euripides plays on house of atreus) but also eurpidies bacchae and also his herakles.. but medea too... (i love euripides if you can't tell 😭) also i know i mainly talk tragedy on here but aristophanes' comedies are great, you ever read lysistrata? if not you should. really funny. play is about women refusing to sleep with their husbands until they sue for peace and stop the war.

for iliad and odyssey translations i've gone into a few of my favorite translations here

the rest i couldn't offer as wide a variety of translations as with the iliad & odyssey cause some of them i've only read one translation of & i have more on my tbr but i haven't gotten to them yet so i couldn't say my thoughts. for the oresteia i have read one full trans (currently reading another) and one other agamemnon. i've read fagles (love fagles trans) & i'm reading sarah ruden's rn (great so far!) and the agamemnon comes from anne carsons (her trans is an orestia that includes aeschylus' agamemnon, sophocles' elektra & euripides' orestes and i haven't read other translations of those two yet so all i can recommend is anne's) same with euripides' iphigenia at aulis (trans by w.s. merwin & george dimock) & iphigenua among the taurians (trans by anne carson) are the only two i've read but i did enjoy them both! i also haven't read this one in full yet so take with a grain of salt but i've seen a few excerpts from robert icke's translation of the oresteia and i liked what i read so i hope to read that one soon

medea i've read three translations: oliver taplin, gilbert murray & philip vellacott. i loved all three of them but if i had to pick a favorite i'd say taplin's probably. (but, woman, can you steel yourself to kill your body's fruit? ... you would become the wretchedest of women / then let it be)

the bacche i've read anne carsons & john davie's, again both of which i enjoyed but i'm partial to carson. (dionysus' "okay ladies, up we get! no more crouching, no more sobbing!" is cute. i wouldn't describe the entire play as cute tho LMFAO. well. unless you find bacchanals and ripping people to shreds cute, which, maybe i do)

herakles i've read anne carson's, robert potter's & philip vellacott. now as ive said i do really love anne carson but potter's might take it for me as the favorite this time. one of my favorite theseus appearances in mythos too

and for lysistrata i've read douglass parker's. this is probably in my top 3 aristophanes plays. comedic genius he was

[books-and-strawberry-tea]

Discarded Good Reads TBR

1/11/24

I was gonna leave this till New Years 25, but decided to do it early. Yes it's November, but I have over 600+ in my good reads tbr and would rather get it sorted sooner rather then later. Some of these books and been on my list for years. So long I didn't even remember I had a good reads account. So lets go!

Can I Steal You for a Second

The Lady Upstairs

Silverglass

Night Tide

Off The Record

Dearly Departed

Melt With You

Her Countess to Cherish

Two Winters

Never Ever Getting Back Together

Mistakes Were Made

The Fiance Farce

Victories Greater Than Death

Fake It

The Hellion's Waltz

Payback's a Witch

Cool for the Summer

In The Event of Love

Something Borrowed

In Her Shoes

The Fault In Our Stars

Bridget Jones Diary

The Devil Wears Prada

Confessions of a Shopahoplic

The Help (As you can see from the last few listings, I went through a time were I wanted to read the books of some of the movies I loved but I've just lost interest in doing this. Doesn't help that the people who wanted to read them with me didn't end up reading them either.)

Good In Bed

A Lady's Guide to Scandal (turns out this book was a sequel)

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

If I Stopped Haunting You

I Hope This Doesn't Find You

Funny Story

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

The Ballad Of Never After

A Curse For True Love (Iykyk)

Safe Haven (An Aussie Book, I'm wanting to read Chai Time of Cinnamon Gardens, and if I like this book I'll try the other one)

Wrong Text, Right Love

Spellbound in the Stacks

That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon

Girls Weekend

Parties

Redeeming 6

Saving 6

Keeping 13

Binding 13

Not In Love

Taming 7

Hate Mail

To Woo And To Wed

Haunt Your Heart Out

Otherworldly

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Make The Season Bright

I Feed Her To The Beast Series

Tangled Up In You

Werewolf's Guide to Seducing A Vampire

King of Sloth (Kings Of Sin Series as a whole)

Ready or Not

Kilt Trip

Dead To The World

Dead of Night

Dead Weight

Dead Wrong

A Thousand Broken Pieces

She Who Rose From Ashes

Rebel Belle

Sinner's Anonymous Series

Pretty Little Liar's (I loved the tv show but I dont feel like reading the books anymore)

