#mari's reading list

[planet-marz1]

Hi Mari, I have some writer recs for you that I think you'd enjoy 🤍

Obviously, there are so many more, but I've newly discovered these three and enjoyed their work:

morallyinept - love her Ezra and Din especially, so hot and different

alwaysmicado - I am dying at fwb!Joel, I need him so bad; also love her Dieter

suzdin - her Dave York & Max Phillips series is so hot, I love it

hiii! 🩵 thank you so much for these recs!

I don't think I've read anything from these writer's yet, but I'm so excited to dive into all of their works :)

send me your favorite fics/ writers 🩷

[kooluvslixie]

them

[catholicmemoirs]

Carmelite Reading List for the Catholic Laity

Links to free downloads of Traditional Catholic texts:

Way of Perfection for the Laity

Carmelite 1953 Daily Missal (good for daily Gospel readings)

Goffine's Devout Instructions for Epistles and Gospels for Sundays and Holydays

Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Daily:

1. Holy Gospels

2. Lives of the Saints

This is the recommended list of authors in "A Way of Perfection for the Laity":

1. The Imitation of Christ

2. By St. Teresa of Avila

ii. The Book of the Foundations

iii. Minor Works

iv. The Letters

v. The Interior Castle

vi. The Life

3. By St. John of the Cross

i. Ascent of Mount Carmel

ii. The Dark Night of the Soul (The Obscure Night)

4. By St. Teresa of Lisieux: Story of a Soul

5. By St. Francis De Sales

i. Introduction to the Devout Life

ii. Treatise on the Love of God

6. By St. Alphonsus Liguori

i. True Spouse of Christ

ii. Glories of Mary

iii. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament

My 2025 Liturgical Reading List

I took the list above and put a different author per month. The new liturgical year begins December 1st!

Dec: The Imitation of Christ

Jan: The Way of Perfection (St. Teresa of Avila)

Feb: Ascent of Mount Carmel (St. John of the Cross)

Mar: Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux)

Apr: Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis De Sales)

May: True Spouse of Christ (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Jun: The Book of the Foundations (St. Teresa of Avila)

Jul: The Dark Night of the Soul (St. John of the Cross)

Aug: Treatise on the Love of God (St. Francis De Sales)

Sep: Glories of Mary (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Oct: Minor Works (St. Teresa of Avila)

Nov: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Enjoy!

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (October 8th, 2024)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Releases:

The Art Thieves by Andrea L. Rogers

The Dividing Sky by Jill Tew

Red in Tooth & Claw by Lish McBride

If You're Not the One by Farah Naz Rishi

Divine Mortals by Amanda M. Helander

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

Lucy, Uncensored by Mel Hammond & Teghan Hammond

The Terrifying Tales of Vivian Vance by Joshua Ulrich

Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal

Giddy Barber Explodes in 11 by Dina Havranek

Wrongs Answers Only by Tobias Madden

Zodiac Rising by Katie Zhao

Sally's Lament by Mari Mancusi

A Vile Season by David Ferraro

Fledgling by S.K. Ali

Only for the Holidays by Abiola Bello

Twenty-Four Seconds From Now... by Jason Reynolds

New Sequels:

Under All the Lights (When It All Syncs Up #2) by Maya Ameyaw

___

Happy reading!

[no1islost]

Here are the 12 books I read this year. Still trying to finish Blood Over Bright Haven before the year is done. About halfway there. My goal was 8 this year.

My thoughts below:

The Red Rising series lived up to its expectations, and surpassed it. The first book was kind of dull, but holy shit, Golden Son and Morning Star had my jaw on the ground. Actually NOT overrated. Will be starting Iron Gold in 2025.

Project Hail Mary felt so simple and so cliche and I get very agitated with all of the hype surrounding it. Like, it was not terrible, but oh my gosh, I like my sci-fi to be a bit more complex and challenging. It had the potential, but the dialogue sucked and the ending was trash. I’m also annoyed that it’s gonna be a movie. I see no hate for it online and that to me is a red flag LOL.

The Godfather is a classic that everyone should read. The audiobook is pretty great, too. Have seen the movies many times, but had never read the book before.

I thought Gideon the Ninth was confusing until I read Harrow, and just like with Red Rising, the second book blew away the first one. I LOVED Harrow. I loved that I was so confused, and I also loved when I figured it out. I’m scared to read Nona, but plan to in 2025.

