#vince atwood

[bellysoupset]

This is in the future because I couldn't help myself, when Vin already moved in with Wendy. As always, it'll be in the correct order in the masterlist. Christopher, the doctor Jonah hurts, was mentioned in this fic.

-----------------------------------

"Hi," Wendy breathed out, opening a blinding smile as Vince entered their apartment. Just thinking that gave her butterflies, she felt like a teenage girl, "how was your day?"

"Uhm," was Vince's grumpy response, dropping his crossbody bag on top of the dining table and marching to the couch so he could collapse on it, "sucked."

"Oh?" Wendy frowned, feeling a stab of hurt at his lackluster response, but that quickly vanished as she saw his washed out complexion, "what's wrong?"

"I don't know," her boyfriend groaned, removing his shirt as if it was annoying him and throwing an arm over his eyes as he leaned back on the couch, "I felt gross all day."

"Be a little more specific, honey," Wendy teased him lightly, sitting by his knee and combing her fingers through his soft curls. Today his hair was curlier than normal, locks licking at her fingertips and trying to wrap around them like vines.

"Headache," Vince grumbled, not moving his forearm shielding his eyes, "stomach feels sour as fuck too... Do I feel warm to you?"

Wen raised her eyebrows, then cupped his cheeks and his neck, "not really, Vin..." she moved her hand down his naked chest, to his stomach, feeling bolder than normal and trusting he'd stop her if he was feeling too bad.

When Vince didn't move a muscle, Wendy pressed around his belly. She could tell he was bloated, the conclusion a consequence of having him all to herself now that they lived together. Wendy could easily pinpoint every single change in her boyfriend's body and she felt extremely smug about this fact. Right now, his belly had a pink mark where it was meeting his jeans, which normally wasn't there, and there was no give under her hands...

BUUUUOURP!

Wen jumped at the sudden burp and so did Vince, removing his arm so he could plant a hand over his lips and hunching forward, ducking his head as he continued to let out a string of much smaller, wetter burps.

His cheeks turned pink, "Pheeww..." he raised his eyes, sheepishly, "sorry, hon, that was gross."

"I could fucking eat you," Wendy replied instead, leaning forward to kiss him and Vince's lips twisted into a smile, mouth meeting hers and lips parting slightly so he could kiss her back.

"You're unbelievable," he chuckled, but pushed her back by the shoulder, gently, "but I really don't feel well, honey... My head hurts."

"Did you take something for it?" She asked softly, running her nails on his scalp and feeling him relax under her touch. Vin shook his head and she planted a kiss on his temple, "alright, wait here."

Wendy's bedside table's drawer had become their whole emergency kit, given it had doubled in size when Vince moved in. He had more over the counter medicine than she ever did and the funny part was that half his pills were for migraines that he didn't even suffer. She grabbed the little bottle of Pepto, TUMS and Tylenol as well, then walked back to the living room.

"Pick one," she raised the Pepto and TUMS and Vince grimaced, reaching for the chewable tablets of TUMS, "This too," Wen instructed, passing him the Tylenol pill.

He swallowed it dry, not bothering to wait for a glass of water, then grabbed Wendy's hand, pulling her close, "can we cuddle?" He asked in a pitiful voice, "I really don't feel well..."

Wendy rolled her eyes at the whininess, but nodded, falling on the couch and squirming to rest her feet on the coffee table as Vince promptly collapsed to the side and buried his face on her lap. It seemed he was unaware that he was far too big for the couch, not minding one bit as his feet stuck out the opposite end.

She fished out her phone and put it on mute, turning on captions to watch TikTok while continuing to pet Vince's hair. It wasn't long until his weight seemed to drop fully and his breath got deeper. Wendy moved her phone just a smidge, smiling at his placid face while napping, then went back to the task.

It was past 6 PM and she had been waiting for him to eat, so Wendy was positively ravenous as nearly 8 PM rolled around. She didn't dare move, knowing he'd for sure wake up and while it wasn't a big deal, she was really enjoying herself there- Her stomach let out a loud growl and Vince snorted, rolling on the couch so he could press his face to her belly.

"You're hungry," he mumbled, sleepily, voice muffled by her top. Wendy shrugged, stroking his cheek with her thumb and sliding down on the couch, pushing the curls away from his face.

"Is your head any better?"

"A little," Vince rolled away from her stomach, opening his eyes and taking a second to situate himself, before he grabbed on the couch to hoist himself sitting up, "go eat, Wen."

"You're not gonna have dinner?" Wendy pouted, getting up. Vince shook his head, palming his still bloated belly and putting his shirt back on, shivering.

"No, I don't think that would be smart," he groaned and she let out a heavy sigh, nodding.

"Okay, but at least drink some water," Wendy moved ahead into the kitchen. Ever since Vince had moved in, she hadn't stepped foot inside of the room. Wendy knew how to do the basics, after all she had lived many years alone by now, but she didn't like cooking and was more than happy to relegate the task entirely. Now, she felt a little lost with all his fancy pans inside the cabinets and all the twenty different pastas and grains Vince had bought.

"I can cook you something," Vin offered, probably noticing how she seemed out of her element, moving inside the kitchen to start making himself tea.

"No," Wendy wrinkled her nose at the thought, offended, "but keep me company? Unless you're feeling too sick, then I'm alright on my own-"

"No, I'm fine," Vince yawned, planting his baby blue fancy kettle on the stove and leaning against the opposite wall of the kitchen, so he was out of her way.

She knew how to cook, but had no idea what she wanted to eat, so Wendy opened the fridge and stuck her head inside of it, in search of any inspiration as she saw the ingredients they had, "when did you start feeling sick, Vin?"

They had gorgonzola cheese and filet mignon stripes, which was an easy enough recipe she had seen Vince do enough times that Wendy thought she could recreate. She grabbed the onion, garlic, as well at the other ingredients and moved away, in time to see Vin press a fist to his mouth and muffle a little burp.

"Uhm- Around... A little after lunch," he cleared his throat, then eyed her cutting board as she started to chop the onions, "don't hold the onion like this, you'll chop your fingertips off-" he reached around her, planting a hand over hers and folding her fingers so she was holding the onion basically with nails, "better."

Wendy muffled a chuckle, he was such a passenger seat driver in the kitchen, "thanks," she rolled her eyes, continuing to chop them and starting to tell him about her day at work. Wen was always in the fold of all hospital gossip, circulating easily between all circles, and Vince finished his tea as she told him the tale of the guy who had a breakdown in the ER and broke one of the IV poles, only for them to learn he was one of the nurse's ex.

"I hope someone called the police on him," Vince scoffed and Wendy noticed he wasn't drinking his tea, but rather using the cup to warm his hands up, "is she alright?"

"She's fine," Wen dismissed him, "and did I tell you I had Christopher come up to me ask me if I think he'll be invited to Jon's wedding? Can you believe that?!"

"No..." Vince mumbled, but now Wendy was barely listening to him as she chopped the cheese pieces and threw it in the frying pan after the onions turned transparent and the garlic golden, opening the fridge to grab some heavy cream.

"Yep! Christopher! The nerve, everyone knows he hates us," Wendy scoffed, continuing to stir the sauce, "I mean, Jonah's not subtle about hating him either, so I really don't know where did he get this notion. Maybe because Claire and I were talking the other day about it?"

"Uhm-"

"Not like, really talking, because Jonah hasn't told me all that much, he said Leo would be offended if I highjacked the wedding — which I wouldn't. But he showed me the venue they are thinking of closing, have you seen it yet? It's super pretty-"

She was interrupted as Vince lurched over the sink, vomit splashing on the couple plates inside.

Wendy let out a squeal, more startled by the sudden movement than anything, and immediately let go of the spoon she was holding, rushing to his side.

"Oh honey, shh-" she rubbed his back, opening the faucet to wash away the mess and splashing the cold water on his face, wiping away the sickness clinging to his chin.

His eyes were squeezed shut, throat bobbing up and down, "sorry..." he rasped out, before another heave interrupted him, spine curling and causing his knuckles on the counter to turn white, "fuck-"

"No, don't- Don't apologize," Wendy kept a hand on his back as she stretched on the kitchen in order to kill the heat of her stove, "get it up, honey, then you can go lie down..."

"Not- Not-URrgph..." Vince belched, another splash of vomit coming up and he grimaced, "it's the smell..."

"Oh," Wendy blinked, surprised, "Ah! Okay, okay, okay-" she dived under his arms, in order to open the cabinet he was half blocking with his body and retrieved a big bowl, holding it up to his chin and grabbing Vince's arm, "alright, lean on me- I didn't even consider that..."

They stumbled together back into the living room and Wendy abandoned him as soon as Vince collapsed on the couch, in order to go close her kitchen door, which she had probably never done in all years living in this apartment.

"Better?" She rushed across the room, opening the windows despite the coldness an early March night.

Vin nodded, although it wasn't very believable, as he was hunched over with one arm wrapped his stomach, free hand still holding the bowl, although it seemed to be slipping in his sweaty fingers.

"Here," Wendy grabbed it and planted on the coffee table, "lie down, honey..."

"No," Vince stopped her from pushing him down against the couch's cushions, breathing in and out slowly, "I'm too nauseous to lie down..." he reached for the bowl once again, planting it on his lap and spitting inside. His stomach let out a loud whine and Wendy raised her eyebrows, sitting on the couch and scooting closer so she could plant a hand on his back.

"Let it up then, Vin," she kissed his shoulder, "c'mon, force up a burp..."

Vin let out another whimper, but gulped down air, struggling to do that when his jaw felt so heavy. A tiny, pathetic burp came up and Wendy let out a scoff.

"You can do better," she patted his back in a rhythmic manner, but absolutely nothing happened, only Vince groaned louder and clutched the bowl a little tighter, rocking on the couch.

"I feel...So'full..." He slurred and Wen bit down her lip, then glanced at the door.

"Uh- I can just open the door again...?" It was only half innocent, if she was being honest. Vince's spine curled and he gagged at the idea and it made her cheeks burn. Wendy pressed her face to his arm, continuing to rub his back and fighting to remain rational.

