#stone water table

[killstiles]

Stone - Mediterranean Exterior Mid-sized tuscan multicolored one-story stone house exterior photo with a tile roof

[kennedysteve]

Metal - Roofing Elegant multicolored one-story mixed siding house exterior photo with a metal roof

[iamthelandscape]

Front Yard - Farmhouse Porch Idea for a large farmhouse front porch with an addition to the roof

[odetothebrogueking]

Rustic Exterior - Roofing Huge rustic brown three-story mixed siding house exterior idea with a metal roof

[kpopdevotion]

Traditional Exterior - Siding Inspiration for a substantial, traditional, two-story mixed-siding home with a black roof and shingle roof.

[katanra]

Siding Exterior Image of the exterior of a medium-sized, elegant gray, one-story mixed-siding house with a shingle roof and a black roof.

[smallarmystrong]

DC Metro Exterior Huge mountain style brown two-story stone exterior home photo with a shed roof

[sentaco]

Mudroom Front Door in DC Metro

Huge image of an entryway with a travertine floor, brown walls, and a medium-sized wood front door.

[voltapraescolablogueirademoda]

Exterior - Traditional Exterior Traditional beige one-story mixed siding house exterior idea with a shingle roof

[centralintelligence-it]

DC Metro Front Door Inspiration for a huge rustic travertine floor entryway remodel with brown walls and a medium wood front door

[ekowkumasi]

Exterior Fiberboard Philadelphia Example of a large arts and crafts gray one-story concrete fiberboard and clapboard exterior home design with a shingle roof and a gray roof

[satan-ryoasuka]

Siding Exterior

[zegalba]

Paul Cocksedge: Slump Coffee Table 6 (2019) medium: stone & glass

[riddlertrophy]

loving gotham penguin but hating b22 penguin you will never see the light of heaven the deepest pits of hell will consume you

[ofliterarynature]

2023 Reading Wrap Up: Favorites from the First Half

Not to sound like a broken record, but I can't believe we're already halfway through the year! (and even further, given how late I'm posting this lol). I've read an ungodly amount of books already, and while I try my best to shout out my favorites as I go or in my monthly wrap-ups, I don't always succeed. So Here I Am, to do a little more shouting about the 10 most memorable books or series I've read so far in 2023!

The God of Endings by Jaqueline Holland

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

Sword Stone Table ed by Jenn Northington & Swapna Krishna

Sea Hearts (The Brides of Rollrock Island) by Margo Lanagan

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld & Alex Puvilland

Will Darling/Lilywhite Boys by K.J. Charles

Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L Sayers

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

More discussion below the cut!

The God of Endings by Jaqueline Holland had me entirely engrossed. It's slow and moving and dark, with it's own take on vampirism, with any number of the associated content warnings. All the content warnings actually (but harm to animals, harm to children, and domestic abuse are some of the big ones. Does the Nazi murder make up for it?). Best described as The Historian meets everything I wanted from The Invisible Life of Addie Larue but didn't get.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez I have, in fact, already yelled about a bit. It was so good! Think A:TLA meets The Raven Tower and The Hundred Thousand Kindgoms, and queer! The thing that really blew my mind was the second-person narration, which is always a swing, and I think this nailed it! I loved how it worked with the story and frame narrative, and let me tell you, on audiobook parts of the story felt positively haunted. I won't say it's the perfect novel (I'm a little eh about the last third), but that in no way dampens my enthusiasm. cw for ritual cannibalism.

Sword Stone Table ed by Jenn Northington & Swapna Krishna is an anthology of Arthurian re-imaginings with about a 1-in-3 success rate (for me anyways. is that good for an anthology?) that snuck onto this list purely on the strength of Mayday by Maria Dahvana Headley. I just yelled about my love for unusual narrative structures, so when I tell you that this is a retelling of the Arthurian family drama set in late 19th century America, told only through found objects, newspaper clippings, and manuscript exerpts? I had *such* a great time trying to puzzle things out with my half-remembered memories of the lore (heavily corrupted by the show Merlin, lol). Additional shout-out to Spear by Nicola Griffith, which didn't make it into the collection due to length but was also amazing!

Sea Hearts (aka The Brides of Rollrock Island) by Margo Lanagan was an absolute surprise, for several reasons. For one, I own both a physical and digital copy under different titles and didn't realize it until I was cleaning up my goodreads account! And second, the Brides cover is an absolute travesty and is entirely the wrong vibe - this may be YA (technically?) but it doesn't read like it! Sea Hearts is the story of a small island community with a history of summoning wives from the sea, a tradition only whispered about until an outcast young woman revives the practices to sow discord and revenge among the community members we follow. Incredibly moving and sorrowful, this is for fans of literary, historical, and speculative fiction.

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld & Alex Puvilland. This graphic novel is about a city hit by an unknown disaster that has killed or mutated everything and everyone who wasn't able to evacuate in time. Our main character sneaks back in to take pictures to support herself and her little sister, and while I have some reservations about the larger plot, the art of the Zone is GORGEOUS. Sketchy, eerie, hauntingly beautiful, I loved it, enough that I have no regrets. I could see this making a great comic series or animated show instead.

Major, heartfelt shout-out to K.J. Charles, who absolutely saved my sanity for a few months there. My brain was in a weird spot for a few months and I burned through a good chunk of her backlist, so it's absolutely necessary to name drop a few of my favorites. The Will Darling series, a 1920's spy adventure/gay romance, did not immediately win me over, but exposure makes the heart grow fonder? I don't think they say that, actually, but I love a competent dumbass, and when I finally picked up on the crossover with Charles' England duo, I absolutely cackled. I can't wait to reread these! Any Old Diamonds of the Lilywhite Boys series did catch me immediately, even if I managed to read it out of order with one of it's prequel series. Jewel thieves, a heist, revenge, family drama, what's not to love? I loved every single book and novella in this series.

Lord Peter Wimsey (series) by Dorothy L Sayers. This has been a work in progress since 2022 and has consistently made my favorites lists, but truly, she saved the best for last! Murder Must Advertise was stellar, but everyone who said the Harriet Vane novels were the best is absolutely correct. I don't know why I love them, other than that they're wonderfully complex mysteries, but I do. I definitely need to find another long mystery series for my mental health or else I'm going to start these from the beginning again (I still need to read the short stories after all).

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. I'll be honest, I didn't write a review for this at the time, and my memory for non-fiction is terrible. But I loved this book, I love John Green, and this was fantastic on audio. Thank you John for putting hope and goodness and beauty into the world.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff was a beautiful little book for the book lover. It's a collection of letters between the American author and a used-book seller (and family and associates) in London in the 50s and 60s. Its funny, it's friendly, it's lovely, but there's also an underlying tension that builds throughout from the repeated invitations to the author to come visit, and the book copy saying that THEY NEVER MEET. It about killed me, and did make me cry. For further reading you can also check out the author's related memoirs, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Q's Legacy.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. Frankly, I'm impressed by my nonfiction choices so far this year. This one is what it says and it HURT. SO. MUCH. I am absolutely a generalist and it's made life frustrating, so reading this was both extremely comforting but also enraging, because society doesn't need another reason to suck. Alas.

[sleepyone2three]

I'm not sure I'm ready for the emotional toll seeing Luffy and Usopp fight is going to have on me.