Peculiar Tastes Series

Children of Blood And Bone

We Used To Live Here

Shatter Me

A Sweet Sting of Salt

My Darling Dreadful Thing

The Summer of Broken Rules

Morrighan (The Remnant Chronicles)

Beasts of Gatamora Series

Dungeons and Drama

Rewitched

The Cottage Around the Corner

A Hunger Like No Other

Crimson Debt

Scream For Us

The Binding

The Betrayals

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam

A Rival Most Vial

The Volcano Girls

Vampire Girl

The Christmas Appeal

The Pairing

By Any Other Name

Small Miracles

Hum

YouthJuice (I DNFed this. Dunno why its in the TBR list on GR. Boring as all hell)

My Best Friends Exorcism

The Raag of Rta

Silent Sister

The Price Guide to the Occult

Never Fall for a Dragon

The Gathering Dark

Mortal Skin

At Least You Have Your Health

After The Forest

Fit To Do

Natural Beauty

The Glow

All Night Pharmacy

Guillotine

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

In The Dream House

The Dark Within Us

The Vampires Melody

The Invocations

Such Sharp Teeth

The Ones Who Come Back Hungry

Indian Burial Ground

Castle of the Cursed

Diavola

Haunt Sweet Home

The Dangerous Ones

Fang Fiction

So Let Them Burn

The Woods All Black

We Shall Be Monsters (Turns out I had two books under this name from two different authors)

The Botanical Daughter

Red In Tooth And Claw

Such Lovely Skin

Incidents Around The House

The House Of Last Resort

I Accidently Summoned A Demon Boyfriend

Together We Burn

Even Though I Knew The End

The Monsters We Defy

The Magpie Lord

Mortal Follies

The Dead Romantics

A lot of the books I got rid of in the older tabs were contemporary genre, and there's not a whole lot of contemporary books I like. At least as a whole. There are exceptions but mainly, I find the genre boring. I feel like if it's contemporary, it has to be something really gripping or deranged for me to stay entertained. Murder mysteries and thrillers that are particularly messed up (I loved Butcher & Blackbird), Dark Romance (Adored Haunting Adeline and everything else I've read so far from H.D. Carlton.)

(Also just side note, a lot of the older books listed in my list reminded me of bi erasure and how its alive and well. Bi characters are always listed as lesbian. It's so stupid. Anyway, rant over.)

Books I found that I forgot about (That sound amazing!!)

Spice Road

Off With Their Heads

Dragonfruit

The Lunar Chronicles (I always forget about this series but it looks really awesome, and really want to give it a go)

The Heir of The Beast (I keep missing being able to read this.)

I now have 490 on my list, I may go through it again. Cause there's still a lot on the list. If I go through it again, I'll edit this post. If you've read any of these books, and you think I should reconsider, please let me know!., , ..0 (Greetings from my cat apparently)

[thelimeonade]

I am in no way new here but it's been so long since I have used this blog to the point that it has - sadly - descended into an early grave. So in an attempt to revive it and be more consistent, I'm going to reintroduce myself to you all.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Lime and I am an aspiring writer (mainly high fantasy). I'm 22 years old and I'm in my 5th year as a med student, with hopes of landing a position in either cardiology, surgery or general practice especially emergency and trauma. I live in Cairo, Egypt and as I have said before to disperse the false stereotypes, no, I do not live in a tent. No, I don't live next to the pyramids. Yes, I have wifi and all the modern things you have.

My hobbies include portrait drawing and reading. I have been an avid reader ever since I could hold books and pretend that I was reading because I couldn't actually read just yet. My TBR is at a completely unrealistic number of 4.5k and growing as I have no favorite genre and I bury myself in books as a somewhat unhealthy way to deal with my depression, anxiety and borderline.

I have a LOT of WIPs - wouldn't exactly call them that as I never really started outlining any of them, I just started writing random scenes but I plan on working on one of them fully in the upcoming 5 years (yes I have set a timeline for myself), my most probable decision will be to work on Extinct Galactic but I am torn between burning my greatest card as my first book instead of testing the waters with a simpler, milder idea that would be more acceptable and help me grow my base as a writer.