"Please, don-" Vince gulped around nothing, bringing up a little pathetic gush of vomit, "don't mention foo-URorp-"

Wendy let out a frustrated sigh, planting a hand on his stomach and then saying sweetly, "was it the cheese that set you off? I know, gorgonzo-"

She didn't even have the opportunity to finish that sentence, as Vince let out a deafening retch and then a much bigger wave of puke fell in the bowl, causing her to scramble to grab it, since his hands were so sweaty.

Vince groaned, but didn't straighten up, still hunched over as another burp rolled up and he vomited again, panting as if he had run a marathon.

"Wow," Wendy's face was tingling. She licked her suddenly dry lips, "Vin?"

"Fuck," Vince breathed out, opening his eyes. There were little tears clumping his dark lashes together and his cheeks were flushed too. He fell back against the couch and Wendy took the opportunity to take the bowl, clutching it nervously.

"I'm gonna- Gonna clean this up..." She mumbled, rushing out of the living room to get rid of the half full container.

When she returned, five minutes later, Vince had moved so he was fully lying down on the couch, head on the arm of the furniture, and he had a hand resting on his bloated stomach, the other arm thrown over his eyes in the original position he had when arriving home.

"Vin...?" Wendy walked closer, "uhm- Are you mad at me?"

His lips twisted into a little smile and although half his face was shielded away, she could almost see him eyerolling. He raised a hand, so she took it and her boyfriend pulled her closer, sitting on the edge of the couch.

"Please," he scoffed, then planted her hand on his upset belly, tugging on his shirt so her palm met skin, "rub it."

Wendy's cheeks hurt as she opened a luminous smile, "yessir," she said, breathy, then leaned in and pressed a kiss on his belly, resting her chin on it just in time to see Vin raise his arm enough to glance down and snort at her.

"You minx."

[abstractguilt]

like the eb and flow of the tide, vincent and helena were crashing into one another just as much as they were pulling themselves away. hard to blame such a thing on the moon when most of their encounters happened in the dark of unlit rooms, behind closed doors; stolen kisses in janitor closets and bar bathrooms, suggestive touches behind the backs of strangers and their closest friends. their PARTNERS. inhaling slowly, vincent breathed in her scent, contemplating the temptation in his own head as his eyes grazed the terrain for any opportunity for privacy. how wrong would it be to soil the bright and shiny new amenities of new horizons ?? wrong enough to have him pulling helena back into him the moment she tried to slip away, only catching the tail end of her words as he fully pulled her to him now, flush to his chest, not giving a fuck about the potential audience they may have as he had already spotted a door that went who the fuck knows where just a step away from them. ❛ helena and all her never ending list of options, ❜ he taunted, finally committing as he stepped to the side and leaned his weight into one of the push doors that lead to an empty hallway, dragging helena with him, not waiting until the latch had even shut before vince was turning her around and rocking his full weight forward and into her — securing her spine against the brick and shifting his lips down to meet her own.

Did she care? Not really. It wasn't Helena's job to defend or protect every single woman who made the mistake of getting close to Vincent Atwood. They were grown adults and could make their own choices, just as she made hers. As repulsive as he could be, he was still fun in a strange, twisted way which was why she would play along with him. Why they could take what they wanted from each other without ever worrying about feelings or attachments. Never in a million years would she let Vincent get under her skin. Under her, sure, but never under her skin. His touch sent a shiver down her spine, and she realized that the video might have wound her up more than she had thought, breathing through her nose as he pressed his hand against her hip. Scoffing, Helena tilted her head as she gazed up at him before shaking it and starting to move away from him. "If you aren't going to tell me or show me it might be time for me to find someone else to talk to."

[deadpresidents]

2023's Best Books

I meant to do this a few days ago so there was more time before the holidays, but here's a quick list of the best books that I read that were released in 2023. Obviously, I didn't read every book that came out this year, and I'm only listing the best books I read that were actually released in the 2023 calendar year.

In my opinion, the two very best books released in 2023 were An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by Richard Norton Smith (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO), and True West: Sam Shepard's Life, Work, and Times by Robert Greenfield (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO).

(The rest of this list is in no particular order)

President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier C.W. Goodyear (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The World: A Family History of Humanity Simon Sebag Montefiore (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

France On Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain Julian Jackson (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth Adam Goodheart (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World Mary Beard (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

City of Echoes: A New History of Rome, Its Popes, and Its People Jessica Wärnberg (BOOK | KINDLE)

We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World Alex Rowell (BOOK | KINDLE)

Edison's Ghosts: The Untold Weirdness of History's Greatest Geniuses Katie Spalding (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias Kevin Cook (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West Chris Wimmer (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

King: A Life Jonathan Eig (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

LBJ's America: The Life and Legacies of Lyndon Baines Johnson Edited by Mark Atwood Lawrence and Mark K. Updegrove (BOOK | KINDLE)

Who Believes Is Not Alone: My Life Beside Benedict XVI Georg Gänswein with Saverio Gaeta (BOOK | KINDLE)

Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East Uri Kaufman (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Rough Rider and the Professor: Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and the Friendship That Changed American History Laurence Jurdem (BOOK | KINDLE)

White House Wild Child: How Alice Roosevelt Broke All the Rules and Won the Heart of America Shelley Fraser Mickle (BOOK | KINDLE)

Romney: A Reckoning McKay Coppins (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics H.W. Brands (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Earth Transformed: An Untold History Peter Frankopan (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

LeBron Jeff Benedict (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America Abraham Riesman (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House Chris Whipple (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

[kattra]

What I’m Reading

BOOKS OF DECEMBER Gallant by V.E. Schwab **  Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories From Turtle Island edited by McCall/Reder/Gaertner/Hill (NF/SS)  We’d Know By Then by Kirsten Bohling  Prospero Lost by Jagi L. Lamplighter An Indian Among los Indígenas: A Native Travel Memoir by Ursula Pike (NF) Pop Song: Adventures in Art & Intimacy by Larissa Pham (NF) Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline (AB) **  Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology edited by Vince A. Liaguno & Rena Mason (SS) The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien **  The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson  Bestiary by Donika Kelly (P) The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath edited by Karen V. Kukil (NF)  Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood  Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao ** The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman (NF)

Graphic Novels: Skyward Vol.2-3 by Joe Henderson & Lee Garbett  Lore Olympus Vol.2-3 by Rachel Smythe  The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Vol.1 by Nagabe  Sorry For My Familiar Vol.8-10 by Tekka Yaguraba 

(153 books read / 150 books goal)

currently reading:  Don’t Read Poetry: A Book About How to Read Poems by Stephanie Burt (NF) A Game of Fate by Scarlett St. Clair Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang (SS) Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine  The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien Monologue of a Dog by Wisława Szymborska (P) The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

* - re-read // ** - 4+ star-rating (recommended) GN - graphic novel // NF - non-fiction // P - poetry SS - short story collection // AB - audiobook 

TBR: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang  The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass  Hour of the Crab by Patricia Robertson (SS)

WHAT ARE YOU READING? :D

Find me on: GOODREADS | THE STORYGRAPH

[powerfitnessposts]

💪 Subscribe and support me on Youtube ●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬● Description: Death in bodybuilding - is it the true  price of steroids or just an accident? A lot of professional bodybuilders have died at the age of 30-40. In most cases  it's heart attack, kidney failure, liver cancer etc. So what are the cost of being bigger, thicker and stronger?

 Bodybuilders in the video:

 Dallas McCarver 1991 - 2017 Rich Piana 1971 - 2017 Andreas Munzer 1964 - 1994 Art Atwood  1973 - 2011 Baito Abbaspour 1979 - 2015 Carlos Rodriguez 1973 - 2011 Dan Puckett 1985 - 2007 Daniele Seccarecci 1980 - 2013 Edward Kawak 1959 - 2006 Erik Fromm 1971 - 2008 Frank Hillebrand 1965 - 2011 Greg Kovacs 1968 - 2013 Mike Matarazzo 1965 - 2014 Mike Mentzer 1951 - 2001 Mohammed Benaziza 1959 - 1992 Nasser El Sonbaty 1965 - 2013 Paul DeMayo 1967 - 2005 Ray Mentzer 1953 - 2001 Sonny Shmidt 1953 - 2004 Vince Comerford 1961 - 2014

[abstractguilt]

vincent atwood swore that there would never be a day that went by in his life that he didn't think about his SUCCESSES. he wasn't one to wallow in self-pity, or criticize himself, mainly because he thought he was practically untouchable but . . . primarily because, his life was filled with so many distractions that came as a direct result of his victories that he didn't have TIME to do any of those things. being back in his hometown, back where his roots had at one point in time been planted, now vincent had too much time. way too much time. jogging down the sidewalk, vincent pushed his weight into his feet, his teeshirt twisted and slung across his shoulders like a sweat rag, music blasting in his ears as his heart pounded so hard he could feel its pulse on his tongue. vincent was trying to find that distraction, that quiet — the inability to see his wrongs over his rights, but with everything about chris coming to the surface, it was natural for a man to panic that secrets he had kept trapped behind a pearly smile with lock and key were now about to be forced from him ( not if he could help it. he'd take as many of his hidden truths to his grave as he could ) . . . a familiar figure came into his peripheral, capturing his attention, and vince squinted at them, bringing his run to a slow jog. luciana. . . . huh. pulling off his headset to rest around his neck, vincent cocked his head at her, catching his breath as he put his hands on bare hips, torso gleaming with a thin veil of sweat.   ❛  huh ??  ❜ he inquired, cocking his head, looking between her and her car. ohhhh.   ❛ shit, luci. . . you ?? being desperate ?? some things really never change. ❜ shaking his head, vince moved from the sidewalk towards her, dragging the back of his hand across his forehead;   ❛ sure, princess, i can help you. you got a spare, right ?? ❜

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 , @abstractguilt .

