#the book was called The Bees by Laline Paull if you want to read it

[confusedcanaries]

I saw a review of a book that described it as "a book you read with your brain, not with your heart". Now, the following is an intentional misinterpretation of that quote which was trying to express an emotional disconnect with the book but...

Your heart cannot read, fool. It has no eyes to see, no feelings, no memories, no language. It must beat alone in its cage of flesh and bone, never slowing, never tiring, fending of the dark at the edge of existence without ever once being able to see the warm light of sun.

Your brain is where your store your soul. Emotions, memories, hopes, and fears writhing under a common roof. Searching for meaning in a world without. Seeing itself in any mirror it can fashion, faces in objects, emotions in organs, humanity in the void.

In this vague hallucination each of us experience and call reality. A shadow on a cave wall obscuring physics and chemistry and art, do not forget to mourn for the hearts sacrifice. Remember as it soullessly continues the beat of life in the dark warmth of your chest.

Also I really liked that book and you said a minor technicality of an error so you're actually wrong even though you made some very good points and I respect your viewpoint as it is basically correct but in this one instance of not liking a book you are being slightly silly so there.

[cringecat69]

thankz to No One 4 tagging Me ♡♡♡♡

Name(s): Four Cyberspace Integer. u can call me fourzy or fourner or w/e. Im not gonna tell you all our alter names bc we're like 40 and some of us have suuuuuper long names.

Pronouns: he/him (preferred) they/them, sooooometimes it/its

Star sign: Taurus [body] i think if we consider when i split, i'd be a Sagittarius

Siblings: 1 younger sister. Her fave algebralian is X.

# of pets & their names: 1 shih-tzu puppy. Leo, but i call him "orugo" [caterpillar]

Fandoms: bfdi, object show community, flatland, anything xenofiction/specbio, undertale aus/underverse, tamagotchi

Favorite color: Blue and black, and yellow to a lesser extent. but all colors are good.

Favorite songs: Redmageddon, Misery Meat, People Eater [Sodikken] Laplace's Angel, I/Me/Myself [Will Wood] anybody can find love (except you.) [hkmori] Malo 233. generally i love breakcore, sodikken's songs, and soundgarden if u want something normal

Favorite author: not sure. But I can tell you my fave books as of now [i keep reading more, but theyre hard 2 top]. Raptor Red [Robert T. Bakker] The Bees [Laline Paull] Una Noche Para Bruno [Luisa Josefina Hernandez]

Hobbies: laying in bed feeling useless, cooking, writing, reading, knitting & embroidery, thinking, making animations, singing, making really bad music

Favorite fic type: xenofiction. fanfic wise dont read much but x reader stuff is all i read.

Favorite holiday: none or Xmas [not this year's, got no gifts] or my bday. Halloween if I had the chance to celebrate properly, but.. i dont get to.

Do you have any partner(s)? NO, I'M SINGLE ! And I hate it. Date me!! Even if we're strangers!! Date me!!

Fun facts about you / anything extra you wanna share!: umm. talk 2 me please?

I got bored so here's a little get-to-know-you tag game I think could be fun :3

Name(s)

Pronouns

Star sign

# of siblings & fun facts about them (if you have any)

# of pets & their names

Fandoms

Favorite color

Favorite song

Favorite author (of anything readable-- books, fanfics, zines, webtoons, whatever!)

Hobbies

Favorite fic type

Favorite holiday

Do you have any partner(s)? (romantic, qpp, anything!)

Fun facts about you / anything extra you wanna share!

────────

Name(s): Loki (highly preferred), Elye

Pronouns : they/them mostly, he/she okay too

Star sign: Pisces

# of siblings: I've got 2! An older sister and a younger sibling. The fun fact about them is that they're also both queer; in fact, my mom is too. The only non-queer person in my immediate family is my dad.

# of pets: 4 cats! Phoebe & Frankie are our girls, Lenny and Murray are our boys :3

Fandoms: MCU (kind of), BSD, OFMD, Ranboo (does his fanbase count as a fandom?)

