#read december 2023

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

The Last Murder at the End of the World is a sort of locked room, time-is-running-out-to-save-the-world whodunnit. It's set against a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly fog has swept over the planet and killed mostly everyone, save the few villagers and scientists who have managed to survive on a tiny island. When one of the lead scientists is murdered in cold blood, it is up to Emory, a villager who has always been on the outs for asking too many questions, to solve it before the fog destroys everything and everyone she loves.

With the clock ticking, and only 92 hours to go, Emory must leave no stone unturned, whittling down the answer in a place where everyone is a suspect.

I liked that this had sensibilities of The Ferryman by Justin Cronin with its utopia/dystopia polarity and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak with its amoral and omniscient AI narrator. It gave the plot a cerebral sci-fi pulse that I thought was interesting. It enabled readers to look at what was happening to and with the characters from a more detached perspective. Emory was a good protagonist. Willful. Defiant. Constantly asking questions. Unabashed about her proclivity towards critical thinking. I liked being with her as she sorted through clues, motives, and false leads.

The story did stall at times, with the murder mystery portions dragging on in spots and with a bevy of characters who felt tangential to the plot at best, but all in all, this was complex and multilayered. I enjoyed the way it dangled questions of humanity and morality under my nose, especially since the answers were almost always ambiguous.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for my review!

3.5/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[a-reverii]

▸ REVERII'S DECEMBER FIC RECS

━━ ✰ THE WIZARDING WORLD.

sirius black

aren't promises meant to be broken? ⇢ @perpetuallydaydreaming

style. ⇢ @bealovesmarauders

his favorite neighbour. ⇢ @kquil

attention. ⇢ @/kquil

right where i want to be. ⇢ @appocalipse

the dark night. ⇢ @bruisedboys

oblivious. ⇢ @bitesizedgremlin

regulus black

hidden messages in foreign languages. ⇢ @applebutter-and-cinnamon

vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche. ⇢ @/deactivated

his last letter. ⇢ @hamlets-ak

tricks and charms. ⇢ @curseofaphrodite

across the sea. ⇢ @/curseofaphrodite

the night we met. ⇢ @/curseofaphrodite

frosted practices. ⇢ @henqtic

remus lupin

by tired hands. ⇢ @luveline

skirts. @flwrbo

not so secret admirer. @/kquil

you're losing me. @astonishment

never his. @weasleykisses

wherever you stray i follow. @mediocre-daydreams

━━ ( navigation ) ( masterlist ) ( request )

[why-the-heck-not]

it’s december !!!! the cozy factor upped 10x overnight

[one-time-i-dreamt]

My teacher was reading very, very graphic Five Nights at Freddy’s smut about Michael Afton to our class. 

[crystals-cave]

PAC: How will December 2023 be like for you?

Hey Everyone❄️

Welcome to your December 2023 reading🔮

We’re reaching the final month of this year!

For those of you going through winter right now, I hope you stay warm in the upcoming few months⛄️🎄

Pick a pile that sparks a memory in you - it could be a person/place/music/ object etc. If more than 1 pile sparks a memory in you, pick the pile that evokes the strongest emotions in you. However, if you feel strongly for both, you may go ahead and read more than 1 pile.

As this is a general reading, do take what resonates for you and take the rest with a pinch of salt.

Warning: this reading will be blunt and brutally honest. There will be no sugar-coating at all. Do keep it in mind as you proceed with this reading⚠️

Note: all pictures used in this reading are taken by me

Pile 1 | Pile 2

Pile 3 | Pile 4

Pile 1

10 of Swords

9 of Swords (rx)

King of Swords (rx)

The Hierophant

The Tower

Hello Pile 1 🌪️

First of all, I would like to congratulate you — most of you in this pile are about to go through a huge growth this month.

At the start of the month, I see that there is something on your mind hurting you so badly as though it is physical pain. Whatever on your mind haunts you even in your dreams. Your nightmares only stop once you get it off your chest, and whatever it is will be really ugly.

Despite all the hurt and cruelty it might bring, it is necessary to resolve it now than letting it snowball and hitting you back tenfold. The truth, be it good or bad, will always make you feel lighter than the lies that weigh you down.

Once you get it off your chest, things will slowly get better for you. For a great portion of you, I see that mercy is granted for you and you’re eventually forgiven. (Did you do someone/something wrong?) You will be surprised by this forgiveness but this incident in December is here to teach you an important life lesson.

For some, you’ll learn the pain of carrying guilt and lies, and the remaining of you will learn the weight of forgiveness.

Although it will be a rather heavy month for you, I would like to encourage you to stay strong. At times, growth can be casual and slow but other times we learn through mistakes/hardships.