Someone To Build A Nest In and Dreadful were basically “breather” reads for me, provided a mental break in between the others. They weren’t difficult reads. Nothing spectacular, but fun in their own unique ways.

I really didn’t like Crime and Punishment until a bit AFTER I finished it. I think I needed some time to think about it. Then I appreciated it. And it took me a bit to get into Piranesi, but then was absolutely hooked.

I picked up Blood Over Bright Haven before it made its rounds on tiktok, only because the bookstore was sold out of The Sword of Kaigen. Then I saw that everyone is saying this is one of the best reads this year. I’m 200 pages in and only just now getting interested. It seemed pretty cliche from the start. I’m not a huge fan of the stereotypical tropes between the main guy and woman, BUT I’m not done yet, so we’ll see if I change my mind!!

These are just my thoughts and opinions, and I recognize that I’m in the minority with some of these thoughts. And that’s okay! Looking forward to more reading in 2025!

[brandoncarlo]

What I read In January is...

Okay so last year I made a resolution to read 100 pages a day and made it through to the midway point of February before I just stopped. Which is crazy because I love reading, but that goal just burnt me out to quick. With that in mind I went into 2025 with the resolution to just read at least once a day. So that's what I did. I found that I still read 100+ pages some days but if i was really tired from work and could only read 20, I didn't beat myself up about it. I'm hoping this helps me stay consistent because January was a very good month as far as books for me, and I'm excited to read everything else on my list.

To start I enjoyed every single one of these books and ended up giving 3 of them 5 stars, though 2 were absolute stand outs to me. The other 2 were still very highly rated though I will say the one in last place just did not match up with the others. Because I'm a book blogged now I gave a small review of each book under the cut.

5. A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske 3.5 ★'s

I didn't dislike this book by any means, but it's just also not the kind of book that I like anyway. It's cozy, and it's cute. There is some tension and there are some stakes but it's not the forefront of the book. It's also gay which just helps me connect way more to stories in general. I read this one because it is one of my boyfriends favorites, and while I found the characters really well crafted, the setting was just okay. The only thing this book really did wrong was not be my type.

4. The Institute by Stephen King 4 ★'s

This may be controversial but I really do like Stephen King. His books are just really accessible to me, he writes the way I read and so even when there are complex topics or even vocabulary I find myself flying through it. He's also just a master at creating tension and stakes. This book would be rated higher if it wasn't in direct comparison with the other three I read. When I finished it I gave it a 4.5 but after reading the next book, I dropped it down to 4 (sorry stephen). The concept of this book is really interesting, but also just the way he navigates the characters in this setting is incredible. I feel for all of the characters, even if I don't like them, they all have recognizable motivations that bring the story to life. I read over 200 pages of this book in one night because once the climax of the ending started to hit I knew I couldn't put it down.

3. Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo 5 ★'s

Spoiler alert these next three are all five stars and while this one is a bit below the other two, I think that's just due to the nature of the book. This is a southern gothic horror gay romance with a murder mystery okay. It's so riveting and pulls you in. This is one of the those books that has layers to it that you don't see right away but come back later to smack you in the face. It's heartbreaking and humorous at the same time. Plus it's creepy as hell. It's hard to explain the dynamics of two of the main character. One feels desperately human, not normal, but normal (if that makes sense), and the other is incredibly haunted (literally and figuratively). and the dance these two characters do is so enchanting. This book just ticked all of my boxes, I loved it.

2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 5 ★'s

I am an immediate Andy Weir stan, I loved this book and I am NOT a scifi fan. This book isn't good because it's about distant planets and spaceships and intergalactic travel, it's good because the Author is good. I don't care what genre this man writes, he could probably be one of the best at it. This book is loaded with scientific terminology, and it never feels like I am not smart enough to understand it. I get the feeling that the main character is smarter than me, but you still feel connected to him. So while yes, this book is literally about a man who wakes up on a spaceship with the rest of the crew dead, it's actually about connection, friendship, and hope. I know I just said I like dark and messed up books, but this one just was what I think I needed at the time. It's a book about HOPE and KINDNESS, and it only took me about 40 pages for me to be like yes this book is a work of art. I'll be honest though, as the end was getting near I felt a little let down, like the whole book was so good but the end just wasn't hitting for me. Until. That. Last. Page. I started crying. I won't spoil it but there's a moment where the main character turns to go somewhere else, and once you figure out where he's going. Just ugh. It was perfect.