Fav. color: Don't have one

Fav. song: Aurora Borealis by Lemon Demon

Fav. author: Alice Oseman

Hobbies: singing, acting, drawing, writing, procrastinating

Fav. fic type: Fluff, definitely. I am a sucker for well written coffee-shop and flower-shop aus, too. Smut's fine, but only if it's romantic. I can't do angst if there's no comfort.

Fav. Holiday: Hanukkah or Halloween! I love autumn and winter

Partners?: Yes! I have a girlfriend (queerplatonic) who I love very much, and a boyfriend (romantic) who I love very much :]

Fun facts:

- Even though I'm a cat person, I really, really want a dog.

- I actually used to play sports. Because I don't do gendered leagues anymore, I don't play, but I've been looking for mixed/gender-neutral/queer sports teams. Baseball and basketball specifically!

- I started questioning my identity in 2019; I'm no closer to finding a label now than I was then. The difference is, now I don't want a label. I just am. :]

tags: @neonganymede @cha0ticlesbian @x-chiara @exceleo @brinnybee @autistic-katara @gandalfthemorallygrey @ohboyanotherlokiblog @roachandrenfri @ourflagmeanslokius @exceleo @edettethegreat @swiftlyspidey

[gotatext]

TASK OO1 / OOC SURVEY.

[kermit voice] hallo.... its me 

YOUR ALIAS & NICKNAMES — nora

AGE — 23

TIMEZONE — gmt

PREFERRED PRONOUNS — she/her

MBTI — enfp-infp border cos im an introvert who Masquerades as an extrovert :)

HP HOUSE — i spent 10 yrs of my life thinkin i was gryffindor.... to find out.... huffle....puff...... 

ARE YOU A STUDENT? WHAT DO YOU STUDY? — i fuckin wish! being a student was dope af i got stressed about essays like once a month and apart from that i was just chillin, surrounded by really intelligent people every day n livin it up on the party scene. adult life fucking sucks no one wants to have fun cos we all work fuckin tonnes of hours so we can afford to eat and get paid peanuts xx

ARE YOU ENJOYING IT? — im really afraid of bein one of those jock types who peaked in high school but i deff peaked in uni like 100% i was way more interesting 2 years ago

LINKS TO OTHER ACCOUNTS & SOCIAL MEDIA — im not showin u my instagram bc im a fuckin embarassment but this is pinterest , this is my personal blog, this is my writing / 1x1 blog i never use any more n this is my trash talking twitter where i mostly just cry about timothee chalamet and bash the tories. 

DISCORD USER — kristine’s forehead vein#8664

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FICTION GENRE? — i dont read fanfiction much but when i do u can be sure it’s slow burn angsty enemies to lovers mutual pining heart attack every time one of them accidentally brushes the other’s hand

TOP FIVE FAVOURITE FILMS — suspiria (2018 luca guadagnino version rogue i kno but i prefer the remake), the lobster, before sunrise, baz luhrmann romeo + juliet, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind,  thoroughbreds (REC!! so underwatched pls watch it. compelling female characters), hunt for the wilderpeople (also so underwatched), swiss army man, call me by your name, atonement, moonrise kingdom, trainspotting, the florida project. i rlly like films ok

A BOOK YOU FEEL “CHANGED” YOU? — the song of achilles by madeline miller n also fen by daisy johnson

A MOVIE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? — booksmart cos its fuckin dope

WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? — libra

ARE YOU INTO ASTROLOGY? —  i like to pretend im super invested in it mostly to anger my friends but tbh.... i just use it as a rough guide for character creation.... its fun but i dnt .... fully invest in what it has to say..... altho i am the most unbalanced n indecisive bitch on earth so i guess they got that right !! i just live to please baybeyy!

WHAT PLATFORMS HAVE YOU ROLEPLAYED ON? — tumblr for about 8 year (omg) n before tht facebook..... i was very embarassingly in a twilight rp..... i wrote jane..... i also rped as a scene kid oc n when i was like 12 i was on some weird forum harry potter roleplay where i basically played a self insert with georgie henley as the fc......