            there  was  a  reason  luciana  was  still  in  town  and  it  possibly  wasn't  just  because  she  was  told  she  had  to  stay  until  she  was  interviewed  . . .  a  part  of  her  unable  to  leave  . . .  not  when  everything  was  going  in  the  direction  it  was  going  .  sure  ,  to  everyone  else  . . .  luciana  seemed  to  be  amusing  herself  with  every  surface  level  aspect  of  life  that  was  in  front  of  her  .  while  others  were  scrambling  . . .  luciana  was  continuing  to  smile  and  do  her  best  to  make  sure  she  was  the  most  𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄  version  of  herself  .  but  there  was  something  about  that  town  . . .  there  was  something  about  the  mystery  that  plagued  them  all  . . .  something  that  was  keeping  her  there  .  something  that  was  telling  her  that  she  had  to  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘  .  she  had  to  ride  this  out  .  what  that  was  ?  she  wasn't  completely  sure  but  there  was  something  going  off  in  her  head  .  telling  her  that  leaving  would  be  worse  than  staying  . . .  maybe  that  sounded  insane  ?           (       maybe  it  was  ?     )        but  luciana  wasn't  exactly  known  for  having  the  best  instincts  in  the  world  .  if  anything  ,  it  was a  sign  to  get  the  hell  out  of  dodge  if  luciana  felt  any  urge  or  insinct  to  stay  .         ⏤        digging  through  her  purse  ,  luciana  panicked  slightly  as  she  tried  to  find  her  phone  charger  .  her  phone  on  it's  last  leg  as  eyes  glanced  over  at  the  flat  tire  of  her  car  .  a  sigh  fell  from  her  lips  before  she  looked  up  to  see  vince  .  not  exactly  her  first  choice  of  knight  in  shining  armor  . . .  but  luciana  played  the  damsel  so  well  . . .  even  if  she  could  take  care  of  herself  a  lot  better  than  she  gave  herself  credit  for  .  lips  pressed  together  for  a  moment  before  she  let  out  another  huff  .  knowing  she  was  probably  going  to  𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐓  this  later  .  although  ,  that  never  stopped  luciana  as  she  made  her  way  over  .          ❛      mind  helping  me  change  my  tire  ?  you  know  i  wouldn't  be  asking  unless  i  was  desperate  .     ❜

[searidings]

reading wrap up 2022 GO

ok so my goal this year was to read 100 books and then i went ahead and read 109. and if i read the locked tomb series three times through that's no one's business but mine <3

italics are queer, bold are amazing, bold italics are queer and amazing

jan:

middlesex - jeffrey eugenides

the mountains sing - nguyên phan qué mai

the vegetarian - han kang

the galaxy and the ground within - becky chambers

to be taught, if fortunate - becky chambers

when we were orphans - kazuo ishiguro

americanah - chimamanda ngozi adichie

h of h playbook - anne carson

klara and the sun - kazuo ishiguro

the space between worlds - micaiah johnson

feb:

normal people - sally rooney

circe - madeline miller

blood of elves - andrzej sapkowski

gideon the ninth - tamsyn muir

time of contempt - andrzej sapkowski

baptism of fire - andrzej sapkowski

march:

the tower of the swallow - andrzej sapkowski

lady of the lake - andrzej sapkowski

harrow the ninth - tamsyn muir

the last wish - andrzej sapkowski

we should all be feminists - chimamanda ngozi adichie

a memory called empire - arkady martine

burnt sugar - avni doshi

a psalm for the wild built - becky chambers

april:

the alchemist - paul coelho

sword of destiny - andrzej sapkowski

oranges are not the only fruit - jeanette winterson

the colour purple - alice walker

the midnight library - matt haig

where the crawdads sing - delia owens

10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world - elif shafak

the discomfort of evening - marieke lucas rijneveld

crying in h mart - michelle zauner

my year of rest and relaxation - ottessa moshfegh

the shadow king - maaza mengiste

the virgin suicides - jeffrey eugenides

sapiens - yuval noah harari

the manningtree witches - a. k. blakemore

may:

parable of the sower - octavia butler

hot milk - deborah levy

an unkindness of ghosts - rivers solomon

the water dancer - ta-nehisi coates

pure colour - sheila heti

this is how you lose the time war - amal el-mohtar & max gladstone

five little indians - michelle good

june:

indian horse - richard wagamese

ducks, newburyport - lucy ellmann

the vanishing half - brit bennett

medicine walk - richard wagamese

crier's war - nina varela

a quality of light - richard wagamese

after the quake - haruki murakami

death in her hands - ottessa moshfegh

the school for good mothers - jessamine chan

bluets - maggie nelson

of women and salt - gabriela garcia

lapvona - ottessa moshfegh

mcglue - ottessa moshfegh

songbirds - christy lefteri

july:

to paradise - hanya yanagihara

sankofa - chibundu onuzo

the argonauts - maggie nelson

jane: a murder - maggie nelson

eileen - ottessa moshfegh

iron widow - xiran jay zhao

homesick for another world - ottessa moshfegh

a desolation called peace - arkady martine

the art of cruelty: a reckoning - maggie nelson

the witch's heart - genevieve gornichec

dune - frank herbert

aug:

never let me go - kazuo ishiguro

the island of missing trees - elif shafak

the marriage plot - jeffrey eugenides

almond - won-pyung sohn

all over creation - ruth ozeki

the water cure - sophie mackintosh

drive your plow over the bones of the dead - olga tokarczuk

sep:

the remains of the day - kazuo ishiguro

the blind assassin - margaret atwood

go set a watchman - harper lee

a pale view of hills - kazuo ishiguro

seven fallen feathers - tanya talaga

an artist of the floating world - kazuo ishiguro

the atlas six - olivie blake

the inconvenient indian - thomas king

a tale for the time being - ruth ozeki

ru - kim thuy

split tooth - tanya tagaq

wintering - katherine may

nomad century - gaia vince

dune messiah - frank herbert

the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera

oct:

nona the ninth - tamsyn muir

indians on vacation - thomas king

severance - ling ma

nocturnes - kazuo ishiguro

nona the ninth - tamsyn muir

a prayer for the crown-shy - becky chambers

nov:

gideon the ninth - tamsyn muir

harrow the ninth - tamsyn muir

nona the ninth - tamsyn muir

embers - richard wagamese

dec:

starlight - richard wagamese

the buried giant - kazuo ishiguro

autobiography of red - anne carson

notes on grief - chimamanda ngozi adichie

cloud cuckoo land - anthony doerr

on fire: the burning case for a green new deal - naomi klein

sufferance - thomas king

[chriscolfernews]

FICTION

1. "Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls" by Dav Pilkey (Graphix)

2. "The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (One World)

3. "The Institute" by Stephen King (Scribner)

4. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

5. "Bloody Genius" by John Sandford (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

6. "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett (Harper)

7. "The Testaments" by Margaret Atwood (Nan A. Talese)

8. "The Tyrant's Tomb" by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)

9. "Lethal Agent" by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills (Atria/Emily Bestler Books)

10. "A Tale of Magic..." by Chris Colfer (Little, Brown Books For Young Readers)

[levysoft]

Scrivere fantascienza non è certo la strada più indicata per gli scrittori che aspirano all'olimpo dei Grandi Autori della Letteratura: eppure ci sono autori di successo che, pur non frequentando assiduamente il genere, a volte ricorrono a tematiche o ambientazioni fantascientifiche dando vita a opere di confine.

Uno sguardo dall'esterno: Margaret Atwood e Kazuo Ishiguro

Negli ultimi anni, due romanzi esplicitamente fantascientifici opera di autori non di genere, si sono imposti all'attenzione del grande pubblico grazie alle trasposizioni cinematografiche: il primo è Non lasciarmi (2005) del premio Nobel Kazuo Ishiguro da cui Alex Garland ha tratto la sceneggiatura per il film di Mark Romanek; e il secondo è Il racconto dell'ancella, romanzo del 1985 a cui è ispirata la serie TV di successo di Hulu.

Se ne parlo insieme non è unicamente per il successo delle rispettive trasposizioni anche fuori dal fandom (che ha avuto anche una ricaduta sulle vendite dei romanzi); ma soprattutto perché credo che entrambi siano esemplificativi dell'approccio diverso e in alcuni casi virtuoso degli scrittori non di genere quando affrontano tematiche fantascientifiche.

Si tratta in entrambi i casi di opere di confine tra la distopia e l'ucronia.

Il mondo di Non lasciarmi è il nostro passato (anni '80-'90 del Novecento) come sarebbe stato se gli esperimenti sulla clonazione umana avessero permesso di generare una riserva di organi da sostituire all'occorrenza, prolungando l'aspettativa di vita ben oltre i cento anni. Un'utopia che mostra la sua faccia terribile non appena ci rendiamo conto che Ishiguro ha adottato il punto di vista dei cloni, i donatori il cui unico scopo nella vita è quello di sottoporsi a quattro-cinque interventi prima di «completare il ciclo».

Il racconto dell'ancella di Margaret Atwood è ambientato Repubblica di Galaad, originatasi dalla disgregazione degli Stati Uniti, un'oligarchia di fondamentalisti cristiani in cui le donne hanno un ruolo subordinato di mogli, serve o ancelle: queste ultime sono strumenti di procreazione per le famiglie dei Comandanti; una volta ingravidate e partorito l'erede del Comandate possono essere assegnate a una nuova famiglia, con tutti gli onori di donne fertili in una società sempre più sterile. Pur essendo ambientato in un vicino futuro, il fittizio saggio che chiude il romanzo colloca l'esistenza di Galaad in un passato ormai concluso e oggetto di analisi storica, di cui la narrazione dell'ancella costituisce un raro documento.

Non mi dilungo oltre sulle trame di questi bellissimi romanzi, molto diversi per epoca, tematiche e approccio narrativo, eppure accomunati dal fatto che gli autori non sono etichettati come scrittori di fantascienza: se la Atwood ha scritto anche altri romanzi di genere, Ishiguro ne ha preso le distanze in diverse occasioni.