1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 5 ★'s

It's simultaneously hard to explain this book and very easy. It's about a house, filled with statues, and a guy. But there's literally no way to put into words what the experience of reading this book was like. I picked this book up because I had just finished Project Hail Mary and the next book on my list was HUGE and well Piranesi is small. I figured I'd have two or there days to get through it and have one more book on my list for January. And well. That did happen. But because I finished this book in one setting. Not even 20 pages in I knew I wasn't putting this book down until it was done. I am the type of person that's like, if you are entertained by something that makes it good. It doesn't have to be Art(tm) to be enjoyed. But this book is fucking Art. This immediately became one of my favorite books. I am absolutely in love with it. Again I think it just came at the right time because while this book is heartbreaking and sad in some places, the thesis of the book is Joy and Kindness. This is a book about Goodness and god, it is so needed right now. Please, read this book. It is a quick, short read and it is absolutely beautiful.

[azure-clockwork]

How Does it Feel to Read Classic Sci-Fi?

Orson Scott Card: Two of the most interesting books you’ll ever read if you’re willing to look past a handful of things. And then you find the planet of Chinese people who worship having debilitating OCD. And the Mormonism. And the fact that the author is wildly homophobic and ought to read his own books.

Robert Heinlein (or at least the Wikipedia Summaries): I guess that’s a neat concept—oh, it’s a sex thing. Um. Gotcha.

Ray Bradbury: Man, I gotta read this thing for class huh. Well here’s hoping it’s good! *three hours later* oh. that’s why he’s famous. this will stick with me forever and I will never look at the phrase ‘soft rain’ the same again. christ. And then repeat 3x.

Isaac Asimov: Wow, this is such an interesting concept! I wonder how the exploration of it will influence the plot! Wait, hey, are you going to add any characters? Any of em? No like, with character traits other than ‘robot psychologist’ and ‘autistic’ and ‘woman’? None of em? No, ‘detective’ isn’t a character trait. Those are all just facts. Aaaand now I’m bored.

Ursula K. Le Guin: Hah, get a load of this guy! He’s never heard of nonbinary people before. Lol, what a riot; how dumb do you have to be to comprehend that these people aren’t men *or* women actually? Oh, wait, what’s happening. Oh shit, it was about society and love and learning to understand each other? And now I’m crying? And perhaps a better human being for it??

Andy Weir: Alright, this guy’s a really good writer. Funny, creative, knows so much engineering stuff…ooh, a new book! …I guess he can’t write women. Well, he wouldn’t be the first sci-fi writer…ooh another new book! And it’s more engineering problem solving and—wow. It’s not just women he can’t write. Please stop letting your characters talk to each other.

Lois Lowry: Oh, I remember this being fun when I was a kid! Wouldn’t it be fucked up to not see color? …upon reread, it would be fucked up to have your humanity stripped away, replaced with a tepid, beige ‘happiness’ for all time. Yeah.

Tamsyn Muir (let me have this ok): Haha, “lesbian necromancers in space” sounds fun. Lemme read this. Oh wow, yeah, this is right up my alley. OH GOD WHAT. NO. FUCK. OH SHIT WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING AND WHY IS IT REFERENCING THE BOOK OF RUTH AND HOMESTUCK BACK TO BACK!!! AHHHHHHHHH!! Now give me more please.

[rhysknees]

What to Read Next

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

TOP CHARACTER OF ALL TIME (bigcats-birds-and-books edition)

hi yes hello @asexualbookbird tagged me to do the TOP FAVE CHARACTERS thing. in the name of Gender Balance (with a pivot point of "N/A"), i have gone with seven (7) options for you all to vote on. choose wisely.

(no non-option option, if you don't know any of these people but still want to push a button, show laverne some love, i think she'll need it most and she's a fucking delight)(and then go check out NOTHING BUT THE RAIN, because it's SO GOOD)

i tag: @sixofravens-reads, @emoclone, @e-b-reads, and @pyr0clast, if you wanna play!! no pressure, as always

[bloodsuckingviolet]

🎃Ultimate October Reading List👻

I compiled a list of 20+ of my favorite spooky reads, the creepiest, darkest paranormal stories and novels that are perfect to read when October comes around. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments or reblogs!