WHAT OTHER HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE? — i used to have so many hobbies but now i jst lie in my bed staring at the ceiling. but before i was workin like a dog i loved reading, writing, acting in theatre productions..... going out on the town getting bevved..... big druggy EDM nights in warehouses tht probably weren’t liscenced for tht many ppl..... gigs... costume-design and making, spoken word poetry, acrylic painting n rollerskating but my sister broke my skates abt two years ago in vengeance and i’ll never forgive her that fuckin bitch

HAVE ANY PETS? IF SO, TALK ABOUT THEM! — no my landlord is a fascist

IS THERE A TV SHOW YOU RECOMMEND A LOT? — i’ll never stop reccing euphoria!! also i was pleasantly surprised by looking for alaska!! but i also rlly like bob’s burgers, parks and rec, good omens.... black mirror, n sharp objects. lovesick on bbciplayer (n netflix i think) is also rlly fun

ANY SHOWS YOU LIKE SOME MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT YOU DO? — maybe love island, idk if i talk abt that much bc i am ashamed but i am so obsessed with it. i even got the love island game n got so invested in my fictional relationship w bobby tht i had to delete it

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT? — god god... i haven’t finished a book in ages.... i recently started reading milkman by anna burns, the bees by laline paull and everything under by daisy johnson.... bt the last book i read cover to cover was probs circe. defs read it. feminist and witchy

CURRENTLY READING? — i jst said this but the bees, everything under and less so milkman cos im finding milkman a bit tough

LAST FILM? REC IT? — i watched ladyworld the lord of the flies all-female remake n even maya hawke could not save it.... dnt get me wrong from an art film point of view i loved it but it felt a bit underdeveloped n a level media studies for me..... apart from tht?? the runaways (yorkshire film not released yet at a preview screening) and threads (also a yorkshire film from the 80s about nuclear apocalypse)

THREE MOVIES YOU NEED TO WATCH — portrait of a lady on fire, i work at an independent cinema n we recently had a preview screening and everyone said it was SICK, uhhhh short term 12, n the new eliza scanlen movie babyteeth

WHAT MOVIE DO YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN THE MOST TIMES? — madagascar because when i was 12 my parents bought me a little television with a dvd player in it for my birthday and madagascar was the only dvd i owned for like..... the first two years of havin the absolute luxury of a tv in my room so i just used to watch it all the time n i now basically know the script inside out

WHAT ALWAYS PUTS YOU IN A GOOD MOOD? — nothing, life is pointless n i hate fun, let me rot in peace

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICIAN / BAND? LIST IF THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE. — ughhh god probably lcd soundsystem. gorillaz, the streets, tame impala, talking heads, soft hair, i also love lizz tho n also angry twangy guitar girl bands like girlpool, courtney barnett, best coast, cherry glazerr,

WILD NIGHT OUT OR QUIET NIGHT IN? — quiet night in my party days are over i cant even be bothered to go to the shops if its past 4.30pm and dark these days

ANY PHOBIAS? — clowns n rats

DO YOU LIKE BUGS? — absolutely not

BIRDS? — yes but not if they fly in my face

ARE YOU A CAT OR DOG PERSON? BOTH? — i love both i want one 

BIGGEST PET PEEVE? — tory middle aged boomers who treat me like actual shit on their shoe because i work in the service industry like thats my choice and their poor economic decisions didnt mean i have to do a shitty job to afford to live bcos of austerity n cuts to arts funding meaning i cant get a job writing unless i self-fund :)))

FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THE RPC? — that everyone ive met through rp is a fuckin LAFF

TOP TEN FAVE FCS TO USE? — god .... diana silvers, timothee chalamet, margaret qualley, kristine froseth, froy gutierrez, zendaya, elle fanning, astrid berges frisbey, hunter schafer, leonardo dicaprio

FIVE YOU LIKE WRITING AGAINST? — herman tomeraas, hunter schafer, saoirse ronan, timothee chalamet, froy gutierrez

FAVOURITE TYPE OF FOOD? — linda mccartney 1/2pounder mozzarella veggie burgers, sweet potato wedges, tomato soup, mozzarella sticks, brownies

WORST FOOD? — green things like broccoli n sprouts gross. baked beans cos as a kid ppl used to do baked bean baths for comic relief / red nosed day a lot n i thought when they were finished in the baked bean bath they just put all the cold beans back in the tin. actually anything small that moves around on your plate. peas. spaghetti. sweetcorn. i dont like small things i cant control.