Ciò che qui ci interessa è proprio capire quali novità questi romanzi possono portare alla fantascienza: a mio modo di vedere sia Il racconto dell'ancella che Non lasciarmi ribaltano la relazione tra società e personaggi.

Il classico racconto distopico ci descrive una società oppressiva contro cui l'eroe –spesso suo malgrado – si trova a combattere, e alla fine vincere o soccombere. Il personaggio principale, vittorioso o sconfitto, è comunque protagonista della Storia con la maiuscola, la sua vicenda personale entra in conflitto con quella collettiva.

Niente di tutto questo nei romanzi di Atwood e Ishiguro, i cui protagonisti sono tra le tante vittime cadute tra le maglie della Storia, e la cui ribellione al limite può essere individuale, mirare a una piccola conquista personale più che alla distruzione di un regime la cui solidità non può essere scalfita.

Kathy e Tommy, i giovani protagonisti di Non lasciarmi, si illudono che il reciproco amore possa prolungare per un poco le loro vite comunque condannate, differendo di qualche anno le donazioni di organi. Uno spunto che un autore di fantascienza young adult avrebbe saputo sfruttare per una lotta in cui la forza dell'amore vince sul regime oppressivo; i cloni sono anche loro esseri umani e hanno il diritto di vivere quanto chi nasce con la riproduzione sessuata.

Invece la riflessione di Ishiguro si muove su un piano diverso: non c'è nessun diritto di vivere, tutte le vite in fondo sono condannate alla morte, i cloni quanto i «normali», ciò che cambia non è tanto la durata ma come quella vita viene vissuta. Kathy e Tommy hanno sprecato gran parte del loro tempo, non hanno saputo esprimere i sentimenti che provavano finché non è stato troppo tardi, e questo sentimento è alla base del tono dolente che percorre il romanzo fin dalle prime pagine.

È un monologo senza speranze, quello di Kathy H., in cui fin dall'inizio ci viene annunciato che il tempo è finito, e quella che stiamo leggendo è una storia conclusa: per quanto ci affezioneremo ai protagonisti, soffriremo e gioiremo con loro, non potremo mai cambiare il finale.

Quello di Ishiguro è un approccio sottilmente realistico alla distopia; molti si sono chiesti perché in quelle condizioni nessuno si ribelli oppure pensi al suicidio, sorprendendosi di un atteggiamento che è comune alla maggior parte dell'umanità: tutti subiamo ingiustizie, viviamo sofferenze e delusioni, vediamo morire le persone che amiamo e infine «completiamo il ciclo»; eppure quanti di noi si ribellano a questa condizione, quanti hanno solo la semplice intuizione che le cose potrebbero andare diversamente? La maggior parte dell'umanità accetta la vita così come viene, e ci meravigliamo se i cloni di Ishiguro fanno lo stesso?

La situazione di Difred ne Il Racconto dell'ancella è diversa: al contrario dei protagonisti di Non lasciarmi, lei è vissuta nel nostro mondo, negli Stati Uniti democratici; aveva un lavoro, una casa, una relazione con un uomo divorziato da cui è nata una bambina. Nulla poteva farle sospettare che di punto in bianco avrebbe perso tutto. La vicenda del romanzo si svolge appena un anno dopo il colpo di stato, le ancelle non solo ricordano la loro vita passata, ma ne sono appena state strappate. Per questo, a differenza dei cloni di Ishiguro, non credono che quella che conducono sia l'unica vita possibile; se obbediscono, se si sottomettono alla cattività e agli stupri legalizzati è solo per paura, se non provano a fuggire o si tolgono la vita è solo nella speranza di rivedere i figli che sono stati loro sottratti (le ancelle sono donne che hanno già dato prova, nella vita precedente, di essere fertili). Su tutte loro incombono gli Occhi, il capillare sistema di spie che potrebbero nascondersi anche tra le stesse ancelle, al punto da renderle diffidenti l'un l'altra e rendere molto difficile l'organizzazione di una rivolta. Del resto, chi ci prova è punita in una pubblica lapidazione per mano delle stesse ancelle.

Come si vede, qui l'aspetto distopico è in un certo senso più tradizionale, essendo affidato a un regime di polizia, mentre nel romanzo di Ishiguro la coercizione è interiorizzata nella stessa natura umana dei cloni.

Ma anche la narrazione della Atwood si discosta dai meccanismi del romanzo distopico, presentandosi come un diario intimo di una donna che soffre per la propria condizione, cerca con i pochi mezzi che ha di liberarsi, ma soprattutto ricorda il passato felice, in cui non ha saputo cogliere i germi della catastrofe, ora evidenti.

La Atwood sembra dirci che ciò che oggi diamo per scontato, libertà, democrazia, parità di diritti, sono in realtà conquiste molto fragili; da un giorno all'altro potrebbero esserci sottratte, e allora non avremo armi per difenderci, se abbiamo sottovalutato tutti i segnali, chiuso gli occhi di fronte alle quotidiane ingiustizie e al progressivo allentarsi del pensiero democratico.

Un regime totalitario non è qualcosa che appartiene al passato o ai paesi ancora «non civilizzati», potrebbe esserci imposto qui, domani, se rinunciamo a combatterne oggi i suoi propugnatori.

Un aspetto di grande attualità del romanzo, che ricordo scritto negli anni Ottanta del secolo scorso, è che alle radici del regime di Galaad c'è la catastrofe ambientale; guerre, inquinamento, crollo demografico sono gli argomenti su cui i Comandanti fondano la loro propaganda e giustificano la coercizione sui corpi femminili.

Come abbiamo visto, i problemi sollevati da Il Racconto dell'ancella e Non lasciarmi sono complessi e di grande attualità. Se il primo ci invita a riflettere sulla labilità delle conquiste civili e quanto facilmente si possono perdere in un'epoca di crisi, il secondo ci chiede, tra l'altro, a quanta umanità saremmo disposti a rinunciare in nome del prolungamento delle nostre vite.

Tuttavia entrambi i romanzi hanno un approccio intimista alla problematica fantascientifica, tipico di autori che non scrivono fantascienza. Non è un caso se, dal punto di vista stilistico, entrambi gli autori adottano un monologo interiore affidato a una voce femminile accorata, dagli accenti elegiaci.

Siamo abituati a pensare il nostro genere come « letteratura di idee » e sotto questo etichetta vanno molti dei capolavori della SF; ma non dobbiamo dimenticare che il romanzo è anche e soprattutto storia di individui e riflessione sull'esistenza umana « in quella trappola che è diventata la storia » citando Milan Kundera. Ecco cosa ci ricordano autori come Atwood e Ishiguro, grazie alla loro prospettiva esterna, che si rivela sempre più interessante in un'epoca in cui la tecnologia immaginata dalla fantascienza è realtà, incide sulle nostre vite di ogni giorno.

È salutare, di tanto in tanto, spostare lo sguardo dalle idee agli esseri umani e riflettere sull'impatto che quelle idee possono avere nella vita di ciascuno di noi.

[anomalietwelve]

Rory Gimore Reading Challenge

I put it there has a reminder to myself that I want to read more (so much more). The public library will be more accessible to me when I am going to be where I’m moving this summer, so, no excuses. Even if I should really work on my art more than on my reading. Would be nice if it could help me feel less... inadequate. Somehow. Just a little.

1984 by George Orwell

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Archidamian War by Donald Kagan

The Art of Fiction by Henry James

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Babe by Dick King-Smith

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath – read – June 2010

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy

Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel

A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner

Candide by Voltaire – read – June 2010

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Carrie by Stephen King

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger – read

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman

Christine by Stephen King

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty

A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

Complete Novels by Dawn Powell

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père

Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Cujo by Stephen King

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Daisy Miller by Henry James

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Deenie by Judy Blume

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx

The Divine Comedy by Dante

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Don Quixote by Cervantes

Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

Eloise by Kay Thompson

Emily the Strange by Roger Reger

Emma by Jane Austen

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethics by Spinoza

Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Extravagance by Gary Krist

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore

The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)

Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce

Fletch by Gregory McDonald

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg

Gidget by Fredrick Kohner

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

The Gospel According to Judy Bloom

The Graduate by Charles Webb

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – read

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Group by Mary McCarthy

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (TBR)

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (TBR)

Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare

Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare

Henry V by William Shakespeare

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris

The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland

Howl by Allen Gingsburg

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

The Iliad by Homer

I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy

It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 

Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence

The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – on my book pile

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Love Story by Erich Segal

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Manticore by Robertson Davies

Marathon Man by William Goldman

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir

Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken

The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin

Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor

A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman

Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret

A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh

My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken

My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen

New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Night by Elie Wiesel

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan

Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell

Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Old School by Tobias Wolff

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan

Oracle Night by Paul Auster

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Othello by Shakespeare

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

Out of Africa by Isac Dineson

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker

The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Property by Valerie Martin

Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Quattrocento by James Mckean

A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – read

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman

The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)

R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Rita Hayworth by Stephen King

Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert

Roman Fever by Edith Wharton

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi

Sanctuary by William Faulkner

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman

Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Several Biographies of Winston Churchill

Sexus by Henry Miller

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Shane by Jack Shaefer

The Shining by Stephen King

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton

Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Small Island by Andrea Levy

Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore

The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos

The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

Songbook by Nick Hornby

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams

Stuart Little by E. B. White

Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust

Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett

Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry

Time and Again by Jack Finney

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Trial by Franz Kafka

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unless by Carol Shields

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray – read

Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker

What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles

What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh 

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Konde

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace 

Wild by Cheryl Strand

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts About Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard

[bellysoupset]

The Superbowl - II

Considering it was 20ºF outside and the wind was howling, now that they had put the halftime show on mute, the living room was feeling quite stuffy.

Vince was so warm, he felt like he couldn't breathe and he stripped his sweater, so he was just in his undershirt, balling it up in his fist and looking around the room in astonishment.

Leo was still sitting down, seeming frozen in place and Wendy had gotten up and was by the staircase which Lucas had just ran up, following Bell.