-Gwen🦇

The Banshee's Warning by Charlotte Riddell (haunting banshee)

The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe (black cats, supernatural)

The Case of the Leannabh Sidhe by Margery Lawrence (changelings, evil fairies)

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (classic ghost tropes; considered to be the very first gothic novel)

Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu (lesbian vampyres...need I say more?)

A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family by Sheridan le Fanu (haunted, eroding castle, jilted wife)

A Dead Man of Varley Grange by Anonymous (cursed cottage)

The Dead Sexton by Sheridan le Fanu (mysterious corpse thief)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (THEE vampyre, superstitions)

Dobrev (young clairvoyants, succubus, written by yours truly!)

The Family of a Vourdalak by Aleksey Tolstoy (vampyre, recently adapted into a fantastically weird French film)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (creation, horrors of life)

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (supernatural, erotic)

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (paranormal, curses)

Hugues, the Wer-wolf by Sutherland Menzies (OG werewolf story)

In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett (ghosts, mysterious closed door)

Laura Silver Bell by Sheridan le Fanu (evil fairies, witchcraft)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (ghosts, autumn vibes)

The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis (cruel and dark, such an insane read!)

The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs (supernatural, death)

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (gothic romance, castles, supernatural)

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (ghost, romance)

The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann (dark fairy tale elements, obsession)

The Shadow of a Shade by Tom Hood (haunted portrait)

The Story of Medhans Lea by E. and H. Heron (haunted house, men getting scared, lol)

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (murder, good vs. evil)

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley (underrated horror author!)

Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth by Christ Priestley (eerie and disturbing short stories)

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe (guilt, murder)

The Tomb of Sarah by Frederick Loring (cursed tomb)

The Trod by Algernon Blackwood (evil fairies)

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (ghosts)

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley (first of a great ghostly, gruesome trilogy)

The Vampyre by John Polidori (one of the OG vamp tales; seductive, evil vampyre torments a young man and his sister)

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (even creepier than the movie)

[fictionadventurer]

2024 Victober Wrap-Up

I spent October almost exclusively reading Victorian works. Mostly short stories and novellas, a couple of novels, one play. I even read several things I had planned to read (with several more surprise impulse reads).

The Rector by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Premise: The first short story in the Carlingford Chronicles. After fifteen years as a fellow at a university, a man takes on his first assignment as a parish priest, and learns he may not be as prepared for the work as he thought. My Thoughts: The beginning was rough, but as soon as the rector comes on the scene, it becomes surprisingly lovely. It reminds me just a bit of Elizabeth Goudge in how compassionately it explores the spiritual journey of a middle-aged man struggling to discover his true vocation.

The Executor by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Premise: The second short story in the Carlingford Chronicles, about man who becomes executor of a will that deprives a poor family of the inheritance they'd expected. My Thoughts: It's pretty dry and forgettable, though there are a couple sweet moments of the romance. Mostly useful as backstory for the next book.

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Premise: A woman threatens to destroy the career of a morally-upright politician by revealing a secret about his past. My Thoughts: This play is about politics and a moral dilemma. Of course I loved it. I was surprised at how earnest (pun not intended) Wilde sometimes was about the material, while still throwing in a lot of characteristic humor.

The Doctor's Family by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Premise: Third story in the Carlingford Chronicles series. A novella about a doctor whose drunken brother returns from Australia trailed by his wife, children, and the wife's take-charge sister, whose devotion to the family interferes with her blossoming romance with the doctor. My Thoughts: Nettie is a fun character, but the story is so repetitive, with the same stupid obstacles coming up over and over, that it got very frustrating. The doctor did not deserve her.

The Doctor's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Premise: A practical country doctor falls in love with a dreamy young girl whose expectations about life are shaped by the novels she reads. My Thoughts: I read the first few chapters, and I still love Braddon's style and her characters (especially the one who's a sensation novelist!) but I just couldn't motivate myself to keep going with it when there were so many other books fighting for my attention. I do plan to finish it.

