#.reyreads

[mangoslixes]

Sometimes I'm reminded of how someone told Diana Wynne Jones that she wanted to marry Howl and DWJ was just like, "good for you, but I would rather not deal with neither the green slime over a bad hair day nor the perpetually occupied bathroom by a drama queen for the rest of my life, good day" ssgandjj

#hmc #hmc book #howl's moving castle #howl's moving castle book #howl jenkins #diana wynne jones #howl #howl jenkins pendragon #booklr #.reyreads #dwj was just that very tired ben affleck meme whenever someone asked to marry howl #and i get both her and the people who wanted to marry howl sgdhfhfnsjjj

[mangoslixes]

The future, she thought, could not be predicted, and the shape of things could not be divined. To think otherwise was absurd. But they were young that morning, and they could cling to hope. Hope that the world could be remade, kinder and sweeter. So she kissed him a second time, for luck. When he looked at her again his face was filled with such an extraordinary gladness, and the third time she kissed him it was for love.

- Mexican Gothic

ignoring my deadlines and drinking sad chai is this my life now—

#i love this book it terrifies me #.reyreads #books #booklr #booklover #book community #book blog #bibliophile #bookish #mexican gothic #silvia moreno garcia #book photography #bookworm #book photos #horror #studyblr #aesthetic

[mangoslixes]

I used to think soul mates were two of the same. I used to think I was supposed to look for somebody that was like me. I don't believe in soul mates anymore and I'm not looking for anything. But if I did believe in them, I'd believe your soul mate was somebody who had all the things you didn't, that needed all the things you had. Not somebody who's suffering from the same stuff you are.

- Daisy Jones & the Six

#.reyreads #books #booklr #book community #booklover #book blog #bibliophile #bookish #aesthetic #daisy jones and the six #taylor jenkins reid #book photography #bookworm #book photos

[mangoslixes]

My experience with my first Ali Hazelwood rodeo would be summed up to this:

But it's mostly this but with the book:

I'm looking at you @appleinducedsleep @themelodyofspring

#honestly im recovering #ali hazelwood #bride #books and stuff #.reyreads #i honestly wasn't expecting it to be so graphic but honestly good for her #booklr

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 7 November || Non-White Author: Women Dreaming by Salma, translated by Meena Kandasamy

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #booklr #books #book community #book blog #booklover #bookworm #women dreaming #meena kandasamy #salma #bookish #book photos #book photo challenge

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 16 November || Graphic Novels: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

I have been going out with Nick Nelson since I was fourteen. He likes rugby and Formula 1, animals (especially dogs), the Marvel universe, the sound felt-tips make on paper, rain, drawing on shoes, Disneyland and minimalism. He also likes me.

I'm so glad I finally own the books, the webtoon was such a comfort during the pandemic <3

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #books #heartstopper #alice oseman #booklr #book community #booklover #book blog #bookish #book photos #book photography #bookworm #bookblr #technically that quote isn't from heartstopper #but it's so cute #and it's about them #so it counts

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 4 November || Gives me the Giggles: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I can't take this book seriously, ever, it's so much more of a comedy than it is a romance. The entire proposal scene where Mr Darcy lists the reasons why his friend shouldn't marry Jane Bennett (family is awful and ill mannered and she doesn't seem to like Bingley as much as he does), while he's there, proposing to Elizabeth, who is from the same family and hasn't really shown any interest in him since the day they met. Peak comedy.

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #booklr #books #pride and prejudice #jane austen #book community #book blog #booklover #bookish #aesthetic #book photos #book photography #bookworm

[mangoslixes]

I'm reading Persuasion for the first time and I'm only on Chapter Ten but like, I get it now 💀

What the book has: She understood him. He could not forgive her, but he could not be unfeeling. Though condemning her for the past, and considering it with high and unjust resentment, though perfectly careless of her, and though becoming attached to another, still he could not see her suffer, without the desire of giving her relief. It was a remainder of former sentiment; it was an impulse of pure, though unacknowledged friendship; it was a proof of his own warm and amiable heart, which she could not contemplate without emotions so compounded of pleasure and pain, that she knew not which prevailed.

What Netflix decided on:

#someone pls tell me there is a hand flex scene at least #like freddy boi helps anne climb up the carriage and their touch and gaze lingers #someone tell me so I can watch #because I'm not seeing the lovers to enemies/strangers to lovers angst in the trailer #persuasion #.reyreads #persuasion 2022 #persuasion netflix #booklr #jane austen

[mangoslixes]

june 4: precious cinnamon roll

A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?

so many cinnamon rolls, literally every single character in this book is one so far. I haven't completed it yet, but it's such a comforting book.