"Vince?" Jonah's voice was uncharacteristically soft and his unexpected touch caused Vince to jerk. He searched Jon's face — had he known? Was he furious? — but found only commiserating confusion and compassion, which made Vin feel all the more suffocated.

Never in all the six years he had known Bell he had made her cry and it was killing him. Never, in all seven years he knew Lucas, had his best friend kept something from him, let alone something of this magnitude.

He felt nauseous. Vince gulped down, wiping the sweat suddenly dotting his face, clammy hands on his jeans, "she said- She said three weeks, right?" he asked, for lack of a more coherent thought. Jonah nodded and Leo let out a groan in affirmation.

"I'm going to go talk with them," Vince decided, turning around, and Wendy shook her head.

"I'll do it..." She hugged herself, eyes downcast and avoiding all of them, "I knew already, I think- I think Luke will be less pissed if it's just me."

The sheer betrayal of it all still stung like an open wound. Three fucking weeks and Wendy had been with him, apparently, on the exact day it had happened and yet-

"We should go," Vince said, strongly, gridding his teeth and Wendy nodded, still looking like she wished the ground would swallow her up as she turned around and bolted up the stairs.

"Vince," Jonah's voice now wasn't as soft or compassionate, his general attitude returning, "it's not her fault."

Vince opened his mouth to retort, annoyance and guilt clouding his judgment, but Leo interrupted them both letting out a heavy sigh and rubbing his face as if he could physically disperse his thoughts, "about four months ago, when we went to get my new car-" the blonde looked pointedly at Jon, who nodded to show he remembered, "Bell got carsick, remember?"

"Uh... Sure, I remember that," Jonah turned to look at his boyfriend and Vince paced the room, fingers curling on the roots of his hair and tugging. He wanted to go upstairs, but the glare Lucas had sent him had been clear.

"Afterwards, on the drive back, I asked how she was and she kinda hinted she thought it was morning sickness, not- Not carsickness," Leo's voice got all squeezy and weird and he cleared his throat, swallowing against the knot in his throat, "and she seemed so happy... But she said she hadn't done a test yet and when Luke never said anything and neither did she, I just assumed it had been a negative..."

"Bell said three weeks," Jonah reminded him, while Vince was too busy spiraling over all that had somehow passed him by. Just how long had him and Luke been drifting apart, if he hadn't ever been told about this either?

His stomach churned, uneasily, and Vince gulped down, watching as Jonah sat back down next to Leo and the blonde promptly collapsed against him, burying his face against Jon's neck.

Jonah's face was a grey tone and he looked sick too, which Vince sympathized with. He wasn't feeling well at all.

"I told them we're leaving," Wendy's voice came from behind him. She was standing on the last step of the staircase, coat already on, arms crossed defensively at her chest, "let's go?"

Vince nodded, putting his sweater back on and looking around the room one last time, "if- If Luke comes back down, can one of you just tell him I wanna talk? Please?" He requested, once again inching closer to the staircase, considering if he should all but disregard Lucas' fury and just barge upstairs anyway... But he had been the one to say that awful comment, he had made Bella cry, he couldn't just bulldoze there over his own feelings.

"I'll tell him," Leo promised, the took a deep breath and said in a firm voice, "but you should go."

It wasn't anything Vin didn't know, but still his eyes prickled and he had to look away, shame washing over him.

"Yeah... I'm sorry," Vince repeated, uselessly, and Wendy shoved his back gently, pushing him towards the door.

Outside, the wind nearly knocked them out immediately, so they jogged to the car. Not looking at each other until the doors were slammed closed and the heater turned back on.

Vince stared at his lap, stomach burning and head swimming. Next to him, from the corner of his eye, he could see Wen opening and closing her mouth twice, as if she wanted to say something, but instead she put her seatbelt on and drove off the Atwood's property.

"I couldn't tell you," Wendy said, five minutes later, as the tension in the car grew so heavy it was suffocating, "I know you're pissed, Vin, but I couldn't-"

"Did Bella tell you?" Vince interrupted her. His stomach was burning and his voice was deep and raspy from the stomach acid licking at his throat. He tried to clear it, only for the weird taste in his mouth to grow nastier, "how did you know?"

Wendy shook her head, quickly looking away from the road, then back at him, "No! No, she didn't, I-"

"Luke?" He felt positively nauseous now, not just nerves. Vince squirmed on his seat, wishing he could just roll down the window, but it was snowing out.

"NO!" Wendy repeated, sharply, "I was on shift when they came to the hospital. It was really early, like six or seven AM, and- And I ran straight into Luke and they had just taken Bell away for exams, so he was distraught- I wanted to tell you, Vin, I swear, but it was not my secret, not my place at all... I don't think they wanted anyone to know, not even me-"

Typically, Vince would write that off as Bell. She hated any sort of medical attention or victimization, it made sense... And yet there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that Luke hadn't said a thing either.

His stomach churned, letting out an angry whine, and Vince leaned forward, wiping his sweaty hands off once more. He breathed out slowly through his mouth, while his belly grumbled and struggled to digest the dip, making him feel overly stuffed, despite the fact he was far from it.

"Vin?" Wendy's voice was weak, half worried, half hurt, "Vince?"

He opened the glovebox in search of a bag, but found none. His stomach rolled once more and this time a little burp came up, which he muffled against his fist, looking at the backseat. Wendy always had shopping bags there...

"You cannot be angry at me," Wendy decided, voice much firmer now, "I wasn't told anything, I found out by sheer luck, and it was a private matter and I'm a doctor. It would be beyond unethical for me to run around and tell you-"

"I don't give a crap, Wendy!" Vince exclaimed, before he could think it through. He was burning up and he tugged at the neckline of his sweater once more, muffling another, much deeper, belch against his hand, "I don't care if it'd be unethical, I don't care if they didn't tell you-" he gulped down the sticky saliva in his mouth, giving up the search for a bag.

"I'm not going to apologize," Wendy leveled him with a glare, then wrinkled her nose, "you're green."

Vince scoffed, squeezing his eyes shut as a cramp gnawed at his stomach, the car came to a slow stop, making him slightly carsick, "you don't say," he bounced his leg up and down, "how far are we?"

"Uh-" Wendy sounded unsure and Vince frowned, opening his eyes.

"What is it...?" there was a car ahead of them in the road, which by itself was already weird, given the suburbs route was pretty empty. To top it off, it wasn't moving.

Vince's stomach let out another nasty growl and he felt a cramp so painful that it stole his air. Now, he allowed his body to overtake his mind, conflict forgotten for a second as the nausea rolled through him in waves.

Vince wrapped both arms around his middle, folding as much as the little space in the car allowed him to, and letting out a sickly burp towards his feet. There was a soft weight on his back and he realized with a second of delay that it was Wendy's hand. Another stab of guilt joined the swirling mess in his stomach.

"Wen-" Vince started to say, but his weak attempt at an apology was interrupted by a knock on her window.

She rolled it down just a smidge and Vin turned his head, ignoring the vertigo that assaulted him, to see the face of a deputy.

"Yes?!" Wendy exclaimed over the wind, the snowstorm picking up strength and nearly swooping away the officer.

"The road is blocked, ma'am!" The man all but screamed to drown out the wind, "a tree collapsed!"

Oh shit.

Vince let out a groan, gulping down the sickening saliva that flooded his mouth. He could taste the dip in the back of his throat and, much to his despair, he felt a cramp squeeze his intestines, bubbles rushing down as well.

Wendy was still talking, although he couldn't make much sense from it. Something something at least three more hours something something snowstorm something something something she was a doctor, they didn't need help. Damn he must look awful if the officer had noticed even through such low visibility...

The car's engine revved up and Vince forced himself to turn his head, slurring, "what...?"

"We can't go this way, it'll take hours to remove the tree. I'm driving us back to Bell's."

Vince wanted to cry. Not just because of how awful he felt on top of the guilt, but because he was nervous to go back to his best friend's house, when he should've felt relief. For a split second he thought it'd be better to be horribly ill stuck in the car, instead of facing Luke and Bell, and that sheer realization hit him like a brick wall.

"Do you need me to pull over?" Wendy's voice was more gentle now, a hand haphazardly pushing his curls away from his clammy face, "honey?"

Vince nodded, unable to form words with how heavy his jaw was feeling. Wendy removed her hand from his back and he felt the car speed up, then slow down as she found a better spot to park it.

"Alright-" Wendy started to say and Vin interrupted her with a harsh gag. Nothing came up, except the motion squeezed the air in his stomach and a frothy burp rolled up. Wen reached over him, pushing his door open.

The cold was biting, but Vince pushed himself fully out of the car, standing up and leaning his back against its bodywork, as he stared at the frozen side of the road grass, quickly getting powdered with snow.

There was a horrid taste in the back of his throat and he cleared it, spitting the ropey saliva and breathing in and out, slowly... His stomach gurgled angrily and Vin pressed a hand against it, groaning as his belly felt sloshy and tender, the slight pressure sending up another burp that fizzled out in his mouth-The gag took him by surprise. So sudden that Vince didn't have any time to fold forward, projectile vomiting on the gutter.

He gasped for air, chest heaving, and wet deaf as another heave squeezed him by the middle, now crumpling with his hands on his knees as he coughed up more chunky mouthfuls of the tortillas and dip, as well as the frothy beer.

His nose was running and his eyes watering, stomach still rolling and the unrelentless nausea making it hard for him to string together a sentence as Wendy circled the car and planted a hand on his arm, passing him her water bottle.

Vince swished it in his mouth, but didn't dare drink it, wiping his nose on his sleeve, manners be damned, "what the fuck..." he whimpered, closing his eyes as another cramp squeezed his intestines, "fuck."

"Do you think you can get back in the car?" Wen's voice was more gentle than he deserved and Vince couldn't be thankful enough. He nodded, but didn't move a muscle, shivering violently as the snow started to collect on his shoulders.

"C'mon," Wendy ushered him, throwing his door open once more, "we'll back at the house in no time and you can lie down-"

"Luke and Bell-"

"-Will understand," Wendy scoffed, sounding frustrated, "they're your friends, they love you, they wouldn't want you sick on the side of the road, Vin."

