#tea's book recommendation

[caroreadsbooks]

Those are perfect books to read during autumn. Just a bunch of wholesome relationships and very cute dragons.

[ariasmontage]

Han Kang becomes the first Korean author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature!

I recommend her books to anyone who appreciates poetic style of writing. I've read Greek Lessons and The White Book(partly) and was surprised by how original and reverberating her choice of words is to describe pain. The themes of her books revolve around generational ache, loneliness, and identity (those are the things I could gather at least).

Greek Lessons is a good beginning point because the other books take into account the Korean political history and it might be difficult to clearly understand those themes if you have no prior knowledge of the issues.

[thatstudyblrontea]

Does anybody have fiction books recs with tea as a central/recurring element, either relevant to the plot, or deeply embedded in the book's aesthetic? I don't really mind the genre, so it can have magical elements, or not – anything's good as long as it's neither YA nor horror.

[rosielindy]

I encountered a self-proclaimed witch doctor this week. Among other gifts she bestowed was this book recommendation. I got it from my local “L-eye-barry” and am on a journey further back in time than I’ve ever travelled before. I like that the framing of science and human culture starts on the first page.

[ninsiana0]

Read A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR TEA by Rebecca Thorne if you love river pirates, meddling, planning, scheming, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, good wine, waterproof libraries, cravings for adventure, code breaking, puns, kidnapping, heists, expensive tea, rare books, existential crises & crocheting.

[wxywardsun]

We were so robbed of them bonding and becoming best friends. ROBBED!!

[zohrajabeen]

sobbing. bawling, even.

[jrosesposts]

It's almost time!

[goingveggiewithme]

New book 📖

When I’m reading these kinda of books I get so motivated and I start eating clean. I have just read a few pages and I can predict that it might take me the whole month or more to finish it. When I read book about health I just not read them, I study them so I take long. I also got the ebook for $3.24 in the books app. I love having both versions, specially this one since the physical book is big, having it on my iPad will help to take it everywhere.

Let me know if you have read any of Dr. Greger’s books.

[exy-shmexy]

I just had this very vivid image of Andrew reading outside in his backyard with the sun shining down on him while King and Sir are basking in the sunlight next to him curled up around each other

[princessofmanyfaces]

September Wrap-Up

🗓️ I've read 15 books in September 2023

⭐ My reading experience was an average of 3.6 stars

📝Most prominent author was –

📚 Books read in 2023: 92/52 - 176%

[lilareviewsbooks]

Books for Good Omens fans!

Are you emotionally scarred by the ending of season 2? Is the wait for season 3 going to be excruciating for you? Are you looking for something that’ll fill those voids? Look no further, Good Omens fan! I have some media for you to consume!

The Tea Dragon Series, starting with The Tea Dragon Society, by K. O’Neil

71 pages (first book)

Contains: tea magic!; a cute sapphic romance; queer rep all around :)

If you like Good Omens because of how fluffy it can be (though that season finale was not fluffy), I highly recommend this series! The Tea Dragon Society is a comic book trilogy following Greta, who is swept into the world of caring for tea dragons, tiny little creatures that grow tea leaves on their foreheads. 

As is the case with Good Omens, this trilogy includes a lot of queer representation. It’s written by a non-binary author, K. O’Neil, who introduces us to queer characters of all identities. Also much like Good Omens, there is no discussion of homophobia or transphobia. There’s also a sapphic romance between Greta and her love interest, which is very sweet! This is perfect if you need a pick-me-up after season 2, and if the fluffier aspects of Good Omens are your favorites!

The Greenhollow Duology, starting with a Silver In The Wood, by Emily Tesh

112 pages (first book)

Contains: the fae!!; enchanted woods; middle-aged gay people!!

If what brings you joy in Good Omens is it’s middle-aged leads, I give you Silver in the Wood, and its companion Drowned Country. These two stories are quite episodic – much like Crowley and Aziraphale’s little adventures – and feature a pair of middle-aged men who fall in love against the backdrop of supernatural things afoot.

Apart from representing the older portion of the queer community, The Greenhollow Duology is also brilliantly written and very atmospheric. It will place you inside the cottage where most of the action happens, and you will be able to feel the magic in the air. Both of the books are novellas, and so are quite short reads you can enjoy whenever!

A Series of Unfortunate Events, starting with The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

176 pages (first book)

Contains: adults that are incompetent; children that are very competent; quirky writing!

If your favorite aspect of Good Omens is its quirkiness, I give you: A Series of Unfortunate Events! This middle-grade series follows a trio of siblings as they are passed from distant relative to distant relative after their parents’ mysterious death, all the while being chased by the evil Count Olaf.

This series reminds me of Good Omens for its tongue-in-cheek humor. Mr. Snicket is a master at metatextual comedy, that is, making jokes about the text itself. I’ve always had a lot of fun reading his writing! A TV show adaptation of this series has been made, and it’s on Netflix, but I haven’t watched it all the way through and can’t speak to how good it is, but it’s worth a shot if you’re feeling like watching something! Though I have to warn you: no gay people here :( 

A Master of Djinn, by P. Djeli Clark

438 pages

Contains: alternate history; a steampunk Cairo; muslim rep!!

A Master of Djinn is for those among you who want to see gay people save the world. I give you: gay people saving the world. This one follows Agent Fatma of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in an alternate, steampunk-y Cairo, where magic was brought to life by mage Al-Jahiz, many years ago. Fatma is faced with a mysterious murder and must join forces with her lover Siti to find out what happened – except it’s waaay more complicated than it seems…

I think this reminds me of Good Omens the most because there’s a very cool dynamic between Siti and Fatma. Much like Crowley and Aziraphale, they have opposing views on a lot of things, religion for instance, and must reconcile that with their love for one another. They’re also very much ride-or-die for each other, and go on many supernatural adventures together, just like our favorite couple in Good Omens! It also features elements of fantasy being woven into a “normal” world, in this case even affecting history as we know it, to build an alternate reality! 

