#my favorite book i've read this year

[thelovelygods]

Hanna Pylväinen’s engrossing novel The End of Drum-Time brings to light the world of the Sámi – who with their reindeer herds inhabit the northern regions of the countries now called Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia – as they coexisted and clashed with Scandinavian missionaries and settlers during this turbulent time. Lars Levi Laestadius, who plays a central role in this story, was a historical figure, a Lutheran minister, himself part Sámi, who worked to convert these nomadic people from their traditional religion and way of life. Pylväinen, who was raised in the American midwest in a sect that evolved from Laestadius’s movement, drops the reader immediately and arrestingly into a bitter northern climate that she makes intimate and familiar through the richness of her descriptions and the honesty of her characterisations. “Mad Lasse”, as the minister is known for his fervour, attempts to pull his parishioners away from the evils of the alcohol introduced by Swedish settlers. His daughter Willa falls in love with a young Sámi man, Ivvár, himself the son of an important figure in his community, Biettar. In a sense the novel is a Romeo and Juliet love story: one in which whole cultures, rather than specific families, are at odds. Pylväinen, who spent six months living with Sámi reindeer herders in Finland to research this novel, grounds this opposition in her characters’ lives. When Willa’s younger brother Lorens is deathly ill with what seems to be consumption, a Sámi healing woman, Old Sussu, comes to tend to him, making her traditional ministrations as the family recites the Lord’s prayer: “Willa said it with them but she couldn’t have said where she was in the prayer, which line was next.” When the Sámi leave the settlement with their reindeer – migrating along with the animals, with whom they are interdependent – Willa leaves with them and is swept into a new life: “Sometimes she wanted to weep from the relief of reprieve from the parsonage … the smoky indoors, the fear that her life was always already known to her.” Through her outsider’s eyes the reader sees Ivvár and his people: what they have lost, and what they are trying to hold on to, against impossible odds. In 1852 the border between Norway and Finland/Russia (as it was then) was closed, disrupting patterns that humans and reindeer had followed for millennia. Ivvár tells Willa the stories that have been passed down to him, of communion between human and beast and land, and he tells her too of the destruction that has been wreaked by incomers – how the Christians took away the drums of the noaidis, or shamans. “They burned the drums, or brought them to their homes and put them on their walls, I don’t know. The time before this, we call it drum-time. The time after this we call, when one had to hide the drums. The end of drum-time.” Pylväinen conjures all these lives with great depth and power as the novel moves inexorably towards a brutal climax. She creates suspense through her atmospheric language but also through her understanding of and sympathy for the landscape and people she is depicting. She has said that this novel grew out of the work she did for her first novel, We Sinners, a contemporary consideration of the Laestadian sect; her commitment to her material is evident in every line. The End of Drum-Time calls to mind the great novels of Thomas Hardy – for Pylväinen understands, as Hardy did, the cost that transformation exacts, and her writing echoes his empathy for all who came under his gaze. Like Hardy too she depicts seismic changes in culture and industry in a way that is never heavy-handed, always fully lived through her characters, in their bodies and hearts and minds.

[hragon]

please read Divine Rivals

[bleachbleachbleach]

I was taking a book recommendation quiz and now the only thing I can think about is the Seireitei Communications putting one out for shinigami (Hisagi's attempt to get buy-in for mass importation of books and movies and music and such from the Living World).

Like, how do you not read this question and think about comedic master Kuchiki Byakuya bemoaning the inability to choose more than one option:

I mean, like:

[why-the-heck-not]

26.08.23, saturday

today was what we like to call "productive procrastination" aka the rest of my life is in shambles but I now have a clean kitchen

[pigeonclaw]

the amount of times I have potentially controversial opinions that I type up and then save in my drafts forever because I still feel them but am too shy and afraid to choose violence in any way

[cozylittleartblog]

"woah i can't believe you've read blue sky!"

hoho. my dear followers. i have done more than read it. do you have any idea what you are dealing with.

[wormwoodandhoney]

books read in 2023: witch hat atelier

Even the greatest of witches is helpless in the grip of a fluffy bed.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Hi! First of all I appreciate everything TPN related you do lol, so glad to see that there is a community even though I myself joined the fandom late.

I love Ray’s character arc and basically everything he does. How the trio complement each other and make up for each other's weaknesses. How Ray learns to hope again and what not…but, I have been having difficulty pin pointing the exact moment Ray went from-I’ll only save Emma and Norman to I’ll save my entire family.

Was It a secret thing all along? Because something tells me that Ray always planned to kill himself and die in the manner he preferred rather than what was planned for him. (Not only to resolve his guilt, but also to give a final screw u to both Isabella and the demons. That this plan of his would have been enacted even if Norman was never shipped.

On that note…. Did Norman really agree with Ray’s insistence of leaving everyone behind? Or did he just say ok to acquiesce and reassure Ray (whom Norman might have realised had been spiralling for a long time)? Had Norman not been shipped would he have spent the two months trying to chip away at Ray’s walls/ give him hopes in bits and pieces and convince him? I don't believe that Norman agreed with Emma’s choices just because he liked her (even in ss1)

Thoughts?

Heyyoo late fandom joiners/Ray enthusiasts 😎🤝😎 and thank you! 💝 TPN tumblr has a cozy feel to it and for the most part is pretty chill.

Ray's journey from "I'll endure all the heartache of this hell if it means I can save my two best friends" to "If nothing else, I have to at least save Emma" to being able to do what his mother couldn't and love his family normally is so profoundly endearing and a significant part of what makes the escape arc so beloved, and I'm glad this post where I delve into it a bit more ended up being among my more popular ones:

One could argue Ray hallucinating Norman up on the wall was to assuage his own guilt at being unable to save him as he originally planned (something that, on his darker days, I think Ray himself would believe), but I prefer to view it as the final marker of his truly internalizing one of the deepest desires in his heart that he had locked away for so long. After living under that oppressive reality of dehumanization and exploitation and believing that there was nothing else for him, that this was all there was, that things would never get better and after everything he did up to that point, he didn’t deserve better, on top of Isabella throwing him completely off balance by shipping Norman out early and just being this incredibly conflicting and painful presence in his life, to have his siblings come together for this escape plan and without putting it explicitly in words convey “you’re worth saving, Ray, and we love you,” and that they gave him hope back…it fucks me up something fierce.

Was It a secret thing all along? Because something tells me that Ray always planned to kill himself and die in the manner he preferred rather than what was planned for him. (Not only to resolve his guilt, but also to give a final screw u to both Isabella and the demons. That this plan of his would have been enacted even if Norman was never shipped.

Shirai confirmed it took Ray about a year between making the deal with Isabella to conceiving of self-immolation being the linchpin for keeping her attention on him instead of a hypothetical Emma and Norman escaping:

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 1 Q&A)

Though we don't exactly when he was old enough and graduated to helping out in the kitchen to be able to start hoarding the lighter fluid under his bed, I think it's safe to say he'd been at it for a few years, in the same vein as acquiring the parts for the deactivator.

And yes, there is so much emotion steeped into his final speech to Emma as he's fully succumbed to the belief he deserves to die in the most excruciating manner possible (adore the nuance the anime adds to this scene [from this post]:)

(The little slump of his shoulders when he starts that second line, too. Granted, it takes a lot to undo years of such belief and self-loathing, but the resignation in his voice and body language is crushing.)

And then plagiarizing myself yet again from this post:

Ray’s retaliatory act of spite was threefold in its pettiness: 1. to Emma he verbally confirms he intends to deprive the demons of the feast they waited twelve years for 2. to Isabella the caretaker who sacrificed her charges so that she could live, he silently denies the means of prolonging her pitiful life 3. to Isabella his mother he proves that he’s better than her, that he isn’t afraid to die because dying as a human is better than whatever pathetic existence she had carved out for herself, ideally forcing her to look at him one last time with the same look of terror she had on her face the day she realized their biological connection These are what I think he’d focus on in his moments of anger over the years, though he’d still primarily be guided by a selfless love for Emma and Norman. It’s a misplaced, manic bravado he’d whipped himself into that night, thinking his death would be “the best way” to both ensure the survival of his last most precious person in the world and atone for all the siblings he did nothing to save, but this is the headspace he’s in after a lifetime under such an oppressive existence.

Did Norman really agree with Ray’s insistence of leaving everyone behind? Or did he just say ok to acquiesce and reassure Ray (whom Norman might have realised had been spiraling for a long time)? Had Norman not been shipped would he have spent the two months trying to chip away at Ray’s walls/ give him hopes in bits and pieces and convince him? I don't believe that Norman agreed with Emma’s choices just because he liked her (even in ss1)

If everything had gone as originally planned, they would have left on November 8, 2045.

(Chapter 11 | S1 Episode 4; this is also super funny when you think of how part of the reason Norman is saying this is to get back at Ray for throwing him off balance with his betrayal by knocking him off balance. "Yeah‚ thought you wouldn't like that. Bitch." kdjfksdjh <3)

But regardless, Norman agreed with Ray from a pragmatic stance, in the sense he saw Ray's plan of just having the three of them, Don, and Gilda escaping as being more likely to succeed, but he actively chose to follow Emma's plan and strive for the ideal outcome. It's what underpins the whole "build a boat out of mud" speech.