She made perfect sense and yet Vince couldn't bring himself to believe her. He leaned his head forward and it met Wendy's tummy, so she wrapped her arms around him, dusting the snowflakes off his jacket and running her gloved fingers through his sweaty hair in a soothing manner, "it'll be alright, honey," Wendy promised.

Vince nodded against her stomach, groaning as another burp rolled up and all he could do was press it against the fabric of her coat, "m'sorry..." he slurred, struggling to think clearly, "we gotta go."

"Yep," Wendy pressed a kiss on the top of his head, undoing their hug and waiting as Vince curled up on his seat so she could slam his door closed.

The front door was unlocked and Thank God it was because Vince was shivering violently and struggling to stay upright as they walked back inside the place.

The living room was deserted and Wendy ushered him to the half bath downstairs, only for Vince to open the door and immediately jump back as Jonah retched loudly.

"Shit," Wendy whispered, while Vince's stomach clenched with vengeance at the gruesome sight of Jon bringing up his lunch in the toilet.

"What- What are you two doing here?" Leo asked, rubbing Jonah's back, crouched down next to his fiancé.

Wendy gestured around, "uh- there was a tree in the road-"

"Wen..." Vince all but whimpered, curling up more as his intestines cramped. His sweater was glued to him thanks to the cold sweat and he was feeling nauseous all over again.

"Oh no, not you too..." Leo groaned, paling and Vince let out a little burp, a splash of sick rushing up and falling on the hand he tried cupping his mouth with. He lurched for the sink to wash it off, trembling like a puppy as the cramps continued to steal his air away.

"There's a second bathroom upstairs," Wendy planted a hand on his arm, rubbing it, "you think you can hold it?"

Oh it was embarrassing. And humiliating.

Vince lowered his head, but couldn't help but nod as his stomach felt even more bubbly. Jonah, draped over the toilet, let out a groan, palming his bloated belly as if he wanted to sink his fingers in and get rid of the food poisoning manually.

"Vin?"

He really didn't have any agency in deciding, as the urgency of a bathroom grew greater than any shame or fear of going upstairs where he was certainly not invited.

They passed by a room with boxes and the suite's door was open and Vin could catch a glimpse of red, which he assumed was Bella's hair, but all that mattered was getting himself sat in a toilet before disaster.

Embarrasment be damned, Vince had no time whatsoever to kick Wen out and he was thankful he didn't, because as he sat down with the runs and sobbed as his intestines seemed to want to fold into themselves, Wendy planted the plastic trash bin on his lap just in time for more frothy vomit to rush up.

"God..." he spat inside the bin, resting his forehead on its edge and staring at his lap. His belly was so bloated it was pushing against his sweater and Vince tried, fruitlessly, to tug at it, before giving up.

There was a knock on the door and Wendy sighed, squeezing his shoulder as she walked to it and opened. Vince saw a glimpse of Luke's face, worried and confused, before Wen closed the door behind her, stepping outside.

Hushed whispers outside his door and Vince's head swam as he empty heaved inside the bin once more.

It seemed like it took him forever to stop getting sick, but finally he was just wrung out. Nothing was coming out, from either end, and there were black spots dancing in the corners of his vision and a weird buzzing in his ear.

The minute he stood in front of the sink to wash his hands, the whole world tilted left and Vince nearly collapsed, bracing against the granite and taking deep, slow breaths.

He stumbled outside, grabbing on the walls to keep himself upright. Wendy was nowhere in sight and he wanted her, but she was probably downstairs getting him medicine or checking on Jon...

The staircase was an impossible obstacle and Vince gave up on the first step as everything blurred together, instead he changed routes straight to the suite, instinctually seeking out Luke's comfort, to hell if his best friend was pissed or not.

Luke wasn't in the room, but Bell was. She was curled up in bed, a weird shade of washed out beige, and with a heating pad pressed to her tummy. The black graphic wool dress, with red flames licking up from the hem, was gone and instead Bella was stuffed inside one of Luke's hoodies, with the hood pulled up and shielding away her mane of auburn hair.

She raised her eyes as Vince braced against the threshold, taking deep breaths to keep from collapsing as his knees were wobbling, "you look great," Bell said dryly and it was really all invitation he needed.

Vin stumbled further in, half sitting, half falling against the king sized bed. There were boxes scattered around the room that Vin knew were probably driving Lucas' crazy. Bella's shoes everywhere.

"Bell," he turned to look at her and she immediately waved him off.

"It's okay, you couldn't have known," Bella dismissed his apology before it was out of his mouth and Vince scoffed, curling up on the bed and falling on his side, head resting on his hand, elbow on a pillow.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have made that joke. It was stupid," he said, regardless of her dismissal, and Bell shrugged, looking down and tugging at the embroidery of their duvet cover.

"Yeah, it was," she mumbled, sounding like it pained her to say it. As if on cue, her stomach let out a nasty growl and Bella curled up even more, pressing her face to the duvet cover and blowing out a burp under her breath, "sorry..."

Vince rolled his eyes and reached, haphazardly, so he could pat her head much like he would his sisters, "did you poison all of us?"

"Believe it or not, I went out of my way not to poison you," Bella scoffed, scooting on the bed so she could press her head to his bicep as Vince rolled to face up, a new wave of nausea washing over him.

"Uhm..." he swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth once more, trying to figure if he should be getting up or if he even could get up, given how dizzy he was.

Bell squirmed against him, rolling on the opposite direction and fishing out a bowl from the ground, planting it on her lap- She jerked with a violent, empty heave and Vince's stomach churned harder at the noise. His limbs felt like they were weighting a thousand pounds, but still he scooted closer, fishing out the curls that escaped from her hood and puling them back.

Bell's horrid heaves tapered out in a cough attack and finally she stopped, panting as if she had just run a marathon and spitting in the bowl, "Aw..." she whined, clutching her throat, "hurtssss..." her voice was raspy from the effort.

She went to put the bowl down, but Vince stopped her, squeezing her wrist and causing Bella to turn and look at him.

"Oh man, here-" she passed him the bowl, seeing Vince's green complexion and him struggling to gulp down. He drooled over the bowl, letting out a groan as he felt Bella drape on his back, not quite rubbing it seeing she was boneless, but trying to.

He shook with a burp and then another, a splash of frothy vomit coming up at its tail-end. Vince hung over the bowl, erratic breath and hands so sweaty the plastic was slipping in his tight grip.

"Hey, Wendy said you can try some pepto no-" Lucas' voice faded as the words came out and suddenly there was a much stronger set of hands on his back. Luke moving to cup his forehead, thumping his back with his other hand and sighing.

"Let it up, Vin..."

He whimpered, not due to the nausea now, and tried to get a good look at Luke's face, but he was too dizzy and lifting his head that quickly was no good. Vince swayed and Bella let out a curse, her long nails sinking in his arm like claws as she kept him put and said in a strong tone, "Luke!"

Lucas' arm wrapped around his back and Vince collapsed fully against him, pressing a burp against his collarbone, "I don't feel well..."

"Yeah, I know," Luke said calmly, rubbing his arm, "get it out of your system, Vin."

TBC

[abstractguilt]

scoffing at her, vince rolled her eyes, drawing the flask back to his lips when she didn't take it, the dark liquor within sloshing noisily the less full it became. his skin was buzzing, finger tips searing with electricity, as if ITCHING for something more . . . something else, to come from this whole thing. this was st. mary's — well, new horizons now — but everything was too . . . still. too CALM. chaos was brewing, it was just a matter of where and when it would show itself. vince wasn't entirely eager to be caught up in all of it, but if there was one thing he loved, it was notoriety. ❛ mr. money, ❜ vince echoed with a scoff. ❛ real original, cherry, and if you think i give a rats ass about this graduating class . . . i'm afraid you're not caught up on your press. i've got far better things to be doing rather than playing spin the bottle with classmates i haven't spoken to in a decade. ❜ though he and cherry were like two opposite ends of a magnet — they operated just fine when they were separated, but there was this undeniable draw when they were together. like they didn't REJECT one another the same way they did other classmates. at least that was how vince interpreted it. glancing down at her, vince raised his eyebrows, an all-knowing and all-too-familiar smirk stapled on his face; ❛ what's your idea of memorable, cherry ?? ❜

if  there  was  one  thing  that  people  loved  more  than  true  crime  ,  it  was  true  crime  that  involved  spoiled  teens  who  thought  they  could  get  away  with  their  wicked  schemes  .  she's  about  to  interject  more  about  that  when  his  words  seem  to  come  out  suddenly  ,  the  feeling  that  has  been  swallowed  and  forced  to  the  back  of  her  mind  rising  .  something  in  her  knows  he  is  right  but  she  forces  it  down  ...  continues  to  brush  it  off  .  "  well  ,  mr  money  ,  i  guess  if  that's  the  case  then  you  get  your  lifelong  wish  of  getting  reacquainted  with  all  of  your  little  old  classmates  .  we  might  be  more  memorable  the  second  time  around  ,  "  she  tilts  her  head  ,  an  innocent  look  that  they  both  know  is  just  mocking  .  against  her  better  nature  ,  she  does  find  him  interesting  ...  mainly  because  he's  less  annoying  than  others  for  now  . 