A Dark Night's Work by Elizabeth Gaskell

Premise: It's a novella by Elizabeth Gaskell. What more do you need to know? My Thoughts: I wish I'd gone into this story blind, because knowing the twist that drives the story made the beginning much more stressful than it should have been. I really struggled through the first part of the story, but after about the halfway point, things started coming together, and I was riveted. I loved the characters (or loved to hate them). This features another of Gaskell's heavily flawed but loving fathers plus some sweet love stories and deliciously thorny plot twists. Not my favorite Gaskell, but a good read.

The Making of a Marchioness (alternately, Emily Fox-Seton) by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Premise: A penniless upper-class woman who has resigned herself to a life of singleness unexpectedly attracts the attention of a widower with a title. My Thoughts: In a month where I was feeling not-very-cheerful, the cheerful Emily was such a delight. Burnett always has such a wonderful blend of the romantic and the practical--the world can be beautiful and wondrous, but also has its sorrows and mundane concerns. Emily's situation is explored with a depth that means the story never feels like fluffy wish-fulfillment. The presentation of the Indian characters is very exoticized (even as the characters themselves are actively trying not to be racist) and melodrama gets just a bit over-the-top, but overall it was a sweet little book that makes me want to seek out some of Burnett's other adult novels.

A House to Let by Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Adelaide Ann Proctor

Premise: An elderly spinster moves to London and becomes desperate to learn why a house across the street never gets rented out. The framing story is written by Collins and Dickens, with short stories by Gaskell and Dickens and poems by Proctor inserted in between. My Thoughts: The framing story gives us one of Collins' delightfully vivid first-person narrators. Gaskell's story, "A Manchester Marriage", is far and away the best short story I've read by her, featuring excellent characters, a sweet love story, a heartwarming story about caring for a disabled child, a tragic twist, and one of the funniest proposal scenes I've ever read; this is now one of my favorite Gaskell stories and a highlight of my month. The Dickens story is kind of amusing in its weirdness, but not something I'd ever need to read again. The poems by Proctor were...there. The mini stories don't blend in well with the wider narrative, and the ending doesn't live up to my hopes for the beginning. Overall, a three-star (sometimes two-star) read with a five-star story by Gaskell.

Enoch Arden by Alfred Tennyson

Premise: A blank-verse story about a woman who marries a sailor and the troubles that result. My Thoughts: After I found an old pamphlet version of this poem sitting in a collection of handouts in a church, I just had go to my car and read the poem online. It's surprisingly readable, and a good story, but sad. (I still have no idea why it was in a church display).

Reuben Sachs by Amy Levy

Premise: A young Jewish man returns to London after a trip abroad and must choose between a burgeoning political career and his love for a poor woman. My Thoughts: This short book cemented Amy Levy as one of my favorite Victorian authors. While I was struggling through the wordy style of two of the later books on this list, her breezy, underwritten style was such a delight. She portrays family relationships with so much warmth and wit, and her style sometimes leaves me marveling at how she writes scenes exactly the way I would have written them. Judith was a marvelous character--I loved her family situation, her romance troubles, the internal journey she goes on. The religious element was surprisingly relatable, because it turns out this book isn't about Jewishness specifically (though there's a lot of cultural stuff in the first half of the book), but about secularism vs. tradition, and how cultures and people fail when they worship success and ignore intangibles. I've been thinking about certain scenes (the ballroom scene! the scene with her father! the callback at the ending!) ever since I finished. When I read these obscure old books, I almost never walk away thinking it deserves to be a classic. This deserves to be a classic.

A Struggle for Fame by Charlotte Riddell

Premise: Follows the different careers of a young man and young woman who leave Ireland to try to make it as writers in 1850s London. My Thoughts: A struggle to read. I loved the characters, the story, and the lovely descriptive passages. I was fascinated by the exploration of the Irish experience in England, and all the info about the Victorian publishing industry. But the writing style was so indirect that I was mentally diagramming sentences just to figure out what Riddell was saying half the time. The kind of book that I liked better when I wasn't reading it than when I was. Glad to have pushed through and finished it--the two stories came together in a lovely way.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Premise: A scientist builds a time machine and travels to a far future where humanity has massively changed. My Thoughts: Wells' ideas about human nature and how humanity will evolve are complete nonsense from a Christian perspective, of course, but as a story, I thought this was pretty good. Very imaginative and engaging, with some excellent sense-of-wonder scenes. Having mostly consumed time travel stories that take a fantasy approach, it was fun to see the characters discussing the concept scientifically. The maybe-romance weirded me out, but it made for a final line that almost made me cry from how beautiful it was.

