#the chestnut king

[ofliterarynature]

AUGUST 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope DNF (bookclub) reread*]

True Grit • A Sorceress Comes to Call • (Fit for the Gods) • A Short Walk Through a Wide World • The Chestnut King* • Where the Drowned Girls Go • The Hollow Boy* • The Philosopher's Flight • The Whispering Skull* • Death by Silver • Grandma Gatewood's Walk • Across the Green Grass Fields • Tales from the Hinterland • The Screaming Staircase* • Ascension • Running Close to the Wind • August Kitko and the Mechas from Space

* * * * * *

Lockwood & Co - time for a reread! I really like the idea of ghost books but struggle to find ones that I like, but these are perfect! The worldbuilding and story structure is somehow just what I want - just enough rules to give them the confidence to be bad ass AND tension for when they royally screw up, and a fantastic, case-book type narrative where the characters are going about their lives, fighting ghosts, and not actually getting to the titular case until halfway through the book. Love it! I need more like that actually. (I recommend The Angel of the Crows)

Tales from the Hinterland -since I finally read The Language of Thorns I figured I should get around to this too. I didn't like the related novels all that much but WAS interested in the stories, but it's been so long I've mostly forgotten their context. I didn't mind it, and I think Albert has a better grasp on the language and form of fairy tales than Bardugo, but the inescapable grimness of the stories quickly became repetitive and boring.

Across the Green Grass Fields - it took me a bit to warm up to this one, but once we went through the door I had a good time! I think this is probably my favorite of the individual door stories so far. On the other hand, I usually like the ensemble books, but Where the Drowned Girls Go didn't quite work for me this time, but it might be one that just needs a second read.

Grandma Gatewood's Walk - I've seen this one around (most recently at a Hocking Hills gift shop) and finally picked it up since my library had it on audiobook. Unfortunately it was doing a lot of things that annoy me about certain nonfiction and while it was readable and interesting, I wouldn't say I enjoyed it or would recommend it.

Death by Silver - a gaslamp mystery/gay romance that was fun! If you like a mystery that is, the "romance" coasts along on the "old school friends/hookup buddies" line and doesn't really get any development (or steaminess), but things do keep moving and it was a nice enough read that I'd maybe try some of the author's other work (but maybe not the sequel)

The Philosopher's Flight - I don't even know. It *was* a good read that moved along well, BUT... I don't want to lay everything at the feet of "it was written by a man," but it definitely had its effects. Stories about girls and women going into a man's world and showing them all up are pretty common and catnip to me (Keladry my beloved), but something about a man doing it in a women's organization that exists in a patriarchal society WITH a heavy political-unrest plot going on as well, and despite the abundance of female characters none of them are well developed? And the main character is just a bland-ass dude? It really didn't sit well with me, and I do not want to read the sequel.

The Chestnut King - I'm glad to be done with this series reread. They're honesty just a perfectly middling MG fantasy series, slightly dated but charmingly midwestern in many ways. Kids would probably enjoy it more, but there's not much for an older reader.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World - going in I knew this was being pitched as sort of cozy, and being comp'd to Addie Larue (which I didn't like in execution). Fairly accurate on both counts tbh, and I thought the curse in this one worked much better - the problem with Addie was that the inability for anyone to remember her didn't allow for any connections to make things interesting, whereas A Short Walk's not being able to stay longer than a few days or ever return offers *just* enough to be heartbreaking. Unfortunately there just wasn't much of a shape to the overall story and I was so bored I almost DNF'd. If you're more into the books being marketed as "cozy fantasy" you might have a better time of it than me.

Fit for the Gods - aka "Greek Mythology Reimagined," which feels self explanatory. Anthologies are always a bit of a mixed bag, but I really liked this! Especially compared to the previous anthology (Sword Stone Table), there was only one story I didn't really like, but otherwise really vibed with everything else! I also learned that most of my myth knowledge that's stuck around is from Percy Jackson, lol. (Not to mention the reincarnation story that mentioned Percy Jackson! I cackled XD)

A Sorceress Comes to Call - LOVED!!! Regency house party, magic, murder, mystery is so so SO up my alley. I've seen people call this a stressful book, and I get it, the mother is awful and things are definitely tense, but something was telling me that things would turn out ok for the main characters and I was able to enjoy myself lol. It also helped that it became quickly obvious that the mother was very full of herself and overconfident, even if she was terrifying. I think this is tied with Thornhedge for my favorite Kingfisher so far, though I might rate this a little lower on quality. If you liked this I really recommend checking out the Greenwing & Dart series by Victoria Goddard!