[kattra]

What I’m Reading

BOOKS OF NOVEMBER Idlewild by Nick Sagan*  Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (SS) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke* **  The Wizard Killer: Season Two by Adam Dreece  Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire  Dunce by Mary Ruefle (P)

Graphic Novels: My Dress-Up Darling Vol.9-10 by Shinichi Fukuda ** Akira Vol.4-6 by Katsuhiro Otomo  Sunburn by Andi Watson & Simon Gane  Brindille and the Shadow Hunters by Frédéric Brrémaud & Federico Bertolucci ** Lore Olympus Vol.1 by Rachel Smythe 

(137 books read / 145 books goal)

currently reading:  The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath edited by Karen V. Kukil (NF)  Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories From Turtle Island edited by McCall/Reder/Gaertner/Hill (NF/SS)  The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman (NF) The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien  An Indian Among los Indígenas: A Native Travel Memoir by Ursula Pike (NF)  Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology edited by Vince A. Liaguno & Rena Mason (SS) Pop Song: Adventures in Art & Intimacy by Larissa Pham (NF) Prospero Lost by Jagi L. Lamplighter  Gallant by V.E. Schwab The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson  Bestiary by Donika Kelly (P)

* - re-read // ** - 4+ star-rating (recommended) GN - graphic novel // NF - non-fiction // P - poetry SS - short story collection // AB - audiobook 

TBR: Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline (AB) Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood  Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao  We’d Know By Then by Kirsten Bohling  Sorry For My Familiar Vol.7-11 by Tekka Yaguraba 

WHAT ARE YOU READING? :D

Find me on: GOODREADS | THE STORYGRAPH

[desencaixados-blog]

As 16 melhores séries da última década – Parte 2 | Desencaixados

Continuando nossa lista de melhores séries

9. Handmaid’s Tale (2017-)

Essa é para os fortes. Handmaid’s Tale escancara o machismo ao mostrar um futuro alternativo em que mulheres perderam todos os seus direitos e são usadas como incubadoras para filhos de homens poderosos. Protagonizada por Elizabeth Moss, a série tem uma estética visual impecável, trilha sonora incrível e cenas extremamente chocantes. A produção foi inspirada no livro O Conto da Aia, de Margaret Atwood, e é impossível se manter indiferente a ela.

10. Big Little Lies (2017-)

Big Little Lies também surfou na onda das discussões sobre feminismo e gênero, mas de uma forma menos chocante.

A série contou com um elenco digno de filmes de Hollywood, com Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern e até mesmo Meryl Streep em sua segunda temporada, e falou sobre o dia a dia de mulheres ricas da Califórnia que teoricamente possuem uma vida perfeita, mas que por trás dos panos a realidade é bem diferente. A produção aborta temas como maternidade, estupro, violência doméstica e rivalidade feminina com maestria.

11. American Crime Story (2016-)

Ryan Murphy era conhecido por produções de comédia e terror, como Glee e American Horror Story, mas provou que também se dá superbem ao dramatizar histórias reais com American Crime Story.

A série é uma antologia, em que cada temporada conta uma história diferente. A primeira fala sobre o caso do jogador de futebol americano O.J. Simpson, que foi acusado de matar a sua ex-esposa, e a segunda trata sobre Anrew Cunanan, o assassino de Gianni Versace. Ambas foram extremamente elogiadas pela crítica, não só pela trama, mas também pelos esforços de ambientação e caracterização dos atores – é impressionante comparar algumas cenas da série com imagens da vida real!

12. The Crown (2016-)

Outra produção que se inspirou na vida real foi The Crown, que conta a história de vida da Rainha Elizabeth II. A série é uma das mais elogiadas e premiadas da Netflix e também impressiona quando comparada com a vida real – tanto os figurinos quanto a caracterização dos personagens é muito parecida com a realidade.

Além disso, a década de 2010 foi quando a monarquia britânica voltou a ser popular novamente entre os mais jovens, e muito por conta de The Crown. As polêmicas, as intrigas e toda a ostentação da família real chamou a atenção, principalmente por tratarem de acontecimentos tão próximos da atualidade (a terceira temporada, por exemplo, se passa nos anos 1960 e 1970).

13. La Casa de Papel (2017-)

Apesar de bombar em todo o mundo, La Casa de Papel fez um sucesso especialmente estrondoso no Brasil. A série sobre um grupo de bandidos que decide assaltar a casa da moeda da Espanha caiu no gosto dos brasileiros e sua música tema – a famosa Bella Ciao – ganhou até mesmo a sua paródia funk!

Além disso, a produção foi a responsável por colocar as séries espanholas e latinas de vez no mapa. As Telefonistas, Elite e muitas outras não teriam recebido a devida atenção se não fosse La Casa de Papel, e por isso – e também por seu enredo viciante – ela merece um lugar especial nesta lista.

14. Rick And Morty (2013-)

Rick and Morty foi para os anos 2010 o que os Simpsons foram para os anos 2000. A animação adulta conquistou o público de forma impressionante, não apenas por conta de sua trama, mas também por todo o seu visual psicodélico.

A história de Rick e Marty também não é só mais um desenho divertido. Ela possui plot twists de tirar o fôlego, enredos complexos e dilemas repletos de niilismo que deixam os fãs pensando a respeito horas após o fim do episódio.

15. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

Breaking Bad foi lançada antes da década de 2010, mas merece um espaço nesta lista porque ajudou a moldar todo o conceito de série de TV de qualidade dos dias de hoje. A produção é considerada por muitos como uma das melhores séries de todos os tempos, e a história de Walter White continua cativando fãs mundo todo.

Desde o início o criador da série, Vince Gilligan, teve a ideia de fazer apenas cinco temporadas, e mesmo após o sucesso estrondoso de Breaking Bad, ele se ateve à decisão. A escolha foi acertada e fez com que o arco de todos os personagens terminasse da forma mais redondinha possível. O sucesso foi tanto que em 2019 a Netflix produziu o filme El Camiño, que traz um adicional à história de Jesse Pinkman.

16. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Ame ou odeie, a verdade é que Game of Thrones é uma das maiores e melhores séries da última década. A produção da HBO de fantasia medieval revolucionou para sempre a forma de seriados, e levou o cinema para a televisão. Com cenários estonteantes e orçamentos dignos de filmes, a produção foi uma das responsáveis por quebrar o preconceito que parte da indústria de Hollywood tinha com as atrações televisivas, por considerá-las de menor qualidade.

Além disso, em tempos de streaming, Game of Thrones conseguiu a proeza de reunir milhares de pessoas ao redor do mundo na frente da TV no mesmo horário toda a semana para conferir o próximo passo das histórias de Daenerys, Jon Snow e Tyrion, e ainda gerar reações dignas de final de Copa do Mundo. Apesar de as últimas temporadas terem deixado a desejar, é inegável que o impacto que a série teve é gigantesco.

Os anos de 2010 foram repletos de produções de sucesso, e por isso é bem difícil escolher quais as melhores séries da última década. E você, qual adicionaria nesta lista?

Por  Gabriela Gonçalves

[a-bit-of-lit-blog]

i noticed y’all have been enjoying my novel masterposts. so im just going to keep posting because im obsessed with books like that T.T

for my study-like-rory studyblr friends who want to read all the books mentioned in gilmore girls (because hello?? who doesn’t??), here’s a list! pls let me know if i missed a book, but i think it’s quite a complete list! enjoy!!

#

1984 – George Orwell

A

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon

An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser

Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Archidamian War – Donald Kagen

The Art of Fiction  – Henry James

The Art of War – Sun Tzu

As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner

Atonement – Ian McEwan

The Awakening – Kate Chopin

Autobiography of a Face – Lucy Grealy

B

Babe – Dick King-Smith

Backlash – Susan Faludi

Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

Beloved – Toni Morrison

Beowulf – Seamus Heaney

The Bhagava Gita

The Bielski Brothers – Peter Duffy

Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women – Elizabeth Wurtzel

A Bolt From the Blue & other Essays – Mary McCarthy

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

Brick Lane – Monica Ali

Brigadoon – Alan Jay Lerner

C

Candide – Voltaire

The Canterbury Tales – Chaucer

Carrie –Stephen King

Catch – 22 – Joseph Heller

The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger

The Celebrated Jumping Frog – Mark Twain

Charlotte’s Web – EB White

The Children’s Hour – Lilian Hellman

Christine – Stephen King

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

The Code of the Woosters – PG Wodehouse

The Collected Short Stories – Eudora Welty

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

A Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare

Complete Novels – Dawn Powell

The Complete Poems – Anne Sexton

Complete Stories – Dorothy Parker

A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

Cousin Bette – Honore de Balzac

Crime & Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Crimson Petal & the White – Michael Faber

The Crucible – Arthur Miller

Cujo – Stephen King

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon

D

Daughter of Fortune – Isabel Allende

David and Lisa – Dr. Theodore Issac Rubin

David Coperfield – Charles Dickens

The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

Deal Souls – Nikolai Gogol (Season 3, episode 3)

Demons – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller

Deenie – Judy Blume

The Devil in the White City – Erik Larson

The Dirt – Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mark, & Nikki Sixx

The Divine Comedy – Dante

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood – Rebecca Wells

Don Quijote – Cervantes

Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhrv

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde ­– Robert Louis Stevenson

E

Complete Tales & Poems – Edgar Allan Poe

Eleanor Roosevelt – Blanche Wiesen Cook

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test – Tom Wolfe

Ella Minnow Pea – Mark Dunn

Eloise – Kay Thompson

Emily the Strange – Roger Reger

Emma – Jane Austen

Empire Falls – Richard Russo

Encyclopedia Brown – Donald J. Sobol

Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton

Ethics – Spinoza

Eva Luna – Isabel Allende

Everything is Illuminated – Jonathon Safran Foer

Extravagance – Gary Kist

F

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 911 – Michael Moore

The Fall of the Athenian Empire – Donald Kagan

Fat Land:How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World – Greg Critser

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson

The Fellowship of the Ring – J R R Tolkien

Fiddler on the Roof – Joseph Stein

The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

Finnegan’s Wake – James Joyce

Fletch – Gregory McDonald

Flowers of Algernon – Daniel Keyes

The Fortress of Solitude – Jonathon Lethem

The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Franny and Zooey – JD Salinger

Freaky Friday – Mary Rodgers

G

Galapagos – Kurt Vonnegut

Gender Trouble – Judith Baker

George W. Bushism – Jacob Weisberg

Gidget – Fredrick Kohner

Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen

The Ghostic Gospels – Elaine Pagels

The Godfather – Mario Puzo

The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy

Goldilocks & the Three Bears – Alvin Granowsky

Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

The Good Soldier – Ford Maddox Ford

The Gospel According to Judy Bloom

The Graduate – Charles Webb

The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

The Group – Mary McCarthy

H

Hamlet – Shakespeare

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – JK Rowling

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers

Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

Helter Skelter – Vincent Bugliosi

Henry IV, Part 1 – Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2 – Shakespeare