But, be warned: there is discussion of homophobia and sexism in this book!

This is part of larger universe, namely the Dead Djinn Universe, which includes two other novellas. You can read them in this order, or choose to start with A Master of Djinn. The novel is self-contained and will explain everything you need to know!

The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older

169 pages

Contains: a murder mystery; a second chance romance; humans living on one of Jupiter’s moons!

Another one for gay people who just like a nice couple they can follow around as they unravel some intrigue, and who were desperately infatuated with “detective Aziraphale”: The Mimicking of Known Successes is a Sherlock Holmes-like story following Pleiti and Mossa, a couple of ex-girlfriends whose paths cross again when Mossa begins investigating a mysterious murder. This one takes place on a human colony in one of Jupiter’s moons, but, apart from that, is not very hard sci-fi. There’s not really any science-y bits that I can remember. Mostly, it’s just a murder mystery, but set in space!

It’s perfect for Good Omens fans who love following a couple with a long history. Not to mention, it also has an almost grumpy/sunshine dynamic that kinda reminds me of Crowley and Aziraphale. And since I know most of us Good Omens fans were once deep in the Sherlock trenches, I thought I’d add this one to cure your heart’s many, many wounds (oh, Steven Moffatt… One day, one day you will pay…)

This is not currently part of a series, but a second novella,  The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, will be published in 2024.

That’s all I got, everyone! If you’d like some more books that, just like Good Omens, don’t delve into homophobia or transphobia, I have a whole list of books that fit the bill! :) 

[elliepassmore]

Tempest of Tea review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, vampires, heists, revenge plots

I definitely wanted to enjoy this book more than I did and I'm struggling with the rating. There's vampires and a heist, how much better could it get? But when I see 'heist' I'm hoping for something like Six of Crows and this is definitely not at that level. Likewise, while I've never seen Peaky Blinders, I know the premise, and this doesn't really touch that either. I think with those two comps, this book needed to have a much more complex heist, which takes up most of the story, and to have a darker tone to it. It feels kind of like an instance where characters say they're morally gray but don't actually do anything to show it.

That being said, I did actually enjoy the heist and I think if it hadn't come with the SoC comp it would've been more enjoyable. It's not a complex heist by any stretch of the imagination, though it easily could've been with a little more tweaking. Everything just gets pulled off a little too easily. But I did like the disguises and I thought it was interesting how the crew worked around the security measures. Arthie's trick at the end was particularly well thought out and I greatly enjoyed that.

The vampire aspect was interesting. What made it even more interesting is that vampires are a relatively new phenomenon in this world and so not a lot is known about them and blood houses, like the one Arthie runs, are still kind of taboo. For being relatively new to the world though, they sure have managed to set themselves up nicely with their own little society and hierarchy. The well-known glitz and glam of vampire society is there, it's just a little more hidden than usual.

Arthie is a criminal, and not just because she runs an illegal bloodhouse disguised as a tearoom. She bribes, blackmails, and steals, and doesn't particularly feel sorry about it. I do wish, however, that we could see more of this since it's mostly told to us. She's supposed to have a revenge plot, which is there, but I wanted to feel her burning anger more than I did. With Kaz his anger was palpable but with Arthie it's just kind of meh. I wanted to like Arthie more since she's the main character and has a really interesting premise.

Jin was a pretty good character and I think he had a lot going on in this story. He may not be the mastermind of the heist, but he knows how to plan one and get the ball rolling. Plus, he's Arthie's main confidante, so we get to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff from him while also getting to be surprised. I definitely feel like Jin had more emotions behind him than Arthie did, which might be why I liked him more.

Flick is the last POV character and like Arthie she had so much potential. She's a society lady who's been arrested for forgery (whoops) and gets added to the heist so she can fake IDs for the crew to get into places. There's tension between her and her mother, who's very into polite society and is massively disappointed in Flick's behavior, that I think makes for a really interesting story. Flick is torn between wanting to help her friends and wanting to please her mother by betraying them and getting the 'big catch.' Unfortunately, I didn't really like Flick and found her to be relatively passive. If she'd had more agency to her I think I would've liked her character more since, again, she has such an interesting premise.

All in all I think this book is an interesting and fun read but that it could've been so much more. 2 of the 3 POV characters fell flat for me despite the fact that they sounded interesting on the surface. More emotion behind the characters would've helped bolster the story, I think. Also, I don't think the SoC and Peaky Blinders comp helped this book at all; it needed to be way more ruthless for that to work.

[rainbowofcrazy]

One of my fav reads of 2024: The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton

I'll be forever recommending these books! Adventurous, badass, and just hilariously delightful. If the regency romance doesn't have pirates, witches, flying houses, and assassination attempts, then I don't want it.

[ninsiana0]

Read CAN'T SPELL TEA WITHOUT TREASON by Rebecca Thorne if you love adorable lesbians, evil queens, running away, endless cups of tea, small towns, ley lines, dragons, baked goods, starting over, home renovations, so many books, griffins, moonstones & not so secret identities.

[bookaddict24-7]

✨I'm the PICKIEST thriller reader, so when I find a great one, I want to shout "READ THIS" from the rooftops.

ASK FOR ANDREA by Noelle W. Ihli is worth the hype and more. Read it. Read it, please, so we can yell and cry together.✨