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #booklr #books #books and plants #queer books #lgbtq books #the house in the cerulean sea #tj klune #bibliophile #booklover #book community #bookish #book photos #book photography #aesthetic #bookblr #bookworm #bookaholic #reading #book recs #happy pride 🌈

[mangoslixes]

It's about the important things, like the way their face lights up when they laugh, or the way they move as they're walking towards you, or the way their freckles create a map of the stars.

- Holding Up the Universe

after a series of unfortunate events surrounding picking up books this month, I'm hoping this one turns out to be a good read

#.reyreads #books #booklr #reading #book community #booklover #book blog #bibliophile #bookish #aesthetic #jennifer niven #holding up the universe #book photography #book photos #books and nature #naturecore #bookworm #had a field visit today ;-;

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 13 November || recommended: Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh, illustrated by Salman Toor

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #books #booklr #book community #booklover #bookish #bibliophile #book photos #bookworm #books and plants #book blog #aesthetic #nature #amitav ghosh #salman toor

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 20 November || Kickass Characters: The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

I loved the characters so much, even the main character, which is a rarity. Blossom, however, remains my favourite and she was a kickass character™

#jompbpc #justonemorepage #.reyreads #books #booklr #book community #bookish #book blog #book photos #bookworm #bookaholic #lindsay faye #the paragon hotel #aesthetic #I'm late but we ignore that

[mangoslixes]

June 3: lgbtqia+ pride

You have fallen into the homoerotic queer girl friendship. It’s all cute at first, and then you catch feelings, and it’s impossible to tell if the joke flirting is actual flirting and if the platonic cuddling is romantic cuddling, and next thing you know, three years have gone by, and you’re obsessed with her, and you haven’t done anything about it because you’re too terrified to fuck up the friendship by guessing it wrong, so instead you send each other horny plausible deniability love letters until you’re both dead.

realized more than half of my collection were queer books so I picked out the fluffiest one I read this year with @appleinducedsleep <3

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #book photo challenge #queer books #wlw books #wlw #booklr #books #booklover #sapphic academia #book blog #book photos #book community #bibliophile #aesthetic #pink #books and libraries #books and literature #studyblr #light academia #studyspo #bookmark #embroidery #my hand looks so fair here sfshdgfhjj #happy pride

[mangoslixes]

june 5: poetry

Dusk: a blade of honey between our shadows, draining.

I have a lot of poetry books that I bought over time and these five are the ones that were in my line of sight. While Ocean Vuong's poems are slightly bit more closer to my heart for obvious reasons, Tishani Doshi's poems echo in a familiar way. Besides, her poem simping for Patrick Swayze was always recited dramatically amongst friends, so it's a personal favourite.

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #booklr #poems #poetry #books #ocean vuong #tishani doshi #book blog #book photos #booklover #bookworm #book community #studyblr #bookblr #academia #book pics #reading #romantic academia #book photography

[mangoslixes]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || 12 November || want to re-read: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Some banana bread to go with Banana Yoshimoto hopefully someday soon

#.reyreads #jompbpc #justonemorepage #books #booklr #book community #book blog #bibliophile #booklover #bookish #bookworm #book photos #aesthetic #books and food #books and boba #i like to think I'm funny

[mangoslixes]

The Secret History Review

for @readerbookclub

I really loved the book <3 I'm so glad glad it was picked for this month, since it gave me an excuse to finally pick it up. I'd been seeing it around everywhere and I really wanted to read it.

It's such a cleverly written satirical novel about the dangers of romanticising liberal arts, it's just 🤌🏼

How did your opinion of the book change as the story progressed?

I had a theory when I started the book. I thought it would involve a weird cultish ritual where the secret club planned to sacrifice Richard Papen to Bacchus for eternal life or something along those lines, but they end up killing Bunny instead for some coercive reason. A very wild, chaotic theory, but it did get proven wrong, of course.

The book was miles better than what I had imagined it to be. I really liked the way it flowed, especially over to the second part. It got darker, every character's facade, including our narrator's started to crack and we saw them without their pristine, well put together aesthetic. Everyone in this book is so twisted and unlikeable, but I think that's the thing that got me interested more and more as the story progressed. It was clear they were all going to be miserable in their own ways by the end of this, just as they deserved. I wish Richard suffered more though, and Charles, both of those characters thrived comparatively better compared to Henry, Camilla and Francis, despite being the worse than the lot (debatable).

So even though I was horrified reading through it all, I loved the book. It's clever, it's dark, I never want to pick it up again, but it's still a great book.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would, but only to the friends who like satire. I don't think this book is for everyone, either because it's just not something they would read, or just because they won't get the satire and end up idolising or hating it, with no middle ground.

