#urban books

[noahhawthorneauthor]

It's solving mysteries and falling in love season 🔎

This is a dark bunch so check TW for these, and contrary to the caption there's not spice in all of these, just most of them.

[my-52-weeks-with-christie]

[authorfrannyj]

I swear I love me some Brooke and August! My favorite couple I’ve written so far!!

[aurorariversworld]

Your steamy reads take a tour at the Big Apple 🗽

The neighborhoods of the five boroughs are sizzling with stories people hardly ever touch. Million of us pass me by every day but a few souls dared to enter my confessional. Sometimes they want their voices to be heard, and others want to be lost in the third-person narrative. Yet, these New York City residents had something in common, they want their real sensual stories to not be swallowed in the grinding hustle of this electric city. Heterosexual, LGBTQ, from every walk of life - these stories come to you as diverse as the people from the Big Apple. - 47 pages, collection of erotica short stories.

[stumacher-theghostface]

I know this isn't my typical content or anything but

There is a book that i believe at least a few of you would enjoy by a author called J blunt a man who has written 15 amazing books. He is a talented man and an inspiring man as he wrote his books while being an inmate.

It is an urban story and I'll place the description on the back of the book under the cut

I did get permission to promote this.

DESMOND is a trained killer with a lovable side to him that defies his merciless, gangsta heart. He's trying to walk the straight and narrow path but a tragic event strikes his family and he's forced to get on that street sh*t. When a beast is re-awakened, will the thirst to kill ever get quenched?LUCKY, who is Desmond's older brother, is two days away from being released from a 14-year prison bid when he learns of the cruel tragedy that has struck his family. The reformed criminal has plans to live a righteous life, but the need for revenge might drive him back to his old, cold-blooded ways.The brothers are forced into the streets, warring with old friends that become new enemies. Wanting to protect Lucky from going back to prison, Desmond makes a deal with the Devil. When the requirements of the deal call for him to do something too unsavory for him to digest, Desmond must decide if he will commit the ultimate sacrifice. Will a man's principles keep him CHAINED TO THE STREETS? Or will he break free from those confines by way of the gun?

[samwisethewitch]

Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won't radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that's generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these "self-sufficiency" skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the "good old days," a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here's a complete list of the safe resources I've found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it's like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

"Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy" by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs -- in this case, indigenous American beliefs -- can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the "Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline"

Note: the "crunchy to alt-right pipeline" is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use "crunchy" spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

"The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline" by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it's a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I've personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!

[kaywopp]

Got me 3 physical books today at library, I’m soooooo happy! 🫶🏽

[shyjusticewarrior]

When Bruce said he was proud of Jason for stepping away from guns, Jason immediately clarified that he wasn't doing it for him.

When Dick said he was proud of Jason for stepping away from guns, Jason didn't feel the need to clarify this.

Interesting contrast I noticed.

[camo-wolf]

I find this panel so funny because now all I can imagine is Talia sneaking into the manor to the kitchen when Alfred is cooking and going “I’m going to teach you how I make my mloukhieh correctly so Damian can feel more at home”

And they have a nice evening bonding over cooking and sharing recipes

[b-m-s-c]

Check it out

[sashayed]

i'm finally reading moby dick and there's a lot i didn't know about it such as that the first several dozen chapters are very funny! to me ol Call Me Ishmael has a kind of "what if bertie wooster were 1. american 2. competent" narrative vibe, although admittedly i am what one professor once called an "idiosyncratic" reader, meaning u should not trust anything i say. anyway the book i THOUGHT "moby dick" was going to be doesn't start until captain ahab finally stumps upstairs in chapter 36 and then boy does it ever, because he has I Am In A Tragedy disease and it is contagious and now everyone who was normal two pages ago is monologuing ominously in the dead of night. did you guys know herman melville is a very good writer? have you heard about this? he really knows that if you encounter someone who has you doing soliloquies you should Leave. if you encounter that person while you are on a boat in the middle of the 19th century ocean you are fucked for sure. poor starbuck is out here like "i really would prefer to be in a story about doing my Fucking Job"

[mamiinmiumiu]

Currently reading: Moth to A Flame by Ashley Antoinette

[my-52-weeks-with-christie]

[authorfrannyj]

“I ride for my bitches” 💅🏾💕

Read about Brooke and her beautiful, crazy two best friends Noelle and Ayana. They did everything together and were inseparable

[equivocations]

Feira de Libros de Plaza Italia, Buenos Aires. After he saw the painting, one of the booksellers gave me a rose 🌹

[nemfrog]

Going up. Skyscrapers. 1928. Cover art.

Internet Archive