I initially started this writeblr to share my love and knowledge with everyone here and this reason still stands to this day but we will add to it "the motivation to keep moving forward and improving". I will do my best to post daily, to share how life is going on, to update you on how far I have come in goals that I will be also sharing with you guys.

Some Fun Facts about me:

I used to have over 100 Australian budgies. They were initially two... then they kinda got a lil frisky... and yea... Now I have two cockatiels, Zizo and Bar'o'aa (means plum in Egyptian) and two rescue cats called, Safroot (means tiny in Egyptian) and Nougat.

I have my own small business bookstore that sells manga, manhwa, comic books, light novels and other similar books.

My favorite series is Altered Carbon, the first season, second one was awful.

My anxiety manifests as the need to always be prepared for anything so you'll always find me carrying a huge, heavy backpack full of anything and everything I might ever need.

My guilt pleasure is buying more books even-though I do not have the shelf space nor the capacity to read all of them but I must. own. all. books.

I have an anonymous writing account on instagram called @metanoia.writes

I'm an INFP-T and a Pisces

I love love love LOVE questions so please send me some

So this is it for my somewhat short introduction. I am excited to get to know all of you! Please follow me and reblog this post so it reaches as many people as possible. I will be following back everyone that does. If you're a writeblr as well, let me know so I can check out your works and support you, hopefully we will be more than mutuals!

Lots of love, Lime

[whosbuxkt]

i know it’s too soon but i can’t stop thinking about my fall tbr 🤭

autumn is my favorite season and i just can’t manage putting every book i want to read with fall vibes on here, so i tried to stick to books that (mainly) i already own! i am aiming for spooky sad dark academia vibes this year and hope these books live up to that.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Every week I will post various reviews I've written so far in 2024. You can check out my Goodreads for more up-to-date reviews HERE. You can friend me on Goodreads here.

Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts?

___

329. Straight by Chuck Tingle--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was SUCH a fun read!

STRAIGHT is my favourite Tingle book so far. I loved the characters, the horror, the wit, and the unique take on the zombie genre.

STRAIGHT had some great commentary on topics like allyship and how the LGBTQ+ community can come together when there is danger. But I also appreciated the exploration of the anger aimed at the community and felt IN the community. One of the things I love about horror sometimes is how certain situations are used as allegories for certain issues in our contemporary society and Tingle's book doesn't shy away from that. I loved how straight-forward the conversation was.

Overall, I laughed sometimes, cringed from the gore, and loved that I read this in October. I think that if you love horror and zombies and queer stories that are just pure fun with some great social commentary, then you might want to add this one to your TBR!

___

330. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am slowly making my way through King's work and while some are...something else, others like SALEM'S LOT are truly a great example of why he's been writing for so long.

SALEM'S LOT does one of the things I love so much about King's writing: it creates that eerie atmosphere full of trepidation. It felt like I was reading IT if it had been slightly faster paced. The way the story is full of foreshadowing, almost immediately uncomfortably creepy scenes, and a heavy note of wrongness, made this incredibly compelling. I wanted to keep reading and find out what would happen next and who would fall next to the pandemic plaguing the small town of Jerusalem's Lot.

I listened to the audiobook for this and I enjoyed hearing King's introductory chapter, mainly because he acknowledged how dated the story would be in parts, which it was. King's writing is full of problematic words and statements because of the time and what would make the reader uncomfortable. I am familiar with his writing so it doesn't put me off his writing anymore, even if it is still jarring as all hell to read.

That being said, SALEM'S LOT was 100% a classic horror story with that King flourish. It's obvious in how he knows how to bring characters to life with the smallest of details, or how he can demonize a whole town by blanketing it with the perfect word choices and masterful atmospheric writing. It was surprisingly to the point and really well-paced.

The characters were intriguing and kept the story moving relatively well. There were some disturbing moments and characters, and some really sad ones. But their actions and/or ends made this story all the more captivating and haunting.

I'd recommend this one if you like vampires and want a story about a town that is completely helpless against its inevitable demise.

___

331. King of Pride by Ana Huang--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

While I enjoyed the first book in this series more, KING OF PRIDE was a surprise. I was a big fan of the slow burn and the bursts of spice that freckled the story here and there (since I think that sometimes too much spice can be a bit overwhelming).