DO YOU PLAY VIDEOGAMES? IF SO, WHAT ONES AND ON WHAT PLATFORM DO YOU PREFER? — last year my housemate had an xbox n i went through a phase of obsessively playin fable 3 it was amazing. i had like 5 husbands and 3 wives and loads of kids but they all ended up leavin me cos i spent so much time out doing quests neglecting them

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE TAG? — this

LASTLY, HOW DID YOU FIND US? — im one of those bitches who was in this grp all the way back when it was swipe... so quirky and original!! i knew the band before u! anyway im goin now this has been sufficiently embarassing..... i am lame

[katiesclassicbooks]

Review: The Bees by Laline Paull

Synopsis: The Bees was written by Laline Paull and published in 2014. The novel is from a bee’s perspective, a worker bee called Flora 717. She has the lowest job of a worker bee as she works in sanitation. She has a secret though that makes her quite different from her sisters.

Storyline: I’m sad to say I was disappointed in the story. I felt that the concept was unique and had so much potential, but felt like it was all over the place. It was interesting in the fact it shows what a bee’s life is like, but it wasn’t done in a way I would have liked. The society seemed weirdly humanized, but every time I looked something up it ended up that most things that happen in the book bees really do. It just wasn’t related in a very natural way. Everything that happened in the hive made it seem like it was going to be a dystopian, but it didn’t really end up being that at all. It was marketed as one, which I think is not a good way to market this book. I mean I’m glad it wasn’t a bee dystopian cause that would have been weird, yet it was also weird that it was written as if that is the way it would turn out. Then there were a few parts that started to show how humans and the changing planet are affecting bees. I thought it would have been perfect to use a story about bees to show what’s going on environmentally, but the author didn’t end up exploring that much. I mean I kind of enjoyed where the story went, at least I let myself go along for the ride. It was just so unclear to the very end as to where the author was going with the story and I feel like there was so much wasted potential. It was a confusing reading experience.

Setting: The Bees is mostly set in a hive, which was cool for the most part. It was just overly humanized I feel.

Characters: The only character that really stands out is Flora. I rooted for her and all that, but I wasn’t made to care too much to be honest.

Did I Like It?: Not really I’m afraid to say. A book with so much potential and an interesting concept. The author should have decided more clearly what she wanted this to be about because the story was too muddied and it was so hard to see where things were going. I will say the one good thing I got out of this was that it made me look up a lot about bees and bees are super fascinating!!! At least I got something out of it haha.

Do I Recommend It?: No, but what I do recommend is just plain old researching bees! You won’t get much out of this book, but if you are curious about bees it’s well worth doing a bit of research on them. Also, this book has a similar concept to Watership Down, which I read recently. That book is much better and I recommend that if you want a book from an animal’s perspective.

~Katie 

[abookwormcalledtyler]

Your Bookerly Goals for 2021

So I found this tag on kristinkravesbooks.com and I thought it was an amzaing way to just think about the year ahead, so here goes. 

Goal 1 - How many books are you planning to read in 2021?

II have actually set my Goodreads 2021 challenge to 30 books this year. But I hope to be able to read a few more than that. Last year was the first time I had took part in the Goodreads challenge and I’d set it for 20 books. By December I had only read 16 books and as Christmas was drawing near I wanted to conquer the 20 books for personal amusement. 

I was going to set my challenge to 25 books this year, but my mum the ever challenger, pushed me to set it higher having witnessed my reading of 4 books in 3 weeks she said go for 30. So here goes. 

Goal 2 - Name Five books you didn’t get to do this past year but want to make a priority in 2020? 

In 2020 I found a lot of books I wanted to read using the recommendations on Goodreads. The top 5 of which I bought myself and recieved as presents for my birthday. Except Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which I have had since it came out in 2017, and has been sat looking at me on my shelf ever since with me procrastinating around it, as I’d heard bad reviews about it and haven’t been looking forward to reading it at all. But this year, is not an exception. 