Hang in there 🖤

Pile 2

The Chariot (rx)

8 of Pentacles

Knight of Pentacles (rx)

3 of Wands (rx)

8 of Wands

King of Swords (rx)

Hi Pile 2 🍂

I know that you’ve been really been going though it for some time and things are pretty rough for you. You feel as though things never progress no matter how ward you work, as though everything is at a standstill. You may have thought that things will get better as you work but you just get discouraged everytime.

However, I see that this December will be the end of your stagnancy. What has been stillness before will be so full of activity you can hardly remember what quietness feels like. Everything will be busy.

Despite the change, you should also beware of jealousy. All the buzz that comes alive for you this month also attracts envy. While you can’t control how they feel about your positive change, you can protect yourself by not flaunting it to them. Afterall some people in their twisted way see flaunting as a green light to sabotage/backstab others.

Best wishes 🖤

Pile 3

Strength

Judgement

3 of Pentacles

4 of Cups

2 of Pentacles (rx)

Welcome, Pile 3 🌻

For the earlier half of December, I see that you’re full of action. Even when you’re not on the move, you have this quiet confidence about yourself that people admire. Though I feel that you have always been like that.

As the month progresses, you’ll feel yourself go through a transformation. In the past, you realize that people always try to learn the way you do things — how you dress, how you speak etc. This time, it will be you who will try to learn from others instead. You start to see strengths of others and try to learn from them.

At the start, some of them may be put off and refuse to teach you as they believe you are just humouring them and not taking them seriously. As you show persistance, they will eventually cave and share with you their teachings.

When you realize that there is something to learn from everyone and initiate to connect and learn your peers, you are also starting an important exchange for everyone. I see that this exchange likely happens in a work/school setting and is likely to bring you to even greater heights.

All the best! 🖤

Pile 4

The Moon

The High Priestess (rx)

Judgement (rx)

Knight of Cups

6 of Swords

The Star

Page of Wands (rx)

Hello Pile 4⚡️

Right off the bat, I see that you’ll be troubled for the earlier part of this December. You seem to have hidden foe(s) and have yet to uncover who they are or why they are against you.

It can be quite scary to deal with something like that, but life must still go on. Regardless of what is to come, you still have to carry on with life as per usual.

Around mid-December, there will be an arrival of a messenger to guide your way out of this trouble.

As happy as this ending may sound, this can actually trap you in an endless cycle. The root of the issue stems from your indecisiveness.

Dragging things out and prolonging your decisions will only cause confusion and uncertainty. If you are unsure, read up and consult others. If you still can’t decide, list out all your pros and cons and compare what you have more to gain or lose.

Irregardless of your choice, there will be those who support it and those who are against it. But at least you know of what people are unhappy about. Having a problem to solve is better than sitting ducks and leaving people hanging for an answer.

Stay strong 🖤

[hidey-writes]

wip wednesday

In the drifting silence of his empty apartment, Shen Wei presses the door shut, turns the lock. And then, like his body was waiting until he was alone, his legs give out. Shen Wei tips/topples against/into the wall, sinks down to sitting on the front mat/in the entryway. He sits there for a long time, curled into himself with his arms around his knees. The whole time, his body braced for the sound of Zhao Yunlan’s door opening, the sound of footsteps crossing the hall. Waiting, again, for Kunlun to return to him.  But no sound comes from outside his door. At last, Shen Wei tips his head back against the wall, lets out a soft, streaming sigh. The sound trembles in the still air. It’s the closest he’s come to crying in years, that he can remember.

from the up draft of the answer fic. im cutting it veryyyyyy close to the deadline this time ahahaha (nervous!) but the writing is going relatively smoothly (knocks on wood) and i think it'll turn out pretty delicious!!

[pfhwrittes]

Talk Shop Tuesday:

What piece(s) has (have) been most influenced by friendships you've formed here, and how is that reflected in your work?

hi gemma, i love you 💜

(and heads up, this is going to get long)

oh boy, so many of my fics have been inspired by my friends here!

it's absolutely mental to me that i started this blog because i wanted to yell at @391780 on tumblr instead of in her ao3 comments. so i think we can all say thank you to the lovely early for being my entry point into the cod fandom (her work The Arrangement was one of the first fics i read in the fandom - and one of the fics i've mostly recently re-read. i finished it up around 7.30 this morning).

in fact the entirety of the Retail Hell AU was inspired by this ask which came off the back of a post of hers talking about john price working in retail post-141 life.

in fact, a lot of my Masterlist is the result of me going "EARLY I'VE HAD ANOTHER IDEA!!!" in her DMs. she has my eternal love and gratitude for being such a fantastic writer and cheerleader for my writing.