Did this book remind you of something? Another book? A film or TV show? A song? What was it and in what ways are they similar?

Oh it reminded me of this song lol

The lyrics seem to fit our little club of dark academia and bacchanal obsessed kids pretty well tbh.

What message was the book trying to convey? Do you agree with it?

Oh it was definitely about why it's really not the best decision to romanticise liberal arts, but in a more extreme sense.

We see Richard Papen, in love with the idea of studying Greek and classics, because he's already in awe with the way the five students look. He starts us off with a line stating that his fatal flaw is a longing of the picturesque at all costs, so it doesn't come as a surprise. He's not so different from your average social media dark academia enthusiast, detached from the grasps of reality of academia and what actually lies in the discipline, entranced only by the aesthetics of it, which Julian actively feeds into.

For example, the Bacchanal. Julian paints an aesthetic about beauty and terror and chaos in a way that it influences a bunch of rich kids to experience it themselves. They are so obsessed with the aesthetic of it, that they don't even seem to come to terms with the level of horror that their little drug trip has caused. "We saw him, we saw Dionysus." Yeah, okay, maybe in your feral state, you did see Dionysus, but you also ripped apart an innocent man, let's talk about that first.

The book hints on it several times too. A little off the line of idea I'm going with, but what comes to my mind is where Charles, after being questioned about Bunny's murder, says how he never really realised that they all rely on appearances so much, that it's not that they're really that smart, it's just that they don't look like they did it. And that's true isn't it? None of them are really that smart or sly, they just look the sort of people who wouldn't be involved in something so heinous. Appearances over reality.

Speaking of reality, it starts to dawn on Richard too, during the last chapter, when the "aesthetic" of it all starts to fall apart in front of his eyes. He realizes how little options he has compared to the others, the lack of safety net that they have. How he has merely adopted ideas throughout his time in university and has nothing to show for the three years he has spent there. He's been so trapped in the idea of things, so seduced by the possibilities in his head that he's taken aback when the prettiness is all stripped away.

And I do agree with the message the book is trying to convey. Academia isn't fun, it isn't really a pretty aesthetic you can adopt. It is rarely ever pretty, no matter how much you romanticise it in your head.

Did reading this book change what you think of “Dark Academia”?

Yes. The book did make me dislike the aesthetic in general. At first, I was neutral with the moodboards and everything else around social media, but after this book, it's kind of made me not like it anymore? Just me though, I love it for the people who want to make moodboards or indulge in it all for the fun of it.

But I also found it really funny how people tag this book as a necessity to have the dark academia aesthetic, when it's about the dangers of indulging in one to an excess.

This book was part of our “morally grey” reading list. Do you think it belonged there?

I'm so sorry, but I didn't think so.

I don't think anyone in this book falls in the morally grey area. I didn't sympathize with their problems or their reasons for what they did, and that's generally what a morally grey character is meant to do. Richard would have belonged in that area if he had a less stoned brain cell that made decisions for him though.

The Secret History is a famous book. Had you heard of it before? If so, was it what you expected?

I had seen it around almost everywhere, especially the quotes under dark academia aesthetic things. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. For one, it turned out to be satire, very clearly so from the first chapter itself, and two, I thought it would be a glorification of dark academia, which again, it wasn't. Both things I haven't seen around in tumblr posts, so it was a surprise. And I've also seen people love Richard Papen?? A big surprise considering how much I disliked his character and I couldn't even see the appeal.

But overall, mostly pleasantly surprised by the book.

How did you find Richard as a narrator? How do you think having Richard as a narrator affected the story?

Richard was an unreliable narrator. Having him as the narrator was also important though, because initially, we can see his thoughts and views differing from Julian and the others. We see that clearly, and it's important because Julian and the others haven't struggled to come here as he has, they don't have the background he does. They're posh, snobby and privileged, and it shows in contrast to Richard. His views warp, obviously, but it's mostly him trying to fit into this little elitist group and it's cleverly written out.

Our view about Richard is almost neutral, sometimes sympathy and secondhand embarrassment. Compared to the others, he is more human, until he's not. He mentions some odd things in passing, very casually, and we don't really pay attention to them. His views about certain characters, his attention to certain features about people in a masculine and feminine sense, his theories on certain relationships, his ideals about Julian, the chick he choked to death, that one Camilla paragraph near the end. They all add to his character.

Richard is a perfect narrator for a book like this, he does a great job to really nail in the satirical, clever writing of Donna Tartt. Is he likeable? No. Is he a perfect unreliable narrator? Yes.

#.reyreads #book club #book review #the secret history #donna tartt #booklr #books #reading #booklover #bibliophile #book blog #spotify #I'm a little late for it I apologise