The other 4 books on my list are;

The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle

The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Caravan

The Novice by Taran Matharu

The Bees by Laline Paull

Goal 3 - What Genre do you want to read more of in 2021?

I would love to read more Contemporary Fiction this year. At the beginning of 2020 I set up a book club with my cousin’s which was an ideal distraction when we went into lockdown. 

I had never really ventured from my usual genres or action/ adventure, thriller or graphic novels. But I knew I loved reading and wanted to experience different types of books and styles of writing. My oldest cousin chose the first book and contemporary fiction would be where I would personally place it in my opinion. The book was called The Binding by Bridget Collins and was enjoyable to a point, I didn’t really like the style of writing feeling it was slow and over descriptive. But the book club went on and I found her choice of books particularly seemed to be contemporary. Challenging but strangely enjoyable and I aspire to explore this style of story more.

Goal 4 - Name Three not-related-to-books goals you have for 2021?

New Year’s resolutions have become a more of a gimmick in society I find nowadays. People set ridiculously unrealistic goals or resolutions with negative overtones that are unmotivational for themselves. But nervertheless we all still do it. 

Personally I have thought on this point and set realistic expectations for myself this year based on my current situation in life.

I wish to pass my Driving Theory Test this year. 

 I start, study and succeed in my Veterinary Support Assistant Level 3 course. 

I will save at least £20.00 per wage slip in order to pay for the adventures I wish to explore in the future. 

Goal 5 - What’s a book you have had forever and are determined to read this year?

The Dwarves by Markus Heitz.

 I look at and get excited to read this book all the time and yet it still stays on my shelf. At 756 pages long it is a fat book not allowed to be my choice in the book club unfortunately and yet it promises so much wonder, world-building marvel and adventure. I really should start this book. 

Goal 6 - One word that your hoping 2021 will be? 

“PROMISING”

[a-kind-of-library]

Happy 2018 everyone! I always like to spend day one of a new year reviewing my last 12 months and setting some goals for the next. When it comes to reading, my annual Goodreads goal is always 50 books. Last year I also participated in the 2017 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge ( you can find the 2018 challenge here!) And I wanted to check off some of the books from the PopChart 100 Essential Novels scratch-off poster I was gifted last year. Happy to say I met all my goals!

My big goal for 2018 is to launch a new themed book blog (expected launch in June!) that I will be sharing more about in the coming months as details come together.

Below is my 2017 reading recap, in order of date read. I’d love to hear your favorite books read last year or your opinion on any books we both read! My favorite reads are bolded.

1. Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch 2. The Last Star by Rick Yancey 3. Lights Out by Ted Koppel 4. Court of Thorns & Roses by Sarah J. Maas 5. Court of Mist & Fury by Sarah J. Maas 6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 7. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas 8. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas 9. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas 10. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas 11. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas 12. The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro 13. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan 14. The Travelers by Chris Pavone 15. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson 16. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 17. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware 18. Too Cool to be Forgotten by Alex Robinson 19. The Lost City of Z by David Grann 20. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 21. Tricked by Alex Robinson 22. Court of Wings & Ruin by Sarah J. Maas 23. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf 24. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn 25. Good as Gone by Amy Gentry 26. Saga Vol. 1-6, graphic novels by Brian K. Vaughan 27. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 28. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 29. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss 30. The Bees Laline Paull 31. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero 32. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware 33. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin 34. Through a Distant Lens: Travel Poems, collected by Sheryl Clough 35. I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong 36. Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith 37. Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson 38. Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father by Jonathan Hennessey 39. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena 40. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green 41. Locke & Key Vol. 1-6, graphic novels by Joe Hill 42. Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau 43. What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi 44. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith 45. Perfect Days by Raphael Montes 46. A Well-crafted Home by Janet Crowther 47. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin 48. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 49. Renaissance Business by Emilie Wapnick 50. The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert 51. Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan 52. The World According to Mr. Rogers by Fred Rogers 53. Walking the Nile by Levison Wood 54. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 55. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith 56. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara 57. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 58. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe 59. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 60. Animal Farm by George Orwell 61. My life in baseball, by the Beard, a very short story by Dave Eggers