I loved the differences between the MCs and how they brought them together. I think one of the reasons why I'm such a fan of romances where the two MCs have a big wage difference between them is because they both help each other grow in ways they otherwise would not have experienced. One teaches the other to be more confident and the other teaches them to be more humble. I like the dynamic too because I love a MMC that treats the FMC like the queen that she is.

These two specific MCs had such a sweet love full of some spicy moments that jumped off the page. I could feel the attraction they felt because Huang let the relationship grow organically, rather than let it be one of those insta-romance novels. I loved how they teased each other and how she helped him get out of his shell more.

I also liked how much integrity the MMC had when it came to business, but also that he took action when he really needed to. I felt for the FMC and her fight against writer's block (because truly, same, bestie), mainly because it was a big part of her storyline and one of the things that kept her confidence low.

The climax pissed me off. Not because of the main couple, but the family meddling. I wanted to slap a few of the characters for their callousness and bullying.

But other than that frustrating moment in the book, I really enjoyed this one. It was sexy, romantic, and full of tension. Plus, that dedication was killer and so was the dirty talk. Phew.

___

332. Want by Gillian Anderson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WANT was definitely something a bit outside of the norm for me. Mainly because I don't tend to read a lot of Well-being titles (which I'm classifying this as because it's a sexuality book). But I'm glad I gave it a shot because I found it very enjoyable and eye-opening.

Told through stories sent in anonymously, WANT was the kind of collection that a lot of people will benefit from reading because of how solitary sex and any sexual-related thoughts can be. I know there are places in the world where sex is still seen as something taboo and not meant to be discussed freely. I liked that this book gave women a chance to voice their sexual thoughts--even if some fell into the odd category.

I know I connected to some of the stories and they left me wide-eyed and seen. Other stories I didn't connect to, but it was still fascinating to see how other peoples' minds worked. To be honest, some stories were so over the top that I couldn't help but laugh a few times. Not to yuck anyone's yum, but some of these essays were...a choice.

That being said, I did appreciate how diverse the essays were and how they were categorized. I was a little wary at first that I would grow tired of the essay after essay approach, but the occasional re-introduction of Anderson in between chapters helped break up the monotony.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for essay collections of the sexual variety with some great diversity. There were many queer women and it was great getting to hear their voices!

___

333. The Second Chance of Darius Logan by David F. Walker--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If there is one thing I will say before I write the review--do yourself a favour and don't listen to the audiobook LOL.

^^I stick by this because the voice actor was a man and he sounded absolutely hilarious when he was voicing the female characters. To the point where it sometimes took me completely out of the story.

Anyway, I loved the concept of THE SECOND CHANCE OF DARIUS LOGAN. It was fun and the writing reminded me a lot of the MICHAEL VEY series, which I loved. I love origin stories set in a world completely new to me. I also just liked seeing the MC (who was usually a good teen) get what he had earned during the story.

Walker's social justice commentary was also eye-opening because when we usually read superhero stories, the worlds are completely fictional and often lack the very real issues plaguing our too-real world. Seeing these police officers treating the Black MC in such a racist way made me so angry, both because of the injustice of it all and because not even in fiction do Black teen boys get a break from the racism they face daily. In this way, this aspect of Walker's book made this book all the more powerful--especially because it bursts that idealistic bubble of "it doesn't happen here" when it comes to superheroes in fiction.

Another great part about this book was the exploration of grief and its effect on younger teens who grow without much support after their losses. That simmering anger CAN be a coping mechanism, even if it gets to the point where it can be detrimental. But I liked how he processed his loss and emotions in his own way as the book progressed, especially when he was given a second chance at life.

I'm excited for the sequel because of that somewhat cliffhanger-ish ending. While I wasn't a super huge fan of the narrative style of including too many moments of foreshadowing (I prefer this in horror), I still thought the story had some great pacing going for it and it was highly addictive because I wanted to know what would come next!

I'd recommend this to those who love superhero stories that have a bit more nuance to them than just stereotypical crime fighting.

___

334. Our Favorite Songs by Anita Kelly--⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of the best things about these books is that they're bite-sized. Some would definitely benefit from being longer, but I'm glad this one was the length that it was.

I liked the idea that this novella was about two characters who come together after so many years, and have that history of one of the characters hating the other. One of the tropes I actually love is the "I hated you as a teen because I had a big crush on you that felt pointless," and this book had that and it was glorious. I DO think that the one character was a bit over-the-top with his meanness, especially with his biphobic comments.