No Name by Wilkie Collins

Premise: After their parents die, two sisters learn they have no legal right to their inheritance, and one sister plots to get it back. My Thoughts: The first section might be my favorite thing I've read by Collins. It's such a warm, loving domestic atmosphere with complex and sympathetic characters and one of the best sister relationships I've read. After the two sisters separate, it got less compelling. The narration distances us from the main character's POV, the writing style becomes ridiculously wordy (where he could say, for example, "she opened a window", he'll explain how she walked to the window, looked outside, considered opening it, walked away, walked back, put her hand on the sill, lifted the sash, etc.), and the villains are unpleasant to spend time with. But there are also some very fun characters, and I do love a good con, so I kept pushing through. The final section returned to that domestic atmosphere I loved from the first section, and it tied together so well that I am very fond of the book as a whole. There's something special about a sensation novel that gets you thinking, not about how contrived the author's plot twists are, but about the beauty of God's providence.

[planet-marz1]

definitely penvisions melting point and justagalewhowrites yearling!!

I reread them over and over between updates

some good soft Frankie and simp Joel

yes I absolutely LOVE yearling, it's seriously one of my favorite fics ever!! I love everything by @justagalwhowrites honestly

I don't think I've read any of dev's works yet, but I'll def check out melting point 🩷

send me your favorite fics/ writers 🩷

[keyishacolecat]

do you have any book recommendations? pls i need lots 💙💙

this is such a loaded question friend. but lucky for u, i am procrastinating assignments, my take out has yet to arrive, and i just finished another book!

horror fic has been my choice for the last several books

the centre by ayesha manazir siddiqi is about a young Pakistani woman living in the UK. she's a translator for Urduru films. language and translation are central to this book. people are becoming fluent in a matter of weeks in complex languages.... the centre is gorgeous if not entirely mysterious, magical even. but whats the catch?? beautifully written. vivid details. anisa is a flawed, honest, and genuine feeling mc, as are the people in her life. i just finished it a couple hours ago n i miss my girls.

slewfoot by brom is set in 17th century Connecticut. our protag, Abitha, is not from this town but she does he best to adhere to the Puritan standards, if not for her well being, than that of her husband's. something stirs in the outskirts of the village, in the forest and beyond. she finds help from an unlikely source while also fostering a deep inner power of her own. these characters felt so well thought out, the writing is magnetic and the action is well paced. it puts so many preconceived notions right on their head. i loved this book and can't wait to read brom's other novel, the child thief, a retelling of peter pan and the lost boys!

sister, maiden, monster by lucy a. synder was oh so gay and oh so cosmically horrendous. this is like h.p. lovecraft wasn't a weird racist. this is like if biblically accurate angels were once just women in love. this is horrifying, visceral, and relevant to our COVID world. i was gawking at so many of the details. there are so many monster themes actually, it's perfect. the story is told through 3 povs of 3 different women. and we love women! and horror! i didn't expect to pick this one up but I'm so glad i did.

mary: an awakening of terror by nat cassidy do u know what it's like to be virtually invisible? forgotten? disaffected? do u know the pure joy of having a precious collection, adding to it over time, and it being almost ur only reason for living anymore?? then you're a lot like mary. and mary is a lot like plenty of women who get the chance to live beyond adolescence, who are cast out by society-- deemed invaluable. mary is utterly lost at a time in her life she feels she should have it all figured out. she goes back to her hometown, an ambiguous small town in the middle of the desert, and some unlikely characters help her piece things back together. i finished this book feeling so close to mary. we are friends now. there is mystique, horror, fables, myths, bad guys, mysterious architecture, and well mary is not the most reliable narrator. loved this one too.

the last house on needless street by catriona ward i had no idea where this book was going and i loved piecing the narrative together through several characters and their povs. it forces u to confront ur own biases regarding mental health. u are sympathetic to the characters in the most painful, heart wrenching ways. there is murder. there is mystery. there is missing children. there are cats. this book surprised me and it was fun to have to find a couple reddit threads to be sure i was understanding the story correctly. i felt like i read this kind of fast! which is always fun too.