True Grit - meh. Picked this up through a combination of podcast rec/book sale find/needed to read another classic. The kid's got spunk, but that's all I've really got to say. Came very close to dnf'ing, but at least it was short.

DNF

Ascension - 25%. I was really looking forward to making a "if I had a nickle for every book about a mountain mysteriously appearing somewhere it shouldn't, I'd have two nickles" joke, but alas. This started off pretty good, going with the classic "I found these papers among my brother's affects after a long mysterious life" that I was REALLY excited about. Then we actually got to the story and the main character was just Most Special Genius Science Boy, and the way his ex-wife was being written was absolutely bleh. I looked a bit closer at the reviews and decided to dump it. (Other mountain book is My Volcano and you should read it!!!! It's so weird!!)

Running Close to the Wind - 11%. Was this funny? Yes. Was this super horny? Yes. Was this funny and super horny? Super yes. I can really appreciate what was happening here, it's just unfortunately not a style I can consume in anything larger than small bites. I decided to part ways before my feelings really soured.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space - 41%. I honestly did like what I read, it just wasn't speaking to me? I can see this being a great book for someone, I just had other things I wanted to read more.

[dragoneyes618]

For whatever fandom exists for the Ashtown Burials or 100 Cupboards series, I've made a Discord. Feel free to join!

https://discord.gg/MPS3DMn8GY

Not that I have any idea how to run a Discord. That's my disclaimer. I have no clue what I'm doing.

And if you can think of a better name for the server than the one I came up with, please do suggest one. ;)

[thelcsdaily]

Chestnuts

Chestnuts are among my favorite Christmas fare. Nat King Cole's song served as the catalyst for everything, and you've undoubtedly heard the opening line of "The Christmas Song"—"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." I was curious to give this nut a taste, so I did. Since then, I've become addicted. What say you, too? Would you mind sharing your preferred holiday snack?

Chestnuts are my favorite ingredient to use in the fall, especially for the holidays. I always find that they are meaty, hearty and have a mysterious refinement when cooked or roasted over sea salt.

Geoffrey Zakarian

[mrkida-art]

I don't remember that much of my childhood, but today I suddenly remembered that one time when I started a Tolkien inspired war at my school when I was 7-8 years old.

The war lasted for a week, the entire elementary and middle school joined. We had different armies, all inspired by different characters (I was in the Mickey Mouse army, we had a "general" who was an older boy who would wear a Mickey Mouse hat on the "battlefield", I was his right hand man lmao). We fought using sticks and by throwing chestnuts which we collected in great hordes, the army who stole all the chestnuts from the opposing armies won.

Then the teachers learned of it and they were horrified. They rushed to break it up and got hit with our chestnut artillery in the process. I don't remember how it ended, just that we were sad about it and we had to talk to therapists (???) afterwards.

Idk why I was like that

[letmeliveinelfhame]

Excuse me while I admire my wonky little smut shelves at night 😍

(I've only read 8 of these books 😅)

[nerdstreak]

speakin of luigi, what if...... perhaps..... new self insert specifically for paper luigi thats technically canon that i can claim without a canon design

[melaninpov]

90s Crime/Drama Films

Juice

Menace ll Society

Boyz N the Hood

New Jack City

Above the Rim

King of New York

Higher Learning

[twofoursixohjuan]

new tags game:

last song you listened to and last book you read —DOES IT FIT?

[scoups4lyfe]

[running2reanimation]

Chestnut and Mahogany are siblings/half siblings? Are they close to each other?

Chestnut, Mahogany, and Scarlet (Dark and King child who belongs to my fiancee @kyllingtyme) are all siblings and consider all three, The Dark Lord, The Chosen One, and King as parents.

Scarlet and Chestnut are much closer to each other, Scarlet has a fierce protective streak when it comes to Chestnut, and Chestnut likes to feel safe. Mahogany is more of a loner; they tend to hang around with Purple more than Chestnut and Scarlet.

[doculicious]

Nat King Cole “The Christmas Song”

[palatinewolfsblog]

Willkommen, bievenue, welcome on this evening of the 11th day of my advent calendar.

And this time i have something special for you. A song i love to hear again and again. Especially when it is performed by different talented artist.

So here's a amazing quartetto with a heartwarming seasonal classic. And i hope you like it as much as i do...

[dsatyr]

As much as I adore the fungal beauties I see here on Tumblr, I love the ones I grow and find in the world even better. These are all from my urban homestead, and I'm so excited about them!

[duranduratulsa]

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)

Christmas 🎄 song 🎵 of the day: The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole (1961) #natkingcole #thechristmassong #chestnutsroastingonanopenfire #60s #christmas #merrychristmas #merrychristmas2023