The spice was good, if a little on the quick side (which I'm not surprised because this is a novella). But it was still some fun sprinkling of spice in a story that had started with such animosity between these two guys.

Overall, OUR FAVORITE SONGS was fun, but it followed a similar pattern as the first novella in the series (with problematic moments that took away from the overall cuteness of the story). It's definitely a good holiday read to enjoy with some tea, while sitting by a window when it's snowing. But keep in mind that there will be some moments in this book that will make you want to side-eye the characters.

___

335. The Great Cookie War by Caroline Stellings---⭐️

I received a copy from the publisher a LONG time ago.

First of all, I know this book wasn't for me. This is 100% a middle grade novel that isn't exactly accessible to adults (in my opinion) because of how much I had to suspend my disbelief with certain situations.

That being said, this story was a bit choppy. I admit that I went into this without having read the synopsis, but I typically do this with all of the books I read. But I expected...something else? What I got was a preachy book full of choppy writing and questionable characters--like that grandmother. God, she was awful. There's a scene where she is incredibly horrible to the MC and the "apology" is brushed over by telling us it happened rather than showing us. Which honestly sat wrong with me. We get the entire "I'm disappointed, you're horrible" speech, but not the apology that would make the grandmother take ownership of her abuse on the page for a young reader to see (and acknowledge that adults also need to apologize when they're wrong).

The story just didn't feel like something I wanted to invest my time with and to be honest, I don't know if I'd recommend it to the younger readers who come into the store. Simply because of how the MC is treated, or how choppy that writing was.

I can appreciate what this book is supposed to do and represent, but it was truly not something I enjoyed. I've read various MGLit titles before and this is one of the first times where I finished a middle grade book and felt so much ick.

I'm sure this will be great and relatable for a reader out there--definitely younger readers, and I hope they're able to appreciate it in a much better way than me!

___

336. Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it followed the MC over the span of a few years as her life changed and revealed some of the cruel truths of her life in a society that looks down on and excludes Indigenous people. It was an incredibly powerful portrayal of a young girl that was paralleled by the experiences of her non-Indigenous friend(s).

I will say, before I continue, that it was jarring to hear an older woman narrating the audiobook for this one--especially when a child gives the description of the cover of the book. I get that this is probably to emphasize that some of these experiences mirror that of the author, but it took me out of the book a few times.

WEIRD RULES TO FOLLOW was definitely a difficult read, especially as an adult seeing a child being excluded and discriminated against, but also seeing the home life she has and how it was affecting her during some of the more important development years of her life. I am not Indigenous, so I don't have any right to say whether this was done correctly or not, but I do want to say that I appreciated this story and the voice that the author gave to this young character.

I think young readers should read books like this one because even though it is set in the 80s, I'm sure there are still things they can relate to--especially in how their own families or friends or people around them interact with/talk about the Indigenous community. And there is, of course, mention of "those schools" (as said in the book), which shows the dark and complicated relationship there with residential schools and the trauma and hell they brought with them.

I highly recommend this book. It's short and powerful and poignant. And even though it's technically historical fiction, it is incredibly timely.

___

Happy reading!

[romilly-jay]

Thoughts About The "Thoughts About The Expanse" Panel

***spoilers, natch***

This was one of the sessions I actively wanted to go to but Managing Worldcon Life got in the way. (If I've reconstructed correctly - never certain!- this session was on the same day as the big Worldcon philharmonic concert and immediately before it? If that's right - in theory, it should have been possible to do both, one straight after the other, BUT in reality, this hour got eaten up in queueing time.

So, delighted to find it in the replays and an early priority to listen to - and very glad I did, if mainly to feel the waves of joy and affection rising as I was reminded how VERY MUCH I loved this show*.

*Yes, I know that The Expanse is also an impressive series of novels and novellas as well, but I have mostly - not read these. Yet. They are firmly IN my TBR but as with Worldcon, life has so far Intervened.

=========================================

Right, I'd written the bits above and below the === then got called away [dinner awaits no blogging, dahlings] and then... forgot to return - so the middle segment was NEARLY just the following:

Some of the panel content here.