brother by ania ahlborn this one pissed me off a bit. but in a good way because i was so deeply invested. this one is set in Appalachia. i'm not one for stereotypes, especially bc i think Appalachians have a bad rep and it's of no fault of their own. that being said, the insular feel of the book and the absolute claustrophobia those mountains create in this story were like a character in it of itself. our protag, michael, knows there's something beyond. he's seen them on colorful postcards. but his own mind and his own heart seem utterly trapped here. this one is heartbreaking. it's horrifying. and it'll make u dizzy from the amount of times u change ur mind. excited to read her other novel, Seed, because this one stuck with me so much!

a couple honorable mentions that fit the theme:

the vegetarian by han kang korean food. infidelity. art. nightmares. inexplicable mindfucks! this story was scary because it felt very.. possible? no monsters this time. no spells. just... the mind deteriorating. could happen to any of us.

a certain hunger by chelsea g. summers what if girlbossing is just a quick pivot from sociopathy?? what if the crimes are so much more gratifying than say, fame or fortune or even love?? women can be sociopaths too, you know!! this one is fun bc the protag is crazy and it's fun to slip into these characters. cathartic even. omg did i mention, she's a foodie too! just like me :-)

[wanderingmind867]

The one group of characters I struggle with reading lists for most end up being the Fawcett Comics characters. I only care about Plastic Man for Quality Comics currently, and finding his stuff was pretty easy. But the Marvel family, plus their related characters... it's actually really hard to figure them out and make fake books to list them out. Shockingly, most other characters have been doable. It's the Marvel family I struggle with most. So I almost want to ask if anyone else has some sort of guide here. Because they all had like 10 different books they started in, and it's hard to keep track. That's what makes it so hard. So I may legitimately just have to ask for help here. Because I want to be able to finish my stupid reading list, and not have the marvel family sections of my reading list being so barren.

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (November 12th, 2024)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Releases:

A Queen's Game by Katharine McGee

Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar

In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price

Dead Girls Don't Dream by Nino Cipri

Midnights with You by Clare Osongco

Flopping in a Winter Wonderland by Jason June

Leap by Simina Popescu

Greater Secrets by Ananth Hirsh & Tess Stone

Fortune's Kiss by Ambert Clement

The Seven by Joya Goffney

Teleportation & Other Luxuries by Archie Bongiovanni, Mary Verhoeven, & Lucas Gattoni

New Sequels:

Skyshade (Lightlark #3) by Alex Aster

I Am the Dark that Answers When You Call (I Feed Her to the Beast #2) by Jamison Shea

A Wild & Ruined Song (The Hollow Star Saga #4) by Ashley Shuttleworth

Heist Royale (Thieves' Gambit #2) by Kayvion Lewis

Games Untold (The Inheritance Games #4.5) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

More Than This (The Davenports #2) by Krystal Marquis

The Shadows Rule All (Dominions #3) by Abigail Owen

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Happy reading!

[cultivating-wildflowers]

2024 Reading - March

By now it is clear that I will not achieve my arbitrary goal of reading 100 books this year, and that's fine. My overall progress so far is what I really care about. I am confronting my TBR, I've already read a good number of nonfics, and for the most part my reading has been enjoyable.

While I do have some large books coming up on my list, I am hoping to set aside a little time in April to get to a couple of anticipated rereads (finally) because I'm starting to crave a change of pace into something more familiar.

Total books: 4  |  New reads: 4   |   2024 TBR completed: 5 (2 DNF) / 9/36 total   |   2024 Reading Goal: 11/100

February | April

potential reading list from March 1st

#1 - Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo - 4/5 stars (audio)

After the whole Thing with The Mutual Admiration Society, I went into this book with no small amount of trepidation.

I was immediately put at ease.

This was a surprisingly cozy little book that accomplished what it set out to do. It wasn't horribly deep, but it was thorough and heartwarming. And I found myself cheering when I discovered that Sayers and I apparently have the same opinions about a certain aspect of Paradise Lost, so that was fun.

It does lose a star for spending what felt like too long on the Charles Williams scandal. I think the writer was trying to make a point but I'm a bit lost on what it was.