From here:

But like episode 1 foreshadows with him silently chiding himself for only initially considering the possibility of him, her, and Ray escaping

that adorable pause of awe and wonderment hearkens back to this panel that is so very integral to his being:

(Chapter 14) Even with each new development, she still remains true to her ideals, operating with kindness and understanding until proven without a shred of doubt that doing so is futile because that’s the world she wants to live in (e.g., speaking with Leuvis about avoiding a confrontation, but shifting gears as soon as he confirms his priority is amusement and conflict because it would jeopardize the lives of all the children at Goldy Pond to pursue it further). There's a deep admiration that's been present for years, and now that their reality has been permanently shifted, it's even stronger as the one constant he's never doubted.

However, he was deeply, deeply hurt at Ray's perceived betrayal, and for those last two weeks of October 2045, he was genuinely willing to toss Ray aside before deducing Ray's true motivations, at which point he's firmly slotted back into the "dear friend who must be saved at all costs" category of Norman's mind (I delve into this more here and here).

This post is already really link heavy, but if you're interested, I have an assorted list of tags I use on this blog, and I use FSS Chatter for my non-jokey original posts and responses, including:

• Ah yes, one of my favorite genres of baby full score trio pictures: Isabella being openly affectionate toward Emma and Norman in front of Ray while being hands off with him • The little bow of reflection and smile Ray makes as he briefly soaks in the last morning Emma and Norman will be able to carry out their routine as usual • "I think I could survive truly horrific circumstances if I had a crush on someone there" • "If Ray and Norman couldn't kill Isabella because the alarm would go off when her heart stopped, why didn't they incapacitate her in another way?" • Why I love the way the anime adapted the exchange between the full score trio in chapter 27 and chapter 28 • The follow-up post to ^ • Forever obsessed with and contemplating what’s going through Isabella and Ray's heads during this scene in S1e07 • "If I were greedy…" (Musings on Ray's line to Isabella in S1 episode 7) • The inclusion of these two frames of the anime is everything to me actually • My thoughts on Ray having purple eyes and how that would affect his relationship with his family • What did Ray write in the note he uses as bait for Krone? • What would an Isabella and Ray reconciliation look like • Some more angsting over Isabella and Ray's relationship • When you think about how these panels in chapter 159 are of Emma contemplating what makes a person themselves and whether losing one's memories constitutes death… • My guess about what Norman says to Ayshe in chapter 160 • TPN 181 - WSJ Release vs Volume Release Differences • I kind of wish the boxart for S2 was as detailed as S1's…but I do really love how angelic they look here

I also have some small guides regarding the light novels if you haven't already read them (here and here), and a tag specifically for Isabella and Ray's fraught and complicated relationship if you enjoy angsting over that.

Also also if you haven't seen it I highly recommend checking out the English TPN masterlist complied by @1000sunnygo it's an invaluable resource I use all the time for references.

[fungi-maestro]

Lars Tunbjörk – Alien at the Office (2004)

[creative-hanyou-girl]

My mood right now.

[fictionadventurer]

"It looked like a good day for setting fence posts, and my mother said so while taking the biscuits from the oven. 'Some morning early, when I can get away, I want you to come with me along the edge of the hill in the wood-lot," she continued. "When the shadows of the trees begin to come down the slope, as the sun rises you feel the turning of the earth. You feel the whole globe under your feet rolling into the sunlight. . . . That's something I found one morning when I was driving the calves to pasture. I've been saving it up for you. I wonder if you've seen a more beautiful dawn in any of the places you've been.'

On my fingers I count the dawns I have seen--memorable, just in being dawns. Sleepy-eyed dawn from the Paris markets after a night of dancing; mist dawn against which I was just to late to see the minarets of Constantinople--all the fault of the stupid stewardess who didn't wake me in time; one startling moment of color on the hills around the Dead Sea before they went colorless in merciless heat; sudden dawn like a clap of light over the freezing-cold Syrian desert. Four dawns in twenty years. No, I do not know dawns as my mother does."

-- Rose Wilder Lane, "A Place in the Country" (1925)

[surmountfate]

Okay, it's time for my favorite books of 2024 before I forget

[kashilascorner]

2024 Favorites, by yours truly - part 1. Reading

I didn't read a lot of manga or comics this year, so for the first time, I'm putting all together. The books here are very losely ordered by preference, with the manga just dropping wherever.

---

Un amor (Sara Mesa)

This is a book about obsession, about desire, about (not) belonging. I loved every bit of it and honestly felt like Sara Mesa was reading my mind at some points. This is a novel I would have loved to have written. First book I read last year, and also first 5 stars. It has been translated into English, with the same name.