But - hurrah - started on the next blog and wanted to link it to what that clever Caroline Mersey said about it, only to discover that... she said nothing (as reported here). Oops and - corrected.

In fact almost all of the next part is CM's pitch for why The Expanse is the greatest TV SF series of the 21st century // worldcon Aug 2024

Her pitch revolved around the treatment of sexuality and gender:

This show is the most progressive recent SFF show, particularly in the way it queers gender and sexuality in ways we rarely see on TV.

The power is how it normalises and embeds its treatment. It has poly relationships – almost unheard of in commercial productions. Holden’s family of origin. It’s not just about the tax breaks. Drummer’s crew of space pirates. More complex than a traditional love triangle (tho Draomi is a canon relationship YAY.) This is a show that consistently queers and interrogates expected gender roles. Bobby Draper: not sexualised, not all-powerful, seeks help. Peaches: classic tale of angry superhero on a revenge trip who earns her redemption. Drummer: uber-competent but also with brittle edges.

The exception to the excellence is Julie Mao – the fetishised object of a middle aged white guy’s obsession. CM comments that book one was pretty standard male-oriented SF – very blokey, testosterone-fuelled – but complimented the two writers for how they responded to receiving that feedback, gender flipping certain characters from book two onwards and allowing the story to unfold as it did.

CM's summary of what she loves about the show is made with reference to the final three episodes of S5:

The story around Naomi’s resilience – her desperate determination to save the Roci from Inaros’s trap – we don’t breathe until she does again – amazing engineering ingenuity – while she’s trying to send a signal and break the trap. We have Amos and Peaches and their hugely daring escape from Earth. Avasarala’s coup. Drummer’s torn loyalties – but we’ve also got: how you best deal with your sex pest cast member by writing them out in a way that respects the character but conclusively rules out a return. Those episodes exemplify the most striking and my favourite things about the series.

There was really only one point I *really* wanted to grab from the rest of the session and I *believe* it was lawyer Wes Rist who made it:

Noting the benefit to the quality of the story - its complexity, its ambiguity, the kinks away from expected narratives - that they had several “goes” at it. The role playing game. The books (and novellas filling out the world between the main stories). And then the show.

=========================================

Finishing up by I'm listing out the panel members, incl their varied backgrounds, along with a sort-of-summary of what they said about themselves. To me, this is synecdochal (??) of the identity and value-set of the series and the quality of its appeal i.e. appeals to and relevant to, well, lots of people but almost certainly including:

people who are interested in politics and/or international relations and/or Marxism and/or debating between different philosophies;

people who like hard science and realistic space battles - slash - pouring of liquids in zero G;

people who want to imagine human futures across and within the solar system and the social - slash - economic - slash - politics impacts and implications involved in becoming a bi-planetary species and/or a multi-space location capitalist construct; and

people who want to imagine alternative gendered futures.

[Also, people who think about the Roman empire alot. Perhaps daily.]

These, then, are the panellists:

Sven von Vittorelli is a conservation biologist from Germany, who told the room that his day job is often filled with frustration, with the sense of coming up against the boundaries of what's possible, and so chooses to enrich his life through engaging with science fiction.

[Writing - he's working on the first novel in a hard SF series, which appealed to me immediately because it namechecks Shackleton in the title, Shackleton Ridge. And as a fan - he won me over again by naming Firefly and Battlestar Galactica as series he loved on the way to becoming a fan of The Expanse.]

Wes Rist is an international human rights lawyer whose day job involves working on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity - clearly, seriously heavy, and also, deeply relevant to the political context, themes and developments of The Expanse series.

[He clarified, of course, that his views expressed here, are personal - he's working in some capacity for the US government but not speaking for his employer HERE.]

Bob Hranek has a tech background, initially for the US Airforce (5 yrs), then for the US min of defence (35 years) focused on aerospace systems - he pointed out that any views expressed were his own and not those of his employer (prompting the same from WR).

He joked that given his background he would generally, in the context of The Expanse, be expected to be representing [Evil! Tech! And Weapons! Giant!] Protogen.

Caroline Mersey is a cos player and book nerd and organises lots of book events in her spare time, including the 'Super Relaxed Fantasy Bookclub' - every second Tuesday in London. [Must attempt to go...]

And the panel moderator, Michael Pea, is senior writer at Friends of Comic Con and self-declared *uberfan* of The Expanse.