Nejj (21 – f – muslimah) bookblr, writblr, studyblr – SFW accountborn and raised in ireland but ethnically I am half ½ north african ½ slavic.I don't mind following back accounts that have posts that interest me.
nothing quite hits like thrifting the later instalments of a book series you're interested in and then coming across the first few books months later. i now have the first seven books of 'the rivers of london' and book 1 of 'passing time in the loo' (books that summarise the greatest lit and poetry. i use it as a reference of what i should get through/ learn what popular classics are about) after i had thrifted volume 2 a year ago.
Rivers Of London (book 1) by Ben Aaronovitch - urban fantasy, detective fiction, crime fiction.
Moon Over Soho (book 2) by Ben Aaronovitch - urban fantasy, detective fiction, crime fiction.
Whispers Under Ground (book 3) by Ben Aaronovitch - urban fantasy, detective fiction, crime fiction.
Passing Time in the Loo (vol 1) by Stevens Anderson - collection of summaries of important classic books, essays, short stories, speeches and poetry.
The Bertie Project (book 11) by Alexander McCall Smith - cosy murder mystery.
Trilby by George du Maurier - classic literature, gothic, victorian lit.
The Casefiles of Mr J. G. Reeder (books 1-3) by Edgar Wallace - classic literature, crime fiction, horror.
Fabled Shore: From the Pyrenees to Portugal by Rose Macaulay - travel memoir, non-fiction.
The Romantic Poets - poetry anthology, classic literature, victorian lit.
turned my built-in closet into a library a year ago, and today I turned it into a reading nook.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff is a compilation of letters between a book-loving screenwriter in New York and her correspondents; the bookshop workers of Marks and Co. in London. So witty, so funny, endearing and charming. A biography memoir that reads like a work of comedic fiction.
So happy to have had Babel for Christmas. I already have the American edition so I can compare the translations, and I can't wait to see how the translator has adapted the meaning of the words in the French version!
And above all, I can't wait to meet the characters again. Babel is the book that really made an impression on me in 2023, and I literally quote it in all my French essays.
blue books, blue candles, blue feathers, blue mood, blue background, blue sky
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (images taken from this book).
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory.
in a rush again…. im starting to panic atp i have extra commitments today my mothers hosting an event and i have to help
todolist as shown- i expect to get a quarter done today but we will aim for at least half
found out that some of my classmates are studying for around 9+ hours a day and im maxing out at four or five so really worrying- i need to get above 85% on everything to get into the school i need to move to
re: a post i’ve seen circulating the DA tag/my dash:
i, for one, would love to take dark academia beyond aesthetics and make it a subculture. bring substance to our style, so to speak.
there are practical ways to reflect the values of DA in real life. yes, there’s actually reading books and seeking out museums (pursuit and love of knowledge), and meeting up with other people into those things (or attempting to LOL). but consider:
defend the value of art. defend the value of the humanities in a society that lauds “what pays the bills.” reject AI art, and do it loudly—remember that no machine can make something better than a human, because only a human can make art out of love. defend real artists against those who claim art anything less than a manifestation of human love.
creators, keep the love in art. be sincere, above all—there is nothing more disgraceful than insincere art. you are an artist—take yourself seriously. do not dampen your message with unnecessary quips, do not waste your talent pandering. make the world of art somewhere safe for capital-R Romantics again.
from thoreau: “live deliberately…put to rout all that [is] not life.” instead of just scrolling tiktok and moodboards, go outside and find out who you are. see the beauty in your life, the one that belongs only to you. that one passion you could get lost in, what sparks that fire in your heart, means something different to you than it does to me—go out and find it.
this is by no means an exhaustive list. feel free to contribute your own ways to un-commodify DA & make it more than an aesthetic in the notes.
today's book haul is made up of murder mysteries, irish fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction and fantasy.
The Battersea Park Road to Paradise by Isabel Losada - memoir, self help.
The Appeal by Janice Hallett - murder mystery, thriller.
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman - murder mystery, cozy mystery.
The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan - romance, chick lit.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - historical fiction, dark academia.
The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse - historical fiction, dark academia.
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - literary fiction, mystery.
The Soil by Yi Kwang Su - translated lit, classic lit, Asian lit.
Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs - myths & legends, classic lit.
The Oxford Book of Ireland edited by Patricia Craig - Irish lit, anthology of short stories & poetry, classic lit.
The Winter Road by Adrian Selby - epic fantasy, dark fantasy.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James - sci fi, mythology, African lit.
taking the education of irish history and culture into my own hands. I'm still conflicted over my identity as someone with parents from two different countries and cultures while having been born and raised in a third country. time to stop wondering and get educated on the things, people and places that made me.