Endurance (Alfred Lansing)

I loved this one, and I am convinced they were able to survive because they were silly about their whole ordeal in their first few months. These guys knew how to have fun, that's all I'll say. It's an incredible adventure and I only wish there was an epilogue to it. Also Lansing apparently made up some stuff but it's ok because he's a good narrator.

Young Mungo (Doublas Stuart)

This book was quite something when it released: I remember seeing it everythwere, specially in LGBT bookstores. I decided to read it because the audiobook (in Spanish) was available in my library and, having come back from a trip to Scotland, I felt like reading a story set there. What I found absolutely broke my heart in many little pieces. It is a beautiful, heartfelt, awfully realistic coming of age story set in working-class 90s Glawgow, full of very, very dark things. That being said, I do think a couple of the darker situations in the book could have been more delicately handled. Please look out the trigger warnings for this one.

Promising young women (Caroline O'Donoghe)

I foudn this on a second hand bookstore and had it sitting on my shelf for years (literally) but I thought it looked funny and decided to read it. Let me tell you: this book made me feel like I was watchign a good friend about to make the absolute worst mistake of her life, like watchinga train wreck in slow motion. It was darkly funny and then it becomes increasingly dark and even a little bit gothic. Absolutely loved this one. It is a coming of age story for your mid-twenties, it deals with obsession, loneliness, sexism and more.

A Camelot Triptych (Norris J. Lacy)

NOW THIS ONE. It's the arthurian retelling I've enjoyed the most so far: its short and sweet, its structure is a work of genius, it has a very limited scope and yet tells such a big story. There are layers to it. It is composed by three short stories, or chapters, the first from Merlin's point of view, second from Guinevere and third by Mordred. Absolutely fantastic. And very difficult to find so take your chance.

The tombs of Atuan (Ursula K. Le Guin)

The slow, beautiful second book of the Earthsea series coulnd't be more different in subject and tone from the first one. And yet it was perfect. Despite being so short, it's dense with symbol, heavy with meaning, and requires some patience to read it. This isn't a great fantary adventure. It is something differnt and yet so compelling, brilliant like great fables can be. This was my favorite thing from the novel (CAREFUL, it has spoilers).

Golden Kamuy (Satoru Noda)

This year I finally finished reading this manga, from volumes 16 to 31. Top 5 manga I've ever read. I love the mix of history, culture & nature, humor, adventure, thriller, and more. I love the characters, I love their design, I miss them already.

The Idylls of the queen (Phyllis Ann Karr)

Another Arthurian retelling, this one is so cleverly constructed, so keen on detail and threads so many things together into a very spcific moment of the story that I can only call it a work of genius. Want to see Sir Kay as a detective? Look no further! Ms. Karr really wrote one of my favorite Kays, one of my favorite Morgans and one of my favorite Mordreds and I can only say THANK YOU.

The indifferent Stars above (Daniel James Brown)

Lovely book about a not very lovely story. Earlier in the year I had read a novel called The hunger which overall I liked but felt very lukewarm about the addition of a supernatural element to a story that in real life was extremely compelling but also absolutely horrifying on it's own right. This books follows one of the party members closely and narrates every (mis)step of the doomed Donner Party. Truly beautifully written.

The winter king (Bernard Cornwell)

Third and final arthurian retelling on the list. I was very hesitant about adding it here because I thoroughly enjoyed the first book but not so much the sequels, though I still like them and how the story progressess (I still have a couple hundred pages left of Excalibur, the third and final book so let's see how that goes). Basically this is grimdark arthuriana, but done well. I love Cornwell's style and Derfel, the narrator, is terribly funny. This is also one of my favorite Arthurs so <3

Special mentions: Cruzamos por el ras de la montaña (Maria de la Cruz), Papa told me vol. 1 (Nanae Haruno), The count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas), Parable of the talents (Octavia E. Butler), Thérèse Raquin (Émile Zola), Yotsuba vol. 5 (Kiyohiko Azuma), The lying life of adults (Elena Ferrante).

[villainousauthor]

I wonder if I should do a reading review of 2024

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Potential November Reads

Moving into the process of wrapping up my reading for the year! I won't hit my optimistic reading goal (let's be real: I've been behind since February) but I have stayed on top of the books I wanted to get to this year. For November and December, I have all of three TBR books I need to read; the rest can be mood reading if I want.

Currently Reading:

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett - a little over 100 pages left

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger - I only got about an hour into this one yesterday

TBR:

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James - 335 pages (my last Alphabet Challenge book! and if this one doesn't work out, I have several other "Q" options)

Other Potential Reads/Rereads:

a reread

a fantasy

a sci-fi

a classic

a sequel

a nonfic

[raiiny-bay]

unfortunately i'm obsessed with project zomboid again