Notes: 1) Do not get the audiobook if you are at all put off by poor pronunciation and enunciation. The narrator couldn't even say "Pevensie" correctly. 2) I have to be objective, since I kicked up such a stink with the last Sayers-adjacent nonfic I tried, and say there is a bit of bias to this one, with the writer coming from an Evangelical background. It's not overpowering but I would say it informs Dalfonzo's approach. (Which...is how writing works. Whatever.)

#2 - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - 5/5 stars ('24 TBR)

"There are men who are wolves inside, and want to eat up other people to fill their bellies. That it what was in your house with you, all your life. But here you are with your brothers, and you are not eaten up, and there is not a wolf inside you. You have fed each other, and you kept the wolf away. That is all we can do for each other in the world, to keep the wolf away."

I haven't had much luck with Novik in the past. I read Uprooted probably six years ago and remember it struck me as kind of bland and disjointed. When A Deadly Education was released I picked it up, excited by the premise, but didn't make it through the first chapter. I was starting to think Novik's style just wasn't for me.

Then while chatting with Elsabet (@eddis-not-eeddis), she mentioned how much she loves Spinning Silver and urged me to give it a try, so here we are.

Friends.

I did in fact enjoy it quite a lot.

The standout aspect for me is how Novik writes relationships. Any kind of relationship. Even the little ones that barely get a paragraph's mention. And then we get to see how those relationships build bonds, build links, make their own kind of magic, and I'm sold. This is how you flesh out characters. And this is how you make me care about them and connect with them.

Novik still has a very distinct style that sometimes trips me up, but it works.

(side note: I always forget Novik helped found AO3, and every time I'm reminded I go "oh yeah! good for her!)

More like this: "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden; "Anya and the Dragon" by Sofiya Pasternack (middle grade but the same sort of vibes); "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow" by Jessica Day George.

#3 - A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan - 4/5 stars ('24 TBR, audio)

Fantastically written, well-paced, with an engaging narrative and a solid cast of characters. However, it works well as a stand-alone and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll continue the series. There was something in it that was lacking for me personally. I would definitely recommend it, though!

More like this: the Emily Wilde series; the Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia C. Wrede.

#4 - South With the Sun: Roald Amundsen, His Polar Explorations, and the Quest for Discovery by Lynne Cox - 3/5 stars ('24 TBR)

If you’re looking for a book that's strictly about Roald Amundsen, don't start here. This book is half a general history of 19th century polar exploration leading up to Roald Amundsen; and half a recounting of some of Lynne Cox’s swimming accomplishments, which were largely inspired by Amundsen's work and travels.

I also wouldn't recommend this as a starting-off point for people who aren't familiar with the details of Lynne's story, since she ties so much of that into Amundsen's story.

Overall, it was a decent enough read. Lynne's passion and enthusiasm are plain all throughout the story, but her writing voice is lacking and parts of the book--especially those focusing on Amundsen's various expeditions--were clumsily written and difficult to follow. Amundsen finally crossing the North Pole received a grand total of one paragraph and was so unclear that I had to read it twice and then google the details of the endeavor to understand the significance of the dates listed. The last hundred pages are a proper muddle.

DNF

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ('24 TBR) - Another book that was strongly recommended by a tumblr mutual! I wanted to like this one, and not just for Jules's sake. I gave it about 15% but it wasn’t clicking and I kept getting lost. Some reviews say the first part is rough, so maybe I’ll give this another try later. Don’t hate me, Jules 😅.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher ('24 TBR) - I will not apologize for not finishing this one. I'm straight-up ticked off.

The story started out strong (despite me being pathetic and having to really power through the stressful parts). It set a good pace AND the story was straight-forward and compelling. The first red flag was the writing style because my. stars. Did we have to get ominous, melodramatic, foreshadow-y asides practically every single chapter? Could be my fresh-from-DNFing self talking, but the whole voice came off as pretentious trying for profound. [Edit from after browsing 1- and 2-star reviews: it's not just me.]

I decided to put up with it because I honestly did want to know how the story would end. But it just dragged on and on with no direction. Stuff just...happened. And I got bored.

So I looked up reviews. And found spoilers. And rage-skimmed the last few chapters.

Friends. If you can get to the half-way mark in the story you're telling without even a hint of setting up for a stunt like that ending, you're doing it wrong.

Don't read this book. It's dumb.

Currently Reading:

Recorder by Cathy McCrumb (reread)