next up, the lovely @kaadaaan is the sole reason i have so many john "soap" mactavish is a Certified Freak posts in my Here Be Kink Masterlist (heed the tags with that one, it's 18+ for a reason). most notably my most recent fics featuring slightly pathetic!johnny x pervy housemate!reader (part one and part two or on ao3 here).

vi is the WORST for letting me run my mouth on her posts or in her DMs. i have a whole document of notes on how i want to expand those fics into a truly depraved universe (rip to kyle, he's about to get put in the middle of the weirdest threesome of his life while simon slowly loses his mind over the fact that his stolen t-shirt is now a cum rag for the most disgusting couple he knows).

then there's @syoddeye. i found For the Record on ao3 and fell in love with the way they write the messy reality of living with addiction and being kind of stalled out in your life. it dragged emotions i hadn't felt for years out of me and i think as a result it's given me the courage to be vulnerable in my own writing in a way that i wasn't confident enough to do when i first started writing for the fandom.

it's really fucking scary to leave parts of yourself in your writing, intentionally or not, but the fact that they continue to pour love on my kyle x transmasc!reader fic from my Binders and Boyfriends series and have called it a comfort fic just means the absolute world to me.

and finally, there's you cariad! yes that's right, you of @gemmahale fame! you have been one of my biggest and brightest cheerleaders for anything involving our beloved kyle "gaz" garrick. it has been an absolute joy to yell in your DMs over The Contract (and some other stuff 😉). i would apologise for going "wait, what about if we did THIS...?" and accidentally turning our lovely self-contained demon au into an entire universe BUT that would be a lie. i am deeply in lesbians with your brain and ideas.

i can't pinpoint a specific fic (aside from some still unseen stuff) that you've had the most influence over but much like sy has, you've encouraged me to trust my instincts with my stories. oh and to never ever scrap a single piece of a wip, just to put it in the odds and ends section at the bottom 😉.

special shout outs go to @greatstormcat, @mortuarywriting, @dragonnarrative-writes, @eilidh-eternal, @ceilidho, @secretsynthetic, @sentientcave and so many other fantastic people that i've seen pop up in my notes just to cheer me on and grace us all with their fantastic writing. every single one of you that i've mentioned (and some people that i'm sure i've forgotten) have encouraged me to keep writing, or to be conscientious and considerate in regards to keeping this little corner of the fandom i inhabit a diverse and welcoming space to ALL readers. from the bottom of my very mushy heart, thank you 💜

Talk Shop Tuesday

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - December 30th - Read in December

I had so much fun blasting through my TBR in December and getting to some anticipated reads I hadn't had time for yet. fingers crossed I can carry this energy into 2024 🤞

[a-chorus-of-storytellers]

december (re)reads pt. 4

[enigma020]

NOVELTALE WINTER OF 2023 (21/26)

Thank you, for believing in me. For dreaming alongside me and serving as the first person into reaching those dreams of mine.

Thank you, for everything. And hey, remember back when you told me back then that I would be a good artist someday?

You were right, and I’m glad that you’re one of those reasons why I am.

I’m here, drawing as the artist you told me I’d be 7 or so years ago because of you @iceysghost

[anthemiswrites]

golden

sometimes you get a glimpse of sixteen

nostalgia visits and settles in the carpet

your friends are home for the holidays

and someone's holding the torch

the air gets fuzzy and the honey whiskey burns

but you're surrounded by laughter and gold

everyone is smiling and you're back

you're home

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Mistletoe and Mr. Right by Sarah Morgenthaler

The cheery, snowy, and heartwarming read I needed to finish out 2023.

Lana is the Boss Ass Bitch socialite who has bought the town of Moose Springs in hopes of changing it for the better and bringing in more revenue with condominiums a'plenty, and Rick is the divorced small town business owner who can't help but fall in love with her despite being "accidentally" shot with a tranquilizer dart when she mistakes him for the town menace: a decorations-destroying Santa Moose.

I suppose you can say it was love at first shot. And what's not fun about that?

3/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[nando161mando]

Announcing Anarchist Bookfair in Lawrence, Kansas December 2nd

@antifainternational @kropotkindersurprise @radicalgraff @anarchistmemecollective

[why-the-heck-not]

17.12.23, sunday

finished reading this one book I’ve been reading for forever and I’m feeling very empty about it; like what now????

[slaughter-books]

Day 30: JOMPBPC: Read In December

My December, 2023 reading wrap-up! 🧡

🎉Happy New Year!🎉

[westernwoodblogs]

Happy dl-6 mas. I am pouring one out for the sexiest man in ace attorney thotting it up in heaven king.

Gregory Edgeworth has been dead for 22 slutty slutty years 😭🥂🪦