Henry V – Shakespeare

High Fidelity – Nick Hornby

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – Edward Gibbons

Holidays on Ice – David Sedaris

The Holy Barbarians – Lawrence Lipton

House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus III

The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende

How to Breathe Underwater – Julie Orringer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Seuss

How the Light Gets In – MJ Hyland

Howl – Alan Ginsburg

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo

I

The Illiad – Homer

I’m With the Band – Pamela des Barres

In Cold Blood – Truman Capote

Inferno – Dante

Inherit the Wind – Jerome Lawrence & Robert E Lee

Iron Weed – William J. Kennedy

It Takes a Village – Hilary Clinton

J

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan

Julius Caesar – Shakespeare

The Jungle – Upton Sinclair

Just a Couple of Days – Tony Vigorito

K

The Kitchen Boy – Robert Alexander

Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

L

Lady Chatterley’s Lover – DH Lawrence

The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 – Gore Vidal

Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman

The Legend of Bagger Vance – Steven Pressfield

Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis

Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – Al Franken

Life of Pi – Yann Martel

Little Dorrit – Charles Dickens

The Little Locksmith – Katharine Butler Hathaway

The Little Match Girl – Hans Christian Anderson

Little Woman – Louisa May Alcott

Living History – Hillary Clinton

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

The Lottery & Other Stories – Shirley Jackson

The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

The Love Story – Eric Segal

M

Macbeth – Shakespeare

Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

The Manticore – Robertson Davies (Season 3, episode 3)

Marathon Man – William Goldman

The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov

Memoirs of  Dutiful Daughter – Simone de Beauvoir

Memoirs of General WT Sherman – William Tecumseh Sherman

Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris

The Meaning of Consuelo – Judith Ortiz Cofer

Mencken’s Chrestomathy – HR Mencken

The Merry Wives of Windsor – Shakespeare

The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

The Miracle Worker – William Gibson

Moby Dick – Herman Melville

The Mojo Collection – Jim Irvin

Moliere – Hobart Chatfield Taylor

A Monetary History of the US – Milton Friedman

Monsieur Proust – Celeste Albaret

A Month of Sundays – Julie Mars

A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway

Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

Mutiny on the Bounty – Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall

My Lai 4 – Seymour M Hersh

My Life as Author and Editor – HR Mencken

My Life in Orange – Tim Guest

My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

N

The Naked and the Dead – Norman Mailer

The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco

The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri

The Nanny Diaries – Emma McLaughlin

Nervous System – Jan Lars Jensen

New Poems of Emily Dickinson

The New Way Things Work – David Macaulay

Nickel and Dimed – Barbara Ehrenreich

Night – Elie Wiesel

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen

The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism – William E Cain

Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell

Notes of a Dirty Old Man – Charles Bukowski

O

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Old School – Tobias Wolff

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

On the Road – Jack Keruac

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch – Alexander Solzhenitsyn

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life – Amy Tan

Oracle Night – Paul Auster

Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

Othello – Shakespeare

Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War – Donald Kagan

Out of Africa – Isac Dineson

The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton

P

A Passage to India – E.M. Forster

The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition – Donald Kagan

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

Peyton Place – Grace Metalious

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

Pigs at the Trough – Arianna Huffington

Pinocchio – Carlo Collodi

Please Kill Me – Legs McNeil & Gilliam McCain

The Polysyllabic Spree – Nick Hornby

The Portable Dorothy Parker

The Portable Nietzche

The Price of Loyalty – Ron Suskind

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Property – Valerie Martin

Pushkin – TJ Binyon

Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw

Q

Quattrocento – James McKean

A Quiet Storm – Rachel Howzell Hall

R

Rapunzel – Grimm Brothers

The Razor’s Edge – W Somerset Maugham

Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi

Rebecca – Daphne de Maurier

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Red Tent – Anita Diamant

Rescuing Patty Hearst – Virginia Holman

The Return of the King – JRR Tolkien

R is for Ricochet – Sue Grafton

Rita Hayworth – Stephen King

Robert’s Rules of Order – Henry Robert

Roman Fever – Edith Wharton

Romeo and Juliet – Shakespeare

A Room of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf

A Room with a View – EM Forster

Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin

The Rough Guide to Europe

S

Sacred Time – Ursula Hegi

Sanctuary – William Faulkner

Savage Beauty – Nancy Milford

Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller – Henry James

The Scarecrow of Oz – Frank L. Baum

The Scarlet Letter – Nathanial Hawthorne

Seabiscuit – Laura Hillenbrand

The Second Sex – Simone de Beauvior

The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd

Secrets of the Flesh – Judith Thurman

Selected Letters of Dawn Powell (1913-1965)

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

A Separate Place – John Knowles

Several Biographies of Winston Churchill

Sexus – Henry Miller

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafron

Shane – Jack Shaefer

The Shining – Stephen King

Siddartha – Hermann Hesse

S is for Silence – Sue Grafton

Slaughter-House 5 – Kurt Vonnegut

Small Island – Andrea Levy

Snows of Kilamanjaro – Ernest Hemingway

Snow White and Red Rose – Grimm Brothers

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy – Barrington Moore

The Song of Names – Norman Lebrecht

Song of the Simple Truth – Julia de Burgos

The Song Reader – Lisa Tucker

Songbook – Nick Hornby

The Sonnets – Shakespeare

Sonnets from the Portuegese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sophie’s Choice – William Styron

The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

Speak, Memory – Vladimir Nabakov

Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers – Mary Roach

The Story of my Life – Helen Keller

A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams

Stuart Little – EB White

Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

Swann’s Way – Marcel Proust

Swimming with Giants – Anne Collett

Sybil – Flora Rheta Schreiber

T

A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Tender is the Night – F Scott Fitzgerald

Term of Endearment – Larry McMurty

Time and Again – Jack Finney

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffeneggar

To Have and to Have Not – Ernest Hemingway

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The Tragedy of Richard III – Shakespeare

Travel and Motoring through Europe – Myra Waldo

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

The Trial – Franz Kafka

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters – Elisabeth Robinson

Truth & Beauty – Ann Patchett

Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

U

Ulysses – James Joyce

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (1950-1962)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unless – Carol Shields

V

Valley of the Dolls – Jacqueline Susann

The Vanishing Newspaper – Philip Meyers

Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

Velvet Underground – Joe Harvard

The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides

W

Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett

Walden – Henry David Thoreau

Walt Disney’s Bambi – Felix Salten

War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

We Owe You Nothing – Daniel Sinker

What Colour is Your Parachute – Richard Nelson Bolles

What Happened to Baby Jane – Henry Farrell

When the Emperor Was Divine – Julie Otsuka

Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee

Wicked – Gregory Maguire

The Wizard of Oz – Frank L Baum

Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

Y

The Yearling – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion

OTHER RESOURCES:

19th Century Novels Masterpost

20th Century Novels Masterpost

21st Century Novels Masterpost

Rory Gilmore’s Reading List

Series Masterpost

[halfwayinlight]

This is a collection of books mentioned or read on Gilmore Girls, minus travel and cooking books. Bold the ones you have read.

I italicized ones I’ve read part of

1984 by George Orwell The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Archidamian War by Donald Kagan The Art of Fiction by Henry James The Art of War by Sun Tzu As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Atonement by Ian McEwan Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy The Awakening by Kate Chopin Babe by Dick King-Smith Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie Bel Canto by Ann Patchett The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Beloved by Toni Morrison Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney The Bhagava Gita The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Brick Lane by Monica Ali Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner Candide by Voltaire The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer Carrie by Stephen King Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman Christine by Stephen King A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare Complete Novels by Dawn Powell The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber The Crucible by Arthur Miller Cujo by Stephen King The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Daisy Miller by Henry James Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D David Copperfield by Charles Dickens The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Deenie by Judy Blume The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx The Divine Comedy by Dante The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells Don Quijote by Cervantes Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn Eloise by Kay Thompson Emily the Strange by Roger Reger Emma by Jane Austen Empire Falls by Richard Russo Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Ethics by Spinoza Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves Eva Luna by Isabel Allende Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer Extravagance by Gary Krist Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce Fletch by Gregory McDonald Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut Gender Trouble by Judith Butler George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg Gidget by Fredrick Kohner Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford The Gospel According to Judy Bloom The Graduate by Charles Webb The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Expectations by Charles Dickens The Group by Mary McCarthy Hamlet by William Shakespeare Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare Henry V by William Shakespeare High Fidelity by Nick Hornby The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland Howl by Allen Gingsburg The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo The Iliad by Homer I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold The Love Story by Erich Segal Macbeth by William Shakespeare Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert The Manticore by Robertson Davies Marathon Man by William Goldman The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Moby Dick by Herman Melville The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich Night by Elie Wiesel Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Old School by Tobias Wolff Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens On the Road by Jack Kerouac One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan Oracle Night by Paul Auster Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Othello by Shakespeare Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan Out of Africa by Isac Dineson The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton A Passage to India by E.M. Forster The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Peyton Place by Grace Metalious The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Property by Valerie Martin Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw Quattrocento by James Mckean A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin The Red Tent by Anita Diamant Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton Rita Hayworth by Stephen King Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert Roman Fever by Edith Wharton Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf A Room with a View by E. M. Forster Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi Sanctuary by William Faulkner Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen A Separate Peace by John Knowles Several Biographies of Winston Churchill Sexus by Henry Miller Shane by Jack Shaefer The Shining by Stephen King Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut Small Island by Andrea Levy Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker Songbook by Nick Hornby The Sonnets by William Shakespeare Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sophie’s Choice by William Styron The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach The Story of My Life by Helen Keller A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams Stuart Little by E. B. White Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry Time and Again by Jack Finney The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Trial by Franz Kafka The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Ulysses by James Joyce The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Unless by Carol Shields Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett Walden by Henry David Thoreau Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole